http://news.radiovop.com/
24/10/2010 16:11:00
Harare,October
24,2010- President Robert Mugabe's Zanu(PF) has already
started campaigning
for a 'YES' vote for a constitutional referendum
expected to be held
mid-next year.
Vice President Joice Mujuru told Zanu(PF) supporters at a
provincial
inter-district conference in Bindura in Mashonaland province that
people
must vote for the new charter even before it has been
completed.
Mujuru,s remarks have raised fears that the new charter will be
doctored at
a time when two senior officials of the Constitutional Select
Committee
(COPAC) were suspended last week.
The two, project co-ordinator
Lovemore Kunjeku and collation Manager,
Skoliwe Fundira were suspended for
allegedly moving data collected from
Copac offices to the National Archives
something that was not approved by
the management committee.
Zimbabwe is
set to make a new constitution as per requirements of the Global
Political
Agreement (GPA), a unity pact which brought together Mugabe and
his long
time nemesis Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and leader of the
other
formation of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara.The three leaders formed a
fragile
coalition government which is facing many problems that threaten its
existence.
The constitutional outreach process has been marred by lack of
funds to
carry the process, violence and intimidation while some meetings
were
postponed.
Tsvangirai has accused state security institutions
and Zanu(PF) supporters
of teaming up to disrupt constitution
meetings.
Tsvangirai supporter Chrispen Mandizvidza died of injuries
sustained after
Zanu(PF) supporters violently stoned a constitutional
meeting in Mbare.
Sharp differences have already threatened to split the
unity government with
Tsvangirai saying all the people who disrupted the
constitutional meetings
must be arrested.
No date has been set for the
meetings which were suspended in Harare and
Chitungwiza.
Mugabe in recent
weeks has said he needed the country to go for elections
ahead of the
referendum describing the unity government as a 'creature' that
is causing
problems. Tsvangirai has said regional and international
observers must be
called in to ensure there is peace during any election in
the near
future.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a constitutional pressure
group
has said it will press ahead urging Zimbabweans to vote 'NO' at the
referendum. The NCA won a 'NO' vote at the 2000 referendum. The group has
argued that the current process is being led by politicians and that it is
not people centered.
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=23396
By Jack
Jiri
Harare - The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation top brass is
divided over
the production of a ZANU-Pf 10 episode propaganda drama after
some of the
managers had proposed to hire an outside production
house.
Highly placed sources within the state Broadcasting Corporation's
top
management who attended the Thursday evening management meeting at
Pockets
hill in Highlands Harare said that there was a deadlock over the
issue of
contracting an outside production house.
The sources said
disagreement came after some of the top managers had
proposed to hire a
former ZBC security personnel named Norbert Fero who is
now an independent
video producer to produce 10 day ZANU-PF propaganda
drama.
The filming
crew according to an insider is supposed to visit the Darwendale
Army
barracks and film soldiers manufacturing live bullets and proceed to
Chinhoyi battle field the place where seven chimurenga combatants were
killed in 1966 by the UDI soldiers.This drama according to the sources is to
be used during the election campaign period to intimidate people.
"We
asked Muchechetere and other few managers supporting him the logic
behind
hiring a private production house for the job when we have the most
experienced camera persons and script writers.Moreso that Fero whom he wants
to take up the job is ZBC product who was trained by camerapersons who are
still with us. They are justifying their case by saying that Fero went to
America and to do film production after leaving ZBC. We suspect that there
is a deal. Someone wants to defraud the company. As a result of this
misunderstanding the meeting ended without a consensus being reached, "the
sources said.
Last month ZBC (News and Current Affairs) Tazzen
Mandizvidza, general
manager (Finance and Administration) Elliot Kasu and
the current affairs
manager, Clifford Mfiri, as well as a cameraman, spent
two weeks in
Mazambique purportedly working on a 30-minute liberation
struggle
documentary.
The four demanded $25 000 and were given each
from the cash-strapped ZBC
claiming they would use it to cover fuel,
accommodation and entertainment
allowances for their two weeks stay in
Mozambique.
Sources said Mandizvidza and his team last week requested to
go to Chief
Rekai Tangwena's Nyanga area and track the route which President
Robert
Mugabe and Edgar Tekere through the assistance of Chief Tangwena took
to
Mozambique during the liberation struggle claiming to have forgotten to
film
the place on the initial US$100 000 filming trip to Mozambique last
month.
The Finance department is reported to have denied to fund the new
trip which
it viewed as being aimed to milk company resources.
The
project according to the sources is to be used in the campaign for
President
Robert Mugabe in the next election.
ZBC management is being accused by
its workers of neglecting them while
feeding their own
pockets.
Recently, ZBC workers appealed for the intervention of the three
principals
of the inclusive government to save the corporation from
collapse, alleging
that top managers were milking the company.
Senior
managers recently squandered millions of dollars in top-of-the-range
and
luxurious vehicles which include a Mercedes Benz S350 for chief
executive
officer, Happison Muchechetere, and Toyota Landcruisers for his
three
general managers.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Lynne O Connor | 9 Hours
Ago
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono could be in trouble with
the
law amidst revelations that he is having an affair with the first
lady.
The Sunday Times reported that Grace Mugabe has been having an
affair with
Gono who is also a confidante to her husband, President Robert
Mugabe.
As the scandal surrounding Mugabe's wife and Gono unfolds, it has
emerged
the president's sister told him about the affair on her death
bed.
The Sunday Times said Zimbabwe state officials made it known that
the
revelation lead to the murder of the bodyguard who overheard that
confession.
It also suggested that more trouble is likely to follow,
with one
intelligence official said in the newspaper that someone is likely
to meet
god soon.
This would not be the first time the first lady has
been linked to affairs.
She reportedly also had an affair with a man who
died mysteriously in a car
accident, and another alleged lover - one of
Zimbabwe's richest
businessman - was run out of town when Mugabe heard about
that affair.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
• Head of
Zimbabwe's FA implicated in match-fixing scandal
• Fifa accused of making
corrupt officials untouchable
* David Hills
* The
Observer, Sunday 24 October 2010
Fifa have
defended their controversial approach to dealing with allegations
of
corruption after one of the worst weeks for football's governing body
since
Sepp Blatter became president in 1998. Fifa faced fresh problems after
the
chief executive of the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) was
implicated
in a bizarre match-fixing scandal in which a club side posed as
the national
team. She was found guilty of a series of financial
irregularities.
Henrietta Rushwaya, the chief executive of Zifa until
her suspension in
July, will learn her fate on Tuesday. She is expected to
face dismissal and
a ban from all football-related activities. A judge heard
at a tribunal in
Harare that:
■ Rushwaya and another Zifa employee
sent a club side on a tour of Asia
posing as Zimbabwe's national team. The
tour was under the direction of a
Malaysian gambling syndicate whose leader
was allowed to sit on the bench
during games. The team were paid to lose 6-0
against Syria and did so. The
match is listed by Fifa as a full
international.
■ Rushwaya secured a $103,000 loan without authorisation.
The money cannot
be traced.
■ Gate receipts of $640,000 from a
pre-World Cup match against Brazil have
not yet reached Zifa.
The
findings against Rushwaya follow the release of an independent report
accusing Fifa of failing to prevent systemic corruption in African football.
The report, by the Forum for African Investigative Reporters, features
allegations of bribes, match-fixing, and officials trading influence and
votes, and focuses on Fifa's policy of threatening to expel nations whose
governments try to investigate corruption in football. That policy, intended
to prevent political interference, has made officials inside Fifa's
"football family" largely untouchable, according to the report.
Among
the examples cited was an attempt by Zimbabwe's president, Robert
Mugabe, to
investigate corruption in Zifa in 2006. Mugabe cancelled the
investigation
when Fifa threatened to expel Zimbabwe from world football.
Rushwaya was
appointed a few months later.
Bob Munro, vice-chairman of Kenya's Premier
League, said the Fifa policy had
allowed corruption to fester. "It is a
patronage-riddled system from local
to global levels with a series of unholy
alliances to perpetuate each other
in power. Unsurprisingly, the 'elected'
officials largely act in the best
interests of themselves and their patrons
rather than clubs, coaches,
players and referees."
In Nigeria, where
sport has for years been controlled by Amos Adamu –
suspended from Fifa's
executive committee last week over the vote-selling
allegations – state
governor Rotimi Amaechi said attempts to investigate
corruption were
routinely thwarted. "When we went to the World Cup in the
summer we saw all
sorts of problems," Amaechi said – among them the size of
the "official"
Nigeria non-playing entourage, of whom 173 were found to be
friends and
hangers-on. But when the government intervened, Fifa gave them
three days to
desist from "interference" under threat of a ban. The
politicians backed
down.
Richard Nwabufor Obienu, a former vice-president of Nigeria's
Football
Federation, said: "We have been made a laughing stock in the eyes
of the
world through the actions and inactions of those representing us. If
our
president talks about football, Fifa threaten us with
sanctions."
Fifa have defended their policy, insisting that governments
must be kept
away from the sport. "Fifa shares the goal of ridding football
of
corruption, and is willing to act, as demonstrated earlier this week," a
spokesman said. "However, allegations of false corruption are also often
used by governments as an excuse to try to remove officials. If governments
have proof of corruption with government money, then they can pursue the
case according to national law. However they cannot decide to remove
football officials and put their friends at the top."
