http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 21:47
PRIME MINISTER
Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to come under pressure
from members of the
MDC-T National Council meeting in Masvingo today as
frustration grows in his
party over failure to resolve outstanding issues in
the Global Political
Agreement.
Senior party officials are among those who have become
disillusioned
as hardliners aligned to President Robert Mugabe continue to
harass party
activists, lawyers and journalists.
The sustained
harassment comes at a time the inclusive government has
pledged reforms to
allow national healing and create a conducive environment
for economic
revival.
The officials, some in government have all but watched as
Mugabe
refused to rein in individuals accused of working against the spirit
of the
Government of National Unity (GNU).
MDC-T sources
yesterday said there was growing concern in the party
over what they
perceive as failure by the PM to stand up to Mugabe.
They
pointed out that of late Tsvangirai had sought to defend Mugabe
or project
an image of a normal working relationship between him and the
President, yet
evidence to the contrary abounds.
MDC-T activists accused of
terrorism and banditry last week continued
to have a torrid time in the
courts, they said. Mugabe has also stalled the
swearing in of Roy Bennett,
the deputy of Minister of agriculture-designate.
They also said
Tsvangirai wanted it to appear as though outstanding
issues were being
resolved yet Mugabe was clear in his determination to
retain
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon
Gono.
Tomana was heavily criticised last week after he was
named as the man
who gave the directive to arrest two Zimbabwe Independent
journalists.
The AG's office also came under the spotlight
after persistently
invoking a section of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Act, which allows
the state to continue to detain MDC activists. A judge
ruled last week that
the state's case against the activists was
weak.
MDC officials said while the arrests escalated, the PM's
office sent
signals that all was well in the GNU. The office said a
breakthrough had
been reached between the principals and an announcement
would be made early
in the week.
Later the office said an
announcement would be made by Friday. Up
until the time of going to press
last night, no statement had been issued.
Tsvangirai's
spokesperson James Maridadi could only say: "The
principals met and agreed
on a position and that position will be announced
in due course at a time
that is appropriate."
Party insiders said failure to make the
announcement was hardly
surprising given that no firm resolution had been
made on the outstanding
issues.
While Mugabe had pledged to
meet Tsvangirai and iron out the
outstanding issues early last week, he had
changed his tune by requesting a
postponement of the meeting until Zanu PF's
politburo meeting on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, Zanu PF
politburo members were told the meeting
had been cancelled. MDC-T officials
saw the cancellation of the politburo
meeting as a delaying
tactic.
"Mugabe has succeeded for three months in delaying the
resolution of
these matters. He gives one excuse after another," said an
official
yesterday.
The sources said little progress had
been made on the crucial issues
and the MDC-T's supreme decision making body
would debate the way forward in
view of Zanu PF's
intransigence.
There were suggestions yesterday that Mugabe had
backed down on
removing the communications portfolio from Minister Nelson
Chamisa. A
100-day action plan unveiled by the PM and Vice-President Joice
Mujuru
appeared to confirm that.
The plan approved by
cabinet on April 28, gives Chamisa the overall
authority to conduct a
national communications infrastructure audit and
improve by 30% telephone
and mobile communication services.
Chamisa is also expected to
officiate at tomorrow's World
Telecommunications Commemoration ceremony in
Harare.
The Standard understands that although Chamisa may have
won the fight,
hardliners in Zanu PF insist Chamisa cannot be trusted with
managing the
Interception of Communications Act, the law that gives the
state legal basis
to spy on citizens.
The three principals
- Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara - have met
eight times in the past three weeks without
agreement on the future of Gono
and Tomana.
The MDC-T wants this matter referred to
Sadc.
MDC-T sources say Mugabe is determined to retain Gono and
Tomana even
at the cost of collapse of the GNU.
In
Masvingo, the council will meet ahead of the party's 10th
anniversary
celebrations scheduled for Mucheke stadium later in the day.
BY
WALTER MARWIZI & CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
21:11
OVER 720 male prisoners have succumbed to severe hunger and
treatable
diseases at Harare's Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison alone since
May last
year, in a shocking indication of the extent of collapse of the
country's
prison system.
Sources told The Standard the
situation is so dire that the inclusive
government has appealed to charity
organisations to come to the rescue of
the prisoners with food aid, clothing
and drugs to prevent mass deaths at
the country's largest jail.
The Standard learnt last week that at least 721 prisoners died from
diseases
linked to serious food shortages such as pellagra during the past
12 months.
Pellagra is a deficiency disease caused by a lack of vitamin B3
and
proteins.
This means that on average 60 prisoners were dying each
month, a
startling figure coming from a single prison.
"These figures are only for male inmates," said an official at
Chikurubi.
"Very few women die while in custody because their conditions are
much
better than of their male counterparts."
Chikurubi, with 1 300
inmates, is among the most congested prisons in
the
country.
Prison officers last week said some cells designed to
hold only 10
inmates were currently taking up to 30 prisoners.
The majority of them wrap torn and lice-infested pieces of cloths and
blankets around their skeletal bodies due to the critical shortage of
clothing.
Apart from pellagra, tuberculosis, HIV/Aids
related illnesses and
chronic diarrhoea also took their toll on inmates at
Chikurubi for the
period March 21, 2008 to December 12,
2008.
Prosper Rukasha (34), who was slapped with a 26-year
sentence for
murder with actual intent in July last year died of pellagra
four months
later, The Standard learnt.
He is one of the
estimated 400 inmates who died from pellagra during
the period under
review.
During the same period, the prison presided over 300
pauper burials
for inmates whose relatives could not be located or failed to
raise money to
collect bodies of their beloved ones.
Prison
officers who spoke to The Standard on condition of anonymity
said at one
time last year all 1 300 inmates at Chikurubi were being fed
only on sadza
and 10 cabbages cooked with two litres of cooking oil every
day.
The Standard also understands that last November and
December, as well
as January this year, had the highest death figures of 96,
113 and 118
respectively recorded.
"This was the most
difficult period because there was virtually no
food for
prisoners.
"The lucky ones were getting their food from their
relatives," said
one senior prison officer.
MDC deputy
minister of agriculture-designate Roy Bennett recently
spoke about his
period of incarceration at Mutare Central Prison where five
people died and
that authorities took over a day to dispose of the bodies.
He
said inmates were being served sadza with salt and water once a
day. A
local prisoners' rights group, the Zimbabwe Association for Crime
Prevention
and Rehabilitation of the Offender, said at least two inmates die
everyday
from hunger and disease at Chikurubi Prison.
Prisoners who have
no relatives to bring them extra food are virtually
guaranteed a slow and
very painful death.
As a result, prison officials said, weak
and emaciated inmates would
go for two or more days without their daily
rations because it was now
"survival of the fittest".
"This
is when some of them resorted to killing rats and roasting them
for food,"
said another prison officer. "What was worrying was that the rats
would feed
on corpses in a room which had been converted into a mortuary."
The prison officer said the "mortuary", which was at one time a TB
ward had
108 corpses, most of them with missing noses, eyes and lips
devoured by
rats.
The "mortuary", which is a couple of metres away from the
prison
kitchen, had a choking stench that attracted huge green
flies.
Prison officers said the situation had improved slightly
at Chikurubi
since April following the intervention of the International
Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme which are
feeding the
prisoners.
"We only recorded 31 deaths in April
and four as of May 12. This shows
a great improvement. The situation is
changing very fast," said another ZPS
official.
A new
mortuary powered by electricity and standby generators is now
functional.
Under pressure to overhaul its prison
facilities the government in
April allowed the ICRC to work on improving
conditions at the prisons.
The government reached an agreement
with the ICRC following shocking
revelations of prison conditions that
attracted international condemnation.
In March, the South
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Special
Assignment programme
captured the extent of the collapse of the country's
prison
system.
The programme showed inmates who looked like living
skeletons,
suffering from severe malnutrition-related conditions,
tuberculosis and
HIV/Aids.
The Minister of Justice,
Patrick Chinamasa claimed then that the SABC
footage was from other
countries, but recently he appealed to donors to come
to the rescue as
prisoners were facing starvation.
Critics say the situation in
the country's jails started to
deteriorate following the appointment of
Retired Major General Paradzai
Zimondi as the head of the Zimbabwe Prison
Services (ZPS). Zimondi, a
staunch supporter of President Robert Mugabe, was
appointed in 1999.
Zimondi was not immediately available for
comment.
His critics say prior to his appointment, prisons
across the country
could grow enough food on prison farms to feed the
inmates.
But most of the farms are derelict despite receiving
seed, fertiliser,
tractors and other agricultural implements from the
Reserve Bank's
controversial farm mechanisation programme.
While ZPS spokesperson Granitia Musango said she could not comment
because
she was on study leave an official with the public relations
department,
Mayor Kaunda, said she needed questions in writing.
Zimbabwe
has 42 prisons around the country housing criminals and
political
detainees.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 21:08
BULAWAYO
- About 1 000 delegates from throughout Zimbabwe endorsed
Zapu's formal
withdrawal from the 1987 Unity Accord with Zanu PF in a major
blow to the
former ruling party.
The special congress held at Mzilikazi's
McDonald Hall, five months
after disgruntled Zanu PF heavy weights initiated
the breakaway, attracted
prominent politicians from the region who included
Paul Siwela, who
contested the 2002 presidential elections, and former
speaker of parliament,
Cyril Ndebele.
Several former members of
Zanu PF provincial executives in
Matabeleland and the Midlands who left the
party last year as cracks widened
over President Robert Mugabe's reluctance
to step down also attended in
large numbers.
There was also
a huge presence of members of the civic society and
other parties in the
country including the two formations of the Movement
for Democratic Change
led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
Dumiso Dabengwa, the Zapu interim chairman said the
endorsement of the
pullout meant that the former liberation movement was now
ready to claim its
place as a leading political force in the
country.
"The re-emergence of Zapu and its extrication from the
Unity Accord of
1987 is informed by the noble agenda which seeks to renew
the Zimbabwe dream
through the revival of all, rebuilding infrastructure,
providing economic
stewardship, building democratic institutions and respect
for the rule of
law, devolution of power, human rights and civil liberties,"
Dabengwa told
journalists.
"It is with this message that
Zapu wants to restore the respectable
nationhood.
"The will
of the people is the pivot around which proper, able and
accountable
leadership is elected, and true empowerment and emancipation
will be the
ultimate goal."
