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Zim Standard
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
HARARE Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga
has ordered the closure
of all parishes in Harare today so that members of
the church attend his
33rd wedding anniversary, The Standard can
reveal.
The move has caused an uproar among priests and
ordinary church
members who accuse the controversial Bishop of "running the
church like a
private business".
Kunonga, who was elected
Bishop of Harare Diocese in 2001, last
week, directed the closure of all
parishes to enable the celebration of his
wedding anniversary with his wife,
Agatha, at the National Sports Stadium
today.
But angry
priests and ordinary members accused Kunonga of "using
Zanu PF tactics" to
force them to contribute to the event, which has no
bearing to their
livelihood.
Kunonga, a known Zanu PF apologist, also ordered
that the 40
Anglican parishes in Harare raise $500 000 (revalued) each
towards the
event, which will also be used to fund-raise for the
construction of Bishop
Gaul Theological College in Belvedere, Harare, which
trains priests.
"Every priest will be called upon to announce
what has been
donated by his parish, a somewhat thoughtless command to
impose upon one's
'guests', and one which may cause embarrassment," said one
priest who
requested anonymity.
Church members have been
ordered not to wear their uniforms but
to put on African attire as well as
bring numerous gifts.
The Mothers' Union has been instructed
to provide food and
drink, including maize-meal and meat at the ceremony,
where television
personality Rebecca Chisamba, will be the best
"girl".
Sources said Chisamba was elected vice-president of
the union
because of her closeness to Kunonga's wife.
But
they also pointed out that such a post could only be
occupied by the wife of
an ordained priest. Chisamba's husband is not a
priest.
A
senior member of the Mothers' Union, who requested anonymity,
yesterday said
most ordinary members of the church have resolved not to
attend today's
ceremony.
"But it is difficult for priests to do the same
because they
will be victimised. They will either be fired or transferred to
churches in
the rural areas and they don't want that. Kunonga is running the
Anglican
Church like a private company," said the member.
Chancellor of the Diocese of Harare, Bob Stumbles, was
suspicious why the
anniversary had been combined with the launch of the Gaul
House College
fund-raising exercise.
Stumbles, who has been lawyer for the
Harare Diocese for a long
time, said previous fund-raising events for the
college by Kunonga led to
allegations of embezzlement.
"Why must all the churches close their doors and why order
priests and
congregations to flock to the party? All legitimately ordained
priests,
including bishops, promise to comply with the Canons, Acts and
other laws of
the Church," said Stumbles.
"Bishop Kunonga swore on oath
that he would govern the Diocese
of Harare in conformity with all the laws
of the church. This includes
encouraging each parish to preach and teach the
message of Christ to its
congregation, especially on Sundays. What the
Bishop has ordered is
tantamount to a breach of his
promise."
Kunonga is also accused of nepotism, dissolving and
dismissing
Diocese members of boards and committees, that had been elected
in terms of
the laws of the Church and replacing them with his
stooges.
As a result of the purge, Stumbles said, three
dioceses in
Zimbabwe have removed or stopped sending students to the
college.
Kunonga yesterday flatly refused to comment on the
matter saying
he would only do so after the wedding
anniversary.
"I have nothing to say, I will only do so after
my wedding,"
said Kunonga after The Standard put the allegations to
him.
Zim Standard
By Foster
Dongozi
THE First Family has begun moving cattle from its
Gushungo Dairy
Farm in Mazowe to President Robert Mugabe's Highfield Farm in
Norton after
The Standard revealed that the First Family were multiple farm
owners.
Cattle movement started on Monday in an exercise that
will see 1
100 cattle being moved. About 500 are expected to
remain.
The relocation of the cattle follows reports of the
Mugabe
family's ownership of more than one farm and may be part of efforts
to avert
what could be a potentially embarrassing public relations
disaster.
In addition to Gushungo Farm, the First Lady is in
charge at
Iron Mask Farm, an adjacent property, which she says will benefit
disadvantaged children.
In another surprising development
following publication of the
First Family's multiple farms, equipment at
Iron Mask in Mazowe was
auctioned yesterday.
The
equipment included heavy-duty machinery such as combine
harvesters, feed
mixers, vehicles, motorcycles, tractors, planters, ripper
frames,
maize-shellers, trailers and a host of other equipment.
President Mugabe set up two commissions of inquiry to
investigate multiple
farm ownership and irregularities in the land reform
exercise. He has also
publicly criticised multiple farm owners among his
colleagues in Zanu
PF.
Speaking at the National Heroes' Acre last month, the
President
said: "We now need to distinguish capable and committed farmers
from holders
of land who are mere chancers and who should be made to seek
opportunities
elsewhere."
The use of agricultural experts
and equipment from the
Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) by
the First Family at their
farms in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West
at the expense of the
taxpayer has raised eyebrows.
In
some instances, ARDA employees were working for the First
Family but ARDA
was paying their salaries.
ARDA falls under the Ministry of
Agriculture where the minister,
Joseph Made, has made it his mission to
regularly supervise work at the
First Family's farms. He however, denies
allegations of working at the
Mugabe commercial farms.
Gushungo Farm, previously known as Foyle Farm was bought by ARDA
from Ian
Webster for $3.5 billion in 2002 and handed over to the First
Family.
Those close to the Webster family told The
Standard that as far
as they knew, not a cent had been paid following the
take-over of what was
once one of the best dairy farms in
Africa.
Insiders said under the new arrangement, ARDA would
"buy back"
Gushungo Farm to save the family from appearing at variance with
government's
policies.
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi Sifile
THE government
is deploying soldiers to raid farms and force
farmers to surrender their
grain to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), in yet
another desperate attempt
to boost dwindling strategic grain reserves, The
Standard has
established.
This comes hard on the heels of Operation
Maguta, a
government-sponsored project under which the army was deployed to
takeover
farming operations on mostly irrigation schemes.
The project, which has been described as a flop, produced less
than a
quarter of the projected output of 2,3 million tonnes of maize, 90
tonnes of
tobacco and 49 500 tonnes of seed maize last season.
On
Friday the GMB, the country's sole marketer and distributor
of maize,
announced that soldiers would soon be deployed to compulsorily
search and
seize maize from farmers, including villagers.
"There will be
a massive grain collection that would be carried
out in conjunction with
members of the Defence Forces.in order for GMB to
fulfill its strategic
commitment of ensuring food security."
Although the GMB has
in the past offered to collect maize from
farmers, the involvement of the
army has raised suspicion.
Defence Forces spokesperson,
Colonel Ben Ncube, could not
comment on the issue, referring enquiries to
army spokesperson, Simon
Tsatsi, whose mobile was not
reachable.
Former GMB chief executive, Renson Gasela, who is
now the
opposition MDC's Secretary for Lands and Agriculture said the move
was an
indication of the government's "utmost
desperation".
He said: "This is evil, it's diabolic and a
measure of utmost
desperation by the government. It is proof that there is
no maize, as we
have said before.
Why force people to
surrender food they are keeping for their
own consumption and for their
livestock? It is totally unacceptable."
Gasela said the move
could create problems for livestock
farmers, who usually keep huge volumes
of grain as stock feed.
However, Farmers' Development Trust
executive director, Lovegot
Tendengu, said there was no problem with GMB
collecting grain from farmers,
as this is part of a contractual
obligation.
It was not immediately possible to establish the
position of
farmers' unions on the operation. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers'
Union (ZCFU)
president, Wilson Nyabonda refused to
comment.
However, Simon Pazvakavambwa, the Secretary for
Agriculture
said: "There is an application procedure that has to be
followed. All
farmers who want to keep grain for their livestock should
apply through the
appropriate procedure."
He however,
could not justfy the presence of the army if this
was a normal grain
collection exercise.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THE high demand for
accommodation in Harare, triggered by
demolition of people's houses under
"Operation Murambatsvina" in May last
year, has pushed rentals beyond the
reach of ordinary workers as landlords
capitalise on the situation, The
Standard has established.
Tenants interviewed in Harare spoke
of harrowing and traumatic
experiences at the hands of their greedy
landlords.
Some of the experiences, they said, are
humiliating and
dehumanising but they endure them because they cannot find
alternative
accommodation.
Taking advantage of the
crisis, most landlords no longer give
the mandatory three months' notice to
tenants to vacate their lodgings.
Tonderai Mutseyami, who
rents two rooms in Harare's Sunningdale
Suburb, spoke of daily abuse from
his landlord, a 65-year-old pensioner.
He said apart from
monthly rental increases, he is abused
verbally in front of his
children.
Mutseyami's animosity towards his landlord started
when he
bought a four-plate stove a month after he moved into the house. The
same
day the stove was delivered, he said, the landlord slipped a note under
his
door, announcing a rental increase of almost 100%.
"I
heard him telling his wife that we can afford the new rent
because we had
bought a new stove. Then I tried to reason with him but he
told me to pay up
or move out," Mutseyami said.
His rent had been hiked from $4
000 a room to $7 000.
Apart from paying rent Mutseyami, a
father of two, is expected
to contribute 12 rolls of toilet paper, 400 ml of
liquid toilet cleaner and
floor polish every month.
Ironically, the other three tenants at the house are also
required to buy
the same items for the landlord every month.
With the "loot"
from the tenants, the landlord now operates a
small stall just outside his
home selling the toilet paper and the toilet
cleaner in full view of his
struggling tenants.
"He sells about half of the 48 tissues
the four of us buy a
month but we cannot complain because if you do that you
will be thrown out,"
said Mutseyami, a lecturer at a private college in
Harare.
Obedience Nhamo, who stays in Kambuzuma high-density
suburb,
also spoke of heart-rending experiences. His family, he said, could
no
longer afford the luxury of meat or eggs in the presence of his landlord
for
fear of impromptu rent increases.
"One day he saw me
with a loaf of bread and he said 'a person
who eats bread everyday these
days is a real man'," Nhamo said.
Two days later, Nhamo's
rent was increased from $4 500 to $6 000
a room.
Abuse of
tenants is not confined to Harare's high-density
suburbs. It is equally
prevalent in low and middle-density areas, where the
supposedly rich and
famous live.
Fidelis Mudziviri (36), an engineer with a local
construction
firm, is not allowed to drive his car into the landlady's
premises because
"carbon monoxide from the car" could damage her "beautiful"
flowers.
"Some of these things sound silly but they are
happening
everyday. Lodgers are treated like sub-humans but it gives me the
zeal to
own a house," said Mudziviri, who stays in Harare's affluent suburb
of Mt
Pleasant.
The plight of lodgers in Harare worsened
following the
internationally condemned "Operation Murambatsvina" in May
last year which
rendered nearly a million families
homeless.
It is estimated that more than three million people
desperately
needed accommodation before last year's government-sponsored
operation.
There are just over 100 000 people on the council's housing
waiting list.
Sources said the Rent Board, which falls under
the Ministry of
Local Government, is inundated with unsolved complaints
lodged by tenants
who were unfairly treated during or soon after "Operation
Murambatsvina".
No official comment could be obtained from
the Rent Board last
week.
But Zvikomborero Chadambura, a
lawyer with the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights urged lodgers to seek
recourse from the courts whenever
they believe they have been treated
unfairly.
"We have handled several cases of tenants being
thrown out
without notice but I would like to urge people to approach the
courts for
justice to prevail," Chadambura said.
Zim Standard
BY
our staff
ABOUT 400 residents of Harare yesterday staged
a brief
demonstration outside Town House demanding better service delivery,
an
accurate billing system and dissolution of the commission running the
affairs of the city.
The demonstrators bearing placards
denouncing the chairperson of
the commission, Sekesai Makwavarara, sang and
danced at Town House before
dispersing.
Last week irate
residents from Budiriro and Dzivaresekwa
high-density suburbs in Harare
dumped raw sewage and garbage at council
district offices in protest at the
deterioration of service delivery in
their areas.
The
police were caught off guard as angry residents carrying
banners, refuse and
buckets full of sewage, marched to the district offices
where they dumped
the excrement.
The demonstrators -numbering about 200 in
Budiriro and 300 in
Dzivarasekwa- demanded immediate council elections,
quick repair of burst
sewer and water pipes as well as regular collection of
refuse.
At Budiriro Shopping Centre, the demonstrators went
around the
shopping complex denouncing the commission running the affairs of
Harare,
which is headed by political turncoat,
Makwavarara.
Some of the placards read: "Let the District
Officer taste it",
"Repair burst sewer pipes" and "We want elections
now!"
