http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
27 May
2011
A Brigadier-General in the Zimbabwe National Army has declared that
Robert
Mugabe should remain in office for life and called on elections to be
held
this year.
Douglas Nyikayaramba, the commander of the Mutare
based 3 Brigade, told the
weekly Zimbabwe Independent that a poll this year
would ensure ‘political
stability’ as ZANU PF would win the
election.
But it’s an open secret that every time there is an election in
Zimbabwe,
the military elite unleash its forces on members of the MDC, and
innocent
civilians across the country, at the request of ZANU
PF.
Dewa Mavhinga, the regional co-ordinator for Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition,
South Africa told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the General’s
remarks
confirms their position of the urgent need for security sector
reform.
The constitutional role of the security forces is to defend the
country
against external and internal security threats and not get involved
in
politics.
But Mavhinga said; ‘The conduct of some of the officers
and men of the Army
is openly and blatantly partisan on the side of ZANU PF.
It is very clear
that this statement is meant to incite the people of
Zimbabwe and to
intimidate those who may wish to vote otherwise away from
the choice that
has been declared by Nyikayaramba of supporting ZANU PF and
Mugabe.’
He added; ‘This is the heart of the crisis of governance in
Zimbabwe that
the military leadership is partisan and excessively interferes
in civilian
and political affairs of the country.’
Mavhinga said the
general’s utterances have clearly shown how important it
is for SADC to
ensure there is security sector reform before any elections
can be held in
Zimbabwe.
Civil Society Organisations in Zimbabwe have for long said one
man, one vote
will only prevail when the security institutions are neutral
and are willing
to provide an enabling environment for all parties, voters
and stakeholders
in the electioneering process.
Public statements by
police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri last
week, in which he
described Mugabe as God-given and a visionary leader, also
showed the
importance of security reforms before the next elections.
However ZANU PF
has declared it will not accept any proposals for security
sector reform and
this week said they had officially informed negotiators of
this
fact.
Two years ago parliament passed a security bill, which established
a
National Security Council to oversee the military. Though this body meets
monthly the old Joint Operations Command (JOC) still, unconstitutionally,
meets Mugabe on a weekly basis.
Analysts argue that JOC operates
outside government parameters and has taken
over most of the levers of state
power and coercion. In March Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai suggested that
Mugabe was no longer in charge of the
country.
Tsvangirai said many
of the issues that he and Mugabe agree to during their
weekly Monday
meetings are often later reversed, ostensibly by security
chiefs. But other
commentators feel that Mugabe plays the ‘good cop, bad cop’
role, where he
appears to be agreeing to democratic reforms, knowing full
well his security
forces will ensure this can never happen.
But there are reports that
suggest South African President Jacob Zuma is
ready to take a strong
position on security sector reform with Mugabe.
The Zimbabwe crisis will be
discussed during a SADC session on Zimbabwe to
be held in Johannesburg next
month.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Friday, 27 May
2011 16:15
HARARE - Regional lawyers have thrown their weight behind
calls for urgent
security sector reforms in Zimbabwe, saying security agents
have become the
biggest obstacle to reform.
The Southern African
Development Community (Sadc) Lawyers’ Association said
the harassment of
civil society representatives by Zimbabwean security
agents at the Sadc
extra-ordinary summit in Namibia amplified the need for
such
reforms.
Civil society representatives claimed that Zimbabwean security
agents and
their Namibian counterparts harassed and interrogated
representatives who
had travelled to Windhoek for the Sadc summit last
Friday.
They were pushing for Sadc leaders to act on ending Zimbabwe’s
political
crisis.
“To this end the association supports the call made
by the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) for the reform of the
Zimbabwean security sector as
enunciated in the Global Political Agreement
(GPA),” said Thoba Poyo-Dlwati,
the Sadc Lawyers’ Association
president.
“The state security agents in Zimbabwe are reminded that civil
society
organisations and individual citizens have a right to be heard and
to
participate in issues that affect how they are governed,” said
Poyo-Dlwati.
Security sector reforms have become a thorny issue among
awkward coalition
government partners, President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Mugabe has rejected attempts by
Tsvangirai to enforce Article XIII of the
GPA, the coalition’s founding
accord, to ensure impartiality of security
agents that have sided with Zanu
PF for the past three decades.
Tsvangirai says it is impossible to hold a
free and fair election without
security reforms, citing the lead taken by
the military in the 2008 violent
presidential election runoff
campaign.
The former trade unionist says the brutal campaign, which
forced him to
boycott the runoff, left over 200 of his supporters dead and
thousands
displaced.
The security agents took their campaign against
civil society and political
activists to Namibia last Friday in scenes
described by Sadc Lawyers’
Association as unacceptable.
Security
agents allegedly briefly detained and interrogated the activists
before
force-marching them off the venue of the Sadc leaders meeting where
they
were distributing material such as pamphlets.
Those detained include
National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations chairperson Dadirai
Chikwengo, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
officials MacDonald Lewanika, Dewa
Mavhinga, Phillip Pasirayi, Pedzisai
Ruhanya and other representatives from
the Zimbabwe Election Support
Network.
ZLHR executive director Irene
Petras, Joy Mabenge of Institute for a
Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe,
Lloyd Kuveya of Southern Africa
Litigation Centre and Makanatsa Makonese of
Sadc Lawyers Association also
suffered harassment at the hands of the
security agents.
The security agents confiscated freelance journalist,
Jelousy Mawarire’s
camera before asking him to erase images capturing the
harassment.
Mawarire was released and his camera returned following the
intervention of
Namibian human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe.
“It is
sad that the Namibian police officials allowed themselves to be used
by the
Zimbabwean security state agents to harass harmless and peaceful
civil
society organisation representatives who had not committed any
offence,”
said Poyo-Dlwati.
Namibia says the activists were only asked to leave the
venue of the summit
because they were not accredited.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Godfrey Mtimba
Friday, 27 May 2011
16:09
MASVINGO - Civil society and community groups have demanded
that inter-party
negotiators include the freeing of airwaves as a critical
component of
negotiations on the crafting of a roadmap to free
elections.
Participants to a public debate on elections held on
Tuesday said any
elections held before private radio and television players
were allowed to
operate would be skewed in President Robert Mugabe’s
favour.
They attacked Mugabe’s Zanu PF party for throwing spanners in a
bid to
maintain the monopoly of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC),
which
it controls with a firm hand.
“The roadmap negotiations should
consider the issues of giving private
players space in the broadcasting
sector before the elections are held. We
need independent private stations
to broadcast news to the people who can’t
access newspapers,” said National
Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations Masvingo provincial officer,
Ruvimbo Mushonga.
She said alternative views had become urgent because
the country’s sole
broadcaster, ZBC, continued to churn out hate speech and
rabid Zanu PF
propaganda despite coalition government partners’ promises to
turn it into a
genuine public broadcaster.
“The people should not be
forced to listen to biased news from a single
broadcaster so we want private
radio and television stations to be opened to
give the electorate various
opinions and views,” said Edison Guyo of
Masvingo Youth for Democracy
(MYD).
Guyo said Zanu PF had been manipulating the rural populace who had
no access
to privately-owned newspapers by denying them the opportunity to
listen to
alterative stations.
“Zanu PF knows very well that if
private players were to be given licences
the people, especially those in
the rural areas, will have the chance to
listen to news from different
sources and get informed,’’ he said.
Although the print media has been
opened up with several newspapers hitting
the streets over the past year,
the government has refused to budge on the
airwaves.
This has
resulted in community radio stations and other players being forced
to
broadcast from foreign countries.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
27 May, 2011
The offer of two commercial radio licenses,
made by the current Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) on Thursday,
has been dismissed as “bogus” by
the deputy Minister for Information, Murisi
Zwizwai, who said he was also
speaking as the MDC-T representative in the
inclusive government.
In line with the response of media groups in the
country, Zwizwai said the
BAZ board has no legal standing and the inclusive
government “has not as
yet” advertized for the issuing of radio
licenses.
Just a day after adverts appeared in the state run Herald
newspaper and on
ZTV, the deputy Minister dismissed the radio license offer,
saying it was
made by “a group of bogus individuals masquerading as the BAZ
board”.
Zwizwai said the MDC-T and inclusive government will “not labour to
respond
to individual posturing and the positions of people with no legs to
stand
on”.
Asked to comment on the exorbitant fees and the June 30th
deadline quoted in
the adverts, he said applications and fees will be
determined “when the BAZ
board is properly constituted”.
Zwizwai
confirmed reports that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert
Mugabe and
Arthur Mutambara had agreed, in a meeting last Monday, to
reconstitute the
boards of the Mass Media Trust, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation and
BAZ. They also agreed on the number of officials each party
would nominate
to the boards.
