The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Zimbabwe Sues European Union Over Mugabe Sanctions
http://www.voanews.com
23 May
2012
Violet Gonda |
Washington
Zimbabwe's Attorney General Johannes Tomana has filed a
lawsuit against the
European Union seeking the removal of sanctions
targeting President Robert
Mugabe and his close allies, charging the
measures are illegal and violate
their rights.
At least 120 Zanu PF
members on the sanctions register are part of the suit,
which the EU says is
surprising given recent bilateral talks between Harare
and Brussels to
normalize ties.
The EU slapped Mr. Mugabe and his inner circle with
travel and financial
restrictions in 2002 over allegations of human rights
violations and voter
fraud.
Tomana's suit was filed with the European
Union General Court of Justice
where a similar action was taken a few weeks
ago by David Matsanga, a
prominent supporter of Mugabe's Zanu PF party based
in London.
The sanctions issues has long been a divisive factor in
Zimbabwe with Zanu
PF demanding their removal while the two MDC formations
have somewhat been
indifferent, insisting they were not affecting ordinary
citizens.
But a power-sharing agreement reached in 2009 has forced the
MDC to actively
lobby the EU and the United States to ease the measures
against Mr. Mugabe,
arguing they are having a ripple effect on all
Zimbabweans.
The EU has recently removed some entities and individuals
from its list
deemed no longer deeply involved in human rights
breaches.
A Zimbabwean inter-party ministerial delegation, comprising
ministers
Patrick Chinamasa, Elton Mangoma and Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga
pressed the EU in a meeting in Brussels two weeks ago
to remove the
restrictions.
And in Washington Tuesday, Education
Minister David Coltart of the MDC
formation led by Welshman Ncube told U.S
officials the measures have
"outlived their purpose."
Coltart told
the U.S. Foreign Policy Journal: “The sanctions were always
symbolic in many
respects and their primary purpose was to stigmatize those
responsible for
human rights abuses.
"That stigma will not be removed with the removal of
sanctions. Ironically,
sanctions are being used by hardliners as an excuse
for ongoing economic
woes. Of course, it’s a lie. But for a country that’s
starved of
information, it’s a lie that people sometimes believe.”
EU
parliamentarian Geoffrey Van Orden told VOA he was shocked by the
lawsuit's
timing.
“That is only two weeks ago and it strikes me as rather bizarre.
That team
included Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and now just two weeks
later we
have the attorney general, presumably who works in an office not
too far
away from the Justice Minister, coming up with this ludicrous idea,"
he
said.
London-based analyst George Shire said Zimbabwe has a case
to make in the
European courts. He added that the sanctions were in
violation of the
Cotonou Agreement, which governs relations between the
European Union and
African countries.
“Political violence in Zimbabwe
is not generated by insistence of one
political party. It is within that
political network or that culture and
people who generate violence against
each other are connected to all
political parties," said Shire.
“The
position that the West takes on Zimbabwe in itself adds to that picture
of
violence and it does not urge people to live together peacefully.”
Mugabe
lashes out at 'selfish' west over wbank top job
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
HARARE May 24 Sapa-AFP | 24
May, 2012 19:50
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday lashed out
at the "selfish"
West for denying Nigerian finance minister Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala the
opportunity to head the World Bank.
Okonjo-Iweala,
a respected economist, last month lost the World Bank
president post to
Korean-American Jim Young Kim, in a first-ever challenge
to US domination of
the job.
"We were very saddened that you didn't make it," Mugabe told a
women's
conference in Harare, which the Nigerian minister was
attending.
"You know the Europeans are very selfish, they want to retain
power in these
bodies.
"The World Bank, no African can head it. The
IMF, no African can head it. So
it will take us time to be equal," said
Mugabe.
Under a tacit agreement since the Bretton Woods institutions were
founded
nearly 70 years ago, the United States has always picked one of its
citizens
for the helm of the World Bank while Europe has held control of who
leads
the International Monetary Fund.
The US nominee faced a
challenge for the first time in 66 years from two
strong developing country
candidates.
Okonjo-Iweala meanwhile said her candidacy for the World Bank
president has
proven that developing countries can lead global
institutions.
"I think they (World Bank) have absolutely no choice, they
have to evolve,"
she said.
"It was a game changer that we cannot have
the same processes that have gone
on for 60 years going on in future,
therefore I am confident that going
forward there will be a more level
playing field, more competition will be
allowed."
Meanwhile, UN
rights chief Navi Pillay, who is on a five day visit to
Zimbabwe, also
attended the conference.
"The lack of respect for women's rights remain
entrenched in our society,"
she said.
"In sub-Saharan Africa alone
young women 15-24 years are as much as eight
times more likely than men to
be living with HIV," noted Pillay, calling on
countries to address the
problem.
Sapa-AFP
Zimbabwe's president dismisses gay rights
By GILLIAN GOTORA, Associated
Press – 1 hour ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe's president said
Thursday that
homosexuality doesn't belong in Zimbabwe and it violates
women's rights by
denying the union of men and women needed to bear
children.
Robert Mugabe, 88, speaking at a women's HIV/Aids and gender
rights
conference in Harare, said the "gay world" goes against
nature.
After earlier remarks by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay
referring to the
criminalization of homosexuality in some countries, Mugabe
said Zimbabwe and
Africa won't recognize same-sex marriage because it leads
to human
"extinction."
He said male homosexuality took away women's
traditional rights of being
mothers.
Homosexuality is illegal in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, who has repeatedly described same-sex partners as
"lower than dogs
and pigs," has vowed not to allow gay rights to be included
in a new
constitution being drafted.
"Mothers were given the talent
to bear children. That talent doesn't belong
to men," he said.
"When
God created Adam ... if Adam had desired a person like him it would
not have
made him any happier," Mugabe said.
"When a man says he wants to get
married to another man, we in Zimbabwe
don't accept it. We can't talk of
women's rights at all if we go in that
direction. It will lead to
extinction," he said.
On demands for women's equality, Mugabe said he
doubted women will get equal
representation as lawmakers in
Zimbabwe.
"Our customs look down on women as inferior. Men pay cattle and
money to get
a wife and expect women to obey them. Women will surely lose.
Men say that
women are not as knowledgeable as us. The attitude of men still
despises
women," he said.
Pillay told Thursday's GlobalPower Women
Network Africa meeting on women's
rights that decisive leadership was needed
to craft fair laws and policies
on property rights for widows, early
marriages, sexual violence, marital
rape, homosexuality and commercial sex
work.
She arrived Sunday to assess human rights in Zimbabwe. It is the
first visit
of a UN human rights chief to the troubled southern African
nation.
Thursday's women's rights meeting coincided with the release of
Amnesty
International's annual global rights report.
The report cited
one of its concerns over the past year as "worsening
discrimination in
Africa over people's sexual orientation or gender
identity."
It said
in October that two allegedly gay men were arrested in Harare after
being
assaulted by Zimbabwean mobs. Mugabe's party militants then repeatedly
threatened violence against the men's lawyers when a court cleared them of
engaging in homosexuality.
Amnesty also said Thursday that police in
Zimbabwe have continued to harass,
intimidate and assault perceived
opponents of Mugabe's ZANU PF party.
It said in the past year "security
elements" had arrested senior politicians
aligned to the former opposition
in the nation's three-year coalition
government and disrupted their
political activities.
Human rights defenders were also arrested, detained
and tortured, Amnesty
said.
