Bennett's trial adjourned to Wednesday

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
9 November 2009

The trial of Roy Bennett, the MDC Treasurer General and Deputy Minister of
Agriculture designate who is facing terrorism charges, commenced in the High
Court on Monday before Justice Chinembiri Bhunu. The State was represented
by the controversial Attorney General Johannes Tomana, while Bennett's lead
counsel is Beatrice Mtetwa.
Bennett was not asked to plead as there were arguments exposing procedural
difficulties for about two hours, when the legal teams were making their
preliminary submissions.  Mtetwa asked the court to strike down the State's
outline saying her client could not have a 'fair trial' since the statements
from the State's main witness, Peter Michael Hitschmann, were extracted
through torture and that Hitschmann had not implicated the MDC official
during his own trial.  The Attorney General is arguing that the defence
outline breached court regulations and is making an application to strike it
out for being irregular.
Associated Press correspondent Angus Shaw who was in the courthouse said
there is a stalemate, as the judge is being asked by both sides to strike
down the other legal team's outline. The trial is to resume on Wednesday
where Justice Bhunu will rule on the arguments on both sides.
Shaw told SW Radio Africa: "What was striking to us observers was that the
State's case was very, very weak. The State is basing its case on Hitschmann's
evidence which is already on the record in the High Court when he was tried
himself, as having been made under duress and under torture."
The journalist said Tomana didn't seem confident and that the proceedings
were farcical. "He is not a fully fledged prosecutor as such and quite
frankly he was not impressive today. He wasn't confident and the State's
case looked very weak," said the journalist.
The line up of State witness in the trial against Bennett is full of police
officers and state security agents. Of 13 key witnesses for the State, 11
are either from the President's office or from the police. The other two are
Hitschmann and a person from TelOne. Reportedly the TelOne expert will go to
court to provide evidence of a 'technical nature'. The State alleges that
Bennett was going to blow up some communications infrastructure.
The State's key witness is Hitschmann, who was arrested in 2006 on charges
of plotting to assassinate Robert Mugabe. He was cleared of these charges
and also cleared of the charges that Bennett is also facing, possessing
weapons for the purpose of terrorism. Although he was a registered firearms
dealer Hitschmann spent more than two years in jail on lesser charges of
possessing illegal weapons. Upon his release in July Hitschmann said he was
tortured in custody and forced to make false confessions against Bennett.
Last Monday Hitschmann's lawyer, Mordecai Mahlangu, was arrested for
allegedly obstructing the course of justice, after he wrote a letter to the
Attorney General protesting the subpoena that was issued to his client,
directing him to testify against Bennett. Mahlangu's letter said Hitschmann's
statements were extracted through torture. The lawyer was arrested and
detained overnight at Harare Central police station.

Critical evidence ruling in Bennett case due tomorrow

Mugabe swore in Biti who was on treason - Bennett's lawyers

   http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

     
      Written by Zimbabwe Mail
      Monday, 09 November 2009 06:19
      Harare - Lawyers representing MDC-T treasurer and nominee for the post
of deputy Agriculture minister, Roy Bennett will challenge some of the
charges he is facing today when his terrorism trial kicks off in the High
Court. "There are issues we want to be struck off the charge sheet because
we feel they are heresy and out of order," Beatrice Mtetwa, Bennet's lawyer
said. "The state wants to bring Michael Hitchmann to testify, but we have
since established that what he wants to say is different from what is
recorded in his witness account."
      Senator Bennett was arrested in February days after the formation of
the inclusive government at Charles Prince Airport and was held for charges
of planning to topple President Robert Mugabe. Tensions rose in the unity
government when Bennett was arrested with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
accusing Mugabe and his Zanu PF party of persecuting his senior party
official.
      When the MDC partially disengaged from Zanu PF on October 16,
Tsvangirai said his party was disengaging from the unity government as
outstanding issues of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) were yet to be
resolved and raised the issue of the government's failure to appoint Bennett
to his post. Bennett was once convicted by the parliament for punching  Zanu
PF's Patrick Chinamasa in parliament after the latter said Bennett's
forefathers were 'thieves and murderers.' He spent more than a year in jail
before leaving the country and lived in South Africa in exile.
      Bennett later returned in January this year when the unity government
was on the verge of being formed.  Mugabe has refused to swear him, citing
the serious charges he is facing, However, despite swearing in Finance
Minister, Tendai Biti, who was facing treason charges in February, before
being cleared by the courts, independent analysts, have said Mugabe is
playing a racial card on the former white commercial farmer.

Police arrest ZCTU president Matombo

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24724

November 9, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Lovemore
Matombo, was arrested on Sunday night while addressing members of his union
in Victoria Falls.

According to the ZCTU information officer, Khumbulani Ndlovu, Matombo was
arrested together with two union officials, Michael Kandukutu and Percy
Mcijo.

No charges had been laid against the trio by late Monday.

"They were later transferred to Hwange police station," said Ndlovu. "The
ZCTU president was on a tour of the country meeting ZCTU structures and the
Victoria Falls meeting was the first meeting of his tour."

Last year, Matombo was arrested and detained together with several human
rights activists after organizing a mass action against the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe's unpopular cash withdrawal limits.

Dozens where said to have been injured when baton wielding riot policemen
violently dispersed a gathering which was addressed by ZCTU president
Matombo along Harare's First Street.

Those arrested included ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibhebhe together
with other leaders of top civic groups who had joined the strike action in
solidarity with the ZCTU.  The police seized the group shortly after they
had gone to present their petition to central bank governor, Gideon Gono.

Commenting on Matombo's arrest on Monday, the Zimbabwe National Students
Union (ZINASU) said it was shocked by "this callous disrespect of the labour
union".

The students' union said the arrest of Matombo represented a serious affront
to provisions of labour rights, in particular, the right to freedom of
assembly.

"The government of Zimbabwe continues to show its blatant disrespect of the
labour movement and this is sending clear signs that the government led by
President Mugabe is not yet ready to embrace democratic reforms," said
ZINASU

The students said they were also disappointed by the continued silence by
the Movement for Democratic Change in the face of continued violations.

Spate of arrests further threatens Zim political stability

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
09 November 2009

A weekend spate of arrests of trade unionists and students activists is set
to further threaten Zimbabwe's political stability, with observers arguing
that it is clear that Robert Mugabe has no intention of abiding by regional
calls to uphold the Global Political Agreement.

Last Friday, nine students were arrested on unexplained charges, by five
members of Mugabe's presidential guard. The group was apparently having a
discussion outside the grounds of Bindura University when they were picked
up and hauled away. While eight of the students were eventually released
that same afternoon, by Monday there was still no sign of the remaining
arrested student, Tafadzwa Mugwadi. Mugwadi, a student activist from the
University of Zimbabwe, had travelled to Bindura to campaign for a fellow
student leader ahead of the Bindura University's SRC elections this week.
According to the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Mugwadi is
believed to have been handed over to the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO), and there are serious concerns for his safety.

Then, on Sunday night, five members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU), including ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo, were arrested in Victoria
Falls. Matombo was meeting with the ZCTU executive for the area, on the
first leg of a countrywide tour of the union federation's structures, when
they were all arrested. The group was set to spend yet another night behind
bars on Monday night, and are expected in court Tuesday to face charges
relating to the contravention the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

At the same time, more than 15 other ZCTU activists have been summoned to
appear in court in Tuesday, following their arrest in December 2008 during a
peaceful demonstration about cash shortages. The summons for their court
appearance was only issued late Monday morning, despite legally needing to
be issued at least 14 days before the proceedings. The ZCTU explained Monday
that it would appear that old cases, including many closed, are now being
revived, including a case that was thrown out of court earlier this year.

The arrests and apparent legal harassment all come mere days after all three
principals to the unity government were set a 30 deadline by the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), to talk and reach some resolution
about how to solve the country's political stalemate. While this deadline
has been reported as applying pressure on Mugabe to uphold the GPA, the
ongoing harassment and arrests of activists shows it clearly has no weight
with ZANU PF.

Meanwhile a prominent trade unionist in the agricultural sector, Gertrude
Hambira, is still in hiding and reportedly fearing for her life, after her
Harare home was broken into and raided by three men almost a week ago.
Hambira, who is the Secretary General of the General Agriculture and
Plantation Workers Union (GAPWUZ), was not home at the time, but her husband
and children were. The three men who broke into the house, asking about
Hambira's whereabouts, threatened to shoot her husband if he called for
help. They eventually fled with money, mobile phones and pictures of
Hambira.
The attack followed two similar incidents linked to state security agents in
Harare in the past few weeks. On 27 October, Edith Mashayire, an MDC
employee, was attacked on the street in Harare by armed men believed to be
state security agents. They reportedly told her that she was under arrest
and started assaulting her with their guns, but they released her after she
called for help from members of the public. That same week another MDC
employee, Pascal Gwezere, was abducted by state security agents from his
home.
Gwezere's whereabouts were unknown for several days, until he was finally
taken to court, where he was charged with breaking into a military armoury
and undergoing military training in Uganda. Gwezere was severely tortured
after his abduction and was refused medical treatment until last Friday,
when a magistrate ordered he be treated. Gwezere was expected back in court
Monday where his lawyer, Alex Muchadehama, brought forward complaints about
Gwezere's torture. Muchadehama told SW Radio Africa that although Gwezere
has been briefly treated by a prison doctor, he is in need of more serious
treatment. The lawyer lamented the slow process of the law in this case,
arguing there are serious health concerns for his client. Gwezere is now
expected back in court on Wednesday.

ZCTU leaders still behind bars, as harassment of activists continues

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

     
      Written by Mxolisi Ncube
      Monday, 09 November 2009 15:11
      JOHANNESBURG - The five Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
officials who were arrested in Victoria Falls Sunday were by Monday
afternoon still behind bars, with no charges having been officially laid
against them.

      According to the ZCTU, indications were that union President Lovemore
Matombo and other congress officials Michael Kandukutu, Percy Mcijo,
Dumisani Ncube and Nawu Ndlovu would be charged with contravening a section
of the draconian Public Order and Security Act - POSA for holding a meeting
without notifying the police.
      "They are likely to spend the night behind bars again and appear in
court tomorrow," said ZCTU information officer, Khumbulani Ndlovu Monday.
      Ndlovu added that the about 15 other ZCTU activists who were arrested
in December 2008 during a peaceful demonstration against cash shortages have
been summoned to appear in court Tuesday, after having been issued with
summons Monday morning.
      "However, according to law the summons are supposed to be issued 14
days before appearance in court but they were only served with the summons
today late morning," added Ndlovu.  "It would seem that cases against ZCTU
that were considered closed are being revived as also the case that the ZCTU
leadership and some staffers were being accused of misappropriating foreign
currency is set for court on 23 November 2009. The case had been thrown out
for lack of evidence but the matter is now being revived."

Human Rights Lawyers Blast Zim Gvt

http://www.zimtelegraph.com/?p=4158

By SARAH NCUBE
Published: November 9, 2009

GWERU- Members of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in the
Midlands Province say the Zimbabwe justice system does not respect people's
liberties.

Brian Dube, one of the members of ZLHR and also the National Association of
Non Governmental Organisations (NANGO) Midlands chairperson The Zimbabwe
Telegraph that justice in Zimbabwe was only accorded to those who have
access to and can afford legal representation.

Dube was speaking after a visit to Hwahwa Prison under the Prisoners Rights
Programme, which seeks to help those that in jails and cannot afford legal
services to have access to the services for free.

Dube said as ZHLR and also as the chairperson of NANGO in the Midlands
region he had seen that it was necessary for the lawyers to intervene in
cases they feel that justice had not prevailed.

Dube said that some of the courts were just throwing people into the prison.

"Our courts are not sensitive to the right to liberty and to the presumption
of innocence until proven guilty. There are a lot of people rotting in
prisons without any trial and others are not given time to look for fines
simply because they do not have legal representation," Dube said.

In August under the programme, Dube of Gundu, Mawarire and Partners and the
Midlands board member of ZLHR, Hillary Garikai of Garikai and Partners
helped 40 prisoners get bail after they intervened.

"Most of the prisoners, some who were on remand, were terminally ill and
some of them even had to be carried to us by the prison guards,"Dube said.

"During our interactions with them we realised that some of them had been on
remand for some time. Due to transport problems within the prison services,
some have failed to come for trial and they are forgotten in the jail."

Dube also said that others were people who could just have been given time
to raise fines. He said some of the prisoners, most picked in beerhalls for
fights, confessed that their relatives were not even aware that they were at
Hwahwa as there was no stationery at the prison for prisoners to communicate
with their families and loved ones.

Dube said it was too costly for the State to feed these prisoners instead
they could be given the opportunity to go and look for money to pay fines
which would be even more beneficial to the state.

"In particular, we visited the Shurugwi Court after suspecting the
insensitivity of the court in not granting convicts time to pay," read part
of the report that was compiled by the two lawyers.

Dube said although they had successfully managed to help some of the
prisoners out, they were shocked during the recent visit to find that there
were again more people and they had to apply to the Shurugwi Court to allow
inmates to be given time to pay fines and they were released.

The report by the lawyers also indicate that even some mentally ill people
were at the prison instead of them being reffered to a health institution.

Sources said that although food supply had improved at the prison just
outside Gweru, malnbutrition was rife and prisoners who required ARV's were
not getting them.

Party negotiators set to meet to resolve outstanding issues

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
9 November 2009

Negotiators from the three parties in the Global Political Agreement will
meet soon to try to resolve the issues threatening to derail the inclusive
government.
A meeting of the SADC Troika on Defence, Security and Politics last week
gave the principals to the GPA 15 days to engage in dialogue that should
include all the outstanding issues in the implementation of the GPA and SADC
communiqué of 27 January 2009.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told his party supporters in Chitungwiza on
Sunday that South African President Jacob Zuma is to visit the country in
two weeks' time to review progress.

A senior official from the MDC-M told SW Radio Africa that if the leaders
had the political will, all the issues could be resolved amicably.

'The negotiators will be meeting soon to see if they can tackle the issues
because there is a time line that was set by SADC,' the official said.

A communiqué issued by the SADC at the end of the summit urged the leaders
to engage in dialogue with immediate effect, within 15 days but ot exceeding
30 days. Veteran South African journalist Allister Sparks said ultimately it
is South Africa that has the clout in the region to force Mugabe to fully
implement the GPA.

'It is up to Zuma to prove Mugabe wrong and show that he is prepared to
honour his obligations as guarantor and deal firmly with the errant
president,' Sparks said in newspaper article.

He wrote in the Business Day newspaper; 'Doing that is not as difficult as
Mbeki's apologists used to imply. No need for threats of force or sanctions
or other such unrealistic posturing. Just a simple warning that if Mugabe
doesn't implement the GPA fully and tries to rule alone, South Africa will
not recognize his government. It will regard him as the head of an
illegitimate regime.'
Mugabe's ZANU PF party and Tsvangirai's MDC remain deadlocked over a number
of issues and Mugabe has not stopped the harassment of the MDC. At least 17
MDC legislators have been arrested since the beginning of the year, on
charges ranging from theft and public violence, to rape and playing music
that denigrates Mugabe.
ZANU PF accuses the MDC of reneging on a promise to push for the removal of
travel bans and an asset freeze slapped by the West on its senior officials.
It also says they have not called for the closure of the external radio
stations, that ZANU PF regard as 'pirates'.
It is believed Tsvangirai only agreed to restore normal relations with
ZANU-PF after Mugabe gave his word to SADC leaders that all parties must
commit themselves to resolve their differences.
While some analysts believe the parties may have committed themselves to
reach agreement on outstanding issues in the 30-day period, many others
remain highly skeptical about Mugabe having any intention at all to really
share power.

SA firm in dispute with RBZ over wheat deal

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24717

November 9, 2009

By Our Correspondent

CAPE TOWN - Cape Town-based Circle Capital Commodities Trading has brought
an application in the Western Cape High Court for summary judgement against
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe after the bank failed to pay for an order of
wheat worth US$6.6 million.

A Cape Times report says the application was refused and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe was granted leave to defend. The matter is to go to trial, but no
date has been set.

Circle Capital alleged in court papers that the Reserve Bank agreed to buy
120 000 metric tons of wheat, but only took about 40 000 metric tons and
refused to take the rest. Having agreed on the price, almost 40 000 tons was
delivered to Zimbabwe between November 2006 and August 2008. The bank,
however, failed to pay on time and refused to take delivery of the balance
of the wheat, on the basis that Zimbabwe was facing "acute foreign exchange
shortages and could therefore no longer continue to order the wheat".

Zimbabwe says economy to rebound, grow 15 pct a year

http://in.reuters.com

Mon Nov 9, 2009 7:39pm IST

* Economy to grow 12.5 pct in 2010

* To recover on higher production, infrastructure

* Govt to sign S.Africa investment protection deal

* Proposing increasing mining royalties

HARARE, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's economy may grow an average 15 percent
a year for the next five years on a recovery in production and aggressive
infrastructure development, Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said on
Monday.

Mangoma told reporters the economy -- struggling to recovery from an
economic meltdown -- would expand 12.5 percent next year.

"During the period (till 2015), the economy is expected to grow by an
average growth rate of 15 percent from a level of 3.7 percent in 2009," he
said, after releasing a draft policy document.

"This will be achieved through the restoration of productive capacity and
creation of new capacities, aggressive infrastructure rehabilitation and
development."

The southern African country's economy went into freefall amid political
upheaval and after the government seized white-owned commercial farms from
2000.

However, a unity government formed earlier this year has raised hopes of a
recovery, although the bulk of hoped-for aid has not yet come. It managed to
halt hyperinflation by scrapping the Zimbabwe dollar and allowing the use of
several other currencies.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries says factory output doubled in the
first six months of the year and capacity utilisation had climbed to 32.3
percent from below 10 percent.

Mangoma said the government would sign an investment protection agreement
with South Africa later this month and planned to increase mining royalty
taxes and would hold auctions for mining claims.

"The bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement (BIPPA) between
Zimbabwe and South Africa is going to be signed here in Zimbabwe on the 27th
of November. We've got an agreement ... which means there are no contentious
issues," he said.

South Africa is one of the country's biggest investors but so far companies,
from its southern neighbour and elsewhere, have been wary to move back into
Zimbabwe.

Last week, the government proposed in a draft law that Zimbabweans would
take 51 percent ownership of all foreign companies, including mines and
banks.

"We want investors everywhere to feel secure. We believe the document is
very good and I'm sure the South Africans feel it is very good, that's why
we're going to sign it," Mangoma said.

The government would look to tighten its mining royalty regime and link it
to local shareholding.

"Virtually all our mining resources have been claimed by somebody. We'll be
bringing in the 'use it or lose it' principle on the claims and we'll also
be moving to auctioning of claims, as opposed to the payment of a pittance
for claims," he said.

Zimbabwe has the second highest reserves of platinum in the world, after
South Africa, and their mining sector makes up a bigger proportion of
exports after the agriculture sector collapsed.

China's chequebook draws African nations

Monday, 9 November 2009

China is building a new national theatre in Senegal By Christian Fraser BBC News, Sharm el-Sheikh China sees vast opportunity in Africa. Since 2001 total trade has grown tenfold - last year it stood at $107bn (£63.7bn). Add to that the significant sums of financial aid and direct investment that are on offer and you can see why the representatives of the 50 African states who have travelled to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are extremely keen to hear what China has to say. There are the giant oil producers of Libya, Nigeria and Angola, the mineral-rich governments of central Africa and of course the leaders the West has turned its back on - Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Sudan's indicted President Omar al-Bashir are both here. Money talks But whichever country they come from, the African leaders all understand one thing. "Africa needs infrastructure," said Youssouf Ouedraogo, a special adviser to the president of the African Development Bank. Mr Ouedraogo recognises that in exchange for the oil, gas, and minerals that drive China's fast expanding economy, there is hard cash available for Africa's biggest projects. "We need the ports, roads, electricity, the airports to help Africa's poorest country grow. You can't do that without money for infrastructure." Wen Jiabao denies allegations of neo-colonialism Chinese Prime Minister Wen JiaBao has a big chequebook. Over three years, he is pledging $10bn (£5.9bn) in new loans, 100 new clean energy power stations. And there are the opportunities arising from the difficulties the emerging world has in financing these infrastructure projects, especially as foreign banks retreat to home markets. At the same time, China is keen to invest billions of dollars of its foreign reserves. A lot of that money is tied at the moment to assets in the United States and to the weak dollar. Investment in new African projects offers a useful alternative. There is criticism however that China's full-throttle rush into Africa has done nothing to stop corruption and bad governance. And it is criticised for its willingness to deal with brutal and corrupt governments. Last month a little-known Chinese company invested $7bn (£4.16bn) in a mining deal in Guinea, despite the international condemnation there has been for the country's military junta. In September the army in Guinea opened fire on demonstrators killing 150 people. Mr Wen was asked by a Western journalist whether he was concerned by the criticism. There is huge competition between East and West for Africa Mustafa al-Gindi "There have been allegations for a long time that China has come to Africa to plunder Africa's natural resources and practise neo-colonialism. The allegation in my view is totally untenable. "Who is really asking these questions?", he said. "Is it the African states or is it the West looking on nervously?" But it is not just the West asking, there are senior African politicians worried too. Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Bagudu Hirse said China was throwing money at corrupt and repressive regimes. "We accept what China is doing. And we welcome their investment. But they must understand that we are very sensitive to good governance and democracy. We can't start thinking of imposing sanctions on Guinea or Niger for bad governance and then they go behind us and strike some other deals. China has invested in many African nations "We suspect they do that anyway. They will never confirm it, but we read the newspapers - we know what is going on." The Egyptian independent MP Mustafa al-Gindi sees it as a battle between East and West for the biggest share of African spoils. He believes the old relationships in Africa are now being tested and he is hugely fearful of China's way of doing business. "There is huge competition between East and West for Africa", he said. "And whatever they say, it is a fact that the Chinese come to Africa not just with engineers and scientists - they are coming with farmers. It is neo-colonialism. "There are no ethics, no values, there is only one thing, 'I want the land and I don't mind how we get it'. And I think if Europe and the West really want to play in Africa, then ethics and values are the weapons they must use." At this conference the Chinese have stood by their policy of non-intervention. The Chinese do not want to take sides. "This is money," said Mr Wen, "or independent development, no strings attached". But can they continue to exert real influence in the emerging world without taking positions on the big geopolitical issues of the day? CHINA IN AFRICA China is Africa's second-biggest trading partner, behind the US Between 2002 and 2003 two-way trade doubles to $18.5bn By 2008 trade tops $100bn - China exports $51bn, imports $56bn Almost all imports come from oil-rich nations: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, and Sudan Sources: China Daily, Reuters, Council on Foreign Relations Learn Chinese for free... in Liberia Guinea and China 'agree big deal' China praised for African links Angus Blair, of Beltone Financial, who advises companies investing in North Africa, thinks not. "They are trying to be friends with everyone", he said. "But in the end, in one form or another, China is going to have to take a stand if it wants to maintain its long-term interests. It is quite clear that behind the scenes China is seeking to increase its power and its influence over the past decade, and they have done it to major effect." It has to be said of course that there are plenty of major Western companies operating in countries with oppressive governments. And Mr Wen insists that Chinese oil companies are taking only a fraction of the resources their big American counterparts are taking. Nonetheless as the Western banks start to retreat, withdrawing their money under growing financial pressure, it is China with its billions of dollars of foreign reserves that holds the cards. And so far, they have signalled they mean to drive home that advantage.

Mugabe Praises China

http://www.radiovop.com/

      China, November 09. 2009 - President Robert Mugabe has urged other
countries in the world to emulate the example of China which he said
provides the best example of how countries should relate globally at the
economic, political and cultural levels.

      In the state-owned Herald, Mugabe who is in China said: "China has
been able to develop its economy without plundering other countries and the
Chinese economic miracle is indeed a source of pride and inspiration.I would
like to express my gratitude for the China-Africa partnership. It has set an
example to other countries that may wish to engage Africa."

      He was addressing the opening session of the Fourth Ministerial
Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation on Sunday.

       Mugabe's address came soon after Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
unveiled an eight-point plan outlining how his country would assist Africa
over the next three years, including a US$10 billion concessional loan
facility.

      The President has blamed the West's sanctions on Zimbabwe as causing
harm to the economy and has said it is the responsibility for the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) to ensure they are removed. Due to sanctions,
Mugabe's government attempted an Look East policy, which however did not
appear to yield much results. Zimbabwe needs about USD 8 billion to revive
its ailing economy after a decade of damage due to a political crisis and
economic mismanagement, which the West and the opposition have blamed on
Mugabe.

      Mugabe's trip to China comes shortly after the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) troika meeting in Maputo last week gave him a
30 day ultimatum to put things right with the Global Political Agreement he
signed with the two MDC leaders Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his
deputy, Arthur Mutambara. Tsvangirai on Sunday told a Chitungwiza rally that
he will never withdraw from the new unity government because he had the
mandate of the majority of Zimbabweans and called on Mugabe to treat his
party as an equal partner.

      The outstanding issues include, among other things, the reversal of
appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and the Attorney
General Johannes Tomana and the swearing in of MDC treasurer general, Roy
Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture. Bennett is currently facing
terrorism charges and he is due to appear in the High Court on Monday.

First on the scene - secret police to arrest passengers for taking photos!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

November 9, 2009
Pigs don't fly: Air Zimbabwe plane crashes into bushpig on runway
Jan Raath in Harare

It took a wild pig on the runway at Harare International Airport to reveal
what many Zimbabweans have long feared: the country's Civil Aviation
Authority and the national airline have gone the way of much of Zimbabwe's
other frayed institutions.

A statement from the Transport Ministry said last week that one of Air
Zimbabwe's Chinese-made MA60 60-seaters had crashed on Tuesday after hitting
the bushpig - a smaller relative of the warthog - on take-off. The nose, a
wingtip and a propeller were damaged.

A letter from a public-spirited passenger published yesterday in the
Standard newspaper revealed that the incident was far more serious than the
ministry had admitted.

Fambai Ngirande said that it was "by God's grace" that he and the other 37
passengers and crew on board the flight to the western city of Bulawayo had
not all perished. It was plain, he said, that the airline had "no disaster
response strategy" and its personnel "did not have a clue" of what to do in
a crisis.

"The plane was just about to lift off when we heard a loud bang from
underneath followed by violent shaking of the entire aircraft," wrote Mr
Ngirande. "The aircraft veered off the runway into the grass before it came
to a halt. Smoke and dust engulfed the cabin as passengers screamed for dear
life." With a petrified hostess shrieking "Evacuate!", they discovered that
one of the emergency exits was jammed. Passengers were able to jump out of
the stricken plane after the main doors were laboriously opened.
The Transport Ministry had said that two people were injured "after
evacuation". This, Mr Ngirande explained, was after passengers sprinted away
from the plane but crashed blindly into ditches on the dark airfield.

The airport emergency rescue service took five minutes to reach the plane.
They were beaten by a contingent of secret police, whose first act was to
arrest two passengers for taking photographs.

There was no medical care and it took an hour for an Air Zimbabwe manager to
have water distributed. He tried to reassure them by saying that the airline's
chief executive was on his way to the airport. "The passengers retorted that
they did not eat CEOs," said Mr Ngirande.

Friends and relatives of the passengers alerted to the accident by mobile
phone, gathered at the airport to find out what had happened but were told
nothing and refused access, added Mr Ngirande. At midnight, five hours after
the crash, the passengers were allowed to leave.

"The following morning I spoke to the two people who had been arrested," he
wrote. "They had been interrogated at length, had their cameras and tapes
seized and were released at 1am."

Mr Ngirande's flight had been delayed by the departure of the personal jet
of the Congolese President, Joseph Kabila. "It doesn't bear thinking about
if the bushpig had run into Kabila's plane," said another passenger, who
asked not to be named.

Trade unionist to launch documentary

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24697

November 9, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Embattled trade unionist, Gertrude Hambira will brave possible
arrest this Monday morning by coming out of her hideout to officially launch
a controversial video documentary that seems to have angered the State.

Tapiwa Zivira, information officer for the General Agriculture and
Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), revealed Saturday that
Hambira, GAPWUZ secretary general will come out of her hiding place after
four agonising days to premier the documentary at a local hotel.

The launch ceremony would be attended by ambassadors, civil society partners
and government officials from the labour, justice, lands and home affairs
ministries.

"On Monday we are going to launch a DVD documentary that we feel was the
cause of Mrs Hambira's attempted abduction," said Zivira.

"We hope that the attendance of high profile figures like ambassadors will
raise the profile of the issue. One way or another, it will deter her
would-be abductors."

He said the launch, which had been planned way before Tuesday's kidnap
attempt, will set the tone for sustained lobbying and advocacy by his
organisation against human rights violations in the farms.

Hambira went into hiding last Wednesday morning when she heard that masked
gunmen, suspected to be State agents, had stormed her family house in Harare's
Milton Park suburb the previous night hunting for her.

No further information has been heard about the masked men.

Hambira was due to arrive home from the United States where she had
presented the documentary during a high profile seminar held at Syracuse
University in Upstate New York.

Hambira escaped an alleged kidnap bid when she failed to arrive home as
scheduled.

The seminar, which was also attended by Zimbabwe's National Healing and
Reconciliation co-Minister, Sekai Holland, and Zimbabwe Peace Project
director, Jestina Mukoko, centered on current attempts by Zimbabwe's unity
government to foster national healing and reconciliation.

The 26-minute long video footage presented during the seminar is entitled
"The House of Justice".

It contains naked evidence of people who were beaten up, harassed and
sometimes shot at by President Robert Mugabe's militia under the guise of
Zimbabwe's attempts to redistribute arable land previously in the hands of
white Zimbabwean farmers.

The documentary also makes an appeal to SADC to exercise its authority on
Zimbabwe, a member state, to respect the ruling of the SADC Tribunal which
found the Zimbabwean government to be in violation of human rights through
its violent seizure of white-owned land without compensation.

GAPWUZ will proceed to also launch the documentary in the region.

During Monday's ceremony, said Zivira, GAPWUZ will also launch the report
entitled "Is something wrong".

The report highlights how Zimbabwe's violent land reform programme has
affected farm workers since 2000, their testimonies, and how it has violated
labour laws, basic human rights of farm workers who have lost their income
along the way.

Fresh farm disturbances in Zimbabwe have reportedly rendered over 4 000 farm
workers homeless since the formation of the unity government by President
Mugabe and his once bitter rivals in the two MDC parties.

More workers are still in danger of being evicted from their homes as the
current farm seizures continue.

Despite brief MDC success, Zimbabwe will keep limping along

http://www.businessday.co.za

     
     Published: 2009/11/09 06:27:40 AM

MY RECENT visit to the genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was a
disturbing experience. The museum, a school transformed into a prison during
the murderous rule of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, was divided
into multiple cells to hold thousands of people over a few years, where they
were tortured before being murdered.

Victims stare out of rows and rows of black and white photographs, the tiny
cells still have their shackles, and barbed wire barricades that prevented
prisoners committing suicide before the Khmer Rouge could kill them are
still in place.

Equally chilling is the photographic account of a western diplomat, who was
taken on a "fact-finding" tour of Cambodia during Pol Pot's rule. He
concluded at the time that all was well, but in retrospect he was horrified
to see how carefully his trip was stage managed.

The tale was reminiscent of South African government ministers, among
others, being invited by the Zimbabwe government on similar fact-finding
tours, equally stage managed and also accepted as fact by the invitees.

Many comparisons have been made between the Khmer Rouge's activities,
particularly the push to force people into the countryside, and the
activities of Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF) to strong-arm the urban poor into
the countryside to undermine potential political opposition.

The Matabeleland massacre of the early 1980s, carried out by Mugabe's forces
soon after he assumed power, also evokes images of the horrors of Phnom Penh's
genocide museum.

It was a time of villagers being killed and thrown down disused mine shafts
and scores more buried in mass graves deep in the countryside.

An estimated 20000 Zimbabweans died in the slaughter.

A Zimbabwean, who I related the museum experience to, wondered whether his
country might one day build a museum to commemorate the senseless slaughter
of his countrymen under Robert Mugabe's regime.

But that day is a long way off because, unlike Pol Pot, Mugabe is still in
power. His reign of terror right up to last year's elections is top of mind
and his party continues to run the security structures.

Nearly three decades on from the Matabeleland slaughter, the Southern
African Development Community (Sadc ) would have us believe that not only
Mugabe, but a number of his security chiefs and party hardliners, who were
involved in that atrocity, have changed to the extent that they can be part
of a workable unity government with the Movement for Democratic Change -
people they hold in utter contempt.

Zanu (PF)'s leaders did not go into the agreement because of a beating at
the polls, or a belief that they could work with other parties in a
democratic way. They agreed to it because the new foreign-exchange regime
had closed the lucrative looting opportunities they had enjoyed for many
years.

They believed the formation of a unity government would automatically lead
to the withdrawal of targeted international sanctions that would help to
make up for this.

It is no surprise that the only drum that Zanu (PF) beats within the unity
structure is that of the continuance of sanctions. The claim that the
lifting of sanctions will suddenly herald a major economic turnaround is a
myth. But it would certainly benefit the president and his team - the main
targets of the sanctions.

Last week's Sadc talks to "urge" the two governing parties to get on with
ruling the country and stick to the terms of the flawed unity agreement is
hardly a solution, but the fact that Sadc agreed to hold a special summit on
the issue is a coup for the MDC, but it will be a short-lived victory.

Nothing is likely to change. Zimbabwe is doomed to limp along for some time.
The compromises made to create the unity government have been too great for
real change to be wrought.

The comparisons between Mugabe and Pol Pot are compelling on a certain
level - but there are also very important differences, which were
highlighted by Sadc's rather gentle treatment of the former last week.

Remember, the latter's neighbour, Vietnam, drove him from power into a life
as a fugitive in the jungle.

Mugabe will live the rest of his days in comfort and, if any museum to be
built, it is not likely to commemorate victims of his rule, but be a
monument to his greatness.

 Games is CE of Africa @ Work, a research and consulting firm focusing on
African business.

Child rape epidemic in Zimbabwe

http://www.guardian.co.uk

Tens of thousands of girls and boys abused as economic collapse affects
family structures, child protection and policing

David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 November 2009 18.28 GMT

Children in Harare, where one clinic says it is seeing an average of 20
child abuse victims a day. Photograph: AP

Tens of thousands of children have been sexually abused in Zimbabwe in a
growing epidemic that has shocked human rights activists.

A single clinic in the capital, Harare, says it has treated nearly 30,000
girls and boys who were abused in the past four years - an average of 20 per
day. Experts believe that the country's economic collapse under Robert
Mugabe has led to widespread family breakdown and left many children
vulnerable.

Dr Robert-Grey Choto, a paediatrician and co-founder of the Family Support
Trust Clinic, said the increase was alarming. "In the last four years we
have seen over 29,000 cases, and in the last 10 years we have more than
70,000 at this clinic alone," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
"It's a tip of the iceberg - the problem is enormous. We need drugs and any
assistance we can get."

A 12-year-old patient at the clinic, part of the main referral hospital in
Harare, told the BBC he had been gang-raped in a township last month. "Four
men waylaid me on my way from school," he said. "I was taken to a shop where
they showed me pornographic material."

The boy said he was then drugged and sodomised for more than a week. His
father added: "This is unbearable. All I want is justice for now."

Other organisations dedicated to helping victims are on the back foot
because of Zimbabwe's tense political climate. Betty Makoni, founder of the
Girl Child Network (GCN), which has rescued more than 35,000 girls from sex
abuse, was forced into exile last year because of threats against her.

Speaking from London, she said the real number of victims was likely to be
double that recorded by the Family Support Trust Clinic. The GCN says 10
girls report rape every day in Zimbabwe and a further 10 victims probably
remain silent. The youngest known victim was a baby of one day; the oldest
was a woman aged 93.

Makoni told the Guardian: "We have children forced to marry under the age of
13. We have children who were held hostage and raped in militia camps during
the political violence who are now giving birth to their own children. We
still have children being raped because of the myth that if a man with HIV
has sex with a virgin he will be cured of his virus."

She said men were able to perpetrate the crime with impunity because of
4,000 known rape cases per year, only 500 resulted in a prosecution. The
GCN's research indicates that on average a man can rape 250 children before
his crimes become public knowledge.

"The justice system has collapsed in Zimbabwe. A syndicate of men uses its
economic and political muscle to escape justice. We also have 10,000 boys
going to train as youth militia; they become vicious and make girls succumb
to sex through fear."

The economic meltdown, political violence and starvation in Zimbabwe over
the past decade have driven numerous people abroad, with 3 million fleeing
to South Africa alone. Often they leave their children in the care of
extended family or friends and try to send money home.

Many more children have been orphaned by HIV/Aids or other diseases in a
country where the average life expectancy has plummeted to 37 for men and 34
for women, among the lowest in the world.

Chipo Mukome, a counsellor at the Family Support Trust Clinic, told the BBC:
"Due to the economic situation where we have seen a lot of parents going to
neighbouring countries, like South Africa, in search of greener pastures,
they are leaving their children to the care of others - uncles and aunts for
example. These people, in the end, are abusing these children."

Zimbabwe's fragile unity government has limited capacity to intervene after
years of neglect of welfare state structures. The priority in recent months
has been the reopening and maintenance of crumbling schools that were once
the envy of Africa.

David Coltart, the education minister, said: "I suspect that a third of
households in Zimbabwe have been broken up as a result of the economic
chaos. But the social welfare department has all but collapsed. There are
hardly any social workers left."

Coltart, a member of prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change, said the child sex abuse statistics were indicative of a
wider epidemic. "In the last few decades we allowed a culture of violence to
pervade our society," he said. "It's compounded by the fact that those
responsible are generally immune from prosecution. The breakdown of the rule
of law means this culture is all-pervasive. It is not just intra-political
parties. It spreads to domestic violence and the abuse of children."

Last month Coltart launched a campaign, Learn Without Fear, aimed at
ensuring schools are safe places for children. It noted that while teachers
have been responsible for abusing girls in schools, there has been a
developing trend in which girls are abused by senior boys, with some cases
going unreported.

HOT SEAT with Professor Brian Raftopoulos and Brian Kagoro

SW Radio Africa Transcript HOT SEAT: Violet Gonda speaks to Professor Brian Raftopoulos and Brian Kagoro BROADCAST: 06 NOVEMBER 2009
VIOLET GONDA: My guests on the programme Hot Seat are political commentators Professor Brian Raftopoulos and Brian Kagoro, with their analysis of the outcome of the SADC Troika Summit on Zimbabwe - which urged the political parties to engage in a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the outstanding issues in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement. Morgan Tsvangirai said he was rejoining the unity government and that Robert Mugabe had been given 30 days to comply with the ‘pertinent’ issues they had agreed to, but which had not been implemented. Let me start with Prof Raftopoulos. Are you surprised with the outcome of the SADC TROIKA Summit ?
	Professor Brian Raftopoulos and Brian Kagoro
BRIAN RAFTOPOLOS: Not at all. I think it was predictable that they would take this course, which is to continue to engage and continue to ensure that the various parties stay in the Agreement. It was always likely they weren’t going to take any stronger position given that the issues that are there have been known for the past year and that the position would be that they would just want the national players to continue to engage - but of course with greater urgency given that these problems have been there for some time and that they need a very serious resolution. GONDA: So does this actually resolve the crisis for the benefit of the nation or does it just defer the crisis for another 30 days? RAFTOPOULOS: Look what it does – it gives an extra impetus to problems that have to be resolved within, within the country of course with the assistance of the guarantors and these are all problems around political questions of the way to move forward, of the way to remove obstacles and the way to deal with the kind of issues that were there from the time of the Agreement. I still think the best way is for the MDC to go back into this and to try and get the thing moving because I think outside of the GPA, there are very little alternatives for the MDC .   GONDA: But Professor, why 30 days and not now because many are asking what have they been doing all this time if it wasn’t talking, if it wasn’t dialogue, what will really change in 30 days? RAFTOPOULOS: Look, I’m not sure that that’s important. What’s important is that there is a time line. There are 15 days in which they should meet and then 30 days in which some of these issues, I think where there is some agreement on some issues but not on others, can be dealt with. So it’s not so much the exact nature of the time but that there is a time frame in which these things need to be resolved. GONDA: And of course, Morgan Tsvangirai had said he would not rejoin the coalition until all the outstanding issues had been resolved but it seems he has backtracked. So is he credible if he can’t set deadlines that he can live up to? RAFTOPOULOS: Look I think he is still credible. I think it was a rash decision of his to make, understandable considering the frustration that he’s been through but rash in the sense that one always knew that the MDC would go back into this Agreement. For the simple reason as I’ve said often enough, the alternatives outside of the GPA are just minimal. So I think that was more a sign of the growing frustration from within the Agreement than a determination to pull out. The suspension, remember was never with the threat of pulling out of the Agreement. It was only as a means of pressure to get the Agreement going. I doubt there was ever any seriousness about pulling out of the Agreement completely and that’s an important distinction to make. GONDA: And Brian Kagoro, what are your thoughts on this? What does it mean? What are the implications in your view? BRIAN KAGORO: There are several things that perhaps we need to keep in mind – that there was a review mechanism under the original Agreement of certain aspects. The first was the co-chairing or co-sharing of the Ministry of Home Affairs. SADC had said after the expiration of six months, I think that was the period, if this arrangement was not working it should be brought back to SADC. And then there were of course the usual issues around political appointments. My own sense, I’m not as optimistic as Brian, is that Zanu is moving towards a congress so the political stakes for Zanu are much higher than perhaps we have imagined. It will be important in order to ameliorate the hawkish element in Zanu, for Zanu to seem to be totally in charge and in control within the political accord or this present arrangement. And because the appointments that are an issue essentially represent the interests of two different strong factions in Zanu, I’m doubtful that the establishment is going to recant on those appointments. Which raises now a small question - if by the end of the 30 days, on the issue of the Reserve Bank governor and on the issue of the Attorney General and there’s no concession, what minimum movement will be agreeable to the MDC and remember the MDC has raised political stakes for itself. It has gone through this countrywide consultation, saying to people – what do you think we should do given the following? And that in itself perhaps complicates in a way, I mean it creates a new credibility test if you like. If MDC had taken the decision as Professor Raftopoulos has rightly said, rushed or not, and had not then gone the extra step, if they’d taken the strategic decision simply to say – because we are unhappy with the progress, we feel we are being short changed, we are going to disengage temporarily as a way of ensuring that we pressure a movement on the other partner in the Global Political Agreement. Then the move that they’ve made to suspend that disengagement would be an indication first, that their faith that SADC will produce a result; secondly that even if it is not a total result, there’ll be some nominal movement that is positive. The other issue is the Roy Bennett issue and we’ve seen in various ways how the Roy Bennett issue has become a fairly important plank for the MDC negotiation strategy. So in my view, SADC was predictable as Professor Raftopoulos says but what is even I think more interesting is SADC is not going to take between now and its next Summit , any other decision different from what it has taken. GONDA: You know Brian I will come back to the issue of SADC because I also wanted to ask what’s Plan B for SADC if this thing doesn’t work? But I wanted to go back to the issue of Morgan Tsvangirai’s decision to rejoin the coalition – is this decision by the MDC a capitulation or strategic? KAGORO: From my perspective? GONDA: Yes KAGORO: You know it’s a bit of both. It shows a tension within the MDC , between, I mean let’s be realistic what has happened to date. The party, party functionaries have gotten so deeply immersed in the current governmental structure that pulling out seems a much harder thing to do than to stay in. Apart from handing back the cars, apart from vacating all sorts of privileges that they’ve attained, they still have to contend with a fairly vicious State. So there is that broad reality and the second reality, the second objective reality is they will have to explain to the rest of the world and the nation which has begun to anticipate that things can only and should only get better whether that the decision to pull out does not precipitate a return to the dark days that we saw towards the end of last year. So they would have a greater degree of explanation to do to the generality of the public, especially those who are not considered your party faithful. So they will not occupy the moral high ground at that stage. So if you look at it that way, it is strategic for them to remain in, at least see a minimum measure of reforms. Pulling out without any reforms will simply confirm the sort of things that people like myself said, that they did not give it sufficient thought before they got in, so they got a bad deal, they were not strategic. But if they hold the fort, they stay the course and at least get, whether it’s a new constitution, some reforms somewhere, if they were to pull out later on, they would be able to at least say, apart from seeing some improvements within the economy, we did get the minimum platform required for us to move toward a democratic election. So I think it’s more strategic than capitulation. A lot of fairly strong statements were made at the point of pullout but those statements I think were merely an expression of frustration. On a more fundamental level though, MDC must ask itself is it clear about what it will take to pull out, what sort of things are required to happen or not to happen for it to objectively say we are pulling out, this is it, we are not going back in. GONDA: Let me just go back to Professor Raftopoulos on the issue of SADC, what happens if Zanu-PF does not implement all these things within 30 days, what will SADC do? RAFTOPOULOS: Well they’ll do what they have been doing which is to continue to drag out the discussions, to continue to put their diplomatic pressure in, there’ll be nothing more than the kind of continued pressure from the Summits that we’ve seen all along because for SADC there is no option to this GPA and they will keep the parties involved in the GPA. And more than that, they don’t want this to move, the Zimbabwe question to move out of SADC beyond say toward the UN for example. They are determined that this should remain within the African regional body and so I think they will merely continue to have the kind of pressure that they have and do what they can within those limitations. SADC is a body with grave limitations in terms of its capacity to move its members into certain positions. But certainly in terms of Mugabe’s own position, it’s clear that he’s not going to allow, also he’s not going to move unless he’s working within a SADC framework. GONDA: Yes, and I noticed that in the SADC communiqué, it says all parties must adhere to the GPA, the Global Political Agreement, but isn’t it just one party that is not adhering to the GPA? RAFTOPOULOS: Well certainly Zanu-PF is the major culprit in this issue. There’s no doubt it’s been the one that has dragged its feet and the one that has been most problematic. Having said that, it is also clear that the question that has continuously come up is the sanctions question remains an issue to be resolved. It is part of the GPA, it is an issue that is supposed to be resolved within the context of the GPA and at the same time or in the same context in which the other issues are being resolved and it’s an issue that will continue to come up and so it is a question that some decisions are going to have to be made, both from the side of the MDC who have already indicated they want this removed, at least at an official level but more importantly on the side of the west for whom this remains a key issue in terms of leverage within the discussion on Zimbabwe. GONDA: But Professor Raftopoulos, should the sanctions issue have been part of the GPA? Is this something that the MDC is responsible for? Even the issue of the external radio stations because Robert Mugabe keeps bringing these two issues up. Should this have been part of the GPA and is this something that the MDC can do anything about?   RAFTOPOULOS: No it’s not something they can do anything about. It is something that was brought onto the agenda and into the GPA by Zanu-PF and the MDC as part of the negotiations had to agree to those issues being part of this. So while it wasn’t something that they had wanted or agreed to, this was a key issue coming from the side of Zanu-PF and as I said, which became part of the final Agreement. And which now has to be resolved as part of the other issues in the Agreement. It’s not going to go away anymore than the other issues are going to go away and so some hard decisions are going to be made. At what point are these issues removed in order to have progress or do they remain and additional pressure brought on? The problem of course is we know at this stage that the sanctions in their current form are not bringing anymore any additional pressure, they’re not bringing about the changes we would like them to have and its unclear at this stage what more kind of international pressure could be brought on the region than is the case at the moment.   GONDA: And you know if the SADC fails to resolve this issue within the 30 days and takes this issue up to the African Union, if it does leave southern Africa and goes to the African Union, will this be a positive step? RAFTOPOULOS: Well I don’t think it will leave Southern Africa and it’s not likely to go to the AU because the AU also has been part of these discussions from the beginning, it knows what the issues are - so it’s unlikely to move there because already the AU know the questions. And I don’t think that they are also going to want it to come out of the region because they know the problems that will be involved taking it any further. So they I think are also going to put pressure to try and keep it in the region and try and move things along within the region.   GONDA: Brian Kagoro, has SADC put itself in a tight position here because it has now become part of the deadline? KAGORO: No, it has always functioned with deadlines. When this one expires it will set a new deadline. It’s the nature of diplomacy. The question that is more fundamental is whether the resolution of the present political impasse rests at all with the external interlocutors; whether there are any of the external agents, whether it be the west, SADC or the African Union that actually have the wherewithal and the political focus and will to have this resolved? SADC is battling with little Madagascar and failing to resolve that small problem. It seems to me that as a number of SADC leaders also face elections within the period 2011-2012 that Zanu may have done its calculations - stall for a sufficiently long enough period; remember the MDC went into this saying we will have an election in two years time. The two years will run out very soon, that’s one. Number two, SADC cannot do anything more forceful than what it has done – send a Troika, after the Troika, send a Commission of Enquiry of sorts, make statements commending progress and regretting where there’s been no progress. The real issue I can tell you from a strategic perspective is within the African Union and even SADC itself, the estimation is that because Zanu controls the coercive arms of state – the military, the intelligence and the police force – that SADC thinks and feels that keeping Zanu happy is a much bigger priority to regional peace and security than upsetting the MDC or at least some level of inconvenience to the MDC . And this is the major consideration, this is the thing that nobody is saying - that the MDC ’s own narrative, and a lot of the liberal press’ narrative, has been that the military generals are totally in control in Harare or in Zimbabwe, no-one can do anything about, not even Robert Mugabe. The minute you have portrayed this as the situation, if you are sitting at the African Union and at the SADC level you ask yourself a simple question – do you want to upset the soldiers and if so at what risk? Is there a greater risk of social instability? So you read the analysis that will be done from an intelligence perspective and even a security perspective and say well there were these things stolen from Pomona, the weapons, all sorts of rumours and hearsay propagated within the State media and elsewhere and also the non public historical statement that the generals will not salute anyone else but Mugabe, it is these things that determine what SADC or the AU will do or decide. Not the usual objective factors on the ground that there is a problem of democracy, that there is one party reneging on the deal. So for me there’s a much larger question to answer – will this problem be resolved at all by SADC? There’ll be a lot of hotelling, air travelling and stuff to talk to people who will not be able to deliver a solution, who cannot and who are not willing to. I’ve discounted previously the west and its ability to play a positive role in this particular situation. So we must answer the hard question – is there a solution at all and if there is a solution what is that solution? It will have to be internal. GONDA: That’s what I was going to ask that, can you yourself try to answer that question because just listening to the two of you it would appear that this problem is unlikely to be resolved by SADC and you know we have many people asking at what particular point does the African Union or the United Nations have to step up, given the potential for regional destabilisation. So what is the way forward here? I’m always asking this question but we don’t seem to be getting the answer. Let me start with Professor Raftopoulos and then I’ll come to Brian. RAFTOPOULOS: Look I think Brian is correct about the importance of the military factor. That was always the issue within the quiet diplomacy strategy, it was an issue in the talks around the GPA and it continues to be an issue on the way forward. SADC I think, whatever their limitations, have a role in the sense that at least it provides a framework of accountability not withstanding the limitations. The solutions however come back to the national players and the kind of agreements that can be made within the limitations of what is there. Which means that I think it will be a slow process, slow cumulative process, there’s not going to be the kind of drastic changes that we see, they’re going to be small, slow changes because the levers of change at the national level and at the regional level are weak at the moment and therefore the prospects of change have to be also dependent on the kind of levers that are there. And that unfortunately determines the kind of slowness of pace that we’re likely to see. We’re not going to see at this stage as I said a very drastic move, we’re going to see slow movements, back and forward movements, a lot of untidiness but I think this is unfortunately the terrain on which this battle has to be fought. It is problematic of the current crisis and there’s no getting away with it, there’s no magic solution which is going to come from the African Union or the United Nations. That route has been tried already in the United Nations; we’ve seen what Mugabe did with the Special Rapporteur, they continue to have disdain for that route because they know they can be protected there at the moment at least at the Security Council level. So they’re also going to fight with their partners in SADC to keep the debate in SADC and to keep the discussions moving in terms of the limitations that are there at the moment. And unfortunately that’s the reality that we have to work with. GONDA: And Prof can you give us your thoughts on what you may think is the Zanu-PF mindset? What game is Zanu-PF playing here, because others are asking what is it that Zanu-PF is afraid of because they seem not to want to implement the GPA? RAFTOPOULOS: Look they know that the full implementation of the GPA will cause real problems for their capacity to hold on to power. Either whether it is a land audit, a proper constitutional review process, the opening up of the media, setting up of those Commissions – these things if they are put in play, would be a very serious threat to Zanu-PF’s future. They know that, they knew that from the beginning therefore it’s clear that they are going to try at every stage to delay, to whittle down, to undermine various processes that have been set in play by the GPA. But we knew from the beginning that this GPA would be a battle. It wasn’t going to be Zanu-PF handing over the keys to the kingdom so to speak, it’s a battle for the state so it’s going to be a very tough battle, there’s going to be movement forward, there’s going to be regress but it’s a battleground that MDC and the civics and Zimbabweans have to remain engaged in because I don’t think it’s going to move out of this terrain in the near future. GONDA: Do you agree Brian? And what will the full implementation of the GPA mean to Zanu-PF?   KAGORO: I partly agree with Brian that if Zanu had at the inception of the GPA agreed to the GPA’s full implementation, Zanu would have effectively written the epitaph on its own grave. This would have led to a disintegration because you would have unravelled the economic, political and social structure that Zanu has constructed in order to consolidate its power in and over the State. If we have another year or two, I have said this before, Zanu would have sufficiently bought over, co-opted and or intimidated critical elements within the MDC that they will not be in a position to unravel the structure. I mean at an electoral level, you may still have some, because of the popularity of your oppositional sentiment, some form of electoral victories. But at a political level, the transformation of the political culture of intolerance, the Zanu-ish culture of doing things will not be seen. That’s one but number two, let’s remember that political moments and processes coincide to bring about change. The level of preparation determines the quality or impact of change. My own observations, watching the MDC transact within this new arrangement is, I wondered whether they’d neglected the all important business, implied in Brian’s statement that if ultimately the battle between these entities is for the conquest of political power, the control of the State, that the vehicle through which this would happen would be of course in the limited confines of the GPA, the electoral process. Whether over the last couple of months the MDC has neglected the all important issue and let me state what that issue is – the moment of the GPA created some form of freedom that did not exist over the last nine years, freedom to organise and to constitute properly functioning structures. If you’ve been observing clearly, Zanu-PF has been trying to resuscitate its structures, oil it, oil the structures in preparation for something else. I’ve not gotten the sense until recently that the MDC pay particular attention to dealing with something that Brian and others noted over the years was weak, which is the organisational structure of the party. To prepare it for the ultimate, for the end game, that’s number one. Number two it would also be to build the capacity, it was clear that the Herald would not be handed over, or as Brian said the keys to the kingdom would not be handed over, that the State media would not be handed over. But I did not see the same level of urgency at the level of structure in creating the alternative capacity to communicate your own message even as a player within government and not placing undue reliance on the so-called private media. So there were certain fundamentals around internal consolidation, bringing cohesion and coherence, whether at a policy, political, strategy level within the MDC that’s one thing - because if you accept the hypothesis that Professor Raftopoulos gives that this is going to be a slow, painful and sometimes frustrating process of arriving at the Zimbabwe we all want then you must ask yourself what level of preparation needs to be put in place that is consistent with the nature of change we’re inevitably tied in to. And this for me is the solution, it’s not so much one day wonder, we all take to the streets and the regime runs away because even if the regime did run away we still would have a State to run and there are several things we would need to run that State better than the current regime. GONDA: So is this what you meant earlier on when you said the solution to this crisis has to be internal. KAGORO: Yes, the solution to the crisis has to be internal. It’s a political battle ultimately, this is what it is. Nobody’s going to come to Mugabe and say go home. Only the Zimbabweans have the legitimacy, the authority and the capacity to do so. Nobody’s going to say to Zanu change and only Zimbabweans can do this. Nobody’s going to say we’ve had enough, only Zimbabweans can do this and by Zimbabweans I mean all Zimbabweans. And if you need all Zimbabweans wherever they are located to participate in this process effectively then you need to organise them for participation. And this is the main business of the Change Agents in the country at the moment. Yes they should go ahead, continue to negotiate whatever revisions they can get from the status quo but ultimately they must organise themselves for a battle that will take some time. You know they will take chinks at the armour of Zanu-PF in negotiating with elements in the military and intelligence and elsewhere and if things move, the Zanu laager mentality is going to disintegrate. It will disintegrate because Zanu no longer has the capacity, with the weakening of the central bank governorship, it no longer has the capacity to dole out unless something happens to the next eight months, to dole out the sort of goodies you could dole out to various players and actors within the State. So because these are used to depending on this largesse, if they stop getting it they are going to move their loyalties elsewhere and this is the reality that Zanu itself is not invincible. It’s not beyond the sort of contradictions that we are describing for the opposition. GONDA: And I’m afraid I’ve run out of time but before we go, a last word from Professor Raftopolous. RAFTOPOULOS: Yah there are two things. First of all I think the big, the one thing one should fear is if this Agreement breaks down for any reason because as we’ve seen recently the resurgence of violence is always there and it can happen very quickly and I think we would move into that position very quickly and that will only be a debilitating factor. The second thing is what is happening in Zimbabwe , we see it happening in other places where authoritarian or undemocratic governments lose elections and then hold on to the State. We’ve seen it, we’ve seen it in Kenya , we have an idea of what is going on in Afghanistan , that there’s a kind of broad processes where these kind of things are taking place. so we’re in a phase where we’re having to deal now in a very complex set of processes where those struggles are going to become more difficult, more cumulative and we need to prepare for those kind of battles that lie ahead. GONDA: OK and Brian, a last word?   KAGORO: I think ultimately let’s not judge the performance of the MDC on whether or not they are getting much out of the GPA. Let us judge it on the basis of their commitment in terms of strategy and practical political programmes to implementing or putting in place things that will make the battle for democracy or the democratisation project survive. So if they get all totally sucked up in trying to make the GPA work only as a framework and do not pay attention to the larger democratisation agenda and the sort of pillars that they need to strengthen, to consolidate to make it work, then perhaps it will be fair to say they have capitulated on that premise. And I would actually caution the MDC not to over invest their faith and effort purely at trying to get a shell to work. Yes they must operate in good faith, they must invest some effort but there must be greater effort invested in organising the broader Zimbabwean mass for the new day that MDC has always said it was fighting for. GONDA: And I would like to thank the two Brians, Brian Raftopoulos and Brian Kagoro for their analysis on the political crisis in Zimbabwe , thank you. RAFTOPOULOS: Thank you. KAGORO: Thank you Violet. Comments and feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com

Construction taking place in greenbelt council-owned land – Borrowdale, Harare

Zim parties will miss SADC deadline: Analysts

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Tafadzwa Mutasa Monday 09 November 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's political parties will miss a month-long deadline set by
SADC to resolve outstanding issues threatening to tear their coalition
government, analysts said, adding President Robert Mugabe feared that fully
implementing last year's power-sharing deal would loosen his grip on power.

Mugabe had ruled the southern African country uninterrupted since Zimbabwe's
1980 independence from Britain. But the formation of an inclusive government
in February meant the 85-year-old leader had to share power for the first
time and is now stalling on agreed political reforms, fearing his ZANU PF
party would suffer defeat at the next polls.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) last week gave ZANU PF and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) up
to 30 days to find a solution on issues that they presented to the regional
body as obstacles to the smooth operation of the coalition administration.

But political analysts see the stalemate dragging into next year as the two
parties could use the time to crank-up support among hardliners and fortify
their positions.

"Its an ambitious timeline, given the gravity of the issues and lack of good
faith from the two main political parties. There is very limited good faith,
more so from ZANU PF," Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer from
the University of Zimbabwe said.

MDC trump card

The MDC may have boxed itself into a corner and maybe running out of
options.

The SADC communiqué went a long way in placating the MDC, although it
certainly was not an outright victory the party had in mind when it arrived
in Maputo last week.

But the party would have been happy with the deadline set by the Troika, for
the resolution of the outstanding issue and that the 27 January SADC
communiqué dealing with the issues of the attorney general, central bank
governor and provincial governors was recognised by the summit as binding.

Analysts said Tsvangirai would still need to compromise, giving ZANU PF time
to adjust while keeping his hawkish camp happy at the same time.

The MDC will now hope for a full SADC summit to force Mugabe into
implementing the agreement if there is no breakthrough within the next month
but with former South African President and facilitator Thabo Mbeki in the
picture, this may take a while.

Alternatively, the MDC will have to announce a total pull out from the
coalition, a move which will plunge the country back into political and
economic crisis.

"They will be compelled to compromise. The MDC may have used their trump
card too early and they don't have too many now left," said Masunungure.
"They will not pull out of the government. I see this (30-day) deadline
being elastic."

Western sanctions

Mugabe had argued, ahead of the Maputo summit, that his party had fulfilled
its part of the agreement and that it was the MDC which had to call for
lifting of Western sanctions against the veteran leader and his associates
and that the former opposition must also campaign for the banning of
broadcasts into Zimbabwe by radio stations abroad.

But analysts said ZANU PF was re-writing the GPA, which says the parties
"commit themselves to working together in re-engaging the international
community with a view to bringing to an end the country's international
isolation".

SADC in all its communiqués has expressly urged the West and not the
parties, to remove the sanctions.

The agreement "encourages" people broadcasting into Zimbabwe to come back to
the country where they should operate from but this is tied to the
government opening up the media, which it has not done.

"It (GPA) binds all of them. The obligation is more on the ZANU PF camp to
stop those things that invited the restrictive measures," John Makumbe, a
political commentator and long time Mugabe critic said.

"ZANU PF has re-written Article 4 of the GPA but the solution lies more in
action, not by the MDC, but more by ZANU PF, which will persuade the West to
remove those sanctions."

Tsvangirai says his party has compromised a great deal but that Mugabe has
reneged on an agreement to swear-in five MDC officials as provincial
governors and Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister and appoint a new
reserve bank governor and attorney general.

Bennett, a former white commercial farmer is today expected to stand trial
on terrorism in the High Court, charges he dismiss as politically motivated.

Mugabe digs in

The former opposition party charges that Mugabe is frustrating efforts to
reform a security establishment seen as partisan and in ZANU PF's clutch
while efforts to open the media have been unsuccessful, nine months after
the formation of the government.

But the deadlock is likely to prolong especially with ZANU PF facing an
elective congress next month, a platform which Mugabe traditionally uses to
attack his rivals.

Analysts said even the presence of Mbeki was unlikely to see a quick
resolution.

"There is a lot working against the fulfilment of the agreement. No one
wants to stand in front of 5 000 people appearing to have been weakened in
the past 30 days," said Masunungure.

"Mugabe will be putting an argument to Mbeki that 'we will deal with these
issues after the congress, arguing that we want to go there (congress)
strong'."

Political commentators said while Mugabe and Tsvangirai were under pressure
from SADC to resolve the disputes, which forced the MDC to boycott cabinet
last month, the responsibility to end the stalemate lay more with the ageing
leader.

Mugabe may only make token concessions ahead of his party's congress, such
as the less onerous deployment of ambassadors and convening the National
Security Council, while the High Court may quickly acquit Bennett, whose
charges carry a maximum death penalty.

"These will be major symbolic concessions without suffering a sense of
embarrassment," said Makumbe. - ZimOnline

Why Africa welcomes the 'new colonialism'

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

November 9, 2009

Beijing is enjoying its burgeoning power. But it should tread carefully: the
continent has a habit of frustrating grand plans
Richard Dowden

As the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, meets African leaders at the
Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Sharm el-Sheikh today he will look back
with some satisfaction on what has happened since the great meeting in
Beijing three years ago when 48 out of Africa's 53 rulers walked up the red
carpet of the Great Hall of the People to shakes hands with him and
President Hu Jintao. Since that symbolic moment of friendship - or
obeisance - trade with Africa has doubled from $50 billion to more than $100
billion, exceeding China's own predictions. China may overtake the EU as
Africa's biggest trading partner before long.

China is already the most powerful outside player in Africa. It assiduously
courted Africa's 53 leaders for their votes as part of its policy to thwart
Taiwan's quest to join the UN. Only four countries have not succumbed to
Beijing's lure and now it feels politically strong enough to challenge the
West in Africa. The tipping point was July 12, 2008, the day that China
vetoed a British and American resolution at the UN that would have imposed a
ban on arms sales on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on its rulers. When Jack
Straw was Foreign Secretary he said in a casual reference to China in
Africa: "Welcome to the new colonialism." The Chinese were so angry they cut
all contact with the UK on African issues for a year. China is ready to
demonstrate its new power there.

Economically China's thirst for raw materials and oil has been good news for
the continent, driving up its average annual growth rate to 5.4 per cent in
the decade before the crash. For the first time millions of Africans can
afford watches, new shirts, radios, even mobile phones, thanks to cheap
Chinese goods - though clothes exports from China devastated South Africa's
textile industry. And to obtain sweet deals on raw materials, China wooed
African rulers with grand infrastructure projects and promises of aid.

Despite the recession - and a resulting 30 per cent drop in the value of
Africa-China trade this year - Chinese investment and aid have continued and
Mr Wen may announce today increased aid to Africa to show China is not a
fair-weather friend. Much of what Beijing calls aid is cheap credit to
Chinese companies investing in Africa, but these companies are now being
pushed away by state backers and told to find commercial lenders. Despite
the fall-off in trade, China's direct investment in Africa is expected to
grow by nearly 80 per cent this year and now represents nearly a tenth of
China's total overseas direct investment. Unlike the short future time-frame
of Western countries, Chinese companies plan to a 30-year horizon.

Many see China's engagement in Africa as a catastrophe for the continent.
There is a widespread perception that saintly Britain had adopted this poor
little girl called Africa and was busy saving her from hunger, war, disease
and poverty. Suddenly big, greedy China, flashing huge deals and cheap
goods, has seduced the girl and is leading her astray, even raping her. And
to make it worse for Britain, ungrateful Africa sometimes feels that
although Chinese intentions may not be entirely honourable, China at least
treats her like a grown up.

African leaders do not necessarily love China, but its ambassadors do not
lecture them about elections, corruption, transparency and human rights.
They welcome its non- interfering, government-to- government approach. China's
presence allows these leaders to play off East and West and push against the
demands of Western donors, the IMF and the World Bank.

When Westerners complain about China's behaviour the Chinese point to the
state of Africa and ask why it is still so poor after centuries of trade and
Western influence, including some 60 years of colonialism.

These days China's desperate search for mineral deals can lead it into the
sort of mistakes the West made in the past. In Guinea, for example. Last
year the thuggish army captain, Moussa Dadis Camara, seized power on the
death of President Lansana Conté. In September his presidential guard shot
and killed at least 150 opposition demonstrators - an action condemned by
regional governments and the African Union, which promptly imposed
sanctions.

Yet days later one of Camara's ministers announced that a $7 billion deal
had been struck with China. Its International Development Fund agreed to buy
oil and mining concessions in return for building roads and railways.
Foreign Ministry officials in Beijing insisted that this was a Hong
Kong-based fund with no formal ties to the Chinese Government. Yet it
operates in Angola and other African countries with the diplomatic support
of Beijing.

In places such as Guinea and Sudan, the Chinese may have to learn the hard
way that secret deals with governments - especially coup leaders - will not
protect their investments or benefit Africa's development. The Chinese want
stability and consistency, but they will find that African governments can
rarely deliver these. Although you may have official permission and may find
Africa welcoming at first, it has ways of tripping up hungry newcomers,
frustrating their grand plans. You have to learn how to operate in Africa's
culture and hidden power structures.

Western countries cannot lecture China on behaving better in Africa. Prickly
China is too defensive and the West's own past makes hectoring unproductive.
But Western countries, Britain in particular, do have in-depth knowledge and
experience of Africa and could offer insights that China may welcome. The
Department for International Development has already started to talk to the
Chinese on such issues.

On democracy and respect for human rights, it is up to the British and
Americans to try to persuade the Chinese that only these will create what
they call stability and consistency in Africa's fragile states. China may
not adopt these virtues at home, but it may learn that in Africa they are
essential.

Richard Dowden is Director of the Royal African Society and author of
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles

Time for statesmanship, not brinkmanship

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24688

November 8, 2009

By Geoffrey Nyarota

SENATOR John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic Party's candidate was a
powerful contender when he challenged the Republican contestant, incumbent
President George W. Bush, in the 2004 United States presidential election.

That was until the Republican Party's presidential election campaign
strategists skillfully and successfully characterised Kerry as a
disconcertingly indecisive politician on serious matters of US policy both
at home and abroad. They used the term "flip-flop" with devastating effect
to describe the Democratic candidate's shifts of position on fundamental
issues of policy.

Bush emerged as the winner in the election held on November 2, 2004, much to
the disbelief of a large percentage of the US electorate and a world
community that had assumed that, after the fiasco of Iraq, Bush was, without
doubt, destined for the annals of US political history.

Back in Zimbabwe, the currently popular mainstream Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has, through its
indecision on fundamental issues and its litany of flip-flops, as the
government of national unity plunged deeper into crises, seriously dented
its own image, credibility and reputation.

It is a mark of the widespread unpopularity of President Robert Mugabe and
Zanu-PF that Tsvangirai and the MDC remain popular, this notwithstanding.

The SADC Organ Troika met in Maputo last Thursday in an attempt to resolve a
three-week long crisis following the disengagement by the MDC from the
government of national unity. The Troika issued a directive that
representatives of Zanu-PF and the two MDC parties must discuss and
negotiate the implementation framework of all outstanding issues within 15
days.

"This directive and resolution allows all the issues to be now resolved once
and for all," the MDC said in a hastily issued statement, "It is for this
reason that we have accepted the summit appeal for suspending our
disengagement until the process is concluded."

Critics say in Maputo the MDC merely sought an excuse or grounds for calling
off without losing too much face a boycott that was clearly ill-advised. The
MDC gave Mugabe a month to fully implement the power-sharing agreement. The
party did not specify whether the swearing in of its treasurer general, Roy
Bennett, as deputy Minister of Agriculture was one of the conditions to be
fulfilled.

The arrest of Bennett in October was cited by the MDC as the straw that
finally broke the camel's back, prompting the party after several
unfulfilled threats of a boycott, to finally disengage from participation in
Cabinet and the Council of Ministers meetings.

Bennett is due to go on trial on Monday, November 9. It is clear that
Bennett will not be sworn in by December 6, if ever. So that the nation is
not made to wait in vain again the MDC needs to clarify the status of their
boycott if Bennett is not sworn in by the deadline, bearing in mind that,
despite the party's precipitous action on October 16, the swearing in of its
treasurer general was never an issue in the GPA, in the first place.

The names of Roy Bennett as well as Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe and Attorney General, Johannes Tomana have become the
current battle-cries of the MDC.

Sadly, the party in which the majority of Zimbabweans have vested their
faith and hopes is less vociferous when it comes to issues that
fundamentally affect the welfare of the majority of the long-suffering
people that voted the MDC into office. The party continues to enjoy
demonstrable grassroots support after it handed over its newly acquired
power to the election losers, President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, as well as to
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and his breakaway MDC.

It is not as if the population of Zimbabwe will derive any specific benefit
from the swearing in of Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Such
benefit would certainly not be on the basis of any skill or information
which only he within the ranks of the MDC is the repository. After all, Dr
Vincent Gwaradzimba, not Mr Roy Bennett, is the portfolio secretary for
Lands and Agriculture in the MDC.

The MDC has loudly and eloquently made its point as a matter of principle on
the controversial Bennett affair. The party must now move forward in the
interests of the nation and its long-suffering people.

It does not bode well for the MDC for the party to create the perception
that it is afflicted with acute persecution mania. It is an equal partner in
the government of national unity. It cannot discharge its responsibilities
and duties through hastily convened press conferences. The responsibility
bestowed on the MDC by the GPA is to govern hand-in-hand with Zanu-PF; not
to relegate itself back to the status of an opposition party, perpetually
protesting about persecution by its partner.

"This is why we are ringing bells, blowing whistles, sounding horns and
trumpets to SADC and Africa and, in particular, the whole world in general,
that the peace-loving people of Zimbabwe are under siege from a
violence-mongering party called Zanu-PF," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa says
with spectacular bombast in explaining his party's recent disengagement over
the Bennett arrest.

The Bennett issue can be cited as the direct cause of the current threat of
collapse of the government of national unity. So that I am not accused of
criticising without offering solutions, here is a proposal.

The MDC and the people of Zimbabwe in general would stand to benefit if the
party were to request the deputy Minister of Agriculture-designate to step
down from this position, pending the final outcome of his court case,
assuming that the outcome becomes reality within the lifetime of the
government of national unity. It would be an act of statesmanship if Bennett
himself offered to step down in the interests of his nation. Another MDC
functionary, Gwaradzimba for instance, would be sworn in as deputy Minister
of Agriculture and the welfare of the majority of the people Zimbabwe would
become less threatened.

A superficial analysis of this proposal will dismiss it as a victory for
Mugabe. In reality Zimbabwe would be the beneficiary.

Bennett himself stated in a televised interview that he did not see Mugabe
ever swearing him in. There appears to be a paralysis of ideas in the MDC
over the Bennett issue. It certainly was insensitive to nominate him for the
Ministry of Agriculture in the first place, considering the fairly
predictable inability of the MDC to handle Mugabe's reaction.

The MDC has stated repeatedly that the charges against Bennett are trumped
up; that he is an innocent man. He would not be taking any particular risk
in the circumstances if he temporarily took a back seat while his case goes
through the courts. Once his name is cleared he would then assume another
position of responsibility in government.

If the prospect of his appointment to the Ministry of Agriculture threatens
the peace of Zimbabwe then Bennett should desist from brinkmanship in favour
of statesmanship.

His compatriots will forever be grateful to him.

Meanwhile, the MDC will devote their energy to more demanding affairs of
state - food for the poor, job creation for the millions of unemployed and
better delivery of education and health services. The MDC should also
immediately address the issues of media reform, construction of new roads
and repair of existing ones, de-politicization of the police and other state
security agents, as well as cessation of the continuing farm invasions for
the exclusive benefit of Zanu-PF functionaries.

What became of Mutambara's much heralded visits to the farms soon after
assuming office as Prime Minister, by the way?

As long as the MDC relentlessly harps on Gono, Tomana and Bennett while
ignoring more vital national issues it sits on a time bomb, never mind the
current show of support for the party from the masses of Zimbabwe.

I cannot help but end by paraphrasing the Serenity Prayer: "God grant the
MDC the serenity to accept the things they cannot change; courage to change
the things they can; and wisdom to know the difference."

Attention SADC Heads of State

THE TROIKA OF THE ORGAN ON POLITICS, DEFENCE AND SECURITY COOPERATION

Mozambique H.E Armando Emilio Guebuza  - Chairperson

Swaziland His Majesty, King Mswati III

South Africa H.E. President Jacob G. Zuma

Dear Sirs,

Please find attached below the minimum pre-requisite conditions necessary
for all Zimbabwean citizens to embrace the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Compliance to these indispensable political fundamentals will oblige the
entire populace, implore the Zimbabwean political exile, refugee and asylee
community to lobby for the full restoration of multilateral and bilateral
relations between Zimbabwe and the countries in which exiles reside and have
sought refuge.

We hereby demand:

  1.. the dissolution and disbandment of all para-military Youth Militia
units;
  2.. the annulment of all draconian legislation including LOMA,POSA &
AIPPA;
  3.. end to abductions, torture and arbitrary arrest of political
activists;
  4.. establishment of an independent Truth Commission and an autonomous
Electoral Commission;
  5.. cessation of all farm invasions, private property seizures and
  6.. the arrest and prosecution all know perpetrators of political
violence;
  7.. the introduction of a new people driven constitution;
  8.. fresh elections under the auspices of the UN, AU and SADC;
  9.. the resignation of the Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono and the
Attorney General JohannesTomana;
  10.. the resignation of all civil servants accused of human rights
violations.

Conformity by ZANU (PF) to these irrevocable caveats will restore trust in
the GNU. Scarce resources must not be squandered on summits and indabas that
yield nothing but rhetoric, words that only serve to buy time and buttress
an unpopular government.

Honourable sirs, an estimated three million Zimbabweans emigrated, not
because of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, but because of the sanctions on
their civil liberties imposed by your peer Robert Mugabe.  State sanctioned
violence, extra judicial killings, murder, torture, rape, and the general
breakdown in the rule of law, became the cause of this exodus. There is no
SADC country without Zimbabwean refuges and the continued flagrant
violations of humanitarian law is the main cause.

Excellencies, while Zimbabweans were being brutalised by their own
government, SADC held numerous meetings and its collective inaction has
fueled the precipitous decline in Zimbabwe's human rights record.

Your Excellencies, the impulsive call by the troika through an ambiguous
SADC communiqué, which calls for Western countries to lift "all forms of
sanctions" against Zimbabwe, is premature. ZANU (PF) must first remove the
various embargoes and sanctions it has imposed on the people of Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwean political quagmire is man-made and presents a classical
cart-before-the-horse scenario.  Your colleague, Robert Mugabe, is no longer
part of the solution, and the sooner SADC arranges for his exit, the quicker
the impasse is resolved.

For and on behalf of the voiceless,

Phil Matibe - www.madhingabucketboy.com

Pushing the knowledge envelope: Corporate citizenship

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Mutumwa Mawere Monday 09 November 2009

OPINION: This article is in the series entitled "Pushing the envelope of
knowledge", which attempts to provide some insights into the concept of
corporate citizenship and the importance of improving the body of knowledge
that informs our daily conversations.

How many of us have participated in conversations in which a distinction is
made between domestic and foreign firms and more importantly between
indigenous and non-indigenous firms? Can corporate citizenship be divisible?

Citizenship is defined as the state of being a citizen of a particular
social, political or national community. Under social contract theory,
citizenship status carries with it both rights and responsibilities.

If it is true that a distinction can be made at law between foreign and
domestic firms in a host country then it should be possible to separate the
rights and responsibilities of the two types of citizenships.

In the world of economic nationalism, it is often easy to target companies
incorporated in a host country as "foreign" notwithstanding the fact that
all companies follow the same registration procedures irrespective of who
holds the issued share capital in the company concerned.

Our understanding of the concept of citizenship is shaped by our values,
beliefs and principles.

It is not unnatural to think of the concept of natural citizenship in terms
of race, ethnicity and language.

We have always associated natural citizenship with a birth and it is,
therefore, not unexpected that people would naturally hold the view that
wherever one is born is automatically the place that one should be a citizen
of.

However, human beings do make choices and when they do so by acquiring
citizenship of another state, they acquire rights that are not divisible.

Two people, for example, in a country with one born in the country and
another who acquires citizenship through naturalisation have and should have
the same rights and responsibilities.

Equally, two companies registered under the laws of a host country with one
having as its sole shareholder being a natural citizen and another with its
sole shareholder being a foreign citizen have and should have the same
rights and responsibilities at law.

If the above is the case, why then do we in our minds make a distinction
between two citizens by calling one foreign and another indigenous?

A company's shareholders may be domiciled in a foreign state but by choosing
to subscribe to shares in a company incorporated in a host country, it is
the company so registered that acquires the citizenship of the host country.

After acquiring such citizenship and having been issued with the
registration papers (birth certificate for companies), the company acquires
its own personality separate and distinct from the people who subscribe to
the shares.

The entity so incorporated is then governed under the laws of the host
country like any other corporate citizen.

Yes, the company whose shares are controlled by foreign corporate and
natural persons may very well have directors that give direction to it but
it cannot be said that such a company will be governed under different legal
and market rules than a company whose shares are controlled by domestic
corporate and natural citizens.

The Companies Act in any progressive state is and should not be
discriminatory and makes no distinction between companies that have shares
owned by foreign and domestic nationals.

The law should apply to all without favour or prejudice accepting a cardinal
fact that it is only the market that can determine business success or
failure.

It is up to the consumers to make a choice on what goods to buy and from
whom.

Putting in place laws that restrict ownership to domestic citizens will not
assist the customers who may very well end up not getting the goods desired
in the domestic market.

Why would countries that uphold democratic constitutional orders end up
pursuing policies that make a distinction between foreign and domestic firms
and more importantly between natural citizens born in the country and
foreign-born ones? Who benefits from this politically expedient distinction?

A case is often made that the welfare of a nation improves if indigenous
people control the companies that do business in it.

Does any empirical evidence exist to suggest this to be the case? It cannot
be denied that it is desirable that people control their destinies but this
cannot be an end in itself as history has shown that free societies that are
welcoming of other people are ideas have better prospects of delivering the
promise than societies founded upon wrong ideas.

However, in the field of business, at any transaction point it is and should
not be relevant who controls the company that produced the goods in question
but whether there is a willing buyer.

If a willing buyer exists, then making a distinction between a foreign and
domestic seller will not assist the buyer.

What often happens in cases like this is that the affected buyer will be
forced to look at imports. In doing so, it is the country that suffers, as
this will kill domestic employment, as the exporters will be the
beneficiaries of policies that are inward looking.

Shares in companies can exchange hands but in corporate civilisation this
should not affect the company.

So it should ordinarily be irrelevant who holds shares, for example, in a
bank but what is important is for the bank to deliver the service that
clients are willing to pay for.

The viability of the bank is determined by client support and not
necessarily by what the government wants to see and more significantly by
the people who work for the bank and less by its shareholders who are
outside the company.

Shareholders have the right to appoint directors just like citizens have the
right to appoint political leaders.

However, once appointed, directors like political leaders cease to represent
the interests of the parties that appoint them but the organisation they
serve.

So at best, shareholders cannot be held liable for decisions made by the
companies in which they hold shares and yet a view is held that shareholders
do in fact control companies and not directors who in many cases may not
hold any shares in the companies they serve.

It should be irrelevant who holds shares in a company as far as service is
concerned because customers do take an interest in what they choose to buy.

Successful countries go out of their way to attract investment. In doing so,
they are acutely aware that this is a sustainable way of providing hope to
their nationals who stand to benefit from employment and access to goods and
services.

If a company whose shares are held by foreign nationals builds
infrastructure in a host country such infrastructure will be to the benefit
of the country.

It is accepted that shareholders are at the bottom of the queue of
beneficiaries from a company's earnings and more significantly they are only
entitled to income that the company does not need for its own operations.

They play the role of parents who have obligations to their children but
have no contractual claim on the income earned by the children.

For example, if your child is a billionaire that does not make you a
billionaire.

You are still required at law to negotiate with the holder of the billion if
you need access even to $1 from the billion held by your offspring and you
will not be entitled to access the account of your children without their
consent.  The same relationship holds for corporate citizens.

So a company registered, for example, in Nigeria that earns $20 million is
entitled to the income and it is up to the directors of the company to
declare after paying taxes in the host country dividends to the shareholders
who may be local or foreign domiciled.

By paying dividends one accepts that the company concerned has earned the
income through a market intermediated arrangement and, therefore, no one is
prejudiced if such income is directed to the risk takers and not government.

As long as our ignorance on what corporate citizenship means persists, the
prospects for growth and development in Africa are gloomy.

We may end up discouraging those who add value to the development process at
their own risk at a time when Africa needs jobs and markets.

Any person who builds in your yard does so in your name and the entire
infrastructure built ultimately belongs to the host. - ZimOnline

PEACE WATCH of 8th November 2009 [Civil SocietyLeaders Arrests - Abuse of Law]