The license offer is therefore a political distraction,
Zwizwai said,
adding: “They are trying to create sideshows to divert us but
we will keep
our eye on the ball and ensure that full implementation of the
GPA is done”.
This meeting of the principals that he refers to took place
last Monday and
as always Zimbabweans had not been made aware of the
agreements that were
made. A free media is recognized as essential to
democracy and Zimbabweans
have an absolute right to be told about
discussions such as these, which
could have such a profound effect on their
future.
But there is also consensus that Mugabe and ZANU PF will continue to
make
decisions without consultation, as they have done regarding many issues
since the signing of the GPA over two years ago.
Despite the MDC-T’s
defiance and desire to follow the GPA roadmap, ZANU PF
has consistently
resisted opening up the democratic space and continues
using the security
forces to deny Zimbabweans freedom speech and of
assembly.
The Media
Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe (MISA) has released a
statement
calling for “clarity on the legal status of BAZ so that aspiring
broadcasters are clear on which board to approach for broadcasting
licenses”.
This is in line with the position taken by civic groups in
Zimbabwe.
While the Mugabe regime continues to resist media reforms,
other African
countries are making much progress in that sector. According
to statistics
compiled by MISA the DRC has 381 radio stations, Benin 73,
Uganda has more
than 120 and Mali has 200.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Staff Reporter
Friday, 27
May 2011 16:42
HARARE - The Election Resource Centre has commended fresh
reforms to the
Electoral Act speeding up the release of election results and
barring police
from interference in voting in future, but said the devil is
always in the
implementation.
The three parties in the GNU agreed to
amend the Electoral Act so that the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declares
presidential election results not
more than five days after the day of
voting to avert a repeat of the 2008
scenario when election results were
released after five weeks.
The proposed amendments would also bar police
officers - who in the 2008
poll were accusing of manipulating disabled or
illiterate voters to cast
their ballots in favour of Mugabe - from "taking
part or interfering with
the electoral process beyond maintaining law and
order."
Amendments would allow the recently established independent Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission to warn election candidates, election agents or parties
implicated in acts of political violence and to set up special courts to try
such cases.
Zimbabwe's last electoral authority - which the MDC has said
was a rathole
of CIO officers - took more than five weeks to announce the
results of a
March 2008 presidential poll that gave Tsvangirai victory but
not enough
votes to assume power.
The ZRC said the realization and
apparent consensus by parties to the
coalition government, on the need to
reform both the constitutional and
electoral frameworks was an important
step towards normalizing Zimbabwe’s
fouled political environment.
"While
in the past, good laws have been developed and promulgated, the
problem with
Zimbabwe might not have been entirely about obnoxious and
restrictive laws
in existence, but has more to do with a bad political
culture shown by
political players," ZRC said in a critique of the Electoral
Acty amendments.
"This culture negates and chooses to ignore even laid down
rules and
regulations, at times, in pursuit of selfish individual or group
desires.
"It is such a political behaviour by politicians which has left
Zimbabwe
with a shameful label of disrespecting the rule of law, abuse of
human
rights, anarchy culminating in conflict-ridden political engagements
at both
national and international level." ZRC said it was hoped that
through the
proposed reforms to the Electoral Act, necessary reforms will be
undertaken
to redefine civilized political engagements. The transitional
authority
offers an opportunity to set new parameters that would guide the
nation’s
political conduct and interaction, the election watchdog
said.
"These ongoing legal and institutional reforms are important
renovations
before Zimbabwe holds another election expected at the
conclusion of
political reforms. However for all these reforms to be
successful, the main
political actors in the country must cultivate a
culture that gives respect
to the rule of law. It would indeed be a betrayal
of the people, if
political actors make good laws on which they will be the
first to
disregard," the critique said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
26 May
2011
Two employees from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
(ZimRights), who
have been missing since their arrest on Monday, were
finally located by
their lawyers at a Lupane police station on
Thursday.
Florence Ndlovu, the ZimRights regional coordinator for
Matabeleland
province, and Walter Dube a paralegal officer, were arrested on
Monday in
Tsholotsho, after they were banned from holding an anti-torture
workshop at
Tshino Business centre.
Although police at Nyamandlovu
Police Station had denied holding Ndlovu and
Dube in their cells, the
ZimRights employees said that they had been held at
the police station since
Monday, where they were denied access to their
lawyers. The pair was only
moved to Lupane Police Station on Wednesday where
Ndlovu was officially
charged with communicating “false statements
prejudicial to the
State.”
The police insist that Ndlovu told villagers at Monday’s
anti-torture
workshops that the “police torture and assault people.” The
ZimRights
official has denied the allegations, and said that she only spoke
about
examples and scenarios of torture.
Dube meanwhile was released
without charge.
The police intimidation of active civic groups is
intensifying, and last
week employees of the Centre for Community
Development were detained for
several hours in Mashonaland Central. The
Centre’s Vellim Nyama and Tsungai
Vere, along with the Director of the
Institute for Young Womens Development,
Glanis Changachirere, were set to
address a meeting about the constitutional
referendum and possible
elections, as well as service delivery.
But they were stopped by police
who insisted on searching their car and
their personal belonging. The police
found copies of the Centre’s “Thinking
Beyond” newsletter, and other
campaign materials, and then began to
interrogate the group. The police
officials insisted that they had not been
given clearance to hold any
meetings.
All four activists were eventually released after a “pointless,
time-wasting
detention and delay of law-abiding human rights defenders,”
according to the
Centre for Community Development. The group said in a
statement that it
denounces “the unconstitutional violation of random and
unjustifiable
searches of vehicles and persons. This violates all personal
bodily
integrity and criminalises individuals for no justifiable reason
apart from
a high-handed abuse and display of police power.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
27/05/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has demanded
that Air
Zimbabwe puts down a US$1,7 million deposit before it can be
restored on its
worldwide financial and flight booking service.
IATA
suspended the cash-strapped airline earlier this month over a
US$280,000
debt which the aviation control body insists must be paid, on top
of the
huge deposit – a penalty for defaulting.
On May 15, IATA told travel
agents worldwide to "immediately stop all
ticketing and refund transactions"
for Air Zimbabwe after the crisis-hit
airline failed to pay the debt for
worldwide billing and ticketing fees.
The state-owned airline is still
flying using only its own booking
facilities, but it has suffered a sharp
drop in bookings by passengers who
are not Zimbabwean nationals.
Air
Zimbabwe, which is sitting on a debt of over US$100 million, said
bookings
made through IATA-accredited travel agents accounted for nearly 80
percent
of its international travellers.
But the airline’s push to be restored on the
service suffered a major
reversal when IATA imposed the latest
penalty.
“We had raised the US$280,000 required by IATA and were ready to
make a
settlement when the bill shot up to nearly US$2 million, including
the
deposit,” the airline’s general manager for Europe David Mwenga revealed
on
Friday.
The setback means it could take Air Zimbabwe several more
months before IATA
gives the green light for travel agents to start making
bookings for the
debt-ridden carrier.
Mwenga said they continued to
engage IATA, calling for understanding.
“We never defaulted before this
incident, and we feel the deposit
requirement is harsh,” said Mwenga, who
blames the failure to pay on
crippling month-long strikes by pilots which
grounded the airline’s planes
and decimated its revenues.
Air
Zimbabwe’s troubles have snowballed into a major crisis, caused partly
by
aging planes which have put it at a disadvantage against regional and
international competitors using newer equipment.
The airline was
recently forced to ground three of its Boeing 737 which the
Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe said were unfit to fly.
Air Zimbabwe then took on a
Zambezi Airways B737-500 on a long-term lease
which is now servicing the
regional routes previously plied by its grounded
medium-range planes. Even
that agreement nearly collapsed on May 18 when Air
Zambezi withdrew its
plane over a US$460,000 debt, which has now been
settled.
The airline
has two Boeing 767s which service the Harare-London and
Harare-China routes.
Its only other remaining aircraft is a Chinese-made
MA60 turboprop. One
other MA60 remains unserviceable, while another was
damaged after hitting
warthogs on the Harare runway and has been scrapped.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
27
May 2011
The Zimbabwe Blood Diamonds Campaign on Friday warned against
any rushed
decision to allow Zimbabwe to resume diamond trading, saying the
local
industry is still not compliant with international
standards.
The group’s Gabriel Shumba told SW Radio Africa that the “time
is still for
right,” for Zim diamond exports to resume, explaining that
there is still
rampant smuggling and reports of human rights abuses at the
controversial
Chiadzwa diamond fields.