Mugabe's party has denied the existence
of state-sponsored political
violence in meetings with Pillay.
She
ends her weeklong visit Friday.
Elections
Confirmed in Zimbabwe
http://www.plenglish.com
Imagen de muestraHarare, May 24 (Prensa Latina)
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe told the UN High Commissioner Navi
Pillay, this country will hold
elections in 2012, although no exact date has
been set for this process.
According to the daily The Herald, Mugabe
told the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, in official visit to
Zimbabwe, that the national unity
government does not have popular mandate
to continue expanding the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
Mugabe,
leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front
(Zanu-Pf) and
in power since 1980, formed in 2009, after the 2008 elections,
a government
of national unity with the current prime minister, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
During the meeting between Pillay and Mugabe on
Wednesday, the president
explained how the West's illegal sanctions damanged
the economy of Zimbabwe
and gave the example of Bulawayo (south) where there
are closed industries
as a result of these punitive measures.
Mugabe
told the UN official how the North Americans entities frustrated
diamond
sales, although the country was granted permission to export their
gems by
the Kimberly Process certification scheme.
sus/abo/lac/mt
Modificado
el ( jueves, 24 de mayo de 2012 )
UN
rights envoy gets Mugabe history lesson
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/05/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
THE United Nations’ top envoy on human rights was
given a history lesson
during a meeting with President Robert Mugabe in
Harare on Wednesday.
Navanethem Pillay praised Mugabe’s strong message
against political violence
and urged him to work harder to ensure future
elections were free of
intimidation and coercion.
Pillay told
reporters part of their talks, lasting two hours, had involved a
monologue
by Mugabe in which he “linked some of the current problems to the
past”.
She admitted to being an admirer of Mugabe, the liberator,
during Zimbabwe’s
bush war for independence in the 1970s. She had celebrated
his release from
detention by the racist colonial regime, she
said.
The ZBC, citing sources, reported last night that Mugabe walked the
UN
envoy – in Zimbabwe at the invitation of the ruling coalition partners –
through “the colonial history of Zimbabwe and the post independence era
which has been a frustrating period of destabilisation of the country by the
west who embarked on the regime change agenda following the country’s land
reform programme.”
Mugabe also told the envoy that “the powerful
western media has been abused
to peddle falsehoods about the human rights
situation in Zimbabwe”, the ZBC
reported.
Mugabe also reiterated that
elections must be held this year, despite
opposition by his coalition
partners.
The 88-year-old leader also brought up familiar themes
including western
sanctions imposed on the country since 2001.
“In
the context of human rights, President Mugabe said the economic
hardships
brought about by the illegal sanctions have denied the majority of
Zimbabweans the enjoyment of their economic rights,” the report
said.
Mugabe told Pillay that the United States was intercepting payments
for
diamond exports, hurting Zimbabwe’s efforts to stabilise its
economy.
Pillay told reporters: “I commended the President for making a
call that
there should be no violence in future elections and I urged him to
continue
to make such calls.”
Pillay, who arrived in Harare on
Sunday, met Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on Tuesday. Tsvangirai told her
violence was on the decline since
the condemned June 2008 presidential
election run-off which saw Mugabe
agreeing to share power under regional
pressure.
“There has been progress on the country’s human rights
situation although
more still needs to be done. We hope to have a free and
fair election,”
Tsvangirai said after meeting Pillay, taking a different
line from his MDC-T
party which said in a statement that he would brief the
envoy about “the
deteriorating human rights situation in the country”.
Zanu PF Youths Want Military to Take Charge When Mugabe is
Gone
http://www.voanews.com
23 May
2012
Jonga Kandemiiri, Mavis Gama | Harare, Washington
Youths
of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party declared Wednesday that
Zimbabwe
will never be governed by anyone else besides the 88-year old
leader, adding
in the event he stepped aside, the military should take
charge.
Singing revolutionary songs at a World Federation of
Democratic Youth
conference in Harare, the youths vowed they will never
allow the MDC to take
over power, even if the party won an
election.
Addressing more than two hundred youths from countries with
liberation
backgrounds that were in attendance, Zanu PF national chairman,
Simon
Khaya-Moyo told the activists to "resist
imperialism."
Khaya-Moyo condemned Western sanctions imposed on President
Robert Mugabe
and his close allies in Zanu PF saying they were undermining
the land reform
program, under which white-owned farms were compulsorily
seized and parceled
to blacks.
Moyo's speech came at a time Zimbabwe
is hosting the United Nations Human
Rights Commissioner Navi
Pillay.
The conference was attended by youths from Mozambique, Venezuela,
Cuba,
Zambia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Korea, Vietnam, South Africa,
Namibia, Palestine, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Lebanon,
Russia, Cyprus, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo and
Portugal.
The Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe represented the
communist nation while
the Pakistani deputy ambassador stood in for his
country.
The Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai said it was not invited.
Many other local youth
organizations were also not attending as they were
not invited to the
conference whose participants were drawn from countries
that fought for
independence from former colonial powers.
Tsvangirai MDC youth secretary
Promise Mkwananzi dismissed assertions by
Zanu PF youths that only Mugabe
should rule Zimbabwe as “day dreaming.”
No
vacancy for Zanu PF leader: Gumbo
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE Zanu PF politburo has warned President Robert Mugabe’s
would-be
successors that no leadership challenge would be entertained until
the party’s
next elective congress in 2014.
Zanu PF is struggling
with deep divisions over its next leader, made worse
by concerns about
Mugabe’s age and speculation over his health.
Mugabe turned 88 this year
but has repeatedly dismissed media reports of
failing health, insisting his
is in more than fine fettle for a man his age.
The assurances have not
stopped ambitious lieutenants from positioning
themselves for the top job
leading to bitter divisions in the party which
have cascaded down to the
districts.
But spokesman Rugare Gumbo warned on Wednesday: “If there is
anyone who is
interested in the leadership of the party, they should wait
for the party’s
congress in 2014, where they should express their
interests.
“They should mobilise support following laid-down party
procedures rather
than threatening people. That is not democracy and it is
retrogressive to
the party.”
Despite recently distancing themselves
from a challenge for the party
leadership, Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa and Vice President Joice
Mujuru are said to be the main contenders
to take over from Mugabe.
The two lead bitterly opposed groups in the
party that have been blamed for
deepening divisions which were recently
exposed in the recent district
committee elections in Masvingo and
Manicaland which were marred by clashes
between supporters and allegations
of vote buying.
Gumbo said the politburo had made it clear that the
current leadership
structure should be respected until the party’s next
elective congress.
“We have the presidency where we have President Mugabe
as the first
secretary of the party and Vice-Presidents Joice Mujuru and
John Nkomo as
second secretaries,” Gumbo said.
“We also have the
presidium which includes the national chairman (Simon
Khaya Moyo) and the
secretary for administration (Didymus Mutasa). Any other
person claiming to
lead the party outside that hierarchy is just a
destabilising
force.”
And in remarks that suggest Mujuru probably suspected senior
officials were
trying to undermine her position, Gumbo said the Vice
President had reminded
last week’s politburo meeting that she was elected
with the unanimous
support of the party’s provinces.
“She talked
about the protocol of the party and that she was elected by all
the party’s
10 provinces, and that is not a secret,” he said.
Mujuru’s could be
trying to shore-up her position after her succession
prospects were dealt a
serious blow with the death of her influential
husband and former army
chief, General Solomon Mujuru.