He said former Zapu leaders who wanted to
remain in Zanu PF were no
longer representing the interests of the party.
Vice-President Joseph Msika
and Zanu PF chairman John Nkomo are some of the
leaders who have vowed to
stick with Mugabe.
The delegates
also debated the revived party's new constitution, the
recovery of its
properties ceased by Mugabe's old administration and various
strategies to
build structures that will turn it into a fully fledged party.
Zapu was founded by the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo in December
1961
and along Zanu PF prosecuted the country's liberation war.
The
party was forced into the Unity Accord after the North Korean
trained 5
Brigade launched an assault on people in its strongholds of
Matabeleland and
the Midlands, where more than 20 000 civilians were killed
for supporting
Zapu.
However, the 22-year-old marriage was characterised by
bickering over
the old Zanu PF's refusal to fulfill commitments it made in
the agreement
such as rotating the party's leadership, changing
party symbols and giving equal opportunities to cadres from Zipra and
Zanla,
their former military wings.
President Mugabe's previous
administrations were also accused of
neglecting Matabeleland's development
and failing to compensate victims of
the Gukurahundi
massacres.
Dabengwa said another congress would be held to
elect substantive
leaders for the party once the
restructuring
exercise had been completed.
BY NKULULEKO SIBANDA
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 21:06
LAWYERS have sent a petition to the Ministry of Justice and Legal
Affairs
expressing outrage over the way human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama
was
arrested last week.
The petition was sent amid indications that
lawyers might be starting
a process that could lead to Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana's
deregistration from the Law Society of Zimbabwe
(LSZ).
Such an embarrassing development could pile pressure on the
AG, whose
tenure, together with that of central bank Governor Gideon Gono,
is among
the outstanding issues that are yet to be resolved by the
principals to the
Global Political Agreement.
Sources
yesterday said lawyers held an emergency meeting last week
before handing a
petition to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa expressing
disapproval over
Muchadehama's recent arrest.
The petition expressed outrage
over the way Muchadehama, who is out on
bail, was treated by the police and
the state. Muchadehama was arrested on
accusations of obstructing the course
of justice.
He was picked up as he processed legal papers
needed to release two
MDC activists and a journalist accused of
terrorism.
The Standard understands that lawyers are of the
opinion that
Muchadehama's arrest amounted to harassment of the entire legal
fraternity.
They blamed the AG for Muchadehama's arrest.
Sources said lawyers were meeting again on Tuesday amid signs that a
complaint against Tomana's conduct was likely to be filed with the
LSZ.
"I anticipate a scenario where a complaint will be lodged
with the LSZ
in a matter of days because there is anger in the fraternity
over Tomana's
conduct. That complaint will prompt the LSZ to act, as is the
normal
procedure when complaints reach them," a source
said.
A councillor with the LSZ, Chris Mhike, yesterday
confirmed that a
petition had been sent to the Minister protesting the
manner in which
Muchadehama had been arrested.
He also
confirmed that there was concern in the fraternity over the
conduct of the
AG although he would not talk about how the lawyers would
proceed with the
matter.
Well placed sources, however, said if the LSZ were to
find Tomana's
conduct unbecoming of a lawyer, it would mean that the chief
government law
officer could be struck off the legal practitioners' register
in what would
be hugely embarrassing for Tomana. The decision could mean
Tomana, who is a
partner in a law firm, could not practice as a
lawyer.
Tomana's conduct at the AG's office came under the
spotlight last week
when it was sharply criticized by the co-Minister of
Home Affairs Giles
Mutsekwa. The minister told Parliament that, without his
knowledge, Tomana
had ordered the arrest of two journalists from the
Zimbabwe Independent,
Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure, who spent
Monday night in filthy
police cells.
An outraged Mutsekwa
said Tomana had admitted to giving an instruction
to incarcerate the
journalists at a time when the inclusive government was
pledging to reform
the restrictive media environment.
The minister said Tomana's
action was disgusting.
LSZ sources revealed that Tomana had not
only outraged the minister,
but had disturbed colleagues in the legal
fraternity after the arrest of
Muchadehama.
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 21:00
PROMINENT businessman Enoch Kamushinda has hired a war veteran to
evict more
than 240 families from a complex of flats in Harare's Avenues
area in a new
twist to a long running wrangle over lease agreements.
According to
documents seen by The Standard last week, Kamushinda's
Mnondo Properties
(Pvt) Ltd in December engaged retired army captain John
Murukayi's
controversial Revolutionary Council Trust to evict all the 240
tenants from
Cathedral Flats.
Kamushinda, who is now based in Namibia, accused
the tenants who
include pensioners of occupying the flats illegally in a
dispute that has
been raging on for more than five years.
Murukayi was charged with evicting tenants who did not have valid
lease
agreements and pressing criminal charges against those who had damaged
the
property.
But Murukayi is now involved in a bitter tussle with
Kamushinda's
lawyers Dube, Manikai & Hwacha who last month accused him
of failing to
carry out the evictions within the agreed time and for
allegedly carrying
out unauthorised activities at the
premises.
They said instead of securing the flats after
evicting 20 tenants, he
brought in new lodgers who were now paying rent to
him.
He had also made developments at the flats such as
constructing a
security wall without approval.
"You were
given the mandate by Mnondo to evict all tenants all of whom
are illegal
tenants from the Cathedral flats," reads the letter from the
lawyers.
"Out of the 240 flats you have evicted just over
20 tenants and of
those only 14 tenants were evicted and have not returned
ato the flats.
"Instead of securing those 14 flats you have
placed holding tenants
who themselves are paying rent and want lease
agreements with Mnondo."
Murukayi, who is also accused of
applying for peace orders against
Mnondo workers who were sent to collect
rentals from him, was given 20 days
to carry out the
evictions.
"We shall not be in a position to accept any excuses
for failing to
meet this deadline," reads the letter.
"Please note that all tenants are illegal tenants. Should you feel
this task
is difficult to achieve please come and urgently talk to our Mr
(Selby)
Hwacha without fail."
The lawyers also instructed Murukayi to
charge tenants who were not
able to move out daily rates pegged against
those charged by lodges, which
were payable seven days in
advance.
But a defiant Murukayi accused Mnondo management of
trying to force
him to commit a crime by violently evicting the tenants
without following
the legal route.
"They thought that
simply because I am a war vet I would agree to come
here and make jambanja
not knowing that I went to school and can act
rationally", he
said.
"That did not make sense to me so I decided to act
legally, removing
those tenants who deserve to be removed through the courts
of law depending
on the merits and demerits of each case."
He said 32 "undeserving" tenants mostly from Senegal had been evicted
so
far. He claimed that he was receiving Kamushinda's blessings to solve the
dispute through legal channels.
"I am restoring sanity
while also respecting the rights of the
tenants", he said. "Their approach
was wrong.
"You cannot have a war veteran and lawyers acting on the
same issue. .
. It's either lawyers or war vets."
Hwacha said his
firm only carried out instructions from its client and
was not aware that
Murukayi was a war veteran.
The Cathedral residents'
association said they were challenging Mnondo
Properties' contention that
they were illegal tenants and warned that most
of its members would find it
difficult to get alternative accommodation.
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
20:57
MASVINGO - The Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai says it is concerned about the increasing number
of its
supporters in the province who are succumbing to internal injuries
they
suffered during last year's violent elections.
MDC-T Gutu
district chairman Lloyd Mufudze last week said more than 20
party activists
who were abducted and assaulted at Zanu PF militia bases
last year had lost
their lives during the past two months.
He said most of them died
because they had not received proper
treatment following their
abuse.
Speaking at the burial of one of the victims, Costa
Jaliwa, who died
last week, Mufudze said there was an urgent need for the
remaining survivors
to get proper medical attention because they were still
in danger of
succumbing to their injuries.
Jaliwa was
detained at a Zanu PF militia base where he was severely
assaulted.
"A number of our members who were victims of
torture at Zanu PF
militia bases are losing their lives because of the
severe injuries they
sustained. They failed to get proper medical attention
during that time
because the situation was tense," Mufudze
said.
"We call upon the government's urgent attention to those
who are still
alive. They need assistance in receiving medical attention. So
the
government should move in quickly.''
Jaliwa died at
Masvingo General Hospital after he was admitted for a
week.
After his release from the torture camps he spent three months at
Mutero
Mission Hospital but the internal injuries continued to haunt him
until his
death.
Mufudze also spoke against delays in prosecuting
perpetrators of
violence during last year's elections.
"The
new government should move fast in dealing with the issue of
those who
committed crimes during the elections.
"We can only forgive
them if the law takes its course." Villagers who
lost their relatives as
well as livestock say they want their tormentors
arrested and the property
seized from them returned.
"The way they want the national
healing process is contrary to what
people here think," said Daniel Jinga,
the Gutu Rural District Council
chairman.
"People lost
their relatives and livestock. They know those who did
that."
More than 100 MDC-T supporters died while thousands
of others were
tortured and displaced as Zanu PF militias launched a
campaign of terror in
a bid to stop Tsvangirai from standing in the June 27,
2008 presidential
election run-off.
BY GODFREY MUTIMBA
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
17:13
IT is 7am and the South African embassy, which was one of the
busiest
foreign missions in Harare until three weeks ago, is
serene.
Before South Africa scrapped visas for Zimbabweans visiting
that
country, the embassy would be a hive of activity as early as 4am with
people
jostling for the first spot in the queue to submit visa application
forms.
It was also an opportunity for street kids to make a killing
by
securing entry numbers in the queues for those who fail to come early
enough.
The street kids would charge between US$5 and US$15 for
places they
had secured in the queues.
The embassy's security
guards were in it too. Like vultures, they
would wait for those arriving
after 8am.
By that time all prospective travellers seeking to
submit their
applications would already be in the embassy
courtyard.
The enterprising guards would ask for a few dollars
in exchange for
allowing late arrivals to squeeze in.
For some,
R700 was enough to secure them a six-month long visa without
having to queue
at the embassy.
They also did not have to go through the
process of looking for the R2
000 worth of travellers' cheques that the
South African government required
for any Zimbabwean wishing to visit that
country.
Street photographers were among those who benefited
from the crowds
that turned up at the embassy. Each working day they waxed
lyrical as they
sought to attract people for instant passport
photographs.
