http://www.businesslive.co.za
24
October, 2011 09:49
BusinessLIVE
The Zimbabwean government is expected to take over Air
Zimbabwe's $140
million debt, although with plans to liquidate it over time,
the country's
Herald newspaper reported on Monday.
Government
would work on cutting the airline's staff and would seek a
strategic partner
to buy into the national airline.
According to Transport, Communications
and Infrastructural Development
Minister Nicholas Goche, Cabinet had agreed
to partially dispose of the
National Handling Services.
"At its last
meeting on Thursday October 20, Cabinet discussed challenges
faced by our
national airline, Air Zimbabwe Holdings and resolved that, Air
Zimbabwe as a
strategic government asset and brand, needed to be preserved
and supported
as a going business concern.
"To this end, government must assume Air
Zimbabwe's current debt and ring
fence the same."
Goche was quoted as
saying that once a strategic technical partner was
found, proceeds from its
equity contribution would be used to liquidate the
debt.
He said
Cabinet had agreed that there was an urgent need to right size the
national
airline "into a lean and effective organisation," and Air Zimbabwe
would
soon start retrenching some of its workers.
"Efforts to partially dispose
of the National Handling Services should be
pursued with urgency now in
order to secure some financing from within the
airline in order to avoid
overburdening treasury.
Goche said the airline urgently needed to rejoin
the IATA bank settlement
plan and the IATA clearing house as well as pay
ASCENA and other aviation
service providers.
"The airline has been
crippled by relentless problems, among them strikes
that at some point
forced the company to hire planes to take care of its
travellers," the
Herald said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
24
October 2011
South Africa’s priority crimes unit and the police have
denied being part of
a deadly deal with its Zimbabwean counterparts, which s
resulted in the
murder of ‘suspects’ sent across the
border.
According to a special report by South Africa’s Sunday Times
newspaper,
senior officials in the Hawks and the police are conducting
illegal
‘renditions’ with Zimbabwean police. A rendition is the illegal
kidnapping
and transfer of a prisoner from one country to another and,
according to the
newspaper, Zimbabwean suspects are being arrested in South
Africa and then
sent across the border illegally and killed
The
newspaper reported this weekend that South Africa’s Police Minister,
Nathi
Mthethwa, is sitting on explosive reports, listing at least three
deaths
allegedly as the result of a ‘renditions’ operation led by officers
reporting to Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and Gauteng police commissioner
Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros.
The Sunday Times said it has
evidence that Zimbabwean Witness Ndeya, who was
suspected of shooting a
policeman in his country, was “renditioned” by the
Hawks and then murdered,
apparently by Zimbabwean police. Ndeya was
arrested, along with his nephew
and two friends, for being “illegal
immigrants” last November. In a sworn
statement by one of the four, Shepard
Tshuma, they were all taken to the
Beitbridge border by South African police
and handed over to Zimbabwean
officials who “told us that we are under
arrest for the murder of police
officers.”
Tshuma and Ndeya were detained at a Bulawayo police station
before the
former was released a week later. Tshuma said that a few days
later the
Zimbabwean police told the family “that Witness Ndeya was killed
by other
police officers.” Ndeya’s death certificate reportedly confirmed he
died at
Hippo Valley Farm in Bulawayo, with the cause of death listed as
“multiple
gunshot wounds.”
Tshuma, along with the other two surviving
“renditioned” suspects, are now
hiding in South Africa, after allegedly
being threatened. The Sunday Times
said that it had met the three at a
secret location and they all feared
being “deported and
murdered.”
Hawks boss Dramat has confirmed that Ndeya and his companions
were “all
arrested as illegal immigrants” and were “deported.” According to
the Mail &
Guardian newspaper, Dramat said: “We are not aware of what
happened to them
in Zimbabwe. It is not our mandate to do follow-ups on
deported [people].”
The behaviour of South Africa’s law enforcement
members in the deportation
process faced even more criticism on Monday,
after irregularities were
reported during the deportations of Zimbabweans
last week. According to the
Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South
Africa (CoRMSA), about 150
Zimbabweans at a refugee reception office in
Musina were rounded up by
defence forces member and taken across the
border.
CoRMSA’s Alfani Yoyo told SW Radio Africa that the deportation
was done
without any proper procedures being followed, including
verification of the
deportee’s status.
“Since the deportations
started again, Zimbabweans have been trying to get
asylum and report at
refugee reception centres. So there is supposed to be
proper verification
practices. We condemn very strongly what has happened,”
Yoyo
said.
Yoyo said the deportation procedure has been clearly laid out in a
directive
from South Africa’s Home Affairs department, which was quietly
circulated
last month. This effectively ended the moratorium on Zimbabwean
deportations
in place since 2009.
“The directive clearly states that
deportation can only be conducted after a
thorough verification check to
establish whether or not they have a pending
application to reside legally
in South Africa. Deportees must be interviewed
and the arresting official
should indicate in a statement that the above
procedure was followed and
ensure that the information given by the suspect
was verified,” Yoyo
said.
He added: “Instead, the deportees last week were arbitrarily
rounded up and
deported, and we are very afraid about this happening again.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Nkululeko Sibanda, Senior Writer
Monday, 24 October
2011 16:54
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has reiterated
that his party is
ready to govern when it wins the forthcoming presidential
and general
elections without shedding blood and firing a
bullet.
Addressing thousands of villagers in Nkayi’s Ziminya Business
Centre in
Matabeleland North Province yesterday, Tsvangirai said the fact
that his
party brought some modicum of stability in the socio-economic
sectors meant
that they were ready.
“When I look back at the years in
which this party has been in existence, I
realise we have managed to bring
about change in this country without firing
a bullet,” Tsvangirai
said.
“I am confident that we are going to indeed complete this change
without
firing a bullet. We are ready to govern this country. This can be
achieved
because Sadc has ensured that systems that would give birth to a
free and
fair election are indeed put in place.
“I believe that once
those systems are in place, you cannot fail to choose
your leader and
governing party between that old man (President Robert
Mugabe) and a younger
candidate, your son-in-law, myself,” said Tsvangirai
to a loud round of
applause from his party’s supporters.
He called on the party leaders and
supporters not to lose sight of the party’s
founding principles that
dictated that the party would live to see the end
of Zanu PF’s rule in the
country.
“When we formed the MDC, we were driven by one major goal, that
Mugabe and
Zanu PF must go.
“We did win the election but did not win
power to rule and govern the
country. There are those that think they and
they themselves have the
ultimate authority to rule and run the affairs of
this country,” Tsvangirai
said.
“We need to ensure that we fulfil
that goal that we set for ourselves so
that we can fully democratise this
country.”
Turning to the inclusive government, Tsvangirai told the
party’s supporters
that the route to a stable macro-economic environment in
the country had not
been an easy one.
“We have now joined the
inclusive government. You have to know that when we
joined the inclusive
government, the country was on its knees. “Had we been
like other selfish
people, we would have said to Zanu PF go ahead and rule.
But we did not
do that because we realised that we had to do a service to
this nation as
you had suffered enough.
“And because of that, we had to go to bed with
the devil to save you from
further and serious crisis,” he added.
He
highlighted that the country’s chaos and crisis had reached alarming
proportions.
“Money was now printed on newspapers. Hospitals and
schools had closed.
There was cholera everywhere. Everything had collapsed.
But after two years
you can see and trace progress. The MDC in government is
not the government.
But the MDC in government added value to government
business,” he said.
He also said the fact that Zanu PF failed to bring
about positive change to
the lives of the people of Zimbabwe was evidence
Mugabe’s party had run out
of ideas.
“There are some that complain
that Zanu PF has given Tsvangirai an
apprenticeship to rule later. It is
very clear that we cannot fail to
deliver what the people of Zimbabwe expect
us to deliver for them. We have
seen what is there and how things are done.
We cannot fail when presented
with that opportunity,” he said.
