MDC-T Minister Mangoma arrested for ‘undermining Mugabe’

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 October 2012

Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma was on Wednesday
arrested by the police and charged with ‘undermining’ the authority of
Robert Mugabe.

The MDC-T reacted furiously to his arrest saying the Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai will take up the issue head-on with Mugabe.

The minister, a deputy treasurer-general of the MDC-T was picked up at
3:30pm from his Harare offices. A statement released by the MDC-T said one
of the arresting officers, a detective Sergeant Kamzimbi, told Mangoma he
was being arrsted for chanting anti-Mugabe slogans at a party rally he
addressed in Bindura in May this year. The other detectives were detective
constable Nzombe, detective constable Dickson and detective constable
Gandidzanwa.

It is alleged Mangoma chanted ‘Mugabe Chifa, Mugabe Chibva’ (Mugabe die,
Mugabe go). The minister denied the charges.

He was initially detained at Harare central police CID Law and Order Section
before he was driven off towards Bindura. Just after getting past the new
Zimbabwe Defence College, along the Harare-Bindura highway, the police
vehicle made a u-turn and headed back to Harare central police station.
There, Mangoma spent about 30 minutes before he was released.

According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Mangoma was released
after signing a warned and cautioned statement. The Lawyers group used
social networking website Twitter to update the public about what was
happening, prompting an immediate and angry reaction from Zimbabweans using
the website. Observers also commented that Mangoma’s swift release could
have been a result of the very public Twitter reaction to his arrest.

A fuming diplomat based in Harare condemned the arrest, asking what it was
in aid of. He described ZANU PF, who he said control the police, as a bunch
of mad people who are ‘stupid and idiots’.

Phillan Zamchiya, the regional coordinator for the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition said the tough security laws have no place in a modern democracy
where freedom of expression should be a cornerstone of our liberties.

This is not the first time that Mangoma has been detained by the police. In
March this year, he was arrested on corruption charges relating to a botched
US$5 million fuel deal.

He was eventually acquitted by a High Court Judge over the charges that he
authorised the purchase of five million litres of fuel, without going to
tender.

Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, then told the court it was common knowledge fuel
was in short supply at the time and the Minister was therefore alleviating a
national crisis.

MDC not deterred by Zanu PF harassment

http://www.mdc.co.zw

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

The MDC condemns the arrest and detention of Hon Elton Mangoma, the Party’s
Deputy Treasurer General by four Central Intelligence Operatives at his
government offices today.

The timing of the arrest is strange as it comes when Hon. Mangoma is the MDC
lead negotiator present in the country to meet with the SADC facilitation
team in Harare tomorrow to get a briefing on the political, and security
situation in the country. Hon Mangoma is set to present vital information on
the operations of JOMIC – an organ Zanu PF has sought to paralyse by its
continued and glaring absence from its meetings.

Further, the arrest comes at a time when the country is getting ready for
the Second All Stakeholders’ Conference slated for this month where
Zimbabweans will have a chance to input into the draft constitution that was
produced by the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution (Copac).
Minister Mangoma is one of the MDC representatives in the Management
Committee of Copac.

The MDC therefore, finds the latest assault on its leadership as part of
Zanu PF’s concerted efforts to weaken the MDC leadership ahead of these
crucial meetings. The continued harassment of the MDC leadership is part of
Zanu PF grand plan to divert people’s attention from pertinent issues of
Constitution making and the continued looting of state resources by Zanu Pf
cronies in Chiadzwa.

The people’s Party of excellence will not be deterred from pursuing its
vision of transforming the lives of Zimbabweans. The MDC will therefore,
continue with greater vigor to push for a YES vote on the constitution as it
protects the people from such arbitrary arrest.

The MDC feels vindicated for calling for security sector reform and the
immediate resignation of Acting Police Commissioner General Augustine
Chihuri for failure to execute his duties professionally and in the interest
of the Zimbabwean people. The police continue to act as an appendage of Zanu
PF’s security department and this is unacceptable.