However, a visit to the embassy last week showed a
different picture,
just weeks after South Africa scrapped its visa
requirements.
It's now back to the drawing board for most of
those who had found a
lucrative business outside the
embassy.
The mood is equally gloomy at the embassy's visa
section where many
employees are anxious about their
future.
"There is uncertainty and we just do not know what is
going to
happen," said one of the employees.
"The rumour is that
these people will be reassigned to other
departments."
Head
of the visa section, Dennis Nzuza, had no immediate comment.
A
security guard at the embassy said the scrapping of the visas was a
blow to
most of his colleagues and many others who made a living out of
people
applying for visas.
"You must understand that many commuter
buses used to ferry people to
and from the city and there were always people
for them. It's a short
distance therefore it is very lucrative," he
said.
"We also had photographers and those who knew people
inside and could
make the processing of applications faster - for a fee, of
course. All this
is gone."
At Roadport bus terminus, the
effects of the scrapping of the visa are
also felt.
As a
result of the prohibitive R2 000 worth of travellers' cheques and
equally
daunting Zimbabwean passport fees, bus drivers made money, charging
between
R1 000 and R1 500 for travellers without the proper travel
documents.
"Most drivers here built houses," said Cuthbert
Dandaro, a bus driver.
"Smuggling people through the border and
many roadblocks on the other
side was a thriving business.
"I know
drivers and conductors who were making as much as R10 000 a
trip."
In Bulawayo the popular omalayitsha (human
traffickers) who drove
flashy cars which they bought using proceeds from
their business of
smuggling people into South Africa are no longer having it
easy.
"Just like the foreign currency dealers these guys are
feeling the
pinch," said Pindai Dube, a Bulawayo-based
journalist.
"They used to be the guys about town who would not
hesitate to spend
even when Zimbabwe was burning, but now they are suddenly
humble like
everyone else."
The scrapping of visas has not
resulted in an influx of Zimbabweans
into South Africa as initially
feared.
Figures provided by the Department of Immigration do not
indicate a
huge jump in the number of Zimbabweans visiting South
Africa.
The department's director of operations, Givemore
Charamba, said
between May 5 when the visas were officially scrapped and May
12, only 7 055
people who did not have visas crossed into South
Africa.
Another 14 204 who already had visas entered the neighbouring
country.
"There is nothing alarming about those statistics.
Those are the
normal numbers we were getting even before this measure,"
Charamba said.
"Although I do not have the statistics of people
coming into Zimbabwe,
I am told there is also nothing out of the
ordinary."
South Africa was deporting an average of 10 000
illegal immigrants
from Zimbabweans every month before the visas were
scrapped.
BY JOHN MOKWETSI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
16:44
THE State's case against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
former
aide Gandhi Mudzingwa and a photojournalist who are facing terrorism
and
banditry charges suffered a major set back when a High Court judge ruled
that evidence linking them to the crime was questionable.
Justice November Mtshiya who granted bail to Mudzingwa, freelance
journalist
Shadreck Manyere and MDC-T director for security, Kisimusi
Dlamini noted
that evidence would not sustain the terrorism charges. He said
apart from an
alleged video confession from Dhlamini, there was no direct
evidence linking
the three to offences they allegedly committed last year in
supposed
attempts to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's previous
administration.
The three were part of a group of MDC
officials, civic society
activists and journalists who were abducted and
tortured by state security
agents during an elaborate campaign launched last
year.
"I am, in the main, generally in agreement with the
applicants that,
apart from the alleged implicating confession from the
first applicant,
there is no direct evidence linking the applicants to the
offences," Mtshiya
said.
"The confession is, however also
denied. The absence of independent
witnesses throws a damper on the
respondent's evidence."
Mtshiya expressed disquiet over
reliance on the evidence of security
personnel and said there was no
evidence of a joint scheme or plan by the
abductees, who in any case
appeared not to have known each other until they
appeared in
court.
He also cautioned Chris Mutangadura, the state's counsel for
going
against the norms of the High Court by failing to address the merits
of the
case when he opposed fresh applications for bail raised by the
trio.
Mutangadura had argued that their application for bail
pending trial
were properly before the courts due to a pending appeal in the
Supreme
Court.
"I must hasten at this point, to mention
that at the hearing on May 8,
2009, where the point in limine (preliminary
objection) was raised, I
pointed out that the norm in this court is that
when an objection in limine
is raised, a party is normally enjoined to also
address the merits of the
matter before the court.
"I believe
that if that procedure had been adhered to, this matter
would have been
disposed of on May12, 2009..This piecemeal approach to
issues that are
brought before the court cannot in any way serve to promote
the interests of
justice."
On Friday, Mtshiya released the trio on US$1 000 bail
and ordered them
to report once a week on Friday at Mabelreign police
station until the
matter is finalised.
The judge also
ordered Mudzingwa, Manyere and Dlamini to reside at
their given residences
and not to interfere with State witnesses or
investigations.
In his nine-page long ruling, the judge
stressed that although the
applicants faced serious charges, they remained
innocent until proven
guilty. He said there was no justifiable cause to
treat the applicants
differently from their co-accused who were granted bail
on February 19 by
Justice Yunus Omerjee.
Mtshiya said
Mudzingwa, Manyere and Dlamini were proper candidates for
bail given that
upon their release from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on
April 17 on
Justice Charles Hungwe's orders, they did not abscond bail.
"Their
co-accused have not breached their bail conditions and as would have
been
expected did not collude with the applicants to commit further crimes
upon
the temporary release."
In denying the charges, the three are
arguing that they could not have
tried to unseat the government since the
country did not have one at the
time of their arrest.
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
16:22
THE inclusive government this week celebrates its first 100 days
in
office amid increasing frustration at the speed at which the coalition is
implementing reforms to haul Zimbabwe out of its political and economic
morass.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to address
Parliament
this week on progress made by the government during its first
three months
in office, which elapse on Saturday.
Some of the
achievements he is likely to list include the re-opening
of schools and
hospitals that were closed for the better part of last year
due to unending
strikes.
Tsvangirai is also likely to hail Zimbabwe's
re-engagement with the
international community after years of isolation and
the renewed interest in
the country as an investment
destination.
The inclusive government has also made strides in
addressing food
security with basic commodities now readily available while
the
rehabilitation of the economy battered by years of ruinous policies is
now
well underway.
But analysts say the government has
little to celebrate as major
reforms promised in the global political
agreement were still to be carried
out.
They said there was
also evidence that Zanu PF hardliners were still
unwilling to embrace
change.
According to the September 15 power-sharing agreement
signed by Zanu
PF and the two MDC formations, which led to the formation of
the inclusive
government in February, some of the key result areas for the
coalition
included the release of all political prisoners and providing an
environment
conducive for economic revival.
However, the first
100 days have been characterised by the failure to
resolve outstanding
issues, policy contradictions, conflicts over minsterial
duties, fresh farm
invasions and continued human rights violations.
There have
also been disagreements between civil society and
government on how to draft
a new constitution for the country.
"Very little has changed
under this inclusive government,"
spokesperson for the revived Zapu, Smile
Dube, said.
"Journalists and lawyers still get arrested for
doing their jobs and
there is evidence that some partners in the coalition
have not embraced the
spirit of the inclusive government.
"We still have a disgruntled civil service, which is always
threatening
strikes and hospitals still do not have adequate drugs as well
as doctors
and nurses."
The government convinced civil servants including
teachers and health
professionals to return to work after it got support
from donors to pay them
US$100 allowances across the board.
However, efforts to get more donor support to improve on the salaries
have
hit a brick wall, leading civil servants to threaten another round of
strikes.
While some countries and banking institutions have
availed over US$1
billion in lines of credit for the inclusive government,
little inflows have
been recorded in terms of budgetary
support.
Major lenders have adopted a wait-and-see approach as
the parties
continue to differ on outstanding issues that include Reserve
Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono's
reappointment.
The donors are reluctant to release their money
to a treasury where
Gono, who is accused of abusing funds to sustain
President Robert Mugabe's
previous regime, is still in
charge.
Mugabe is reportedly unwilling to give in to the
MDC-T's demands for
Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana to be relieved
of their duties as
part of last year's agreement.
Donors
are also not impressed with the continued arrest of human
rights activists
and the government's hostility towards journalists.
Ernest
Mudzengi, a Harare-based political analyst, said Zimbabweans
were fast
losing confidence in the unity government because of the delayed
reforms and
continuous squabbles in the coalition.
"The disagreements in
the inclusive government that are in the public
domain are indicative of the
serious problems it is facing," he said.
"They are particularly
indicative of the fact that Zanu PF is not
committed to sharing power and
instead it wants the relationship of a horse
and rider."
He
said although there was evidence that things had changed in the
country,
Zanu PF's reluctance to reform remained a major disadvantage for
the
coalition.
Tsvangirai last week expressed frustration that some
hardliners from
the previous administration were delaying progress but
insisted that his
party would not pull out of the
coalition.
"Mugabe is still in charge and nothing has changed,"
said Paul Siwela
who lost the 2002 presidential elections to the 85-
year-old leader.
"There is very little that Tsvangirai can do
to change the country
because he does not chair cabinet and will find it
very difficult to
influence things."
Siwela said instead
Mugabe and his loyalists were seeing the inclusive
government as an
opportunity to recover from the setbacks they suffered in
last year's
elections where Zanu PF was almost toppled from power for the
first time
since 1980.
BY KHOLWANI NYATHI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 16:09
AROUND this time last year Arthur Rusheshe noticed that his eyesight
was
deteriorating.
When he visited the Sekuru Kaguvi Eye Unit at
Parirenyatwa hospital a
doctor told him he had an eye cataract and without
an operation to remove
it, he would soon go blind.
Rusheshe was
not the only one requiring the operation and he was put
on the waiting list
for a date with the surgeons.
By October he was almost blind
but the hospital had still not called
him for the
operation.
He returned to Parirenyatwa that same month to make
a follow-up but
was devastated to find the hospital closed.
Doctors and nurses at all government hospitals had downed tools
demanding
improved working conditions and better pay.
The private sector
was the only hope that remained for Rusheshe to
save his eyesight and he was
shattered when he was told the operation cost
US$2 500.
"I
was devastated when I heard the hospital was closed and then I was
even more
upset when I heard the operation would cost me that much money,"
Rusheshe
recalls.