“I
dare ask those in Zanu PF that what new ideas can you bring to address
the
myriad of problems facing this country? You were given 31 years to rule
this
country. Instead of building this nation, you have instead destroyed
it.We
said we do not want to govern this country through violence. We will
take it
through the vote.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Thelma Chikwanha, Community Affairs
Editor
Monday, 24 October 2011 08:21
HARARE - President Robert
Mugabe is expected to fly to Singapore this
morning amid speculation that
the ageing leader’s visit is motivated by
medical reasons.
This
is believed to be his eighth visit to Singapore this year.
Mugabe, who is
reportedly suffering from several diseases consistent with
old age, is
expected to leave this morning on a commercial plane to
Johannesburg where
he will catch another commercial flight to Singapore.
However,
presidential spokesperson George Charamba, who has on many
occasions said
Mugabe was enjoying good health, told the Daily News that he
was not aware
of the trip.
“I am in Buhera so I do not know what is happening there.
Who is saying that
the President is ill,” asked Charamba.
About a
month ago, Mugabe travelled the same way to Singapore but Charamba
had told
the Daily News that his boss was in Harare. Mugabe’s trip, which
comes days
after his ally Muammar Gaddafi was brutally killed by Libyan
forces, will
raise speculation on his health.
The last time he travelled to Singapore
for the trip which Charamba said his
boss had not taken, Mugabe claimed he
had gone there on a private visit to
see his daughter Bona, who is studying
in the Far East country.
To his credit, Mugabe has remained fit for his
age and in public, rarely
shows any signs of ill-health and at one point
jokingly challenged this
reporter to a physical fight and went on to throw a
few punches in the air
to show his “strength.”
In one of the leaked
United States diplomatic cables released by
whistle-blower website
WikiLeaks, a US diplomat is said to have seen Mugabe
checking in at a cancer
clinic.
According to a cable originated by Joel Ehrendriech, a US
official, Mugabe
visited Singapore in May and August 2008 for cancer
treatment.
Speculation on Mugabe’s health started swelling at the end of
last week when
he failed to officiate at a graduation ceremony at Chinyoyi
and Bindura
universities.
But Charamba denied that Mugabe’s failure
to attend the ceremonies had
anything to do with his illness.
“The
President was not invited to officiate,” was all Charamba said although
Mugabe as chancellor of all government universities in Zimbabwe, makes sure
that he presides over the graduation ceremonies.
Mugabe was also due
to travel to Switzerland at the weekend for an UN ICT
summit and was
supposed to come back via Singapore but suddenly changed
plans.
A
senior government official confirmed Mugabe’s sudden change of
plans.
“President Mugabe was supposed to travel to Switzerland and would
have come
back via Singapore for routine medical checks but it appears
something went
wrong. He now has to fly tomorrow (today)
morning.
“Air Zimbabwe had already made plans to fly him to Switzerland
and then
Singapore before coming back to Harare but all this has changed
suddenly. It
looks like he has something he urgently needs to attend to in
Singapore,”
said the government official.
Mugabe’s several trips to
the Far East have gobbled millions of dollars at a
time when the country is
struggling to service a $9 billion debt and is
reeling under a $700 million
budget deficit.
Sadc leaders at one time even expressed concern over his
health and plan to
persuade him to quit.
At some point, Members of
Parliament from both Zanu PF and MDC considered
impeaching him because of
his advanced age and ill health.
It is not very clear what Mugabe is
suffering from but sources close to him
say he has prostate cancer; a
condition which local doctors say is common to
men of his
age.
Doctors also say a man of Mugabe’s age is also prone to dementia.
Charamba
however, insists that the president has eye problems.
Yet
another cable suggested that Mugabe had consulted a UN medical
specialist
about his medical problems.
“UN resident representative Victor Angelo on
November 12 advised Ambassador
Sullivan that Mugabe has consulted with a UN
medical specialist about some
of his medical problems. According to Angelo,
Mugabe’s ailments include
periodic convulsions and stroke like episodes
(perhaps eschemia) brought on
by diabetes and a lipid disorder which affects
the covering of the brain,”
US political officer Win Dayton said.
The
octogenarian leader is said to have been shaken by the brutal demise of
his
long-time ally Gaddafi.
In addition to the loss, he also feels betrayed
and was left depressed when
he discovered that his most trusted lieutenants
went behind his back and
held secret meetings with Americans whom he
considers as arch enemies,
seeking his removal from office.
Mugabe
has also been under pressure from his party which wants him to
appoint a
successor as they no longer have confidence in his leadership.
There are
reports that Zanu PF hawks are planning to turn the party’s
conference in
December into an extra-ordinary congress where they are
reportedly plotting
to persuade him to step down.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Pindai Dube
Monday, 24 October 2011
08:36
NKAYI - Speaker of Parliament, Lovemore Moyo said Zanu PF is
wasting time by
disrupting the on-going public hearings meetings on the
Electoral Amendment
Bill conducted by a special Parliamentary
committee.
Last week Zanu PF youths disrupted most of the public hearing
meetings on
the Electoral Amendment Bill being conducted by a Parliament
Portfolio
Committee on Justice, Legal and Constitutional Affairs across the
country.
However, addressing MDC supporters at Nesigwe Business Centre in
Nkayi North
in Matabeleland North province on Saturday, Moyo who is also the
party
chairman said he was in full control of Parliament and Zanu PF was
wasting
its time by disrupting the Electoral Amendment Bill’s public
meetings.
“I heard that in Bulawayo, Marondera and Mutare some Zanu PF
youths
disrupted the Electoral Amendment Bill public hearing meetings
conducted by
a Parliamentary committee which I had sent. Zanu PF is just
wasting its
time.
“They think Parliament will stop operating because
of this, I am not even
moved by that, I am also very cheeky and will never
stop doing my work
because of Zanu PF thugs. You chose me to lead Parliament
and I will do that
in a professional way,” said Moyo.
Moyo also said
the Zimbabwe Parliament is not owned by Zanu PF but by the
masses of
Zimbabwe.
He added that it is high time President Robert Mugabe stepped
down because
Zimbabwe does not want get into the same situation as
Libya.
Meanwhile, during the disruption of Electoral Amendment Bill
public hearings
in Bulawayo on Friday, a group of Zanu PF youths beat up MDC
deputy
provincial organising secretary, Tsepiso Hellen Mpofu.
Mpofu
was beaten up in full view of journalists and other MDC members at the
Small
City Hall accusing her of having insulted them.
“As you witnessed, they
just jumped out of their truck and started beating
me up with clenched fists
accusing me of being stubborn,” Mpofu who was
bleeding from the nose after
the assault, told the Daily News.
The chairperson of the Parliament
Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and
Constitutional Affairs, Douglas
Mwonzora condemned the Zanu PF youths’
behaviour adding that the public
hearing meetings will continue despite the
disruptions.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
24
October 2011
ZANU PF supporters in Bulawayo forced the abandonment of a
public hearing
meeting on the Electoral Amendment Bill, simply because one
contributor used
the Shona language to address the gathering.
Our
correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us the ‘disruptive’ ZANU PF crowd
was
against the use of Shona, insisting that the unidentified man should use
either Ndebele or English during the meeting.
Douglas Mwonzora, the
chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Justice and Legal
Affairs, told the meeting that people were free to use any
language to put
across their views.
‘The ZANU PF crowd remained adamant that only Ndebele
or English should be
used in the meeting, while Mwonzora stood his ground
that anyone can address
the meeting in a language they are comfortable
with.
‘Tempers flared when ZANU PF activists kept heckling the man,
forcing
Mwonzora to call off the meeting to avert crowd trouble,’ Saungweme
said,
adding that all this was happening in the presence of uniformed police
details who took no action to prevent the disturbances.
Saungweme
said it was just a ploy by the ZANU PF activists to disrupt the
meeting
using the tribal card, as Shona is widely used in Bulawayo even
though the
Ndebele language is the most dominant.
According to our correspondent,
Mwonzora then asked the people to submit
their views in writing. To
Mwonzora’s horror, the written submissions were
then grabbed from a
parliamentary official, never to be seen again.
Outside the venue
Saungweme said ZANU PF youths attacked ZAPU FP member
Sikhumbuzo Dube, while
Tsepiso Mpofu, the MDC-T deputy provincial organizer,
was also assaulted.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
24
October 2011
More Harare residents have come to blows while trying to
access clean water,
as the shortage in and around the capital heightens
fears of another deadly
cholera outbreak.
Sylvia Bhasikolo, the
Treasurer for Mabvuku Residents Committee, told SW
Radio Africa on Monday
that that she has seem many fistfights break out
among disgruntled
residents. Bhasikolo said the situation is becoming
desperate.
“It is
more than two weeks with no water. Everyone now is fighting over one
borehole. I walked around this morning and saw people fighting and
screaming,” Bhasikolo said.
She added that some people have tried to
protect the borehole and are
fighting each other every day while preventing
others accessing it. She
explained that people are now trying to get water
from other parts of the
area, with no guarantee that the water is
safe.
“There is serious risk for cholera. Last time (during the last
cholera
outbreak) we had many deaths. What if that happens again?” Bhasikolo
said.
The current water shortages have been caused by a burst
distribution pipe at
the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant, leaving
millions of people living
in Harare, Ruwa, Chitungwiza, Epworth and Norton
without access to water.
The worst affected areas have been Glen Norah,
Budiriro and Glen View, where
other fights between residents have broken out
recently.
These areas were also some of the worst hit by the cholera
outbreak in 2008,
which was only brought under control in early 2010.
Thousands of people
died, all because there was almost no access to clean
water.
Bhasikolo meanwhile questioned why no one has helped, despite the
threat of
cholera.
“Nobody has come to explain what is happening.
Nobody has come with clean
water. It is very serious,” Bhasikolo said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
RESIDENTS here have been involved in physical
fights over deepening water
shortages, now in the second week, as the City
of Harare plays truant to the
genuine demands of the citizens to have water
supplies restored to the
community.
24.10.1109:51am
by Staff
Reporter
Sylvia Bhasikolo, the Treasurer for Mabvuku Residents'
Committee told the
HRT this morning that they have witnessed several
fistfights among
disgruntled residents as the pressure mounts over water
shortages.
"There is no longer peace in our community," Bhasikolo said.
"Our major fear
is that there is potential for a cholera outbreak and it
will be difficult
to stop the deaths of people."
She said their
committee was concerned that all efforts to engage the city
officials on how
to address the water crisis have yielded negative results.
The HRT
continues to push the City of Harare to accept the intervention of
UNICEF,
which has potential to provide water bowsers that would in the
short-medium
term relieve the suffering
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Monday, 24 October 2011
08:01
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, Zesa risks
a gradual
shut down if it continues to charge sub-economic
tariffs.
Josh Chifamba, Zesa’s chief executive said the 31 percent tariff
hike in
September this year was justified as it was necessitated by the need
to
improve the infrastructure of the power utility that was
dilapidated.
Chifamba said the country required 2 100 megawatts (MW) of
power a day but
the country was currently producing only 1 300MW, 700MW
short of the
required output.
He said the problem would be eased by
the refurbishment of the Hwange and
Kariba power stations which was under
way but needed over $2 billion to be
completed.
Hwange and Kariba
power stations have the capacity to produce 600 and 300
megawatts
respectively, when complete.
But Chifamba said, Zesa does not have the
needed funds for it is owed more
than $449 million. Nearly half (46
percent) of it by consumers, 30 percent
by the industry and 10 percent by
government.
According to financial results of the first quarter of 2011,
the power
utility also suffered a $100 million loss.
“We are bold
enough to tell Zimbabweans that we had to increase the tariffs
to improve
the supply of energy in the near future. If nothing is done now,
there will
be more losses to the economy due to loss of revenue when there
is no
electricity.”
“If we do not do anything to improve the supply of
electricity now, we will
not be able to respond to the user demand in the
near future as industry
regains. The cost of doing nothing means people will
have to go back to the
use of diesel,” said Chifamba.
He said there
are also high chances that industry will be losing revenue of
about $4 a
kilowatt hour if we don’t provide electricity.
“We are sensitive to what
is happening, but if we don’t do anything there
will be more problems when
we stop generating electricity,” he said.
The cost of using a generator
when there is no electricity is 45 cents more
than that of what people are
supposed to pay Zesa.
Most companies have been operating below capacity
due to an insufficient and
inconsistent supply of electricity, torching a
heated confrontation between
the power utility and the Confederations of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI).
The business grouping’s president Joseph
Kanyekanye, accused Zesa of
impeding economic recovery through increasing
tariffs while the hours of
load shedding increased.
The Commercial
farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe said irrigation of crops had been
affected by
lack of electricity while miners say they use a minimum of 5 000
litres of
diesel to sustain their mining operations when they do not have
electricity.
Consumers had not been spared and with increased
load-shedding hours, most
high density areas in the country are going for
inordinately long periods in
the dark.
Parson Chitima, 34, a resident
of Kuwadzana high density suburb said he lost
his refrigerator due to power
cuts and like him, many people around the
country lost their electrical
appliances due to the untimely power cuts.
The Combined Harare Residents
Association, a ratepayer watchdog said the
only way Zimbabweans could get
enough electricity is when it stops
exporting electricity to
Namibia.
NamPower, the Namibian power utility, provided $40 million for
the
refurbishment of Hwange Power Station in Zimbabwe in 2008.
The
gesture would be paid by importing 150 megawatts of electricity
generated at
the Zimbabwean plant to Namibia until 2013.
Zimbabweans are now left to
pay the price of bad corporate governance by the
power utility and for a
little longer until 2013, the industry and domestic
consumers will have to
do with insufficient and inconsistent supply of
power.
Almost three
years after a coalition government between President Robert
Mugabe and his
arch rival Morgan Tsvangirai was formed, the country’s
future looks bleak,
with erratic power supplies threatening economic
development.
Zimbabwe will experience its worst nightmare when demand
increases with
increased production and attendant demand from
manufacturers.
Currently, industry is operating at between 20 and 40
percent while trying
to lift itself from the economic rut invented by a
near-collapse of the
economy during the past decade.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Ngoni Chanakira, Harare, October
24, 2011 - ZIMBABWE'S Minister of
Transport and Communications. Ambassador
Nicholas Goche, has been appointed
Chairman of Rascom for the next two
years.
Rascom is the African association which intends to send a rocket
to space.
It currently has 45 members and has US$45 million in its kitty
which is
deposited with the Central African Development
Bank.
Zimbabwe is among the few countries that are currently paid up
members of
Rascom. Nigeria, South Africa, Libya and Egypt are, however,
currently not
Rascom members and do not contribute to its dwindling
coffers.
"I want to thank everyone for voting me in as Chairman," Goche
said in his
short speech."...I will work very hard and ensure that members
are paid up.
We need the cash from all members and it is sad to see that
some of our
members are not paid up."
The annual one-day Rascom
meeting was held in Harare this year but will move
to Cote D'Voire in 2013
when Zimbabwe will relinquish the top post.
Goche has been Zimbabwe's
Ambassador to China and Romania before the demise
of the cold war.
He
is among President Robert Mugabe's state security bosses having worked as
a
top member of the Central Intelligence Office in Zimbabwe before he was
elevated to the post of Minister in government under Zanu (PF).
Goche
is also among the top Zanu (PF) bosses currently negotiating with the
MDC-T
for a smooth transition of power.
Rascom is meant to make Africa
competent by telecommunications techniques
similar to those in the West.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
24
October 2011
Amos Chibaya, the MDC-T MP for Mkoba in Gweru and Youth
Assembly Midlands
South provincial treasurer, Livingstone Chiminya, were
both locked up in
police cells on Sunday facing charges of public
violence.
The two are detained at Gweru central police station.
Wonder
Tsuro, the Midlands South provincial spokeman told SW Radio Africa on
Monday
that they were surprised to hear news of Chibaya’s arrest.
‘We were with
the MP in Mberengwa for a rally on Saturday. On our way back
to Gweru in the
evening, I understand he stopped at Guinea Fowl business
centre for some
refreshments, when he was confronted by some ZANU PF youths
members.
‘He is a well known figure in the province, and his presence
at the shopping
centre attracted the attention of these youths who tried to
attack him. In
the commotion, we are told they smashed his car windscreen
but he was able
to drive off safely from the scene,’ Tsuro said.
But
on Sunday Chibaya, accompanied by Chiminya, went to the police to make a
report but were instead detained and charged with causing public
violence.
‘The two are still detained and our lawyers are making frantic
efforts to
have them freed. This is how the system works in Zimbabwe, the
victim of a
crime is the one who ends up locked inside the cells,’ Tsuro
added.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
By 1 hour ago
HARARE -
There was drama at the embattled Zanu PF backed outfit Affirmative
Action
Group (AAG) meeting on Monday afternoon when former executive members
clashed on allegations of misappropriation of funds.
The AAG meeting,
which drew provincial leadership got rowdy after
allegations of
maladministration were levelled against the Supa Mandiwanzira
led executive
by one of their own, Themba Mliswa, who was the first vice
president of the
empowerment group.
Supa Mandiwanzira could not stomach the accusations
and he forced his way to
address the gathering clarifying issues levelled
against his team.
During his address, Mliswa a former rubgy player jumped
to his feet and
attacked the former radio and TV personality leaving him
bloodied.
Police were called in but sources said they were dispersed
under the order
of controversial Harare businessman Phillip
Chiyangwa.
This follows accusations and counter accusations which almost
sucked in
other members of the Zanu PF empowerment group.
AAG has
been facing constraints following the passing of the vote of no
confidence
on the Mandiwanzira led executive which subsequently led to the
stepping
down of members, paving way for founder members to take control of
the group
for the next three months.
he ZANU PF led Affirmative Action Group (AAG)
has launched a probe into the
goings-on of its former leadership, which some
analysts have said is a sign
of deepening cracks within Robert Mugabe’s
party.
Former AAG President Supa Mandiwanzira and four national executive
members
all announced that they were stepping down from the group’s
leadership this
week. This followed a vote of no-confidence in the
executive, apparently
because the leadership was sidelining grassroots
members.
The group has now been taken over by its original founder,
Robert Mugabe’s
nephew Phillip Chiyangwa and founding Secretary-General
Tendai Savanhu.
Savanhu has also been tasked with investigating some
allegations raised by
provincial AAG members over the manner in which the
group was being run.
Last week, political analyst Professor John Makumbe
said the collapse of AAG’s
leadership was expected.
He explained how
earlier this year Mandiwanzira and the AAG had resigned in
protest over
Chiyangwa’s unilateral appointment of a Vice President. That
split was
mended soon after, but Makumbe said it was only a matter of time
before
Chiyangwa took over.
“The AAG is the business wing of ZANU PF and the
collapse of the leadership
is indicative of the collapse of the party,”
Makumbe said.
He added: “This is part and parcel of the fight within ZANU
PF, which is
jockeying for control of businesses under the indigenisation
drive. Every
one knows that the AAG will lead the way in determining who
gets the shares,
so people are trying to offload each other from the
group.”
Mandiwanzira last month also allegedly faced the ire of ZANU PF
politicians
after he publicly castigated them for fighting over shares in
Zimplats,
which is under pressure to cede more than half of its
shareholding. Speaking
at a public lecture at the Midlands State University
titled “Demystifying
Indigenisation” Mandiwanzira said the AAG was against
people stepping on
each others toes in a bid to get a controlling stake of
the mining firm.
“We ask these people to back off. Zimplats is a big
company that cannot be
taken by an individual. We are saying every
Zimbabwean should benefit from
such big profit making companies therefore
every one should get the shares
instead of one person,” Mandiwanzira
said.
Makumbe said it is likely that these comments caused Mandiwanzira
to fall
out of favour with key ZANU PF business figures. He added that the
AAG has
been widely discredited as nothing more than a platform for ZANU PF
functionaries to take root in business under the guise of ‘affirmative
action’.
http://news.yahoo.com/
AFP – 1 hr 44 mins
ago
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Monday that he
wants gay
rights enshrined in a new constitution, but his spokesman hastened
to add
that gays should "do their things in private".
But the remarks
were a reversal for Tsvangirai, who last year had backed
President Robert
Mugabe's refusal to include gay rights in the charter
currently being
drafted.
"It's a very controversial subject in my part of the world. My
attitude is
that I hope that the constitution will come out with freedom of
sexual
orientation, for as long as it does not interfere with anybody,"
Tsvangirai
told the BBC in an interview.
"Of course there is a very
strong cultural feeling toward gays. But to me,
it's a human right. It is
something that individuals must be allowed to make
a choice," he
said.
In Harare, Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told AFP that
the prime
minister still believes that "the issue of homosexuality is alien
in
Africa".
"However, he is a social democrat. What he was saying is
that ordinary
people's rights must be respected as long as they do their
things in
private."
Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a unity government
two years ago to oversee the
drafting of a new constitution that will lead
to new elections, under a
regional plan to haul the country out of the
bloodshed that erupted when
Tsvangirai won the first round of a presidential
vote in 2008.
The process is running more than a year behind schedule,
with a referendum
on the charter expected only next year.
Mugabe, who
has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, has called
gays "worse
than pigs and dogs", saying it would be "madness" to include gay
rights in
the new charter.
http://www.theafricareport.com/
Monday,
24 October 2011 15:29
By
The Africa Report
A fierce scramble for control of a $10 million
Zimplats community trust set
up to help the Ngezi community acquire shares
in the platinum mining giant
has erupted in Zimbabwe as politicians and
traditional chiefs wheel and deal
for control.
Two weeks ago
platinum mine, Zimplats, the local subsidiary of South African
group
Implats, launched a trust through which local communities in Ngezi, in
the
Mashonaland West region, would receive a 10 per cent stake of the mine.
Another US $10-million is earmarked for development projects to improve
schools, roads and bridges.
The decision by the mine to cede 10
percent ownership is in line with black
empowerment laws in the southern
African country, which require foreign
companies to transfer at least 51
percent of their shareholding to locals.
In recent weeks, some local
communities and mines have had to fend off
interference from political
officials who want to exert influence over the
trusts.
With elections
likely to be held next year, the country's main political
party, Zanu-PF is
hoping to use mine ownership as a campaign tool to bolster
support among its
poor rural support base, which up to now has been plied
with promises of
food aid and land, since the country's land reforms more
than a decade
ago.
Though the trust is meant to be administered by traditional
chiefs, Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo has been accused by local
leaders of
trying to muscle in on the Ngezi trusts after he was quoted as
saying
powerful figures had been "visiting chiefs at night" to try to buy
influence. An accusation Chombo denies.
No transparency
Bright
Matonga, Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for the area, admitted there
was a row
among traditional leaders over who would head the Zimplats share
trust.
"Disputes have arisen over the chairmanship of the trust, but
we have
decided that the chairmanship should be rotated among the seven
chiefs,"
Matonga said.
Matonga has told his community that "the
benefits will start to pour into
the community as early as
December".
But there are lingering doubts as to whether windfalls from
the trust will
be felt so soon, especially after Youth Development,
Indigenisation and
Empowerment deputy minister, Tongai Matutu (MDC-T)
alleging that there was
no transparency in the way the community trusts were
being set-up.
"The main problem with this community trust is the
facilitation. Some of
these traditional chiefs are being manipulated at the
expense of the
community, there is no transparency," he
said.
Meanwhile, Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere of Zanu-PF has
openly
declared that the party's supporters will benefit the most: "our
people, our
Zanu-PF supporters, will benefit and become empowered through
this
programme," he said.
"It pains us to see how our fellow comrades
in Zanu PF remain the only ones
that benefit each and every time there is
something of monetary value and
they seem to never have enough" bemoaned a
non-executive Zanu PF member who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Gugulethu Nyazema, Senior Writer
Monday, 24
October 2011 08:56
HARARE - Harare has been hit by a shortage of
diesel that has affected
various sectors of the economy.
A snap
survey by the Daily News yesterday revealed that most service
stations did
not have the precious commodity.
Fuel attendants told the Daily News the
diesel supplies to service stations
has been erratic for the past
month.
Most attendants suspected that the dwindling supplies were a
result of
maintenance work being carried out on tanks at the National Oil
Company of
Zimbabwe (Noczim).
“We suspect that supply cannot meet
demand because fuel dealers have to go
all the way to Mozambique to get the
diesel. Noczim is giving out limited
amounts of diesel, while they repair
their tanks.
“We are getting 15 000 litres less than what we normally
get, from Noczim,”
said McDonald Fende, a Total Service Station fuel
attendant in the city.
Most BP service stations had the precious
commodity but was availing diesel
to account holders only.
The
attendants said that most BP service stations were operating on reserve
tanks with the hope that renewed supplies of diesel would
resume.
Black market fuel dealers are already cashing in on the shortage
with most
selling it at almost double the usual price of $1,35 per
litre.
The shortage, some observers said, could also be due to increased
demand for
diesel as most households and the industry have resorted to the
use of
generators to augment limited electricity supplies due to load
shedding.
Mining companies in August told a Parliamentary committee on
Indigenisation
that they use thousands of litres of diesel in generators per
month to
support their operations when there is no electricity.
The
shortage is also set to hit the agricultural community which critically
needs the precious liquid for the preparation of the 2011-2012 farming
season.
Minister of Energy and Power Development Elton Mangoma and
Noczim
authorities were not available to comment on the issue at
hand.
This is not the first time the country, under the inclusive
government, has
been faced by fuel shortages.
Minister Mangoma had to
resort to a controversial deal with a South African
company, NOOA Petroleum
for the supply of five million litres of fuel to
avert a severe fuel
shortage at the beginning of this year.
He was arrested but the High
Court later ruled that he had done it to save
the country from a
catastrophic shortage of the product.
Mangoma sanctioned the purchase of
$4, 4 million worth of diesel from the
little-known South African petrol
agent at the height of fuel problems in
January.
Mangoma was later
arrested following the botched deal for not following the
proper tendering
procedures and later acquitted.
http://www.livemint.com/
Tue, Oct
25 2011. 1:00 AM IST
The African nation declines to supply the resource; firm may have to
renegotiate the terms of the contract
John Satish Kumar , john.k@livemint.com
The Essar
Group’s quest for iron ore remains elusive with Zimbabwe declining
to supply
the resource as envisaged in a contentious deal between the Indian
conglomerate and the African state.
The Essar Group may have to
renegotiate the terms of the contract if it
wants to continue with its plans
in the African nation.
Zimbabwe won’t sell 90% of its iron ore resources
to one company, mines and
mining development deputy minister Gift
Chimanikire said. He added that the
provision in the current pact that
allowed this was wrong.
“We have said to them (Essar): Do not expect us
to hand over these
resources. As government, we cannot just do that,”
Chimanikire was quoted as
saying by The Herald, a daily published by the
Zimbabwean government.
An Essar Group spokesman said it was against
company policy to comment on
speculative reports.
“Essar continues to
hold discussions with the Zimbabwe government over a
number of issues
relating to the Zisco (Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Co.)
transaction, and we
continue to make progress. However, we would not like to
comment on any
specific points,” the spokesman said.
Essar’s deal to gain access to a
captive source of iron ore has been caught
in political crossfire ever since
it was signed in early August.
The Essar Group and Zimbabwe announced the
launch of NewZim Steel Pvt. Ltd
and NewZim Minerals Pvt. Ltd to revive
Zisco, committing an $850 million
investment by Essar Africa with the
promise of job creation.
The shareholding structure in the two joint
ventures was envisaged at 60:40
and 80:20, respectively.
Essar also
committed to revive Zisco to its original capacity and unveiled a
plan to
double annual capacity to 2.5 million tonnes.
NewZim Minerals was to
undertake exploration and technology assessment, with
a testing programme
commencing in the first 18 months. After this, depending
on the outcome, it
was to construct a large-scale beneficiation project and
related
infrastructure for an estimated expenditure of $3.5
billion.
Beneficiation is a process in which low-grade iron ore is
upgraded to higher
iron content through concentration and elimination of
impurities.
Some members of Zimbabwe’s coalition government have
questioned the deal,
even as the strife-torn nation’s President Robert
Mugabe has called for a
general election in early 2012.
Industry and
commerce minister Welshman Ncube led negotiations when the
deal was
signed.
Ncube is part of the Mutambara faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC-M), which split in 2005 from the original Movement
for Democratic
Change, called MDC-T, headed by current Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Chimanikire belongs to MDC-T’s Tsvangirai
faction.
Both factions of the MDC share an uneasy alliance with the
Zanu-PF in the
current coalition government.
Zimbabwe’s 87-year-old
President Mugabe, the leader of the Zanu-PF party,
has been ruling the
country for three decades, but was forced to share power
with political
opponent Tsvangirai after the 2008 elections.
As no candidate received an
outright majority in the first round of
elections, a second was called, but
Tsvangirai withdrew his candidature a
week before this, citing violence
against his party’s supporters.
Amid sustained international pressure,
former South African president Thabo
Mbeki brokered a power-sharing
agreement with an arrangement, the so-called
Global Political Agreement, for
Mugabe to remain President while Tsvangirai
was made Prime
Minister.
“Resource nationalism is rising in many parts of the world
where governments
and other stakeholders believe that value has already been
created once it’s
known that resources exist, but that is a misplaced
notion,” said Anjani
Agrawal, national leader for mining and metals sector
at global consultancy
Ernst and Young.
Resource nationalism refers to
the recent trend of governments across the
world targeting the metals and
mining sector to increase revenue in the face
of commodity deficits and the
consequent rise in prices.
Essar Africa Holdings Ltd, a group company
incorporated in Mauritius,
emerged as the preferred bidder for Zisco and the
iron ore resources that it
owned beating the world’s largest steel maker by
capacity, ArcelorMittal,
and the Naveen Jindal-headed Jindal Steel and
Power Ltd.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Pardoned serial rapist, Godrey Nzira of the Johane Masowe
WeChishanu
Apostolic Church, has died. He was 58.
24.10.1101:46pm
by
Staff Reporter
A family relative, Simbiso Mhike told the State
controlled ZBC television
Nzira died on Sunday evening after a long battle
with hyper tension and a
heart ailment.
Nzira is survived by three
wives, seven children and two grand children.
Mourners are gathered at his
Johane Masowe Wechishanu, Chitungwiza shrine.
Nzira, a known Zanu PF
loyalist, was in January this year released from
prison on what was said to
be compassionate grounds. He was serving a 15
year sentence for raping seven
women at his Seke, Chitungwiza shrine.
His health never improved after
his release. Nzira once declared that
President Robert Mugabe has been given
to zimbabwe by God and should rule
for life.
His premature release
from prison was widely seen as a ploy to bolster
Mugabe’s waning popularity
ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections next year.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
24/10/2011 00:00:00
by AFP
THE
Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines has issued a warning of a possible negative
effect
on mining growth in the outlook period to 2015 due to prevailing
challenges
in the country’s macro-operating environment.
The Chamber’s mineral
economist David Matyanga told a 2012 National Budget
consultative meeting
that Zimbabwe could experience a decline in mineral
output this
year.
“The sector's rate of growth this year could be much lower than
anticipated,” he said.
“For instance, gold output will grow by 22
percent, down from 35 percent
last year; nickel will increase at 22 percent
(down from 26 percent last
year), chrome by 15 percent (from 166 percent in
2010), platinum by 21
percent (from 26 percent last year), and coal by 17
percent (from 66 percent
last year),” Matyanga pointed out.
“The
mining sector is facing challenges in terms of the infrastructure. Some
mining companies have signed ring-fencing agreements with the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority; others have not and these are feeling the
pinch of constant power outages.”
Matyanga also lamented the fact
that the sector was facing challenges in
respect of financing, with most
local banking products being considerably
expensive ‒ some loans with
interest of up to 22 percent.
Meanwhile, global analysts Business Monitor
International (BMI) say the
mining sector will grow by an average 8 percent
to 2015. BMI explained that
although it expected the mineral sector to
experience short-term, renewed
weakness as a result of internal policy
shocks, it would quickly recover.
“We believe the mining sector will grow
by more than 8 percent a year over
our forecast period to 2015, with risks
to the upside once the uncertainty
over indigenisation has come to an end,”
said the analysts.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Roadwin Chirara, Business
Writer
Monday, 24 October 2011 09:28
HARARE - Zimbabwe's failure
to meet its tobacco sales by 40 million
kilogrammes (kg) has also affected
its revenue collections in the third
quarter, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(Zimra) chairman Sternford Moyo has
said.
The country auctioned off
140 million kg’s during the past tobacco-selling
season against a projected
180 million while its total revenue collections
increased by three percent
to $660,7 million for the quarter.
“The price of tobacco which fell as
the season progressed, as compared to
the price that prevailed at the
beginning of the season.
“The lower collections from Tobacco Levy are
attributed to the fact that the
country produced lower volumes than
originally projected,” Moyo said.
In the period under revenue, Zimra’s
major contributor value added tax (Vat)
missed its set targets by six
percent to close at $225,5 million.
“Vat collections fell short of the
Ministry of Finance target because
capacity utilisation for the local
industry is gradually picking up hence
Vat on local sales did not perform
optimally.
“Vat on local sales contributed 44 percent of total Vat
revenue while the
remainder was from Vat on imports,” Moyo said.
He
said Zimra’s individual tax collections had increased by 20 percent to
$148,6 million against a targeted $123,7 million.
“This constituted a
positive variance of 20 percent against target.
Improvements in local
capacity utilisation had necessitated the recruitment
of more employees,
hence the improvement in the performance of the revenue
head,” the Zimra
chairman said.
He however said the revenue collector had also failed to
meet its corporate
tax collections by 16 percent which he attributed to
company operational
challenges.
“Collections were $67,9 million
against a target of $81,1 million as many
companies are still affected by
liquidity challenges, owing to lack of lines
of credit, resulting in them
operating with low working capital,” Moyo said.
“In addition, constant
power outages are working against productivity in
many companies and this is
negatively affecting profitability,” he added.
Moyo said Zimra had
realised $85,2 million in customs duty collections
against a projected
target of $89,2 million.
“The quarter was marginally missed because the
local industry has now
significantly improved in terms of capacity
utilisation. As a result of this
improvement, the economy is no longer fully
dependent on imports,” he said.
Moyo said increased fuel demand due to a
recovering industry has seen its
excise duty collections surpass its targets
by 43 percent to $81,1 million.
“Excise on fuel contributed 67 percent of
the total Excise Duty collected.
“Beer came second with a percentage
contribution of 22 percent,” the revenue
body chairman said.
“As the
economy recovers, consumers are getting more disposable income to
spend on
excisable product,” he said.
Zimbabwe tobacco production still remains
below peak levels of about 236
million kilograms achieved in
2000
Zimbabwe earned $347,8 million from tobacco sales last year, according
to
industry regulator, Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) with China
emerging as the main buyer of the crop.
Zimbabwe is the world’s
sixth-largest exporter of the flue-cured tobacco and
behind Brazil, India,
the US, Argentina and Tanzania.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Trust Matsilele,
Johannesburg, October 23, 2011--Director for Democracy
Begins In
Conversation Betsie Pendry said Zimbabwe diaspora could play a
bigger role
in giving political direction and influencing political process
of their
home country.
Pendry in an exclusive interview with Radio VOP also
indicated the need to
incorporate creative expression in the democratic
struggle as it allowed
more room for openness compared to direct political
expression.
Bhekilizwe Ndlovu a director of the Drama For Life-Zimbabwe
Social Justice
Project in agreement with Pendry on the importance of
creative expression
said “drama is a powerful communication tool in that it
engages people both
at intellectual and at emotional level.
“Unlike a
novel or newspaper which is normally read by one person, drama can
only be
watched by a community. So it has the other benefit of building
communities
by making them do something collectively like watching drama”.
Munjodzi
Mutandiri of the National Constitutional Assembly speaking to Radio
VOP at
the close of a three day workshop said “the group reiterated the
importance
of diaspora vote and also escalation of discussion of tribalism,
one of the
postponed problems Zimbabwe is facing”.
Tafadzwa Maguchu, Programmes
Assistant of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition added
that “his coalition
supported community dialogue as between Zimbabweans and
South Africans and
Zimbabweans among themselves especially on issues that
are seldom avoided
but crucial like tribalism”.
Vito Jeketere, a Zimbabwean national but
studying law with University of
South Africa said the three day workshop
that ended Sunday afternoon helped
quell some stereotypes existing between
South Africans and Zimbabweans as
two nations were represented in the
workshop.
A group from Duduza-Soweto South of Johannesburg acted a drama
on xenophobia
that sought to assist countries that still treat foreigners
with suspicion
and hate.
Bongani Nyathi an educator and human rights
activist praised the Living
Together Institute, Drama For Life-Zimbabwe
Social Justice Project, Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition and National
Constitutional Assembly for bringing such
initiatives to the younger age
that were the main target of the workshop.
“The target group was
strategic as it has people with viral potential to
influence community in
changing negative perceptions about Zimbabweans in
South Africa and the
nature of the Zimbabwean crisis”.
Nyathi added that most of South
Africans thought Zimbabweans were in their
country in search of greener
pastures when the real issue is that they ran
away from political
persecution.
Lumour Makua a facilitator with Living Together Institute
projects lamented
the absence of women in Zimbabwe political struggles and
said it was
unfortunate as they only appeared as victims.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
24 October
2011
Former Security Minister and ZANU PF MP Nicholas Goche conceded that
Mugabe
lost elections in 2008 and that senior ZANU PF officials were
reaching out
to Tsvangirai to be accommodated in a new government. The
stunning
revelations are contained in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s new
book ‘At
the Deep End’.
In the book Tsvangirai claims that Goche
called up MDC-T chief negotiator
Elton Mangoma and wanted to negotiate
transitional mechanisms, that would
also involve Tsvangirai accommodating
ZANU PF MP’s who had won parliamentary
elections.
ZANU PF has reacted
to Tsvangirai’s book by using the state media to pick
out sections of it
that would suit their agenda. They accused him of trying
to take power by
force and called him an opportunist, among other things.
Over the weekend
Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka reminded the state
media of the
bigger story.
“The big news here is that if the Minister of State
Security conceded to
defeat, as alleged, there is no doubt therefore that
ZANU PF and its
candidate were defeated outright and the run-off was
contrived.”
In March 2008 Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party won the
harmonized
parliamentary and presidential elections. But results for the
presidential
poll were withheld for weeks by an electoral commission packed
with Mugabe
sympathizers.
In the end it’s alleged that doctored
results were released and a run-off
election called. The Joint Operations
Command (JOC), a grouping of state
security agencies in the army, air force,
police, and Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), supervised a murderous
retribution campaign which forced
Tsvangirai to boycott the run-off
election.
Meanwhile reports over the weekend said Tsvangirai was on
Saturday forced to
abandon an MDC-T rally in the Nesigwe area of Nkayi in
Matabeleland North.
Despite a High Court order overturning a police ban of
the rally, police
ordered the crowd to disperse while Tsvangirai was
addressing it.
A truck load of police officers descended on the venue and
demanded that the
crowd disperse. This was despite the fact that a similar
campaign meeting by
ZANU PF’s Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative
Development Minister,
Sithembiso Nyoni, was allowed to proceed.
A
furious Tsvangirai tried to reason with the police but to no avail. “I
have
a message for the police. Does Mugabe apply to hold meetings such as
these?
I hold the same executive powers as Mugabe. I deserve the same
respect as
Mugabe. Mugabe is too old and he must step down,” Tsvangirai
said.
Former Nkayi South MP Abedinico Bhebhe, who lost his seat after
being sacked
by the smaller MDC under Welshman Ncube, is now the MDC-T
deputy organising
secretary. He warned that they will deal with police
officers who were
working against the wishes of the people, once they are in
power.
“The MDC, starting from today, will be writing names of the police
officers
who are working against the wishes of the people. Once the MDC goes
into
government we will retire such officers,” he said.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Tobias Manyuchi Monday 24 October
2011
HARARE – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said rejecting
a government
draft constitution 11 years ago was a blunder that condemned
Zimbabwe to a
decade of “political chaos and hazardous struggle to achieve
democracy”.
Tsvangirai -- then the country’s main opposition leader --
worked with his
MDC party, labour and civil society groups to successfully
mobilise
Zimbabweans to reject the draft constitution sponsored by President
Robert
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party, saying the document sought to
entrench
the veteran leader’s rule.
But several of those who led the
‘No Vote’ campaign, including Welshman
Ncube, who leads a splinter faction
of the MDC, have since admitted it was
strategic blunder, especially because
most of the democratic reforms
Zimbabweans are clamouring for now would have
been carried out years ago had
the proposed constitution been
adopted.
Tsvangirai, who had until now not spoken publicly on whether it
was wise to
reject the draft constitution, says in his recently published
biography that
had cool heads prevailed and the constitution adopted, Mugabe
would have
been out of power by now.
“My analysis of this is that if
we had accepted that draft constitution and
kept cool heads, Mugabe would
have been out of power within a much shorter
time,” Tsvangirai said in the
biography titled, At the Deep End.
“We could have saved ourselves 10
years of political chaos, economic havoc
and hazardous struggle to achieve
democracy,” said the former trade union
leader, who has been accused by
critics of making serious strategic blunders
and flip-flopping during his
12-year struggle to unseat Mugabe.
Tsvangirai said: “Within a short space
of time, circumstances would have
forced Mugabe to accept what the SADC
(Southern African Development
Community) and Zimbabweans finally pushed him
to do after losing the
presidential election in March 2008. He would have
worked out an exit
strategy fairly early on.”
He added that all
indications showed that by the time the constitutional was
held in 2000,
Mugabe was already tired, had lost control of ZANU-PF and with
limited room
to manoeuvre.
“We could (had a new constitution been adopted) have
achieved the transfer
of power in a much more clear-cut and orderly fashion
than what we
eventually had to go through on the way to compromise of the
government of
national unity,” Tsvangirai said.
Mugabe’s defeat in
the constitutional referendum was his first in a major
vote since taking
power at Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence from Britain.
Many analysts say the
referendum loss was a wake up call to the veteran
leader who within months
of the plebiscite called general elections, while
setting off security
forces and youth militias on a campaign of violence and
intimidation to
force the electorate to return ZANU-PF to power with a
narrow victory over
the MDC.
Zimbabwe’s elections have since then been characterised by
violence and
charges of vote rigging, which saw the European Union and
United States
slapping sanctions on Mugabe and senior members of
ZANU-PF.
The country's most recent election in 2008 ended in stalemate
after
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round ballot but election
officials
withheld results for five weeks, only to call for a run-off vote,
which was
marred by violence and boycotted by Tsvangirai citing deaths among
his
supporters at the hands of ZANU-PF.
Mugabe was elected unopposed but
his blood-soaked victory was rejected by
the international community
including some of his African allies forcing him
to agree to form a
power-sharing government with Tsvangirai. – ZimOnline.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
The
ageing dictator's greatest enemy is not an army of rebels but failing
health
David Smith
guardian.co.uk, Monday 24
October 2011 20.00 BST
The jacaranda trees are blooming in Harare,
draping its broad avenues with
canopies of purple and green. The shops are
bustling, hotels and restaurants
are often full, children are at school,
young couples are walking in the
park. No sign of a revolution
here.
Coming to Zimbabwe after two spells in Libya this year, I felt like
they
were not merely the length of a continent apart, but on different
planets.
While north Africa has been convulsed by revolution, life in
Zimbabwe in
2011 has continued to flow in a comparatively gentle, uneventful
way.
President Robert Mugabe, immovable for three decades, has little
cause to be
kept awake at night by last week's chilling images of a bloody,
battered and
bewildered Muammar Gaddafi pleading for his life. Could it
happen here? Not
likely.
I wondered why not. After all, Zimbabweans
(led by Mugabe among others) rose
up a generation ago to overthrow
Rhodesia's white minority regime.
"Fear," explained one former minister
in Mugabe's government. Past public
marches have been brutally crushed.
Earlier this year 46 activists here were
arrested and charged with treason
for merely watching a video of the
uprising in Egypt.
Okay Machisa,
director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, told me:
"The Arab spring
did not go down well with the Mugabe regime. Jailing those
activists was a
way of saying we don't want people to go on the streets and
demonstrate."
But there was plenty of fear in Gaddafi's Libya too.
What's different is
that Zimbabwe offers the illusion, at least, of freedom
of speech and
democracy. On street corners vendors sell independent
newspapers with
virulently anti-Mugabe headlines and editorials. (TV and
radio remain a
different story. Some newspapers too. One ruefully exclaimed:
"If only
British politicians were as brave and selfless as Robert Gabriel
Mugabe!")
Whereas Libyans had no hope of removing Gaddafi except by
desperate force,
Zimbabweans can channel their efforts into a political
party, the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC possibly acts as a
sponge, soaking up
revolutionary fervour that would otherwise find
expression on the streets.
I visited the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who has survived beatings and
electoral fraud to become prime minister in a
fraught power-sharing
agreement with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. He lives in a
relatively modest
three-bedroom house with a big, English-style garden
surrounded by a high
wall with razor wire. The sound of birds and crickets
fills the air. We sat
in a back office where an old campaign poster adorned
the wall and Bill
Clinton's autobiography was among books on the
shelves.
Does Tsvangirai envy the Arab spring? "No. It's their situation
and
circumstances and conditions that dictated behaviour. One of the
fundamental
things that I can say is that you cannot suppress people for
ever. One thing
to learn from that is people will always cry for freedom. It
is universal.
"We are in a different situation, we have different
circumstances and we
have got our own way of dealing with our situation.
That is why the MDC has
pursued change without bloodshed and I think we are
correct."
Elections are expected in the next year or so, and with them
the fear of a
return to violence and chaos. For Mugabe seems unwilling to
ever let go of
power, not least, some claim, because he fears prosecution
for past crimes
under international law.
At 87, Mugabe is the oldest
member of Africa's ageing dictators club. Three
of the 10 longest serving
leaders have fallen this year – Ben Ali of Tunisia
ruled for 23 years, Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt for 30 and the longest, Gaddafi,
for nearly 42.
But
all were in the Arab north. South of the Sahara, in "black Africa", the
winds of change are mere zephyrs. Still going strong are Teodoro Obiang
Nguema of Equatorial Guinea (32 years), Jose Santos of Angola (32), Mugabe
(31), Paul Biya of Cameroon (29), Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (25), King
Mswati III of Swaziland (24) and Blaise Campaoré of Burkina Faso
(24).
There has been some mild turbulence for some of them this year but
nothing
to frighten the presidents' horses. Far from Gaddafi's grisly
demise, Mugabe
seems destined to go quietly into that good night. His
greatest enemy is not
the gun-toting revolutionary with a mobile video
camera, but time.
The octogenarian president makes mysterious trips to
Singapore for medical
treatment, has been photographed falling asleep at
meetings and, according
to a US cable released by WikiLeaks, is suffering
prostate cancer that could
spread and kill him by 2013.
Gossip about
his ailing health now grips Harare's bars, diplomatic circles
and
international newsrooms already transfixed by 93-year-old Nelson
Mandela's
pulse. I asked one analyst if all this speculation is paralysing
politics in
Zimbabwe. He replied: "Mugabe's health is politics in
Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai gave this view: "President Mugabe's health is a
national
question, a national concern. Why? Because when you have a partner
whose
state of health is unpredictable, and that partner holds the key to
the
unity of the opponent, what is likely to be the outcome should he die is
instability in the party, which leads to instability in the
country."
It was a question that arose with Saddam Hussein in Iraq and
now again with
Gaddafi in Libya. Once the linchpin of dictatorship is yanked
out, must
infighting and anarchy follow? Some believe that Mugabe, whose
reign is as
old as independent Zimbabwe itself, is the toxic glue that holds
his party
and country together.
But others point to neighbouring
Zambia, where recent elections saw the
president accept defeat and a
democratic transition of power. Rupiah Banda
is little known around the
world and his unbloody, unspectacular fall gained
only a fraction of the
coverage of Gaddafi. But it may have been just as
revolutionary in its way –
and just as unnerving to that cabal of ageing
dictators.
Recently we have had a spate of incidents where countries have removed
incumbent leaders in often violent circumstances. The Ivory Coast, Egypt,
Tunisia and now Libya; the images are graphic, leaders in cages being judged
by the Courts, leaders being dragged out of their hiding places and
manhandled by troops and citizens and finally the graphic images coming out
of Libya.
I do not think that this is the way to change governing
authorities but one
has to sympathise with the people of these countries who
have lived under
repressive and authoritarian regimes for many decades.
Perhaps, many would
say, they had little alternative, they had tried
persuasion, appeals and
campaigns to no avail. There is little doubt that
the Libyan authorities
would have used brutal force to hang onto power had
they not faced
overwhelming military opposition.
But it is not just
the manner of them going that is at issue here, it is the
legacies they left
behind. Broken, divided, impoverished countries with weak
institutions and
little or no systems to hold leadership of any sort
accountable. Do not for
one minute imagine it is going to be easy to replace
these repressive
regimes with new, more accountable and democratic ones.
But it
goes beyond just the broader issues of governance; it also involves
financial questions, often on a scale that is almost unimaginable. Mobutu in
the Congo used the Reserve Bank as his private bank and siphoned off from
his desperately poor and broken country (up to 10 million people have died
in the Congo over the past decade from conflict, hunger, poverty and
preventable diseases) an estimated $5 000 000 000 into bank accounts around
the world. It was a sum that was equal to the National Debt of the Congo and
only $350 million has been discovered and recovered.
But by all
accounts, the leadership of Libya, a small country on the
Mediterranean that
is mostly desert with oil under its sands, accrued the
astonishing sum of an
estimated $100 000 000 000. I show the noughts because
you only understand
what sums we are talking about when you see them like
this. Link this to the
life styles of the elite in these regimes, the luxury
homes, the aircraft,
the cars and other symbols of power and influence. You
get a glimpse into
what life has been like for these tyrants over the past
decades.
There are plenty of examples of regimes where such looting
of State
resources is continuing – in Angola it is estimated that the elite
there
steal a third of all oil revenues – amounting to several billion
dollars a
year. Recently the daughter of the State President of Angola came
to Harare
and was wined and dined. She controls a massive business empire
built on the
capital of these funds purloined at the expense of the
people.
But the main thing that astounds me is the almost
complete absence of any
morality or accountability, even sense of public
service, in these regimes.
It is all about wealth and power and if they have
to stamp on the rights and
even the basic welfare of their people to get
there, they will go to almost
any extreme to maintain their positions. What
good was all that accumulated
wealth to the leadership in Libya last week?
Stripped naked, shot and
dragged through the streets, not a shred of dignity
or respect and little
prospect of anything beyond a hard pallet in a
refrigerated container in the
desert.
I am sure there was little
sleep in certain quarters in Harare that night.
The regime here started out
with such promise and hope. They had fought a
long war to get control of the
State, finally it was theirs. The struggle
totems had been many – I recall a
reply by Ndabaningi Sithole to a question
from an elderly pastor “What does
a boy need to become the pilot of an
aircraft?”, he replied with one word
and it cut through that meeting like a
sword “Mdara, Independence!” The
struggle was for democratic values – “one
man one vote”, for “Freedom”,
“Equality”, “Justice”.
The young men and women who so willingly
gave up their lives and education,
even jobs and marriage, to enter the
struggle were taught that theirs was a
just fight against injustice. That
the society they would build from the
ashes of Rhodesia would be one
characterised by a decent standard of life
with real freedom and
opportunity. No longer would they be simply vassals in
the service of white
masters. Black would be both beautiful and powerful and
their sacrifices
would transform the lives of millions.
The espoused ideologies were those
of the socialist republics in the
Northern Hemisphere. The horses of
democracy and socialism were to be used
to drag Africa towards a new world
order. It was heady stuff.
32 years later, the dream is replaced by a
nightmare. The regime brought to
power in 1980 still hangs onto power and
privilege, claiming they “deserve”
it all because they sacrificed to bring
change. The country is derelict,
burnt by runaway wild fires that simply
rage unrestrained, Orchards of fruit
trees are dead and we import 70 per
cent of the food we eat. Our savings
from a century of hard work and
investment and enterprise have been wiped
out and our elderly are almost all
destitute. Death rates are the highest in
the world and our life expectancy
one of the lowest.
But perhaps the saddest aspect for those who
struggled to bring about
Zimbabwe in 1980, is the almost total absence of
any sense of accountability
and morality in the leadership of the former
ruling Party. Up to the end of
their total control of the country in
February 2009, they were stealing
billions of dollars from the people of
Zimbabwe each year. Through the
Reserve Bank they were taking 35 per cent of
all export proceeds, from NSSA
they were taking millions subscribed by
workers from their hard earnings.
They were stealing from every State
enterprise and especially those involved
in trade like NOCZIM. The evidence
of the wealth created by the corruption
is everywhere. In a country where it
was impossible to buy bread, we had a
weekly flight by the National Airline
to Dubai which was in essence a
shopping trip for the elite.
Now we
have Chiadzwa – a diamond discovery that is quite extraordinary.
Millions of
carats of diamonds are being mined and exported with nearly all
the proceeds
being siphoned off into private accounts and lavish lifestyles.
A criminal
mafia runs the field protected by the armed forces and for the
benefit of
political and military elites. The example next door of Botswana
where
massive diamond mines are operated transparently and accountably with
70 per
cent of the total proceeds going to the State coffers. Education and
health
services are free. Income tax is not levied and political leaders
live
modestly, is simply ignored.
It is no wonder that the people who
suffer under such regimes take it out on
the elite when the opportunity
presents itself. In many ways they deserve
everything that comes to them and
perhaps it is a good thing that many in
this sad, fallen country of ours,
cannot sleep too well at night.
Eddie Cross
Harare, 23rd
October 2011