Shumba was reacting to the
news that the World Federation of Diamond Bourses
(WFDB) has called on the
international trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process
(KP), to allow Zimbabwe
to resume trading. WFDB President Avi Paz said in a
statement that the KP
needs to “resolve their internal disagreements on the
issue of rough diamond
exports from Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe’s trade status remains unclear, after
the new KP Chairman Mathieu
Yamba earlier this year unilaterally gave the
country the green light to
resume exporting its diamonds. This was despite a
lack of consensus from the
rest of the KP, with some members still concerned
that Zimbabwe is not
meeting the minimum standards of international trade.
These members insisted
that no decision can be made until consensus is
reached, but Yamba has
declared that he will not review his decision until
the next KP plenary
session later this year.
The WFDB has now urged
KP members to take the “essential and courageous
decision,” to allow
Zimbabwe to export its diamonds, warning that the
diamond industry’s
credibility was at stake.
“The Kimberley Process, due to the deadlock in
its decision-making process
and its experts' ensuing indecision to allow
rough diamond exports from
Zimbabwe to resume, is about to cause irreparable
damage throughout the
entire to supply pipeline of our industry and trade,
and threatens the
livelihood of literally millions of people throughout the
international
diamond and jewellery sector,” said WFDB president
Paz.
He added: “While the diamond industry and trade is in a position to
contribute to the betterment of many Zimbabwean citizens, the inaction of
the Kimberley Process, its members and its experts is now the major
stumbling block toward real progress. In addition, if the Kimberley Process
remains indecisive on Zimbabwe, there is a real danger that the relevance of
the Kimberley Process itself will be at stake.”
The Zimbabwe Blood
Diamond Campaign’s Shumba said that while it agrees that
the KP needs to
resolve the situation, there is a real danger of the KP
being forced into
making the wrong decision.
“This implies that a resolution includes
sweeping under the carpet all the
human rights violations in Zimbabwe’s
diamond trade, and endorsing the
resumption of sales without Zimbabwe
meeting international standards,”
Shumba warned.
He also countered
Paz’s claims that it was the KP’s deadlock on Zimbabwe
alone that was
tarnishing the diamond industry’s image.
“What is tarnishing the
industry’s reputation is that trading has continued
despite smuggling and
other violations. The fact that the KP has
continuously failed to resolutely
deal with these violations is the real
problem here,” Shumba said.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Tobias Manyuchi Friday 27 May
2011
HARARE – One of Zimbabwe’s top gold miners Rio Zim says
foreign investors
withdrew an offer to invest in the firm because of
concerns over President
Robert Mugabe’s controversial plan to transfer
control of the mining sector
to local blacks.
Rio Zim chairman
Tichaendepi Masaya said the investors, who he did not name,
had shown keen
appetite to invest in the firm during seven months of
negotiations only to
pull the plug on the deal because of fears over plans
by the government to
limit equity that foreigners can hold in local mining
firms.
"Foreign
investors who had shown appetite and capacity for the deal withdrew
recently
due to the limitations on the equity stake imposed by the
indigenisation and
empowerment legislation," Masaya said in a circular to
shareholders.
Masaya lamented the opportunity to raise badly needed
capital lost when the
investors pulled out of the deal, adding that before
developing cold feet
Rio Zim’s foreign suitors had even offered “short term
financial support
pending the conclusion of the rights
issue."
Mugabe’s previous government used its majority in Parliament in
2007 to ram
through the indigenisation law requiring all foreign-owned
companies to cede
at least 51 percent of their shares to black
Zimbabweans.
Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, a hawkish ally
of Mugabe who is
spearheading the empowerment programme, has said the
indigenisation campaign
will begin with the mining sector, the bedrock of
Zimbabwe’s fragile
economy.
Kasukuwere has given foreign owned mining
firms until June 2 to submit
details of how they plan to sell majority stake
to local blacks by
September, under the programme that he and Mugabe claim
is necessary to
ensure blacks benefit from the country’s lucrative mineral
resources.
But critics say the empowerment campaign is a ploy by Mugabe
to seize
thriving businesses and hand them over to his allies as a reward
for support
much in the same way that the veteran leader’s land reforms were
executed in
the name of the people but benefited his top lieutenants the
most.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who says he is for genuine
indigenisation
of the economy that benefits ordinary Zimbabweans, has
castigated Mugabe’s
empowerment drive as “looting by a greedy
elite”.
Besides Rio Zim, other big mining firms under pressure to sell
controlling
stake to local blacks include the country’s largest platinum
miner Zimplats,
owned by Impala Platinum (Implats), the world’s second
largest producer of
the metal used in the automotive industry.
Mwana
Africa, which owns Bindura Nickel Mine and Freda Rebecca gold mine and
Zimbabwe’s largest gold miner Metallon Gold Zimbabwe are also some of the
companies being targeted by the empowerment drive. -- ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com/
ZANU-PF accused Mr. Zuma of siding with the Movement for
Democratic Change
formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai following
his submission of a
report to SADC critical of President
Mugabe
Blessing Zulu | Washington 26 May 2011
ZANU-PF has
declared that it will no longer discuss the road map to the next
elections
in Zimbabwe which Mr. Zuma and the SADC troika have requested
South
African President Jacob Zuma, who has been mediating in the Zimbabwe
crisis
for the Southern African Development Community since 2009, has
indicated
that he will not modify his team of facilitators to accommodate
proposals
for the addition of experts on electoral reform and other issues,
or
complaints from President Robert Mugabe.
A recent meeting in Livingstone,
Zambia, of the SADC troika on politics,
defense and security recommended
adding a number of experts to Mr. Zuma's
facilitation team, including
specialists on conflict resolution and
electoral systems reform.
The
expanded team was supposed to work with the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee to assist in that body's work of following,
evaluating and encouraging full implementation of the 2008 Global Political
Agreement for power sharing.
But sources in Pretoria say Mr. Zuma
will not be expanding facilitation team
or making any other changes as
demanded by Mr. Mugabe's former ruling
ZANU-PF party, which has been unhappy
with statements attributed to
facilitator Lindiwe Zulu.
ZANU-PF has
declared that it will no longer discuss the road map to the next
elections
in Zimbabwe which Mr. Zuma and the SADC troika have requested, and
has
rejected calls for reform of the security sector which has been accused
of
partisanship.
ZANU-PF has also accused Mr. Zuma of siding with the former
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
and the smaller MDC wing led by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube,
this after
he submitted a report to SADC accusing Mr. Mugabe and ZANU-PF of
stalling on
key reforms.
SADC leaders will meet in June in
Johannesburg to discuss the Zimbabwe
situation.
Lindiwe Zulu, a
foreign policy aide to Mr. Zuma, told VOA that the
facilitation team cannot
be expanded at this point in its mission. Political
analyst Trevor Maisiri
agreed, saying revamping the facilitation team now
would be
counterproductive.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
27 May
2011
The niece of a Lutheran World Federation employee murdered in 1999,
has told
SW Radio Africa that co-Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi wrote a
letter
asking to meet her uncle Strover Mutonhori, around the time of the
kidnapping.
Speaking on our Behind the Headlines series Jane Dongo
told us that Mohadi,
who was then Deputy Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National
Housing, wrote a letter to Mutonhori asking to
meet him at the Ambassador
Hotel in Harare. Mohadi did not say why he wanted
the meeting but offered to
take him back home at the end of
it.
Sensing something was wrong Mutonhori is said to have declined to
meet the
Deputy Minister. It’s suspected that Mohadi was following up on
allegations
that Mutonhori was having an affair with his wife, Tambudzani.
The two
worked together in Mberengwa. Dongo told us they are in possession
of a
letter written by Tambudzani to Mutonhori, but in the letter she only
discusses the degree program the two were doing at the time.
Because
Mutonhori declined to meet Mohadi the family believe that a further
plot was
hatched to set him up for the kidnapping several days later. Dongo
said what
puzzles them is that Mutonhori was not supposed to be at work on
the day he
was kidnapped, “he was off duty but was called and told – you
have got to
attend it, you have got to attend it.” Eventually he went to the
workshop at
the Omadu Hotel in Kezi.
Mutonhori played soccer that night and around
9pm went to his room. Dongo
said delegates to the workshop were booked into
rooms in pairs but somebody
tampered with the arrangement and gave Mutonhori
his own room to ensure he
was alone. He was told that the person booked in
the room with him was no
longer coming since they lived in Bulawayo and
would come to workshop the
following day.
Dongo said Mutonhori’s
kidnapping was meticulously planned. She said the bed
was never used on the
night. “Mutonhori was kidnapped with one shoe, one
sock. The two hundred Zim
dollars which was in his purse was there, the cell
phone was there, the
suitcase with his clothes was there. Only him and one
trainer and one sock
were missing.”
