Associated Press
By CHENGETAI ZVAUYA, Associated Press Writer Chengetai
Zvauya, Associated
Press Writer - Sun Nov 29, 11:11 am ET
HARARE,
Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's prime minister said Sunday he is thankful for
South
African efforts to help rescue his coalition government, and he said
South
Africa's president is expected to visit the troubled neighboring
country
next week.
A spokesman for South African President Jacob Zuma did not
comment on a
possible visit, but said in a statement that a delegation of
mediators sent
by Zuma was leaving for Zimbabwe and expected to arrive late
Sunday.
"We want to thank the government of South Africa, in particular
President
Zuma, for helping us," Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
told
about 30,000 people at a party rally in Harare. "They still continue
monitoring what we are doing here in Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai, the
country's longtime opposition leader, entered into a
power-sharing agreement
in February with President Robert Mugabe, who has
ruled the country since
its 1980 independence from Britain.
South African and other regional
leaders had pushed for the coalition
following a series of inconclusive
elections marred by violence blamed on
Mugabe's loyalists, urging the
longtime rivals to work together to end their
nation's political and
economic crises.
But Tsvangirai temporarily withdrew from the unity
government in October,
cited the prosecution of one of his top aides among
other issues. He
returned three weeks later after receiving assurances that
South Africa's
president would intervene.
"People should not live in
fear of violence or being beaten by police"
because they support
Tsvangirai's party, he said at Sunday's rally. "This
must
end."
Mugabe, in turn, accuses Tsvangirai of doing too little to persuade
Western
governments to lift foreign bank account freezes and other sanctions
imposed
on Mugabe and his top aides.
Tsvangirai said Sunday that
instability in Zimbabwe also had affected South
Africa, sending millions of
economic refugees and political asylum seekers
across the
border.
South Africans "want to see us fulfill all that we have agreed,"
Tsvangirai
said.
Tsvangirai has said that Zuma's predecessor took too
soft a line on Mugabe.
Thabo Mbeki, the regional point man on Zimbabwe, had
argued that pushing
Mugabe too hard could backfire.
It is not yet
clear whether Zuma's approach will be tougher than Mbeki's.
But in what was
seen as a sign that Zuma was stepping up his intervention,
he appointed two
advisers and a special Zimbabwe envoy last week to work
with politicians in
Zimbabwe.
Zuma's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said Sunday that leaders at
a regional
summit in early November had called on Zimbabwe's politicians to
start talks
within 30 days to resolve their differences. Zimbabwean
negotiators have
been meeting behind closed doors in recent days, and Zuma's
team was to
report back to him on their progress, Magwenya
said.
"What is important is that parties are in dialogue and have to
remain in
dialogue in order to iron out all outstanding issues," Magwenya
said.
http://af.reuters.com
Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:30am
GMT
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - A lack of cash is
likely to prevent Zimbabwe unveiling
any major projects in its 2010 budget,
but analysts say it could provide the
impetus for the reforms needed to
attract foreign aid to rebuild the
economy.
Finance Minister Tendai
Biti is due to present his 2010 budget on
Wednesday -- the first full budget
by the unity government formed 10 months
ago to try to end a decade-long
political and economic crisis in the
southern African nation.
"This
is a straightforward issue. The government is broke and is living hand
to
mouth," said veteran independent economist John Robertson.
"There is very
little money for the pressing demands on the government and
until they are
able to get some massive help there is very little they will
be able to do,"
he told Reuters.
"The positive side is that we may see greater movement
towards reforms, more
pressure to respect private property rights and an
appreciation that the
country needs massive international assistance and
goodwill to realise its
goals."
Zimbabwe is trying to reconstruct an
economy that the government estimates
contracted by nearly 50 percent from
2000-2008.
The global economic downturn and festering tensions in a
ruling coalition
between President Robert Mugabe and his arch rival, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, are not helping.
Biti -- a senior figure
in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) -- has promised a
"growth oriented" budget, but the coffers are bare,
and there is no sign of
any significant aid on the horizon.
The 2009 budget was about $1 billion
and, according to a draft medium-term
economic development plan released
this month, 2010 spending is only likely
to be double that.
Biti has
about a quarter of the projected budget at his disposal -- $500
million from
the IMF disbursed earlier this year as part of the fund's
global assistance
package to countries to help them cope with the worldwide
financial
crisis.
The IMF allocation is the first major foreign aid Zimbabwe has
received in a
decade after Mugabe's ZANU-PF party fell out with Western
donors over its
policies.
But the money is a fraction of the nearly
$10 billion required to rebuild
the economy and sustain the fragile growth
recorded since this year's
formation of a unity government.
Huge sums
are needed to repair pot-holed roads, dilapidated hospitals and
broken water
and sanitation systems blamed for a cholera oubtbreak that
killed more than
4,000 people last year.
The economy is starting to look up despite
disputes over government
policies, the pace of democratic reforms, Western
sanctions and the
appointment of senior state officials.
The
government and the IMF are forecasting 3.7 percent growth this year. The
Economic Planning Minister has forecast 15 percent average annual growth
between 2010-2015.
Biti has forecast that inflation will end 2009 at
6.4 percent after turning
negative earlier in the year following the
adoption of foreign currencies in
place of the Zimbabwe dollar, which had
been left worthless by
hyperinflation.
Inflation had reached 231
million percent in July 2008, according to
official figures. The IMF says it
had rocketed to a staggering 500 billion
percent by Dec 2008.
Another
challenge for Biti is motivating state workers earning an average
$150 a
month with wage increases and tax cuts.
"How the Finance Minister
achieves the desired growth would be determined by
his dexterity in
allocating the scarce resources among the competing
interests," the private
weekly Finance Gazette said in a commentary.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 27 November 2009
12:32
MUTARE - President Robert Mugabe's former chief media policeman
Tafataona
Mahoso has invaded a commercial farm near Mutare, giving the white
owner
only 48 hours to vacate the property that had been his home for years.
