http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 17:32
BULAWAYO -
Tempers flared up at a meeting of the Organ on National Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration on Thursday when victims of the Gukurahundi
massacres demanded compensation. President Robert Mugabe's previous
administration turned a deaf ear to calls from human rights activists and
politicians from Matabeleland and the Midlands to compensate victims of the
mass killings by the North Korean-trained 5 Brigade in the
1980s.
Co-Minister of National Healing, Reconciliation and
Integration and Zanu PF
outgoing chairman John Nkomo who chaired the meeting
came under fire from
representatives of civic society, churches and
residents who took turns to
demand justice for the victims.
The
leader of the Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda, Effie Ncube,
led
the attacks and called for those behind the deaths of more than 20 000
civilians to be brought to justice.
"We need to bring justice to
victims of the violence and take justice to the
perpetrators.
"We
have to pursue accountability because those who were responsible for
violence must be answerable," he said to applause from the
audience.
"Those who killed others should be taken to
jail."
Ncube openly referred to Nkomo as a close ally of Zanu PF
bigwigs who
sponsored the Gukurahundi massacres.
He told the Zanu
PF chairman that he was not the right person to lead the
national healing
process since his hands were "dripping blood" of his party's
opponents who
died between 2000 and 2008.
In his response Nkomo avoided the issue
of Gukurahundi.
Speaking on behalf of churches, Pastor Kenneth
Chirimuuta said there was
need to craft a legal framework to enable
compensation for Gukurahundi
victims.
He said it was impossible
to heal the nation when the Ndebele people were
still bitter about the
merciless attacks by Mugabe's regime in the
mid-1980s.
"The
Gukurahundi issue must be dealt with because it will be pointless to
talk of
national healing when some people are still crying.
"There must be a
legal framework for national healing to cover compensation
of Gukurahundi
victims," Chirimuuta said.
He said even victims of "Operation
Murambatsvina" deserved to be given
compensation, since they lost valuable
property during the destruction of
their homes.
According to the
United Nations more than 700 000 people were left homeless
in May 2005 after
Mugabe's regime descended on helpless residents in the
infamous
slum-clearance campaign.
Chirimuuta also called for the
de-politicisation of state institutions such
as ZBC and Zimpapers, accusing
them of peddling Zanu PF's agenda at the
expense of other political parties
in the inclusive government.
"As churches we call for forgiveness but
that doesn't mean that we should do
away with justice.
"People
who were affected by political violence in this country should be
given
access to justice, then from there we can move to national healing,"
he
said.
MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda and Co-Minister of National
Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration, said he sympathised with those
demanding
justice for Gukurahundi victims.
"We have to address
issues related to Gukurahundi - look at ways to resolve
that politically
motivated violence that affected many in and around
Bulawayo.
"It's worrying that nothing was done to appease those
who were affected by
the Gukurahundi atrocities," he said.
Mugabe
unleashed the North Korea-trained 5 Brigade who killed thousands of
Ndebele
people accusing them of harbouring dissidents in what was seen as a
campaign
to decimate PF Zapu.
The killings ended when the late Vice-President
Joshua Nkomo signed the
Unity Accord with Mugabe on December 22,
1987.
But human rights activists say those who survived the attacks
by the
soldiers have not received any psychological support or medical
assistance
from government since the conflict ended.
Children
whose parents were raped by soldiers or were killed are also still
struggling to secure national identity documents.
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 20:44
THE South
African government has accepted that the ongoing land invasions
are
unlawful, and that rulings of the Sadc Tribunal were binding.
This
followed a High Court application by farmers’ rights organisation
Agriforum,
which filed an urgent application seeking to stop the signing of
the
Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Bippa) on
Friday.
Agriforum represents more than 200 South African farmers
in Zimbabwe and
some of them have been forced to leave the
country.
South African lawyer Willie Spies, who instituted the urgent
court
proceedings on behalf of the organisation confirmed the SA position on
Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform programme.
“The North
Gauteng High Court in Pretoria made an order in terms of which
the
Government of South Africa undertakes to respect and honour the
judgments by
the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Tribunal in
favour of
commercial farmers in Zimbabwe, and to uphold the rights and
remedies of
victims of Zimbabwe’s unlawful land expropriation exercise,” he
said.
Speaking at a Bippa signing ceremony in Harare Friday,
South Africa’s trade
and industry minister Rob Davies said they had reached
an out of court
settlement giving that country’s government the greenlight
to conclude the
pact.
“A group of people in South Africa wrote to
us saying they were seeking an
interdict to stop us from signing,” he said.
“But we obtained an out of
court settlement in which a judge advised that
there were no legal
impediments.”
Davies said the SA government
was convinced that the Bippa would create
legal security to both present and
future investment in Zimbabwe thereby
creating confidence for more
investment to flow into the country.
But while the signing was going
on and the assurances being made, a group of
about 15 drum-beating people
invaded Umvovo Farm, which is owned by Thomas
and Sue Beattie. The invaders,
led by Sylivester Hanyani and Nicholas
Hanyani first invaded the farm in
August, but were restrained by the courts.
On Friday, they camped at
the farm and sang all night, setting some parts of
the farm on
fire.
“They are not being humane enough about the whole thing,” Sue
said
yesterday. “The police officers who are attending to the scene are also
not
helping matters either, they are not stopping them. They are only
listening
to Mr Hanyani, and not us.”
This position, and progress
on the case, could not be clarified with police
spokesperson Andrew Phiri,
who referred the enquiry to the provincial team.
Mashonaland West provincial
spokesperson Assistant Inspector Peter Zhanero
said he was not yet aware of
the chaos at the farm.
Justice for Agriculture spokesperson John
Worswick said “there should be a
moratorium on the
invasions”.
“This is retribution for us,” Worswick said. “Other
countries respect the
Sadc Tribunal, but our government has taken a position
different from other
Sadc countries.”
The Beatties used to be
among Zimbabwe’s leading commercial farmers, with
interests in crop
production and animal husbandry.
In a legal opinion last week, South
African legal consultants Jeremy
Gauntlett and FB Pelser said the South
African government would be violating
that country’s law if it signed the
deal thereby immunising Zimbabwe from
its international law liabilities.
They also said the South African
government would have acted contrary to the
principles of the Sadc Treaty
and other international
instruments.
“Of significance is the fact that the Bippa – which is
aimed at providing
security of tenure to South African investments in
Zimbabwe – expressly
excludes past claims arising from Zimbabwe’s post-2000
land seizure
measures, despite the fact that such claims have been upheld by
the relevant
international court,” the consultants said.
Davies
said the pact will help in unlocking Zimbabwe’s growth potential
which will
benefit SA by reducing social pressures caused by the influx of
immigrants
into that country.
Elton Mangoma, the Minister of Economic Planning
and Development said
Zimbabwe was working on compensating those farmers
whose land had been
expropriated.
“The inclusive government has a
life of its own which is different from that
of the previous government and
we are committed to the rule of law,” he
said. “Regarding farms that we
expropriated, our constitution says
compensation is due to the
farmers.
“We know that we are in debt and government’s inability to
pay should not be
taken as a repudiation of debt. That is the reason why
none of our ministers
has ever disputed that we have to pay. We are talking
to the farmers
regarding this issue of compensation.”
Mangoma
said Zimbabwe was fully behind the idea of a Sadc Tribunal but stood
by its
stance that the region has to make the court legally exist for it to
give
judgement on legal matters.
Zimbabwe continues to disregard a recent
ruling by the tribunal compelling
it to stop evicting some farmers from
their land.
But Mangoma admitted that the country still needs to
resolve issues around
security of tenure, saying he was certain that would
have been done by the
end of next year.
He said by signing the
deal, Zimbabwe was telling the world that it was
ready for investment and to
be a world player.
He said the country was ready to extend the terms
of the Bippa to all
investors from other countries.
He advised
that contrary to widespread fears, Zimbabwe was not going to
nationalise
anybody’s businesses that is why it was signing the Bippa.
“We have
created an environment conducive for investment and among other
things, we
have a stronger government at the moment,” he said.
Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara urged local businesses to grow their
businesses
regionally to broaden and strengthen their balance sheets so as
to survive a
tight competition likely to be brought by the Bippa once it is
implemented.
Davies was accompanied by a group of more than 50
business people from South
Africa’s various sectors, including energy,
telecommunications, mining and
infrastructure development.
BY
VUSUMUZI SIFILE AND JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 20:37
THE country's three
governing parties have agreed to suspend discussions on
the controversial
appointments of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon
Gono and Attorney
General Johannes Tomana (pictured) until they find common
ground on the
other outstanding issues in their power sharing agreement.
The
decision was taken as the parties raced against time to meet a 30-day
Southern African Development Community (Sadc) deadline that expires on
Saturday.
Sources said the decision followed a
realisation that the emotive issue
could scuttle the negotiations, which
resumed at a secret location in Harare
yesterday.
Gono and
Tomana's fate will now be discussed after the more than 20 items on
the
agenda are exhausted.
The talks between negotiators from Zanu PF and
the two MDC formations
yesterday focused on the issues of sanctions and the
media, sources said.
"Nothing has changed in terms of the issues
being discussed," said the
source.
"Today the discussions will
centre on the issue of sanctions and the media,
that is, both the local
media and pirate radio stations."
The sources said although "there is
some movement forward", the Zanu PF and
MDC-T teams were still poles apart
on the issue of the appointment of Gono
and Tomana who are accused of being
too partisan.
"The item on the appointments has been postponed," said the
source.
Without indicating when the negotiating teams would conclude
the current
discussions, the source said: "There is general agreement on the
need to
move with speed, because delays defeat the very essence of the
GPA."
A three-member South African delegation is expected in the
country today to
push the parties to meet the 30-day deadline set by Sadc on
November 5.
President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson yesterday, Vincent
Magwenya told The
Standard that ANC stalwart and presidential advisor,
Charles Nqakula, Mac
Maharaj and international relations advisor to the
president Lindiwe Zulu
were travelling to Harare to ensure "the parties work
within the Sadc
framework."
South Africa is seen losing patience
over the delays in the implementation
of the GPA and Zuma who was given the
task to facilitate in the negotiations
has made it clear he wants results
before the end of the year.
Observers say President Zuma is being
gifted a second opportunity to show
how truly committed he is to finding a
democratic solution in Zimbabwe.
They say that it is clear that the
GPA is failing in delivering on its
mandate and that it is therefore
essential that the Zuma's team uses this
opportunity to adopt a new,
objective concrete plan of action to bring about
real change in
Zimbabwe.
They also say that while the establishment of this task
team suggests that
President Zuma is committed to finding a solution to the
crisis in Zimbabwe
this task team needs to produce
outcomes.
President Zuma, they say, must ensure that the facilitation
team follows
through with real action, that it remains firm in its dealings
with both the
Zanu PF and the MDC during negotiations and that Sadc moves
away from its
previous policy of appeasement and starts using the mechanisms
at its
disposal to make sure all parties in Zimbabwe uphold their
commitments when
it comes to establishing a legitimate democracy in the
country.
The agenda for the Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC talks reportedly
contains more
than 20 items but the most pressing issues include the sharing
of posts of
provincial governors, appointment of ambassadors and permanent
secretaries,
sanctions and pirate radio stations.
The MDC-T also
wants an end to the persecution of senior officials, which
has seen several
of them being dragged before the courts on trumped up
charges or for petty
offences.
BY KHOLWANI NYATHI AND VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009
20:32
LEADING pharmaceuticals manufacturer, CAPS (Pvt) Ltd has recalled
some of
its products from the market in a move that could force the
pharmaceutical
giant to temporarily close its factory. The move by the CAPS
Holdings
subsidiary follows a directive from the medicines regulatory
authority which
questioned the company's decision to produce drugs from its
newly
refurbished plant before it had been inspected.
