http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Wild Zambezi News
Sunday, 14
November 2010 13:59
The cash-strapped Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority has asked
stakeholders to ratify four new 24-bed lodge
developments for Mana Pools,
three of these along the eco-sensitive river
frontage and one inland. This
comes less than a year after international
outrage at Protea Hotels seeking
to develop a 72-bed conference facility on
the banks of the Zambezi River
right opposite Mana Pools National Park and
World Heritage Site.
Conservationists and lovers of Mana Pools as a
wilderness Park are up in
arms at the proposals - for several reasons.
A
recently-completed Park Management Plan, carefully negotiated and agreed
between the Zimbabwe Parks Authority and relevant stakeholders, specifically
advised against any new Park developments along the Zambezi river shoreline
in Mana Pools because of the small size and very ecologically-sensitive
nature of the Zambezi alluvial terraces known as "the Mana floodplain". It
did, however, allow for small developments at selected sites inland.
The
Management Plan acknowledges that Mana Pools is important for the unique
low-volume, high wilderness tourism experience it offers visitors, and
advises that these values should be maintained into the future.
Critics
of the proposed developments believe that increasing tourism
bed-nights
along the Zambezi river frontage by an effective 72 people per
night would
bring associated impacts which would seriously erode the very
values that
the industry sends its clients to enjoy.
New developments in the already
impacted "floodplain" area would, they
believe, "kill the goose that lays
the golden egg".
The Management Plan remains unsigned by the relevant
Ministry, despite
having been completed 18 months ago, a fact which has
called into question
Zimbabwe's true commitment to proper and accountable
planning procedures for
National Parks and globally significant areas like
UNESCO World Heritage
Sites.
It is well known that the Zimbabwe Parks and
Wildlife Authority is short of
money to manage its estate. The recent
proposals have drawn criticism that
the authority is seeking short-term
quick-fix solutions to its financial
crisis at the expense of the long-term
future and sustainability of the
country's magnificent wild
areas.
Zimbabweans are being made to look foolish in objecting to Zambian
developments opposite Mana Pools on the grounds of unacceptable tourism
impacts while effectively increasing tourism impacts on their own side of
the Zambezi River.
Associated Press
Nov 14, 11:36 AM EST
By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press
HARARE,
Zimbabwe (AP) -- The U.S. ranks high on President Robert Mugabe's
enemies
list, but at ground level it is leading a war on AIDS that may help
save the
life of 32-year-old Tineyi Marokwe and hundreds of thousands of
other
Zimbabweans.
The weapon is cheap and simple: male circumcision,
considered a significant
reducer of AIDS transmission.
In a 10-minute
surgical operation, Marokwe recently became one of more than
a million
Zimbabwean men in the most sexually active age group who are being
targeted
for circumcision during the next seven years.
Dr. Bill Jansen, a senior
American adviser with the U.S. Agency for
International Development in
Zimbabwe, says trials and circumcision pilot
programs in South Africa and
East Africa have shown a reduction in HIV
infection by 60
percent.
The Zimbabwe program, begun in May 2009, has carried out 12,000
circumcisions. The U.S. spent $6.6 million on it in the first year and more
money is promised as the program scales up.
It makes a quiet
counterpoint to the stridency of Mugabe's confrontation
with the West,
primarily the United States and former colonial ruler
Britain, over the
sanctions imposed on his government because of its human
rights
record.
So vilified are Western nations by Mugabe that few Zimbabweans
realize their
continuing aid programs are the mainstay of humanitarian
assistance to the
troubled nation.
The U.S. is Zimbabwe's biggest aid
donor - more than $1 billion since 2002 -
and the biggest contributor to
nationwide modern AIDS clinics that have
tested and counseled 2 million
people. This month it pledged another $50
million to its wider AIDS programs
that include supplies of AIDS drugs.
While Mugabe has done nothing to
hinder the program, some volunteers
assigned to explain sexual health issues
to the poor have been accused by
Mugabe's supporters of abetting a U.S.
political agenda and working for the
opposition in next year's
election.
Marokwe says he was afraid to go to the clinic in western
Harare, the
capital.
"I was worried, but when I came here I learned
this could save my life," the
unemployed laborer told The Associated
Press.
Nurses unpacked one of 60,000 single-use circumcision kits
allocated by
USAID - forceps, disposable scalpels, needles and gauze - and
administered
local anesthesia while surgeon Shame Dendere exchanged cheerful
banter with
Marokwe.
He was told to expect minor pain after the
anesthetic had worn off, to
abstain from sex for six weeks and to come back
three times for follow-up
treatment.
The procedure complete, Marokwe
dressed and headed to a bus stop to ride
home, saying "I'm going to tell all
my friends."
The clinic conducts more than 40 procedures a day and
expects demand to grow
to as many as 180 a day as word spreads.
If
the program can circumcise 1.2 million Zimbabwean men by 2017, 750,000
new
HIV infections can be averted, Jansen said. The organizers envisage a
future
stage for the program with circumcision at birth. At present more
than 10
percent of Zimbabwean men are circumcised, mainly in tribal
ceremonies
during early childhood.
While condoms and fidelity remain essential,
circumcision helps because the
foreskin is more vulnerable to the AIDS
virus.
According to Population Services International, an independent
family
planning and sexual health organization, Zimbabwe's infection rate is
about
13 percent of the population, but rises above 20 percent in the 13-30
age
group.
The circumcision is free, with USAID picking up most of
the cost, helped by
the international Population Services group and health
care charities, but a
nominal fee is being considered because "when
something is free, there is a
tendency for people not to attach any value to
it," said Roy Dhlamini, a PSI
social worker.
He said when the U.S.
government provided free condoms, many Zimbabweans
shunned them. That
changed when they were priced at a token 10 U.S. cents.
Besides
performing circumcisions, the doctors must cope with misinformation:
that
foreskins are used in healing rituals and witchcraft, in skin grafts or
skin
lotions.
"We've seen this in the media and heard it in our interaction
with
communities," Jansen said.
Fred Togara, 36, a brick maker and
father of two, said he knew little about
circumcision other than from verses
he read in the Old Testament.
He said that after a policeman friend who
got circumcised told him about the
U.S. program, "I wanted to do this
process for hygiene and put safety
first."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Sunday, 14 November 2010
12:23
HARARE – The Commercial Farmers Union will hold an emergency
congress on
November 30 to discuss the proposed restructuring of the
organisation whose
membership has been hit by President Robert Mugabe’s
controversial land
reform programme.
The union said in a notice to
members that the special congress was expected
to come up with a new
strategic plan and constitution for the organisation.
“The official notice
has been sent out to inform everyone about the
Emergency General Meeting
which will be held here at the union on 30th
November 2010,” said the
CFU.
The special congress is also expected to discuss a report by consultant
Rob
Ward who conducted a survey of the union members in October to gather
their
opinions and input on the restructuring of the organisation.
Ward
specialises in strategic planning, organisational development and
strategic
mentoring and has a wealth of experience in change management in
large
private sector companies, non-governmental organisations and
government
departments.
Preliminary results of his survey showed that only 32 percent of
the CFU
membership is still farming, 64 percent of whom said they want to
continue
operating.
Half of the more than 100 farmers who responded to
Ward’s questionnaire
believe that their expectations are being met by the
CFU.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered white farmers have shown growing frustration at
failure by the country’s coalition government and their union to end chaos
in the farming sector.
And to make matters worse, according to the CFU,
police and judicial
officers who are supposed to enforce the rule of law
were also among the
beneficiaries of the free-for-all land grab.
http://www.africalegalbrief.com
Sunday, 14 November
2010 17:31
[ZAPU officials that included Mr Martin Chinyanga (ZAPU Shadow
MP Makoni
west) Mr Christopher Maphosa, the ZAPU Europe district chairman
took the
opportunity to appraise Mr David Miliband on the current state of
Zimbabwean
politics. ] Former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday
met with
ZAPU Officials in London. In an impromptu address to the ZAPU
officials
David Miliband expressed his concern over the possibility of a
violent
election in Zimbabwe next year.
He decried the shrinking
democratic space in Zimbabwean politics and
expressed the need for important
steps be taken to ensure peaceful elections
in Zimbabwe. He called upon the
Lib/con government to take steps to ensure
that Zimbabwe’s elections next
year are supported to ensure that the people’s
mandate is freely
expressed.
ZAPU officials that included Mr Martin Chinyanga (ZAPU
Shadow MP Makoni
west) Mr Christopher Maphosa, the ZAPU Europe district
chairman took the
opportunity to appraise Mr David Miliband on the current
state of Zimbabwean
politics.
They appraised the former UK Foreign
Secretary on the continued
militarisation of ZAPU strongholds as Zimbabwe
moves towards elections
pencilled in for mid next year.
The ZAPU
Officials were however quick to point out that ZAPU was busy using
its
Diaspora structures to build up capacity in order to make a resounding
showing in the elections next year.
The revived Zapu party,
which announced that it will field candidates in all
constituencies if
elections are held next year is, is likely to pose a
serious threat to
MDC-T’s dominance.
Since its inception in 2000, MDC-T has won the majority of
parliamentary
seats in the southern region but analysts now say the
declaration by Dumiso
Dabengwa’s Zapu that it will contest in all
constituencies could be
worrisome to Tsvangirai because Tsvangirai has not
done much for the region
despite receiving support from Matabeleland, which
they pointed out might
dissuade people against voting for his party.