"I knew there was no way I would get that kind of
money. I went back
home angry that I would have to spend the rest of my life
blind."
But last month, after almost a year since his ordeal
began and when he
had lost hope of getting his eyesight back, Rusheshe was
literally dragged
to Parirenyatwa by his wife to make another
follow-up.
"I had just accepted I would be blind but my wife
wouldn't hear any of
that," he said.
"I just woke up and
got out of bed to stop us from fighting over the
issue.
"I
was a devastated man then and was actually making plans to go to my
rural
area to stay there.
"With blindness I knew there was no life
for me in the city."
But as fate would have it, on the day they arrived
at the hospital
they learnt that Rusheshe was among the 200 patients who had
been booked for
a free operation.
Their operations were
courtesy of a donation from the Lions Club of
Harare West, an affiliate of
Lions Club International.
The operations began a fortnight ago
with the last group that included
Rusheshe getting its chance on May
8.
"When the nurse told me about the free operations I thought
she was
joking," Rusheshe said looking relieved.
"When I
think of how difficult life had become for me, I really count
myself lucky
that I have my eyesight back.
"It's like I am learning to walk
all over again or like I have just
been born again."
This
is just one example of the life-changing works that organisations
such as
Lions Club have been doing over the years across the country.
One of the Lions Club International major projects is "Sight
First".
For more than 10 years Lions of Harare West has
contributed to the
success of this project by raising funds to acquire eye
cataract kits to
remove cataracts.
Lions Club of Harare
West, president Clever Mugadza told The Standard
that every year the
organisation in conjunction with Eyes for Africa
organises such eye camps to
benefit the less privileged.
"Every year we try and raise funds
to make sure that at every eye camp
at least 150 people get these operations
at no cost to them at all," Mugadza
said.
"Last year in
October we donated eye cataract kits that we received
from Lions Club
International to Sekuru Kaguvi, Chitungwiza and Bindura
hospitals sufficient
to carry out 1 500 eye cataract operations.
"We have held eye
camps in Sadza, Driefontein, Chitungwiza, Kwekwe and
Kadoma."
Mugadza said at least 80% of blindness was
reversible and preventable.
Elizabeth Musodza, the
sister-in-charge of the unit theatres told
journalists on the last day of
the operations that if not removed eye
cataracts can cause
blindness.
Musodza, who took members of the media and the Lions
Club to observe
some of the operations, said surgery to remove a cataract
was a "painless
and uncomplicated procedure" that transformed
lives.
"We want people to know about this surgery and take
advantage of such
kind gestures from organisations involved in this
work.
"We hope that many other organisations will continue
supporting the
Sekuru Kaguvi eye Unit so that we can make a difference in
the lives of many
people who cannot afford the huge fees in the private
sector," Musodza said.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
15:51
Harare - From his office in the vast, run-down health ministry
building in Harare, Dr Henry Madzorera, Zimbabwe's new health minister, has
the unenviable task of resuscitating a public health system crippled by the
country's prolonged economic crisis.
Lack of equipment, drugs
and salaries precipitated a health worker
strike in November 2008 that
forced most hospitals to close for several
months just as a cholera
epidemic, which has so far claimed over 4 200
lives, was sweeping the
country.
"We've got 101 priorities," said Madzorera, a member
of the former
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. "But
the burning,
immediate ones are the human resource issue.
If we
can get our health care workers back and remunerate them
properly, that
would be half the job done."
Most health workers have now
returned to work and are receiving
monthly US$100 allowances in lieu of
salaries so devalued by inflation as to
have become virtually
worthless.
The allowances are largely funded by donors, but
Madzorera said the
government expected to take them over and gradually
increase them in the
next 12 months.
Hospitals have reopened
and although far from fully operational,
"Things are improving," said Amon
Siveregi, head of the Zimbabwe Health
Workers Association and an
anaesthetist at Parirenyatwa Hospital. Stocks of
equipment and drugs are
gradually being replenished, and machinery repaired.
"We just want
to help each and every patient like we used to," said
Siveregi.
Thanks in large part to international donors
including the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UN
Children's Fund (Unicef),
and the Clinton Foundation, HIV/Aids programmes
have weathered Zimbabwe's
health crisis better than many other health
services.
Few patients reported interruptions in their supply
of antiretroviral
drugs (ARVs) even at the height of the crisis, although
low supplies of
certain first-line drugs did force doctors to temporarily
change some
patients' regimens.
Madzorera predicts that
Zimbabwe will achieve next year's universal
access target for treatment, but
evidence on the ground suggests his
assessment may be overly
optimistic.
Although ARVs are free and in good supply at most
hospitals, drugs to
treat opportunistic infections and the machinery to
monitor HIV/Aids
patients are often unavailable or
unaffordable.
Madzorera said the health department planned to
phase out user fees
for HIV/Aids patients, children under five and maternity
care, and to make
fees for other services the same at all
facilities.
Other priorities include improving stocks of drugs and
repairing
broken machinery, plumbing and elevators.
In the
meantime, patients are flocking to mission hospitals, where
donors ensured
that the supply of drugs and equipment continued even during
last year's
crisis.
"It's always very busy here; people come from outside our
catchment
area because we have all the facilities," said Judith Mataka,
Sister-in-Charge at All Souls Mission Hospital, a bustling facility in rural
Mutoko, two hours' drive northeast of Harare.
By comparison,
the local public hospital in Mutoko is almost deserted.
It lacks the
equipment to conduct important tests for monitoring
HIV-positive patients
such as CD4 counts.
"For those who can afford to get those (tests),
they go to All Souls,"
said Kembo Chenjerai, a HIV/Aids counsellor at the
hospital. -IRIN.
Despite the lack of resources, Chenjerai and
his colleagues at the
hospital's opportunistic infections clinic are
committed to their patients
and are prepared to give the new unity
government a chance.
But that commitment may evaporate if they do
not start receiving
proper salaries soon. "We're keeping on going because we
should save people,
but we're hungry," said Admore Majura, another
counsellor.
Sister Margaret MacAllen, the head matron at
Mashambanzou Care Trust,
a non-governmental organisation that provides
home-based and hospice care to
families and individuals affected by HIV/Aids
in Harare, believes it is
unrealistic to expect Zimbabwe's ARV programme to
recover overnight from
last year's crisis.
"I think we have to
be patient and tolerant, and in the meantime focus
on other things, like
nutrition," she said. "The most important thing for us
to know is that
something is now happening every day. . . Last year was
probably the worst
year in Zimbabwe's history, but I think we're
recovering." -IRIN.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
15:04
A five-member team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
will
conduct an assessment of the country's public finance management system
starting tomorrow as the global lending institution begins work on
mechanisms of re-engaging Zimbabwe's new inclusive government.
The team, to be led by Erik Oppers and comprising Mike Andrews, Warren
Coats, Kristian Kjeldsen and Kenneth Sullivan winds up its mission on May
29.
The visit comes barely a week after the IMF announced that
it was
lifting its suspension on technical assistance in targeted areas such
as tax
policy and administration, payments systems,
lender-of-last-resort
operations and banking supervision as well as
central banking
governance and accounting.
Announcing the
lifting of the suspension on technical support the IMF
executive board said
it had taken into account a "significant improvement in
Zimbabwe's
co-operation on economic policies to address its arrears problems
and severe
capacity constraints in the IMF's core areas of expertise that
represent a
major risk to the implementation of the government's
macroeconomic
stabilisation programme".
According to the mission's itinerary
seen by Standardbusiness, the
team will tomorrow have meetings with Finance
Minister Tendai Biti;
permanent secretary Willard Manungo and Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono.
The team would also be
briefed on the developments in the banking
sector by Charity Dhliwayo, the
RBZ deputy governor in charge banking
supervision.
There
would also be a briefing on the status of the RBZ's accounting
and reporting
and the accounting for its foreign reserves.
It would also get
an insight into the RBZ's approach to supervision,
changes taken or required
to deal with multiple currencies and its views on
the feasibility of lender
of last resorts in an era of dollarisation.
A meeting has also
been scheduled with the RBZ's legal department on
the legal status of the
central bank's transactions.
Another presentation would be made
by the central bank's monetary
operations department on the review of policy
instruments including lender
of last resorts facilities and implications of
operations in rand.
Under the new revival plan, Short Term
Emergency Recovery Programme
although the country uses multiple currencies,
the rand is the reference
currency.
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009 15:03
A TECHNICAL
team from Norway arrives here this week to scout for
investment
opportunities, raising hopes the international community is
opening its
doors for the three-month-old inclusive government.
The visit by
the technical team is a follow up to the March tour by
the Nordic country's
Environment
and International Development Minister Erik
Solheim.
Solheim led one of the first delegations from a
European country
following the formation of the inclusive government as he
explored ways in
which Norway could help Zimbabwe recover from decades of
economic ruin.
Some members of the Norwegian delegation were
expected today, with the
rest arriving tomorrow for a one- week
visit.
Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister,
Elton Mangoma who
confirmed the visit said "they want to assess the
situation in Zimbabwe and
see what it is that can be done".
"They will look at all the areas - political, humanitarian and
economic," he
said.
Standardbusiness established that the technical team
would look at
possible investment opportunities
during its meetings
with bankers and executives of some Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange-listed blue-chip
companies.
The team would include officials from the Norwegian
Investment Fund,
Norfund, while other members were drawn from other
sectors.
According to sources familiar with the developments,
economist and
former senior counsellor at Norway's Harare Embassy, Kjartan
Stigen would be
part of the delegation.
Stigen is now an
investment director at Norfund.
Norfund has two joint
ventures.
One of the ventures works with the energy sector in
developing
countries while the other one concentrates on establishing and
managing
local and regional development funds.
Norfund also
structures joint ventures with struggling firms in
developing countries and
exits when the firms are on a sound footing.
It commenced
operations in 1998 and receives its investment capital
from the Norwegian
government on an annual basis.
The fund was created to become a
leading investment fund for emerging
markets by combining a
strong
financial position with high-quality investment management
skills and
extensive international experience.
Zimbabwe desperately needs
an injection of funds to drive the Short
Term Emergency Recovery Programme
(STERP) launched in March.
STERP requires US$10 billion to
kick-start the economy, which has been
on the decline for the past
decade.
Analysts say the visit by the technical team is a vote
of confidence
in the inclusive government which launched its 100-day action
plan on
Wednesday.