A privately-owned weekly claimed that she
had been like “a tiger” during the
stormy meeting and spoke strongly against
those trying to undermine senior
leaders and destabilise structures through
ambitious agendas.
Meanwhile, Gumbo said senior party officials should
set aside their personal
ambitions and work towards ensuring victory in
elections which Mugabe
insists must be held this year.
“Let us focus
on strengthening the party rather than destabilise it, that is
the position
of the Politburo ... Our role is to strengthen the party to
ensure that it
is strong ahead of the elections,” he told the state-run
Herald newspaper.
Railway
workers unpaid for 6 months
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
Workers at
Zimbabwe’s national railway company have made desperate appeals
to Transport
and Communications Minister Nicholas Goche to appoint a board
of directors,
so that they can receive wages after nearly six months.
The National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is struggling with a financial
crisis that has
left workers unpaid for most of this year, with management
claiming there is
no money. A decision on the outstanding salaries can only
be made once a new
board is appointed.
“I talked to the Transport Minister Nicholas Goche
sometime last week and he
said there will be a board very soon,” SW Radio
Africa correspondent Lionel
Saungweme said, referring to Goche’s appearance
at the ICT Conference in
Bulawayo last week.
The ailing parastatal is
being run by the Retired Air Commodore Mike
Karakadzai, who as chairman and
General Manager also employs many former
military officials and war vets who
were allegedly hired because of their
affiliation with ZANU PF.
Just
last week in parliament Karakadzai and his former military colleagues
were
accused of destroying the NRZ through mismanagement and corruption, in
the
same way other parastatals have been run down by former military
chefs.
Saungweme said the allegations have merit. “In November and
December
management ensured that perks like school fees for their children
was
actually paid in advance. The workers in lower grades did not even get
salaries,” Saungweme explained.
Railways workers went on strike a
month before the Christmas holidays last
year, demanding their outstanding
salaries. But they were ordered back to
work by government, with threats
that those who did not comply risked losing
their jobs.
NRZ workers
can only hope the Transport Minister appoints a board of
directors by the
end of the week, so that a decision on their salaries can
finally be made.
It is a mystery just how they have managed to stay at their
jobs without
salaries for nearly six months.
Riot
police called in to keep peace during ZANU PF meetings
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
24 May 2012
During the last month, police in Masvingo have
deployed riot squad officers
to every ZANU PF meeting held in the town to
keep warring factions from
coming to blows, SW Radio Africa learned on
Thursday.
Die hard supporters of party strongman Emmerson Mnangagwa and
pro-Joice
Mujuru loyalists have been fighting each other since the
controversial
District Coordinating Committee elections last
month.
The factions, while allied against the MDC in their quest to hold
on to
power, have been wrestling over control of the party. Ideological and
personal fault lines are growing, especially in Masvingo district where
there were ugly scenes of intra-party violence following another round of
disputed DCC elections in Nyajena, Masvingo South.
Armed police
called in to quell clashes are said to have fired shots to
disperse the
warring parties. Other party supporters fought running battles
at Shumba
Primary School in Masvingo South, after members aligned to the
Mujuru
faction accused their rivals of manipulating the elections.
Supporters
pelted each other with stones, causing injuries and damage to the
school
classrooms with windows shattered. Webster Shamu, the party’s
political
commissar has visited Masvingo three times to try and contain the
deepening
rift. On each occasion riot police were present.
‘There have been dozens
of party supporters from around the district
descending on chief’s hall in
Masvingo to see Shamu, and there have been
counter-protests by both factions
and war vets, all ingredients for scenes
of mass violence,’ a freelance
journalist said.
The journalist told us on all the occasions, heavily
armed riot police
managed to keep the factions at bay but were not able to
stop members of the
army from booing Shamu during a ZANU PF meeting in ward
10 near Zimuto. The
soldiers, from 4.1 barracks and in civilian clothes
embarrassed Shamu when
they openly demanded the reinstatement of former army
colonel, Daniel Shumba
back into party structures.
Shumba, the former
ZANU PF Masvingo provincial chairman, was suspended from
ZANU PF in December
2004 after he was accused of taking part in an illegal
meeting held in
Tsholotsho.
Shumba had recently been co-opted into ZANU PF structures but
the politburo
resolved in its extra-ordinary meeting last week that he
remain expelled,
because he stood against party sponsored candidates in past
elections.
This decision has irked members of the armed forces in
Masvingo, considered
to be Shumba’s power base. A source said Shamu was told
they wanted Shumba
back as parliamentary candidate in ZANU PF, and no other
candidate.
Tsvangirai
office deny claims of bloated delegation
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
24 May
2012
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has denied claims by the ZANU PF
controlled
state media that he was travelling with a bloated delegation of
31 people on
his maiden trip to China. The PM heads to China on Friday at
the invitation
of the Chinese government for what have been described as
‘high-level
meetings’.
Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka
however dismissed the reports on
the size of his delegation as ‘mischievous’
telling SW Radio Africa the PM
was in fact travelling with 11 people from
the Ministries of Finance, State
Enterprises, Water Resources Management and
other officials from the Harare
City Council.
Tamborinyoka said the
PM “will engage in high-level meetings to resuscitate
several stalled
projects in Zimbabwe. Several projects funded through the
China Exim Bank in
the fields of energy and water, among others, have
stalled due to several
reasons including the country’s failure to service
loans.”
In China,
Tsvangirai is expected to hold meetings with his Chinese
counterpart, Wen
Jiabao, attend the official opening of the China
International Fair on Trade
in Services (CIFTIS) and then address a Zimbabwe
Promotion conference, among
several other engagements.
According to Tamborinyoka the trip will also
seek Chinese support in
completing the rehabilitation of Harare’s water and
sewerage systems.
Tsvangirai is expected to return next week.
In
March 2011 Mugabe arrived at the SADC Troika Summit in nearby
Livingstone,
Zambia with an entourage of over 60 people. This contrasted
sharply with
South African President Jacob Zuma, who had less than 12 people
around him,
and Prime Minister Tsvangirai who travelled with six people.
In October
2011 Mugabe and 62 members of his delegation cancelled a trip to
Switzerland
after his wife Grace, spokesman George Charamba and four other
people were
denied visas under targeted travel restrictions. Although the
visas were
later issued Mugabe and his aides did not travel in protest.
Last year it
was reported Mugabe is the biggest spender in government in
terms of foreign
trips. This was after he overshot his annual foreign travel
budget by a
massive 133 percent in just six months. The 88 year old chewed
up US$20
million in those months including his many trips to the Far East
for
treatment.
Vice
President Nkomo back in hospital for cancer treatment
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
24 May 2012
Vice-President John Nkomo has been admitted to
hospital in Cape Town, South
Africa as he continues to battle
cancer.
SW Radio Africa understands that the 77 year-old Nkomo was flown
to South
Africa as part of his treatment and rehabilitation. The
Vice-President has
been receiving chemotherapy following his diagnosis some
two years ago.
Reports from Harare said Nkomo had been missing several
crucial government
and ZANU PF meetings this month due to illness. He was
absent from Tuesday’s
cabinet meeting and last week’s extraordinary
politburo convened to deal
with deepening infighting within ZANU PF
following the controversial
District Coordinating Committee elections
countrywide.
Sam Sipepa Nkomo, the MDC-T minister for Water Resources
Development and a
relative to the Vice-President said it is now in the
public domain that his
cousin has not been well, although he added that he
is recovering well.