Joe Kadenge,
who as player, manager and coach has been involved in Kenyan
football for
more than 50 years, said he believes countries should defy Fifa
and "take
control of the federations until clean people are elected to take
over. Fifa
can suspend us if they so wish."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Tony Saxon
Saturday, 23 October 2010
20:20
HARARE - Poor service delivery and the non-commercialization and
privatization of public utilities has prevented the industry from boosting
capacity utilization, the Zimbabwe National Chamber Of Commerce (ZNCC) has
said.
In its proposition entitled 'From Stability To Growth' released
last
Tuesday, the ZNCC said the Zimbabwean government needed drastic policy
reform to allow competition in the provision of utilities. This would help
to lower tariffs and improve service delivery.
"It is important for the
government to engage multilateral institutions for
funding. It should reform
its policies to allow competition in the provision
of utilities in order to
enhance service delivery," said the Chamber.
The government was urged to
allow private investors to get a stake in power
utility, ZESA, in order to
strengthen its effectiveness.
"Private investors should be invited into this
organization, while
investment policy to allow private power generators must
be made friendly
and implemented expeditiously,'" noted ZNCC.
ZNCC said
as industry struggles to recover, local business should observe
business
ethics and fair competition in their contacts.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 12:11
THE
Parliamentary Select Committee (Copac) on the writing of the new
constitution has suspended two senior officials for allegedly mishandling
data collected during consultation meetings.
Now it is feared the
data, which was collected during the Copac outreach
programme, could have
been tampered with thus compromising the credibility
of the whole
process.
Authoritative sources said national coordinator Peter Kunjeku and
data
collation manager Skoliwe Fundira were suspended last week following
the
moving of data from Copac offices to the National Archives, a move that
was
not sanctioned by Copac co-chairpersons as stipulated by the
rules.
It could not be established whose interest the two were
serving. However,
there has been intense tussling between Zanu PF and the
two MDC formations
over the control of the process.
"A review
meeting on Thursday expressed concern in the two's failure to
adhere to data
security standards outlined by the three political parties
spearheading the
process," said one source.
"They stored data from four provinces in
an unsecured room at Copac offices
before moving it to National Archives in
unsealed boxes without the
authority of the three co-chairpersons or anyone
from the select committee."
The stakeholders committee, made up of
members from Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations, reportedly tried to secure
the data that had been moved to the
National Archives on Thursday afternoon
but the two officials beat them to
it, quickly moving the data back to Copac
offices before their arrival.
"It emerged that the data had been
moved to the National Archives on the
same day and thus was still outside,
although Kunjeku and Fundira had
insisted that the data could only be
released from the National Archives by
written authority signed by the three
co-chairs," another source said.
"The National Archives had not yet
officially received the data."
The sources said Copac had earlier on
ruled out storage of data at the
National Archives and other government
departments due to prevailing
perception that the Zanu PF ideology is still
ruling at most of these
institutions and thus data stored in them could be
exposed to manipulation.
The three parties have agreed to store data
in some secured rooms at Copac
offices and some independent secure
institutions such as banks.
The sources also said that there were
some provinces which had refused to
release their outreach data citing
dissatisfaction with storage security.
"It was agreed that Kunjeku and
Fundira's actions put the credibility of the
outreach data at risk," the
sources said.
Kunjeku yesterday refused to comment on his suspension
and referred all
questions to Copac.
The committee's
co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora (pictured) confirmed Copac
had suspended
some of its employees over the issue.
"I can confirm that we have
taken disciplinary action against some employees
pending investigations into
these serious matters although I will not say
who they are," he said. "This
does not mean that they are guilty.
"We will follow due process;
maybe they have justifiable reasons for their
actions."
Mwonzora
said the data which had been moved is now stored at a secure place
and under
24 hours armed guard.
"Just a few files had been moved to National
Archives and we quickly moved
in to stop any further movements when we heard
about that," Mwonzora said.
"We are however satisfied that the files were
not tampered with."
He denied allegations that some provinces were
refusing with data saying
Copac was satisfied with the storage of all other
information gathered
during the outreach phase.
Efforts to get a
comment from Copac co-chairperson Paul Mangwana were
fruitless as his mobile
phone went unaswered.
The constitution-making process is already
running behind schedule due to a
myriad of problems including bickering
between Mugabe's Zanu PF party and
the MDC over the form the reforms should
take.
The process had at one time stopped in Harare and Manicaland
provinces
because of violence and intimidation.
The proposed new
constitution is part of reforms agreed by President Robert
Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara to
democratise
Zimbabwe's politics.
The coalition government is expected to call
fresh elections once a new
constitution is in place although there is no
legal requirement for it to do
so, while Tsvangirai and Mugabe have differed
on when a new vote can be
held.
Mugabe has insisted new polls
should be held most probably next year whether
or not there is a new
constitution while Tsvangirai has said elections must
be preceded by a new
and democratic constitution.
BY JENIFFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 18:36
A Harare
headmaster is suing four teachers for US$150 000 after they
allegedly wrote
to the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
accusing him of
looting school funds.
Vainona High School headmaster David Makanza, through
his lawyers Muvirimi
and Associates, said the allegations by the teachers
were highly defamatory
and will jeopardise his chances of being
promoted.
Makanza is suing Chekayi Madiridze who has since been transferred
to Mt
Pleasant High School, Caroline Todhlana, Rachel Matikinyidze and
Tendai
Rwafa.
"We are instructed to demand, as we hereby do, payment
of
$150 000 being damages to our client's reputation, from yourself and
jointly
with your accomplices, within 14 days from the date of this letter,
through
our offices and failure of which legal action will be instituted
without any
further recourse to you and the costs will be for your account,"
the lawyers
said in a letter dated October 5.
The lawyers said the letter
that the teachers submitted to the ministry was
intended to lower the esteem
of Makanza in the eyes of his employer.
In the letter, the disgruntled
teachers complained about the alleged misuse
of funds and property by
Makanza.
They alleged that they were not getting incentives while the revenue
the
school gets from renting out the school premises could not be accounted
for.
They also claimed that the school bus was regularly hired out for some
church functions but the revenue was not benefiting the school.
"All the
money is unaccounted for (and) the SDA is made to believe that the
school
does not generate extra money except from levy fees," says the letter
written to the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister, David
Coltart.
It was also copied to the Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri and
the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The teachers called for an
urgent investigation into the matter.
Last week, the Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) again wrote to
Coltart expressing concern about
what is happening at Vainona High School
saying it could compromise the
quality of education at the school.
Raymond Majongwe, the PTUZ
secretary-general said instead of convening a
grievance meeting with the
affected teachers as per regulations, the
headmaster chose to "victimise
five of the 29 teachers who appended their
signatures to the grievance
letter."
The letter was also copied to Public Service minister, Elphas
Mukonoweshuro,
CID Fraud Squad and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
In an
interview with The Standard last week Madiridze denied ever writing
the
letter that exposed the goings-on at Vainona High School.
He said he only
read and signed just like the other teachers.
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 18:35
A
six-member team from the civil society under the Crisis in Zimbabwe banner
told President Jacob Zuma's facilitation team on Wednesday that reforms
under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) fell short of ensuring a credible
election.
The meeting follows requests by civil society to meet the
facilitation team
in an August letter to Mac Maharaj, Zuma's special
envoy.
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations are haggling over the
implementation of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
A report handed
over to the team says the lack of security reform is a major
impediment to
holding credible elections in the country.
It says, "the real outstanding
issue is holistic and actual implementation
of the GPA itself, especially as
it relates to security sector reform and
governance, full restoration of the
rule of law, respect for basic rights
and freedoms as well as other
institutional reforms that will enable
Zimbabwe to hold a credible election,
free of violence and whose outcome can
be respected as the will of the
people."
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 18:35
BULAWAYO - Public
gatherings in Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North could be
temporarily banned
this week following an outbreak of the deadly H1N1
influenza that has
reportedly claimed one life at Mkhubazi Primary school.
Provincial medical
director for Matabeleland North Province, Dr Patrick
Hazangue could not be
reached on Friday to verify the death report.
However Themba Moyo, Tsholotsho
District Administrator on Friday told The
Standard that they were mulling
banning gatherings to mitigate the spread of
the disease.
"At present
there are ongoing drought relief programmes in the district and
that issue
(of temporarily banning) public gatherings would be discussed on
Monday,"
said Moyo.
Symptoms of the deadly virus that sparked worldwide panic last
year have
been detected in more than 300 pupils and 31 teachers from 29
primary
schools .
Reports from the provincial education directorate for
Matabeleland North
compiled this week indicate that the two first cases to
test positive for
the virus where from Magama Primary School.
Reads part
of the report, "The highest number of cases was reported at Nanda
Primary
School. Nine schools in the district have not been affected by the
virus.
These are Nkwizhu, Jimila, Mahlaba, Lushabe, Sydney Malunga,
Jakalasi, St
Joseph, Mpindo and Zaga."
A total of 350 cases have been reported from 29
primary schools in the
district.
Mkhubazi Primary school had 215 pupils
and 13 teachers who received
treatment.
However an official from the
ministry of education said chances of
temporarily closing some affected
schools "were a remote possibility".
"Although the outbreak has affected
hundreds of pupils, closing the schools
is a remote possibility . it's the
last option and that decision has to be
taken by the Ministry of Health,"
said the official on Friday.
People in the district are encouraged to keep
about a metre away from
infected persons.
An integrated rapid response
team drawn from health, agriculture and veteran
departments has been
dispatched to the district.
