http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010
13:06
BY NQABA MATSHAZI AND KHOLWANI NYATHI
SOUTH African
president Jacob Zuma on Friday night pressed the three
Zimbabwean leaders to
come up with and implement a roadmap ahead of
elections likely to be held
next year.
Zuma, who expressed concern at the speed of the
implementation of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), impressed upon
President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy
Arthur Mutambara the need for them
to agree on the roadmap to solve the
Zimbabwean crises, which according to
sources, he felt had been going on for
far too long.
A source revealed that Zuma, who is facilitating talks
between Zanu PF and
the two MDC factions, will soon meet the Sadc Troika to
inform them of his
meetings with the Zimbabwean principals, before
presenting the roadmap most
likely before year end.
“Zuma is likely
to present the roadmap to Sadc and the principals before
Christmas,” the
insider told The Standard yesterday.
The source said Zuma was pained at
the slow pace of the implementation of
the outstanding issues, something
which his spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu agreed
with.
“President Zuma is
unhappy with the speed of implementation but at least
there is movement
now,” she said yesterday from South Africa in a telephone
interview.
Zulu said Friday’s meetings had set up a good base and the
principals were
now moving towards setting up a roadmap for the
elections.
“There are some things we cannot compromise on and one of them
is the
creation of a conducive environment for holding elections,” she
said.
Zulu said the principals had agreed that the roadmap was important
and in
the next few days they would start consultations on the way
forward.
She said Zuma and the principals were expected to have more
meetings and
consultations on the roadmap, but presently they were not too
sure what its
structure or form would look like.
Zuma reportedly
expressed his concern that the principals had dumped their
Monday meetings,
but after Friday’s, consultations had expressed optimism
that these would
resume, with implementation of the electoral roadmap being
the main
priority.
The South African president also raised concern at the lawsuit
drawn by
Tsvangirai against Mugabe, but Zulu would not be drawn to comment
on that.
“At the moment that is not for the public, but obviously he
discussed that
with Tsvangirai,” she said.
But an insider revealed
that Zuma wanted the case to be handled outside the
courts, but Tsvangirai
insisted that he would only withdraw the case if he
felt there was genuine
movement on the outstanding issues.
MDC-T spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa
said they hoped that there would be
movement on the outstanding issues and
this would be the test to show
whether Friday’s meetings were
fruitful.
“We hope they will be traction in the implementation of the
outstanding
issues and the roadmap to a free and fair election,” he
said.
Chamisa confirmed that the principals were expected to come
together and
agree on the electoral roadmap.
“The facilitator will
continue playing the umpire’s role, comparing the
perspectives of the
various political parties,” he said.
Political analysts say the only
option that remains for Zuma in his
mediation is to ensure Zimbabwe holds a
credible election.
They said Zanu PF was desperate to have the polls next
and they would not be
persuaded to give the coalition more time to sort out
the country’s multi
layered crisis.
“The only solution if properly
managed is for the partners in the coalition
to agree to have an early
election in order to end this miserable posturing
they are all embarking
on,” said Brilliant Mhlanga, a Zimbabwean academic
based at the University
of Westminster in Britain.
“Besides it is now clear that Zanu PF will not
agree to anything less than
early election.
“This election for them
will be historic as it marks and posts finality to
their succession
issue.”
Mhlanga said Zuma must encourage the leaders to at least ensure
that the
revisit electoral laws and give support to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission.
“Emphasis must be made for the impartiality of this
electoral commission and
its independence must not only be celebrated by
word of mouth but in
practice,” he said.
Zanu PF’s provincial
structures have been stampeding to endorse Mugabe as
the party’s candidate
in next year’s presidential elections.
If he wins the polls at the age of
87 Mugabe will certainly fullfil his
ambition of becoming a life
president.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 13:45
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
TRANSPARENCY International Zimbabwe (TIZ) says local
government minister,
Ignatius Chombo, should resign following the
controversy over his wealth.
The minister’s wealth, first revealed by
The Standard in August last year,
has been the subject to a protracted
maintenance dispute between him and his
estranged wife,
Marian.
Reports indicate Chombo and his wife may have finally
reached some
understanding on how to share their wealth but that development
alone has
failed to neuter the interest the case has generated among
Zimbabweans.
On the popular social networking site, face book, bars and
workplaces, the
size Chombo’s wealth has become a subject of animated
discussions.
Many have wondered how the former university lecturer
managed to acquire
valuable assets at a time when Zimbabwe was experiencing
her worst economic
crisis.
The discussions were sparked by The Herald
which published a shocking list
of properties allegedly owned by Chombo
which cannot be reproduced for legal
reasons.
Important to note is that
The Herald quickly retracted the story, following
objections raised by the
minister’s lawyers.
The retraction, however, did little to clear the
controversy on Chombo’s
empire which remains a subject of
speculation.
For past three weeks, The Standard had been waiting for a
chance to
interview Chombo so that he could set the record straight on his
properties.
Chombo agreed in principle to meet this journalist but up the
time of going
to the press, he had not fulfilled his promise.
Titus
Gwemende, the TIZ programme manager, said in a democracy, when a
minister
was accused of owning such wealth, the honourable thing for him to
do was to
resign.
“Chombo is a liability to the inclusive government,” said
Gwemende.
“It’s time for him to step aside, he needs to go”.
“Whatever
the size of his wealth, the question is how did he get that?”
Gwemende
said the public deserved to know the truth about the wealth
accumulated by
public officials, stressing that disclosure was important if
the country was
to succeed in fighting corruption.
The TIZ programme manager said in view
of the dispute over the assets
acquired by the Minister, it was imperative
for government to put in place
measures that would compel public officials
to declare their assets.
“We want a return to the 1980s leadership Code.
All ministers should account
every year for their wealth,” he
said.
Gwemende said the inclusive government also needed to review the
powers of
the Minister of Local Government.
“Chombo has sweeping
powers as minister of local government,” he said.
“He is too powerful and can
do anything in any town. He has to be
accountable to the ratepayers, to
parliament but is not.
That scenario, he said would mean that Zimbabwe
would continue to have
problems with Ministers of Local Government, long
after the minister was
gone.
“We will always have another Chombo is
we don’t fix the legislative
framework.”
Gwemende said his organisation
intended to investigate all ministers with a
view to finding the extent of
their wealth, both nationally and
internationally.
The MDC-T also
weighed into the matter saying Chombo was unsuitable for
public
office.
The party claimed that “before his appointment to government,
slightly more
than a decade ago, Chombo’s claim to property was a
smallholding in the
former African purchase area of Chitomborwizi near
Chinhoyi”.
Noting that the salaries and benefits of Cabinet ministers
were a matter of
public record, the party said there was no way Chombo could
have acquired
meaningful assets.
The party expressed dismay at reports
that senior Zanu PF leaders owned
literally whole towns, like Rusape and
Victoria Falls.
The party called for a comprehensive inquiry into the
private interests of
all senior Zanu PF leaders and senior public officials
from any other
sections of our society.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 14:04
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
VILLAGERS in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe area in Mashonaland
East province have
expressed concern over mining activities by a Chinese
company, which they
accuse of endangering their lives and that of animals
along the Mazowe
river.
The villagers in Zambu under headman
Mushambi in Chief Chinhanga’s area
complained of water pollution and
siltation being caused by disposal of
waste by a Mingehang Sino Africa
Mining Investment gold milling plant, which
is a few metres from the
river.
The company uses pipes to draw water from the river to the nearby
plant
while a trench from the plant takes the contaminated water back into
the
river.
“This is dangerous to our lives and that of our animals,”
said Cornelius
Mushambi, who lives in the area. “We now fetch water from a
borehole in
their premises for fear of being poisoned.
Mushambi
added: “Again, all this soil that is being deposited into the river
is
disturbing the flow of water which is now always dirty.”
The villagers
said there were many Chinese nationals mining gold in the
area, with some
being accused of panning for gold on the river bed.
Charles Kanyasa (26) who
had come to deliver ore to the mill plant accused
the Chinese of exploiting
desperate miners in the area.
Kanyasa, who claimed to own a mine in the
same area, said a joint venture
between him and the Chinese ensures that he
does the mining and they do the
milling.
“When I am done with the
digging, they come with a tipper to carry the ore,”
he said. “I pay eight
grammes of gold for each load, usually up to 17
tonnes, for transport and
one gram per tonne milled.
He added: “After everything, the company then
buys the gold at U$34 per gram
and at the end of it all, the returns are
usually very low.”
Villagers who work at the Chinese mine and plant said the
working conditions
and wages were pathetic.
They are paid a paltry
U$3 for 12 hour shifts or even beyond.
One villager said that what the local
people were getting from the Chinese
were just “trenches” as they never
plough back to the host community.
“They arrived in November last year
but till now, they have done nothing to
develop this area from which they
are enriching themselves,” said the
villager. “The roads leading to the mill
are still as dusty as they have
always been and these people have since
found a way of skirting around the
dust roads when going to Harare and other
areas.”
But others said they were benefiting.
One man claimed that
he was in a joint venture whereby he gets 51 percent
returns while the
Chinese get 49 percent.
“They provide equipment, including grenades,
compactors and tippers,” he
said. “So, we go to my mine and we dig using
their equipment.
“We then go and mill at their plant and when we realise
a significant amount
of gold, each party gets its share.”
However, if
the returns are too low the Chinese get everything to compensate
for use of
their equipment, he said.
Environmental Management Agency (EMA)
spokesperson Steady Kangata said under
the water act, miners were prohibited
from discharging water back into a
water source.
Kangata said
chemicals like cyanide and mercury which are normally used at
milling plants
are dangerous to people and animals.
“I do not understand how these
people are being allowed to discharge the
used water back into the river
because under the Environmental Management
Act, an Environmental Impact
Assessment to establish how one will minimise
the negative effects of his
activities and how they will enhance the
positive effects, has to be done
before anyone is allowed to commence
mining,” Kangata said.
He added that
it will be illegal for anyone to mine on the river bed because
that is part
of alluvial mining which was prohibited by government in 2002.
Mingehang Sino
Africa Mining Investment Mill Plant manager Action Kasuso
said there was
nothing wrong with their operations.
“As far as I am concerned, there is
nothing wrong with our activities,” he
said. “The ministry of mines and
other government officials carried out a
geological survey and gave us some
instructions on how to conduct our
business.
He added: “We are
currently working on ensuring that the used water does not
go back into the
river because yes, we are also aware that it is dangerous
to both people and
animals.”
Kasuso said he discussed the issue of salaries with company
management last
month and it was agreed to increase the pay to $5 per day.
This is still to
be effected.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 14:03
BY
RUTENDO MAWERE AND KHANYILE MLOTSHWA
ZIMBABWE will once again witness a
bloodbath if elections are held next year
as demanded by President Robert
Mugabe, a leading political analyst has
warned.
The Zanu PF politburo
last week resolved that the polls must be held by mid
next year with or
without a new constitution.
Mugabe has refused to extend the
lifespan of the two year unity government,
which has failed to implement a
crucial reconciliation programme in response
to the bloodshed that
accompanied the 2008 polls.
John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at
the University of Zimbabwe
told journalists attending a workshop on
electoral reporting in Gweru that
the country was not ready for
elections.
“My prediction for 2011 elections is that there will be
unprecedented
violence, a blood bath,” Makumbe said. “Zanu PF will want to
stay in power
because they found diamonds.”
Makumbe also warned Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T)
against pulling out of the elections saying Zanu
PF was relishing such a
scenario.
“If he pulls out, Zanu PF will just contest against other small
political
parties and they will claim they have won the elections,” Makumbe
said.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) election monitoring
officer,
Barbara Nyangaira said there must be a “conducive environment and
an
accurate voters roll” before elections are held.
Matthew Takaona,
a commissioner with the Zimbabwe Media Commission told the
journalists to
“torment and shame” perpetrators of violence.
Meanwhile, National
University of Science and Technology academic Lawton
Hikwa says there is
need for impartial foreign observers in next year’s
elections.
He
said local civil society groups must not be involved because they had
become
too partisan.
“I would suggest that if we go for elections and the
government of national
unity is not revitalised, we should have those
elections monitored by as
many neutral bodies as possible,” Hikwa told a
public meeting organised by
Bulawayo Agenda.
“These include the Non
Aligned Movement, the United Nations, the Southern
African Development
Community (Sadc) and the African Union.
“You will notice that I have left out
the civil society. In my view, civil
society, in the 10 years has never been
neutral,” he said.
Hikwa said civil society should concentrate mobilising
people around certain
that affect them.
Jenni Williams, the Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) leader concurred with
Hikwa saying civil society must
help people engage with political issues and
stay away from monitoring
elections.
“Sadc is well placed to persuade and put pressure on Mugabe
to allow
international monitors to come in.
“The civic society should
therefore engage Sadc to talk to Mugabe. It’s not
our role to monitor
elections.
“What we have to do is to deploy people on the ground during
elections and
collect results from all polling stations.
“There must
be some sort of parallel vote tabulation. In that sense all
people have a
role to play.”
Kucaca Phulu, a Bulawayo based human rights lawyer urged
Zimbabweans to
insist on reforms before the elections to ensure a free and
fair poll.
“We should all refuse to go to an election unless the
situation is conducive
and meets our standard as a people,” Phulu
said.
“It is ridiculous, and one should be ashamed, to die on behalf of a
political party. We should die on behalf of our children.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 13:39
by NQABA
MATSHAZI
WITH talk of elections next year gathering steam, politicians
are
increasingly beating a path to Matabeleland, as it emerges the three
provinces might just have the key to the winner of the next
vote.
The three provinces, Bulawayo and Matabeleland North and
South are generally
regarded as hot beds for opposition politics and recent
activity there might
justify this notion.
In the previous elections Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wing of the MDC
has come out tops sweeping
Bulawayo and Matabeleland North and narrowly
losing out on Matabeleland
South.
But the emergence of Zapu and the fact that MDC-M also considers
the three
provinces as their stronghold has heightened the stakes and
Matabeleland
could be the decider.
The importance of Matabeleland to
Tsvangirai cannot be overemphasised, as
the region has two of the four
provinces that his party swept in the 2008
elections.
The Prime
Minister’s party also won in Masvingo and Harare, while Zanu PF
was
victorious in the three Mashonaland provinces, Manicaland and
Midlands.
Tsvangirai recently held a number of consultative meetings in
Bulawayo and
analysts attribute that to his knowledge that the province
could determine
whether he fulfils his dream move to the State House or
not.
Political commentator, Trevor Maisiri said winning in Matabeleland
was
critical for legitimacy purposes as the country was intentional on
maintaining some form of ethnic harmony and balance.
“In that regard
any party that is seen to be national would desire to have a
sizeable
mandate from the people of Matabeleland,” he said.
“If that mandate is
then combined with any others from other provinces it
will be perceived to
be national and all-encompassing in outlook.”
Maisiri said for this
reason Zanu PF and MDC-T had increased interest in
Matabeleland, whereas
MDC-M and Zapu were using it as their home front and
as a basis to spring
into other regions, arguing that Matabeleland was a
political test
terrain.
He added that MDC-T was likely to win some of its “lost terrain”
in
Matabeleland, while Zapu will came in second and MDC-M third.
He
maintained that Zanu PF was not likely to win the region in the near
future.
Maisiri blamed the Gukurahundi for Zanu PF’s woes in the region,
while
saying Zapu’s ideology was not clear and the party could suffer for
once
having been in bed with President Robert Mugabe.
Brilliant
Mhlanga, a media scholar, reckons Matabeleland could strike
Tsvangirai a
fatal blow as a backlash for perceived neglect.
“The way he initially
chose his ministers, ignoring those from the region
could come back to haunt
him,” he said.
Mhlanga said when MDC-T made inroads into Matabeleland, it
found a region
that was ripe for opposition politics and its people would
vote without
questioning the credentials of the candidate as long as it was
not Zanu PF.
He warned that this trend may be about to change much to the
detriment of
the MDC-T and probably to the benefit of Zanu PF.
“Votes
are likely to be split between the two MDCs and in such a scenario
Zanu PF
will be an indirect beneficiary,” he said, predicting that there
will be
another hung parliament after the next polls.
Social commentator, Takura
Zhangazha on the other hand believes that the
voting trends in the three
provinces are likely to remain the same, with the
MDCs being
victorious.
“The electoral results trends will probably remain the same as
that of March
2008, but the opposition parties will most likely split their
votes and this
might end up to the benefit of Zanu PF,” he
said.
Zhangazha said Mavambo, which won most of its votes in
Matabeleland, was
certainly not going to repeat the feat, while Tsvangirai
was keen on
retaining his hold on the provinces.
The analysts
concurred that the Matabeleland vote would be hugely contested,
but the vote
would be split and that could be to the benefit of Zanu PF.
Methuseli Moyo,
the Zapu spokesman declared that “as for rural districts in
Matabeleland, it
is game over.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 13:37
by
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
TWO Congolese student leaders in Harare were last week
allegedly abducted by
suspected State security agents, and grilled about
their relationship with
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opposition leader
Sapard Tshimanginda
Kalala.
The students claim they were held for over 24
hours.
Kalala, a renowned academic who heads the National People’s
Patriotic Party
of the Congo will be challenging DRC President Joseph Kabila
who has very
close ties with President Robert Mugabe, in next year’s
elections.
The president of the Congolese Student Union in Zimbabwe
(CSUZ) Venant
Kabeya Kabongo and his secretary general Boney-Mavoka Makanda
said their
problems started when they hosted a meeting that was addressed by
Kalala
some five months ago.
The two said they were now living in fear
since the abduction.
“Soon after the meeting, we got information that the
police were looking for
us,” said Kabongo, who has since dropped from a
private college where he was
studying business administration and computer
systems.
He added, “We went underground for a month hoping that they will
just forget
about it.”
But that was not to be.
The duo say on
November 17 they were abducted by people they suspect to be
state agents
while in Avondale.
They were bundled into a waiting green sedan and the
occupants claimed they
were taking them to the police station to check if
the students were in
Zimbabwe legally.
Instead of being taken to the
station, the students said they were led into
a basement parking in the
central business district where their abductors
forced them into a tinted
minibus.
Two more people joined them on board.
“We could not see
outside but they drove for almost two hours before we were
taken into a
building where they took our passports, student identity cards
and took
fingerprints and pictures using a digital camera,” said Kabongo.
“At this
building we were interviewed by two people whom we suspect were
Congolese
because they were speaking fluent French.”
During the interrogation, the
students said, they were asked about the
whereabouts of Kalala, his
associates and financiers as well as how they
came to be close to the
opposition leader.
The two said they were kept at that building until the
following day under
close security watch but they only managed to text a
message to one of their
colleagues. They refused to eat the food they were
being given.
“The following day they took us to the exact spot where they
had picked us
up and we now fear for our lives,” said Kabongo.
“They
took our passports and IDs so we are afraid that officials from the
immigration department will one day come and deport us and yet we are here
legally.”
But before they were dropped they claim to have been
warned, “If you
continue to oppose President Kabila we will sort you
out.”
Kabongo said they tried to report the matter at Harare Central
Police
Station on November 19 but they were told that there was no
stationery.
They however managed to report the case at Avondale Police
Station (RRB
number 11, 0825844) last week.
The students said they
could not go to the Congolese embassy in Harare as
they suspected officials
there were behind their abduction.
DRC Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mwampanga
Mwana Nanga could not be reached for
comment as he was said to be in his
home country for a meeting.
Questions sent to the embassy had not been
responded to by the time of going
to print.
Police spokesperson Andrew
Phiri said he was not aware of the case.
“I will have to check with
Avondale police because that has not come to my
attention,” Phiri
said.
While in Zimbabwe in July Kalala, who also toured several countries
in the
region, said Kabila was failing to respect human rights in the vast
African
country.
Kalala, an international lawyer who has studied in
the United States and
Canada, said incessant wars among rebel groups and the
army abuses against
civilians had destroyed DRC’s potential economic and
social growth.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 13:13
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
South African president, Jacob Zuma is reported to have
impressed upon his
Zimbabwean counterpart to ensure the release of
journalist, Nqobani Ndlovu,
who had been incarcerated for nine
days.
Ndlovu, employed by The Standard, was released on Friday
hours before Zuma
met the three principals in
Harare.
Journalists had on Thursday signed a petition and
delivered it to the South
African embassy, calling for the end of harassment
and imprisonment of media
practitioners.
Zuma’s spokesperson,
Lindiwe Zulu, said she was unaware of the petition
although the mediator in
the Zimbabwean crisis could have discussed the
issue with President Robert
Mugabe.
It’s possible that there were discussions on the matter
with the principals,
she said.
Ndlovu had a hastily arranged bail
hearing on Thursday, with Judge Nicholas
Mathonsi ordering the police to
free him on $100 bail.
He had been arrested after writing a story
that exposed how police had
cancelled promotional examinations and had
instead called war veterans and
retired cops to take up senior positions in
the force.
Ndlovu will return to court
tomorrow.
Journalists fear his detention signaled the start of a
crackdown against the
independent media ahead of elections next
year.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 13:09
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
FORMER Kondozi Estate owner Edwin Masimba Moyo, who is
wanted by police on
allegations of fraud involving close US$118 000 claims
his hands are clean.
The journalist turned businessman refuted
the allegations through his
lawyers Wintertons Legal Practitioners in a
letter written to the Ministry
of Industry and International Trade last
week.
“Our client totally denies that he committed any fraud as alleged
or at
all,” said Joshua Shedeke of Wintertons.
“We are instructed
that you have in your possession an audit report on which
you rely in making
the fraud allegations.
“Our client has not had sight of the audit report
in question.”
In the letter, Shekede requested the ministry to furnish
him with the audit
report to enable Moyo to respond to the fraud
allegations.
Shekede said in the absence of the report, which should be a
public
document, his client would be severely incapacitated to defend
himself.
“Could you therefore kindly let us have a copy of the audit
report without
any delay and in any event, not later than the close of
business on the 29th
November 2010,” said Shekede.
The Minister of
Industry and International Trade Welshman Ncube could not be
reached for
comment.
Police said in 2007, Moyo’s company Trans Zambezi Industries
(TZI) received
US$100 000 from the common Fund for Commodities (CFC) to
carry out farming
projects on behalf of government.
CFC offers loan
facilities to eastern and southern African governments.
The fund had
extended a three-year loan facility worth US$5,6 million to
Zimbabwe through
the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and this was
administered by the
Indigenous Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ).
CFC transferred US$1,2
million to the IDBZ together with a non-repayable
grant of US$100 000 to
TZI, which was leading the project.
Moyo reportedly set up two farming
operations in Mt Darwin and Mutare to
produce fresh vegetables for export to
European markets.
Police believe that Moyo flouted IDBZ laid down procedures
when he spent
another US$91 000 in goods and services.
An audit
report done in 2008 unearthed the alleged fraud.
But Moyo says problems
started when TZI was removed as the project executing
agent and replaced by
a South African firm, Luveve Limited which was
represented by Brian Nyabonda
and Barry Nyabonda.
The two are said to be relatives of Caleb Dengu who
had been appointed
project manager by CFC.
Moyo claims that the
structure created by Dengu resulted in an
“unnecessarily” high component of
the funding going to administrative costs
and less funding going towards
advancing the objectives of the project.
“I must point out that TZI had
project managers on the ground that were
rendered redundant as a consequence
of the new structure,” says Moyo.
“The TZI project managers were to
render services at no cost to the
project.”
He said the horticulture
out-growers schemes performed well in 2006 and 2007
before the involvement
of CFC and the IDBZ.
“The coming into picture of CFC and IDBZ killed the
projects,” said Moyo.
Efforts to get a comment from CFC and IBDZ
officials were fruitless last
week.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 15:17
BY NDAMU
SANDU IN TUNISIA
CHINA’S approach to humanitarian assistance to
African countries is set to
shape aid architecture on the continent at a
time inflows are projected to
dwindle, a senior official with the African
Development Bank (AfDB) said
last week.
The Asian economic
giant has been accused of ignoring human rights
violations in countries such
as Zimbabwe and Sudan, where it continues to
pour in millions in aid every
year.
China says it is neutral when it comes to governance issues and its
aid
programmes mainly hinge on exchange between preferential resource
extraction
arrangements, mining deals and tradeoffs among
others.
Zimbabwean-born Mthuli Ncube, now chief economist and vice
president at
AfDB, told journalists here that the Chinese model “is a
fascinating and new
model in terms of how aid is flowing into Africa and how
infrastructure
investment is being conducted and supported.”
“So
China is in a sense posing a challenge and making us think about aid
architecture, this kind of governance-neutral approach to aid engagement and
investment in Africa,” Ncube said.
Ncube said aid should be
reconstructed, like insurance where you are
promised but only if a specific
event occurs, you receive it.
He said in the long run, aid will be
humanitarian.
“It is state contingent aid, you will find over time aid
architecture
evolving in that direction,” he said.
China has been
aggressive on the continent providing financing for the
building of in
return for preferential resource extraction arrangements and
concessions.
According to estimates, the continent has an
infrastructure gap of US$93
billion annually.
The continent is only able
to raise half of the amount meaning that foreign
direct investment has to be
ploughed in to close the gap.
Ncube said “that gap needs to be closed and
just by closing that gap we can
add to growth”.
“We have done
research to show that an improvement in infrastructure
investment by
countries in sub Saharan Africa to the same level as Mauritius
will add
another 2% to economic growth.”
In North Africa, it will add 1, 5%, he
said.
While the Western nations focus mainly on human rights, China’s
approach on
the continent has found acceptance from countries accused of
being
undemocratic.
Statistics show that China’s foreign direct
investment (FDI) in Africa has
increased yearly by an average of 46% over
the last decade.
The stock stood at US$7, 80 billion in 2008 compared to
US$ 56 million in
1996.
During the first three quarters of 2009, Chinese
FDI flows into Africa
amounted to $875 million, posting an increase of
almost 80% year-on-year.
This has made China a major trading partner for
Africa and it now absorbs
about 10 % of the continent’s exports.
In
2008, the total bilateral trade amounted to US$114 billion of which US$52
billion consisted of exports by Africa to China and US$62 billion of imports
by Africa from China.
Ncube said while the continent was encouraging
FDI inflows it was also
looking at intra Africa investments.
He said
a company like Ecobank has invested heavily on the continent and was
“probably the most “international bank” in Africa and from
Africa”.
The Togo—headquartered bank has spread its tentacles across the
continent.
A study to track the breath and depth of that intra Africa foreign
direct
investment has been commissioned, Ncube said.
Africa expects
to record an average growth rate of 5% to 6% next year.
Ncube said such a
growth rate has to be strong, sustained and shared to
fight poverty in
Africa.
“We can talk forever about Millennium Development Goals (MDGS)
but my view
is you can only pay for MDGs targets and progress not through
aid but
through growth.
“Growth is the answer to a lot of our
problems,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010
16:30
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
The Zimbabwe Football Association
(Zifa) are embroiled in a payment dispute
with their former director of
administration Lazarus Mhurushomana who is
claiming $135 440 in salary
arrears, phone and fuel allowances.
The two, Zifa and the
Mhurushomana, in March 2004 agreed that Mhurushomana
be retrenched from
Zifa. While discussing the retrenchment package
Mhurushomana was placed on
leave. Although the two parties continued
negotiations on the retrenchment
package they did not come to an agreement.
Mhurushomana then received an
arbitration award in his favour by TR
Madzimure in 2005 and has made an
application to register the award with the
High Court for the purpose for
its enforcement under Case number HC 5721/09.
According to documents in
possession of this paper Mhurushomana wants salary
arrears of US$1 500 a
month for 72 months, fuel allowance totalling US$11
840 and phone allowance
of US$15 600 for a total figure of US$135 440. No
interest is being charged
for the demand.
Although Madzimure has since left her employment and so
cannot attend to the
quantification of the award, her judgment in the
arbitration of the award
she granted to Mhurushomana reads in part, “that L
Mhurushomana be paid his
salary and benefits from March 2004 up to the time
they agree on a
retrenchment package which should be documented and signed
by both parties”.
Mhurushomana is claiming that since he has neither
received his retrenchment
package nor agreed upon it with Zifa, he is still
legally in the employment
of Zifa “up to the time they agree on a
retrenchment package” and so should
be paid his salary.
An
independent arbitrator AJ Manase on March 31 2010 wrote to Mhurushomana's
lawyers FG Gijima and Associates that he also held in constant the $1 500
Mhurushomana was demanding for the period at stake which is March 2004 to
the time the independent arbitrator wrote the letter.
However, Zifa's
legal representative Ralph Maganga argues that there was no
basis to peg
Mhurushomana's salary at US$ 1 500 in 2004 when the legal
tender in Zimbabwe
then was the Zimbabwean dollar.
“There was no factual basis for the
figures for Mhurushomana's salary to
date to have been pegged at US$1 500
given that Zifa are the only ones aware
of his salary. To date, not a single
employee at Zifa including the Chief
Executive Officer earns that much,”
wrote Maganga.
Maganga also says there is no basis for the US$200 per
month fuel as stated.
Maganga claims they in 2005 paid Mhurushomana a
severance package of 40
million Zimbabwean dollars. He says they have also
given Mhurushomana the
Mazda 323 he is using as retrenchment package. The
Zifa lawyers in June 2010
said all Zifa should give the former director of
administration was US$11
705 to add to the 40 million Zimbabwean dollars
they gave him in 2005.
“There is no more director of administration at
Zifa. That position is now
called administrative officer and the same earns
US$647 and not US$1 500 as
alleged,” wrote Maganga.
Mhurushonama,
however, said he rejected the $40 million cheque he was given
which was from
the Sports and Recreation Commission account. He adds that
the Mazda 323
vehicle he is using was given to him for use when carrying out
his Zifa
duties adding that he only still has the car because he considers
himself to
be still an employee of the association.
However, on June 29 2010, AJ
Manase, the independent arbitrator after
looking at the Zifa response to his
earlier ruling gave Mhurushomana a
salary arrears of $1 875 000 Zimbabwean
dollars for 66 months from March
2004 to February 2009. He also awarded
Mhurushonama US$21 000 for March 2009
to June 2010.
A document
from Manase, dated June 29 2010 also gives Mhurushomana US$11 420
for the
months of January 2004 to June 2010. As for telephone allowance the
independent arbitrator has awarded Z$15 000 a month for 64 months giving a
total of Z$960 000 . For the period March 2009 to June 2010, the former Zifa
supremo has been given US$3 000.
In total, Manase has granted
Mhurushomana a total of US$35 420 and Z$124 710
000.
According to a
letter of appointment written by then Zifa acting chairman
Vincent Pamire on
November 12 2003 Mhurushomana was offered the job of
director of
administration from October 1, the same year. His salary was
pegged at Z$$1
875 000 per month with a bonus payment equivalent to a
month's salary also
on offer at the end of each year.
Mhurushomana was also allocated an
association vehicle for use as well as 40
litres of petrol a week. There was
also an allowance of Z$15 000 as
telephone allowance. Other benefits
included accompanying national teams or
club sides on international
trips
Although the job offer letter from Pamire which Standardsport also
has in
its possession is not signed, the independent arbitrator said it was
genuine. The letter from Mhurushomana was also copied to Jonathan
Mashingaidze who was Zifa chief executive. Mashingaidze is now back at Zifa
in the same capacity after the sacking of Henrietta Rushwaya.
Former Zifa
chief executive officer, Ndumiso Gumede is also understood to
have been
seeking payment for unfair dismissal from Zifa before his return
as Zifa
first vice president. Standardsport was unable to confirm whether
Gumede was
still pursuing his case now that he was an employer at Zifa
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 15:48
By Masimba
Biriwasha
When Carl Ncube, Zimbabwe’s foremost underground stand-up
comedian, steps up
to perform at the Book Café’s weekly Monday Open Mic
night, some members of
the audience tell him to crack a joke in 10 seconds.
Ncube shakes his head
momentarily, and then makes an announcement of his
intention to become the
president of the Zimbabwe Burial Society in 2019,
and that when he becomes
the president, he would like his name to flash
incessantly with cinematic
effect while fireworks pop behind him every time
he is introduced before an
audience.
He says one of the key
changes he will make when he becomes the president is
to introduce hostesses
in Kombis as a way to bring sanity to the public
transport industry and make
it friendly to foreigners.
As the audience falls into fits of
laughter, Ncube recites a fast-paced
succession of humorous stories, short
jokes, and one-liners, making everyone
laugh as if under the influence of a
laughing gas, until his Open Mic slot
is done. Ncube introduces the next act
and walks off the stage to thunderous
applause.
Judging from the
audience’s response, it is clear that Ncube’s act is made
of stuff that can
get people rocking with laughter in spite of the fact that
he is largely
unknown.
It’s not so long ago that stand-up comedians such as Michael
Kudakwashe and
Edgar Langeveldt used to pack up audiences at venues like the
Book Café but
like many things in the country comedy acts took a serious
knock over the
past decade. The dearth of stand-up comedians is indeed
surprising given the
culture of jesting and the litter of jokes that
characterise local
conversation.
That’s what makes Carl Joshua
Ncube’s Big Announcement, the largest stand-up
comedy to be done in Zimbabwe
quite special. The show is scheduled to be
held at 7 Arts on December
10.
After all the years of stress and hypertension due to the
decade-long
political and economic crisis, Zimbabweans could do with a big
laugh at
themselves. But the story of the man behind the show, like the
jokes he
tells, has been one of twists and turns.
When Ncube, 31,
was chucked out of the UK in 2002, he attempted to kill
himself twice, but
the drugs did not work. Reflecting on it today, Carl
thinks it was all a
joke.
“I was deported from England before finishing my nurse education and I
thought it was the end of the world. I made two suicide attempts obviously
using the wrong drug only to realise that when I came back home, through the
75 percent local content legislation, I emerged as one of the most
influential people in the local creative industry.”
In 2004,
Ncube produced the first local animated feature film titled, Nyami
Nyami
which attracted a low-key reception. However, it was not a lost
opportunity.
“It was too expensive to make an animated film but we had
all of this
written content of jokes that we wanted to use in animated films
so I
started doing stand-up comedy instead at different places around
Harare,”
said Ncube.
His big breakthrough came when he performed
alongside popular South African
stand-up comedian, Darren "Whackhead"
Simpson, at the 7 Arts in Harare.
“The audience loved the two days that I
performed and began making inquiries
about when I was going to do my own
show,” said Ncube.
Acting upon the public enquiries, Rainbow Theatres
approached Ncube to do a
one-man stand-up comedy show in three cities around
the country, including,
Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare where the company has
venues.
“Coincidentally, I had already written the Big Announcement
two years ago.
Because of the success of the stand-up shows that I had done,
I decided to
go ahead and do the three city tour,” he said. “Theatrical
audiences are
many in Zimbabwe; yet surprisingly there are no sit-down
events.”
“We partnered with Carl because we believe in his talent as
a comedian and
we also want to be the promoters of local stand-up acts. We
are trying to
bring awareness to the vast talent that we have locally for
stand-up comedy.
After all, comedy is healthy for the body,” said Grace
Jerimani, Rainbow
Theatres’ Head of Marketing.
According to
Ncube, comedy is a strong tool that can be used to face up to
day to day
challenges.
“Comedy is one of the strongest tools that one can use to
communicate
complicated concepts to people. It’s also a good distraction
from difficult
issues, and a strong motivational tool. Comedy is a very
mental thing but it
can have a soothing effect on the whole body because
laughter is best
medicine anyway,” he said.
“After the three
city-tour, the Big Announcement , there will be a 65-day
diaspora tour to
London, Texas, Brisbane, Malaysia, Johannesburg, Blantyre
and Harare
again.”
To make up for the low-budget of the show, Ncube and his team have
had to
turn to social media, posting updates of the show on Facebook. In
addition,
a website, www.carljoshuancube.com, has also been
a key marketing vehicle.
“We are heavy online because it’s free and
we can get news out about the
show way faster than any other platform.
Online platforms can help us to
export our culture,” said
Ncube.
“We had a very low budget, so we had to be very creative – we
took all our
weaknesses and turned them into strengths. We didn’t want the
show to look
cheap so we put in a lot of hours into making everything look
the way it
looks. Our website is taking a lot of hits from places such as
UK, US and
Kenya,” he added.
Ncube said that themes that the Big
Announcement focused on are largely
informed by the trajectory of his own
life, including the ups and down, as
well as Zimbabwe-related
issues.
“With this show we will have full use of multimedia,
graphics, animation and
humour, tastefully packaged in a 2 hour show.
Essentially, Big Announcement
will be a multimedia, multi-sensory show,
something that has never been done
before in this country,” said
Ncube.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 29 November 2010 15:25
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA recently in CAPE TOWN
THE World Trade Organisation
(WTO) has challenged Zimbabwe to take advantage
of its membership and stop
mourning about sanctions imposed by the West.
President Robert Mugabe
and Zanu PF argue that Western sanctions were the
largest contributor to the
country’s unprecedented economic collapse.
Keith Rockwell, the WTO
director for information and external relations told
a workshop jointly
hosted by the body and the Friederich Ebert Stiftung
Foundation that despite
the restrictions, Zimbabwe can still sell its goods
and services to any
country.
"As a member of the WTO, Zimbabwe is able to enjoy the rights of
all
members,” Rockwell said.
“What this means in practice is that WTO
members cannot discriminate against
Zimbabwe's trade in goods and
services."
"Zimbabwe has access to the dispute settlement system which
means it can
defend its rights through our binding system of dispute
resolution.”
Rockwell said Zimbabwe was involved at every level of the
WTO’s discussions
on trade policy and ongoing Doha round of
talks.
The United States and the European Union (EU) have repeatedly
dismissed
accusations that the sanctions targeted at Mugabe and his inner
circle were
behind Zimbabwe’s economic collapse.
British Ambassador
to Zimbabwe, Mark Canning on Tuesday told journalists in
Harare that the
so-called sanctions impact one in every 70 000 of Zimbabwe’s
population.
“They played no role in the economic chaos of the past,
indeed if they did
how is it that the economy is now growing for the first
time since 1997,”
Canning said.
“Would the UK really be pouring all
this money into the country if it was
simultaneously undermining the economy
at the same time?
Zimbabwe’s trade promotion body, Zimtrade, has in the
past called on local
businesses to be proactive on issues relating to
international trade
agreements so that they can take advantage of export
opportunities.
Some of the agreements, which are regulated by the WTO,
are increasingly
determining the direction of global trade.
Rockwell
said developing countries including Zimbabwe can take up trade
disputes with
developed countries to the WTO for arbitration and win the
cases. At least
70% of WTO members are developing countries.
Meanwhile, participants at
the workshop noted that all was not well in the
WTO as more developing
countries were resorting to bilateral trade
agreements.
They
attributed the growing phenomenon to the lack of progress in the Doha
round
of negotiations.
Zimbabwe last year signed a bilateral trade agreement
with South Africa and
is ready to sign another one with Botswana to enhance
trade and investment
with its neighbours.
The experts said they
foresee bilateralism becoming the preferred method of
business and trade
between various countries in the regions as
multilateralism was getting more
complex.
They said multilateralism involved serious power play between
the bigger
nations.
"Many regional African organisations are moving
towards deeper integration
in terms of trade and customs," said Prega
Ramsamy, the head of Business for
Development Southern Africa
Trust.
"Integration deepens political and regional co-operation, enhances
export
and investment opportunities and increases market size and that's why
we are
seeing a proliferation of regional agreements," he
explained.
Deeper integration however, would mean yielding part of a
county's power and
sovereignty to the regional institutions like
Sadc.
Ramsamy said most African countries were not yet ready to
compromise on
their sovereignty.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday,
29 November 2010 14:11
Standard reporter Nqobani Ndlovu was finally
released on Friday after
spending a total of eight days in police cells. To
lock up a journalist for
such a lengthy period was not only absurd but sent
a clear signal that
journalists are in for a hard time in the coming months
when political
temperatures soar as President Mugabe insists on holding
elections next
year.
In Zimbabwe elections are always bad for
journalists. Their profession is
criminalised by elements who want to
suppress the information that enables
citizens to make informed choices at
the polls. Media practitioners are
subjected to intimidation, harassment and
in some cases torture.
The arrest of Ndlovu, well before parties to the
Government of National
Unity have agreed on holding an election, is a sign
of what we can expect
when the country gets into election mode. We will be
returned to the ugly
recent past when journalists were routinely arrested,
beaten up and harassed
by the police, the army and Zanu PF militias. It’s a
chapter everybody would
have preferred to forget.
It’s sad to point
out that Ndlovu is not, by any stretch of the imagination,
a criminal. He
didn’t deserve for a single minute to languish in the grimy
police cells of
Khami Maximum Security Prison where he was held.
A Bulawayo magistrate
freed him, throwing out the argument advanced by the
state that Ndlovu was a
flight risk. But the state went on to brazenly
invoke the notorious Section
121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act
that has in the past been
used to deny people their liberty.
Ndlovu is a fearless journalist who
has excelled in the business of
newsgathering and writing but for more than
a week he had to contend with
being in the company of hard-core
criminals.
There is no doubt someone in the police force was not too
happy with the
story that Ndlovu penned and they sought to take revenge in a
vindictive
manner.
There is no doubt that the powers that be are
sending a clear message to
journalists through the Ndlovu case that no
measure will be spared to crush
media freedom in the run-up to the
elections.