In a
statement yesterday, the company advised its customers of the impending
inspection by Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.
"CAPS
(Pvt) Limited, a subsidiary of Caps Holdings, wishes to advise its
valued
customers, stakeholders and members of the public that the company is
recalling some of its products from wholesalers," it said.
"The
recall has been necessitated by the instruction from the Medicines
Control
Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) who are yet to finalise the inspection
of the
refurbished plant."
In the last few years CAPS embarked on a massive
refurbishment exercise to
modernise its manufacturing
functions.
Some of the products that have been recalled were
manufactured in this
refurbished plant.
"The company remains
committed to serving the industry as consistently and
professionally as has
been the case in previous years," said the statement.
"We are working
closely with MCAZ so that a formal inspection is done before
the plant is
officially commissioned and we would like to thank you in
advance for your
patience during this period."
For the inspection to be carried CAPS
would have to halt production.
The Minister of Health, Dr Henry
Madzorera said he was not aware of the
development while MCAZ telephones
went unanswered.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009
18:57
WHEN he was given the microphone at the Harare province inter-party
meeting
of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic),
something
appeared to bother Innocent Hamandishe. As he is wont to do
whenever there
are a number of his Zanu PF comrades present, any
presentation for
Hamandishe starts with a slogan, and a few praise words for
the party.
For a while, Hamandishe appeared to struggle to find an
alternative to his
usual "Macomrades" to address fellow
participants.
And when the pastor asked everyone to hold hands in
prayer, Hamandishe and a
number of the participants would briefly open their
eyes. They just somehow
could not stand with their eyes closed while holding
hands with their
political rivals.
This is the dilemma that faced
participants at the inaugural Jomic
inter-party provincial leadership
meeting held in Harare on Friday.
Jomic was established to monitor
the implementation of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) between Zanu PF
and the MDC formations. GPA underpins the
unity government.
Jomic
is co-chaired by GPA negotiators from the three parties.
The meeting
brought together Harare provincial leaders from the three
parties in the
inclusive government.
"For the first time in the history of the GPA,
we have managed to bring
together party leadership at provincial level,"
said Zanu PF representative,
Oppah Muchinguri.
"All along it has
been leadership at national level. This is the beginning
of public debates
which we will hold across the country.
"We need to embrace each
other, we need to change our mindset."
From what transpired during
the meeting, the team faces a mammoth task in
instilling tolerance among
supporters of different parties.
"We can bury our differences, but
they (Zanu PF supporters) should bring
back our property like livestock that
is still in their possession,"said one
MDC-T supporter.
"We can
forgive them for what was destroyed, but what they still have they
should
bring back," he said.
Participants argued that while it was good to monitor
the implementation of
the GPA at a national level, there should also be
grassroots structures.
The Zanu PF Harare provincial youth
chairperson Jim Kunaka said there was
need to foster unity and tolerance
among party supporters at the grassroots.
"Unity does not start at
national level," Kunaka said. "National unity is a
result of the unity of
people at the grassroots where the masses are. Most
of the problems we face
are created for us by leaders."
MDC-T provincial chairperson Morgan
Femai supported Kunaka's proposal,
saying the "parties have been playing
hide and seek" since 1999.
"I remember when the principals were
signing the GPA, some of us were
fighting on the terraces," Femai
said.
MDC Harare chairperson Martin Magaya said the most important
thing was to
implement the recommendations from the
discussions.
"We need to implement these things, otherwise it will
seem like it's just
another talk show," Magaya said.
Zanu PF's Amos Midzi
said there was "need to go to where the people are".
"As leaders, we
may have our own ideas, but the people on the ground also
have their own
views on certain issues," Midzi said.
Jomic national co-ordinator
Patience Chiradza said the inter-party
leadership meetings would be followed
by public forums across the country.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 18:54
THOUSANDS of
“O” Level and “A” Level students have found solace in the more
expensive
Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) system after
frustration with the
perennial bungling by the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations
Council (Zimsec).
Almost all trust schools and private colleges have for a
while been using
Cambridge which charges US$40 for an “O”- Level subject and
US$70 for an
“A”- Level subject.
But the interest in Cambridge has spread to other
students outside trust
schools and private colleges prompting the British
Council to open centres
in Bulawayo, Mutare and Harare to conduct the
examinations.
British Council director Rajiv Bendre on Friday said in
the October/November
examinations, more than 800 students sat for the
examinations at the
centres. “For the first time since the inception of the
council in Zimbabwe,
we are running the General Certificate of Education
(GCE) exams for
Cambridge. We are just trying to help,” Bendre
said.
Joseph Fushayi, the Examinations Manager at the council said by
offering
Cambridge, they were “by no means undermining
Zimsec”.
“All we are doing is just providing an alternative. For us
the most
important thing is affordability of the exams to ordinary
Zimbabweans,”
Fushayi said.
Bendre said they were exploring
opportunities for initiating co-operation
between Zimsec and Cambridge,
which at some point positioned local exams
among the best in
Africa.
“When Zimsec was set up, there was lots of co-operation with
Cambridge,”
Bendre said.
“The thinking was that since Zimsec was
experiencing challenges, Cambridge
could come in with some technical
assistance.
“On our part, we helped rejuvenate that relationship
between Zimsec and
Cambridge.
“In August we facilitated a visit
to Zimsec by two officials from the CIE,
and they came up with a list of
needs for Zimsec, which were then
discussed.”
This caused the
current slump in the number of candidates who registered for
local
examinations, which started on Thursday.
While the understanding has
for all along been that most students failed to
raise enough money to pay
Zimsec examination fees, it has since emerged that
a significant number of
them actually opted to take the CIE.
The CIE replaced the University
of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate,
which Zimbabwe used until the
late 1990s.
“Most of them registered for Cambridge after uncertainty
continued to shroud
the Zimsec process,” said an official close to the
operations of Zimsec.
“And when Zimsec started registering
candidates, they were charging almost
the same amounts as those institutions
running Cambridge examinations, so
many candidates did not see the use of
writing through Zimsec.”
Over the last two weeks the chaos at Zimsec
has been so glaring after
officials failed to respond to questions on the
examination process, raising
concerns they were running out of options — and
answers — to restore
credibility to the public exam system.
The
institution’s director Happy Ndanga’s mobile phone went
unanswered.
Spokesperson Ezekiel Pasipamire was also not in a
position to comment,
saying he would “never talk to The Standard again”,
without giving reasons.
He is still to respond to questions he
requested to be faxed to him over a
week ago.
But the Minister of
Education, Senator David Coltart insisted the situation
was under control,
although a lot still needs to be done.
“We are not going to restore
the credibility of Zimsec overnight, it’s a
process,” he
said.
“Next year, we will do a curriculum review, subject to money
being
available. We need to restore public confidence in
Zimsec.”
Coltart said he did not see anything wrong with pupils
opting for Cambridge
examinations, saying it was just a sign parents were
exercising their
freedom of choice.
“I believe that parents
should have freedom of choice.
“Those who want Cambridge and can
afford to do so — they are free to do so.
“But those who cannot
afford Cambridge should also have a good alternative,”
Coltart
said.
In September, the National Educational Advisory Board (NEAB)
released a
report that encouraged the government to “support the revamping
of the
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council urgently”.
Sources
at Zimsec said at the moment the situation was so chaotic it was
“impossible” for the process – which includes the setting, writing and
marking of examinations – to be completed on time because of issues of
remuneration for invigilators and markers, as well as logistical challenges
like the availability of space and transport.
But Coltart was
adamant on Friday that marking would be completed in
January.
Last week he pleaded with teachers to donate their
services as invigilators
during the examinations.
Zimsec charges
US$10 for an “O” — Level subject and US$20 for an “A” Level
subject.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009
18:52
MASVINGO - Members of the Zanu PF women's and youth leagues
recently got the
shock of their lives after they were chased away from the
Great Zimbabwe
University graduation for showing up at the ceremony in
party regalia. The
angry supporters were escorted out of the university
campus by security
personnel who told them that the graduation was not a
party event.
Chaos broke out after the supporters started toyi-toying
and chanting Zanu
PF slogans, accusing the security details of being MDC
supporters.
The frustrated women led by self-styled war collaborator
and special
interest Masvingo urban councillor Namatai Chivhanga then
resorted to
insulting the security details accusing them of being "MDC
people".
"We do not understand why these MDC people are sending us
away because we
are wearing this regalia to welcome our party president Cde
Mugabe," she
said.
However, the guards remained unfazed saying
the graduation ceremony was not
a Zanu PF rally.
Zanu PF
provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke was fuming after the fracas.
"I
don't see anything wrong with my comrades putting on our regalia because
we
are here to meet our president who is the first secretary of Zanu PF and
the
Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces," he said.
"Since
he is the commander, does it mean that soldiers here should take off
their
uniforms? These guys are just crazy."
Mugabe is the chancellor of all
state universities that include Great
Zimbabwe University.
BY
A CORRESPONDENT
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 17:27
ZANU PF
has blocked the nomination of several officials involved in the
ill-fated
2004 Tsholotsho Declaration into its central committee despite
endorsing
former Information and Publicity Minister Jonathan Moyo's return.
Moyo, who
was singled out as the ring leader for the group that wanted an
overhaul of
the Zanu PF presidium bounced back into the party two months ago
after he
re-applied.
Recently, he was nominated by the Tsholotsho District
Co-ordinating
Committee for a seat in the party's Central
Committee.
But while Moyo was celebrating, it was a different story
for his former
comrades in Manicaland and Mashonaland
West.
Although the whole list of those whose dreams were shattered in
Mashonaland
West was not immediately available, it has been confirmed that
in Manicaland
former chairperson Mike Madiro and Freddie Kanzema who were
nominated by the
Zimunya-Marange district were dropped.
Zanu PF
officials said despite the duo's "resounding" victory against
Manicaland
governor Chris Mushohwe and Morton Malianga respectively, Madiro
and Kanzema
had their nomination turned down by party heavyweights in the
province.
"Madiro beat Mushohwe in the elections for the central
committee, but the
leadership turned down his nomination, saying there were
still issues about
his participation in Tsholotsho," a source
said.
"On the other hand, Kanzema's nomination was also turned
down.
They said his nomination could not be approved because he is
too young to be
elected ahead of Malianga.
This is the second time
Madiro's nomination has been turned down.
"The people also wanted him
to be provincial chair, but he was blocked for
the same reasons," the source
said.
It is understood that among the officials who blocked Madiro
and Kanzema's
return were provincial chairperson Basil Nyabadza, Zanu PF
secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa and
Mushohwe.
"Nyabadza feels threatened by Madiro's return because given
his popularity
among the party's supporters, he can easily bounce back as
the chair," said
the source. The two are also understood to have been
against Mutasa's bid
for the party chairmanship, which he
lost.
Zanu PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi was not immediately
available for
comment. Mutasa was also not reachable.
BY
OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 16:57
OUTREACH teams for the
new constitution are expected to flock into Harare
today for training as the
process to write a new supreme law for the country
gets back on track after
four months of near paralysis. Parliamentary Select
Committee co-chairperson
Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T) said the teams would
comprise both legislators and
representatives of civil society
organisations.
"We are
finalising a training programme for the outreach teams," said
Mwonzora, who
represents Nyanga North in the House of Assembly. "They will
arrive in
Harare on Sunday (today) and will undergo training on Monday and
Tuesday."
Mwonzora said the trainers were last week busy planning
for the two-day
exercise.
"These trainers are professional
Zimbabweans of unquestionable skill drawn
from civil society and academic
institutions," he said.