Mangoma told stakeholders on Wednesday
that the inclusive government
had made major strides in mobilising lines of
credit for the private sector,
surpassing the US$1 billion
target.
Of the US$1 billion targeted for budgetary support,
there had been
pledges by South Africa (US$30 million) and China (US$5
million), Mangoma
said.
"We are beginning to see the
results of our interventions with the
World Bank and International Monetary
Fund bear some fruits," he said.
Since the formation of the
inclusive government in February, leaders
have been extending the begging
bowl to anyone who cares to listen.
On Wednesday Vice-President
Joice Mujuru again pleaded with the
country's co-operating partners to help
Zimbabwe move out of the woods.
The visit by the Norwegian
delegation coincides with the tour by a
40-member team from Botswana, which
will be on a mission to interact with
its Zimbabwean counterparts on
possible investment projects.
The delegates would be drawn from
sectors such as manufacturing;
agriculture; banking and finance, tourism,
property development, mining,
environmental management and
construction.
There would also be representatives from
wholesaling, printing and
publishing, communications and security
services.
Early this month a delegation from the Botswana
Confederation of
Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) was in the country to find
ways of supporting
STERP.
BOCCIM said at the time the visit
was designed to scan the business
environment in Zimbabwe first hand and to
appreciate any risks as well as to
build contacts for future
relationships.
Botswana has already pledged US$70 million in
lines of credit.
Last month, a 22-member team from South Africa
visited the country to
explore investment opportunities.
BY
NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May
2009 15:40
OF the many lessons Zimbabweans have learnt in the last ten
years, one
surely must be that the judiciary plays a critical part in
determining the
quality of good governance in the country and for that
reason an independent
judiciary is an essential part of the
system.
However, many of the assaults on judicial independence stem
from the
judiciary's lack of financial independence and consequently, its
dependence
on politicians.
If, to go by the old cliché, a dog
cannot bite the hand that feeds it,
it follows that judges will be reluctant
to offend the politicians who
determine their financial
security.
I argue here that the financial security of the judiciary
must be
constitutionally guaranteed and should be placed well beyond the
control of
politicians as is the case at present.
Although
Section 79B of the current Constitution states that, "In the
exercise of his
judicial authority, a member of the judiciary shall not be
subject to the
direction or control of any person or authority. . . " This
is undermined by
the judiciary's financial dependence on politicians in the
Executive and
Legislative arms of government.
In Zimbabwe, Parliament delegated
its power to the President through
the Judges Salaries, Allowances and
Pensions Act [Chapter 7:08] whereby
effectively the President sets the
remuneration of judges.
A non-compliant judiciary could very easily
be "disciplined" by the
politicians through simple reductions in the amount
of funds available for
judicial operations.
Furthermore,
although Section 88(2) of the Constitution prohibits the
reduction of
judicial remuneration, there is nothing to compel politicians
to increase
such remuneration so that if it remains stagnant or is increased
only
marginally, judges will over some years find themselves earning less in
real
terms.
They can do nothing about it except beg publicly in the
faint hope
that politicians will have some regard to the old adage that a
child that
does not cry will on its mother's back.
The risk is
that when the plea is attended to any rescue package may
come with
conditions that are likely to encumber the judges' autonomy.
One solution is to confer financial autonomy to the judiciary by
giving it
the power to determine its budget. This can be done through clear
constitutional provisions that guarantee the judicial budget as a percentage
of the national budget as is the case in some Latin American
countries.
If the funds allocated to the judiciary are
constitutionally
guaranteed it means that they are removed from the direct
control of the
politicians.
This does not only safeguard
the financial security of judicial
officers but also ensures that the
judiciary has sure access to funds to
meet its basic needs.
At
present the infrastructure has deteriorated because it is not given
priority
- the lack of computing facilities, stationery and basic equipment
has
negatively affected the administration of justice.
Sadly, as we
have seen in the recent past, the inadequacy of resources
stemming from this
lack of independence has exposed the judiciary to
opportunistic behaviour of
politicians and senior public officials.
For example, we saw how
the Governor of the Reserve Bank Gideon Gono
leapt on to the scene to dish
out lavish gifts ranging from computers to
plasma televisions to judges
after their desperate plea for help two years
ago.
Some of us
expressed disquiet not only because of the questionable
legality of that
conduct but also because we feared that such actions have
the potential to
harm the reputation of the judiciary as an impartial
institution.
Clearly, the judges needed help but it ought
to have followed
constitutionally mandated channels.
That
channel is called the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is
basically the
national account into which all state revenues such as taxes
and other
receipts are deposited and from which all funds are withdrawn to
meet
expenditure for the provision of public services.
It is to the
state what the family bank account is to the household.
There is a very good
reason why judicial remuneration must be charged from
this fund - it is that
this is seen as a neutral and legitimate source that
is funded by all
taxpayers.
Paying judges from this source means they are beholden
to no single
individual but to the state as a whole. The way things happened
smacked of
opportunism and cheap grandstanding which might have massaged a
few egos but
in truth, came at great expense to the image of the
judiciary.
In return for financial independence, judicial
officers must also be
held to account to promote transparency and reduce the
incidence of
conflicts of interest.
They must be prepared to
disclose in annual public statements their
property, business interests,
assets, income and indeed, any gifts that they
receive or may be offered
from any source.
They must, in effect, declare their extra-judicial
activities and
income. Where relevant the law must specifically prohibit
them from engaging
in any extra-judicial work or business that is
incompatible with judicial
office.
Indeed, judges should be
ready and willing to recuse themselves from
judging cases in which they may
have a personal or business interest or
connection.
When
lawyers request that they recuse themselves, judges should not
take offence
because it is every litigant's right to secure a fair hearing
before an
impartial court.
Any perception of bias arising from a conflict of
interest can be
easily detected if the laws require judges to publicly
disclose their
interests. Furthermore, the unhelpful distinction drawn
between judges and
magistrates in terms of conditions of service must be
abolished.
Whilst Section 79A of the Constitution states that all
judicial
officers, including magistrates in the lower courts are members of
the
judiciary, the conditions of service and remuneration are handled
differently. The constitution gives preferential treatment to the High Court
and Supreme Court judges whose rights are constitutionally protected (albeit
poorly, as we have seen) whilst Magistrates are classified as civil servants
and receive less favourable treatment.
In reality, it is
the courts of first instance, namely, the
Magistrates' Court which handle
the bulk of judicial work yet the conditions
of service at that level are
appalling to say the least.
This is where most members of the
public, whether as claimants or
defendants, as victims or the accused, or
indeed as witnesses or observers
come face to face with the justice system
and yet the scenes they witness at
Rotten Row Magistrates' Court let alone
other smaller centres across the
country are awful because of poor
resourcing.
It is hardly surprising that most experienced and
talented lawyers are
reluctant to join this critical branch of the
judiciary.
This has a knock-on effect on the quality of judicial
service and the
administration of justice.
In a nutshell, a
judiciary without autonomous control of its financial
resources is at the
mercy of unscrupulous politicians.
Money is the most effective
instrument to cause judicial officers to
dance in accordance with the
politicians' tune. Effective reforms must take
away that financial leverage
from politicians.
The Constitution must itself contain specific
provisions about the
allocation of the judicial budget.
Making
it a percentage of the national budget is one way but there
could be other
creative ways of achieving the same purpose.
In South Africa
although the President has the power to set the
remuneration of judges, he
is legally guided under the Judges Remuneration
and Conditions of Employment
Act 47 of 2001 by a more independent commission
set up under the Independent
Commission for the Remuneration of Public
Office-Bearers Act 92 of
1997.
Indeed, such a Commission could apply as well to other public
officials, including the Attorney General, the Reserve Bank Governor, the
Commissioner General of the Police, commissioners of the Anti-Corruption
Commission and similar constitutional bodies.
Politicians
have no interest in improving conditions of service that
do not apply to
them. In the case of the judiciary, we have seen that they
are more
interested in controlling members of the judiciary and they will
not
hesitate to use finance as an instrument of manipulation.
What we
saw with Gono should never be repeated. A potential litigant
should never be
held out as a generous benefactor to the judiciary, however
well-intentioned. It compromises the judiciary and lowers its estimation in
the eyes of the general public.
Alex Magaisa is based at,
Kent Law School, the University of Kent
wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk or a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16 May 2009
15:32
IF properly handled, Zimbabwe stands to benefit from the renewed
interest in the country.
In recent weeks delegations from South
Africa, North and South Korea,
Russia, China, Norway and Botswana have
visited Zimbabwe in search of
investment opportunities.
This is
in addition to missions from international financial
institutions.
However, overshadowing the groundswell of
interest are increasing
reports of hijackings, armed robberies and muggings.
These unsettling
developments deserve the full and urgent consideration of
the new inclusive
government.
One of the reasons why Zimbabwe
is generally considered a competitive
investment destination regionally is
its low crime rate.
A number of Western countries have
announced the lifting of travel
warnings on Zimbabwe. That is a green light
for increased traffic of their
citizens coming here.
It would
be tragic if all these positive measures were to be tarnished
and rolled
back by an escalation in crime levels. Evidence of such threats
abound - the
unprecedented unemployment rate is a contributory factor.
The
securities ministries of the inclusive government need to deploy
more
personnel at our ports of entry, at the airports, hotels and city
centres as
well as around restaurants so that not only the security of those
visiting
the country is guaranteed, but that Zimbabweans too are spared.
How we respond to the threats posed by criminals will determine the
extent
to which Zimbabwe will be able to claim a share of the 2010 business
and
foreign investment bonanza.
But key to the success of all these
opportunities will be Zimbabwe's
ability to deliver.
For
example, the National Sports Stadium in Harare was closed for
renovations
more than three years ago. The stadium and Rufaro Stadium in
Harare as well
as Barbourfields in Bulawayo, have the capacity to host teams
to the 2010
Fifa World Soccer extravaganza in South Africa. They just need
upgrading.
Zimbabwe is trying to persuade Brazil, the
five-times World Cup
winners to use Zimbabwe as their base ahead of and
during the 2010 finals in
South Africa.
But it will require
more than just persuasion, holding musical galas
and concerts, beauty
pageants and talking about what facilities it intends
to put in
place.
There is no single facility Zimbabwe can point to as having
been, or
is in the process of being completed in readiness for 2010. We can
hold many
conferences but until we begin to get real time- critical movement
on the
ground, we are fooling ourselves.
