Zim Online
Wed 10 May 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's security forces have
suffered the most from a
massive brain-drain affecting the country, with
thousands of servicemen and
women leaving to work as private security guards
in neighbouring countries,
according to a confidential government report
shown to ZimOnline on Tuesday.
The report says the brain-drain is
reaching "unsustainable levels" in
the public sector, while expressing
concern that having former soldiers and
police officers with "intense
knowledge" about Zimbabwe's security systems
scattered in neighbouring
states could compromise the country's security.
The report,
prepared by the Ministry of Public Service Labour and
Social Welfare which
employs all government workers, reads in part: "Staff
turnover in the public
service is reaching unsustainable levels .. almost
all government
departments are affected by these high levels (of staff
turnover).
"But most affected are security agencies, of note
the army and the
police who are leaving to take work in other SADC (Southern
African
Development Community) countries."
The
16-page report, together with reports from other government
departments,
will be used to formulate plans to improve the civil service
and retain
staff.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas
Goche and
Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi were not immediately available
for
comment on the matter.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi,
in charge of the police, said he
was unaware of the report and declined to
comment specifically on its
contents. Mohadi however admitted that the
police force was losing its
officers who were going abroad to seek better
opportunities although he said
this was the case with every other employer
in the country today.
He said: "There is a general drain in the
country and that is widely
accepted. The police force is not an island. But
we have an efficient
recruitment policy that ensures that we always have
enough manpower as per
our requirements. In fact we have more people waiting
to join us than those
leaving."
The report said because of
their reputable training and experience,
Zimbabwean soldiers and police
officers were able to find work as private
security guards especially in
South Africa. The lowest paid private guard in
South Africa earns more than
a Zimbabwean soldier or policeman.
The government will incur huge
costs training more soldiers and police
to replace those leaving, while the
former security workers are a potential
threat to Zimbabwe's security,
according to the report.
"Unlike in other fields, the government
pays directly for the training
of soldiers and policemen and the costs could
soar if experienced staff is
not retained. The country's security is also
not served well by having
people who trained as security personnel and have
intense knowledge about
the country's security systems scattered in
neighbouring countries," reads
the report.
Once one of Africa's
best prospects of economic success, Zimbabwe has
grappled a severe economic
and food crisis since 2000, critics blame on
repression and wrong policies
by President Robert Mugabe such as his farm
seizure programme that
destabilised the mainstay agricultural sector.
Zimbabwe's crisis
has manifested itself through acute shortages of
foreign currency, fuel and
food, while the rate of inflation is above 900
percent with economic
analysts predicting the key rate to shoot beyond 1 000
when figures for
April are announced on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans have each year responded to
rising joblessness and poverty by
packing their bags to go abroad where more
than three million of the
southern African country's citizens now live,
doing menial jobs to keep body
and soul together. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 10
May 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe Labour and Social Welfare Minister
Nicholas Goche on
Tuesday said grinding poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic
were derailing plans
by the government to root out child labour in the
country's farming sector.
In a speech read on his behalf at the
official opening of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Global
Report on Child Labour in
Harare, Goche said rampant poverty and AIDS were
fuelling child labour on
farms.
"It is indeed true that HIV and
AIDS remain a challenge in combating
child labour since the child orphaned
as a result of this pandemic find
themselves used as child labourers," said
Goche.
At least 3 000 people are said to be dying of the disease
each week
leaving about a million AIDS orphans in the country, according to
conservative estimates.
The AIDS pandemic has pushed many
children to work on farms in a bid
to survive amid a severe six-year old
economic crisis critics blame on
repression and wrong policies by President
Robert Mugabe.
The General Agriculture and Plantation Workers'
Union says of the 200
000 farm workers in the country, 10 percent are
children below the age of 16
years.
Speaking at the same
meeting, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Wellington Chibhebhe said it
would be difficult to eradicate child labour
because of the country's
current economic crisis.
"Its eradication may not be achieved.
HIV/AIDS, poverty and other
social effects are among the reasons why the end
to child labour may be
difficult," said Chibhebhe.
Zimbabwe is
battling a seven-year economic recession dramatised by
acute shortages of
foreign currency, fuel, food and hyper-inflation.
The economy, once
one of sub-Saharan Africa's most vibrant, is seen
worsening over Mugabe's
controversial policies that started with the
arbitrary seizure in 2000 of
white-owned commercial farms to resettle
blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 10 May
2006
BULAWAYO - The power struggle within Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU PF
party
over President Robert Mugabe's succession was brought to the High
Court
yesterday in a case in which former state information czar Jonathan
Moyo is
suing two senior members of the ruling party for
defamation.
Moyo is suing ZANU PF chairman John Nkomo and a senior
member of the
party's inner politburo cabinet, Dumiso Dabengwa for defaming
him when they
allegedly told Mugabe that he had funded and led the hatching
of a "coup
plot" against the veteran President last year.
The
former information minister, who was dismissed from the government
in a
bitter fallout over the alleged "coup plot", is demanding Z$2 billion
in
damages from his erstwhile colleagues.
The alleged coup plot refers
to attempts by Moyo and other senior ZANU
PF leaders at the time to try and
block the appointment of Joyce Mujuru as
second Vice-President of ZANU PF
and subsequently Zimbabwe.
Moyo, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
and six provincial chairmen
were backing former parliamentary speaker
Emmerson Mnangagwa for the
vice-president's post, seen as a crucial stepping
stone to the top job.
The plot to prop up Mnangagwa fell through
after it was discovered by
Mugabe and other ZANU PF old guard, who threw
their weight behind Mujuru and
accused those who had attempted to block her
rise of scheming to topple the
party leadership.
Moyo was later
fired from the government while the six ZANU PF
chairmen were suspended for
five years each. Chinamasa however was spared
after he apologised to
Mugabe.
Moyo, who began giving his evidence-in-chief in court
yesterday by
narrating events leading to him joining the government and
later his
dismissal from it, will argue in court that Nkomo and Dabengwa
defamed him
when they told Mugabe that he plotted to topple the ZANU PF
leadership.
He will further argue that the two had falsely claimed
that he had
received unspecified sums of money sourced from foreign persons
or countries
hostile to Zimbabwe.
The case will see
confidential documents which include minutes of
several ZANU PF committees
and confidential party correspondence being
produced as evidence in court. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 10
May 2006
BULAWAYO - Police on Tuesday briefly detained popular
playwright and
artist Cont Mhlanga over a political play which they said was
meant to
mobilise Zimbabweans to demonstrate against President Robert
Mugabe's
government.