(Pictured: Tafataona Mahoso)
Top military commanders, officials and
supporters of Mugabe's Zanu (PF)
party have stepped farm seizures despite
formation of a unity government
nine months ago and a ruling by the SADC
Tribunal outlawing land grabs.
A devastated Charles Bezuidenhout told of how
Mahoso - who ordered the
closure of independent newspapers including the
Daily News during his time
as chairman of the now defunct Media and
Information Commission - last month
stormed his Welverdien Farm accompanied
by an army of AREX officers and
announced he was taking over the
property.
Offer letter
Bezuidenhout initially resisted Mahoso's
attempts to evict him apparently
because the former journalism lecturer did
not produce an offer letter from
he government showing that he had been
allocated the farm.
Mahoso went away only to return this month with an offer
letter for the
200-hactare farm and told Bezuidenhout to leave
immediately.
When Bezuidenhout attempted to seek help from local police he
was simply
told that if Mahoso - earmarked by Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party to
head the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe - wanted the property then the
farmer had
to make way.
"Its the law of the jungle really. Mahoso and
Agritex people produced an
offer letter and just took the farm just like
that," said Bezuidenhout.
Earlier Bezuidenhout had accepted a government
offer to subdivide his farm
between himself and state-appointed "settlers",
an arrangement government
officials assured the farmer would allow him to
continue farming. But that
was until Mahoso turned up demanding the piece
that Bezuidenhout had kept
after subdivision of his farm.
Mahoso did not
answer his phone when The Zimbabwean on Sunday tried to
contact him last
Friday for comment on the matter.
Chegutu farms
Meanwhile farm
invaders stepped up attacks on four commercial farms near
Chegutu last week,
SW Radio Africa reported.
In a interview with the radio farmer Ben Freeth
described the situation in
the farming community in Chegutu as "very tense"
as mobs of Zanu (PF)
supporters acted with total impunity on the four
different properties.
Freeth explained how Tom and Sue Beattie from Umvovo
farm have been given
five days to leave their property, after months of
harassment and
intimidation by land invaders came to a head last Thursday
morning.
The invaders, led by a man known only as Hanyani, had recently
intensified
their efforts to drive the family and their workers off the
farm, including
breaking into the Beatties' home in August and assaulting
Sue.
Last Thursday morning Hanyani, accompanied by Lands Officer Clever
Kunonga,
arrived on the property demanding that the family leave. By late
afternoon
the situation had turned threatening, with multiple fires being
lit around
the family's thatched homestead.
Umvovo farm used to be one of
the area's most productive pieces of land,
growing close to 3 000 hectares
of crops when the rule of law in Zimbabwe
once prevailed.
But production
on the farm has been completely halted, with the land
invaders physically
stopping any planting, as well as chasing away the farm's
workforce.
Freeth explained that, with this year's national crop at the
lowest ever
level of approximately 20 000 tons, "the Beattie family alone
could have
increased the national crop by 20 percent if law and order were
allowed to
prevail in Zimbabwe".
The Beatties used to employ well over a
thousand workers, but this year the
workers are mostly unemployed, leaving
even more Zimbabwean families
destitute. The land invaders have since taken
over the farm workers' homes
as well as other cottages on the property,
holding late night parties as
part of their efforts to drive the Beatties
off the farm.
Cronies benefited
It is understood that the invasion is
being carried out on behalf of Senate
President Edna Madzongwe, who also led
the lawless attacks and eventual
takeover of Stockdale Citrus Farm.
At
the same time, Lands Officer Kunonga's brother, Abel, earlier this year
led
the invasion on the Keevil family's Dodhill farm, an attack that
eventually
saw the Keevils forcibly evicted.
Chegutu police have refused to assist the
Beatties or any other farmers in
the area who have faced similar attacks,
leaving the farmers completely
helpless against the unlawful
'jambanjas'.
Mugabe has defended his government's chaotic and often violent
farm
redistribution exercise that saw the majority of the about 4 000 white
commercial farmers expelled from the land, saying it was necessary to ensure
blacks also had access to arable land that they were denied by previous
white-led governments.
But critics blame the land reforms for plunging
Zimbabwe into food shortages
after Mugabe failed to support the black
villagers resettled on former white
farms to maintain production.
In
addition, the critics say Mugabe's cronies - and not ordinary peasants -
benefited the most from the farm seizures with some of them ending up with
as many as six farms each against the government's stated one-man-one-farm
policy.
Details of how you can take action to support the affected people in Chegutu at the end of this post, where we ask you to call or sms Inspector Biperu, Clever Kunonga, Kembo Mohadi and Herbert Murewa.
There is chaos in Chegutu. Several farms have been experiencing an upsurge in harassment and intimidation by thugs trying to force the farmers to vacate their land. The harassment is continuing today. The reports seem to indicate that the thugs are splitting up and re-grouping on different farms, the fact that they are being 'bussed in' pointing to a higher level of coordination with access to resources beyond the reach of a typical poverty-stricken opportunistic 'settler'.
There are allegations that Edna Madzongwe - Speaker of the House of Senate - is linked to the upsurge in harassment in the area and possibly orchestrating the invasions. Mudzongwe has already stolen land in the area: Aitape and Stockdale Citrus Estate. The rumours are that she is desperate to acquire another farm close-by before any agreements regarding land are formalised between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
We reported on Thursday about the harassment at Umvovo Farm - the family have been under continuous intimidation since then.
In addition, Wakefield Farm, owned by Ken Bartholomew and close to Umvovo Farm, was jambanja'd by a group of "invaders". We have been advised that approximately 200 of Bartholomew's workers and well-wishers turned out to support the farmer and cordoned off the area, averting the danger. News today is that Wakefield Farm is quiet again. However, it has to be noted that Bartholomew has been experiencing a great deal of harassment recently, and today's quietness may not last very long.
Friday night was a very difficult night for the Beatties on Umvovo Farm, as per Sue Beattie's sms messages sent to a friend, who has in turn been emailing them to Sokwanele:
00.06 am No sleep tonight. Drums and singing outside our bedroom window
5:37 Drums and raucous singing outside bedroom windows from midnight. Large fires one on porch nearly lit the thatch. We will move out today and Thomas will come each morning to see to the milking etc. This is too scary
5:38 They won't let Thomas out this morning. Officer in charge did not come last night but think he phoned because it did quieten down. This am he has switched his phone off.
