The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Police
target Jestina Mukoko in latest clampdown
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Nomalanga Moyo
7
March 2013
The police clampdown on human rights activists took another
turn Wednesday
when they summoned Jestina Mukoko to Harare Central Police
Station on
charges of operating an “unregistered”
organisation.
Detective Chief Inspector Run’anga and Chief Superintendent
Charles Ngirishi
telephoned lawyer Beatrice Mutetwa, telling her that Mukoko
should report to
the police to answer charges of running an “illegal and
unregistered”
organisation.
However, Mutetwa advised the police that
the Zimbabwe Peace Project’s board
had resolved that it be represented by
the organisation’s chairperson, Dr
Solomon Zwana, “as Mukoko is simply an
employee and cannot answer
registration queries as she does not have board
authority to speak or act on
behalf of ZPP.
“Run’anga insisted that
the police were not interested in anyone else but
Mukoko, and said that ZPP
was an unlawful organisation and as such, cannot
have a board,” Mutetwa
said.
She also advised Run’anga that ZPP is a registered organisation and
that she
had provided its registration papers and Constitution to the police
last
month, which were never contested.
Mutetwa said this latest
clampdown is nothing more than state intimidation,
of not only Mukoko but
also civil society organisations.
“All this is part of the election
season. It’s political harassment meant to
intimidate and stop NGOs from
ensuring that Zimbabweans understand both the
referendum and election
processes.
“The police want to create an environment where NGOs are
afraid to do their
work for fear of being locked up.
“Jestina has
been used as an example before and they have to use her as an
example
again,” Mutetwa explained.
Mukoko was a victim of state-sponsored torture
when she was abducted by
State security agents in December 2008. She was
detained, tortured and
released after 72 days.
Mukoko’s harassment
follows a raid by the police at the offices of ZPP on
February 11th, when
mobile phones, wind up radios, files with donor
information, political
violence reports and DVDs were confiscated. So far,
no-one has been arrested
or charged in relation to the raid.
The ZPP work involves monitoring and
documenting breaches of human rights
and political violence in Zimbabwe.
Civil
society unsettled by police disruptions of publicity
meetings
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
07.03.13
by Staff Reporter
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition has bemoaned continued disruptions by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police
of meetings meant to publicise the constitutional
draft ahead of a
referendum slated for 16 March to pave way for harmonised
municipal,
senatorial, parliamentary and presidential elections.
“In what could
be construed as a misapplication of the ZRP powers granted by
the Public
Order and Security Act, the police have taken to disrupting or
forbidding
the convening of constitutional meetings with the latest incident
being the
disruption of the MDC-T rally in Harare’s Highfields suburb on
Tuesday 5
March,” charged CiCZ.
The Highfields meeting was stopped as the police
insisted that it had not
been cleared, but the MDC-T National Organising
Secretary, Nelson Chamisa,
said the police had been notified as required by
POSA.
The National Constitutional Assembly was barred from holding a
meeting in
Chipinge in Manicaland that was scheduled for 8 March
2013.
“Both the MDC-T and NCA meetings were supposed to discuss the COPAC
draft
Constitution ahead of the crucial referendum to be held on 16 March
and the
barring of these two organisations from holding their meetings
raises the
question of whether police consent is a prerequisite to the
convening of
public meetings,” read the CiZC statement.
On 27
February, the police also stopped a Media Centre constitutional debate
in
Harare and three weeks earlier, they barred a Centre for Community
Development in Zimbabwe meeting in Chegutu on the constitution.
“It
is clear that our beloved country is now trending back towards being a
police State. The actions of the police, in barring and disrupting the
meetings of both those who are of the ‘Yes’ vote lobby and those of the ‘No’
vote lobby pile up on the now regular raids on NGOs.
“The recent
developments clearly show that free political activity in this
country is
under arrest. These unwarranted disruptions expose the partisan
nature of
the police force that, besides implementing Zanu-PF resolutions,
also seems
to believe that Zanu (PF) alone should be given the leeway to
have audience
with the people,” said McDonald Lewanika, the CiZC Director.
NCA
Spokesperson Madock Chivasa expressed disgruntlement over the police
actions.
Tsvangirai
slams ‘demonic’ riot police
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/03/2013 00:00:00
by
AFP
PRIME Minister and MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, addressed his
party's
supporters on Wednesday a day after riot police broke up his
rally.
"I don't know if it's some kind of a demon, that riot police only
emerge
when we start campaigning," he told his supporters in the local Shona
dialect. "Why riot police?"
Pictures posted on Tsvangirai's Facebook
page on Tuesday showed a truck load
of helmet-clad police officers carrying
riot shields and batons.
He said the police action showed that "the
leopard has not changed colours".
But police spokesperson Charity Charamba
said the disruption was due to a
"communication break-down" between the
police and Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change.
Zimbabwe's
security forces are seen as loyal to President Robert Mugabe who
shares
power with Tsvangirai in an uneasy unity government that was formed
after
chaotic polls in 2008.
At Wednesday's hour-long meeting in Harare’s Glen
View suburb, Tsvangirai
explained key points of the new constitution which
is expected to lay
groundwork for fairer elections later in the
year.
He urged the 200 supporters to vote in favour of the new text at
the 16
March referendum.
"We must all go out and vote yes for the draft
constitution so that we move
the reform process forward. It is important for
our nation," said
Tsvangirai.
Fresh polls are set for July to steer
Zimbabwe onto a new track after a
series of votes were marred by violence,
intimidation and economic hardship.
The run-up to the polls has been
marked by a crackdown against political
activists, media and civil society
groups.
The former rivals set up a unity government in early 2009 after the
violent
polls of the previous year tipped the country into crisis.
SA
urged to heed warning that Zim is not ready for elections
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
7 March 2013
The South African team in charge of facilitating
Zimbabwe’s political
process is being urged to heed warnings from officials
in the unity
government that the country is not yet ready for
elections.
This warning was made by Finance Minister Tendai Biti in his
capacity as the
chief negotiator of the MDC-T, during a meeting with the
South African
facilitation team on Tuesday. President Jacob Zuma’s
international relations
advisors Lindiwe Zulu and Charles Nqakula also met
separately with
negotiators from ZANU PF and the MDC led by Welshman
Ncube.
Biti was quoted by the NewsDay newspaper as saying that Zuma’s
team “wanted
to know the state of our readiness on the referendum and
elections.” Biti
reportedly said they told the South Africans that although
the country was
ready for the referendum, the time was not right for fresh
elections.
“We pointed out that the security situation was deteriorating,
giving the
death of Christpowers Maisiri as an example,” Biti said. 12 year
old
Christpowers died almost two weeks ago in a suspected arson attack in
Headlands. It is widely suspected that he was a victim of a politically
motivated attack.
SW Radio Africa was unable to get hold of Biti
directly or members of Zuma’s
facilitation team, who travelled back to
Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon.
But members of civil society said
Biti’s warnings must be taken seriously.
Thabani Nyoni, the spokesperson of
the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, said
that Biti’s warnings echo the
concerns of civic groups across the country.
“We have always insisted
that Zimbabwe is not ready for elections,” Nyoni
told SW Radio
Africa.
He explained that chief among a host of reasons why the country
is not
ready, is the lack of key reforms dictated by the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA). He said this has left the country in a fragile state, with
increasing
levels of violence, persecution of civil society, and a
“generally
non-conducive environment for a credible vote.”
Phillip
Pasirayi, the head of the Centre for Community Development in
Zimbabwe,
agreed that the failure of the unity government to fully implement
the GPA
was preventing any chance of a credible election.
“We have repeatedly
raised concerns about the political environment, which
is characterised by
harassment and persecution. With such an environment it
will be almost
impossible to hold a credible election,” Pasirayi said.
He added that as
the guarantors of the GPA, SADC and Zuma “need to play a
more active and
intervention role in Zimbabwe.”
“There is clear evidence that some
players in the GPA are trying to derail
whatever progress there has been and
derail an election. SADC is supposed to
play a more assertive role now,”
Pasirayi said.
Meanwhile, despite his warnings to the South African team,
Biti will be
addressing a meeting in that country this weekend to encourage
Zimbabweans
to return home and vote.
Biti will be in South Africa to
launch the “Come Home and Vote Campaign,”
and will address a rally on
Saturday the 9th March.
ZEC
starts accreditation of observers ahead of referendum
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
7 March 2013
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has
started accrediting observers
and journalists for the constitutional
referendum to be held next week
Saturday.
Accreditation will take
place in Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo as from
Thursday and will carry on
until referendum day.
Observer missions from the European Union and the
US have been barred, under
orders issued by ZANU PF ministers. But Jameson
Timba, Minister of State in
the Prime Minister’s office, said the
responsibility to invite and accredit
observers for the referendum and
elections, in terms of the Electoral Act,
lies entirely with the
ZEC.
‘ZEC is not ZANU PF and ZANUPF is not ZEC. As MDC we have nothing to
hide
and therefore anyone from Honolulu to Timbuktu is free to come and
observe
our elections.
‘It is only those who have skeletons in their
cupboards, or should I say
whole cemeteries, who have something to hide and
as such are opposed to
international observation,’ Timba said on his
Facebook page.
Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us
representatives from all
diplomatic missions accredited to Zimbabwe will be
allowed to monitor the
referendum.
‘EU and US diplomats already
working in Harare will be allowed to observe
but there is no restriction to
any other country or body based on the
African continent,’ Muchemwa
said.
Local journalists, observers from civil society organizations and
non-
governmental organizations, will pay a fee of US$10 each to get
accreditation, while those from the African continent will pay US$20 a
head.
Observers representing diplomatic missions of countries outside
Africa, but
stationed in Harare, will pay US$50 a head. International
observers and
journalists from outside Africa will be asked to pay US$300 a
head.
With all political parties pushing for a Yes vote in the
referendum, it’s
expected that the new constitution will sail through. The
charter, for the
first time, sets presidential term limits.
It’s not
known whether Zimbabweans will be keen to vote on a constitution
they know
little about, or if there will be voter apathy.
Referendum
fails to excite Zimbabweans
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
7 March
2013
It appears many Zimbabweans are not so enthusiastic about next
week’s
referendum on a new constitution. This is a development analysts are
attributing to the fact that all parties in the GPA are campaigning for a
Yes vote.
The new charter is meant to be an historic milestone in
setting the country’s
future. However, the fact that political rivals have
agreed to support the
new constitution raises the question as to whether
Zimbabweans have been
turned off by the ‘unholy’ alliance, in a country
known for its deep rooted
polarization.
With a population nearing 13
million all voters above 18 years old are
eligible to vote, but the lack of
enthusiasm might see the referendum being
marred by voter
apathy.
Human rights lawyer Dzimbabwe Chimbga said: ‘I suspect apathy
plus a Yes
vote,’ Chimbga told SW Radio Africa on Thursday.
There are
also worries that if there is a low turnout, the Yes will sail by
with a
slim margin, hardly the resounding endorsement both ZANU PF and the
MDC
formations are looking for to silence the vocal National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) that is calling on its supporters to vote
No.
Observers are warning that if turnout is low and the final majority
in favor
of the constitution is lower than 50 percent, it would raise
damaging
questions about how representative the document is of the
nation.
Political commentator Lenox Mhlanga said only 30 people attended
the COPAC
meeting on the draft constitution in Lupane on Thursday. Many of
the COPAC
publicity awareness meetings have been poorly attended, owing
largely to
lack of information on the exercise.
‘This (low
attendance) gives you an idea. There is more excitement about
Dynamos and
Highlanders being left out of the NetOne Charity Cup than the
referendum,’
he said.
NCA spokesman Blessing noted that the referendum will be
discredited if
there is voter apathy, boasting however that the No vote will
be successful.
‘Any low turnout is enough to discredit its credibility. A
low turnout
demonstrates that when you are in power, you lead by not what
you want but
what people want,’ he said.
While Deputy Justice
Minister Obert Gutu agrees that the referendum has
failed to generate much
excitement among the people he believes it will be a
completely different
ball game when the country goes for elections proper.
‘I foresee a
massive voter turnout at the watershed elections because the
mood on the
ground is that ZANU PF has had it’s time and that they must go,’
Mugabe
battles with poll dates
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Thursday, 07 March 2013 12:22
Clemence
Manyukwe, Political Editor
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is battling to secure
consensus on election dates
from his coalition partners against the backdrop
of a fresh push for a
September poll.
Pressure is also mounting for the
President to comply with a High Court
judgement to proclaim election dates
by March 31.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations have started
pushing for
elections in September, despite earlier statements by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai that elections would be held in July.
Former
opposition party activists say a September election would allow for
the
realignment of a raft of laws with the new constitution. There are fears
that a July poll may precipitate a presidential election run-off that could
end up disrupting a United Nations World Tourism (UNWTO) general assembly to
be held jointly by Zimbabwe and Zambia from August 24 to 30, 2013.
Time
is also running out for the ZANU-PF leader as he needs to comply with a
court order that set March 31 as the deadline for proclaiming poll dates in
a matter in which three former lawmakers — Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni
and Norman Mpofu — sought early by-elections in their former constituencies
of Lupane, Nkayi South and Bulilima East which they lost after being ousted
from Parliament for crossing the floor.
Although the case initially
concerned the three constituencies, President
Mugabe was later allowed to
combine the outstanding by elections into
harmonised polls.
President
Mugabe has not announced election dates, but he said last week
that he
wanted elections held “instantly” in an interview with the State
broadcaster.
He confirmed that he was under pressure to push them to a
period later than
the UNWTO.