Mhlanga who heads Amakhosi Theatre
Productions, was yesterday summoned
to Bulawayo central police station by
police officers from the law and order
section and interrogated for more
than two hours over the political nature
of his new play, Pregnant with
Emotions.
"The police said they are interested in interviewing the
actors that
took part in the play and they have said the play should not be
premiered in
June as planned.
"The police officers from law and
order accused me of working with
Archbishop Pius Ncube in mobilising
Zimbabweans to demonstrate against the
government and they also alleged that
my plays are critical of the
government," said Mhlanga.
Zimbabwe is on edge after the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) party threatened to unleash street protests this winter against
Mugabe's government which they accuse of ruining the country.
On Monday, police raided Amakhosi Township Square, which houses the
theatre
company, and picked up material and advertising posters of the new
play.
Contacted for comment, police spokesman Andrew Phiri,
said he was not
aware of the incident but promised to investigate the
matter.
"This is news to me I will have to check on that with the
police
officers on the ground and then I will get back to you," Phiri
said.
The Harare authorities have over the years come down hard on
artists
who are critical of Mugabe's policies. Last week, musician Hosiah
Chipanga
pulled out of a Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Workers' Day
function in
Harare after he received threats from state security
agents.
Several other musicians including Thomas Mapfumo and
Leornard Zhakata
have had their music banned from state radio after
criticising Mugabe's
style of governance. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 10
May 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe High Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu on
Tuesday
indefinitely reserved judgment in an application for bail for Peter
Michael
Hitschmann who is facing treason charges for allegedly plotting to
assassinate President Robert Mugabe.
Hitschmann, a former
soldier in the white settler army before
Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from
Britain, was arrested last March, together
with several opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party
activists, after he was allegedly found in
possession of weapons of war.
The state said Hitschmann, together
with the MDC activists who
included the party's shadow minister for defence,
Giles Mutsekwa, planned to
assassinate Mugabe and commit acts of banditry
around the country. He denies
the charge.
Mutsekwa and his
colleagues from the MDC have since had charges
against them dropped for lack
of evidence.
During yesterday's fresh bail hearing, Hitschmann's
lawyer, Johane
Zviuya of Bere and Associates said his client's liberty
needed to be
considered after the state failed to come up with a trial
date.
"Over a month has lapsed since the last bail application was
dismissed
so the principle of his liberty has to be considered. He is
innocent unless
proved guilty.
"The state in March said it had
overwhelming evidence that there were
plans to commit terrorism but nothing
has been proved so far by way of
setting the trial date," said
Zviuya.
But the state, represented by Florence Ziyambi, yesterday
opposed the
granting of bail saying Hitschmann's alleged crime was of a
serious nature.
Bhunu reserved judgment indefinitely in the case. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 10 May
2006
HARARE - Warriors coach Charles Mhlauri's future with the
national
soccer team is hanging by a thread after he openly clashed with a
senior
member of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)
recently.
ZimOnline gathers that Mhlauri clashed with ZIFA board
member for
development, Regis Dzenga at a stormy meeting in Harare during
which the
dreadlocked coach allegedly attacked Dzenga for his lack of
football
knowledge.
Dzenga responded by openly telling fellow
board members that Mhlauri
had to go and triggered the search for a new
senior national soccer team
coach. Dzenga is said to have pushed to have all
national team posts
advertised, including Mhlauri's, incensing the Warriors
coach who has since
threatened to quit.
The development is said
to have left the ZIFA board seriously divided.
Yesterday, ZIFA
chief executive officer, Jonathan Mashingaidze,
admitted there was a crisis
in the national association resulting in newly
appointed ZIFA chairman,
Wellington Nyatanga, summoning the two to iron out
their
differences.
"We will meet the ZIFA chairman together with the
coach (Mhlauri)
later today to sort out a few problems. But it must be
pointed out that
Mhlauri is still the national team coach until further
notice," said
Mashingaidze.
Both Mhlauri and Dzenga were not
available for comment on the matter.
But sources told ZimOnline that the two
clashed after Dzenga, an engineer by
profession, had told the Warriors coach
that he was not qualified to coach
the national team.
But
Mhlauri would not have it, telling Dzenga that despite his
impressive
academic qualifications he knew little about football let alone
coaching a
national team. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
s
Wed 10
May 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's inexperienced team will need more than
luck
against West Indies in their last engagement if they are to stop the
Caribbean islanders from wrapping up their one-day international series as
they meet in the fourth match at St Lucia today.
West Indies
lead the seven-match series 3-0, with the third encounter
pencilled in for
Georgetown in Guyana on Saturday having been washed out.
On Sunday
the hosts crushed Zimbabwe by 82 runs after making an
historic-high 333 for
six in the last one-dayer at the same venue.
The tourists were
impressive in the first two one-dayers, with
Chamunorwa Chibhabha scoring
his first ever fifty in the first match and
another in the second. His
consistency with the bat saw him knock 40 in the
last match.
However, with West Indies getting back into rhythm after a contractual
dispute that had rocked the Caribbean side for the past 18 months, the best
Zimbabwe can pray for is being competitive again and losing with
dignity.
Coach Kevin Curran hopes his medium pacers Edward
Rainsford and
Tawanda Mupariwa can today find a consistent line to make up
for their lack
of threatening pace and probably stem the flow of runs from
the Calypso
Kings, who had former captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul plundering
93 in
Guyana.
Home captain Brian Lara might be finding his feet
after his
half-century on Sunday, while Runako Morton (79) will not be an
easy wicket
as well for Zimbabwe's bowlers.
On the other hand,
Zimbabwe hope openers Piet Rinke and Terrence
Duffin, who both went out for
ducks in the last game, will settle from the
onset and stabilise the
tourists' batting.
Vusi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor and Elton
Chigumbura - the only players
with a semblance of experience - will also be
expected to hold their nerves
with the bat, while Charles Coventry might
also be a useful hitter.
The last two matches of the series will be
a double-header this
weekend in Trinidad. The International Cricket Council
(ICC) has been
closely monitoring Zimbabwe's performance, assessing the
country's
readiness to resume Test cricket in February next
year.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed this week said Zimbabwe had
been
"competitive" so far, and would do everything to help Zimbabwe resume
the
longer version of the game.