5:57 Drums have started again. They won't let Thomas out until he brings his lorry to remove stuff.
11:44 We are making inroads packing 30yrs of stuff
Tensions on Umvovo Farm reached a high point this morning, Sunday. Ben Freeth was at Tom and Sue Beattie's home, where he and the Beattie's daughter and son-in-law (Simon and Sarah Jane Keagal) were being held hostage - locked in and denied permission to leave the farm - until such time as they agreed to take all possessions off the farm. In other words, they were told they could only leave if they took everything with them and left for good, paving the way for the invaders to take over the homestead.
They were eventually allowed to leave Umvovo Farm. The family have removed most of their valuables and the rest of their goods have been listed in an inventory, photographed and locked in four rooms in the homestead. The invaders finally relented and released them when, in response to their taunts that the Beatties must get out because 'they are not Zimbabwean', Sarah Jane, Beattie's daughter burst into tears and in her impassioned response let them know she is Zimbabwean, she is born here and asked them where else is she meant to go.
Rainbow's End Farm, owned by Doug and Charmaine Beattie and also in the area, was also subjected to harassment by the thugs. Sue Beattie sent these sms messages today:
8:12 am Today they are over at Douglas and Charmaine's house (Beattie - Rainbow's End Farm). Told them they have one day to get off. Thomas [Sue Beattie's husband, Umvovo Farm] now has an interdict to say we stay but sure it won't hold water.
8:40 We are at Rainbow's End. Did not see Kunonga. Saw Nico and Zvaita and then just rabble.
Some names recur through all reports of the cases. Edna Madzongwe is repeatedly alleged to be the 'big-wig' behind the intimidation; Clever Kunonga, former Lands Officer in Chegutu has been seen in more than one of the invasions and has been identified as one of the key organisers. Sylvester Hunyani has been named as the 'Chief-thug'. His wife has been identified as accompanying him on at least one of the invasions. Hunyani's brother-in-law, named as Nicolas (referred to as Nico in Sue Beattie's sms messages) is also making an appearance on different farms under siege. On Umvovo Farm he 'prowled around' carrying a large wrench in a threatening manner.
Reports from the farm suggest that some of the thugs are losing their passion for the job at hand. According to sources with the group of thugs, they are meant to be paid US$160 per month to do the job and their pay is not always forthcoming. Their "work" of forced eviction is bolstered by the amount of marijuana in their systems and they are now losing heart and energy. The knowledge that money, a supply of drugs, and access to transport to move between farms, all supports the perception that someone at a higher level is organising this - that 'someone' is rumoured to be Edna Mudzongwe.
As one person who contacted us commented: the invasions have nothing to do with ideology, it is all about greed and ethnic cleansing.
ACTION ALERT
Please TAKE ACTION to support several farmers along with their farm workers and all their families, in the Chegutu area of Zimbabwe.
The Police Inspector in charge of Internal security in Chegutu is
Inspector Biperu: Please call him or sms him and let him know
he is being watched. Remind him that there will come a day when the rule of law
will return to Zimbabwe, and he will be held accountable for any support of
lawless activities including intimidation, harassment, and theft of property.
Please emphasise to Inspector Biperu, that there is a real risk of looting on
Umvovo Farm. This would be blatant theft. He must ensure this does not happen.
His cell phone number is +263-912-640542.
Clever
Kunonga's cell phone number is +263-913-045245. Please
call or sms him, and warn him that his name has been brought to worldwide
attention as a key orchestrator of lawless activities in the Chegutu area.
Advise him to re-consider exposing himself to facing the consequences of the law
at a future date in Zimbabwe. Does he want to risk jail just so a big-wig can
acquire more land?
Kembo Mohadi is the Zanu PF Co-Minister of Home Affairs must be advised to enforce the rule of law in Zimbabwe and take action against any lawless activities. Please call or sms him and ask him to take action against the dreadful activities in Chegutu, advise him that Edna Madzongwe is allegedly involved and ask him to investigate these rumours and enforce the rule of law as appropriate. Please also remind him that Article 18 of Global Political Agreement includes the following clauses.
(d) that all political parties, other organisations and their leaders shall
commit themselves to do everything to stop and prevent all forms of political
violence, including by non-State actors and shall consistently appeal to their
members to desist from violence;
In his capacity as Home Affairs Minister, Mohadi has a professional, moral and political duty to take action. Call or sms hiMohadi m on +263-11-605424
Herbert Murewa is the Minister of Lands and Resettlement. He can be called on +263-4-733995 (working hours). Murewa must be advised that the Chegutu harassment is particularly inflammatory in the wake of the recent BIPPA and SADC rulings, and that the activities in Chegutu risk creating tensions between South Africa and Zimbabwe, further undermining the GPA. He has a responsibility to ensure that farms are not stolen to satisfy the greed and ambitions of senior Zanu PF politicians. He needs to take action to stop this, and should keep in mind that a future land audit will expose this level of corruption,. If he does act, he risks being tarred as corrupt as well. He should contact Edna Madzongwe, and tell her to STOP this immediately.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by TONY SAXON
Friday, 27 November
2009 11:44
MUTARE - Power cuts affecting the country have hit hard the
horticultural
industry with growers unable to irrigate flowers for long
periods, a
situation that has production tumble, according to the Zimbabwe
Flowers
Growers Association (ZFGA).
Association president Craig
Johnston is some areas farmers were getting only
two hours of power supplies
despite the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) promising to ensure
21-hours of supplies to the sector that
depends on electricity to power
irrigation pumps.
"Flowers have not been irrigated for a month in the
main flower producing
areas in Vumba. We are having interrupted power
supplies of 19 to 20 hours
contrary to the 21 hours of uninterrupted power
supply that had been
promised by ZESA," said Johnston last week.
He
said many growers were unable to meet export orders beause of the power
cuts
affecting production of quality flowers.