With the referendum expected on March 16,
speculation was that the polls
could be held in July after previous ZANU-PF
attempts to have them held this
month hit a brick wall.
In fact,
election talk started in 2010, when President Mugabe said polling
should be
held in 2011, with ZANU-PF subsequently passing resolutions for
them to be
held in 2012 and then in March this year.
But when that failed, the focus
shifted to anytime soon after the
forthcoming referendum.
ZANU-PF’s early
poll plan has largely faltered due to pressure from the
Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) as well as from the facilitator
of talks
between the warring political parties, South Africa’s President
Jacob
Zuma.
At one time, Zuma described the push for elections in Zimbabwe as
‘counterproductive’.
President Mugabe’s party is raring to go, mostly
because of a series of
independent opinion polls that have put ZANU-PF ahead
of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.
But critics warn that the
confidence may spell doom for ZANU-PF as the party
is known to be at its
best when it is cornered as it then resorts to using
any means necessary to
retain power as was the case after it lost the March
2008 general elections:
It fought back in the resultant presidential
election run-off, forcing
Tsvangirai to pull out of the race citing
violence.
This week, the
Welshman Ncube-led MDC said only a September poll would help
secure a
credible election as more time was needed for the necessary laws,
such as
electoral amendments, to be effected to support the new
constitution.
MDC
deputy president, Edwin Mushoriwa, said it was not practical to hold
polls
in July.
“From a practical point, it would not be possible to hold credible
polls by
July. After the referendum, there is need for a month to go to
Parliament
and another month for the President to proclaim election dates,”
said
Mushoriwa.
“There is also question of logistics and all the relevant
laws need to be
adjusted. There is a question of election amendments and
proportional
representation of the provinces and of women.”
MDC-T
spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said he was in a meeting, while party
secretary general Tendai Biti was unreachable.
But the PM’s chief of
staff, Alex Magaisa, said ideally, a country needs
more time to entrench its
constitution before new polls occur as was the
case in Kenya which has now
held polls more than two years after adopting
its supreme law.
But,
unfortunately, Zimbabwe cannot afford that luxury.
“The PM is very conscious
about the need to realign various pieces of
legislation and institutions
with the new constitutional requirements,” said
Magaisa.
He added that
there was need for the country to go for polls when it was
ready to avoid
another sham election.
There was also need for SADC to provide guidance, he
said.
“We are under SADC’s political curatorship,” added Magaisa.
In his
birthday interview on State television last week, President Mugabe
said
although his rivals were now calling for polls to be held after the
UNWTO
general assembly, he would not entertain the idea.
“For now, it was (Minister
of Constitutional Affairs) Eric Matinenga. So,
Matinenga is around. After
the referendum, when it is elections, then it is
the Minister of Justice
(Patrick Chinamasa) and then he will determine when
elections will come,”
said President Mugabe.
On proposals to hold elections after the UNWTO, Mugabe
retorted: “Why? (We
want these) elections to be done as soon as possible…
Constitutionally, we
must have elections instantly. We are bound by our
Constitution to have
elections after every five years. So, it is the
Constitution which pushes us
and anyone who is in government must always be
cognisant of the billing that
comes from our Constitution and this is the
billing we have anyway.”
He accused his political rivals of enjoying what he
termed “a free ride” in
the inclusive government, alleging that they never
qualified to be part of
that arrangement in the first place.
Mugabe
gives in to war vets
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Thursday,
07 March 2013 09:52
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has given in
to demands by war veterans to
meet him to discuss their demand for $20 000
payout each and their welfare.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans
Association secretary general
Shadreck Makombe confirmed the
development.
“We now understand that our patron president Robert Mugabe
is now ready to
meet us as we are vigorously pursuing what is due to us as
stated in the War
Veterans Act that is the pension money, education and
funeral funds,” he
said.
“We have been actively engaging relevant
people and departments to enable us
to meet our leader, and I am glad it is
going to happen soon.”
Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba was not
immediately available to
verify the claims.
But Makombe said war
veterans had embarked on a vetting exercise of their
membership
countrywide.
“The last war veterans’ census exercise was carried in 1996
to 7 before we
received our gratuities. Now many of us have since died, so
we do not have
an accurate figure of the living and dead comrades,” he
said.
Zimbabwean war veterans have demanded $1 billion in fresh
gratuities and
diamond mining claims in Marange.
Makombe said the demands
they were making were legitimate and justified
because globally countries
honour their war veterans by paying them.
“People want to make
sensational stories about the payment of war veterans
and have wrong
perceptions on the meaning of our gratuities yet it’s our
right,” said
Makombe.
He dismissed suggestions that they were holding government to
ransom by
demanding money when the country’s coffers were empty.
“We
are not cry-babies, we have been following protocol in terms of wanting
our
benefits and we are not talking of things that are out of this world but
our
rights which must be honoured.
“We made our presentation of demands to
Parliament two weeks ago and it has
not changed. Everyday we are reading
stories in the press that there is
diamond looting and all we are asking is
to be given our share of the
diamonds so that we can improve our welfare. We
are getting old and we must
be rewarded for liberating this
country.”
In a shock appeal before Parliament’s Defence and Home Affairs
committee
last week, the ex-combatants’ representatives Makombe and retired
major-general Richard Ruwodo said their 50 000-strong members wanted $20 000
each, and gem mining concessions in the eastern part of the country.
Ranger shot
as hunt goes awry
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 07 March 2013 00:00
Herald
Reporter
A senior official in the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife
Authority was
reportedly shot on Tuesday evening while in the process of
baiting lions
that had killed two people in Mahombekombe, Kariba, earlier on
the same day.
The ranger, who was not identified, was shot on the thigh
and foot when a
lion attacked rangers who were tracking the
animals.
National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Ms
Caroline
Washaya-Moyo confirmed the incident.
“Yesterday in the
evening, a senior ranger was shot by a stray bullet on the
thigh and the
foot. He was immediately rushed to Kariba Hospital where he
was
admitted.
“Currently he is in a stable condition and circumstances are
that teams were
dispatched and had identified two lions which they suspected
to be the ones
which killed people recently. While they were baiting them, a
third lion
emerged from nowhere before it advanced towards the senior
ranger.
“In the process of shooting the lion to save the senior ranger,
he was
accidentally shot by the stray bullet in the foot. We cannot divulge
the
name of the ranger before his relatives have been informed,” she
said.
The lions attacked and killed a Kariba woman.
Reports have
indicated that the national parks authorities have gone on a
massive
campaign warning residents to be wary of the lions.
The two people were
only identified as Musinjeni while the woman was
identified as Sharon
Mahwere.
Mahwere’s body was found on the scene after a man she was with went
on to
report to the police.
The police details and wildlife rangers
tracked the lions and discovered an
arm belonging to a man with
investigations pointing to the felines having
made a kill the previous
night.
Sources say that could have been the reason why the lions did not
completely
eat the woman.
The lions reportedly killed Jazel Meki
Musinjeni (77) on Monday after he
left home for Big Two night club.
A
passerby found Musinjeni’s remains including an arm and small
intestines.
Musinjeni’s son Tichaona was called and positively identified his
father’s
clothes including a cap, pair of trousers and
shirt.
Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence
Mabgweazara
confirmed the incident adding that the lions had not yet been
captured.
“Two people have died so far after being attacked by lions in
Kariba. We
would like to urge people to be on the lookout because we have
very
dangerous animals on the loose,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mahwere
(43) who had hooked up with Daniel Muzarabani and went
into a bush near
Mahombekombe Primary School for a fling was attacked by the
lions.
Muzarabani fled leaving behind Mahwere who was killed by the
lions.
Kariba residents yesterday said they were now afraid to walk just
before
dusk as the attacks were carried out around that time.
The
lions are believed to be moving in a pride of five.
ZIMSEC:
Pupils Should Pay Grade 7 Examinations
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Irwin
Chifera
07.03.2013
HARARE — The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council
(ZIMSEC) wants the
government to approve a recommendation asking primary
school pupils to pay
for their Grade Seven examinations as a way of bridging
financial problems
facing ZIMSEC, a move that may not be well-received by
parents, especially
as the constitution says primary education in the
country should be free.
Appearing before the parliamentary education and
culture portfolio
committee, ZIMSEC director Esau Nhandara said his
organization has been
finding it difficult to run Grade Seven examinations
with limited resources.
ZIMSEC is proposing a nominal examination fee of
$1.50 per subject.
ZIMSEC, which also runs ordinary and advanced level
examinations in the
country, said it is experiencing a lot of problems in
running examinations
due to inadequate funding.
Nhandara said
procurement, printing, delivery and provision of security for
examination
materials is too high in the country, raising the need for them
to introduce
a fee for those taking Grade Seven examinations.
He told the committee
ZIMSEC also wants to boost its fleet to ensure
examination papers no longer
get lost along the way as the council has
previously relied on public
transport to get papers to schools.
Nhandara said the parastatal is
working hard to improve the way it runs
examinations, adding starting this
year Advanced Level students will
register electronically at their
respective centres with the same system
gradually introduced to ordinary and
Grade Seven levels by 2015. E-marking
will also be introduced to improve the
examination process in the country.
Acting permanent secretary in the
education ministry, Crispen Bowora, said
ZIMSEC examinations are highly
regarded internationally.
Asked why some Zimbabwean students,
particularly those in private schools
were opting for Cambridge
examinations, Bowora said, this mostly occurred
when ZIMSEC lost credibility
during the economic meltdown of 2007 to 2008.
Bowora said under
Zimbabwean law, pupils in all public and private schools
must write local
examinations but are free to write international ones as
well.
Bowora
said entries to ZIMSEC examinations rose by 9.3 percent last year.
Asked
whether ZIMSEC and the education ministry had considered deploying
soldiers
to supervise examinations when teachers were on strike, Bowora said
the
subject has never been discussed.
ZIMSEC officials said while several
factors such as the removal of the
Junior Certificate Examinations and
industrial action by teachers have
affected the performance of Ordinary
Level students, the examinations and
results have measured up to
international standards.
John Maramba, ZIMSEC assistant director for Test
Development, said despite a
public outcry, last year’s L Level results were
not that bad.
Zimbabwe last year recorded an 82 percent failure rate in
Ordinary Level
examinations leading to a public outcry from parents and
other stakeholders.
14
MDC-T activists remanded in custody
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Nomalanga Moyo
7 March
2013
The 14 MDC-T supporters arrested Saturday on charges of hindering a
police
officer from executing her duties have been remanded in custody after
their
bail application was dismissed.
The activists, who were being
detained at Chegutu police cells, have since
been transferred to Kadoma
remand prison, their lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara
said.
Bhatasara said
magistrate Togarepi Zhou ruled that it was not in the best
interests of
justice to grant the activists bail.
He said he will be appealing the
magistrate’s decision at the High Court.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa
Bhatasara said: “The reasons are not clear in
the judgement. It would appear
that the court agreed with the prosecution
who were arguing that the
addresses of the accused need to be verified.
“The state also said the 14
did not have identity cards when they were
arrested.
“However, in our
bail application we addressed these issues, and indicated
that the police
had had ample time to verify addresses between Saturday,
when the 14 were
arrested, and Tuesday when they appeared before the
magistrate,” he
added.
The 14 were arrested while on their way to Gweru for a
constitution
publicity campaign launch, addressed by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
They were part of a group of 57 MDC-T activists who were
travelling on a
Munenzva bus whose driver was arrested at a roadblock for
“travelling ahead
of schedule”, according to the police.
The police
allege the 14 the disembarked from the bus and confronted an
officer,
demanding the driver’s release. They are charging them under
Section
184:1(g) of the Criminal Law (Reform & Codification) Act.
The 14 are
Kennethy Nyanhindi (29), Friday Matawire (19), Chigwada Tatenda
(22),
Masenda Benson (22), Archieford Mutsagwa (29), Waison Chapfungamoyo
(29),
Tendai Katsariga (28), Terrence Perk (30), Nash Ngoroyemoto (25),
Elisha
Mandizvidza (34), Michael Gondo (31), Simba Murigwa (42), Rodwell
Madziyire
(age not given) and Trouble Hasha (40).
Responding to the arrests, the
MDC-T said in a statement issued Monday that
it was disturbed by the
selective application of the law by the police.
The statement reminded
the police of acts of violence perpetrated against
opposition party
supporters by ZANU PF supporters, who are yet to be
arrested.
Southern
Africa Liberation Youth Leagues Vow Zanu-PF Support in
Elections
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Benedict Nhlapho
06.03.2013
JOHANNESBURG —
Zanu-PF and other former Southern African liberation
movements started their
four-day meeting at Pretoria’s Freedom Park on
Wednesday to strategize and
share plans on how to strengthen their parties,
remain relevant to their
people, and - of course - remain in power.
In Wednesday’s league
meetings, the youth members of these parties pledged
to do what they can to
help Zanu-PF win upcoming elections in Zimbabwe.
Addressing youth league
leaders from the African National Congress of South
Africa, South West
African People’s Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia, the
People’s Movement for
the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Frelimo of Mozambique
and Chama
Chamapinduzi (CCM) of Tanzania, Zanu-PF National Secretary for
Youth
Affairs, Absalom Sikhosana, asked them to help the party to win the
coming
elections.
Sikhosana called the coming election “a do or die” for his
party, saying the
party had to win it at all costs.
He said a Zanu-PF
win would silence the party’s critics who say that it does
not enjoy
majority support.
Sikhosana and other youth leaders denied that Zanu-PF
is behind politically
motivated violence and intimidation that appears to be
on the rise as
Zimbabwe prepares for the general election expected this
year.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress Youth League
President,
Ronald Lamola, told Zanu-PF youth that they will get all the
support they
need from his league to secure victory in the coming
poll.
