http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Charles Tembo
Thursday 07 May 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's High Court will
today hear a bail application by
freelance journalist Andrison Manyere and
two senior officials of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party who
were not released when 15 other
activists were sent home from custody on
Wednesday.
Manyere, Tsvangirai's former aide Ghandi Mudzingwa and MDC
security officer
Kisimusi Dhlamini remained in custody because the state
said they had
outstanding applications in the High Court.
"They were
not supposed to be in custody from the start," their lawyer Alec
Muchadehama
told reporters. "We are dealing with that bail application at 9
o'clock on
Thursday."
The other 15 activists including human rights campaigner
Jestina Mukoko were
released late Wednesday afternoon from Chikurubi Maximum
Security Prison.
Muchadehama said trials were going to start from June 8
in the High Court.
"At least for now justice has prevailed," he said
referring to those who
were released. So we wait to see the next issue. They
are now going to the
trial court starting on June 8 at the High
Court.
Zimbabwe's long-time rivals President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai
formed a
unity government in February after months of wrangling but sharp
differences
remain over issues such as the treatment of political prisoners,
review of
the posts of central bank governor and AG.
Western donors
have demanded the unity government carry out wider political
and media
reforms and called for the release of all political prisoners
before
committing funding. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=16318
May 7, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Prominent human rights activist Jestina Mukoko on
Tuesday hailed
her release from prison and called upon the authorities to
end the
harassment of activists and other political
prisoners.
Mukoko, the director of the rights group, the Zimbabwe Peace
Project (ZPP)
was re-arrested on Monday together with fourteen other human
rights and
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members who are charged with
banditry,
sabotage and plotting to unseat the country's long ruling leader
President
Robert Mugabe from power.
But on Tuesday Harare Magistrate
Catherine Chimanda who on Monday ordered
the arrest of Mukoko and the other
abductees reversed her decision and
granted bail to Mukoko and twelve other
detainees.
Chimanda granted bail to the twelve political detainees after
the State
Prosecutor Chris Mutangadura informed her that the Attorney
General's office
was not opposing bail and had consented together with the
defence lawyers
from the rights group, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR).
Speaking to journalists just outside Chikurubi Maximum Prison
after her
release Mukoko welcomed her discharge and called for the cessation
of her
harassment.
"Sanity has prevailed and all this harassment
should stop," Mukoko said.
73 year-old MDC member Fidelis Chiramba, who
unsuccessfully contested the
Zvimba South Senatorial elections in last
year's elections complained about
the shortage of blankets and water in the
towering prison.
"The blankets were short and it was very cold. There is
no water in the
cells and our relatives had to bring water for us," said
Chiramba.
Meanwhile, the High Court will tomorrow consider bail
applications for
freelance photo-journalist Andrison Manyere, former Morgan
Tsvangirai aide,
Gandhi Mudzingwa and Kisimusi Dhlamini, who were denied
bail by Magistrate
Chimanda.
Chimanda, who granted twelve other
abductees bail on Tuesday said she couldn't
grant bail to the three as their
bail applications were currently before the
High Court. The three are
currently admitted at a private hospital in Harare
where they are receiving
treatment for injuries sustained as a result of
their torture during their
enforced disappearance.
Our Johannesburg correspondent reports,
meanwhile, that Human Rights Watch
(HRW) has called on Zimbabwean
authorities to drop charges against all human
rights activists currently
being prosecuted.
HRW said in a statement Wednesday that the authorities
should not only free
the activists, but also drop criminal charges against
them, adding that
their arrest was politically motivated.
"Human
Rights Watch is deeply concerned that the evidence filed to support
these
charges was extracted under torture," said Georgette Gagnon, Human
Rights
Watch's Africa director.
"Those who brought these outrageous charges
should quickly drop them,"
She said that the re-arresting of the human
rights activists was evidence
that Zanu-PF was not sincere about the
country's government of national
unity.
"This continued persecution
makes it pretty clear that Zanu-PF is trying to
undermine the new
power-sharing administration and is an example of Zimbabwe's
overall lack of
progress in respecting the rule of law and basic rights.
"Zimbabwe's
prosecuting authorities and key police and prison units remain
under Zanu-PF
control. Following their abduction in 2008, the 15 were held
in secret
detention for periods ranging from two to eight weeks before being
handed
over to the police.
"None of them was brought to court within 48 hours of
arrest, as required by
Zimbabwe law. The 15 were only granted restricted
bail in February and March
2009 pending indictment and trial."
HRW
said that the prosecution of the activists was a politically motivated
attempt by Zanu-PF to pressure the MDC into making concessions that would
further weaken its power within the government.
"Human Rights Watch
has already urged the Zimbabwe authorities to disclose
immediately the
whereabouts of seven 'disappeared' activists who were
abducted by suspected
state agents in late 2008 and who are still missing,"
said the international
human rights watchdog.
