http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Monday 18 October
2010
HARARE - There are growing fears that Zimbabwe is headed for
another
bloodbath as President Robert Mugabe pushes for elections next year
- with
or without a new and democratic Constitution seen as critical to
ensuring
that any new polls are bloodless.
A defiant Mugabe said
last Thursday that he was fed up with the "stupidity"
of some of his
disputes with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and wanted a
delayed
constitution-making process speeded up to enable elections to be
held by
mid-2011.
Responding for the first time to the latest dispute with
Tsvangirai over the
appointment of ambassadors and provincial governors,
Mugabe said he wanted a
new constitution to be ready by the end of the
two-year term of Zimbabwe's
shaky coalition government next
February.
"To give it another life of six months or one year no, no, no,"
Mugabe said,
referring to the coalition government he formed with Tsvangirai
and Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara in February 2009.
The
coalition has been rocked by constant squabbling among the partners,
with
Tsvangirai and Mutambara regularly accusing Mugabe of making decisions
without consulting them as required under a September 2008 power-sharing
pact that led to the formation of the unity
regime.
Appointments
The latest spat between the two rivals was
triggered by Tsvangirai's refusal
to recognise some senior appointments made
by Mugabe during the past few
months in violation of the power-sharing pact
-also known as the global
political agreement (GPA) - which requires the
ageing Zimbabwean leader to
consult his coalition partners before appointing
officials.
Tsvangirai two weeks wrote to the leaders of South Africa,
Italy, Sweden,
the European Union and United Nations asking them not to
recognise six
Zimbabwean ambassadors whom he said were unilaterally
appointed by Mugabe.
He has also refused to recognise the legitimacy of
the chief of police, the
central bank governor, the attorney general, 10
ministers and five judges,
all appointed by Mugabe alone.
This
prompted South African President Jacob Zuma to send a three-member
mediation
team to try to resolve the Harare impasse.
Mugabe hinted that a
referendum on the new Constitution would to be held
earlier than the
previously stated June 2011 to allow polls to be held by
the middle of next
year.
But analysts warned last week that trying to fast-track the
Constitution
drafting process would produce a flawed document that does not
reflect the
changes demanded by Zimbabweans.
"There is no way we can
have a new constitution by the time the term of the
inclusive government
ends in February 2011 given the myriad of problems
COPAC (Constitutional
Parliamentary Committee) has faced since the committee
was set up in April
last year," said Harare-based political analyst Donald
Porusingazi.
The process to draft a new governance charter is more
than a year behind
schedule due to a combination of factors, including
funding problems and
bickering among the three parties to the GPA.
It
has also been marred by violence allegedly perpetrated by ZANU PF
militias
led by the head of the war veterans association Jabulani Sibanda
and members
of the armed forces.
Forces of darkness
"It's obvious that Mugabe
and ZANU PF will try to capitalise on the constant
disputes with the MDC to
force an early election where they will unleash
their forces of darkness on
the hapless electorate," Porusingazi added.
ZANU PF has been
re-establishing militia training camps in some parts of the
country and
Tsvangirai's MDC-T this month listed at least 50 incidents of
violence and
intimidation perpetrated by war veterans, police officers,
soldiers, Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives and pro-Mugabe
traditional
chiefs.
ZANU PF youths are known for using militia camps as torture basis
where
perceived opponents of Mugabe and his party are assaulted, raped,
tortured
or even murdered.
"Should this happen, the nation will be
thrown back to the year 2008; Mugabe
and ZANU PF will 'win' the elections
and illegitimacy will be reinstated all
over again," Makumbe said.
He
spoke of the threat of a fresh exodus of desperate Zimbabweans leaving
the
country to escape persecution, charging that SADC countries would have
to
brace themselves for the influx of political and economic refugees from
Zimbabwe.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Monday 18 October
2010
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) has been sucked
into the arms
trafficking scandal involving rogue Ecuadorian bishop Walter
Crespo amid
allegations that the shadowy Zimbabwean army-run company
supplied some of
the weapons smuggled by Crespo to Colombian
rebels.
Crespo was detained by Ecuadorian police in 2000-03 for arms
trafficking to
the guerrillas of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionariasde
Colombia (FARC),
also known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia.
London-based political think-tank Africa Confidential said last
week that
the ZDI was the source of the arms supplied by Crespo to the
notorious
rebels accused of kidnappings and murdering innocent
civilians.
"We hear some of the end user certificates for the arms were
supplied by
Zimbabwe Defence Industries, an army-controlled firm headed by
retired
Colonel Tshinga Dube," the think-tank said.
It also alleged
possible arms dealing and money laundering activities by the
Zimbabwean arms
company.
"Given that arms supplied to FARC are generally paid for with
cocaine, the
ZDI's foray into Latin American operations may partly explain
the surge of
money laundered through the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) over
the past
decade," Africa Confidential said.
The ZSE experienced a
fairytale ride between 2000 and 2008, largely driven
by liquid market
conditions.
FARC is a violent guerrilla organisation described by the US,
Colombian, New
Zealand, Canadian and European Union governments as a
"terrorist" group.
It has been accused of kidnapping government officials
and aid workers and
recruiting child soldiers.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Stanley Gama
Monday, 18 October 2010
16:24
HARARE - The feud between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
President
Robert Mugabe escalated into a war of words at the weekend with
the ageing
Zimbabwean leader attacking his rival saying he was ignorant of
international law.
Mugabe said this while addressing members of
the Zanu PF Women's League,
where he was responding to Tsvangirai's decision
to write to the United
Nations and the European Union, protesting against
the 86-year old leader's
unilateral appointments of provincial
governors.
Mugabe's controversial appointments, which are a breach of the
Global
Political Agreement (GPA), sparked a furious reaction from Tsvangirai
who
described the move as "nonsensical " and "outrageous" and he
subsequently
advised the EU and UN not to recognise envoys appointed by the
veteran
leader.
According to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC), Mugabe said
Tsvangirai does not understand how governments work
resulting in him rushing
to the UN to complain about ambassadors yet it is
the job of the ministry of
foreign affairs.
"The appointment of
ambassadors is the work of the Foreign minister and the
President and there
is only one President in the country.
"The Foreign Affairs Minister
advised and recommended that there should be a
reshuffle of ambassadors and
there were no new appointments made.
"Now some are complaining why we
have done that- they do not know that there
are procedures that are
followed, that is why I said such activities are of
a foolish nature,
absolute and sometimes quite stupid.
"The United Nations is not the
United Nations of parties or individuals, but
it is a United Nations of
countries and the countries are represented by
their Foreign Ministers and
their Ambassadors who are instructed by their
Heads of State," said
Mugabe.
While Tsvangirai was unavailable for comment, his spokesperson
Luke
Tamborinyoka said: "The Prime Minister remains seized with
constitutional
matters and other pressing issues in the country and has no
time to comment
on that."
But a minister close to Tsvangirai who
refused to be named said Mugabe's
attacks clearly shows that he has run out
of ideas and was probably
grandstanding to his supporters.
"After
Mugabe was endorsed by the women to be their life president, he was
so
excited about it that he thought of something to say to cheer them up.
But
the truth of the matter is that Mr Mugabe is failing to understand the
GPA.
"He is claiming that the constitution overrides the GPA but he
forgets that
he is president of the country because of the GPA. He is
forgetting that he
lost elections and only became president after
negotiations. He must just
follow what was agreed in the GPA instead of
lying to his women supporters.
At times you have to feel sorry for Mugabe
because he is being manipulated
by his surrogates in Zanu PF who take
advantage of his advanced age," said
the minister who is a close associate
of Tsvangirai.
The latest fallout between Mugabe and Tsvangirai forced
facilitator to the
Zimbabwe crisis, President Jacob Zuma to send his envoys
last week to try
and force the warring parties to come to an
agreement.
The envoys left the country without saying what progress they
had made but
they managed to meet the three principals to the GPA - Mugabe,
Tsvangirai
and deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara separately.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
18
October 2010
Over 100 armed riot police sealed off the University of
Zimbabwe on Monday
in an effort to subdue a planned mass class boycott by
students demanding a
'fresh start' in the education sector.
Speaking
to SW Radio Africa, Zimbabwe National Students (ZINASU) coordinator
Kurayi
Garnet Hoyi said most colleges and universities countrywide were
besieged by
armed police units, determined to intimidate students. Police
warned
students against any 'funny behavior' and said they had orders to
'shoot to
kill'.