After the training, outreach teams will be
deployed to different parts of
the country to gather people's views for 65
days.
But while the parliamentary process gets back to life, there
are mounting
claims by civil society that Zanu PF functionaries are trying
to derail
their awareness programmes.
So far three different
organisations say they have been barred from outreach
programmes in
Mashonaland Central.
Police are also accused of using the notorious
Public Order and Security Act
(Posa) to bar meetings while Zanu PF militias
are using threats of violence.
Officials from the Centre for
Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ),
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
(ZimRights) and the Artistes for Democracy
in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT) accused
Mashonaland Central governor Martin Dinha
of blocking
them.
"There is a trend that we have seen in Mash Central where
organisations are
failing to get permission to run awareness campaigns,"
said CCDZ director
Philip Pasirayi.
"In our case the police would
not allow us to hold road shows in Bindura,
insisting we should be cleared
by the government first.
"In Mvurwi they said they had no manpower
and advised us to hold workshops
instead of road shows."
While the police
reportedly said they were doing this to help them, Pasirayi
said the move
was part of sinister motives by Zanu PF sympathisers.
"We think this
is well calculated to block us from meeting a lot of people
through road
shows, which usually attract bigger crowds," he said.
ZimRights
director Okay Machisa said they also failed to host a music
concert dubbed
"Jive it" the people's Constitution, which they had jointly
organised with
ADZT in Mvurwi on November 21.
"We sent a police clearance request to
Mvurwi police and they did not have
any problems with it," Machisa
said.
"The problem arose when we wanted to access the venue, where we
were told we
needed clearance from the district administrator who said his
hands were
tied because he had to seek permission from the provincial
administrator.
"We ended up moving the concert to
Chinhoyi."
Machisa and Pasirayi said they were informed that Dinha
had given a
directive that all organisations intending to run any programmes
related to
the constitution should seek his permission first.
The
Zanu PF official however dismissed the claims.
"This is a democratic
country my dear, why would I stop anyone from
exercising their democratic
right," Dinha said.
"If I can allow political parties to run their
programmes here, why would I
block these organisations?
"We have
very high democratic credentials not only as a party, but also as
individuals.
"The constitution-making process is a political
programme.
"Organisations wishing to hold events around it should go
to the police and
not come to me.
"But if they face any problems
with the police or anyone in the province,
the governor's office is open to
everyone and prepared to assist.
"I am reliably informed the concert
was held as scheduled and that the CCDZ
are having their road show on
Saturday and I am preparing to attend."
While Dinha was trying to
sound neutral to The Standard yesterday The Herald
reported he had banned
Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) from
operating in Mazowe
District.
Dinha also unashamedly said when another NGO, Africare
approached him for
"Clearance" to distribute seed to villagers he gave them
conditions.
It could not be immediately established if the CCDZ
meeting finally went
ahead yesterday.
The organisation had
petitioned the Ministry of Home Affairs on the police's
conduct.
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa (MDC-T) said
he will investigate
the Bindura police's conduct but emphasised civil
society were obliged to
inform police about their conduct under
Posa.
Mwonzora said his committee had received the reports from
Mashonaland
Central.
Meanwhile, the select committee's management
committee - which comprises the
six negotiators of the GPA and the three
co-chairpersons - will today hold a
meeting to specifically address issues
of violence and other impediments to
the historic process.
"Civil
society groups operating within the laws of the country should be
allowed to
carry out their democratic duties," Paul Mangwana the
co-chairperson of the
select committee said. "They are free to do so as long
as they comply with
the constitutional provisions of this country."
Fambai Ngirande, the
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations
advocacy and public
policy manager said the development in Mashonaland
Central pointed to a
wider problem.
"This is a disturbing phenomenon in our society," he
said. "You will
remember that during election time civil society's observers
were denied
access to the electorate," he said.
Government
temporarily banned the operations of NGOs ahead of the
controversial June 27
presidential run-off election accusing them of
supporting Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai was the front runner in the election pitting
him against
President Robert Mugabe. He eventually pulled out of the race
citing
mounting violence against his supporters.
Ngirande said in
some parts of the country people were being forced to
attend Zanu PF
meetings aimed at popularising the controversial Kariba
Draft.
"We have also received reports that militiamen are still
wreaking havoc in
rural areas.
"Arrests of human rights and civil
society activists are also continuing.
"The national healing process
has not been able to deal with the issue of
political volatility of the past
decade. People are still up in arms against
each other.
"This is
not good for constitutional reform," he said.
But Mangwana said
everyone was free to campaign for a draft they wanted.
Zanu PF wants the
Kariba Draft while MDC-T has also come up with its own
proposals.
However, Mangwana refused to comment on the reports of
violence saying they
were rumours.
The constitution-making
process was stalled in July due to lack of funds,
disagreements and
inter-party fighting over the control of the process.
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November
2009 16:46
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma's appointment of a new
mediation team for
Zimbabwe will add impetus to efforts to find a quick
solution to the
outstanding issues as the envoys represent a complete break
from the Thabo
Mbeki era, analysts said last week. The three-person team has
enough
political clout and stamina to deal with the situation in
Zimbabwe.
They are all liberation stalwarts who understand the dynamics
of
transitional politics having been at the centre of South Africa's
transition
to democracy.
But more significantly they understand the
need for compromise as part of
the broader social cohesion processes that
created the conditions of
democracy in SA. Their combined experience favours
them as Zimbabwe is
probably where South Africa was in early
90's.
The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) early this
month gave Zuma
a time line to help the country's three governing parties to
find a lasting
solution to an array of thorny disputes threatening their
power-sharing
arrangement.
His appointment last week of veteran
African National Congress (ANC)
stalwarts Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and
international relations advisor
to the president, Lindiwe Zulu effectively
ended his predecessor's role in
the Zimbabwean crisis.
Mbeki was
reviled in some circles that saw him as too soft on President
Robert Mugabe
and for his policy of "quiet diplomacy".
The new team assembled by
Zuma was described by observers as tough and
experienced.
Analysts said it was the clearest indication yet
that the South African
leader was anxious to see the Zimbabwean question
addressed before his
country hosts the 2010 Soccer World in six months
time.
"This is a new broom and it must sweep clean," University of
Zimbabwe (UZ)
political science lecturer John Makumbe said of the new
team.
"It is made up of senior ANC people who should be able to push
the
principals to find a solution to the problems that have prevented
Zimbabwe
from moving forward."
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations
missed a November 21 deadline set by
regional leaders meeting in Maputo to
start negotiations to meet the 30-day
deadline to implement their Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
The deadline expires on December 5. But
the negotiators last week worked
over-time when the talks resumed on Monday
before they took a break on
Thursday.
Makumbe said Zuma was hard
pressed to find a lasting solution because of the
World Cup. His negotiators
were therefore likely to be tougher on the
Zimbabwean parties.
"I
see them pushing for a solution before the end of the year because they
are
mindful of the impact a crisis on their doorstep will have on the World
Cup," Makumbe said.
"My advice would be that they do away with
Mbeki's so-called quite diplomacy
and call a spade a spade.
"They should
be able to name and shame the spoilers who could be impeding
progress."
Another UZ political scientist, Eldred Masunungure
said there was a lot of
expectation that Zuma's initiative would produce
results within a short
space of time.
He said Mbeki's quiet
diplomacy had alienated key constituencies such as the
international
community and the MDC-T.
"There is great expectation that Zuma's team
will do things differently and
will deliver the goods," he
said.
Masunungure said the pressing need to improve the image of the
region
spoiled by Zimbabwe's messy political atmosphere would drive Zuma's
quest
for a quick solution more than the desire to see the crisis addressed
before
the World Cup.
"The issue of the World Cup in my view is
over exaggerated," he said.
"What is even more pressing is that the
region needs stability.
"For a long time Zimbabwe has been considered
the black sheep of the region
and an impediment to efforts to attract
investment."
"South Africa and other countries will be more anxious
to see a solution for
the sake of regional stability and to project a
climate conducive for
development.
But Bulawayo-based political
activist Qhubani Moyo believes the coming in of
Zuma might harden Zanu PF as
Sadc actually gave in to MDC-T demands when it
relieved Mbeki of his
duties.
MDC-T frequently accused Mbeki of bias towards Mugabe saying
it was forced
to make too many concessions during negotiations for the GPA
that led to the
formation of the unity government in
February.
Moyo also thinks Zuma's task will be made even more
difficult by the
worsening relations between the MDC-T led by Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
The MDC-T recently launched an unprecedented attack on
MDC-M accusing its
"unelected negotiators" of stalling the
negotiations.
During the initial negotiations, MDC was seen by
neutrals as the force that
managed to bridge the gulf between Zanu PF and
MDC-T.
It also sided with MDC-T at crucial points when Zanu PF sought
to do things
unilaterally but relations between the two parties last week
appeared to hit
rock bottom.
BY KHOLWANI NYATHI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009
16:42
SEEING him sitting at the high table among other dignitaries and
leading the
way around the place, you would think he was a man with great
powers.
Smartly clad in a greyish suit and comfortably sitting next to Tim
Cole, the
British government's second most senior official in Zimbabwe,
Abednico
Bhebhe really did look important and powerful.
Although
he has no legal hold over the people of Nkayi South in Matabeleland
North,
some people at a gathering to commission a borehole at a district
hospital
adoringly referred to Bhebhe as "our Member of Parliament, a man
with the
people of Nkayi at heart".
But Bhebhe, together with two other MPs,
were ousted from Parliament last
August after they were expelled from their
MDC party.
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, by-elections
should have been
called for within 90 days. But the Global Political
Agreement suspended the
holding of elections for one year. That period
lapsed on the agreement's
first anniversary on September 15 this
year.
Bhebhe said he cannot wait for a by-election.
"The
three months have since elapsed and we are getting impatient," he said.
"I
have instructed my lawyers to make a court application to force the
principals to announce the names of the ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission)
members. I know this will assist in the running of those
by-elections.
"Even if that by-election is called for today, I am
very confident the
people of Nkayi South will vote for me."
While
he waits for the by-election, Bhebhe continues with his constituency
duties
which he initiated before his expulsion. Last Wednesday, he
officiated at
the British Embassy's official handover of a borehole to Nkayi
District
Hospital.
When he was still MP, Bhebhe approached the embassy for
assistance in
curbing the hospital's water problems which were worsened by
last year's
cholera epidemic.
"The outbreak forced hospital staff
to fetch water from outside the hospital
and patients had to bring 20 litres
of water each", Matabeleland North
provincial medical director, Irene
Ndiweni said.
"This greatly increased the risk of cholera as people
brought water from all
sources including unprotected wells and
rivers.
"There was therefore need for the hospital to have safe water
and we are
grateful to Mr Bhebhe who took the initiative to request help
from the
embassy."
The embassy financed the drilling of the
borehole within the hospital
premises.
The project included an
installation of a 5 000-litre tank for the borehole,
an electric motor to
pump the water and piping to connect the borehole with
various points in
the hospital.
After thanking the embassy for its assistance, Bhebhe,
put forth another
begging bowl on behalf of the hospital.
"In our
culture, when you receive something, you have to thank the
provider," he
said.
"We thank the British High Commission very much. They have
supported us
before, they are supporting us today and we hope they will
continue
supporting us as our problems are numerous but our hands are too
short.
"This is our only referral hospital in the district and we
would like to
make it as comfortable and habitable as possible. Among other
problems
facing us, the staff quarters are in a perplexing state that I am
scared
there could be a lot of disaster if heavy rains were to fall one of
these
days."
The staff quarters, together with a training centre
and some wards at the
hospital have a blocked sewer
system.
Ndiweni said the sewer pipes were old and needed
replacement.
