Moratorium for Zimbabwean migrants

Farmers take Biti, Chihuri to Supreme Court

http://www.swradioafrica.com

by Irene Madongo
04 October 2010

Commercial farmers want the Supreme Court to look into their claims of being
racially victimised by the government in the on-going illegal farm
evictions. They are also demanding compensation for the violent acquisition
of equipment and materials.

Last Thursday the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) made the application to the
Court following the continued intimidation of the country's remaining white
farmers and illegal farm seizures. The farmers claim that their
constitutional rights are not being protected and the attacks are racially
motivated. Among those government officials named as lawfully failing the
farmers is Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who has not allocated money for
compensation for farm improvements to farmers evicted from the land.
Other respondents include Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Lands Minister Herbert Murewa, all three
are from Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party.

Hendrik Olivier, the Chief Executive Officer of the CFU, said on Monday:
"Every single farmer that is being evicted currently is a white person. This
is a motive against white farmers for an imbalance that was created in the
colonial past which we disagree about," Olivier said, "About 80% of white
farmers in this country purchased their land after independence in 1980 and
therefore had to have a certificate of no-present-interest which the
government then gave to the farmer saying 'I'm not interested in purchasing
your farm at this stage and you may go-ahead.'"

The farmers want the Supreme Court to suspend any more farm evictions. In
2008 the Southern African Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled that the
government's land reform programme is discriminatory and illegal under the
SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is a signatory. Despite this, the Zimbabwean
government has ignored the ruling, and officials with connections to ZANU PF
have continued to persecute white farmers they say are refusing to vacate
land 'acquired' by the government for what they claim is redistribution to
landless blacks.

Olivier said: "We know that they don't recognise the SADC Tribunal and we
have taken similar cases to the Tribunal, and the Tribunal has ruled
accordingly, but we have many other farmers in this country who are
experiencing enormous difficulties currently and that's why we've gone this
route to the Supreme Court in this country."

But it is not just Zimbabwean farmers being targeted. There have also been
attacks on some foreign farmers in Zimbabwe who are meant to be protected by
bilateral investment protection agreements signed between Zimbabwe and other
countries. But the Zimbabwean government has also ignored these agreements.

"This latest application is also for those Zimbabwean farmers who have got
no foreign nationality, who are not part of the SADC Tribunal, giving them
an opportunity now to also see if they can get relief," Olivier said.

 

No Pay Rise For Zimbabwe Civil Servants

http://news.radiovop.com

04/10/2010 18:38:00

Harare, October 04, 2010 - Zimbabwe's troubled civil servants can brace for
worse times after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Monday that treasury
was not yet ready to use the windfall accrued from the country's recent
diamond sale to meet their salary demands.

Representatives of civil servants took their fight of increased wages to
Tsvangirai on Monday afternoon who told them government was still broke.

"There was nothing meaningful which came out of the meeting," said a source
that was part of the 40 minute meeting by government workers and the
Premier.

"Tsvangirai even said he would arrange a meeting with the Finance Minister
to satisfy us that despite the sale of diamonds, treasury was still hard-
pressed to give us a salary increase. The strong message that we got from
him is that there is no money. We have now seen that
we are flogging a dead horse. We now see that this may not be worth
pursuing. As experienced negotiators, we can tell where there is hope and
where there is none."

But Zimbabwe Teachers Association secretary general Richard Gundani, whose
association was part of the meeting, maintained the meeting was fruitful.

"What we have achieved basically is the unlocking of a process of social
dialogue which we felt was now a missing dimension in our relationship. We
had lamented the dearth of information from government side particularly
following the sale of diamonds. This meeting was not there to talk about
specifics but was there to where this social dialogue."

The meeting was also attended by Public service minister Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro and comprised the entire joint negotiating council.

After government had repeatedly told its workers it had no money to increase
their wages, Zimbabwe's civil servants were now demanding part of the
proceeds from the sale of diamonds by the country.

The country reported a windfall of US$72 million from the widely publicised
sale of its first batch of diamonds stocks in August this year. The second
auction was done in secret.

Government workers, who earn a monthly average of US$150, want their
salaries increased to a minimum of US$500, in line with Zimbabwe's poverty
datum line.

A month long strike by the civil servants early this year failed to yield as
government remained adamant it was not yet able to award them a salary
increase.

Finance minister Tendai Biti, who early this year infuriated government
workers by announcing a freeze in their salaries, said nearly three quarters
of the country's revenue went towards civil servants' salaries.

Most government workers rely on petty deals and open corruption to cushion
themselves against the country's high cost of living.
 

Mutambara And Chombo Clash Over GNU

http://news.radiovop.com/

04/10/2010 17:32:00

Harare, October 4, 2010 - Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara and the
Minister of Housing and National Development, Ignatious Chombo, clashed on
government's performance to-date with Minister Chombo claiming that the
Government of National Unity (GNU) was not "confused and struggling to
survive" as being claimed by countries from the West.

"We are not struggling and we are surviving," an angry Chombo told several
government officials and the media gathered in Harare for the launch of the
National Action Plan (NAP) on water.

"I wonder why the Prime Minister (Mutambara) listens to the people from the
World Bank and the bosses in Washington who say we are struggling. We are
not."

Mutambara had said he had come from the World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings
in China and at that meeting Zimbabwe featured very badly on the world
scales for various issues including governance.

"They say our government is not stable," DPM Mutambara had said. "One of the
reasons why we are not featuring very well in most competitive reports from
the WEF is that they say we are not stable and do not have any money for
projects."

Chombo said while he agreed Zimbabwe does not have foreign currency it was
stable judging from the Government of National Unity (GNU) of which
Mutambara is a part.

"You are part of the same government which is being criticised," Chombo
said. "We are not struggling and are not unstable as the West and the WEF
claim."

The meeting was attended by several ministers including Sipepa Nkomo (Water)
and Francis Nhema (Environment) when the "exchange of words" occurred.
 

Grain Marketing Board To Fire 1 650 Workers

http://news.radiovop.com/

04/10/2010 11:22:00

Bulawayo, October 04, 2010 - Zimbabwe's grain parastatal is set to retrench
1 650 employees before December as part of its turnaround programme amid
revelations that its expenditure exceeded overall income.

Grain Marketing Board (GMB) officials said the retrenchments are part of
cost cutting measures to rationalise operations by the loss making
parastatal.

GMB corporate communications manager, Muriel Zemura said the firm's monthly
salary bill stood at US$1.2 million against monthly expenditure of
US$1.7million.

"The GMB's total monthly expenditure stood at US$1.7 million hence the need
to retrench staff to bring the salary bill down to about US$500 000.

Zemura said the retrenchments are necessitated by the fact that the grain
parastatal is struggling to find its footing after years of collapse.

"Production levels at GMB fell tremendously to an extent that there was no
active labour at some of our depots, hence the decision to retrench," Zemura
noted.

"The exercise covers everyone from the groundsman to senior management and
numbers differ as depots perform differently financially."

GMB is one of the loss making parastatals that have over the years been
knocked down to their knees due to a combination of lack of working capital,
corruption and mismanagement.

The government plans to privatise GMB, that buys farmers produce.The loss
making grain parastatal has been struggling to pay farmers for maize
deliveries, a situation that resulted in it being dragged to court over
outstanding payments.
 

Diaspora groups meet COPAC leaders in SA over constitution

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
04 October 2010

Zimbabwean groups in the Diaspora finally got the chance to meet the top
leadership of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) this past
Friday and put their case for participation in the constitution making
process.

COPAC co-chairmen Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T), Paul Mangwana (ZANU PF) and
Maxwell Zimuto, standing in for Edward Mkhosi (MDC-M), travelled to South
Africa and met representatives from the Zimbabwean Diaspora Constitutional
Consultation group.

The meeting which was organised by the Council of Zimbabwe Christian Leaders
UK and the South Africa based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum 'was for the co-Chairs
to explain to the Diaspora how their views could be effectively collected
and incorporated into the COPAC process,' a press release stated.

Despite the intimidation and violence which has marred the outreach exercise
in Zimbabwe groups in the Diaspora are determined to input their views into
the draft constitution. Co-chair Mangwana told the meeting that the only
barrier to the participation of the Diaspora was financial; 'The ball is in
your courts, raise the resources among yourselves and be involved,' he was
quoted as saying.

Co-chair Mwonzora said; 'Originally we were going to consult the Diaspora
but were restricted by the funding problem. There is no political opposition
to Diaspora participation.' He urged the Diaspora community to consult
widely and consolidate their views in a single document. A deadline of 25
October was set, by which time the document should have been submitted to
COPAC.

The groups in the Diaspora have over the past few months been holding
consultative meetings to canvas for views from those in exile. More meetings
are being planned to widen the consultation. Organisers have also set up a
website (http://www.zimcc.com/ ) to allow for direct input from people
online. The bulk of the funding for the Diaspora groups has come from
donors.

Meanwhile South Africa has announced that it will not extend a December
deadline for illegal Zimbabwean immigrants to obtain permits to stay in the
country. Home Affairs Deputy Minister Malusi Gigaba last week said; 'We will
not shift the December deadline. People must make use of this opportunity
because there will be no extensions.'

Gabriel Shumba the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
criticized the announcement saying; 'A review of the deadline is inescapable
if you consider the host of challenges that have beset this process.'
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Shumba said there were some people who
had applied for their Zimbabwean passports and were still waiting to get
these before they could apply for the special permits in South Africa. He
also said December was a holiday month which would add further difficulties
to a process serious strained by long queues and limited manpower to process
applicants.
 

Close to 2 million people participated in outreach program

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
4 October 2010

An estimated two million people participated in the constitutional outreach
meetings countrywide, according to figures obtained by SW Radio Africa.

The outreach program is set to come to an end this weekend with the holding
of rescheduled meetings in Harare and Chitungwiza. The COPAC management
committee last week condemned 42 outreach meetings held in Harare and
Chitungwiza, that were not done properly or were abandoned as a result of
violence in the capital. They've since ordered the aborted meetings to be
done again this Friday and Saturday.

The Parliamentary led outreach meetings began in June to elicit popular
views on a new constitution. However the program was marred by increasing
violence and intimidation, mainly by ZANU PF supporters and war vets allied
to the former ruling party.

'Despite the intimidation and violence, figures being collated from around
the country show that as many as two million people may have participated in
the program,' Simon Muchemwa, our correspondent said.
During the entire period of the program, ZANU PF members of the youth
militia ran an operation dubbed 'Vhara Muromo' or Shut Your Mouth, warning
villagers to either shut up or support the party's views on the new
constitution.

ZANU PF wants an existing draft constitution, commonly referred to as the
Kariba Draft, to be adopted. It places no limit on the number of
presidential terms, and keeps the president's wide-ranging powers in place.

The Global Political Agreement (GPA) which brought ZANU PF and the two MDC
formations into the unity government, called for the drafting of a new
constitution. If the constitution is accepted, new elections would bring
this interim government to an end.

The MDC-T recently threatened a 'No Vote' campaign if the proposed
constitution does not reflect the will of the people. The party joined other
groups that have threatened to push for a 'No Vote' campaign.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the Zimbabwe National
Students Union have already concluded that the process is flawed and have
threatened to lead a "No Vote" campaign against an outcome that does not
reflect people's wishes.

 

Air Zimbabwe bosses want Chikumba out

http://news.radiovop.com/

04/10/2010 08:43:00

Harare - Some members of the Air Zimbabwe board of directors are said to be
demanding that the airline's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chikumba, be
axed for allegedly failing to handle the recent strike by pilots in a manner
that could have avoided the two week impasse which brought the airline's
business to a halt.

Sources told Radio VOP at the weekend that the matter was discussed at
lengthy at an extraordinary board meetings held at the company's
Harare International Airport offices on Friday.
The sources said Chikumba who joined Air Zimbabwe in 2005 from Air
Namibia was handed his letter of dismissal on Thursday after a regular
board meeting however some members of the board are said to have been
against the move.

"He was apparently handed over his dismissal letter but there seems to
be no agreement among the board on whether he should go," said a
source based at the Air Zimbabwe headquarters.
Chikumba finds himself in the line of fire for allegedly failing to
negotiate and stop pilots from going on strike last month, in a move
that left the company about $8 million poorer due to the two week long
loss of business.
The strike also proved to be an embarrassing moment to President
Robert Mugabe who had to travel to New York for the United Nations
General Assembly with a specially hired crew. Mugabe ordered the Air
Zimbabwe board to fix the mess before he left for the US.
Chikumba said, "I am still the Prime Minister of Air Zimbabwe," when
contacted for a comment.
The Airline Chairperson, Jonathan Kadzura also confirmed that Chikumba
was still at the helm of the airline.
"I don't know where that rumour is coming from, he is still in charge
and that story is not an issue at all at the moment," said Kadzura.
The journey at Air Zimbabwe has not been an easy one for Chikumba
since the day he took over. He has however managed over the years to
bring back a sense of urgency into the manner in which Air Zimbabwe
does business. Although the airline is running a relatively old fleet
he has managed to maintain most of the airline's routes to regional
and international destinations such as Johannesburg, Nairobi, China
and London. The airline's schedules have been largely on time unlike
in the past when passengers could be left waiting to go on board well
past the scheduled flight time.
Air Zimbabwe has since the withdrawal of financial assistance from the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) been struggling to stay afloat. The
airline used to receive about $ 1 million a day to pay for operational
costs. But upon the inception of the inclusive government finance
minister Tendai Biti withdrew all those privileges. Currently the
company is operating on an overdraft. The airline is said to be in
trying to create a partnership with China Airlines in a deal that
Harare becoming a hub of traffic between China and Southern Africa.
 

Villagers beaten up for attending MDC funeral

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Godfrey Mtimba
Monday, 04 October 2010 17:28

MASVINGO - About 10 villagers in Mushayavanhu village in Gutu were severely
assaulted by Zanu PF youths as punishment for attending the funeral of an
MDC official over the weekend.

Gutu Central Member of Parliament Oliver Chirume from MDC-T told the Daily
news that villagers in his constituency were beaten up  for attending the
burial of the late MDC-T District Organising Secretary, Ruka Chiseva who
succumbed to injuries he sustained in the violent June 27 presidential
elections run off in 2008.

Chirume said some of the villagers sustained serious injuries and were
admitted at Gutu mission hospital where they are getting treatment.

"People who attended the funeral of our late official are being tormented by
Zanu pf youths and war veterans. They pounced on about ten members at their
homestead and asked them why they were at the funeral while they had been
warned not to attend," he said.

He added that the youths wielding logs, sjamboks and knock berries ordered
the people to lie down on their stomachs and beat them up before warning
them never to attend funerals of MDC members in future.

"We are worried that our members continue to be victims of politically
motivated violence despite the existence of the inclusive government.

As we speak now about four members are being treated after they sustained
serious injuries from the beatings and nothing has been done after we made
police reports," said Chirume.

He said they made a police report against the leader of the militia, a
self-styled war veteran known as Cde Satan who is a local in that area but
he has not been arrested up to now and is walking scott free In
Mushayavanhu.

Zanu PF provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke who lost to Chirume in the
March 2008 harmonised elections  did not answer his phone.

But reports indicate that he might have a hand in the beatings as the war
vet who led the militia is a known right hand man of the former
Parliamentarian.

Tinashe Makanga, one the victims said he was raided in the middle of the
night at his homestead.

"It was late in the evening when I heard voices outside while I was sleeping
in my bedroom. I opened the door  to check what was happening and I was told
to come out. They forced me to sit down while they accused me of betraying
them by attending Chiseva's burial and started beating me up. They left me
for dead and disappeared into the darkness," said Chikanga who was in
Masvingo seeking medical help.

MDC Rallies Banned In Gutu

http://news.radiovop.com

04/10/2010 17:33:00

Gutu, October 4, 2010 - A top official of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party under Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is furious after a
traditional chief who assaulted the party's activist last week banned the
party from holding rallies in his area.

Chief Serima, born Vengai Rushwaya has barred MDC-T from conducting rallies
in his area after he accused MDC legislator for Masvingo Urban, who is also
Deputy Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Tongai Matutu, of
assaulting him.
Chief Serima is said to have assaulted MDC activist Lovemore Chamisa, on the
head with a brick, seriously injuring him for reportedly failing to greet
him when he saw him at a business centre in Gutu last weekend.

Chief Serima, according to Matutu, rushed to make a police report leading to
the arrest of the Deputy Minister and five other party activists,

However, no docket was opened and this confirmed the reports by the MDC that
the chief actually rushed to make a false report to the police when in
actual fact he had hit the MDC member.

In an interview with Radio VOP Monday, MDC provincial chairman Wilstuff
Sitemere said Chief Serima had no right to ban any rally in his area as he
did not have such power to do so.

"Why are chiefs getting involved in politics? They should leave politics for
politicians. If they want to get into politics, then they should quit their
traditional roles and let us know.

"We do not observe the ban by Chief Serima. How can he ban only MDC rallies?
If he wants to ban rallies, then he should also ban Zanu (PF) rallies,"
Sitemere said.

"We will not observe the ban. We are going to conduct rallies as usual," he
said.

Sitemere accused the chief of trying to make the area a no-go-area for the
once opposition party and thus secure a Zanu (PF) seat in the impending
elections.

Chief Serima, fearing a backlash for his actions, said his life will be in
danger if the MDC rallies are conducted in the area.

"My life is now at risk, I heard the MDC discussed my issue at their
provincial meeting days ago," he said.
 

ZBC Labels Journalists Terrorists

http://news.radiovop.com

04/10/2010 11:21:00

Harare, October 4, 2010 - The state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) has labelled the five journalists it fired two years ago as terrorists
and is refusing to rehire them as recommended by an arbitration court.

A ruling delivered in Harare last month by Arbitrator Mwadziwa Chimhuka
found the state broadcaster at fault for dismissing the journalists who were
accused of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
main faction led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The arbitration found that ZBC did not follow the provision of the Labour
Act and the dismissal of the journalists was null and void.

Disobeying the tribunal order ZBC said it was no longer willing to reinstate
the fired journalists because they were a security threat.

"As a National Broadcaster the respondent has national interests to protect.
When there are threats to these interests, the respondent is expected to
protect them. The sending of the affected claimants on forced leave was part
of the endeavors to protect national interests.

"The respondent communicated to the claimants through their legal
practitioners of record that the share holder (ZBC) was no longer interested
in their services. Instead of negotiating on a package proposal, the
claimants have chosen to be unco-operative, hence the
stalemate. It is our humble application that the arbitration tribunal should
intervene and act as a third part to resolve this case," said ZBC.

The Journalists' legal represantative Urther Marara of Matsikidze and
Mucheche legal practitioners said he was going to claim several thousands as
damages  for his victimised clients because ZBC had defied the law.

"The conduct of ZBC is quite saddening because despite the case that there
is a clear and uneqivocal award ZBC has chosen to blatantly ignore the court
ruling. In the premise our clients have instructed us to apply for
quantification of damages.It is a clear application because  the Labour Act
clearly states that if reinstatment is no longer possible, the employer
shoud pay punitive damages.ZBC has indicated that they are no longer
interested in having the journalists as their employees.

"The background of the case is victimisation on political grounds and the
labour case is against descrimination on political grounds,"said Marara.

In 2008, the ZBC dismissed news editor, Patrice Makova, reporters Garikai
Chaunza and Robert Tapfumaneyi ,executive producers, Monica Gavela and
Sibongikosi Mlilo, whom the court ruled must be reinstated to their former
positions without loss of salary and benefits.

The journalists were deemed to have reported positively on the MDC in the
run up to the March 29 presidential elections and the June 2008 run-off in
which Tsvangirai pulled out after attacks on MDC supporters.

Tsvangirai won the elections but did not garner the majority votes necessary
to win the presidential post.
 

MPs boycott Copac duty in Manicaland

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Sidney Saize
Monday, 04 October 2010 17:52

MUTARE - Scores of parliamentarians and rapporteurs of the Copac programme
on Monday failed to visit the centres where the outreach meetings were
aborted because of violence in Manicaland province.

The MPs and rapporteurs were supposed  to visit at  least 10 centres in
Manicaland provinceMonday by the 10 COPAC teams, but only two teams out of
ten left Mutare for the constitution outreach work as most of the members
were either out of Mutare on Parliament business  or opted out fearing for a
re-occurrence of the  violence.

Areas that were supposed to have been visited include Ratelshoek, Foroma,
Checheche all in Chipinge; Gotekote in Nyanga, St Judes  in Makoni South and
Vengere in Rusape. Other outstanding centres are Rukweza and Ruwombwe  in
Makoni South.

The COPAC co-chairperson in Manicaland ,Cephas Makuyana who is also the
senator for Mvurachena constituency confirmed  that the outreach work had
been severely affected by the non availability of other members.  He said
most members of the teams were away on other business.

"We have some teams who are short staffed, especially on rapporteurs as all
members of parliament are in Harare on Parliamentary business. We are
currently running around to find replacements for the missing members," said
Makuyana.

"Now the challenge we have is that we can't just replace someone with people
who cannot read and write. The parties are still struggling to get those
that are literate for secondment to us from both  the MDC-T and Zanu PF,"
Makuyana said.

He said the smaller faction of the  MDC led by Arthur Mutambara faction is
not affected by the challenge since it has no parliamentarian in Manicaland
province, while the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai  has the
biggest number of  missing  MPs.

The MDC-T has 20 seats out of the 26 constituencies in Manicaland province.
Zanu PF has the remaining six. The latter has two senatorial seats while
MDC-T has four.

One rapporteur who chose not to be named said it was pointless for some
members to revisit areas where they were assaulted as there was no guarantee
that the violence would not resurface.

"Some members I think just chose to stay away for their security as nothing
has changed in terms of security. It does not make any sense to return to an
area where you were beaten up while nothing has changed on ground in terms
of security of members," said the rapporteur.

Monica Mutsvangwa, the other co-chairperson for COPAC Manicaland teams was
unavailable for comment. Her mobile number was unreachable.

A Zanu PF member at the government composite building housing the COPAC
offices who preferred not to be named complained the MDC-T was playing cheap
politics.

"There was no need for the MDC-T MPs to go to Harare today (Monday) when
they are supposed to be meeting in Parliament Tuesday. They should have done
work today and then leave first thing Tuesday," complained the member.

Local Currency Re-Introduction Imperative - Economist

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/

George Lwanda

30 September 2010

Harare - At some stage Zimbabwe will have to look at reintroducing a
currency of its own, Development Bank of Southern Africa International
project economist, George Lwanda told the Institute of Chartered Accountants
in Zimbabwe annual conference in Victoria Falls on Saturday.

He said that while doing away with the use of the local currency had enabled
the country to turn the corner with regards to inflation, using another
country's currency had disadvantages. It meant losing control over monetary
policy, which was a means of, among other things, controlling credit.

Other countries had had similar experiences. Argentina, for instance, had
overcome inflation by dollarising but had subsequently decided it was
advantageous to return to use of its own currency.

Asked how a return to use of one's own currency fitted in with the move
towards adopting a regional currency, Lwanda said moves towards a regional
and then continental currency had begun in the early 1980s. A regional
currency was not likely to be implemented imminently. Even if it did come
about within a few years, the country would be worse off moving from foreign
currency use to a regional currency than from its own currency to a regional
one. Countries in the region that used the South African rand as their
currency were unable to set their own interest rates. Monetary policy was
determined in South Africa.

LM Edition 65

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Bill Watch 39/2010 - 4th October [House of Assembly Resumes 5thOctober; Diamond Sales Regulations gazetted]