http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
21:22
ZIMBABWE has sent a team of investigators to Botswana
to probe an
alleged plot of banditry involving Botswana authorities and
opposition MDC
activists, raising the diplomatic tensions between the two
states.
The investigation into claimed acts of destabilisation came at
a time
when diplomatic relations between Harare and Gaborone - uneasy
neighbours -
were seriously strained by the issue which has been discussed
at the
regional level.
Diplomatic sources said Zimbabwe's
investigation team is led by
Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Joey Bimha.
The sources said the mission
also includes other Foreign Affairs officials
and state security officers.
It is said the team arrived in Gaborone on
Tuesday night. It was
expected to meet government officials and other
stakeholders between
Wednesday and today to "investigate circumstances
surrounding training of
MDC activists in banditry activities".
Efforts to get a comment from government were unsuccessful last night.
Zimbabwe is claiming that Botswana is providing MDC activists with military
training on its territory to destabilise the country.
"A group of
MDC activists were recently arrested and allegedly coerced
to admit training
and recorded in the process in a bid to create evidence
for the trumped-up
charges," a source said. "The whole plot is similar to
the charges against
Joshua Nkomo and PF Zapu officials such as Dumiso
Dabengwa and Lookout
Masuku (in the early 1980s). It is also similar to
cases involving
Ndabaningi Sithole and (MDC leader) Morgan Tsvangirai."
Government has
since 1980 been making similar allegations, arresting
and torturing the
accused, but later failing to prove its claims. Before
just about every
election identical allegations are raised and people
arrested and tortured
mainly on false charges.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa recently
accused Tsvangirai of
trying to be like the late notorious Angolan rebel
leader Jonas Savimbi and
his Unita movement.
The MDC dismissed this
saying Tsvangirai had no reason to do so when
he could defeat Mugabe in any
free and fair election. The MDC also said it
had no cause to turn to rebel
activities when it has the largest number of
MPs in parliament.
Botswana has also dismissed Zimbabwe's allegations as "nonsensical and
absurd". It invited a full investigation.
Botswana President Ian
Khama has refused to recognise Mugabe as the
legitimate president, saying he
won the second round of elections in June
via a brutal campaign of violence
and murder. Khama has also refused to
attend official Sadc meetings with
Mugabe, arguing he is not a legitimate
head of state.
The Botswana
leader has said if power-sharing talks between Zanu PF
and the MDC factions
fail, there should be fresh free and fair elections
under international
supervision. Mugabe's regime reacted angrily, saying
this was an "extreme
act of provocation".
Zimbabwe and Botswana have had difficult relations
since 1980 due to
trade and political disputes.
Mugabe recently
tried to calm down Khama, claiming he was a "friend
and even a
relative".
Last week, after the Sadc summit in South Africa, Botswana's
Foreign
Affairs minister Phandu Skelemani said if the power-sharing talks
fail his
government would "go back to square one" by not recognising Mugabe
as
president.
Skelemani said his government was "shocked by the
baseless and absurd
charges" made by Harare regarding acts of banditry and
destabilisation.
Zimbabwe first officially made the allegations at the
extraordinary
meeting of the Interstate Defence and Security Committee held
in Mozambique
on November 5.
"The allegations that the Government
of Botswana would wish to train
foreign nationals on its territory to effect
regime change is ridiculous,"
Skelemani said.
"All those who are
aware of Botswana's longstanding commitment to the
principles of good
neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs
of others, and
peaceful resolution of disputes in our region and elsewhere
would no doubt
attest to this."
By Dumisani Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
21:21
CENTRAL bank governor Gideon Gono yesterday drove a
stake through the
hearts of speculators on the stock exchange by ending
suspected fraudulent
trading which drives out buyers from the
bourse.
While Gono sees this as a way to instill discipline on the
Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange (ZSE), the downside is that the state will lose a
windfall it
was collecting from taxes and stamp duty from trade on the
bourse.
The absence of buyers on the ZSE has been worsened by the
decision by
the central bank to force insurance companies and pension funds
to buy
government paper with a tenor of 450% at a time when inflation is
officially
at 231 million %. Insurance companies and pension funds
constitute the
largest buyers of stock. Their absence will see a major
retreat on the
industrial index.
Gono said the decision to rein in
the ZSE was meant to stem the bourse
that had "literally galloped away, in
the process creating obscene paper
wealth that is causing havoc in the
economy".
But analysts told the Zimbabwe Independent last night that
although
there was need to regulate activities on the stock market, the
heavy-handed
decision by the central bank could diminish revenue to the
government from
transactions on the bourse.
Government levies 2%
stamp duty and 5% tax on sales for daily trades
on the stock
market.
On Monday, for example, blue chip Old Mutual traded 45 941
shares at
$520 quadrillion each with government getting at least $2,15
sextillion from
stamp duty and tax on sales.
But yesterday OM
traded only 1130 shares at $10 quadrillion, which
means that government lost
a potential $1 sextillion from the stock market
bust.
Stock market
watchers warned the move was also likely to see a bearish
and
apprehensive market owing to changes in carrying out transactions
announced
by Gono.
"All trade on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is to be supported
by
confirmed bank balances, signed off by each bank's CEO," Gono
said.
The stock market, which faced a crash on Tuesday, yesterday
closed as
a sellers' market characterised by a handful of bids and an
all-time fall of
the Old Mutual counter, which dropped to $10 quadrillion
from $350
quadrillion overnight.
The benchmark industrial index
dropped 24,48 percentage points while
the mining index traded unchanged from
Wednesday.
Insurance companies, who constitute the bulk of investors on
the ZSE,
analysts said, were yesterday reluctant to order stocks from their
brokers
until the market "corrects".
ZSE chief executive Emmanuel
Munyukwi and newly appointed Securities
Commission chairperson Willia
Bonyongwe described the RBZ's decision as
commendable.
By
Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20
November 2008 21:19
HUMAN Rights Lawyers have written to the
Attorney-General demanding
the immediate release of 12 Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporters
and two young children from unknown
police camps this week.
The 12 from Banket were arrested and
detained by police last month in
unclear circumstances.
They
include Fanuel Tambo, Fidelis Chiramba, Pieta Kaseke, Terry
Musona, Agrippa,
Lloyd Tarumbwa, Larry Gaka Emmanuel Chinansvavanu and his
wife Concilia and
their child, Ernest Mudimu, Tawanda Bvumo, Violet
Mvuranhewe and Gwenzi
Kahiya.
A letter written by legal practitioners Atherstone & Cook
on behalf of
other concerned lawyers expressed concern over failure by the
ZRP to release
12 clients despite the force officially admitting that they
arrested and
detained the supporters.
The lawyers said: "Your
clients -- in that case the Zimbabwe Republic
Police -- have officially
admitted they arrested and detained them on
unclear charges allegedly
investigated by Chief Superintendent Crispen
Makedenge, officer in charge
CID Homicide Section with Detective Sergeant
Muusa of the same
section.
"In view of ZRP's claimed inability to find any of them in any
cell,
there are very serious concerns about the safety and health now of
these
missing persons."
On November 11 Harare judge Justice Charles
Hungwe issued a final
order confirming the illegality of the continued
detentions which required
ZRP to produce and remand or release all 12
detained that same day.
"We trust you will immediately bring this to
the attention of your
clients and ensure that they make more strenuous
efforts to meet the
requirements of the court order now by locating and
releasing the various
applicants," reads the letter.
The detained
persons' lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, said if the 12 were
not produced, he
would file an application at the High Court for contempt of
court and make a
report to the police under the Missing Persons Act.
"We appeal to
anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the
missing MDC
supporters to come forward and assist in strict confidence," he
said.
Muchadehama said other cases of MDC members that were still
pending
included that of MDC MP for Mbare Pineal Denga who is facing
allegations of
possessing explosives without a licence. Denga is still under
trial and his
case was further remanded to Tuesday next week.
Another case is of ex-army officer Tichaona Mudzingwa facing
allegations of
trying to cause disunity among members of the armed forces on
March 31 2008.
The trial was supposed to continue yesterday but was
postponed to December
19 after a senior army officer Martin Chedondo who was
supposed to testify
did not appear in court.
Muchadehama said: "Chedondo said he could not
testify because he was
attending to special operations to do with security
in Manicaland."
MDC MP for Highfield, Pearson Mungofa who is facing the
same charges
as Mudzingwa, is expected to appear in court on November
27.
Muchadehama said four cases were withdrawn before plea due to lack
of
evidence while a number were still pending and no one yet has been
convicted.
Meanwhile, MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti who
appeared in
court this week had two of his four charges dropped before
a Harare
magistrate.
Biti's lawyer, Advocate Lewis Uriri, said the
charges dropped included
insulting President Robert Mugabe and causing
disaffection among the members
of the armed forces.
Uriri said:
"The publishing falsehoods to cause public disorder charge
was also
withdrawn but replaced with another. The state suggested that
wanted the
charges split for trial purposes and dates were set between
December 17 and
18.
"We however objected to that on the basis that the three other
charges
emanated from the same document and that the state was avoiding our
application of reprisal of remand of Biti and that it breached Biti's
protection of the law.
"We also asked the state to provide reasons
as to why they wanted the
charges split and they said they would act over
the reasons thus remanded to
December 4."
By Wongai
Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20
November 2008 21:15
THE High Court has granted seven men accused of
plotting to stage a
coup last year leave to challenge the constitutionality
of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act under which they are being
charged.
Justice Ben Hlatshwayo on Tuesday referred the matter to
the Supreme
Court which will determine whether the arrest of the seven was
lawful.
Albert Matapo, Nyasha Zivuku, Oncemore Mudzurahona, Emmanuel
Marara,
Patson Mupfure, Shingirai Mutemachani and Rangarirai Mazivofa were
arrested
for allegedly plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe in a
coup.
The accused's lawyer, Charles Warara, argued that the Act was not
in
line with the Constitution as it tended to replace the Roman Dutch law
being
used in the country.
Warara told the High Court that the
Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act was clearly not in keeping with
the Roman Dutch law in operation
as the changes made to the offences did not
exist under common law.
"The effect being that the law becomes supreme
to the Roman Dutch law
as it no longer can be used in charging anyone with
an offence but all cases
dealt with under common law carry persuasive
authority now and have no
binding authority on the judiciary of Zimbabwe,"
Warara argued in the
application for the referral.
The seven
alleged coup plotters, who have been in custody since last
year in May, are
facing charges of inciting members of the security forces
to overthrow
Mugabe's government.
The state's case against Matapo and his co-accused
is that they
sometime in May last year tried to influence servicemen Captain
Shepherd
Maromo, Captain Olivine Maroala, Corporal Elias Gape, Charles
Nyashadzashe
Mufudze, Sergeant Owen Bafana and Ronald Matanga to unlawfully
overthrow the
government of Zimbabwe.
By Lucia
Makamure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
20:25
THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC this week said it will press for
the
establishment of a transitional authority if the power-sharing deal with
Zanu PF falls through.
The deal -- which has been in limbo
since it was signed on September
15 -- ran into fresh problems this week
after the government drafted
Constitutional Amendment No19 and sent it to
the pact broker, former South
African president Thabo Mbeki, without
consulting the MDC formations.
Before the furore over the
constitutional amendment, the pact signed
by President Robert Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara of the other
formation of the MDC had failed
to fly over allocation of ministerial
portfolios.
Nelson Chamisa,
the spokesperson of the MDC-T, told the Zimbabwe
Independent on Tuesday that
his party has a Plan B if the power-sharing deal
collapses.