Mutonhori went missing on the 1st March and his
decomposing body was only
found on the 17th August at the Whitewaters Range
in Matopos, “just bones,
sheer bones,” Dongo said. Mutonhori’s wife was able
to identify his remains
by counting the number of teeth he had in the upper
jaw. “She only
identified those bones with one tooth which was missing and a
belt which he
was wearing on that particular day.”
When Mohadi was
appointed Home Affairs Minister in 2002, investigations into
the case were
dropped and evidence went missing.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Pindai Dube
Friday, 27 May 2011 14:14
HARARE - In
A sign that political temperatures are rising rapidly, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai yesterday challenged President Robert Mugabe to
come out in
public and declare that he is not a murderer.
Speaking at a party in
Plumtree, to celebrate Speaker of Parliament Lovemore
Moyo’s stunning
re-election in March, Tsvangirai said he was “a very clean
man” who had
never killed anyone in his political career – challenging
Mugabe to also
come out in public and say the same.
“My hands are very clean and my
conscience is clear. I did not kill anyone
during Gukurahundi. I did not
kill anyone during Operation Murambatsvina and
I did not kill anyone during
the 2008 presidential elections run-off.
“I challenge Mugabe to come out
in public and say the same,” he said to
enthusiastic applause.
During
the Gukurahundi massacres in the early 1980s, which were carried out
by
Mugabe’s Zanu PF government, an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians were
murdered in cold blood in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces – while
thousands more disappeared.
Many of the victims were buried in mass
graves, others were buried alive
while others were thrown into disused
mines. The killing sprees were
conducted by the notorious and North-Korea
trained 5th Brigade.
More than 200 MDC supporters were also killed during
the bloody 2008
Presidential elections. Much of the mayhem then was laid at
the door of
Zanu PF’s much feared war veterans, youth vigilantes also known
as the Green
Bombers and suspected serving members of the country’s security
structures.
Tsvangirai also said at yesterday’s celebration that moves by
Zanu PF to
force through an early election would be opposed
vigorously.
He said negotiators from the three political parties in the
unity government
were currently working on the election roadmap that would
usher in a new
democratic dispensation in the country – and which would be
discussed during
a Sadc extraordinary summit on the Zimbabwe crisis to be
held in South
Africa next month.
"It is not about having a new
constitution and holding elections this year.
It is about having a document
that protects and respects the will of the
people. It is better for us to
take our time being thorough as we write this
document,” he said.
He
went on to condemn state-sponsored violence, saying security institutions
should protect the people of Zimbabwe and not abuse peace loving
Zimbabweans.
Moyo's party was attended by hundreds of people and
several senior MDC
officials. It followed his convincing thumping of Simon
Khaya Moyo of Zanu
PF for the crucial post in March.
The MDC chairman
beat Khaya-Moyo, chairman of Zanu PF and former Zimbabwean
ambassador to
South Africa, by 105 votes to 93 – in a ballot widely seen as
a potent
harbinger for the general elections that Mugabe desperately wants
later this
year.
The tense and dramatic election began with serial political
flip-flopper
Jonathan Moyo being accused of trying to bribe some MDC MPs,
while the
eventual winner was barred from casting his vote and suffered the
indignity
of being ejected from Parliament before voting commenced.
A
total of 199 votes were cast during the ballot, including one spoilt
paper,
which came from the Zanu PF side. The MDC had 96 MPs, the same as
Zanu PF,
with the smaller faction of the MDC having seven. Ominously for
Zanu PF,
this meant that some MPs from Mugabe’s party voted with the two
MDCs against
Khaya Moyo.
Jubilant MDC MPs broke into song and dance the moment Clerk
of Parliament
Austin Zvoma announced Moyo had been re-elected, while their
Zanu PF
counterparts stood on the sidelines, embarrassed and dejected
following
their embarrassing defeat.
Speaking after the momentous
election, MDC secretary general, Tendai Biti
said forces of good had
triumphed over evil.
“What happened today is proof of a number of
undeniable and indisputable
truths. The first truth is that evil will never
triumph over truth. Evil
will never triumph over good and today the forces
of good triumphed over
evil.
“The last election was on the 29th of
March 2008. We won that election
decisively. The election today was an
attempt by Zanu PF to reverse the
gains of the 29th of March 2008. But once
again the people of Zimbabwe
triumphed through their delegates.
“Our
prayers and obligation go to the Almighty. We wouldn’t have gotten here
without God. We are in a transition government that is shaking, but what has
happened today has proved that no bullet, no durawall, no junta, no
securocrat can prevent and stop an idea whose hour has come.
“The
idea of change, the idea of the MDC, the idea of Morgan Tsvangirai has
come
and nothing is going to stop us,” an ecstatic Biti said.
The
controversial Moyo had been instrumental in the nullification of
Lovemore
Moyo’s post after he successfully appealed to the Supreme Court.
http://www.omct.org
PRESS
RELEASE - THE OBSERVATORY
Paris-Geneva, May 27, 2011. The
Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights Defenders, a joint programme
of the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH) and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT),
strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest
of two Zimbabwean human rights
defenders and the continuing detention of one
of them, in a context of
repression against human rights defenders
prevailing in the country.
On May 23, 2011, Ms. Florence Ndlovu and Mr.
Walter Dube, respectively
Regional Coordinator for Matabeleland province and
Paralegal Officer for
Matabeleland, Midlands and Masvingo provinces for
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Association (ZimRights), were arbitrarily arrested by
the police as they
were coming out of a workshop in Tsholotsho. This arrest
took place soon
after the police disrupted this workshop, which had been
convened by
ZimRights to raise villagers’ awareness about torture and its
effects.
For more than 48 hours - the legal time-frame within which one
can be
detained without being brought before Court - the Zimbabwean police
denied
holding the two. Yet, their illegal detention by the police was
proved by
the presence of their vehicle in front of the police station in
Matebeleland
North province, both on May 23 and 24.
In the late
afternoon of May 26, 2011, the police finally confirmed their
detention at
Lupane police station. Later in the day, Mr. Dube was released
with summons
pending further investigation, while Ms. Ndlovu was maintained
in detention
on charges of contravening Section 31 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and
Reform) Act for allegedly “communicating false statements
prejudicial to the
State”. The two defenders were detained during three days
without any access
to their lawyers.
The police alleged that Ms. Ndlovu told villagers who
participated in
ZimRights workshop that the “police torture and assault
people”. However,
Ms. Ndlovu denied the allegations and indicated that she
only spoke about
examples and scenarios of torture.
The Observatory
strongly condemns Ms. Florence Ndlovu’s detention and urges
the Zimbabwean
authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally,
as her detention
seems to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights
activities, as well as
to guarantee in all circumstances her physical and
psychological
integrity.
“It is clear that Ms. Ndlovu and Mr. Dube have been unlawfully
arrested and
detained in retaliation for their legitimate human rights
activities. We are
very concerned about Ms. Ndlovu’s physical and
psychological integrity
considering the infamous conditions of detention at
the Lupane police
station. A few months ahead of the general elections, the
authorities of
Zimbabwe still have to demonstrate their maturity to tolerate
free
discussions on human rights issues”, said Ms. Belhassen, FIDH
President.
“We are very concerned for all Zimbabwean human rights
defenders in a
context of increasing acts of harassment and intimidation at
this moment and
we accordingly call upon the authorities to put an end to
all acts of
harassment against defenders in the country. The authorities
should be
particularly cautious to ensure that the rights of those under
arrest are
not patently violated by law enforcement bodies”, said Eric
Sottas, OMCT
Secretary General.
More generally, the Observatory urges
the authorities in Zimbabwe to comply
with the provisions of the United
Nations Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders, as well as all regional and
international instruments on human
rights ratified by Zimbabwe.
http://www.reuters.com
Fri May 27, 2011 6:50am EDT
*
2011 production to rise to 12-15 T from 9.6 T in 2010
* Power shortages,
high production costs limit growth
* Chamber says $1 bln/yr needed to
raise output to 50 T/yr
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, May 27
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's gold output is
expected to rise by up to 35 percent
this year but funding and power
shortages and high costs will continue to
stifle growth in the sector, a
chamber official said on
Friday.
Victor Gapare, president of Zimbabwe's Chamber of Mines said the
gold sector
would need $1 billion a year to increase production to 50 tonnes
in the next
five years.
"The 2011 production is expected at between
12 to 15 tonnes, an increase of
35 percent. As our short to medium term
target, we believe gold production
should be at 20 tonnes a year," Gapare
said at the chamber's annual meeting.
Production last year was 9.6
tonnes.
Gold production plunged to a record low of 3 tonnes in 2008, as
mines choked
from hyperinflation and acute foreign currency and electricity
shortages.
A power-sharing government since set up by bitter rivals
President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai dumped a
worthless local
currency for multiple foreign currencies, taming
hyperinflation and
stabilising the economy.