Zimbabwe squad: Terrence Duffin
(captain), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton
Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Keith
Dabengwa, Ryan Higgins, Anthony Ireland,
Blessing Mahwire, Keegan Meth,
Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Piet
Rinke, Vusumuzi Sibanda, Gregory
Strydom, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya. -
ZimOnline
IOL
May 09
2006 at 08:51PM
Harare - Court officials said on Tuesday they would
not prosecute 105
women detained by police for five days for marching to
protest increases in
their children's school fees.
The women,
arrested in the second city of Bulawayo on Thursday, were
released late
Monday. State prosecutors said police failed to show the
peaceful march
across eight blocks to a government education office was a
threat to civil
peace and order.
Organizers of the protest said many of the women
were denied blankets
and slept on cement floors in jail, with several
becoming ill in the cold
winter season nights.
Zimbabwe schools
reopened Tuesday after the Easter break. Fees at most
state schools have
more than doubled for the new term after the government
last week nearly
trebled the salaries of teachers, police and soldiers.
Children
are not admitted to class if fees have not been paid in
advance.
The protesters said many low-paid parents would not be
able to afford
the new fees and children would be forced to drop out of
school.
There was no immediate indication of attendance on the
first day of
term, but children's charities have reported growing
absenteeism after fee
increases in the past year.
Last week,
some junior day schools doubled their charges to about
Z$5-million (R304)
while new charges at state senior schools ranged between
$Z20-million and
Z$100-million a term.
Education authorities said fees were being
hiked to help meet soaring
costs as the nation faces rampant inflation,
officially at 913 percent, the
highest in the world, during the worst
economic crisis since independence in
1980.
Zimbabwe's economy
has been in free fall, with acute shortages of
food, fuel and essential
imports since disruptions to agriculture-based
production since the
often-violent seizures of more than 5 000 white-owned
commercial farms began
in 2000. - Sapa-AP
Reporters without Borders
9 May 2006
A bill presented to the
Zimbabwean parliament at the end of March will give
the government a free
hand to intercept its citizens' phone calls, e-mail
messages and letters
without providing any credible safeguards, Reporters
Without Borders said
today after obtaining a copy of the bill, the text of
which is now available
on the organisation's site (www.rsf.org).
"We fear the worst,"
Reporters Without Borders said. "This bill will allow
the authorities to
place journalists and opposition politicians under
surveillance without any
control from the courts. It also directly threatens
the local contacts of
international media and NGOs. The government will have
new tools to ensure
that no embarrassing news or information crosses its
borders."
The
organisation added: "This proposed law is all the more worrying as it
will
give full powers to transport and communications minister George
Charamba,
who said at the end of last month that press freedom was just an
'auxiliary
right'."
The bill envisages the creation of an Interception of
Communication
Monitoring Centre (ICMC) staffed by "experts" able to spy on
every kind of
data. It says that telecommunications companies such as
Internet Service
Providers will have to install interception software and
set up a direct
connection to the ICMC to allow real-time monitoring.
Company executives who
refuse to comply could face up to three years in
prison.
The proposed law says the ICMC would provide technical assistance
to
companies but does not specify what software would be used. However, a
South
African online newspaper reported in May 2005 that the Zimbabwean
government
has discussing the acquisition of communication interception
technology with
China. At the same time, Zimbabwean sources say Chinese
equipment is already
being used to jam independent radio
broadcasts.
The bill envisages that the chief of the Defence
intelligence, the Director
general of the President's department of national
security, the Commissioner
of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the
Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe
Revenue authority would all able to
submit requests for phone taps and other
forms of communications
interception to the transport and communications
minister. This minister is
the only official authorised to issue an
interception warrant, which he can
do if he thinks a "serious offence has
been or is being or will probably be
committed" or if there is a "threat to
national security".
The
warrant issued by the minister will be valid for three months, but he
will
be able to renew it as often as he likes if he thinks there is "good
reason." And he is not subject to control by any court. It is also alarming
that the bill says that an interception request can be made orally in "the
case of emergency or the existence of exceptional circumstances."
[ This
report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 8 May 2006 (IRIN) - A year after Operation
Murambatsvina
('Drive Out Filth'), the government's sudden campaign to purge
informal
settlements, the lives of thousands of affected Zimbabweans have
not
changed.
Uprooted last year from homes built illegally in the
capital, Harare,
families with five or more members have been squeezed into
tiny living
spaces authorised by the government on the outskirts of the
city, with no
source of employment and, in some cases, no access to medical
facilities.
At night, families of six or seven often share the mud floor
of a temporary
shelter or one of the few new government-constructed brick
houses - both
about 12sq.m - smaller than an average garage. If the families
have yet to
be allocated a house, they are sometimes crammed into even
smaller spaces.
Those who failed to make it to the camps have chosen to
either reconstruct
their demolished dwellings or return to their rural
homes.
According to the Zimbabwean government, the operation was aimed at
clearing
slums and flushing out criminals, but left more than 700,000 people
homeless
or without a livelihood in the winter of 2005. As yet another
winter sets
in, living conditions in the open fields serving as resettlement
camps
around Harare could not be harsher.
Residents struggle to
protect themselves from the biting winds or a passing
shower, using plastic
sheets as the doors and windows of unfinished brick
houses or self-erected
wood and corrugated iron shacks.
Most do not have enough to feed their
families. Ethel Goche, 60, used to
sell vegetables and firewood in the
streets of Harare to support her seven
orphaned grandchildren; now she
struggles to make even 50 US cents a day.
Goche has set up shop in front of
the permanent house allocated to her by
the government in the resettlement
camp in Hatfield, about 15km north of
Harare. But there are few customers in
the open field that surrounds her
house.
"I grow vegetables, which
helps feed the children, but I have no money for
their [school] fees, which
has gone up to Zim$2.5 million (about US$25) per
term. I have not seen that
kind of money, so there will be no school for
them this time. I managed to
sell a few things and raise enough money the
last term," she added
sadly.
With inflation at 913 percent, schools have hiked their fees by
more than
1,000 percent for the term beginning this month. There has also
been a
12-fold increase in the cost of essentials in the past two
months.
According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, a family of four
now needs at
least US$350 a month for essentials including non-food items,
but average
monthly incomes are less than $100. The residents in the
resettlement count
themselves lucky if they manage to earn one US dollar a
day.