Beitbridge should
be a shining example of Zimbabwean hospitality. But
it is chaotic. It is a
health hazard. How on earth anyone thinks visiting
teams would want to risk
their players and supporters by coming here,
especially after cholera
claimed more than 4 200 Zimbabwean lives and
attacked a hundred thousand
others, defies logic.
Beitbridge should be the proud owner of
new soccer stadiums, hotels,
lodges, roads and water treatment works. It
should be a hive of activity,
with travel writers and agents being brought
in to see Zimbabwe's state of
preparedness. Instead we are long on
expressions of intent but woefully
short on delivery. Entry at the border
post is still chaotic.
Part of the problem is the belief by the
government that it alone
should do everything. It of course can't. Instead,
it should invite those
with resources to provide the facilities on a build,
own, operate and
transfer arrangement. This would open the floodgates for
international
companies to come in, in the process creating an unprecedented
number of
jobs.
Our actions will determine whether or not
we stand to benefit from the
growing international investor interest and the
opportunities 2010 brings.
At present it doesn't look much like it.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 16
May 2009 15:32
A general election in Malawi rarely raises the attention
of the
Southern Africa region, and certainly not that of the world, at least
not in
the same way an election in Zimbabwe does.
But the
climate in the campaign for the presidential and parliamentary
elections
scheduled for May 19 is bringing back memories of the 1994 general
elections, the first multiparty elections in Malawi in which patriarch Dr
Hastings Kamuzu Banda's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) lost to Bakili Muluzi's
United Democratic Front (UDF).
Fifteen years on, Bakili Muluzi, who
still commands a considerable
following, is in opposition, having fallen out
with his successor, Bingu wa
Mutharika, who bizarrely broke away from the
party that put him in power to
form the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
which has been ruling as a
minority government since 2005.
Given the unlimited resources the incumbent has in Africa which in the
case
of Malawi is coupled by Mutharika boasting a more impressive record
with the
voting public than his predecessor in terms of both development and
governance, observers could be forgiven for thinking this will be another
routine exercise to affirm Mutharika's rule for another five years, as
happened when Muluzi imposed Mutharika on a skeptical electorate in
2004.
But the political landscape has changed in the past four
weeks.
First, it became clear that Muluzi's attempt to stand for a
third
term, which has resulted in several court cases between him and the
Malawi
Electoral Commission, has failed as it did prior to the 2004
elections,
which forced him to pick Mutharika from relative obscurity,
ostensibly in
order to retain control of the state, in what was seen as a
repeat of an
earlier strategy by former Zambian president Frederick
Chiluba.
Tactical as ever, Muluzi decided to throw his lot behind
his erstwhile
fore, the old MCP, forging a formidable alliance whose
seriousness has
prompted a stream of expletives from the
president.
Now under the leadership of Kamuzu's former
right-hand man, John
Tembo, who has managed to revive political interest in
the dominant Chewa
tribe from the central region of Malawi, the MCP is
growing stronger as the
election date approaches.
But a merger
between Muluzi's UDF and Tembo's MCP has also deepened
the ethnic and
religious divisions that have long been the cancer of
Malawian
politics.
From Ncheu in the South to Chitipa in the North, the
whole Central
Region is buzzing with hopes that Tembo will bring the MCP
back to power.
On a trip back to Lilongwe from Salima, the lakeside
town in the
central region, two charcoal sellers I spoke to when I stopped
by the
roadside at Mvera Trading centre told me Mutharika had done wonderful
development work since assuming power, but they would still vote for Tembo
because he was one of their own. Austin Karonga (not his real name), who
said he had been working by that road for five years, summed up their
feeling;
"Look Achimwene, if Bingu managed to construct
this beautiful road for
us when he is from the South don't you think someone
from this region will
do even more?"
However, Muluzi's
disastrous ten years in office, during which many
Malawians believe a lot of
the development goals achieved during Banda's
three-decade reign were rolled
back, remains a headache for the alliance,
which is why support for
President Mutharika is considerably solid in the
Northern and Southern
regions, although the North's support for the
president may also be because
of an entrenched loathing the people of that
region have for the MCP, and
particularly for Tembo, who is blamed for most
of the repressive tendencies
of the late Kamuzu Banda.
But religious divisions may yet again
play a part in the outcome of
this election.
Tembo is no doubt
hoping to draw support from members of the Church of
Central Africa
Presbyterian (CCAP), the traditional support base of his MCP,
which played a
significant role in consolidating Banda's hegemony among the
grassroots.
A recent press statement from the church,
purportedly to guide the
faithful to make informed choices in the election,
urges members to choose
leaders "with clean mouths" and shun those who
appropriate the State and
government for personal use, a clear reference to
the President's torrent of
abuse against his opponents, and to charges of
abuse of State resources
during the campaign.
However,
Tembo's alliance with Muluzi, who is a Muslim, has brought
mixed feelings
within the predominantly Muslim districts in the eastern part
of the
country, where Tembo hopes Muluzi's backing will be crucial for in
securing
the Moslem votes for the MCP.
Many people within that community
have not forgiven Tembo for what
they regard as cruel policies he pursued
against them when he was Banda's
henchman, and there are genuine fears this
group may be part of the
undecided voters who may sway the ballot either
way.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Mudenge Should Slash Fees
Saturday, 16 May 2009 15:22
I AM
writing this letter to register my anger at the Minister of
Higher and
Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge, for misleading thousands of
students at
the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
The minister said six
boreholes were to be drilled at UZ prior to the
opening of the
institution.
The truth is that there is nothing resembling a
borehole being drilled
at UZ. That was a blatant misstatement!
The
minister also said he had instructed all universities not to turn
away
students who fail to pay the exorbitant fees.
The truth, however,
is that students are being turned away at the
National University of Science
and Technology and Great Zimbabwe University.
Malicious double
standards!
I also appeal to the minister to emulate Senator
David Coltart, the
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture's way of
doing things.
He must slash the exorbitant and unjust fees as
well as terminating
the draconian cadetship scheme. The University of
Zimbabwe must re-open.
Charles
University of
Zimbabwe.
--------
Many Costs Before Blood is made
safe
Saturday, 16 May 2009 15:21
THE concept of the "first
100 days in office" as a political
philosophy was pioneered by the 32nd
President of the USA, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, affectionately known as
"FDR". He was in office for the period
1933 until 1945.
He
assumed office at a time of worldwide economic crisis and the
Second World
War.
Elected to four terms in office, he is the only US president
to have
served more than two terms, before they were limited to a mandatory
maximum
two terms.
Since 1933, a politician's first 100
days in office have been an
indicator and standard of what he is able to
accomplish and for gauging
political effectiveness.
Kenneth
T Walsh, The First 100 Days: Franklin Roosevelt pioneered the
100-day
concept" (US News, 12 February 2009) says: "The underlying truth is
that
(politicians) tend to be most effective when they first take office,
when
their leadership style seems fresh and new, when the aura of victory is
still powerful, and when their impact on (the legislature) is usually at its
height.
"There is nothing magical about the number, and
many presidential
aides over the years have complained that it is an
artificial yardstick. But
it has been used by the public, the media, and
scholars as a gauge of
presidential success and activism since Roosevelt's
time.
"He was faced with the calamity of the Great Depression -
and he moved
with unprecedented dispatch to address the
problem."
Zimbabwe is in a serious economic crisis, has an
acute democracy
deficit and a humanitarian condition requiring immediate
response and
attention. President Barack Obama adopted the FDR approach to
deal with the
current US economic situation.
The new
government of Zimbabwe was inaugurated on February 13, 2009,
when the new
cabinet was sworn in as part of the power sharing deal.
Therefore, the first 100 days in office expired. On April 2-5, 2009, a
cabinet retreat was held in the resort town of Victoria
Falls.
The Prime Minister then told the nation that the "first"
100 days
would commence on April 6, 2009. Thus these expire on June 16, 2009
not May
22, 2009 as some observers are saying.
Surprisingly
and shockingly, the Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office, Gorden
Moyo issued a public statement on May 12, 2009
that a 100-Day Plan of
government will be launched on May 13, 2009, with
subsequent provincial
launches, smacks of an admision of failure and an
excuse to evaluate
accomplishments.
Zimbabweans are not expecting plans. They are
expecting delivery from
the economic crisis and democracy
deficit.
We have suffered enough. Plans and speeches are like
an agenda of a
meeting or map of a journey, they are simply preparations for
a meeting or
an instrument for a journey.
We want to see
how far the government has travelled on the trip to
deal with the economic
meltdown not the readiness in dealing with the
prevailing economic crisis,
an acute democracy deficit and humanitarian
condition (collapsed education
and health sectors).
It is a waste of time and resources. You
do not measure achievements
by way of publicity of the agenda as if we are
in an election time.
A political party, either in government or
out of it, that claims to
be efficient is very methodical and scientific
with time and resources. Not
this!
To this costly behaviour
of launching a plan (hah hah hah), add the
continued waste of time and
resources in failing to resolve outstanding
issues, while the nation is
expecting adequate
attention to the issues of
livelihood.
Zanu PF is deliberately destroying MDC's time in
government and will
blame the latter for non-delivery.
Levi
Mhaka
Harare.
------------
Readers let Down by
Public Media
Saturday, 16 May 2009 15:19
AS usual, our
daily "public" media continues to disappoint readers as
they fail to cover
everything that is expected of them.
For example, there was a lot
of rancour at the recent Zanu PF
politburo meeting after the party's faction
leaders engaged in verbal
exchanges, yet the "public" media kept
quiet.
Is it because they did not hear about it or chose to turn a
blind eye
to what was happening to their favourite party.
If such a thing had happened to the MDC party the "public" media would
have
splashed the news all over the country for the whole week, including
photographs.
This just shows how partisan the "public"
media is and does not
deserve to be called public but rather the Zanu PF
media.
As a citizen of Zimbabwe, I have the right to be
informed and the
public media does not have the right to be the gatekeepers
of such
information.
It is true, there are power struggles
within Zanu PF and the party is
on the verge of collapse. United the MDC
stands and divided Zanu PF falls.
Concerned citizen
Harare.
---------
No Going Back Now
Saturday, 16
May 2009 15:18
I sincerely believe that President Robert Mugabe knows
the importance
of the Global Political Agreement and its
fruits.