The seven missing persons are:
Gwenzi Kahiya -
abducted October 29, 2008 in Zvimba,
Ephraim Mabeka - abducted December 10 in
Gokwe,
Lovemore Machokoto - abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Charles Muza -
abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Edmore Vangirayi - abducted December 10 in
Gokwe,
Graham Matewa - abducted December 17 in Makoni South
Peter Munyanyi
- abducted December 15 in Gutu South.
http://www.businessday.co.za
07
May 2009
DUMISANI
MULEYA
Harare
ZIMBABWE's opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) has given
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
an ultimatum to
resolve issues fuelling infighting within the
government.
The move by the main wing of the divided MDC signals
growing frustration
within the shaky unity government, which is struggling to
find cohesion and
deal with the country's economic and social
problems.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara met again on
Tuesday, for the sixth time in as many weeks, to try
to sort out a series of
issues which have been fanning divisions and
wrangling within the
government.
The divisive issues include
appointment of senior government officials,
sharing of positions of
governors, permanent secretaries and diplomats and
mandates of
ministries.
There is also the issue of land invasions, arrests and
detention of
political activists, the arraignment and also swearing-in of
Deputy
Agriculture Minister Roy Bennett, the appointments of Reserve Bank
governor
Gideon Gono and attorney-general Johannes Tomana and violations of
the
political agreement that led to the formation of the new
government.
MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti, who is also Finance
Minister, said
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara must resolve outstanding
issues by Monday
if the inclusive government was to continue functioning
without fresh
problems.
He said if they failed to bring the
contested issues to closure and
finality, his party's national council would
meet on May 17 to take a
decision on the way forward.
While some
senior MDC officials, especially members of the party's
parliamentary caucus,
were beginning to demand a pull-out from the
government, Biti said this was
not an option.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=16313
May 7, 2009
By Jakaya
Goremusandu
AFTER Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru was controversially appointed
vice president
of Zimbabwe, debate on the succession of President Robert
Mugabe was firmly
shut. There was a lot of intimidation that left the
country aghast with no
hope for planning and checking out the
future.
Mujuru upstaged Emmerson Mnangangwa, whose ambition claimed the
political
life of six Zanu PF provincial chairmen and buried the fortunes of
political
veterans, Thenjiwe Lesabe and Shuvai Mahofa, plus opportunists
like Jonathan
Moyo and many other upstarts.
Five years down the line
perhaps it is important to revisit the Mugabe
succession issue, for its
impact on the entire country is debilitating, let
alone catastrophic,
whatever we may consider desirable for debate.
The departure of Simba
Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa from the Zanu-PF just
before the March 2008
elections threw the succession race wide open. But one
of the salient
features of this important issue is that few would dare talk
about it openly
either in Zanu-PF or outside the party. This is a tragedy,
given that Mugabe
has been with us for close to 30 years and anything that
happens to him has
a strong bearing on our national fortunes, whether we
like it or
not.
One of the hidden social costs of the three decades of a regressive
dictatorship in Zimbabwe appears to be the slow but permanent slide of the
people into a nation of poor planners and forecasters.
Never at any
time does the critical national agenda of leadership succession
become a
dinner-table discussion point. We live in the forlorn hope that
nothing
untoward happens to either Robert Mugabe and/or, of late, to Morgan
Tsvangirai. No preparations come to the fore as the people cake themselves
in denial, literally positioning their telescopes away from
tomorrow.
Succession planning dominates all progressive nations which use
today to
shape tomorrow. Since Mujuru's 2004 forced victory over Mnangagwa,
talk
about Mugabe's possible mental or physical incapacity, retirement or
even
death was effectively cut out of public discourse.
Uncertainty
dogs Zanu-PF as a party and, by extension, Zimbabwe if anything
unexpected
were to happen to Mugabe today. The country, judging by the state
of the
nation at the present moment, could instantly find itself in utter
turmoil,
with hardliners seizing the golden opportunity to hasten Zimbabwe
back into
a failed state status - a condition the corrupt and avaricious are
comfortable with, as they use such a scenario to erase any traces of
accountability.
Such an unfortunate situation, sadly one which you
and I are uncomfortable
discussing, or simply debating, could defer the
Zimbabwe's dream for peace,
equal opportunity and safety for an even longer
period. Mugabe has become an
indispensable part of Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe
badly needs him to crawl back
onto the rails. He is both a key problem and a
useful solution at the same
time.
Debate on Mugabe's fate must be
re-opened in the light of his stubborn
refusal to accelerate Zimbabwe back
to normalcy through a speedy resolution
of the mess he has created. He
continues to sit on the solution while
Zimbabwe burns because the latest
constellation remains alive, confusing
ordinary people at home and
elsewhere.