Workers from the Public Works department dug up some of
the pipes but did
not complete the repairs, leaving open pits which now pose
a hazard to staff
and students.
She said the hospital also lacks
accommodation for staff and faced transport
challenges as they did not have
an ambulance.
"They have a real problem with that sewer system,"
Cole, the British deputy
ambassador, said after commissioning the borehole
and touring the hospital.
"People cannot always rely on donations but
we will consider their plight."
The hospital is the largest referral
centre in the district, servicing 14
other clinics and with a bed capacity
of over 100.
The borehole is part of the embassy's US$50 000 water
project in Nkayi,
which also benefited two other
communities.
Other recent projects by the embassy include the
building of classroom
blocks and the provision of furniture and textbooks to
three schools in the
district.
Cole said he was also looking at
ways of fundraising for Mpumelelo High
School where he was a teacher in 1990
and 1991 under a British voluntary
scheme.
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009
15:18
TWENTY percent of Zimbabwe's children are dying before they reach
the age of
five as they succumb to curable diseases, latest data from the
Central
Statistics Office reveals.
The developmental data unveiled by
the CSO and the United Children's Fund
(Unicef) last week also demonstrates
that women and children have suffered
the most from the collapse of the
country's social services.
According to the Zimbabwe Demographic Health
Survey of 2005/6, the under
five mortality rate was 82 per 1 000 live births
but it now stands at 94 per
1 000, representing an increase of about
20%.
Explaining the findings contained in a preliminary report of the
Multiple
Indicator Monitoring Survey (MIMS), Tinashe Mwadiwa, a statistician
at the
CSO said the breakdown of the health delivery system was among the
many
reasons for the high mortality rate.
"Child mortality remained high
in Zimbabwe," he said.
"According to the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare, the main direct
causes of infant and under-five mortality are acute
respiratory infections,
diarrhoea, malnutrition, HIV related conditions and
malaria and skin
diseases."
"The main determinants of whether a child
suffers or dies from these causes
are the child's HIV and nutritional
status, access to and functioning of the
health system, family/household and
community care practices; and
availability of preventative services such as
immunisations, safe sanitation
and hygiene."
The study also revealed that
at least 79% of the orphans in the country had
limited external support
while the nutritional status of children had been
worsened by the high
poverty levels.
"At least 35% of the children aged under-five years are
stunted, 2% were
wasted and 12% were underweight.
"Rural areas had higher
levels of malnutrition than urban areas.
"The stunting level in rural areas
was 37% compared to 30% in urban areas.
"Underweight in rural areas was 13%
compared to 9% in urban areas," said
Mwadiwa.
The MIMS, which was
conducted in May 2009, also found that 37% of children
under the age of five
did not have birth certificates.
Children could not be registered because
parents were not around or had no
time. Others did not have national
identity documents.
On maternal health, the research established that many
women were struggling
to access quality maternal care.
At least 39% of
pregnant women, many of them in rural areas were reportedly
giving birth at
home because they could not afford the high costs of
maternity
care.
Another 40% were delivering in the absence of skilled health workers,
which
poses a danger to their health and their babies.
The report says:
"Cases of home delivery have generally been on the increase
since 1990 in
the context of economic hardships and a weakened health
delivery
system.
"It is of great concern that rural areas had half of the mothers
delivering
at home compared to 10% in urban areas.
"It is desirable that
all deliveries take place in a health institution
under professional
care.
"Home deliveries expose both mother and child to the risk of death
since
complications may arise which require institutional attention and
professional care."
Officially launching the preliminary report Unicef
country representative,
Peter Salama, said the findings were an urgent call
for action to better the
lives of women and children.
"The MIMS data
underscores the deterioration that has occurred in the social
sectors in the
last few years and the tragic consequences that have
resulted.
"Today and
everyday in Zimbabwe 100 children below five years of age are
dying of
mostly preventable diseases," Salama said.
The MIMS data provides a powerful
statistical testimony on the current state
of women and children in
Zimbabwe, he said.
"It will assist the inclusive government and its partners
in determining the
priorities for action.
"Women and children should be
at the centre of the development agenda moving
forward."
Deputy Health
and Child Welfare minster, Douglas Mombeshora appealed to
donors to increase
their support to women and children as the unity
government was still
struggling to find its feet.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 November 2009 15:01
By
Stanley Kwenda
HARARE - Agriculture used to be Zimbabwe's economic
mainstay but it has been
on the decline since 2000 when the Zanu-PF
government embarked on a
so-called land reform programme that resulted in
about 4 000 productive
white farmers losing their farms, many to members of
the politically
connected elite. The programme is largely to blame for the
huge food deficit
that Zimbabweans face. Farmers are regrouping to take
stock of the present
situation.
Recently a two-day conference was held to
review the status of the
agricultural sector and come up with a recovery
strategy. Issues of
compensation and respect for property rights came under
the spotlight.
Several farmers hammered home the point that government and
the private
sector need to fund agriculture if the sector was to
recover.
"We need to start from scratch. Confidence among traditional
funders, such
as banks and other private sector players, is at its lowest as
a result of
the continuing lawlessness on the farms," Trevor Gifford, a
commercial
farmer and president of the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), told
IPS.
"Previously we used to just walk into any bank and get loans to fund our
farming operations but now we can't offer the collateral security needed by
the banks because of the lack of security of tenure."
The Zimbabwean
government has issued 99-year leases on land to the newly
resettled farmers
that banks refuse to accept as collateral because the
leases cannot be sold
or transferred.
Unlike the previous owners, the newly resettled farmers have
no title deeds,
making it difficult to borrow from banks. In the past,
international banks
such as Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank funded
farmers who put up their
land as collateral.
"We need to address the
ownership issue of land so that we go back to the
situation where farmers
have security of tenure," farmer Charles Taffs said.
"Without that we are not
going anywhere and we may just as well stop
thinking of the recovery of
agriculture."
"Although everything seems to be fine on the outside, the rule
of law just
isn't there. It's applied very selectively as we continue to see
with the
continuing farm invasions that the government has chosen to
ignore," Gifford
told IPS.
"There has been progress, but the reality is
that the government of national
unity has no unity."
But Ngoni Masoka,
permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture,
mechanisation and
irrigation development, told IPS that the World
Bank-funded conference was
an indication of better things to come.
"We got the necessary stakeholder
participation and input into formulating
an agricultural strategy," Masoka
said.
The World Bank has provided farming with a timely shot in the arm by
donating US$74 million to help poor farmers in Zimbabwe. David Rohrbach, a
senior agricultural economist for the Bank, said the money will benefit 700
000 families through the procurement of seeds, fertilizers and other
agricultural equipment for the coming harvest.
The money will be
channelled through non-governmental organisations involved
in the
agricultural and humanitarian sectors.
But despite this intervention, farmers
say the country could still face
another grain deficit in the next season
due to poor preparations and lack
of funding. This is despite government
projecting a maize output of up to
2.5 million tonnes next season, which
would mark a return to food
self-sufficiency. Zimbabwe needs about 1.8
million tonnes of the staple
maize per year, according to official
figures.
"What we're seeing on the ground paints a different picture," Berean
Mukwende, vice-president of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU), a
predominantly black farmers' association, said. "Many farmers are having
difficulties in terms of accessing inputs and time is running out."
But
Masoka insisted that government support and funding will result in a
good
harvest. "Last year, we were assisted by the Southern African
Development
Community, through South Africa, to get 300 million rand (41
million
dollars). Now we are talking of more money, so we should produce
more,"
Masoka said.
Another effort is that of the United States Agency for
International
Development (USAid), which signed an agreement with Standard
Chartered Bank
of Zimbabwe three weeks ago.
The agreement will enable the
bank to expand its lending to farmers by 20
million dollars over five years.
It will allow the bank to increase the
number of loans directly to farmers
and enterprises that can provide inputs
and technical assistance to small
holder farmers with the ultimate objective
of increasing productivity and
production. - IPS.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009
14:57
CHITSA -- In Chitsa, a village with some 2 000 inhabitants located
about
250km from Zimbabwe's capital of Harare, it has become difficult to
conduct
everyday transactions involving money. The village has been slow to
embrace
the multi-currency system introduced by the Zimbabwean government in
February this year after the value of the Zimbabwean dollar continued to
plunge catastrophically. Although the use of multiple currencies quickly
became common in cities and towns, it is proving to be difficult to
implement in rural areas.
In Chitsa, it has become common practice to pay
for goods and services in
kind. At Mutema Shopping Centre, shop owners
accept both payment in cash or
kind. They only accept cash if no change
needs to be given.
Trymore Mutisi, a teacher at the nearby Mutema Primary
School, told IPS that
bartering has become a way of life. "In times of
difficulty people learn how
to improvise, which they have done here for a
long time," Mutisi explained.
He conducts extra lessons for final year
students at his school and gets
paid in kind. "I get whatever parents can
give me. Goats, maize meal,
rice... whatever they can offer, I just take
because I know there is nowhere
they can get money," Mutisi
empathised.
The use of foreign currencies, such as the South African rand,
Botswana's
pula, US dollar or British pound, has affected rural people
negatively as
those far from foreign borders have no access to foreign
currency. But they
have found a way around it with barter trade.
"The
government should introduce a policy where people living in 'the back
of the
beyond', like us, can be allowed to barter goods in exchange of
services. It
is not anybody's fault but things must be done to accommodate
everyone,"
demanded Mutisi.
At Mutema Shopping Centre, only three shops are operating: a
general dealer,
a grinding mill and a bottle store.
Abel Zinyeka, who
owns the Mutema Bottle Store, described the situation in
the area as
"business at your own risk.
"We accept this barter trade in the hope that
whatever we get here will be
exchanged for cash in town and give us an
opportunity to restock our shops.
There is nothing that we can do because
these people just don't have access
to money. Otherwise we have to close the
shops."
A councillor in the area, Munyaradzi Mandivheyi, explained to IPS
that
adjusting to life under the new monetary regime has been very difficult
for
his people. "We agree with the idea of introducing multiple currencies
but
it has been difficult for people living in Mutema.
"People 'are
seeing fire over this' (are angry) but we are glad that the
business people
understand our plight. Life is far from normal here,"
believes
Mandivheyi.
Many people living in rural areas such as Chitsa are peasant
farmers who
depend on their crops for their survival. Farmers barter to have
their maize
milled to make the local staple called "sadza".
Some are
forced to surrender a 20 lt bucket full of tomatoes for a trip to
nearby
Masvingo town. In such cases, the exchange is not equal as a 20 lt
bucket of
tomatoes would normally fetch a price that is five times what the
journey to
Masvingo costs. But business people that IPS spoke to argued that
the
farmers voluntarily give their produce in exchange of goods and
services.
Nevertheless, Mutema peasant farmer Claudius Chimwanda told IPS
that they do
so because they have no alternative. "There is nothing you can
do. If you
want to go to town you have to give the transport people what
they want.
"If you want bathing soap, bread, cooking oil or anything from
their shops,
you have to give the shop owners what they want. That's the way
of life but
it's difficult for us," lamented Chimwanda.
"We are like a
forgotten tribe here in the rural areas. Everything happens
in Harare and we
only get to hear about it when decisions are made. We are
never consulted
about anything but we suffer the most," he added.
Speaking to Zimbabwe's
state media earlier this year, Oxfam's director for
Zimbabwe, Peter
Mutoredzanwa, warned that bartering food for services might
leave many at
the risk of food shortages.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), which is
interested in safeguarding
the rights of consumers, is engaging the
government on how best it can serve
the rural people under the current
financial regime.