The residents also denounced the Minister of Local
Government,
Public Works and Urban Development, Ignatious Chombo, who has
reappointedMakwavarara's commission several times despite protests by
residents.
One of the residents who identified herself as
Ms Mukandi from
Budiriro said by dumping raw sewage at district offices,
residents wanted
council officials to experience what it's like to live with
sewage on one's
doorstep.
"It is a health hazard to live
under such unhygienic conditions.
What we are saying is council should
regularly collect garbage because we
are paying for the service every
month," Mukandi said.
Combined Harare Residents' Association
(CHRA) spokesperson,
Precious Shumba, said the association was determined to
see ratepayers
reclaim their city.
"Residents are saying
no to shoddy service by the City Council.
They are saying they cannot
continue to see their children swimming in and
drinking raw sewage," said
Shumba, who denied that CHRA organised the
demonstrations.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
RECENT developments
allowing licensed traditional healers to
grant official off days to people
under their care have received mixed
reactions among employers, most of whom
are sceptical, The Standard has
found.
The Ministry of
Health and Child Welfare a fortnight ago said it
gave the traditional
healers authority to grant official off days after the
enactment of the
Traditional Medical Practitioners' Act and the formation of
the Traditional
Healers' Councils.
But Dr Paul Chimedza, the President of
Zimbabwe Medical
Association, said there is need for wider debate and
consultation before the
traditional healers are given the authority to give
off days.
"While we have respect for traditional medicine we
see a lot of
challenges in the implementation of this whole thing. Issues
such as who
qualifies to be a traditional healer needs all stakeholders to
come together
and map a way to deal with that," Chimedza
said.
Callisto Jokonya, the President of Confederation of
Zimbabwe
Industries said: "As business we go by the law. The Labour Act
governs us
and I am not really sure if the authority given to them
(traditional
healers) is in the Labour Act. If at all it is not then we do
not see any
reason to abide by the directive."
However,
Professor Gordon Chavhunduka, the President of Zimbabwe
National Traditional
Healers' Association said the latest development was
not new, and members of
his association have always had the powers.
"We have been
having problems with some employers who have
always resisted our
recommendations. But for the sake of them not being
duped by dubious people
we urge them to approach our office for a register
of licensed traditional
healers."
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said
the
development was welcome in the face of skyrocketing medical
fees.
Wellington Chibebe, the secretary general of ZCTU,
said: "We
have had members fired for consulting traditional healers because
they
cannot afford to see a conventional doctor. This is welcome provided it
is
backed by a legal instrument."
But some business
people are finding it hard to weigh the impact
of the directive by the
Ministry of Health as indicated by president of the
Employers' Confederation
of Zimbabwe, Johnson Manyakara, who switched off
the phone when The Standard
contacted him.
Zim Standard
By
Special Correspondent
FABION Zulu (52) an A1 resettlement
farmer living 45km north of
Bulawayo is anxious to sell six cattle from his
small herd. The source of
his worry is not the timing, but whether he will
be able to reduce his
catalogue of debts.
Last year Zulu
earned Z$110 million from cattle sales. This year
he will be lucky if his
animals can convince a discerning auctioneer to pay
more for them. Zulu and
several of his neighbours lost hectares of pasture
to veld fires, which are
a result of uncontrolled burning of the veld.
Matabeleland North province is
appropriate for livestock ranching and
wildlife because of its low rainfall
and seasonal droughts.
Wild fires increasingly blight
grasslands and woodlands. In
recent years veld fires have become a major
environmental and social issue
globally because of their consequences for
people and nature. They are a
major cost to the environment, economy and
human beings. Yet human
activities are in most cases to blame for the
detrimental fires. In as much
as fires may alter the environment, they are
an important tool in managing
the environment.
In
Zimbabwe, fires have attracted national interest largely for
being
associated with the destruction of vegetation and not for their
benefits to
the environment. Could it be that wild fires are misconstrued
but yet are
just a useful environmental management tool in the wrong
hands?
There are seemingly many losers and few winners from
the current
way in which we use fire. In 2005, seven people, including
school children
died after being caught in a blaze. So far in 2006 seven
people have died in
veld fires.
According to the
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) in the
Ministry of Environment and
Tourism, Zimbabwe wildfires have in 2006 so far
burned up 77 700 hectares of
grazing land, forest plantations and gazetted
forests, causing damage to
property worth $200 million. According to EMA -
who coordinate and manage
fire protection issues in Zimbabwe - veld fires
have burnt about 30 500
hectares of grazing land in Matabeleland North and
South - Zimbabwe's cattle
ranching heartland.
Last year was one of the worst records
for veld fire damage in
the country, with 11 504 hectares of grazing land
being burned by veld
fires. In 2004, 10 925 hectares of grazing were burnt.
In the last two
years, veld fires have burnt over 22 000 hectares of
vegetation, which could
have benefited people in terms of grazing, grass and
timber.
"There has been a marked increase in veld fires
looking at the
statistics," says Philip Manyaza, the EMA environmental
education and
publicity manager, "Already this year more than 77 000
hectares have been
burnt. This is a reason for our concern because some of
the causes are quite
nonsensical such as people who smoke out animals or
throw a cigarette butt
carelessly."
Launching the
National Fires Protection Strategy this year in
the town of Marondera, 72km
south-east of Harare, Environment and Tourism
minister, Francis Nhema said
veld fires destroyed commercial timber worth
$1,5 trillion in 2005. This
represented 12% of the national plantation
forests and an equivalent of
three years' harvest.
Emeli Sithole, a mother of two lost a
whole season of thatching
grass harvested in mid- July. She had stockpiled
the bundles by a busy road
as one enters Esigodini, on the highway to
Beitbridge. A veld fire swept
through resettlement areas reducing her
efforts to ashes and with it
prospects for income. The sale of thatch grass
to tourism lodges and
individual builders supplements the income of her
husband, a migrant worker
in South Africa.
On the
negative side, veld fires upset the way human beings
interact with other
living organisms. On the positive side, veld fires
contribute to the
regeneration cycle of plants, trees and grasses. New grass
provides better
nutrition to livestock. In addition, controlled burning
contributes to the
fertility of the soil before planting even though some
nutrients may
evaporate during burning. There is also the argument that fire
is generally
cheaper and easier to use than any other land-management tool,
more so if
the broader environmental costs are discounted.
Professor
Peter Frost, until recently a Research Associate at
the Institute of
Environmental Studies at the University of Zimbabwe says:
"It may be
worthwhile noting that the problem is not usually one of the
occurrence of
fire but rather a change in the frequency, timing, intensity
and extent of
burning that is the problem; in other words, changes in 'fire
regime,'.
"Fire is an ancient and natural phenomenon in
many African
ecosystems. Prior to the emergence of humans and their
ancestors (hominims),
fires would have been naturally started by lightning
and other sources of
ignition." Veld fires are a common land management tool
in a number of
countries in the 14-member Southern Africa Development
Community region.
Lack of control of the veld fires has led to losses of
biodiversity
especially in protected areas.
Haka Game
Park near Harare nearly lost all its wildlife to
frequent veld fires, which
have killed eland, zebra, and gemsbok since the
beginning of the 2006. At
Manzou Game Park property worth over Z$100 billion
was lost as a result of a
wild fire in July 2006.
A veld fire suspected to have been
started by animal poachers in
the Matopos National Parks in 2002 displaced
hundreds of animals and burnt a
large section of the
vegetation.
Border Timber Limited, a subsidiary of Anglo
American
Corporation, reported in its six months results to December 2005
undisclosed
financial losses in its Chimanimani Forest caused by arson fires
which
damaged 300 hectares of timber. The fires were started by illegal
settlers
in the estates. According to the company the fires will affect the
availability of timber in Zimbabwe.
Harvesting operations
at the company's Chimanimani Estates were
disturbed by over 60 reported
fires that personnel had to attend to. In 2003
the same company reported a
loss of 755 hectares of timber, including 395
hectares of forest to a fire
started by an illegal settler in one of the
estates.
"Apparently, media adverts on dangers of veld fires have done so
little to
completely deal with the problem. On the other hand, we have not
really seen
a significant number of offenders who are being arrested for
starting
uncontrolled fires," Minister Nhema, told a stakeholders meeting
called by
the ministry last month to discuss how to deal with veld fires. In
Zimbabwe,
voices against veld fires are growing and for a good reason: it is
difficult
to catch culprits red-handed, harder still to use the law against
them.
Zim Standard
By
Foster Dongozi
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's security unit
recently prevented two
bishops from the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe from
attending a pastors'
conference which coincided with his presence at the
conference venue.
Mugabe's security officers from the close
protection unit told
the Methodist Church's secretary, Reverend Simon
Madhibha, that Bishop Levee
Kadenge, Bishop Obert Shatai, Reverend Vimbai
Mugwidi and Reverend Brian
Mugwidi were a security threat to the ageing
Mugabe.
They ordered the bishops to leave Mkoba Teachers'
College, venue
of the Methodist conference.
Mugabe was in
the Midlands capital for the installation of a
Roman Catholic Bishop Martin
Munyanyi. He was scheduled to have lunch at
Mkoba Teachers'
College.
Kadenge said he was shocked by the
development.
"What we do not understand is how bishops and
pastors can pose a
security threat to Mugabe.
"We
understand that Mugabe is the Head of State and issues of
security and
protocol have to be observed but I don't think people should
sink to such
ridiculous extents. In any case, the conference venue was hired
long
back."
Madhibha declined to shed light on the issue. "There
are some
situations that we as a church have taken care of but I cannot talk
to you
on the phone," he said.
The head of the Methodist
Church in Zimbabwe, Bishop Simbarashe
Sithole, said he was not aware that
some of his pastors had been ejected
from their conference. The conference
is held every year.
Kadenge is the convenor of the Christian
Alliance, an
interdenominational organisation of church leaders which says
it wants to
contribute to resolving the Zimbabwean
crisis.
On 29 July the Christian Alliance hosted the Save
Zimbabweconvention which was attended by political parties, and
representatives of labour, students, women's organisations, churches and
civic society.
It culminated in the adoption of a loose
coalition to confront
and topple Zanu PF.
The other
bishop and two ministers are also members of the
Christian
Alliance.
Recently, Kadenge, Pius Wakatama and Reverend Brian
Mugwidi were
arrested and detained by police while coming from Bulawayo
where they met
bishops from Matabeleland.
A detective
forgot his diary in Kadenge's car.
The diary had details
indicating that the bishop was under
24-hour surveillance and had even been
followed when he made a private visit
to Hurungwe.
Zim Standard
By Bertha Shoko
HEALTH experts and
Aids activists have warned that the decision
by the government to
incorporate herbal medicines and traditional healers
into conventional
medical services could create confusion in the sector.
The
government announced a fortnight ago it would incorporate
traditional and
herbal medicines for use together with conventional methods
in the treatment
of HIV and Aids, but this has met with mixed responses from
health experts
and Aids activists.
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare
made the announcement
during commemorations in Harare to mark African
Traditional Medicines' Day.
But experts say there is
insufficient research on how to merge
these two practices without any
long-term dangers to an infected person.
They argue that the
effectiveness of some conventional medicines
could be reduced if used
simultaneously with certain herbs and traditional
medicines, a situation
they warn could harm a patient's health in the long
run.
Dr Paul Chimedza, the newly elected chairman of the Zimbabwe
Medical
Doctor's Association, told The Standard that while his association
does not
doubt the effectiveness of some traditional medicines in treating
ailments,
the government should invest more money in research that will help
everyone
understand the dangers of certain herbs and traditional medicines
when used
together with modern medicine.
Chimedza said: "It is
important that people have clear
guidelines to help them administer herbs
and other traditional medicines. It
is important also that HIV-positive
people have information on the possible
side-effects of each and every herb
they are handling. It should be out in
the open.
"In HIV
treatment we know that some herbs and traditional
medicines may interfere
with Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and this is where
our concern is. We want
medicines whose effectiveness has been proved
scientifically through
research. Let's be clear about these medicines before
they are used in HIV
management because it could mean life or death for our
patients."
Aids activist, Martha Chizenga, who is also
living positively
with HIV, says the mystery surrounding the administration
of traditional
medicines and herbs must be eliminated first and their
effectiveness tested,
researched on and well-documented before being
institutionalised.
Chizenga said: "Being HIV positive means
my immune system is
very sensitive. Before taking any medicines, traditional
or modern, I must
know their side-effects and what to do in case of a
reaction or allergic
reaction.