Seven students were arrested in Masvingo, including the ZINASU
Secretary
General Joshua Chinyere. Members of the Central Intelligence
Organisation
(CIO) are said to be hunting for the union's president Obert
Masaraure.
Last week Masaraure told SW Radio Africa that students
countrywide would
begin an indefinite class boycott demanding a 'fresh
start' in the education
sector.
Masaraure said; 'The current state of
education is abnormal and yet everyone
is trying to normalize an abnormal
situation.' He said their union is
pushing for a 'mass class boycott' which
will be complemented by several
'street protests'.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
18
October 2010
Villagers in Mutoko have raised concern at the presence of
an army unit at
Nyamuzuwe business centre in the district.
SW Radio
Africa is reliably informed that the troops, believed to have come
from the
army's JOC Mutoko barracks, have erected tents and mounted a boom
gate at
the centre.
Silas Gweshe, the information and publicity secretary for the
MDC-T in
Mashonaland East province, told us the presence of the soldiers has
raised
tensions in the politically volatile district.
'We all know
how ZANU PF operates towards an election. It is an open secret
that Mugabe
uses the military to intimidate or cause mayhem to villagers in
rural areas.
Soldiers are supposed to be based in army barracks, so you
cannot stop
worrying when you seem them camping at a business centre,'
Gweshe
said.
Gweshe said villagers were concerned the big troop presence was
another sign
of imminent action by ZANU PF, a party that mostly relies on
violence for
survival.
'We compare notes with our colleagues from
other provinces and they tell us
of much bigger troop movements in some of
the districts. So when we see
soldiers in rural areas people feel insecure
because of what happened in
2008 when we defeated ZANU PF,' Gweshe
added.
On March 29th 2008, ZANU PF lost its majority in parliament for
the first
time since independence and Mugabe lost the presidential vote.
Soon after,
the regime embarked on a bloody campaign of violence and
reprisal attacks,
mainly against people who voted MDC-T.
In the three
months between the vote and the June 27 runoff election,
ruling-party
militias, aided by soldiers and war veterans, battered the MDC,
bringing its
network to the verge of oblivion.
By election day, more than 200 party
supporters were dead, hundreds were
missing, tens of thousands were injured
and almost half a million were made
homeless. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
dropped out of the race and took
refuge in the Dutch Embassy.
Analysts'
fear ZANU PF will use violence again to hang on to power, after
Mugabe
signalled that he was against extending the life of the GPA when,
according
to him, it expires next year in February.
War vets leader Jabulani
Sibanda is already terrorizing villagers in
Masvingo province. In the last
four months alone, Sibanda has been inciting
violence and intimidating
villagers mainly in Zaka and Bikita districts. He
is criss-crossing the
length and breadth of the province intimidating people
into support for ZANU
PF ahead of an impending referendum, in June next
year.
Sibanda
reportedly told villagers in Zaka recently that he had been 'sent to
warn
all sell-outs in the area that ZANU PF is ready to kill them' if they
fail
to join his party before campaigns for the next elections have
begun.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
18
October 2010
A farming rights group has warned that there is a “final
push” to seize
Zimbabwe’s handful of remaining commercial properties, ahead
of fresh
elections.
In the past few weeks a number of farming
families have been left destitute
after their properties were seized by
local officials from ZANU PF. This
includes the Connar family from Masvingo
who were forced to flee their farm
earlier this month, after ZANU PF central
committee member, Clemence
Makwarimba invaded the property. Makwarimba
evicted the Connar family with
the help of violent youth militias who also
beat up the farm’s workers.
Justice for Agriculture (JAG) told SW Radio
Africa on Monday that there is a
visible drive to seize what is left of
commercial land before elections are
called next year. JAG’s John
Worsley-Worswick said the situation is
deteriorating rapidly, with ZANU PF
governors leading the “final push” for
commercial land. Worsley-Worswick
explained that ZANU PF governors are
running scared, after the MDC contested
their unilateral appointment by
Robert Mugabe.
“This is the last
crack of the whip, because they know time could be running
out to grab what
they can,” Worsley-Worswick said.
Worsley-Worswick added that another
family has been left destitute in the
past week in Chegutu, where a local
official has used hired youth militia to
forcibly evict Dirk and Heidi
Visagie. The couple, who are South African
citizens, have been fighting off
land invaders since 2001. This is despite
the existence of a bilateral
investment protection agreement (BIPPA) between
Zimbabwe and South Africa
that is meant to protect South African farmers
from land attacks in
Zimbabwe.
Earlier this month, the couple won a High Court order offering
them further
protection, but the total disregard for the rule of law in
Zimbabwe has
continued, leaving them open to attack. JAG’s Worsley-Worswick
explained
that the family have been left with absolutely nothing. He said
there has
been no word from South African authorities, despite the BIPPA,
saying that
the agreement and others like it “account for very little when
commercial
land is still available for seizure.”
This comes as a
German company has been trying to stop the illegal seizure
of a Mazowe farm,
which is also meant to be protected by a BIPPA. The
property has been taken
over by Daniel Chirume, who claims he has an offer
letter for the property.
The company, Forrester Estate (PVT) Ltd, is also
seeking to stop Chirume
from taking 200 head of cattle, 50 hectares of
irrigated tobacco, 50
hectares of maize and 10 hectares of peas.
“This occupation was done
without our consent, neither did the respondent
(Mr Chirume) have a court
order authorising him to do so. In any event no
court order has been
obtained for our eviction,” said Forrester Estate
representatives.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
18 October
2010
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri is reported to have
transferred the
entire force at Avondale Police Station, over suspicions
they are
sympathetic to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who stays in the
nearby
Strathaven suburb of Harare.
Officially the 78 officers
stationed in Avondale are being moved to remote
rural police posts as
punishment for the way they handled a case involving a
maid and her Indian
employer. Only two officers, said to be connected to
senior cops, have been
relocated to stations in Harare.
According to the Zimbabwe Standard
newspaper the officers have to move out
of Avondale by Tuesday next week and
relocate to areas like Tuli, Mushumbi,
Mutorashanga, Binga, Jambezi, Guyu,
Kezi, Mbembesi, Kazungula, Gezani,
Nkayi, Dete and other remote
areas.
Sources in the police force however believe the excuse used by
Chihuri over
the transfers is just a mere smokescreen. It's reported that
one of the
senior officers saluted Tsvangirai and Finance Minister Tendai
Biti during
their visit to the station. This went against the ZANU PF
position that
members of the army and police force should not salute
Tsvangirai.
This, among many other factors, fuelled a growing perception
within ZANU PF
that Avondale Police station was sympathetic to Tsvangirai
and actually
providing security to him. This view was fuelled further by
attempts in the
past to establish a police post in Strathaven where
Tsvangirai lives.
Graduates from the notorious Border Gezi militia camps
have been filling up
the ranks of the police force over the years. It's
these graduates, mainly
from the rural areas and fiercely loyal to ZANU PF,
who are likely to make
up the new Avondale police force. The Standard
newspaper has information
that an unnamed officer in charge of Ruvangwe
police station, near the
Mozambique border, will take charge.
While
Chihuri serves his political masters, the officers who have been
transferred
have to find money at short notice to fund their relocation. One
officer
told the Standard newspaper that he had kids who were going to
school in
Harare and he was now been told to go 500km away. One of his kids
is also
meant to be writing exams next month.
More worryingly, the officers face
being charged should they fail to
relocate to the designated stations on
time. The only safe option for them
is to resign and that is probably what
the police chief intended from the
beginning.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
18 October 2010
The Supreme Court has put a stop to a legal
challenge by Finance Minister
Tendai Biti, who has been trying to have his
detention by two notorious
policemen in 2008 declared illegal.
The MDC-T
Secretary General was arrested in June 2008 as he stepped off a
plane in
Harare, after returning from South Africa where he had spent two
months in
self-imposed exile. He was then held incommunicado for five days
without
charge, by police detectives Boysen Matema and Crispen Makedenge.
At the
time, lawyers representing Biti sought the intervention of High Court
Judge
Samuel Kudya, but the application was dismissed. The police later
claimed
they had a warrant to arrest Biti on treason charges. The charges
were
eventually dropped just before the MDC-T joined the coalition
government.
On Monday the Supreme Court was meant to hear Biti’s
challenge against
Makedenge and Matema. But this was halted when Supreme
Court Justice
Vernanda Ziyambi struck the case off the court roll, after
ruling that the
appeal was ‘filed out of time’.
“The matter is struck off
the roll and there is no order to the costs,” said
Ziyambi who presided over
the case together with Justice Paddington Garwe
and Justice Misheck
Cheda.
Biti’s lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri said he will file an
application seeking
leave to appeal.
Meanwhile the torture trial of an
MDC activist who has named top government
ministers in his case, has been
postponed until November. The case was
supposed to appear before Justice Ben
Hlashwayo last week Friday, but it
failed to continue as the judges were
apparently attending a workshop
outside Harare. This is the second time that
the case has been postponed.
Earlier this month, Farai Mutamangira, who is
representing the defendants,
failed to show up at the courts without giving
any reasons.
Activist Emmanuel Chinanzvavana, a multiple victim of state
brutality, is
demanding US$1.2 million in damages for the abduction and
torture he
suffered at the hands of State agents in 2008. Chinanzvavana is
demanding
the damages from the ministers and security official whom he says
were
responsible for the State security agents who abducted him on 3
November
2008. He was held incommunicado until 23 December 2008 when he was
finally
transferred to detention at Avondale Police
Station.
Chinanzvavana has cited co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi
and Giles
Mutsekwa, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Presidential
Affairs
Minister Didymus Mutasa. Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri,
Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi, CIO Director General
Happyton
Bonyongwe, CIO assistant director Ashley Walter Tapfumaneyi, police
chief
superintendents Crispen Makedenge and Magwenzi, police assistant
commissioner Nyathi and detective chief inspector Mpofu, are cited as the
other defendants in the compensation claim.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Guthrie Munyuki
Monday, 18
October 2010 17:45
HARARE - In a move that punches holes in a case in
which police dragged
prominent banker Patterson Timba to the courts on
charges of attempting to
fraudulently acquire a mine, the Attorney General's
office has said that the
law enforcement agents might have acted
unprocedurally by dabbling in a
civil matter which does not need hearing in
the criminal court.
Timba, the Renaissance Financial Holdings chief
executive is jointly charged
with his brother Stephenson, the chief
executive of Freshco Resources.
They are accused of using fraudulent
documents to seize ownership of
Glencairn Mine, which has gold claims in
Kadoma.
The two are out on bail.
But the AG's office, in a
document in our possession, points to misdirection
by police who arrested
the Timba brothers on September 28, several weeks
after it had noted that
the case between them and Jameson Rushwaya, was
civil and could be resolved
outside the criminal courts.
"Vis-à-vis the recent CR 14 filed in the
Registrar of Companies office, a
criminal court cannot invalidate it. The
situation is that a shareholder can
at any time remove a director and
appoint another just as good as an
employer can fire his employee any
time.
"However, in the event of an irregular removal of appointment, the
removed
person cannot report to the police but should approach the High
Court,"
reads a document signed on August 30 by Chris Mutangadura, chief law
officer
at the AG's office.
Police spokesman Andrew Phiri refused to
accept that they had acted
unprocedurally by arresting the Timba brothers in
a case the government's
legal brains say was not within their
territory.
"I am not aware of the AG's document and I don't think I can
comment on that
unless I have sight of that document," Phiri told The Daily
News.
Rushwaya claims that the Timba brothers removed his wife, Anne,
from the
directorship of the company in which the banker controls, arguing
that this
was unprocedural and fraudulent.
However, the AG's office,
while accepting that Anne Rushwaya might have been
removed from the
directorship irregularly and without properly following
procedures, said the
Rushwaya's should have made a declaratory order against
the legality of the
Timba brothers' actions in the High Court.
"A criminal court has no
jurisdiction to make a declaratory order except the
High Court," notes
Mutangadura.
Atherstone and Cook, the attorneys representing the Timba
brothers, have
written to the police accusing them of bias in the
matter.
"The manner in which the matter has been handled is a clear
indication of
the personal interest of some police officers in this matter,"
reads part of
the letter.
"What was most surprising to our client was
the fact that there was more
attention by the police on the complaint filed
by Rushwaya. Lip service was
paid to our clients' complaint. "
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION Correspondent
Posted
Monday, October 18 2010 at 19:32
HARARE, Monday
Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe will retaliate if European Union (EU)
countries heed
advice from his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
expel diplomats
that the veteran ruler appointed unilaterally.
President Mugabe and the
PM are at loggerheads over several key appointments
and the impasse is now
threatening the inclusive government formed in
February last
year.
Last week, Mr Tsvangirai wrote to the United Nations, the EU and
some
European countries asking them not to recognise the
envoys.
While the UN has made it clear that it cannot throw out the
ambassadors, the
EU has demanded an explanation from Mr Mugabe and the block
may soon take
action.
But the president's spokesman Mr George
Charamba on Monday said Harare would
reserve the right to reciprocate if its
diplomats were thrown out of their
postings.
"In diplomacy there is a
principle called reciprocity," Mr Charamba told
NewsDay, a privately owned
paper. "You do to the other country what you want
them to do unto
you.
"If country A refuses to recognise ambassadors from country B then
country B
reserves the right to do the same." He said Zimbabwe was not
benefiting from
the presence of Western diplomats because of sanctions. The
EU has
maintained targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and his inner
circle
since 2002 citing abuse of human rights and electoral fraud.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
MISA-Zimbabwe
Alert
Accredited Journalists denied Coverage of the President
18 October
2010
State security agents on 15 October, 2010 allegedly blocked
accredited
journalists from covering the graduation ceremony at Great
Zimbabwe
University in Masvingo, officiated by President Robert
Mugabe.
According to the daily, NewsDay the state security agents blocked
journalists from entering the ceremony demanding invitation cards similar to
those issued to graduates and their relatives in addition to their
accreditation cards.
It is alleged that journalists were only allowed
to cover the graduation
ceremony after the University's Public Relations
Officer, Anderson Chipatiso
intervened, although the journalists from the
private media were not allowed
to get in with their
cameras.
Background
The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) issues
accreditation cards to all
Zimbabwean journalists to cover public functions
as provided for by the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA) of as amended in
2007. The commission oversees regulation of print
media and accreditation of
journalists.
Section 78 of the Act,
provides for privileges afforded to accredited
journalists such as visiting
parliament and any public body with the purpose
of carrying out journalistic
duties, covering public and national events,
accessing public institutions.
Section 78(3) exempts unaccredited
journalists from enjoying such
privileges.
For any questions, queries or comments, please
contact:
Nyasha Nyakunu
Research and Information
Officer
MISA-Zimbabwe
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) A Zimbabwean civil society organization on Monday
called for
far-reaching electoral reforms ahead of Zimbabwe’s next polls
tentatively
set for mid-2011 and urged the government to allow voter
education to
commence early to ensure there is adequate public awareness
before the
polls.
The Centre for Community Development of Zimbabwe (CCDZ) said the
electoral
reforms should include changes to the law to allow publication of
information about the number of ballot papers printed as well as a repeal of
the Citizenship Act to reinstate the voting rights of millions of farm
workers stripped of their voting rights after they were classified as
“aliens”.
The Zimbabwean-born farm workers were stripped of their
citizenship and
denied voting rights in 2003 on the grounds that either one
or both of their
parents were born outside Zimbabwe.
CCDZ also called
for the repeal of draconian media and security laws that
violate the
freedoms of speech and assembly.
The Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
and Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) have been
used by the police to
criminalize public gatherings and the dissemination of
information
considered hostile to the government.
CCDZ said the
government should allow civic society organizations to
commence voter
education among Zimbabwe’s electorate ahead of the 2011
elections.
President Robert Mugabe last week announced that Zimbabwe
is likely to hold
elections by mid next
year.
JN/daj/APA
2010-10-18
http://www.swradioafrica.com
by Irene Madongo
18 October
2010
The wife of the murdered MDC activist, Patrick Nabanyama, wants a
fresh
inquest into the death of her husband, who was abducted under
mysterious
circumstances. Nabanyama was the district organising secretary
for Nketa and
an MDC election agent in the 2000 parliamentary
elections.
A Bulawayo-based organisation, the Zimbabwe Victims of
Organised Violence
Trust (ZIVOVT), is also demanding that the Attorney
General’s office
retrieve past court records for the prosecution of the war
veterans, accused
of the murder.
Mrs Nabanyama says in June 2000 a
gang of up to ten armed ZANU PF men,
driving a white Mazda truck with no
number plates, descended on their house
and forcefully took Patrick away. He
was beaten with weapons and bundled
into their vehicle and driven off at
high speed. He has not been seen since.
The police investigation led to
the arrest of seven men, who included Cain
Nkala, Howard Ncube, Stanley
Ncube and Julius Sibanda. The men claimed they
were war vets and ZANU PF
activists. The seven agreed that they had abducted
Patrick but said they had
released him on the same day. Four of them were
later brought to court but
were acquitted at the Bulawayo High Court in May
2001.
Nkala was
later kidnapped and killed by suspected state security agents,
after he
indicated that he was ready to spill the beans as to what had
actually
happened to Nabanyama. Edward Ndlovu and Howard Ncube are also
late.
On Monday Mrs Nabanyama said: “We want to find out the truth,
so that we can
give him a decent burial like any other person. At the last
date they said
they said they released him, they didn’t murder him.” She
also said she is
still struggling to make ends meet, since her husband was
the sole bread
winner.
ZIVOVT’s Themba Nyathi said: The justice
system in Zimbabwe is being
compromised, the Nabanyama case is a typical
example. That case only went up
to bail level. The file was taken to Harare
and it has not come back, ten
years down the line. In Zimbabwean law if you
know someone has disappeared
for seven years, that person is declared dead.
The people last seen with
that person should be charged with
murder.”
SW Radio Africa’s Bulawayo correspondent, Lionel Saungweme, says
Mrs
Nabanyama will need to take her call beyond Zimbabwe’s borders as it’s
highly unlikely she’ll succeed at national level. “The ZVOVT show a lot of
enthusiasm just like many other Zimbabweans, but when you are faced with
organisations like the CIO and ZANU PF to contend with, you certainly have
to lobby not only within but internationally. Look at the abduction of
Jestina Mukoko. She would have been killed but the call for her was made not
only locally but internationally.”
Rights activist Jestina Mukoko was
abducted and tortured by state agents in
2008. She was released after her
case made headline news around the world.
Despite the fact that Patrick
Nabanyama was a staunch MDC activist,
Saungweme said the party’s hands are
tied: “The MDC is a little bit helpless
for now because it has been making
concessions within the GPA. Mugabe
initiated a pardon for perpetrators of
political violence. What the MDC can
do is to keep calling for the removal
of Johannes Tomana (the Attorney
General) who has been handed a petition of
violence perpetrated in 2008 and
he has shrugged that off and called the MDC
concerns a loveletter.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
18/10/2010 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
BUSINESSMAN
Mutumwa Mawere prepared to return to Zimbabwe for the first time
in six
years on Tuesday after police cancelled an arrest warrant issued in
2004
following accusations that he had "externalised" foreign currency.
The
former Shabanie Mine and Schweppes boss said he was "excited, disturbed
and
anxious" to be returning to Zimbabwe after a lengthy absence in which
his
companies were seized by the state under a controversial law which he is
fighting in the Supreme Court.
Mawere, due to touch down on a British
Airways flight at the Harare
International Airport at 2PM Tuesday, said he
would be in Harare "for a
couple of days".
The trip was "not to deal with
property", he said, "but a personal journey
to reenergise and hopefully move
forward."
"I'm feeling excited, disturbed and anxious," he told New
Zimbabwe.com from
his base in Johannesburg, South Africa.
"Disturbed
that this can happen in a post-colonial state . when it becomes
difficult to
get into one African state by an African, one has to pose and
think
carefully about the journey travelled and what needs to happen," he
said.
"Excited because it is the place of my birth, and I carry its
identity as
long as I live. I shall always be known as a Zimbabwean, not
withstanding
those that may say otherwise.
"Home is always home --
the air, the human spirit and reconnection with all
that makes me what I am.
This is cause for excitement.
"Anxious because having been out of the
theatre of nation-building, one
doesn't know the state of play on the
ground. The Zimbabwe that is in my
mind is obviously a different to what's
on the ground, and it calls for
adjustment to see where and how I can plug
in to help move the country
forward."
Mawere, who is ready to reclaim
an impressive business portfolio which
included companies like Shabanie
Mashaba Mines, Africa Associated Mines,
General Beltings, Steelnet, Turnall,
Fidelity Life, ZimRe Holdings, Nicoz
Diamond, CFI Holdings, First Banking
Corporation, Schweppes, Ukubambana
Kubatana Investments, FSI Holdings,
Textbook Sales, Tube & Pipe, Firstel and
Hastt Zimbabwe, said his
starting point would be to "touch the soil".
"Then I have to observe,
reflect and reach out because in the final analysis
I'm just an individual
no different from other individuals on the ground who
hope for a better and
brighter but elusive Zimbabwe," Mawere said.
Mawere, a South African,
learnt last week that Harare provincial magistrate
Mishrod Guvamombe had
cancelled the warrant of arrest issued in May 2004,
which was followed by an
abortive attempt to extradite him from South
Africa.
The move, which
was expected after Mawere was "despecified" in May this year
along with
other exiled businessmen accused of similar offences, came after
the
Attorney General refused to prosecute.
Johannes Tomana's decision is a
massive blow to continuing attempts by
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
and Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM)
administrator Arafas Gwaradzimba to keep
the state in control of the
businessman's assets under the controversial
Reconstruction Act, currently
subject to a constitutional challenge at the
Supreme Court.
Signalling his intentions to reclaim his lost empire,
Mawere -- who had been
accused of externalising US$18,5 million, C$628,000
and R4,5 million from
SMM Holdings Limited - said: "The state of play as it
stands is that the
Attorney General, by cancelling this warrant, is saying
there is no case to
answer, albeit six years later."
In recent
months, Mawere - a former senior manager with the International
Finance
Corporation - had sought and gained the support of Reserve Banbk
Governor
Gideon Gono in his battle to clear his name.
Gono wrote a letter to
Mugabe advising him that the basis of seizing Mawere's
businesses - namely
that he was indebted to the state - was faulty.
http://www.voanews.com
Johannesburg 18
October 2010
There was anxiety in the streets of Zimbabwe over comments
made by President
Robert Mugabe that the country's power-sharing agreement
was approaching the
end of its life span. Though he no longer has the power
to call elections,
Mr. Mugabe told a meeting of youth leaders that once the
power-sharing
government had been dissolved, there would be elections by mid
2011.
School teacher Mary Zava said that she feared retaliation by
ZANU-PF, like
it did in the last poll in 2008. "I think they have should
have waited a
while before getting into elections because of the situation
in the country
at the moment. There hasn't been much healing in the
nation."
Mr. Mugabe's remarks contradict the terms of the so-called
global political
agreement, which followed an election marred by widespread
fraud and
violence. The agreement said a referendum on a new constitution
should take
place within two years, to be followed by a general
election.
The process of consulting the public on a new constitution,
however, has
been delayed - mostly by lack of funds and disruption by
ZANU-PF activists.
Public watch dog Veritas, which monitors legislation
and constitutional
affairs in Zimbabwe, said a constitutional covers the
political agreement
that states all three parties must sign off for an
election to take place.
Mr. Mugabe's long time rival - Movement for
Democratic Change leader, and
now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai - signed
the political agreement
together with Arthur Mutambara, leader of the small
faction of the MDC
party.
Two weeks ago, Welshman Ncube, now MDC
industry minister in the inclusive
government, set June 30 for the
referendum for people to decide whether to
support a draft of a new
constitution.
Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions, is
worried about Mr. Mugabe's statement. "This call for
elections before the
30 June is somewhat dicey because the elements of
violence have not yet
been removed."
International human rights
groups said that at the last elections, narrowly
won by the MDC, about 200
of Mr. Tsvangirai's supporters were killed and
hundreds more were wounded.
MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti, now finance
minister in the inclusive
government, was one of hundreds arrested during
the election period.
One of the longstanding disputes between Zanu PF and MDC-T through the implementation of the Global Political Agreement has been over Robert Mugabe's unilateral appointment of governors. Earlier this month Mugabe excarbated tensions by once again appointing governors and ambassadors without consulting Morgan Tsvangirai. This resulted in a frank press release being issued by the MDC-T party, in which Tsvangirai expressed some of his strongest words yet about the state of the GPA and his relationship with Mugabe, including the comment that
. the events of the past few months have left me sorely disappointed in Mr Mugabe, and in his betrayal of the confidence that I and many Zimbabweans have personally invested in him.
The issue of unilateral appointments is addressed as follows in the press release:
As you are aware, we have also had a dispute over the appointment of governors, along with a number of other unilateral and illegal appointments which the President has made following the signature of the GPA. The dispute over the former provincial governors effectively timed out when their terms of office expired in July. The country needed to appoint new governors according to the law and the constitution. The constitution clearly says that such appointments must be done in consultation with the Prime Minister.
To my utter surprise, and shall I say disgust, Mr Mugabe advised me on Monday that he had Nicodemusly reappointed the former governors in the same manner in which he appointed the previous governors on a Sunday when most of us were at church. I say "Nicodemusly" because those who are supposed to be served by these governors - the citizens of Zimbabwe - knew nothing about it.
They were hoping for governors to be appointed who would serve in the interests of the people of Zimbabwe, not in the interests of the President and his party, as has been the case until now. The Prime Minister, who has to consent to their appointments, knew nothing about it.
A week after the press release was issued, the state-controlled media (which continues to act principally in the interests of the Zanu PF party) extensively quoted the Zanu PF spokesman who argued that Morgan Tsvangirai, in objecting to the appointments, was attempting to subvert the constitution. Rugaro Gumbo's argument on behalf of Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe centered on the view that the constitution takes priority over the clauses in the GPA, and that Robert Mugabe has overall authority:
"President Mugabe and Zanu-PF are committed to the Global Political Agreement and have always been adhering to its principles and dictates.
"We, therefore, call upon Morgan Tsvangirai to stop misleading the people of Zimbabwe and the international community to gain cheap political mileage.
"According to the GPA, the executive authority of the inclusive Government shall vest in, and be shared among, the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet as provided for in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
"And the Head of that Government is President Mugabe who is also the Head of State and (therefore) chairs the Cabinet.
"It should be made clear that the GPA itself is not the Constitution of Zimbabwe. For starters, there is nowhere in the Constitution of Zimbabwe or the GPA where it says President Mugabe must consult and get the consent of the Prime Minister when making key appointments such as those of provincial governors and judges."
Veritas have since released a detailed examination of the relevant clauses, rebutting Gumbo's argument:
In fact the particular part of the GPA which the appointments breached is now part of the Constitution. Constitution Amendment No. 19 provided for the insertion of Article 20 of the GPA as an integral part of the Constitution. It also made it clear beyond argument that during the life of the GPA, Article 20 prevails over other provisions of the Constitution.
Veritas demonstrate as follows:
Inclusion of Article 20 in Schedule 8 to Constitution
Constitution Amendment No. 19 [section 15] inserted the text of Article 20 into the Constitution as Schedule 8:
"15 Insertion of Schedules 8 to Constitution
The Constitution is amended by the insertion of the following Schedule after Schedule 7-
"SCHEDULE 8
(Section 115(2) and (3))TRANSITIONAL AMENDMENTS AND PROVISIONS
FRAMEWORK FOR A NEW GOVERNMENT".
The full text of Article 20 - Framework for a New Government - of the GPA is then set out. Article 20 is definitely part of the Constitution.
GPA Article 20 Supersedes Other Provisions of Constitution
The Constitution, as amended by Constitution Amendment No. 19, also contains two statements laying down the constitutional effect of Schedule 8 containing GPA Article 20:
Sections 115(2) and (3) provide as follows:
"(2) Schedule 8 shall have effect from the date of commencement of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 19) Act, 2008, and continue in force during the subsistence of the Interparty Political Agreement.
(3) The provisions of this Constitution shall, for the period specified in subsection (2), operate as amended or modified to the extent or in the manner specified in Schedule 8".
Schedule 8, paragraph 1 reinforces the point:
"1. For the avoidance of doubt, the following provisions of the Interparty Political Agreement, being Article XX thereof, shall, during the subsistence of the Interparty Political Agreement, prevail notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Constitution."
Note: "Interparty Political Agreement" is the term used in the Constitution and Constitution Amendment No. 19 for what is almost invariably referred to as the Global Political Agreement or GPA.
It is clear then, that Mugabe is acting unilaterally and outwith the bounds of both Zimbabwe's constitution and the Global Political Agreement. For many, the nitty-gritty detail of who is right and who is wrong is irritating and even boring, and unfortunately this tends to afford Mugabe with the slack he needs to get his own way and do what he wants regardless. In cases like this the detail is everything: Zanu PF are in the wrong and they are flagrantly lying about it to the people through the state-controlled press. The question now is whether the international community will recognise the illegal appointment of some foreign ambassadors in their countries, and if the region will demand that Mugabe reigns himself in, and starts to comply with the Global Political Agreement and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
Once again Robert Mugabe is testing both his own crediblity, and along with it, the credibility of the region and the rest of the world too.
http://www.businessday.co.za
LOYISO LANGENI
Published: 2010/10/18
06:28:37 AM
INTERNATIONAL Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane
last week criticised Zimbabweans and the leadership of the
country for
continuing to blame SA for their problems.
Ms
Nkoana-Mashabane was speaking at a University of Pretoria lecture on the
role that SA will play during its two-year term as a nonpermanent member of
the United Nations Security Council.
The minister’s statement signals
the South African government’s frustration
in persuading the political
adversaries in Zimbabwe to make the government
of national unity
work.
“I think we are going to move faster, quicker and more democratic
the day we
hold Zimbabweans responsible for the decisions they take,” she
said.
The minister said she was surprised to learn through media reports
on her
return from New York on Thursday that the leaders of Zanu (PF) and
the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were still posturing while making
the
government of national unity work. She chastised the leaders of both
parties
for failing to resolve their differences.
She also said it
was premature for the leadership to insist on holding
elections next year
without first concluding a new constitution as required
by the political
agreement they made.
“The leadership has agreed that there were certain
things that they would do
before going to the next elections … whether they
have concluded their
constitution or not … they now want to go for
elections,” she said.
“We will continue on insisting on Zimbabweans to
implement their own
political agreement to the letter and spirit … as and
when we get an
opportunity we will continue urging the leadership of
Zimbabwe to put the
plight and well-being of the people first.”
The
MDC is reportedly against certain appointments President Robert Mugabe
has
made in the public and diplomatic services without consulting key
members of
the unity government.
This prompted President Jacob Zuma last week to
send his mediation team led
by his political adviser Charles Nqakula to
Zimbabwe to quell the rising
tension in the government.
However, it
is reported that Mr Mugabe refused to meet with Mr Nqakula and
his team as
they had apparently failed to secure an appointment prior to
their departure
to Zimbabwe.
SA brokered a diplomatic solution in 2008 that saw Zanu (PF)
and the MDC
form a government of national unity through a pact known as the
Global
Political Agreement.
SA has also, through the Department of
International Relations and
Co-operation, managed the African Renaissance
Fund, which gave the
Zimbabwean government a grant of R300m in the 2008- 09
financial year. The
grant aimed to enhance food security and revive
Zimbabwe’s waning
agriculture after its disastrous economic policy and land
reform processes.
On a recent visit to SA two weeks ago, Botswana’s
President Ian Khama joined
regional leaders in urging the international
community to lift sanctions
against the Zanu (PF) leadership to allow for
the government of national
unity to function.
langenil@bdfm.co.za
http://www.iss.co.za/
Judy Smith-Höhn
18 October
2010
Judy Smith-Höhn writes that the prerequisites needed for the
staging of
credible, peaceful elections in 2011 in Zimbabwe have not been
addressed,
particularly the security apparatus factor.
Over the past
decade, elections have been a controversial business in
Zimbabwe. The
question on many people's minds is whether Zimbabwe, nearly
two years after
signing a Global Political Agreement (GPA) that ushered in a
power-sharing
Interim Government (IG) in February 2009, is indeed ready for
another
election in 2011. This question can be better answered by looking
back at
the conditions prevalent during the previous elections, highlighting
the
main causes for the violence and electoral irregularities that ensued in
these instances.
ZANU-PF institutes electoral
authoritarianism
In 1999, in response to mounting popular discontent over
the lack of
implementation of economic and political reforms, gross
mismanagement,
excessive government expenditure and rising corruption, the
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) formed a political party - the now
well-known Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This was also around the
time when the fast-track land-reform process became increasingly violent,
with President Mugabe encouraging the forcible acquisition of the mostly
whiteowned farms as a means of rewarding ZANU-PF supporters for their
loyalty, a move which further crippled the economy and led to chronic
shortages of basic commodities.
http://www.irinnews.org
Zimbabweans
lining up to vote in 2008 elections.
In the 2000 parliamentary elections,
Mugabe's ZANU-PF faced serious
competition for the first time since
independence (ZANU-PF won 62 and MDC
won 57 out of the 120 contested seats).
Later, elections in 2005 were marred
by gross manipulation and suppression
of dissent, and the MDC split in
November 2005 after Tsvangirai overruled
senior members who voted to
participate in upcoming senate elections. The
split led to the formation of
two factions: the MDC-T led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, and the MDC-M led by
Arthur Mutambara.
In March 2007, the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) mandated
the then South
African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between the
government and the MDC.
The goal was to pave the way to a new constitution
and to create the
conditions for free and fair elections.
However, Mugabe proceeded
unilaterally to declare 29 March 2008 as the date
for the next elections,
although the MDC had wanted to postpone them until a
new constitution was
adopted. Violence and intimidation of opposition
supporters was again
expected in the run-up to the March 2008 parliamentary
and presidential
elections. Some observers claimed that there was a skewed
playing field
ahead of the elections due to pre-poll manipulation and the
accreditation of
only friendly countries and institutions to observe the
polls.
Such
reports notwithstanding, and for the first time since independence in
1980,
ZANU-PF lost its majority in parliament to the opposition MDC.
The
ZANU-PF led government, however, withheld the results of the
presidential
elections for several weeks, raising suspicions that Tsvangirai
may have won
an outright victory. After finally releasing the results - with
Tsvangirai
winning 47.9% of the total votes compared to Mugabe's 43.2% - the
country
was geared for a run-off on 27 June 2008. A few days prior to the
event,
however, Tsvangirai announced his withdrawal from the race, citing
the
increased violence against his supporters as cause for his
decision.
Requirements for holding credible elections
Have the
conditions that led to the violence of 2008 changed enough to
guarantee the
holding of peaceful, credible elections in 2011? The answer is
a resounding
no. While the realisation of a power-sharing agreement in
September 2008 saw
an end to the international isolation of Zimbabwe, the
negotiations failed
to address the fears and demands of hardliners and
potential spoilers on
both sides of the political divide.
Most prominent in this regard is the
failure to clarify the position of the
security apparatus, or offer any
assurances, such as amnesty for offences
committed against the population,
to secure the support of this set of
actors when the deal was
struck.
Prior to the inauguration of the interim government, the Joint
Operations
Command (JOC), chaired by the Minister of Security and comprising
army
commanders, air force, intelligence service and prisons, served as the
central oversight body for all government operations and policies. Given the
pivotal role played by the JOC commanders in the past, securing the future
of this particular group of potential spoilers is essential for any
sustainable political transformation to take hold.
Nearly six months
into the rule of the inclusive government and following
five failed attempts
at scheduling its first meeting, the newly established
National Security
Council (NSC) - headed by President Mugabe; with Prime
Minister Tsvangirai
as a member - finally met in August 2009. However, it is
reported that the
JOC, while officially dismantled under the GPA and
replaced by the NSC,
still meets regularly and continues to maintain an
influence on developments
in the political sphere, particularly with regards
to the implementation of
the GPA and the associated difficulties in
resolving the well-known
outstanding contentious issues.
Adversaries to improve
relations
In conclusion, it should be noted that democratic procedures
tend to
exacerbate existing tensions in an already divided society. Social
and
political conflicts intensify with the launch of election campaigns as
opportunistic politicians exploit such tensions to pursue their own vested
interests. We have already witnessed this trend in the case of
Zimbabwe.
An initial delay of elections could allow for an improvement of
relations
between the adversaries before entering into this inherently
conflictual
process. The South African transition in the early 1990s is a
case in point.
By the time elections were held, the confidence-building
efforts undertaken
during the negotiation process had begun to bear fruit.
The parties had
begun to trust each other, political forces had collaborated
with each
other - hence decreasing the likelihood of a contested election
or, in the
case of South Africa, a hardening of the ethnic divide. In
Zimbabwe,
conditions have not been established to render any electoral
process to be
free of rigging, violence or intimidation.
However, one
key challenge faced in Zimbabwe is the question of buy-in from
all
stakeholders involved in the transitional process. And given the lack of
progress in fully implementing the GPA, the statement made by Robert Mugabe
at the signing of this historical document almost two years ago points to a
not-so-promising absence of political will for reform: "The opposition will
always want more than what it deserves. It will devise ways and means of
getting power."
Dr Judy Smith-Höhn is a senior researcher in the
African Conflict Prevention
Programme of the Institute for Security Studies.
This analysis appears in
the current issue of the-african.org, a bi-monthly
publication of the
Institute for Security Studies / Institut d'Études de
Sécurité in
Tshwane/Pretoria.
- Thomas Jefferson
Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy.
Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.
And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.
~ Thomas J Watson (1874-1956)
Bulawayo |
Tuesday 19
October |
9am |
Small City
Hall |
Masvingo | Wednesday 20 October | 9am | Civic Centre |
Mutare | Thursday 21 October | 9am | Mutare Queens Hall |
Harare | Friday 22 October | 9am | Caucus Room, Parliament Building |
a) Road safety in Zimbabwe needs a broader solution. For example, street lighting, potholes, signage, and traffic lights need to be fixed. The police force needs to be out on the roads monitoring and fining poor driving. Unroadworthy vehicles need to be made safer. Perhaps revenue from diamond sales and tollgates could actually benefit and enhance the lives of Zimbabwean citizens through improving the general safety of the roads.Please email us your comments to info@kubatana.net . . . in addition to anything else you’d like to say, let us know whether Mugabe’s Mercedes has a fire extinguisher.
b) The Government make up a large number of vehicles on Zimbabwean roads in the form of public service vehicles like ambulances, prison vehicles, police cars, municipal vehicles, and army trucks. Will these vehicles adhere to the regulations that the general public is required to? Silly question right?
c) How many vehicles are on the road in Zimbabwe? Can the manufacturing industry supply the items that every car is required to have by 1 December 2010? Clearly not - so what do people do when the police fine them for not having these items?
d) Wording like “efficient” and “serviceable” are subjective. At a police roadblock how will the “efficiency” of a jack be determined?
e) The Zimbabwean authorities are surely aware that the majority of citizens in Zimbabwe are either unemployed or underpaid and whilst vehicles need to be roadworthy and our roads need to become safer, many members of the public do not have the spare cash to purchase items like fire extinguishers.
f) One has to wonder whether this is just another way for the Government to acquire funds from the public - is it really their business if you have a spare wheel in your car?
Mugabe must rule forever: ZANU-PF women's league
The women's league of President Robert Mugabe's party want him to stand in elections likely next year and rule Zimbabwe "forever", state media reported on Sunday. "We endorse your candidature. We are saying: stand in the next election and rule forever," ZANU-PF Women's League secretary Oppah Muchinguri was quoted as saying by the Sunday Mail. "Your work cannot be compared to that of anyone else. Do not leave us." Muchinguri was speaking at the league's annual assembly Saturday attended by Mugabe. The 86-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled the southern African country since 1980, shares power with his former rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai following a political deal signed in 2008. Last week Mugabe said Zimbabwe's unity government should dissolve within months and called for elections next year despite stalled efforts at political reform. "We do not want to pass June (2011) without elections. We want acceleration of pace," Mugabe told the women. No election date has been set but both Mugabe and Tsvangirai's parties say they are ready for the ballot. The unity government has faced crippling tension over the allocation of key positions since its creation in 2009. Mugabe stirred fresh conflict within the power-sharing government last week when he appointed ambassadors to the United Nations, the European Union and South Africa without consulting Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai has asked the UN and the EU not to recognise the ambassadors. The prime minister says he should be consulted on all appointments in terms of the Global Political Agreement that created the unity government between the two political rivals. The EU said it had noted the matter with "great concern".
- AFP
Gukurahundi exhibit hits a sore point
Zimbabwe has pulled out all the stops to ban images of the military crackdown on the Ndebele. Using bold images of blood and gore, Owen Maseko’s banned exhibition brought up a subject that still stokes Zimbabwean’s thinly veiled ethnic tensions. Paintings of village women weeping tears of blood stood against walls splattered with red graffiti, before police took them down and banned the exhibition. Maseko’s exhibition at the Bulawayo Art Gallery was a protest against the Gukurahundi, the military campaign launched by a Zimbabwean army unit in the 1980s against armed dissidents. Rights groups say thousands of civilians were killed. In September the exhibition became the first art in years to be officially banned by the Zimbabwe government. In a government notice Home Affairs Secretary Melusi Matshiya announced Maseko’s exhibition had been banned under censorship laws. Matshiya said the “effigies, words and paintings on the walls portray the Gukurahundi era as a tribal, biased event’. And, he pointed out that “the male statue showing genital organs standing at the opening in the gallery [is] proof of indecent nature and as such is prohibited from public exhibition”. The Zimbabwean government also dusted off a colonial-era law that compels artists to hold “entertainment licences”, which they must renew every year. Hours after the exhibition opened police arrived at the gallery, covered some of the art with old newspapers and arrested Maseko. He is now challenging the ban in the Constitutional Court. “As an artist, I am inspired by what happens around me, my experiences, other people’s experiences,” he said from Bulawayo. “An artist needs to be relevant. Gukurahundi is part of history, even if it is a history others do not want remembered.” Last week a coalition of rights groups gave Maseko an award for “his bravery in giving a face and voice to the Gukurahundi massacres through visual arts.” But, Maseko said, his ordeal has left him isolated as cowed fellow artists keep their distance from him. One of his canvases depicts a group of women wailing beneath the words: “They made us sing their songs while they tortured us and killed our brothers and sisters.” Maseko said his work was based largely on the testimony of victims. The military campaign ended after former PF-Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo agreed to unity with Mugabe. But that agreement is a source of great bitterness and frustration for Maseko, as it is for many Ndebele activists. “The unity accord was signed only because Nkomo was desperate to stop the killings,” he said. Maseko insisted Zimbabwe’s attempts at “national healing” can succeed only if citizens are allowed to express themselves freely on issues such as Gukurahundi.
- Jason Moyo writing for the Mail & Guardian
Piercing the Corporate Veil
Somewhere in my closet, taped across a small cardboard and sealed in a transparent casing, is a $50 billion Zimbabwean note. Purchased two years ago at a local bookstore for R21 ($3), this 'made in Zimbabwe' wonder at the time had the purchasing power of two eggs, or a loaf of bread, in a country where inflation hit the 231 million % mark. An unemployed lawyer working a street hawker in SA expressed outrage that I would spend $3 to acquire it. 'That money is life or death back home,' he said. But there's bigger money in the making - and for the taking. Mugabe Inc. has once again, in anticipation of forthcoming elections, vigorously begun to engage in exploitation through 'primitive accumulation' of resources via war vets, corrupt corporate execs and political cronies.
Prior to the discovery of diamonds, specifically Marange -- estimated to be one of the world's largest diamonds capable of yielding as much as $1.7 billion in revenues annually, the big kahuna was land. The bulk of large-scale commercial farms seized by Mugabe's war vets, using the rhetoric of social justice, were not redistributed to those previously dispossessed by the colonial government. Instead, a new politics of dispossession took form through the politicisation of rural poverty, equating the 'public interest' with the nationalist vocabulary serving elite political interests. This time around, legal concessions to Marange have been voided, with two South African companies granted right of access via fraudulent licenses.
One company in particular, New Reclamation, has engaged with the Zimbabwean government through a joint venture called Mbada. The company's operating arm, Grandwell Holdings Ltd, has been created a Global Business Category II (GBCII) entity, essentially a paper company, using Mauritius as the 'tax haven' of choice. As the Zimbabwe Mining and Development Corporation (ZMDC) admitted, due diligence into internal financing mechanisms, beneficiaries and other critical details, could not be conducted as it was 'a paper company registered in Mauritius.' Such shell corporations act as passthrough conduits allowing for economic activities, including profits and transactions, to be disguised and transferred through to 'ultimate beneficiaries'. GBCII companies are tax free enabling entities allegedly accruing tax to escape taxation, while facilitating the flow of profits to ultimate beneficiaries.
But Mauritius should better be classified a secrecy jurisdiction thanks to legal and financial ring-fenced services such as the provision of nominee shareholders. Basically, all private companies must have at least one shareholder, and one share. Unless these are bearer shares (according ownership to those physically possessing shares), such shares can be 'represented' by intermediaries nominated by ultimate owners or beneficiaries profiting from economic activities. The same applies to nominee directors. Mauritius kindly provides these mechanisms to foreign clients and entities deliberately cloaking specific activities.
As OCRA, an international corporation peddling secrecy vehicles itself reveals on its website, "Beneficial ownership is not disclosed to the authorities."
For $1000, the company can access banking secrecy preventing the Zimbabwean government from ever accessing the true value and volume of diamond exploitation. Many companies like OCRA provide bank account signatories, professinal directors and other false fronts assembled to create the illusion of an active business. Mauritius claims to be within the bounds of the law having complied with the voluntary 'on request' only Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIAE). While these are usually useless unless one already possesses the information required by external government authorities to investigate corporate and state corruption, in this instance, the South African government, if it decided to do so, could easily the corporate veil given that Grandwell's details are already known. During an interview with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for the BBC, I learned that he 'was hearing about it for the first time.'
The threat that corporate secrecy presents to Zimbabwe's economy cannot be understated especially in anticipation of the desperate need for sustainable revenue for basic services and the impact of 'primitive accumulation' as a means of controlling the outcome of forthcoming elections. This time around, Zimbabwe stands a great chance for actual democracy and economic and political recovery: The power sharing agreement between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) coupled with the appointment of Judge Simpson Mutambanengwe at the helm of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), cultivates a growing environment of accountability and justice. But Mutambanengwe has declared outright that the ZEC requires financial resources to ensure that the processes and outcome is not disputed. Siphoned diamond revenues - to a 'secrecy' corporation where any number of war vets may be the ultimate beneficiaries, provides the old guard with unlimited millions - even billions, in financial resources that should be invested in justice not war, nor even - and this is what the Mugabe Inc hopes for, a forced peace.
- Khadija Sharife writing for Harvard International Review
What’s new on Kubatana
blogs
In waste not, want not Thandi Mpofu encourages
Zimbabweans to get active in their communities . . . According to Upenyu
Makoni-Muchemwa women allow the bad
behaviour of men. . . and Upenyu also relates a story about corruption in the police force in
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe ndeyeropa
My father is a war veteran. I knew of war, before I understood what it was.
As a child it was amusing to think about the things he talked about. His description of the aftermath at Chimoio after the bombing, in my mind was something that would happen in a macabre cartoon or video game: arms and legs flying directionless through the air; headless bodies running through the brush senselessly trying to escape; a man walking slowly through the camp holding the contents of his shrapnel torn belly in his arms.
My father's most painful memory is of watching a young comrade who had never seen active combat die of hunger crying because he felt he had failed his country.
I understand what war is and my second hand experience of my father's war gives me nightmares.
Zimbabwe ndeyeropa, the comrades chanted. True comrades, the ones who actually saw the war, have no wish to see it again. Much as the official propaganda says it was, those were not days of glory. They were days of pain, hunger and suffering. No one in his, or her right mind would ever want to go back to that.
Today fat cat politicians quietly supply the idle youth with less money than is paid to their gardener in the suburbs to perform godless acts. 17-year-old war veterans high on marijuana and cheap alcohol chant Zimbabwe ndeyeropa as they terrorise the communities in which they grew up and live. They beat, torture, rape and burn down property.
The tomb of the Unknown Soldier was built for that starving boy whose heart, even in dying, belonged to his country. The biggest sacrifice anyone can make for their country is to give their life in exchange for the freedom and liberty of others. That is what Zimbabwe ndeyeropa means, to sacrifice oneself so that others may be free.
- Upenyu Makoni-Muchemwa
BILL WATCH
43/2010
[16th October 2010]
The House of Assembly sat on Tuesday and will sit again on Tuesday
19th October
The Senate sat on Tuesday and adjourned until Tuesday 9th
November
Appointment of Governors – Constitutional or
Not?
In his
statement of 7th October rejecting the President’s appointments of provincial
governors, judges, ambassadors and other public office-holders as
unconstitutional and illegal, the Prime Minister said the President had acted in
breach of the GPA. ZANU-PF party spokesman
Rugare Gumbo dismissed the Prime Minister’s reliance on the GPA, saying that the
GPA did not affect the President’s constitutional powers. The same line was
followed in the State media; for example, the Herald opined that the GPA “should never be read
in isolation as it is not, and can never supersede the Constitution which grants
President Mugabe the powers he exercises”.
In fact
the particular part of the GPA which the appointments breached is now part of
the Constitution. Constitution Amendment
No. 19 provided for the insertion of Article 20 of the GPA as an integral part
of the Constitution. It also made it clear
beyond argument that during the life of the GPA, Article 20 prevails over other
provisions of the Constitution. The
mistaken interpretation must come from the fact that prior to Constitution
Amendment No. 19 the Constitution did give the President the sweeping powers
still, incorrectly, claimed for him.
Here is
what the Constitution, as amended by Constitution Amendment No. 19, has to say
about Article 20 of the GPA:
Inclusion of Article 20 in Schedule 8 to
Constitution
Constitution Amendment No. 19
[section
15] inserted the text of Article 20 into the
Constitution as Schedule 8:
“15
Insertion of
Schedules 8 to Constitution
The
Constitution is amended by the insertion of the following Schedule after
Schedule 7—
“SCHEDULE 8
(Section 115(2) and (3))
TRANSITIONAL AMENDMENTS AND PROVISIONS
FRAMEWORK FOR A NEW GOVERNMENT”.
The full text of Article 20 - Framework for a New
Government – of the GPA is then set out. Article 20 is
definitely part of the Constitution.
GPA Article 20 Supersedes Other Provisions of
Constitution
The Constitution, as amended by Constitution Amendment No. 19, also
contains two statements laying down the constitutional effect of Schedule 8
containing GPA Article 20:
Sections 115(2) and (3) provide as follows:
“(2) Schedule 8
shall have effect from the date of commencement of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment (No. 19) Act, 2008, and continue in force during the subsistence of
the Interparty Political Agreement.
(3)
The provisions of this
Constitution shall, for the period specified in subsection (2), operate as
amended or modified to the extent or in the manner specified in Schedule
8”.
Schedule 8, paragraph 1 reinforces the point:
“1.
For the avoidance of
doubt, the following provisions of the Interparty Political Agreement, being
Article XX thereof, shall, during the subsistence of the Interparty Political
Agreement, prevail notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the
Constitution.”
Note: “Interparty Political Agreement” is the term used
in the Constitution and Constitution Amendment No. 19 for what is almost
invariably referred to as the Global Political Agreement or GPA.
Lifespan
of the GPA
There
seems to be an incorrect widely held belief that the lifespan of the GPA is two
years from the formation of the Inclusive Government in February 2009. In fact the GPA does not say how long it will
last. A lifespan of approximately two years
has been widely assumed, probably based on expectations at the time the GPA was
concluded and the original timetable for the completion of the
constitution-making process.
Call for new Elections
According to the current Constitution the next elections must be
triggered by dissolving Parliament. This is done by President by proclamation in the Government Gazette. But as long as the GPA lasts, the President cannot act alone; he must first obtain the Prime Minister’s
agreement. This follows from the Constitution Schedule 8, GPA Article 20.1.3(q), which states that the President
”may, acting in consultation with the Prime Minister, dissolve
Parliament”, and section 115 of the Constitution, which says that in
Schedule 8 “in consultation” means “that the person required to
consult arrives at the decision after securing the agreement or consent of the
person so consulted”.
The President has publicly stated that he wants the next elections to
be no later than the middle of 2011. The Prime Minister has talked in more general terms about elections
next year. They will need to agree on the exact timing if the GPA is to be
complied with – unless the transitional mechanisms provisions of the new
Constitution make this unnecessary by spelling out a timetable for the
elections.
Visit by
SA Facilitation Team
The
three-member South African facilitation team was in Harare last week and had
separate meetings with each of the three principals. The team spokesperson said the visit
was to
check on progress made in fulfilling the GPA since the SADC Windhoek summit in
mid-August, but declined to comment on issues raised in the Prime Minister’s
statement of 7th October.
Minister off Finance
Tendai Biti’s Court Case this Monday
The Supreme Court on
Monday 18th will hear an appeal by Finance Minister Tendai Biti, in which he
seeks to have his detention by police in June 2008 declared illegal. He was
detained for several weeks, some of the time held incommunicado in breach of the
law. Charges were eventually dropped before the case came to trial, but Mr Biti
sued in the High Court alleging illegal detention. Justice Kudya dismissed the
case and it is against his decision that Mr Biti is now
appealing.
In Parliament Last Week
Both Houses sat on Tuesday, both for less than twenty
minutes.
Senate: No provincial governors attended, so the anticipated MDC-T challenge
to their right to take their seats did not materialise.
House of Assembly: Three Bills were presented, all of which had their First Readings
and were referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee for consideration of
their constitutionality [summaries can be found in Bill Watch 39 of 4th
October and Bill Watch 41 of 7th October]:
· Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power,
Communication and Water Infrastructure) Bill
·
Zimbabwe National
Security Council Amendment Bill
· Attorney General’s Office
Bill
POSA Amendment Bill – Committee Stage Amendments
Proposed
The House of Assembly did not deal with the Committee Stage of this
Bill during its short sitting on Tuesday. It is now expected to do so on
Tuesday 19th October. There are three amendments on the Order Paper, all to be
proposed by the sponsor of the Bill, Mr Gonese of MDC-T. The amendments are as
follows:
Giving notice of public
gatherings: Clause 5 of the
Bill states that the organiser of a public gathering “shall endeavour” to give
at least four days’ notice of the gathering to the police and also that the
failure to give such notice does not render a gathering unlawful. The proposed
amendment would delete the word “endeavour”, making organisers legally obliged
to give notice; it would also remove the statement about the effect of failure
to give notice. Comment: the amendments water down the effect of the
amendment.
Magistrate’s power to prohibit
gatherings: Clause 7 of the
Bill gives the local magistrate, rather than – as at present – the police, power
to impose a one-month ban on public demonstrations within a particular area.
The proposed amendment would remove the magistrate’s power to amend or revoke
such a ban “for good cause”. Comment: Although this amendment was
apparently required by the Parliamentary Legal Committee in order to avoid the
Bill having an adverse report, it is difficult to see how the power to amend or
revoke a ban would offend against any constitutional provision; on the contrary,
it seems a good idea for a magistrate to have the power to lift or modify a ban
should circumstances change.
Police duty
to provide written report when force used to disperse gathering: This amendment proposes the insertion of a
new section 30 into POSA requiring a full written report by the senior police
officer present whenever force is used to disperse a gathering. The report
would have to be forwarded without delay to the Minister of Home Affairs and to
the convenor of the gathering. Note: This amendment was put forward at a
public hearing on the Bill held by the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home
Affairs; it was included in the Committee’s report.
Update on Bills
Bill awaiting Committee Stage: POSA Amendment Bill [see
above]
Bills Awaiting PLC Report:
Zimbabwe National Security Council Amendment Bill [Electronic versions available: (1) Bill and (2) Zimbabwe National
Security Council Act showing effect of proposed amendments]
Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water
Infrastructure) Bill [Electronic version of Bill available]
Attorney-General’s Office Bill [Electronic version of Bill available]
Bill awaiting First Reading:
Energy Regulatory Authority Bill [Electronic version available]
Bills being printed [content not yet available]:
Deposit Protection Corporation Bill
General Laws Amendment Bill
Small Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment
Bill
Statutory Instruments and General Notices
No statutory instruments of general interest were gazetted last
week.
Provincial Governors: General Notice 285/2010, gazetted on 15th October and headed
“Re-appointment of Provincial Governors”, is the official notification of
the President’s controversial appointment of ten provincial
governors. The notice states that the President has “appointed” them as
provincial governors “from the 26th of August, 2010 to the 31st of December
2011”. [Electronic version of GN 285 available.]
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take legal responsibility for information supplied