Local NGOs, like Christian Care, provide monthly rations of
maizemeal,
vegetable oil and pulses, made available by the UN's World Food
Programme,
to at least 3,000 households identified as vulnerable in the
resettlement
camps around Harare. The remaining majority have to find their
own food, as
the government does not allow general food distribution in the
camps.
In the Hopley Farm resettlement site, about 10km south of the
city,
vulnerable families can find it much harder to access food aid. An
omnipresent security apparatus runs the camp, estimated to house at least
2,000 families. "The security authorities, who guard the camp, decide who
gets on the list of vulnerable families eligible for food or non-food aid.
Each list is checked by the authority," claimed a resident.
"We
cannot complain about anyone here, we don't know who might be a
policeman or
CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation] official," added
another. Some
people claimed that the security personnel had planted "spies"
in the camp
to counter any rebellion; others alleged that sexual favours
were demanded
in exchange for non-food items sent by humanitarian agencies.
The
situation improved after some of the problems were highlighted in the
media
last year, one resident said. "Earlier, the relief workers used to
leave the
aid items with the security, now they distribute directly to the
beneficiaries, but they [security] still decide who gets what," alleged
another.
Last year the controversial camp made headlines when
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights claimed that the government was preventing
aid from reaching
displaced families. Some 2,260 people were removed from
the Porta Farm
settlement camp to Hopley Farm shortly after the UN
Secretary-General's
Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues, Anna
Tibaijuka, visited Zimbabwe.
The lawyers alleged that the residents had gone
for a week or more without
food, clean water, sanitary facilities and
temporary shelter.
The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and
Urban Development,
Ignatius Chombo, defended the presence of security
personnel in Hopley and
said they were needed to protect the construction
material lying in the
area.
He also objected to the use of the term
"resettlement camps". He clarified:
"These areas [Hatfield, Hopley] have
been earmarked for urban development
after they was recovered under the land
reform programme. The people have
been allocated stands."
Chombo also
justified the need to "vet" families eligible for food aid, as
"we have a
lot of outsiders, like Zambians and Mozambicans, making their way
to these
areas, so we have to verify and ensure that those who receive
assistance are
deserving Zimbabweans".
The government has started building and
allocating permanent houses in
Hopley under its urban renewal housing
project. At least 50 tiny box-like
houses have been constructed in Hopley,
while another 100-odd permanent
shelters have been built in the Hatfield
resettlement camp. None of the
hastily constructed houses have been
completed and lack ablution facilities
and access to services like water and
electricity.
Under the urban renewal project, Chombo said, the government
had already
constructed 7,000 houses across the country and intended
constructing
another 15,000 by next year. Each house costs almost US$3,000,
which the
owner has to pay back over 25 years.
The affected residents
argue that the government response is slow and
inadequate.
The UN
Children's Fund (Unicef) is providing potable water to Hatfield;
Médecins
Sans Frontières-Holland, a branch of the international medical
relief
agency, has installed taps in the camp with the help of the Harare
Municipality; the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration
(IOM) has assisted 650 families with shelter through community initiatives
in urban areas.
Addressing queries on the affected families'
inability to earn a livelihood,
Chombo maintained that informal traders
affected by the operation, which had
"helped to sanitise the streets of
Harare", had the right to operate in
designated areas of the city. "They
[informal traders] know what they have
to do [to apply for a
licence]".
But dispossessed informal traders complained that they had to
wait in queues
for days at local authority offices, attempting to get a
licence. "We have
just given up, I am trying to see what else I can do,"
said one of them.
Chombo said the government was also involved in setting
up 17 education
institutes to provide skills to those who wanted to change
professions.
"They [affected residents] are aware of these programmes; they
know what to
do."
Residents maintained they had no other source of
income. In areas like
Epworth, one of Harare's poorest suburbs, people have
chosen to resist
Murambatsvina by reconstructing their demolished homes. "We
cannot go
anywhere else, this is our home," said Judith, who has to support
four
children.
Others have sought refuge in the unique rock
formations outside Harare, away
from the eyes of offialdom. "We feel safe
here," said a resident, even
though the authorities were aware of their
presence.
"We have left our fates to God," said another, "otherwise I
don't know what
will become of my family and my life in the next few
months."
VOA
By
Blessing Zulu
Washington
08 May 2006
Sources in
the Zimbabwe military say the government has established a state
security
force drawn from the army, the police and the feared Central
Intelligence
Organization to tamp down popular discontent that could fuel
the kinds of
mass protests that the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change says it
hopes to organize.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said
the task force has been
told to instill fear in the populace to counteract
opposition efforts to
mobilize Zimbabweans against the government of
President Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU-PF party.
Human rights groups
say the task force is behind a recent wave of violence
against critics of
the government. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum reported
19 cases of
official torture, 32 instances of assault and 46 unlawful
arrests in March,
bringing the total of documented illegal arrests in the
first three months
of the year to 336.
That total increased this month as some 80 members of
Women of Zimbabwe
Arise, a protest group, were arrested last week in
Bulawayo for protesting
against a sharp rise in school fees. In Harare,
police released 48 students
arrested Friday for vandalising a portrait of
President Mugabe in public
meeting rooms where they had
assembled.
The MDC says official violence directed against its members is
on the rise
with reports of such abuses in Harare, Mutare, Gokwe and
Marondera.
For perspective on this reported trend, reporter Blessing Zulu
for VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe turned to South African based human rights
lawyer
Daniel Molokela.
Reporter Zulu sought comment on the alleged
instances of official violence
from State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa,
who rejected the allegations.
VOA
By Jonga
Kandemiiri
Washington
08 May 2006
The
Zimbabwean government has dismissed warnings from local humanitarian
groups
that supplies of food for distribution to the needy are getting
dangerously
low.
The nongovernmental organizations say unless Harare formally
requests an
extension of their food distribution programs with international
donors,
they cannot guarantee that the most vulnerable segments of the
population
will have enough food.
But public affairs director William
Nhara of the office of President Robert
Mugabe said the Grain Marketing
Board has been taking in good quantities of
grain from farmers as the
harvest progresses. Nhara said international
donors should focus on
providing aid to refugees in Sudan's western Darfur
region rather than to
Zimbabweans.
Though a substantial increase in rainfall this year seems
likely to have
boosted crop yields, Reverend Forbes Matonga, director of
Christian Care, a
main conduit for food aid to vulnerable groups, told
reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that not all parts
of the country
are enjoying good harvests.