"Unfortunately, there is
so much mystery around traditional
medicine that we don't know side-effects,
quantities to take, what to do in
cases of a reaction and because of that,
for me this ceases to be an
option."
But Aids activists
and Council Co-ordinating Mechanism (CCM)
member to the Zimbabwe Global Fund
team, Lynde Francis, has welcomed the
move by government saying it was "long
overdue".
Francis said the effectiveness of natural medicines
dates back
in time and believes that government's stance will ensure the
survival of
the art of using traditional medicines. Herbs would not become
extinct, and
would make Zimbabweans self-sufficient.
"This is great news and about time too I must say," Francis
said. "Natural
medicine is available, affordable and it must be preserved.
This is
definitely a step in the right direction. It is good that government
has
begun the dialogue between these traditional health practitioners and
conventional health practitioners."
Zim Standard
BY Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO -
Vice President Joseph Msika chided Bulawayo residents
and their leadership
of being cry-babies who want development delivered to
them on the proverbial
silver platter.
Msika said residents and the local leadership
cry over lack of
development instead of initiating development programmes
for the city and
the rest of Matabeleland.
He lambasted
the residents at a function organised by the
Bulawayo City Council to bestow
on him the Freedom of the City of Bulawayo
honour.
"You
are cry-babies," he said. "Don't cry. Unite and resolve to
bring development
to the city. Don't be cry-babies. Don't cry for others to
come and do things
for you."
Msika said crying that development was concentrated
in the
capital was not going to bring development to
Bulawayo.
"Don't cry and say that we are not being given
opportunities.
Why do you want to be given opportunities, stand up and grab
them," he said.
Msika said the residents were failing to
emulate leaders like
him that initiated development programmes for the
region like the National
University of Science and
Technology.
Turning to water shortages in the city, Msika
said he believes
one day Zambezi water will flow into
Bulawayo.
The statements by Msika come against complaints by
Bulawayo
residents of being sidelined on issues of national
development.
The council said it conferred Msika with the
freedom of the city
for his role during the liberation struggle and for
working for national
development.
The function was
attended by various Cabinet ministers,
provincial governors, senators, MPs
and councillors from both the ruling
party and the MDC.
Msika is the third person to be granted such an honour after the
then Prime
Minister and now President, Robert Mugabe (1986) and the late
Vice
President, Joshua Nkomo in 1992.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
BULAWAYO - As many as 150 elderly people in
Makokoba who had
gone for weeks without a meal have been presented with bags
of maize-meal,
saving them from possible starvation.
The
donation of maize-meal by the MP for Bulawayo East,
Professor Welshman
Ncube, comes against biting shortages of the commodity
that have hit
Bulawayo over the past two weeks.
The elderly residents who
cannot fend for themselves welcomed
the timely donation and implored the MP
to keep assisting them.
Miriam Lungu, who is a widow, said
after receiving her share: "I
am looking after orphans and last had a meal
over a week ago. We have been
all over town hunting for maize-meal but today
God has answered our prayer."
Another elderly person, Eggy
Phili, added: "I am very happy with
what Ncube has done for us today. He has
shown that he cares for us, the
suffering majority in Makokoba and we hope
he will continue assisting us as
we are struggling to put meals on our
tables."
Gifford Sibanda, the personal assistant to Ncube who
presented
the bags, noted that the food handouts were an on-going programme
to assist
the suffering elderly people.
"This is an
ongoing programme to assist the elderly and orphans
in your area," said
Sibanda at the presentation ceremony held at Thabiso
Youth
Centre.
"We have set up a burial society to assist the
vulnerable in
this constituency. We have also started a children's
assistance programme to
pay fees for orphans," he added.
Makokoba, the oldest and poorest suburb in Bulawayo, houses
thousands of
elderly people,orphans and child-headed families who cannot
fend for
themselves.
The Senator for Bulawayo Makokoba Constituency,
Sibangilizwe
Msipa said a door-to-door research in Makokoba revealed that
more than 500
elderly people are unable to afford a meal a
day.
"We came out with more than 500 names but could not
attend to
every need because of the current shortages of maize-meal in
Bulawayo."
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU SANDU
THE Eastern and
Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA
Bank) is set to increase
its aid for projects and trade facilities in the
country, the bank's
president Dr Michael Gondwe said on Tuesday.
At the signing
ceremony of a US$5 million facility between PTA
and the Zimbabwe Allied
Banking Group (ZABG) Gondwe said: "Last year the
bank provided US$30 million
for projects and trade facilities in the
country. We expect this figure to
go up further this year, as we enhance our
support for local business
community."
The US$5 million facility signed on Tuesday is a
short-term line
of credit provided by PTA Bank to ZABG for financially
viable post-shipment
transactions in the agro-processing, manufacturing,
mining and other export-
oriented transactions amongst ZABG's
customers.
Gondwe said that although the facility amounted to
US$5 million,
"its actual impact is much more in real terms because the
funding is of a
revolving nature".
Gondwe said: "This
post-shipment facility basically caters for
the export sector taking into
account the need to grow foreign exchange
generation capability. Our
partnership with ZABG should therefore be seen in
this light, in that this
is a mutually beneficial relationship not just for
the two institutions, but
for the business community and the country."
Established in
1985, the PTA Bank is a developmental institution
that bridges any financial
gaps that exists in member countries. The bank is
headquartered in Nairobi,
Kenya, and has provided facilities amounting to
US$2 billion to businesses
in the sub-region during the last two decades. In
2005, the bank's combined
gross trade finance and project financing amounted
to US$245.50 million, a
26% increase over 2004. During the year ended 31
December 2005, the bank
made a profit of US$3.22 million a 20% increase over
the comparable year's
figure of US$2.69 million.
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
RAINBOW Tourism Group is to build a multi-million
dollar hotel
in Beitbridge in anticipation of the 2010 Soccer World
Cup.
Work is already in progress with management having begun
a
survey that should be completed in a month's time.
RTG
CEO, Chipo Mtasa, said the "exploration work" being done
would determine the
feasibility of the project.
"We are still doing a survey
which will be completed shortly.
Work is still at an exploration stage and
we are pursuing the project,"
Mtasa said.
She however
refused to give further details on the costs and
size of the project saying
they would be released once the "survey was
completed".
RTG has been on an expansion drive in line with the company's
restructuring
and recapitalisation strategy designed in 2005 to enhance
performance. The
project is the spin-off of the company's net profit
increasing to $40,7
billion in the first half of 2006. The figure is a
dramatic reversal of the
$3,7 billion loss the company made in the
corresponding period in 2005. EPS
also jumped to $24,74 from $8,63 but
occupancies dipped 30% due to the
general downturn in the tourism industry.
RTG is hoping to
amend the drop in occupancies and continue with
its recovery path by
spreading its wings to new markets.
The company has its eyes
on the Zambian market and plans on
opening a cash sales office in the
neighbouring country in the near future.
Mtasa said before
that the group would be looking at
concessionary funding and internal
resources instead of shareholder funds to
finance its projects.
Zim Standard
Comment
REALITY is a stubborn fact. Everyday turns up
cases that
demystify the myths of the government's so-called successful land
reform as
chaos abounds.
Last week a school in Mhondoro,
in Mashonaland West, opened its
doors for the third term without several
classrooms after they were gutted
by a veld fire that swept through the
area.
Last month a game park in Mazowe was razed to the
ground,
chalking up losses running into billions of dollars. It is still
unclear how
many game animals perished or whether they are missing because
they fled the
inferno.
The two cases are examples of the
chaos that has followed the
government's "successful land reform programme".
Vast black swathes of the
countryside bear testimony to the destruction
wreaked by the government's
brave new farmers.
Last year
seven people, some of them children died as a result
of veld fires, while
this year, with two more months before the onset of the
rainy season, seven
lives have already been lost because of veld fires.
The
picture gets grimmer. So far this year, veld fires have
destroyed nearly 80
000 hectares of pastures, plantations and forests losses
which run into
hundreds of millions of dollars.
In Matabeleland provinces,
where farmers are dependent on cattle
ranching veld fires have already burnt
down more than 30 000 hectares of
grazing land. The loss of such vast areas
of pasture land to fire has a
direct impact on the country's beef
exports.
Since the onset of the government's "agrarian reform
programme"
the country has registered record devastation of the countryside
due to veld
fires.
In 2004 and 2005 more than 22 000
hectares of grazing pastures,
grass and timber were destroyed by veld fires.
The loss to rural people and
the country in terms of flora and fauna, and
tourism earnings is
immeasurable. Poaching is rampant, while the government
turns a blind eye,
or is simply overwhelmed by the scope of the problem it
created for itself.
Yet a decade ago Zimbabwe was a leader in
wildlife conservation
and management, raking in more than US$300 million a
year.
The government spoke of assigning environmental
officers to new
areas "acquired" for resettlement but that is a statement
long on rhetoric
but woefully short on practice. The loss of skilled
professionals to other
countries is evident everywhere. Clearly the problem
is beyond the
government.
There is an area of opportunity
for non-governmental
organisations (NGO) and the international community to
work together in
creating greater awareness of the dangers of veld fires and
the cost to the
communities, the economy and the country.
Just as they are providing field officers for the various
programmes being
run by NGOs in the rural areas, there could be
environmental officers,
operating as effectively as village health workers
or home-based care
givers.
There could be incentives for best land use and
management
practices at district, provincial and national
levels.
For the school in Mhondoro and the game park in
Mazowe, the
threat from veld fires has been brought closer to home, but the
people
responsible for the veld fires are part of the community. Like
rapists, they
do not deserve to be protected - ask the staff and school
children in
Mhondoro or the game operator in Mazowe who experienced first
hand the
effects of the veld fires and appreciate how costly and destructive
the
lawlessness that the government celebrates has been.
Zim Standard
Sunday Opinion By Pedzisayi Ruhanya
THE use of repressive
laws by the Zanu PF government to deny
citizens their right to freedom of
expression exposes its liberation
rhetoric and has completely outwitted the
former colonial administrators in
its concerted quest to oppress the
citizenry.
It is important to note that the use of laws such
as the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA), the Broadcasting Services Act,
(BSA) and the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) by
the state
assist to show the extent to which the government of Zimbabwe has
violated
its Constitution as well as international and regional instruments
pertaining to the right to freedom of expression.
One of
the country's most oppressive laws, POSA replaced the Law
and Order
Maintenance Act (LOMA) that was enacted in 1960 by the colonial
government
to restrict freedom of expression, assembly and movement by
independence
fighters. LOMA remained in place after independence in 1980.
However, the
Supreme Court led by the late Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena
and dismissed
Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay over the years struck down
several clauses as
unconstitutional.
POSA tightens restrictions on the
independent media and gives
the police sweeping powers such as the
authorisation of political
gatherings. In its report in 2003, Amnesty
International pointed out that
since its enactment in 2002, POSA has been
used by the authorities to target
opposition supporters, independent media
and human rights activists and
specifically restrict their rights to: freely
assemble; criticize the
government and President; and engage in, advocacy or
organize acts of
peaceful civil disobedience.
A
Fact-Finding Mission report by the African Commission on Human
and Peoples'
Rights on allegations of human rights violations by the
government released
in 2004 also noted the adverse effects of POSA on the
fundamental civil and
political liberties of Zimbabweans. The African
Commission report noted
that: "There has been a flurry of new legislation
and the revival of the old
laws used under the Smith Rhodesian regime to
control, manipulate public
opinion and that limited civil liberties.
"Among these, the
Mission's attention was drawn to the Public
Order and Security Act, 2002 and
the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act, 2002. These have
been used to require registration of
journalists and for prosecution of
journalists for publishing 'false
information'. All of these, of course,
would have a 'chilling effect' on
freedom of expression and introduce a
cloud of fear in media circles."
The African Commission then
recommended to the Zimbabwe
government as a mark of goodwill to abide by the
judgements of the Supreme
Court and repeal sections AIPPA calculated to
freeze the free expression of
public opinion. It further called for the
review of POSA.
These findings by an African human rights
body to which Zimbabwe
is a founding member assist to dispel the usual
dismissals of allegations of
human rights violations by the authorities as
instigated by Western European
governments. To show its disregard of the
importance of freedom of
expression, until to date the recommendations by
the African Commission
particularly as they relate to the review of laws
that infringe on freedom
of expression have not been implemented by the
government.
Another contentious law that has greater impact
on the right to
freedom of expression is AIPPA. The law requires among other
things the
registration of media organisations and journalists practicing in
Zimbabwe.