Most mothballed mines
have since come back into production as companies are
keen to benefit from
the bullish outlook for gold, which has been hitting
record highs this
year.
"We expect the firm prices of gold to remain. With this positive
outlook for
gold, it is high time we put in place policies that will allow
us to ride
the crest of this positive trend," Gapare said.
Spot gold
XAU= stood at $1,526.00 an ounce by 1000 GMT.
Companies in Zimbabwe's
gold sector include Mwana Africa (MWA.L),
privately-held Duration Gold,
Canada's New Dawn Mining Corp (ND.TO) and
RioZim (RTNR.ZI).
http://www.bloomberg.com
By Brian Latham - May 27,
2011 4:26 PM GMT+1000
The state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe
plans to buy 14 locomotives
from China at a cost of about $29 million, the
Herald said, citing NRZ
spokesman Fanuel Masikati.
The railway
company currently has 65 locomotives against a requirement of
83, the
Harare-based newspaper said on its website. NRZ owns about 3,000
kilometers
(1,900 miles) of railway line and carries 6.4 million metric tons
of freight
a year, the Herald said.
The railway company needs an additional $10
million to replace vandalized
equipment that has stopped the movement of its
electric-powered locomotives,
said the state-owned Herald.
http://www.radiovop.com/
8 hours 13 minutes
ago
LONDON, May 27, 2011- A former operative of Zimbabwe,s dreaded
spy agency,
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has been allowed to
stay in
Britain despite confessing to killings and torture of MDC supporters
and
other activists in the country.
According to British media
reports, Philip Machemedza, the former spy who
fled to Britain claiming he
had seen enough of killings and torture of
activists and MDC supporters,
cannot be deported back to his country
following a ruling by a immigration
tribunal.
The tribunal said the ruling was made to protect his human rights
even
though the self confessed butcher of MDC members took away the freedom
and
lives of innocent people at home.
The tribunal said Machemedze could
himself face torture if he was returned
home, having turned his back on
Mugabe's regime, the Mail reported.
Both Machemedze and his wife were
allowed to stay in the UK, after a judge
ruled sending Machemedze back to
Zimbabwe breached his human rights, the Sun
newspaper reported when the
story broke in the UK on Thursday.
Machemedze worked as a bodyguard to a
senior Mugabe regime minister, as part
of the feared Central Intelligence
Organisation, the reports said.
The tribunal heard Machemedze helped "slowly
kill" members of MDC party
whose limbs were then hacked off, The Sun
reported.Court documents exposed
the horrendous acts he allegedly committed
as a state-sponsored torturer.
The tribunal heard he smashed one victim's
jaw with a pair of pliers, before
pulling out a tooth.Another victim, a
farmer accused of supporting the MDC,
was shocked with electric cables,
slapped, beaten and punched unconscious.
Mr Justice David Archer admitted
Machemedze was "deeply involved in savage
acts of extreme violence", the Sun
reported.
But the judge added: "Whatever crimes he has committed, he
cannot be
returned to face the highly likely prospect of torture and
execution without
trial."
Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May will seek
to overturn the judge's
ruling, The Sun reported on Friday.
http://www.voanews.com
Goldman Environmental
Foundation recognizes efforts of Raoul Du Toit
Jackson Mvunganyi May 27,
2011
Zimbabwe has one of the largest populations of black rhinos in
the world.But
conservationists say their numbers are declining, mostly
because of man-made
problems, including poaching and human encroachment, as
people look for new
land to farm. Every year hundreds of rhinos are killed
for their horns,
which are sold for medicinal purposes in markets as far
away as Asia.
The Goldman Environmental Prize recently went to Raoul Du
Toit, coordinator
of the African Rhino Program at the Florida-based
International Rhino
Foundation and one of a small number of conservationists
working to preserve
the animals. The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded
to those working at
the grassroots level to protect and enhance the
environment.
Rhinos are victims to poachers who are more active because
of the decline in
law enforcement in the conservation areas, said Du Toit.
He attributes the
situation in Zimbabwe to a lack of resources and political
and economic
turmoil.
Animal-human competition
Black rhinos
are also threatened by competition from the relocation of
people into
conservation areas in search of land for growing food crops.
“There has been
a kind of haphazard and disorganized settlement going on,”
he explained,
“where there is potential for major livestock problems with
disease
transmission from wildlife to livestock….”
Human settlements are driven
by economics and by politics. Du Toit said the
Zimbabwean government’s fast
track land resettlement program has led to an
expansion of subsistence
farming in the rhinos’ wild habitat.
He said the program “was not adopted
in a way that incorporates wildlife
land reform adequately.”
Du Toit
dismissed the claim by some that a decline in wildlife is natural as
animals
compete with humans for land and that the animals will adapt and
survive.
“A lot of wildlife has been lost in Zimbabwe in areas that
are settled,” he
said, pointing to the reduction of “big animals like
elephants and rhinos.”
“Big game cannot live around farms and gardens,
because they will ultimately
overrun it” and be killed by the community,
which can also sell their horns.
The way forward
Du Toit mentioned
some of the practical efforts. Rhinos have been moved to
areas in southern
Zimbabwe where cattle ranches have been converted into
wildlife
conservancies that protect and breed animals.
Help has also come from the
private sector, which Du Toit said is seeking
government partnerships and
engagement with local communities. The ultimate
goal, he said, is to
sensitize people about the need to preserve the rhino
population.
Economic incentives can provide income and local
employment, like tourist
lodges owned by the community. Du Toit said he is
far from advocating that
every square kilometer in Zimbabwe be given to
wildlife. “There should be
crop production…livestock production…mining…but
what we want,” he said, is a
better “approach towards fitting together these
uses within the landscape.”
What’s needed, he said, is a greater
efficiency in resource use and more
technical support, combined with what he
called more rational government
policies.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by The
Zimbabwean
Friday, 27 May 2011 13:45
A group of well known ZANU PF
sympathizes masquerading as political
commentators has launched a magazine
with information and pictures detailing
incidents of political violence they
allege were committed by supporters of
Movement for Democrat Change
–Tsvangirai (MDC-T)
Speaking at the launch of the Magazine called Movement
for Democratic Change
MDC-T and The Culture of Violence at a local hotel in
Harare last night
Godson Nguni said it was high time that the world knows
the truth about the
MDC-T’s culture of violence.
“Since the formation of
the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe, the
people of this country
have never enjoyed a good night sleep because the
part is a puppet of the
Western Countries and is mainly composed of former
Rhodesian forces who are
perpetrating violence the same way they used to do
during the smith regime”
Nguni said.
Defending ZANU PF he said his party is non-violent and far more
welcoming,
and that most situations were MDC-T claims are some snakes bites
or road
accidents, activist who succumb to chronic ailments such as AIDS
and Cancer
have found themselves in the list of victims of political
violence, just to
swell MDC-T’s statics and even victims of common
criminals have claimed to
have been beaten by ZANU PF
activist.
nguni_bookHe added that that the MDC-T had a fully fledged
department which
had a budget allocation tasked at stage managing violence
for the benefit of
the gullible private press and western governments. “The
bulk of these
reported acts of violence appear to be stage managed top serve
specific
political purposes with the perpetrators turning around and casting
themselves as victims, in fact the alleged victims of ZANU PF violence are
more often that not rented crowd” said Nguni
Responding to the
publication of this Magazine the MDC-T National
Spokesperson Douglas
Mwonzoro said that was a desperate attempt by ZANU PF
ahead of the SADC
meeting on the 11th June to support their case as victims
of political
violence yet they were the perpetrators.
He urged that ZANU PF sympathisers
to go and ask the police why victims of
political violence such as Tonderai
Ndira other heroes, such as Learnmore
Jongwe, Mabika, Better Chokururama,
Chiminya, Mtetwa, Godfrey Kauzani, Jani
to mention but a few who were
murdered or beaten by Zanu PF thugs yet these
cases have been unresolved yet
they have all the evidence.
“The death of these comrades epitomizes the
magnitude of the evil driven by
power greed as ZANU Pf was confronted with
the people’s verdict to surrender
power to a new dispensation of an MDC
government of the people by the people
during the elections of March 2008”
said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora added that the perpetrators were walking scot free
and some of them
even getting promoted to high position in ZANU PF led
institutions and
nothing is being done. The Magazine according to Nguni will
be translated
into various languages such as French and Portuguese and
distributed for
free to the whole world through Zimbabwean embassy.
The
Magazine is called Movement for Democratic Change MDC-T and Culture of
Violence and has no contact details or the names of the editorial team, it
carries pictures and stories published in the State controlled Media about
the purported acts of violence committed by MDC-T activist dated as far back
as 2000.