What compounds the situation is that Mugabe brooks no nonsense
about
discussion of any possible successors, making it impossible for the
young
generation or investors to plan. He appears to have lost total control
of
the pillars of the state, as evidenced by the daily policy flip-flops he
radiates.
The case of the re-detention and subsequent release of
human rights activist
Jestina Mukoko and 17 others is a case in point. But
to show his doubly
confusing character, he maintains that farm invasions
must continue and even
refuses to swear in Roy Bennett.
Surely, what
kind of life do Zimbabweans lead, following which values? Are
these
contradictions insufficient for the people to question the kind and
style of
leadership in their own domain? What are the implications for
public policy
and for governance, generally? Khuzekube nini, bakithi? For
how long can
nation endure these contradictions in silence?
To cut a long story short,
does Mugabe contemplate standing again in the
next election, even after his
March 2008 public humiliation by Morgan
Tsvangirai and the loss of a Zanu-PF
parliamentary majority? The true
position is that Mugabe and Zanu-PF have
had their day. They possess neither
a viable economic policy nor an ideology
beyond farm invasions, looting and
hate.
For the MDC, if Tsvangirai
is unfortunately declared comatose by a medical
expert on the basis of the
major accident he was involved in and the loss of
his grand child, what
contingency measures exist for his meaningful
replacement in the MDC, in the
inclusive government or in the leadership of
Zimbabwe?
Zimbabweans
must get out of that state of denial about their fate, open
themselves up
and explore options before accidents occur. Mugabe's age is
staring in your
face, yet you decide to do nothing about it. When he goes so
too will Joseph
Msika, Joice Mujuru and all the service chiefs. Where would
that leave
Zanu-PF?
What about the prospect of peace across the
nation?
Zimbabwe needs a multi-party political environment. Does
Tsvangirai have a
plan to occupy the vacuum that will be created by any
sudden turn of events?
If so, how does he hope to deal with such a delicate
transition when he is
obviously failing to handle simple issues like the
release of Gandhi
Mudzingwa and others?
It is high time Zimbabweans
started to seriously debate their lives and the
future.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Thursday 07 May 2009
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's ZANU
PF party said on Wednesday it
remained committed to a coalition government
with its former opposition MDC
rivals, adding it was working to resolve
outstanding issues blocking full
implementation of a power-sharing agreement
signed last year.
Reacting to an ultimatum issued earlier in the day by
the main MDC formation
led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai demanding
resolution of outstanding
issues by Monday, ZANU PF deputy spokesman Ephraim
Masawi said it was
"unfortunate" that the party had set a deadline when
"negotiations were
going on smoothly".
Among outstanding issues that
the MDC-Tsvangirai wants resolved are the
appointment of provincial
governors, permanent secretaries and diplomats,
re-hiring of central bank
governor Gideon Gono and re-appointment of
Johannes Tomana as Attorney
General by Mugabe in January.
Tsvangirai and leader of the smaller MDC
formation Arthur Mutambara want the
appointments of Gono, Tomana and
provincial governors rescinded and the
recruitment of new ambassadors and
permanent secretaries - moves Mugabe and
ZANU PF hardliners have adamantly
opposed.
MDC-Tsvangirai secretary general Tendai Biti said told
journalist in Harare
that the party was also concerned at the refusal by
commanders of the
country's military and security forces to salute
Tsvangirai or recognise his
authority as Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe.
Another bone of contention between Mugabe on the one hand and
Tsvangirai and
Mutambara on the other is the refusal by the 85-year-old
President to swear
in MDC-Tsvangirai Senator Roy Bennett as deputy
agriculture minister.
The MDC-Tsvangirai had also said the re-detention
on Tuesday of leading
human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and 17
political activists from the
party was a threat to the life of the unity
government.
However, the activists were released yesterday on bail after
Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Mutambara met on Tuesday night and agreed that they
should
face trial on terrorism charges while out of custody.
"ZANU PF
is still committed to the inclusive government and our president
(Mugabe) is
working tirelessly with other principals to resolve the
outstanding issues,"
Masawi said. "It is unfortunate that the MDC-Tsvangirai
is now setting
deadlines and issuing out ultimatums."
Masawi said common ground on the
outstanding issues would be reached soon.
"I am informed that a lot of
progress has been achieved and as a party we
don't know why the ultimatum
you referred to was issued out," he said.
"Negotiations are not and should
not be subjected to ultimatums and
deadlines."
Biti, who is Finnace
Minister in the unity government, said the sticking
issues should be
resolved by Monday. He said if not resolved, the party's
national executive
council would meet to determine the way forward, but was
quick to say
quitting the inclusive government was not an option.
Sources told
ZimOnline that in the event the outstanding issues were not
resolved by
Monday the MDC council would meet to give party leaders
permission to seek
the intervention of the regional Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) - the guarantors of the power sharing
agreement - to unlock the
stalemate.