Since its enactment in 2002, most Western foreign correspondents
particularly from countries like Britain and the USA have been banned from
Zimbabwe for practicing without licences given by the government-controlled
Media and Information Commission, a statutory body created under
AIPPA.
To date five privately-owned newspapers, The Daily
News, The
Daily News on Sunday, The Weekly Times, The Tribune and The
Weekend Tribune
were banned between September 2003 and January 2005 for
failing to meet the
requirements of AIPPA which requires media institutions
to register with the
Media and Information Commission, provision of a
business plan to the
Commission, denial of foreign investment in the local
media among other
restrictions and to deny employment to unregistered
journalists.
It is my contention that some of the
restrictions required under
AIPPA are at variance with the international law
provisions, regional
provisions, the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the
guidelines provided by the
Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. For instance, the
Supreme Court of Zimbabwe in
the case of Chavunduka and another Vs Minister
of Home Affairs and another
emphasised that any restrictions on freedom of
expression must meet the
requirements prescribed by the Constitution among
others, the protection of
the reputations of others, public health and
morality as well as security.
Any other requirements as prescribed by AIPPA,
in my view would be
unconstitutional and violates the principle of freedom
of expression.
With these facts on the media landscape in
Zimbabwe, it would be
delusionary to talk about a free press in Zimbabwe
except in the imagination
of the oppressors in Zanu PF.
Zim Standard
Sunday View By Itai Zimunya
AS the
Zimbabwe crisis continues to deepen and widen as
displayed by the acute
shortages of food, local and foreign currency, fuel
and jobs, calls for the
resolution of the political crisis seem to be
growing.
The most particular call of recent days is that opposition
political parties
ought to unite and form a strong front that can
successfully challenge Zanu
PF from power. However, after assessing the
current balance of power in
Zimbabwe, we contend that it is not a united
opposition that is the missing
link in Zimbabwe. While it has merit, it is
not the
touchstone.
Some celebrated political thinkers, including
Masipula Sithole
(the late), Alfred Stepan and Jonathan Moyo prescribe that
the opposition
need to engage a section of democrats in Zanu PF and move
towards a process
of sustainable democratic transformation. The big
question, however, is how,
when and by whom shall this
materialise?
To adequately answer the above questions, it is
important to
analyse the balance of power in Zimbabwe, from which we will
derive the
political formula. A close look at the outcomes of the 2000, 2002
and 2005
general and presidential elections reveal that Zanu PF does not
have an
active majority. The opposition, despite its activists being targets
of
political violence, has matched Zanu PF in every district. In fact,
various
electoral reports to the 2000 and 2002 national elections state
that, had it
not been the use of violence and manipulation, Zanu PF would
have "lost
power".
One eminent political scholar, Brian
Raftopoulos argues that
there are two political personalities that shape
Zimbabwe's polity, Robert
Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. As John Makumbe
predicted, Tsvangirai is
leading in the "numbers game" but seems to have
failed to capitalise on this
popularity. Various factors contribute to this
failure. These include the
mere presence of a counter power, Mugabe and the
threat of the manipulated
state killing machinery.
This
scale of demographic support to the MDC and Zanu PF
dismisses one aspect for
calling for a united opposition because the problem
in Zimbabwe is not a
numerical minority of the opposition supporters.
Sithole and Moyo agree that
the power lies in the elite coercive apparatus,
the military, and this
coercive apparatus is controlled by the ruling Zanu
PF elite. The challenge
therefore is how to unlock this coercive power, the
military without a
war.
Stepan suggests that the opposition needs to focus more
on
increasing the process of authoritarian erosion than focusing more on the
total collapse of the regime. In this thinking, he noted five groups in any
authoritarian regime in transition. These include, a) core supporters of the
regime, b) the coercive apparatus i.e, the military, intelligence and the
police, c) the regime's active opponents i.e the opposition activists like
the MDC, ZAPU etc. d) the regime's passive supporters, i.e the business
community and, e) the regime's passive opponents such as the educated
workers and academics and sections of the church.
From
the above classification, it can be argued that the power
in Zimbabwe lies
in a zone that is beyond electoral formations. That is why
some political
commentators posit that the MDC won the 2002 presidential
election but Zanu
PF retained power.
At present, the majority of Zimbabweans
seem to be fed up with
the Zanu PF regime, but for many reasons, they
passively put up with the
political rot. It is important to highlight that
at Tsholotsho, the media
reported that six Zanu PF provinces had agreed that
Mugabe should go. In
essence, these provinces agreed that there is a need
for democratic reform
in Zimbabwe. The failure of the Tsholotsho Declaration
may be that those
resolutions had no support of the coercive force, the
military.
After the Tsholotsho declaration, Moyo pointed out
that there
was a bigger opposition within Zanu PF. Therefore other
opposition political
parties, the Movement for Democratic Change
specifically, needed to engage a
section of democrats in Zanu PF to finally
rest the Zimbabwean crisis.
Reactions to Moyo's
proposition were negative. The proposal was
not dismissed because of its
emptiness, but because of the anger of his link
to the promulgation of
obnoxious pieces of legislation, the Access to
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) during his
stint as Minister of Information in Mugabe's
government.
In other words, Moyo is revealing that there are many people in
Zanu PF that
have either degraded themselves or have been degraded from
active supporters
of that party into passive supporters. It means, if there
were no fears of
reproach, they would have left to join the opposition.
Sithole proposes
solutions to this dilemma.
Writing in the Public Eye, in The
Financial Gazette of 8 January
1998, Sithole says: " . members of the
coercive elite are the major agents
of change". He further states that a
combination of democrats from both
inside and outside Zanu PF may well be
the source of a more enduring
democratisation process.
Therefore, it is the duty of the opposition to prove that an
alternative
establishment is a viable option. This will most likely diminish
the Zanu PF
fear of change and enlist them as active opponents leaving the
coercive
force neutralised.
Equally, it would be naïve for any of the
two Zanu PF factions,
that of Emmerson Mnangagwa or Solomon Mujuru to think
that they can go it
alone in the post-Mugabe era. Zanu PF, in whatever form
needs to realise and
acknowledge the presence and permanence of opposition
politics in Zimbabwe.
Wishes of a super Zanu PF in government must be taken
as mere dreams. There
could be a motivation for democrats in Zanu PF to
realise this and begin to
make strategic contacts with the
opposition.
In this case, the two Zanu PF factions have two
options, and
time is fast running out on them. They either have to mend
relations or
compete to make collective deals with the opposition,
especially the MDC.
Option number one is almost impossible because of the
levels of mistrust and
economic attacks that have been made including the
purge on the financial
sector and the post Tsholotsho sanctions on
pro-Mnangagwa actors.
The second option is real but very
risky, especially in the
presence of Mugabe. Mugabe has personally declared
Tsvangirai and the MDC as
enemies that "must be crushed". He means it and
anyone who entertains the
MDC is a sell-out who must receive the highest
form of punishment. This is
why South African President Mbeki's quiet
diplomacy failed. That is also
noted as the main problem behind the
stagnation in political dialogue among
political actors in Zimbabwe. The
main player of this option is therefore
Mugabe himself.
Assuming Mugabe away, expectations of the army causing confusion
are, in
this case, remote for several reasons. Chiefly, the army is viewed
as part
of the succession jigsaw and there is no consensus at present among
the army
generals of which Zanu PF faction to support. Secondly, ethnic
politics form
an integral part of the Zanu PF succession debate and thus,
because the army
is not immune to tribalism, it is affected. The third
factor is that the
army is loyal and not naïve. They are loyal to Zimbabwe,
and support a
peaceful political transformation, which they also highly
expect given the
current economic downfall.
These facts confirm perceptions
that Mugabe is a stumbling block
to Zimbabwe's political transition, both
within Zanu PF and at national
level. It is this perception (if not reality)
that justifies the calls, both
within Zanu PF and in the opposition that
Mugabe must go. He must rest and
pave way for intra-Zanu PF reform, which
can not be disassociated with
national reform.
In
realisation of this Mugabe factor, Moyo, despite being a
political gymnast,
argues that the political leadership in the opposition
must realise the
existence of a big opposition currently sitting in Zanu PF.
It has to be
strategically captured and this reflects a greater chance for
quicker and
more stable political reforms. Should these talks fail, though
it is remote,
there could be a super intra-Zanu PF agreement for power
sharing among the
Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions. (To be continued).
By Itai
Zimunya, a former student leader and human rights
defender.
Zim Standard
Sunday Opinion By Pius Wakatama
FOR
the first time in Zimbabwe all opposition political parties
and major civil
society organisations have joined together in a campaign to
resolve
Zimbabwe's social, economic and political crisis.
The
campaign called the Save Zimbabwe Campaign is spearheaded by
the Zimbabwe
Christian Alliance (CA). "It has been welcomed by Zimbabweans
and the
international community as a significant development towards the
resolution
of the country's serious crisis."
The Christian Alliance is
an organised network of Christian
leaders and organisations who felt called
by God to be instrumental in
resolving the crisis in the country peacefully
and permanently so that
Zimbabweans can again live in freedom, peace and
prosperity. It was born as
a result of pressure from Zimbabweans who had
become disillusioned on issues
of corruption and human rights abuses by the
government, the security forces
and the militias.
The CA
was officially launched at St Mary's Anglican Church in
Bulawayo on 3
February, 2006. Over 200 pastors, priests and church leaders
from various
churches and denominations attended the colourful all day event
marked by
singing, praying and preaching. They came from across the country
as far as
Mutare and Victoria Falls.
Lawyer and Church pastor, Reverend
Lucky Moyo, one of the
organisers of CA said about its work, "All dialogue
will be pursued
following Christian principles of non-violence and ethical
debate. The war
ethos prevailing in Zimbabwe must be broken. We are not
going to war;
neither do we expect to be attacked. This is simply a platform
to engage in
meaningful discussion for the greater good of all
Zimbabweans."
Convinced that the crisis in the country is an
internal problem
that can only be solved by Zimbabweans themselves through
dialogue, CA
decided to call a convention of all stake holders. The hope was
that the
convention would set the tone for internal political dialogue which
would
lead to a viable solution to the deepening crisis.
The convention which was held in the gardens of the Rainbow
Towers Hotel,
Harare was attended by over 500 invited and uninvited leaders
from the
church, political parties and civil society representing 26
organisations.
The ruling party, Zanu PF which was invited was conspicuous
by its absence.
Leaders of CA chaired the meeting.
At the end of the day,
after speeches, presentation of papers
and group discussions leaders of all
opposition parties, some of which had
been locked in violent rivalry, stood
together on the podium, shook hands,
embraced and vowed to work together to
achieve peaceful change in the
country. The convention then passed a number
of resolutions. The most
significant resolution gave CA the mandate to form
a broad alliance of all
the organisations present which would map out the
way forward.
A number of follow-up meetings were subsequently
held which
resulted in the formation of a working task-force to lead what is
now
popularly known as the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. A comprehensive freedom
charter was also tabled and is to be discussed and ratified at the next
meeting of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign stakeholders.
Alarmed by this development the government press started to
publish spurious
and misleading reports about the formation of a single
political party. Some
leaders of CA, Bishop Levee Kadenge, Reverend Ancelom
Magaya, Reverend Brian
Mugwidi and myself were arrested and interrogated in
an effort to intimidate
us. Bishop Kadenge has also received several threats
to his life from
unidentified people over the phone.
Speaking about the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign, Reverend Patson
Netha, Chairperson of Churches in
Bulawayo and one of the founders of CA
said: "The Christian Alliance is best
placed to lead this campaign because
we are non-partisan and not interested
in contesting or delegating political
power. Our only interest is to see
that Zimbabweans can worship and praise
their maker in freedom, peace and
prosperity as God intended them to. We
could no longer sit and watch the
people suffer and go to other countries to
seek better lives. We will,
therefore, never tire or give up until the goal
is
achieved.
"We are not interested in forming one political
party as some
are suggesting. Actually we believe that a harmonious
multi-party system is
the best guarantee for freedom and sustained
development. However, at
present all political parties and civil society
need to forget the past, sit
down and work out a solution to our problems
before things really get out of
hand."
I asked the
Convenor of CA, Bishop Kadenge about the
relationship between CA and the
formal church umbrella bodies, the
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference
which recently met with President
Mugabe at State House and then gave
televised support to the government. The
Bishop said: "We are aware that
there are other initiatives seeking to solve
the Zimbabwe crisis. We welcome
these efforts especially if they are by
fellow Christians. However, we must
not be working at cross purposes or
fighting each other. This would not be
in the spirit of the gospel which we
preach. If we are working towards the
same goal of establishing peace and
justice in Zimbabwe there should be a
time soon when our efforts should
converge for the common
good."
"What we need to realise," continued Bishop Kadenge,
"is that
the devil is very cunning and would like to divide us. Paul said:
'Our
struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the authorities,
against
the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of
evil in
the heavenly realms,' as we read in the book of
Ephesians.
"Our message to the President of Zimbabwe is that
as a child of
God, who professes to be a Christian, we love him. He and the
ruling Zanu PF
party, which he leads, should now stop treating fellow
Zimbabweans, of all
colours, as enemies to be destroyed. They need to
confess and repent of the
past before God and peacefully work together with
the rest of Zimbabwe to
find a solution to the country's problems. The
alternative, which is violent
confrontation, is just too ghastly to even
contemplate."
As one who has been a lone voice crying in the
wilderness for a
long time I say, amen, to Bishop Kadenge and all colleagues
in CA. You are
on the right track and God is on your
side.
He, who has ears to hear, let him hear.
It's inflation, Dr Gono,not currency or zeros
SO the Reserve
Bank Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, believes slashing
three zeros from the local
currency is the panacea to the country's economic
tailspin? Unfortunately,
one needs no doctorate in economics to see that
Gono went for the wrong
zeros.
The zeros that hurt are the inflation zeros, not the
currency
zeros. He could have removed up to six zeros from the currency and
we would
still be in the mess we are in.
Removal of two
or even one zero from the inflation figure will
make the governor a hero in
the eyes of many, otherwise he is still a big
zero that will probably need
to be removed one day. Unfortunately the
inflation zeros cannot be removed
by invoking the Presidential Powers
because no statutory instrument can work
on them.
To borrow former US President Bill Clinton's
campaign adage,
what we in Zimbabwe are saying to the Governor is: "It's not
the currency,
it's inflation, Stupid!" Deflate the inflation zeros and
become a hero.
I personally would not have removed the three
zeros. Rather, I
would have removed the three Ms - Mugabe, Msika and Mujuru
- and observed
the results.
The economy would be better
if the governor stopped
spread-eagling himself all over the place. He seems
to be minister of
everything - buying fuel, buying fighter jets, buying
tractors, selling
tobacco, selling gold, proposing, promulgating, promoting
and policing laws.
The list goes on.
The governor should
concentrate on core central bank business as
he is fond of telling bank
executives to desist from speculative tendencies
that fuel inflation and
concentrate on banking business and leave other arms
of government to
function normally.
Is it not interesting that in sound
economies such as the
Botswana, South African and UK that are not troubled
by any zeros the
identity of the central bank governor can be a quiz
question for secondary
school pupils? In Zimbabwe it is pointless asking
even kindergarten
children.
Frank
Mutavhatsindi
Beitbridge
---------
Possible strategies to oust Mugabe regime
THERE are three
effective but painful strategies that could (in
various combinations and
sequences) begin the process of forcing this failed
and foul regime out -
ultimately via negotiations/talks and a supervised,
free and fair election:
First - Peaceful, street demonstrations;
non-partisan, under an umbrella
organisation, staggered over at least one
month, co-ordinated with weekend
demonstrations by exiles in e.g. Jo-burg
and London. The price would
initially be bloodshed in the streets of
Zimbabwe's cities, of
course.
Second - A stayaway by themajority of Zimbabwe's
workers for at
least one full week, accepting the brutal violence from the
army, this would
cost us in the
high-density
suburbs.
Three - SADC (especially South African/Mozambican)
sanctions/go
slows - unofficial of course - covering for example fuel
port/rail imports
and/or electricity. None of these three is easy to sell or
achieve and is
unlikely to occur in the immediate future. The first two
strategies will
require effective mobilisation and leadership of Zimbabwe's
working class
together with a portion of its middle
class.
The third will probably require the prior, successful
implementation of at least one of the first two strategies. As we saw in the
pre-MDC era, a strong and effective ZCTU leadership is a vital component of
these strategies.
These strategies have worked in other
countries. There is
nothing extraterrestrial about Zimbabweans or our
country. We may be
"domesticated", resourceful and buffered by what was once
a strong and
relatively sophisticated economy and a significant population
of educated
exiles sending money home - but these features are not unique to
our
situation.
For mainly self-serving or short-sighted
reasons, all three
strategies have been and will continue to be opposed
elsewhere within
Zimbabwe's family of classes - especially
business.
Ian Smith's downfall was his fanciful dream of mai
taining a
minority, racist white regime in the middle of black
Africa.
President Mugabe's may well turn out to be his fan
ciful dream
that an eco omy (including, for us, its agricultural base) can
be
bludgeoned, arm-twisted, quick fixed, talked or bribed into serving his
personal political needs first and foremost, rather than serving certain
basic economic laws and pre-requisites for success.
It is
all a matter of time and circumstance.
In this respect, the
one good thing to be thankful for from the
last two years of Mugonomics is
that they have accelerated our entry into a
period conducive for
implementing the first two strategies.
Rwendo
Borrowdale
Harare
------------------
Vandalism, neglect destroy Mutema
Irrigation Scheme
MUTEMA irrigation scheme is now in
a coma. This
scheme was started in 1932 and for decades was responsible for
thriving
agricultural activity in the area. However, of late it has been
rendered a
wasteland due to neglect and
vandalism.
In the beginning the scheme used flood
irrigation
with the result that plot holders realised bumper harvests that
paid
handsome dividends.
But after 2000 the
mechanism began to collapse
because of poor maintenance. Today it is painful
to witness the level of
collapse and to imagine this was once a thriving
scheme - the centre of
economic activities for the surrounding
areas.
Today the cultivated land is grazing land
with tall
grass and tree shrubs, while the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
demands
levies.
The plot holders have fallen
on hard times yet they
could be busy with winter cropping that would be
promising better returns.
This is a sight that will make you
cry.
The collapse of the scheme is one example of
how
Zimbabwe has suffered unprecedented decline over the past decade and why
the
population is risking life to escape the poverty that traps them in this
country by seeking opportunities in countries in the
region.
So serious and desperate is the situation
such that
people risk being attacked and killed by crocodiles for crossing
the Limpopo
River.
Much of the exodus is
because of the greed of the
leadership with the people being the victims. At
this time when everyone,
particularly the newly resettled farmers are being
exhorted to be productive
on the land, this is certainly a cause for
concern.
Tennyson
Marwa
Mutema High
School
Chipinge
------------------
Viomak attack missed the essence of
debate on Zimbabwe
crisis
I don't know if Viomak
is holding a brief from
Canadians to rubbish President Robert Mugabe but her
music raises important
issues of love tolerance, spiritual liberation and
the need for a political
and economic breakthrough starting with Mugabe
himself.
She is calling on Mugabe to retire and
stop the
suffering of masses. She talks about spiritual liberation and
healing in
Zimbabwe and happens to be a Christian just like many millions.
All this is
good for the country and has nothing to do with hate for Mugabe
as a black
person or his refusal to be a pawn of the
West.
I took issue with Kwabena Appiah's strong
language
bordering on hate speech. It is such intolerance to differences of
opinion
that has led to many senseless wars in Africa costing lives and
progress.
His letter merely attacked Viomak
personally and
failed to address debate about music. What is wrong with
Viomak using
Western or any other media? Africans and I am sure Appiah
included, are
using western media and learning from them for their own good.
Please don't
shoot the messenger, address the
message!
Appiah also seems to suggest that Mugabe
is a symbol
of black consciousness and beyond reproach and Viomak has no
right to finger
his wrongs in the interests of the struggle against
imperialism.
Mugabe only started to brand himself
as a
Pan-Africanist with the advent of the opposition MDC that almost ousted
him
from power due to chronic bad governance. For him it was just a matter
of
strategy not conviction.
When he was still
welcome in Washington and London
(his favourite destinations) Mugabe
butchered thousands in Matabeleland and
the Midlands while getting material
backing from the West just like the MDC
is doing against Appiah's
wishes.
The current stand-off is between Mugabe
and the West
not Zimbabwe and the West. They barred him from setting foot in
their
countries and why should he bother? He should be with us here in Mbare
and
downtown Zhing-zhong shops in the country he is presiding
over.
His policies have led to untold suffering
that has
caused a great exodus of people into the Diaspora where they
slave.
I take issue with African leaders wearing
designer
suits, hosting Western-style dinners and driving the latest cars
speaking in
English while their subjects wallow in abject
poverty.
I live in Zimbabwe where the President
has crafted
draconian laws to deny instead of promoting freedoms of fellow
Africans
while making it a criminal offence for everyone who dares to
criticise him.
I like his attacks on imperialists
at international
forums but hate his failure to give people food, jobs and
accommodation back
home. I become more confused when he demolishes poor
people's homes and
small businesses (calling them filth) but gives them no
alternative. My
heart bleeds when unarmed women are brutally crushed by riot
police for
handing out flowers on Valentine's Day or demonstrating against
unaffordable
school fees.
It makes nonsense
of ubuthu to rush to the Chinese
so as to spite the British while destroying
local productive capacity. What
do you make of African leaders who find
comfort in blaming sanctions for the
suffering of their own people but doing
nothing to counter them like Muammar
Gadaffi or Fidel Castro who were under
real embargoes?
Viomak should continue singing
about these issues
and more. Appiah should come and live here under a
Pan-Africanist government
of Zimbabwe.
Chirandu Musharukwa
Harare
--------
Justice
only for Zanu PF
How many cases of people who are
supporters who have been
brought before the courts only for their cases to
fizzle out? If Roy
Bennett, the former MP for Chimanimani (MDC), had been a
member of the
ruling party I am sure he would have gotten away with it in
spite of
flooring Patrick Chinamasa.
What worries
me also is that as a society, we do not
believe that if someone holding a
high office faces charges of breaking the
law, that individual should step
down and clear his/her name first before
resuming his official duties. It
demonstrates that we have no shame and
therefore we continue to behave as if
everything is normal.
M
Moyo
Fitchlea
Kwekwe
-------------
Viomak responds to Appiah
attack
I wish to say to Kwabena Appiah I have no
problem with
white people. If he has something against them he should please
leave me out
of it.
All I am against is President
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu
PF and he should please learn to respect my
choice to do as I wish. It's my
voice and my mind and it's up to me to do
what pleases me and what I believe
is right.
I'm
what I am now because of white people and not because
of your black
President whose aim was to reduce me to a pauper. I'm not into
useless cyber
fights with people I don't even know. So please stop insulting
me and please
stop advertising your "Open letter to Viomak"
unnecessarily.
If you want a real fight you are free to
get in touch with
me.
Viomak
Canada
-----------
Residents sick and tired of Chombo's
commission
THE state of the City of Harare is a clear
indication of
mismanagement and wastage of city
resources.
It is common knowledge that Sekesai
Makwavarara, Tendai
Savanhu, a Zanu PF central Committee member, Jameson
Kurasha, Prisca
Mupfumira, a Zanu PF Central Committee member, Musavaya
Reza, the provincial
administrator, Engineer Noel Muzuva and Richard
Mahachi, have failed to turn
around the fortunes of Harare as was widely
publicised by the State media
when these commissioners were imposed on
Harare residents.
Their terms of office have been
renewed on four occasions,
without any proof that they are doing anything at
all.
The other councillors of shame, Tapfumanei Jaja,
Grandmore
Hakata, Francis Marisi, Joseph Madzudzu, Oscar Pemhiwa and Trymore
Magamu
are still being paid allowances as rewards for betraying the
residents of
Harare.
Considering the failure of the
commission, the only
logical thing to do on the part of the Minister for
Local Government,
Ignatious Chombo, was to remove them from office and allow
the residents of
Harare to exercise their democratic rights through mayoral
and council
elections. The minister reappointed the inefficient commission
despite the
evident deterioration in quality service delivery in the
city.
Residents have made it clear that they are tired
of
Makwavarara and her fellow puppet commissioners because they have failed
to
deliver. We expected and still expect the minister to respect our
opinions
and complaints. He has turned a deaf ear to the cries of the
people.
Potholed roads, which have made a large
contribution to
the many accidents, decorate Harare. Tightening road
regulations is not a
solution to the problem of road accidents. Addressing
symptoms of decay is
just as good as applying lipstick to a
frog.