However, he warned that the youth in South Africa will not condone
violence,
regardless who the perpetrators are.
The Leader of
Namibia’s SWAPO Youth league, Elija Ngurare, urged the people
of Zimbabwe to
learn from this year’s elections in Kenya, which have been
peaceful so
far.
The women’s leagues and war veterans from these parties also held
their
meetings today. The conference is expected to end on Saturday, when
presidents of these former liberation parties, including President Robert
Mugabe, are expected to attend.
Indigenisation:
Gono claims Mugabe backing
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
07/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono said
Thursday he had
the backing of President Robert Mugabe in his call for a
cautious approach
to indigenisation of the country’s banking sector which
has caused public
spats with ministers and senior Zanu PF
officials.
Gono has publicly clashed with Empowerment Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere who
wants to force local units of British banks, Barclays and
Standard Chartered
as well as the South Africa-based Stanbic to comply with
the country’s
indigenisation laws.
He has also been attacked by Zanu
PF politiburo member and former
information minister Jonathan Moyo over
revelations of alleged
irregularities in the Zimplats indigenisation
deal.
The RBZ chief has insisted that a one-size-fits-all approach risked
destabilising a key economic sector, advice rejected by Kasukuwere who last
month suggested Gono was encouraging foreign banks to defy the
law.
“(The problem) is not about (the banks’) indifference to the law but
we have
individuals who have gone to encourage them to disregard the law and
make
unwarranted statements vilifying the process,” said
Kasukuwere.
But on Thursday Gono told a Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI)
meeting that he was following Mugabe’s advice.
“It seems
like the fight over indigenisation has been reduced to a war
between two
individuals (but) I will follow want the President (Robert
Mugabe)
instructed me to do,” the RBZ chief said.
And in remarks possibly
directed at Kasukuwere, Gono added: “Many might not
know that some people
who are purporting to be champions of indigenisation
were still in their
diapers when I proposed to the president that we empower
the previously
disadvantaged as early as 1996.”
Gono, who has suggested an alternative
approach to Kasukuwere’s equity-based
model, insisted that he subscribed
“totally, wholly and energetically to the
ideals around which the
indigenisation and empowerment is operating”.
Kasukuwere had earned huge
plaudits as he pushed through the indigenisation
programme agreeing deals
with major mining companies such as Implats which
owns the largest platinum
mining operations as well as Anglo Platinum over
its Unki project in
Shurugwi.
But questions have begun to emerge over aspects of some of the
deals and in
an embarrassing put-down for his high flying minister, Mugabe
last week said
Kasukuwere had made a mistake in signing the Zimplats deal
with Implats.
“I think … our minister made a mistake. He did not
quite understand what was
happening and yet theory yedu ndeyekuti resource
iyoyo ndeyedu and that
resource is our share that is where the 51 percent
comes from,” the Zanu PF
leader said.
Gono said there was need for
greater consultation to ensure that agreements
reached with foreign
companies are not declared “null and void” in the
future.
He warned:
When you have done what you have done out there; or when propose
to do what
you want to do out there, it is important that, just as you would
be
observing the country’s laws, it is important that you also observe the
laws
that are administered by others.”
Zim sows confusion over 'non-binding' Zimplats
deal
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
Reuters|
07
March 2013 18:20
Cabinet minister says Zimplats deal could
change.
HARARE - A Zimbabwean cabinet minister said on Thursday a deal
signed with
South Africa's Impala Platinum was "non-binding" and could be
changed,
sowing confusion over a process that has divided the country's
unity
government.
Impala agreed in January to sell a majority stake
in its Zimplats unit to
black Zimbabwean investors for $971 million to meet
black ownership targets
set by President Robert Mugabe.
However,
Youth and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said the
agreement was not
set in stone.
"You have to remember that this was a non-binding agreement
that we signed
with Zimplats. It allows all parties to raise issues they
want and if there
is a change of circumstances," he told
Reuters.
Under the deal, Zimplats provides a loan to the new shareholders
at annual
interest of 10%. The debt is to be repaid through dividends over
ten years,
while management of Zimplats will remain with the
company.
But Mugabe said in an interview with state TV last week that the
southern
African nation's mineral resources - it is believed to have the
world's
largest platinum reserves after South Africa - should constitute
shareholding for the locals and said Kasukuwere might have "made a mistake"
by agreeing to the loan deal.
The veteran leader originally wanted to
seize majority shares in
foreign-owned mines without paying, a move fiercely
resisted by unity
government partner Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
his Movement for
Democratic Change party.
Separately, Impala said on
Tuesday Harare planned to buy about 50 percent of
its mining claims and use
them for "the benefit of the public".
The company said it was taking
legal advice and that it remained in
consultation with
government.
Kasukuwere said this could change the empowerment
agreement.
"They are losing part of their land so does that not
constitute changed
circumstances? It could change the structure of the
deal," said Kasukuwere.
The Zimplats deal is Zimbabwe's largest local
ownership transaction and a
major scalp for Mugabe's controversial black
economic empowerment push, the
centrepiece of his campaign for
re-election.
Kasukuwere's latest comments may be designed to keep the
pressure on
Zimplats, which has up to the end of June to conclude the deal,
and to keep
the political topic warm ahead of elections due in the second
half of the
year.
Impala did not respond to requests for comment.
Unkie
Mine payment blow for Brainworks
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
07/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
BRAINWORKS Capital has suffered a new payment blow after
Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats) refused to pay the Harare firm some US$3
million in
agency fees for work related to the platinum producer’s Unki Mine
indigenisation plan.
Amplats has since agreed to transfer to locals
51 percent shareholding in
its Shurugwi-based Unki Mine in line with the
country’s indigenisation
legislation but the world’s biggest platinum
producer refused to pay costs
incurred by the National Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Board
(Nieeb) over the deal.
Brainworks acted as
advisors on the $284 million transaction but in letters
seen by
NewZimbabwe.com the Nieeb forwarded the US$3 million invoice for the
services to Unki in yet another farcical turn for the country’s
indigenisation programme.
“Further my letter of 20th December 2012
and our subsequent telephone
conversations regarding the above subject, I
now write to formally submit to
your company the final tax invoice for
US$3,275,200 raised by our financial
advisors, Brainworks Capital Management
Company (Private) Limited,
representing advisory fees for the provision of
advisory services to the
government of Zimbabwe and the Nieeb,” Nieeb chief
executive Wellington
Zengeza wrote in his letter to Unki.
“As
explained in our previous telephone discussion, the submission of the
invoice to your company for payment is in line with our principals'
directive that advisory charges incurred by Nieeb and the government in the
execution of indigenisation transactions will be paid by the companies that
are indigenizing in pursuance of the lndigenisation and Economic Empowerment
legislation.
However Unki refused to pay the fee, reminding the Nieeb
that the advisors
were engaged by and provided their services on behalf of
the Board and the
Zimbabwe government.
“This matter has been
discussed internally and I regret to advise that these
costs cannot be for
Unki's account. Brainworks Capital was not contracted by
Unki as its
advisors. Neither was the scope of works to be carried out nor
fees to be
charged agreed upfront,” Unki’s chief financial officer Collin
Chibafa said
in response.
The revelations come after Zimplats, the country’s leading
platinum miner,
also refused to pay about US$17 million in agency fees to
Brainworks for its
indigenisation compliance plan.
Zimplats,
majority-owned by South Africa-based Impala Platinum Mines, also
said
Brainworks was engaged by and provided its services on to Nieed which
should
therefore pay the firm’s fees.
Brainworks also acted as advisors in the
compliance agreements for
Canada-based Caledonia Mining and South Africa’s
Pretoria Portland Cement.
Kasukuwere's
role in Zimplats deal must be explained
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Thursday, 07 March 2013
10:22
HARARE - Civil education is important and, therefore, the conversation
on
the implications of the Zimplats Indigenisation (“ZI”) transaction on
public
policy choices and actions necessarily becomes critical, not least
because
of the characters involved in the drama, but in order to establish
whether
the ideals of the revolution have been compromised or
promoted.
Cecil John Rhodes held the view that: “Thinking was for the
Europeans” and
after 33 years of independence it is important to ascertain
whether State
actors including Robert Mugabe think differently.
Is
thinking for State actors one may legitimately ask? To the extent that
the
ZI transaction is an important project it is vital that we unpack it so
as
to better understand the State of mind of the players involved.
After 33
years of independence, when one reviews Mugabe’s speeches and
statements it
will become obvious that outside the state, there appears to
be no one he is
proud of as a businessman.
In fact, if he were to be asked who he most
admires as a businessman, he may
very well have Chinese names or foreigners
in his vocabulary choosing to
trust minister Obert Mpofu and Saviour
Kasukuwere to be native commissioners
on empowerment and
mining.
Surely, 33 years is long enough for Zimbabwe to produce its own
agents of
inspiration.
How sincerely can one talk of indigenisation
without human characters in it
after a journey of 33 years?
We
thought independence was going to break traditions, remove colonial
edicts,
and more importantly create new rituals and respect.
Even those that want
to take after me are told that I stole money from
myself.
There are a
number of Zimbabweans who tried to change Zimbabwe by creating
focus and
straightening its story by doing something that brings pride to a
people
long accustomed to being treated as “kaffirs” and promoting the “can
do”
attitude only to be stopped in the act by none other than black
gatekeepers
wearing State uniforms and bearing intimidating instruments.
Zimbabwe has
produced wise and intelligent people, but the attitude that
pervades the
thinking in government is that such people cannot be trusted to
be
principals in the battle to deliver the promise of a better life.
What
has changed from Rhodes to Mugabe? Rhodes was proud of his heritage and
could find no place in his world view for kaffirs and he never pretended he
was on their side. Mugabe speaks the right language but in practice under
his watch very few role models, if any, have emerged in the sphere of
business.
Such points of light would be self evident in the
structures of Zanu PF and
the failure to attract business inclined people in
the party speaks volumes
about the mentality that informs its choices and
actions.
So when Jonathan Moyo talks of indigenisation, he must pause and
reflect on
the reasons why even beneficiaries like Brainworks’ principals of
the
indigenisation programme will never want to be part of the party
choosing to
benefit from bad choices when opportunities present
themselves.
Much has been said about the Term Sheet in respect of the ZI
transaction. I
set out below important observations on why I believe that
the “kaffir
mentality” is still alive and well in post-colonial
Zimbabwe.
It is clear from the above that the execution version of the
Term Sheet was
in respect of the ZI transaction in question.
The
purpose of the Term Sheet which Brainworks helped put together is as set
out
below:
It is significant that the nation has been told that the
indigenisation
programme seeks to empower communities through community
share-ownership
schemes and management and employees through employee trusts
and yet they
are not represented in this key document.
Rather, the
parties to the deal are as follows:
If it was the intention of the
indigenisation programme to allow the State
and its organs to assume the
driving seat in indigenisation transactions
then surely the Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Act was the wrong
instrument.
Rather
nationalisation that would appear to have been the correct and
appropriate
instrument.
What seems evident after 33 years of independence is that the
government
does not trust its own people. In fact, the observation that the
indigenisation programme is a creative nationalisation programme that seeks
to avoid the constitutional challenges that nationalisation would impose is
not farfetched.
If it is a duck then it surely must quack as one.
Indigenisation is not what
is on paper.
Can someone explain what the
role of the ministry of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment is
in this transaction? It is contemplated
that the following indigenous
entities will benefit from the transaction:
When I hosted in South Africa
the delegation led by Kasukuwere in February
2010, I recall that there were
representatives of the community and, indeed,
there was a chief from the
area that Zimplats operates in.
In addition, Bright Matonga who was part
of the delegation was presented a
representative of the target
community.
The events that unfolded in South Africa that the nation ought
to be aware
of left a bitter taste in me. I arranged a meeting with the
former CEO of
Impala Platinum, David Brown.
The meeting was attended
by Kasukuwere, Matonga, Kura Sibanda of Top
Harvest, and myself. During the
meeting it emerged that. Kasukuwere was not
comfortable with Matonga being
part of the deal.
I went into the meeting naively assuming the whole
empowerment and
indigenisation programme was meant to assert the rights of
individuals
grouped in communities or entities to find their voice in the
commercial
market with the government playing a facilitative role
only.
It was obvious that the indigenisation programme that Kasukuwere
was pushing
had nothing to do with the intended beneficiaries but a desire
to allow the
government through designated entities to control 51 percent of
the issued
share capital.
In fact, the Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation (“ZMDC”) that has been
used in the diamond transactions would
have been more appropriate to sign
the mandate.
After the meeting
with Brown, Kasukuwere castigated me for bringing Matonga
to the
meeting.
If I could get it wrong then surely there are millions who may
not also
fully comprehend what is at play.
ZMDC is more trusted than
Mawere in the case of SMM.
NIEEB and State-created entities are more
trusted than the workers’
committee at Zimplats and Matonga.
During
colonialism, Matonga and Mhembere, for example, would not have been
trusted
but no one expected that a government led by a revolutionary like
Mugabe
would after 33 years in power exhibit the same tendencies.
It would be
wrong to blame Kasukuwere for taking this approach. He knows
better that his
party and actors do not have faith in black people.
The Econet case and
others provide enough evidence that this is the case.
More importantly,
Mugabe has yet to include black names in his narrative
about the successes
of the revolution.
What we seem to get are words and not faces of real
people that State actors
are proud of.