He said
the MDC would mobilise Zimbabweans to demonstrate against
Mugabe's regime
and press for a transitional authority.
Chamisa said the party would
work with civic society and other
democratic organisations to achieve the
Plan B.
"If the talks fail, the MDC will work together with other
organisations in the civic society and other parties and make sure we create
circumstances and conditions that make it possible for the creation of a
transitional authority," Chamisa said.
He said the transitional
authority, to be made up of political parties
and civic society, would be
mandated to address the humanitarian crisis in
the country and to
depoliticise national institutions.
Chamisa said the authority would
also craft a democratic and
people-driven constitution.
"The new
constitution will pave the way for fresh polls that will be
supervised and
managed by international bodies, namely Sadc, the African
Union and the
United Nations," he added.
Chamisa said the resistance against Mugabe's
regime would work this
time around because of the suffering Zimbabweans have
endured due to the
economic meltdown.
"The fact that they
(demonstrations) failed yesterday doesn't mean
they will fail today,"
Chamisa said. "It is the people who are telling us as
the leadership what
direction to take, whatever we are doing is coming from
the
people."
The MDC-T's national council last Friday agreed not to join an
inclusive government until Constitutional Amendment No 19 is promulgated and
its demands for equitable and fair power-sharing were met.
The
council rejected a resolution by Sadc that Tsvangirai and Mugabe
should
co-manage the Home Affairs ministry and forthwith form a unity
government.
"The longer that this crisis remains outstanding, then
the obligation
(grows) on Sadc, the African Union and the people of Zimbabwe
that a
transitional authority be instituted pending the enactment of a new
people-driven constitution and the holding of elections under African and
international supervision," read one of the resolutions of the
council.
It also resolved that in the event of an illegitimate
government being
unilaterally formed, the MDC-T would not be part of the
same and will
peacefully, constitutionally and democratically mobilise and
campaign
against the illegitimate government.
Hopes for a quick
formation of a unity government were dashed this
week when the MDC-T said it
rejected a constitutional amendment drafted by
the government and dispatched
to Mbeki.
Information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said the formation of
a new
cabinet was a "process not an event" and urged Zimbabweans to be
patient.
The MDC-T said it was "frivolous and mischievous" to claim
that the
draft constitutional amendment had the input of all the three
political
parties. The party said it was not privy to the contents of the
draft.
"We have never seen the draft and we are surprised that such key
positions on
the way forward are being communicated through the
media," the party
said. "As far as we are concerned, the draft that has been
sent to Mbeki is
a Zanu PF document with Zanu PF perspectives. Our draft is
also ready and
will be sent to Mbeki for consideration."
It said
the final amendment to be tabled in parliament should be
inclusive of the
three main political parties' views.
Mbeki -- who confirmed receiving
the draft amendment -- has since
summoned negotiators of the three political
parties to South Africa next
week to deliberate on the proposed law, but the
MDC-T said it would not
attend the meeting.
Tendai Biti, the MDC-T
secretary-general and chief negotiator, was
quoted in a weekly newspaper
yesterday saying his party would boycott the
meeting until Sadc rescinds its
resolution compelling Mugabe and Tsvangirai
to core-manage the Home Affairs
ministry.
Biti said its other demands, like provincial governors' posts
and
appointment of permanent secretaries and ambassadors, should also be
met.
Meanwhile, the MDC-T has denied reports that the party was divided
with some senior members planning to oust Tsvangirai with the assistance of
a South Africa-based Zimbabwe businessman.
Instead, the party said
it was Zanu PF that has been rocked by
divisions with disgruntled former PF
Zapu members pulling out of the
Mugabe-led party.
"Just a week ago
Zapu members broke away from Zanu PF. Zanu PF is
trapped in a series of
setbacks and misfortunes which they hope to see
replaying themselves in the
MDC," reads a statement from the MDC-T. "Zanu PF
suffers from three decades
of the same leadership and is trapped in a
succession crisis as Robert
Mugabe continues to succeed himself."
By Lucia Makamure/Loughty
Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
20:22
ZANU PF national chairman John Nkomo last weekend failed to
persuade
ex-PF Zapu members from breaking away from the ruling
party.
Nkomo was tasked by the politburo to convene a meeting in
Bulawayo
last Saturday and convince the former Zapu members from splitting
from Zanu
PF, but the indaba failed to bear fruit.
During the
Saturday meeting, Nkomo also failed to make public a report
of an inquiry
into circumstances that led to the convening of a meeting at
White City
Stadium three weeks ago by party "rebels" who intended to
announce the split
from Zanu PF and the revival of Zapu.
While Nkomo was presiding over a
meeting at Davies Hall, Zanu PF's
Bulawayo headquarters, former Zapu members
were holding their own at Stanley
Square strategising on how to repossess
property the late vice-president
Joshua Nkomo-led party used to own in the
early 1980s. The government
subsequently confiscated the property.
A fortnight ago Zanu PF appointed a three-member commission of inquiry
to
assess the state of the party in Bulawayo where rebels said they wanted
to
revive Zapu because government was neglecting them.
The probe team was
made up of deputy politburo secretary for women's
affairs Eunice Sandi, and
central committee members Callistus Ndlovu and
Abednigo Nyathi.
The
three produced a report which they presented to the party a week
ago.
Nkomo was on Saturday expected to discuss the report with the
party
members but did not table it even in closed meetings with politburo
and
central committee members.
In his public address Nkomo sounded
defiant and warned that Zanu PF
has faced a similar rebellion before, but
always emerged stronger.
"This is not the first time that Zanu PF has
faced such a crisis and
each time it underwent the trying times, it emerged
stronger," Nkomo said.
"There is need for unity in the party. We have to
leave a firm legacy so
that when we are gone those remaining will always
look up to us."
However, Zanu PF sources told the Zimbabwe Independent
that the report
presented by the probe team revealed that the entire
Matabeleland leadership
was backing the pullout from Zanu PF.
"The
report presented to Nkomo was explicit that former PF Zapu
leaders were
supporting the idea of a pullout and it was necessary for Nkomo
to first
consult Mugabe before making the findings public," said one of the
sources.
The sources said in the closed meeting Nkomo implored Zanu
PF members
in the region not to join the PF Zapu group, which has said it
would hold a
convention in December before a party congress to choose its
leadership
early next year.
Information and Publicity minister
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, however, said
Nkomo was still studying the
report.
"The report was not presented to the party members because the
national chairman (Nkomo) is still studying the report and it will be
presented to members through party structures," Ndlovu said.
Already six members of the party's Bulawayo provincial executive have
left
Zanu PF. The six include Effort Nkomo (secretary for information and
publicity), Andrew
Ndlovu (secretary for security) and Tryphine
Nhliziyo (secretary for
administration).
Former Zanu PF politburo
member Dumiso Dabengwa is one of the
coordinators of the revived
Zapu.
Meanwhile, members of the revived PF Zapu on Saturday resolved
that
government should return property it seized from the party and have
since
reconstituted the board of Nitram - a company that used to run the
party
business.
Former Zipra commander John Gazi is now the
chairman of the Nitram
board.
PF Zapu members have also split from
the Zimbabwe National Liberation
War Veterans Association and have since
formed their own Zipra Veterans
Association led by Colonel Ray
Ncube.
The revived PF Zapu members have threatened to evict the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) from Magnet House in Bulawayo, a building
they said was owned by the party.
Former war veterans leader Andrew
Ndlovu, one of the leading figures
in PF Zapu's revival two weeks ago told a
meeting that they intend to take
Magnet House back from the
CIO.
By Loughty Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
20:19
THE Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) has threatened not to
mark
this year's public examinations unless the government pays teachers in
foreign currency.
The move by the country's largest teachers'
representative
organisation will further worsen the already crumbling
education system that
was dogged by strikes throughout the year as teachers
pressed for better
salaries and working conditions.
Teachers
initially boycotted the invigilation of the November 'O' and
'A' level
examinations until the Reserve Bank intervened with generous
incentives.
Zimta national executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu told
members of the
association's Matabeleland North province in Bulawayo this
week that they
should not mark examination scripts unless and until
their salaries and allowances were paid in hard currency.
"It will be
stupid for us to take part in the marking of these
examinations, if ever I
can call them examinations at all," Ndlovu said.
"The government should pay
us in foreign currency since most businesses are
now charging for services
and goods in foreign currency and that is the only
logical way
forward."
He said Zimbabwe teachers, who were earning an average $1
million
monthly, were the worst-paid professionals worldwide. He said the
government
had reduced them to beggars.
"Teachers in Zimbabwe are
living in extremely poor conditions, we are
living on less than one US cent
a day which is unacceptable. Our salaries
are ridiculously low and cannot
even cover transport costs," Ndlovu said.
"How does our employer expect us
to report for duty under such
circumstances?"
Zimta is demanding
that a junior teacher should earn at least R12 000
or US$2 500
monthly.
Ndlovu also took a swipe at teachers who took part in the
invigilation
of Grade 7 examinations and called them "sellouts" because
Zimta had
declared 2008 a non-academic year due to intermittent
strikes.
Education experts said pupils in public schools attended full
classes
for less than 30 days throughout the year.
Another teacher
organisation, the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ), also vowed
to boycott marking the November examinations.
PTUZ secretary-general
Raymond Majongwe said marking the examinations
would legitimise them when
pupils did not learn much during the year.
"We won't waste our time and
energy marking these futile examinations.
Students did not learn anything
this year and I do not remember our members
invigilating any examinations
this year, so what are we going to mark?"
asked Majongwe. "As far as we are
concerned, there are no examinations to
talk about. The government is
ignoring the simple reality that the system is
down and we do not want to be
used as a shield to aid it."
Education ministry permanent secretary
Stephen Mahere could not be
reached for comment on the latest
development.
Meanwhile, riot police on Tuesday thwarted a protest march
by medical
workers in Harare to protest against the country's collapsing
health
delivery system.
The police blocked a march by more than 700
hospital workers who
attempted to leave Parirenyatwa Hospital to present a
petition to the
Minister of Health, David Parirenyatwa, at his offices at
Mukwati Building
in the city.
The marchers comprised doctors,
nurses, nurse aids and general workers
from Harare, Parirenyatwa and
Chitungwiza hospitals.
Health workers, like teachers, have been on
strike for the greater
part of the year pressing for better remuneration and
working conditions.
By Henry Mhara
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November
2008 20:19
THE advice by MPs, civic society and medical personnel not
to transfer
water management from city councils to the Zimbabwe National
Water Authority
(Zinwa)
that was ignored by government three
years ago has come back to
haunt it as the state battles to contain the
deadly cholera outbreak.
One does not need to travel far from Harare's
city centre to realise
the devastating impact of the fatal water-borne
disease.
A 15-minutes drive to house number 6042 Tsoka Road in Glen
Norah B
high density suburb reveals the sorrow that has engulfed the Dziruni
family
which is still coming to grips with just how painful it is to lose
loved
ones to a preventable and treatable disease like cholera.
The
family is in anguish, mourning the death of their two daughters -
Maria (24)
and Bridget Dziruni (21) - who succumbed to cholera on November
12 at
Budiriro Polyclinic.
It takes a considerable time for Mike Dziruni, an
uncle to the girls,
to narrate their tragic deaths.
Mike, who was
with the girls during their illness until death, still
does not understand
or believe that cholera could be so cruel.
Maria and Bridgette were
staying in Glen Norah with their grandparents
after their parents died about
10 years ago.