These roads are in serious need of urgent repairs
so that
they can be safe for motoring and pedestrian traffic. Most
streetlights have
not been working for years and we wonder where the
ratepayers' money is
going.
Lately, the state media
has been torturing us with reports
and pictures of the City of Harare
workers cutting down trees, an act which
they regard as unsafe for road
users.
May I remind the illegal commissioner
Makwavarara that
those are unnecessary and cosmetic developments that will
contribute nothing
to the improvement of service
delivery.
It is surprising and very disappointing to
note the
commission has the audacity to demand rates from residents. As if
that is
not enough, the commission continues to increase rates to
unaffordable and
unreasonable amounts.
Residents
want Town House to clarify the role of the
Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(ZINWA) in the water affairs of Harare.
All we know about ZINWA is that it
has increased water charges in an opaque
deal that smacks of corruption.
Water has not been flowing in most taps in
residential and industrial areas.
The quality of the water we are forced to
drink leaves a lot to be
desired.
Makwavarara and Chombo are taking us for a
ride. Residents
should be the ones to conduct job evaluations of the
commissioners because
they are the ones "receiving services" from Town
House.
Chombo has no right whatsoever to tell us that
Makwavarara
has done a "good job" because he has no idea what residents have
been
through. He has no right to impose incompetent people on residents.
Down
with Chombo and Makwavarara!
Loraine
Mupasiri
Msasa Park
Harare
A big day for Zimbabweans in the UK
and also for the Vigil. One of the
Vigil founders, Ephraim Tapa, has been
elected Chair of MDC-UK at a meeting
in Oxford overseen by members of the
leadership in Harare.
Ephraim, who for the past four years has been Chair
of MDC Central London
Branch, aims to unite all Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora. The Vigil thinks
that he certainly has the credentials: a
founding member of the MDC and head
of the Zimbabwean civil service trade
union, he was spirited out of Zimbabwe
after being abducted, tortured for 21
days and almost killed in Mutoko while
on MDC duty during the 2002
Presidential elections. We look to him to him
to realise the aims he
articulated in his election manifesto: "The MDC-UK
currently boasts of a
membership of just over 1000 and my question is: where
are the hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans living in the UK? Surely, they
cannot all be ZANU
(PF) loyalists, if at all, neither is it true that they
lack concern over
the situation in our country. They simply lack confidence
in our resolve and
capacity to effect meaningful contribution to the CHANGE
agenda in Zimbabwe
and to the thousands of our countrymen within our midst,
whose lives have
become nightmare experiences. The MDC-UK needs to remould
its image from
that of a poorly managed party (best known for infighting and
endless
squabbles, and a general lack of direction) to a caring, purposeful,
united
and an effectively run entity. Its programmes have to be tailored in
line
with the needs of its membership, both potential and actual. My vision
is to
see MDC-UK take its rightful place, not only within the Party but also
in
Zimbabwe, as a major contributor to the CHANGE agenda, be an organ of the
party that makes the difference to the Zimbabwean political equation and
deliver on the PROMISE to liberate Zimbabwe. The MDC-UK must also be seen as
relevant to the needs and aspirations of the UK constituency (ie among other
things they need further education, legal immigration status, the right to
work, organisation, leadership, a sense of belonging and national pride and
above all, a free and stable Zimbabwe to return to). People need to know
what's in it for them and be assured on the effectiveness of delivery before
they can join us!"
The Vigil was also pleased to learn that the Vigil
spokesperson, Julius
Mutyambizi-Dewa, had been elected MDC UK Secretary.
Julius, a lawyer, has
worked tirelessly for the struggle, leading our
efforts to put our cause to
the UK government and the international
community while always remaining
accessible to Zimbabweans in
difficulties.
Despite their new party roles, the Vigil is confident they
will work
fruitfully with the non-party and other elements that make up the
Vigil
coalition.
Although we were somewhat depleted by supporters
going to Oxford, it was an
exuberant afternoon, which was dedicated to the
Zimbabwean student leaders
who have been arrested for planning protests next
week. Our supporters from
Free-Zim Youth in Brighton joined us with banners
and flyers to express
their outrage. They will join our solidarity
demonstration on Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe Association also attended the
Vigil and asked that if anyone
hears of anybody being deported please
contact them immediately - 020 7549
0355, zimbabweassociation@yahoo.co.uk,
07951 725 758.
For the people who read the diary for a report of weather
conditions in
London: it was a benign late summer's day. The Vigil
children delighted
passers-by by joining in so well with the dancing and we
had a little girl
showing real talent on the drums.
For this week's
Vigil pictures:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR
THE RECORD: 38 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
- Monday,
11th September, 7.30 pm: Zimbabwe Forum. We'll be
discussing the progress of
the multi signatory campaign, the results of the
MDC UK Congress in Oxford
and the current situation on asylum. Please note
we will not be at our usual
venue this week. Venue: The Rose and Springbok,
14 Upper St Martins Lane,
WC2H 9DL. Map link:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2D231EA6.
Nearest tubes: Leicester Square,
Covent Garden.
- Wednesday, 13th
September - the Vigil's Solidarity Demonstration -
for details, see our
posting of 7th September.
- Saturday, 16th September, 2 pm - 6 pm.
Open Forum 2006 Zimbabwe:
Skills and Reconstruction. Venue: University of
London Union, Malet Street,
London WC1E 7HY. For details check: www.britain-zimbabwe.org.uk.
Vigil
co-ordinator
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London,
takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross
violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil
which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored,
free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
LONDON
- The Human Rights Institute of the International Bar
Association (IBA) has
welcomed the resolution of the European Parliament on
the situation in
Zimbabwe calling on the United Nations Security Council to
report on the
human rights situation in the country.
The institute said it
believed crimes against humanity are being
committed in Zimbabwe hence the
need for the UN to take up the
recommendation by the EU parliament and
report on the situation prevailing
on the ground in the crisis-ridden
Zimbabwe.
In a statement, the London-based institute said it
supported the EU
parliament's call.
The resolution adopted at
the end of the parliament's plenary session
this week expressed concern that
the 'appalling humanitarian, political and
economic situation in Zimbabwe
continues to deteriorate' and condemns the
Zimbabwean Government for
'relentless oppression of the Zimbabwean people'.
MEPs urged
southern African countries, the African Union and others to
take a robust
stance against the Zanu PF government in their 19-point
resolution.
'We hope that the Security Council will follow the
EU's
recommendation. Our long-held view is that crimes against humanity are
being
committed in Zimbabwe and a Security Council investigation is a
crucial
first step to ensuring that those responsible are brought to
justice', said
Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar
Association.
'The protection of human rights requires all in the
international
community to engage in unremitting efforts to end gross
violations of
international human rights law wherever they occur, and the
EU's persistence
in calls for high-level UN action on Zimbabwe should be
supported', he
added.
The IBA which comprises 30,000 lawyer
members and over 195 bar
associations and law societies, influences the
development of international
law reform and shapes the future of the legal
profession around the world.
Its Member Organisations cover all
continents and include the American
Bar Association, the German Federal Bar,
the Japan Federation of Bar
Associations, the Law Society of Zimbabwe and
the Mexican Bar Association.
In their resolution MEPs said urge the
United Nations Security Council
to report on the human rights and political
situation in Zimbabwe as a
matter of urgency.
The parliament
also called on President Mugabe "to comply with his own
promise to stand
down, sooner rather than later, which would be the largest
single step
possible towards reviving Zimbabwean society, politics and
economy, and for
the commencement of positive transitional negotiations
between Zanu PF, MDC
parties and other opposition movements".
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
LONDON - The Zimbabwe
Vigil is joining forces with the MDC UK to stage
a demonstration outside
Zimbabwe House on Wednesday in solidarity with the
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) countrywide protests over the
plight of the Zimbabwean
workers.
The ZCTU's protests are meant to demand better wages for
Zimbabwe's
long-suffering workers most of whom are having to walk to work
because they
cannot afford transport and other costs.
Organisations such at the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and
other
falling under the newly established Christian Alliance have pledged to
join
the nationwide protests.
The opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) is also in the
process of planning nationwide protests seeking
an end to the national
crisis. Yesterday massive protests were held in
Harare under the banner of
the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
with an estimated 2000
people in attendance.
The protest
against the continued running of Harare through a Zanu
PF-appointed
commission have bolstered those planning next week's ZCTU
protests. The
Zimbabwe National Students' Union is joining forces, pressing
for reduced
fees and improved conditions.
"We are happy with the numbers of the
people that came out today and
hope the other planned mass actions through
our various alliance partners
would yield far more improved results. Things
are happening and the pressure
must be piled on Zanu PF," said one protester
on the streets of Harare
yesterday.
Last week Tsvangirai,
accompanied by about a hundred party supporters,
led a successful march to
parliament. ZCTU boss, Lovemore Matombo, said the
workers will Wednesday
start a new campaign of protests to fight for their
rights, especially
better working conditions and wages.
In London the Zimbabwe Vigil
said it will continue to support efforts
in Harare meant to alleviate the
suffering of the ordinary people until
fresh free and fair elections are
conducted in the country.
"The demonstration outside Zimbabwe
Embassy is in solidarity with
countrywide protests called for that day by
the ZCTU, Operation Tatambura
(we have suffered)," a spokesperson for the
vigil said. The protests start
at noon.
Meanwhile there were
demonstrations outside Zimbabwe Embassy yesterday
led by ZimYouth. The
youths were protesting against the arrest of student
leaders in
Zimbabwe.
Armed riot police descended on a workshop organised by
the Zimbabwe
National Students Union and arrested eight student leaders in
Harare on
Friday. The student leaders were having a strategic workshop ahead
of
Wednesday's mass protests.
Reuters
Sat Sep 9, 2006 11:04
AM BST
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Saturday condemned as "lies" an
Amnesty
International report that criticised the Harare government for
failing to
rebuild houses for thousands left homeless after a controversial
slum
clearance.
President Robert Mugabe's government used police and
bulldozers to clear
slums and what it called illegal markets a year ago in
an operation the
United Nations says destroyed the homes or sources of
income of about
700,000 people.
Amnesty said on Friday that a
Zimbabwe government housing construction
program meant to benefit victims of
the slum demolitions was a public
relations exercise to mask "mass human
rights violations".
Mugabe's government had only managed to build 3,325
houses -- some of them
uninhabitable -- against nearly 100,000 homes
required for the homeless
victims, the rights group
said.
"It's basically a mischievous report," Ignatius Chombo,
minister for Public
Works and Urban Development, said on state radio on
Saturday.
"These are lies, lies being peddled by Amnesty. When they see
one person
sleeping at a bus stop they say they have no house," Chombo said,
adding
that Zimbabwe's national housing program was one of the best in
Africa.
He said the government would take criticism from people who have
assessed
the housing program on the ground, but not from groups "which ...
interview
discredited characters".
Amnesty said the few houses built
by the government were incomplete --
lacking doors, windows, floors, roofs
and some with no water or sanitation
facilities.
The rights group
condemned the government for asking people to pay for
incomplete homes or
undeveloped housing plots, saying the slum demolitions
had driven the poor
deeper into poverty.
Mugabe's government, which is struggling with a
severe economic crisis, says
the slum demolitions were necessary to
establish order in urban areas and to
pave the way for decent housing for
the poor.
| |||
| |||
Rights groups say that little has been done to help homeless victims of Zimbabwe's slum demolition | |||
|
THE thud of masonry hammers
reverberates across the valley on the northern outskirts of Harare, where 15
months ago police smashed 5,000 homes, two clinics, a crèche for orphans and two
mosques under President Mugabe’s Operation Murambatsvina (Sweep out the
Rubbish).
Groups of men are unearthing bricks and rubble from drains, dumps and pits where people were forced by police to bury them last year to hide evidence of the demolitions. The men stack the masonry into piles and pulverise it. Then they sell it as sand for people in Hatcliffe Extension to use to build new homes there.