"We are making consultations. The system can be improved,"
Rosemary
Siyachitema, CCZ director, told IPS. - IPS.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009 15:09
THE
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has recommended the creation
of
an independent office that will ensure that budgets are realistic among a
raft of measures submitted to the Finance ministry. Finance Minister Tendai
Biti will present the 2010 national budget on Wednesday.
In its
recommendation to Biti, CZI said the Independent Office of the Budget
would
analyse the budget and medium term fiscal issues and produce
independent as
well as impartial reports.
They say the office would ensure that
fiscal indiscipline is curbed and
expenditure is financed from revenue
generated.
"Fiscal indiscipline has been a feature of the Zimbabwean
environment for
many years," CZI said.
"Unrealistic budgets have
from time to time been tabled resulting in the
need for confidence sapping
supplementary budgets."
CZI said the office should be created to
complement the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Finance.
"The
office would provide stronger parliamentary oversight of the fiscus and
give
us a better chance of maintaining a credible and robust budget," CZI
said
adding that such an office will halt any political abuse of the
fiscus.
For the past five years national budgets have been premised
on unrealistic
assumptions such as an increase in revenue and economic
growth at a time
there was little effort to stimulate production and
ultimately economic
growth.
Over the years, government failed to
rein in expenditure necessitating
supplementary budgets and money printing
that fuelled hyperinflation.
Analysts say Biti's budget must set the
tone for economic growth.
The International Monetary Fund estimates
that the Zimbabwean economy will
grow by 3% this year.
"The
budget depends on tax revenue which comes from economic
activity.
"Government's challenge is to increase economic activity,"
said John
Robertson, an independent economic
consultant.
Robertson said government should address issues that
stopped investors from
coming to Zimbabwe.
To him, the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act has to be repealed
so are the
amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act.
For most Zimbabweans, a
review of the tax free threshold could be an early
Christmas
present.
At US$150, some feel if the amount is pushed to at least
US$300, workers
will have some relief.
However, the danger is
that not many earn more than US$200.
The civil service, constituting
the bulk of the employees is stuttering in
the region of US$150 and US$200 a
month and any review of the tax free
threshold would leave a big chunk
outside the tax bracket.
Yet the other school of thought is of the
view that if corporate tax were to
be cut to 25% from over 30%, companies
will have more money, which they will
use to increase production, ultimately
leading to higher salaries.
Biti has already indicated tax reforms
are on the cards but analysts warn
that such measures should not be
hurriedly done.
CZI says the 2010 budget should focus on "quick wins"
without an overhaul of
the tax structure.
"At the same time we
recommend the establishment of a commission of enquiry
into taxation that
drives a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system," it
said.
CZI
recommends a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 25% with elimination
of
all other special tax rates for all sectors except mining that needs a
specialised regime.
Analysts say the fiscal environment will
remain very constrained in 2010 and
one of the few options to create fiscal
space is to "focus on efficiency and
value for money in all government
expenditure and the elimination of
non-core non-essential
expenditure.
The biggest threat to economic threat is the dilapidated
state of water and
power infrastructure, which are all key to a
revival.
Water supplies, though improving, are still far from ideal
while power
outages have meant that industry does not reach the 60% capacity
utilisation
expected at the end of the year.
To use the rand or
US$ has been the question troubling businesses.
The Short Term
Emergency Recovery Programme uses rand as a reference
currency but the US$
is the ruling the roost. Salaries and prices are in
US$.
This
means that local companies that import raw materials from South Africa
are
on the losing streak when the rand firms against the US$.
Yet for
other lucky companies, the strength of the rand against the US$ has
helped
Zimbabwe to be competitive with South Africa, its largest
competitor.
The honeymoon could be short-lived as the tables could be
turned, analysts
warn.
CZI recommends that the rand must be
formally adopted as the reference
currency with effect from January
2010.
"This would put us on a level playing field with South Africa
and sort out
the perennial problem of change that has unnecessarily
increased the cost of
living," the industrialists' body said.
BY
NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009
15:05
THE 2010 National Budget to be presented in Parliament on December
2, 2009
will draw the curtain on the year 2009. In many respects, 2009 was
an
eventful year.
Starting with the constitution of cabinet on
February 13, followed by a
mini-budget the same month, then the launch of
STERP in March and a series
of departmental international conferences, the
year has been hectic for the
inclusive government. But is there anything to
show on the ground regarding
the efficacy of the battery of policy measures
so far enunciated and/ or
implemented by the inclusive government since
February?
One thing for certain is that a new dispensation of price stability
underpinned by a multiple currency regime has been
witnessed.
Hyper-inflation vanished and price stability was quickly restored.
But does
this stability imply a proper realignment of macro-economic
fundamentals? I
submit that the stability registered so far is real in terms
of price
stability but the jury is out regarding other fundamentals which
nevertheless have a bearing on macroeconomic stability.
Take for example,
the exchange rate. We cannot safely talk of having dealt
with the exchange
rate problem in the absence of a local unit. I submit that
Zimbabwe is yet
to deal with the issue of exchange rate determination and
management. Such
time is when Zimbabwe has a strong currency of its own
which I think will
take quite a long time because it depends on the full
recovery of the
productive sector in terms of supply response, inflows of
new capital and
foreign exchange earnings.
The other aspect of stability pertains to the
budget deficit. In the current
fiscal discourse, cash budgeting is the
parlance. But cash budgeting in our
situation is imposed on us by liquidity
constraints. It is involuntary. The
implication is that we can have a
balanced budget at the risk of poor
service delivery coupled with allocative
inefficiency.
Financial repression is still rampant in the financial sector
and until such
time as interest rates reflect the shadow price of money
(which is a market
phenomenon), then price stability alone becomes a hollow
concept.
What is the significance of the above? It is my properly considered
view
that price stability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for
macro-economic stability. Macro-economic stability is a product of a
holistic matrix of all key macro-economic fundamentals and the requirement
that these be in the ballpark. We must celebrate our price stability but
with a pinch of salt. In other words we have not yet reached the bar of
macro-economic stability but of course we are without doubt, in the right
direction.
This brings me to another question - from a macroeconomic
viewpoint, what
direction should the 2010 National Budget take?
There are
three schools of thought. The first school is that let's celebrate
the newly
found price stability and close the chapter and embark on a growth
trajectory. The other view is that we still need to consolidate stability
and therefore need to continue with stabilization before we flag the growth
mode. Yet the other view is that we do both. My view is that the 2010 budget
should consolidate macro-economic stability while at the same time laying
the necessary conditions for economic growth. Regarding the latter, it is
instructive to be strategic and identify the sectors that will drive the
growth trajectory. In my view agriculture, mining, tourism, exports, human
capital formation and domestic savings should be our first line of
concerntration in order to generate growth.
Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) would buttress the growth strategy and so is
the recovery in the
services sector and not a more pro-active approach to
aggregate demand
management.
The other challenge is how to deal with the enclave economy which
has arisen
from the ashes of hyper-inflation.
It is common cause that the
multiple currency regime has excluded millions
of Zimbabweans from
mainstream economic activity. The multiple currency
system has a created a
wealthy urban bourgeoise class which has become
filthy rich
overnight.
This class hedged itself during hyper-inflationary times by
investing in
movable and immovable assets. But the problem is that their
wealth, in
liquid form, has not found its way into the banking sector.
Why?
Furthermore, the 2010 national budget must address the question how do
we
incorporate 80% of the population back into mai nstream economic activity
in
view of the liquidity crunch facing the economy? One option is the
randification of the currency (the adoption of the rand as a currency
anchor). This would arguably i prove money supply and liquidity in the
economy provided we surrender our monetary sovereignty to the South African
Reserve Bank. In the end whatever choice we make, let us put the
people
first
*Mashakada is MDC-T deputy secretary
general.
BY TAPIWA MASHAKADA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009
16:32
WHEN the feuding political parties signed the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA) on September 15 last year, many Zimbabweans, at home and
abroad
breathed a sigh of relief. Others were, of course, uncomfortable with
the
arrangement. However, by and large there was a feeling that this
arrangement, however ugly it appeared to the eye, could provide some respite
for a people that had toiled for long, with no end in
sight.
Nevertheless, just as they thought they had the oasis in sight, they
suddenly discovered that there was still a long way to go; that what they
had seen was no more than a mirage. It wasn’t until February 2009 that the
new government was formed. They had spent the preceding six months haggling
over what are now commonly referred to as ‘outstanding issues’.
Yet, even
after the formation of the GNU and more than a year after the GPA
was
signed, there are still more ‘outstanding issues’. At the Maputo Summit
of
the SADC Troika timelines were set for the resolution of these
‘outstanding
issues’ — the initial 15-day timeline has gone by and not one
‘outstanding
issue’ has been resolved.
In any event, experience has shown that whatever
and however rigorously they
discuss, the negotiators have no real say in the
resolution of the matters
as they almost always escalate the matters to
their ‘principals’, namely
President Mugabe, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and
his Deputy, Mutambara.
This has been the case throughout and it is likely to
be the case again this
time. The negotiators will talk for hours, days and
perhaps weeks. Then the
principals will talk for hours, days and sometimes
weeks. They will disagree
and grandstand, trying to justify themselves to
their constituencies. Even
if they agree, the deal may not be implemented,
as happened last time when
the people were made understand they had agreed
on the Governors, diplomatic
postings, etc. So SADC may come again. It may
issue yet another communique.
And the circus will go on.
Last year,
at the height of the haggling, I was moved to suggest in a piece
that was
circulated to a limited audience, that perhaps next time, the
negotiators
and principals needed to convene where they could really feel
and appreciate
the plight of the ordinary people on whose behalf they claim
to be
negotiating. Bar a few points that may have changed, it is still as
relevant
as it was on 27 October 2008 when it was written. Here it is:
“It is
suggested, very humbly I have to say, that in order to expedite the
negotiations between Zanu PF and the MDCs, that the next meeting be held at
a house situated at No.1200 Mukumbadzetse Street in Mufakose, Harare.
To
gain entry the distinguished guests must cross a stream of raw sewage,
which
runs by the main gate of the venue. Should assistance be required,
experienced residents will be on hand to guide them. Guests are advised to
take extra care when crossing as they might easily slip and drown.
They
must resolve matters very quickly otherwise the steady flow swells
rapidly
as the day goes by. Local boys charge US$10 to help with crossing at
peak
periods, although the prices can rise very sharply depending on the
calibre
and social station of the clients.
There is a local ‘central bank’ nearby in
Mudzambiringwa Street, should
guests require any emergency funds, though
negotiators must be warned that
they are available to non-residents at
punitive rates. Guests are encouraged
to reacquaint themselves with long
lost relatives or friends in Mufakose, as
they might be useful to obtain
financial facilities like the local BACOSSI
scheme.
The hosts at the
venue have been advised to keep all windows open as there
is no
air-conditioning. Unfortunately, this means the guests will have to
contend
with the normally steady but heavy breeze transporting the potpourri
of
aromas and odours from the local area.
Negotiators are advised to bring
candles in case their ‘toks’ extend into
the night — the supply of
electricity to these parts is intermittent and
therefore unpredictable.
Water supply, too, is unreliable but contingency
measures have been taken so
that the precious liquid will be provided from
the nearest well.
The
problem is that due to high demand, queues at the well can be very long
and
if that is the case and negotiators are desperate, they will be directed
to
the nearest stream, whose tributaries include the one that passes by the
gate of the venue.
For other types of physical relief, due to water
shortages, the ablution
facilities are out of order. However, there is a
small bush nearby but
negotiators must take extra caution as the bush is a
common playground for
those who get by on other people’s property. For the
same reason, they are
also advised to bring heavy guard for their
automobiles and other gadgets.