Zimbabweans are tired of Zanu PF’s insincerity in calling for peace against
a surge in violence in the country led by some members of the security
sector. The party urges all Zimbabweans to stand firm to defend their vote
for a new democratic Zimbabwe.

My Voice is In. My Vote is YES!!!

MDC-T activists denied bail in cop murder trial

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 October 2012

The 29 MDC-T activists accused of murdering a Glen View cop last year were
denied bail by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu at the High Court on Wednesday.

The judge had reserved judgement on the bail application last month, after
fresh evidence was introduced by testimony from the late cop’s father and
brother. Both implicated ZANU PF elements in the murder of officer Petros
Mutedza last May, and insisted the arrested MDC-T member had nothing to do
with the death.

But Justice Bhunu dismissed their testimonies on Wednesday, citing
‘irregularities’. He accused the defence team from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights, of having coached Mutedza’s brother Solomon in order to
incriminate ZANU PF and the police.

The defence lawyers were instructed to seek bail through the Supreme Court
instead. MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s new wife Elizabeth, as well as
party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora and Minister Nelson Chamisa were at the
court giving moral support to the detained MDC members. The ongoing murder
trial resumes on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the MDC-T has revealed that police arrested two Youth Assembly
leaders from their Glen View South constituency on Tuesday, in connection
with the same murder case.

It had been reported that only Jackson Mabota was being added to the list of
defendants in the Mutedza murder case. But the MDC-T reported that Tarisai
Kusotera was also arrested in Glen View. Both are reportedly still in
detention in Harare.

Officer Petros Mutedza was killed at a local pub back in May, 2011. The
state claims he was murdered by MDC-T members who held an illegal meeting at
the pub. Only MDC-T members were arrested in the weeks that followed, with
police claiming to be investigating.

But the MDC-T insists many of the accused are party officials who were not
at the scene the night Mutedza died. Some of the accused members have been
in jail for over a year, with the courts repeatedly denying them bail as
flight risks.

Police Arrest 2 More MDC Activists Over Harare Cop Death

http://www.voazimbabwe.com

Violet Gonda, Thomas Chiripasi
09.10.2012

Two more activists of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were arrested Tuesday in connection with
last year’s death of police inspector Petros Mutedza in Harare’s Glen View
high density suburb.

The party reacted angrily over the arrest alleging that the move is designed
to destroy its structures ahead of crucial general elections next year.

The arrest of the MDC’s Glen View ward chairman Jackson Mabota and Tarirai
Kusotera, chairman of the district youth assembly, comes at a time when
MDC-T youth chairman Solomon Madzore and 28 others have been languishing in
jail for over a year for their alleged involvement in the murder of Mutedza.

The 29 are due to appear in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday.

Police spokesman for Harare province, Inspector James Sabau, told VOA Studio
7 the two are assisting police with investigations over the officer’s death.

Sabau said formal charges against the two activists are yet to be preferred
although they remain in detention at Harare Central Police Station.

MDC-T organizing secretary Nelson Chamisa said police are being used as
pawns to destabilize the party’s structures ahead of fresh elections which
President Robert Mugabe says may be held next March.

The two MDC formations in the inclusive government remain adamant that any
fresh polls in Zimbabwe should only be held following key democratic
reforms.

Chamisa called on the Southern African Development Community, the African
Union and other international bodies to send envoys to Zimbabwe to assess
the security situation before elections are conducted.

Chamisa, who is also the Minister of Information Communication Technology,
said security sector reforms remain a key element in holding free and fair
elections in the country.

The MDC said charges against its members are politically motivated but
Nkululeko Sibanda, an analyst who specializes in African politics at the
UK-based Huddersfield University, believes that these cases have more to do
with corruption and bad policing standards than politics.

“The Youth Assembly is not necessarily the best campaigner in Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC and the outcome of the election or referendum does not
depend on these few individuals.