"The viability of flower growers
has been seriously threatened and the
biggest challenge is remaining in this
industry," he said.
ZESA's inability over the years to boost generation
capacity at its ageing
power stations and a critical shortage of foreign
currency to import
adequate electricity from neighbouring countries has left
Zimbabwe grappling
with severe power shortages.
ZESA's only response has
been to implement a punishing power rationing
regime to save on the little
electricity available. Under the rationing
schedule, both domestic and
commercial consumers have to endure long periods
without electricity, a
situation that analysts say could cripple efforts to
revive the country's
economy.
http://www.zimnetradio.com
By NOZIPHO MASEKO
Published on: 29th
November, 2009
MUTARE - Two investors at Chiadzwa have set aside US$10
million for
immediate relocation of 1 700 households living in the vicinity
of the
diamonds mine fields while government is considering giving them
small-scale
mining licenses.
Locally-owned Mbada Mining and Canadile
Miners Private Limited are the two
investors that have joined the Zimbabwe
Mining Development Company in
extracting diamonds at Chiadzwa, as full
exploitation of the precious gem
gains momentum.
Speaking in the
Parliament last week, Mines and Mining Development Deputy
Minister Mr Murisi
Zwizwai said government "was in the process of marking
homes for the people
of Chiadzwa to be resettled there (Arda Farm), as
investors have set aside
US$10 million for the exercise," he said.
Mr Zwizwai was responding to a
question by Magwegwe Member of the House of
Assembly, Mr Felix Sibanda
during questions without notice session, last
week.
Mr Sibanda wanted
to know government policy on households settled around the
Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr Zwizwai said relocation
was going
ahead despite some challenges with people having already started
farming
activities in the area.
He said the committees and the
taskforce were working "flat out" to make
sure the relocation exercise was
expedited and the community to also benefit
from the mining ventures in the
area.
"The Chiadzwa people will be relocated to former Arda farm near
Mutare where
we have considered issues of land and an irrigation schemes
which we believe
is going to incentivise them because there will be better
tillage in a
number of ways.
"The US$10 million availed by the two
investors is going to be used in
improving infrastructure and building
better houses for them.
However, they can still go back to Chiadzwa after
the mining activities have
been ceased since diamond is non-renewable
resource.
The villagers, he added, could still maintain their houses at
the farm.
Mr Zwizwai said government was considering issuing small-scale
mining
licenses to the community people for them to also benefit from the
precious
mineral.
"We are also considering to deliberately give small
scale mining licenses to
people of Chiadzwa so that they can also benefit
from the diamond
activities.
"We cannot just give licences to
foreigners only and overlook our people
that is why we want to give small
scale mining licenses to Chiadzwa people,"
Mr Zwizwai said.
However,
villagers in Chiadzwa are reluctant to be relocated as they argue
that
government cannot just relocate them to another area.
They say the
community should benefit through employment at the mine.
Chiadzwa
Community Development Trust chairman, Mr Newman Chiadzwa speaking
to The
Herald last week said their expectation as a community were that they
were
also given a stake in the ventures.
The Manica Post, last week reported
that over 650 jobs had been created at
the mine of which 90 percent of the
workers mostly guards are from Chiadzwa
and Marange areas.
There were
reports that more jobs could be created as the two companies
expand
operations and new investors stake their claim at the vast diamond
field
covering some 70 000 hectares.
http://www.radiovop.com
Chiadzwa, November 29, 2009 - The people living around the
rich diamond
fields in Chiadzwa at the weekend exhibited their ignorance of
the current
constitution making process currently underway in the
country.
During a question and answer session, the villagers were
asked which
constitution the country was using and most of the answers that
came out
made reference to the Kariba draft confirming fears that Zanu PF
youths are
on the ground campaigning for people to vote for the Kariba
draft.
The Kariba draft constitution was adopted by the three signatories
to the
Global Political Agreement (GPA), which brought about the inclusive
government in February. The two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
factions led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur
Mutambara, together with Zimbabwe's civic society, have supported the idea
that the draft be put to the people for further discussion before it is
adopted as a new constitution for Zimbabwe. However Zanu PF has said the
Kariba draft was final and has been campaigning to have it adopted as the
new constitution of the country.
In some areas there have been media
reports that soldiers and Zanu PF youth
were forcing people to meetings
where they would demand them to adopt the
Kariba draft
constitution.
Zimbabwe, according to the GPA, needs a new constitution in
place before it
holds fresh elections to replace the current inclusive
government. The GPA
is as a result of the intervention of the Southern
African Development
Community (SADC) after a decade of political and
economic crisis in
Zimbabwe.
"That shows that there is very little
civic education taking place and one
wonders how these people are going to
effectively participate in the
constitution making process," said Okay
Machisa, the ZIMRIGHTS Director
speaking at the concert hosted by his
organisation together with Artists for
Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT).
"There is a lot of work to be done."
Giving their views at a civic
education campaign concert held at Chakohwa
Business Contre in the area,
only one person out of the five people
correctly answered that the country's
was currently using the Lancaster
House Constitution. Of the other four,
one ignorantly said the country was
using the Kariba House constitution,
while the other two said the Zimbabwe
Association constitution while two
others said the country was using the
Kariba draft.
The educational
campaign featured music, poetry, dance and drama with a
constitutional
theme.
The community said they wanted the country's new constitution to
give them
rights to benefit from the diamonds in the area.
"We have
tasted the benefits of diamond and we know that they can change our
lives
for the better, just look at the news houses, satellite dishes, cars
and
boreholes built around, that's why we want the new constitution to give
us
rights to mine these diamonds," said Tensen Chaka.
Another woman said the
government should remove the soldiers who are
providing security at the
diamond fields for just two days and allow them to
mine once more. "We just
want to the government to give us just two days to
mine the diamonds because
that's where we get our money. The constitution
should let us mine diamonds
freely," said the woman.