The outbreak forced some grade seven pupils to
miss their final
examinations.
Information at hand reveals that Mbitiya
Primary School had more than 100
cases, Magama Primary School (80), Ntulula
Primary School and Khumbula
Primary School recorded 100 cases each.
At
least eight areas - that include Mbamba, Malanda, Tshitawatsha, Dlamini,
Bemba, Magama School, Nhembe and Makhazi - are the worst affected.
The US
Centre for Disease Control says that the flu is believed to spread
between
humans through sneezing or coughing.
It recommends confinement at home in
order to limit contact with other
people and running the risk of spreading
the disease.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:32
BULAWAYO residents last week told the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on
Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion that they had lost
confidence in
the national budget as funds allocated for several capital
projects in the
region in successive budgets had not being
forthcoming.
This, they said, had negatively impacted on development in
Matabeleland, one
of the least developed regions in the country.
The
residents said it would be better for Finance minister Tendai Biti not
to
mention allocations to the region during his 2011 budget speech later
this
year.
Bulawayo-based political commentator Qhubani Moyo told the committee
during
a 2011 national budget consultation meeting that it would be better
for
budget statements to be silent on allocation of funds as mentioning them
raised false hopes for people in the region.
"We have seen a sad pattern
emerging when it comes to allocation of funds
for capital projects and Biti
is falling into the same trap as did other
past finance
ministers.
"Several projects such as Joshua Mqabuko Airport, Nkayi- Bulawayo
road,
Lupane State University, National University of Science and
Technology,
Mtshabezi and Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project are
continuously allocated
funds in national budgets but the money is not
released," said Moyo.
"It would be better not to mention the
allocations."
Moyo said the delay in completing the projects was affecting
development in
the region.
Bekithemba Nyathi, a Bulawayo-based activist
said: "It really boggles the
mind why they then hold budget consultation
meetings when no money will be
released for Matabeleland projects despite
allocations having been made
during budget presentations."
He said it was
a sheer waste of time and resources to hold the budget
consultation
meetings.
Other participants said there was deliberate marginalisation of
Matabeleland
in resource allocation. They said revenue generated from the
region is
channelled to other areas.
They said tollgate fees raised from
each region should be used in those
respective areas.
"The use of
tollgate revenue is problematic," said another resident Mkululi
Moyo. "We
want a budget policy that clearly states that tollgate revenue
generated
from a specific area should be re-channelled to that region."
Another
resident said, "It was disheartening to learn that close to US$150
000 was
recently allocated to the entire Matabeleland North province which
has one
of the major highways (Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road) yet just one
district,
Zvimba got as much as US$2 million."
The input from residents is expected to
be forwarded to Biti for
consideration when drawing up the budget.
The
committee is compelled by the Public Finance Management Act to consult
the
public, budget experts, business, civic organisations and professional
bodies for their input in to the budget formulation
process.
By NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:30
THERE is little sympathy out there for the over 70 Avondale police
officers
who were kicked out of Harare by Police Commissioner-General
Augustine
Chihuri.
Responses from readers of The Standard - in the form
of telephone calls,
text messages and comments on the website during the
past week - showed that
people who stay around the area under the
jurisdiction of Avondale police
station were thrilled by Chihuri's
decision.
Chihuri transferred the entire force at Avondale, sending
the bulk of the
police officers to remote stations after a "well-connected"
Avondale woman
had raised corruption allegations against one of the
officers.
The woman, of Indian origin, told The Standard some form of
discipline had
to be brought to bear on Avondale police.
However,
the officers who have been posted to remote stations such as
Dotito, Tuli,
Mushumbi, Mutorashanga, Binga, Jambezi, Guyu, Kezi, Mbembesi,
Kazungula,
Gezani, Nkayi and Dete were left devastated by the transfers.
Two of
the officers may have more headaches after they were arrested last
week for
allegedly failing to properly account for fines.
Sources say the two
were nabbed during the handover-takeover exercise for
failing to properly
receipt a fine.
The two bolstered the case of those in the force who
said Avondale police
station had become the melting pot of corrupt
activities by the police.
The story of the police transfers last week
generated animated responses
from readers, the majority of whom showed
little sympathy for the police.
For the benefit of our readers, we reproduce
below some of the comments
which have been edited.
n I'm a
resident of Emerald Hill. The Avondale police force is one of the
most
incompetent and corrupt in town. A theft at my house and many others
since
2001 have never been resolved. At least I got feedback from this
station.
The policeman who attended my case wanted a "gift" to investigate
the theft.
Good riddance. - Chipaumire.
n Let them (police) rot in the rural areas
away from the Kombis they fleeced
everyday. - Blessing.
n No
permanent friendship in Zanu PF. Let them taste their own medicine.
They
will have to readjust their corrupt activities a bit. I mean demanding
chickens and goats from villagers. Hahahaha! - Chenhamo.
n Very
corrupt police station that one. And they solicit bribes openly. Just
two
weeks ago our panel-beater was arrested for driving an unregistered car.
They wanted to lock him up until they asked us to buy them sadza. Takadonha
(we lost) $30 and I was surprised that by 10am they were already eating
sadza in those offices while suspects where unattended. In this country
corruption will never end until we introduce the Chinese style law -
Nyagi.
n Avondale police have a history of incompetence. I suspect that
they have a
culture of corruption. This is a good move and should be done
regularly at
this police station. They want to bring in politics where there
is none. I
have a case of my daughter who was run down by a white motorist
in 2006 and
the case was never pursued at Avondale police station. -
Zvanyadza.
n In 1990 I had my books and clothes stolen at the University
of Zimbabwe
and I managed to apprehend the thieves personally in Mbare and
handed them
over to Mbare Police station who transferred them to Avondale as
the police
in charge of the scene of crime. They let them off free, never to
pursue the
case again. There must be a very bad culture of corruption at
this police
station. Your paper should be very careful of people who bring
in politics
where there is none. Let them all go to bring sanity at this
station. Never
mind the pending cases because they are going to pursue none.
- Zvanyadza
n This is the first thing that I salute Chihuri for. Just
imagine having to
be asked to pay a bribe of US$50 for your son not to be
detained because he
was alone driving on a learner's licence. I prayed for
my God to intervene.
He did and my prayers have been answered. - At
last.
n There is an officer called Mbwende who was with Avondale police.
This guy
was evil and I am happy he is no longer there. Well done vaChihuri.
-
Wanguda.
However, a few other readers questioned Chihuri's probity
in his collective
punishment of the whole station.
n If it were me I
would definitely challenge the decision as one would need
reasonable notice
before a transfer. Should the mass transfer be for
neglecting work,
procedurally the offending person should be charged. Let's
not ululate and
condemn the en masse just because of the politics of the
day. Their rights
as workers should be respected.
n What a sad note to the affected
officers. It is disturbing to note that
the entire office has been punished
because a close confidante to the police
boss has been investigated. What's
wrong with investigations? What about
those who are languishing in remand
without trial? Zimbabwe is not cursed,
sanity shall prevail one day. Winds
of change are unstoppable. Justice shall
prevail. Zimbabwe Ahoyi! -
Mutirowafanza.
n Whilst shoddy service by ZRP Avondale and/or any other
station is
unacceptable, it seems the en masse transfer was for sinister
motives rather
than for operational efficiency or anti-corruption
reasons.
Will Chihuri also engage in mass transfers for other police stations
that
top the corruption and inefficiency indices? It's probably Chihuri and
some
senior officers that need to be investigated? Who knows, they can
become
former RSA police chief Jackie Selebi Part 2. On what basis is the
Indian
lady well connected to them? Such behaviour has no place in
constitutional
democracies! - Me-Myself
n I think this is the height
of absurdity and rank stupidity on the part of
the force leadership. You
don't need to be an advocate to come to the
conclusion that the punishment
does not fit the crime.
n Chihuri is simply being a bully here. There is
a lot of cleaning up which
needs to be done in the police as a whole rather
than targeting one
station. - Chitambudzo.
n How are all the officers
involved in the case of this arrogant woman? In
an organisation, there is
supposed to be a clearly laid down internal
disciplinary process, has this
been followed? Show me any one single police
station that doesn't have
corrupt officers, that doesn't exhibit gross
tardiness in as far as handling
matters is concerned?
It is therefore clear that this decision has been on
the cards for a long
time and it's a direct affront to the peace-loving and
sober-minded police
officers who are not averse to change!
BY
WALTER MARWIZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:29
THERE is need to embrace scientific interventions in agriculture in
order to
improve Africa's poor yields, especially in light of food crises on
the
continent, former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has
said.
Speaking on Africa's agriculture to students and journalists at
Columbia
University in New York recently, Annan said many countries on the
African
continent had made strides towards millennium development goals like
education and health but need to do more to reduce poverty.
Annan's
comments followed a number of disturbing indicators that food prices
could
reach the dangerous levels of 2007 to 2008, when riots broke out in
several
hunger-stricken African countries and the number of people suffering
from
hunger reached a record high.
In Zimbabwe, says the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO), at least 1,68 million people will still need
food assistance next
year.
In response to the indicators, the World Bank,
which said it expects high
volatility in food prices to continue until at
least 2015, reactivated its
Global Food Crisis Response Programme (GFRP),
dedicating up to US$760
million to countries at risk.
With 100 million
hectares of land under crop production and producing about
100 million
tonnes of corn per year, Africa is seen as faring badly in
agriculture.
Other continents have much higher yields compared to Africa,
with Latin
America, South and East Asia having an average of three tonnes
per hectare,
with China and North America and Europe having five and 10
respectively.
Low production forces the continent to import between 35
and 40 million
tonnes of corn per year.
"We have the soils, the
environment, the seeds and the models but there are
a lot of poor and food
insufficient people on the continent," Annan said.
"For a long time, we did
not have the right seeds and our soils have been
used over and over again,
most of our farmers are smallholders who cannot
afford fertilisers yet in
many cases, they hardly get any help from
government and they have no access
to finance.
"We need a unique African green revolution."
Annan, who
initiated the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra)
which
supports small-scale farmers, said there was need to embrace
technology to
improve yields, highlighting that in the Agra project,
small-holder farmers
worked with scientists to improve varieties of their
local staple
foods.
Columbia University- based agronomist Pedro Sanchez said in some parts
of
Africa, poor performance can be partially blamed on some misconceptions
about agriculture.
He said one of the misconceptions, a controversial one
for Zimbabwe, is the
way genetically modified (scientifically enhanced)
organisms are viewed.
"You hear people saying that farmers now have to buy
seed every year because
of GMOs," Sanchez said. "But this has always been
the case even with hybrid
(naturally enhanced) seeds since the
1970s.
"All crops are GMOs in the sense that there has been a gene transfer
from
one plant to another. Wheat for example, is a product of a gene
transfer
from one grass to another."
Sanchez said there was no scientific
evidence that GMOs were harmful to
humans and the environment, adding that
some of these have yielded positive
results for other countries including
South Africa.
He also said some ecologists are dealing the sector a heavy
blow by
discouraging the use of fertilisers.
"They say agriculture should
mimic natural systems which are closed in terms
of nutrients cycle," he
said. "But agriculture is an open system in which
nutrients are exported and
do not come back to the same field.
"Therefore to balance the cycle, which is
ecologically sound to do, the
exports should be replaced by inputs to
nutrilise the soils like fertilisers
or manures in order to get high
production."
Sanchez said some people, including donors, were discouraging
farmers from
using chemical fertilisers saying they were bad and advocating
for organic
farming which he said cannot work well in Africa as it required
highly
fertile soils yet most of Africa's soils continue to lose nutrients
and will
require decades and even centuries to nutrilise.
He dismissed
the notion that local foods were good and better for the
environment.
Sanchez said while some local seed varieties may have low
yields, others
from elsewhere may produce higher and better yields.
Annan called for closer
co-operation among African governments, donor
countries and civil society
organisations. He also said governments and
financial institutions should
avail cheap loans to farmers.
"We also need to link them with markets,
improve storage and processing so
they do not incur losses with their
produce getting spoiled," he said.
BY JENNIFER DUBE, RECENTLY IN
NEW YORK, USA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:27
THE Zanu PF Women's League last week set the agenda for the party's
conference in December, that its leader, Robert Mugabe, be declared
president for life.
Led by Oppah Muchinguri, the league declared that
Mugabe should stand in the
next election and rule forever.
Without doubt,
a flurry of declarations from the provinces that Mugabe is
declared
candidate and president for life will start flowing from this week
till the
December conference, where the veteran leader will no doubt accept
the
mantle.
There has been calls before that Mugabe be declared supreme leader of
the
party, probably taking an example of the Iranian example, but none seem
to
be as emphatic as the life president declaration.
While it has been
the worst kept secret that Mugabe has ambitions to rule
until his last
breath, these aspirations have never been laid bare.
No doubt the
octogenarian leader will use this as an endorsement to further
his 30 year
rule, with the usual cliché that "if the people want me to
continue then who
am I to say no".
Analysts have described the move by the Women's League as
part of the
broader Zanu PF succession dynamics, with Muchinguri hoping to
endear
herself to Mugabe.
"The call by the Women's League is
electioneering and endearing themselves
to the patronage system that
President Mugabe has created in his own party
as well as through the state,"
Takura Zhangazha, a political analyst
remarked.
Zhangazha said as an
extension of that patronage system, the women were
posturing while at the
same time paying homage to their benefactor.
He said he did not see Mugabe
"officially" accepting the Women's League's
declaration, although in reality
it seemed he was a de facto life president.
Trevor Maisiri of the African
Reform Institute (AFI) pointed out that the
call by the Women's League was
endemic of the leadership failure that faced
Zanu PF.
He said party
members, probably due to their own insecurity, were raising
Mugabe to a
pedestal, sometimes way above the former guerilla leader's own
expectations.
"In that regard what you get is that he is then pushed into
all sorts of
leadership supremacy realms that would defy any meaningful and
realistic
posturing of political leadership in modern day politics," Maisiri
said.
He added that Mugabe had not managed his followers well and this was a
sign
of poor leadership.
"The art of leadership is to also be able to
manage your followers'
expectations and not be tempted to be pushed beyond
the terms of good
governance," Maisiri, a political analyst said.
"So as
much as the president may call for leadership succession I don't
think the
party followers have yet developed such kind of consideration."
The political
analyst said as far he was concerned, Zanu PF members had now
elevated
Mugabe beyond human leadership into some form of politico-spiritual
leadership stature.
"In that regard many believe that there is no one
human who can challenge
such stature and therefore the succession discussion
has become sacred," he
said.
A Zanu PF insider was of a different view
arguing that Muchinguri was being
an "agent provocateur" out to provoke
debate within the party in an effort
to weed out members who did not toe the
line.
"She is a Mugabe loyalist and the idea is to provoke those who are
eyeing
Mugabe's position and they will be dealt with at the conference," the
insider who requested anonymity said.
The insider said the Women's
League's call had all the hallmarks of Mugabe's
management of the succession
issue in recent years, ominously declaring that
he would be shocked if there
would be no casualties who would seek to oppose
Muchinguri.
"He (His
Excellency President Mugabe) has always called for debate into his
succession, but this has always been as an excuse to thwart those who are
deemed to be over-ambitious," he said.
The source gave examples of
Thenjiwe Lesabe and at one time Emmerson
Mnangwagwa, who had lost favour
with Mugabe after declaring their
presidential ambitions.
Media scholar,
Brilliant Mhlanga said the moves by the Women's League were
echoing how the
party dealt with the succession issue in the past.
"The trend within the
party is that people die in power, Joshua Nkomo, Simon
Muzenda and Joseph
Msika all died in power and that is the way the party
handles its
succession," he said. "It is clear that the party has made that
a
position."
Last year, Tsholotsho legislator Jonathan Moyo suggested that
since the
three vice presidents had died in power, Mugabe should also be
allowed that
honour.
Mhlanga said that life-presidency was some form of
reward for its leadership
and was based on Maoist principles, which Zanu PF
still copied.
He added that the declaration by Muchinguri was meant to rebuff
ambitious
party members and pull the rug under their feet.
Mhlanga said
elections next year were meant to address the succession issue
within the
party, as they felt it could only be addressed once Mugabe was
fully in
power.
Mhlanga said he felt that this declaration was a strategic move by one
of
the factions seeking to succeed Mugabe and they were buying time to
forestall the ascendancy by the other faction.
His argument is premised
on the basis that Muchinguri belonged to the
faction led by Mnangagwa and
was eyeing Vice President Joice Mujuru's
position in case her faction
assumed control.
Zhangazha and Maisiri differed on the reasons behind
Mugabe's confidence
ahead of polls, which are due next year, but concurred
that he felt he had a
better chance compared to two years ago.
"He is
willing to take the risk (calling for elections) primarily because he
hopes
the MDC is not as strong as it was in 2008 and therefore defeatable
(sic),"
he said.
Maisiri on the other hand was of the opinion that Zanu PF was in a
corner
and were fighting back, which meant more visibility on the
ground.
He felt the strength of the opposition parties meant that Zanu PF had
to
concentrate on them and that meant the succession issue had been muted
within the party.
"In that context the party has naturally shriveled into
coagulating towards
a salient concurrence on allowing the institution of
President Mugabe to be
the vanguard of their swatting of opposition party
efforts," he said.
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
14:08
MARRIED women who dabble in commercial sex work are emerging as the
biggest
threat to efforts to reduce the spread of HIV in Zimbabwe, experts
said last
week.
Participants at a workshop organised by the United
Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) were told that most of the prostitutes these
days were married, a
development that complicated conventional Aids
prevention methods.
"We have discovered in our behaviour change programming
that some married
women are engaging in unprotected sex work, which is a
serious threat to the
achievements made to date in terms of declining HIV
prevalence rates," said
Samson Chidiya, a UNFPA representative.
He said
most of the married prostitutes were undocumented because of the
stigma
attached to the trade and this made it difficult to document them.
Chidiya
said the stigmatisation of sex workers had also made it difficult
for
organisations involved in behaviour change programmes to come up with
interventions specifically targeted at them.
He said frequent police
raids were counterproductive as they only helped to
drive the prostitutes
underground where they engaged in more risky
behaviour.
Ordinary
commercial sex workers usually line the streets at night and
frequent night
spots hunting for clients.
But Chidiya said it was difficult to spot married
sex workers because their
activities tend to be more discreet.
He said
the only way out of the problem would be through sustained behaviour
change
programmes, which the UNFPA was already implementing with its
partners
countrywide.
Orirando Manwere, the National Aids Council (NAC) communications
officer
said the new phenomenon of married sex workers was fuelled by a
variety of
factors but the only solution was improved communication between
couples.
"Issues of inadequate sexual performance by men, dissatisfaction,
mere greed
and personality come to the fore," Manwere said.
"Some women
are frustrated in households and this is due to increasing
economic
challenges as well as emotional stress."
Early this year, NAC reported that
Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence rate had
declined to 13.7% from 16% recorded in
2007.
The decline was attributed to decreased deaths due to Aids-awareness,
condom-use and behaviour change by men among other factors.
Meanwhile,
NAC has embarked on a nationwide consultative process to develop
a
prioritised, evidence-based and results-focused five-year Zimbabwe
National
HIV and Aids Strategic Plan for the period 2011 to 2015.
The new strategic
plan is expected to identify the country's priorities in
the national
response to the scourge and will significantly benefit from
findings of a
recent mode of transmission study.
The study sought to characterise the
nature of Zimbabwe's pandemic and
identify the sources of new HIV
infections, with the aim of effectively
curtailing the spread of the
scourge.
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October
2010 14:06
THE right to health must clearly be spelt out in the new
constitution
preferably under the Bill of Rights to ensure that everyone
has access to
health in the country, experts have said.
The Community
Working Group on Health (CWGH), in its input document to the
new
constitution-making process, said the right to health must be clearly
included in the new constitution.
CWGH executive director Itai Rusike
said the inclusion of the right to
health in the new Zimbabwe constitution
would be a show of commitment by the
government in promoting social progress
and better standards of life for
Zimbabweans.
“We see that embedding the
right to health in our constitution will give us
the bottom we need to make
it clear that everyone has a claim to health
care, regardless of the
economic, social-political status, race, creed,
gender or other features,”
said Rusike.
The CWGH recommended that the new constitution must have the
right to safe
drinking water and sanitation, food, shelter as well as access
to
health-related education and information.
It said, in the new
constitution people affected by HIV/Aids must have the
right to freedom from
discrimination, right to life, equality before the law
and the right to
privacy.
Rusike said inclusion of the right to health in the new constitution
will be
a show of commitment by government in promoting social progress and
better
standards of life.
This, Rusike said, would be consistent with the
state’s ratification of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Right (ICESCR) in
1991.
Article 12 of the ICESCR obligates
states to recognise the right of everyone
to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental
health, “including the right to
healthy environments, prevention of disease
and access to health
care”.
Rusike’s proposals were also supported by former chairman of the
parliamentary portfolio committee on health. Blessing Chebundo, who said the
right to health must be included in the bill of rights.
Chebundo said he
was concerned that very few people raised health related
issues to be
included in the new constitution during the outreach
programmes,
particularly in Midlands where he took part.
“It was a cause of concern for
me,” said Chebundo. “There was very little in
terms of issues related to
health raised during the Copac meetings in
Midlands.”
Chebundo was
speaking at the CWGH national meeting whose theme was “Health
for All –
Campaigning for the Right to Health in the New Zimbabwe
Constitution” held
last week.
The meeting drew participants from the ministry of health, the
Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee, civil society and
community-based organisations.
A report by Unicef and the government late
last year revealed a worsening
situation for women and children in
Zimbabwe.
The report showed reduced access to key social services for the
poorest
women and children, especially those in rural areas.
Data from
the report which is the result of a survey conducted in May 2009
shows a 20%
increase in under five child mortality since 1990.
Most of the under fives
succumb to HIV/Aids, newborn disorders, pneumonia
and diarrhoea.
Children
in rural areas and those from poor families, that comprise one
fifth of the
population are the most vulnerable, the report says.
The survey revealed
stark disparities between the rich and poor saying the
poor are hardest hit
in terms of access to critical services in health and
education.
The data
also shows that 79% of orphans and vulnerable children are not
receiving any
form of external assistance.
Further, around two-thirds of all children in
the country do not possess
birth certificates.
The survey was designed to
provide policymakers with information they can
use to make decisions on
development priorities and budgets.
Despite the inaccessibility of health
care by women and children, Zimbabwe
is a signatory to several international
treaties governing the right to
health and health care.
Among those that
the country has ratified include the African Charter on
Human Rights and
Peoples’ Rights, Convention Concerning Forced Labour,
Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment
or Punishment as
well as Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against
Women.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
14:05
SMM administrator Afaras Gwaradzimba could have misled Justice
minister,
Patrick Chinamasa into believing that creditors and members of the
group had
assented to a scheme used to wrest Mutumwa Mawere's
empire.
Minutes of the June 24 2005 meeting show that creditors and members
had
unanimously approved the scheme of reconstruction that came after
government
took over the businessman's empire because it was indebted to the
state by
virtue of owing money to parastatals.
On the agenda of the 2005
meeting were: presentation by administrator of the
proposed scheme of
reconstruction for SMM; questions, if any, from creditors
and members
present in respect of the scheme; approval of the scheme by
creditors and
members; and any other business.
The meeting was held at SMM boardroom, 6th
Floor Batanai Gardens in the
central business district where Gwaradzimba
presented his scheme for
consideration during the meeting.
Curiously
there was no shareholder of SMM present, raising fears that the
meeting was
improperly constituted.
There are also fears that those who attended could
have been whipped into
rubber-stamping the scheme to complete the seizure of
Mawere's empire.
Since Gwaradzimba is an administrator of SMM, there was no
way employees of
SMM subsidiaries and associates could have voted against
the scheme.
Present at the meeting were employees of SMM subsidiaries and
associates.
When the scheme was approved, Gwaradzimba took it to Justice
minister
Patrick Chinamasa for approval.
Chinamasa approved the scheme
which was presented in chamber before a High
Court judge who confirmed the
scheme.
Information obtained last week shows that Gwaradzimba did not inform
the
meeting that AMG Global Nominee had offered to buy the empire for US$2
million and that Mawere's Africa Resources Limited was challenging the
transaction in a UK court.
The UK Supreme Court dismissed AMG Global
Nominees and said they did not
have title to the bearer share warrants
representing the ownership shares in
SMMH and THZH; the two British Virgin
Islands-registered companies.
SMMH and THZH are the parent companies of the
Zimbabwean operations.
Asked to comment on the meeting Gwaradzimba said:
"Those issues have been
dealt with long back. All those things went through
the courts and if the
courts find things to be okay, that is as far as I
will go."
The revelation is a confidence booster for Mawere who has been
fighting for
the return of his seized assets.
The Zimbabwean-born
businessman was in the country last week, the first time
in six years after
his warrant of arrest was cancelled.
The cancellation follows his
despecification on May.
Under normal procedure, the assets of a specified
person are kept by the
state and returned upon the revocation of such
specification. In Mawere's
case, however, Chinamasa specified him and then
came up with reconstruction
laws which seized the assets.
The
co-Ministers of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone were
supposed
to return the assets following the revocation of specification in
May.
It
is understood that Mohadi has written to Chinamasa on how the Mawere saga
could be resolved.
Mohadi told Standardbusiness: ""It (the Mawere saga)
doesn't fall under my
purview."
Chinamasa was not answering his mobile
when this paper called on Friday.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 14:03
ZIMBABWEAN
stocks are undervalued, as evidenced by lower market
capitalisation compared
to numbers obtaining in the region, despite the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
(ZSE) having more listed companies, Finance Minister
Tendai Biti said on
Wednesday.
Market capitalisation - measured by multiplying the total number
of shares
of stock, listed entities and the prices - is closely followed by
investors
to judge the performance of any bourse.
"For example, as at
30th September 2010, the capitalisation of the ZSE
(Zimbabwe Stock Exchange)
was US$3, 4 billion which is less than that of the
Lusaka Stock Exchange
(US$5, 3 billion) which has fewer listed companies.
This comparison shows
that Zimbabwean stocks are undervalued," Biti told
stakeholders at a
pre-budget consultation workshop.
There are 22 counters on the Lusaka Stock
Exchange while ZSE has 76
companies trading.
Biti said government is
willing to consider additional proposals to improve
the performance of the
industry in addition to the slashing of transactional
costs early this
year.
Government slashed the transaction costs on the buying and selling of
shares
to 3, 5% from 7, 5% to bolster activity on the bourse. The move was
also
designed to align the transactional costs to those obtaining in the
region.
Biti said the security industry needs to modernise its trading and
settlement infrastructure to meet world standards.
"The introduction of
an Automation Trading System would improve efficiency
on the stock exchange
by reducing transaction cycles while the establishment
of a Central
Securities Depository would facilitate the maintenance of
settlement and
ownership records," he said.
Market capitalisation on ZSE started well this
year and reached US$3, 9
billion on January 29.
But the gazetting of the
regulations governing the empowerment laws dragged
market capitalisation to
US$3 billion. As of Thursday market capitalisation
stood at US$3, 6
billion.
The stock exchange shows the health of a nation.
The low
performance of ZSE eats into the commission of the 20 stockbrokers
who
derive their incomes from increased volume of trade on the bourse.
Brokers
are still smarting from halving of commission on the trading of
shares to 1%
effective January this year.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 14:03
THE
mention of the return of the Zimbabwean dollars is enough to frighten
citizens who, a few years ago, endured hours in bank queues trying to get
their hard-earned cash.
It brings back memories of prices going up on an
hourly basis and basic
commodities disappearing from the shelves.
Yet in
less than two years' time, Zimbabwe has to make a choice for a
currency.
Government has said the multiple currencies regime - credited for
stemming
hyperinflation - runs up to 2012.
Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman
Ncube upped the ante telling
business executives in Bulawayo recently that
Zimbabwe has to join the Rand
Monetary Union.
Although multiple
currencies are credited for stemming hyperinflation, it
has brought with it
distortions especially on the cross rates.
Another problem with the multiple
currencies regime is that some retailers
are only accepting the US dollar
and can only take the rand on an exchange
rate of US$1: R10.
Analysts say
a cost-benefit analysis has to be undertaken before a nation
jumps onto
which currency to use.
According to a United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) series document
released last year, Zimbabwe has to join the Common
Monetary Area (CMA) that
uses the rand as its currency to lure cross-border
trading by South African
financial institutions.
The UNDP working paper,
Recovery of the Financial Sector and Building
Financial Inclusiveness, said
joining the CMA has more advantages than using
the US dollar as an official
currency as Zimbabwe trades more with South
Africa than it does with the
United States.
"The crucial advantage of joining the CMA is that Zimbabwe
will have access
to the South African capital and money markets and a right
to enter into
bilateral agreements with South Africa and be able to avail
itself of
temporary central banking facilities of the South African Reserve
Bank," the
report said.
The CMA comprises South Africa, Namibia,
Swaziland and Lesotho.
Should Zimbabwe join the CMA, it will have to
subscribe to these tenets of
the Multilateral Monetary
Agreement.
Monetary policy will be conducted within the framework of the
agreement,
which in essence means loss of monetary independence.
If
Zimbabwe joins the CMA, the exchange-control provisions of every party to
the agreement must be substantially in accord with those in South
Africa.
The management of gold and foreign-exchange reserves must also be
similar in
all member countries, the working paper said.
Debate on the
currency has always whipped emotions and the return of the
local currency
cannot be ruled out.
President Robert Mugabe said last year the local unit
can be revived soon.
A currency is viewed as a national flag and a symbol of
sovereignty. While
politicians are angling for the return of the local
currency, the region is
moving towards integration and is mulling a regional
currency.
Economist Brains Muchemwa argues that government should focus on
enhancing
the capacity of the economy to produce and be competitive and pay
little
attention to making pronouncements that could be
counter-progressive.
"Eventually, the multi-currency system may be phased
out, but the process
will need to be gradual," he said.
Muchemwa said the
use of multiple currencies has brought about pricing
stability and has taken
away the central government's ability to print
money.
He said government
must not rush to bring back the local currency when the
country is still
battling with sizeable budget deficits.
Biti recently said that the US$810
million vote of credit has not performed
according to expectations and there
is a hole of over US$600 million.
"The temptation to stimulate growth via the
fiscal stimulus becomes great
and without much choice, the printer will
become the next best alternative
and in the process the destructive
influence can begin once again," Muchemwa
said.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono told Standardbusiness on the
sidelines of Sadc central
bank governors meeting early this month that there
are political, cultural,
legal, constitutional and other factors that cannot
be wished away in the
debate or aspiration towards a single currency.
He said although there is an
EU bloc using the Euro, one of its members,
Britain has kept its
currency.
"Why? Maybe it's for constitutional reasons; maybe it's
sentimental, maybe
it's simply for nationalistic reasons. We will need to go
through all these
but there is absolutely no doubt about the benefits of a
single currency,"
he said.
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 14:00
A
South African advocacy group petitioned New Reclamation Group Ltd to
provide
additional information about the relocation of communities on
Zimbabwe’s
Marange diamond fields and a “clean-up” of the area.
Southern African
Resource Watch (SARW) submitted the request to
Johannesburg-based New
Reclamation under South Africa’s Promotion of Access
to Information Act.
Three Marange-community members joined the petition, the
Johannesburg-based
group said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Reclamation’s Mbada unit, a
50:50 venture with state-owned Marange
Resources, mines diamonds in Marange.
In 2008, more than 200 people were
killed as the army and police cleared as
many as 20 000 illegal miners from
the area, Human Rights Watch, the New
York-based advocacy group, said last
year. Zimbabwe’s police force says it
hasn’t received reports of atrocities.
Rapaport Group's RapNet Diamond
Trading Network, the world’s biggest, in
November banned its members from
dealing in gems from Marange because of
reports of “severe” human rights
violations in the area.
SARW asked for documents supporting assurances made
by New Reclamation to
shareholder Old Mutual Plc that “its activities in
Zimbabwe are to the
benefit of all Zimbabweans and part of a clean-up
operation of the Marange
diamond fields”, the group said. SARW is also
seeking documents related to
any compensation made to communities relocated
from Marange, it said.
Reclamation Chief Executive Officer Michael Movsas
wasn’t available when
Bloomberg called his Johannesburg office yesterday
seeking comment. Lynn
Bolin, a spokeswoman for Old Mutual Investment Group
SA, couldn’t
immediately comment when Bloomberg called her after the close
of business
yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said there
was no lack of
accountability at the Marange diamond fields.
“The
communities affected by diamond mining in Zimbabwe are being negotiated
with
openly and transparently in a process that is monitored by government,”
Mpofu said yesterday by phone from Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. Diamonds
mined in the country are “not dirty,” he said.
Mbada has mined more than
two million carats since it began operations in
December, according to
Reclamation’s website. Zimbabwe will retain about 62%
of the revenue derived
from diamond sales in the form of royalties,
resource-depletion fees, taxes
and the government’s 50% share in Mbada,
according to the site.
“There is
a widespread belief that the Marange diamonds are funding a
ZANU-PF election
war chest, as well as providing Zimbabwe’s old elite with a
new source of
illicit wealth,” Nicole Fritz, director of the Southern
African Litigation
Centre (SALC), said in the joint SARW statement. “New
Reclamation Group can
help end the speculation by providing us with this
information.”
Mpofu
said the allegations that diamond sales are funding the ruling
Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front’s election campaign are
“completely
false.”
The SALC provided assistance on the petition to SARW, which says it
monitors
and advocates for sustainable development where natural resources
are
extracted. — Bloomberg.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010 18:21
THE two main
political parties (Zanu PF and MDC-T) seem to have engaged the
election
campaign gear and all is set for a grueling campaign ahead of the
2011
harmonised elections. The other political parties Zapu and MDC99 are
yet to
present their credentials to the electorate. Mavambo did participate
in an
election and performed dismally; perhaps the laws then prohibited them
from
campaigning in certain areas or through certain media.
Let me deliberately
not talk about the newly launched stinking party which,
for lack of a better
word, I shall call toilet party, which will be putting
its campaign material
in all the toilets around the country. One wonders
what one would use after
relieving themselves after having gone to the
toilet without toilet
paper.
The ill-informed electorate is set to be confused with the emergence
of yet
another MDC party. How I wish there could be a law that bars such
practices.
Surely this is the work of detractors whose only interest is to
confuse the
electorate for the benefit of other political parties. I cannot
imagine for
one that a learned person like Prof Mutambara would fail to come
up with his
own name for a political party. As if that's not enough, after
the MDC-M
had copied the name, worse still the party symbol, Job Sikhala not
to be
outdone, launched the MDC99. What is it with the name MDC?
Are
there no other names such as Zimbabwe Democratic Party, Federal Party of
Zimbabwe, Alliance Party of Zimbabwe etc that political parties could use?
A political party that wants to rule the country needs to differentiate
itself from any other not just by name but ideology too. What I am saying is
that in years gone by we used to have such names as the Rhodesia Front
(Smith), UANC (Muzorewa), Zanu PF (Chitepo), PF Zapu (Nkomo), ZUM (Tekere),
Zanu Ndonga, (Sithole). The names are different from each other just as
darkness is to light.
Hopefully political parties with the right
ambition realise this, take
corrective measures and then enter an
election.
But, have we, as a nation corrected the wrongs of the past to
ensure that
all the challenges for a free and fair election have been
addressed?
The Global Political Agreement had laid the groundwork as a
rescue package
for our nation which, in my view, needs to be guarded to a
certain extent.
The agreement provides for the establishment of such bodies
as the Human
Rights, Media and Electoral commissions among others. While
these will be
established by parliamentarians through an act, the most
important item that
the GPA could give the nation is the Constitution of
Zimbabwe by
Zimbabweans. The people of Zimbabwe have it within their power
to write
their own Constitution provided their views are taken seriously and
are
respected. The greatest threat to that is that the MDC and Zanu PF went
on
holiday to Kariba and decided to while away time drafting what they
called
the Kariba Draft which they intend to impose upon the people via the
back
door. The nation deserves better. The Kariba Draft simply entails that
the
people of Zimbabwe are not capable of thinking for themselves but the
politicians can. I can be a Zanu PF member but it does not necessarily
follow that I go along with everything that the party says. Just like I am a
Zimbabwean and I don't agree with the government's position to ban
second-hand cars come March 2011. Willowvale has no capacity to service the
local market neither do Zimbabweans have the money to buy the new cars or
those that are fairly new.
In my opinion, the issue of elections as much
as the draft constitution,
should be put to the people to decide by way of a
referendum. The people
have the power and the final say. Let them decide on
whether they are ready
for a new round of political violence and
intimidation. Let them decide on
whether they really know which political
party will extricate them from
indecision and lack of progress. Let them
decide whether they want to pay TV
licenses to watch political jingles from
one party without an open debate by
all the parties on state television. The
people have the power, not the
politicians.
BY JUJU CHIVI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:21
FORMER South African president Thabo Mbeki last week said the
Global
Political Agreement (GPA) still remained the most viable route to end
the
country's political crisis.
He said if Zimbabwe's political
leadership stuck to the GPA, Zimbabwe would
soon find lasting peace and
stability.
He said this after he had launched his Thabo Mbeki Foundation and
the Thabo
Mbeki Africa Leadership Institute in Johannesburg.
Although he
vilified the world over for his policy of "quiet diplomacy" in
his handling
of the Zimbabwean crisis, Mbeki should be credited for the
relative peace
and stability that the country enjoys today.
The GPA, which he crafted and
persuaded the so-called principals - President
Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara - to sign,
pulled Zimbabwe back from the brink.
The country had assumed the odious badge
of having one of the highest rates
of inflation in world history, the people
had begun to reject the national
currency which had become virtually
worthless and on the political front,
the country was in a state of virtual
civil war. The year 2008 had seen the
country plunge from a modern civilized
nation into pre-historic barbarism.
As the then-ruling Zanu PF party saw its
political fortunes wane in the face
of popular discontent, it chose to go
against the people's will by
bludgeoning them into submission even when they
had shown beyond any doubt
in several polls that it no longer had the
mandate to rule.
In the 20 months in which the inclusive government - the
product of the
GPA - has been in power, some form of normality has been
restored. Inflation
has dropped to single digit figures, food security has
been restored,
political violence has subsided and people have begun to go
about their
business without fear.
Incidents of political violence remain
but these are isolated and few and
far between. Hate speech in the public
media remains but media space has
somewhat been opened bringing balance to
information dissemination.
Stability has returned to agriculture. Industry is
tottering along. The
mining sector is promising to be the engine that will
drive economic
recovery, what with the discovery of diamonds and our huge
platinum
reserves. The finance sector has also stabilised; so has the
education
sector which will provide the knowledge and the skills that will
push the
country forward.
So Mbeki is right; the immediate future of the
country lies in the GPA. But
there is a lot of discord in its
implementation. Its success lies in the
signatories of the agreement
implementing it to the letter. We have seen how
this has been thwarted by
the intransigence of one of the parties to the
agreement. Zanu PF has hardly
been sincere in the pact. Instead of seeing
itself as an equal partner in
the agreement, it has assumed its previous
status of a ruling party.
President Mugabe has again resorted to his
imperial stature in spite of his
party having lost in the March 2008
elections. He himself did not fare very
well in the presidential election
having lost to MDC leader
Tsvangirai.
The GPA will be shredded next year and an election called by
mid-year, the
president has declared. This will unnecessarily immerse the
country in the
political quagmire it found itself in back in 2008. The
international
goodwill which the country was beginning to earn will once
again evaporate
as Zimbabweans hack at each other's throats. The elections
won't be deemed
credible returning the country once again to its pariah
status.
Mbeki and the other statesmen in his Africa Leadership Institute
should
implore Mugabe to see the folly of trashing the GPA now and urge him
to
fully implement it until the country returns to stability.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:19
Dear Munya
I hope this letter finds you in good health; why not,
you have just been
handed - what by Zimbabwean standards constitutes - a
fortune.
But I would like to ask you a question: Have you ever heard the name
Nigel
Mutemagau also known as Nigel Mupfuranhehwe? Of course you
haven't.
He was a two-year-old boy when he and his parents were abducted from
their
home by unknown people sometime in 2008. His parents later appeared in
court
on charges of recruiting rebels who would topple the legitimate
government
of President Robert Mugabe. Young Nigel was kept in solitary
confinement in
the most appalling conditions at Chikurubi Maximum Security
Prison.
The charges against Nigel's parents were never believed by anyone;
the
then-South Africa President Kgalema Motlanthe famously said: "We never
believed that."
They were later acquitted and are now suing the
state.
Remember during Nigel's incarceration Zimbabwe was going through a
very bad
time. There was no food in the country generally; the situation was
worse in
the prisons. Of course you never heard the story about the
documentary that
was produced then which showed the inhuman conditions in
which prisoners
lived.
During that time relatives were not allowed to
bring food to their kin in
jail. The situation must have been unbearable for
the toddler Nigel. It was
reported he was even tortured in order to force a
confession from his mother
that she was in fact recruiting
"bandits".
Another question for you Munya: Did you vote in the June 2008
runoff
elections between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai? Of course you didn't. You were probably still in Cape Town
studying drama.
Most of us were here in Zimbabwe and know first-hand the
anarchy that
accompanied that poll.
But I could take you further back;
you were born in 1985 which means you
missed one of the darkest periods in
our country's history. Of course you
should be able to imagine the palpable
euphoria in some of us when
independence came in 1980 after a gruelling war
in the 1970s. Your parents
too must have revelled in the ecstasy of that
period.
But it was very short-lived, and if you have any passing interest in
the
early history of our country you would know why.
But let me tell
you about the child-victims of that period. Their parents
lost their lives
in the period now notoriously called the gukurahundi; 20
000 people are
reported to have perished. And the children, most of them are
your age, have
found it difficult to be Zimbabweans. Without parents they
have not been
able to acquire birth certificates so, although they are
living they are
actually non-persons. They are a lost stateless lot. You
cannot imagine the
lives they are surviving; they have been to government
offices to seek a way
out of their condition to no avail.
In 2005 your were 20 which means you know
what exactly happened when people's
homes were destroyed throughout the
country. More than 700 000 households
were destroyed and two million people
left homeless. Bona fide Zimbabweans
had been redefined as "dirt" that had
to be swept away. What we never got to
know in full was the fate that befell
the children of those households. A
lot of them were on HIV/Aids and
supplementary feeding programmes having
been born to HIV-positive
parents.
They were scattered all over the place, some of them to remote areas
where
they would never have access to life-saving interventions.
The
number of children and adults who died as a result of Operation
Murambatsvina will never be known. But, Munya, take some time to visit the
concentration camps in which some of these wretched people live. For a start
go to Caledonia outside Mabvuku, and if you're not sickened enough by what
you will see there go to Hopley farm somewhere near the road to
Masvingo.
You are privileged to have gone to some of the best schools in the
world.
You went to Mount Pleasant Nursery School. You attended the
prestigious
International School in Zurich, Switzerland. You went on to
study at Ruzawi
before completing your educational pursuit at Peterhouse. No
one should
begrudge you for that.
Zimbabwe's education system used to be
the best in the world; but now just
visit the tertiary education
institutions; but that will not make you cry
enough. Visit any primary
school in Epworth and anywhere in rural Zimbabwe
and watch as 20 or more
children share one textbook. Look at them as they
sit on the floors because
they have no desks in their classrooms! Ask their
teacher where he or she
trained!
If that doesn't drive you to tears go into the farms and see how the
children are surviving there; see whether they are going to school and what
condition the schools are in. Ask yourself why the children have to live
such god-forsaken lives.
Your parents are proud of you; so are most
Zimbabweans. They rooted for you
to win the grand prize in the BB House and
were shattered when you didn't.
You didn't sound like a bitter ender
although some people did and you have
accepted their money.
Your father
has this to say about you, (I would say the same if I were him):
"He knows
that life is like drama. He has the power and intellect to
strategise and
knows things are made to happen or that he needs to influence
things to
happen. With his knowledge from the art school in Cape Town, where
he
graduated last year, Munya is sure to be the great strategist that this
programme requires."
Many vultures saw this in you too and they will
manipulate you to achieve
their own ends but think about the children who
have not enjoyed the
privileges you have when you identify your heroes. Take
a moment to reflect
on what your chosen heroes have done to the
children.
In the meantime enjoy your filthy lucre.
Nevanji
Madanhire
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
18:17
IN the midst of the entire furore about the Constitution-making
exercise, it
remains imperative to be aware that we are coming to a very
significant and
critical stage of our independence and democracy as a
nation. No one doubts
the importance of the constitutional outreach
exercise, nor can anyone
overstate its importance. It is highly unlikely
that in our generation,
another Constitution will be written. The case of
Kenya, who recently wrote
a new Supreme Law, serves as an inspiration and
practical example.
By virtue of the above, and a host of other reasons, the
onus is on us as
the citizenry to ensure that our values, aspirations,
fears, history and
hopes of the future form the guiding spirit of the new
Constitution and are
enshrined in the same. While the contents in the
chapters of the
Constitution are crucial, it must be borne in mind that the
foundation,
which is made up of the hopes and aspirations of the citizenry,
will
determine how the Constitution is interpreted and therefore its
importance
can not be over emphasised.
With this in mind, I have set out
to share my humble contributions on what I
feel are some of the most
important principles that should be the guiding
spirit of our
Constitution.
The principle of constitutionalism states and prescribes the
type of
government. According to the principle of constitutionalism,
government
should derive its powers from a written Constitution.
Consequently, the
government's powers are limited to what the Constitution
provides for. The
principle is based on limitation of State power so as to
prevent abuse of
the same.
The limitations can either be structural and
procedural or substantive.
Substantive limitations include a Bill of Rights
which prescribes that the
State may not abuse its powers, but instead should
use its powers to promote
and protect human rights. Constitutionalism also
provides for a very
important function in a democracy, that is, judicial
review, which empowers
the courts to declare any law or conduct that is
inconsistent with the
Constitution as invalid.
The rule of law seeks to
protect basic human rights. It requires a
government to act in line with
known, clear and general rules that are
interpreted by a fair Bench in
accordance with set procedures. The
confidence of the citizens in the
judiciary system and criminal justice
system is a cornerstone of the rule of
law. Since the rule of law implies
that no one is above the law, we cannot
continue to see criminals and human
rights abusers roaming the streets with
impunity, the law must be able to
reach out in the society and fish out
undesired elements. In like manner,
people cannot continue to use State
institutions including the security
forces, media and State coffers to
further their own personal ambitions, be
they political or otherwise.
The
term democracy is one of the most ambiguous terms used by all and
sundry.
although the term is vague, general consensus is that it refers to
government that is held in confidence by the people being governed. There
are three main types of democracy namely, political democracy which
recognises political rights and free, fair and regular elections;
representative democracy which states that people may elect bodies like
Parliament to represent them; and finally direct democracy which recognises
the fact that people should have the opportunity to pronounce directly on
some crucial matters like the Constitution through plebiscites and
referendums. The principle of democracy is inextricably intertwined with
the idea of accountability. All public institutions and organs of State must
be held to account for their decisions and actions, or lack
thereof.
BY CORRESPONDENT
The Vigil resolved to challenge the
British government to throw its diplomatic and financial muscle behind our
campaign to ensure that the elections planned in
The Vigil has pointed to clear
evidence that a new wave of violence is being prepared – indeed is already
underway – to bludgeon Zanu PF back to power.
Mugabe says he wants elections by
the middle of next year. Tsvangirai says ok but that international observers and
peacekeepers must be in place well beforehand.
We believe the British government can help here.
The Vigil has gathered many
thousands of signatures for the following petition to the United Nations: ‘We call on the Security Council to ensure that the next
elections in
Unfortunately
On a lovely autumn
day, when we largely escaped the threatened deluge, supporters signed the
following petition to the Home Secretary, Theresa May: ‘We the undersigned, members of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in the UK and
sympathisers, express our grave disquiet at the UK government’s announcement
that failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers are to be deported – even before the
hearing of a test (country guidance) case is concluded. Our view is that the situation in
The petition is to be presented at a demonstration to be held on
Wednesday at Lancaster House in
Zimbabweans have been advised by Mr Douglas that he would like
questions in advance and the meeting will last one hour – a tight time-frame for
Zimbabweans! He has been advised of the following
questions:
1. Why in your letter to Zimbabweans do you speak of ‘the indiscriminate violence which marred the elections of 2008’? This is a complete travesty of the truth. The violence was not indiscriminate: it was directed by Mugabe and his thugs against the MDC.
2. In your letter, you say ''There is no doubt that political
persecution and abuses of human rights persist in
Other questions which could be asked are:
1. If it so safe to send back Zimbabweans why has one of the Vigil
inspirers, Roy Bennett, recently taken political asylum in
2. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office says two Anglican bishops in
Other
points
·
·
Thanks to
Josephine Zhuga for taking charge of the petition to the Home Secretary. She will take it to the demonstration at
Lancaster House on Wednesday to collect more signatures. Thanks also to Kelvin
Kamupira for helping at the back table.
·
We
enjoyed delicious muffins at the Vigil kindly brought by Debra Mutepeya and
Alena Jali of
·
A
wonderful mime artist, a Marcel Marceau look-alike, came by with a bunch of
flowers and spent some time with us. He seemed to symbolise the fragile
situation in
·
It was
good to see Joan Weir from Edinburgh who dropped by on her way to the Britain
Zimbabwe Society AGM. She has organised
Zimbabwean events and protests in
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page
of our website.
FOR THE RECORD: 169
signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
· Action for
·
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the Darkness’, Judith
Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.
To
receive a copy by post in the UK please email confirmation of your order and
postal address to ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk
and
send a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners
Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust
which provides
bursaries to needy A Level students in
·
Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact
the co-ordinator
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
FROM THE
MEDIA NOTICE
Zimbabweans in
Zimbabwean exiles in the
Ironically it was at Lancaster House that the Independence
Constitution was agreed under which Mugabe came to power in 1980.
The Zimbabwean diaspora in the
Ephraim Tapa, a prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist in the
Mr Tapa was sceptical about the findings of a British mission to
Zimbabwe this year which found that ‘Zimbabwe is for many people a safer and
better place to live than it was in 2008’. Mr Tapa said ‘the stolen elections of
2008 were drenched in blood. New elections are planned for next year and we
expect similar bloodshed unless peacekeepers are sent to the country.
‘It is not an opportune time for the UK government to change its
policy and the Zimbabwe Vigil is particularly disappointed that Foreign Secretary Hague has not honoured his
promise to the Vigil that there would be no change in policy towards Zimbabwe’.
The demonstrators will present a petition to Mr Phil Douglas, the UK
Border Agency’s Director of Appeals and Removals, who is to address a meeting at
Lancaster House from
Date:
Venue:
Contacts: Ephraim Tapa, President,
Restoration of Human Rights in
Jeff Sango,
Chair, MDC
Stanford
Biti, Chair, MDC
Regis
Manyanya,
The petition reads: ‘Petition
to the Home Secretary, the Honourable Theresa May: We the undersigned,
members of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in the UK and sympathisers, express our grave
disquiet at the UK government’s announcement that failed Zimbabwean asylum
seekers are to be deported – even before the hearing of a test (country
guidance) case is concluded. Our view is
that the situation in
To attend the meeting at Lancaster
House registration is required. If you wish to attend, please e-mail Sandra.Goppy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
with your full name, affiliation and questions. Entry to the event will be
refused to those who have not registered. To ensure as many questions are dealt
with on the day, the organisers welcome questions in advance.
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
Zimbabweans of all persuasions must head the call by the
organizers to come in mass and demonstrate on Wednesday 27 October at Lancaster
House, Stable Yard, St James, London SW1A 1BB. MDC, ROHR and Vigil must be
commented for organizing such an event that upon a backdrop of a renewed surge
of violence in Zimbabwe, the Home Office sees it fit to renew deportations of
Zimbabweans back to the jaws of the dictator of all times, is disheartening.
In this recognition it is worth
mentioning the good work being done by Stanford Biti, Regis Manyanya and Jeff
Sango who are working hard to organize the event. How can we make a
demonstration effective? There is no doubt that even I am
not advocating a blanket amnesty although that would be more humane than the
later, but late each case be looked on its merit and the temporary freeze of
deportation continue. The government can continue to review it annually to see
whether the conditions on the ground have improved. At the moment all signs
point to a blood 2011 general election to come, violence has already started.
Roy Bennet is another case in point, the state continue to persecute him even
though the courts find him nor guilty, wonder why he now has announced that he
will suspend going back to Zimbabwe until the situation on the ground has
improved. Email:
BILL WATCH SPECIAL
[23rd October 2010]
House of Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic
Committees: Open Meetings 25th to 29th October
Note: This bulletin is based on the latest information provided by
Parliament late on 22nd October. Last-minute changes are, however, possible.
So, if you wish to attend any of the following meetings, Veritas recommends that
you avoid possible disappointment by first checking with the relevant committee
clerk that the meeting is still on and open to the public. Parliament’s
telephone numbers are Harare 700181 or 252936-55.
The following meetings are open to members of the public, as
observers only, not as participants. [See note at the end of this
bulletin on public attendance and participation at different types of committee
meetings.]
Monday 25th October at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Transport and Infrastructure
Development
Oral evidence from Air Zimbabwe – update on strike by pilots,
retrenchment exercise and re-capitalisation
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon Chebundo Clerk: Ms
Macheza
Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy
Stakeholder meeting to discuss the Energy Regulatory Authority
Bill
Senate Chamber
Chairperson: Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr
Manhivi
Tuesday 26th October at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Agriculture, Water, Lands and
Resettlement
Oral evidence from Secretary for Agriculture on preparedness for
2010/2011 summer crop season
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon Jiri Clerk: Miss
Mudavanhu
Portfolio Committee: State Enterprises and Parastatals
Oral evidence from Grain Marketing Board [GMB] on GMB operations
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon Mavima Clerk: Ms
Mukono
Thursday 28th October at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Small and Medium Enterprises
Oral evidence from Ministry officials on activities currently being
undertaken by the Ministry
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon R. Moyo Clerk: Ms
Mushunje
Thematic Committee: Human Rights
Brief from Human Rights NGO Forum on the role of Human Rights
Organisations in the promotion and protection of human
rights
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon Marava Clerk: Ms
Macheza
Public Attendance at and Participation in Committee
Meetings
·
Not open to the public: Portfolio and thematic committee meetings in which the committees
are doing private business – e.g. setting workplans, deliberating on reports and
findings, or drafting reports for Parliament, or when the committees make field
visits. [Veritas does not list these in these bulletins.]
·
Open to the public to attend as observers
only: Portfolio and thematic committee meetings where oral evidence is
being heard. [As listed above.] If attending, please use the Kwame
Nkrumah Ave entrance to Parliament. IDs must be produced.
·
Stakeholders by invitation: At some committee meetings stakeholders [and those who notify
Parliament that they consider themselves stakeholders and are accepted as such]
are invited to make oral or written representations and ask
questions. [These meetings will be highlighted in these
bulletins.]
·
Public Hearings: When committees call for public hearings, members of the public are
free to submit oral or written representations, ask questions and generally
participate. [Veritas sends out separate notices of these public
hearings.]
Note: Zimbabweans in the Diaspora can send in written submissions to
stakeholders’ meetings if they consider themselves stakeholders, and to public
hearings, by emailing their submissions to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.