What started as a normal day on November 11 turned to be
the worst
Mike can remember in his life.
He remembered: "Maria was
the first to fall sick and that was around
4pm. She was vomiting and
discharging a watery liquid. I took her to
Budiriro Polyclinic because we
suspected she had cholera.
"Upon arrival she was given sugar and salt
solution and three hours
later, the nurses injected her intravenously
(commonly known as drip)
because her condition was getting worse."
Mike said before Maria - who left behind a two-year-old daughter
Praise
Tanyaradzwa - got sick she had spent the day at home and not visited
any of
the cholera affected areas.
"I strongly believe that it is the water
that we drink and the raw
sewage that flows in the streets that made her
sick. We don't have regular
supply of water and when it comes it will be
dirty. The sewage and the
uncollected refuse have seen flies hovering all
over and at times you see
worms," Mike said.
After five intravenous
injections, Maria still showed no signs of
improvement and when the nurses
took her to another room and told Mike not
to follow, he knew something was
wrong.
"They took Maria to another room and just told me to wait
outside. I
could tell that things were not okay," he said.
Little
did Mike know that things were also not okay at home. When he
left with
Maria to the clinic Bridgette, Maria's sister, complained of
stomach pains
and was vomiting.
At 8pm she decided to go to the clinic for
treatment.
Mike said: "I bumped into Bridgette at the clinic when I was
taking
the sugar and salt solution to Maria. She came by herself and I
thought she
had followed to see how Maria was doing. I was shocked when she
told me that
she had come to seek treatment because she also was not feeling
well."
He helped Bridgette obtain a medical card and she was given salt
and
sugar solution the whole night as they sat on the benches available in
the
clinic.
"In the morning, Bridgette was not feeling any better
and she still
had not been given any drip and I had not been told anything
about Maria's
progress since she was taken into another room. I decided to
go back home
and get their clothes so that they could change and also inform
other
relatives of the situation," Mike said.
When he returned to
the clinic, Mike said Bridgette's condition had
worsened and an order was
given that she be intravenously injected.
"We put her in a wheelchair,
but a problem emerged when a nurse could
not find the right vein for the
injection. She passed away while they were
still searching for a vein," Mike
said.
He said when the other relatives went to check on Maria's
progress at
around 1pm they found out that she was already dead.
Mike said: "Maria could have passed away way before 1pm, just that we
weren't told and there was so much going on. It is very painful to lose two
relatives in one day.
"Worse still on the day of the funeral it
took the health workers some
time to come and spray the coffins. They
arrived just when we were about to
leave for the cemetery. We had spent the
whole night with the corpses. What
good does it do?"
He added:
"Government iri kutikanya (government is failing us). Right
now we do not
have water and rivers of raw sewage are flowing in our streets
from Muroro
Road. They send us text messages that we should eat hot food,
boil water but
we do not have electricity to do so. Electricity is cut off
early in the
morning and comes back in the evening at around 11pm. Firewood
is very
expensive and we get only $500 000 from the bank. How is it possible
then to
have hot food regularly or boiled water?"
Another member of the family
who preferred anonymity said she was
saddened by the way some members of the
community were isolating them.
"People point fingers when they pass
our home and at times you can
hear them saying "pamba apo pane cholera"
(that house is infested with
cholera) and even if we meet them in the
streets they don't greet us, they
say "imi muri vecholera kaimi". They don't
know it can also happen to them,"
she said.
Zinwa is accused of
failing to supply clean potable water and deal
with sewer blockages since
its took over water management from councils
three years ago. The authority
said lack of foreign currency to buy water
treatment chemicals and water
pipes was affecting its operations.
By Lucia Makamure/Wongai
Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
20:14
FOLLOWING the Sadc summit in South Africa which urged Zimbabwe's
political protagonists to urgently form an inclusive government with the MDC
formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Zanu PF co-managing the Ministry of
Home Affairs , Arthur Mutambara of the smaller group of the MDC had several
interviews putting across his views.
Mutambara raised a number of
issues that need to be interrogated and
put into proper political contest
because they are misleading and display
his continued lack of political
judgment on the nature and genesis of the
twin crisis of legitimacy and
governance that the country has been grappling
with for close to a decade
now.
The politician's lack of political judgment is expressed in his
views
of the ruling by Sadc, the importance of ministries, his use of
uncivilised
language against his opponents and reporters, the analogy of the
agreement
to the 1979 Lancaster House one, is among other things that he has
raised so
far.
Firstly, Mutambara says although he does not agree
with the Sadc
ruling, that decision should be respected because doing
otherwise would be
tantamount to fighting against 15 Heads of States. He
further argues that
one cannot go to the African Union (AU) and later on to
the United Nations
(UN) without the support of Sadc.
It is not
disputed that Sadc heads of state made a decision but the
question is
whether that decision is legitimate and serves the best
interests of the
people of Zimbabwe who went to the polls in March and
showed that they want
to be governed by the combined MDC formations through
the results of the
parliamentary, rural and urban council polls. The two MDC
formations
out-polled Zanu PF and the first round of the presidential poll
which was
largely free and fair and undisputed was a referendum on Mugabe's
popularity
before he went on the rampage against his perceived opponents in
the June
presidential election run-off.
My point is that any agreement or ruling
by anybody on the crisis in
Zimbabwe that does not reflect that Mugabe is no
longer fit for purpose is
unacceptable. The decision by the Tsvangirai
formation to dispute or
disregard the Sadc ruling is therefore legitimate
because the regional body
missed the point by a very wide margin.
Mutambara should not attempt to tell Zimbabweans that Sadc is holier
than
thou to the extent that it should not be opposed when it makes an
illogical
decision about our country. He should also know that the MDC can
still
proceed to the AU and UN without Sadc but based on the facts of its
refusal
to agree with Sadc. In the normal way of an appeal process, Sadc is
like a
Magistrate's Court, the AU the High Court and the UN the Supreme
Court and
the MDC has a right to exhaust all remedies before it comes back
to the
people of Zimbabwe for a political solution to the crisis. One cannot
make
an appeal if they agree with the decision of the lower court and the
idea
that an appeal has been made does not mean that one is being
contemptuous of
the lower court but simply does not agree with its ruling.
The same applies
in this matter, the MDC wants to appeal because in their
considered opinion
Sadc erred and they want a higher body to look into its
grievances. They are
not fighting Sadc but disagree with it. The outcome of
the appeals is
another question.
Would it have been wrong for an opposition party
during Adolf Hitler's
time to reject any decision by European governments to
support Hitler's
policy of extermination of the Jews if such a policy was
made? If it could
have been the right thing to do in that proposition so the
decision to
reject Sadc's decision is based on that conceptual
analogy.
Mutambara also tries to allude to the fact that by disagreeing
with
the co-running of the Ministry of Home Affairs with Zanu PF, the
Tsvangirai-led formation of the MDC is suddenly causing the further
deterioration of the country's humanitarian situation and the suffering of
innocent citizens. He is erroneously attempting to accuse the MDC of being
the problem. This is opportunistic and bereft of political analysis and the
political context of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Those who argue that
the crisis in Zimbabwe is caused by the failure
or refusal by Tsvangirai to
be consumed by Mugabe are not being honest about
the political problems
affecting the country which lies squarely on Mugabe
and Zanu PF's doorstep.
What we see are the consequences of Mugabe's failed
economic and political
policies for the past three decades coming home to
roost. It's neither a
problem of Tsvangirai nor Mutambara.
Most fundamentally it is my firm
view that if the two MDC formations
get into bed with Zanu PF in that
proposed government without making
fundamental demands such as the sharing
of other instruments of power like
the provincial governors, it will be a
celebration of impunity that led the
country to where it is today. If that
were to happen and Mugabe gets all he
demands, Emmerson Mnangagwa and those
who assisted in the running of the
violent June 27 presidential election
would have triumphed and that is not
good for nurturing democratic ethos in
our country. That group should never
be allowed to feel that they did the
right thing but it can happen when
politicians are quick to embrace what
they don't know.
From an idealistic point of view, it is true that
there is no ministry
that is more powerful than another. The problem we face
in Zimbabwe is not
an idealistic one but an empirical one based on our
observation of how
Mugabe has used the security ministries to entrench his
dictatorship.
It becomes very difficult to appreciate why Mutambara
would want to
deny that the Ministry of Home Affairs has been used for the
wrong reasons
by Mugabe against his opponents including him dating back to
his days as a
student leader at the University of Zimbabwe in the late
1980s.
To Mugabe, the Ministry of Home Affairs is at the core of his
repressive agenda and electoral survival. He uses it to arrest, assault, and
harass his opponents and most critically to control the voters' roll through
the Registrar-General's Office. Would people like Tsvangirai, Trevor Ncube
and Paul Themba Nyathi have had problems with their passports if the
Ministry of Home Affairs was run professionally and was like any other
ministry? What about thousands of Zimbabweans who have lost their
citizenship through the abuse of that office by the Registrar-General? These
are some of the issues that people who claim to be national politicians need
to grapple with before they put their positions in the public
domain.
I also find it difficult to appreciate how Mutambara sought to
make an
analogy between the MDC agreement with Zanu PF to the Lancaster
House one.
The 1979 constitution despite some imperfections was underwritten
by the UN,
the elections were observed and monitored by the UN, the OAU and
the
Commonwealth and the result was accepted despite Mugabe's use of
violence
against political rivals.
Under the current circumstances,
Mugabe does not allow local and
international monitors but limited observers
with little say on how his
thugs organise the elections. In any case when
Muzorewa lost the election,
he handed over power to Mugabe but now Mugabe
does not want to hand over
power to someone in his own party and refuses to
concede defeat to the
opposition. After all Mugabe was left in charge in
1980 and could have
directed the country in a proper democratic direction
but Mutambara does not
see all this because all he is interested is to
attempt to be smarter than
Tsvangirai while confusing things and alienating
himself more from the
ordinary people.
Ruhanya writes from the
University of Minnesota's Law School, USA.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008 20:07
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai this week
met with European Union
officials and came out against the imposition of
more sanctions against
Robert Mugabe and his cronies.
Tsvangirai told European Union officials that imposing more sanctions
on
Mugabe would be counter-productive and instead urged the European
regional
grouping to focus their attention on providing assistance to
Zimbabwe,
especially humanitarian and medical assistance.
According to AFP, the
French news agency, "Tsvangirai said that,
instead of more sanctions, the
country must have emergency humanitarian aid.
He said millions of people
need food and medicine to counter the spread of
cholera."
The EU
has blacklisted 172 people linked to Mugabe's government and
four companies
believed to financially support Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.
The EU also
has frozen long-term aid projects in Zimbabwe and imposed an
arms
embargo.
Contrary to reports that the Zanu PF leadership was angry
about
Tsvangirai's trip to Europe, Mugabe's office says the president is
"delighted that Tsvangirai is now doing what we have always asked: that he
show his good faith by asking for sanctions to be lifted..."
While
not strictly true that Tsvangirai has asked for sanctions to be
lifted, his
comments in Strasbourg, where he attended the EU's International
Day of
Development, mark his most significant effort yet to repair what he
himself
has called "an element of mistrust between myself and President
Mugabe".
Mugabe had demanded that "those who asked for sanctions
should go and
ask for those sanctions to be lifted."
This was never
going to happen, of course, because Tsvangirai has no
control over Europe or
the United States.
However, as the crisis over the talks drags on, the
EU and the United
States had signalled that they would be ratcheting up
pressure on Mugabe by
imposing more sanctions. They were now considering an
even wider net of
sanctions to bring Mugabe's regime to its knees once and
for all.
We can then safely say that the prospect of this happening has
now
been diminished, if not abolished, by Tsvangirai's latest call for those
additional sanctions not to be imposed.
What is even more
interesting in all of this is how this relates to
the announcement by the
MDC that it will participate in government once the
necessary instrument to
make the GNU legal is signed into law. It marks a
clear progression by the
MDC towards participation in an inclusive
government. By making moves to
ensure that he can show his negotiating
partner, Mugabe, that he is sincere
and committed to the talks and to the
success of any new government,
Tsvangirai has also shrewdly ensured that
Mugabe stays his hand and does not
go ahead and impatiently appoint a
one-sided government, a move hoped for by
some hard-liners in his party.
Mugabe will now have to think twice and
give Tsvangirai the benefit of
the doubt that, perhaps, the prime
minister-designate is indeed committed to
ensuring that the agreement is
realised and a government formed. It means
that there will be no unilateral
government by Mugabe. The sign outside the
door now reads "Awaiting
Developments". Already, the government of Robert
Mugabe has drafted
Amendment No 19 to create the posts of prime minister and
his deputies. The
government has also prepared the nation for a long delay
in the setting up
of government by saying that people "should be patient.
Setting up a
government is not an event but a process." So prepare
yourselves for us not
to have a government until after January next year.
It is also
instructive to note that Tsvangirai was invited to the
European Union Day of
International Development summit in his capacity as
prime minister-designate
of Zimbabwe. It points to a new era of relations
between the Western powers
and Zimbabwe. And it reinforces the claim made by
Tsvangirai that he holds
the key to the unlocking of international aid by
the West.
What
remains to be seen is if anything comes out of his attendance at
the
European Union Day of International Development summit. What deals will
he
be able to secure and under what conditions? Once a new government is in
place? There is no doubt that he will be able to secure something, since the
European Union is looking to strengthen his hand in the ongoing talks with
Mugabe.
Before this week is out we should know exactly what
Tsvangirai's jaunt
has brought Zimbabwe. One thing is certain, though: the
New! Improved!
sanctions that had been mooted by the US and the Europe in
the last two
weeks, which were heavier and more widespread, will now no
longer be imposed
on Zimbabwe.
What remains is the battle to
actually formulate a government that can
take advantage of this goodwill and
harness any gifts Tsvangirai may be
handed, be they moral or financial.
Goodwill is being built towards
Zimbabwe, but only a Zimbabwe in which the
MDC is part of government.
By Denford Magora
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
20:00
GOLD producers are demanding that the Ministry of Finance
immediately
revokes the Reserve Bank
gold-trading licence and
re-issue the permit to the Chamber of Mines
of Zimbabwe (CMZ)
after accusing the RBZ of paralysing the industry through non-payment
of
over US$30 million worth of gold deliveries backdating to July last
year.
Information to hand shows that gold miners last week wrote to
Ministry
of Finance secretary Willard Manungo demanding "alternative payment
arrangements" and the immediate suspension of the Reserve Bank's gold
trading licence that was issued two years ago.
According to the
letter, the bank's failure to settle the ballooning
debt has resulted in the
chamber engaging the Ministry of Mines and the
chief secretary to the
president and cabinet Misheck Sibanda over the
matter.
Mining
officials this week told businessdigest that their demands were
falling on
deaf ears.
"Our proposal is that since the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has
failed to
meet its obligations as a holder of a Gold Dealing Licence and
through its
actions has resulted in the collapse of the gold mining industry
in
Zimbabwe, its license should be revoked immediately," read the
correspondence sent last week.
"A new licence should be issued to
the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe to
coordinate the sales of all gold
produced in Zimbabwe."
Under the Gold Trade Act, the Reserve Bank
through its subsidiary
Fidelity Refiners and Printers is authorised to
purchase the precious metal
from 354 registered gold workings throughout the
country.
According to the documents, gold miners also criticised the
Reserve
Bank for "consistently enacting" unviable policies that threatened
the
survival and growth of the capital-intensive industry. The miners
however
urged government to re-capitalise the industry through
productivity-based
"gold loans".
The combined effect of the
regulations, sources said, had resulted in
virtually all mines failing to
carry out exploration and development despite
favourable gold prices on the
global market.
"In our view, the country should not be losing US$50
million per month
due to the inability of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who
are currently
entrusted with the sole Gold Dealing Licence in the country,
to pay
producers for the delivered gold," read the letter.
With
payment delays running to nearly two years amid relegation of
Fidelity
Printers and Refiners from the London Bullion Market Association
(LBMA) in
July, industry players warned that more gold mines could soon shut
down.
The LBMA is a trade association that represents the wholesale
over the
counter market for gold.
Last year the country's 21
primary gold producers, 254 small-scale
miners and 81 custom millers
produced seven tonnes of gold that contributed
10% of the country's foreign
currency earnings.
The figure is estimated to have dropped to an
all-time low of 3,5
tonnes amid reports of a 64% drop in output recorded
last month and rampant
cases of smuggling at the country's borders.
Commenting on the decline past Chamber of Mines president Jack Murehwa
said:
"Zimbabwe was the only mineral-producing country in the world that has
failed to benefit from high global metal and minerals prices."
"Our
industry continues to experience declines in volumes ... despite
the very
buoyant mineral prices which prevailed for the past 18 months," he
said in a
report in July.
World prices for gold rose from about US$275 an ounce
in 2001 to above
US$600 this year. Nickel, platinum and copper prices also
soared.
Mining officials who spoke to businessdigest this week also
revealed
that so desperate was the situation in the foreign currency earning
sector
that 300g of the yellow metal were delivered to government.
This would mean that the sector would have performed below the
mandatory 10
tonnes that guarantees membership of the LBMA. Efforts to get
comment from
the Chamber of Mines were in vain while questions sent to the
Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono on Tuesday were not responded to despite
being
acknowledged by his personal assistant.
However Gono was this week
quoted in a state newspaper admitting that
he had channeled payments for
gold deliveries to "grudgingly" bail out loss
making national airline, Air
Zimbabwe.
"Between January 2007 and November 13 2008 for instance, the
Reserve
Bank paid US$302,3 million for grain importation," Gono said. "If
Zimbabweans had fully utilised their land, this money could have served
other critical purposes including the clearance of unpaid balances to gold
producers."
By Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November
2008 19:55
EVENTS unfolding this past week have left virtually everyone
without a
clue of how exactly to proceed from here. Every so often new
measures are
implemented and yet we still find ourselves in the same (if not
worse)
position. Are we, therefore taking the wrong approach in an attempt
to
address this crisis? Perhaps a look at how some of the "crises" have been
handled can shed some light.
Last Wednesday saw the reintroduction
of the RTGS system which for
many had been a long time coming. At its
suspension a few weeks ago, the
system had been largely blamed for fuelling
the parallel market rate sinking
the country deeper into the rampant
hyperinflationary spiral Zimbabwe seems
unable (or perhaps unwilling) to
combat. But the parallel rate continued as
before and perhaps with added
gusto.
During last year's cash crisis, a lot of noise was made about
unscrupulous cash barons. Cash limits were introduced which made transacting
for the average Joe a nightmare. Despite the activities of cash barons it
soon became apparent that there just was not enough cash to go around.
Simply put, inflation began galloping away at a rate much faster than one
could churn out notes to support it.
Recently there has been some
concern expressed at the performance on
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. So
bullish was the stock market that a one day
gain of less than a hundred
percent seemed like a flat trading day. As a
result, owing to the widespread
use of the Old Mutual Implied Rate, again
another reason was found for why
the parallel rate cannot be contained. And
now be sure to expect a new
buzzword that will centre around fraudulent
speculators on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange.
Of course there have been cases of fraudulent players
operating on the
stock market, but just like the cash barons and RTGS
dealers, the rest of
the country looks set to suffer for their
sins.
Take cash withdrawal limits for instance. At current levels they
are
hardly useful for anyone as a number of commuter fares have already
exceeded
that threshold. So while the limit was meant to have prevented
individuals
from holding on to too much cash, now it just seems punitive.
The strange
thing however is how much cash one can access walking down any
street in
Harare. Of course you have to be holding on to the right
commodity.
This week the ZSE has perhaps seen some of its worst trading
in a long
while largely as a result of new measures from the authorities. In
real
terms some counters on the bourse have become ridiculously cheap. The
requirement that all transactions on the stock market are signed by banking
executives makes it tremendously difficult for anyone to participate in it.
So the bourse continues to plummet.
While this could be hailed as a
corrective measure to bring sanity to
the market, it is often forgotten how
much prejudice will again occur to the
average (honest) investor and to the
companies themselves. If values of
listed firms continue to plummet be sure
to expect predatory speculators who
will buy a company for a song only to
strip it of its assets and make a
killing.
Looking at it more
closely, part of the bull run had occurred as a
result of limited options
for Zimbabwe dollars. No one else was accepting
the local currency after a
decision to partly dollarise the economy. The
increase in cheque frauds
occurred primarily because there had been no other
alternative to transact.
Before, any high volume transactions would
naturally go through the
electronic funds transfer system which by many
counts inherently reduced the
likelihood of fraud.
Zimbabweans are going through some of history's
toughest times. Last
week this column carried a story on how more and more
companies are
resorting to a "care and maintenance" approach where no
production is taking
place save for making general repairs to equipment.
With everyone struggling
to keep their heads above water, should a few
fraudsters spoil the party for
everyone else? After all, the RTGS
suspension was meant to quell the
parallel rate but in no way did that move
achieve that. Then now the ZSE is
being touted as the creator of electronic
money. That too can go but it is
unlikely that the problems afflicting the
financial sector will go with it.
At the end of it all, we might just run
out of cash barons, RTGS dealers and
stock market fraudsters and guess what,
Zimbabwe could still continue on its
downward spiral.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November
2008 19:54
BANKS are reeling from high accommodation rates of 10 000%
-- secured
and 40 000% - unsecured by the Reserve Bank which raised the
rates to mop up
excess liquidity on the money market.
The
Reserve Bank last week raised secured accommodation rates from 8
500% to 10
000% while unsecured were raised to 40 000% from 9 500%.
Banks are
paying heavily when they borrow from the Reserve Bank to
cover their daily
shortfalls.
The Reserve Bank last week reinstated the use of the Real
Time Gross
Settlement (RTGS) system and has since tightened procedures for
accessing
unsecured accommodation funds.
Unsecured accommodation is
when a bank gets money from the Reserve
Bank to cover its daily shortfalls
without tendering security for the loan.
The daily shortfalls happen
when there is a mismatch between a bank's
total deposits and
withdrawals.
These measures mean that Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono
is the only
one who can approve accommodation for any bank.
The
high policy rates have created a situation whereby banks are now
vulnerable
to the continued existence of high expenditures by the government
and the
Reserve Bank because any slow down in their fiscal and quasi-fiscal
activities might "shake" banks and their clients.
The Reserve Bank
said all motivations for accommodation must be
accompanied by comprehensive
applications written by the bank's chief
executive officers fully explaining
the origins and justifications for the
shortfall, supported by documentary
evidence.
Banks are also facing declining deposits, with some banks
being
accused of using depositors money to buy foreign currency on the
parallel
market or investing on the stock market.
As of October 31,
about 18,62% of depositors' funds held by commercial
banks was said to be
locked up in shares and other non-core investments.