Business Report
May 9,
2006
By Brian Latham
Maputo - Zimbabwe, the world's fifth-biggest
producer of flue-cured tobacco,
sold 32 percent less of the crop in the
first week of auction sales, the
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) said
yesterday.
The southern African nation sold 533 328kg of tobacco by May 2
compared with
780 204kg in the same period in 2005, the association
said.
Flue-cured tobacco sold for an average of $1.47 (R8.99) a kilogram,
compared
with an average of 92 US cents a kilogram a year ago.
"Sales
have been smooth though there has been some disappointment with
prices,"
said Tafumiswa Sigauke, an analyst with the association, which
represents
large- and small-scale farmers.
Sales of Zimbabwean tobacco, which
competes with the US for quality, have
declined since 2000 when President
Robert Mugabe began the often-violent
seizure of most white-owned farms for
distribution to black people deprived
of land during colonial
rule.
Zimbabwe's inflation of 913 percent, the highest in the world, had
resulted
in average prices rising to Z$146 830 a kilogram from Z$5 681 a
kilogram
last year, the ZTA said.
The government's tobacco
industry and marketing board, which monitors all
sales, did not release
figures of tobacco sold on contract directly to
merchants, a system that
bypasses the traditional auction sales.
Tobacco wastage fell to 8.67
percent from 23.31 percent last year. Wasted
tobacco is tobacco rejected by
merchants or withdrawn by farmers
dissatisfied with prices.
Zimbabwe
would probably produce between 50 million kilograms and 60 million
kilograms
of tobacco this year, down from 74 million kilograms last year,
the ZTA
said.
The country's tobacco is used in brands such as Marlboro and Benson
&
Hedges.
The biggest buyers of Zimbabwe's tobacco include
Universal and British
America Tobacco. Zimbabwe's biggest auction sales are
held by the Tobacco
Auction Sales Floors, the world's largest tobacco
auction room. - Bloomberg
SABC
May 09, 2006,
06:00
Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe have been warned that the government
will
repossess farms which are not being fully utilised, Harare's Herald
newspaper reported today.
Its website quoted Ray Kaukonde, the
Mashonaland East Provincial governor,
as saying: "We will not hesitate to
remove farmers who are not utilising
water in the dams and mechanised
equipment in the production of wheat".
He said a considerable number of
farmers in the province were allocated
properties endowed with dams,
boreholes and agricultural equipment, which
they were not utilising to
benefit the nation.
Wrong people could have benefited from reform
programme
Mashonaland East aimed to plant at least 15 000 hectares of winter
wheat, an
increase of 5 000ha from last season's target. "We want all our
farmers to
produce because we want to avoid importing wheat. Reliance on
imports means
we will forever be importing inflation," Kaukonde
said.
He noted that the government's land reform programme could have
benefited
the wrong people. Kaukonde also bemoaned the virtual collapse of
the beef
industry in the province, saying the Cold Storage Company abattoir
in
Marondera was lying idle because farmers were not selling their cattle
for
slaughter.
"We want to resuscitate the industry in the
traditional beef cattle
districts of Hwedza and Chikomba. Farmers should
take advantage of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe support scheme on livestock
restocking," he said. -
Sapa
Business Day
Dumisani
Muleya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harare
Correspondent
ZIMBABWE has raised a paltry $1,9m since the current
tobacco-selling season
opened two weeks ago as farmers continue to withhold
the crop in protest
over low prices.
A Tobacco Industry and Marketing
Board report said more than 1-million
kilograms of the crop had been sold
for $1899719.
Although the amount raised to date is small compared to
foreign currency
receipts over the same period before the current decline in
tobacco
production, it was better than last season, when only $1191 777 was
realised.
Zimbabwe's tobacco output has dramatically declined
with the virtual
collapse of agriculture due to land seizures which began in
2000.
The country is experiencing foreign exchange shortages, creating
other
problems such as shortages of food, fuel, electricity and basic
commodities.
The government has been offering incentives to farmers to
encourage them to
deliver their crop in order to increase foreign exchange
generation.
Tobacco growers who deliver produce to the auction floors
will be paid a
bonus of 35% of the total value of tobacco sold before July
31.
Those who deliver their tobacco between July 31 and August 31 will
get a 15%
bonus.
However, farmers are still complaining about prices.
Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono said the government would not yield to the
complaints.
Meanwhile there are conflicting reports about whether
Zimbabwean authorities
have invited white farmers back to Zimbabwe to resume
farming.
A Zimbabwean cabinet minister "categorically denied" on
Friday that the
Harare government was inviting some of the dispossessed
white farmers to
consider returning to their farms, which were once
productive land.
Earlier reports said the government had approached
former Zimbabwean
farmers, some of whom are in SA, Zambia, Malawi,
Mozambique and as far
afield as the UK and Australia, to consider returning
to the country to
resume farming there. With Sapa-DPA
Business Day
Dumisani
Muleya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harare
Correspondent
ZIMBABWE'S Trust and Royal banks said yesterday that they
would appeal
against a decision by the Reserve Bank's panel of experts,
which included SA's
Mervyn King, that the sale of their assets by curators
was "appropriate
under the circumstances".
Trust company secretary
Tererai Mafukidze said the banks would lodge an
appeal with the finance
ministry for redress on the grounds that the supreme
court had earlier found
the sale of their assets to be illegal.
The supreme court last year ruled
the sale of Trust and Royal's assets to
the newly formed Zimbabwe Allied
Banking Group (ZABG) was unlawful.
However, it did not order the return
of the assets, saying the two banks had
not followed correct procedures. The
central bank then appointed a team of
experts, consisting of local and
international businessmen and bankers,
including King, to review the
treatment of distressed banks.
The panel ruled that the curator of the
banks had acted in the best
interests of the public, depositors and
creditors in securing the assets.
The panel said the banks were
"hopelessly insolvent" and the disposal of
their assets was the best he
could have done.
"The banks were placed under curatorship because of
their liquidity problems
allegedly because of mismanagement of finances
(and) . the curators
performed their duties professionally," it
said.
Shareholders who felt prejudiced were invited to sue for
damages.
Mafukidze said the banks would fight all the way because the
panel had not
fully addressed the relevant issues.
The panel
said complaints by the banks were baseless and that their call to
have their
former assets revalued at current prices was untenable.