On May 25 last year, thousands of police swooped on townships, destroying everything they declared to be an “illegal structure” and stamping on every vestige of the informal street trade that provides an income for 80 per cent of the country’s labour force. International outrage followed a United Nations report that estimated that more than 700,000 people had been made homeless or lost their livelihoods. Shocked by the reaction, the Government said that it would build 25,000 new homes by August and 230,000 by the end of last year. More than a year later, the situation remains dire, says a report issued this week by the Solidarity Peace Trust, a Southern African human rights organisation drawn mainly from the region’s churches. Yesterday Amnesty International, the human rights group, described the promised scheme as a government public relations sham “to cover up its mass human rights violations”. In its report the Solidarity Peace Trust said: “Almost nothing has been done to house those who lost homes and livelihoods.” The victims “are sliding into an ever-greater abyss of poverty”. The trust established that 87 per cent of the homes smashed were not shanties, as the Government claimed, but “robust dwellings with access to safe water, sanitation and electricity”. The report says that the operation was started after the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Mr Mugabe’s secret police, “allegedly received intelligence of plans to escalate discontent” among the urban poor. Diplomatic and security sources say that there is no evidence to support this claim. The purported housing project has built only 2,000 units to roof level, and most of them have been allocated to policemen, soldiers and CIO agents. Building fizzled out by February as contractors withdrew without being paid. There are more people in Hatcliffe Extension now than before the blitz, Assalia Dube, 38, a resident, says. The Government built ninety-four of the single-room identical houses but only four are complete. “In January the UN was going to do an inspection of the houses, so the Government told people who were living in the open to quickly move into them so the UN would think the programme was OK,” she said. Since her six-room brick- under-asbestos-sheeting house was razed last year, she has been through two winters and a rainy season with her husband — who has since lost his job — and six children successively in the open, under plastic sheets and in a leaky old tent. The UN has begun an international appeal for an emergency housing programme, but is loath to build semi- permanent structures because of the likelihood that the Government will simply move in Mr Mugabe’s supporters. |
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
HARARE - The
proposed Interception of Communications law has been
described as a
replication of desperate measures being taken by the ruling
Zanu PF
government to maintain its stranglehold on power amid growing
discontent
against its failure to resolve the country's socio-economic and
political
woes.
Speaking during a public meeting organised by MISA-Zimbabwe
political
analysts said the Interception of Communications Bill was part of
a battery
of other existing repressive laws such as the Public Order and
Security Act,
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the
Constitutional
Amendment (No 17) Act designed to stifle opposing views and
perpetuate Zanu
PF hegemony.
Constitutional law expert Dr
Lovemore Madhuku, said debate on the
constitutionality of the Bill should be
taken in the context of whether
Zimbabwe is a functioning democracy with a
democratic constitution.
Madhuku said the issue of whether the Bill
is just, unjust or
constitutional in a democracy hinges on the type of
constitution in place in
Zimbabwe and whether the country's Supreme Court as
the final arbiter in
determining its constitutionality, is independent from
the executive arm of
the state.
Leading human rights
organisations, the business community, Media
Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ),
which comprises MISA-Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists and Media
Monitoring Project Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe National
Editors Forum (Zinef),
are pushing for the withdrawal of the Bill arguing
that its provisions are
vague and unconstitutional as they violate the right
to freedom of
_expression, privacy and business confidentiality.
The Minister of
Transport and Communications Christopher Mushowe is on
record saying the
government would revisit the Bill for purposes of removing
its contentious
provisions. Mushowe made the undertaking when he appeared
before the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications
following
submissions made to the Committee by MAZ, civic society
organisations and
the business community.
The proposed law, which does not provide
for judicial and
parliamentary oversight among other contentious provisions,
seeks to empower
the chief of defence intelligence, the director-general of
the Central
Intelligence Organisation, the Commissioner of Police and the
Commissioner
General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept
telephonic, e-mail
and cellphone messages.
The Bill also
empowers state agencies to open mail passing through the
post and through
licensed courier service providers.
Madhuku noted that the constitution
empowers the state to interfere
with our freedoms provided that interference
is reasonable, justifiable and
necessary in a democratic
society.
"In discussing this Bill, the question then arises as to
whether we
are a democracy. Clearly we are not a democracy hence my argument
on the
limitations of whether the Bill is constitutional or not.
"What is required is a huge political reform process . a new
constitution
and free and fair elections. Until we have a democratic
constitution our
arguments on the constitutionality of the Bill will be
limited and not
sufficient."
Political Scientist Dr John Makumbe and leading human
rights lawyer
Jacob Mafume, concurred with Madhuku saying Zimbabweans should
remain
focused on the need to bring about a new political dispensation. "We
need to
stop this madness in a more direct political manner. The solution
lies in
the departure of the current regime and give President (Robert)
Mugabe time
to rest," said Mafume.
Bornwell Chakaodza, a
veteran Zimbabwean journalist, said the voices
of civic society
organisations were "tremendously important" as catalysts
for change. "The
question that needs to be addressed is what it will take to
stop the
insanity of these laws. It is important to continue speaking out
against
these laws even if the government is not listening," said Chakaodza.
Dear Family and Friends,
I think that like most people I have an intense
love hate relationship
with Zimbabwe these days.
It seems you have to
go through all manner of hardships and horrors in
order to truly be able to
call yourself a Zimbabwean. These are Zimbabwe's
rites of passage and they
are not for the feint hearted. Land seizures;
cancellation of title deeds;
state acquisition of personal property and
equipment; being removed from the
voters roll; being called an 'alien' in
the country of your birth and
residence; having your own money seized from
you by the state; having to go
and collect the police if you get burgled;
sitting in a petrol queue for at
least one day; having to queue all night
in order to get a number on a bit of
dirty cardboard which will allow you
- not to get a passport- but to stand in
another queue to get a form to
get a passport. There are places too that you
have to visit if you want to
say you are really a Zimbabwean. Places whose
names bring to mind a whole
range of possibilities including: heat, dirt,
dust, arrogance, rudeness,
bureaucracy, inefficiency and endlessly long
queues. You just have to say
the words 'Makombe', 'Linquenda', 'National
Registration' or 'Market
Square' to a Zimbabwean and the automatic response
is a sympathetic groan
and an outpouring of empathy and
friendship.
This week I have endured another rite of Zimbabwean passage.
I have
thought long and hard about how to write this letter, about what I
should
or should not say and in the end have decided to do what I've been
doing
for 6 years and just tell it like it is. I woke up last Saturday
morning
to find computers, cell phone, stereo, radio, TV and reading glasses
gone
after a burglary in my home. In the days that have followed there has
been
utter despair one minute and tears of humility the next. There has
been
complete exhaustion too as sleep is hard in coming. To be honest, it
is
hard to know how to carry on after this; small losses are
devastating
blows.
There has been irony and absurdity in this week too
- police who had to be
collected from the police station as they had no
transport; the CID car
that had to be pushed as it had no starter; the glass
that was ordered cut
and paid for and got home to find it was over a foot too
short; only being
able to find "zhing-zhong" door locks that did not have a
single standard
feature about them - they were too thin, too short and too
narrow and in
order to use them I would have to buy new doors!
It took
me five days to get to the point where I had the means to hear
even a local
ZBC news bulletin on the radio. The irony of that first news
report is
something I will never forget. The news reader said that there
had been a
burglary of the Norton Police Station and the perpetrators had
got away with
weapons, police uniforms and handcuffs. To be able to find
out what else was
happening in the country was a real mission. I have
begun to understand how
easy it is to bury your head in the sand in
Zimbabwe if you want to;
accessing information is not at all easy:
independent newspapers only coming
out once a week, independent radio
stations that are jammed and just
incessant propaganda everywhere else.
In the week that I have been in the
dark and quiet there has apparently
been a 200 strong MDC leadership protest
march to parliament and trade
unions are calling for stay aways on Wednesday
the 13th September. Perhaps
yet more rites of passage are looming for
Zimbabweans.
I apologise for having been unable to reply to any of the
emails that have
come from all over the world but am humbled and most
grateful. Your
messages of love, concern and support have kept me sane and
given me the
strength and courage to try and carry on. There were many people
involved
in helping me get to the point where I could actually write and send
my
letter this week and I thank you all for your kindness, patience and
help.
Special thanks to my Mum and Sis who managed to make me laugh every
day
and who have put their lives on hold to help me get mine back in
order.
Until next time, with love, cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 9th
September 2006
VOA
By Blessing Zulu and Patience Rusere
Washington
08 September 2006
Authorities in Harare have
placed senior officials of the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions under
intense surveillance ahead of protests the labor
organization has called for
on Wednesday across the nation to protest
plummeting living
standards.
Police have warned the ZCTU against holding demonstrations
without
permission. The trade union said it had notified authorities of
plans, but
received no response.
Chief Police Superintendent Oliver
Mandipaka of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
said authorities would not
tolerate illegal activities. President Robert
Mugabe has warned that
security forces would deal harshly with those
challenging his
rule.
Meanwhile, a Zimbabwe intelligence source said that the country's
Joint
Operations Command coordinating activities of the police, the army,
and the
Central Intelligence Organization, is divided on how to respond to
the
September 13 protests.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the
intelligence official said some
authorities are worried that crushing
demonstrations could result in
bloodshed, bringing international
intervention and encouraging Mugabe
government opponents to mount a campaign
of civil disobedience along lines
seen in the Ukraine in 2004.
The
ZCTU call for worker protests nationwide has been endorsed by the
European
Parliament, the International Confederation of Trade Unions and the
Congress
of South African Trade Unions.
For more on government surveillance of
union leaders and protest plans,
reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe spoke with ZCTU
Secretary General Wellington Chibhebhe, who
said his union plans protests in
35 cities and towns.
While a number
of civil society organizations have promised to join forces
with the ZCTU,
questions have arisen as to the intentions of the Movement
for Democratic
Change faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, a former trade
unionist
himself.
MDC sources said the party does not want to openly join the
protests, as
this might give the government an excuse to crack down on the
broad
opposition.
The Independent newspaper of Harare quoted
Tsvangirai faction spokesman
Nelson Chamisa as saying the MDC agenda is
broader than the bread-and-butter
issues the union is pressing with its call
to Zimbabwean workers to voice
economic grievances.
Reporter Patience
Rusere sought clarification from Chamisa on the MDC
stance.
Chibhebhe
declined to comment on the participation or non-participation of
the MDC.
But other labor officials said keeping the MDC at arm's length from
the
demonstrations is a strategic necessity, because Harare has told the
International Labor Organization it banned ZCTU protests in the past because
the union mixes labor and politics.
Elsewhere, police arrested eight
officials of the Zimbabwe National Students
Union in Harare where they were
planning participation in the ZCTU
demonstrations. Zinasu President Promise
Mkwananzi said police raided the
Harare hotel where the student leaders had
gathered for a strategy and
planning meeting.
An undetermined number
of student union officers were rounded up in
Bulawayo.
Those arrested
in Harare included Zinasu Secretary General Beloved Chiweshe.
Also taken
into custody in the capital were committee members Milward
Makwenjere,
Terence Chimavi, George Makoni, Farayi Magaza, Lawrence
Mashungo, Cleto
Majava and Gideon Chitanga, said Mkwananzi.
Attorney Tafadzwa Mugabe of
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,
representing the students, said they
are being charged with meeting to
promote acts of
violence.
Mkwananzi, absent from the hotel meeting when the arrests
occurred, told
Patience Rusere his organization is undaunted and will
proceed to join in
the protests.
Xinhua
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-09
20:47:20
HARARE, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The southern Zimbabwe was
hit by a
minor quake which shook buildings and rattled windows on Friday
afternoon,
probably caused by a blast rather than a geological fault, the
official
newspaper The Herald reported on Saturday.
The
tremor was felt in Khumalo, Paddonhurst and the Central
Business District of
Bulawayo, the country's second largest city at 2:54
p.m. (0054
GMT).
According to the meteorological department's Goetz
Observatory,the
monitoring station at Matopo recorded the tremor which
lasted about four
seconds. The epicenter and the magnitude of the quake
could not be
determined due to erratic signal from Matopo Seismic Station
due to power
cuts.
But the quake was not included on an
international magnitude four
or above which suggested strongly that it was
below that level, the
newspaper said.
The department of
meteorological services assume the shaking could
have been caused by a
blast.
Zimbabwe has been hit by several quakes from the
beginning of this
year. In February, a major earthquake hit South Africa,
Mozambique and
Zimbabwe. The quake was measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale
and was centered
on the north bank of Save River in Mozambique.
Enditem
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By Bill Saidi
THE headline on the
front page of The Herald one day this week, should
have read: JUSTICE
MINISTER ACQUITTED.
This would have captured the irony of the
story. CHINAMASA ACQUITTED,
the headline used by the paper, was hardly
riveting.It could have referred
to a story of the Minister of Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs being
acquitted of a charge of drunken driving or
tax evasion.
The sub-editor had clearly never heard of NO BAIL FOR
THE JUDGE.