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/6743
May 27th, 2011
The Panel of Elders
The
secretary-general of the SADC council of NGOs Mr Boichoko Ditlhake and
your
colleagues
The executive chairman of the Centre for Peace Initiatives
Africa, Dr
Leonard Kapungu
Government ministers here
present
Traditional leaders
Members of the diplomatic
corps
Invited Guests, Ladies and gentlemen
It is with great
pleasure that I stand before you today on the occasion of
the launch of the
Panel of Zimbabwe Elders, one of the many brilliant
initiatives to ensure
that our country achieves peace.
Many a time, we have often failed in
Africa to live in peace amongst
ourselves because of conflicts arising from
differences based on tribe,
race, religion or political
affiliation.
We have fed the stereotype of a violent Africa because of
internecine wars,
conflicts and our desire to mete out violence on political
opponents.
We have confirmed the negative belief held by Africa’s critics
by decimating
each other through political violence orchestrated mainly by
organs of the
State.
Indeed, ours has been a story of violence and
conflict from the Sudan to
Somalia, from the Ivory Coast to the Saharawi
Republic and from Libya to
Zimbabwe.
And that is why every Zimbabwean
should join me in celebrating the creation
today of this body of elders that
is prepared to work towards achieving
peace and harmony in
Zimbabwe.
We must celebrate these ambassadors of peace; brave men and
women from
across the social spectrums, who have decided to work towards
promoting a
peaceful Zimbabwe.
I notice that the panel is rich in its
diversity. It comprises people of
diverse backgrounds who include university
professors, church leaders,
businessmen and women, academics, chiefs,
retired judges and retired senior
military personnel.
This inclusive body
of elders working together to prevent violence in our
country is a great
story unto itself and a clear testimony that collective
effort is important
to ensure that the citizens of this country live in
peace, with neither fear
nor coercion.
We all want a new era in this country; where knives,
machetes, knobkerries,
guns and booted feet as instruments of violence and
repression are no longer
fashionable.
As a country, we have been
forced to walk the painful road of violence and
hatred and we are not
prepared to walk it forever more.
We have lost relatives. Our homes and
property have been destroyed. We have
seen State agents actively engaged in
shameful acts of violence and the
unbridled violation of the people’s rights
and freedoms.
But we have all refused to be cowed and to be distracted
from the urgent
national assignment of fighting for democratic change in
Zimbabwe.
I, too, have personally experienced this violence and I
understand the pain
of brutality and indignity.
Zimbabwe cannot
afford to slide back if it is to reclaim its rightful place
among the
civilized family of nations.
Across the political, tribal, religious or
racial divide, we all want to
live in peace and harmony; in a tranquil
environment where our rights and
basic freedoms of assembly, speech,
movement and association are respected
and protected.
The challenge
of the new crop of Africa leaders is to kill this culture of
violence
against defenseless citizens so that governments concentrate on
pressing
national issues such as eradicating poverty, creating jobs, growing
the
economy and delivering quality and affordable service to the people,
especially health and education.
A new Zimbabwe where political or
religious differences are not an excuse
for violence and unnecessary
conflict; where state institutions promote
peace and unity – not war and
violence against defenseless people.
Our current situation is being
compounded by the war psychosis-the constant
reference to Chimurenga and the
war language associated with it. It puts the
country into an unnecessary war
mode because any war environment
necessitates the suspension of the
Constitution and the undermining of the
civilian authority. The civilian
authority becomes substituted by partisan
organs of the State and the whole
country is thrown into fear and
insecurity.
We cannot have peace
unless all these issues have been dealt with.
Statements by service chiefs
that they will not respect the expression of
the people’s will, as well as
statements in the press today in which a
senior army officer is trying to
determine the date of the election, only
serve to confirm the uniqueness of
our situation and the importance of
vaccinating State organs from acting
like political entities.
Unnecessary election talk leads to
disfunctionality and polarity in the
country. It polarizes Cabinet,
Parliament and the security sector and leads
to unilateral actions and
selective application of the law.
We must all understand that peace is a
major ingredient in the creation of a
conducive environment for investment,
economic growth and development.
Peace is a precondition in any endeavor
to promote and improve people’s
lives.
Peace must be everyone’s
clarion call and I urge you to leave no stone
unturned in rallying everyone
to support the creation of a peaceful nation.
I notice that among the
terms of reference of the panel of elders is to come
up with strategies that
enhance a peaceful environment by intervening to
stop violence at every
level and spearheading a public campaign against
politically motivated
violence.
I am glad that your policy document considers free and fair
elections as the
best way out of the current political, economic and social
challenges in the
country.
I am also glad that you are seeking
co-operation with all actors nationally,
regionally and internationally in
securing peaceful and free conditions
ahead of the next
election.
Surely, these are noble initiatives in which all of us are
agreed and I
would be surprised to learn that there are others who hold the
strong view
that a peaceful election and a peaceful country are not in the
best interest
of the people of Zimbabwe!
I wish to thank SADC and the
facilitator, President Jacob Zuma, for their
patience and hard work. Despite
unnecessary provocation, they have retained
their firm and unwavering
commitment to the crafting of a roadmap, with
clear benchmarks and
time-bound milestones, to ensure a peaceful electoral
environment that will
not breed another contested outcome in Zimbabwe.
Yes, we need a free and
fair election under a new Constitution.
So we must all be able to support
that roadmap and to fight violence in
every quarter. Let us fight for peace
in and among political parties, peace
in the homes and peace in the country
as a pre-condition for creating a
better society and a better foundation for
future generations.
I wish to thank the people of Zimbabwe for investing
their faith in this
transitional arrangement that has given us a modicum of
peace; for choosing
hope over despair, peace over violence and a bright
future over a troubled
past.
The civil servants, peasants, workers,
farmers, housewives, students and
everyone across the social spectrum have
stood resolute in support of the
peaceful foundation we have laid for a
bright future.
I am aware, however, that the peaceful foundation we have
tried to lay is
being threatened by those that want us to slide back to the
conflict and
violence of 2008. I know they will fail!
I have
traversed the length and breadth of Zimbabwe and spoken to villagers,
farmers, students, church leaders, businessmen, cross-border traders and
factory workers.
I have talked to bankers, investors, housewives, the
youth, women and
minority groups and I have been humbled by their
unequivocal support for a
peaceful country,a new Zimbabwe and a new
beginning.
As we embark on this last mile to full democracy, I urge the
church and
everyone committed to peace to take a leading role in committing
our country
and its leadership to God.
I urge all God-fearing
Zimbabweans to unite in prayer and ask God the
Almighty to bless our
country.
Let us join hands in this last mile as we all walk united in our
collective
quest for a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe where
war and
violence have no place, where we are united in our diversity and
where every
Zimbabwean has the freedom to pursue and live their
dreams..
Our faith in the Lord and our fortitude in waging this great
fight for
peace, dignity and prosperity should continue to drive us in in
the coming
year.
The uniqueness of our situation means that bringing
Zimbabwe back to
legitimacy and peace is both a national and international
issue.
In the words of Psalm 122 verse 7:“May there be peace within your
walls and
security within your citadels.”
It is my singular honor and
privilege to declare the Panel of Zimbabwe
Elders officially
launched.
I thank you
This entry was posted by Sokwanele on
Friday, May 27th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
May 27th, 2011
Press release – 27 May 2011: The Cabinet has reportedly approved the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act which by and large contribute positively towards the effort to sanitize Zimbabwe’s electoral system and processes. It is however necessary for the new regulations to be informed by past mistakes and controversies in order to minimize the recurrence of election related disputes.
In the table below, the Election Resource Centre (ERC) highlights the risks and opportunities emanating from the proposed reforms in view of the broader electoral reform spectrum.
Proposed Reforms | Analysis |
Polling site specific voters roll- voters must register to vote and do the actual voting at one polling site. | -The proposals are not
clear whether the adoption of a polling station based voter’s roll would be
followed by a fresh registration of voters. It is important at this juncture to
intensify lobbying efforts on the need to overhaul the present voters roll which
is known through various voter’s roll audits to be in shambles. With ZEC having
indicated that the process of re-registration of voters would require at least
six months, it is prudent to conduct the fresh registration of voters before the
next general election.
- The need for a fresh voter’s roll is amplified by the possible chaos that could emanate from the allocation of people on a voters roll to a given polling station without consultation. This might result in many people being assigned to polling stations further away from where they currently reside especially in rural areas where would-be voters do not always register using actual physical addresses. - A fresh registration of voters would therefore give voters a choice on which polling site to belong to, as well as to do away with names of deceased people and names incorrectly captured in the voter’s roll. |
Declaration of Presidential election results– the ZEC is obliged to declare presidential election results not more than five days after the polling day. | -Welcome development
especially after the 2008 debacle on presidential results.