In fact, it might be a better idea not to
bring vehicles such as Mercedes
Benz but instead, negotiators should make
use the local City to Mufakose
mini-buses (maKombi). They cope well on the
roads there which have craters
and mountains that only experienced drivers
who ply the route regularly are
able to negotiate with ease.
Negotiators
should note that there is a funeral next door to the venue — the
neighbour
sadly passed on whilst awaiting medication kuGomo hospital. There
were no
doctors and drugs were either unavailable or unaffordable and the
poor
fellow had little chance. Negotiators will, therefore, have to contend
with
the constant singing and wailing of friends and relatives of the
deceased.
They are in mourning. In fact, it is advisable, as is the culture
here, for
negotiators to appear, if only briefly, to share a moment or two
with the
bereaved family.
It is hoped that this venue will provide a more appropriate
setting for the
negotiations. Not only will it be in the area representative
of the ‘people’
for whom the ‘outstanding issues’ are being negotiated, but
this should also
provide a more realistic picture of the ‘people’.
If
negotiations are for the ‘people’, why, I ask, don’t the negotiators come
and do it where the ‘people’ live? Rainbow Towers seems to have failed, so
why not try Mukumbadzetse Street?”
That was in October 2008. Nothing, it
seems, has changed. The negotiators
are ‘toking’. They will ‘tok’ some more.
Then they will go to the principals
who will also ‘tok’ even more. At this
rate, there will be more ‘toking’
about ‘outstanding issues’ than focusing
on the real developmental issues
that the ordinary people are so desperate
for the government to deliver.
Alex T. Magaisa
wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28
November 2009 16:30
ONE of the outcomes of Structural Adjustment after
1992 was the weakening of
the civil service. Large numbers of civil servants
were retired: those in
higher positions were given "golden handshakes",
whilst those in lower
positions had to retire unceremoniously to the
Communal Areas. The only
sector which was not unduly weakened was the Armed
Forces. That is one of
the reasons why the Armed Forces remain strong today.
This places a heavy
responsibility on the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces
today have to shoulder
responsibilities which would have rested in different
ministries in the
past.
One example is Operation Maguta, the agricultural
support programme. This
should really be a Ministry of Agriculture
responsibility, not the Army's.
But somehow the extension services and the
services sections of the state
have weakened.
However, Maguta also has
not had the human and financial resources, nor the
institutions, to make it
a resounding success. Moreover it has had to
function under the system of
hyper-inflation. Whatever they were owed now
cannot be repaid as the
Zimbabwe currency has become obsolete. It will be
impossible to provide an
accurate audit of the programme. Yet conceptually
and practically, this
should be an exceptionally important programme which
responds to the needs
of the country.
The fact that it was not given proper technical, personnel,
institutional
and financial support compromised its ability to support
agriculture. It is
incumbent on the army and the state to guarantee the
success of this
approach. Maguta should have specialised agricultural
personnel of its own,
and should have model schemes in every district that
can show both
small-scale and large-scale farmers both modern and
traditional forms of
good agricultural practice. The army should be helping
to support AREX
rather than replacing this invaluable service. This
collegial and fraternal
competition should help both sides, and give some
choices to those who
utilize their services.
One particular clientele for
agricultural progress where the army can play
an important role is in
providing agriculture opportunities to the hundreds
of thousands of
unemployed youths in the rural areas. These youths have been
thoroughly
neglected by the state, and have been left without land, work or
money. Half
of them also do not have secondary education. Agricultural
output would be
tremendously improved if 500 000 youths were able to produce
1 million
tonnes of maize a year.
This would be a truly laudable enterprise which would
deserve praise all
round. What a success story this would be! A quarter of
a million hectares
of land could be reserved for this purpose. This could
make the army
self-sufficient in food, whilst also feeding, providing
employment, and
enriching half a million youths.
Another important area
where the Armed Forces could provide support is to
the health sector. Army
doctors play an important part in the provision of
health services in many
countries. Countries as diverse as China and the
United States have health
services provided by the Armed Forces.
Zimbabwe should and could do the same.
The army has a strong medical corps,
and its services should be strengthened
so that they can provide medical
services to ordinary people, particularly
in remote and deprived areas. Such
services will not only endear the army to
the people, but will also increase
state security far better than through
violence and torture.
The Army Engineering Corps has specialised skills which
can benefit the
country as a whole. In neighbouring Zambia the army played
an important role
in building its road network. Moreover Zimbabwe needs at
least 10 000
village dams. The highly skilled engineers in the army can
demonstrate their
skills and gain valuable experience in this area.
The
army is also skilled in bridge building, another area where Zimbabwe is
in
great need. If the army were to show its exceptional skills in
infrastructure construction and maintenance, it would provide stability to a
country which has been wracked by poverty and unemployment. These have been
the main causes of national instability. The lack of food has also
seriously destabilized political stability.
Linked to the construction
and maintenance of basic infrastructure, is the
issue of building and
maintaining Zimbabwe's vast school and health
facilities. Many of these
were built in the 1980s, and are suffering from
lack of attention and
investment over the last decade. The Armed Forces
could provide efficient
and well-organized teams which could assist in the
rehabilitation of these
important facilities.
Tree growing and re-forestation are also an area where
the Armed Forces can
show their expertise. Many armies have done sterling
work in tree-growing
and re-forestation, work which is helping to improve
the environment. This
is happening in Ethiopia today. This is an area of
expertise which the
Armed Forces could well develop to the benefit of the
whole country. And
this is another area where hundreds of thousands of
unemployed youths can
be deployed for the benefit of all.
In South Korea,
the military played a key role in transforming the country
from a barren
underdeveloped country to a highly developed industrialised
country. To
date the military in Zimbabwe have been able to establish an
arms industry.
They could utilize their skills and experience in this
successful
industrialization experience to look at other forms of
industrialization, in
particular related to producing the hardware for
agricultural improvement.
It is essential for the Armed Forces to see their
role as a key one for
industrialization, a pattern that has been
demonstrated in East Asia. The
Armed Forces have some of the most educated
as well as most experienced
managers in Zimbabwe, and it is appropriate that
they should share their
training and their managerial skills with the
country as a whole.
In all
countries the Armed Forces are used to serve the country in
emergencies and
crisis. Zimbabwe is going through emergencies and crisis.
It is time that
the Armed Forces assist in solving all of these problems,
working closely
with local communities, and hand in hand with both national
and local
governments. It is time for the Armed Forces to show their
mettle.
Security is based on winning hearts and minds. At Independence
the
liberation forces of Zanla and Zipra were the proud freedom fighters who
had
liberated the country from oppression and colonialism. There was no
doubt
about the popular support they enjoyed. They had the full support of
the
hearts and minds of the people. The strength of the liberation forces
was
due to their identification with the problems faced by the people, and
their attempts to help solve these problems. We should not forget these
valuable lessons of the liberation struggle. Today the Armed Forces, as
well as all Zimbabweans, need to re-new their commitment to the solution of
the problems faced by the people. These problems include infrastructure
building and maintenance; the rehabilitation of schools and clinics; food
production; the development of new industries; the improvement of the
environment; and most important of all, the winning of hearts and
minds.
We must not forget these key lessons of the liberation struggle which
was
won through winning hearts and minds. The masses trusted the freedom
fighters because they were always respectful of the people; did not rape or
have illicit affairs with women as this was against the rules of the
ancestral spirits who guided the liberation struggle; looked after the
environment by not killing and destroying nature and life; and helped the
people by providing free education and health services.
Let us return to
the role played by the liberation forces of nation
builders. The Armed
Forces are the liberation forces of today that can free
Zimbabwe from
polarisation, hatred and underdevelopment. The key task
Zimbabwe faces
today is economic liberation. The Armed Forces must also
play a role in
this new liberation struggle. Their failure to do so will be
a heavy blow
to Zimbabwe.
BY FAY CHUNG
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009
16:13
A fortnight ago the Mushonga family held a well-attended memorial
service
for Dr Mushonga who had become both a brother and father to them.
Three
months earlier on Saturday August 15, 2009 people came from all
corners of
Zimbabwe and beyond to pay their last respects to a good man.
Some flew,
others drove or travelled by bus and some walked. They came in
their
hundreds to pay their last respects to Dr Christopher Mushonga or just
"Chris", as he preferred to be called. He was a true son of the soil of
Zimbabwe which he loved with a passion. He stood head and shoulders even
above most of those buried at the Heroes' Acre and are celebrated as heroes
today.
Many came sobbing with tears on their cheeks. They were devastated
for they
had lost a true and dear friend, a trusted colleague, a benefactor,
a loving
father or uncle or a real relative. Others came so that people
could see
that they were there. They craved the prestige that would go with
being
associated as a relative or close friend of this good
man.
President Robert Mugabe was there. As a relative of the Mushonga family
and
because the bereaved widow, Priscilla is a cabinet member in government
and
also because of who Dr Mushonga was, President Robert Mugabe went to the
Mushonga home to pay his last respects and to offer his condolences to the
family. He declared that the funeral would be state assisted. This gave a
green light to members of Zanu PF who were not sure whether they should go
to the funeral since both Mushonga and his wife, Priscilla, were members of
the hated opposition. The floodgates were opened. Zanu PF was there in full
force as well as the ever present "madzisawhira" who were unashamedly asking
for money for their services.
Both MDCs were also well represented. Both
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara were
there. Dr Christopher Mushonga was
a member of the MDC led by Tsvangirai and
his wife Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga is a member of the MDC led by
Mutambara. The Church
was there, too. Chris was a Catholic but Priscilla is
Protestant. The
services were, therefore, by both Catholic and Protestant
clergy, taking
turns.
So again, a fortnight ago at his memorial glowing
testimonies of his
helpfulness to friends and family members were given.
Because I was not able
to attend the memorial service due to family
commitments I decided to write
my testimony to a good and loyal friend,
Christopher.
I first knew about Dr Mushonga when I was studying in the United
States. All
I knew about him was that he was a brilliant orthopaedic surgeon
practicing
in New York. When I returned home in 1975, I re-established my
relationship
with the nationalist leaders with whom we had worked with as
youths in the
NDP and ZAPU especially, James Chikerema and George Nyandoro
who had
returned from exile and were now in the country. As a writer I found
these
two very helpful as sources of information on what was going on in the
country.
One day Chikerema took me to a small hardware shop in Harare. He
was about
to introduce me to the owner Gibson Muzadzi. I told him that
introductions
were not necessary since Gibson was my cousin through our
Shava Museyamwa
totem and that we had grown up together in Mbare Township.
Chikerema was
delighted. He explained that Gibson was his aunt's son and he
wanted very
much for us to be close friends. He then went with me to No. 87
Fife Avenue,
which was a doctor's surgery. There he introduced me to Dr
Christopher
Mushonga. He said Mushonga was his other favourite nephew and he
wanted us
to be close friends as well. "When I die I want the two of you and
Muzadzi
to see that I am buried well at Kutama."
So began my long-lasting
and fulfilling relationship with the late
Christopher Mushonga. I knew him
well. He was a good man, an unusually good
man. He was raised in the
Catholic faith having been confirmed and baptised
at Chishawasha mission his
ancestral home. However, he was not a doctrinaire
kind of Christian. The
laws he lived by were those which Christ indicated
were the fulfilment of
all the Law. Christ said to those who had asked Him
which was the greatest
commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and all your soul
and mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like
it.
"Love your neighbour as yourself"
I can testify, without fear of
contradiction that Christopher loved his
neighbour. Even though he was a
highly acclaimed physician and financially
well to do, he remained modest
and humble. He counted, among his friends,
the rich, the educated, the
uneducated, the poor, the young, the old and the
handicapped. He loved
people to a fault. The major fault being that he
trusted everybody and ended
up being swindled by many. At one time he
rescued a so-called friend from
abject poverty. He then asked him to manage
his chicken rearing business.