Zimbabwe's
banking sector was rocked a few years ago by the closure of seven
banks due
to mismanagement. Efforts by South African banks to rescue some of
the
distressed banks failed.
May 9,
2006
By Frank Jomo
Blantyre (AND) The local press
today reported that a question by
acting editor for Malawi's official news
agency - Malawi News Agency (Mana)
Don Napuwa to Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe at the end of his four-day
official visit to the country might cost
him his job.
According to a report in The Daily Times newspaper
Napuwa asked Mugabe
to explain how he would want the question of succession
to go after ruling
Zimbabwe for 26 years, looking at the standoff between
his country and the
western world.
Mugabe attempted to
answer the question by saying the succession issue
was not for him to decide
rather that it is in the hands of Zimbabweans
themselves.
However the question angered government
officials who felt embarrassed
and called off the press conference which was
jointly addressed by Mugabe
and his Malawian counterpart Bingu wa
Mutharika.
The press allege that government officials were
yesterday locked up in
a meeting to decide the fate of Napuwa, who himself
confirmed to the media
that he had heard the rumor that government officials
met to discuss the
question.
However Principal
Secretary in the Ministry of Information Beaton
Munthali dismissed the
allegations.
National Media Institute of Southern Africa
(Namisa) though says they
are currently investigating the matter to
establish the truth.
Blantyre Bureau
Nasdaq
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- A U.K. farmer who builds gallows and has
sold them to
African countries with poor human rights' records, has been
condemned by
Amnesty International, the BBC reports Tuesday on its Web
site.
David Lucas, of Mildenhall, Suffolk, has been selling execution
equipment to
countries, including Zimbabwe, for about 10
years.
Amnesty International said the sale of these gallows, which is
completely
legal, was "appalling". But Mr. Lucas said: "It isn't a sick
trade at all."
He said some people deserve the death penalty and "at the end
of the day
business is business".
An Amnesty International spokesman
said the new European Commission Trade
Regulation, which comes into force on
July 31, will make it unlawful to
export gallows.
BBC News Web site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk
The Herald
(Harare)
May 8, 2006
Posted to the web May 9,
2006
Harare
AIR Zimbabwe has finally paid the $2 billion duty
required by revenue
authority Zimra for the release of blankets impounded at
Beitbridge border
post.
Acting chief executive Captain Oscar Madombwe
told a Press conference
recently the funds were paid on Monday last week,
and that the goods had
since been released. The blankets had been detained
for nearly a month, as
the airline struggled to raise duty fees. Fears were
that the goods would be
auctioned. AirZim had been accused of flying to
overseas destinations with
half the required number of blankets. Outbound
and inbound passengers were
said to be using the same blankets, which
constituted a health hazard. But
Captain Madombwe indicated this should be
history as the airline strives to
improve service delivery and profitability
through implementation of its new
turnaround strategies.
In its
turnaround aspirations, a Turnaround Tripartite Committee has been
established to undertake a diagnostic analysis of the problems besetting the
airline, and then devise strategies to cure those ills. Already, AirZim has
been split into five strategic business units -- Air Zimbabwe Holdi ngs,
National Handling Services, Air Zimbabwe Passenger Company, Air Zimbabwe
Technical and Air Zimbabwe Cargo. The airline would also seek to regain lost
glory by adopting a vigorous domestic, regional and international route
development plan and to forge strategic alliances with the Far East, Middle
East, Africa and Europe.
However, analysts have questioned the wisdom
of unbundling the airline into
five units as past experience does not augur
well for such a strategy. For
instance, the splitting of the former ZBC into
ZBH Holdings and all its
subsidiaries has failed to work wonders for the
national broadcaster. Zesa
Holdings isreportedely in the same predicament.
Not surprisingly, analysts
suggest AirZim might have been better off going
the Zupco way.
The bus company simply commercialised its services without
necessarily
having to unbundle. Today, Zupco is one of Government's success
stories in
terms of commercialisation while fundamentally retaining its
identity as a
para statal. For the first time in years, Zupco last year
recorded a profit,
and paid $25 billion in dividends to Government. Other
success stories
include cotton processor Cottco and milk producer Dairibord
that were
commercialised in the late 1990s, and subsequently listed on the
Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange. The two companies are some of the top performers on
the
domestic bourse, recording healthy profits in recent years.
The Herald
(Harare)
OPINION
May 8, 2006
Posted to the web May 9,
2006
Sifelani Tsiko
Harare
THE recent launch of the traditional
medicine school by the Zimbabwe
National Traditional Healers Association
(Zinatha), is a milestone that lays
the foundation for a more appreciation
of traditional medical systems that
were marginalised for
years.
Enrolment of students is underway for the 9-month certificate
level and
two-year diploma level courses. Zinatha officials say they will
accommodate
an average of 16 to 20 students per class at Red Cross House
where four
lecturers -- Prof Gordon Chavunduka, Mr Nelson Jambaya, Mrs
Martha Katsande
and Mr Tapera Dzviti make history by teaching traditional
medicine. Courses
will cover religion and culture, medicines and medical
practice. Traditional
medicine students will go for practicals in the bush
where they will learn
about how to profile major herbs, the description of
each herb including
diagnostic features of the leaves, flowers and fruits as
well as the African
names of the herbs.
Experts who have called for
the promotion of traditional medicine within the
World Health Organisation
say the practice of traditional medicine
represents a major alternative
approach to finding a solution to the
diseases that affect many people
across the African continent. A number of
African countries are examining
and expanding ways of incorporating the
services of healers with biomedicine
in an attempt to deliver care to the
majority of the people who have limited
access to modern health care. Prof
Chavunduka hailed the move to open a
traditional medicine school saying it
would help raise the profile of
traditional African medical systems and
situate it within the general
African culture. "We have acquired textbooks,
desks and stationery required
and we are ready to start lectures on the
first of June this year," he said.
Experts say African traditional medical
systems have survived negative
Eurocentric stereotypes that sought to put
Western medical systems above
traditional African systems. Worldwide,
medical scientists are increasingly
turning to medicines and healing
practices used in pre-colonial Africa in
order to understand the bases of
their effectiveness.
African
traditional medicine experts say such studies have brought to light
new
chemical compounds and psychological effects to enrich medical science.
Healing practices from Africa, they say, provide new insights into ways of
dealing with illness. "In other cases, it turned out that the substance and
practice of African traditional medicine was the same as those used today
independently discovered and developed in Africa and in other parts of the
world," says William Zartman, an expert on traditional medicine
research.