-The law should spell out clearly what sanctions follow the abrogation of the set time limits. Will failure to adhere to the 5 day limit mean nullification of the ultimate result to be announced? |
Nomination of candidates- it is proposed that party candidates fill in generic forms endorsed by their political parties. The nomination form must also bear the candidate’s signature to signify his or her acceptance of the nomination. The new changes further propose that the candidate or his/her agent should also countersign the form to indicate consent. However independent candidates or candidates of political parties not registered under the Political Parties (Finance) Act shall remain obliged to support the nomination of their candidates by five persons whose names appear on the voters roll in the concerned constituency. | -Curtails incidences of
double candidature for political parties as witnessed in the March 2008 election
where the major political parties had two or more contestants in a single
constituency or ward.
-However on the registration of political parties the law should explicitly compel all existing political formations to register as such. |
Role of police officers- the new changes attempt to clarify that police officers at polling sites should not take part or interfere with the electoral processes and should only maintain law and order. The proposals further emphasize that the Police Commissioner-General should establish a police post at every polling station. | -Selective application of the law should be addressed. There should be a departure from the previous malpractice by the national police of treating some political players as sacred cows or untouchables, whilst others are criminalized routinely and often times unjustifiably. |
Assisted voters- an illiterate, physically incapacited or visually impaired voter must be assisted by a person of his or her choice of or above the age of 18 years and can exercise his or her right to vote without the assistance of the presiding officer or polling officer. It further proposes that an incapacitated voter who is unable to vote but is literate should be permitted to vote with the assistance of a person of his or her choice of and above the age of 18 and without the presence of the presiding officer or polling officers. | -It is positive
development in trying to empower all voters as equals and upholding one’s
freedom of choice as well as secrecy of the ballot.
-Epitomies of intimidation and violence like the police are commendably set to be relegated from assisting the voters. -Whilst this proposed change greatly facilitates the minimization of voter intimidation within a polling station, it fails to deal with endogenous organized violence. This might result in a high number of assisted voters being “forcibly assisted” in voting by architects of violence in the localities, purporting to be their chosen assistants. |
Transparency on ballot papers-ZEC must give all relevant information to political parties and candidates participating in elections, the total number of ballots printed, and the ballots distributed to each polling station. | -The proposed regulations
must compel ZEC to adequately and equitably provide relevant information to all
political contestants without favouring any given political formation, for
whatever reason.
-The law should allow political parties to monitor the production of ballot papers, their security and distribution. -No political party should have access to privileged information which the other parties cannot access as exhibited in March 2008 elections where one political party began talking of the nation heading towards a presidential election run-off, yet the official results had not been announced. |
Voters roll accessibility- There is a proposal that upon request, the electronic copies of the voter’s roll are given to parties and candidates contesting in an election free of charge. | -Whilst it is a positive
development, accessibility of the voter’s roll should be assured not only to
politicians, but also to organized civic organizations with a legitimate reason
of wanting to encourage prospective voters to inspect the voters roll or to
register.
-Voters rolls should always be easily accessible to the entire electorate for continuous inspection of their names. |
Complaints mechanism-it is proposed that a special body should be set up to receive complaints or allegations of politically motivated acts of violence, to monitor and carry out investigations of such reports. The allegations will in turn be referred to police for expeditious investigations and possible prosecution. | -ZEC has existing conflict
management structures like the Multi-party liaison committees aimed at managing
election related conflicts, which in previous elections have not been put to
effective use.
-The proposed power conferred on ZEC to receive such complaints is indeed necessary in as far as it helps the management body to make an objective analysis, deter and resolve election related conflict. -However intensive institutional reform is necessary to sanitize the police force and engender a culture of professionalism in order for them to be able to objectively handle cases of political violence, especially if it involves high ranking officials linked to certain political parties. |
Special Election Complaints court-ZEC should be empowered to summon candidates, election agents or parties accused of engaging in political violence. ZEC will be empowered to warn candidates, election agents or parties implicated in acts of political violence and to set up a special court at the magistrate’s level to try such cases. The Attorney General is also enjoined to set up a special unit in his office dedicated to prosecuting cases of political violence committed during elections. Upon conviction by special courts, the court can make a special order banning candidates from further participation in the election process. | The question of
partisanship of the judiciary system should adequately be addressed before
having a realistic hope in the efficacy of the proposed amendments. Precedence
has shown that there is continued biased prosecution of political offenders,
where most cases involving ZANU PF are either swept under the carpet or the
prosecution is done lethargically.
-This noble complaints mechanism thrives better in an environment devoid of political manipulation of the Attorney General’s office. Having an AG who openly declares allegiance to a political party dampens the confidence the electorate might need to have in the judicial processes. |
Postal Voting- postal voting will be limited to officers outside the country on state duty, whilst polling officers, security officers and any persons involved in running of the election will be permitted to vote within a week before polling. | -The electoral environment
in Zimbabwe has for long been dogged by controversies surrounding the mystery
and lack of transparency with regards to the postal voting system. Whilst
persistent calls have been made by civic society for Zimbabweans living abroad
to be able to vote as well, using this system, it is welcome for the law to
clearly state the measures that should be done to ensure transparency.
-It has to be clear on whether political parties, local and international observers are eligible to monitor the early voting processes to ensure accountability and avoid potential disputes. |
Police clearance on candidates-it is proposed that the provision doing away with clearance certificates, whether from the ZRP or from local authorities, be entrenched in the Electoral Act. | -This would come as a relief especially to those aspiring candidates who would have been victims of arbitrary arrest and conviction on political grounds. |
Second round of elections-the existing provisions requiring the winner to win at least 50% plus one vote, has been retained. | -It remains important to have a popularly elected President; therefore this provision ensures that the country is ruled by a popular head of state and government. |
Audit of Presidential election results-it is proposed that results of the Presidential elections must be audited by a reputable and independent auditing firm to authenticate and legitimize the winner. | -This is an important process that would consolidate the legitimization of the President, so elected. However, this should be audited by a reputable and independent auditing firm to authenticate and legitimize the winner. |
Conclusion
The realization and apparent consensus by parties to the coalition government, on the need to reform both the constitutional and electoral frameworks is an important step towards normalizing Zimbabwe’s fouled political environment.
While in the past, good laws have been developed and promulgated, the problem with Zimbabwe might not have been entirely about obnoxious and restrictive laws in existence, but has more to do with a bad political culture shown by political players. This culture negates and chooses to ignore even laid down rules and regulations, at times, in pursuit of selfish individual or group desires.
It is such a political behaviour by politicians which has left Zimbabwe with a shameful label of disrespecting the rule of law, abuse of human rights, anarchy culminating in conflict-ridden political engagements at both national and international level.
The nation’s hope is that through the proposed reforms to the Electoral Act, necessary reforms will be undertaken to redefine civilized political engagements. The transitional authority offers an opportunity to set new parameters that would guide the nation’s political conduct and interaction.
These ongoing legal and institutional reforms are important renovations before Zimbabwe holds another election expected at the conclusion of political reforms. However for all these reforms to be successful, the main political actors in the country must cultivate a culture that gives respect to the rule of law. It would indeed be a betrayal of the people, if political actors make good laws on which they will be the first to disregard.
http://www.namibian.com.na/
27.05.2011
By: ALEXACTUS T
KAURE
THE Windhoek SADC Summit came and gone. And so has the Africa Day
which was
celebrated across the continent on May 25.
People are now
probably preparing for next year to perform the same rituals.
I say rituals
here because nothing seems to change – which is the
characteristic of a
ritual. But someone might grab me by my throat and says
‘that’s not true’,
and under that pressure I would probably concede that
things have indeed
changed. But what has changed?
Yes, we have changed the name of the Southern
African Coordination
Conference to Southern African Development Community
(SADC) in 1992, in the
high-altitude city of Windhoek. And we did the same
with the Organisation of
African Unity when we changed it to the African
Union (AU) in 2002, in the
coastal city of Durban. But stubbornly, I might
still insist that things
have not changed because despite the name changes
Southern Africa, and
indeed Africa itself, is still far from being
integrated and united.
There is neither an integrated SADC region nor is
there a united Africa with
a union government. In the case of SADC, we were
told that by 2008 the
region will have a Free Trade Area (FTA) – reducing or
eliminating tariffs
or relaxing non-tariff barriers to the movement of goods
and services. This
has not happened as yet after a good 31 years. In the
case of the African
Union, African leaders have been talking about African
unity and a union
government for the ‘United States of Africa’ since the
formation of the
original OAU in 1963 in Addis Ababa. Thus Kwame Nkrumah’s
urgings for a
union have been in vain.