The country's five
merchant banks had a total 30,17% of depositors'
funds locked in
shares.
The four building societies have poured 16,85% of depositors'
funds
into shares and other investments.
Banks economists described
the Reserve Bank accommodation interest
rates as "out of synch" with
inflationary trends. Inflation is said to be
above the official 231 million
percent.
"The rates are too ghastly to contemplate if one takes into
account
their effect on bank survival in the event of a money market
liquidity
crunch which will force banks to go to the central bank for
accommodation,"
a bank economist said.
What initially started as a
cash crisis feeding off an unprepared
monetary authority in rapidly
absorbing inflationary pressures through the
introduction of higher
denominated bearer cheques or further slashing of
zeros has taken an
unexpected twist.
It appears to be the making of unethical banking
practices within the
financial services sector.
After mounting
pressure from a restless banking public since the onset
of the cash crisis
late last year, the Reserve Bank is on record saying it
had "lots of money"
uncollected in their vaults because banking
institutions did not have the
security to access the money to meet their
customer withdrawal
requirements.
Most banks are accused of being 'guilty' of violating
provisions of
the Banking Act by investing liquid depositor funds into
relatively illiquid
speculative investments that put them at risk in the
event of a run on
deposits facilitated by a massive increase in daily
withdrawal limits for
individual and corporate account holders.
Banks balance sheet show that they have been engaging in more
lucrative
non-core business activities to remain viable.
The manner in which most
of these financial institutions structured
their balance sheets now puts
their very existence at risk because of the
prohibitive interest payments
that they will have to make to the Reserve
Bank for accommodating them
against a liquidity crunch.
The ordinary man on the street might be
probably cursing banking
institutions for engaging in illicit operations
that have caused them so
much discomfort as they cannot access their
cash.
Cash shortages will persist as banks have little Treasury Bills
(TB)
that they can use as collateral when collecting money from the Reserve
Bank.
Treasury Bills are issued at 340% against official inflation of
231
million percent will compromise their earnings and force them to scale
down
on the amounts they have been procuring in cash in relation to
deposits.
While the Reserve Bank has kept the accommodation rates very
high,
depositors are languishing with interest rates below 250% per
annum.
The Reserve Bank demands 45% of statutory reserves from banks
and this
according to officials has seen most financial institutions
"hurriedly"
offloading their securities portfolios to improve their
liquidity positions.
By Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:41
I THINK the negotiation process between the political parties in
Zimbabwe has gotten out of hand and is now more of a leadership
circus.
The Sadc leadership have once again failed as they have many
times
before with regards to the Zimbabwean issue.
Allocation of
ministries in my view is a peripheral matter. Instead,
the Sadc leadership
should have insisted that the Zimbabwean political
leadership discuss issues
of substance rather than dwell on peripheral
matter which, once substantive
issues of policy, level of authority and
decision making processes have been
outlined, will naturally fall away. I am
amazed that it has taken three Sadc
meetings, after Thabo Mbeki had referred
the matter to them just to get a
decision on ministries, but still no
agreement has been reached.
That tells you something about the capacity and quality of the
political
leadership we have in the region. What are we to say of our
leaders who
cannot resolve an issue as minor as this?
The political leaders in
Zimbabwe have not even begun to talk about
the economic and social policies
that will inform this unity government and
hence guide the programme
implementation at the ministry level irrespective
of which party is heading
which ministry. I think the process by all
accounts has broken down and will
not extricate Zimbabwe from its quagmire.
All evidence points to the
fact that these two parties cannot and
will not work together. I therefore
see this process going on for another
six months leading up to the UN
resolution for new elections under UN
supervision. Anything else by Sadc and
the AU will unfortunately not yield
any momentous result. So what action can
we as Zimbabweans take?
Are we to just sit and watch while our leaders
shuffle from one
meeting to the next, issuing communiques? In the meantime,
many in Zimbabwe
continue to perish from hunger and disease. Most
Zimbabweans today can
hardly put a meal on the table, school children are
all back home as the
teachers are on strike, some hospitals have closed and
child mortality rates
and women dying after pregnancy have reached
unprecedented levels, many
continue to leave the country in their
thousands.
The prices of food in US dollars are unheard of anywhere in
the world
even for people working and earning in US dollars.
Do any
of these political leaders perceive the exigency to get a
solution on
Zimbabwe now as a matter requiring an emergency response? Is
there an end
to this story of ours where the worst seems unimaginable but
actually
happens? Maybe, just maybe, if women were involved and leading in
the
current negotiation process on Zimbabwe, perhaps a solution would have
long
been found.
Hear ye Oh leaders of Zimbabwe our cries for human dignity
and respect
for human lives! I feel the birth pains of many women
struggling to feed
their families, care for the many HIV/Aids patients and
orphans. I have
seen many children with stunted growth in the rural
villages in Zimbabwe due
to hunger and malnutrition.
Lonely,
child-heads of households with teary eyes that have lost their
youthful zest
for life -- having been thrust prematurely into adulthood.
With no means of
survival and no one to care for them, they are vulnerable
and exposed to the
vagaries of abusive predators. Their plight is not
anyone's concern. They
can wait another day and another meeting. The many
women who have
demonstrated for a speedy resolution have their calls go
unanswered, their
voices unheard. The many who speak on behalf of the poor
and marginalised
are themselves well fed and clothed and their children
attend private
schools. The political parties which purport to represent us
have no clue
of the suffering of those whom they claim to fight for. They
have never
slept on an empty stomach, with nothing in their storeroom to eat
the
following day.
They do not know what it is to scout the forests, hills
and valleys
days on end competing with baboons and monkeys for wild fruits.
They have
never stared into nothingness with nowhere to go and no idea where
their
next meal is coming from. They do not know what it is to cross a
crocodile
infested river in search of greener pastures to lands afar only to
be
brutalised and abused.
So they can afford the endless travels
across the borders of the
region from Swaziland, to Zimbabwe and back to
South Africa talking simply
about sharing a ministry. Wow! Are we supposed
to be impressed by these
tomfooleries of politicians who have lost their
identity and do not know who
they are, have no vision of the future of the
country and have completely
devoured the legacy of the past?
They
certainly have no interest of the people but are engrossed with
either
acquiring power or retaining it. The deal is aptly named a "power
sharing
deal". That is all that it is. It is about the sharing of power
between
political parties and not about serving the people of Zimbabwe.
Hear ye
Oh leaders of Zimbabwe our cries for peace and prosperity!
Why are your
hearts so hardened and cold, your eyes red scorched with hatred
and anger?
Why Oh why Zimbabwean political leaders are you full of greed and
resentment, killing even the milking cows, eating the seeds without seeding
and plundering the fields before the harvest.
A once proud people
that could feed themselves with plenty left to
spare now go empty with
begging bowls in hand. Why have you defiled the
country and turned each and
every one of us into either a thief or a beggar,
despised by all nations?
Even those that have remained home, you have
raped, maimed and killed like a
bloodthirsty brood of vipers. And yet you
unashamedly sit and dine with
other leaders in countries afar and feast
while your people go hungry and
many lie dying in deserted hospitals with no
medicines, equipment and
staff. Hear ye Oh leaders of Zimbabwe our cries
for basic human
rights!
You drive around in fancy cars while many travel on foot or
live at
work because they cannot afford busfare. You live in opulent
luxurious
houses with many rooms in the leafy green suburbs of Harare lit by
generators and watered by boreholes while many wallow in their faeces and
die of cholera in the poor high density suburbs of Budiriro, Chitungwiza and
Chikonohono. You do your shopping in the best malls of the world in South
Africa, Europe and Asia while many forage and scour the dustbins and dump
sites of Harare for their next meal.
When your children gets sick,
they are flown for medical care to the
best hospitals and are served by the
best doctors and receive the best
medicines and best nursing care while a
sick orphan is simply taken to an
empty local clinic to die. Your children
attend the best universities and
schools in the world while many children in
Zimbabwe are sitting at home and
the academic year a write off. All this
while you claim to be a leadership
that wants to serve the people and want
to continue to lead. What a
contradiction in terms. Surely, history will
judge you accordingly.
What happened to selfless leadership with a
passion to serve the
people? What happened to the mantra "power to the
people", or in ANC terms
"the people shall govern"?
I would like to
join the call by Botswana President Ian Khama to call
for fresh
internationally supervised elections in Zimbabwe now without
further ado.
These talks in William Shakespeare's words are "much ado about
nothing".
They are going nowhere and will not deliver the desired outcome.
Hear ye Oh
leaders of Zimbabwe our cries for democracy now!
After Barack Obama won
the US presidency, I am encouraged to believe
that one day the people shall
indeed govern in Zimbabwe. May God bless us
all.
Makanza is a
psychologist and social commentator based in Cape Town,
South Africa. Her
email is maggiemakanza@yahoo.comThis e-mail
address is
being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to
view it .
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:34
MEDIATION in Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks should be brought to
an
end and alternative ways found to stem the deteriorating social,
political
and economic situation, political analysts have said.
The analysts said the stalemate between President Robert Mugabe and
the
MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai on the distribution of cabinet portfolios and
other
outstanding issues under the September 15 inclusive government deal
were
threatening to plunge the country into a deeper crisis.
The MDC
rejected the ruling by Sadc last week that it share the Home
Affairs
ministry with Zanu PF and has since said it would not join the unity
government before the enactment of Constitutional Amendment No 19.
The party argued that Sadc and the African Union (AU) -- the
guarantors of
the unity deal -- must move in to ensure fair and equitable
distribution of
ministerial portfolios between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
The party also
wants Constitutional Amendment No 19 enacted,
provincial governors' posts
distributed in terms of the outcome of the March
29 elections, the
composition and functions of the National Security Council
outlined, and how
permanent secretaries and ambassadors should be appointed.
Political
analysts said there was a "real risk" that the mediation process
could
become "a never-ending political soap-opera; a tragic one" because the
social and economic situation in the country was deteriorating and people
were dying.
"There must come a point when both parties agree to
disagree and
either decide to move on together or to go their separate
ways," said Alex
Magaisa, a Zimbabwean lawyer based in the UK. "At present
neither of the
parties seems sure as to what exactly they want to do. It's
a ship where
the captains are squabbling, but none of them knows exactly how
to avoid the
iceberg in front of them."
Magaisa said even if the
impasse was to be taken to the AU, there was
little the union could do to
resolve it.
"I have very limited hope that the AU can achieve anything
beyond what
Sadc has done," he said. "If they were hard enough and resolute
enough to
speak frankly to Mugabe, try to get him on-side, they could do
better. For
as long as they tolerate what has happened and what is
happening, they will
end up in the same cul-de-sac as did the Sadc
leaders."
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred
Masunungure
concurred with Magaisa, adding that the power-sharing talks were
now
"hopelessly confusing".
He said mediation in the talks would
not achieve much given the
entrenched positions of Mugabe and
Tsvangirai.
"Initially, it was Zanu PF that had deliberately adopted
stalling as a
strategy, but it's now desperate to get the process moving at
precisely a
time when MDC-Tsvangirai has borrowed the same strategy,"
Masunungure said.
"MDC-Tsvangirai appears in no hurry to implement the
global political
agreement, perhaps counting on the prospect of the economy,
society and Zanu
PF itself imploding. In short, it is MDC-Tsvangirai that is
now stalling
without explicitly withdrawing from the deal."
He said
neither the AU nor the United Nations (UN) had mechanisms to
force the
implementation of the September 15 deal.