“The MDC will carry on with or without them and I don’t think Zanu PF or the
police would believe this is a game-changing arrest, so I don’t see any
strategic reason or rationale for doing that for political reasons.”

Sibanda said the police may have "scores to settle in the local area with
the local people to avenge the death of their colleague”.

Zim cricket legend Kevin Curran dies

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
10 October 2012

Tributes have been pouring in after the sudden death of Zimbabwean cricket
legend Kevin Curran, who passed away this week.

Curran, aged 53, died while out jogging in Mutare on Wednesday morning.

At the time of his death he was coaching the provincial Mashonaland Eagles
for two Twenty20 limited overs matches this week. The games have been
postponed.

Curran played international cricket for Zimbabwe and then county cricket for
Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire in the UK for nearly two decades,
before his retirement in 1999. He moved to Namibia to coach the national
team there before returning to Zimbabwe in 2004 as a head of the CFX Cricket
Academy in Harare.

In 2005 he replaced Phil Simmons as the national team coach until 2007. In
2010 he became head coach of Mashonaland Eagles and a national selector.

Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa said: “We are still in
shock, Kevin was the epitome of health and we have yet to make sense of this
tragic loss. KC’s past and continued contribution to the game of cricket is
unquestionable and dates as far back as his playing days up until the
phenomenal work he had been doing at Mash Eagles. The cricket fraternity has
been dealt a great blow.”

Mash Eagles chief executive Vimbai Mapukute added: “I have yet to meet a man
more passionate about cricket in this country. His passing will leave a huge
void at Mash Eagles and I feel that I have not only lost a key business ally
but a friend as well.”

SAA cancels Harare flights over poor runway light

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

09/10/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

THE Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) and South African Airways
(SAA) held discussions on Tuesday after the airline aborted a landing at the
Harare International Airport citing poor runway lighting.

SAA, which runs two daily flights to Harare, pilots aborted landing on
Monday night.

The cancellation was met with an immediate response from the CAAZ.
"We didn’t want it to get to this and so we have written to SAA because we
want to improve the situation. These lights are adjustable," said David
Chawota, CEO of the CAAZ.

Chawota said SAA was the only carrier that had complained and withdrawn its
service.
SAA has airline has steadily filled the void left by Air Zimbabwe, which
grounded international flights over financial problems.

Air Zimbabwe has a November deadline to avoid a ban on its flights landing
abroad by satisfying international safety requirements.

ZCTU to petition Ministers over water and dying industry

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 October 2012

An estimated 150 members from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
participated in a cleanup of outdoor markets in Bulawayo on Wednesday, to
commemorate ‘World Day for Decent Work’.

But an official from the umbrella labour union said in addition to the
cleanup campaign, they will be submitting a petition to the Ministers
responsible for Trade and Industry, Water Resources Management and Labour
and Social Welfare.

Reason Ngwenya, chairman of the ZCTU Western Region, told SW Radio Africa
that the petitions are meant to highlight the critical water shortages that
have crippled Bulawayo and the high rate of unemployment caused by daily
company closures.

Ngwenya said they chose to sweep and cleanup the outdoor markets because
they are central locations where many people meet to buy food, exposing them
to the risk of contracting cholera and other waterborne diseases.

“Bulawayo has been so dry this year and the Minister has made no plans. We
are in a crisis and need water without fail. They must speed it up,” Ngwenya
said, adding that people are being forced to drink from water sources that
are not safe and this has gone on too long.

Ngwenya said the petition will also highlight the company closures that
government promised to address by providing loans to businesses and
individuals in need, through the Distressed Industries and Marginalized
Areas Fund (DIMAF).

“Our businesses are shutting down day in and day out. There has been talk
about this DIMAF for nearly two years now. We don’t know what industries
have benefitted but our industries are closing. Unemployment is so high in
this city, which is not acceptable to workers,” Ngwenya explained.