Zimbabwe was recently under investigations from
the Kimberley Certification
process for human rights abuses in Chiadzwa in
which thousands of
Zimbabweans were allegedly killed by the police and army
for illegally
mining the precious mineral. Zimbabwe was spared a ban to mine
the mineral
by the organisation recently on condition that it removes the
army and
police out of Chiadzwa and stop further human rights
abuses.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by RBM Solicitors
Thursday, 26 November
2009 15:13
HARARE - A private investor is looking to construct a runway at
the
controversial Marange diamond field in eastern Zimbabwe to ensure secure
movement of the gemstones to a handling facility being built in Harare.
(Pictured: Diamonds will be airlifted from Marange to Harare)
A top
official of Mbada Investments, which was chosen together with another
private firm to partner state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC) in exploiting the Marange claim, said the runway was part of efforts
to halt any illicit movement or smuggling of diamonds from the Marange or
Chiadzwa field.
"Diamonds from this area will be flown to Harare in a
more secure
condition," Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga told government
taskforce that
visited Marange at the weekend.
"We are also constructing
a diamond handling facility at the Harare
International airport and time
permitting we will be inviting you to see the
facility in Harare," Mbada
said.
A team from the Kimberley Process (KP), the world diamond industry
watchdog,
that visited Zimbabwe at the end of last June condemned rampant
smuggling of
diamonds among other illegal activities as well as gross human
rights abuses
at Maranage.
But a KP meeting in Namibia about three weeks
ago decided against banning
Zimbabwe diamonds from the world market and
instead agreed to give Harare
more time to review operations at Marange and
improve security arrangements
to comply with the organisation's standards.
http://www.universityworldnews.com
29 November 2009
Issue:
0042
Zimbabwean students have resorted to bartering to pay fees
because of
critical foreign currency shortages, according to a report by the
country's
Comptroller and Auditor General Mildred Chiri. Some students have
settled
payments using groceries, livestock and other valuables instead of
cash.
"My examination of records maintained revealed that students had
settled
their outstanding obligations in kind by tendering valuables other
than cash
such as sugar beans, cows, goats, wheat, maize, provisions,
fertiliser,
chemicals and fuel coupons," the country's top auditor said in
her report
for the first quarter of the 2009 financial year, tabled in
parliament last
month.
"It was submitted that the items tendered in
this manner were assessed and
qualified at the prevailing market value and
equated to the outstanding fees
for each course."
The government
dollarised the economy in February this year, in part to
escape world-record
inflation that at one time stood at 1.5 million percent,
resulting in
widespread poverty. The South African rand, United States
dollar and
Botswana pula are now legal tender and inflation has since
dropped to below
2%.
But most Zimbabweans have little forex so some students resorted to
barter
in an effort to pay tuition fees of around US$150, as well as other
payments
such as accommodation.
In her report, Chiri said Zimbabwe's
Ministry of Finance, as the custodian
of government assets and finances, had
not foreseen settling of bills
through barter trade and had not made the
necessary arrangements for
auditing purposes.
Following introduction
of dollarisation, the Zimbabwe National Students
Union (Zinasu) - the
country's biggest student union - launched a campaign
opposing payment of
fees in foreign currency. But the campaign failed.
Meanwhile, lecturers
at the National University of Science Technology have
gone on strike to
protest against poor salaries. This follows year-long
industrial action at
universities that only ended after the formation of an
inclusive government
between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party and the
Movement for
Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister.
"The
college authorities had made arrangements with the lecturers to pay
them
US$150 every week as part of their salaries but the lecturers report
that
they have gone for more than seven weeks without receiving the agreed
amount
and this triggered them to go on strike," Zinasu said in a statement.
The
union said students at the university were being victimised. Three
student
leaders, including Brian Mutisi, were detained on 9 November after
addressing first-year students in the college hall at the national
university.
Eleven students were recently arrested at Great Zimbabwe
University for
allegedly holding an illegal political meeting on campus and
possessing a
firearm ahead of a scheduled visit by Mugabe. The students deny
the charges.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=25457
November 29, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
LONDON - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
suspended the party's
United Kingdom and Ireland provincial executive
committee, pending
investigations into what the party's leadership has
described as shocking
financial irregularities in remittances of money to
Zimbabwe.The suspension
was announced by MDC secretary general Tendai Biti
through a letter dated
November 17. The letter is reported to have reached
the 20-member UK and
Ireland executive, led by Jonathan Chawora, last
week.
Biti said the suspension was with immediate effect.
In his
letter, Biti said the MDC leaders had met and deliberated on the
financial
report submitted by the UK and Ireland executive and was shocked
by the
extent of the financial irregularities in the accounts.
"Irregularities
were particularly noted on remittances and carry over
balances on membership
cards and bank balances," said Biti.
"Furthermore, the party leadership
noted the failure on the part of the UK
and Ireland province to submit
regular financial reports as per instructions
issued to your province on 17
October 2007 by the deputy treasurer general
and by the deputy secretary on
20 June 2008."
Biti said the MDC leadership had also noted with concern
"the diminished and
arrested functionality of the UK/Ireland province due to
extensive bickering
and negative application energy".
The UK and
Ireland executive raises funds for the party through sale of
membership
cards, subscriptions and fundraising events. Membership cards
sell for £70
each while subscription is set at £5 per month.
Tendayi Goneso, the
treasurer for the suspended executive, told The Zimbabwe
Times at the
weekend he was shocked by the suspension. Asked if there were
regularities
in the report he submitted, he said: "No, not at all. I am one
hundred
percent confident that we will be cleared.
"This matter is political
rather than financial."
Goneso said the MDC national leadership acted on
allegations presented to it
by rival party members, and ignored his
report.
"I was shocked by the suspension," he said. "In fact I am
surprised because
I presented accounts which were audited according to
international
standards.
"But other part members sent some
allegations on abuse of funds. The
leadership acted on those allegations by
rebels and not my report."
Power struggles have constantly caused havoc
within the MDC executive in the
UK and Ireland. One of the most strident
critics of the suspended executive
is Stanford Biti, the younger brother of
the MDC secretary-general and
Finance Minister.
In one incident,
Stanford Biti allegedly pelted Chawora and other members of
the executive
with eggs. The younger Biti could not be contacted for
comment. Goneso
refused to discuss the squabbling.
"I would rather address the financial
issues than the political ones.
Suffice it to say the political fights are
in the public domain."
Goneso said the MDC had 40 branches with a total
of about 800 active members
in the UK; these contributed most of the
remittances. He said about 70
percent of the funds raised through
membership, subscriptions and
fundraising events were sent to
Zimbabwe.
The rest was used for administrative purposes in the
UK.
"We have to buy stationery, maintain our website, and hire halls for
meetings, among other things" he said.
Goneso said ideally
remittances were made monthly but now funds were being
sent to Harare as and
when they became available.
In suspending the executive, Biti said the
members were, with immediate
effect, prohibited from engaging in any party
activities or to represent the
party in the United Kingdom/Ireland province,
in any capacity whatsoever.
He said an investigating committee would soon
be dispatched to carry out
investigations.
Goneso said: "I am
prepared to cooperate fully with the investigators. I am
responsible for
finance. I, however, feel sorry for my colleagues who have
been caught up,
and have nothing to do with funds.
"In the end, we do not want to tarnish
the image of the party and the
struggle."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Zimbabwean
Friday, 27 November 2009
11:12
HARARE - The United Nations will tomorrow launch an international
humanitarian appeal for Zimbabwe for 2010 amid fears of widespread hunger
and disease outbreak next year.
The 2010 Consolidated Appeal Process
(CAP) will be launched by the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) during a ceremony in
Geneva, Switzerland.
Last year a
total of 35 appealing agencies, including UN agencies,
inter-governmental
organisations, international and national NGOs, and
community and
faith-based organisations, appealed for US$550 million to
implement
programmes and projects as part of the CAP 2009.
The amount was revised
upwards in May this year to US$719 million due to
what OCHA said were
Zimbabwe's rising humanitarian needs in the face of a
deadly cholera
outbreak and food shortages.
A cholera outbreak, which began in August 2008,
killed more than 1 400
people and affected about 100 000 others before it
was contained in July
while more than half the country's 12 million-plus
population were estimated
to require food aid this year.
OCHA observed at
the time that the "magnitude of the economic decline and
erosion of sources
of livelihood" was such that it was unlikely that
Zimbabwe's humanitarian
needs would lessen in the short term.
Zimbabwe is currently among the top
five recipients of humanitarian
assistance, according to statistics from
OCHA.
Other top recipients were Sudan, the occupied Palestinian territory,
Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Donors had by last
Thursday committed more than US$434 million or 60.4
percent of the US$719
million sought for Zimbabwe.
No major change is expected in the 2010
humanitarian appeal as Zimbabwe's
political and economic crisis has not
improved significantly since the
formation of a power-sharing government by
President Robert Mugabe and
former opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The shaky coalition government has been rocked by sharp
differences over
appointments and policy, which has chased away potential
donors.
Experts are forecasting another poor harvest during the 2009/10
farming
season amid shortages of inputs and prospects of below normal
rainfall.
http://www.zimnetradio.com/
By NQOBIZITHA MLILO
Published on:
29th November, 2009
HARARE - ZIMBABWE'S chances to host Brazil for the
2010 Fifa World Cup
Soccer finals slated for South Africa got a major boost
yesterday when the
Brazilian technical team said it had exclusively focussed
on Zimbabwe and
South Africa.
The announcement by the Brazilian
technical team followed a tour of
hospitality and sports facilities in
Harare yesterday morning and
effectively closed out chances for other
bidders like Botswana, Namibia and
Mozambique.
The two members of the
technical team Mr Paul Leisegang and Mrs Doris Kevial
arrived in the country
on Saturday from South Africa and the Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority hosted
them.
In an interview, Mr Leisegang and Mrs Kevial said they were
focusing on
Zimbabwe and South Africa only.
"Our hands are tied
exclusively on Zimbabwe and South Africa not anywhere
else. We are working
on camping in the two countries so we are on a
fact-finding
mission.
"The altitude is fine and we are now looking at the weather
conditions for
May and June and we have told Zimbabwe to give us all the
details about the
weather in May and June.
"Zimbabwe has weather
conditions similar to South Africa, so acclimatisation
for the boys is very
important, before we move to South Africa.
"What is important is that at
the moment we are not looking elsewhere but
Zimbabwe and South Africa,''
said Mr Leisegang.
He said the technical team, which returned yesterday
afternoon, would be
coming back to Zimbabwe mid December for further
inspection and discussion
with stakeholders.
"We are impressed but we
have to go back for the draw and for feedback with
the team. We will come
back mid December for more inspections and
negotiations," he
said.
Mrs Kevial said Zimbabwe was not in a good position until the
Confederations
Cup that was played in South Africa in June, where the
Brazilians complained
that it was cold.
"The boys had to play with
gloves and warm clothing and it affected them. We
are now looking for a
better training ground before going to South Africa
and this is why we are
looking at Zimbabwe,'' she said.
ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke
said since his visit to Brazil in
March this year, Brazil had remained a top
priority for Zimbabwe.
"We have never lost our focus. We have approached
several other countries
from Britain, Spain, Mexico, Algeria, Nigeria and
Ghana but Brazil has
remained our first priority and we hope we will win the
bid.
"This is a technical inspection that will be followed by many talks
and
negotiations for what they want but the fact that they are now focusing
on
us and South Africa only is quite a big chance for us.
"We are
prepared to do everything to get Brazil here because it is crucial
for our
national tourism rebranding. It is good for us as a tourism industry
and as
a people,'' said Mr Kaseke.
Zimbabwe has been courting Brazil to camp
ahead of the soccer extravaganza
since May this year, when it sent a
high-powered delegation led by Tourism
and Hospitality Industry Minister
Walter Mzembi and Mr Kaseke.
Prior to that, Mozambique had started
courting Brazil through its President
Amando Guebuza, citing a huge
coastline and Portuguese language as an
advantage while Botswana and Namibia
also put up their bids.
Harare businessman Mr Phillip Chiyangwa drove the
Brazilian technical team
around the National Sports Stadium, Rufaro, Prince
Edward High School, St
George's College and hotel facilities in his posh
Rolls Royce Phantom.
The Vigil is not surprised that the MDC UK and Ireland Province has been suspended by the party’s leadership in Harare. A letter from MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti spoke of financial irregularities, poor performance and ‘disfunctionality’ (see scanned copy on http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/sets/72157622770117445/). The Vigil could add many other reasons. Since former Assistant Police Commissioner Jonathan Chawora was foisted on the membership going on 2 years ago, the MDC in the UK has gone steadily downhill. All its efforts have gone into fundraising but it seems Harare has seen none of the funds. Where has the money gone? The Vigil has a good idea.
Well, the party leaders in Harare are to send an investigating committee to find out. The Vigil can tell the committee that the disgraced UK Executive has done nothing to publicise the plight of Zimbabwe or promote the party to the British public. Instead it has devoted its energy to trying to undermine the Vigil – sometimes with veiled threats of violence. We remember Hebson Makuvise, Tsvangirai’s uncle and representative in the UK, angrily waving his fists, trying to take over a vigil. (Hebson has been nominated as Ambassador to Germany – let’s hope he’s learned some diplomacy.)
Although Vigil supporters were pleased that action had finally been taken against the MDC bullies in the UK, many people expressed their impatience at the slow pace of talks in Harare: belatedly started on Monday only to be suspended on Wednesday, with Welshman Ncube openly scoffing at SADC’s timetable.
There is growing suspicion among Vigil supporters that the politicians in Harare are happy to see things drag on until elections in 2013. Their attitude seems to be: ‘as long as we have our jobs and cars and official business trips to Peru, Nepal, Azerbaijan or anywhere we can go on talking forever.’
The Vigil trusts that President Zuma will knock heads together. (He will have to knock very hard otherwise they won’t notice!) Fourteen months after the GPA there has been zero progress on the rule of law, freedom of the media – or just about anything. With our politicians left to their own devices we doubt that there every will be.
Similar pessimism was expressed on Wednesday at a meeting in London at the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum’s offices attended by Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlungu of WOZA, fresh from their wonderful reception by President Obama in Washington. The London meeting was attended by Josephine Zhuga and Sue and Francesca Toft from the Vigil who reported there was deep concern about the human rights situation in rural Zimbabwe. There was criticism that the MDC were not reaching these areas.
Similar comments were made by Gertrude Hambara, General Secretary of the General Agricultural and Plant Workers Union of Zimbabwe, who dropped in at the Vigil. Earlier in the week she had addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Zimbabwe and said the MDC needed to move into rural communities before they became ‘no-go areas’. Gertrude told the Committee that the so-called land reform programme had displaced about 350,000 farm workers, affecting two million people when their families were included.
The Vigil has been invited to take part in a demonstration to mark Human Rights Day on 10th December. We are waiting for further information about the venue and time.
For latest Vigil pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
FOR THE RECORD: 188 signed the register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
· ROHR Christmas party. Saturday 5th December, time tba. Venue: Coronation Hall, Stoke Road, Water Eaton, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK2 3AB. Stations: Bletchley (nearest) or Central Milton Keynes. Use Bus 5 from both stations. Parking: additional parking is available in the Veterinary Practice next door and on the gravelled area to the front of the Practice building. Further parking is available in the Plough Public House approx 100metres from the hall. Please do not obstruct the public footpath or highway or hamper access to the neighbouring properties. Contact: Martha Jiya 07727016098, Pamela Dunduru 07958386718, Jemias V Mujeyi 07534034594, Rodah Kulhengisa 07983057533 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070
· ROHR Brighton general meeting. Saturday 12th December from 1 – 4 pm. Venue: Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG. Rohr executives present and a well known lawyer. Substantive committee to be elected. Contact Sinikiwe Dube 07824668763, Wellington Mamvura 07949595506 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070.
· Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
· Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans organised by Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work placements for qualified Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html or contact: zimbabweinternship@cof.org.uk.
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.reuters.com
Sun Nov 29, 2009 12:46pm
EST
* Mann was convicted for failed Equatorial Guinea coup
*
Says South Africa intelligence tacitly backed plot
* Coup's motive was to
make money from oil-rich country
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Simon
Mann, a British mercenary jailed for
plotting against the government of
Equatorial Guinea, has said South Africa
tacitly supported a failed 2004
coup in the oil-rich African nation.
Mann, who was released from prison
earlier this month, told the BBC he
believed that the operation had the
unwritten consent of South African
intelligence.
"South Africa wanted
to be in," he said, according to extracts of an
interview to be broadcast on
Tuesday. "In fact, I was told: 'Get on with
it.'"
"Because, if they
are very good friends of the new government, it would be
of great benefit to
South Africa because they know perfectly well that
billions of dollars are
at stake," 57-year-old Mann said.
Educated at Eton, Britain's top private
school, the ex-special forces
officer was arrested in Zimbabwe along with 70
other mercenaries en route to
Equatorial Guinea aboard a
plane.
Extradited to Equatorial Guinea, he was sentenced in July 2008 for
conspiring to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. He was
pardoned on health grounds, having served just over one year of a 34-year
sentence.
During his trial, Mann portrayed himself as a pawn of
international
businessmen he said were trying to seize power and named the
son of former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as being involved --
an allegation
Mark Thatcher has denied.
In the BBC interview, Mann
said he got on well with Mark Thatcher, at one
point his neighbour in South
Africa, describing how Margaret Thatcher would
come and stay in a cottage in
the garden of her son's house.
"I always sat next to her at dinner
parties," he said. "She liked me. We
even went on holiday
together."
Mann, who said that from his point of view the purpose of the
coup was to
make money from the oil-rich country, said he wanted Mark
Thatcher as an
investor in the plot, and that he had told him precisely what
the operation
was.
Discussing some of his early plans for the coup,
Mann said he had also
considered an assassination and a guerrilla war, but
these options had been
discarded.
He said had been unhappy with
aspects of the final plan but was under
pressure from unnamed backers to get
the coup over.
"I thought there was quite a good chance I was going to
die, because I knew
that far too many people knew about the operation," he
said, adding that he
should have had the courage to halt the plans but
failed to.
On Sunday, Equatorial Guinea's President Obiang looked set to
win an
election landslide, extending his 30-year rule. [ID:nGEE5AS018]
PEACE WATCH
[28th November 2009]
A Proud Moment for Zimbabweans
At the White
House
Jenni Williams,
Magodonga Mahlangu, President Barack Obama
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for WOZA and
Mahlangu
For 41 years
the Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights has worked for a more
peaceful and just world. On Monday
evening in a ceremony at the White House Magodonga Mahlangu and WOZA,
represented by WOZA co-founder Jenni Williams, were presented with the 2009
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award by President Barack Obama and Mrs Ethel
Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy. In remarks before presenting the awards
President Obama explained that the late Bobby Kennedy’s legacy “wasn't a devotion to one particular cause, or a
faith in a certain ideology -- but rather, it was a sensibility. A belief that
in this world, there is right and there is wrong, and it is our job to build our
laws and our lives around recognizing the difference. A sensitivity to
injustice so acute that it can't be relieved by the rationalizations that make
life comfortable for the rest of us -- that others' suffering is not our
problem, that the ills of the world are somehow not our concern. A moral
orientation that renders certain people constitutionally incapable of remaining
a bystander in the face of evil -- a sensibility that recognizes the power of
all people, however humble their circumstances, to change the course of
history. Those are the traits of Bobby Kennedy that this award recognizes --
the very traits that define the character and guide the life of this year's
recipient.” [Full text of President Obama’s remarks available on
request.]
About the Award
Senator
Robert F. Kennedy, former US Attorney-General, and a younger brother of
President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the US
Presidency. The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, instituted in 1984,
honours human rights defenders throughout the world who stand up against
injustice. The annual award includes on-going legal, advocacy and technical
support for a six-year period through a partnership with the RFK Centre. Kerry
Kennedy, daughter of Robert Kennedy, explained at the ceremony: “The RFK Centre for Justice and Human Rights defends
heroes who are the champions of justice – the Martin Luther King’s and Cesar
Chavez’s of their countries. People who face imprisonment, torture and death in
the quest for protection of human rights. We partner with them for a six year
period and provide capacity building, strategic advocacy and alliance
opportunities to help achieve laureates’ social justice goals.....The worst form
of abuse, say survivors of torture, is not the beatings and the cattle prods,
but the taunt by wardens that you are alone. Forgotten. No one cares. This
year’s RFK human rights award laureates have been collectively tortured too
often to remember and imprisoned more than one hundred times. So, Magodonga and
Jenni, I want you to know, that, from this day forward, you will never be
alone. Today is the beginning of a long term partnership. Look around this
room. No matter what the bullies do, we will stand with you, shoulder to
shoulder in your struggle for women’s rights, peace and justice.”
[Full text of this speech and of Magodonga and Jenni’s acceptance
speeches available on request]
About WOZA
WOZA [Women
of Zimbabwe Arise and also an Ndebele word meaning ‘come forward’], formed in 2003 as a
women’s civic movement, now has a countrywide membership of over 70,000 women
and men. It aims are to:
· Provide
women, from all walks of life, with a united voice to speak out on issues
affecting their day-to-day lives.
· Empower
female leadership that will lead community involvement in pressing for solutions
to the current crisis.
· Encourage
women to stand up for their rights and freedoms.
· Lobby and
advocate on those issues affecting women and their
families.
WOZA bases
its action on the principles of strategic non-violence, aiming to create space
to allow Zimbabweans to articulate issues they may be too fearful to raise
alone. WOZA has conducted hundreds of protests since 2003 and over 3,000 women
and men have spent time in police custody, many more than once and most for 48
hours or more. Many have been assaulted during demonstrations, savagely beaten
in police cells and had threats made against their lives. Some of their members
have died as a result of their ill-treatment.
Williams and Mahlangu due in court again on 7th
December
For over a
year now Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu have been appearing in the
magistrates court in Bulawayo on a charge of disturbing the peace in
contravention of section 37(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Code. They were arrested
in October last year following a peaceful WOZA demonstration calling on the
government to provide food aid for all. They spent three weeks in Mlondolozi
Prison outside
Right to Demonstrate Not Yet
Recognised
WOZA’s
experience at the hands of the police over the last six years illustrates the
ingrained hostility of some police and government authorities to the
constitutional right of freedom of assembly, which embraces the right to
demonstrate. This hostility still exists in spite of the amendments made to the
Public Order and Security Act in January 2008, amendments which had been agreed
by ZANU-PF and both MDC formations and were intended to open up democratic space
for the expression of differing viewpoints. These amendments make it clear that
breaking up a demonstration, even one not notified to the police in advance,
should be a last resort, not the immediate knee-jerk reaction. The amendments
also lay down strict rules for the use of force by police when dispersing a
demonstration [where dispersal is really necessary in the interests of
preventing damage to property or injury to persons.]
In July, the Government announced that it had
directed police not to hinder citizens from demonstrating. Co-Home Affairs
Minister Giles Mutsekwa [MDC-T] insisted that police had been instructed to
allow people to demonstrate within the confines of the law. He said “the
Ministry does not deny anyone from taking part in peaceful demonstrations. Let
it be known to all and sundry that demonstrations are allowed in
Doubts about
the effectiveness of the Ministry’s directions to the police are justified by
events since July. An example is what happened in
There was no
reason for the police to break up this demonstration – it posed no threat to
property, life or limb. Even when police do decide that a demonstration is a
“danger” to public peace and security there are set rules for dispersing a
gathering – none of which were followed. Was this the “minimum force” said by
co-Minister Mutsekwa to be only rarely used in response to demonstrations? A
recognised definition of “minimum force” in this context is: “the force required to be applied to reach one's
objective, applied with a preventative and not punitive intent, and stopping
when it is no longer necessary”. Those present at the scene in
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied.