http://af.reuters.com
Sat Oct 8, 2011 11:54am
GMT
* Rio first foreign miner to comply with law
*
Empowerment drive seen linked to elections
* Foreign mines must choose
local partners from govt list
* Miners want to sell up to 30 percent
stakes
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto
has told Zimbabwe's government it will
give up a 51 percent stake in its
local diamond unit Murowa, state media
reported on Saturday, making it the
first foreign-owned firm to voluntarily
comply with the country's local
ownership law.
"Murowa Diamonds wrote to us (on Thursday) saying they
have given up 51
percent of shares and these would be given to our people,"
Kasukuwere told
the official Herald newspaper.
Murowa officials were
not available for comment.
The heavily criticised law is aimed mainly at
mining firms and banks
operating in the resource-rich country, which has
become an economic basket
case because of what analysts say are years of
mismanagement by President
Robert Mugabe's government.
Last month,
Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said
mining firms
had mostly met a September deadline by which they were required
to submit
plans to transfer a 51 percent stake in their operations to
locals.
The world's number one and two platinum producers, Anglo
American Platinum
and Impala Platinum are also major foreign mining firms
with assets in
Zimbabwe.
Critics have said a major reason for the law
is to allow Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party to build up a war chest ahead of national
elections that could come as
early as next year.
They say Zimbabwe,
emerging from a decade-long slump, can not raise the
funds needed to take
over the mining assets and the cash generated by the
firms would go to top
officials, not ordinary people, who rank among the
poorest in the
world.
Regulations supporting the empowerment law require miners to
choose local
partners from a government approved list, which Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party says is meant
to
benefit Mugabe's allies.
Mugabe was forced to share power with
Tsvangirai two years ago after
disputed elections in 2008. The two have
sharp differences over the
ownership policy.
"My overall assessment
is that over 90 percent of the submitted proposals do
not meet the minimum
requirements (of choosing partners from a government
list) and there seems
to be an element of resistance," Kasukuwere was quoted
as
saying.
Kasukuwere also said plans submitted by foreign mines generally
show the
companies want to sell a maximum of 30 percent of shares while the
remaining
21 percent would be made up of empowerment credits awarded for
social
investments made in infrastructure, health and education
facilities.
Implats unit Zimplats , which is the largest platinum
producer in Zimbabwe
was given up to next month to fully comply with the
empowerment law.
Zimbabwe has the world's second-largest known platinum
reserves after
neighbouring South Africa and market watchers and investors
are therefore
keen to see how the situation unfolds against the backdrop of
red-hot
commodity prices.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Edward Jones Saturday 08 October
2011
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s unity government should appoint a new
neutral police
leadership and consider establishing a constitutional court
and an
independent public prosecutor’s office, the International Bar
Association’s
Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) said in a report following an
earlier visit
to the country.
The southern African country, which had
a tumultuous decade of economic and
political crisis until the formation of
a unity government between President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai in 2009, has been heavily
criticised for failing to uphold the
rule of law.
Police, together with the military have been singled out for
partisanship,
selective application of the law and targeted harassment of
Mugabe’s critics
especially Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
supporters.
“The police should be put under a new, non-partisan and
professional
leadership, itself accountable to a politically neutral,
citizen-based,
supervisory board,” IBAHRI said in a report. “All allegations
of human
rights abuses by members of the police force should be impartially
investigated.”
Security service chiefs in the country publicly dabble
in politics and have
suggested that they will not accept a President other
than the 87-year-old
Mugabe.
The MDC accuses the police of standing
by when they are attacked by ZANU-PF
supporters but are quick to arrest the
MDC members for retaliating.
IBAHRI said the government should quickly
conclude the constitution making
process, which is more than a year behind
schedule, adding that the new
charter should have provisions securing the
independence of the judiciary.
The new constitution should also consider
creating a constitutional court,
which would be higher than the Supreme
Court, currently the country’s top
court.
Critics say most members of
the current judiciary are compromised, after
having been handed out choice
commercial farms often violently seized from
former white farmers and other
handouts like cars, televisions and satellite
dishes sourced by the central
bank at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic
crisis.
“A code of conduct
for judges and magistrates should be introduced providing
for, inter-alia,
full and frank disclosure of the assets of the judges of
the High Court and
the Supreme Court,” IBAHRI said in its recommendations.
IBAHRI also said
the Judicial Service Commission, which currently owes its
existence to
Mugabe and is headed by the Chief Justice, should be
independent and be
empowered to discipline judges and magistrates for
misconduct.
Under
the current constitution, the President handpicks a tribunal made up
of
retired judges to determine whether a sitting judge should be
dismissed.
The Directorate of Pubic Prosecution should be hived off from
the Attorney
General’s office, which itself falls under the Ministry of
Justice, the
institute said. The AGs office, like the police, has been
accused of
selectively prosecuting Mugabe’s critics.
Mugabe has used
tough policing to cling to power for the last 32 years and
attempts by the
MDC to amend the Public and Order and Security Act used by
the police to ban
demonstrations have so far failed.
According to IBAHRI, regional and
African leaders should press Zimbabwean
leaders to fully implement a 2008
power-sharing agreement and ensure that
future elections fair and free from
political violence as stated in the
election road map agreed by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai. -- ZimOnline
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
08/10/2011 00:00:00
by Barnabas
Thondhlana
RIGHTS abuses by state security agents are likely to
worsen following an
escalation of threats, intimidation and harassment
against perceived
opponents of President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF
party, civil society
organisations have warned.
Opponents also claim
that Zanu PF has already activated its terror machine
with incidents of
violent attacks increasing across the country as the party
readies for
elections which Mugabe insists must be held by March next year.
Civic
society organisations have thus declared that the country puts off
plans for
the 2012 poll and, instead, concentrate on instituting much-needed
reforms
to ensure credible electoral processes.
This is the position that the
civic organisations have taken to Geneva,
Switzerland, for the United
Nations Human Rights council’s 12th session of
the universal periodic review
where Zimbabwe will on October 10, 2011
present its report on the human
rights situation in the country.
Over a dozen civil society leaders are
on an advocacy mission in Geneva and
some of the groups represented include
Zimbabwe Human rights Association,
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights and the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO
forum.
Irene Petras from the Lawyers for Human Rights said it was
imperative that
government addressed the issue of what measures could be
taken to protect
the voter and the vote before, during and after the next
elections.
“What reform measures have been or will be taken to ensure
that the
Electoral Commission (EC) is independent, efficient and
transparent,” asked
Petras.
“Is government taking steps to facilitate
voting for everyone including
Zimbabweans living outside Zimbabwe (as well
as) those people living with
disabilities?”
She called on government
to adopt a hybrid electoral system, reform
institutions that play a role in
elections, develop, implement an Electoral
Code of Conduct that is legally
enforceable in order to promote free and
fair elections and establish a
permanent independent Electoral Court to
preside over all electoral
matters.
“The government must take the necessary legislative and
administrative
reforms for the Electoral Commission (EC) to be independent,
efficient,
transparent and accountable with adequate human and financial
resources,”
Petras said.
“The EC must clean up the voters roll
before the next elections. Necessary
administrative and legislative measures
that facilitate the right to vote
freely and fairly of people in the
Diaspora, people living with disabilities
must be embraced.”
Zimbabwe
has conducted regular elections using the First-Past- the-Post
electoral
system, but the last general elections in 2008 proved
inconclusive, leading
to the formation of the Inclusive Government (IG).
Said Dhewa Mavhinga,
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition regional co-ordinator:
“The key message is
broadly that 2012 is not an election year but must be a
year for credible
electoral reforms.”
This is in sharp contrast to the Zimbabwe government’
s 17-page report to
the UN Human Rights Council UPR, prepared by the
Ministry of Justice, which
paints a picture of a country desirous of
promoting and upholding human
rights for all despite the illegal sanctions’
induced challenges.
The report paints a rosy picture of the human rights
situation in Zimbabwe.
But it ascribes some glaring human rights anomalies
to the “illegal
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe”.
The 15-page document,
prepared by the Ministry of Justice and to be
presented by Patrick
Chinamasa, is starkly different from what civil society
leaders will tell
the UN.
“We seek to show that the reality is a far cry from what is contained
in the
government report,” said Dhewa.
“Different organizations will
focus on their areas of expertise to
demonstrate the true state of human
rights in Zimbabwe and to show how the
country is not prepared to hold
democratic elections in 2012 as president
Mugabe and ZANU-PF would
want.”
Said Petras: “The government is encouraged to consider reforms of
laws such
as AIPPA, POSA, Criminal Law Code and the Broadcasting Services
Act and
other measures to prevent hate speech, violations of freedom of
expression,
assembly and association in line with the ICCPR.”
But the
government has come out guns blazing, beating its chest on what it
says are
human rights positives in Zimbabwe.
Paragraph 82 of the government report
reads: “Government opened up
communication platforms in the broadcasting
sector through the licensing of
commercial radio broadcasting services and
satellite-based subscription
services.”
However, Mavhinga said: “No
independent commercial radio licences have ever
been issued and there has
been no movement at all on issuing community radio
licences.
“It’s
now five months since the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ)
finally
called for applications for two commercial radio licences. Just a
few days
ago, BAZ announced they would start holding public hearings on
October 18th
to determine the suitability of applicants for the two
licences.
“The
authority received an estimated 15 applications from aspiring
broadcasters.
On 18th October only one of those will be looked at. If they
look at one a
month we would be 15 months away from the process being
completed,” he
said.
Petras called on government to criminalise torture in all its
national laws
and policies, and consider creating an independent civilian
oversight body
for the police and other security operatives and adopt other
measures to
prevent incidents of torture.
Zimbabwe has created
Commissions on Human Rights, Media, Anti-Corruption and
Elections.
The police, army and Central Intelligence Organisation has
for long been
associated with fighting from Mugabe’s corner in the electoral
process and
going all out to ensure that the 87-year old leader stays in
office.
The CSO’s called on Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai to
fulfil their
promise to reform state institutions, in a bid to end human
rights
violations that have continued in the country since the formation of
the
unity government two and half years ago.
Torture, harassment and
politically motivated prosecutions of human rights
defenders and perceived
opponents have persisted, while villagers in many
parts of the country have
suffered ceaseless intimidation by supporters of
the former ruling ZANU PF
party.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Sapa-dpa | 08
October, 2011 09:27
The Zimbabwean government would need 54 billion
dollars to compensate people
who lost their savings when the country
abolished its own currency two years
ago, a state-owned newspaper reported
Saturday.
The Herald quoted Finance Minister Tendai Biti saying the
huge figure would
"choke" the poverty stricken country which needs about 10
billion dollars if
it is to recover from a decade of economic
decline.
Two years ago, the southern African nation abolished the
virtually worthless
Zimbabwe dollar.
Last year, Biti allocated about
7 million dollars to pay off some Zimbabwe
dollar accounts at the United
Nations, although no payments have been made
so far.
Biti said the
government would impose a cut-off point for compensation.
"We protect the
poor people and so forth. We might come up with that
(cut-off) because a lot
of our people who have quintillions (of Zimbabwe
dollars) and so forth do
not have audit files," Biti told the newspaper.
"If you review their tax
files, they have not paid their tax. It will be
meaningful if one gets
something like 200 dollars," he said.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Thursday, 06 October 2011 13:15
Njabulo Ncube,
Assistant Editor
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has complained bitterly
to President Robert
Mugabe over what he views as machinations by his main
rival to create no-go
areas for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)
in perceived ZANU-PF
strongholds ahead of fresh polls.
The premier, who
has been on a whirlwind tour of the country to assess the
levels of poverty
as well as the state of development, has been prevented
from venturing into
some parts of Mashonaland by ZANU-PF agent provocateurs
at the behest of
their provincial leadership.
Last Friday, a mob of ZANU-PF supporters blocked
the MDC-T leader from
visiting market stalls at Murehwa Shopping Centre in
Mashonaland East amid
threats of violence and physical harm targeting the
premier and members of
his delegation.
The premier had visited Murehwa
Centre as part of his countrywide tour to
assess the needs of the people
ahead of the National Budget presentation by
Finance Minister, Tendai Biti,
later this month or early next month.
Biti, the MDC-T secretary-general, is
currently living in fear of his
personal security after a mob of youths
linked to ZANU-PF, picketed outside
his ministry's offices demanding funds
to bankroll income-generating
projects.
In Murehwa North, the ZANU-PF
leadership mobilised villagers last week
against meeting the premier. The
villagers, still smarting from the last
violent elections in 2008, were
allegedly threatened with dire consequences
in the event that they
disregarded orders from their leaders.
When Prime Minister Tsvangirai visited
Mudzi and Mutoko districts last week,
he was shunned by villagers while
senior civil servants fled for fear of
victimisation post the visit by the
MDC-T president.
Some senior civil servants in the two districts reportedly
sent juniors to
represent them for fear of being linked with the MDC-T
leader.
But with fresh elections on the horizon, panic is said to have set in
the
premier's election machinery amid suspicions that ZANU-PF wanted to
create
no-go areas for its opponents countrywide ahead of the
polls.
MDC-T insiders said the premier had raised the issue with President
Mugabe
when they met on Monday to discuss the goings-on in the coalition
government.
While Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, could not
immediately
confirm this, the Prime Minister's spokesperson, Luke
Tamborinyoka, said the
issue was indeed discussed on Monday.
"It is true
that the Prime Minister spoke to the President about it. It is
also
pertinent to note that the Prime Minister would be in these provinces
as
head of government and notpresident of the MDC. When you have District
Administrators and some senior government officials shying away from the
Prime Minister, it does not bode well for the political environment in this
country," he said.
Charles Mangongera, a political analyst, said it was
awkward for a Prime
Minister of a country, who is supposed to oversee the
implementation of
government policy, to be barred from visiting certain
areas in his country.
"It just underscores what some of us have said time and
again that the
government of national unity is unworkable because you have
one party in
control of the security apparatus of the State and doing
everything it can
to stifle progress and another party that was given
responsibility to
deliver services, but without the authority to do so,"
said Mangongera.
Pedzisai Ruhanya, a political analyst, said the barring of
the Prime
Minister from entering certain parts of the country showed that
ZANU-PF was
already in an election mood.
"And one of its strategies is to
create electoral buffer zones or electoral
hotspots where they use violence
to intimidate citizens and stop its
political opponents from campaigning,"
said Ruhanya.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Saturday, 08 October 2011 00:00
Felex Share Herald
Reporter
HARARE City Council workers went on strike yesterday demanding
improved
salaries and better working conditions, paralysing service
delivery in
nearly all critical departments.
The workers are planning a
massive demonstration at Town House on Monday
morning.
They are also
demanding an end to "secretive" payrolls and incentives to
senior managers
they claim were bleeding council resources at the expense of
their welfare
and service delivery.
The strike comes after the workers got an arbitral
award of a 16 percent
salary increment effective January this
year.
However, council unilaterally decided to give each worker a top-up of
US$20.
The least-paid council worker in grade 16 now earns US$150 after the
US$20
adjustment.
This grade includes cleaners and all general
staff.
Most council operations came to a standstill with the health
department,
refuse collection and cleaning services being the most
affected.
Toilets and streets in the Central Business District were not
cleaned
yesterday as the workers heeded calls by their unions to
strike.
The situation was worse in Mbare and health experts fear a
disease outbreak
if no solution is hammered.
Council employees could be
seen sitting under trees while others decided to
go home.
Residents who
wanted to pay bills were in most cases turned away as there
was no one to
attend to them.
Council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi yesterday said
they were negotiating
with the workers.
"We are negotiating and I can
tell you that the whole of this morning
(yesterday) we were negotiating. We
hope to come up with a solution very
soon," he said.
However, Harare
Municipal Workers Union chairperson Mr Cosmas Bungu said
efforts to engage
management failed to yield positive results.
He said workers would only
return to work after a "reasonable" salary
increment.
"They have failed
to honour the arbitral award and the workers have resolved
that enough is
enough. They should observe the dictates of social justice.
The executive
payroll should be made public because we believe 60 percent of
the total
budget is for them.
"When we had our manpower audit we participated but
surprisingly we were
never consulted on the consolidating process and we
believe there are
thousands of ghost workers and someone is benefiting from
that," he said.
Mr Bungu added: "There is no politicking here. What we
are doing is just the
wishes of the people as evidenced in our balloting.
The people have spoken."
Interviewed workers accused the management of
neglecting them.
"Some of us are lodgers and we have to pay rentals but
how does the
management expect us to survive. We have children who need
school fees and
this has to come from the US$150 I am getting.
"They
should be sensitive to our plight because we also deserve better
treatment,"
said one worker.
Another worker at Wilkins Hospital said nurses had reported
for duty but
were not attending to patients.
"People are here, but
nothing is being done in terms of working. We were
just seated since
morning, joining our fellows in the job action. We are
waiting for Monday
when we will all invade Town House to confront the
management," the worker
said.
The situation was the same at the Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases
Hospitals where workers said they had joined the strike.
"We believe in
collective job action and that's why we have heeded calls by
the union
leaders to down tools," he said.
Others complained council was paying
more money to ghost workers.
"They don't want to release the report on the
ghost workers and it means
people on the payroll are much more than the
touted 10 000," added another
employee.
Apart from failing to
increase workers' salaries, council has also come
under fire from residents
for poor service delivery despite the high revenue
it collects.
The
council gets revenue from beerhalls, clinics, commercial and residential
properties.
Most residents in high-density areas rely on council
clinics and maternity
facilities.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Zimbabwe’s civic society
organisations have declared that 2012 is not an
election year, but a year
for credible electoral reforms.
06.10.1101:17pm
by OWN
CORRESPONDENT
This is the position that the civic organisations have
taken to Geneva,
Switzerland, for the United Nations Human Rights council’s
12th session of
the universal periodic review where Zimbabwe will on October
10, 2011
present its report on the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe.
Over a dozen civil society leaders are on an advocacy mission
in Geneva.
Some of the groups represented are the Zimbabwe Human rights
Association,
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
and the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum.
A year for
reform
Said Dhewa Mavhunga, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition regional
co-ordinator:
“The key message is broadly that 2012 is not an election year
but must be a
year for credible electoral reforms.”
President Robert
Mugabe is on record as saying he is keen to see elections
taking place next
year, and has even said the polls should be over and done
with by
March.
This is in sharp contrast to the Zimbabwe government’ s 17-page
report to
the UN Human Rights Council UPR, prepared by the Ministry of
Justice, which
paints a picture of a country desiring to promote and uphold
human rights
for all.
The report paints a rosy picture of the human
rights situation in Zimbabwe.
But it ascribes some glaring human rights
anomalies to the “illegal
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe”. The 15-page
document, prepared by the
Ministry of Justice and
to be presented by
Patrick Chinamasa, is starkly different from what civil
society leaders will
tell the UN.
“We seek to show that the reality is a far cry from what is
contained in the
government report,” said Dhewa. “Different organizations
will focus on their
area of expertise to demonstrate the true state of human
rights in Zimbabwe
and to show how the country is not prepared to hold
democratic elections in
2012 as President Mugabe and Zanu (PF) would
want.”
Irene Petras from the Lawyers for Human Rights said it was
imperative that
government looked at what measures were being taken to
protect the voter and
the vote before, during and after the next
elections.
“Is the government taking steps to facilitate voting for
everyone including
Zimbabweans living outside Zimbabwe or those living with
disabilities?”
Hybrid electoral system
She called on the
government to adopt a hybrid electoral system, reform
institutions that play
a role in elections, develop, implement an Electoral
Code of Conduct that is
legally enforceable in order to promote free and
fair elections and
establish a permanent independent Electoral Court to
preside over all
electoral matters.
“The government is encouraged to consider reforms of
laws such as AIPPA,
POSA, Criminal Law Code and the Broadcasting Services
Act and other measures
to prevent
hate speech, violations of freedom
of expression, assembly and association
in line with the ICCPR,” said
Petras.
However, the government has come out all guns blazing on what it
says are
human rights positives in Zimbabwe.
Paragraph 82 of the
government report reads: ‘Government opened up
communication platforms in
the broadcasting sector through the licensing of
commercial radio
broadcasting services and satellite-based subscription
services.”
Said Mavhunga: “No independent commercial radio licences
have ever been
issued and there has been no movement at all on issuing
community radio
licences.
“It’s now five months since the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe finally
called for applications for two
commercial radio licences. Just a few days
ago, BAZ
announced they
would start holding public hearings on October 18th to
determine the
suitability of applicants for the two licences,” he said.
Criminalise
torture
Petras called on government to criminalise torture in all its
national laws
and policies, and consider creating an independent civilian
oversight body
for the police and other security operatives.
Zimbabwe
has created Commissions on Human Rights, Media, Anti-Corruption and
Elections.
The CSO’s called on Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai
to fulfil their
promise to reform state institutions, in a bid to end human
rights
violations that have continued in the country since the formation of
the
unity government two and half years ago.
Saturday, 08 October
2011
The MDC dismisses the appalling report on the human rights situation
in
Zimbabwe that will be presented by Patrick Chinamasa at the United
Nations
Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday. Chinamasa is
not a
suitable candidate to make any submissions on human rights in Zimbabwe
as he
is one of the leading human rights abusers in the country.
In
the late 1990s when Chinamasa was appointed the Minister of Justice, one
of
his first moves was to preside over the destruction of the judiciary
system
in Zimbabwe. Since then thousands of MDC and human rights activists
have
been arrested and brought before the courts of law facing various false
charges as the judiciary system became compromised.
At the same time
known Zanu PF criminals have been left scot free due to
interference by
Chinamasa and other Zanu PF politicians in the country’s
judiciary system.
The MDC would like to know why there has been no progress
in the arrest of
known murderers of Tonderai Ndira, Better Chokururama,
Godfrey Kauzani,
Rwisai Nyakauru and hundreds of MDC members.
In 2002, following what
Chinamasa considered a lenient conviction of three
US citizens who were
caught and convicted of smuggling arms in an aircraft,
Zimbabwean High Court
judge Fergus Blackie brought successful charges
against Chinamasa for a
conviction of contempt of court.
Chinamasa had Blackie immediately
arrested on charges of “corruption,” on
the grounds of having decided the
case of a white woman improperly (on the
basis of an alleged adulterous
relationship and racist bias), and without
the support of the other judge
who was sitting with him on the matter.
At the end of the trial,
Chinamasa declared various non governmental
organisations (NGOs) illegal and
closed them leaving thousands of people
including children in the country to
starve.
Chinamasa is an illegal beneficiary of multiple farms following
his violent
grabbing of farms despite calls for one man one farm. Some of
these farms
are; Tsukamai in Headlands and Nyamazura in Rusape.
In
his periodic report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, on
Monday,
Chinamasa will do nothing but misrepresent facts on the pathetic
human
rights situation in Zimbabwe to the world.
In his report Chinamasa claims
Zimbabwe has made progress in improving its
human rights situation, citing
treaties and international instruments signed
and ratified by the government
such as the Convention Against the
Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, International
Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights,
Convention on the Rights of the Child and
International Convention on
the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
However, the Zanu PF report does
not explain why Zimbabwe has not ratified
outstanding human rights treaties
such as the UN Convention Against Torture,
Cruel or Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, and International
Convention for the Protection of
all persons Against Enforced
Disappearances.
Further Zimbabwe has not
ratified protocols such as the Convention Against
the Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination Against Women, International
Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural
Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
As Chinamasa would be
reading his Zanu PF report, the MDC has in 2011 alone,
recorded that 335 MDC
and human rights activists have been arrested by Zanu
PF supporters or state
security agents. This translates to more than one
arrest per day. Thousands
others have been harassed and intimidated across
the country. The army is
patrolling in the villagers harassing innocent
villagers.
Chinamasa
claims that Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees freedom from
inhuman and
degrading treatment; that there is a police complaints desk at
every police
station in Zimbabwe and that the country has incorporated the
rights to a
fair trial and access to justice in the legal system.
On the ground, we
have reports from Mbare in Harare, where MDC activists and
members have been
arrested making reports to the police after being
assaulted by Zanu PF
thugs. MDC members continue to be remanded in custody
on trumped – up
charges. On Friday, 7 October, the MDC Youth Assembly
chairperson, Solomon
Madzore was remanded in custody on false charges of
murdering a police
officer in May. A total of 27 members have been arrested
on the same
allegations.
In August this year, Chinamasa caused the premature end to
the debate on the
Public Order and Security Act (POSA) Amendment Bill in the
Senate when he
lied to the legislators that the matter was being negotiated
as part of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA).
As the MDC, we
dismiss with the contempt it deserves attempts by Chinamasa
and Zanu PF to
claim that the report to be tabled in Geneva on Monday is a
government
report. As part of the inclusive government, the MDC ministers
were never
consulted about the report which glosses over the real situation
of what is
happening in Zimbabwe.
Together, united, voting for real
change!!!
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, October 8,
2011 – Former Mines Minister and Parliament led
Constitution making body
COPAC stakeholders subcommittee Chairperson,
Chindori Chininga, has been
suspended for allegedly leaking Zanu-PF’s draft
constitution to the Movement
for Democratic Change led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
(MDC-T).
The MDC-T though denying its origin has confirmed unearthing of
the
document.
“There is a certain document that our party the MDC
intercepted that is
alleged to have been generated by Zanu-PF purporting to
be a draft
constitution. We intercepted the document in Mutare and we have
since taken
Zanu-PF to task over the document.
“We have the machinery
as a people’s party to intercept anything that
affects the credibility of
the process. Right now we have not yet written
the constitution but at the
process of extracting constitutional issues and
there should be no political
party which should come up with a document
purporting to be the draft
constitution.We will reject it and we have
rejected it,” MDC-T spokesperson
and the party’s COPAC co-chairperson
Douglas Mwonzora confirmed to Radio VOP
in an exclusive interview Friday in
Harare Mwonzora denied that Chininga
leaked the fraudulent draft
constitution to his party.
“We are not
saying Zanu-PF should not suspend its members from COPAC but we
never
received anything from Mr Chininga,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from
Zanu-PF’s spokesperson Rugare Gumbo over the
suspension of Chininga proved
fruitless as his mobile phone was not
reachable.
Zanu-PF at the
initial stage of the constitution making process insisted
that the Kariba
draft which its members and some of the MDC officials
clandestinely crafted
in 2007 should be adopted as the country’s
constitution.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Bulawayo, October 07, 2011-
Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party is
set to launch its
presidential election campaign on Sunday in Bulawayo, the
country’s second
largest city, party officials told Radio VOP.
MDC T Vice President,
Thokozani Khuphe will launch Tsvangirai’s presidential
election campaign
that will be held at Induba grounds, Pelandaba suburb.
The campaign has
been organised by the party’s youth league Bulawayo
province
executive.
“This launch is to show and send a message to Zanu (PF) that
our party is
ready for the presidential elections. We are ready to remove
Mugabe from the
State House and usher in Tsvangirai.
“We are ready
for the elections and we are ready to defend the results
should Mugabe’s
Zanu (PF) party attempt to rig the elections.
“We will not allow Zanu
(PF) to steal the elections like they have done
before. Tsvangirai is the
party’s presidential candidate and we believe in
his leadership qualities,”
Bekithemba Nyathi, the MDC T Bulawayo provincial
youth chairman told
journalists on Friday in Bulawayo.
Although no dates have been set,
Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party have said
elections should be held before
March 2012, but civic groups want reforms to
ensure a level playing field
before the polls.
Mugabe has said he will not invite election observers
from Britain and the
European Union because they imposed sanctions against
his Zanu (PF) party.
Deborah Bronnert, the new British envoy after
meeting Mugabe recently said
her government was happy that "the (Zimbabwean)
parties in the inclusive
government were working together towards greater
reform and credible
elections" and the Zimbabwean leader was quick to say
that Zimbabwe did not
want the West to meddle in the polls.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
08/10/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE government has pleaded with striking prosecutors to
return to work as
the job action has left the courts system in paralysis
with no trials taking
place and hundreds of suspects stranded in remand
prisons.
The prosecutors went on strike last Tuesday demanding an
improvement in
conditions of service and parity with magistrates who had
their salaries
increased in July with most now taking home more than
US$500.
Acting Justice and Legal Affairs permanent secretary, Maxwell
Ranga, urged
the prosecutors to call off the strike saying the government
had approved a
US$156 representation allowance for principal law officers
and prosecutors
in Grade One.
He said efforts were underway to address
other grievances.
“Payment of representation allowance to principal law
officers/prosecutors
Grade One has been resolved and payment is being
processed. The ministry is
still working on the remaining issues pertaining
to salaries, again with the
relevant stakeholders,” Ranga wrote in a letter
to the Zimbabwe Law
Officers' Association (ZLOA).
However, ZLOA chairman
Leopold Mudisi blasted the offer as inadequate and
divisive insisting the
strike would continue.
"We are not going back to work until they pay us
or until the Public Service
Commission commits itself in writing that it
will pay us what we are
demanding," Mudisi said.
"We are eager to go
back to work any minute as long as there is an
obligation in writing. We
sympathise with the suspects in remand prison, but
we can not go back to
work on empty stomachs."
Prosecutors currently earn between US$200 and
US$300 monthly and are
demanding parity with magistrates who paid between
US$500 and US$730.
“Magistrates and prosecutors are all employed by the
Judicial Service
Commission... but there is a serious salary and benefits
discrepancy despite
having similar qualifications, experience and the fact
that we do the same
work,” Derek Charamba, secretary general of the ZLOA
said last week.
http://mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE - Oct 07 2011
14:51
Zanu-PF youths -- in collaboration with senior party
bigwigs -- are
spearheading the illegal invasion of buildings and properties
in Bulawayo
under the guise of empowerment.
A resolution passed in
Bulawayo last week by Indigenisation Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere, Zanu-PF
national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and Information and
Publicity Minister
Webster Shamu will now pave the way for Zanu-PF youths to
take over nearly
70 unoccupied buildings in the city. Since August Zanu-PF
youths have
started invading buildings and property owned by Indians,
Italians and the
European community in Bulawayo. Invaded properties include
the Italian-owned
Pizzaghetti and the Maggos, Elons and Centenary buildings.
Among these are
some owned by the Esats family, a wealthy Indian family
involved in textile
and clothing businesses in the city.
Amen Mpofu, the deputy mayor of
Bulawayo, said: "These invasions are making
it really difficult for the city
council to attract investors. The city
council, in partnership with various
stakeholders in the city, is working
day and night trying to address the
issue of company relocations in the
city, but it seems other people have
their own political agendas."
Police have been criticised for treating
the youth invaders with kid gloves,
leaving scores of property owners crying
foul. The owner of Maggos building,
David Naidoo, said: "I was in South
Africa when my caretaker informed me
that my property had been invaded by
Zanu-PF youths. After that I was forced
to abandon my business in South
Africa and flew back to sort out the issue.
The youths refused to vacate my
property and as I speak they are still
camping on my
premises."
Despite repeated attempts by Naidoo to speak to Zanu-PF's
provincial
leadership about the invasion of his property, the party's
leadership has
maintained there will be no "backtracking" on the invasions.
Meanwhile, a
court judgment last week ordered the arrest of 10 Zanu-PF
youths for
invading several properties in the city.
It is understood
from Zanu-PF insiders that companies which have shut down
their operations
in Bulawayo have been earmarked for seizure by the Zanu-PF
youths.
According to the industry and trade ministry, nearly 87
companies have shut
down in Bulawayo since 2010 and an estimated 20 000
workers have been
affected by the closures. With Zanu-PF's December congress
scheduled for
Bulawayo, party hawks are said to be increasingly pushing for
quick action
for company takeovers and have issued "a two-week ultimatum" to
the
leadership in Bulawayo to provide a comprehensive list of companies that
can
be reopened.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Members of Parliament have flexed their muscles and refused
to ratify a
bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement with
Iran.
07.10.1109:10pm
by Staff Reporter
For years Zimbabwe’s
Parliament has been nothing but a rubber stamp for
presidential and
ministerial edicts. Even the arrival of MDC MPs in the
House, with a simple
majority over Zanu (PF), failed to make much of a
difference.
But at
last MPs seem to be taking their responsibilities seriously.
The Zanu
(PF) deputy minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion,
Sam
Undenge, tabled the BIPPA in Parliament this week.
But MDC legislators
are ambivalent about ratifying it without full
information about what they
were signing up to, amid fears the treaty could
be for Tehran's uranium
enrichment programme.
Undenge deftly skirted the uranium enrichment
programme in his presentation
and told the House that the treaty was to
protect Iranian investments,
including the tractor manufacturing plant set
up by Iranians in Zimbabwe a
few weeks ago, and a joint venture with IDC in
the Modzone textile industry.
"I would like to recommend the House to
ratify the BIPPA agreement with Iran
because of the benefits which are going
to accrue to us, not only in terms
of investment but in terms of trade," he
said.
Legislators questioned why the agreement, signed in 1999, was being
brought
to the House for ratification now, when Iran’s enrichment programme
has
provoked a diplomatic tiff with Washington.
The United States
warned Zimbabwe in March there would be grave
ramifications if it cooperated
with Iran’s nuclear programme in violation of
United Nations
resolutions.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was concerned over
recent statements
by Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi that UN
sanctions on Iran were
unfair and hypocritical.
It is believed Iran
is interested in uranium deposits that lie in the
Zambezi River valley but
were not exploited over the past few years due to
low uranium prices. It is
estimated that the country’s Kanyemba Mine holds
more than 45,000 tons of
uranium ore with over 20,000 tons extractible.
Gokwe Zanu (PF) MP Dorothy
Mangami was the only legislator who backed the
ratification of the
BIPPA.
Kambuzuma MDC MP Willias Madzimure said it was pointless to ratify
the BIPPA
given the contempt Zimbabwe has for its international
commitments.
"We have signed several BIPPA agreements but we have
violated those
agreements," Madzimure said. "We have dragged ourselves
before various fora
where the country is debated. Are we a suitable
candidate to enter into some
of these agreements?"
The government has
expropriated several farms protected under similar
BIPPAs.
Madzimure
said Zimbabwe must first learn to respect the rule of law.
In the past
Didymus Mutasa, the Zanu (PF) secretary for administration, has
said BIPPAS
were “not worth the paper they were written on”.
Masvingo Central MDC MP
Jeffryson Chitando said the 7th Zimbabwe Parliament
could not be forced to
ratify an agreement "which is not of this
Parliament."
"It should
have been ratified during that period (1999)," Chitando said.
"Madam
Speaker, personally when I look at this agreement in relation to the
people
I represent, the people of Mapanzure, Chatikobo and Masarasara in
Masvingo,
what exactly are they going to benefit from this agreement? If
there is
nothing to benefit, it means this agreement is not of
importance."
Chitando surmised that the BIPPA had been dusted off because
ZBC wanted
antiquated broadcasting equipment from Iran in exchange for
access to
minerals.
It was finally resolved that the debate on this
motion be adjourned.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation has engaged the
services of overzealous junior police officers
to harass residents into
paying their radio and television license fees,
despite its perennial
failure to transmit a reliable
signal.
06.10.1102:46pm
by Tony Saxon
Residents here
interviewed by The Zimbabwean last week said they do not
receive ZBC signal
transmission in their area.
"We do not listen to any ZBC radio stations
because there is no signal at
all," said David Furanera. "For television
some rich people watch programmes
through the
satellite decoders.
Many people watch television at the local shops and bars
where there are
decoders and people do not watch ZBC," said Hebert Tuwani
from the same
area.
"We have had no ZBC signal transmission here in a long time, though
surprisingly some ZBC and police officers force us to pay radio and
television licenses, which are exorbitant," said Tuwani. Radio licences cost
$10 and a television license costs $50.
http://www.voanews.com/
07 October
2011
Industry Minister Welshman Ncube, head of a task force of the
'Let Bulawayo
Survive' campaign, said more funding to support Matabeleland
businesses will
be authorized by the Cabinet in due
course
Sithandekile Mhlanga | Washington
The Zimbabwean
government has set up a US$40 million line of credit for
struggling
businesses in Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region, which has
been in
decline.
Industry Minister Welshman Ncube, head of a task force of the
“Let Bulawayo
Survive” campaign, said more funding will be authorized by the
Cabinet in
due course.
ZANU-PF Chairman Simon Khaya-Moyo told VOA
reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga
that the funding plan will encourage
development and restore Bulawayo's
industrial vigor.
Meanwhile,
business leaders in Bulawayo on Friday met in conference with
ambassadors
and envoys from Tanzania, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Angola,
and Botswana to promote Bulawayo as a trade source and
destination.
Matabeleland Regional Manager Bulisani Ncube of the
National Chamber of
Commerce said envoys invited local business people to
explore opportunities
in their countries.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Finance minister says the government
has failed to pay farmers for
produce they delivered to the GMB because
money budgeted for that purpose
has been diverted to bankroll the unbudgeted
civil servants increase.
07.10.1108:20pm
by Chief
Reporter
Betty Chikava, Mt Darwin East MP, put Finance minister
Tendai Biti on the
spot in the House of Assembly after relentless State
Press accusations that
the MDC secretary general was refusing to pay farmers
as a means of
sabotaging agriculture.
Biti told the House of Assembly
that under the 2011 grain procurement
scheme, the government set a producer
price of $285.00 per metric tonne this
year, up from the $275.00 per metric
tonne of last season.
Three problems
"However, we have had three
problems. The first one is an obvious one, the
problem of money and fiscal
space," Biti said. "As I reported in this House
in July, our budget for the
year 2011 is $2.7 billion. The budget of $2.7
billion presupposes that we
have to collect $229m per month, and as I
reported in the first half of the
year, there were only two months that we
were able to exceed $200 million
never mind $229million.
“Those were the months of March and June and
these are the months that
corporates/companies pay their corporate taxes. In
July 2011, we had a
salary increase of $260 million, which requires that the
government has to
find an additional $42 million per month, bringing the
paradox and
contradiction of increased expenditure on the basis of reduced
revenue."
Biti said when the government set the producer price of $285,
Cabinet had
agreed that payment to farmers would be made 10 days after
delivery.
"But the tsunami of the $260 million then came, and in every
country you
must pay wages first, other wise you will have a civil
commotion," Biti
said. "As I said in the mid-term statement, wages are now
taking 67 percent
of our expenditure which means that out of every $1 that
we receive US$0.67c
is going towards wages with US$0.33c going to hospitals
and other budget
areas."
Under pressure
Biti said he was under
pressure from several sectors who all want money.
"The Minister of Health
wants $33million from me because he wants to make
user fees free, the
minister of Agriculture wants $45million for the
vulnerable sector, minister
Mzembi wants $20 million to support the
re-branding of Zimbabwe as he calls
it – so there are numerous demands on
the fiscus.
“Members of
Parliament want motor vehicles and they also want CDF money. So
all these
need fiscal space, but we do not have fiscal space," Biti said.
The
Finance minister said Zimbabwe was the only country in Sub Saharan
Africa,
which does not have direct donor assistance.
"We therefore have to deal
with our debt question," he said.
Zimbabwe owes more than $7billion to
Bretton Woods institution that has
precluded the country from accessing
lines of credit. But Biti said he had
plan.
"We have agreed on the
following: we owe farmers $35 million and we paid $10
million last week, but
because we realised that rains are going to be early
this year, we are in
the process of gathering inputs, seed and fertilizer
that is going to the
Grain Marketing Board to the tune of $30m. This will
enable the farmer to
swap his
payment with the available seed and fertilizer," Biti told the
House of
Asssembly.
Price distortions
Biti said price
distortions were also to blame for the current scenario.
"Made
(Agriculture minister), you are to blame for continuing to set
producer
prices of maize," Biti said. "The price that the GMB is selling is
$285 per
metric tonne, Malawi has overproduced and has surplus of 700 000
metric
tonnes of maize, Zambia 400 000 metric tonnes, Republic of South
Africa has
9 million metric tonnes surplus,
though part of it is GMO. The region has
got surplus. What is happening is
that you can buy maize from Malawi or
anywhere between $175 to $190. So now
makoronyera nemagumaguma are importing
maize from neighbouring countries. We
do not have a mechanism of preventing
that cheap imported maize going to
GMB, so as government we need to revisit
our systems."
Biti said the second problem was that when millers go to
the GMB to buy
maize, GMB is selling maize at $325 per tonne.
"So you
will be made to buy maize at $325 per tonne when you can import it
at $190.
GMB is now sitting at huge maize stocks which it can not sell to
anyone, yet
the government is just buying and buying. So we need major
policy reviews,"
he said.
Chikava insisted that Biti must pay the farmers in cash and not
in farming
inputs.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Africa Apostolic Faith Mission has
criticized Zanu (PF) political
leaders of invading their church operations
and interfering with their
worship.
07.10.1107:44pm
by Tony
Saxon
Zanu (PF) political leaders in Manicaland have been targeting
the apostolic
sects in the province as platforms from which to sell their
political ideas.
Zanu (PF) heavy weights: Oppah Muchinguri, Didymus Mutasa,
Chris Mushohwe,
Mandy Chimene and Mike Madiro, among others, have been
attending various
church services held by the apostolic sects that include
Johanne Marange,
Masowe eChishanu and Africa Apostolic Faith Mission in
order to spread Zanu
(PF) political messages.
"We worship God and not
politicians. Our church has no room for politicians
we are apostles of God
and not apostles of Zanu (PF)," said a senior member
from the Africa
Apostolic Faith Mission.
"I would like to strongly condemn what other
apostolic sects are doing who
are blindly glorifying Zanu (PF) and the
biased traditional leadership,"
said the senior member of the church. God
has a way of doing things. He
hears our prayers for a better Zimbabwe," he
said.
Noah Taguta a faction leader of Johanne Marange, has openly showed
his
allegiance to Zanu (PF) after he invited President Robert Mugabe to the
church's Passover last year.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Zimbabwe’s maize production is expected to
increase this year, but it will
still fall short of the required amount, The
United nations has confirmed.
06.10.1102:48pm
by Ngoni Chanakira
Harare
In a report made available to The Zimbabwean, the UN said the
area planted
for the 2010/2011 season was 2 096 035 hectares with an average
yield of
0,69 metric tonnes per hectare.
"The increase in maize
production is mainly attributed to more hectares put
under the crop and
better yields in the high potential producing areas," the
report
said.
After assessments conducted in April this year, estimates for the
national
cereal production for the 2010/2011 season stood at 1 607 700
metric tonnes
against an estimated national requirement of 1 717 800 metric
tonnes.
"Maize production increased by nine percent in 2010/2011 compared
to the
previous season," the report said.
However, food security
remains a pressing issue for the GNU with
achievements at risk from a
protracted "dry spell which affected six out of
the 10 provinces early this
year".
It said the increasing attention that humanitarian players were
giving to
agriculture "is demanding an even stronger and more effective
coordination
structure".
"Continuous monitoring of the agricultural
sector, with technical
assessments are key components of the co-ordination,"
the report said.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, October 7, 2011 – The Media
Institute of Southern Africa- Zimbabwe
chapter has appealed to the country’s
media to desist from using hate
language and insults in its
reportage.
Sources said the appeal by Misa-Zimbabwe followed what is
perceived as crude
insults and inflammatory reports by journalists and
politicians in
newspapers.
“MISA-Zimbabwe is appealing to the media,
politicians and Zimbabwean
citizens in general to desist from abusing the
right to freedom of
expression and media freedom as evidenced by some of the
personal
vilifications and vile name-calling that is manifest in the
opinion-editorial (op-ed) pages of both private and public newspapers,” said
Misa Zimbabwe chairperson, Njabulo Ncube in a statement.
“The right
to freedom of expression and journalistic privilege demands
greater
responsibility and integrity on the part of editors and
journalists,” said
Ncube.
MISA-Zimbabwe’s concerns come on the backdrop of the Media Ethics
Indaba
held in Harare on 29 September 2011, almost a week after the
International
Media Ethics Day which is commemorated annually on 23
September.
Delegates at the indaba acknowledged the decline in journalism
ethics and
professionalism in Zimbabwe and agreed that corrective
self-regulatory
measures needed to be instituted as a matter of
urgency.
Ncube noted that it was important to retain respect of the
profession
through strict adherence to the rules of reporting truthfully,
without bias
and avoid personal vilifications.
“This calls for
journalism that eschews hate speech, xenophobia, tribalism,
gender
discrimination, racism and vile name calling and intemperate
language.
MISA-Zimbabwe is therefore urging publishers, editors and
journalists to
seriously reflect on their professional conduct as dictated
by the codes and
ethics of journalism in order to retain and maintain the
integrity and
respect of the profession,” he added.
On Wednesday one of the privately
owned daily newspapers compared former
information minister Jonathan Moyo to
a skunk and also referred to him as a
political harlot and a baffon.
http://www.radiovop.com
Charity Mukwambo, Harare, 8
October 2011- Minister of Industry and Commerce,
Professor Welshman Ncube
has urged journalists to report the truth and
report
accurately.
Ncube made these remarks addressing journalists at this
year’s National
Journalistic and Media Awards (NJMA) held at a local hotel
on Friday evening
where he was a guest of honour.
“Regrettably our
media like the rest of our society is polarised .When the
media is polarised
the first casuality are facts .Facts are sacrosanct and
opinion is free.
This dictum is extremely crucial,” said Ncube.
Ncube said both state and
independent journalists should be guided by facts
in their
reports.
The Minister also lamented lack of progress by the inclusive
government in
opening up new players in the broadcasting sector.
“As
we desire to have elections early next year we need to move with great
speed
in licensing other players in the electronic media. Reach of
electronic
media is the most comprehensive in this country. If we are to a
have free
and fair elections the same plurality in the print media should
also be
reflected in the electronic media,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) also strongly warned organisations
and individuals who
experiment with the welfare and lives of journalists by
starting newspaper
organisations without the necessary capacity to run them
to desist from such
activities.
Speaking at this year’s NJMA, the ZUJ Secretary General
Foster Dongozi said
the media industry is a very serious business hence
individuals and
organisations should make appropriate plans and strategies
before operating.
“The Mail has stopped operations, throwing a lot of
uncertainty among
journalists and media workers. ZUJ would like to take this
opportunity to
strongly warn organisations or individuals that would like to
experiment
with the welfare and lives of journalists by going into operation
while
taking the exercise as some form of adventure.
“The union will
not hesitate to take on, individuals or organisations that
would want to
embark on experiments using journalists as guinea –pigs,” said
Dongozi.
Dongozi said while the union acknowledges the granting of
licences to
newspapers, the union is equally concerned by the non-licensing
of more
independent broadcasters, the continued arrests of journalists and
poor
salaries as well as inadequate resources which is breeding corruption
and
unprofessionalism in the industry.
“Professional, quality and
ethical journalism cannot flourish in an
environment characterised by fear,
poor salaries, inadequate resources,
unfair labour practices, sexual
harassment and gender based discrimination.
“The continued arrest of
journalists is also very distressing and we call on
the inclusive government
to intervene and bring this to an immediate stop,”
said Dongozi.
Some
of the dignitaries who attended the colourful ceremony are Minister of
Information technology Nelson Chamisa and Peter Primus, the deputy Germany
ambassador.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Thursday, 06 October 2011
13:13
Staff Reporter
CABINET Ministers and other senior
ZANU-PF officials are reportedly making a
killing from wildlife
conservancies seized from former white-commercial
farmers, according to the
latest salvo from international whistle-blower,
WikiLeaks.
A classified
United States cable named ZANU-PF ministers, senior party
officials as well
some of the party's sympathisers of making a killing from
the conservancies.
The information was leaked to American diplomats by a
former National Parks
and Wildlife Authority official and professional
hunter, Don Heath.
One
of the individuals named, Dumiso Dabengwa, has since left ZANU-PF and is
now
leader of the revived ZAPU.
The cable said targeting ZANU-PF members with
interests in the hunting
industry would be difficult, but possible.
It
added that one way would be to "eliminate" US hunters from Zimbabwe, but
there were reservations on that route due to fears that it would potentially
cause the collapse of the hunting industry and negatively impact on
conservation efforts, including the survival of specific endangered species
and poor communities.
"Establishing a connection between Specially
Designated Nationals (SDNs) and
their safari interests is difficult because
these individuals are often
careful to hide their direct involvement in the
business. According to
Heath, the following OFAC (Office of Foreign
Accountant Control)-sanctioned
individuals are known to have a stake in a
safari area concession, safari
operator and private land/ private hunting
reserve: Edward Chindori-Chininga
(Gwaai Valley Conservancy); Jocelyn
Chiwenga (Matetsi Unit 6 Safari Area);
Ignatius Chombo (Chiredzi River
Conservancy); Dumiso Dabengwa (Gwaai Valley
Conservancy); Joseph Made (Gwaai
Valley Conservancy)," reads part of the
cable.
"Amos Midzi (Gwaai Valley
Conservancy); Kembo Mohadi (Gwaai Valley
Conservancy); Simon (Khaya) Moyo
(Gwaai Valley Conservancy); Obert Mpofu
(Gwaai Valley Conservancy); Webster
Shamu (Chirisa Safari Area and 51
percent stake in Famba Safaris), wife also
has a separate interest in Chete
Safari Area, but she is not on the SDN
list; Charles Utete (Gwaai Valley
Conservancy); Paradzai Zimondi (Charara
Safari Area); Lovemore Chihota
(Matetsi Unit 7), brother of SDN Phineas
Chihota; Thandi Nkomo (Tuli Safari
Area), sister of SDN Louise Nkomo who is
the spouse of SDN Francis Nhema."
The cable added that despite a 50 percent
decline in receipts, the safari
hunting business remains an important source
of foreign currency for
Zimbabwe.
Prior to the start of the fast-track
land reform programme in 2000, the
commercial wildlife industry, including
hunting and eco-tourism, was
growing, but adverse international publicity
about declining socio-political
conditions and controversial hunting
practices were said to be taking a toll
on the sector.
Controversial
hunting practices that were said to be prevalent were listed
as high quotas,
poaching and poor wildlife management on private land, among
others.
"In
recent years, there have been reports that several lucrative safari
areas
concessions were awarded without being offered for public tender to
allow
regime insiders to gain control of concessions at below market
prices,"
reads part of the cable.
"Sally Bown, a SOAZ (Safari Operators Association of
Zimbabwe)
representative, stressed that there have been problems in the
past, but the
most recent concession allocations have been done in a fair
and open manner.
"George Pangeti, chairman of Parks and the Africa
representative for Safari
Club International (SCI), told Poloff (Political
Officer) that Parks now
insists on public auctions specifically to avoid
undue political
interference and to ensure Parks receives the full value of
the offering.
(Note: Parks is a financially self-sufficient parastatal that
receives no
funding from the government except for a specific allocation for
development
in Gonarezhou National Park."
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.1646:#
S.1646
-- Zimbabwe Sanctions Repeal Act of 2011 (Introduced in Senate - IS)
S
1646 IS
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1646
To repeal
the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001.
IN THE SENATE
OF THE UNITED STATES
October 4, 2011
Mr. INHOFE introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
A BILL
To repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act of 2001.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as
the `Zimbabwe Sanctions Repeal Act of 2011'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Robert Mugabe,
President of Zimbabwe and leader of the Zimbabwe
African National
Union-Patriotic Front, has ruled Zimbabwe for 31 years.
(2)
During President Mugabe's regime, Zimbabwe has gone from being
the `bread
basket' of Africa to the world's fastest shrinking economy.
(3)
In 2000, the Government of Zimbabwe initiated a farmland
redistribution
program, designed to reallocate foreign commercial farmland
to poor and
middle-class citizens of Zimbabwe.
(4) The farmland
redistribution program--
(A) led to the confiscation of
industrial, fertile, and
previously settled lands, and mass
chaos;
(B) undermined the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
and
(C) caused more than 400,000 farmers to lose their homes
and
livelihoods.
(5) In 2005, President Mugabe implemented a
project known as
Operation Murambatsvina, translated into English as
Operation `Clean Out the
Filth'.
(6) Under Operation Clean
Out the Filth, the Mugabe regime bulldozed
and destroyed thousands of homes
and businesses, leading to an estimated
700,000 internally displaced
persons, of whom 569,685 are still displaced.
(7) The majority of
the people of Zimbabwe live on less than $1 per
day.
(8) The
95 percent unemployment rate in Zimbabwe has forced an
estimated 3,000,000
of the people of Zimbabwe, representing 25 percent of
the overall
population, to migrate to neighboring countries.
(9) All of these
actions by President Mugabe's regime have caused
significant and persistent
economic hardships in Zimbabwe.
(10) On March 29, 2008, a
presidential election was held between
President Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition party,
the Movement for Democratic
Change.
(11) Of the votes cast in the presidential
election--
(A) Tsvangirai received 47.9
percent;
(B) President Mugabe received 43.2 percent;
and
(C) Simba Mankoni, of the Mavambo Kusile Dawn Party,
received
8.3 percent.
(12) Because Tsvangirai failed to
achieve 50 percent of the votes
needed to win outright, a run-off was
scheduled for June 27, 2008.
(13) President
Mugabe--
(A) declared that he would not relinquish power
regardless of
the election outcome;
(B) directed a
crackdown on opposition parties; and
(C) stated, `Only God,
who appointed me, will remove me.'.
(14) As many as 400 members
and supporters of the Movement for
Democratic Change were killed during the
run-off campaign period.
(15) Tsvangirai dropped out of the
run-off race, and took refuge in
the Embassy of the Netherlands, stating
that he could not ask people to vote
`when that vote could cost them their
lives'.
(16) The violence surrounding this unfair election came
to the
world's attention and specifically to that of the Southern African
Development Community, compromised of 15 southern African countries, and the
United States.
(17) Pressure from the Southern African
Development Community and
the United States led to the creation of a
power-sharing agreement between
Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front and Tsvangirai and
Mutambara's respective wings of the
Movement for Democratic Change Party.
This agreement, which is known as the
Global Political Agreement, became
effective on September 15,
2008.
(18) The Parliament of Zimbabwe amended the Constitution of
Zimbabwe
to allow for the creation of the power-sharing
government.
(19) While Mugabe retained the office of President,
Tsvangirai was
sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on February 11,
2009, and Tendai
Biti was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister
Tsvangirai.
(20) Since the appointment of Biti as Minister of
Finance, the
economy of Zimbabwe has seen remarkable recovery in a short
period of time.
Minister Biti dollarized the Zimbabwean economy to combat
inflation. By
using stable foreign currencies, the 2008 annual inflation
rate of
15,000,000,000 percent was reduced to the current 2011 rate of 2.5
percent.
(21) During Biti's tenure as Minister of Finance, the
real gross
domestic product (GDP) of Zimbabwe has also improved. In 2008,
the real GDP
in Zimbabwe was contracting at a rate of negative 14.4 percent.
Current
projections estimate that the real GDP in Zimbabwe will increase by
9.3
percent during 2011.
(22) The salaries of government
employees have also been reissued,
allowing those employed in basic
government services like medicine,
education, and transportation to return
to work.
(23) The overall economy and well-being of the citizens
of Zimbabwe
have made tremendous advances since Tsvangirai and the Movement
for
Democratic Change gained power-sharing authority in the Government of
Zimbabwe.
(24) The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery
Act of 2001
(Public Law 107-99; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note), which was enacted into
law in
2001, imposed sanctions on the Mugabe regime and members of the
Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front.
(25) Section
4(c) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery
Act of 2001
specifically directs the United States Executive Director to
each
international financial institution to oppose and vote
against--
(A) any extension by the institution of any loan,
credit, or
guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or
(B) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the
Government of
Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial
institution.
(26) Repealing the sanctions imposed under the
Zimbabwe Democracy
and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 that burden the
power-sharing government
in Zimbabwe is necessary--
(A)
to fully restore the economy of Zimbabwe; and
(B) to assist
Zimbabwe in transitioning to democracy.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF ZIMBABWE
DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT OF 2001.
The Zimbabwe Democracy
and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 (Public Law
107-99; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note)
is repealed.
Dear Family and Friends,
Despite past records indicating that it was too
early for rain and
international long range forecasts predicting that rain
was still some
weeks away, the heavens opened over much of Zimbabwe this past
week.
It didn’t just drip or drizzle, but absolutely pounded down.
Thunder
and lightning came cavorting in on a high wind, the sky went
deep
purple, lit with an ominous orange glow, and then the hail
rattled
down. Small icy balls bounced on the baked ground, clattered on
roofs
and windows and knocked on doors. When the strange orange light in
the
clouds disappeared, hail was replaced by torrential rain. That
first
storm gave us 25 mm (one inch) of rain and in the next two
days
another 63 mm fell in my home town.
Months of choking dust and
wind blown ash were washed from trees and
roofs and everything looked
instantly cleaner. You could almost see
the trees and plants breathing again!
The rain brought to life the
‘goodies,’ in the form of Kingfishers, Coucals
and Flycatchers,
and the ‘baddies’ in large numbers: water scorpions, rain
spiders
and a plague of very hungry mosquitoes.
The Met Department
made an announcement on ZBC TV and Radio news
bulletins. “This is NOT the
start of the rainy season,” they said
but no one paid them any attention.
Three inches of rain led to an
immediate flurry of ‘mealie madness.’
Everywhere you looked people
were digging up roadsides, verges and empty
spaces in order to plant a
few rows of maize seeds. It’s all illegal
cultivation in our urban
areas but with authorities perpetually engaged in
fighting for their
own political survival, the enforcement of many laws
remains non
existent.
Not long after the first torrential storm I
received a call from a
family in a village 20 kilometres away. The rain
hadn’t got to them
but the lightning had. Without warning and from an almost
clear sky
came one single bolt of lightning. It struck the new, shiny tin
roof
on the extension to their house that they had finished building just
a
week before. Bricks fell off one of the newly plastered walls; a
solar
panel mounted on the roof shattered; wiring from the satellite
dish
started burning; electric cables leading into the house caught fire;
a
battery used to power lights and TV melted and smoke rose from the
radio
as internal circuits burnt out. In a split second their precious
assets had
been destroyed by a single lightning strike and the family
were in deep
shock, not quite able to believe that no one had been
electrocuted.
As
the shock receded, the reality of the loss sunk in. Without their
satellite
dish and battery powered electricity, the family had lost
their ability to
receive international news. They wouldn’t hear the
horrific news that
children playing football in the grounds of St Paul
Secondary School in
Lupane had just stumbled upon a mass grave. The
ground had caved in at two
points revealing human bones. The Minister
of National Healing rushed to the
scene and described a mass grave
five metres wide and five metres long which
is thought to contain
between thirty and sixty bodies. Local villagers in the
areas said
these were victims of the Gukurahundi, a massacre to
silence
opposition, which was conducted in the early 1980’s by the
army’s
Fifth Brigade. A massacre which human rights organisations say
claimed
as many as twenty thousand lives, people whose bodies still remain
in
mass graves in Matabeleand and other areas.
Hard to believe that
thirty years later this national tragedy has
still not been dealt with.
Perpetrators have not been held to account,
victims have not been identified
and families have been unable to find
peace. The MDC National Healing
Minister Moses Mzila Ndlovu said:
“We must allow our people to tell the story
as they saw and lived
through it, followed by reburials which should come as
a package of
national healing.”
How much longer must Zimbabwe wait, is
the question we all ask. Until
next time, thanks for reading, love cathy
Copyright � Cathy Buckle 8th
October 2011. www.cathybuckle.com
http://www.cathybuckle.com
October 8, 2011, 1:35 am
Recently I have been
reading some of the many books written about Zimbabwe.
The question posed by
all the recent publications is: after such a brilliant
start for independent
Zimbabwe, where did it all go wrong? Was it Zimbabwe’s
colonial history that
laid the foundation for the troubles or was it the
British government’s
failure to keep its promises. Perhaps it was the nature
of liberation
ideology and its inability to adapt to changing circumstances
that caused
the problems. The top/down, centrist nature of Zanu PF certainly
did not
encourage easy relationships with the west, or, and this is the one
that
most authors are unsure about, was it the personality of Robert Mugabe
himself that caused things to go so wrong in Zimbabwe?
Reading Robert
Mugabe’s recent speech to his Zanu PF party, one is
immediately struck by
the fact that in Mugabe’s mind, nothing has gone wrong
in Zimbabwe. But then
he is still in power and for Mugabe that is all that
matters. All he has to
do is demonstrate to the world that all is well in
Zimbabwe and anyone who
says anything to the contrary is, quite simply wrong
or in his words, a
liar.
“They say there is violence, where there is none, fighting where
there is
peace, dictatorship when we are ruling together…they are peddling
lies.”
says Mugabe. He is speaking about Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC but
in fact
it could be anyone who disagrees with him, including Amnesty
International,
the Human Rights Forum or the 17 NGOs who this week signed a
letter of
protest about the ongoing harassment of Woza.
From
a very young child (according to Heidi Holland’s Dinner with Mugabe,
published by Penguin Books) Robert Mugabe was led to believe that he was
special. He was told as much by his fanatically religious mother: he was
‘the special one’, chosen by God for high position. Consequently, he grew up
with the deeply rooted conviction that he was special and whoever opposed
him was simply wrong. Holland demonstrates what a complex character Mugabe
is; extremely intelligent but totally lacking in what psychologists call
‘emotional intelligence.’ He is incapable of relating to others, has few
close friends and only his first wife, Sally, ever really understood him or
was able to soften his rigid personality.
While the west condemns him
as a heartless monster who inflicts terrible
suffering on his people,
Mugabe the man, cannot relate to the pain he causes
others. If Heidi
Holland’s analysis is correct and I believe it is, then it’s
not difficult
to see how Mugabe’s complex personality contributed, at least
in part, to
Zimbabwe’s downfall. His inability to accept criticism of any
kind meant
that he surrounded himself with ‘yes’ men who would never
disagree with him
or criticise him in any way, and if they did then he would
simply get rid of
them. So Zimbabwe has ended up with a cabinet of mediocre
ministers,
incapable of independent thought. One example is Saviour
Kasukuwere. He is
the man who is running the ‘Indigenisation’ programme and
this week he is on
record as admitting that it is Zanu PF members who will
mostly benefit from
indigenisation – but, he says, that’s only right because
the other parties
disagree with the policy! With this one observation,
Kasukuwere destroyed
any moral justification that indigenisation was meant
to benefit all
Zimbabweans.
The people who knew Mugabe when he was first in power all
say how much he
has changed since then. He was, they claim, genuinely
interested in the
welfare of the common people. Was he a racist? It seems
not, he even had
white men in his cabinet when he first came to power. I
believe the change
came about with the rise of the opposition. Mugabe simply
cannot tolerate
opposing views and that famous image of the white farmer
handing over a
cheque to Morgan Tsvangirai was the start of it all. Mugabe
was threatened
where he is most vulnerable: his inability to accept
criticism and learn
from it. It is, as Heidi Holland observes, a sign of
emotional immaturity.
Seven university degrees may prove to Mugabe how
intellectually superior he
is but they do not make up for plain common sense
or the ability to feel
others’ pain, qualities which are essential to true
leadership.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.