The activist blasted the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for failing
to provide health and safety clothing and equipment in order to protect the
workers. According to Ngwenya, fatal accidents on the job have increased by
25% from last year’s figures.

The ZCTU petitions are separate from the demands being negotiated by workers’
representatives in the umbrella Apex Council, which met Wednesday to decide
whether to go on strike over the same issues. By the end of Wednesday there
was no news about whether the strike will go ahead.

Service delivery has gone to the dogs

http://www.kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=10007

Services which citizens of a nation are supposed to get from local
authorities as a basic right have become a privilege.

In almost every town in Zimbabwe citizens are bemoaning poor service
delivery – from dry taps to dark nights caused by load shedding. Mounting
complaints fall on deaf ears. Recently it was reported that City of Harare’s
wage bill has doubled leaving little revenue going to service delivery.

For decades now the Zambezi water project (now Zambezi water pipe dream),
which is supposed to help solve Bulawayo’s water woes, has not produced
positive results even when the Movement for Democratic Change took over the
Ministry of Water. Residents of Bulawayo recently had to resort to the
so-called “Big Flush” and Councilor Thaba Moyo was quoted saying, “The big
flush is meant to take care of areas that would have been placed under water
rationing. Residents will be asked to systematically flush all their toilets
so that sufficient water will be deposited in the system in order to get rid
of the material that would have dried up and blocked the system.” I just can’t
imagine residents trying to beat evening traffic to reach home so that they
can comply with the 7:30 pm Big Flush directive.

Service delivery problems are even affecting smaller towns like Gweru and
Masvingo.

Try to imagine a growing town like Chitungwiza with no independent water
supply of its own having to rely on City of Harare for supply of this
precious basic right which sometimes gets disconnected for non-payment.

Soon it will be raining and heaps of gravel will be dumped along the roads
to patch up pothole riddled partly tarred roads. This exercise of patching
tarred roads with gravel has not done any good to the roads as the potholes
have increase to ditches making the roads impassable during rainy season.

And, instead of just starting with putting the pre-paid meters in households
somebody didn’t do his/her job right at Zimbabwe’s power distribution
company ZESA by wasting money ordering millions of bulbs to save electricity
which residents only receive less than twelve hours a day.

This entry was posted on October 10th, 2012 at 11:25 am by Lenard Kamwendo

Constitution Q&A launched by Diaspora groups

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
10 October 2012

The South African wing of the MDC-T, and the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, have
launched an online initiative encouraging Zimbabweans to ask questions about
the draft constitution.

The MDC-T SA launched the initiative last week, seeking to answer any
questions Zimbabweans might have regarding the contents of the draft
charter. The answers will be provided by legal experts including ZEF leader
Gabriel Shumba.

Kumbi Muchemwa, the spokesperson for the MDC-T SA told SW Radio Africa that
they identified the need to launch an online platform after conducting face
to face meetings about the constitution with Zimbabwean communities in South
Africa. He said that having the Q&A online means a larger audience of
Zimbabweans can be reached.

He explained that the initiative, launched last Thursday, has so far been
received well and questions are beginning to pour in. Zimbabweans with
online access are being encouraged to send in whatever questions they have
about the draft constitution to the MDC-T SA by emailing info@mdcsa.co.za,
or on Facebook and Twitter .

Muchemwa explained that the majority of questions so far have been centred
on concerns about dual citizenship. Another key concern has been about the
voting rights of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, a right that is not guaranteed
in the draft.

“We had been hoping the draft would allow us to vote, but again we have been
disappointed. We don’t see why citizens in the Diaspora cannot participate.
It is out greatest disappointment. We don’t want to be standing on
sidelines. Some of us can go, but it shouldn’t be an expense to decide fate
of your country,” Muchemwa said.

A date for the constitutional referendum has not yet been set, with the 2nd
All Stakeholders Conference only set to get underway from October 21 to 23.
But there are no plans to include the Diaspora in the referendum, unless
citizens make their way back home.

Muchemwa said it would be a “good idea” for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to
be given a chance to vote in the referendum, from the countries they are in,
saying it should be a responsibility of the government. But he said that
ZANU PF “insincerity” and corruption was standing in the way.

“How do we accept that the Zimbabwe government cannot finance our vote in
the Diaspora when there are funds, when we know there is money that is not
being remitted (by ZANU PF). This is insincerity on part of ZANU PF,”
Muchemwa said.

More on the Q&A series, and the latest answers, can be found on the MDC-T SA
website.

Brothers to battle for Chivi North constituency

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 October 2012

Two brothers belonging to the country’s warring political parties, ZANU PF
and the MDC-T, are set to put aside their family loyalties to contest the
Chivi North constituency during next year’s elections.

John Huruva, a long standing London based MDC-T activist and former
organising secretary for the MDC-UK told SW Radio Africa’ Hidden Story
program on Wednesday that he plans to contest the Chivi North seat.

If elected in the MDC-T primaries, Huruva will most likely fight for the
constituency against his older brother, Tranos Huruva, the incumbent ZANU PF
MP for the area.

However, Huruva faces a daunting task in the primaries. Standing in his way
is businessman and veteran politician Bernard Chiondegwa, who marginally
lost to Tranos in the 2008 poll.

“I am suprised he has the nerve to campaign for the seat again when he has
not brought any development to the area since he became MP. We haven’t seen
development in these areas since independence, so you wonder what ZANU PF
has been doing in all those years,” John said.

He continued: “This is a fight that is not meant to break family, but build
family and build Zimbabwe with better policies. Looking at the way the MDC
has made inroads in Masvingo, there is a very good chance the party will
white wash ZANU PF in next year’s elections.”

John, a local government expert, who’s worked in local councils in the UK
for the last 20 years, urged Zimbabwean professionals based in exile to go
back home and prepapre to participate in local governance to enhance
development.

The British based Huruva said he is optimistic that collaboration between
returning exiles, local councils and communities would go a long way in
moving the country forward.

‘Army, police new public prosecutors’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Wednesday, 10 October 2012 10:28
HARARE - Zimbabwe is undergoing systematic militarisation of the public
prosecution department, deputy minister of Justice and Legal Affairs has
told the 7th annual Africa Prosecutors Association conference.

Obert Gutu, the deputy minister of Justice and Legal Affairs said in a
keynote address at the Africa Prosecutors Association annual general meeting
in Windhoek, Namibia, that police officers as well as army and prison
service officials have been stuffed into the public prosecution department
to prosecute the massive backlog of cases.

“In Zimbabwe, we have a rather disturbing situation where members of the
uniformed forces such as the police and the army, are appointed as public
prosecutors,” Gutu said on Monday.

“This is a very unhealthy state of affairs because there can be no
prosecutorial independence when the whole institution of prosecution is
militarised.

Wherever possible, all prosecutors in civilian courts should be civilians
themselves.”

Gutu claimed that of the 200 public prosecutors in the country, 125 are from
the police, six are prison officers and five are soldiers.

Civilian prosecutors are shunning the job because of appalling remuneration,
leaving government to look within its own ranks, he said.

Gutu said African Union guidelines encourage states to ensure reasonable
conditions of service of prosecutors, adequate remuneration and, where
applicable, tenure, housing, transport, conditions of physical and social
security, pension and age of retirement and other conditions of service.

“Let me hasten to say that in most African countries remuneration
commensurate with the crucial role played by prosecutors could go a long way
in combating corruption in our justice delivery systems,” he said.

“Corruption is a cancer that is threatening to tear to shreds, the whole
fabric of society; including but not limited to the justice delivery system.
Prosecutors should exercise the highest standard of professionalism and
integrity. Put simply, prosecutors should shun corruption in all its manner
of manifestation.”

Gutu told the indaba that the question of autonomy of prosecutors was
paramount.

“International and regional law does not contain a provision that guarantees
the institutional independence of prosecutors,” he said.

“This may be due to the fact that countries have different systems of
prosecution.”

Zimbabwe’s Parliament recently considered a Bill to establish the Attorney
General’s Office Board to constitute the AG’s office as a service outside
the public service and to provide for the
administration of the office and conditions of service of its members.

Also, the draft constitution which will soon be tabled for discussion at the
Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference also provides for a National Prosecuting
Authority.

Gutu said: “We have come to realise that an independent prosecutorial
authority is necessary to ensure that prosecutors carry out their
professional functions impartially and objectively.

“Though the basic roles and functions of prosecutors vary considerably among
legal systems and the extent of their power and authority vary considerably
among states, autonomy and independence from other branches of government is
indeed a giant step toward guaranteeing the independence of prosecutors.” -
Gift Phiri

Salary Deadlock Irks Zimbabwe Civil Servants

http://www.voazimbabwe.com

Jonga Kandemiiri
09.10.2012

Civil servants have given the government a 48-hour ultimatum to resume
salary negotiations or face industrial action by more than 230,000 workers.

Union representatives met Monday in Harare under the Apex Council and agreed
to give the government until Thursday afternoon to open negotiations set
aside two weeks ago by Labor Minister Lucia Matibenga.

The minister, who professed ignorance on the matter Tuesday, cited
leadership wrangles within the unions as reasons for blocking the
negotiations.

Apex Council chairman David Dzatsunga told VOA Studio 7 Matibenga’s office
received the civil servants’ written warning Tuesday morning.

Dzatsunga said their negotiating team will be led by former Apex Council
chairperson Tendai Chikowore.

The Public Service Association’s Cecilia Alexander, who is at the center of
the union dispute, will be excluded from the negotiations together with the
new members of the council which negotiates salary increases, bonuses and
better working conditions with government on behalf of civil servants.

Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe general secretary Raymond Majongwe
said civil servants are now speaking with one voice as they want salary
increases commensurate with the country’s poverty datum line currently
estimated at more than $590 for an urban family of six.

The lowest paid Zimbabwean state employee is currently getting almost $300 a
month.

Majongwe said the government can only avert the looming industrial action
through tabling new salary packages and bonuses for its employees.

The government has already said it does not have funds to increase salaries
of civil servants due to the poor performance of the economy and drying
revenues in the Marange diamond field, Manicaland Province.

The government had expected to generate more than $600 million from the
Marange field for boosting its coffers strained by a high pay bill and ghost
workers believed to be more than 14,000.

Chinese companies in Zimbabwe given free reign to exploit workers

Rendition probe 'just a sham'

http://www.timeslive.co.za

GRAEME HOSKEN | 10 October, 2012 00:01

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announces a sharp decline in crime, but
rejected questions about public trust
An investigation into allegations that the police were involved in the
rendition of Zimbabweans to their home country appears to have come to
nothing.

Though the Department of Police claims that the investigation is under way,
those who raised the alarm have yet to be contacted.

In May, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said the investigation, by the
Civilian Secretariat for Police, was nearing completion.

By yesterday, however, neither the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum nor the Independent
Police Investigative Directorate had been consulted or asked to assist.

An Independent Police Investigative Directorate investigator said it was
peculiar that the directorate had not been assigned to the investigation,
"which falls within our mandate".

"Given the seriousness of the allegations, [we] should be investigating.

"The secretariat does not have investigative powers and the police minister
cannot confer such powers on an organ of state that does not have such a
constitutional mandate," he said.

Police Department spokesman Zweli Mnisi yesterday said a draft report was
given to the minister, who thought further investigations were necessary.

Between 2010 and 2011, 15 Zimbabweans were allegedly smuggled back to their
home country with the alleged assistance of members of the Hawks.

The officers are said to have worked in collaboration with Zimbabwean
intelligence and police agencies.

The renditions were reportedly made under the pretext that the Zimbabwean
authorities were looking for criminals.

Of the 15 who disappeared, four - according to the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum -
have been murdered by Zimbabwe police.

The forum's chairman, Gabriel Shumba, said: "It was announced that the
investigation would be thorough and transparent.

"How is such an investigation thorough and transparent when the people who
raised the alarm have not been contacted to provide the information that
proves the allegations?

"How can they claim this when they have not involved the police watchdog?
They are using their own to investigate their own," he said.

Shumba said his organisation had made several phone calls to the police
trying to set up meetings.

"Three months later, we are still waiting to have these meetings, which we
were told were vitally important to the investigation.

"It is clear that those conducting the investigation are not treating it
with the seriousness it deserves," Shumba said.

Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini said of the investigation: "We have
heard nothing of its details, mandate or anything of a report - draft or
otherwise ."

Secretariat deputy director-general Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane failed to
respond to requests for information about the investigation.

In October last year the Sunday Times published damning accounts of the
authorities abducting Zimbabweans in South Africa, including former Movement
for Democratic Change organiser Gift Nhadzi and his wife, who were tortured
after he was repatriated.

Also said to have been sent back to Zimbabwe against his will was Witness
Ndeya, who is alleged to have killed Zimbabwean police officers.

He was returned to Zimbabwe with two other citizens and allegedly murdered.

Zimbabwe warriors promised residential stands

http://nehandaradio.com

on October 10, 2012 at 7:56 am

Each member of the Zimbabwe national football team will get a residential
stand in Harare’s leafy northern suburbs if the team can hold their nerve
against Angola in Luanda on Sunday and qualify for the African Cup of
Nations finals.

The team coached by Rahman Gumbo carry a healthy 3-1 lead from the first
leg. A win, draw or even defeat by a one goal margin, will see the Warriors
qualifying for the 2013 Nations Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Announcing the residential stand incentive Local Government, Rural and Urban
Development Minister Ignatius Chombo said the Government had decided to play
a big part in the Warriors’ quest for greatness.

A residential stand in the leafy suburbs of Harare costs between US$20 000
and US$30 000 on average.

Meanwhile Khama Billiat who was the star of the show when Zimbabwe thumped
Angola 3-1 has challenged his teammates to overcome all odds and embrace
their destiny by completing the mission in Luanda.

“We are looking forward to the game, everybody is ready . . . we have worked
hard to get this far, we know it’s going to be difficult out there but we
also know that the 90 minutes on Sunday will decide our individual careers,”
Billiat said.

“I have never been to the Nations Cup, most of us in the squad have never
been there and we want to go there and get to know how it feels so we have
to beat Angola. We also know that there are a lot of opportunities that come
with playing at the Nations Cup finals and we want to grab all those
opportunities,’’ he added.

Assistant coach Peter Ndlovu also rallied the entire nation to back the
Warriors in their cause for a place at the Nations Cup finals.

“As long as you are Zimbabwean you know how crucial this game is for us. We
are not going to sit back and let them attack. Our game plan will be based
on total football and the basics and we want to make it hard for them each
time we win the ball,’’ Ndlovu said.

Morgan Tsvangirai on his other troubled marriage ... to Robert Mugabe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

His marital scandals dominate the Zimbabwean headlines but the PM wants to
put the focus on life after the president's exit

Leo Cendrowicz in Harare
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 October 2012 03.45 BST

Morgan Tsvangirai is a man under pressure. Ahead of next year's elections
the Zimbabwean prime minister is trying to deliver a new constitution,
revive a troubled economy and manage a difficult relationship with the
country's president, Robert Mugabe.

Yet one of Tsvangirai's main concerns right now is keeping his love life
from the headlines amid accusations of serial dating, illegitimate children
and bigamy.

Three weeks ago Tsvangirai, 60, was forced to cancel his high-profile
wedding because a judge ruled he was customarily married to another woman.
Tsvangirai, 60, and Elizabeth Macheka, 35, went ahead with a lavish ceremony
but did not sign the legal marriage register after a judge warned that it
could lead to bigamy charges from his 12-day marriage last year to Locardia
Karimatsenga, 39.

Speaking to the Guardian in his Harare residence, Tsvangirai said he had
been the victim of a smear campaign. "I had two or three relationships and
that was blown out of proportion," he said. "If two consenting adults have a
relationship what is wrong with that? I didn't go and rape somebody. I
didn't go and take somebody's wife."

He said the media frenzy over his private life since his wife's death in a
car accident in 2009 had been fed by his political enemies. "They knew they
could not pin me down on anything so they had to find something that they
could point to as if they were angels. Some of these people who are writing
about my so-called sexual scandals have a string of girlfriends, a string of
wives and children. We fell apart, as human beings fall apart in
relationships. It is natural. But to call it a scandal is a bit
exaggerated."

Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), heads a
coalition government in an uneasy alliance with Mugabe's Zanu PF party.
Despite the bitter rivalry between the two, Tsvangirai said Mugabe was still
needed to help Zimbabwe transform into a functioning democracy. "Mugabe is
part of the solution because of his grip on the party and the institutions
of the state," Tsvangirai said. "For the sake of his legacy and the sake of
the future stability I hope that he behaves in a manner which observes the
constitution."

He said, perhaps hopefully, that Mugabe's 88 years were catching up with him
and he was contemplating retirement. "With his age he's frail," he said. "To
tell you honestly Mugabe is not in a fighting mood to retain power. I think
he has long given up that. He knows that time and tide has gone beyond him."

Tsvangirai would not confirm reports that Mugabe often falls asleep during
cabinet meetings but he admitted that the president, whose eyesight is
fading, now only receives verbal briefing on key issues. "I don't think he
has that staying power to study, read and develop," he said. "That time is
gone."

In 2008 Tsvangirai – leading in the presidential poll – pulled out in the
face of brutal violence against his supporters. Tsvangirai himself was
almost killed in 1997 when Zanu PF henchmen tried to throw him out of a
tenth floor window. But he insists he holds no rancour towards Mugabe. "He
nearly killed me but what's the use?" he said. "The way I was beaten and
left for dead, I will never recover that, even if I were to beat him to the
same extent. We learn a lot from reconciliation."

"We have gone through an evolving relationship from very polarised
positions – even you might say a love-hate relationship – because at some
point we both realised we needed each other to resolve the critical national
crisis we were facing."

Asked about Mugabe's legacy, he said it would be a "mixed fortune": "from a
hero to a villain and back again to someone who has managed a transition".

If Mugabe is losing his grip on power at home, the tide is also turning
amongst Zimbabwe's neighbours. "He is now a liability to the region. And
therefore they are asking if supporting Mugabe is really in the best
interests of the region," Tsvangirai said.

Zimbabwe has been subject to international sanctions for the past decade but
the European Union says it will suspend most of them once a credible
referendum is held on a new constitution – which could be as soon as next
month. But Tsvangirai said the sanctions should be lifted already. "They are
no longer an instrument of leverage," Tsvangirai said. "The continuing
restrictions are actually stifling any further reform."

Since Tsvangirai became prime minister in February 2009 much has changed in
Zimbabwe. Inflation, measured at 500 trillion percent in 2008, is now under
5%, mainly due to Zimbabwe adopting the American dollar. The economy, which
halved in size in the decade to 2009, has grown by more than 7% a year since
then – although unemployment is still estimated at 80% and millions are
still dependent on food aid. "There is peace, there is food on the table,
the hyperinflation is gone," Tsvangirai said, eager to highlight his
successes. But he knows that the real test of the country's progress, and
his leadership, will take place next year, when the country goes to the
polls.

Zimbabwe Vigil's 10th Anniversary - no cause for celebration