"This can only be done if Sadc
elevates the matter by referring it to
these bodies. Otherwise, they are
impotent to act on their own account,"
Masunungure, also director of Mass
Public Opinion Institute, said.
He said Tsvangirai now appeared to want
the whole "pie and not
fragments" of the inclusive government pact.
He said the MDC-Tsvangirai no longer thinks that the deal was a viable
pact
and were now "stealthily" withdrawing.
"The MDC-Tsvangirai is also no
longer keen on further
internationalising the dispute by going to the AU or
UN and would now rather
domesticate the dispute by taking it to parliament
where they believe they
can fight better," Masunungure said. "It seems they
have realised that no
matter how strong the lion is, it cannot hope to
effectively fight the
crocodile in the water and now wants to take the
struggle to where the MDC
thinks it is strongest - parliament."
A
two-thirds majority is needed in parliament to pass Constitutional
Amendment
No19, which would create the office of prime minister and two
deputy prime
ministers. Under the unity government deal Tsvangirai would be
prime
minister while the leader of the other formation of the MDC, Arthur
Mutambara, will be deputy prime minister. The other deputy would come from
the Tsvangirai formation.
Political scientist John Makumbe said
mediation should not be allowed
to go on indefinitely.
He said the
MDC should stick to their demands, with Sadc and the AU
putting pressure on
Mugabe to agree to equitable power-sharing.
"The deal was a bad one
from the outset," Makumbe, a strong Mugabe
critic said. "The party that lost
the election ended up with more power in
government. The MDC demands should
be met and they should not waver. On the
other hand, regional and
continental bodies must force Mugabe to cede power
to the winner of the
elections. The mediation has to come to an end."
Even Tsvangirai this
week said the negotiations with Mugabe should not
be allowed to drag
on.
"It can't be forever," Tsvangirai said in Strasbourg, France,
during a
visit to Europe. "We cannot go on and on and on."
Tsvangirai said the MDC still had confidence in African institutions
to
assist in unlocking the deadlock.
"It is not lack of sincerity but lack
of leverage (on the part of Sadc
to unlock the impasse)," Tsvangirai said.
"Sadc lacks the leverage to bring
to a conclusion the problem in
Zimbabwe."
He said he did not believe that the deal was heading for
death, adding
that it would take time to implement.
"We are not
walking away from the deal as it provides the best
possible means to address
the current economic decay that our country is
going through," he said. "But
we will not take part in the government until
it reflects equitable
power-sharing because we believe the deal is the only
logical process to
deal with our situation."
By Constantine Chimakure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November
2008 19:32
THE political impasse and general deterioration of the human
rights
situation in Zimbabwe requires collective efforts by all stakeholders
for a
lasting solution according to the African Commission of Human and
People's
Rights (ACHPR) that is currently holding its 44th session in Abuja,
Nigeria.
Several commissioners from the ACHPR, Africa's supreme
human rights
watch-dog, concurred on the need for a more focused approach to
the
political and socio-economic situation in Zimbabwe despite objections
from
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
officials. Zimbabwe featured
prominently during discussions around the
work-groups on human rights
defenders in Africa and freedom of expression
and access to
information.
"We would be more satisfied to be allowed to take part in
what is
happening in Zimbabwe. Besides what Sadc is doing, it is important
for us to
go and see the situation on the ground," noted Commissioner Reine
Alapini-Gansou, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa.
She also added that special human rights mechanisms should be allowed to
input as stakeholders work to resolve the human rights situation and
political stalemate in Zimbabwe.
Commissioners acknowledged the
critical roles played by women human
rights defenders such as Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) and also singled out
journalists who use their right
to freedom of expression in speeding up
development and assist the citizenry
to take part in a democracy.
Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, the special
rapporteur on freedom of
expression and access to information, added weight
to Commissioner
Alapini-Gansou's call for a fact finding mission
highlighting the
significance of her workgroup saying: "Freedom of
expression should be part
of the mission to Zimbabwe as human rights
defenders move hand in hand with
this right."
The state, led by
Nyakotyo, argued that there is no need for a fact
finding mission to
Zimbabwe or further engagements through the commission or
Africa Union as
Sadc has made a ruling on the contentious aspects of the
political impasse.
He said the ruling by the regional body, that Zanu PF and
MDC should
co-manage the Home Affairs ministry, set the tone for the
formation of a
government that would resuscitate the economy and improve the
human rights
situation in the country despite it being rejected by one of
the key
principals to the agreement, Morgan Tsvangirai.
The opposition leader
expressed shock and disappointment at the
decision reached by Sadc that
seemed to ignore the need to share power
equitably between Mugabe and
himself. Mugabe already has control of the
Defence ministry and the
opposition is advocating for control of the police
as a way to equitably
share security organs.
Meanwhile, civic society organisations attending
the ACHPR meeting
expressed pessimism on the political agreement and
emphasised calls for a
fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe and the necessity of
broader engagement of
more stakeholders in the talks.
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR) made
interventions during discussions and echoed similar
sentiments on the human
rights situation in Zimbabwe.
"The signing of the Global Agreement on
September 15 2008 brought
optimism of an end to political intolerance and
human rights violations.
However, this optimism has since been shattered by
the on-going impasse
among the parties to these agreements," read part of a
statement by the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. "The shape of the media
has remained in a
deplorable state with state media churning out hate speech
in both the
electronic and print media."
ZLHR expressed, in its
statement, "grave concern at the fact that the
authorities in Zimbabwe
continue to exercise repressive behaviour and
continue to take measures
which render the situation on human rights
defenders untenable and which
serve to further escalate the current
political crisis."
By
Hilton Zvidzayi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November
2008 19:32
IT is November 2008. The fiasco which commenced on March 29
2008
continues in Zimbabwe.
The process lumbers on with no end
in sight and no relief for the
struggling masses in the rural and urban
areas. But visit the dollar shops
in the smart suburbs of Harare and you
might think you are in paradise. The
middle-class blacks and the white
diplomats and the white locals exude an
aura which speaks "Crisis? What
Crisis? There is no Crisis!"
Africa has about 55 countries, of which
maybe as many as five can be
classified
as not being
dictatorships. Maybe three of the 50 can be classified
as anti-Western
dictatorships. The other 47 are pro-Western dictatorships. A
similar
situation obtains throughout the Middle East, South Asia, South
East Asia
and South America. Zimbabwe is the foremost of the three African
anti-Western dictatorships.
This situation suits the West and China
pretty well -- minerals and
oil are available at knock-down prices. By
means of direct
presidential-level corruption, royalty payments and tax
levels for
international corporations are at very low rates.
The
fact that the people of these 47+3 countries are excessively poor,
have no
effective health or education systems, have limited freedom and
human rights
is of no great concern to this unholy alliance between the
local
dictator-president, the Chinese exploiters and the Western exploiters
(disguised as diplomats and business-men).
How to overturn this
immoral applecart? Easy -- create a voting system
which cannot be frauded by
Mugabe, Kibaki, Obasanjo, Lansana Conte and Omar
Bongo put together.
Implement it in any country. From there on the ball
rolls downhill, the
Pandora's box has been opened. The weapon of mass
liberation has been
unleashed. The dictator-presidents become yesterday's
men, forced to eke
out a meagre existence in the top hotels of London,
Paris, Miami, Saint
Tropez, Mauritius and Kuala Lumpur. 50+% of the world's
population are
liberated, they have hope, they have a future which promises
freedom and
prosperity.
But it has been done. Two years ago I invented such a
voting system
designed for national (presidential and parliamentary)
elections in the most
difficult conditions in the third world.
Why
has the West not rushed to implement this? Why have China and
Britain
described the system as "dangerous"? Why has the pro-democracy
organisation
International Idea in Sweden stated that the system has
"undesirable
implications"? Why are the Carter Centre and the International
Foundation
for Electoral Systems hostile?
Maybe Mugabe has got some of it right.
Maybe the West are not what
they seem. Maybe their public and their private
actions are sometimes
contrary.
The voting system, or some
variation of it, would have blown Mugabe
and Zanu PF out of the water. A
plus for the West, but the Pandora's box
would have been opened. The three
anti-Western dictatorships in Africa would
be de-materialised. But also
would be the 47 pro-Western dictatorships. The
accountants have been busy.
They did their sums.
More profitable to suppress this system
and similar systems for as many years or decades as possible. What
about
the suffering masses in Zimbabwe and throughout the third world? They
are
not white. They are poor. They are expendable. The situation can be
contained. We have done it before. We can do it again.
By
Alex Weir: Harare-based freelance software developer. Find his
voting system
at cd3wd.com
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:27
IT appears that the many months of juvenile, ego-protective
political
wrangling is ending, albeit without achieving the genuine
powersharing that
was the declared underlying intent of the Memorandum of
Understanding signed
by Zimbabwe's three major political parties on
September 15.
Subject to Parliament and the Senate expeditiously
enacting
Constitutional Amendment No 19 to give effect to the agreed terms
of the
so-called powersharing government, and provided that none of the
major
parties retract from their declared resolve to proceed with such
government, then some compromise resolution of the prolonged political
deadlock that has beleaguered Zimbabwe lies imminently ahead.
The
new government's first need is to not emulate that which it is
replacing.
What is needed is a government that places the interests of the
populace of
Zimbabwe first and foremost, ahead of all else. What is needed
is a
government that is not interested in self-enrichment, in entrenchment
of
power, in pandering to ego cravings, and which is determined speedily to
end the immense suffering and distress that characterises the life of almost
all Zimbabweans (other than the politicians that have held power for all too
long).
What is needed is a government that unwaveringly recognises
realities,
and not only does not deny their existence, but is also focused
upon
removing all such realities that are unacceptable burdens and
oppressions
upon Zimbabwe and its people. These realities presently include
that the
once virile, growing economy has been reduced to a point of near
total
destruction, and that as a result:
lInflation has soared to
quadrillions per cent, greater than ever
endured anywhere else in the
world;
lOver 80% of the population is struggling to survive, at levels
well
below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), and more than half of those endure
endless hunger pangs and life endangerment through grievous malnutrition,
their available resources being far below the Food Datum Line
(FDL);
lMore than half of the Zimbabwean population possessed of skills
has
left Zimbabwe to generate livelihoods for themselves, and to access
funding
support for their families and other dependants in Zimbabwe. That
brain
drain has been of such magnitude that Zimbabwe is severely lacking in
critically needed skills, whilst concurrently family structures have been
horrendously broken;
lThe infrastructure verges upon the
inoperable. Energy generation and
distribution is becoming ever less,
impacting most adversely upon commerce,
industry, all other economic
sectors, and upon domestic life, as well as
upon the provision of services
by parastatals and local authorities;
l Telecommunications are
appallingly deficient, erratic and
inadequate, negatively affecting
economic activity, and occasioning
frustration and immense inconvenience for
all;
lHealth and education services have almost wholly
collapsed;
lBanking services are in gross disarray, to the prejudice of
all
facets of the economy and of the population as a whole;
lScarcities of essentials are horrifyingly great. Access to maize
meal,
bread, milk, cooking oil, eggs, medications, petroleum products, and
numerous other essentials of life is almost totally non-existent, save for
those possessed of, or able to access, foreign currency;
lAlmost
all engaged in economic activities, and the majority of the
rest of the
population, strive to survive by near-total disregard for rule
of law.