The coalition government is seen as offering Zimbabwe the best
opportunity
in a decade to restore stability and end a devastating economic
and
humanitarian crisis.
But failure by the administration to win
support from Western donor
countries coupled with a determined push by ZANU
PF hardliners to collapse
the administration have intensified doubts about
its durability. - ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com
By Patience Rusere
Washington
06
May 2009
A top aide to Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said the
government will press on with a land audit that it hopes
will provide a
framework for the evolution of a national land policy and
bring a halt to
farm takeovers that are increasingly politically
divisive.
Minister of State Gorden Moyo, attached to Mr. Tsvangirai's
office. said the
cabinet decided to move ahead with a land audit after
reviewing a report
from a fact-finding mission of ministers and other
officials that visited
farms which have been invaded in the name of land
reform.
Mr. Tsvangirai named the working group after failing to make
headway with
President Robert Mugabe on the farm takeovers, which the
president has
endorsed as necessary to complete the land reform he launched
in 2000. But
Mr. Tsvangirai has urged a halt to such invasions, which he
said signal to
international donors that the rule of law has not been
restored.
The fact-finding mission was led by Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara,
head of a rival formation of Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic
Change, and included the MDC and ZANU-PF politicians who share
control of
the Ministry of Home Affairs.
While declining to divulge
the contents of the panel's report, which he said
was classified, or when
the land audit would begin, Moyo told reporter
Patience Rusere of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the cabinet sees the
audit as the key to
resolving the land question.
But Commercial Farmers Union President
Trevor Gifford said nothing has
changed on the farms under siege since the
ministerial panel carried out its
mission.
Gifford said that since
the mission toured farms under siege, more farmers
have been taken to court
by authorities for refusing to leave their land,
adding that a moratorium on
farm takeovers must be declared if the proposed
audit is to have any
effect.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday,
06 May 2009
HARARE - A dishevelled grey-haired 67-year-old Sekuru
Munemo dreams of
days gone by, when his pension would see him through the
month.
Seated on a wooden stool outside his creaky hut on the
outskirts of
Harare, he fiddles with his wooden walking stick and recalls
with pride the
times when he would put on his best suit at month-end, and go
into town to
pick up his lump sum pension at the Main Post Office in Harare
in 1996. It
was enough to buy his medication, fill up a trolley with
groceries and still
have enough change to buy bread and milk daily.
Now all he gets is a paltry US$25 monthly pension allowance introduced
by
the new inclusive government last month, hardly enough for his monthly
medication for high blood pressure and hypertension and leaving nothing for
him to spend on his three grandsons, who lost both their parents to
HIV/AIDS.
With his back hunched by age, he juts out his chin when
asked about
the new foreign currency-denominated stipend introduced by the
coalition
government between President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
and deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara.
"They
should raise it maybe to US$100," he says, sniffing some ground
tobacco
before sneezing. He suggests pegging the pensioners allowance to the
US$100
currently being paid to all government workers.
He feels bitter that
having worked for the government for 34 years he
now has to accept such a
meagre pension.
"In the old days, money was money and we were respected
members of
society," Sekuru Munemo, who retired from government service in
1996, said.
The plight of pensioners has been brought into sharp focus
by this new
foreign currency-denominated stipend, which authorities claim is
enough for
the pensioners.
Zimbabwe's social safety body, the
National Social Security Authority,
NSSA, set the monthly payment of US$25 -
less than US$1 a day.
Sekuru Munemo told The Zimbabwean that the new
government's financial
help for the country's 140,000 pensioners on
government payroll is welcome
but they need more help.
X head -
Hyper-inflation
The US$25 per month is an improvement on what
pensioners received
during past decade of economic turmoil and eye-watering
inflation.
Prior to the introduction of the foreign
exchange-denominated payment
system, pensioners received their monthly
allowance in Zimbabwe dollars that
had been rapidly eroded by inflation and
not worth the trip to the Post
Office. They were paid an equivalent of
US$3.
NSSA general manager James Matiza insisted that the new allowance
was
enough to take the pensioners through the month.
"We have
carried out investigations and found out that this money will
be enough to
buy their basics," Matiza told The Zimbabwean.
But the government's own
Central Statistical Office has said a family
of six needs to subsist on at
least US$454 per month.
The plight of pensioners in Zimbabwe is equally
severe among elderly
whites.
Robbed of most of their pensions by a
government policy which required
pension funds to invest 45 per cent of
their money in near-worthless
government bonds, and too proud to seek help,
the estimated 2,000 white
pensioners still in Zimbabwe are the professionals
and administrators who
migrated here, mostly from Britain and South Africa,
more than half a
century ago.
They came in two waves, escaping the
Depression in the 1930s and then
leaving the bleakness of life in the UK
after the Second World War. They
thrived in a burgeoning
economy.