Nkomo is one of three cabinet members receiving
cancer treatment in South
Africa. Deputy Prime Minister and MDC-T vice
President Thokozani Khupe was
in Johannesburg recently for her cancer
radiation therapy treatment.
Khupe underwent a successful operation for
breast cancer in November last
year and is back at work in the country.
Lands and Rural Resettlement
Minister Herbert Murerwa has also been to South
Africa where he also is
receiving treatment for cancer.
The former
diplomat and Finance minister has been unwell for some time and
occasionally
flies to Johannesburg to undergoing chemotherapy.
Rio’s Zimbabwe
spin-off to acquire Murowa diamond mine
http://www.mining.com
Cecilia Jamasmie | May 24,
2012
Zimbabwean miner RioZim Limited is negotiating with global giant Rio
Tinto
(LON & NYSE:RIO) in an attempt to acquire the now jointly own
Murowa diamond
mine in the in south central region of the country, reports
Reuters Africa.
The world’s third largest miner announced in March that
it was reviewing its
diamond business, potentially selling it all
off.
According to some analysts, the diamond business seems to be "simply
too
small" for mining giants such as Rio Tinto, which diamond mines
contribute
less than 2% to its earnings.
Rio owns 78% of Murowa,
which produced 324,000 carats in the last financial
year, while RioZim
controls the outstanding 22% of the mine.
The African company move came
as a surprise for the market as RioZim is
facing some financial hassles. On
Monday, the company postponed its annual
general meeting scheduled for May
22 to an unspecified date, saying it
needed to finalize its annual report
and do “possible adjustments” due the
changes it went through in its bid to
recapitalize its operations.
However, Zimbabwe Independent reports the
postponement had nothing to do
with the reason given by RioZim, but more to
do with the figures over the
external liability, which the auditors had
refused to sign for.
Well-placed sources also said as the losses at
the mining company
continued to mount, workers were receiving salaries
irregularly. Market
commentators have questioned the ability of the
recapitalisation partners to
fund the revival of the company, given that
only a small percentage of
funding has been released to pay off the
company’s debts, which were in
excess of US$50 million as at the end of
December 2011.
Rio Tinto operates three diamond mines including Argyle in
Australia, Diavik
in Canada's far north and Murowa in Zimbabwe. The miner
also has an advanced
diamond project in Bunder, India.
RioZim also
mines coal, gold and nickel.
The Pollution Fallout From Zimbabwe’s Blood
Diamonds
24 May
2012: Report
The regime of Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe has been accused of profiting from the Marange diamond
fields, garnering illicit funds that could be used to bolster his oppressive
security forces. Now critics are alleging the government is failing to stop
mining-waste pollution that is sickening livestock and local villagers.
by andrew mambondiyani
The Marange diamond
fields, sprawling across 250 square miles of semi-arid scrubland and forest in
eastern Zimbabwe, have been an infamous example of so-called blood diamonds. The
outside world first learned about Marange in 2008 when police and soldiers loyal
to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe violently cleared out thousands of
small-scale miners, killing more than 200 people in the process, according
to Human Rights Watch.
More recently, as Zimbabwe’s government has
solidified control over the fields and brought in foreign partners to help
exploit one of the world’s largest troves of diamonds, a second human rights
group, London-based Global Witness, has alleged that top officials in Zimbabwe’s military
and security forces hold key positions in Marange’s diamond mining companies.
Nick Donovan, senior campaigner at Global Witness, warns that diamonds could
become a “cash cow” for Zimbabwe’s repressive regime. “If the next election is
accompanied by violence there’s a real risk that any bloodshed will be funded by
diamond revenues,” he says.
View
gallery
Photo by Tendai Muranda
Workers for a joint venture between a Zimbabwean firm
and a Chinese company, Anjin, excavate diamond mines in
Marange.
Now, the impoverished residents who live near the mines
have another cause for concern. Cattle drinking water from the Odzi River
downstream of diamond processing facilities have been dying, residents say.
Numerous local officials and leaders of civic organizations contend that people
who have bathed in the river have developed rashes and other skin ailments, and
that other residents have grown ill after drinking river water. Farai Maguwu,
director of the Center for Research and
Development, a human rights organization
in the nearby city of Mutare, said he is concerned that large diamond processing
plants on the Odzi are releasing toxic effluent and raw sewage into the river,
which flows into the larger Save, or Sabi, River.
Maguwu, local
politicians, and the area’s representative in Parliament say that for decades
villagers drank from the Odzi River and did not experience widespread health
problems. But after large-scale diamond processing began in 2009 and intensified
in the past year or two, complaints have mounted of human and animal ailments
stemming from drinking river water. A local herdsman, Richford Maramba —
standing near the Odzi River amid scattered mopani and acacia trees — said that
two of his cows had died in recent weeks after drinking from the Odzi. He
estimated that more than 100 cattle from nearby villages had died in the last
year from drinking river water. “We don’t know what these diamond companies are
discharging into the river,” said Maramba, squinting into a scorching sun. “But
whatever it is, it is not good for us and our livestock.”
Figuring out
what, exactly, the diamond companies are releasing into the Odzi River is a
daunting task, given the tight security at the mines, the ties of the mining
companies to Mugabe’s regime and his ZANU-PF Party, and the lack of transparency
in Marange diamond operations. Only in February and March of this year were
opposition politicians and members of Parliament taken on tours of the Marange
diamond fields, which by some estimates hold 25 percent of the world’s diamond
deposits. Those tours were tightly restricted.
Lawmakers were denied
access to local villagers, and two other reporters and I were arrested while
interviewing villagers about mining pollution. We were held by the police for
six hours and charged with “criminal
Two other
reporters and I were arrested while interviewing villagers about mining
pollution.
nuisance.” Those charges are still
pending.
Shamiso Mtisi of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association said
he and other representatives from civil society organizations raised the issue
of pollution with diamond company executives. According to Mtisi, senior company
officials said they had created some ponds where they were discharging tailings
from the mines, but that no toxic waste was going into the river.
“They
denied that waste materials are harmful,” said Mtisi. “We are still [intending]
to carry out our own independent analysis of the water.”
Environmental
laws in Zimbabwe are lax and are unlikely to be strictly enforced, especially
against companies with close ties to the Mugabe regime and the ZANU-PF Party.
One of a handful of companies mining and processing diamonds in Marange is
Mbada Diamonds,
whose chairman is Zimbabwe’s former Air Vice Marshall Robert Mhlanga, according
to Global Witness. He also reportedly was Mugabe’s personal pilot, Global
Witness says.
Mbada is a 50-50 joint venture between Marange Resources
Ltd., which is owned by the state-run Zimbabwe Diamond Mining Corporation, and
Grandwell Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of Reclam, a South African scrap metal
company. In its 2011 annual report, in which it is required to discuss potential
environmental liabilities, Reclam noted that it was generally less
The
company noted that it was less expensive to pollute and pay fines than pay for
pollution controls.
expensive to pollute and
pay the fines in Marange than to pay for the installation of pollution
controls.
“As part of its diamond mining operations,” the Reclam report
said, “Mbada uses various chemicals and produces overburden and wastewater,
which could have a negative impact on wildlife and vegetation of adjacent areas
if improperly discharged. In addition, hazardous materials, such as explosives
used in mining operations and solvents, are used to clean, refurbish and
maintain mining, processing and other equipment.