Whilst not legally enacted, most commercial transactions are now
"dollarised" in hard currencies, corruption prevails very extensively in
both public and private sectors, and general crime is surging
upwards;
And those are but a few of the many ills that now afflict
Zimbabwe,
none of which would have been so had it not been for the gross
political and
economic mismanagement of Zimbabwe over a very extended
period of time, and
particularly so for the last ten years.
Although government would categorically and vigorously deny it, its
concepts
of national rulership have consistently been founded upon
never-ending
entrenchment of its grip on power, upon self-enrichment, and
upon continuous
attribution of responsibility and blame for all Zimbabwe's
ills to the
actions (mainly perceived and not actual) of others, such others
including
much of the international community, the political opposition, the
ever-shrinking white population, and nature. In its perceptions, the
government that has "ruled" Zimbabwe since Independence was, and is,
omnipotent and infallible, and wholly faultless for all that has ailed
Zimbabwe, and continues to do so.
Now that a new government is to
come into being, even though it is a
patchwork one not reflective of the
majority will of the people, it must
immediately develop a new plan, even if
abhorrent to those in the new
government as were members of the old one. The
plan of not only disclaiming
culpability for Zimbabwe's intense problems and
difficulties, but of
pronouncedly proclaiming that they were caused by
others, allegedly usually
with malicious intent, must be
abandoned.
Instead, the new government must intensively work to repair
and
eliminate the divide that the previous government created with the
international community, for Zimbabwe's derelict and destitute state is
such that Zimbabwe cannot achieve recovery by "going it alone". To
achieve reconciliation, vituperative castigation must cease, and instead
reconciliation pursued. This does not need subordination and subjugation to
others, but cooperation, collaboration and constructive, non-confrontational
dialogue. And that must be reinforced by ensuring that Zimbabwe speedily
progresses to genuine democracy, and that it unreservedly respects the rule
of law, human and property rights.
Concurrently, the incoming
government must urgently remove most
existing economic and fiscal policies,
which have proven themselves to be
not only ineffective, but also most
destructive. As evidenced for may
decades by every successful economy,
deregulation and minimum regulation is
essential, with the economy driven by
market forces, instead of by
ill-conceived, authoritarian, economic
dictatorship. Fiscal policies must be
aligned to economic means and needs,
implemented with total probity.
Conducive, welcoming investment
environments are necessary to attract
both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
and Domestic Investment, inclusive of
security of investment, meaningful
incentives, reliability of
infrastructural service delivery, and a tax
regime which is non-oppressive
and regionally competitive. The central bank
must be genuinely independent
and autonomous, and not foisted with
quasi-fiscal operations which, if
necessary, must be wholly executed by
government, but only within its means.
Whilst the land reform programme
should not be reversed, it should be
reformed, making it just and equitable,
consistent with international law,
and ensuring restoration of the very
considerable agricultural production
that prevailed before the poorly
conceived, and even more poorly
implemented programme was embarked
upon.
Agriculture was the foundation of a very substantive economy, for
a
considerable period of time, and could be so again, ensuring not only
economic recovery but also national food security. Concurrently, economic
exploitation of Zimbabwe's vast mineral wealth potential, and that of
tourism, must be strongly facilitated.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:23
THE state media is doing its best to provide a silver lining to
the
dark clouds that hang above the nation. On Friday, November 7 the Herald
carried a front-page picture of a truck with water bowsers parked in
Budiriro. The caption read "Budiriro residents fetch clean water from
bowsers provided by the government and its partners as efforts to tame the
cholera outbreak in the suburb intensify".
This was disingenuous to
say the least. The bowsers were supplied by
Unicef and the German Agro
Action agency. These were the "partners" who got
a passing mention. The
government's role was largely fictional.
But this sleight of hand
enabled the Herald to introduce a story on
the injection of US$2 million in
medical supplies with the following: "As
water started flowing into several
Harare suburbs yesterday."
How many residents of Harare saw water
"flowing" into their suburbs
two weeks ago? That was probably something else
they saw flowing in their
streets!
To what extent has cholera been
"tamed" in recent weeks? Even
government's panel-beaten figures for
casualties suggest the genesis of an
epidemic.
Last Friday it was
announced that an inter-ministerial taskforce had
been set up to combat the
cholera outbreak. It comprised "a competent team"
to manage the situation,
we were told.
Health minister Dr David Parirenyatwa said the taskforce
would focus
on mitigating the spread of the epidemic.
And how would
it do this? People should wash their hands with "clean
running water", he
wisely opined. He didn't say where the water would come
from. Perhaps one of
the bowsers in Budiriro!
There was another "sunshine" story in the
Herald recently announcing
that Zimbabwe would get US$21,4 million for food
production from the World
Bank and Food and Agriculture
Organisation.
Why are UN bodies having to contribute to Zimbabwe's
survival when the
country used to provide for its own needs and export a
surplus to the
region? Are these issues raised when officials hand out these
millions? Let's
hope they are not satisfied with deceitful
drought-and-sanctions
explanations. You have to be a real dummy to swallow
that one!
Talking of which, whatever else you may think about
Information
minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, he never fails to
entertain.
Last weekend he was quoted by the Standard as saying MDC
leaders
should have been arrested to force them into joining a government of
national unity.
Mugabe was frustrated by delays in setting up a
government of national
unity, Ndlovu said, and it was important that
measures were taken to compel
Tsvangirai to join the government.
"The government has been lenient and patient with Tsvangirai and this
leniency is not a weakness," Ndlovu declared. "We could have invoked serious
harsh measures and arrested the MDC leadership long ago and gone ahead to
form a government."
That would have been a suitable reaction to
Western "interference", he
suggested.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa
dismissed Ndlovu's statement as the
"rantings of a loser".
"Such
statements can only be said by someone who has either lost his
mind or an
election," he commented.
What about somebody who has lost both and is
about to lose a
by-election?
This fits neatly with Patrick
Chinamasa's claim that Ian Khama's
proposal that Zimbabwe should hold free
and fair elections was "provocative".
Now we learn that incarceration
is a suitable response to those who
refuse to join Mugabe's
cabinet.
Perhaps we should reopen our "Only in Zimbabwe"
segment.
Does anybody recall a few weeks ago Gideon Gono saying, in
response to
objections, that there would be "no going back" on forex
shops?
This steadfastness of purpose did not apply, we presume, to
RTGSs.
Is there anything else the good governor would like to tell us
will/won't be reversed before it is/isn't?
Zanu PF's friends have
yet to realise there will have to be some
"going back" on a number of issues
including the printing of money that is
having such a devastating impact on
the economy.
A loaf of bread which cost $320 000 on Monday last week,
cost $390 000
last Wednesday and $1 500 000 on Saturday. What it is this
week is anybody's
guess. What we do know for sure is that the Zanu PF
government is doing
absolutely nothing to rein it in and more than a small
amount to fuel it
while proclaiming it's all the fault of Tsvangirai and
sanctions.
Have they not woken up yet to the reality that nobody
believes them
anymore -- if they ever did? It wasn't Tsvangirai or the
British and
Americans who seized productive farms and transformed them into
deserts. It
wasn't Tsvangirai or the British and Americans who dispossessed
investors
who had brought their money into the country under bilateral
investment
agreements.
Now these same brigands expect Tsvangirai to
rescue them from the
consequences of their plunder while they continue to
insult him on a daily
basis in their captive press.
Even children
have been roped in. One, in the Herald Letters column on
Tuesday, calling
himself "Child Parliamentarian", accused Tsvangirai of
fighting a "holly"
war against "our liberator, President Mugabe, who has
made us the most
literate nation in Africa".
Not apparently in this case!
Perhaps all this abuse helps them to feel good in the wake of popular
rejection. But it won't bring in the bucks.
Speaking of
President Mugabe's contribution to literacy, may we please
know where his
offspring are being educated? We heard some time ago that
Grace was in the
Far East looking for suitable educational establishments
for young Bona, who
voted in Harare in the March election, but we have
received no confirmation
of what sort of place, if any, was found.
While it could be argued the
education of First Family members is a
private matter, that all depends
whether public funds are used or not.
Hong Kong, we gather would hold
some appeal for the president: It is
British in many of its characteristics
but Chinese in ownership and
therefore beyond the reach of the pesky human
rights crowd.
But it would be a costly business finding a university in
the former
colony and suitable lodgings, not to mention the upkeep of
security details.
Whatever the case it would be useful to know, given
Mugabe's
charitable role in sending students to Fort Hare, where he has
decided to
send Bona.
We gather some of the Fort Hare
undergraduates were summoned to
Sandton recently to demonstrate for Zanu PF
at the Sadc Summit. But they
were chased off by the more numerous MDC
mob.
We drew attention recently to the scandalous decision by Zesa
to
refuse cheques from hard-pressed subscribers. We still haven't heard from
Gideon Gono on this score. Now we hear Tel*One is doing the same
thing.
A customer calling at their Emerald Hill offices this week was
told
their whole computer system was down so they couldn't tell him how much
he
owed. And no, they wouldn't take a cheque to cover what the customer
might
owe.
As the customer's phone has been out of order for
several months you
would have thought they would want the money. But no,
only cash will do -
even for dead lines!
Remember that little room
we speculated about where government
officials meet weekly to think up ways
of making life as difficult as
possible for the public? They are evidently
still very busy.
The semi-literate Voice carried a piece this week
claiming Tsvangirai
was "pursuing other agendas" in refusing to implement
the Sadc
resolution.They turned out to be harebrained claims that the MDC-T
leader
wanted to bring his "Western handlers" into the country to promote
instability.
The article was written by somebody called Tendai
Mugabe.
What these clueless scribes at the Voice don't seem to
understand is
that most people in this country would welcome Western
advisors brought in
so we could have a telephone system that works, safe
water supplies,
reliable power distribution and access to our bank
accounts.
Zanu PF is unable to ensure even the basics of a stable state
like
health and education so until it can do something useful its media
apologists should either put up or shut up. If they all hate Tsvangirai that
much why are they begging him to join their inept government?
An "upcoming" real estate company has been advertising in the Herald
for a
secretary. "Good pecks on offer", it assures applicants.
This is
presumably a reference to membership of the nearby gym.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:19
WHEN President Mugabe on September 15 said there were parts of
the
power-sharing deal he did not like and parts of the deal that Tsvangirai
did
not like,
"but there were some things we both liked", we
all thought that the
leaders would work to build on common positions and
quickly find consensus
on contentious ones.
Events since then have
shown that the leaders have instead decided to
amplify areas of contention
and make these the subjects of engagement. They
have decided to use these
entrenched positions to fortify their mantras
which at the end of the day
have little to do with improving the lot of
Zimbabweans.
The
leaders on September 15 all agreed on the urgency of halting the
economic
collapse, reviving social services and dealing with the hunger that
stalks
the nation. These I believe are the areas of agreement which
necessitated
dialogue and the signing of the power-sharing agreement.
Morgan
Tsvangirai summed up the task to hand: "The new beginning will
be built more
quickly with the support of the international community," he
said. "First we
will stop the devastating food shortages. The first priority
of this
government is to unlock food accessibility. We need doctors and
nurses back
in our hospitals. We need teachers back in our schools. We need
to stabilise
our economy and restore the value of our money."
Authur Mutambara
weighed in with this brave statement: "There's no
longer a ruling party.
There's no longer an opposition party. We are now
working together. The hard
work starts today. This document that we have
today is simply a framework to
resolve that crisis."
Lofty pronouncements indeed, and we believed
them!