So, the octogenarian is putting humps on the path to
democratisation
and progress.
He is not a destitute of common
sense neither is he a renegade of
rationality but is trying to shift focus
from the crux of the matter.
The recent chaotic farm invasions,
re-arrests, is just a haze to blur
the vision of the people to the real
problems. He knows a comprehensive land
audit will reveal unparalleled greed
within Zanu PF, but he has allowed
invasions so as to distract our
focus.
He justifies wanton arrests and detention as matters
which can be
dealt with by the judiciary without him influencing
judgements.
True justice will see through this and expose every
misdeed.
Power is like sand. It will slip through your hands no
matter how
tightly you may hold onto it.
Berube Roy
Dindix
Midlands State University
Gweru.
-----------
SMS The Standard
Saturday, 16 May
2009 15:55
Correction
THE people at President
Jacob Zuma's inauguration on Saturday
were not cheering President Robert
Mugabe. Instead they were laughing
because the South Africans showed him how
elections are run - from
campaigning to inauguration. Besides, which world,
continental and regional
leaders were at State House after our own elections
last year? - Ashamed.
***********
IT IS not
benevolence that the new administration of President
Jacob Zuma in South
Africa is scrapping visa requirements for Zimbabweans.
He knows that with
normalisation of the political crisis in Zimbabwe, the
skilled workforce
that found refuge in that country will be leaving a huge
skills gap in that
country. - Samuel Mahuntse.
***********
SO
Justice George Chiweshe, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission was in South Africa as an election observer? I hope he
was
sufficiently embarrassed that his counterparts in that country did not
require more than a month before they released the election results. - Real
observer, Musina, South Africa.
A disaster
looming
PLEASE help us expose the problems bedevilling
Beitbridge town
and the border post. No electricity and water in the whole
town. The border
post is littered with filth and a repugnant smell coming
from the toilets
that are non-functional, forcing travellers to help
themselves in the yard
because the toilets are closed. Could the government
intervene before a
health disaster breaks out? - Disgusted,
Beitbridge.
**********
BEITBRIDGE border post
is a disaster. There is no water, no
working toilets. Traffic and
travellers' congestion is a common feature
daily, while Zimra's officers are
lethargic in their conduct. - Observer,
Beitbridge.
***********
IT appears that the Secretary for Education or
someone is
determined to undermine Senator David Coltart's directive to
school heads
because someone has ignored sending out to schools the circular
on fees.
What are the examination fees because the deadline is May 30 and
heads of
schools do not know what to do? - Sentinel,
Harare.
***********
I DON'T know why the media
says the Governor of the Reserve
Bank, Dr Gideon Gono saved Zimbabwe. He did
no such thing. He may have
extended the life span of Zanu PF by a few more
years, but Zimbabwe owes him
nothing for his destructive venture at the RBZ.
Instead, he owes us an
apology. There is no denying that he took this
country down the tube.-
Fungai, Harare.
One for
Teachers
TEACHERS, please can you teach our children? What is
enough pay
for you US$454 or US$1 500? Otherwise who else will teach our
children? -
Pythagoras, Harare.
Prioritise
Water
THE government should prioritise the construction of
the
Zambezi-Matabeleland Water Pipeline and the Kunzvi Dam. These are
national
projects just like Kariba Dam. Their implementation has a huge
knock-on
effect with immense benefits to the nation. The two projects would
provide
Zimbabwe with much-needed economic stimulus to kick-start economic
recovery.
Most of the materials and expertise for the projects can be found
within the
country. - Aqua vita est.
***********
FARMERS need to learn to secure and store seed from
previous
planting seasons. This will ensure that they have seed for the next
season
and will not be let down by institutions such as the Grain Marketing
Board
and seed houses.
***********
WHY
should banks deduct US$5 of our hard-earned money in bank
charges every
month? That is too much considering most of us are poorly
paid. Could the
Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, please come to the rescue
of poor workers?
- Hard done.
***********
WAS it necessary for
President Robert Mugabe to arrive for this
year's Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair with 52 Central Intelligence
Organisation agents, whose only
contribution was to disrupt the activities?
That was a sheer waste of money.
Why does he need protection from the
Zimbabweans he describes as "my
people"? No tax from me until these issues
are dealt with. - N M,
Harare.
***********
THE ZCTU must be dreaming.
A minimum wage of US$454! We all
wish. They must get real and give Zimbabwe
time to begin to perform. There
is no way you can extract blood from a
stone. We are all broke - thanks to
Zanu PF. - Employer.
Probe Practice
WHAT is happening at the Forestry Commission
warrants an
investigation. Board members are drawing fuel at the expense of
operations.
They also have wildlife monthly rations and water, while there
is nothing
for operations.- SOS.
Why
Bother?
WHY does Zesa bother including Marlborough on its
load-shedding
schedule when it has resolved to switch off electricity to the
area every
day. As consumers, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that
Zesa views us
as second class citizens as supplies to our area are switched
off in order
to ensure the rest of Harare has electricity. We are sometimes
switched on
when every one else has gone to sleep and switched off their
lights.- 100%
Darkness.
***********
AS if
the previous advert was not a mockery and a waste of
money, Zesa had the
audacity to publish yet another advert, this time bigger
than the previous
one titled Winter load Shedding Schedules for 2009. The
advert clearly
indicates the load-shedding days for H12 as being Tuesday,
Thursday and
Saturday morning and evening peak hours. However on Friday May
8, 2009
electricity was switched off at 14:20 and as I write there is no
power. Is
the advert meant to prove a point, or is it sheer disregard of
consumers'
rights, incompetence of the highest degree or is it meant to
emphasise the
monumental "stuff up" at Zesa? It's about time some
individuals who have
overstayed their welcome at Zesa were sent packing.
They have proved with
their performance that they are not accountable to
anyone. Could Minister
Engineer Alias Mudzuri wield the axe? -Enough!
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 15 May 2009
HARARE - It will take Zimbabwe a record 327 years to clear arrears to
the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) if the cash-strapped the government
sticks
to a repayment plan agreed with the Bretton Woods institution in
March,
according to a new report released last week.
Zimbabwe has accumulated
arrears on its IMF obligations amounting to
more than US$131 million and
agreed with a recent mission from the
Washington-based organisation that it
would make modest payments of
US$100,000 every three months towards the
outstanding loans.
This would translate to 327 years six months before
the arrears are
cleared, assuming there is no interest added and there is no
relapse in
payments which would increase the outstanding
obligations.
The IMF noted that Zimbabwe's cooperation in clearing its
arrears has
been poor during the past year, with the country paying about
US$454,000
between April 2008 and March this year.
The last payment
was a paltry US$40,000 made around January this year.
"In light of
Zimbabwe's very limited payment capacity, it would be
difficult for the
country to make significant payments to the Fund under the
current
circumstances. Nevertheless, the authorities have committed to
regular
payments to the Fund of about $100,000 per quarter starting with the
next
Fund financial quarter," the institution said.
The Fund said it was
willing to assist the Harare authorities with
technical assistance in
strengthening capacity to increase the chances of
resolving Zimbabwe's
arrears to the Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility-Exogenous Shocks
Facility (PRGF-ESF) Trust.
The IMF announced two weeks ago the partial
lifting of technical
assistance to Zimbabwe following what it saw as a
genuine attempt by Harare's
new coalition government to revive the
economy.
The Fund said a significant improvement in Zimbabwe's
cooperation on
economic policies to address its arrears problems since the
last IMF board
review of the country situation in January 2008.
It
noted that most of the recommendations identified during the
previous review
had been implemented.
These include a significant fiscal adjustment,
official adoption of
hard currencies for transactions with the South African
rand as the
reference currency, price liberalisation, imposition of hard
budget
constraints on parastatal enterprises, and elimination of most
restrictions
on current account transactions.
These policies have
already produced positive outcomes, including
price stabilisation,
improvements in the availability of basic goods and a
gradual restoration of
market signals.
Clearance of IMF arrears is one of the conditions for
the full
restoration of budgetary support for Zimbabwe, suspended in October
1999
following disagreements between the Fund and President Robert Mugabe
over
economic management and governance issues.
The withdrawal of
IMF assistance subsequently triggered the pullout by
other multilateral
financial institutions such as the World Bank and the
African Development
Bank.
Zimbabwe owes the World Bank more than US$600 million in arrears
and
about US$400 million to the ADB - BY NEVER CHANDA
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 15 May 2009
HARARE - A five-member non-executive board is on the cards to oversee
the
operations of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) whose role in the
unprecedented collapse of the southern African economy has earned it enemies
at home and internationally, the Zimbabwean On Sunday has learnt.
Authoritative Finance Ministry sources said the board would comprise
of
financial, legal and human resources experts who would provide effective
oversight to the RBZ's operations in a move meant to
strengthen
governance at the central bank.
"This is something that Minister (of
finance Tendai) Biti and others
at the ministry hope will ensure checks and
balances at the RBZ and avoid a
repeat of the situation during the past five
years when the governor
operated like a sole trader with no one making him
to account for his
actions," said a senior ministry official who spoke on
condition he was not
named.
Under the arrangement, Biti is expected
to recommend members of the
board to President Robert Mugabe who would then
make the appointments.
Among other duties, the board would ensure a
thorough review of the
2008 audited financial statements of the RBZ and its
subsidiaries, the
submission to the minister of finance of the 2009 budget
consistent with the
RBZ's refocused functional responsibilities, and close
monitoring of the RBZ's
international reserves management, and borrowing,
guaranteeing, and pledging
activities.
Political observers have
accused Gono of using bank resources to
position himself within the Zanu
(PF) succession race.
He gave out more than US$1.1 billion to
government ministries and Zanu
(PF) functionaries between December 2003 and
March 2009 under an
agricultural mechanisation programme and other schemes
that ultimately
benefited those linked to the ruling elite.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 14 May 2009
It is a few days
today since the unity government marked its first 100
days in office and the
temptation, indeed what many from both sides of the
political divide would
rather have us do, is to conclude that the
administration is generally on
the right track.
And that the only setback - one that for that matter
shall be overcome
in due course - has been resistance by a minority group of
military generals
and hardliner elements from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu
(PF) party who
have attempted to block meaningful political reform because
that would
destroy their power and way of life. We refuse to be hoodwinked!