“These activities are
subject to a number of laws and regulations relating to environmental
protection. Fees are assessed for exceeding agreed limits on emissions and
effluents. Currently these fees are generally small in relation to the cost of
environmental protection equipment and it is generally less expensive to pay the
fees than to install anti-pollution devices. Further, the applicable laws do not
generally require clean-up of environmental pollutants, and when clean-up is
required, the applicable laws provide no guidance as to the extent to which the
clean-up must be carried out.”
Reclam’s annual report cautioned, however,
that should enforcement of environmental laws become more stringent in the
future, Mbada might be required to make “significant capital
expenditures.”
Another well-connected company mining and processing
diamonds in Marange is Anjin Investments, a joint venture between a little-known Zimbabwean
company, Matt Bronze, and a Chinese construction company, according to Global
Witness. Among the members of Anjin’s board are the permanent secretary of
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Defense, two commissioners of the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, and current and former officers of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces,
according to Global Witness.
View
gallery
Photo by Tendai Muranda
Security guards search workers for contraband diamonds
at a diamond processing facility in Marange.
One mining expert who works
in Zimbabwe, Terry Kundidza, said diamond-bearing gravel was processed using a
technology called dense medium separation. Kundidza, who has been working in the
diamond mining industry for over a decade, said ferrosilicon — an alloy of
silicon and iron — was used as the dense medium separation material.
He
said that diamond ore was placed into a ferrosilicon mix, scrubbed, cleaned, and
processed, while material that was no longer deemed profitable is dumped. At the
end of each operation, the ferrosilicon is reclaimed from the process stream
using a magnetic separator and recycled, but losses of ferrosilicon could occur,
leading to contamination when the waste is discharged into water bodies,
Kundidza said.
“Ferrosilicon is a toxic and irritant substance, hazardous
to human health,” said Kundidza. “Hence adequate protection is needed from
accidentally inhaling or ingesting the material.”
Zimbabwe’s Minister of
Environment and Natural Resources Management, Francis Nhema, recently said that
some companies in Marange were in breach of environmental laws. He said all
diamond-mining companies are required by law to submit an Environmental Impact
Assessment report before they can be granted licenses to operate, but that some
companies had failed to do so.
An official at a local health center, who
requested not to be named for fear of reprisal from her superiors, said there
had been a surge in cases of skin rashes since the start of large-scale diamond
mining and processing in
A health
official reported a surge in cases of skin rashes since large-scale diamond
mining started.
Marange. But she said that until testing of river water
and effluent from the processing plants is carried out, it is difficult to link
the mining and processing with the rashes.
Other legislators said that
more than 50 people had been treated for skin rashes and that they are concerned
about the long-term health effects since villagers do not generally have wells
and rely on the Odzi and Save for drinking water.
Marange’s multi-billion
dollar diamond reserves have brought hope to a country suffering from years of
economic collapse. According to the Mines and Mining Development Ministry, the
diamond mines could generate more than U.S. $4 billion a year in
revenues.
Opposition politicians have accused Mugabe’s close ally, Obert
Mpofu, who is the minister of Mines and Mining Development, of not remitting
proceeds from diamonds to the Zimbabwe’s treasury, fueling speculation that
ZANU-PF was stashing away diamond money to finance a bloody campaign ahead of
the impending general elections; Mpofu has not been charged with any
wrongdoing.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti — a member of the Movement for
Democratic Change, which entered into a coalition government with ZANU-PF after
the 2008 election that was widely denounced as fraudulent — has expressed
concern that diamond revenues are being misappropriated. Biti said he had
anticipated U.S $600 million annually from the diamonds for the national budget.
During the first three months of this year, Biti said, Zimbabwe’s treasury was
expecting U.S. $122.5 million from diamond sales, but by March 21, only U.S
$30.4 million had been remitted. Anjin remitted no diamond proceeds to the
government in the first quarter of 2012, Biti said.
“Clearly we fear as
the Ministry of Finance that there might be a parallel government somewhere in
respect of where these revenues are going, and are not coming to us,” Biti told
reporters last week. “There is opaqueness and unaccountability surrounding our
diamonds.”The Kimberley Process Certification
Scheme, established to end the trade in blood diamonds, last
November cleared three diamond companies working in the region — Mbada, Marange
Resources, and Anjin — to auction their diamonds internationally. After that
action, Global Witness withdrew from the pact, citing the approval as a prime
reason for its decision. The U.S., the European Union, and the United Kingdom
have imposed restrictions on trading diamonds on several of the companies
operating in the Marange region.
Despite assurance from the diamond
companies that they are not polluting the Odzi and Save rivers, local residents
remain unconvinced. Said Zakeu Nhachi, a councilor representing some of the
affected areas, “Many people and livestock have been affected. Affected animals
lose their fur and ultimately die. We have tried to engage the companies, but we
have not succeeded.” POSTED ON 24 May
2012
Chitungwiza
councillor 'sold 388 stands'
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
A COUNCILLOR carved up land reserved for a secondary school
into 388
residential stands which he then sold and pocketed the money, a
court heard
on Wednesday.
Boniface Manyonganise, an MDC-T councillor
in Chitungwiza, will face a
separate trial with two other councillors –
Brighton Mazhindu and Ernest
Muridzi – for allegedly making 24 residential
stands out of a road buffer –
a green zone reserved for trees which acts as
a noise shield between the
road and housing
developments.
Manyonganise is charged with criminal abuse of office – the
third official
to be brought to court since a commission appointed by the
Local Government
Minister moved in to take over the management of the
council when the MDC-T
took the extraordinary step to expel all 24
councillors for corruption.
Prosecuting, David Magwegwe told the court
that between January 2010 and
January 2012, Manyonganise caused the creation
of 388 residential stands on
land in St Mary's which had been designated by
the council for the
construction of a secondary school.
Manyonganise sold
the stands at exorbitant prices to desperate residents who
had waited for
years on the housing list.
Prosecutors are also charging Manyonganise,
along with Mazhindu and Muridzi,
of partitioning a green zone along
Chaminuka Road in St Mary’s into 24
residential stands and selling them for
personal profit.
Magwegwe strongly opposed bail, but magistrate Anita
Tshuma set bond at
US$500 with restrictive conditions, including the
surrender of his passport.
He must also report three times to the CID’s
Commercial Crimes Unit.
Manyonganise’s arrest follows that of the former
Chitungwiza Town Clerk,
Godfrey Tanyanyiwa, over corrupt deals involving
more than US$3 million and
Housing Director Jemmina Gumbo.
Investigators
say they expect to file more charges in the coming weeks.
Zimbabwe's women activists face filthy prisons,
insults
Source: trustlaw // Katie
Nguyen and Maria Caspani
Zimbabwean campaigner Jenni Williams photographed in
London, 23 May 2012. TRUSTLAW/Maria Caspani
By Katie Nguyen
and Maria Caspani
LONDON (TrustLaw)
- For someone who has been arrested 43 times while protesting for social justice
in Zimbabwe, the prospect of elections in her homeland evokes a special kind of
fear in campaigner Jenni Williams.
The 50-year-old is
the executive director and a founding member of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), formed in 2003 to
encourage Zimbabwean women to stand up for their rights.
The group of some
80,000 activists has held peaceful demonstrations to highlight issues ranging
from access to sanitary pads to the right to education and making electricity
more affordable.
"The word
'elections' in Zimbabwe is a word that strikes fear," said Williams who was in
London this week to attend the launch of Amnesty International's annual
report.