President Robert Mugabe has
said elections would be held by mid-next year.
–africalegalbrief.com
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
20:56
FLAMBOYANT businessman Philip Chiyangwa yesterday welcomed a new
Harare
City Council probe into how he acquired land in
Harare.
Chiyangwa made the comments in the wake of revelations that the
city council
had not abandoned its investigation into land deals that
occurred when the
city was being run by Zanu PF appointed
commissions.
The businessman and a number of other prominent people were
named into a
report produced by a special committee led by Councillor
Warship Dumba.
The committee alleged that Chiyangwa had entered improper
land deals with
council and recommended his arrest.
However it was
the councillors and mayor Muchadeyi Masunda who ended up in
court after
Chiyangwa launched a criminal defamation suit against them.
After an
acrimonious fight in the newspapers and the courts, Chiyangwa
recently
withdrew charges against the council, leading many to believe that
some
agreement had been reached by the parties that would see the matter
dying a
natural death.
However Masunda told The Standard that the council treated
the criminal
charges and the investigation into Chiyangwa’s land deals as
separate
issues.
“Chiyangwa withdrew charges against us voluntarily.
He was not under duress,
and he did that on his own volition. The criminal
case is closed but the
probe into the circumstances into how he acquired the
land is not,” said
Masunda.
The mayor said in order for Chiyangwa to
see that justice had been done, an
independent panel made of eminent people
such as retired judges and former
town clerks would lead the
investigation.
“We had a committee made up of councillors led by Dumba
but some of the
councillors have made injudicious utterances about the
case,” said Masunda.
“There is no doubt that Chiyangwa will never have
confidence that his case
would be dealt with fairly by the
councillors.”
Chiyangwa yesterday said he welcomed any probe by people
who want to
understand how he acquired land in Harare.
“I am happy
that this time there will be fair-minded people who want to talk
to us
rather than avoid us. I will fully co-operate and show them what
transpired.
I hope Dumba will not be involved in anyway in the committee.”
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
20:36
THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), which is paying senior
executives “obscene” salaries and allowances, could soon collapse if there
is no emergency capital injection into the struggling national broadcaster,
authoritative sources said last week. The sources said ZBC was in serious
financial problems and almost failed to pay workers last
month.
“Ordinary workers at ZBC only got a payment of their salaries last
Saturday
(7 November), two weeks after month-end, after they had threatened
to
demonstrate,” said one worker.
Apart from financial problems, said the
sources, most of the broadcaster’s
transmission equipment and cameras are
obsolete and constantly break down.
The corporation is now heavily
reliant on innovative technicians who
“cannibalise” broken down equipment to
keep the public broadcaster going.
Whenever there is a major outside
broadcasting to be done, it hires Outside
Broadcasting Van (OBV) from
private players.
It usually hires from Zimbabwe
Cricket.
“It (ZBC) has no money,” said one middle level manager.
“This is worsened by
the fact that senior managers are giving themselves too
much in allowances,
salaries and loans.”
The manager said revenue
from advertising dropped by over 60% in recent
months following the hiking
of rates by ZBC in anticipation of increased
revenue
inflows.
Advertisers are shunning the ZBC TV because they are
repulsed by its poor
programming. It still screens, repeatedly, movies, some
of which were shown
in Europe and America more than two decades
ago.
As a result, the majority of Zimbabweans have switched to
alternative
stations such as SABC on wiztech decoders and
DStv.
“People are no longer paying for their licences protesting
against the
archaic programmes,” said another worker. “Now you find a
satellite dish at
almost every house even in the poorest
suburbs.”
He added: “These people are protesting against poor
programmes and the
propaganda that is churned out every
day.”
Financial problems at ZBC come at a time when senior executives
are said to
have awarded themselves loans of up to
US$200 000 each for
the purchase of houses and residential stands.
One of the senior
executives is building his “mansion” in Borrowdale Brooke
in
Harare.
Sources also revealed that some senior managers were getting
as much as
US$20 000 per month inclusive of salary, housing, transport and
entertainment allowances as well as fees for their children and holiday
allowances.
On top of that they also get 1 000 litres of fuel
every month.
This is despite that most reporters earn US$350 per
month inclusive of all
allowances.
The managers drive
top-of-the-range vehicles that leave executives leading
profit-making
entities on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange green with envy.
The
corporation’s chief executive officer Happison Muchechetere drives a
classy
Mercedes Benz, an S350, valued at nearly US$200 000.
Other managers
drive the latest Land cruisers.
This is done, said analysts, to keep
the managers, who are the gatekeepers
of Zanu PF propaganda, happy so that
they can religiously prop up President
Robert Mugabe and his
party.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has on several
occasions accused
ZBC of being politically partisan favouring Mugabe and
Zanu PF.
“Zanu PF, which controls ZBC through the Ministry of
Information, wants to
keep these top guys happy,” said one analyst. “They
are there to push Zanu
PF’s political interests and this is why numerous
allegations of corruption
at Pockets Hills are never pursued to their
conclusion.”
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary-general
Foster Dongozi said
the union was concerned about salary disparities at ZBC.
“Our preliminary
investigations have revealed that managers are well taken
care of while our
members are getting the crumbs.”
Muchechetere
denied that ZBC was broke.
He said late payment of salaries was not
unique to ZBC as some companies
were going for six months without paying
workers.
The ZBC boss claimed that ZBC TV programming was better than
DStv
programmes.
“Our programmes are far much better than those
at DStv,” said Muchechetere,
who however failed to explain why satellites
dishes have suddenly sprouted
in all urban centres and growth
points.
Asked about the huge salaries and perks for managers he said:
“There is no
trace of truth in that. If you write lies about my salary and
allowances I
will sue you. People’s salaries are confidential.” he
said.
Renowned media analyst Bornwell Chakaodza attributed ZBC’s poor
performance
to poor programming and excessive use of offending Zanu PF
propaganda, which
drives away viewers and advertisers.
“It’s
torture to watch ZBC TV,” said Chakaodza, former editor of both The
Standard
and The Herald. “They are not making any money because advertisers
follow
viewers and listeners. As we speak, they don’t have any of the
two.”
Surely, said Chakaodza, people cannot pay for licences to hear
that
President Robert Mugabe is the “Head of State and Government as well as
the
Commander- in-chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF)” every hour of
the
day.
After Mugabe’s chain of “salutations” then come the
“nauseating” Zanu PF
jingles, which are ironically meant to entice voters
ahead of next year’s
elections.
A recent study by University of
Zimbabwe lecturer Nyasha Mboti noted that
the pro-Zanu PF jingles were
further alienating the party from the public.
Dongozi said by
churning out propaganda ZBC is creating a whole generation
unfamiliar with
its culture and history. “The disaster is that they are
unintentionally
promoting cultural imperialism as locals now opt for better
foreign
programmes. ZBC needs rebranding.”
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE AND
SIMBARASHE MANHANGO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:34
BULAWAYO — Retired
police officers and war veterans have been re-called to
take up vacant top
posts in the police force to direct operations during
next year’s elections,
The Standard can reveal.
The re-calling follows the scrapping of this year’s
promotional examinations
for the police force which were scheduled to start
in early November.
Promotional examinations in the police force are held
annually in November
and results are used as the basis for promoting junior
officers to positions
of sergeant up to inspector.
Authoritative sources
in the police force told The Standard last week that
this year’s promotional
examinations that were set to begin on November 6
were scrapped to pave way
for the re-called retired officers and war
veterans to take up vacant
positions.
The examinations were scrap-ped under an order from the office of
the
Commissioner of Police Responsible for Human Resources (Compol HR) prior
to
the start of the annual examinations.
Police officers countrywide were
set to sit for promotional examinations on
the following dates: constable to
sergeant on Saturday November 6, sergeant
to assistant inspector on Saturday
November 13 and assistant inspector to
inspector on Friday November
12.
The cancellation of the examinations has resulted in low morale amongst
low
ranking officers.
“There is low morale among the police because of
this, especially in light
of the fact that the top vacant positions have
been earmarked for retired
police officers and war veterans,” a senior
Bulawayo police officer said.
It could not be independently verified how many
retired officers and war
veterans have been recalled to take up the
posts.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said the
scrapping
of the examinations is a policy issue.
“It’s a policy issue…you
have to get in touch with our headquarters,” Moyo
said on Friday before
referring further questions to his bosses.
Police spokesperson Oliver
Mandipaka said: “It’s a policy issue and we
cannot discuss issues of policy
with you or with the press.”
Asked about the recalling of retired police
officers and war veterans,
Mandipaka said: “That again is not for public
consumption, why is that of
interest to you or the public? Policy issues are
not discussed with the
public.”
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:32
THIS year will
turn out to be a memorable year for the Tonga people in
Zimbabwe, following
the writing of the first Grade Seven Tonga language
paper under the
Provincial Education Office.
This is a pilot run to assess whether the pupils
are ready to sit for a
public examination set and written in their own
language.
If government is satisfied, the examination will be made official
at the
next public examination next year.
It will become the first
minority indigenous language to be written under
the Zimbabwe School
Examination Council.
Since independence minority groups in the country have
been limited to the
two most dominant local languages, Ndebele and Shona, in
the school’s
curriculum.
In an interview Education, Sport, Arts and
Culture minister David Coltart,
blamed his predecessors for taking long to
give recognition to minority
indigenous languages.
“I do not know why it
has taken all these years to get recognition. I have
made the recognition of
marginalised indigenous languages a priority,” said
Coltart.
Early this
year, the ministry of Education, the United Nations Children’s
Fund and
other donors entered into a partnership to procure millions of
textbooks and
stationery kits for schools nationwide.
BY LESLEY MOYO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
20:31
BULAWAYO — A group of war veterans have invaded Balu Estate run by
the
Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda) in Matabeleland North,
looting the farm produce and dairy cattle in the process.
They also let
their livestock graze on a flourishing wheat crop on the
estate.
When The
Standard news crew visited the estate last week over 80 war
veterans were
camped there after allocating themselves pieces of land.
The war veterans,
who call their area Ward 5, said they cannot fail to own
land in their own
country when there was a lot of under-utilised land at the
estate.
During
our visit on Wednesday one Headman Dube was addressing the new
settlers
promising them more land.
He declined to talk to The Standard.
Arda
officials and employees said attempts to evict the war veterans have
failed.
They claimed that the invaders have the backing of Minister of Mines
Obert
Mpofu, who is also the legislator for the area.
“We have failed to evict the
war veterans with the help of the police,” said
an Arda employee who
requested anonymity for fear of victimisation.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:28
WAR
veterans have demanded a meeting with Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
minister, David Coltart, escalating the war of attrition over the Senator’s
statements that Gukurahundi was akin to genocide.
The ex-freedom
fighters, led by Joseph Chinotimba, gave Coltart a seven day
ultimatum which
ended last Thursday, to apologise for his sentiments but the
minister has
refused to budge.
“They asked for the meeting,” Coltart confirmed yesterday.
“I will not
apologise, there is no need to.”
War veterans wrote to
Coltart asking him to apologise or face the full wrath
of former fighters,
who threatened to “invade” his office if he failed to.
“Coltart, your
utterances have automatically invited war veterans to your
office and we are
therefore coming to your office for explanations,” reads
the letter signed
by Chinotimba and war veterans provincial chairman, only
referred to as Cde
Mpofu. “Indeed, you owe us and all Zimbabweans an
apology.”
The war
veterans allege that Coltart was a member of the notorious Selous
Scouts and
therefore was least qualified to speak on the disturbances that
rocked
Matabeleland and Midlands after independence.
Coltart denies having served as
a member of Selous Scout.
“By virtue of your unacceptable background as a
former active member of the
Rhodesian Selous Scout, you are least qualified
to comment on the
Matabeleland post-independence disturbances and the
so-called human rights
violations — which in actual fact do not exist,”
reads part of the letter.
Coltart, the war veterans charged, should be
grateful for the amnesty and
reconciliation he benefited from after
President Robert Mugabe took power in
1980.
“Why are you poking your nose
in matters that concern blacks? Remember there
is an adage which says; if an
owl lives together with chickens (sic), it
does not mean that it is also a
chicken,” the letter continues.
The former freedom fighters also accused
Coltart and Roy Bennett of being
unrepentant, jeopardising the livelihoods
of white commercial farmers that
had remained on farms.
“Your utterances
have given us second thoughts on those white farmers who
are still on our
land. It is crystal clear that some former Rhodies the
likes of Bennett and
yourself are not even apologetic of their unacceptable
background.
“Shame
on you Coltart! We have had enough of your nonsense and we can no
longer
brook in any more (sic),” the letter states.
On his part Coltart said he had
been partly misquoted in the story but
maintained that colonial and
post-colonial human rights abuses should be
addressed.
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:15
The
Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts has declared that barter
trade
and non-cash transactions should be banned as a form of payment at
Government hospitals, saying this was prejudicing the country of much needed
revenue.
Effects of this declaration are likely to be felt in rural areas
where
patients sometimes find it hard to access cash since dollarisation of
the
economy early last year.
Most health institutions are not receiving
adequate funding from the
government and had resorted to accepting food
hampers as payment, with these
in turn used to cater for patients who would
have been admitted.
Shamva, Mvurwi, and Mutawatawa District Hospitals were
fingered as being the
main culprits in engaging in barter trade and
accepting food items as a mode
of payment.
Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare permanent secretary, Gerald Gwinji told
parliamentary portfolio
committee that the system of accepting food stuffs
had been inherited from
mission hospitals at the end of 2008 at a time when
the ministry could no
longer support its institutions.
“In his submission to the committee [he]
highlighted that the practice of
payment of hospital bills in kind came
about in 2008 when communities could
not get or access foreign currency and
as a result offered to pay in kind,”
reads the report.
The report details
public accounts for 2009 after an audit by the
Comptroller General of public
accounts and was tabled before parliament last
month.
It is reported that
Shamva and Mvurwi had devised a standard system of
costing the food stuffs
do the public could not be short changed.
“The food items offered for payment
were mainly maize, beans and in the case
of St Albert, animals,” the report
continues. “The collected food items will
be used for feeding in
patients.”
Despite protestations from provincial health executives that the
practice
was good and benefited both the health institutions and the
patients, the
parliamentary portfolio refused to budge, maintaining that the
practice
should be outlawed.
Other ministries that were fingered in
engaging in barter trade were Energy
and Power Development, Transport,
Communications and Infrastructure
Development and Foreign Affairs.
Since
the advent of the use of multiple currencies, rural populations have
resorted to barter exchange, foreign currency is largely
inaccessible.
This has seen them resorting to barter trade for public
services such as
education, health and transport.
General
hands handle cash
An acute exodus of workers has seen some government
departments employing
general hands to collect cash from customers,
compromising accounting
systems.
The Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare was the most affected, with a
number of hospitals tasking cleaners
and gardeners to handle cash and that
led to the disappearance of various
sums of money.
According to a 2009 report drawn by the public account
committee tabled
before parliament last month, noted that there was a
general laxity in the
handling of public funds in the ministry, with funds
going largely
unaccounted for.
“The committee noted with concern that
there laxity in cash management as
the ministry was entrusting funds in the
hands of unqualified personnel such
as general hands,” reads the report. “As
a result there is no proper trail
of documentation relating to the manner in
which the cash has been
utilised.”
A shortfall in funds was recorded at
Mutoko District Hospital after a
general hand had been put in charge of
handling funds. The situation
replicated itself at Murehwa and Mutawatawa
District Hospitals, where again
cleaners and office orderlies were in charge
of handling cash.
However, the Health Ministry justified itself by claiming
that due to the
shortage of account clerks, the ministry had been given the
green light to
employ general hands to “handle work in the finance section
with close
supervision by medical officers.”
“[The] government should, as
a matter of priority (sic) address the problem
of critical skills in
government as the current situation where general
hands or staff without
requisite skills are tasked to handle jobs which
require highly competent
skills is causing brain drain on the fiscus through
mismanagement,” the
portfolio committee advised.
An audit of funds at government hospitals
revealed rampant corruption and
theft of momey and equipment among others,
as these institutions were
inadequately staffed.
The report also revealed
that money was going unaccounted for, with some
institutions spending
accruing unnecessary expenditure without seeking prior
authorisation.
A
case in point was at Tsholotsho Hospital where R3 441 went missing, with
the
institution claiming that money had been used to purchase a beast for
tuberculosis day celebrations in the district.
“It was alleged that ZAR2
800 was spent on a beast meant for the TB
commemoration day and the
shortfall of ZAR641 was attributed to exchange
losses due to fluctuations in
the South African rand to the United States
dollar,” reads the
reports.
However, the public accounts committee questioned this explanation,
saying
the payments had been made in rand and which meant that the given
reason was
false.
The committee recommended that: “… the ministry
recovers the shortfall and
appropriate disciplinary action be taken on the
officer responsible.”
The committee noted “with grave concern” that there was
rampant
mismanagement of cash in the ministries giving rise to nugatory
expenditure,
misapplication, cash shortfalls and surpluses and expenditure
which was not
properly authenticated due to shortages in critical financial
managements
skills.
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:48
A public
health scientist has called for a chemical study into the quality
of Harare
water, warning cancer cases on the rise in the city could be
related to the
water residents drink everyday.
The water has in the past been blamed for
diarrhea and cholera cases which
peaked in 2008 when the city experienced
its worst health crisis.
That time all the treatment systems had
collapsed following a debilitating
political and economic crisis that
gripped the country.
However the coming in of the inclusive government
and a new council at Town
House headed by Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda saw
increased donor support which
ensured that the shortage of chemicals became
a thing of the past.
But that support did not mean a respite for
residents who continue to endure
days without running water in the capital
city.
The water cuts are attributed to constant pipe bursts and power
cuts.
For the past two weeks, those who were lucky to have full supplies
got
smelly water from their taps.
If left in a container for some
days, the water turned green and emitted a
putrid smell that rivaled that of
sewage.
Fungai Makoni, the research manager with the Institute of Water
and
Sanitation Development in Harare warned that the smell signaled that
there
was something wrong with the quality of water from the taps.
He
warned that even though chemicals were plenty, a corrupted water
distribution network could contaminate the water that had been adequately
purified.
He warned of health complications that could arise from
drinking
contaminated water.
Among these were rising cancer
cases.
“The increase in cancerous cases among children could be related
to water,”
said Makoni last week.
“The increase in deformities in
children should also be seen as a red flag.
“If you look at these cases,
it means that there is something that people
have been ingesting for a long
time which has affected their genetic
systems.”
Makoni said he also
feared an outbreak of cryptosporidium. The disease,
which is little known in
Zimbabwe, is a gastro-intestinal disease whose
primary symptom is
diarrhea.
Cryptosporidium which is shed through human waste, hits hardest
those with
low immune systems and can kill. In children it can result in
stunted
growth.
Makoni said a study into water from Lake Chivero
which is heavily polluted
by industrial waste and raw sewage was essential
to determine the safety
levels of the city water.
The public health
specialist made his comments at a time when residents were
increasingly
raising their concerns over the smelly water that has been
coming out of the
taps.
Over the past two weeks, Harare residents who cannot afford bottled
water
were distressed by the water they had to drink which smelt like
sewage.
Mayor Masunda on Friday said the city would investigate the cause
of the
smelly water.
He referred The Standard to Engineer Christopher
Zvobgo who at the time of
going to the press, could not be reached for
comment.
ENDS///
When water turns
green
HARARE residents have many stories to tell about the
quality of the water
they drink in the city.
An Arcadia resident,
Grace Mautama who stored the precious liquid in 20
litre container in the
balcony of her flat recently was shocked to discover
that the water had
turned green.
She wondered: “How on earth can treated water change colour
as if it’s a
chamelon?”
Water experts who spoke to The Standard last
week explained what caused
water to change colour.
“If you see the
water turning green, that means that there are some
nutrients in the water.
Once you put it in the sunlight, algae will grow,”
said Ngoni Mudege, a
water and sanitation specialist.
“We do not want algae in our water. It
affects taste and the desire of the
people to use treated water,” he
said.
He said it was possible that the nutrients were introduced during
transmission network where pipes frequently bursts.
He said the
city’s failure to pump water continuously had compromised the
quality of
water.
Underground water could also get into leaking pipes when there is
low
pressure, he said, thereby introducing untreated water in the
pipes.
Mudege however warned residents against drawing water from
alternative
sources such as wells.
“Harare water may be better than
these sources. What residents need to do is
carry out secondary
purification. They should either boil or put chlorine
tablets or bleaching
powder in their water.
Drinking bath water
HARARE
residents are drinking water from their bathrooms.
That is the verdict of
public health experts who spoke to The Standard last
week.
Unlike
other cities, Harare sits on its catchment area, meaning that all the
industrial waste and sewage ends up in the main source of water in the
city – Lake Chivero.
What this means is that water is highly polluted
by carbon content which is
mostly from sewer, nitrogen and phosphorous
coming from industries. No
wonder water hyacinth is
thrives.
BY WALTER MARWIZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:46
WHEN
Temba Mliswa was arrested earlier this year it was expected that his
case
would bring to the fore the massive looting of commercial farms by
senior
Zanu-PF members, but these expectations have all but crumbled in
spectacular
fashion.
In his initial appearances in court, the controversial businessman
dramatically revealed that some of the generators he had allegedly looted
had been sold to army commander Constantine Chiwenga and Zanu PF Member of
Parliament for Goromonzi North Paddy Zhanda. He also alleged he had sold a
third to Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri.
Deepening the
mystery was the fact that once Mliswa had been arrested
ministers Didymus
Mutasa and Theresa Makone launched an unprecedented search
for him,
eventually finding him at Matapi police station. The two ministers
were
accused of trying to defeat the course of justice although no charges
were
brought against them.
Expectations were that this was the beginning of a
domino effect where more
Zanu PF bigwigs and securocrats would start being
named and would fall on
their swords, but this has been far from it: the
case has all but fizzled
out into an anti-climax.
Mliswa was accused of
looting from white commercial farmers and amassing a
lot of wealth in the
process.
Along with thousands of other besieged farmers across Zimbabwe, Mike
Jahme
should have been closely watching the trial of the Zanu PF-linked
businessman accused of stealing and selling US$50-million of farm
equipment.
Recently Jahme's tea and avocado farm in eastern Zimbabwe was
overrun by
gangs loyal to a local government official, who carried off some
of his
equipment.
With a bit of luck, the Mliswa case was going to open a
Pandora’s Box and
maybe stem the violent looting on white owned farms.
As
a consequence of Zimbabwe's “land reform” programme, many displaced
farmers
have been forced to flee with nothing more than the clothes on their
backs,
leaving behind infrastructure accumulated over generations.
Farmers, hopeful
of a change of policy, were hoping the Mliswa trial would
trigger a wider
probe into how thousands of farms were looted. But the trial
has all the
hallmarks of an internal Zanu-PF dogfight.
Mliswa’s troubles began when he
allegedly tried to grab a controlling
shareholding in a Harare company under
the guise of empowerment laws. But
the country’s top cop, Chihuri, a
powerful ally of President Robert Mugabe,
reportedly had interests in the
firm too.
Days later, Mliswa found himself facing a litany of charges, dating
back
many years, detailing how he had led the looting of farms.
It was
hoped that his trial would become a goldmine of details about how
Zanu-PF
officials, under the cover of land reform, systematically stripped
farms of
assets that they either sold for profit or carried off to their own
farms.
In court, Mliswa revealed he had sold some of the equipment to the
police
commissioner himself, and to other prominent figures, among them
Chiwenga.
The trial coincided with what many regarded as a purely pyrrhic
victory for
white farmers, with no practical implications for Zimbabwe, at
the Southern
African Development Community Tribunal in Namibia.
Recently,
the tribunal ruled for a third time, that the Zimbabwe government
is in
defiance of a court order that protects white farmers.
Zimbabwe's Justice
minister Patrick Chinamasa commented on the ruling saying
the court actions
would give the farmers “propaganda” victories, but would
do nothing to
recover their farms.
Charles Taffs of Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union,
which represents
mainly white farmers, said: “What we have witnessed over
the past 10 years
is that beneficiaries [of land seizures] have come on to
farms and
asset-stripped them, leaving absolutely nothing.”
Mugabe has
always cloaked land reforms in struggle dogma, arguing takeovers
were meant
to end a century of white control of the country's best land. But
the
exercise has long been taken over by criminal gangs, many of them tied
to
top officials, who move from farm to farm ransacking houses and looting
equipment.
The latest victims were the Jahmes, whose Silverstone Estate
had 65 hectares
under tea and 22 000 avocado trees. Youths recently invaded
the farm,
assaulted the owners and made off with equipment.
“While we
were barricaded in the main office we could hear the sounds of
breaking wood
and glass and general vandalism going on around the house and
outbuildings,”
Jahme said after the attack.
He had been due to export 250 tonnes of avocados
to South Africa’s
Westfalia.
The Mliswa trial has shown the contrast
between the dire impact the land
seizures have had on the economy, and the
easy millions made by a select
few.
Farm lootings have a long history and
are endemic to Zanu PF’s warped
empowerment programmes. Last year, an
official report named five of Mugabe's
ministers as having looted assets
from the Kondozi Estate, once one of
Zimbabwe’s largest fresh-produce
exporters. No action was taken.
Mutasa, who was prominent in the Mliswa case,
together with four other
ministers were fingered in the looting of Kondozi,
with the Attorney-General
ordering them to return what they had allegedly
stolen.
Mutasa, then National Security minister, Joseph Made (Agriculture),
Christopher Mushohwe then Transport minister, former Water Infrastructure
Development minister Munacho Mutezo and former Manicaland governor Mike
Nyambuya were last year accused of looting Kondozi.
Kondozi, a
once-thriving horticultural concern in Manicaland, now lies in
ruins after
most of the equipment was removed, paralysing operations.
The looted
equipment includes 48 tractors, four Scania trucks, five UD
trucks, several
T35 trucks and 26 motorbikes. Several tonnes of fertilisers
and chemicals
were also lost.
Theresa Makone, upon her appointment to the Home Affairs
portfolio as
co-minister said she would instruct police to prosecute alleged
Zanu PF
looters, saying she had an incriminating dossier with
her.
Examples from the dossier reportedly show how other Zanu PF big wigs had
no
regard for the rule of law, wantonly defying court orders.
Brigadier
Justin Itayi Mujaji reportedly has ignored six High Court orders
to vacate
Korori Farm in Rusape.
He also ignored a letter from the then Manicaland
governor Tinaye Chigudu,
reminding him that the late Vice-President Joseph
Msika had endorsed Charles
Lock’s stay on the farm. Mujaji had used national
army soldiers to
physically evict Lock from the farm and police have said
they are powerless
to enforce court orders, including a warrant of arrest,
on the brigadier.
A Harare lawyer David Drury said he was dealing with more
than 600 cases
involving white farmers who lost property to Zanu PF
officials and army
generals.
Commenting on the Mliswa case Drury was
cautiously optimistic saying “my
first reaction is that miracles happen.
It’s taken 10 years for somebody to
bring to account the looting. It remains
to be seen whether the development
bears any fruition into court prosecution
in regard to these individuals.”
Drury said he doubted the dossier which the
Home Affairs co-minister had was
a complete record of all the looting that
had gone on saying it was “just a
tip of the iceberg. The amount of looting
over 10 years is enormous.” Drury’s
clients were victims of Mliswa’s alleged
looting but he said the case was
dropped four years ago.
“I got a call
from a policeman saying could I dig up my dusty file from my
office and I
said sure,” Drury is reported to have said at the onset of
Mliswa’s
trial.
Commercial Farmers Union president David Theron, gave some examples of
the
looting that took place on white owned farms.
Major-General Nicholas
Dube, who allegedly looted property from Chipinge
farmers Michael Odendaal
and Michael Jahme and also allegedly harassed Paul
Stibulph in
Karoi.
Stibulph allegedly lost farm equipment, tobacco and soya bean crop
worth
US$900 000 to Dube.
While the Mliswa case was expected to rock the
boat and trigger prosecutions
into farm looting, this expectation and
interest in the case is fast fading.
Nqaba Matshazi
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
19:44
MUNASHE Chikuvanyanga (15), a grade six pupil at King George IV
Children
Centre in Bulawayo’s Ascot suburb, can neither walk properly nor
use his
hands effectively.
He also does not have a wheelchair to aid
mobility.
Since his hands are “weak”, Munashe, a first born in a family of
three, uses
his feet for both eating and writing.
“My life is very
difficult and so unbearable,” he said. “I am not able to
walk properly and I
am not even able to play with friends as they will be
moving around.”
“A
wheelchair would make life so much easier for me because l would be able
to
move around just like any other kids.”
King George IV is a special school for
the disabled with an enrolment of 289
students. However, the majority of the
children are in need of wheelchairs
and are also struggling to pay schools
fees.
Munashe’s parents are among those battling to raise school fees at the
beginning of every term.
His father is a teacher by profession and like
most civil servants, who
earning on average US$175 a month, meeting
Munashe’s daily needs is a
mammoth task.
“We pay US$200 per term and
US$45 tuition and in most cases my parents face
a tough time in paying these
fees,” Munashe said.
Munashe is one of the hundreds of children with
disabilities who are facing
many difficulties to attain education. One of
Munashe’s teachers, Tyson
Chimonero, confirmed that a lot of parents of
children with disabilities
were facing challenges in raising fees.
He
said a lot of children with disabilities did not attend school, making
their
future look very bleak.
“Most parents are failing to pay fees for their
children as most of them
come from poor families and it’s not easy for them
to raise the money,” said
Chimonero.
“If these children are given an
opportunity to learn they will excel as some
of them are more intelligent
than able bodied children,”said Chimonero, who
added that most of them
cannot afford buying school uniforms or decent food.
He called on government
to intervene by providing resources to ensure that
the disabled children are
not further disadvantaged.
Chimonero also urged parents with children with
disabilities to desist from
hiding them.
“Some parents with disabled
children make sure that the community does not
know that they have disabled
children,” said Chimonero. “A disabled child is
often hidden and does not
get the chance to interact with other children.”
He added: “These children
are being abused and there is no one to raise
their concerns. As a nation we
need to understand that these children have
the right to education, shelter
and every other right entitled to
able-bodied children.”
The school music
teacher Prudence Mabhena, whose life story was told in a
documentary that
won an Oscar award recently, said that all people are equal
and they must be
treated the same.
“Everyone was born with disabilities, the only difference
is that some are
hidden and some are not and therefore there is no need for
people to look
down upon people with disabilities,” she said.
Mabhena
said nothing can stop a disabled person from excelling in life. She
was
however quick to point out that discriminating against disabled people
was
still rife in communities and workplaces.
“When job hunting, the moment the
manager notices that you are in a
wheelchair, he will not even look at your
CV and automatically rules you
out, which is very cruel, we need to be given
the chance,” she said.
She said many buildings were not accessible to people
with disabilities
making their lives very difficult.
BY
INDIANA CHIRARA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:32
THE mining
industry’s expenditure on local supplies is set to hit
US$300-million in
2010.
This would be double last year’s figures in a move likely to breathe a
new
lease of life to suppliers choked by the 2008 hyperinflation
period.
The Chamber of Mines is pushing mining houses to secure their
supplies
locally under the theme “Empowerment through local procurement in
the mining
sector”.
If successful, this could create employment and
reverse the current trend in
which over 60% of mining houses supplies are
foreign.
Victor Gapare, Chamber of Mines president told purchasers and
suppliers at a
joint Indaba on Tuesday local suppliers should take a leading
role to
benefit from the multiplier effect of such a huge spending.
“The
mining industry spent on local suppliers in 2009 amounted to a mere
US$150-million. The amount is projected to double to US$300-million in
2010,” Gapare said.
“The multiplier effect of the above spending would
be materially higher if
the economy reduces its dependency on imports and
this ratio is currently in
excess of 60%. At present, much of the multiplier
benefits flow out to other
countries due to the high import dependence
levels of our country.”
The mining industry requires between US$3-billion to
US$5-billion in
recapitalisation and Gapare said local suppliers should gear
themselves to
be in pole position out of this spending.
Suppliers said
the big mines were using stringent requirements meant to bar
local suppliers
and hence favour foreigners.
They were of the view that mining houses should
capacitate local suppliers.
Mining houses however said they were not against
local supplies but wanted
quality goods at competitive prices.
John
Musekiwa, Zimasco general manager (finance) told stakeholders at the
meeting
the mining house prefers local suppliers “provided the price is
competitive,
quality is good and delivery is good”.
He said they are price-takers and as
such the mining house has to contain
costs to remain viably.
“It takes 1,
5 months for our product to get to the customer and another 1,5
to two
months to be paid,” he said.
Otis Rumumba, Hwange purchasing manager said
since dollarisation, the coal
and coke miner has been giving local suppliers
90% of the purchases but said
Zimbabwean suppliers must go into
manufacturing as opposed to the current
trend of commodity
broking.
Gapare said the economy is on a growth path hoping it can be
sustained,
driven by favourable prices on the international market and an
improvement
in the investment climate.
The mining sector is capital
intensive with a long gestation period and the
funding is not available
locally.
A number of mining houses have announced expansion programmes to
capitalise
on the firming prices on the world markets as demand returns
after the 2008
global financial crisis. Rio Zim, Mimosa, Hwange and
Zimplats, among others
have announced expansion programmes to ramp up
production.
Despite the expected contribution of the mining sector to
economic recovery,
concern has been raised over the sector’s meager
contribution to the fiscus.
The sector argues that “various exchange
regulations in the past saw mining
companies granted limited access to their
export revenue, much of which was
being redeemed in local currency at
overvalued exchange rates in a
hyperinflationary environment”.
“The era
of foreign exchange surrender requirements resulted in huge losses
for the
sector, ultimately bringing companies down to their knees when world
commodity prices fell in 2008. To date, the gold bonds forcibly drawn in
2008, have not been redeemed and in fact, were unilaterally rolled over up
to February 2011,” wrote Gapare in the chamber’s journal of August to
October.
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:31
THE
Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) says significant
progress
has been made on negotiations with a Chinese bank to take up
significant
shareholding in the institution and is also talking to existing
shareholders
to snap up government’s shareholding.
China Development Bank (CDB) through
its investment arm, the China Africa
Development Fund was granted permission
by the Minister of Finance, Tendai
Biti to acquire a significant
shareholding in IDBZ and inject fresh capital
into the
institution.
Charles Chikaura, IDBZ chief executive officer told
Standardbusiness that
apart from talking to the CDC arm, the bank had
engaged its current minority
shareholders — European Investment Bank,
African Development Bank, DEG,
FinnFund and FMO — to resume their support
for the Bank and increase their
shareholding.
“This is likely to be
achieved through a dilution of government’s
shareholding which currently
stands at 85%. Government has indicated its
willingness to allow fresh
injection of capital into the bank to strengthen
its balance sheet and
capacity to mobilise resources for investment in
infrastructure
development,” Chikaura said.
Government has taken a deliberate move to
dispose of its shareholding in
companies which it wholly owns or controls
but the programme is rolling out
at a much slower pace than
anticipated.
Biti told a parliamentary portfolio committee on budget last
month that
there was a phobia in government about privatisation.
Biti
said he had directed IDBZ and Agribank to look for suiters.
“At the ministry
of Finance we control Agribank, IDBZ and we have said to
the guys; look for
suiters...they have been looking for suiters. If they
find them we will take
that to cabinet and say look, lets get rid of the
shareholding,” he
said.
IDBZ was set by government as a vehicle for the mobilisation of
infrastructure development resources in Zimbabwe, with finance from both
domestic and international sources.
The Bank’s mandate is to mobilise
financial and technical resources of
appropriate duration and cost for
public and private institutions involved
in infrastructure development and
to facilitate investment in
infrastructure.
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:28
MOZAMBIQUE
has taken over a large share of trade and investment with South
Africa over
the past years owing to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis which
suffocated exports,
a cabinet minister said last week.
Officially welcoming a delegation of
business executives from South Africa,
Tapiwa Mashakada, Minister of
Economic Planning and Investment Promotion
said Zimbabwe wants to reclaim
its position as South Africa’s largest
regional trading partner.
The
delegation was in the country to explore business opportunities. “In
recent
years, South Africa has been more involved in trade and investment
deals
with Mozambique. We intend to reclaim our position over Mozambique,”
Mashakada said.
South Africa has emerged as the main trading partner for
Mozambique and the
main source of the latter’s foreign direct
investment.
Total exports from South Africa to Mozambique consisting of
manufactured
goods, petroleum, motor vehicles and consumer goods were valued
at R13
billion (about US$1,8 billion) in 2009 while imports from Mozambique
were
worth R3 billion (about US$430 million) during the same
period.
Zimbabwe and South Africa signed and ratified a Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreement last year as part of efforts to boost
trade and investment between the countries.
Mashakada said there was need
to grow investment and trade links between
Zimbabwe and South Africa
although he conceded that the country still had to
redress some critical
trade aspects.
“Zimbabwe’s economy was operating at a paltry 10% of its
capacity which
meant that we could not generate sufficient exports for South
Africa’s
market. However, we now have adequate purchasing power parity and
boast a
modicum of economic stability,” he said.
The visiting South
African delegation was made up of about 40 business
executives with
interests in the agro-industry, mining, electrical and
information
technology sectors, among others.
Mashakada told the delegation that the
economy is expected to grow by 8%
this year buoyed by a strong recovery in
the mining and agricultural sectors
while the cash budgeting system will do
away with recurrent budget deficits.
However, Mashakada in a separate
interview pointed out that the present
modicum of economic stability would
only last as long as there was goodwill
by all parties concerned, including
government.
“The previous violations of Bippas relate to the land reform
policy and
property rights issues. The compensation aspect of the land
acquisition
policy has been the bone of contention,” he said.
“German and
Dutch Bippas among others have been violated in the past with
regard to lack
of compensation because the government was insolvent,” he
said.
Mashakada
said the Indigenisation Act was not unique to Zimbabwe and was not
tantamount to assets grabbing.
“The regulations are very clear. There is
no ambiguity. It is debatable
whether the act is good or bad but investors
must know that it is not
tantamount to grabbing of private assets or
nationalisation,”he said.
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
19:43
Zanu PF is preparing for its annual conference which, this year,
will be
held in the eastern border city of Mutare. Nothing much will be
expected
from the conference. The party will again misuse another chance to
renew
itself.
The leadership will remain the same and its policies too.
With an election
pencilled in for next year the party will go for its
trademark populism much
to the detriment of national economic development.
The song this time around
will be indigenisation. This is seen as the trump
card that will win the
poll for Zanu PF, much as land reform won it for them
in the past decade.
So, the holding of the conference itself is not an issue
for political
observers and analysts. But Zanu PF is broke and that is a
reason to worry.
Observers are worried with the unsavoury ways in which the
party is raising
money to finance the talk-shop. Businesses that have
benefited from the
party’s indigenisation policies have been the prime
targets; they are being
coaxed to contribute huge sums of money to their
“benefactor”.
Some may argue that’s fine; these beneficiaries are simply
rendering unto
Caesar what is Caesar’s.
After all, by accepting Zanu PF
largesse they have made themselves complicit
in the party’s policies and the
way it operates.
But what is very worrisome is how the party has descended on
the rural poor.
These subsistence farmers, most of them living in arid and
semi-arid
regions, survive on less than US$1 a day. The past few seasons
have been hit
by drought, so little cropping has happened. To survive they
have to barter
their livestock, or what remains of it for food.
They have
children to feed and to send to school. But the predatory Zanu PF
has
descended upon them demanding its pound of flesh: US$2 per adult.
When will
there be an end to the suffering of these, the wretched of the
earth?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010 19:41
The
subject of unity is one that has been talked about so much as to be in
danger of becoming a cliché, but it remains a subject that gets more
relevant with each passing day, especially so in the case of present-day
Zimbabwe.
We should all know that old saying which goes “a house divided
will never
stand”. Divisions at any level of our human interactions have
been seen to
serve only one purpose, to bring chaos and unnecessary human
suffering. Look
for instance at what divisions did to our East African
brothers and sisters
in Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.
In Somalia
alone, fighting and drought plunged the country into the worst
kind of
starvation and records show that the strife claimed over
300 000 lives,
mostly children.
Most people have argued that it wasn’t the drought that
caused the mass
starvation but war that was the true plague.
To be able
to achieve anything worthwhile, for the good of everyone in
Zimbabwe, we
definitely need to set aside our tempered differences to become
one people,
bound by a shared national unity.
More than any humanitarian aid that we
might ever hope to receive, peace and
unity are the surest harbingers of
relief.
Isn’t it about time we put aside our tribal, racial, religious and
maybe
most importantly, our political differences seeing how the
never-ending
conflicts have done nothing but bring our once prosperous
nation to near
ruin?
“When elephants fight, the grass gets hurt,” one
African adage puts it.
While our men and women in government, whose mandate
should be to ensure
development and the general wellbeing of the masses,
continue to play
cat-and-mouse games, the ordinary Zimbabweans will continue
to suffer and
unnecessarily at that. Quite a majority of people in our
country, especially
the folk that have spent most of their lives in either
rural or farm
settings, cannot quite grasp the whole concept of politics or
how a
government should be run. One certain thing though, they are
entrusting
their lives in the hands of those that hold the reins. These same
people,
despite their lack of general knowledge of goings-on, have basic
human needs
like everyone else and require better livelihoods.
For
Zimbabwe to achieve any real democracy, an element that should see us
finally rising as a nation, we need to start building constructive
relationships placing great value on peaceful conflict resolution
methods.
One Zimbabwean source defined peace as, “the process of breaking
down the
barriers that block our way towards a good society, as well as
building
bridges of trust across the divides between people”.
True peace
can only be experienced if we do away with discriminatory
tendencies,
constant negative criticism of each other and embrace
constructive
communication and clearly defined roles, with decisions reached
through a
consultative process.
Unfortunately, we have some individuals who seem to
have serious
misconceptions about power as they see it as a source used to
acquire
control. Such kind of power is bound to be destructive as it
normally
culminates in such unfavourable and uncouth tendencies as bribery
and
intimidation. What the perpetrator is unaware of is how truly positive
results can only really be achieved by winning people’s respect first, then
their hearts, through the amazing power of persuasion.
Only when we all
get on the same page can the situation in our country get
better, for all
Zimbabweans and not just an elite minority as is the
present state of
affairs. We need to understand that a win-win situation is
quite possible,
but only when and if we come together, put our petty
differences aside and
look at the bigger picture.
It really isn’t about this or that political
party that runs the show but
about Zimbabwe and changing the plight of the
ordinary citizens for the
better. People are looking up to those people that
make up the government to
observe integrity and honour as they handle state
affairs. It would be a
shame if we were to go back to the 2008 poverty
scenario.
The income generated from the sale of the country’s resources
should be
projected towards elevating the general population’s
livelihoods.
Chipo Masara
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
19:40
Many readers said I got it wrong last week when I said poor people
are
referred to as hares (tsuro or shuro) in Shona. They pointed out that
Hare
was the hero in Shona folklore; just read Charles Mungoshi’s Stories
from a
Shona Childhood. Hare is the cleverest little bastard on the veld; so
when
President Mugabe referred to Phillip Chiyangwa as Tsuro Magen’a (Clever
Hare) many years ago at the Zanu PF annual national conference held in
Masvingo, it was more like a compliment than a reprimand. The president must
have been overawed by his nephew’s cleverness in acquiring
wealth!
Readers said a poor man, particularly a poor Zezuru man, is referred
to as a
lizard (dzvinyu) because the reptile doesn’t even have anything to
cover its
skin. I don’t see why these people think that lizards should be
covered with
feathers or hair instead of the scales they have. So, to insult
a Shona man,
say “Uri dzvinyu risina kana mbava. (You’re a lizard because
you don’t have
even a single feather!”
Indeed Chiyangwa’s phenomenal
wealth is remarkable considering that he
started out as a vegetable vendor,
what the Zezuru would have called a
lizard! Now he is, as they say in street
lingo, a “bhoziwero” meaning he is
now perched at the apex of the food
chain!
With time some words change their meanings. Some, which were
originally
negative, begin to assume positive connotations. The process is
called
amelioration; its opposite is called pejoration. Tsuro’s so-called
cleverness was in fact deceit and was deplorable. Tsuro in Shona folklore
uses deceit to win arguments, to cheat other animals out of their food and
generally to have them ensnared by their enemies. This was all ignoble but
humans began to see the little fella’s antics as fair game.
There was a
time in Zimbabwe when we hated corruption because it was deceit.
Most of our
newly-rich acquired their wealth through deceit. At first, to
ordinary
Zimbabweans, their wealth stunk because it was acquired at their
own
expense. But along the way something sinister happened: as our economy
itself rotted away as well-connected people hacked it of its wealth for
their own personal enrichment, it was a signal that everyone had to do the
same.
The word corruption has been laundered clean; it is now called
indigenisation or black economic empowerment. There is a whole ministry to
superintend it. Those involved grease each other’s palms, they give each
other lucrative tenders in the middle of the night, they strip assets from
farms they invade and solicit mafia-style protection fees from foreign
businesspeople.
The South Africans have coined a great word for it. They
are referred to as
tenderpreneurs. These are people who have made their
money through
corruption, stolen Reconstruction and Development Programme
money, shady
deals, government money wasted, arms deals, failed housing
projects and so
on. In Zimbabwe this has been perfected by the addition of
dubious mining
tenders and the looting and smuggling of our precious
minerals, mainly
diamonds and gold. There are also organised syndicates that
poach our rare
animals such as rhinos and smuggle their horns, pelts and
trophies to
lucrative but evil markets abroad.
So, it came to pass that
those who thought they could make their money
through honest work began to
be viewed as dunces. Those who made their money
through deceit have become
heroes; hence Tsuro became a hero in lore.
Zimbabweans are generally not
repulsed by the lifestyles of the newly-rich,
instead they envy them. They
envy the flashy cars and the little hotels
these rich people have put up and
call their homes. Young men drool at the
way these “bhoziweros” have easy
ways with women. Young women die to be seen
hanging out with them too.
It
is now very difficult to convince the ordinary Zimbabwean that there is
anything wrong with corruption especially when we consider that the most
corrupt individuals are to be found in the corridors of power.
When
corruption permeates the corridors of power it becomes entrenched and
no one
is willing to fight it as everyone becomes a beneficiary.
President Mugabe
has been very passionate about a lot of things but has said
very little
against corruption. He is known the world-over for his
passionate words
against neo-colonialism. He is world-renowned for his
obsessive hatred of
the West. He is fanatical about his land reform
programme but against
corruption he has been lacklustre.
In February 2004 he said his government
would weed out corrupt leaders and
businesspeople who were bent on amassing
wealth through corrupt means.
In an interview with Newsnet on the eve of his
80th birthday he said: “Over
time we have, I think, wittingly or unwittingly
nursed a situation where
people have resorted to bad methods or shall I call
it devilish methods of
wanting to earn incomes ... by all kinds of
corruption and this is now the
main fight we are waging.”
Three months
later he told a gathering of traditional leaders at the Great
Zimbabwe
Monument that there was an ongoing blitz to rid the country of
corruption
which was unstoppable. “The creation of the Anti-Corruption and
Anti-Monopolies Commission will strengthen this drive in liaison with the
police.” That was the last time we had him speak against corruption.
But
it turned out the blitz was targeted at a small group of enterprising
young
businesspeople who had managed to build respectable business through
their
own toil and sweat. They were soon enough hounded out of the country
for
allegedly breaching dubious laws.
Mugabe named James Makamba as one of the
bad businesspeople: “But you have
huge characters, people who have had it,
you know, who are used to cheating
and corruption. They have been nursed in
the system, the Tiny Rowland
products like the Makambas.”
Now a short six
years later these businesspeople have been de-specified
meaning they have
been exonerated of any wrongdoing. The big fish were never
named; they are
known but remain free continuing in their iniquitous paths.
Mugabe’s failure
to stamp out corruption will be the greatest weakness of
his
leadership.
Nevanji Madanhire
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 November 2010
19:39
To all intents and purposes, one is compelled to agree with all
those who
think that lack of funding will hamper the attainment of the
Millennium
Development Goals.
This is more so in terms of Zimbabwe’s
education and its relevance to the
reduction of poverty and rolling out of
sustainable development in the
country.
The reason is our education has
become too elitist and commercial as a
result of increased privatisation and
lack of funding plus absence of
political will to increase accessibility for
traditionally marginalised
sectors of our society. Notably though, this has
ultimate benefit to a
dictatorship with respect to oppression by the weapon
of ignorance and
enlisting of desperate, unemployed youths in the oppressive
apparatus.
The IMF has advised the Zimbabwe Treasury ahead of the 2011 Budget
that
there is need, even within the constrained financial space of
US$2,5
billion to increase financial allocation to social services; whose
deterioration has been as a result of economic structural adjustment
programmes, which were prescribed for Zimbabwe by the same Bretton Woods
institutions. These social services include education. The hypocrisy of the
Bretton Woods Institutions is to the effect that they do not want to cancel
Zimbabwe’s public debt.
The servicing of this external debt, which is set
to have risen to US$7,6
billion by December 2010 has caused the reduction of
government subsidies
to the social services sectors like health, transport
and indeed education.
The domestic debt for Zimbabwe is set to have
increased by
US$1 billion by the end of year.
The combined debt and its
effect are some of the major hindrances to the
opening up of learning
institutions to school-going youths from all walks of
life. This reality is
explained in the generic view that the combined debt
implies every
Zimbabwean, whether aware of it or not, and including
school-going youths
owe US$250,03 each which is being serviced at their
expense.
These
school-going youths as in the case of university and college students,
are
already in direct debt to their learning institutions which is in the
form
of tuition fees arrears. Equally, some elementary schools have resorted
to
annexing the property of parents as a way of enforcing payments.
This is ap-
art from the fact that most of these students are faced with
formidable
indirect costs some of which emanate from lack of funding for
basic social
services at a national scale; for example, lack of
accommodation, food and
transport at most universities across the country.
The other obstacle to
educational accessibility is the trend of public
budgeting and lack of
public finance accountability in Zimbabwe. Finance
minister, Tendai Biti, in
his Mid-term Fiscal Policy Review, promised to
deal with the issue of
accountability through operationalising the Public
Finance Management Act.
There is yet another area of accountability which
has to do with the
management of the finances of public universities and
colleges and
rationalisation of their administrative costs.
In any case, it remains to be
seen whether the Finance ministry heeded our
calls to increase budgetary
allocation for education in 2011, failure of
which will not be acceptable to
the students’ community, all concerned
workers’ unions and people, seeing
the continued marginalisation of
school-going youths from worker and peasant
backgrounds.
Vivid Gwede is ZINASU National Secretary
General
vgwede@yahoo.com
If the British government has any strategy to ensure that the
promised elections in
The Chatham House rule, under which remarks are not attributed, was
lifted for the occasion. There was no need: Chair Robin Niblett summed the
speakers up as tiptoeing and cautious.
There was nothing that wasn’t diplomat-speak except, perhaps, the
observation by the Ambassador that he had little doubt that most of the high
grade diamonds from Marange were ‘going out of the back door’. But that’s pretty
obvious.
Apart from that, no one – including the third member of the panel
Zimbabwean academic Knox Chitiyo – had anything to say except blithe platitudes: the unity government is
making a difference, the economy is looking up, violence is down. In fact, there
has been ‘remarkable progress’, according to Her Majesty’s Ambassador – though
he admitted that the 80 – 90% of people unemployed might not
notice.
The panel was asked by Geoff Hill of
the Washington Times whether there could be an election or hand-over of power
given Zanu-PF's control of the police, army, CIO and youth militia. The
Ambassador dodged it by saying he didn't know when the election would take place
. . . .
Minister Bellingham, who had spoken of an improvement in the human
rights situation, was stung to say that the
It was, all in all, a chilling experience of backslapping hypocrisy.
Diplomacy used to be defined as being sent abroad to lie for your country. Now you only have to go to Chatham House in
Further light on the meeting was cast when we learnt that an honoured
guest was Zanu-PF’s Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi, in
Other
points
· Not only should Zimbabweans in the
UK be sent back home but, according to a Conservative Party legislator, Mugabe
should be allowed to take their place and be given honourable retirement in
Britain! (For he’s a jolly good fellow . . . .)
· Good to hear again from embattled
Zimbabwean farmer
· We shared a cake to celebrate the
birthday of Josephine Zhuga our front table lady.
· Many thanks to Audrey Marere who
brought us a new tablecloth for our front table – we are now much smarter.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page
of our website.
FOR THE RECORD: 146
signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
· The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
· Talk about the situation in
· ROHR
· ROHR
· ROHR
· ROHR
· ROHR
· Launch of ZimVigil TV website.
Friday 26th November. Thanks to Dr Tim Rusike of ZBN News who is
setting up a new website: www.zimvigiltv.com in gratitude to the
Vigil for allowing him to work at the Vigil to develop ZBN News. The website will be managed by a team
selected by the Vigil and will have space for videos, picture gallery, community
area and blog.
· ROHR
· Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
· Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
· ‘Through the Darkness’, Judith
Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.
To
receive a copy by post in the UK please email confirmation of your order and
postal address to ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk
and
send a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners
Close, Burgess Hill,
· Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact
the co-ordinator
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
BILL WATCH
47/2010
[13th November 2010]
The House of Assembly will sit again on Tuesday 16th
November
The Senate has adjourned until 8th February
Singing
Senators “Named”
Senate
President Ednah Madzongwe on Wednesday formally “named” 18 noisily protesting
MDC-T Senators for disregarding the authority of the Chair and persistently and
wilfully disrupting the business of the Senate. Under Senate Standing Orders 78
and 79 this means that when the Senate next meets they could be suspended for
four sitting days.
A curious
aspect of the whole incident was that it was a person objected to by the MDC-T
Senators as a “stranger” who proposed the motion that the Senate should be
adjourned to 8th February.
Hopefully,
the issue of the provincial governors which caused the protest that resulted in the adjournment of the Senate
will be resolved soon and the Senate will be recalled, as there is a great deal
of Parliamentary business to get through before the end of the year. The
previous session of Parliament achieved very little [see Bill Watch 30/2010
of 31st July]. So far only two fast-tracked money bills have been deal with
since this new session opened in July.
Electoral Amendment Bill
The Electoral Amendment Bill has still not been cleared by Cabinet.
In Parliament Last Week
The House of Assembly sat on Tuesday and Wednesday only, until 6.38
pm and 5.08 pm respectively. On Thursday members were expected to attend a
COPAC Special Outreach for Members of Parliament designed to provide MPs with an
opportunity to submit their views to COPAC.
Bill
Passed
·
Zimbabwe National
Security Council Amendment Bill – this Bill was passed without amendments on
Tuesday and transmitted to the Senate.
Public
Accounts Committee Report Adopted
The House adopted the Third
Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Special Report of the Comptroller
and Auditor General on the 1st Quarter of the Financial Year 2009. The report
discusses failures by Ministries to adhere to laid down procedures with regard
to the management of public funds and state assets and makes recommendations for
corrective action. Issues raised included poor payroll administration [leading
to continued payments to former employees after they have left the Public
Service] and the need for Government to formulate a clear policy on movement of
assets, such as motor vehicles and laptop computers, with Ministers when they
are reassigned.
Parliamentary Legal Committee
PLC
non-adverse reports were
returned on the following Bills, clearing the way for their Second
Readings:
·
Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water
Infrastructure) Bill
·
Attorney-General’s Office Bill
·
Energy Regulatory Authority Bill.
Question Time – Wednesday
The following questions were dealt with:
Maternal mortality rate: Deputy Prime Minister Khupe spoke about the Government’s
commitment to the accelerated reduction of this rate and said the aim was to
scrap hospital and clinic user fees for pregnant women.
Teacher/pupil sexual relations: Education Minister Coltart condemned such conduct and confirmed
that teachers engaging in it face immediate expulsion from the teaching
service.
Elections in 2011? Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara said the timing of the elections
was a matter to be agreed by the three GPA political parties and stressed how
much still needed to be done to create conditions for free and fair elections.
Presidential scholarship scheme: The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education gave no details,
saying responsibility rested with the President’s Office and that the programme
was directed by Manicaland Provincial Governor Chris Mushohwe.
Most of the written questions were carried forward to next week
because the relevant Ministers were not present. [See above.]
On the
House of Assembly Order Paper for the Coming Week
Bills for Second
Reading
· Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water
Infrastructure) Bill
· Attorney-General’s Office Bill
· Energy Regulatory Authority Bill
Electronic
versions available – please email requests to veritas@yoafrica.com
Bill
awaiting Committee Stage
The POSA
Amendment Bill still
awaits commencement of its Committee Stage. The Bill has been stalled at this
stage for over a month. The motion approving the introduction of this Private
Member’s Bill was approved on 19th November 2009. [See Bill Watch 43/2010 of
16th October for a summary of the proposed amendments to the Bill that have been
tabled for consideration during the Committee Stage.]
Motions
A new
motion listed
for debate on Tuesday takes note of the “deteriorating” welfare of members of
Parliament, civil servants and Government Ministers; asks the Minister of
Finance to allocate more money in his 2011 Budget to address their plight; and
proposes the establishment of a Parliamentary Service Commission.
Items
carried forward include
motions for discussion of adverse reports by the Parliamentary Legal Committee
[PLC] on statutory instruments, and the ongoing debate on the President’s speech
opening Parliament in July this year.
Members’
Question Time – Wednesday
18 written
questions with notice are listed for reply by Ministers, most of them questions
not dealt with last week. They include:
· for the Minister of Finance, Government: What is Government policy
towards payment of pensions – and the resumption of pension payments to
pensioners outside Zimbabwe?
· for the Minister of Education: A request for details on teachers’
pensions; an analysis of Grade 7, O and A level pass rates in urban and rural
schools; and comparisons of ZIMSEC and Cambridge
examinations
·
for the Minister of Transport: A request
for information on the dispute between Zambia and Zimbabwe over Zimbabwe’s new
vehicle number plates
· for the co-Ministers of Home Affairs: What is being done about
complaints of police brutality at a police post in Lupane
District?
· for the Minister of Youth: Is it the Ministry’s policy to
discriminate against MDC youths and in favour of ZANU-PF youths in the
allocation of loans?
·
for the Minister of State Security: Are
officers of the Central Intelligence Organisation [CIO] allowed to hold
positions in political parties, as in the case of a CIO Deputy Director-General
who has been appointed to the ZANU-PF Central Committee?
Business
Awaiting Attention by the Senate
Matters awaiting attention by the
Senate when it resumes sitting include:
·
Zimbabwe National Security Council
Amendment Bill [transmitted from the House of Assembly on Tuesday] – this
amendment makes the Minister of Justice a member of the NSC in his capacity as
the Minister responsible for prisons.
·
Approval of International Agreements
already approved by the House of Assembly [see Bill Watch for a list of the
11 agreements concerned].
Parliamentary Committee Meetings
House of Portfolio Committees will be meeting during the week. So
will Senate Thematic Committees, notwithstanding the adjournment of the Senate
until February. [Note: as provincial governors do not sit on thematic
committees there is no basis for MDC-T anti-governor protests to be repeated at
committee meetings.] A separate bulletin has listed details of meetings
open to the public.
Bills Awaiting Introduction in
Parliament
The following Bills have been printed and gazetted:
·
Deposit Protection Corporation Bill [gazetted 22nd
October]
·
General Laws Amendment Bill [gazetted 22nd
October]
·
Small Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment Bill [gazetted
5th November]
·
National Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill [gazetted
5th November]
There were no Bills in the Government Gazette of 12th
November.
Statutory Instruments and General Notices
There were no statutory instruments of general interest in the
Government Gazette of 12th November.
Competition Commission to Investigate TelOne: GN 301/2010, gazetted on 12th November, announced that the
Competition and Tariff Commission is to investigate TelOne for alleged abuse of
its monopoly in the provision of fixed line telephone services. Representations
from interested persons are invited and should be submitted to the Commission by
no later than Friday 26th November. For further information contact the
Commission: telephone 04-775040/5; fax 04-770175; email compcomm@mweb.co.zw
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied
BILL WATCH SPECIAL
[13th November 2010]
Note
Parliament sometimes makes last-minute changes to this
schedule. If you want to attend a meeting, Veritas recommends that you avoid possible
disappointment by checking with the relevant committee clerk that the meeting is
still on and still open to the public. Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare 700181 or
252936-55. [Names of committee clerks are given below]
House of Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic
Committees: Open Meetings 15th to 18th November
The following meetings are open to members of the public, as
observers only, not as participants.
[See note at the end of this bulletin on public attendance and
participation at different types of committee meetings.]
Monday 15th November at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Defence and Home Affairs
1. Oral Evidence from Ministry of Home Affairs on Victoria Falls
ownership dispute
2. Briefing on service delivery from Registrar-General’s
Office
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon Madzore Clerk: Mr Daniel
Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral evidence from Mr Mutumwa Mawere
Senate Chamber
Chairperson: Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr Manhivi
Monday 15th November at 2 pm
Portfolio Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs
Brief from Advocate Lewis on the General Laws Amendment
Bill
Committee Room No. 413
Chairperson: Hon Mwonzora Clerk: Miss Zenda
Tuesday 16th November at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and
International Trade
Oral evidence from Ministry of Regional Integration and International
Cooperation on its 2011 Budget proposals
Committee Room No. 3
Chairperson: Hon Mukanduri Clerk: Mr Chiremba
No meetings on Wednesday are open to the
public
Thursday 18th November at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Media, Information and Communication Technology
Oral evidence from Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity on
their 2011 budget proposals
Committee Room No. 413
Chairperson: Hon S. Moyo Clerk: Mr Mutyambizi
Portfolio Committee: Women, Youth, Gender and Community
Development
Oral evidence from Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment on the Ministry’s budget bids, programmes and activities for
2011
Committee Room No. 3
Chairperson: Hon Matienga Clerk: Mrs Khumalo
Portfolio Committee: Education, Sport and Culture
Oral evidence from Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture on
the tendering process and distribution of textbooks
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon Mangami Clerk: Ms Chikuvire
Thursday 18th November at 11 am
Thematic Committee: Indigenisation and Empowerment
Oral evidence from farmers on challenges being faced by indigenous
farmers
Government Caucus Room
Chairperson: Hon Mutsvangwa Clerk: Mr Ratsakatika
Public Attendance at and Participation in Committee
Meetings
·
Open to the public to attend as observers
only: Portfolio and thematic committee meetings where oral evidence is
being heard. Members of the public can listen but not speak. [As listed above.] If attending, please use the Kwame Nkrumah Ave entrance to
Parliament. IDs must be produced.
·
Stakeholders by invitation: At some committee meetings stakeholders [and those who notify
Parliament that they consider themselves stakeholders and are accepted as such]
are invited to make oral or written representations and ask
questions. [These meetings will be highlighted in these
bulletins.]
·
Not open to the public: Portfolio and thematic committee meetings in which the committees
are doing private business – e.g. setting work plans, deliberating on reports
and findings, or drafting reports for Parliament, or when the committees make
field visits. [Veritas does not list these in these
bulletins.]
·
Public Hearings: When committees call for public hearings, members of the public are
free to submit oral or written representations, ask questions and generally
participate. [Veritas sends out separate notices of these public hearings.]
Note: Zimbabweans in the Diaspora can send in written submissions to
stakeholders’ meetings if they consider themselves stakeholders, and to public
hearings, by emailing their submissions to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.