"In both cases research globalises knowledge, whether by adding
African
discoveries to the world repertory or by bringing African inventions
with
the universal names of things already known." Problems associated with
the
negative image of traditional African medicine are still raw and need
transformation in order to bring on board the healing practices not as an
appendage to Western medical systems but as a competitive and complementary
force on the continent's health delivery systems. "The popular image of the
African medicine man is that of the fabled w itch doctor, with his exotic
paraphernalia of feathers, cowries and animal skin, muttering meaningless
incantations and dispensing worthless potions to his equally ignorant
clients," writes Maurice Iwu in a Handbook of Traditional African Medicine.
"Even the herbs they dispense are considered harmful and when they are found
efficacious, the detractors of traditional medicine are quick to dismiss
them as chance discoveries. "The incantations and the rhythm of the drums
are said to be weird sounds and part of the mumbo-jumbo designed to hoodwink
the superstitious savages who are under their spell," he says. "The reality
of African medicine is far more complex that is generally understood," Iwu
argues.
"Only a few appreciate the real capabilities of African
medicine." In
Africa, south of the Sahara, the ratio of traditional healers
to the
population is about 1:500 in contrast to the doctor to population
ratio of
1:40 000 on average. Traditional healers are spread throughout rur
al and
urban communities and are the widely consulted even though Western
trained
medical practitioners still treat the potential role of traditional
healers
with suspicion and are reluctant to accept the idea of working with
them. It
is the emergence of fake healers and opportunists that has dented
efforts to
make traditional medicine safer for patients while at the same
time raising
its prestige. Zinatha must make sure that those who qualify
from the
traditional medical school are registered and strictly adhere to
medical
ethics so as to protect professional standards of traditional
medical
systems. A number of doctors trained in Western medical systems have
been
de-registered for violating medical ethics and this only shows that
there is
no medical system that is free from deviants that may harm these
two medical
systems for selfish ends. "It is pertinent to state that the
African medical
system does not fall into the sphere of what is known as
'alternative
medicine' but it is rather a complementary but different
medical system that
uses medicine in a more-or-less conventional manner for
the treatment of
diseases," says Iwu.
"It employs in a fundamental
sense, the same basic methods as Western
medicine with additional
contributions from the spiritual dimension which
gives the healing depth and
meaning within the African cosmology and
experience. "It cannot be reduced
to simple herbalism," he argues.
Traditional African medicine has more
followers than Western medicine in
Africa and increasingly in North America
and Europe there is booming market
for indigenous African medicines with
Western pharmaceutical giants tapping
into the vast traditional medicine
body. African medicinal plants can also
compete favourably alongside Chinese
medicinal plants that are in demand all
over the world if steps are taken to
improve procedures and standards to
make it more acceptable worldwide. In
South Africa, it is estimated that
there are 300 000 traditional
practitioners in the industry which has an
annual turnover of more than 250
million rands. Zimbabwe has about 55 000
traditional healers and 40 000 of
them are registered with Zinatha. With
proper planning, training and
resources, Zimbabwe's traditional medical
systems can be developed to boost
the economy as well as tap into the
booming herbal industry worldwide.
Already, Zinatha and other traditional
scientists are conducting research
into various medicinal plants that can be
used to boost immunity and treat
diseases such as cancer, malaria and other
diseases.
Health officials
in Zimbabwe welcomed the opening of the traditional
medicine school and said
it would complement the country's health delivery
system. "Witchcraft should
not be linked to traditional medical practices
because the latter practices
are good, they are part of our heritage and
they have been known to be quite
beneficial," said Health and Child Welfare
Deputy Minister Dr Edwin Muguti
during a meeting on the formulation of a
National Policy and Code of Ethics
on Traditional Medicine recently. "If you
may allow me to quote Dr Ibrahim
Samba, the former World Health Organisation
regional director who said: 'For
all the revolutionary and dramatic
improvements in human health in the 21st
century, life in much of Africa
begins with and is sustained by the support
of traditional medicine."
Raising awareness on the existing rules and
regulations governing the
practice of traditional medicine will help to
revolutionarise traditional
medical systems and the use of indigenous
knowledge and resources.
New Zimbabwe
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 05/10/2006 02:37:19
THE arrest of a
small-time drug dealer has led Zimbabwean police to a
massive marijuana
plantation in the southern border town of Beitbridge.
A police raid led
to the arrest of 29 people -- all suspected of providing
labour on the
marijuana farm measuring three hectares, the state-run
Chronicle newspaper
reported.
Police found over 1 500 marijuana plants -- some measuring over
2,5
metres -- in 26 fields.
The marijuana haul has a street value of
Zim$15 billion.
Police suspect the marijuana cultivation has been going
on for years.
Several officers from the Criminal Investigations
Department in Beitbridge
worked across two days on Saturday and Sunday to
account for the massive
stretch of marijuana plants, known locally as
mbanje.
The stretch of the plantation moved along the Umzingwane in the
rural
outpost of Makakavhule, Detective Inspector Patrick Majutta of the CID
said.
He added: "We actually got a tip-off from a suspect whom we had
arrested in
Dulibadzimu suburb with several twists of mbanje. The suspect
then led us to
an area in Makakavhule where we eventually discovered more
fields along the
Umzingwane River.
"Some of the suspects were caught
red-handed watering the fields, while
others had to be rounded up from the
surrounding villages. We are still
carrying out more
investigations."
All the suspects now face charges under the Dangerous
Drugs Act.
More arrests could follow, police said.
New Zimbabwe
By Crisford
Chogugudza
Last updated: 05/09/2006 21:47:17
WHEN the MDC was formed in
1999 there was pomp and fanfare in Zimbabwe and
many people were convinced
that the Zanu PF monster machinery was breathing
its last.
Initially,
many change-loving Zimbabweans were happy for real opposition to
Zanu PF for
the very first time with due respect to PF Zapu.
Although there were
misgivings as to whether the new party had the
wherewithal to unseat Zanu PF
from power and set the people free from what
many see as post colonial
bondage and impoverishment, there was political
catharsis at
last.
However, events in the past few months unfolded a new era of
instability and
uncertainty in the MDC ranks following a decision by a group
of so called
democrats to participate in the widely discredited Senate
elections.