Charity must surely begin at
home. I am aware of thousands of Zimbabweans
who have done amazing things
against all odds but they find no support from
the very people who
hypocritically speak and act on their behalf.
The government only exists
because people who use it need it.
The government has no voice other than
the voice of the people. When State
actors crowd out citizens in commercial
transactions then one must know that
something fundamentally wrong is in
motion.
Corruption becomes inevitable and ministers become arrogant and
big-headed.
They begin to think like Rhodes. Although Matonga, a former
deputy minister,
had the ambition to be a new Rhodes he was stopped in his
tracks by his
comrade.
At the time, I told him that it would be wrong
to regard the attitude of
Kasukuwere as an indictment on his character
rather it was a reflection of
Kasukuwere’s understanding of what would sell
politically.
Already it is known that even MDC has serious objections
about a model that
empowers individuals and that treats them as principals
in commercial
transactions.
Even within the MDC circles, native
businesspersons are treated as minors.
The fact that MDC is not pushing
for the resolution of the SMM matter may
very well be that the assumed
player is an individual and the party’s
position is that nameless and
faceless structures must be represented.
This kind of socialist thinking
is pervasive to the extent that
nationalisation is a preferred
route.
The Act may say one thing but the consensus reflecting the
Zanufication of
ideas is that indigenisation should be transformed into a
disguised
nationalisation project.
Using this ideology one can
understand why people would not want to resign
or even relinquish power in
post-colonial Zimbabwe which has created “small
gods” acting as State
actors.
Finally, with respect to the Term Sheet signed on January 11,
2013, it is of
interest to know the signatories. This is as set out
below:
It is evident that natives still need Commissioners to act and
choose for
them even in the name of their empowerment. What has changed, if
any, from
the colonial days? Maybe only the players and not the values and
principles. - Mutumwa Mawere
Transcript of Hot Seat programme with US
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton
US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton talks to
Violet Gonda in Hot Seat
7th March
2013
Violet GONDA: My guest on the
programme Hot Seat is US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton. Welcome on the
programme Ambassador.
Bruce WHARTON: Thanks, it’s a
real pleasure to be with you today.
GONDA: Thank you very much.
Now you arrived in Zimbabwe late last year so first of all can you tell us what
your impression of the country has been so far?
WHARTON: I think my
overriding impression is one of positive trends. You know I was here before;
left the country in mid-2003 and at that point everything was sort of headed in
the wrong direction. Returning to Zimbabwe nearly ten years later, although I
still see a number of pretty significant challenges. I have a sense that there’s
been a lot of progress and the trends now are mostly positive and so I’m
optimistic – not blindly optimistic but determined, determinedly optimistic and
eager to support the people of Zimbabwe as they figure out how they want to
manage this society, this country.
GONDA: You recently issued a
statement where you criticized Zanu PF and the police for the selective
application of the law and you also said civil society organizations should not
act outside the law. What motivated you to say this?
WHARTON: Well we have seen
what I believe is a pattern of harassment of civil society organizations in
Zimbabwe. Raids, police showing up and usually with a warrant, doing it the
right way but on grounds that don’t seem to hold up. Once the case gets to court
there’s nothing there. Recently there was a civil society organization that was
accused of not being registered as a PVO, in fact they were registered as a
trust, they were perfectly legal but suffered a police raid on grounds that were
sort of nonsensical. So frankly it appears to me that there is a concerted
effort to keep civil society organizations off-balance and unable to fulfill
their mandates and that’s a matter for concern. I don’t think that is a way to
build a strong vibrant democracy.
GONDA: And what about on the
civil society groups, because you did also mention that they should not act
outside of the law? What made you say that?
WHARTON: Well I think there
are a couple of civil society groups, perhaps more than just a couple, who
believe that some of the laws of this nation are unjust or incorrect and so they
will on occasion, deliberately ignore the law and in my view, that’s a mistake.
I think that if a civil society group or a citizen believes that a law is a
mistaken law or an unjust law, they should seek to change it or change the
conditions under which it is enforced rather than deliberately violating the law
and provoking a confrontation with police. And that’s my own personal opinion
and clearly it’s a complex situation but that’s the way I see
it.
GONDA: I actually spoke with
the co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone about the general security issue in
the country and she seemed to think that the 2013 elections are going to be
bloodier than the 2008 elections. What can you say about this and, based on what
you have seen so far in the country, do you agree with this
assessment?
WHARTON: I have a lot of
respect for co-Minister Makone and so I do not want to contradict her. It is of
course my hope, my strong desire and the focus of a lot of my work to make sure
that the elections in 2013 are not violent and that they are credible and
clearly reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Of course it’s out of my
power, it’s not my job here to do the sorts of things that President Mugabe and
the Minister of Home affairs need to do but I’m going to do everything that I
can to try to make sure that peace-loving Zimbabweans are supported and that the
elections are not violent.
GONDA: Does the US still
regard Zimbabwe as an outpost of tyranny?
WHARTON: I don’t believe
we….. I’m not sure where that term came from. We believe that Zimbabwe is a
country that has enormous potential, that has made significant progress in the
last few years through the government of national unity, through the sorts of
political compromises that enable the country to have a draft new constitution
and are determined to be good partners to people in Zimbabwe who want to build a
stronger, more prosperous, more just and healthier society.
GONDA: I believe the term
came from the Bush administration and understand it was also said by former
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who described Zimbabwe as one of the
countries America included as an outpost of tyranny.
WHARTON: You know what – what
I’m interested in doing really is looking forward at ways that the United States
and Zimbabwe can work together to build stronger relationships and have stronger
institutions. 2013 is a different year than 2006 and my intent here is to look
at ways that we can move forward rather than reflect on conditions of the
past.
GONDA: And you mentioned that
all you want to see is credible elections. What will you define as a credible
election outcome?
WHARTON: That’s a very tough
question, it’s an excellent question and I think it’s one that the people of
Zimbabwe and the international community are going to have to grapple with, but
broadly what that means is that the people of Zimbabwe first, and secondly the
region and the international community, agree that the results of an election
reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
GONDA: Is the United States
government going to help fund the elections?
WHARTON: Well there’s been no
formal request for that at this point. I think you probably know that the
government of Zimbabwe has asked the UN for election support; the UN has said
first we need a needs assessment team – that’s being negotiated right now. If a
needs assessment team can come to Zimbabwe, then I think that would open a path
forward for international support for elections, but we’re not even there yet so
I’m reluctant to speculate about where that may all lead.
GONDA: It had been said that
the UN, through the UNDP, did not have money but that the UNDP local
representative in Zimbabwe was trying to source the money from the donor
community including countries from the European Union and the United States of
America.
WHARTON: Yeh I think broadly
that is correct. My understanding is that the UN cannot, will not move forward
in seeking donor support unless they first fully understand the need here in
Zimbabwe and that is going to require a UN needs assessment team which of course
requires an invitation and permission from the government of Zimbabwe. If the
needs assessment team is able to come and do their work – that’ll take a couple
of weeks, then they have to do a report and if in fact they agree that the UN
can be useful then the UN will turn around and ask my government and the EU and
other donor nations to provide funding. But that’s too far down the road for me
to speculate about whether or not that is going to happen.
GONDA: If it was to happen,
would the US put any conditions for funding the elections?
WHARTON: I think the United
States believes that the credibility of these elections and the legitimacy of
the government that is chosen though these elections is so important that we
would be very, very interested and would strongly urge having neutral
independent observation efforts from outside. I think for example of the Carter
Centre – it’s an international NGO, not affiliated with the US government, in
fact on occasion, they have disagreed with the US government on the legitimacy
of elections. Sudan for example comes to mind but having somebody like the
Carter Centre in Zimbabwe to watch the elections here, would lend huge
credibility to the results.
GONDA: So what do you make of
statements by Vice President Joice Mujuru saying that the Zimbabwean government
will not allow international observers from hostile countries?
WHARTON: Well that’s
certainly her view; I certainly do not regard my government as a hostile
government.
GONDA: But we all know that
the Zimbabwean government has viewed America and Britain and other countries in
the west as hostile to the government. If they continue saying that, will the US
still fund Zimbabwe, even if observers from your country are not
allowed?
WHARTON: Ah there are too
many ifs and conditions in that question! Let me just say Violet that what we
want to do right here and right now is to engage meaningfully and productively
with people in Zimbabwe including at the top levels of Zanu PF and all the other
political parties and within the last week really, within the last ten days,
we’ve had some very significant meetings with people at the top levels of
government and in all of the political parties and I think it’s that sort of
engagement, that sort of conversation that helps us understand one another, that
will overcome the distrust and the suspicion that has existed between us for the
last decade or so. And I think that overcoming those misunderstandings and the
distrust will allow us to move forward in productive ways.
GONDA: Some observers have
said that the US is covertly engaging Zanu PF because it is seeking to create an
environment where there’s an extension of the Global Political Agreement or an
extension of the coalition government. Is that the policy of the
US?
WHARTON: The policy of the US
is that it’s the will of the people of Zimbabwe that matters the most and in any
credible, non-violent election we will work with the government that is chosen
through those means but it’s none of our business frankly, how, who is chosen to
lead Zimbabwe or whether the people of Zimbabwe want a continuation of the
current Government of National Unity or something different. Our interest is in
the process and the more transparent and credible and legitimate the process,
the easier it will be for us to normalize our relationship and work with whoever
is elected.
GONDA: Western countries,
especially United States and Britain are being viewed with suspicion as working
with both sides to try to influence the outcome of the
elections.
WHARTON: No we are not trying
to influence the outcome of the elections. Look, it’s the work of diplomats and
of governments to understand what’s going on in a country and that means
engaging with people from all across the spectrum but that certainly doesn’t
mean that we are trying to influence elections. Again, honestly our interest
here is the process, a credible process that reflects the will of the people.
That’s what is really important.
GONDA: Does the US have any
knowledge of leading American personalities who are said to be lobbying for Zanu
PF or advocating to the US administration on behalf of Zanu PF to soften US
policy on the party?
WHARTON: No I have no
information about that.
GONDA: Okay. What is the
status of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe?
WHARTON: Well there’s two
broad sets of targeted measures, or targeted sanctions that effect Zimbabwe. One
is the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act often called ZIDERA which
basically instructs American representatives to the international financial
institutions to oppose new loan facilities or debt-forgiveness for Zimbabwe
until such time as the country returns to the rule of law, respects human rights
and has credible elections. So that is a congressional, that’s actually a law,
something that our Congress will have to examine and consider about whether or
not it’s time to eliminate that or alter that or continue that. The other big
set are these targeted individual restrictions on 121 people and 71 entities,
mostly farms and companies owned by the 121 people which, the bottom line of
those is that that executive order, those executive orders, make it illegal for
Americans to do business with those people or those entities and it restricts
the ability of those people to travel to the United States. It doesn’t make it
impossible but it restricts their ability. So those are the two big sets of
sanctions policies on Zimbabwe. Back in August when she was Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton gave a speech in Cape Town. She talked about our Action for
Action policy with Zimbabwe and this is essentially the same sort of argument
that we’ve been making since about 2001, that what Zimbabwe needs to be stronger
and more prosperous is a clear rule of law, respect for human rights and
credible elections and as Zimbabwe, in its own course of development, is moving
through those processes as I think it is this year, we will respond in kind, we
will look at revising our lists of persons and entities and we will clearly make
Congress aware of the changes that are going on here so that they can take a
look at ZIDERA.
GONDA: So do you know when
this is going to be passed by the Congress or when it is going to be reviewed in
Congress?
WHARTON: No I don’t have any
insight into the Congressional schedule or consideration of ZIDERA. I did have a
couple of really important conversations with senior members of the US Congress
when I was in Washington and I know there’s concern about it and interest in it
so it’s a live issue but I couldn’t predict about when ZIDERA would be reviewed.
The individual sanctions, the targeted sanctions, is something that the
executive branch of government can deal with and we are prepared to make
adjustments to those in response to positive developments in Zimbabwe’s movement
back towards to full democracy and the rule of law.
GONDA: In tangible terms what
would be the implications of suspending ZIDERA on the economy and also the
general political discourse?
WHARTON: Well the first thing
to understand is that Zimbabwe lost access to new loans and debt-forgiveness
from the IMF which is the organization most affected by ZIDERA. In 1999, about a
year and a half before ZIDERA was passed, Zimbabwe decided at that point that it
would no longer pay, make payments on its debt, and so the IMF suspended
Zimbabwe at that point. The IMF has been working with the government of Zimbabwe
in the last six months or so to try to start something called a Staff Monitored
Programme which is sort of the first step in getting back into a productive
relationship with the IMF and I think in fact there was a team in Zimbabwe just
this week to take a look at how that process is going. So the first thing
Zimbabwe needs to do I think is renew its relationship with the IMF and once
that happens, then ZIDERA actually begins to have an effect and I think our
Congress would be more interested in taking a look at revising
it.
GONDA: If the land issue is
reversed, will ZIDERA be reversed?
WHARTON: Well I think first
of all, the United States has long recognized the importance of land reform in
Zimbabwe; we saw it in 1980, we saw it in 2000, we see it today. We’ve got no
problem with the concept of land reform, our problem is simply that it needs to
be done in a way that it is transparent and legal and in which people are
treated equitably by the law. At this point I think that the issue of land is
something that is up to the people of Zimbabwe to decide; I think there are some
remaining issues to be determined but the United States at this point is not
interested in becoming involved in that issue.
GONDA: But several analysts
of ZIDERA say that the land issue played a big part, it’s one of the reasons why
the US imposed the sanctions on Zimbabwe and they actually suggest that ZIDERA
was a response to the land reform programme and that you only broadened your
concerns about the issue of democracy principles after the land had been taken
over.
WHARTON: No I think that is a
misrepresentation of ZIDERA. I would encourage people to go back and actually
read the Bill. I think it’s instructive. One thing about ZIDERA that I love is
that it’s actually couched in the affirmative, it instructs US representatives
to the international financial institutions, the IFIs, to support loans and
debt-forgiveness for Zimbabwe when Zimbabwe returns to full respect for the rule
of law, respect for human rights and holds democratic elections. So it’s
actually an affirmative piece of legislation rather than a punitive one and it
does talk about those three issues: rule of law, human rights and democratic
process, democratic elections. So I think anyone who says that ZIDERA was only
about land reform is misunderstanding the intent of the Bill.
GONDA: It is interesting that
even some in the MDC, in denying that they called for sanctions, have said that
the issue of ZIDERA was in response to the violations of private property rights
and that the US only then brought this issue of upholding of democracy
principles after the land invasions started.
WHARTON: Well again I would
encourage people to go back and read the Bill. It’s pretty clear about the
things that we believe are important to building a strong vibrant and prosperous
democracy in Zimbabwe.
GONDA: A final word
Ambassador Wharton.
WHARTON: Simply that I am
truly pleased to be back in this beautiful country. You know the people of
Zimbabwe are extraordinarily talented, hard working, decent people. I’ve been
impressed both at the vision of the future that I’ve heard from Zimbabweans
across the political spectrum and the willingness of Zimbabweans to engage with
me and with visitors from Washington. As I said earlier today, I think that the
trends are very good in Zimbabwe right now. I’m not a blind optimist, I see the
challenges, I am worried about constraints on civil society, I am worried about
the possibility of political violence, I do worry that some parties have access
to the broadcast media and others don’t, but again I think that the trends are
much more positive today than they were when I last lived here in 2003 and feel
privileged to be able to play perhaps a very small role, but I hope a positive
role, in supporting the people of Zimbabwe as they move forward in their own
process of political determination.
GONDA: Ambassador Bruce
Wharton thank you very much for taking part and participating in the programme
Hot Seat and we hope to invite you back on the programme, perhaps after the
elections for a post mortem.
WHARTON: I’d be delighted
Violet, anytime.
Mugabe's
secret to long term rule
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
THURSDAY, 07 MARCH 2013
18:01
Zimbabwe academic Elliot Pfebve exposes how President
Mugabe has tribally
entrenched his power among his Zezurus with one critical
ministry stuffed
with 12 ministers.
By Elliot Pfebve
The
political power dynamics in Zimbabwe is enshrined in the local
government
and ZANU (PF) is very much aware of this fact, as such they have
made sure
it kept a grip of the lower democratic structures through the Acts
of
parliament.
My research has revealed that since Independence in 1980,
Mugabe made sure
that the minister or deputy minister of local government at
most came from
MaShonaland West his home province and that the post was ring
fenced for a
Zezuru tribe. Not only that the revelations is striking by that
the Ministry
of Local government more or less run parallel structure of
government, with
that one ministry alone staffed with 12 Ministers all
answerable to the
President and representing more than half the Ministerial
delegation..
In Zimbabwe we have four types of local authorities, Urban
Councils, Rural
district Councils, Provincial Councils and Traditional
Leaders all follow
under Ministry of Local Government. There 91 Local
Authorities in Zimbabwe
of which 60 are rural and 31 urban. There are 10
Provinces of which two of
those are urban, Bulawayo and Harare. All 10
provinces are administered by
Governors and Resident ministers with full
Ministerial status that goes with
lavish perks.
The governors are
appointed by the President provided under Provincial
Councils and
Administration Act (1984), therefore they are empowered to
oversee local
government structures at provincial and district level,
ironically the Urban
Councils Act and the Rural District Act (1996) gives
the Minister of local
Government and his deputy sweeping powers over the
same councils, thereby
duplicating the role of the Governor and Resident
Minister.
In the
beginning I alluded to parallel structures of government by the Local
Government, to make matters worse the 12 Governors despite administering
local government structures do not report to the Minister of Local
Government but directly to the President. The result is that the Governors
do not trust the Minister of Local Government and inversely the Minister
doesn’t trust the Governors as all report directly to the President at
different platforms.
To ensure that ZANU (PF) continue to enjoy
monopoly of running local
authority affairs and thus stifle baseline
democracy, Section 114 of the
Urban Councils Act and Rural District Act
(1996) empowers the Minister of
Local government to dismiss elected
councillors for misdemeanours without
qualifying what those misdemeanours
are, thus the Act was crafted with ZANU
(PF) in mind to punish perceived
opponents of ZANU (PF) government.
Ironically the same Act then give the
same Minister powers to appoint
special interests councillors and does not
oblige him/her to disclose the
nature of special interest. In 2008 Council
election in which ZANU (PF) lost
all 389 urban council seats, Ignatius
Chombo was able to appoint 86 so
called special interest councillors,
although these have no voting powers,
but they have the rights as elected
councillors in any other respect,
remunerations and perks. In a rather a
witch hunt state of affairs, Chombo
went ahead to suspend 22 elected
councils out of the 1958 elected
councillors nationally for so called
misdemeanour, 16 of whom were
subsequently dismissed. Not only does Chombo
appoints senior local
government employees but has the powers to appoint
traditional chiefs with
the right to veto, traditional
linage.
Looking at the august web of ideological confusion by ZANU (PF),
one can be
forgiven to conclude that much of the posts in government were
created to
appease friends and relatives rather than an institutional
necessity. It is
no wonder that Section 114 and Section 157 empowers only 2
people Minister
Ignatius Chombo and the President Robert Mugabe respectively
to dismiss an
elected council with no obligation to qualify the reason
thereafter. In
conclusion Minister Chombo and President Mugabe by default
run the
government of Zimbabwe with their 2 pair of hands by
authoritarianism.
The Local government thus has been a big dent in the
national financial
fiscal to please a few at the expense of national
interests. I look forward
to the new constitution of Zimbabwe to make
informed provisions to cut
bureaucracy, red tape and empower the Urban and
Provincial Councils to
innovate and make meaningful development without the
unholy influence of
Ignatius Chombo. I promise on the much awaited day am
not going to sleep, I
will be awake to wave Chombo’s corrupt chariot good
bye and in comes MDC the
party of excellence.
Elliot Pfebve is a
veteran member of the MDC-T and well respected academic
in the UK. He holds
an MSc, MBA, PGCE and is STEM Ambassador and also
specialises in Learning
and Development Consultant-Health Informatics.
Mugabe's
tit-for-tat exclusion of election monitors a big mistake
http://www.timeslive.co.za
The Times Editorial
| 07 March, 2013 00:29
The pronouncement by the Zimbabwean government
this week that President
Robert Mugabe would not invite US and EU observers
to validate next week's
constitutional referendum, and the general election
later this year, is
alarming.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper
quoted Foreign Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, a leading member of Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party, as justifying the
decision on the grounds that Western powers
had imposed sanctions on Mugabe
and his acolytes for human rights
abuses.
"To be an observer, you have to be objective and once you impose
sanctions
on one party your objectivity goes up in smoke," said
Mumbengegwi.
The argument, while it might appeal to Zanu-PF loyalists, is
akin to a
soccer team deciding who will referee their next match.
It
is critical for the credibility of the election that independent
observers
be allowed to monitor the vote.
For the same reason, it is vital that the
international media be allowed
untrammelled access to Zimbabwe during the
election, which might take place
as early as July.
Zimbabwe's
previous elections, in 2008, were bloody and disputed.
They were widely
regarded as having been stolen by Zanu-PF at the expense of
the Movement for
Democratic Change, the party of Mugabe's arch-rival, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai. The disputed poll resulted in the current
power-sharing
government, which is due to come to an end in June.
President Jacob Zuma,
the SA Development Community mediator on Zimbabwe,
should do his utmost to
ensure that Mugabe's party plays by the rules this
time around.
There
have been sporadic incidents of political violence in Zimbabwe in
recent
weeks. This, and a report last night that riot police blocked a
meeting that
Tsvangirai was due to address, does not bode well for free and
fair
elections.
ZANU-PF
shoots self in the foot
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Wednesday, 06 March 2013 17:15
Clemence
Manyukwe, Political Editor
IN the run-up to the 2008 general polls, the
then Transmedia boss Alfred
Mandere provoked ZANU-PF’s anger when he told a
parliamentary committee that
the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) should encourage the
use of shortwave radios in areas beyond the
parastatal’s Frequency
Modulation broadcast.
The party’s former
Chitungwiza senator, Forbes Magadu was clearly not amused
by Mandere’s
technical input which ran parallel to ZANU-PF’s thinking.
Magadu shot down
Mandere’s suggestion, arguing that the use of shortwave
radios would result
in villagers listening to Studio 7 — a Voice of America
broadcast beamed
into Zimbabwe from Washington DC.
Determined to drive his point home, Mandere
stood his ground. He retorted;
“There is nothing wrong with Studio
7.”
While Mandere became a hero among those advocating for a multiplicity of
voices, he was soon to realise that freedom of speech had its boundaries in
ZANU-PF whose apparatchiks have a firm grip on the public media.
He found
himself facing fraud charges. He later skipped the country with
Transmedia
subsequently announcing his sacking.
Those close to Mandere say the world
started collapsing around him the day
he chose to go against the grain. By
advocating for shortwave radios in
rural areas, Mandere had knowingly or
unknowingly asked his bosses to allow
other views that may not necessarily
tally with those of ZANU-PF to reach
the rural folk.
For a party that has
maintained a stranglehold on rural communities after
losing its dominance in
urban areas to its rivals, Mandere became one of the
black sheep in the
family whose ideas were not different from those of
ZANU-PF’s nemesis
accused by the party of propagating a regime change
agenda.
Mandere was
not the only head of government-owned media institution that
ZANU-PF
lawmakers expected to behave as part of the establishment.
At around the same
time Mandere stirred the hornet’s nest, the then ZBC
boss, Henry Mura-dzikwa
told the same Parliamentary Committee on Information
and Communications that
political interference and censorship were
responsible for partisan
reporting at the public broadcaster.
A media veteran, Muradzikwa also
revealed that the state broadcaster was
reporting on the “basis of
deception” due to the interference, an
inconvenient truth that was to cost
him his job.
Muradzikwa found himself in the eye of a storm after President
Robert Mugabe’s
party lost the March 2008 general polls. He was fired two
months latter and
his dismissal letter stated that the shareholder had lost
confidence in him.
Mandere and Muradzikwa’s cases help to reinforce the
perception that ZANU-PF
has no intention to promote media freedom and access
to information. The
party, according to its critics, is happy with the
maintaining the status
quo whereby its citizens are made to rely on only one
television station,
ZBC and not so independent radio stations.
As Mandere
languishes in self-imposed exile, he would be shocked to hear
that the use
of shortwave radios that he found nothing wrong with has come
back to haunt
those possessing them.
Police have launched an operation to hunt down those
possessing the radios
as if the gadgets are weapons of war.
On February
19, police spoke-sperson, assistant commissioner Charity
Charamba announced
the ban on the possession of “specially designed radios”
and accused some
political parties of distributing the “illegal devices” to
unsuspecting
members of the public with the intention “to sow seeds of
disharmony within
the country especially now that the country is about to
embark on the
referendum and harmonised elections.”
This week, Zenzele Ndebele the editor
of Radio Dialogue became the latest
victim after he was charged for
possessing the outlawed radios.
The condemnation of the radios is also
polarising rural communities as those
who own them are now being viewed as
sell-outs, thereby sowing seeds of
disharmony ahead of tripartite elections
expected in July.
But the development has not gone down well even with some
ZANU-PF lawmakers
as the public broadcaster, which their party prefers as it
toes the party
line is not accessible in some of their constituencies.
At
their meeting two weeks ago, members of the Parliamentary Committee on
Media
and Informa-tion from ZANU-PF and the Move-ment for Democratic Change
formations unanimously agreed to condemn the police crackdown.
In an
interview this week, the committee’s chairperson Settlement Chikwinya,
said
the committee vi-ews the treatment of radios as subversive gadgets as
archaic.
“As a committee we have enco-uraged Non Governmental
Orga-nisations (NGOs)
to issue out more radios so as to accelerate
dissemination of media voices
through radio broadcasts,” he said.
“We
stand therefore prepared to distribute the radios on behalf of the NGO’s
and
face the police in that regard. This was a unanimous decision and we
tasked
the Clerk of Parliament (Austin Zvoma) to issue out a statement in
that
regard,” added Chikwinya.
Local communities have become hungry for
alternative media as a result of
not only ZBC’s partisan reporting but also
poor quality programming on the
part of the parastatal.
The State media’s
failure to reach some areas and improve its programming
has also seen some
free to air channels taking the country by storm with
some police chiefs and
ZANU-PF ministers installing satellite devices on
their homes in order to
receive their signal.
When all is said and done, the blame for people’s
search for alternative
media rests with the government for maintaining a
tight grip on the media
especially the broadcasting sector.
The Zimbabwe
Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACR-AS) said the
banning of solar
powered radios and subsequent distribution to not only
marginalised rural
communities but also to areas not receiving ZBC
transmission was a clear
attitude of a government which does not embrace
principles of openness,
transparency, accountability and development.
“At a time when a number of
regional and international countries are
investing in technological
advancement for enhanced citizen access to
information and participation,
our own government finds reason to reward our
security services personnel
for frustrating efforts by civil society to
promote access to information
and free expression,” ZACRAS said in a
statement.
“The main question we
must ask is why our citizens are resorting to
alternative means to access
information and exercise their right to free
expression? Why is it that
countries like South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and
other around us are not
facing the same problem? Isn’t it because these
countries have opened up the
media space and their citizens are not deprived
of the necessary platforms
where they can freely express themselves, and
where information is not a
rare commodity?”
But as the campaign to control what people can view or
listen to
intensifies, it has become apparent that it’s a war the
powers-that-be would
not win.
A message sent to Ndebele of Radio Dialogue
on one of the social networks by
his pastor Ray Motsi sums it
all.
“What’s up? I heard that they are harassing you again. How are you doing
with the family? I am praying for you. Keep up the good work. Do not give
up,” said Pastor Motsi.
Zimbabwe
radios feel heat of referendum
http://www.aljazeera.com/
Government is accused of seizing radios in bid
to stop critics of Mugabe
spread their message ahead of March 16
vote.
Haru Mutasa Last Modified: 07 Mar 2013 07:53
Harare, Zimbabwe:
In many rural areas of Zimbabwe, life is laid-back and
traditional. The boys
herd the cattle while the girls fetch water and help
with chores around the
house.
At night the men meet at the local tavern, where many drink
traditional
brewed beer. There isn't always electricity, but you can
guarantee there is
a radio nearby.
The men talk shop while listening
to a football game, local music and the
news. Many people in rural Africa
don't have television sets, so the radio
is their contact with life outside
the village.
In Zimbabwe, "listening clubs" are groups of people who meet
and listen to
the radio together. But with a presidential election expected
in July this
year, authorities have begun to take issue with these
gatherings. It's not
the meetings themselves that are the problem - it's
what people are
listening to on the radio.
It’s illegal for radio
stations outside Zimbabwe to broadcast in this
country, but Zimbabweans can
pick up foreign broadcasts on any short-wave
radio set they already
own.
In the past, officials have allegedly tried to jam the signals - but
it's
impossible to monitor what everyone's listening to. Human rights
activists
and lawyers say officials don't want people in the rural areas -
where most
Zimbabweans live - listening to programmes broadcast by
Zimbabweans in
exile. Many such broadcasts are critical of President Robert
Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF party.
Police have now been confiscating
radios distributed by non-government
organisations in rural
areas.
'Peddling hate speech'
In the capital Harare, Assistant
Commissioner Charity Charamba of the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) - a busy
woman who is in a rush - says she
only has five minutes to talk. I am
pleasantly surprised she agreed to an
interview: my previous experiences
with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
have not always been
good.
When asked why the police are raiding offices and confiscating
radios, she
says, "We have it on record some of these media houses are
peddling hate
speech. As police, we have the responsibility to maintain
security and order
in Zimbabwe.
”We banned a particular consignment
of radios which were smuggled into the
country. They were not paid for under
the import and export act."
She wouldn't say who smuggled them in, but
hinted that Western diplomats
could have something to do with
it.
Now, anyone caught distributing or listening to a particular type of
radio
will be arrested. It's a small radio that can be charged by winding up
or by
using solar power.
Many do not consider the ZRP to be an
impartial group. The perception is
that they are controlled by Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party, and anyone not with them
is labelled the enemy. That's what
Nelson Chamisa of Zimbabwean Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party
believes. He accuses the police of
trying to stop people from listening to
stations critical of the ZANU-PF.
At his office in Harare, next door to
the architecturally impressive Central
Bank building, he shouts that "what
ZANU-PF and the police are trying to do
is definitely bizarre,
extraordinary, outrageous and not backed by any law.
It is misbegotten,
misconstrued, paranoia and driven by a banana-republic
mentality."
He
has summed up the feelings of many human rights activists and lawyers in
Zimbabwe. Activists say the radios are meant to educate people in rural
areas about the referendum on a new constitution in March and elections
later this year.
Opposition frustrated
Zimbabwe has four
state-controlled radio stations. Two recently established
independent radio
stations are perceived by some here to be pro-ZANU-PF.
Opposition parties
say they are frustrated, and that they are not fairly
represented on state
radio or television.
For instance, one day the main news bulletin on
state television contained a
story on Mugabe's birthday celebrations, then a
piece on political violence
allegedly caused by the MDC.
Zimbabwe's
power-sharing government was formed in 2009, after the bitterly
contested
presidential election a year before. Robert Mugabe serves as
president,
while Morgan Tsvangirai is prime minister. But Mugabe's party is
in charge,
and although Tsvangirai's MDC party tries to push its policies
through, it
is not always successful.
Mugabe - who has ruled Zimbabwe for 33 years
and turned 89 years old last
month - made it clear that he will not be
sharing power again. He has said
that he will "fight like a wounded animal"
to win elections this year,
although he has also told his supporters to
campaign peacefully.
On the ground, there are some signs that trouble is
brewing ahead of the
polls. In one town, 14 MDC supporters have been
arrested for political
violence. In another incident, a 12-year-old boy was
burnt to death in what
some believe was a politically motivated attack.
Police ruled out foul play,
but MDC officials suspect arson.
Foreign
media recently reported another police raid on an NGO office in
Zimbabwe's
second-largest city, Bulawayo, and a few days ago, the office of
an
independent electoral organisation critical of the ZANU-PF was also
raided.
The police took documents, gadgets and radio equipment, saying they
were
looking for subversive material.
McDonald Lewanika of Crisis Coalition
Zimbabwe, a Harare-based NGO, says he
has been arrested and beaten by the
police several times for speaking out
against human rights violations
here.
"The political climate in Zimbabwe is getting worse and worse. A
storm is
brewing in Zimbabwe," he says. "The situation for non-governmental
organisations is becoming difficult, especially given the amount of raids,
arrests and disruptions of marches that is taking place at the
moment."
Fear of violence
Meanwhile, ordinary Zimbabweans will do
what they normally do during times
like these: keep a low profile. The
priority for the poor is feeding their
families and staying out of
trouble.
When political rallies are held, Zimbabweans will make sure to
attend and
sit where they can be seen - because inevitably, someone will be
compiling a
list of those absent. For instance, at one recent community
meeting just
outside Harare, people gathered under a tree to hear
politicians talk about
the contents of the draft constitution and how they
should vote on it. By
the time the meeting ended some three hours later, the
people knew that they
were expected to vote "yes" on the March 16
referendum.
But most Zimbabweans in the rural areas are used to this.
They often vote a
certain way out of fear. Many want the elections to come
and go quickly. For
many here, election time means violence, and people hope
they pass without
causing too much disruption to their lives.
5 Reasons why this woman is voting “YES” in the Constitutional
Referendum
MAR 07,
2013
Via the Solidarity Peace
Trust: I want to start with a disclaimer.
First, I do not represent anyone but myself and therefore my views are myopic to
the extent that I represent my selfish interests. Second, I am a functionary of
the inclusive government as a Commissioner, so I am sure there are some that
will perceive me to be compromised just by that station. I, however, believe
that this does not and should not preclude me from voicing my position as a
Zimbabwean woman. Further, I am persuaded that after having read the Draft
Constitution I owe it to fellow women, to state why I have chosen to vote
“YES”.
Now having dispensed with the disclaimer, I must also hasten to
add, that my decision to vote “YES” is not in any way to suggest that I do not
have any issues related to the formulation of the Draft Constitution or the
processes related to the forthcoming Referendum. I do… starting with the fact
that I honestly do not believe that the process leading to the Draft
Constitution itself was as participatory as it could have been. I am of the firm
view that women were not heard to the extent they should have been. There is
ample evidence of this from the COPAC reports. In terms of the forthcoming
Constitutional Referendum itself, I am of the view that the time given for
dissemination and analysis of the Draft Constitution to Zimbabweans is too
short. I am not persuaded that exactly 30 days is adequate time for the kind of
reading of the Draft Constitution that citizens need in order to make informed
decisions on the day of the Referendum itself. Finally I am not persuaded that
the Draft Constitution will be circulated as widely as it should be before the
Referendum. This could very well mean that people may end up voting for a Draft
Constitution they have neither seen nor read and sadly in some instances, for a
document whose contents they do not understand.
Now having dispensed with the preliminary issues, I want to go
into why I am voting “Yes”.
1. I am a firm believer in participation. One of my good friends
likes to say “decisions are made by those that participate”, and I totally
subscribe to that idea. I have voted in every election and referendum since I
became eligible to vote, and this Referendum is going to be no exception. I will
vote because I want to participate in what I believe is a very important and
historic process in Zimbabwe’s democracy. Especially given that this process
that will lead to the winding up of the inclusive government; something that
everyone knows is long overdue!
2. I do not want my rights to continue being determined by the
Lancaster House Constitution. Voting “NO” would mean continuing under the
current constitution. Never mind that my interests [even minimally] were never
represented at its crafting; the current constitution limits my rights as woman,
provides for my discrimination in certain instances and does not guarantee my
right to participate in public life. Remember the notorious Section 23(3)? Given
what I know is possible from the Draft Constitution; I have no reason to support
the continuance of a constitution that discriminates against
me!
3. I am convinced that the Draft Constitution presents an
opportunity for greater accountability in the exercise of power, something that
is absent in the current Constitution. Thus I will vote “YES” to ensure that the
opportunity to encourage accountability is not lost.
4. As stated earlier, I have had the privilege of reading the
Draft Constitution. While indeed there are areas that could and should be
improved in the future, I think the Draft Constitution has some very good
provisions for women viz;
- The Draft
Constitution provides for the supremacy of the constitution over all other laws
and policies, which means guarantee of women’s rights at the highest
level.
- The Draft
Constitution is very clear that any law, policy, custom or tradition in
violation of the guaranteed rights of women is unconstitutional.
- The
objectives of the Draft Constitution state that the provisions of the
constitution will among other things promote the full participation of women in
all spheres of life, recognizing women’s right to work and the fact that the
work women do in raising a family is work. Importantly, the objectives also
stress the importance of prevention of domestic violence and promotion of the
girl child’s right to education.
- The right
to citizenship now applies on similar and equal criteria to women and
men.
- The bill
of rights under the Draft Constitution is protected by law, comprehensive and
even provides for expansion of those rights to include rights protected under
international law.
- The Draft
Constitution provides for enhanced access to information and increases the
grounds upon which one can claim access to information held by the
State.
- The Draft
Constitution provides for equality in the guardianship and custody of
children.
- The Draft
Constitution guarantees the right to equal pay and maternity
leave.
- The Draft
Constitution provides for guaranteed “affirmative action” seats for women in
Parliament, in addition to the ones those women wishing to contest will also
have.
- The Draft
Constitution provides that the executive power is exercised through Cabinet
subject to the Constitution, again reaffirming the supremacy of the Constitution
over any law or policy.
5. Finally, I am a woman so I don’t forget easily. There are two
things I learnt in a similar process many years ago… also known as the 2000
Referendum. First, I voted “NO” then, and the situation in my personal space and
our nation worsened. I believe this is an opportunity to redeem myself. Second,
as a woman, I think it is criminal for any nation to spend the amount and extent
of resources [financial, human and time] as has been the case in the
Constitutional Reform processes in Zimbabwe, twice in 12 years!, and still have
nothing to show for it.
So for the above reasons, plus the many other positive and
progressive provisions in the Draft Constitution that I have not addressed here,
I am voting “YES”! I also hope my reasons for voting “YES” can inspire
conversations on this Draft Constitution and encourage more women to participate
in the Referendum.
Teresa Mugadza is the Deputy Chairperson
of the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission. She is writing in her personal
capacity and the views expressed in this article are her
own.
Zanu-PF's
big lie
http://www.politicsweb.co.za
Vince Musewe
07 March 2013
Vince Musewe says Zimbabweans
are force-fed a narrative designed only to
keep the elite in
control
Liberating the black African from his victim mentality
We
must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because none but ourselves
can
free our minds
As we aspire to change the social circumstances of black
Africans, I think
it is important that we understand those things that keep
arresting our
progress as continent. The other day, I was fortunate enough
to watch
Zimbabwe television news hour. I say fortunate because, although
the
experience was thoroughly uninspiring, it triggered off some rather
interesting thoughts in my mind. I realized that, unless we Africans change
our political narrative, we will continue to be limited by a victim
mentality that our politicians articulate at every instance.
While
watching the local news, it was quite astounding to observe both the
body
language and the language our ministers use. They all unconsciously
mimic
President Mugabe and they all continually reinforce his dispositions
on
almost every issue, whether he is right or not.
Of course, one issue is
that of fear but to me, it is more about the fact
that, despite the truth
that their story about our reality has expired, they
continue hold onto the
prejudice and struggles of the past in order to
validate their current
legitimacy. Their self worth is deeply ingrained in a
past that no longer
exists. Their propaganda is relentless, and they have
mastered the use of
illusions to daily focus our attention on their vested
interests, not the
common good. Their forsaken egos cannot withstand
scrutiny, so they protect
them with lies, innuendo and half truths.
I imagined the millions of
Zimbabweans who have no alternative, but to watch
our local news hour on
television. Every single day, they continue to be
barraged with this same
regressive political narrative. It is therefore,
highly probable that they
actually believe it to be the truth. After all, a
lie repeated many times
becomes a truth.
It has served our current political leadership to abuse
our state media and
continue to relentlessly harp on how the black
Zimbabwean was treated
unjustly in the past, how they alone delivered the
"freedom" that we enjoy
today, and how the West continually connives to
prejudice Zimbabweans at
every instance.