If Chinamasa had been found guilty, would the paper have
used the
headline: JUSTICE MINISTER GUILTY?
My suspicion is
that they would probably have used the story at the
bottom of page seven,
next to a glossy advertisement for condensed milk.
Patrick
Chinamasa's charge arose out of an incident during campaigning
for a Zanu PF
election in Makoni district.
Both Chinamasa and Didymus Mutasa, the
Minister of National Security,
have been pilloried as the "warlords" of the
district.
Chinamasa holds a key portfolio: justice. Here he was
being charged in
a court of law which, eventually, is answerable to his
ministry.
The magistrate who eventually acquitted Chinamasa had not
started
presiding over the case. Others, including prosecutors, had
withdrawn from
the case. Although their reasons were put in so many words,
one word would
have summed them up: fear.
Both politicians
typify the cronyism of Zanu PF. Mutasa had a running
battle, a few years
ago, with the then editor of government-owned Sunday
Mail newspaper, the
late Charles Chikerema, as feisty a Zanu PF member as
Mutasa himself,
although he was not your typical war veteran.
Chikerema was fond of
speaking bluntly on anything he felt strongly
about: he felt very strongly
about Mutasa's views. Their encounter, in the
columns of the paper, was
explosive, as Mutasa too is given to calling a
spade a spade.
Mutasa has always raised hackles with a number of other people,
including
Members of Parliament. When he was Speaker, he spoke of some of
them,
publicly, as "unwitty", which some of them translated as "dumb".
There was speculation that when he relinquished the Speaker's chair,
there
was much merriment among a good number of MPs.
Mutasa is, of course, a
big wheel in Zanu PF. Some people might
describe him as a crony of President
Robert Mugabe. Others might describe
him simply as a "good friend" of the
president, rather than a crony.
For some people, "crony" has a
certain undesirable connotation.
"Cronyism" is thus considered a
particularly obnoxious form of political
alliance. It suggests something
bordering on political gangsterism, a league
of politicians who will stick
by each other, no matter what.
Chinamasa does not have the
political pedigree that Mutasa possesses.
He is a sort of "Johnny come
lately". Yet he too has a history of
blunt-speaking worth
recalling.
At the height of the set-to between the Judiciary and
the Executive
over the land invasions, Chinamasa was clearly the president's
flag-bearer
or trouble-shooter, leading the campaign to change the face of
The Bench for
all time.
Many insiders have suggested that
Chinamasa's piece de resistance in
that campaign was the forced retirement
of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay and
his eventual replacement by Godfrey
Chidyausiku, under whose guidance The
Bench has achieved a political
correctness which some allege is compatible
with Zanu PF's dubious
commitment to both the rule of law and genuine
political
pluralism.
The events leading to Chinamasa's case are not
complimentary of him as
a politician or of Mutasa as a politician. The turf
fighting in Makoni had
all the elements of political brawls recalling the
early days of the
internecine war between Zapu and Zanu after the split in
1963.
For many analysts who cherish the ideal of clean political
campaigning, Chinamasa ought to have resigned as a cabinet minister once he
had been charged.
Certainly, Charles Chikerema - may his soul
rest in peace - might have
called for Mutasa's resignation once his name had
been dragged into the mud
in the same case.
We can only imagine how
Mutasa would have responded to such a call.
Most Zimbabweans now
accept that our politicians feel no obligation to
explain themselves or even
to purge themselves of guilt, in public. They now
belong to an elite class,
which can get away with almost anything.
This cronyism can be best
exemplified in the two cases of Dzikamai
Mavhaire and Jonathan Moyo. The
former was an outspoken critic of Mugabe,
calling publicly for him not to
hang on to power indefinitely. At the time,
Mavhaire belonged to what was
secretly called the Eddison Zvobgo camp in
Masvingo province. In reality,
there were two political warlords in the
province, Zvobgo himserlf, and the
late Simon Muzenda.
Mavhaire was given short shrift by Mugabe for
his presumptuous
declaration against political leaders who believed they had
a divine right
to occupy their positions in perpetuity.
Outside
the cronyism created by his membership of Zanu PF, Mavhaire
found himself an
outcast. To achieve the rehabilitation that resulted in his
inclusion among
the Zanu PF beneficiaries of the ill-conceived Senate,
Mavhaire must have
had to eat crow.
How Jonathan Moyo, whose transgression was almost
equivalent to
Mavhaire's, bounced back as an elected MP, after his
Tsholotsho debacle, can
be understood only in the context of the
constituency.
If it had been anywhere but Matabeleland, he probably
would not have
survived. .
Moyo may yet pay a high price for
defying the cronyism that had
initially made him the darling of the party
which, as a political columnist,
he had rubbished in very colourful language
in a number of independent
journals.
Zanu PF's cronyism has
blighted politics in Zimbabwe and almost ruined
any chance of good
governance.
The events in Harare, triggered by the presence at the
head of the
capital's administration of Sekesayi Makwavarara, are a shameful
example of
how deeply cronyism can infect an entire city. If Zanu PF's
higher echelons
were capable of shame at all, they would long ago have put a
stop to this
scandal.
For many citizens who were once proud of
our independence, this circus
at the Harare Town House is an example of how
Zanu PF has soiled and
corrupted what was once a proud moment for all
Zimbabweans - 18 April 1980.
Edgar Tekere knows the curse of
cronyism at first-hand. Even after he
had allegedly confessed the error of
his ways and asked for forgiveness,
Zanu PF did not take him back, not
without putting him through the
equivalent of a meat grinder.
Tekere is a stubborn man and may have told his former colleagues that
what
they were asking him to do was beneath his dignity.
Personally, I think
Tekere ought to leave well alone, unless he is
prepared to eat humble pie
after humble pie before he is admitted back into
the party.
The
cronyism in Zanu PF could be responsible, not only for the party's
filthy
record of misgovernance, but also on its failure to accept that
Mugabe can
be replaced as leader, without risking a bloodbath among the rank
and
file.
Muzenda once warned that an open contest for the plum job,
could lead
to bloody fighting. For that reason, he was suggesting - wasn't
he? - that
Mugabe should be allowed to work out his own retirement
plan.
Or was his suggesting that Mugabe name his own successor who
should
then be endorsed by the politburo and the central committee?
Zanu PF is, of course, as different from the British Labour Party as
night
is from day. Mugabe would never stand idly by while members of his
party
resigned in protest at his insistence on staying in power until,
kingdom
come - even with the majority of his party members being convinced
that he
had failed, not only his party, but even his country?
Mugabe might
not have an "Iraqi" element in his failure as leader of
this country, but he
certainly is blamed for the tragic state of the
economy.
An
admission by the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David
Parirenyatwa, that child malnutrition is once again on the increase, is the
latest indictment of Mugabe's reign.
Another is the accusation by
Parirenyatwa's deputy, Edwin Muguti that
the National Aids Council has
failed to account for much of the money given
to it to help people infected
and affected by HIV/Aids.
They have spent most of the money on seminars
and workshops and
expensive vehicles for themselves - not on
ARVs.
That not one of the NAC officials has been jailed for
embezzling its
funds must point again to the curse of cronyism.
They have friends in high places.
Zanu PF has, among its leaders,
people who know what is wrong. They
know the party has let down the people
very, very badly indeed, and ought to
make way for others to show their
mettle.
What they need now is to accept that cronyism has been tragic
for
Zimbabwe, if not for Zanu PF.
Mugabe may not be Blair, but
even he can be told to his face that it
is time to go.
Washington Post
By MICHAEL
ASTOR
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 9, 2006; 5:01 AM
RIO
DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Everyone meeting in Rio this weekend wants to
expand
trade between rich and poor nations, but no one appears ready to do
what it
takes to make it a reality.
Trade ministers from 21 developing countries
gathered with representatives
from the United States, Japan and the European
Union for two days of talks
starting Saturday.
The G-20 meeting is
the first since five years of World Trade Organization
negotiations, known
as the Doha Round, ground to a halt in July. And so far
there is no sign
positions have softened.
Developing nations are demanding greater market
access for their
agricultural products while developed nations complain of
barriers in
emerging markets for their industrialized goods and
services.
"There is not a great deal of room to maneuver and even if
there was some
kind of motion toward talks, the mood in Washington is highly
skeptical of
trade agreements that are more than sub-regional," said Roett
Riordan,
director of Western Hemisphere studies at Johns Hopkins
University.
Riordan said powerful farm lobbies in the U.S. and European
Union were
unlikely to allow politicians to reduce the agricultural
subsidies and
tariff barriers on agricultural products that the developing
countries were
demanding.
And developing nations appear unprepared to
give in until that happens.
"The Doha talks broke down because of the
failure of rich countries to live
up to their promises to cut agricultural
subsidies and open markets. They
will only start again if rich countries
resolve to improve their offers and
change the way they negotiate," said Amy
Barry, spokeswoman for the
non-governmental organization
Oxfam.
Still, the presence of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab,
E.U. Trade
Commissioner Peter Mandelson, WTO chief Pascal Lamy and Japanese
Agriculture
Minister Shoichi Nakagawa underlined the importance developed
countries
placed on these talks.
And U.S. representatives remained
optimistic of the possibility of progress.
"I am actively seeking a new
way forward for the Doha Round," Schwab said in
statement. "We need to add
new voices to this dialogue and find open-minded
trading partners that share
the goal of an ambitious round."
Analysts said the most that might be
expected from the session would be a
call for a fresh round of bargaining
for the 149-member WTO.
The trade talks, named after the Qatari capital
of Doha where they were
started in 2001, are aimed at lowering trade
barriers around the world.
Supporters say a successful round will boost
the global economy and lift
poor countries out of misery. But opponents
contend a binding WTO trade
treaty will simply reap more profits for
multinational companies while
virtually enslaving workers in developing
nations.
The entire process is rapidly running out of time because
President Bush's
authority to "fast track" the trade deal expires in
mid-2007. The fast-track
mechanism enables U.S. envoys to negotiate an
agreement that can be
submitted to Congress for a yes-or-no vote without
amendments.
The G-20, formed in 2003, includes Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, China,
Cuba, Egypt, the Philippines, Guatemala, India,
Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand,
Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and
Zimbabwe.
From The Church Times (UK), 8 September
By Pat Ashworth
The Bishop of
Harare, the Rt Revd Nolbert Kunonga, has decreed that all the
Anglican
churches in the diocese are to be closed on Sunday 10 September to
celebrate
his 33rd wedding anniversary. He has told everyone to be at the
National
Sports Centre in Harare on that day, when those attending will be
expected
to present him and Mrs Kunonga with gifts. The Mothers' Union has
been told
to provide large quantities of food and drink. The function will
incorporate
the launch of a fund-raising campaign for the Bishop Gaul
Theological
College. The appeal will be made by a "building committee",
appointed by
Bishop Kunonga. Priests will announce publicly what has been
donated by each
parish. Bob Stumbles, chancellor of the diocese and deputy
chancellor of the
province of Central Africa, writes: "There is no doubt
that the Bishop Gaul
Theological College is in need of funding, and has been
for some time. A
previous fund-raising exercise for the College during the
Bishop's
chairmanship of the board unfortunately led to allegations that not
all the
monies collected were accounted for." Mr Stumbles says that what the
Bishop
has ordered is "tantamount to a breach of his promise to comply with
the
canons, acts, and other laws of the Church. Dutiful devotions and
obedience
to the Church and its laws seem to have been cast aside in the
interests of
personal magnification. Who is going to be centre-stage at the
National
Sports Centre - God, or man?" he asks.
Bishop Gaul Theological
College was established to train students from
Zimbabwe for ordination as
Anglican priests, and, until recently, the
bishops of all the Anglican
dioceses in Zimbabwe were ex officio members of
the board of governors.
"Bishop Kunonga carried out an unlawful purge,
dissolving and dismissing
members of boards, committees and institutions who
had been elected in terms
of the laws of the Church, and replacing them with
persons of his own
choice," said Mr Stumbles. He understands that, as a
result of these
changes, three dioceses in Zimbabwe have removed students or
stopped sending
them to the College. "In these circumstances, perhaps
consideration should
be given to resolving the question of control of Gaul
House first, before
raising funds for a College whose objectives are being
thwarted," he said.
"Furthermore, by reportedly ordaining as priests a
number of theologically
untrained, unqualified priests, Bishop Kunonga seems
to be signalling that
the existence of the College is no longer essential.
And he has exceeded his
authority by dismissing, without a hearing, about 30
priests from the
diocese."
