Associated Press
(AP) – 2 hours ago
JERUSALEM (AP) — Conference organizers
say the global diamond industry's
oversight body has upheld a ban preventing
Zimbabwe from exporting its vast
stockpile of diamonds from a large
mine.
Israel Diamond Institute spokeswoman Sharon Gefen says talks by the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme ended Thursday without a
compromise.
Israel sponsored this year's gathering of the 75-nation
global body
responsible for ending the trade of diamonds that fund fighting
across
Africa.
Zimbabwe wants to export diamonds from its Marange
field. It denies
allegations by human rights groups of forced labor,
torture, beatings and
harassment by government troops there.
The
African nation has threatened to flood the world market with underpriced
diamonds if it is not allowed to export.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Nov 4, 2010,
14:20 GMT
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe confirmed Thursday they had
arrested six people
linked to a mining company operating in the
controversial diamond fields of
the eastern Marange region.
Wayne
Bvudzijena, Zimbabwe's police spokesperson, said five of the six are
officials from the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC). The sixth is an employee of a private South African diamond mining
company, Core Mining and Minerals.
The two companies are mining
Marange diamonds in a 50-50 joint venture.
'We are hoping that they will
be taken to court today or Friday,' Bvudzijena
said on Thursday.
The
detainees face charges of misrepresenting to the Harare government that
they
had the capacity to mine diamonds at the field, which experts describe
as
one of the biggest diamond finds of the last century.
The state-owned
Herald on Thursday said Canadile had been barred from mining
the gems,
leaving only the state-owned ZMDC running the operation on its
own.
The Marange diamond fields have been tainted by allegations of
human rights
abuses by the army and police.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
04 November 2010
The
arrest this week of top officials from a joint mining venture at the
controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields has been described as very convenient
for Zimbabwe, as it contests its ‘compliance’ with international trade
standards.
Police have arrested six directors linked to the Canadile
Mining group, on
allegations of fraudulently acquiring the concession. The
arrested
executives include five officials from the state-owned Zimbabwe
Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a Zimbabwean representative of its
South
African partner, Core Mining and Minerals. The two groups are part of
the
Canadile joint venture that was granted a licence to mine at Chiadzwa.
The
directors are facing charges of misrepresenting to the government that
the
joint venture firm had the capacity to fund its mining
operations.
According to the state’s mouthpiece, the Herald newspaper,
Canadile has
since been barred from Chiadzwa, with the ZMDC now running
mining operations
on its own. Apart from Canadile, two other firms currently
operate in the
alluvial fields in partnership with the government. The other
two are Mbada
Diamonds, jointly owned by South Africa's New Reclamation
Group, and Anjin,
a Chinese joint venture.
The arrests coincide very
conveniently with a meeting of the international
diamond trade watchdog, the
Kimberley Process (KP), which has been
discussing Zimbabwe’s future this
week. The country was barred from selling
its diamonds on the international
market last year because of human rights
abuses at the hands of the military
controlling Chiadzwa. But despite
evidence of ongoing abuses, the KP has
refused to take strong action against
Zimbabwe, and instead of banning the
country, gave it time to fall in line
with international trade
standards.
Earlier this year, KP members met to debate what solution
could be reached,
after the six month deadline placed on Zimbabwe had
passed. In that time, a
monitor appointed by the KP had visited the country,
and recommended that
exports be allowed to resume. The same monitor was
implicated in the arrest
of diamond researcher, Farai Maguwu, who was
detained for five weeks in
connection with exposing the ongoing abuses at
Chiadzwa.
It was only when a solution by the KP looked unlikely that
Maguwu was
finally released and in the same week that he was bailed, the
Mines Ministry
and the KP reached a working agreement. This agreement saw
two auctions of
Chiadzwa diamonds, under monitoring conditions, which were
meant to pave the
way for full exports to resume.
The decision on
allowing Zimbabwe to resume exports is set to be made this
week at the KP’s
Jerusalem meeting, but by Thursday evening agreement by KP
members still
looked unlikely.
The arrests of the Canadile officials smacks of the same
convenient
manipulation of the situation as the release of Maguwu, as it
demonstrates
Zimbabwe’s ‘compliance’ with the minimum trade standards
outlined by the KP.
The monitoring group has come under intense pressure by
the Mines Ministry
to give Zimbabwe the green light to starts sales, with
Minister Obert Mpofu
even warning that sales would go ahead, with our
without KP approval.
Human rights groups are urging the KP not to cave in
to this pressure, with
Human Rights Watch leading calls for real change at
Chiadzwa before the
decision is made. The group said this week that the
Zimbabwe government has
not fulfilled its promises to the KP, including the
demilitarisation of the
Chiadzwa fields. The group explained that there are
still ongoing abuses in
the area, including rampant smuggling and forced
labour, and called on the
government to make “clear progress in ending
abuses and smuggling.”
The arrest of the diamond officials is also
believed to be a result of the
bitter intra-party fighting within ZANU PF.
According to the Zimbabwe Mail,
the arrested officials “are victims of ZANU
PF rival factions fighting for
the control of Zimbabwe diamond resources.”
The news service quotes a senior
ZANU PF government official saying that
First Lady Grace Mugabe, Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu are behind the
arrests.
The Mugabes and
Mnangagwa, who is the favoured successor in the contested
ZANU PF succession
debate, are believed to be fighting the faction led by
retired General
Solomon Mujuru, who has a firm place in the diamond
smuggling business.
Grace Mugabe and Mnangagwa are said to be at the centre
of Zimbabwe diamond
mining company, Mbada Diamonds, and the rival faction
led by Mujuru is said
to have been linked to the incarcerated ZMDC officials
at the centre of the
alleged fraud. Mujuru meanwhile has previously been
linked to several
illegal diamond deals and also reportedly uses his diamond
mine 'River
Ranch' to launder his family’s ongoing plunder of resources from
the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Political commentator John Makumbe told SW
Radio Africa on Thursday that
this infighting could be the reason behind the
arrests, because the
Mnangagwa faction has been very vocal about trying to
get more control over
the diamonds, to rival that of Mujuru. Makumbe
explained that the fight
boils down to the succession debate raging in ZANU
PF, saying that “the
succession battle is dependent on what resources each
faction has control
of.”
“With elections coming up it is very
unlikely ZANU PF will have money to
sponsor all its candidates, so it will
be up to the different factions to
find enough money to sponsor its
candidates,” Makumbe said.
He added: “Whoever is able to sponsor more
candidates who will therefore
have more parliamentary seats in the next
election, will have control of
ZANU PF.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
04
November 2010
MDC spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, has confirmed that four
people were arrested
at the MDC Harvest House headquarters in Harare on
Thursday. Two MDC
employees, Alec Musanhiwa and Pindukai Shonhiwa who work
as drivers, and two
visitors, one identified as Tichareva Musama, were
arrested in the morning.
‘Some of our guys who man the office have been taken
by the police,
including some of our drivers who are always at the office
for party duties.
We are still to ascertain the reason why they have been
arrested,’ Chamisa
told SW Radio Africa.
‘What we do understand was
that there was some kind of skirmish yesterday
between the police and some
people whom we have not ascertained their
identity. But we reasonably
believe and suspect that could be the reason why
they (police) have also
acted in such a manner. We are still to get the
facts,’ Chamisa
added.
Party lawyers have been deployed to find out the reason for the
arrest. By
late Thursday afternoon, no charges had been placed on those
arrested and
detained at Harare Central police station. Chamisa meanwhile
said he had no
idea what the uniformed and plain clothes policemen who came
to their
offices wanted.
‘This thing will never happen at the ZANU PF
headquarters. It’s only at
Harvest House that our colleagues in the police
force are always pitted
against us.’
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
04 November
2010
In the UK Wilf Mbanga might be running The Zimbabwean newspaper
8200km away
from Harare, but this has not stopped police in the Zim capital
claiming
they have launched a manhunt for him.
State television
quoted police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri
saying they had
issued a warrant of arrest for Mbanga for publishing a story
alleging that
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Director for polling,
Ignatius
Mushangwe, was murdered for leaking the March 29 Presidential
results in
2008.
According to police Mbanga claimed in the news report that a meeting
was
attended by Mugabe, Emerson Mnangagwa, CIO Boss Happyton Bonyongwe and
former ZEC chairperson George Chiweshe, plus other ZEC officials, with an
agenda to eliminate Mushangwe. Police say this meeting never took place and
the story ‘was meant to tarnish the image of the President.’
Speaking
to SW Radio Africa on Thursday Mbanga said; ‘I deny The Zimbabwean
carried a
story saying that Mugabe, Mnangagwa and Bonyongwe met to plot
Mushangwe’s
death. What we reported was that Mushangwe had a meeting with
officials from
ZEC, ZRP, CIO and the army at which he complained about the
rigging of
elections and he was shouted down.’ Mushangwe was to disappear
and was found
dead later on.
‘I have lived here for six years and have been in telephone
contact with the
police PR department on numerous occasions seeking
confirmation of stories.
Instead of launching a manhunt for me in Zimbabwe,
to soothe those egos I
might have bruised, the ZRP would best serve the
nation by hunting for the
murderers of Mushangwe. We expect ZRP to issue
warrants of arrest for those
who killed more than 200 people during the 2008
election period,’ Mbanga
told us.
In 2008 well placed sources had
told SW Radio Africa that Mushangwe spilled
the beans on how Mugabe’s regime
planned to print surplus ballot papers to
rig the June 27 Presidential
run-off. He was allegedly murdered by a
hit-squad from the military
intelligence, led by Staff Sergeant Makwande, to
silence him in an operation
that was approved by the Joint Operations
Command (JOC).
The sources
described the assassination as, ‘a dry operation, a dry disposal’
because it
was carried out in a hurry. After being kidnapped in June,
Mushangwe’s
partially charred body was found dumped in Norton 5 months
later.
Highlighting the involvement of the state was the fact that state
agents
forcibly took his body from his Waterfalls home and buried it in the
Mukumba
Village of Chihota.
Family members say Mushangwe was meant to be buried
at the Granville
Cemetery in Harare but agents from the notorious Central
Intelligence
Organization forced his wife and eldest son to sign a letter
consenting to
the burial in Chihota. The wife protested the forced change
but was told
‘security concerns’ warranted his burial outside Harare.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
4 November 2010
The MDC information and publicity secretary
for Makoni South constituency is
lucky to be alive, after she was set upon
by ZANU PF thugs for refusing to
buy their party card.
Enia Chiwara
is now recuperating at a private clinic in Mutare after she was
severely
assaulted by a gang allegedly sent by Chief John Rukweza of Makoni
in
Manicaland province. Makoni South constituency is held by the MDC party
and
its legislator is Pishai Muchauraya.
Chief Rukweza is known to be closely
linked with ZANU PF and has since last
week been moving around the district
‘forcing anyone’ to buy ZANU PF cards
for $2 each.
‘As far as we
know, since their indoctrination session with the army in
Mutare two weeks
ago, chiefs, headman and village heads have been forcing
people to buy ZANU
PF cards. They are forcing anyone whether one is MDC or
ZANU PF, people are
being forced to buy the cards,’ MP Muchauraya said.
We reported last week
that the commander of 3 Brigade in Mutare,
Brigadier-General Douglas
Nyikayaramba, had summoned close to 200
traditional leaders from Manicaland
province for a two day ‘indoctrination’
workshop.
The ‘workshop’ held
inside the Brigade barracks in the eastern border town
was attended by
chiefs, headmen and village heads from all the seven
districts of the
province.
‘ZANU PF is going to hold a conference in Mutare in December
and during
their deliberations at the army barracks they were specifically
told to go
and fund raise for the party. In essence this is exactly what
they are
doing. But we deplore such actions, this is primitive for a party
that
boasts of millions of supporters but forces people to subscribe to its
activities,’ Muchauraya said.
The MP said a team selling cards was in
his constituency on Tuesday, moving
door to door forcing villagers to part
with $2. But the team found it hard
to sell the cards as the constituency is
predominately MDC.
Word got back to Chief Rukweza that some MDC supporters
were being defiant
and refusing to buy the cards. This reportedly angered
the chief who, in a
fit of rage, sent his ‘hired goons’ to deal with the
situation.
Some of those who directly participated in the beatings have
been identifed
as headman Ephraim Muza, Tyrus Mtanda, Nomard Mataranyika and
Enesiya
Mteke - all ZANU PF loyalists.
‘Its unfortunate that they
went for the top leadership in the constituency.
Chiwara and 15 others
members were rounded up and beaten with logs and
sticks. They were told the
beatings were a lesson for defying Robert Mugabe
and ZANU PF,’ according to
the MP.
‘Chiwara was singled out as the ring leader and she bore the
brunt of the
brutal attack. 15 others received minor injuries but Chiwara
had to be
ferried to a private clinic in Mutare where she is being treated,’
Muchauraya said.
The MP told us chiefs, headman and village heads
were now running ZANU PF
errands in the province as the party prepares to
battle the MDC in an
anticipated election in 2011.
‘This shows you
how fractured ZANU PF is in the rural areas. Chiefs, headman
and village
heads are now the foot soldiers for the party. This gives you an
idea of how
far the party will go to try and reclaim power at all costs even
if its
structures are in serious decline,’
The involvement of traditional
leaders in ZANU PF politics has been a
practice that started way back in
1980 after Independence. Although over the
years some of the chiefs have
been brave enough to realign themselves from
ZANU PF to the
MDC.
Others stood as senatorial candidates for the MDC and won in the
March 2008
elections. This week some of the chiefs wrote to MDC President
Morgan
Tsvangirai pleading with him to restrain ZANU PF from politicising
traditional leaders and abusing their office for selfish political
ends.
A spokesperson for five chiefs from Mashonaland East told the
weekly MDC
Changing Times that traditional leaders have been abused by
successive
colonial governments to work against the people.
‘We are
told to hate, to discriminate and to favour members of a certain
political
party against our will and better judgement,’ the spokesman said.
In
Masvingo three chiefs are reported to have also written to the MDC
seeking
an appointment with Tsvangirai to discuss the same issue.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Thursday 04 November
2010
HARARE – An international conflict prevention group has
warned that Zimbabwe
is one of three countries sitting on knife-edge and
should be watched
closely because of their worsening political
situations.
International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report that
political
undercurrents in the three African nations of Zimbabwe, Nigeria
and Guinea
were threatening the stability of these countries and could
easily explode
into full crises at any time.
“Zimbabwe's inclusive
government looked increasingly unstable, threatening
to fracture over
differences on implementation of the 2008 Global Political
Agreement and
elections,” ICG said in the October issue of its monthly
bulletin
CrisisWatch.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T party last month
said Zimbabwe was
sliding into a constitutional crisis and urged the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC) to urgently intervene to force
President Robert
Mugabe to respect the country’s
Constitution.
Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of violating Zimbabwe’s
Constitution and a 2008
power-sharing pact through the “illegal”
appointments of his close friends
to senior government positions since
November 2008.
The contested appointments included those of the central
bank governor
Gideon Gono, Attorney General Johannes Tomana, provincial
governors,
ambassadors, judges and a commission to oversee operations of the
police
force.
Mugabe is accused of unilaterally making appointments
of these officials
without consulting the Prime Minister as required under
the power-sharing
pact – commonly referred to as the global political
agreement (GPA) – that
the two leaders signed in September
2008.
Tsvangirai said the MDC-T national executive had resolved not to
recognise
all unilateral appointments by Mugabe who has also refused to
swear in the
party’s treasurer-general Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture
minister.
Mugabe has linked the implementation of outstanding GPA issues
to the
lifting of restrictive measures imposed on him and senior officials
of his
ZANU PF party in 2002.
Tsvangirai urged SADC to deploy
observers before a constitutional referendum
scheduled for next year in
order “to help protect the rights of Zimbabweans
to express their views
freely and without violence or intimidation”.
An outreach programme to
gather pubic views on a proposed Constitution has
been marred by political
violence, with meetings for Harare postponed in
September after inter-party
clashes left at least five MDC-T supporters
injured.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Godfrey Mtimba
Thursday, 04 November
2010 16:02
MASVINGO - Three teachers from Bikita are battling for
their lives at
Silveira Mission hospital after they were severely assaulted
by suspected
Zanu PF youths for pointing out that the country is not ready
for
elections next year because of rampant political violence during a
debate
in a bar.
The teachers had argued that the country could
not go into polls next year
as ugly scenes of political violence were still
rampant in the country as
exhibited during the just ended constitution
making outreach programme.
Militant teachers body, Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe Masvingo
provincial Co-ordinator, Munyaradzi Chauke told
Daily News that four
teachers were severely beaten and three of them
arecritical at Silveira
Mission while one of them managed to escape with
minor injuries.
Chauke said Charles Gono, Ephraim Huyo and Douglas
Muchato were battling for
their lives in hospital while Andrew Mutuzu who
escaped reported the
incident at their office after he fled Chizondo
secondary school where he
worked with his colleagues.
“Violence
against teachers in the rural areas is still widespread especially
when it
comes to issues that have something to do with politics. Our members
were
beaten up for contributing their views during a debate at a bottle
store.
They were assaulted because their views differed with that of the
Zanu PF
leader, Mugabe on the timing of elections. This is not fair and we
cannot
continue to be treated as punching bags by Zanu PF members, “ said
Chauke.
He added that his union would make an offocial police report
to make sure
that the perpetrators are brought to book.
Although
police in Masvingo declined to comment on the incident, a nurse at
Silveira
Mission who preferred anonymity confirmed that they admitted
teachers who
were serious beaten.
“We admitted teachers who were in bad shape after
they were beaten up over
the weekend. Their condition is bad. We were told
that that their assault
was political,” she said.
A Zanu PF
official and war veteran from Bikita who identified himself as
Comrade
Lenin bragged that his party would unleash violence to opponents in
the
next polls.
“We have since set up our war machinery since we are already
in election
mood since the day our president announced that there will be
polls next
year and campaigning is already under way. As for those who
oppose our party
like these teachers, I feel pity for them because we were
ordered to deal
with them,” he said.
PTUZ said the proposed elections
by Zanu pf leader Robert Mugabe and MDCT’s
Morgan Tsvangirai should not be
held if the situation was volatile to
members of their fraternity especially
in the rural areas.
http://www.voanews.com/
Sources in talks with IMF officials said the team carrying
out so-called
Article IV Consultations on economic conditions and policy
also noted
inconsistencies in Harare’s approach that have held back the
economic
recovery
Gibbs Dube & Benedict Nhlapho | Washington 03
November 2010
International Monetary Fund officials who completed a
consultative visit to
Zimbabwe last week expressed concern to their
counterparts in Harare about
rising political tensions and the need for
faster central bank reform.
Sources in talks with IMF officials said the
team carrying out so-called
Article IV Consultations on economic conditions
and policy also noted
inconsistencies in Harare’s approach that have held
back the economic
recovery.
The IMF team is expected to issue its
findings this week amid clashes in the
unity government over a broad range
of issues, leading to talk of elections
next year. An earlier IMF mission
saw improved political conditions.
Economic commentator Masimba Kuchera
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube
that unfavorable findings by the IMF
could give pause to Harare hardliners
resisting reform.
“Progressive
government elements have been fighting to rectify some of the
economic
problems bedeviling the unity government, but cannot do so due to
heightened
tensions in the ruling parties,” Kuchera said.
VOA Studio 7 correspondent
Benedict Nhlapho reported from Johannesburg
meanwhile that the global
economic crisis is having an impact in South
Africa as in the United States
and many other countries.
The Pretoria government is under pressure from
a population increasingly
disenchanted at the inability of the ruling
African National Congress and
President Jacob Zuma to reduce
unemployment.
That has put Zimbabweans living illegally there under close
scrutiny with a
year-end deadline for them to regularize their status or
face deportation.
Many locals accuse Zimbabweans of locking up scarce jobs.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
04 November, 2010 06:57:00
By Sapa-AFP
The head of Zimbabwe's electoral commission (ZEC) poured cold
water on the
chance of presidential and parliamentary elections taking place
next year,
despite President Robert Mugabe saying he wanted the votes to
take place by
mid-2011.
ZEC chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe, in an
interview with the German Press
Agency dpa, said the ZEC did not have the
funding to organize a free and
fair ballot.
And even if it did, the
process of drafting a new constitution - a
precondition for the elections -
was running far behind schedule.
"I know politicians have been talking
about it, saying there is going to be
elections next year," Mutambanengwe, a
Zimbabwean-born retired Namibia
Supreme Court judge, said.
But only
the ZEC could determine whether the conditions for the holding of
elections
were in place, he told dpa.
Last month Mugabe said he wanted elections to
replace the transitional
government he formed last year with Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai to take
place by the middle of next year.
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti said Mugabe had asked him to set aside 200
million
dollars in next year's 2011 budget for the elections.
But that money, if
allocated, would only be made available in January at the
earliest.
Mutambanengwe, who was appointed to the head of the ZEC by
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, said the ZEC needed the money
"immediately."
"If the funds are made immediately available for us to
carry out preliminary
operations then we will be ready to carry on
elections."
One of the biggest challenges facing the ZEC is to overhaul
the voters roll.
Tsvangirai has complained of the register being inflated
with ghost voters
and demanded it be drawn up from
scratch.
Mutambanengwe agreed that the roll had to be in a condition
"that is
acceptable and that satisfies all stakeholders."
Zimbabwe's
2008 power-sharing agreement also states that elections can only
be held
after Zimbabweans vote on a new constitution.
Yet, the process to draft a
new constitution is running more than 12 months
behind schedule and is
slated to be completed only in April at the earliest.
Then the document has
to be put to vote.
"Some of the suggestions that we are going to have
elections next year would
seem to imply that the elections would be held
without a new constitution,"
Mutambanengwe said. "If that is the case we
wait to be advised."
MacDonald Lewanika, head of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition, a federation
of human rights groups, said the squabbling between
Mugabe and Tsvangirai
had led many to believe that elections were the only
way to speed up
reforms.
"But clearly, the ZEC is not ready for
elections. The environment is not yet
tenable for a credible election.
Zimbabweans are still traumatised by the
violence that rocked the country in
the last elections," Lewanika said.
The last elections in Zimbabwe in
2008 turned violent after Mugabe lost the
first round of the presidential
poll to Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai withdrew from the second round over the
killing of dozens of his
supporters in the violence after the first
round.
Mugabe declared himself the winner but African leaders refused to
recognise
the outcome and forced him to go into coalition with his
arch-rival.
Analysts have warned that hastily-organized elections could
see a repeat of
the 2008 events.
http://af.reuters.com/
Thu Nov 4, 2010 9:06am GMT
*
Economy to grow close to 10 pct in 2011
* Over $1 bln foreign investment
since January 2009
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's economy is
on track to grow by
8.1 percent this year and close to 10 percent in 2011,
the finance minister
said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe was battered by a
decade of economic contraction and
hyperinflation, which reached 500 billion
percent in 2008 at the peak of the
country's political and economic
crisis.
The country's economy has begun to recover after a unity
government set up
last year dumped the worthless local currency for foreign
currencies and
after a revival in the agriculture sector.
"We are on
track (for 8.1 percent). Poised for 10 percent next year,"
Finance Minster
Tendai Biti told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in
Johannesburg.
Biti told conference delegates earlier that Zimbabwe
had approved 1.1
billion dollars in foreign investment in the period January
2009 to May 2010
for 199 projects in the country with 90 percent of those in
the mining
sector.
"This train is moving", he said, referring to the
economy.
Biti also said Zimbabweans living abroad had shown strong
interest in a $50
million diaspora bond planned by the government.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Stanley Gama, News Editor
Thursday, 04
November 2010 15:06
HARARE - Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and some
councillors have clashed
over the probe into the underhand sale of council
land in which
controversial businessman Phillip Chiyangwa and the Minister
of Local
Government Ignatius Chombo are implicated.
A special
investigations committee headed by Mt Pleasant councillor, Warship
Dumba
unearthed irregular acquisition of land by top government officials in
connivance with senior council employees.
However, when the report
was exposed in the media, the eight councillors who
conducted the probe were
arrested and charged with criminal defamation at
the instigation of
Chiyangwa. Masunda also faced the same charges.
However, on Tuesday,
Chiyangwa withdrew the charges. At a press conference
at Town House
yesterday, Masunda seemed to be developing cold feet and said
there was need
to set up an independent committee acceptable to both the
councillors and
Chiyangwa to investigate the alleged theft of land.
But the councillors
insist that they are empowered by the Urban Councils Act
to investigate
anomalies in land acquisition among other mandates.
Dumba yesterday
insisted that there was no going back.
“The committee, as empowered by
the Urban Councils Act, has already
recommended that we recover all land
that was improperly acquired and that
is exactly what we are going to do.
The mayor might have his personal
opinion on the issue, but he will have to
come back to a full council
meeting to discuss this.
“There has been
talk that we came to some agreement with Chiyangwa – its
lies. We were voted
in by the people to ensure that we stop the rot in our
city. We cannot allow
individuals to illegally amass vast tracts of land yet
millions of people
are homeless. It is the people who tell us what to do not
individuals,” said
Dumba.
At the press conference, Masunda said the special committee which
probed the
land theft had also not consulted the accused persons and added
that this
called for an independent commission.
The clash between
Masunda and the councillors comes as Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which appointed Masunda,
urged council
to push for the prosecution of Chiyangwa, Chombo and others
accused of
improperly acquiring land.
“On Tuesday, Chiyangwa threw away his side
show which he started after an
eight-member commission implicated him in
illicit deals involving vast
tracts of municipal land which his companies
acquired in suspicious
circumstances between 2001 and 2008.
“Although
the council filed a complaint and made a counter report to the
police for
investigations into the corrupt deals, citing Chiyangwa as a
prime suspect,
the police are yet to do something about it.
“For the record, the MDC
does not condone any form of corruption in local
councils. The MDC assures
the residents and ratepayers that any illegal
land deals and other forms of
corruption anywhere in Zimbabwe shall be
exposed and the perpetrators
brought to book,” read part of the statement.
http://news.radiovop.com
04/11/2010 14:02:00
Harare,
November 04, 2010 - Despite the fact that Zimbabwe's HIV/Aids
prevalence
rate has done well, the life expectancy for women has however
gone down,
Radio VOP can reveal.
"The life expectancy for women stood at 34 two
years ago but is now 30," a
top World Health Organisation (WHO) official
said.
"There are now more than 1.3 million people in Zimbabwe who are
living with
the HIV/Aids virus and about 60 percent of these are women in
the country."
He said children living with HIV/Aids who are orphans would
rise to 34
percent by the end of 2010.
A review of the status of
children living with HIV/Aids revealed that in
Zimbabwe the main threats to
these children was a shortage of material
resources, food, stationary,
child labour, rape, sexual abuse and emotional
abuse.
"Zimbabwe has
an estimated 1 025 472 orphans as we speak," he told Radio VOP
in an
interview.
"Over all, however, the country's HIV/Aids prevalence rate has
gone down.
The percentage of children living with HIV/Aids and who are
orphaned will
rise to 34 percent by the end of 2010," he said.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
04 November, 2010
03:50:00 By Ed Cropley - Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, - Zimbabwe will publish
guidelines this month on local
ownership of various types of companies,
ending months of uncertainty that
has weighed on the stock market, a
government minister said on Thursday.
The southern African nation
introduced a law early this year saying 51
percent of firms worth over
$500,000 should be owned by black Zimbabweans
but accepted that most
sectors, especially the capital-intensive mining
industry, will take time to
get there. [ID:nLDE68F0QB
Fourteen committees set up to determine minimum
initial local ownership
thresholds for various sectors had now finished
their work, Saviour
Kasukuwere, Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment
said.
"We will review them and publish
them before the end of the month," he told
Reuters on the sidelines of an
investment conference in South Africa's
commercial capital.
"We are
moving. We need to bring about certainty. We can't keep people
hanging
there."
This year, Zimbabwe's stock market has failed to build on the
strong gains
it posted immediately after the government scrapped the
worthless Zimbabwean
dollar in favour of U.S. dollars in February
2009.
The lacklustre performance -- in contrast to other frontier African
equity
markets -- has been widely blamed on concerns the indigenisation act
was an
attempt by cronies of President Robert Mugabe to get their hands on
foreign-owned assets.
The uncertainty has also deterred the billions
of dollars of foreign
investment required to rebuild the economy after a
decade of disastrous
mismanagement under Mugabe's ZANU-PF
administration.
Mugabe told Reuters in an interview in September that he
would press ahead
with plans to transfer control of foreign firms --
including mines and
banks -- to local blacks.
Kasukuwere sought to
allay those external fears, saying the bill was simply
addressing the
unresolved economic imbalances left by decades of white
minority rule, and
would ultimately create a stable and fair economy and
society.
"This
is not about nationalisation or expropriation of businesses. This act
is to
bring our people on board the economy," he said.
"We accept foreign
direct investment is critical in getting our economy to
work. But it is
necessary to balance foreign interests and the aspirations
of our people."
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz)
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
04 November
2010
The European Union (EU) is yet to make a decision on whether or not
to
accept the ambassador appointed unilaterally by Robert Mugabe, after the
EU’s
own diplomat in Zimbabwe said the ambassador was likely to be
accepted.
The EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell'Ariccia on Tuesday
said in a
statement that “the EU has given the agreement to Zimbabwe’s
ambassador –designate, Ms Margaret Muchada, but the decision about the
possible presentation of Ms Muchada’s credentials to the President of the
European Commission, Mr Barrosso, has not been taken.”
He was
reacting to state media reports that quoted him as having said the EU
will
not interfere with Mugabe's unilateral deployment of ambassadors,
following
letters of protest by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that they
were
unconstitutional. Tsvangirai last month told the EU and the United
Nations
that ambassadors appointed solely by Mugabe don’t speak on behalf of
the
whole government. He wrote to EU president Jose Manuel Baroso stating
his
position that the appointment of Muchada, and those of Zimbabwe’s
ambassadors to the United Nations and four countries, was “null and void”
because Mugabe named them without consultation.
The Herald quoted
Dell'Ariccia as saying that the posting of diplomats
should be left to
individual sovereign states. But in a statement to the
media late on Tuesday
Dell'Ariccia said the newspaper report was incorrect.
The United Nations
has already said that it cannot expel the Zimbabwean
diplomat appointed by
Mugabe, saying the ambassador has been ‘properly
accredited’ in July. UN
deputy spokesperson Farham Haq said: “The
appointment of an ambassador is an
internal matter for a member state which
is to be decided upon in accordance
with the provisions of its own domestic
law.”
But there is no sign
yet that the EU will follow in the UN’s footsteps. The
grouping remains
under firm pressure to heed Tsvangirai’s letter, with MEP
Geoffrey Van
Orden, campaigning for the body to take strong action against
the Mugabe
regime. Van Orden who spearheads the European Parliament’s
campaign for
freedom and democratic change in Zimbabwe, said this week that
no EU
decision has been made.
Click here to read a press release from last weeks meeting on the future of Zimbabwe
Click here to read an article refuting remarks made by National Parks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UK-based Zimbabwean professionals give back to the Zimbabwe through the ZGClub Scholarship Fund
The ZGClub presented Ndoro Children’s Charity [NCC] a cheque for £500 on Saturday the 30th of October at the NCC Gala in London. The money, raised by the guests at the ZGClub Annual Dinner (AD2010) for the ZGClub Scholarship Fund was directed to contribute to the development of the Zororo Leadership Academy; a project involving the building of a school and home for orphaned children in Zimbabwe, delivered by the NCC.
The ZGClub is a steadily growing organisation, with a desire to have a cross cutting and wide ranging network of professional Zimbabweans who have a passion for economically empowering themselves, other Zimbabweans and Zim-sentric endeavour. We invite you to find out more on our website www.zgclub.org .
Leslie Maruziva (ZGClub Chairman 2009/10) said “The launching of our ZGC Scholarship Fund and continued support of Zimbabwe focussed charities is a key delivery in our Charter that brings with it a great sense of purpose and reward. Whilst our key function remains to facilitate business, innovation and networking, it is our commitment to philanthropy that ultimately the spirit of our Club will be judged for years to come.”
The Zororo Leadership Academy is a compatible bedfellow to our own objective to strive towards empowering the next generation of Zimbabwean entrepreneurs and professionals. We are therefore pleased to follow on our benevolent commitment as before with Vimba and Girl Child Network by showing our support this year to the NCC’s, Zororo Leadership Academy. The ZGClub recognises the immensity of this Zimbabwean life- affirming project and look forward seeing its completion and actualisation.
Ndoro Children’s Charities is an international charity dedicated to supporting under privileged children in the poorest parts of the world, with an initial focus on Zimbabwe. It aims to provide the support and resources for children to develop and grow through education and stability, including building schools for children orphaned by HIV/Aids.
Ronald Ndoro, operations director of Ndoro CC added: “The fundraising gala is an opportunity to highlight the work that we do throughout the year and it is great to have celebrities and companies come together to help us achieve that. It is never an easy task to be selfless so we ask everyone to join us. Charity is one of those things where the saying “the more - the merrier” rings absolutely true!”.
*** ENDS ***
Contacts
Ndoro CC
· Kevin Pawadyira | 07900 653 593
· kevin@zgclub.org
Editor’s notes
ZG Club is a dynamic, apolitical membership club that facilitates the development of commercial initiatives, idea generation and rigorous intellectual debate on business and political issues pertaining to Zimbabwe. The ZGClub was founded on the 18th April 2008 and has gained the reputation of facilitating environments where respectable and successful Zimbabweans and international members of the business fraternity can engage in intellectual and apolitical exchange of ideas whilst promoting wealth generation amongst themselves.
The vehicle of such initiatives is the recently branded Connect2Network or C2N events, which is fast becoming a successful networking platform, enabling the Club to venture into various projects and engagements details of which can be found the clubs website www.zgclub.org . 2011 will see the launch of ZGClub TV, details to be released on our website in due course.
The Club is active in philanthropy and consciously supports small Zimbabwe-centric charities, helping to raise their profiles. Our members are a mix of entrepreneurial & professional people in the UK with a passion and interest in Zimbabwe and the region.
Chairman
ZGClub Scholarship Fund supports the Zororo Leadership Academy - Ndoro Children’s Charities
The ZGClub Scholarship Fund, set up this year has been set up to support underprivileged children in a bid to play a part in developing the future generation of business persons. At our Annual Dinner at Wotton House - AD2010- we selected to support the Zororo Leadership Academy, an Ndoro Children’s Charity initiative.
Ndoro Children’s Charities www.ndorocc.org.uk is an independent non-profit organisation actively involved in attaining universal access to education for underprivileged children, with a particular emphasis on orphans to HIV/AIDS.
Current major project is to build an
orphanage home, school and clinic in Zimbabwe - a country with the highest
number of orphans per capita and the lowest average life expectancy in the
world. Factor in political chaos, hyperinflation, droughts and a population
where 1in 4 are HIV/AIDS infected and you find forgotten children without
hope.
The Charity’s common aim is to assist through education, health,
community development and research; to bring preventative measures to halt and
reverse the spread of HIV. Thus effective strategies are built on providing
suitable accommodation, schools and clinics for the children in need.
NdoroCC was officially launched on the 10th of July 2008 in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. The event was hosted by the Hon MP Dr Vince Cable, Business secretary and the charity’s patron. The charity was established and registered on 27 September 2007.
Masvingo, November
1, 2010: U.S. Ambassador
Charles Ray last week unveiled a new U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR) Small Grants Program to support care
and support projects for people infected and affected by HIV in Zimbabwe.
“I am
excited to share this news with you here today and hope that your project, and
the many others like it, will prove to be enduring proof of America’s commitment
to a strong, healthy and prosperous Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Charles Ray when
he handed over two diesel powered grinding mills to Marozva Community Based
Organization, also known as the People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWADS), in
Masvingo’s Bikita West constituency on October
28th.
PLWADS
received funding from the U.S. Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Program and the
African Development Foundation to purchase two grinding mills located at and
near Sosera business center.
During
the unveiling of the grinding mills, Ambassador Ray announced the new small
grants scheme specifically for HIV/AIDS groups. Funded by the U.S. President’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the small grants scheme is the most
recent new program to come from the $57.5 million U.S. commitment to Zimbabwe in
2011. This is a 20 percent increase over the 2010 PEPFAR budget for Zimbabwe.
The PEPFAR small grants program will fund approximately 10 grants of up to
$10,000 for community groups working with HIV/AIDS to improve their operations
in practical ways.
“The
United States remains fully committed and engaged with Zimbabwe in the fight
against HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR, including through significant support for the
Government of Zimbabwe’s scale up of antiretroviral treatment. In 2010, the
number of people receiving ARVs with direct PEPFAR funding increased to 59,000,
up from 40,000 in 2009,” said the U.S. Ambassador.
Zimbabwe is one of
the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that has been worst affected by the HIV and
AIDS epidemic with a projected population of 12 million people infected with the
disease. The estimated HIV prevalence among adults 15 years and above was 14.3%
according to the National HIV Estimates of 2010.
Over
200 people attended the handover ceremony in Bikita West, including
parliamentarians, traditional leaders, district council officials and various
HIV and AIDS groups in the province.
Heya
Shoko, representative of Bikita West in Parliament, hailed U.S. support and the
initiative by PLWHADS. He noted that PLWHADS helps ensure targeted
interventions on HIV and AIDS and will boost household food security in the
constituency.
“The
government of Zimbabwe, NGOs and international community recognize that
approaching HIV initiatives collectively results in significant gains for people
living with HIV and AIDS,” said the legislator. He added that the “PLWHADS
project will go a long way in fighting stigma and is a catalyst in unifying
people since HIV has no boundary, it’s universal and does not discriminate on
the basis of political, religious and other allegiances.”
Coordinator
of the Sosera PLWADS Stanley Chabvepi said the grinding mills would enable
PLWADS to generate income, as well as reduce discrimination due to stigma.
“The
entire community here at Marozva will benefit from the Ambassador’s Self Help
Fund, and people living with HIV and AIDS will access grinding mill services at
affordable prices. People who are tested and confirmed HIV positive will have
their grain ground at half the commercial price,” said Chabvepi. He said they
hoped more people would go and get tested as a result of this scheme- ZimPAS
2010
# # #
Images
available on request.
This
report was produced and distributed by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section.
Queries and comments should be addressed to Sharon Hudson Dean, Public Affairs
Officer, hararepas@state.gov, Tel. +2634758800-1, Url: http://harare.usembassy.gov
Become a Fan on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!