Reduced to beggars
But now they have been reduced
to beggars just like their black
counterparts.
The British
government has announced controversial plans to airlift
elderly British
nationals from Zimbabwe back home, a move that has
infuriated President
Mugabe, who sees the action as a vote of no confidence
in the new
administration by the former colonial master.
British local government
minister John Healey explained, "The
situation in Zimbabwe continues to make
it hard to access food and medical
care. That's why we are offering help to
older and vulnerable British people
who are unable to support themselves in
Zimbabwe and want to resettle in the
UK."
Healey said the programme
would target a total of 750 households among
the 25,000 British passport
holders who have registered with the his Embassy
in Harare. The repatriation
programme is only open to elderly Britons over
70 years of age who are
struggling to make ends meet.
Britain will pay for the travel of the
indigent elderly and help with
financial support and housing following
relocation. The repatriation is
taking place over the next 18
months.
Mugabe has reacted furiously. His government, he said, would be
quite
happy to assist the British to evacuate the elderly Britons. He is
deliberately overlooking the point that the British government exercises its
responsibility over its people located anywhere in the world.
Mugabe furious
"I don't see any reason why anyone would want old
people," Mugabe said
in a recent interview on State television.
"I
understand they also want the young ones, the children. What about
the
parents of those children? What happens to the rest? Why can't the
British
say we want all our British people out of Zimbabwe?
"If they want them
and even the graves of their dead, we can dig them
up and send them to them.
Who are we to refuse with their nationals, dead or
alive?" he said.
Predictably, the state media has branded the planned evacuation as
racist.
But they are not alone. Columnist Joram Nyathi of the privately
owned
financial weekly, the Zimbabwe Independent, alleged erroneously that
Britain
had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and now "you airlift your own to
safety".
But Andrew Pocock, the British ambassador to Harare, has
reiterated
that only small numbers of vulnerable, elderly Britons were
eligible.
"It is an offer of assistance to British people who meet
certain
criteria of age and vulnerability, and who wish to leave Zimbabwe
because
they can no longer maintain themselves here," Pocock said.
Economists point to the previous state policy on pension funds as
contributing significantly to the destitution of pensioners in Zimbabwe.
"The government was funding its overspending by confiscating pensioners'
money," said John Robertson, a well-respected economist. - BY GIFT PHIRI
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday,
May 07, 2009
THE April 2009
family basket shot up by eight percent on the back of sharp
rises in the
cost of rentals, which constitute 28 percent.
Statistics from the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe shows that an urban family
of six requires
US$427,11 as opposed to last month's figure of US$396,22.
Food makes up
26 percent of the total basket, rentals constitute 28 percent,
transport
10,3 percent, soaps and detergents 2,7 percent while education,
health and
clothing and footwear constitute the remainder.
The cost of the food in
the basket dropped by eight percent to US$111,31
from last month's figure of
US$120,62.
The South African food basket stood at US$63,93.
Local
food and detergents costs slumped by seven percent from US$132,22 to
US$123,11.
The consumer watchdog said the reduction was attributed to
competition in
the market, zero duty on basic food stuffs, allowing more
customers to buy
for themselves directly from the source market, mainly in
South Africa,
Botswana and Mozambique.
CCZ executive director Ms
Rosemary Siyachitema said there was an increase in
the cost of the basket
for transport, rent, water, and electricity, health,
education, clothing and
footwear from US$264,00 to US$304 reflecting a 15
percent
increase.
"The major concern is on rentals as there seems to be no-agreed
standard on
how rental space is charged. "Landlords seem to be setting
rental fees
willy-nilly and this is impacting negatively on
tenants.
"The cost of rentals seem to be defying the odds by increasing
every month,
whilst other costs are decreasing,'' she said.
She added
that goods that were readily available in all shops where most of
these
products are purchased in bulk from neighbouring countries.
"Prices of
basic goods in the shops are still beyond the reach of many as
most civil
servants receive their salaries in local currency and US$100 as
allowances.
"Even though many services providers have reduced their
charges, there is
still more that can be done especially rentals and
telephone charges," said
CCZ boss.
She urged consumers to seek a fair
deal on the market place by ensuring
their rights are observed. They are
also urged to be on high alert and use
their monies wisely because some
unscrupulous business people have sought to
take advantage of consumers
through unfair pricing and the selling of shoddy
goods and
services.
"Consumers are continually urged to be on guard and report any
anomalies in
the market place.
"It is their right to choose products
and services at competitive prices
with an assurance of quality," she
added.
The total cost of the food basket and the price of each commodity
are
obtained by averaging prices gathered from retail outlets throughout the
country.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 06 May
2009
HARARE - A leading human rights group has warned of an
explosion of
anger by aggrieved MDC victims of state-sponsored violence that
is being
aggravated by seeing the culprits continuing to go
scot-free.