The man stole so much that he destroyed the
business. I told Christopher to
report the matter to the police.
"Oh, I can't do that. That money will take
him nowhere. God will judge him."
Chris said. Such was his
magnanimity.
Above all he felt compassion for the sick. As a doctor he never
went on
strike and never once complained about the meagre salary he was
earning as a
government doctor. He would wake up at 5am to go to the
operating theatre
even when he was sick himself.
Christopher Mushonga
loved his country, Zimbabwe. Even though he was a
successful doctor in
America he did not forget home. He kept in close touch
with what was going
on. At one time during the liberation struggle the
Zimbabwe Liberation Army
(Zanla) ran out of money. Dr Mushonga gave them $
10 000 from his own pocket
so that the struggle for Zimbabwe's freedom could
continue. If that is not
heroism, then tell me what is.
One of Dr Mushonga's biggest
disappointments was the failure by Zanu PF to
live up to expectations. After
the advent of independence that political
party dumped overboard all their
high-sounding ideologies, and policies in a
still-continuing greedy stampede
for power and wealth. What remains now are
just the hollow-sounding
slogans. In the early eighties Dr Mushonga
and some friends formed the
Foundation for a Democratic Zimbabwe (Fodezi).
Its aim was to support
physically and otherwise political parties and other
organizations seeking
to bring democratic rule to Zimbabwe. Margaret Dongo's
Zimbabwe Unity
Movement and James Chikerema's Zimbabwe Democratic Party both
received
assistance from it. His surgery 82 Baines Avenue became the meeting
place
for aspiring politicians and indeed all who were disillusioned by the
Zanu
PF government. The CIO did not have to work as hard as they do now to
get
information. They just went to Dr Mushonga's on Friday evening and on
Monday
their notebooks would be full of information. He even provided the
drinks.
Christopher Mushonga was a good man but he was no saint
especially in
matters of love. He was Don Juan personified. He had nine
children by six
women in and out of marriage. However, in mitigation I need
to say he was
not a scoundrel who just sowed wild oats. He loved his
children and
personally cared for them well. Today they are well-educated
and well-
adjusted citizens who loved their father. Two followed in their
father's
footsteps and are medical doctors in the United States.
The
irony of it all is that the good Dr Christopher Mushonga did not die a
natural death. He was brutally murdered by so-called robbers in his own
house. As we ponder on his life and manner of death, we who are his friends
and relatives are left with more questions and no answers.
BY
PIUS WAKATAMA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 28 November 2009
16:06
FRIDAY'S conclusion of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection
Agreement (Bippa) between Zimbabwe and South Africa is a
momentous occasion.
It signals the beginning of the race by outsiders to
invest in this country.
In early April this year a delegation of top-flight
South African business
leaders led by Patrice Motsepe visited Zimbabwe as
pioneers of entrepreneurs
who want to do business mutually beneficial to
Harare and Pretoria. But
since then there has been slow
progress.
But all of a sudden issues have become real: How is
Zimbabwe going to handle
the anticipated flood of investors and what
infrastructure has been put in
place to enable implementation of the
investment.
There are many questions that will test Zimbabwe's
preparedness as the
rhetoric gives way to reality.
The period
between installation of the inclusive government and last Friday
should have
been used to anticipate and prepare how to accommodate the
requirements of
increased investment. The problems of the
incapacity/incompetence of the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa)
to deliver could turn out to be
a major source of frustration for investors.
Zesa has old and in some
cases antiquated infrastructure. Its leadership has
not been exactly
inspiring because of its failure to judiciously deploy the
scarce resources
at its disposal.
Over the past month the parastatal found comfort in
blaming its problems on
refurbishments at Kariba, which it promised would be
completed last weekend.
But for most consumers of electricity Zesa's promise
to deliver has been in
the form of plunging whole suburbs into darkness and
probably one of the
worst power outages. It has been extremely frustrating
to get intelligent
explanations from the power utility.
If Zesa
had more innovative leadership it would have learnt from the Harare
City
Council. Zesa ought to be refurbishing obsolete equipment and
infrastructure. The first step is exploring how it can tap into the funding
architecture the council has benefited from. Refurbishment might not be the
most viable route.
There is need to explore investment in new power
generating capacity,
something that had been ignored by successive
leadership at the power
utility. The second undertaking Zesa needs to
urgently make is a sober
assessment of the current cost of supplying power
to end users against the
cost of importing power and other regional pricing
models.
It defies common sense to sell power to consumers at less the
cost of
importing it. This is one reason for Zesa's failure to deliver. What
consumers, industries and the new investors want is reliable power. Now Zesa
has to play the catching up game. So must other lackadaisical parastatals.
The National Railways of Zimbabwe and the Civil Aviation Authority of
Zimbabwe immediately come to mind.
Harare International Airport
is supposed to be the major port of entry for
air travellers. However,
there is little evidence to suggest preparations
to welcome the increased
traffic into this country. On occasions landing
lights are
off.
Whether this is again Zesa's fault is unclear, but it does indicate
a dearth
of solutions to get round problems. The airport is dark and
cavernous and at
night the whole complex can be blacked out by Zesa yet the
thought of
installing generators appears to have escaped the CAAZ
leadership.
Companies coming to set up shop in Zimbabwe will require
an efficient and
reliable transport but the NRZ is unlikely to provide that
at the moment.
Perhaps the conclusion of the Bippa will drive home the need
to open up some
of these organisations so that they begin to perform the way
they should.
Otherwise they become obstacles to the economic recovery
process.
http://www1.sundaymail.co.zw
Sunday,
November 29, 2009
Povo After
Liberation Struggle - Harare.
Getting old in Zimbabwe is just as good as
being sentenced to death, not
natural death but that of living under agony,
as there would be no means of
living. I am saying this because of the
problems I have had with the
National Social Security Authority
(NSSA).
When I submitted my application forms at NSSA HQ in March, I
enquired, as to
when I would start receiving money and I was told in August.
Come August, I
went back to NSSA HQ and I was told to go and collect the
money from Mbare
Msika POSB. When I got there a lady told me there had not
been any money for
a long time. I was advised to come back the following
month, which was only
a few days away anyway.
I went back at the end of
the month and I was given US$25. To my surprise,
the lady told me there were
vouchers for three months that had been sent
back to NSSA HQ, meaning April
May and June.
I went back to NSSA HQ flying with high hopes; this was towards
the end of
September.
When I got there I was told there were many people
with similar problems and
we were given new dates. I was told to come back
on October 15. Three weeks
later I went back hoping to get my three months'
pension but without any
success again. I was told to come back in
December.
I think the authorities in this country are shy to tell people that
when
they get old they should either commit suicide or pray to God to be
taken
away on an empty stomach in their sleep.
Before either of this
happens it pains when you consider the number of years
you would have
contributed tax to the authorities. I personally have
contributed towards my
pension for more than 41 years.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
November
29, 2009
Jon Swain
*
A fabulously valuable diamond field in Zimbabwe has fallen
under the control
of a select few at the top of the country's security
forces. It is feared
they intend to use the wealth to enrich themselves and
entrench their power
as the battle for succession to President Robert
Mugabe, 85, heats up.
Sources close to the government said the military
chiefs had positioned
themselves to profit from millions of pounds' worth of
diamonds flowing out
of the Marange diamond field in the east of the
country.
Heavy mining machinery has arrived, capable of extracting
thousands of
carats of diamonds an hour. Valuations vary wildly but one
source said: "It
will be much more money than they have ever had. We could
be talking about
between $25m [£15m] and $100m a month. It is extraordinary
what they can do
with that. They will just close ranks and do what they
want."
Marange diamonds were previously gathered by local prospectors to
sell on
the black market. But last year, as its riches became apparent, the
military
moved in and massacred 200 people to clear the site. Human Rights
Watch said
the soldiers had turned a peaceful area into a "nightmare of
lawlessness and
horrific violence".
Rights groups lobbied the
Kimberley Process - the international body that
regulates the world trade in
rough diamonds to ensure they do not fund
conflict - in the hope of halting
exports from Zimbabwe. They said the gems
were blood diamonds extracted
through the persecution of those living in the
area.
But earlier this
month, the diamond monitoring body shrank from suspending
Zimbabwe. In
return, Zimbabwe promised to end the military occupation of
Marange and
announced it had contracted foreign firms to mine the diamonds
in
partnership with a subsidiary of the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining
Development
Corporation.
Ostensibly the unity government in which Morgan Tsvangirai,
the prime
minister, shares power with Mugabe gave its approval. It has since
emerged,
however, that the firms were selected without Tsvangirai's
knowledge. The
contracts were also awarded in defiance of a Harare High
Court order that
said the fields belonged to a British-registered mining
company, African
Consolidated Resources (ACR). The court confirmed that ACR
was the rightful
owner, barred mining by anyone else and ordered all
security forces to leave
the area so that development could take
place.
Significantly, neither of the contracts was with an established
professional
mining company. One is with a South African scrap metal and
iron dealer, New
Reclamation. The other is with Canadile, a group that
allegedly includes
smugglers.
The companies were selected by Obert
Mpofu, the mines minister. Other
members of the government are alarmed that
Zimbabwe's most valuable mineral
resource will go "out the back door" rather
than benefiting the country.
Mpofu is on an EU and American sanctions
list of undesirable Zimbabwean
figures. In his dealings with the foreign
investors, he admitted being in
business with General Constantine Chiwenga,
the defence forces chief, and
protected by him.
The key characters
involved in the joint ventures he selected are connected
with powerful
people and have questionable pasts. Lovemore Kurotwi, the
registered
director of Canadile, exploiting the southern part of ACR's
claim, took part
in the Matabeleland massacres that tarnished Mugabe's
reputation soon after
independence. He commanded a battalion that massacred
civilians at Entumbane
near Bulawayo.
Kurotwi is the nephew of the late General Vitalis
Zvinavashe, a member of
the Zanu-PF politburo who was named in a United
Nations report as one of the
main figures to profit from the plunder of the
Congo's diamond riches. His
foreign partner is an Israeli diamond dealer who
has been in jail in Angola
for smuggling.
Kurotwi told his foreign
backers that he represented Mugabe and his family,
but an inside source said
he was primarily "working for a military syndicate
that goes all the way to
Chiwenga".
The key Zimbabwean figure in the syndicate exploiting the
northern part of
ACR's claim is Robert Mhlanga, a former air vice-marshal
whose relationship
with the Mugabes is much closer. It goes back to when he
was the country's
first black helicopter pilot, trained in Ghana. He acted
as a courier for
Sally Mugabe, the president's Ghanaian first wife. When she
died, Mugabe
married Grace, his former secretary.
"Chiwenga is
involved directly through Kurotwi. They are tribally linked.
Grace is
definitely involved, too, through Mhlanga operating the other
syndicate,"
said a source.
Mhlanga has made a fortune in Africa and was in the
diamond trade in the
Congo when Zimbabwean troops under Zvinavashe fought
the war there. He was
also a key witness in a 2003 attempt to frame
Tsvangirai, who was then the
opposition leader, for treason. Mhlanga
testified that he had contact with a
former Israeli spy who claimed
Tsvangirai hired him to kill Mugabe.
Operating from expensive offices in
Johannesburg, his links to Mugabe are so
strong that he flies his helicopter
in and out of Zimbabwe without passing
the usual customs controls. Mhlanga
is involved in a plan to convert the old
Harare domestic air terminal into a
diamond-cutting centre, a way of getting
round any future diamond export
ban. The Kimberley Process applies only to
exports of rough diamonds; once
they have been cut, it has no power to stop
their export.
The plans,
seen by The Sunday Times, provide for storage bunkers capable of
withstanding a rocket attack.