Now, I am not naïve to
suppose that there are no international
unconstructive forces that continue
to handicap the development of Africa,
especially when it comes to trade and
investment. However, the problem is
continually framed as if there is some
committee in the West that sits in
this darkly lit and smoke filled room,
and comes up with means and ways to
punish Zimbabweans especially through
sanctions, spying through NGO's,
support of opposition parties and many
other wicked accusations that are
incessantly regurgitated through our state
media..
It is important that we reject this somewhat clever reframing of
why we are
underdeveloped because what it does; is to continually
dis-empower us from
taking the responsibility to address the socio economic
problems that we
have largely been responsible for creating. This victim
mentality worked in
the past to unite Africans against colonialism or
apartheid. It worked well
in order for African countries to access aid and
assistance during the armed
struggle days, especially during the cold war
era. Unfortunately, it has
also worked well to prolong dictatorships and
entrench incompetent leaders.
I believe that our self esteem as humans is
strengthened when our self worth
is based on our personal or spiritual power
to change our circumstances. As
soon as we blame somebody else or something
else out there for our
circumstances, we are, in fact, demeaning who we
truly are. This,
unfortunately, has been the impact of Zimbabwe's political
narrative, as
articulated by ZANU (PF) over the last thirty three
years.
In Zimbabwe, the resistance by ZANU (PF) to open up the media
space, to
allow freedom of association and free flow of information, the
fight against
new communications technologies, NGO's are all attempts to
stop the free
dissemination of information perceived contrary to their
moribund political
narrative. If the truth be said; ZANU (PF)'s political
narrative has become
unpalatable to progressive Zimbabweans but they
continue to insist on
feeding us this garbage through the
media.
Hell, we even have supposedly learned and articulate men,
including
professors, using their intelligence to write unending columns to
endorse
this bizarre narrative that; we are forever victims of the past and
must
therefore, be bound by their selfish interpretation and experience of
history, and not by the unlimited potential of our future. I refuse to
accept that.
I pray that we shall begin to see a widespread rejection
of liberation
struggle victim mentality throughout Africa. In fact, we are
beginning to
see black Africans realize that, it is they who must shape
their own future
and not the older generation politicians. We cannot be led
by men who
continually look in the rear view mirror to determine where we
are going. We
must change who are but more important, we must change who we
think we are
and what our possibilities are.
Africa's new political
narrative must be based on self affirmation, self
responsibility and the
acceptance that indeed, we are more than what our so
called liberators want
us to believe. We must fight the mentality of
scarcity that has resulted in
the abuse of our resources and wide spread
corruption. This must be replaced
by a mentality of abundant possibility
that accepts that Africa poses
unimaginable opportunities for all of us to
share.
Liberation by
armed conflict is over and now is the time for liberation
through mental
freedom.
We must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because none
but ourselves
can free our minds (Bob Marley's redemption song)
Aluta
continua!
Will
Zanu-PF be able to steal the 2013 election?
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/
Eddie Cross
06 March
2013
Eddie Cross on the conditions on the ground ahead of this year's
poll
Since mid 2010, Zanu PF has been calling for an election to end the
GNU and
establish just who is going to govern this country in the next
decade. They
have demanded elections several times since then - most
recently at the end
of 2012 for March 2013. Each time the MDC has responded
that no election
could be called unilaterally by one party to the GPA and
without the
agreement of the regional States in the SADC.
So they
should have been more than ready when finally in January this year,
the MDC
decided that it was time to hold the elections. The draft
Constitution has
been adopted and will go to a referendum in two weeks time,
then 4 months
later, we will vote for a new government. The battle lines are
drawn, the
stage set for an election that will in many ways be more critical
to us as a
nation than the elections in 1980.
What does the battlefield look like at
this point in time? We will probably
have a new Constitution, this provides
for new rules for Citizenship and
other electoral reforms that must be
implemented before the elections, these
draft laws are under preparation and
will be ready to come to Parliament
after the referendum.
But the
essential reforms required before we can consider the conditions for
the
elections as being "free and fair" are still outstanding. The Electoral
Commission now has a new Chairperson who I think is a competent and fair
minded individual; that is not the case with half her colleagues or her
entire staff who are by and large a collection of CIO and security personnel
who have in the past organised rigging on a large scale to defend the
position of Zanu PF. MDC is demanding that these staff be replaced by
individuals who are professional and have no links with the security
forces.
Then there is the Voters roll - still being held under lock and
key at an
army barracks and being fiercely defended by a Zanu PF loyalist -
Jacob
Mudede. But we know that the roll has been carefully manipulated with
the
help of external specialists, we know that half the voters on the roll
are
ghosts. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans are unable to vote
because they have been disenfranchised in the past decade by the Registrar
Generals Office.
We do not have the time to prepare a new roll so
that all we can do is an
audit and then conduct a new registration exercise
mounted by a reformed
ZEC. Despite letters from Parties and even the Prime
Minister - they have
still not released a copy of the roll to the MDC for
scrutiny.
Then there is the media - radio stations, television and a
dozen newspapers
all spew out Zanu PF propaganda on a daily basis. Listen to
the news and it
sounds like a news service for Zanu PF. Even the new
so-called independent
radio stations are solidly and uniformly broadcasting
Zanu PF messages and
slogans. The only independent media are perhaps three
newspapers and
external broadcasts to Zimbabwe from London and Botswana. The
first is
jammed on a regular basis, the other they attack at every
opportunity. To
compound this media onslaught the Police are now
confiscating radios that
can pick up the short and medium wave foreign
signals.
Finally there are the conditions on the ground - last weekend we
had
incidents of violence in several Districts, there can be no doubt that
despite calls for non violent activity, violence is again raising its head.
Political Parties are finding themselves being restricted in their
activities and action is not being taken to control thugs who try to disrupt
normal political activity.
If the Parties can navigate these
minefields and get to the actual
elections, the elephant in the room is the
capacity of the system to rig the
actual vote. We know from past experience
that Zanu PF has had to
progressively escalate their rigging activities in
order to win elections.
Eventually in June 2008, the rigging and violence
were so serious that
neither the AU nor the SADC would accept Mugabe's
declaration that he had
been elected President with over 80 per cent of the
vote.
They use every trick in the book and quite a few that are not in
any book -
they did not invent these tactics, but they have become masters
at the
subterfuge. The question is how to stop it or at least limit its
influence
so that the democrats can succeed.
Since the G8 leaders
meeting in June 2007, the Group has spent $4 billion in
Zimbabwe in support
of the GPA process. They have spent huge sums of money
on food to keep the
country stable while the politicians struggled with the
reform process.
South Africa has likewise spent many millions on fulfilling
their role in
this process. Thousands of hours of the time of regional
leaders and
diplomats have been invested in the process. If, after all this
effort and
money, we fail to conduct an election that is credible; an
election that
produces a result that is accepted by everyone as being a true
reflection of
the people's views; we would have wasted all these resources,
time and
effort.
This is high noon on Main Street in Zimbabwe. Everyone involved
must focus
on what is needed to allow every Zimbabwean to participate and
vote in the
upcoming election. To enable people to vote without fear or
undue influence
and to do so without any fear of the consequences. The
election must be
witnessed by the world and African and Global leaders must
be able to
support and endorse the outcome on the basis of reliable and
accurate
information at their disposal.
Eddie Cross is MDC MP for
Bulawayo South. This article first appeared on his
website www.eddiecross.africanherd.com
In my view
Clifford Chitupa mashiri, 7th March 2013.
The MDC-T should not
send mixed signals by campaigning for a referendum that
has failed to excite
people more than football, while saying the country is
not ready for
elections.
Since, the MDC formations agreed with Zanu-pf on that
constitution, what ‘s
the point in wasting US$95 million on a referendum to
expose people to
political violence in voting for something that was
negotiated by a few
individuals and is considered severely flawed by
entrenching Mugabe’s rule?
It would make a lot of sense if the GNU simply
recalled Parliament to adopt
the draft constitution and start working on
reforms for elections rather
than waste valuable time while UNWTO fast
approaches before anything has
been achieved.
MDC-T’s realisation that
Zimbabwe is not ready for elections is very
interesting given that the party
has been paying a deaf ear to our calls for
security sector reforms e.g.
retiring controversial police chiefs who are
too partisan to handle
political violence in a professional manner.
An example of police
partisanship is the shoddy investigation of the
mysterious fire at Mr
Maisiri’s homestead which claimed his son’s life. Now
the MDCT takes the
matter to SADC instead of Amnesty International given
the human rights
abuse aspect whereby Mr Maisiri’s family continues to be
persecuted for its
political views since 2008.
We have called for the reform of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission since
time immemorial to e.g. chuck out CIOs but the
MDC formations say one thing
today and do something else tomorrow.
Calls
for genuine media reforms e.g. to open the airwaves have not been
taken
seriously by MDC formations until now when they see that Zanu-pf is
seizing
donated short wave radio sets and they suddenly realise the playing
field is
not level.
Meanwhile there is suspected jamming of SWRadioAfrica broadcasting
to
Zimbabwe. The message on their website is very distressing given that
people
look forward to the station for proper news on current
affairs.
One is forgiven for suspecting that the Zanu-pf regime with the help
of
Chinese engineers to be behind the suspected jamming of the independent
radio station ahead of the referendum and elections.
MDC-T should get its
act together and start making the right decisions. For
example, should
President Morgan Tsvangirai be busy campaigning for what
Mugabe is also
campaigning for rather than sorting out reforms and primary
elections before
Mugabe makes a surprise announcement?
In my view, the MDC T leader risks
being seen as aiding and abetting Mugabe
in short-changing the people of
Zimbabwe by promoting a discriminatory
constitution in return for the
promised government house should he lose in
the forthcoming elections. He
should disown it.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com.
Constitution And Confusion
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM - No. 829- Dated 7 March 2013
Excerpt from
SACFA Newsletter - Chris Jarrett
This
country is very confused. Pretty well the entire population have had
their
heads filled so full of codswallop (the swearword filters on many
reader's
emails will bar this entire message should we use the proper word)
that they
can no longer distinguish what is desirable and valid and what is
not. We
have books being written which extol the benefits of the land grab.
Where the
funds come from to produce such deceitful "research" would be
interesting to
establish. Just because a car thief partially learns the
skills of driving
"his" stolen car with which he then runs a mediocre taxi
business does not
exonerate him of theft. We have a government which issued
"Certificates of
No Present Interest" to enable ownership of our properties
to be registered
in the Deeds Offices and then when it suited them they
confiscated that in
which they had recently professed no interest. Respect
of property rights
simply went out the window.
Let us all be clear - the current state of
penury, poverty and general
"moneyless-ness" reigning in this country has
nothing to do with
constitutions, old or new. It began with government's
lack of respect for
the property of others. We are all impoverished, and
getting more so,
thanks to policies started by ZPF and which proceed merrily
along and
unhindered in spite of there being a jointly-run government.
Any
intelligent proposal made by the MDC (of which there are few) is blocked
by
the ZPF side of government. Yet any daft proposal made by ZPF is
ultimately
accepted by the MDC. The proposed constitution falls in to this
category.
We are told it is a product of compromise therefore with all its
flaws we
should accept it. We should not - second rate is second rate and it
should
be rejected by all. Without the interference of partisan politicians
we are
perfectly capable of producing a proper constitution which will
be
acceptable to all other than the biased bigot.
We have a bankrupt
government. Minister of Finance Biti admitted there was
only US$217 left in
the kitty after paying January's wages. He complains
revenues are
shrinking. A normal business would therefore rein in expenses
and endeavour
to expand revenues. But we do neither. Our politicos promote
and approve a
constitution which authorises an even more expensive and
unwieldy
administration in order to accommodate on Easy Street the ever
expanding
throng of the well-connected who must be looked after. To
compound a crass
document we continue to allow an indigenization process to
proceed which is
ensuring that the economy will not expand. Nor therefore
will employment
which is the start of wealth creation.
The solution according to the
current status quo is not to behave rationally
and cut our coat according to
the available cloth, but rather to scheme up
further ways of taxing an
already penniless public. Spendthrift habits
prosper unabated. National and
local government employees, including MPs,
Senators and Councillors; and all
official entities like ZIMRA, ZINWA, EMA,
NSSA, ZINARA, police manning
roadblocks, those issuing cattle movement
permits, veterinary, trade unions,
City Councils, etc., etc. all believe
they are there by divine right and it
is their occasion, their "chance" to
loot as much as they can from the
system. There is no thought of serving
one's fellow man or improving the lot
of those who elected you. You have
been given your "chance" so you must make
full use of the opportunity before
the privilege passes on to
another.
Morgan Tsvangirai rather smugly said a little while ago that it
was perhaps
a good thing that they had not been allowed to take over the
government
after the last election as they would not have known what to do.
They did
not know where the keys were. But now he said they have served
their
apprenticeship and know what they are doing. They are ready to take
over
the reins. They know where the keys are kept. >From an observer's
point of
view they have only learnt the profligate habits of their tutors;
have
learnt little of good governance; and are well schooled in where to
obtain
their tickets on the gravy train. They have also learnt a few tricks
from
their tutors on how to preclude any newcomers from pushing their way
into
their first class compartments.
It took many years to learn the
true nature of the ZPF government and to get
to know those in it. The MDC's
and their leaders have also revealed
themselves over time some of which is
not pretty.
The three parties in the GPA after four years of acrimony and
deadlock have
suddenly kissed and made up and accepted a previously
insupportable
constitution. Where is the catch? Not only that, all three
have stated
that when they get into power they are going to change this
undesirable
constitution. In the meantime for some as yet inexplicable
reason we are
all being told to accept it blindly and vote yes in the
upcoming referendum.