"It is a horrible
word for me because, since the election of 2008, the government decided that,
during any election period, mobilisers like myself and my colleagues should not
be allowed to do their work," she told TrustLaw in an
interview.
At Zimbabwe's
last election in 2008, critics and opponents say
President Robert Mugabe hung on to power by rigging polls and allowing
independence war veterans and the youth brigade of his ZANU-PF party to attack
the opposition.
Forced into a
power-sharing deal with rival and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe
wants elections to be held this year. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), however, says the next vote should come after a new constitution
and electoral, security and media reforms are adopted.
Often speaking
softly, Williams described how she had been detained three times since the last
election.
"The word
'election' immediately means some day I'm going to be back in ... remand
prison," she explained.
"Since 2011, I
think, related to the impact of the Arab Spring, suddenly our government have
realised the work we do to put people on the streets is dangerous and we seem to
have become classified as a national security threat. And so, it's very nervous
eyes that look towards the immediate future in Zimbabwe."
In its annual
report released on Thursday, Amnesty said human rights activists in Zimbabwe
continue to face arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, politically motivated
charges and even torture in police custody.
It said activists
face harassment and intimidation by ZANU-PF members, which increased as ZANU-PF
started making pronouncements of a possible election in 2011.
Williams urged
U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, on a rare visit to Zimbabwe this week, to
push for the implementation of measures to protect human rights campaigners - as
outlined in the pact establishing Zimbabwe's power-sharing
government.
"Our lives are at
stake," she said. "I've spent many years at the top of a hit list, and I know
that I'm probably on the hit list, and I would really like to live to see my
grandchildren."
PUT IN A
CAGE WITH DOGS
It's with
weariness that Williams speaks of being arrested and detained, and the barrage
of insults she endures from police and prison officers as well as filthy
conditions in jail.
The verbal
hounding of women in detention is incessant, Williams said, with running
commentary from security forces along the lines of: 'What are you women doing
here? You're just trouble-making. You don't have any rights to do these things.
You're just being used.'
"You know? (Like)
we cannot have our own agency. We must always be assigned to being used by
someone else. And so the insults become significant. We are 'prostitutes', 'you
women smell of fish'," Williams said.
She also described
how male prison guards were allowed to walk in and out of a prison where she had
been detained as they pleased, and which had a shower without a door. "You
always feel very vulnerable as a woman to those conditions," she
said.
There is also the
threat of physical and sexual violence.
"Every prisoner is
always prone to being beaten and abused by prison officers and police officers.
That is a fact. Many of the prostitutes I've been in prison with - because we
share the same cells - will be forced to give sexual favours to buy their
release. They openly talk about those things," Williams said.
"The one I was
with last time said she was trying to refuse to do that and she was then put in
the cage with the police dogs until she was forced to give sexual favours, and
she said they refused to use condoms."
STRATEGIC
NON-VIOLENCE
The role of many
women as the head of their households means their involvement in protests may
come at a higher price than men.
Williams said many
Zimbabwean men had crossed over into neighbouring South Africa and Botswana in
search of jobs - leaving their women and children at home.
"Each family is
living on a meal-to-meal basis, so if a (human rights) defender is arrested, her
family becomes very vulnerable. It's quite a significant thing to be arrested
and put away for 48 hours," she said.
Yet Williams is
adamant that women must lead the struggle for their rights, despite the personal
price they pay.
"We feel that
women have to be the leaders of their own emancipation," she
said.
She was more
cautious about the involvement of men, recalling how WOZA opened its doors to
them in 2006 and how they quickly wanted to come and take over. "We said, 'no,
no, no - now we're going to give you quota systems and we're going to limit your
level of leadership'".
Men and women
activists have very different styles, she noted: "We found that women are much
cleverer and quicker to understand the power of a placard and standing back and
allowing them to beat you without retaliating, whereas men have a different ego.
They must be a man and respond."
"Part of strategic
non-violence is that you have to create the dilemma, put yourself in the
position and then if you are beaten, arrested, tortured, you expose that
injustice without retaliating. It's been easier to train the women than it is to
train the men," Williams said.
Overturning
entrenched sexism is a big challenge.
Williams said
during many of her arrests police officers would turn to her husband, saying 'oh
Mr Williams, shame, we feel sorry for you'.
"I'm being
tortured and abused by these police officers and it's my husband who is getting
the sympathy. (They say) 'try and buy a sjambok (whip) and beat her, do us all a
favour' - that's the attitude of these guys," Williams said.
"It's a very
important thing that we are women doing the work we're doing. Whether men listen
or not (now), they'll listen."
Defence and Security in a new
Zimbabwe
Click here to watch a video
introduction by Roy Bennett
Click here to download the full
report
Fellow Zimbabweans
Zimbabwe’s politicised
security services are the main obstacle to a new life for our nation. It is also
true that the success of any attempt to rebuild Zimbabwe after Zanu-PF will
depend on the extent to which the security services are democratised and
professionalised. These institutions must be thoroughly depoliticised and
reformed if we are to begin afresh and if we are to sustain change over the long
term.
As such, I
commissioned professional consultants to research and write a detailed paper on
what a democratic security sector could look like. The resulting document
represents my vision of what a new government could do to align the army, air
force and CIO with international best-practice. This is not an official policy
statement, but rather an ‘icebreaker’. My main aims in publishing the paper are
to:
- Encourage a
national debate among democratically-minded people on what a new security sector
should look like. I welcome comments from all Zimbabweans, including those in
the security sector who are eager to see their institutions professionalised. I
am convinced that many of the younger members of the security services would
like to be part of a system that is based on professionalism rather than
politics. In such a system, they will work with their fellow Zimbabweans and not
against them. They will be promoted and rewarded on merit—they will also be
trained, equipped and paid in a way befits the most modern and proficient
security services in the world. This is not a pipe dream but an achievable goal
if a democratic transition can be brought about.
- Stimulate a
discussion on how we are to get to the point where we can start the reform
process. The paper applies to a situation where a transition has already
occurred. But how will we get that opportunity when reactionary elements of the
security sector refuse to abide by the democratic will of the people? What is
needed to bring about a transition of power? Again, the views of all are
welcomed—and particularly those who see the realities from within the confines
of the services.
Key proposals in the paper
The key proposals
in the paper are as follows:
- Within 30 days of
coming to power, a new government would form an expert official review committee
which would make recommendations on a wide range of defence and security issues
as outlined in the report.
- A series of
constitutional changes are needed to create a framework within which the
security services are subordinated to the civil authority
» an independent
Defence and Security Inspectorate should be created
» the purpose of the
Inspectorate would be to ensure compliance with democratic norms within the
services, thus ending the culture of immunity and impunity that has existed
under the Rhodesian Front and Zanu-PF
» among other things, the Inspectorate
would have powers to investigate each and every security service activity
(including human rights violations and weapons procurement) and would be capable
of mounting prosecutions
» an Intelligence Services Act should be passed,
bringing the intelligence apparatus under legislative control for the first
time.
- The Zimbabwe
Republic Police would be demilitarised and become the primary instrument for
maintaining law and order; the army would be externally focused and could only
be deployed internally in extreme conditions—and this deployment could be
revoked by parliament at any time.
- Within Zimbabwe,
the intelligence machinery would work in a subordinate capacity to the police
and only in a technical/informational capacity; internal ‘special operations’
would be prohibited under a new constitution.
- The Police Act
and Defence Act would be thoroughly examined and revised where necessary
»
mandatory retirement ages should be implemented to provide opportunities for
younger and more democratically-oriented officers.