Whether participation in the senate elections, or a boycott of
them was at
the core of the argument only the belligerents know better. The
failure by
the MDC leadership to resolve the Senate issue led to the
breakaway of the
powerful "Bulawayo" faction of the party. Suspension and
counter suspensions
did very little to resolve the stand off and this marked
a sad era of not
only opposition politics but national politics of peaceful
resistance as
well.
King Arthur Mutambara's flamboyant entry into the
political arena and his
timely ascendancy to power in the other MDC faction
further complicated the
situation of the opposition. The overwhelming
consensus of expert opinion
was that the two MDC factions needed to sit
down, build bridges and move
ahead to fight the common enemy.
On the
contrary the feuding between the two parties continued much to the
disappointment of ordinary cadres who fought hard to build a formidable
party which is now facing possible political irrelevance if there is no
immediate rescue strategy. Some have now branded the once vibrant opposition
party as having been reduced to a talk show -- a stay away party or a mere
debating society.
The MDC name confusion is putting more strains to
democracy and placing
further away any hopes of reclaiming the country for
democracy. The same
could not be said about six months or so ago when the
party was still intact
under the leadership of an assertive and buoyant
Morgan Tsvangirai. Today
the party is operating like Siamese twins whose
separation may be done at
the expense of the life of the other.
The
much talked about congresses did not resolve anything as the best brains
of
the opposition project are still separated by differences in ideologies,
strategy, personality clashes and vision for a future Zimbabwe. It is sad
that the congresses gave powerful posts to some less humorous and
uninspiring opportunists who may feel threatened by any attempts to merge
the two parties. It is not in the best interests of these people to see a
united MDC for obvious reasons.
This is a very sad situation and the
future looks even grimmer and more
ghastly. For those in the Diaspora, a
united MDC was at the heart of their
political pride and now these people
are getting disillusioned although
there are some who are still committed
but even them choosing which side to
support has not been easy. I know some
frustrated Zimbabweans here in the UK
who have decided to join the labour
party instead. By the way as an ethnic
minority member of labour, there are
a lot of advantages than being part of
the current mess and rigmarole of the
MDC.
The continued name share in the MDC is very confusing and
unnecessary.
Conventional wisdom requires the two entities or parties should
swallow
their pride and unite forces in the face of increasing adversity
from a
relentless albeit moribund Zanu PF regime. The awkward nature of this
name
share creates despondency amongst party members some of whom have
divided
loyalties. The dividends of this name share are increased chaos,
leadership
denigration and the death of the redemption project. If the two
opposition
forces can not work together as events in the last couple of
weeks seem to
suggest, then a formal divorce of the two parties needs to
take place as
been famously advocated by Bulawayo MDC legislator David
Coltart whose
loyalty is still not a resolved matter.
I am sure if
neutral mediators are found to try and bring the two sides
together, the
better. It is true to say that a united MDC with King Arthur's
largely
intellectual wing on one hand and Morgan Tsvangirai's experienced,
tried and
tested crew on the other would create a formidable opposition
almost
guaranteed of winning the next elections in Zimbabwe under any
circumstances. The big question is whether these two equally powerful
leaders, once close allies during the student uprisings of the late
eighties, would be able to work together as subordinate or super ordinate to
each other. This is the question which needs resolving first.
Failure
to agree on a merger as all the indications seem to suggest, it is
only
logical that one of the two parties stop using the name MDC and assume
another name which distinguishes it from the other and start operating as
different but complementary forces as was the case with Zanu PF and PF
Zapu.
Some wild suggestions of names would include MDC PF, United MDC,
MDC Mwenje
or Front for Democratic Change (FDC) there is a plethora of names
which can
be assumed by either of the parties. The longer the confusion
takes the
better for Zanu PF which even has the luxury of forgiving the
Tsholotsho
"coup plotters" and recycle them into active politics. The damage
that has
been caused by this name confusion is enormous irrespective of what
some
ambitious spokespersons make of the politics of numbers in MDC rallies.
Both
parties have a chance to establish a strong own identity given the fact
that
a general election is still 18 to 22 months away even longer should the
Zanu
PF parliamentary rubberstamp machinery is utilised again to push
elections
to 2010.
The MDC parties should take lessons from the
nationalist parties such as
Zanu PF, PF Zapu, ANC, PAC of South Africa and
MPLA, UNITA of Angola. These
parties had serious ideological and leadership
differences and decided to
split and the splinter groups became autonomous
vibrant parties with an
identifiable support base. These parties except PF
Zapu are still huge
political contenders in their respective countries. The
truth of democracy
is that it becomes stronger with multiplicity of forces.
The more parties
they are the better. The most important thing is to
coordinate each other's
efforts and work towards fighting the common enemy,
this may require forming
coalitions during and after elections.
The
people of Zimbabwe now want the captains of the two opposition parties
to
show leadership and move their parties in the right direction. Lessons
from
other budding democracies such as Kenya and Zambia will prove the point
that
a divided opposition does not work against the seasoned and experienced
parties such as Zanu PF who are prepared to use every election gimmickry in
the book to retain power even if it requires them to infiltrate the
opposition and cause further mayhem.
The next few months are crucial
to both leaders of MDC parties to either
formally divorce from each other,
move towards a formidable merger or hand
Zanu PF another controversial
presidential term that will almost relegate
opposition politics to political
Siberia and render their existence only a
mere academic
expression.
My last advice to the two leaders and their spokesmen who
make miscalculated
statements sometimes is to desist from the politics of
character
assassinations but respect one another irrespective of differences
of
opinion. Time and again we have seen in other African countries that
those
who set out to liberate their people end up fighting among themselves
claiming innocent victims, sowing seeds of confusion and sending mixed
messages to the people.
George Ayittey, the acclaimed Ghanaian writer
once said "if we African
liberators cannot get our acts together, then let
the oppressors stay". As
for the MDC supporters patience pays, give your
leaders time to resolve the
impasse, push them to act if you need to. For
those cynical of opposition
leadership, rise and participate in the peaceful
struggle for it is the only
way you can be counted when redemption comes.
Like what one Greek
philosopher once said, "the penalty of not participating
in active politics
is that you get ruled by your inferiors".
Above
all, people need to be careful, peaceful in their approach and avoid
politics of hero worshipping or personality cult. This has a danger of
replacing tyranny with despotism if left unchecked.
Food for
thought.
Crisford Chogugudza is a political commentator based in North
London,
England. He can be contacted at crisford02@yahoo.co.uk