When it comes to the generation of wealth the rules
are simple and universal
but we have become totally bewildered and lost our
way. Neither a new
constitution nor the old one for that matter changes
these rules. This is
why we started off by saying that anyone who wishes to
spend all or some of
their days in a prosperous Zimbabwe had better reject
this constitution
because it ensures we stay on Poverty Street forever. What
boggles the mind
is the lack of foresight of ZPF whose document this
constitution largely is.
President Mugabe acknowledged this when he bragged
of outsmarting the MDCs.
In South Africa the Nationalist Party prior to
an approaching Independence
realised that their sojourn in power could not
last forever. It was
therefore sound strategy to set up and implement a
comprehensive and
wide-ranging constitution which would protect their
interests once they no
longer held control of the driver's seat. ZPF cannot
see this. They
believe that their control of the diamonds and the security
arms of
government will ensure their stay in power until Doomsday. They do
not seem
to understand that their security will be endangered and in fact in
dire
jeopardy should someone other than one of theirs wind up in the hot
seat!
Courts that bend as instructed, partisan police and self-seeking
politicians
will change their allegiance to curry favour with whomsoever is
seen to be
in control of the winning side! Of such disposition is the
bootlicker made.
We return to wealth creation - not just for despised
white commercial
farmers, but for each and every one of us in this country.
Classic
economics says all you need is land, labour, capital and an
entrepreneur who
combines and utilises the first three. This constitution
ensures we are
going to remain poor because after the Declaration of Rights
states we can
all own property they make sure our hold on it is so tenuous
that it cannot
be used in normal economic endeavours. Nor is the land
entirely yours
because the new constitution guarantees forever the "rights"
given to those
who have occupied it.
Then, in league with an
exceedingly "employee friendly" labour department
they pump up the rights of
labour to the extent that no employer other than
those deranged will
permanently employ anybody.
The capital of this country has been
swallowed up by the previous government
through their negative interest
rates, price controls, punitive exchange
rates and hyper-inflation. The
banks, like the rest of us, lost all their
capital and now they have none
left with which to help kick-start the
economy. This would not be the end of
the world - in a normal, welcoming,
efficiently-run economy an entrepreneur
would simply go out and borrow
capital from someone outside the country who
has it. But he cannot. His
government is a pariah which has ensured that
his land as no value as
security, nor have his mines and businesses which are
busy being looted of
51% of their worth under the guise of
indigenisation.
No normal entrepreneur is prepared to stake his own hard
earned wealth
building an enterprise which, if successful, his control will
be forfeited.
He simply moves elsewhere to where his skills are welcome and
rewarded. The
banks and the wealthy too ship their capital to where they
feel it will be
safe.
From a common sense point of view this strange
cobbled up compromise of a
constitution must be rejected. It has set the
scene for the public to
remain penniless whilst the existing system and
control remain firmly held
by those who have used their past positions to
grow fabulously wealthy
We get to the preposterous provisions relating to
our stolen properties
which the MDC and ZPF expect us blithely to accept.
They are all
comfortable to legitimise this theft and so raised not a bleat
in
Parliament. Why was the foundation principle of good governance - that
of
respect for citizens' property rights - forsaken in the interests
of
compromise? What obscure benefit does the MDC see to this
absurd
expediency?
May we point out the truth to all those who have
fallen for the fabrication
that our farms are stolen property? This
fabrication is used to justify
government's blatant theft that goes against
common law and all religious
teachings. Because of its enormity it initially
embarrassed the
perpetrators and they needed some rationalisation otherwise
such bizarre
behaviour would have been impossible to defend.
The truth
is that farming is not the money spinner it was cracked up to
be.
Additionally only about one in eleven humans has any interest in farming
and
many of those fail to succeed on their own in the industry. Farms
generally
are not handed down from fathers to sons - children sell at the
first
opportunity! Farmers "live poor and die rich" so the saying goes.
Thus
about three quarters of all commercial farms were bought after
Independence
and transfer duty was paid to and accepted by the ZPF
government. The ZPF
government went further and issued Certificates of No
Present Interest.
These are required to authorise the Deeds Office to
register the transfers.
For those of the gullible who have not thought
seriously of their future
they need to bear in mind that some of them are
certain to generate wealth.
Guess where they will wish to invest their
capital? The likelihood is that
much of this wealth will be invested in
fixed property.
Different rules apply under this constitution to land
owners who are
non-indigenous - unless of course they fortuitously and
conveniently happen
to be covered by a Bilateral Investment Treaty. Whites
definitely do not
qualify as indigenous, but what about those of mixed race
or Indian
descent - or more difficultly the Johnny-come-lately Matabele
nation who
preceded the arrival of the "British" by a whisker - or even those
whose
parents immigrated years ago from Malawi, Angola, Zambia or elsewhere?
Let
us stretch it a little further - why not say that only a particular
tribe
should qualify as indigenous in future? It is not just whites who may
be
short-changed when a property is expropriated - the discriminatory rules
can
be interpreted so as to victimise anybody at all.
Then we get to
some more of the make-believe being bandied about. All three
political
parties have stated their intentions of changing the document when
they get
into power. This is easier said than done. First of all there is
need of a
two thirds majority in both Parliament and the Senate. With
regards to
Chapter 4, the Declaration of Rights, and Chapter 16,
Agricultural Land,
there is also need of a referendum in which a majority in
favour of any
change is required. A two thirds majority is unlikely to
transpire in the
upcoming election for any of the current contenders.
Rulings made by the
SADC Tribunal in Windhoek have been accepted into law in
South Africa as is
required by the SADC Treaty of which both Zimbabwe and
South Africa are
founder members. Zimbabwe tries to dispute these rulings
which have declared
the Fast Track Land Reform Programme and the "laws" on
which it hangs in
breach of several of their obligations under the Treaty
and is thus illegal.
Zimbabwe has been spectacularly unsuccessful
challenging these judgements in
the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
They have just tried their luck
in the South African Constitutional Court in
front of another ten Judges
(already eleven or twelve have ruled against
them) and irrationally they
expect a different outcome. President Mugabe
sensing the likely outcome will
be against him has told state media Friday
that Zimbabwe would not be bound
by the decisions of the courts. We quote
what was reported: -
"In
South Africa they have certain elements outside the ANC and cannot
be
controlled by the ANC and these are elements that once upon a time were
here
and were unseated by us and have realised that in South Africa you can
go to
court and get judgements," he said.
"But let them have those
judgments, we will simply ignore them, South
African courts have no
jurisdiction over us so we will simply ignore them."
Unfortunately,
Zimbabwe cannot ignore these rulings and hope by so doing
they will simply
evaporate and disappear. If as anticipated the
Constitutional Court rules
against Zimbabwe they will have two choices
neither of which includes
flouting the ruling. Either the house that has
been attached will be sold to
pay the unnecessarily mounting costs or Biti
will have to augment his last
remaining US$217 bank balance from somewhere
and pay what is
owed.
Then we take the logic a little further. Already there is a matter
standing
before the African Commission which questions the legality of
closing down
the SADC tribunal. Maybe they too will recognise the
unassailable arguments
put forward that the closure was illegal and order the
reopening of a
strengthened Tribunal. But this funny Constitution we are
asked to accept,
with customary contempt legitimises what goes contrary to
what was ruled in
Windhoek, then Pretoria, then Bloemfontein and probably too
in time
Johannesburg. Can we simply ignore them as well? If we do, there
will
doubtless be another application to the African Commission to have the
new
Constitution rectified. Maybe another ruling from that august body
will
emanate which will need to be "ignored" too. Have we all lost our
sanity?
What is unacceptable to a whole string of law courts in Africa should
not be
foisted on us as acceptable. Must we carry on putting our hands and
feet in
the fire to confirm that the last limb was actually burnt, that the
fire
still burns?
The end result is that if we accept them these crazy
proposals are going to
stay on the statute books for a long time if not
forever. And if you refer
back to the wealth creating formula above this
constitution is going to keep
us poor even though we may grow to be as old as
Methuselah!
If we are to be hanged then surely we can presume the hangman
to come
prepared with his own rope. To have him expect us to lend him ours
by means
of our yes votes is expecting too much! Reject his right to
discriminate
against us all - past, present and future farmers and everyone
else - and at
least allow the country an early chance of getting out of the
quagmire into
which ZPF's and now their partner MDC's policies have sunk
us.
We have not delved deeply into the rest of the document otherwise
this
message would be too long. Suffice to say we allegedly have the right
to
protest peacefully but if you are WOZA members they can beat you and
knock
out your teeth; you have freedom of association - but only with those
of
whom they approve; the air waves are free to all, as long as you only
listen
on the FM band; we are all equal and will not be discriminated
against
except in regards to land; and you have a right to be heard in court
as long
as the issue does not concern your own property which the Declaration
of
Rights says you are entitled to own - well sort of!
If South Africa
got it right the first time, why is it that we cannot? We
are not rich
enough nor will we live long enough to carry on being
utterly
foolish.
SOLUTION
The proposed Constitution will solve
nothing and will in truth if acceded to
delay any recovery. If accepted it
will complicate and confuse things
further and certainly keep our cost of
living inflated compared to the days
when our factories beneficiated that
which we had produced ourselves. It is
easy to criticise, especially when
one is not at the coal face. We
appreciate that many of both MDC's MPs and
Senators have put up with much
uphill and frustration. Although we believe
that they could have been much
more vociferous and certainly less
accommodating, regrettably they are our
only hope. Certainly some need
purging, and perhaps a few need to explain
how they bought their houses in
Sandton; how they occupy a farm allegedly
bought but never paid for; how they
funded their honeymoon; and how they
funded a well-publicised divorce
settlement? But whether we approve or not
we will have to use a now
tarnished MDC to remove the well-entrenched ZPF.
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY
Ben Freeth will at 7.00 pm (doors open at 6.00 pm) on 7 March
2013 together
with Craig Richardson and Gillian Higgins be making a
presentation at the
Royal Geographical Society in London. Freeth is known to
many and is the
author of a chronicle of government sanctioned horrors which
took place in
their area of Chegutu and to him and his family
personally.
Craig Richardson is a fascinating fellow. In his place of
learning in the
USA he pondered upon the precipitous decline of the
Zimbabwean economy and
its descent into oblivion. The economic wisdom of the
day suggested that
our demise which began in 1997 stemmed from bad governance
beginning with
the money wasted on the war in the Congo which started that
year; coupled
with unbudgeted gratuities and pensions granted simultaneously
to an
inflated number of "war veterans".
Richardson thankfully looked
at the issues more deeply and realised that the
ZPF propaganda that the
"British" way back in the 19th Century had known
where the best arable land
was situated and had helped themselves to 70% of
it was nonsense. He
obtained maps of the country and saw that the scattered
positioning of
commercial farmland interspersed amongst communal areas could
be nothing
other than random. To back this theory up, he resorted to space
age
technology in the form of Google Earth. Although it was feasible that
a
river for instance could be some sort of geological dyke dividing a
fertile
area on one side and an impoverished soil on the other he was not
convinced.
He delved further and with Google's assistance saw that neither
rivers nor
fence lines separated fertile soils from barren.
He
demonstrated conclusively that productivity and the generation of wealth
was
linked to security of tenure - property rights - which were sadly
lacking in
the communal areas and had become tenuous in the extreme on
seized land. His
views on what is needed to return Zimbabwe to economic
well-being will be
most rewarding.
Gillian Higgins is a highly regarded international
criminal lawyer from
London. She has been involved with the International
Criminal Court. The
three will be proffering their views on what is needed
to return this
country to wealth and justice. Should you wish to know more
you can
download the flyer on
http://www.mikecampbellfoundation.com/images/hopeinadesert.pdf
The
scribe
====================================================
All
letters published on the Open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
Constitution Watch 14/2013 of 6th March [Read the Constitution on your Android Smart Phone or Tablet]
CONSTITUTION WATCH
14/2013
[6th March
2013]
Veritas’
Zimbabwe
Constitution App
The Constitution on
your Android Smart Phone or Tablet
Veritas has made
available an App for Android smart phones and tablets so you can download the
COPAC draft constitution that is being put to the
Referendum.
Convenience
Read
it
·
wherever
you are
·
at
your convenience
There
is an index of Chapters, Parts and Sections and Schedules – just click on what
you want to read or study
Use
it as a handy reference at discussions and meetings
Express
your views about the Draft on the App Forum
The
App will carry a link to a Forum on which you can compare and discuss your views
on the Constitution with other users.
How to Download the
App
If
you have one of the following
· An
Android mobile phone running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) and
later
· An
Android tablet running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) and
later
The
App called Zimbabwe Constitution [Draft] is available from the Google Play
Store. For more information and download
links go to www.constitution.veritaszim.net
Note: An App available for later models of
Nokia and Blackberry smart phones and Blackberry tablets will be announced soon.
We regret that because of the rush
between the finish of the constitution-making process and proclamation of the
Referendum the App is in English only and also that we could not adapt it for
use on Apple iphones.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure
reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information
supplied
'I keep above the fray' says Zimbabwe's Julius
Makoni
DURATION: 01:54
Zimbabweans are
preparing to vote in a key referendum on a draft constitution which will pave
the way for elections later this year.
After three decades of rule by
89-year-old Robert Mugabe, the new constitution is meant to limit the powers of
any future president.
Mr Mugabe
presides over a nation whose economy is still in tatters, where poverty and
unemployment are endemic, and political violence is commonplace.
Anglican Bishop Julius Makoni talks
to Zeinab Badawi about the challenges of life in
Zimbabwe.