- A paradigm shift
in the culture of the services must occur
» this will be encouraged by a
major and ongoing program of professionalisation centred on depoliticisation,
demobilisation (where necessary), redeployment, retraining and re-equipping
»
party militias and operational war veterans groups would become illegal—as would
membership of political parties for services personnel.
A final word
Zimbabweans are an
intelligent, capable people. Together we can build a new security sector and a
new nation out the ashes left by Zanu-PF. I commend this paper to you and ask
that you give me your considered thoughts through the secure feedback form on
this website.
I believe firmly that we have the intellectual ability and
determination to democratise our security services - but all freedom-loving
Zimbabweans need to think and work together on this project if we are to see it
become a reality.
Roy
Bennett
May
2012
What they really don’t want to
see in the new Constitution (Part 2)
By Alex T.
Magaisa 22
hours 6 minutes ago
Draft Constitution 2012 - The preceding blog presented
the first part of the comparison between the provisions of the current
Constitution and the Draft Constitution in respect of the Office of the
President.
I indicated that
the powers vested in that office and the limitations of those powers form major
points of contestation. Between 1980 and 1987, Zimbabwe had a ceremonial
Presidency and a Prime Minister who exercised executive powers. The structure
was modelled along the lines of the Westminster model in the Great Britain, the
former colonial power. Therefore, like the British monarch, the President was
the Head of State with largely a ceremonial role. The Prime Minister, like his
British counterpart, was the Head of Government.
Constitutional
Amendment No. 7, fundamentally transformed the legal structure of the state with
the introduction of the office of the Executive President. The ceremonial
Presidency was abolished as was the Prime Minister’s position – the two being
replaced by a powerful office of the Executive President, which combined the
ceremonial functions of the President and executive functions of the Prime
Minister.
There was always a
risk of conflating the ceremonial functions and the executive functions with the
risk of having ceremonial functions being exercised as if they were executive
functions.
The major problem
though was that the creation of an all-powerful Executive Presidency impacted on
the other the other arms of the state, particularly Parliament. Its
subservience, underwritten in the Constitutional provisions, was exacerbated by
the fact that with the Unity Accord between ZANU PF and PF ZAPU in 1987,
Zimbabwe was in all but name effectively a One Party State.
When you have a
Parliament that is almost exclusively held by one party with the party also
holding the Presidency, it means that the Executive, through the agency of the
Office of the President is able to dominate Parliament and Parliament will
struggle to exercise its role of checking and balancing the
Executive.
This series of
papers demonstrates attempts through the proposed Constitution aimed at
redressing this imbalance between the Office of the President and Parliament.
This is Part 2 of the series that commenced in yesterday’s
blog:
| Issue 8 |
Presidential Veto on
Legislation
|
| Current
Constitution |
Section 51 of the
Constitution allows the President a facility to dissolve Parliament if it
insists by a two thirds majority on passing a Bill that he has vetoed.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 7.16 states that if
the President is not happy with a Bill passed by Parliament he may return it to
Parliament for reconsideration but if Parliament approves the Bill by a
two-thirds majority, then the President must either sign it into law or present
it to the Constitutional Court for an advisory opinion on its constitutionality.
If the Constitutional Court says that the Bill is constitutional, the President
has no choice but to sign it.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas under the present Constitution the President can basically dissolve
Parliament if it disagrees with him or her on a Bill, the new Constitution would
take away this power and obligate the President to sign the Bill into law if any
of the circumstances stated is satisfied. In other words, the new Constitution
would limit the Presidential veto on legislation, making it consistent with best
practice. It is undemocratic and absurd that under the current Constitution, the
President can actually dissolve Parliament if there is a disagreement over a
Bill. It gave the President too much power.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
The limitations of the
Presidential veto on legislation.
|
| Issue 9 |
Justiciability of
Presidential Powers
|
| Current
Constitution |
Section 31K limits the
justiciability of the exercise of certain Presidential powers. It means that the
power of courts to make judgment on the exercise of such powers is limited.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
The proposed Constitution
will not place specific limitations on justiciability of Presidential powers.
|
| Change |
The limitation on
justiciability was introduced through Amendment No. 7 in 1987, which introduced
the Executive President’s Office. The difference is that whereas the current
Constitution limits the power of courts to determine the exercise of certain
Presidential powers, the new Constitution will to specifically do that.
The limitations on judicial powers under the
current Constitution creates a moral hazard in that the President can abuse his
powers or fail to observe the requirements of the procedural Constitution
comfortable under the constitutional protection that such powers cannot be
challenged before a court of law. This is particularly absurd where the
President is required to act on the basis of consultations or advice or
recommendation of other persons. Surely to place this beyond the jurisdiction of
the courts is to give undue power to the office of the President and reduces the
accountability of that office.
There must be a facility to ensure that the
President exercises his powers within limits as provided for by the law. The
only limitation that might be expected is in respect of the subject matter –
where some areas are non-justiciable for example whether or not a President
should sign an international treaty. Otherwise the courts should generally have
the power to determine whether the President is exercising his powers
constitutionally and lawfully.
It would be absurd if it were otherwise given
that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and it obligates the
President to observe its terms and defend it. To make the President’s exercise
of those powers non-justiciable is to place him above judicial scrutiny and
potentially above the Constitution which he is expected to uphold. The new
Constitution would ensure that the President’s exercise of his powers is
justiciable depending on the subject matter. If the Constitution is the
supreme law of the land, then the President should adhere to it and everyone,
including the President who is given power by the Constitution must be subjected
to judicial scrutiny.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
That the President’s
exercise of powers can be challenged before a court of law and made accountable
to the people and the Constitution.
|
| Issue 10 |
Power to Appoint Ministers
|
| Current
Constitution |
Section 32 gives the
President the power to appoint an unlimited number of Ministers and Deputy
Ministers (This has been qualified by the provision of the GPA which has not
been adhered to and will lapse when the GPA comes to an end)
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 6.16 6 provides for
specific limitations on the number of Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas there is no limitation on the numbers of ministers and deputy ministers
under the current Constitution, this will change under the new Constitution
which makes specific limitations on the number – 25 and 15 respectively. Any
change would require the consent of Parliament. This curbs the power of the
President and minimises the risk of ministerial appointments on the basis of
patronage. Importantly, it avoids the risk of a bloated Cabinet and the costs
that come with it.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
Limitations on the number
of ministers and deputy ministers that may be appointed by the President.
|
| Issue 11 |
Assumption of Office by
new President |
| Current
Constitution |
Section 28 allows for the
immediate inauguration of the President on the day upon which he is declared to
be elected or within forty-eight hours.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 6.7 states that
where there is no challenge to the election of a President, the new President
will be inaugurated on the ninth day after the date of the declaration of the
result of the presidential election but if there is a challenge, he or she will
be inaugurated within forty-eight hours after the date on which the
Constitutional Court makes its final decision.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas the current Constitution allows immediate inauguration and fails to take
into account challenges to the Presidential election, the new Constitution would
provide for an orderly inauguration that accommodates potential challenges and
allows for finality in the resolution of any dispute before inauguration.
The problem with the current system is that it
encourages a rush to inauguration, a situation whereby even where there is a
disputed result, the declared winner nevertheless assumes the Presidency. The
person challenging the result is forced to fight the election result from a
position of weakness while his opponent is already serving the new term.