The
re-arrest of Jestina Mukoko and the MDC activists two weeks ago, the
arrest
of journalists and lawyer Alec Muchadehama last week, to name only a
few of
the problems that have marked this government's brief reign, were not
and
could never be the actions of a fading and isolated
minority.
We dare say that the so-called residual and retrogressive
minority are
in fact the people running Zanu (PF) today and at the head of
the table sits
none other than Mugabe himself.
Having lost
their dubious claim to power and legitimacy in the vote of
March 29, 2008,
Mugabe and company have simply changed tactics.
They have decided
to merely limp on. They accepted power sharing but
only as a survival
strategy to get the MDC to mobilise donor support and
stabilise the economy
but without Zanu (PF) giving much away.
It is clear that the
strategy of Zanu (PF) is to delay political and
other critical reforms for
as long is necessary to ensure that by the time
the two-year life span of
the unity government lapses nothing much would
have changed in the way we
conduct electoral politics in the country. That
way they hope they can make
a come back.
Yes, there are efforts to write a new and democratic
constitution and
we have seen the progress made by the unity government in
education, health
and other sectors.
African institutions and
governments have chipped in with more than
US$1 billion in credit lines
while there are signs that even Western
countries might just be willing to
reconsider their stance on Zimbabwe.
These are encouraging
developments but do not at all mean that change
is guaranteed - not when the
old regime is putting up such a spirited fight
to defend its power and
privilege.
We have no doubt that the unity government represents a
tipping point
in the life of our nation.
But we believe that as
Zimbabweans audit the performance of the unity
government to date they need
to and must demand answers why in this 'New Era'
journalists are still being
arrested for exposing torturers and human rights
violators and lawyers
jailed for doing their job of defending clients.
Why and under what
authority do military commanders refuse to salute
the Prime Minister of the
country simply because they do not like his
politics? It's over to you
Zimbabweans.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 15 May 2009
HARARE
- A London Stock Exchange listed mineral exploration company,
African
Consolidated Resources (ACR), has dragged the Zimbabwe government to
court
challenging its decision to repossess a 200 acre diamond claim at
Chiadzwa,
Manicaland, and awarding it to the state-owned Zimbabwe Minerals
Development
Corporation (ZMDC).
The United Kingdom based ACR wants the
High Court to restore its claim
and bar government from interfering with its
operations.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told parliament on Wednesday
that ACR had
gone to court, but the government would opposition its
application because
the procedure used by ACR to peg diamond mining claims
was "irregular and
illegal."
He said the mining claims were pegged
within an existing exclusive
prospecting order area belonging to another
mining exploring giant firm, De
Beers.
"Pegging of most of ACR
claims was illegal in terms of Section 372 of
the Mines and Minerals Act
because they intentionally pegged on ground which
was not open to
prospecting," Mpofu said. "ARC claims were cancelled in
terms of Section 50
of the Mines and Minerals Act of January 5 2007."
In the end, he said,
the claims were cancelled and the concession
awarded to the ZMDC under
special grants.
"We are speaking about national resources, which are
resources of the
entire nation," Mpofu said. "As the Prime Minister (Morgan
Tsvangirai) has
constantly said we need to exploit those resources
sustainably and for the
benefit of the nation.
"I am disturbed
about those who worry about people who have been
speculating on the
resources for a long time without benefiting the people
or even the
constituency and we as the government we are going to do that."
On
reports that that there were 83 diamond panners killed by a joint
force of
the army and police and buried in two mass graves in Dangamvura,
Harare, in
2008, Mpofu said these were not true.
He said: "As far as my ministry
is concerned, we are not aware of nay
deaths as a result of the presence of
government in Chiadzwa or Marange.
This is the kind of information that has
been peddled to the investors which
is incorrect.
"If there is a
mass grave in Dangamvura, why cannot the honourable
members of that area
raise the issue and the show people where that mass
grave is? There is not
even one single death and if there is one, come and
get a police
report."
The Zimbabwe government last year unleashed soldiers and the
police to
end diamond panning in Chiadzwa and Marange. Human rights
organisations
claimed that over 200 panners were killed during the
operation.
Turning to mining in general, Mpofu told parliament that
Zimbabwe
failed failed to accrue benefits from the favourable mineral prices
which
characterised the period from 2003 to 2008.
He said this was
mainly as a result of deteriorating macro-economic
fundamentals and immense
crisis on the socio-political scene.
"The above cited challenges led to
low production as several
challenges ranging from inputs supply constraints
(i.e. foreign currency
shortages, ZESA power outages and lack of
availability of equipment and
spares) to market distortions resulted in cash
flow problems and decline in
investor confidence," Mpofu said.
"Government is committed to the turnaround of the mining sector.
Firstly,
the several economic and social-political reforms currently going
on are
anticipated to positively mend the country's operating environment,
which is
important to the success of the mining sector," he said.
Secondly, he
added, much effort was being put on trying to lure
investors back into the
country's mining sector.
"Investors are being assured of security of
tenure and revival of the
public-private-partnership in the sustainable
development of the mining
sector to ensure sustainable mutual benefits among
the government investors
and the community," Mpofu said. - BY MUNYARADZI
NDLOVU
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 15 May 2009
Shielding
Mugabe makes Tsvangirai's job harder
"Situation on the ground
tells a very different story and points to
contempt of the Prime
Minister"
"MDC are being used as car-wash boys who will clean up
his image as a
reformed dictator""
HARARE - Analysts have
warned that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
has his work cut out and should
not expect a leisurely stroll towards
winning crucial international support
- and protecting his long-time rival
President Robert Mugabe will not make
his job any easier.
Tsvangirai has repeatedly downplayed the threat
of irreconcilable
differences between himself and Mugabe on the future of
Zimbabwe's
three-month-old coalition government, often coming to the defence
of his
rival and imploring the international community not to vilify the
long-serving Zimbabwean leader.
While acknowledging deep-seated
problems within the unity government,
the Premier has publicly pretended all
was nicely coming together and that
there was no need for panic.
But, as they say, action speaks louder than words.
Blatant
contempt
The situation on the ground tells a very different story and
even
points to blatant contempt of the Prime Minister by Mugabe and a group
of
hardliners in his Zanu (PF) party not keen on seeing a successful
coalition
government.
Analysts noted that, much as Tsvangirai
wanted to portray a semblance
of normalcy within the unity government,
events over the past few weeks
belied his confidence in the efficacy of the
coalition arrangement.
"One just has to look at some of the utterances
and actions by Zanu
(PF) functionaries, including war veterans, to see how
much the hardliners
disrespect and want to discredit Tsvangirai and the
MDC," Masvingo State
University lecturer Takavafira Zhou said last
week.
Members of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party and
other perceived Mugabe critics continue to be arrested or harassed
in
violation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the
85-year-old
leader, the Prime Minister and Arthur Mutambara of a breakaway
MDC faction.
Key reforms
Analysts say the unity government
has yet to make key reforms
guaranteeing political and media freedoms,
highlighted by last Monday's
arrest of editors from the privately run
Zimbabwe Independent as well as
that of prominent human rights lawyer Alec
Muchadehama.
Three months after the formation of the new government,
Mugabe is
refusing to budge on resolving outstanding GPA issues, including
appointments of central bank governor, Attorney General, permanent
secretaries and provincial governors.
Violence has continued on
white-owned farms while the police continue
to use trumped-up terrorism
charges to harass more than 30 MDC activists
accused of trying to topple
Mugabe last year.
According to University of Zimbabwe (UZ) political
science professor
John Makumbe, Tsvangirai has unwittingly allowed himself
to be used as
Mugabe's "car-wash boy" and should be careful not to end up
with egg on his
face after publicly defending the long-serving
leader.
Car-wash boys
"While Tsvangirai and the MDC are
breaking their backs to defend
Mugabe, they are being used by the same man
as car-wash boys who will clean
up his international image as a reformed
dictator," Makumbe told The
Zimbabwean On Sunday.
The UZ professor
said Tsvangirai's defence of Mugabe would do very
little to convince a
sceptical donor community that the despotic leader has
indeed changed and
should be trusted to co-habit with his sworn enemy.
He said the best
thing that the world would want is to see Mugabe go
and, if that doesn't
happen, then there should be a drastic change of
policy.
"That is
where the MDC has disappointed a lot of people, including
those with the
money to turnaround this economy. Rather than use their
combined leverage in
parliament to effect changes to the laws that Mugabe
has continued to use to
stifle dissenting voices, they are busy defending
those harassing them,"
Makumbe said.
Repeal laws
He noted that with more than
half of the seats in the House of
Assembly, the two MDC factions should push
for a repeal of the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA), Public Order and Security
Act (POSA), Broadcasting Services Act and
other laws that have been used to
detain Mugabe's opponents.
"Rather than wait for the next two years while the new constitution is
being
drafted, they could immediately cause the repeal of those laws that
don't
need a two-thirds majority to be repealed and in the same breath take
away
the ammunition that Mugabe is using to stifle opposition to his rule,"
the
professor said.
The new Zimbabwe government has set an 18-month target
in which to
develop a new democratic constitution resulting in the holding
of fresh
elections in 2011.
Although sections of AIPPA and POSA
were repealed in January 2008
following a constitutional amendment, the
government has continued to use
the laws to arrest journalists and other
human rights defenders.
As Tsvangirai has noted during the launch of
the government's 100-day
revival plan last Wednesday, wide-ranging political
reforms and unresolved
GPA issues stand between Zimbabwe and the elusive
donor funds.
Revival plan
Under the plan, the new Zimbabwe
government committed itself to
reviving the country's economic fortunes by
removing all impediments to
investment, including restoring sanity in the
agriculture sector which has
been hit by a fresh wave of farm
invasions.
Its success would, however, depend on Zimbabwe's ability to
attract
international aid and foreign investors.
The country has so
far managed to secure about US$1 billion in lines
of credit from African
countries and institutions and still requires more
than US$7 billion more to
effectively respond to the challenges it is
facing.
Economic
Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said the aid received so far
would be used
to revive Zimbabwe's industries, currently operating below 10
percent
capacity due to foreign currency shortages, a hostile operating
environment
and government price controls.
A further US$1 billion is required to
fund government operations until
the end of the year, including wages for
restive civil servants.
Donors are waiting for the right cue from
Mugabe before coming in with
their money and are not prepared to gamble with
their cash to fund an
unreformed despot - no matter what Tsvangirai wants
the world to believe.