The exploitation of the diamond fields
comes as Zanu-PF finds itself
desperately short of money during preparations
for a party congress next
month. Mugabe's party has been on the back foot
since it was forced into a
power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change.
As the congress approaches, talk is once again growing
about the succession
to Mugabe. The small group of security chiefs headed by
Chiwenga are thought
to have the power to hold everyone else to ransom and
with their involvement
in Marange, they will have the money, too.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Nov 29, 2009 12:00 AM | By Philani
Nombembe
Spectre of another xenophobic tragedy as Cape is rocked by attacks
on
foreigners
Anthony Muteti worked tirelessly to improve his
community. He started a
development forum to find jobs for young people and
was instrumental in
having the streets cleared of raw sewage.
But
this week Muteti, his wife, children and about 70 other families who
hail
from Zimbabwe and Malawi were chased from their homes "like dogs".
The
men and women lived in Hout Bay's Imizimo Yethu informal settlement near
Cape Town. After three Malawian men were arrested for the rape of a
three-year-old girl last Friday, people turned on the families. They were
given a few hours to pack their bags and "get lost".
The uproar came
barely a week after an estimated 3000 Zimbabwean men and
women were attacked
at Stofland informal settlement in De Doorns, also in
the Western Cape.
Similar attacks took place in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha on
the Cape Flats
just months ago.
Now experts have warned that xenophobic violence could
spread - possibly
sparking a repeat of last year's catastrophe in which
thousands of people
were displaced and more than 60 killed.
Dr
Lawrence Mgbangson of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in
the
Western Cape said South Africans took out their service delivery and
unemployment frustrations on vulnerable foreigners .
"If these
matters are not resolved speedily, we could face similar uprisings
to last
year," he said. "It is possible that it could spread."
The Western Cape
manager of the South African Human Rights Commission,
Leonardo Goosen, said
that tensions still existed in communities where
refugees were re-integrated
after last year's xenophobic attacks.
In De Doorns, community members
accused Zimbabwean labourers of stealing
jobs by working in the region's
vineyards for lower wages. A mob ransacked
homes, demolished shacks and
chased away the labourers. They are living on a
sports field in De
Doorns.
"While we were preparing to go to work we saw a group of about 50
men
breaking down people's houses, stealing computers, blankets and
television
sets. There was also a group of women who clapped, whistled and
cheered them
on. We took women and children and fled to the police station,"
said one of
the men, Chaka Masakwa.
Police arrested 23 people in
connection with the attacks - and their first
appearance in court attracted
an angry mob of about 1000 people.
Braam Hanekom, from PASSOP (People
Against Suffering, Suppression,
Oppression and Poverty), said foreigners
were usually attacked by
communities who wanted to attract the government's
attention - and
"unfortunately it works; the government has been responding
to that
pressure".
Hout Bay police spokes man Inspector Tanya Lesch
said the unrest in Imizimo
Yethu was not a "xenophobic problem", and related
only to crime. But Muteti,
who teaches high school on the Cape Flats, said:
"I feel like a double
refugee. First I fled from the political instability
in my country and now I
am fleeing from angry South Africans."
*
nombembep@sundaytimes.co.za
CONSTITUTION WATCH 13
[27th
November 2009]
Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Advocacy
Programme
Next week
Minister Eric Matinenga will commence a countrywide series of "advocacy
meetings" at provincial level. The Minister's aim is to reassure the public
that the inclusive government remains committed to the making of a new
constitution, and to prepare the ground for the Parliamentary Select Committee's
outreach programme, the start of which has been repeatedly delayed. In each
province the Minister plans to address a meeting to which senior provincial
officials, community leaders and area NGOs will be invited, but all interested
persons will be welcome. The schedule for the Minister's meetings in
Lupane: Friday 4th December at the provincial offices
Gwanda: Thursday 10th December at the district offices
Gweru: Friday 11th December in the Senga
Hall
All
meetings are from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm. The Minister will use the meetings to
explain what is happening about the new Constitution:
·
the need
for a new people-driven constitution in accordance with the GPA
·
progress
made to date
·
the
challenges facing the process
·
the
time-frame laid out in the GPA
·
the need
for all Zimbabweans to participate in the process.
An hour
will be set aside at each meeting for the Minister to answer questions from the
floor.
The
schedule for other provinces is not yet finalised.
New
Time Frame for Next Stage in Constitutional Process Not
Finalised
The
constitution-making-process, like the establishment of the inclusive government,
has been characterised by delays, frustrations and lack of communication. The
whole country was geared up and excited about getting involved in drafting a new
constitution which was agreed to in the GPA [Inter-party agreement signed on
15th September 2008]. Then there was an agonising 5-month wait until the terms
of the agreement translated into an inclusive government being set up on 13th
February 2009. After a delayed start, the first two GPA deadlines were met
[only just - see below], but for the last few months, instead of good regular
official communication about what was happening over the next stage - the
outreach for public consultation - in spite of GPA deadlines having come and
gone [see below], all we have had are random and sometimes contradictory press
leaks. Civil society has been largely kept in the dark, just as they were over
years of "secret" inter-party negotiations.
In Parliament on 4th
November the Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, was asked to
comment on the Select Committee's failure to keep to the time frame laid down by
the GPA. He replied "Mr Speaker, when the
time frames were set out in the GPA, it was in order to give the parameters in
which the constitution making process is going to be made. With all other
political issues those issues are not cast in stone. It is difficult to
indicate that we are going to able to write chapter one tomorrow and finish it
because when we visit chapter one it is quite possible that there are a lot of
other issues which arise out of writing chapter one. Roughly, what I can say
with some confidence is that when we look at the global time which was made
available, in case of the GPA, we are going to endeavour to meet that global
time." By global time, presumably, the Minister meant the final date
for the process to be completed. But if this is so, obviously some stages laid
down by the GPA will have to be compressed.
Since
the Minister's statement there have been several contradictory statements [which
points the need for one official spokesperson]:
·
Mr Mangwana, the ZANU-PF
co-chairperson of the Select Committee, has been quoted in the press as saying
that the public consultation would not start until next year
·
Mr Mwonzora, the MDC-T
co-chairperson, said last week he is optimistic that the public consultation
will start this month
·
Mr Mkhosi, the MDC-M
alternate co-chairperson, has said it will start immediately after Christmas and
before the new year.
·
An unofficial report said
that the delay would be even longer because of the onset of the rainy
season
·
The Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs said It is
true that the problems caused by the commencement of the rainy season have been
raised, but this does not mean that the outreach proper will be delayed until
after the Christmas/New Year break. It must start before then. But there will
almost certainly have to be a break to accommodate the ZANU- PF Congress [which
will probably be in the second half of December for about a week and will mean
about one third of the outreach personnel are unavailable for that period].
Action
so Far
Select
Committee: Article 6 of the GPA
specified that the constitution-making process would be driven by a
Parliamentary Select Committee. This was set up on the 13th April [the GPA
deadline]. It consists of 25 Parliamentarians and has 3 co-chairpersons, one
from each of the political parties that signed the GPA [see Constitution
Watch of 2 of 14th April 2009 for names of Select Committee
members].
First
All Stakeholders Conference [12th to 14th July]: the Select Committee just squeezed in
this conference to meet the GPA deadline of 13th July, but unfortunately because
of the preceding inter-party disputes and last minute organisation the
conference proved a disaster. There was much mayhem, some speeches and
lectures, but little actual consultation with
stakeholders.
Public
Consultation: this stage of the
constitution-making process should have been completed by 13th November [4 months after the First All Stakeholders
Conference], but has still not started, although it is an extremely
important stage, bearing in mind the GPA's insistence that the new constitution
must be written by the people for themselves.
Many
Meetings: In the months both
before and since the First All Stakeholders Conference in July, the Select
Committee and/or its co-chairpersons have held many meetings. As disagreements
between the three parties represented could not be satisfactorily resolved they
were eventually referred to the principals for resolution. This resulted in
giving the Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs more say in the
process and in the setting-up of more structures - a management committee,
steering committee and independent secretariat.
Management Committee - this has met several
times but, as it consists of the 6 GPA negotiators as well as the Minister and
the Select Committee chairs, it will probably not be meeting while the present
GPA negotiations are proceeding. This should not cause more delays, as this
committee was to set policy and actual management of the work is in the hands of
the steering committee and secretariat.
Steering Committee which consists of the
chairs of the Select Committee, the Minister and two civil society persons
chosen by the Select Committee; it is in charge of operations and has now had
several meetings.
[Note: it is very disappointing that there have been no press
releases after any of these meetings]
Independent Secretariat, with
separate premises outside Parliament to handle administration and finance.
Premises have been identified and staff interviewed, but it the secretariat is
not yet up and running.
Preparations for public consultation:
Thematic
committees [17] were identified and
chairing of these committees at last finalised [although names have not yet been
released].
Outreach
team numbers have been worked
out to cover all wards and membership finalised [again. names not yet
released]
A work
plan was prepared [see Constitution Watch 3 of 15th June
2009] but it is now unlikely that its schedule can be adhered to, as
the whole exercise will be compressed into a shorter timeframe.
Questionnaires are being
prepared and will be finalised during the training exercise
Training of outreach
teams: trainers have been
selected and have met to draw up a training programme. Training will hopefully
start this coming week.
Funding: Because of the many
delays, the chaos of the First All Stakeholders Conference, apparent
disagreements between party representatives driving the process and the monies
already spent on meetings, this has been a constant difficulty, but is now said
to have been resolved.
Reminder of GPA Timetable
The GPA
gives the inclusive government a maximum of 20 months in which to complete
the various stages
of the
process. Article 6 specifies
the time-limits for each stage, starting from the date of inception of the
inclusive government [see below]. As article 6 was not incorporated into the Constitution by
Constitution Amendment No 19, it is just an agreement between the parties and,
as the Minister has said, the timeframe "is not cast in stone" and can be
renegotiated.
13 April
2009 - Select Committee of Parliament to be set up [must be done within two months of inception of a new
Government]
13 July -
First All Stakeholders Conference [must be
held within 3 months of the date of the appointment of the select
committee]
13
November - Public consultation process complete [must be completed no later than 4 months after the
date of the first All Stakeholders
Conference]
13
February 2010 - The draft of the Constitution must be tabled before a Second All
Stakeholders Conference [must be done within
3 months after the public consultation process is
completed]
13 March
- The Select Committee's draft Constitution and its accompanying report must be
tabled before Parliament [the draft and
report must be tabled within 1 month of the second All-Stakeholders
Conference]. Parliament has a month to debate the draft and report
[presumably both Houses]
13 April
- Parliament [i.e. both Houses]
must conclude its debate on the committee's draft Constitution and
report [within one month]. The
draft must be gazetted before the holding of a referendum [but timeframe not
specified].
13 July -
A referendum on the
new draft Constitution must be held [within
3 months of the conclusion of Parliament's
debate]
13 August
- Gazetting of the
draft Constitution as a Bill, if it is approved in the referendum [it must be gazetted within 1 month of the date of the
date of the referendum]. What is to happen if the Bill is rejected
in the referendum is not stated.
13
October - The
Constitution Bill must be introduced in Parliament [presumably either
the House of
Assembly or the
Senate] [this must be done no later than 1
month after the expiration of the period of 30 days from the date of its
gazetting]
No time
limits are given for what happens after the Constitution Bill is introduced in
Parliament - probably because, if Parliament passes the Bill, the procedure for
bringing the new Constitution into operation will be laid down in the Bill
itself.
The GPA
does not say what is to happen if Parliament rejects or amends the Constitution
Bill - although it is unlikely to do so if the Bill has been approved at a
referendum.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied