Last updated: 11/09/2004 06:07:02 THIS past
week I had the privilege of attending a church service in which the renowned
Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Dr Desmond Mpilo Tutu was the guest
speaker. The celebrated cleric preached an inspirational sermon from John 6
v 1.
The passage is one of the most well known scriptures in the
entire Bible. It talks about Christ's miracle of feeding over 5000 followers
from a meal of few fishes and loaves. In fact it was a small boy's lunch
pack.
The main thrust of this great churchman message was that each
of us has a responsibility of developing our own individual contributions to
the nation building process. He challenged the each and every one of us not
to ever take for granted the impact of our personal contributions, however
little they may seem to us.
The point is, life is such that in
the long term, our little contributions might prove to be a decisive turning
point in the greater national agenda. He warned us never to undervalue or
underestimate the collective impact of our combined small
roles.
The nation can be so bereft of ideas and resources, so much
that there is a desperate need to receive whatever little individual
contributions are available. Not even one individual citizen's contribution
should be taken for granted. It does not matter how poor or uneducated that
person may seem to be.
The biggest resource any nation might
need is a committed, disciplined, purposeful and ambitious individual. If
any nation has more instead of less of such kind of people, then its future
prospects will soon become bright.
I was so humbled by the
clarity of thought of this man. I was also charmed by high his intellectual
wit and humor. I am sure I was not the only who felt so much admiration for
him.
After the sermon, I could not help but reflect more and more
about the great impact this man has made in many lives. Practically
speaking, tens of millions of the people living in the new South Africa
today owe so much to this man. To most South Africans, Tutu is not only a
big icon of the anti-apartheid struggle but he remains a big source of
inspiration in the building of the new South Africa. He is no doubt a living
legend.
Tutu is a man of many talents. He has achieved so much in
his life. Some of his well known feats include among others;
.
He served as the head of the Anglican Church in Lesotho between 1976 and
1978. He was then elected the first black Secretary General of the South
African Council of Churches in the height of apartheid days, in
1978.
. He was the first black head of the South African Anglican
church. He was appointed the Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986.
.
Tutu was one of the outspoken leaders of the United Democratic Front, the
South African internal movement of the 1980s that made the country
ungovernable through a series of mass actions.
. He was awarded the
Alfred Nobel Peace in 1984. Added to that, he was hailed as the new Martin
Luther King, as a strong advocate for peaceful and non-violent civil
disobedience.
. Tutu was also instrumental in laying the foundation
of a new post-apartheid South Africa. In particular, he was the head of the
critical Truth and reconciliation Commission.
. Tutu has also
been given credit for helping popularizing the inter-racial notion that
promotes the idea of South Africa being a 'Rainbow Nation'. He has also set
up the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre that is set to perpetuate his life's legacy
for posterity.
. Tutu has been a guest speaker in many
international forums and events. He has also been a visiting lecturer in
several universities, especially in the USA. In fact he recently starred in
a Broadway play in the USA.
. But perhaps as a form of
appreciation from the South African people he has served so much for free
over the years, he was recently voted into the top ten of the SABC 100
Greatest South Africans of all time poll show.
As I write today, I
have no doubt that not only is Tutu regarded as one of the greatest South
Africans ever, but also as one of the greatest sons of Africa. Tutu is an
enduring role model.
But it appears that his fame has not reached
the Harare regime yet. According to Mugabe, Tutu is a 'little bishop' who
just cannot keep his big mouth shut. But this has not come as a surprise to
many admirers of Tutu. Apparently, Mugabe's strange lack of admiration for
Tutu is linked to his public criticism of his style of
leadership.
Unlike, Thabo Mbeki and his 'quiet diplomacy', Tutu has
preferred the much louder 'megaphone diplomacy'. In this regard, he is
quoted to have said that the struggle against apartheid would not have been
won if Mbeki's logic had been applied on apartheid South Africa in the
1970-80s.He has thus gone up the roof tops and shouted his lungs out in his
rabid attacks on the Harare government.
Tutu was once quoted in
the Cape Argus as saying that 'Mugabe has gone bonkers!' he is said to have
remarked that Zimbabwe was a showpiece on the African continent before
Mugabe 'embarked on this crazy show'.
On the retirement issue, Tutu
has also been very loud and clear. He has said that if Mugabe was 'as
sensible as he used to be', he would have stepped down by now and passed on
the baton to the next leader for Zimbabwe.
He said: "Had he stepped
down earlier, he would have had a splendid niche in the history of his
country. But now he will be more remembered by many as power
crazy!"
Tutu has also not spared all the Mugabe sympathizers in the
international community. He has challenged them instead, to turn on the
screws on the ailing dictator.
He was quoted by the UK's Daily
Telegraph as saying that 'had the international community invoked the rubric
of non-interference then we would have been in dire straits in our
anti-apartheid struggle'.
He also has said that he is baffled by
the conduct of Mbeki and other Mugabe apologists. He said: "I am baffled
that we as South Africans have declared that the last elections in Zimbabwe,
though not free, were yet legitimate. That is distressing semantic games.
Human rights are human rights and they are of universal validity or they are
nothing."
Tutu has also been very critical of those who feel that
African elections must not be judged at the same high standard with the rest
of the world. He has insisted that 'there are no peculiarly African human
rights, what has been reported as happening in Zimbabwe is totally
unacceptable and reprehensible. We all ought to say so, regretting that it
should have been necessary to condemn erstwhile comrades. The credibility of
our South African democracy demands that'.
It also appears that
Tutu's unequivocal stance against both the Mugabe and the apartheid regimes
has also served to inspire other church leaders. It seems the likes of
Archbishop Pius Ncube in Bulawayo and Archbishop Sebastian Bakare in Mutare
has also taken his cue.
Indeed that last year or two has seen a
very clear increase in the number of critical voices emerging from the
Zimbabwean churches. Predictably, the outspoken church leaders like Ncube
have been viciously attacked and vilified by Mugabe and his cronies.
Bakare's Zimbabwe Council of Churches was also listed among the list that
was given to COSATU as that of 'quasi-political' organizations that are
perennial hostile to the Zanu-PF government.
But it appears the
men of the cloth seem undeterred by the Mugabe regime's rabid attacks on
their personalities. If anything, they appear to be more inspired to give
all their personal energies and contributions in helping to bring about a
new Zimbabwe for their congregations.
It seems that like Tutu, they
have come to accept the inevitability of persecution from the cruel and
desperate politicians such as Mugabe. They appear to also have learnt by now
that Zimbabwe, like apartheid South Africa, has now become a country where
revered archbishops have become little bishops under the scared eyes of the
oppressors of their people such as Mugabe - danielmolokela@yahoo.com
Daniel Molokela is the National Co-ordinator of the Peace and Democracy
Project Johannesburg, South Africa. His column appears here every
Monday
PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI'S TUESDAY MESSAGE TO THE
PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE
There is now a firm consensus throughout
Africa that the Zimbabwean crisis can certainly come to an end through a
free and fair election. The common African position is that the crisis can
and must be resolved through an unfettered application of the electoral
guidelines agreed to in Mauritius by the SADC heads of state and government
in July 2004.
The guidelines mirror similar benchmarks set by the
African Union and are in line with universal democratic principles on the
conduct of national elections. As you are aware, the second treason trial
was postponed to January on Wednesday morning, thus allowing me to follow-up
on the invitations I had received from several African heads of state and
government to explain the MDC's plan for the resolution of the Zimbabwean
crisis. I immediately left for the SADC region, consulted widely over a
number of days, proceeded to meet with the current leadership of the African
Union and took the opportunity to connect with other influential African
leaders in West Africa and in the northern part of our
continent.
I wish to thank all the African leaders, civil society
organisations and the Church for keeping the Zimbabwean crisis on the radar;
for raising crucial governance questions and human rights issues in our
country through the AU and other continental gatherings; for accepting that
the crisis has nothing to do with the ruse Zanu PF has constantly floated
around and for engaging our officials during the period I was under virtual
house arrest in Harare. The roots and nature of the Zimbabwe crisis is now
recognised fully throughout the continent. SADC and the AU are determined
help us to sort out the mess in Harare.
Africa agrees and
accepts that without a genuinely free and fair election, open to all
contesting parties through a process that is people-driven and endorsed by
all stakeholders, there can never be a lasting solution to our crisis of
governance. There is a general agreement that the case of Zimbabwe reflects
a deep-seated failure by a former liberation movement to deal with
post-colonial, social and political dynamics. Zimbabwe's post colonial
regime has failed to extend the ideals of the liberation struggle, in
particular the extension of majority rule.
The regime has
deliberately refused to create the much needed democratic space for the
realisation of essential freedoms after independence, leading to the current
conflict in our country. We are respected, consulted, understood and
encouraged to drive the process of change in order to manage the
transformation of our nation and to pursue the ideals of the liberation
struggle. We are a powerful voice on the continent - a reasonable Zimbabwean
voice Africa is prepared to work with in the resolution of the
crisis.
Our programmes, our ideas and our message are, without
doubt, getting home. We have asserted our position as a major political
player in Zimbabwe. As I said last week, our concern requires no complicated
explanation -- Zimbabwe needs a new beginning. That message resonates
throughout Africa.
May I take this opportunity to congratulate
the people of Botswana for demonstrating their political maturity in the
recent parliamentary elections. We in Zimbabwe must take note of the fact
that not even a single person was assaulted or victimized for holding
opposing political views in the period leading to that election. Nor was
there any case of political violence before, during and after the polls,
which were legitimately endorsed by the SADC region. The Batswana are now
talking about national development, having elected leaders of their own
choice in a peaceful climate. Compare that to our situation at here -
militias, a muzzled Press, repressive legislation, no-go areas, and attacks
on opposing candidates and on voters, a partisan state machinery, the list
goes on. Zimbabweans deserve their honour, sovereignty, dignity and respect.
We must make room for our people to learn something positive from their
neighbours.
Botswana remains a firm and leading member of the
international democratic community of nations, a shining example of
political tolerance on the African continent, and a beacon of hope, progress
and prosperity in Africa. We in Zimbabwe have long yearned to live under
such a peaceful political environment and the resultant gentle bonds of
government. The MDC pledges to create such an atmosphere.
As
we move towards our own parliamentary election in March 2005, we can only
hope that the long established Botswana democratic tradition and immediate
past electoral experience will establish a compelling precedent for the
Mugabe regime, under the auspices of the SADC Guidelines and Principles
Governing the Conduct of Democratic Elections.
We are all
agreed that a democratic election is the only peaceful and viable option for
us to start afresh and allow the people access to food and jobs. We remain
convinced that we are getting there. Let us remain united and focussed on
our goals and objectives.
INFORMATION MINISTER FACES
AXE Tue 9 November 2004
HARARE - A committee of
senior ruling ZANU PF party leaders will recommend to President Robert
Mugabe to demote his caustic-tongued propaganda chief,
Jonathan Moyo, from Cabinet and the party's politburo, ZimOnline
has learnt.
The powerful committee comprising party and
state Vice-President Joseph Msika, chairman John Nkomo, women's league
chairwoman, Thenjiwe Lesabe and party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira wants
Moyo dismissed as government information minister and party deputy
information secretary during ZANU PF's congress next
month.
The committee also wants various anonymous columns in
state-controlled newspapers, which Moyo allegedly writes and uses to
denigrate other ZANU PF politicians including party seniors and to impose
his individual views as those of the party, abolished, sources
said.
Shamuyarira confirmed there was concern in ZANU PF
about the newspaper columns but he refused to discuss the matter further
saying he would only do so after the committee probing Moyo had presented
its report.
He said: "There was some concern about the
articles and columns. But I cannot discuss issues that are under
investigation until the report is out."
Sources said the
ZANU PF committee, set up in August to probe Moyo's conduct after he had
clashed with several senior party leaders including Msika and Nkomo met last
week after Mugabe had openly complained about a column in the
state-mouthpiece Herald newspaper that attacked South African President
Thabo Mbeki.
The column believed to have been penned by Moyo
himself accused Mbeki of being a sell-out after he met Zimbabwean opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai two weeks ago to discuss ways of resolving the
country's political crisis.
"It was debated at length,
this issue of these columns and editors at the newspapers said they didn't
have control over them. They said the columns came from higher offices. It
was concluded that only one person could be behind these columns and that
must be Moyo," said a source, who did not want to be
named.
He added: "The committee is now compiling a report
recommending that Moyo be dropped from the politburo and from his job as
information minister. The report will also recommend that the anonymous
columns be abolished."
Once an arch-critic of Mugabe,
Moyo changed tack four years ago to emerge as the most zealous defender of
the Zimbabwean leader at home and abroad.
He crafted the
draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act under which
three privately-owned newspapers including the country's largest daily
paper, the Daily News, were shut down.
The Press Act has also
placed immense obstacles on independent journalists and their newspapers. -
ZimOnline
IMF sees marginal growth for Zimbabwe's GDP next year Tue 9
November 2004
HARARE - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says
Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by a marginal 1.8 percent
in 2005 down from an impressive 5.2 percent the institution had forecasted
the country's GPD to increase by next year.
GDP is the total
amount of a country's production.
The government has forecasted GDP
to drop by about five percent this year but independent economic analysts
say Zimbabwe's GDP will shrink by no less than eight percent this
year.
In May this year the IMF had forecasted Zimbabwe, in the grip
of a painful economic recession for the last four years, to reverse the
downward trend in GDP performance with a positive 5.2 percent growth in 2005
up from a 9.2 percent the multilateral institution says Zimbabwe's
GDP will drop by this year.
But in a new report posted on its
website this week, the Bretton Woods institution has revised downwards
expected GDP growth for Zimbabwe next year because of new information the
institution uncovered during its Article IV consultations with economic and
financial authorities in Harare in July this year.
"The
IMF was forced to revise its initial projections given the economic
variables it had seen during its last visit. When in May they said Zimbabwe
could post a 5 percent increase this was based on the figures they had
obtained in February and March," an official at the IMF's Washington
headquarters told ZimOnline by phone yesterday.
The official,
who did not want to be named for professional reasons, added: "But during
the July visit things had changed for the worse particularly in the
financial sector. The situation was made worse by the placing of a number of
banks under the management of a curator during this last
quarter."
Zimbabwe's financial sector is in chaos after six banks
or nearly half of the country's 15 commercial banks collapsed due to
corruption and mismanagement.
Huge and unbudgeted expenditures
by the government of about $300 billion in gratuities and pensions for more
than 20 000 former activists of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence struggle are
also expected to cut further into GDP growth, independent economic analysts
say. - ZimOnline
NGO Bill to block US$1.5 billion project funds Tue 9
November 2004
HARARE - Zimbabwe is set to lose more than US$1.5
billion annually in project funding if non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
in the country are banned from receiving external funding under proposed new
regulations.
A snap survey this week by ZimOnline showed that each
of the 3 000 organisations under the Zimbabwe National Association of NGOs
on average spends close to US$100 000 on a single project with many of the
groups undertaking as many as up to five projects per year, bringing total
projects to around 15 000 annually.
Civic groups for example
raked in US$1.125 billion in project funds between January and October this
year almost as much as the US$1.249 billion Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor, Gideon Gono, said all other sectors of the economy had earned in
the same period.
The association's national co-ordinator, Jacob
Mafume, said: "It's a lot of foreign income the nation stands to lose which
was coming in through project funding for our 3 000 members.
"I
can assure you this is a lot of hard currency the nation stands to lose
considering that NGOs receive project funding in hard currency which often
runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some NGO have already lost
funding due to the insecurity posed by the Bill."
Some of the
groups that have in the past five years been major foreign currency earners
include United Nations (UN) organs such as the UN Development Programme,
World Food Programme, UNAIDS and UN Children's Education Fund.
A new law that will bar foreign funding for NGOs involved in human rights
and governance work is before Parliament and the ruling ZANU PF party is
expected to use its simple majority in the House to have the law enacted
before year-end.
Civic society experts have warned that the
proposed new law will see donor support for Zimbabwe drying up. The
government says it wants the law to rein in NGOs it accuses of working with
its Western enemies to topple it from power.
Zimbabwe is in the
fourth year of a grinding economic recession marked by an acute foreign
currency shortage that has seen basic commodities such as fuel, electricity
and essential medical drugs in short supply because there is no hard cash to
pay foreign suppliers.
Economic analysts yesterday said the
proposed NGO law will only help strangle one of the few remaining sources of
critically needed hard cash.
"The government is shooting itself in
the foot by banning foreign funding of the civic organisations," said an
economic analyst with a Harare-based asset firm, FLAM Asset
Management.
The analyst, who did not want to be named, added: "The
policies are just contradictory, on one end Gono calls for the enhancement
of foreign exchange capacity, while on the other hand the government is
closing the remaining credible sources of hard currency."
Zimbabwe's biggest single forex earner, tobacco, is in turmoil since the
government began seizing farmland from whites who produced the bulk of the
country's export crop.
Only about 60 million kilogrammes of tobacco
were sold this year down from the more than 200 million kilogrammes exported
in 2000, the same year the government began its chaotic land redistribution
programme.
Of the major hard cash spinners only gold showed signs
of growth in earnings although analysts attributed this to an increase in
international prices of the metal. - ZimOnline
State admits certificate used to detain Makamba
defective Tue 9 November 2004
HARARE - State prosecutors
conceded in court yesterday that a government certificate for the detention
of ruling ZANU PF party businessman James Makamba while police investigate
him for violating forex regulations was defective.
But the
businessman, who ZANU PF insiders maintain is being targeted by the police
also because of suspicion by President Robert Mugabe that he was having an
affair with his wife, Grace, was remanded in jail while the court determines
today whether to free him on bail.
Makamba was last week
arrested at Harare international airport as he attempted to leave Zimbabwe.
He is being charged together with two top executives of his Telecel mobile
phone company with siphoning foreign currency out of Zimbabwe.
The state wants him kept in jail for the next 21 days under new
anti-corruption regulations allowing the police to detain suspects while
they complete investigations.
Defence lawyers have demanded
that their client be freed because a certificate issued for his detention
was not signed by Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, as is required under
the law. - ZimOnline
Split threat over Mbeki policy on Zimbabwe By Christopher
Munnion in Johannesburg (Filed: 09/11/2004)
President Thabo Mbeki's
"quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe is threatening to cause a split between
South Africa's ruling African National Congress and the alliance which
helped it to power.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, or
Cosatu, and the South African Communist Party, both powerful and influential
among the black working class in the country and the government, have become
increasingly critical of what they regard as Mr Mbeki's "ineffectual and
even obsequious" relationship with President Robert
Mugabe.
Disillusionment with his approach came to a head last month when
a Cosatu delegation was arrested shortly after its arrival in Harare on a
fact-finding mission, and was driven under police and secret service escort
to the South African border where members were left to find their own way
home.
Cosatu had given the Zimbabwean authorities several months'
notice of its intention to confer with its Zimbabwean trade union colleagues
and was enraged by its members' treatment.
"We were treated like
common criminals or drug smugglers," said one delegate. "It was very
humiliating."
Cosatu, the largest labour organisation in South Africa,
was outraged when Mr Mbeki criticised it in his weekly letter on the ANC
website, saying its approach "showed contempt for a head of
state".
Patrick Craven, Cosatu's spokesman, said the government could not
avoid the fact that there was "a problem of human rights in a country where
a trade union federation cannot send a peaceful, lawful delegation without
being deported".
The South African Communist Party, which has
increasingly taken issue with the ANC on other government policies, joined
Cosatu in condemning Mr Mbeki's reaction.
Herald Reporter ZIMBABWE'S
second fixed telephone network TeleAccess risks having its licence cancelled
following its failure to roll out the project and adhering to the terms and
conditions under which the licence was issued.
Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz)
director-general Mr Cuthbert Chidoori yesterday told a parliamentary
portfolio committee that the authority had written to TeleAccess notifying
it of its intention to cancel the licence.
He was presenting oral
evidence before the committee on Transport and Communications on delays by
the second fixed line telephone network in rolling out the
project.
Mr Chidoori said there was no evidence on the ground to suggest
that TeleAccess was committed to rolling out the project any time
soon.
TeleAccess, he said, had even failed to make an initial payment of
US$5 million before the end of last year and had only paid a portion of the
amount in breach of the agreement.
The company was also required to
pay US$8 million before December 31 this year.
The Jewel Bank of
Zimbabwe - which has been funding the project - is owed about $150 billion
by TeleAccess.
The bank's chief executive, Mr Nyasha Makuvise, told the
committee last month that more than $1 trillion was now needed to roll out
the project from an initial estimate of $8 billion when the company was
awarded a licence four years ago.
Mr Chidoori said TeleAccess'
lawyers had asked Potraz to justify the cancellation of the licence and the
authority's board was in the process of preparing the paperwork.
He
said they had held several meetings with TeleAccess to find out why there
was such a long delay in rolling out the project, but no satisfactory
explanation had been offered.
TeleAccess, he said, had not even
applied to the regulatory authority for frequency allocation.
The
Potraz chief said repeated attempts by the regulating authority to inspect
TeleAccess premises with a view to finding out progress on the project in
respect to acquired equipment had failed since the company barred the
regulating authority from doing so.
"As we speak right now, we sent a
team of inspectors who were denied entry into TeleAccess
premises.
"We think they are misguided and misinformed because we, as the
regulators, the law allows us entrance into such premises," he
said.
TeleAccess, Mr Chidoori said, had even tried to obtain two
additional licences - to operate as an Internet Service Provider and for
data provision - so that these could be treated as one with the fixed
network licence in contravention of the regulations.
He said Potraz
board members were at pains to explain that each licence was awarded
separately and if the company needed additional licences, it had to follow
the regulations.
Secretary for Transport and Communications Mr Karikoga
Kaseke told the committee that TeleAccess wanted to assume a self-regulatory
role.
"There is all the evidence that TeleAccess wants to regulate
themselves. TeleAccess have not shown anything to anybody and I will urge
you (the committee) to visit TeleAccess to see for yourself what they have
prepared in terms of the rollout project," he said.
"We are unhappy
that they have let the nation down."
Mr Kaseke said Government was
working towards coming up with a national telecommunications policy with a
view to meeting demand for services in the sector.
He said currently,
there was a high demand for both fixed and mobile services resulting in some
NetOne lines being sold for as much as $2 million instead of the official
price of $200 000.
The combined subscriber base for both the fixed and
mobile telephone services stood at about 1,8 million while the demand for
the services was around 2 million.
The other fixed telephone network
provider, TelOne, Mr Kaseke said, could not cope with the demand for
telecommunications services hence the need to license other
providers.
Responding to questions by the committee, Mr Kaseke said no
allegations of corruption on the part of Potraz members had been brought to
the attention of the ministry.
Harare Central MP Mr Zwizwai Murisi
(MDC) had asked Mr Kaseke to confirm or deny allegations made by TeleAccess
senior officials when they appeared before the committee that some Potraz
board members were soliciting bribes before they could award the company
Internet Service Provider and data provision licences.
Mr Chidoori
said the allegations of corruption by some board members should be reported
to the relevant authorities so that the law could take its course.
He
said the licence for a fixed network could mature on its own and there was
no need for it to be complemented by other licences such as data provision
and internet services.
TeleAccess boss Cde Daniel Shumba appeared before
the committee last month, but asked the media to be barred from the hearing
saying he wanted to present confidential information.
His request was
granted by the committee that is chaired by Masvingo Central MP Mr Silas
Mangono (MDC).
Other members of the parliamentary committee are Makonde
MP Cde Kindness Paradza (Zanu-PF) and Chief George Chimombe of
Manicaland.
Time Bank, five directors face fresh charges of
externalisation
Herald Reporter FIVE Time Bank executives and the bank
itself were yesterday back at the Harare magistrates' courts on fresh
allegations of externalising over $600 million.
Christopher Tande
(41), Killian Kapaso (38), Anderson Ncube (61) and Kwaziso Bhosha (44), who
are already facing charges of siphoning depositors' funds amounting to $440
billion, were yesterday jointly charged with the bank and another director,
Emelda Mapanzure (38), on the fresh charges.
The five and the bank are
being charged under the Exchange Control Act for allegedly making an
external payment of large sums of foreign currency without the authority of
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
They appeared before Mr Mishrod
Guvamombe who granted them $2,5 million bail each and remanded them to
Monday next week.
The State represented by Mr Crispen Machingura had
consented to the release of the five on bail.
They were also ordered
to report to the police every fortnight as part of the bail
conditions.
Allegations are that the five and the bank committed the
crime between March 19 and November 6 last year when they externalised
US$786 697,57 (Z$650 163 219).
In the outline, which was not read in
court, Mr Machingura states that sometime in November 2002, Time Bank
applied at the RBZ to borrow US$2 295 000 from outside the
country.
Mr Machingura indicated that Time Bank, which was an authorised
dealer and dealing with a company called Christo (Pvt) Limited in Botswana,
had its application approved by RBZ.
Between the period, the State
alleges that the five executives connived with Deutsche Bank Trust of
America to make payments through Time Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd's Nostro account
number 04410189.
Mr Machingura said all the subsequent transactions,
which were made by Time Bank through the same bank account were not approved
by the RBZ.
He further stated that the five bosses and the bank had no
right to facilitate the repayment of external loans and setting of external
debts without the approval of the RBZ.
Court Reporter FINANCE
and Economic Development Minister Chris Kuruneri, accused of externalising
large sums of foreign currency, will remain in custody after the High Court
dismissed his fresh bail application yesterday.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu
also dismissed an application for leave to appeal at the Supreme Court by
Kuruneri's lawyer, Mr George Chikumbirike of Chikumbirike and
Associates.
However, the judge granted an application by the defence to
have the case referred to the Supreme Court in terms of Section 24(2) of the
Constitution.
The Supreme Court will now make a determination on whether
the delay in bringing Kuruneri to trial constituted an infringement on his
right to a fair trial within a reasonable time.
Kuruneri had made a
two-pronged application premised on constitutional and factual dimensions,
but failed to convince the court to rule in his favour.
"In the result I
come to the conclusion that there is no merit in the applicant's application
for bail both on the constitutional and non-constitutional basis," said
Justice Bhunu. "It is accordingly ordered that the application for bail be
and is hereby dismissed."
This is the third time Kuruneri has applied for
bail at the High Court and Supreme Court without success since his arrest in
April this year. In June, the magistrates' court rejected an application by
Kuruneri to have charges against him dropped.
Justice Bhunu, in his
ruling, found that the State proved that in the interim it had definitely
strengthened its case against the finance minister.
He said Kuruneri
was an influential high-ranking wealthy member of society with vast
resources within and outside Zimbabwe.
"His conduct in obtaining and
travelling on a foreign passport despite having taken oaths of loyalty and
allegiance to the State of Zimbabwe casts doubt in the eyes of any
reasonable court as to his trustworthiness," said the judge.
The
judge noted that if Kuruneri could deviously obtain a passport through the
Canadian embassy, there was no guarantee that he could not obtain another
passport or travel papers through any other embassy.
"The long and short
of it all is that the applicant (Kuruneri) has through his conduct
demonstrated that he is not a man to be trusted," he said.
Kuruneri, who
had access to foreign currency and purchased numerous properties outside the
country, had, in his defence, claimed that he used "free funds".
But
the court said Kuruneri should convince the court that the foreign currency
resources he used were indeed free funds lawfully held by him outside the
country.
Investigations have, however, since discredited Kuruneri's
claims. For instance, Kuruneri claimed to have obtained the foreign currency
from one Mr Luiz Solano in April 2002, but investigations have since
revealed that Mr Solano died on October 13 2001.
"Common sense
dictates that he could not possibly have obtained the funds from Solano in
2002 if Solano died in 2001," said Justice Bhunu.
Mr Chikumbirike had
asked the court to release Kuruneri unconditionally or grant him bail with
reasonable conditions pending trial.
But prosecutor Mr Joseph Jagada
opposed the application saying the State had made progress in the case, but
was faced with many obstacles since their investigations were
extra-territorial.
Herald
Reporter HARARE Central Hospital medical superintendent Mr Chris Tapfumaneyi
yesterday maintained that the City of Harare disconnected water supplies for
the entire institution and not just the administration block as the local
authority is now claiming.
As a result, the hospital lost millions of
dollars after some of its equipment was contaminated.
Mr Chris
Tapfumaneyi was reacting to a Press statement in The Sunday Mail and
yesterday's issue of The Herald in which the City of Harare says it only
disco- nnected water supplies to Harare Central Hospital's administration
blocks.
The city accused some members of the Press of seeking to
portray it as insensitive by reporting that it had disconnected water to
Harare Central Hospital and the Zimbabwe Prison Services.
But Mr
Tapfumaneyi said: "They disconnected water supplies to the main hospital and
it should be clear that we have only two points of closure, one to the main
hospital including the admini- stration block, and the other to the staff
quarters and the psychiatric unit."
He said the City of Harare had closed
the point facing Lytton Road which supplies water to the main
hospital.
"As a result of that closure, we have sent our hospital
equipment for sterilisation as it was contaminated after water was shut
down."
He said the bulk of surgical operations that had been booked for
that day had to be called off because the hospital suddenly found itself
without water.