Mugabe at least was honest on the day. He admitted that he was
uncomfortable with "democracy in Africa" which he thinks is "a difficult
proposition". Look at where we are today.
Two months down the
line, there is little to show that unlocking food
accessibility and
stabilising the economy are an urgent matter. There is
also no evidence of
any hard work by the leaders cooperating to solve the
mess in this country.
Instead they have put up shabby displays of arrogance
to show voters how
different they are and how much they do not trust each
other.
There
is a real danger now that the Global Power-Sharing Agreement
could form a
new epicentre of conflict between the MDC formations and Zanu
PF, with
devastating consequences for economy. There is evidence that the
collapse of
the economy has been steepest since the signing of the
power-sharing deal.
We just need to count the zeros which have come back to
haunt the economy
since September. There is outright collapse in health and
a cholera outbreak
which is the worst in the history of this country.
The parties in the
interim have remained locked in attritional combat
for appointments of
ministers, permanent secretaries, governors and
diplomats.
Amid the
malaise wrought by the logjam, the leaders have put on
deceptive masks of
commitment to the dialogue. In France this week
Tsvangirai spoke on the
contentious subject of European sanctions in a
manner which appeared to
break ranks with his party back home. He did not
exactly attack Western
sanctions on Zimbabwe as Zanu PF wants him to do. He
did not call for the
lifting of the sanctions but he said further sanctions
were not necessary at
this point when food aid was urgently needed. He
pledged commitment to
dialogue saying "It can't be forever," he said. "We
cannot go on and on and
on."
"We are not walking away from the deal, we support the deal. We
continue to defend the deal.
But it must be a deal that reflects
equitable
power-sharing. If we miss the opportunity, then the tragedy
for the
country is even too desperate to contemplate."
Tsvangirai
will not want to be credited with savaging the talks. He
wants to be a deal
maker. He knows that deal breakers never win
negotiations. They just end
them.
Mugabe's party on the other hand said it had sent a draft
constitutional amendment to the mediator, former South African president
Thabo Mbeki for his perusal. The bill, among other things, sets up the
office of the PM, deputy PM and nine non-constituency MPs. But the MDC has
charged that it was not party to the drafting of the bill.
That's
not the way parties work together. The issue of the
constitution has become
another potential deal breaker. There is a real
possibility that the parties
are going to add this to the inventory of
issues which have to be dealt with
by the mediator. More delays. More queues
at banks, more deaths from cholera
and hunger and more zeros.
The tragedy of it all is that as a nation we
have watched and cheered
on the three leaders as they go off the rails. We
are not demanding better
government but we are content with taking our seat
on the grandstand. We
want to see who will win. We have constructed various
coping mechanisms as
the economy collapses and we have allowed ourselves to
become slaves and
victims of our preferred leaders' whims and
caprices.
By Vincent Kahiya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
19:06
IF ever there was any doubt President Robert Mugabe is cornered
by
events, the recent Sadc summit in South Africa will have proved he is
indeed pinned down.
Mugabe left Johannesburg early last week
crowing, thinking that he had
staged a major diplomatic coup against his MDC
rivals, but now reality is
dawning on him. He now understands that he cannot
do anything consequential
without his opponents.
The MDC also
evidently does not have a viable Plan B, but at least it
can afford to wait
and see. Mugabe can't. He is a captive of his own
political delusions and
there is no way out for him. He is for all
practical purposes a prisoner of
events, marooned in State House without any
legitimate mandate. He lacks the
consent of the governed and without a
cabinet and government in place he can
do nothing in the form of public
service.
Mugabe and his advisors -
if he has any besides the usual hangers-on -
thought they had won at Sadc.
However, upon comprehensively reading the Sadc
communiqué, it soon became
clear Mugabe can't proceed on his own. If he
does, he would be going
nowhere.
The Sadc resolution said since no government was formed in
Zimbabwe
after the elections, leaders must go home and constitute one. The
summit
decided that the inclusive government be formed forthwith in
Zimbabwe; the
Ministry of Home Affairs be co-managed between Zanu PF and
MDC-T and the
efficacy of this arrangement be reviewed after six months by
the parties
with the assistance of the guarantors, Sadc, the AU and the
facilitator
Thabo Mbeki. To give effect to these decisions and the
provisions of the
Global Political Agreement, Sadc said parties must,
without any further
delay, introduce the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment
Bill No 19.
This means Mugabe and Zanu PF cannot fully implement the
Sadc
communiqué without the MDC.
First, the term "inclusive
government" in this context means the three
political parties working
together.
Second, a full cabinet can only be formed if Mugabe, Morgan
Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara provide lists of their nominees.
Third, a full cabinet can only be assembled if Mugabe and Tsvangirai
agree
on Home Affairs.
Fourth, the agreement can only be implemented if a
two-thirds majority
is mustered in parliament to amend the constitution. In
short, this means
Mugabe and Tsvangirai must first agree.
Mutambara
is not a factor in this particular issue beyond the
fundamental requirement
for an "inclusive government" which he should be
part of.
Last, but
not least, parties must agree on implementation mechanisms.
This is
where we are now. Mugabe last week claimed on the basis of the
Sadc
resolution he was going to appoint cabinet as soon as he arrived home.
His politburo adopted the Sadc resolution and said he must go ahead
and
appoint cabinet with immediate effect, with or without the MDC factions.
That was on Wednesday last week. However, nothing has happened.
This is not surprising. Mugabe cannot move on his own. Practically,
Mugabe
can appoint his 15 ministers and make them run their own portfolios
and act
in the other 16 given to the MDC, but that would be a recipe for
disaster.
It would simply mean we would continue without a legitimate
cabinet and
government possibly for five years, that is if Mugabe can finish
his term.
Mugabe can only be legitimate president by virtue of the
agreement.
The foolish notion that Mugabe can simply appoint his 15 ministers and
go it
alone ignores the gravity of the economic crisis, the starvation of
the
masses, the disease afflicting the population, closure of schools,
colleges,
universities and hospitals, the shortages of basic commodities and
breakdown
of social services, education, health and public transport.
In fact,
this ignores the groundswell of public anger and the time
bomb it
constitutes.
Mugabe is as crafty a political operator as he is lucky.
He is
surviving both because and in spite of himself. He is using
effectively
instruments of coercion to hang onto power.
But at the
same time, the opposition's failures by acts of commission
and omission are
helping him to continue clinging to power.
After the Sadc summit,
Tsvangirai as usual went abroad preaching to
the converted. This is the
MDC's general problem. It is not dynamic. Its
leaders think inside a
box.
They don't understand that as part of a grand strategy it is
necessary
to assess what will be the relative roles of internal resistance
and
external pressures for disintegrating the dictatorship.
The
main force of the struggle must be borne from inside the country,
not
outside. To the degree that international assistance comes at all, it
will
have to be stimulated by internal resistance. The home front is the
main
frontline. The MDC vanguard does not seem to appreciate this at all.
Mugabe has run out of ideas and options, but the problem is that
internal
resistance is disjointed and weak. He is stranded and where is the
MDC?
By Dumisani Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 20 November 2008
18:55
THIS newspaper has consistently maintained a sceptical stance as
to
whether Sadc was the correct forum to resolve the vexed issue of
ministries
between Zanu PF and the MDC.
However, listening to
"experts" reacting to the recent summit in South
Africa which decided that
the two parties should co-manage the Ministry of
Home Affairs portfolio, we
were left wondering who was being led down the
garden path.
The
wringing of hands about Sadc's impotence sounds no more than a
masochistic
act; an over-expectation of the impossible. It not only does not
have
leverage to enforce its decisions but there is also no precedent
anywhere
else in the world where an external agency has decided the
allocation of
ministry portfolios for another country. Bearing this in mind,
it is
therefore an exercise in futility to take the same issue to the
African
Union or the United Nations.
Some commentators claimed Sadc was afraid
to confront President
Mugabe. In fact those who are most vocal when he is
away like Ian Khama of
Botswana did not attend the summit. In the event, the
Sadc decision was that
the two parties should co-manage the
ministry.
To us that was a clumsy decision, but one that tells a
different story
from the preferred "megaphone diplomacy". It is a story of a
region which is
fed up with the leadership circus in Zimbabwe. That is why
less than five
heads of state bothered to attend.
It is true, most
of them are fed up with Mugabe. They are concerned
about the effects of the
economic collapse on their own economies. Indeed,
most believe he is the
chief culprit in this messy affair. If they had their
way, they would be
happy to see the back of him yesterday. But almost all of
them seem to
believe it is not good diplomacy to be shouting at the leader
of a
neighbouring country just because you don't agree with him. More than
that,
beyond conjecture about the efficacy of such an approach, there is no
evidence that such shouting has worked before.
On the other hand,
the same leaders nurse their own grievances against
the MDC and its leader
Morgan Tsvangirai. Many of them have not forgotten
how he refused to travel
to Swaziland three weeks ago for the Sadc troika
meeting where they were
gathered to hear Tsvangirai's side of the story.
Most of the elder statesmen
from the liberation movements are not amused by
his cosiness with former
colonial masters. As if to rub it in, we understand
US ambassador to
Zimbabwe James McGee made a point of travelling to South
Africa where he
conferred with the MDC delegation.
We fully appreciate the MDC's right
to choose who it wants to befriend
in the international community. What is
however evident is that it is not
making an effort to cultivate friends
among its African neighbours except
those who openly attack its political
rival. Its regional diplomacy has been
condescending to say the least. It
has given itself the moral high ground to
which it expects Sadc and the
African Union to come and pay homage.
It has not hidden its contempt
for Sadc decisions, from its choice of
mediator in the talks to last week's
decision for the two parties to
co-manage the Home Affairs ministry. Thus
after accusing former South
African president Thabo Mbeki of favouring
Mugabe in the talks, it could not
find a suitable replacement. It ignored
the Sadc troika meeting and rejected
the ruling of the full Sadc summit. It
is highly unlikely that there will a
different outcome from the African
Union which would be honoured by Mugabe
and Zanu PF. Equally, there won't be
anything useful from the UN because it
has no mandate.
True to
form, after his disappointment with the Sadc ruling,
Tsvangirai lost no time
in finding his way to France for "consultations"
with the European Union.
This is a direct affront to the same Africans
nations the MDC expects to
take its cause to the AU and the United Nations.
Don't they say charity
begins at home? We would have expected
Tsvangirai to lobby regional
countries before going overseas! Meanwhile, the
party's list of grievances
keeps growing without any indication of what
issues are of substance and
which ones are bargaining chips. In fact, far
from the MDC pressing its
election promise of a lean cabinet of 15
ministries, it is competing with
Zanu PF in finding jobs for the boys in
every sphere of government, from
permanent secretaries and parastatal heads
to ambassadors.
We
however note that the party is coming closer to home by pushing for
Constitutional Amendment No 19 to give legal effect to the posts of prime
minister and his deputies. It is here that we hope the debate will focus on
substantive issues rather than politicking about cabinet portfolios while
the nation burns. Both Zanu PF and the MDC are expected to show maturity and
respect the House. More than that, they must show they respect those who
elected them. The time to score points in the media as we have observed in
the past few weeks is over.
What the same few weeks have
demonstrated beyond doubt is lack of
mutual respect and trust between the
two parties. They are therefore unable
to work effectively together. That is
an issue which can be resolved through
an election. It is therefore our hope
that Amendment 19 will be seen in this
light: as a temporary measure to
allow the parties to deal with a new
constitution and other issues listed as
priorities for the new government in
the Memorandum of Understanding signed
in July.