Thus any serious discussion of the
problems facing the integration or unity
agenda in the region and in Africa
must involve a process of restructuring
the African reality itself. This
reality, however, can be very complex and
re-sculpting it produces its own
sets of blinkers and ideological
predispositions. And these predispositions
affects the way we see, describe
and understand the problems that face
post-colonial Africa and its various
projects whether at the national,
regional or continental levels.
I therefore argue here that the integration
and unity-talk is essentially
following the same political trajectory that
pertains at the national level
of the various African countries themselves.
Thus unless one addresses the
national question first, one cannot hope to
move on to the higher ground –
which is the regional level. The example of
the European Union is
instructive here. There was no blanket admission to
the Union in Europe.
Some countries were required to put their houses in
order first before they
could seek membership. In Africa, any system goes
however. Commenting on the
recent suspension of the SADC Tribunal, the
radical lawyer, Norman Tjombe,
asked why SADC leaders should support a
strong regional court if they don’t
support strong courts in their own
countries?
Proceeding from that perspective, one can legitimately argue that
as time
elapses, as the post-colonial period lengthens and African societies
rediscover their past, then the significance of nationalist politics becomes
less so. We are witnessing it here in Namibia where identity politics (read
tribal politics) is taking root. Thus if individual countries themselves
aren’t united internally how can they unite at the regional and eventually
at continental level?
Let me, however, as a corollary to the preceding
discussion look at the
significance of Africa in contemporary global
politics assuming there was a
semblance of integration and unity. In recent
years and weeks, especially in
the wake of recent ‘revolutions’ in North
Africa, we have heard and read
about ‘African solutions to African problems’
being tossed around and about.
Specifically in the case of Libya where NATO
forces have been maintaining a
no-fly zone and also the bombing of military
targets (of course with the
usual civilian casualties caught in the
cross-fire) African leaders have
been urging that to be stopped because they
see it as another Western
imperialist agenda and would instead argue that
Africa can solve its own
problems.
But when did Africa solve its
problems? That’s the question. Why didn’t
Africa intervene before the UN and
NATO came into the picture? They are
calling for dialogue between the Libyan
leader and the rebels – which is now
too late, I’m afraid. Muammar Gaddafi
has had ample chance to do so. But he
decided to unleash the might of the
Libyan military on his ‘own’ people.
Closer to home, what is SADC doing in
the case of Zimbabwe where President
Robert Mugabe has been defying all
political agreements and protocols
including those by the now suspended SADC
Tribunal?
Indeed, where was Africa, the OAU, in 1994 when a horrified world
watched
the unrelenting brutality of the violence that was unfolding during
the
Rwandan tragedy where close to one million Africans were brutally
killed?
Some of these organisations have no significance and rationale for
their
continuing existence. And there will be no ‘African solutions to
African
problems’ until such time that a radical revolution, both
politically and
intellectually, take place on the continent. And as one SMS
message recently
put it: it is time to dissolve these entities. I couldn't
agree more.
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 27/05/11
There is understandable anger at
the granting of asylum by a UK judge to
Phillip Machemedze, a CIO spy in
Mugabe’s regime, who admitted smashing an
MDC supporter’s jaw then pulling
out his tooth. In my view, a spy will
always be a spy, there is no way a spy
can be an ex-spy. After all, he is
said to have resigned by word of mouth.
Is that enough?
Now outraged Britons and human rights activists the world
over are demanding
his deportation. The CIO agent who also confessed to
committing acts of
torture has attracted the attention of scores of British
photojournalists
who have camped outside the house where he lives in Bristol
on learning that
Machemedze is on state benefits and he and his wife are HIV
positive. While
the house is being referred to as if he owns it, that seems
unlikely because
of his refugee status, however since he is from the CIO,
who knows?
The presence in the UK of Machemedze who spent four years in
the CIO
confessed to electrocuting, slapping, beating and punching “to the
point of
being unconscious” a white farmer and to many other offences, is
threatening
to get worse by the day. Arguably, the case has assumed the
character of a
terrible scandal.
Ironically, prosecutors at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) are
reportedly keen to interview the CIO
spy who won his appeal for asylum in
terms of the European Human Rights
Convention. That his case has caused
embarrassment to the British Government
is noticeable from a story claiming
the British embassy in Harare has said
it will lobby for the deportation of
Phillip Machemedze (Zimdiaspora,
27/05/11).
The Machemedze ‘scandal’ has the potential to cause a serious
crisis within
the European Union as Britain tries to wriggle its’ way out of
the tentacles
of the European Human Rights Convention. However, a worse
predicament facing
the UK is what to do with Mugabe’s spy agent who may now
be eligible for
full citizenship and be able to stand for any public office
in the United
Kingdom and indeed the European parliament unless he has a
‘criminal record’.
Such prospects are not academic as Machemedze may
already be on the UK’s and
EU’s Voters Register which entitles him to vote
in UK and EU parliamentary
elections. Unless disqualified by the tribunal
case which he appealed
against, Machemedze who has been in the UK for 11
years as a CIO agent could
one day contest the post of Prime Minister of
Great Britain if he wants to.
I bet his mates in Zimbabwe would urge him to
go for it!
There is concern that Machemedze could spark a serious crisis
in Britain and
the EU.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst,
London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by The Zimbabwean
Friday,
27 May 2011 16:39
Just a week ago the SADC Summit opened in the Namibian
capital. 11 regional
leaders were present and the meeting was all over in a
few hours. Zimbabwe
was not on the agenda but that did not stop the Namibian
police with the
help of Zimbabwe’s CIO from forcibly removing Zimbabwean
civil rights
activists from outside the venue. SADC has shown very few signs
that its own
citizens’ concerns are of any importance in their
deliberations. And, as if
to illustrate that point, SADC dissolved their
Human Rights Tribunal this
week.
The dissolution of the SADC Human Rights
Tribunal was a blow, not only for
Zimbabwe’s remaining white farmers but for
all Southern African citizens.
There are apparently just 230 white farmers
left in business from the
original 4.500 at the start of the so-called Land
Reform Programme. Right on
cue, Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister, Patrick
Chinamasa declared that the
government would now push ahead with its land
reforms without the Tribunal
“on its back”. True to his words, government
backed war veterans are now
moving from farm to farm in the Midlands and
Mashonaland provinces
intimidating white farmers to get off their land.
Title deeds have long
since ceased to have any meaning in Zimbabwe where the
Rule of Law has
virtually collapsed thanks to a partisan police force and
judiciary. Robert
Mugabe is pushing for elections this year and has made it
known that he
wants all white farmers off the land before elections are
held.
Zanu PF declared this week that they have abandoned the GPA ‘electoral
roadmap’ and hardliners within the party have threatened to leave SADC
unless they get their own way. The next SADC meeting is scheduled for June
11th and the MDC is demanding that reform of the security sector be
discussed there. “That is not going to happen” says Patrick Chinamasa and
Robert Mugabe, also rejecting the MDC call for reform of the security sector
declares them to be “an exemplary and reputable force”.
How Mugabe can
justify such a claim is hard to fathom when in this one week
alone we have
seen numerous examples of the police being utterly
disreputable. They have
refused lawyers access to their Zimrights clients
and even denied they know
where the two, Florence Ndlovu and Walter Dube,
are being held. In blatant
disregard of a court order which had given
permission for an anti-torture
workshop to be held for villagers in
Tsholotsho, the Zimrights activists
were picked up at a road block with the
police claiming that they had
instructions to shoot. That was five days ago
and the two activists have not
been seen since. Woza women were once again
arrested after they mounted
another peaceful demo in Bulawayo against power
cuts and twenty seven
innocent mourners at the funeral of an MDC official
were arrested and held
for five days before they were released without
charge.
Most shocking in
my view are the attacks on churches. Civilised countries
would consider
police disrupting church services as totally unacceptable. It
is in fact
unconstitutional in a country where the constitution enshrines
freedom of
worship as a basic right – as the Zimbabwean constitution does.
The
Christian Alliance is a coalition of church leaders which has compiled a
report they intend to put before the next SADC meeting. In their report they
have detailed the numerous examples of police harassment against churches
and their congregations. The Alliance Director is the Reverend Useni Sibanda
and his comment goes to the heart of the matter: “The surprising thing is
that the police never cause disruptions when Zanu PF officials join the
apostolic church sects in worship where they turn those gatherings into
political rallies.” Zimbabweans all know exactly what the Reverend Sibanda
was referring to.
By dissolving the Human Rights Tribunal, SADC has left
citizens of all
faiths and none at the mercy of a partisan police force with
nowhere to turn
for justice.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka
Pauline Henson author of the Dube
books which detail in fictional form the
gradual decline of the ZRP over the
past decade. The books are available
from Lulu.com.