The latest violence report from the Human Rights NGO Forum
urges
justice and closure for the wronged.
Three months after the
establishment of the troubled inclusive
government, retributive violence has
flared up, says the report.
"These attacks are a sign of deep-rooted
anger and hatred which still
pervades Zimbabwe, especially after the
violence that occurred in 2008,"says
the report. "Many of the victims still
bear the physical and emotional scars
of what happened to them during that
time. Much of this anger has been
aggravated by seeing the perpetrators
walking free, and in some cases
threatening to do more harm. Some victims of
the 2008 election violence have
thus taken the law into their own hands and
have sought revenge on those who
wronged them."
An orgy of
violence
President Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party and a cabal of security
chiefs
unleashed an orgy of violence following the historic March 2008 vote
after
the then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party handed
the
long-time ruler and his party the most devastating electoral defeat
since
independence in 1980.
The state-sanctioned terror campaign
ahead of the subsequent June 27
run-off vote left over 200 MDC supporters
dead and another 200,000
internally displaced, according to human rights
groups.
While Mugabe, Tsvangirai and deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara,
who heads a smaller formation of the MDC, managed to reach
agreement on how
to share power they have not yet resolved the issue of what
to do with those
accused of committing human rights abuses and other crimes
- mostly in the
security forces and war veterans.
National
healing
A committee of senior ministers drawn up from Zanu (PF) and the
two
MDC formations to promote national healing and reconciliation has not
said
how exactly it intends to go about the process.
Military
commanders and hardliners in Zanu (PF) who are believed to
have
been
behind violence in the run-up to the June vote are known to be
opposed
to the unity government in part because they fear the new
administration
could dilute their power and ultimately lead to their
arraignment before the
courts on charges of abusing human rights.
Constitution Amendment No. 19 provides for the establishment of a
Human
Rights Commission to deal with past rights abuses. But despite the
statutes,
there is apparently little political will to deal with past rights
abuses.
Constitution Amendment No 18 actually contained provisions for the
establishment of the Human Rights Commission, but it was never
established. - BY GIFT PHIRI
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday, 06 May
2009
Rita Makarau is living her dream as the first woman Judge
President of
Zimbabwe.
Makarau, assumed the powerful position
as head of Zimbabwe's high
court in 2006. She has become the epitome of
success in the eyes of women in
the country.
The road to her
dream career was full of pot-holes. Sitting back on
her luxurious leather
sofa in her office, she told The Zimbabwean how she
overcame the challenges
women face in a patriarchal Zimbabwean society.
Makarau (48), a lawyer
who had her first court case at the age of 24,
reminisced about the days she
was usually confused for a secretary by
clients, describing her challenges
as "double barreled" amongst men in law.
"People then had a notion that
women do not make good lawyers," said
Makarau.
"Apparently, they
had this picture of a big and mature man when they
visited my offices and
would usually take me for his secretary. They did not
take me seriously, so
as a young woman I had to work harder than the men and
older women.
"For older women it was different because they earned respect because
of
their maturity and experience," she recalled.
"I was so nervous when I
had my first court case in 1984, knowing that
the person I was representing
was counting on me, yet I was also not sure if
my legal submissions would
make any sense to the judiciary."
Born on December 7, 1960, Makarau
grew up an ordinary girl in urban
Zimbabwe, taking her secondary studies at
Goromonzi high after Donbrooke
primary school, in Mabvuku. She took up a law
degree in 1980.
Makarau reckons her loss in the well-known Magaya vs
Magaya - a
gender-sensitive case which set the precedent for the girl child
against the
boy in matters of inheritance, as her toughest challenge in her
career as a
lawyer.
The court ruled that the girl could not inherit
her father's estate,
giving the estate to her half-brother, on the basis
that the 'nature of
African society' relegated women to a lesser status,
especially in the home.
However, Makarau says that during that case,
she managed to enlighten
society of the subconscious isolation subjected to
the girl child in matters
of inheritance.
"We encourage our judges
to protect the interests of children in
divorce cases, as well as widows in
cases of inheritance," said the judge
President.
In African
societies some men have appeared uncomfortable around
successful women who
are outspoken and independent. Makarau, however, said
that she was not
discouraged by those men who tried to pull down women to
take up their
positions.
"If men feel that they have to be at the head of the pack,
they should
be there because they deserve to be, not simply because they are
men," she
said.
Makarau is married to Amos, and together they have
a daughter (24).
She has managed to juggle between family and work.
She appreciates the African culture in marriage, where a woman is "not
only
married to her husband but the extended family" and believes that she
is
managing well.
"To be a complete career woman one needs to be able to
strike a
balance between family and work. One needs to understand that if
she sits on
an executive board at work, they should not take their position
home.
"It does not hurt to swallow one's pride once in a while, reduce
oneself to the children's level and play with them," Makarau
explained.
"A lot of women have failed because they cannot climb up and
down -
down to earth at home, and back up on the decision making position at
work,"
she said.
The High Court has been accused of taking sides in
recent years, while
Makarau has been associated with bias towards Zanu
(PF).
But the Zimbabwe's Judge President denied being influenced or
associated with any party "at any time in my career".
She hopes
that with the formation of the inclusive government, judges
will pass their
ruling without being accused of taking any sides.
"We had to live with
that (allegations of bias) since 2002; we never
really got to be appreciated
to have done well, especially in sensational
matters after one side lost,"
explained Makarau.
"We are human beings and do sometimes make mistakes,
but personally, I
have never been influenced by anyone in any of my rulings.
I have always
given fair judgment," she said. - BY GRACE CHIRUMANZU
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
BULAWAYO -
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has declared
Zimbabwe should do away
with the use of foreign currency as soon as possible
to avoid becoming an
economic colony.
Speaking during a business conference at the Zimbabwe
International
Trade Fair last week, Mutambara quoted Mugabe's slogan
"Zimbabwe will never
be a colony again".
Mutambara went on to
emphasise that the nation's sovereignty could not
be measured simply by
ownership, but by the way ownership was used.
"Owning ZESA, owning
TelOne or owning land is not sovereignty.We will
only become sovereign when
we use these resources effectively." he said.
The Zimbabwean government
is still battling to source a rescue package
that is meant to troubleshoot
the economy.
Mutambara also told those in attendance that the problem
with the
inclusive government was paying too much attention to things of
minor
importance.
"We must not be involved in petty and destructive
issues like what was
happening at the central bank when cars were being
distributed to
legislators. Instead we must seek partnership and work out to
see how maybe
those cars can be used properly," he said. - Paul Ndlovu
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
BULAWAYO - Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's) are funding the
rehabilitation of the Bulawayo city council's crumbled and aged sewer and
water reticulation systems to prevent an outbreak of water borne
diseases.
Residents here have raised the alarm over a possible outbreak
of water
borne diseases like cholera because of the streams of sewage
flowing in
various suburbs as a result of frequent bursts of aged sewer
pipes. The city
council sent out an SOS for funds to rehabilitate damaged
boreholes at the
Nyamandlovu Aquifer to improve the water supplies to the
country's second
city
Bulawayo was not spared the cholera pandemic
that swept through the
country at the end of last year, killing about 3000
Zimbabweans. The
outbreak was blamed on lack of clean drinking water and a
collapse of the
sewerage reticulation systems.
Thaba Moyo, the
Mayor, confirmed to The Zimbabwean that various NGO's
and churches had
joined forces to fund the rehabilitation of the city's
water and sewerage
systems.
"We hope that the programme of rehabilitating the sewer and
water
reticulation systems will be completed in the next six months," said
Moyo in
an interview.
"The city council is very grateful for the
funds that it has received
from NGO's and churches for the programme as the
local authority on its own
does not have any money."
According to
Moyo, NGOs funding the programme include World Vision,
UNICEF, Dabane Trust,
Africa Sales, Bateman Zimbabwe and residents
associations.
He not
mention the amount of funding for the project, saying that the
local
authority was still calculating the total cost for programme that is
believed to run into millions of United States dollars.
The
Bulawayo council last week got the thumbs up from the
Environmental
Management Agency (EMA) at a waste management workshop at the
Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) for containing the cholera outbreak
that hit
the country last year with little resources. - Natasha Hove
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=16322
May 7, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
MUTARE - A dispute over the ordaining of gay priests has
torn apart the
Anglican Church here resulting in bloody battles involving
senior members of
the church and the arrest of five parishioners, including
a prominent
businesswoman.
In the latest incident a clergyman and his
wife were brutally assaulted by
assailants allegedly hired by senior members
of the church.
Reverend Basil Matikiti and wife, Delight, were rushed to
hospital after
they sustained serious injuries during an attack by a large
group of
assailants at a parish in Chikanga high density suburb. Matikiti
belongs to
a faction of the Anglican Church in Mutare that is opposed to the
ordination
of gay priests.
He and his wife were attacked as they
prepared for morning service on Sunday
at St Agnes Parish Church in
Chikanga, a sprawling high density suburb.
A senior police officer,
Inspector Florence Marume, who was dispatched to
quell the violence, was
herself abducted and also assaulted.
Five senior church members have
since been arrested and charged with
committing acts of violence against
Matikiti and his wife.
Those charged are Portia Magada, the prominent
businesswoman, Manyara
Mwendamberi, Conrad Rindai Ritsire, Delia Mutseyekwa
and Taurai Makoni. They
are out on bail.
Several other senior church
members as well as some of the alleged
assailants who participated in the
violence are said to be in hiding.
Matikiti said the alleged assailants
attacked him after he refused to open
the church gate for them to enter. He
said they broke the gate and entered
the churchyard where they allegedly
proceeded to assault him, while shouting
obscenities.
The incident
was a sequel to violent clashes between the rival groups in
Sakubva,
Mutare's oldest township, as well as in the town of Nyanga and at
Bonda
Mission, both north of the eastern border city.
The violent incidents
have all been blamed on a faction that is campaigning
for the ordination of
gay priests in the Anglican Church.
The police confirmed the violent
incidents at St Agnes in Chikanga saying
they had arrested some of the
alleged perpetrators of the violence. Police
spokesperson, Brian Makomeke
said the alleged assailants had attacked
Matikiti with various
objects.
"His shirt was torn to pieces and his wife was also assaulted,"
Makomeke
said.
May 6. 2009 Juche 98
http://www.kcna.co.jp
Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam,
president of the Presidium of
the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, left here
on Wednesday to visit South
Africa and Zimbabwe.
He was
accompanied by Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong Nam,
Vice-Minister of
Foreign Affairs Kim Hyong Jun and other suite
members.
Copyright (C) KOREA NEWS SERVICE(KNS) All
Rights Reserved.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday, 06 May
2009
A war veterans' leader in Midlands, who allegedly tortured and
killed
several people in the various election campaigns since 2000, has
called for
the setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC).
"Zimbabwe needs national healing and for this to succeed a TRC
should
be set up as in South Africa in 1994. People need to forgive each
other. I
also need to be forgiven by my victims," said Biggie
Chitoro.
Chitoro led Zanu (PF) terror gangs who killed and tortured
opposition
MDC supporters in Zvishavane and Mberengwa districts.
In
an interview with The Zimbabwean in his Madhoro village in
Mberengwa,
Chitoro last week blamed President Robert Mugabe for election
violence.
"Mugabe made us believe the British and Americans wanted
to invade
Zimbabwe through the MDC and we went on rampage to destroy the
MDC. We
killed and tortured our own people."
Chitoro also said he
believed Zanu (PF) needed new leadership. "Mugabe
is very old and can't lead
a party or a country," he said. - BY PINDAI DUBE
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
While President
Robert Mugabe steadfastly refuses to swear in the MDC
treasurer Roy Bennett
as deputy minister of agriculture on the grounds that
he still faces trial
on trumped up charges, a wanted killer walks free.
Joseph Mwale, for
whom a warrant of arrest has been issued by the High
Court, and for whom the
police are ostensibly hunting high and low, was
photographed two months ago
less than a foot away from Mugabe himself.
For Mugabe to proclaim that
he cannot interfere with the course of the
law, in the case of Bennett, and
yet to harbour a criminal like Mwale, who
has purportedly evaded a
nation-wide police dragnet, is stretching the
credibility of Zimbabweans too
far.
The honoured guests who sit in the VIP tent at functions such as
Mugabe's birthday, are personally invited by the President's office.
Furthermore, they are carefully vetted by the police, CIO and protocol
department before even being invited. There is no way Joseph Mwale could
have been sitting so close to Mugabe without a lot of government officials
being aware of that. Certainly Mugabe himself must have been aware of, and
have sanctioned, Mwale's presence in a seat of such high honour.
What message does this send to the rank and file policemen on the
beat? It
seems pretty clear to us - Mwale is untouchable. He stands in the
shadow of
Mugabe himself. He has the personal protection of none other than
the Head
of State and Commander in Chief of defence forces. Who would dare
arrest
him?
Recently, the co-minister of Home Affairs, Giles Mutseyekwa,
promised
that Mwale would soon be brought to face justice. It looks as
though he
spoke too soon.
Our front page this week quotes the Human
Rights NGO Forum saying
there is "little political will to deal with past
rights abuses". They are
absolutely correct in this assessment. The forum
warns of a dangerous
escalation of public anger as victims of
state-sponsored brutality feel
powerless and aggrieved in the face of seeing
the perpetrators of horrific
election violence walking free.
Zimbabweans have proved time and again that they are a gracious,
peace-loving, forgiving, long-suffering, patient people - but their patience
is being sorely tried. And the new government would be wise not to take it
for granted.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
Faber&Faber £12.99;
276pp
Easterly is a village that has sprung up out of
nowhere, settled by people
who have been bulldozed out of Harare. The old
men show coins to the
children, who have never seen them because of the
inflation that means a
loaf of bread costs Z$500,000. This is Zimbabwe, and
Gappah is an
astonishing young writer whose short stories convey more about
her country
than 1,000 news reports. In At the Sound of the Last Post, the
widow of one
of Mugabe's "heroes", once an idealistic Briton, watches his
grand state
funeral. We see how she has overcome her disillusion to make the
corrupt
system work in her favour. Beautiful, exciting and revealing.