Experience shows that it is extremely difficult to fight a person who has
already been sworn in to office. It is fairer and better to have the matter
resolved before anyone assumes office and this is what the new Constitution
proposes to do.
It will mean that if there is a dispute to an
election result it must first be resolved by the Constitutional Court before the
winner is inaugurated. The new Constitution accommodates a presidential
election challenge before inauguration which the current Constitution does not
do. The new system would be fairer than the current one.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
A fair system that
provides for orderly, fairer and democratic transition and inauguration taking
into account electoral challenges. They prefer a system that permits the
phenomenon of the rush to inauguration which facilitates the stealing of
elections and places the challenger at an unfair disadvantage.
|
| Issue 12 |
Resolving Presidential
election dispute
|
| Current
Constitution |
Disputes over the
Presidential election are subject to the Electoral Act.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 6.6 specifically
provides for a procedure to resolve disputes of the Presidential election
result. It sets out clear time limits and ensures that there is finality to
litigation before the Constitutional Court, which will be the highest court in
the land.
|
| Change |
The difference is that the
new Constitution will provide a for a clear, expeditious and efficient method
for resolving Presidential election disputes. The current system is problematic
because matters are handled under the Electoral Law by the Electoral Court and
experience has shown that the procedure under the Electoral Act is painfully
slow and inefficient. Unlike the new system it does not provide for time limits
on resolving such disputes.
It also involves serious delays because even if
the Electoral Court makes a decision it will still be subject to an appeal. The
absurdity of the current system is illustrated by the fact that judgment on the
2002 Presidential election petition is yet to be delivered by the court – 10
years and almost two terms after the event. The new procedure under the
Constitutional Court, together with the time limits provides for finality in
dispute resolution. |
| What they don’t
want: |
A fair, quick and
efficient method of resolving disputes over the Presidential election result
leading to finality in litigation. |
| Issue 13 |
Presidential Appointments
|
| Current
Constitution |
The President has wide
discretion to appoint senior government officials, including Commissioners,
Ambassadors, Governors, etc. Even the provisions for consultations and advice
under the GPA have been given short shrift.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
The new Constitution
provides for the creation of a Parliamentary Public Appointments Committee which
will approve Presidential appointments and also select candidates for other key
appointments.
|
| Change |
The key difference is that
the President’s power to appoint senior public officials will not be subject to
Parliamentary checks and balances compared to the present system where
Presidential discretion is excessive and almost unfettered.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
Provisions to check and
balance the power of the President in the appointment of senior public
officials.
|
| Issue 14 |
Voters’ Roll
|
| Current
Constitution |
Under the Electoral Act,
the Electoral Commission shares responsibility with the Registrar General’s
Office which, in fact, is in charge of the voter registration process and the
voters’ roll
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 13.8 (c.) states
that the Electoral Commission will be solely in charge of registering voters,
the compilation and maintenance of the voters’ rolls and registers and to ensure
their integrity.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas the Registrar General is in charge of the voters’ roll and voter
registration, under the new Constitution this power will be held exclusively by
the Electoral Commission. The Registrar General’s Office has been severely
criticised for its inefficient handling of voter registration and a voters’ roll
whose integrity and credibility has been questioned. It is important that the
body in charge of running elections must have complete control of the voter
registration process and the voters’ roll.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
Provisions for a safer,
secure and more credible institutional mechanism for registration of voters and
compilation and maintenance of the voters’ roll. They prefer instead to retain
the much criticised and inefficient system over which the Registrar General
presides.
|
| Issue 15 |
President’s accountability
to Parliament
|
| Current
Constitution |
No specific provision for
accountability to Parliament
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 7.4 (2) states that
Parliament must ensure that the provisions of this Constitution are upheld and
that all institutions and agencies of the State and Government act
constitutionally and in the national interest.
Clause 7.4 (3) also states that all institutions
and agencies of the State and Government are accountable to
Parliament.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas the current Constitution does not make specific reference to the
executive’s accountability to Parliament, the new Constitution would
specifically make all state and government institutions and agencies directly
accountable to Parliament. The Presidency is an institution and agency of the
state and government and must therefore be accountable to Parliament.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
A system that makes the
President accountable to Parliament, which comprises of the representatives of
the people.
|
| Issue 16 |
Deployment of Defence
Forces
|
| Current
Constitution |
No specific constitutional
requirement for the President to inform Parliament.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 12.8 specifically
requires the President to inform Parliament within seven days of the deployment
of Defence Forces to defend Zimbabwe.
There is also a specific requirement for prior
approval of Parliament for the deployment of the Defence Forces within the
country to support the police to maintain public order and other civilian
agencies in the event of an emergency or disaster or outside in fulfilment of
international commitment of defence of national interest.
Where it is not reasonably possible to seek
prior approval, it must nevertheless be obtained within fourteen days. In that
case the President has onerous obligations to give sufficient detail of the
deployment including,
“(a) the reasons for the deployment;
(b) the place in Zimbabwe or the country where
the Defence Forces are deployed;
(c) the number of people involved;
and
(d) the period for which the Defence Forces are
expected to be deployed”.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas the current Constitution provides almost unfettered powers to the
President for the deployment of Defence Forces, the new Constitution would
require accountability to Parliament depending on the nature of the deployment.
The President would be constitutionally required to inform Parliament in in
other cases to seek prior approval of Parliament.
This accountability prevents or at least
minimises the abuse of the Defence Forces and facilitates accountability of the
President and the Defence Forces to the people through their parliamentary
representatives. If this rule applied, the 1980s deployment of the Fifth
Brigade in Matabeleland during Gukurahundi or the use of the defence forces
during Operation Murambatsvina, for example, to be lawful would have required
Parliamentary approval if this constitutional requirement existed at the
relevant times
|
| What they don’t
want: |
Making the President
accountable to Parliament and ultimately the people in regard to the use of the
Defence Forces. |
| Issue 17 |
First Siting of Parliament
|
| Current
Constitution |
Under the Electoral laws,
MPs who have been elected in a General Election must wait to be called by the
President before they can be sworn into office and commence business.
|
| Draft
Constitution |
Clause 7.30 gives
Parliament the power to commence business if the President fails or refuses to
call MPS to their First Sitting after a General Election.
|
| Change |
The difference is that
whereas under the current laws the President holds the power to determine when
Parliament first convenes and starts business, under the new Constitution
Parliament would have the power to commence business on its own. The fate of
Parliament is no longer in the hands of one person in the form of the President.
|
| What they don’t
want: |
Provisions that enable MPs
to convene and commence the business of Parliament in the event that the
President fails or refuses to call them to their First Sitting after a General
Election.
|
Conclusion
As I stated at the
start of this series of papers comparing the current and the draft
constitutions, in creating a new Constitution, it is important to separate the
individuals from the institutions. Reform of the President’s Office should be
seen as institutional reform because that office will be occupied by different
types of characters. Of course, reforms cannot ignore our experience – a country
that does not learn from its errors is likely to repeat those mistakes in the
future. Experience is not a bad teacher.
My own conclusion
is that even though the Draft Constitution might require improvements in some
respects, it makes important improvements that enhance accountability and
transparency in the conduct of the affairs of the state.
The Constitution
may have retained the Executive Presidency but it has done so with important
checks and balances to ensure that the risk of abuse of power is minimised. But
of course there are those who would rather these changes never see the light of
day. But at least the public deserves to know the difference between the
current and the proposed constitutions. You be the judge.
waMagaisa (2012)
wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
