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Former Raffingora farmer,
Keith Nicolson, killed
MAZVIKADEI – BANKET – 14 SEPTEMBER 2011
Keith Nicolson, who farmed previously in
Raffingora and then in the DRC and Zambia before returning recently to
Zimbabwe to retire, was shot and killed in the Banket district while trying
to rescue a neighbour who had been abducted by four heavily armed men on
Tuesday.
The group gained entry through the security boom into
the Gold Dust Village at Mazvikadei Dam under false pretences. They then
proceeded to the house of local garage owner Mr Tim Morgan where they again
gained access to the house on the pretence of wanting to visit one of the
gardeners employed by the Morgans. They then tied up all the staff and
ransacked the house but could not find any money.
When Mr and
Mrs Morgan returned in the evening they were ambushed and tied up. They then
took Mr Morgan back to his garage in his Toyota twincab. At this stage Mrs
Morgan was able to alert neighbours in the village, Messrs Henry Allam,
Keith Nicolson and other unnamed persons who followed the stolen vehicle in
which the kidnapped garage owner was being driven away in.
They
followed it down the Raffingora Road for some distance but once the
occupants of the vehicle noticed they were being followed they stopped and
turned the vehicle around to shine the lights onto the vehicle following
them. They then fired many rounds at the vehicle forcing it off the road and
for the occupants to take cover. There was an ensuing gun battle as
occupants of the other vehicle also fired back. The time was now 9.30
pm.
Three of the group then ran into the bush away from the
vehicle so Mr Keith Nicolson, thinking that everyone had run from the
vehicle, rushed forward to release the hostage, Mr Morgan. However, he was
immediately shot dead by a fourth attacker who was still in the vehicle, who
subsequently ran away. Mr Morgan managed to flee the vehicle uninjured and
the vehicle was abandoned and henceforth recovered.
The armed
gang was believed to have subsequently been collected and driven away in
another vehicle, the registration details of which are apparently
available.
The deceased, Mr Keith Nicolson, had recently
returned to Mazvikadei to retire.
ZANU PF’s politburo was set for a tense meeting on
Wednesday, with the party’s main decision making body expected to come under
pressure to punish those officials implicated in the WikiLeaks
scandal.
The whistle-blowing group has recently released a number of
confidential diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Harare. The cables
have revealed, among other things, the discontent among many top ZANU PF
members over Robert Mugabe’s grip on power, as well as the poor state of the
ageing leader’s health. These details surfaced during private meetings with
US officials over recent years.
The information is said to have
caused turmoil in the party, which has already been fending off rumours of
serious infighting and Mugabe’s battle with prostate cancer. It’s now
understood that Wednesday’s politburo meeting would see a group of officials
calling for the ouster of the ZANU PF officials exposed in the leaked
diplomatic cables, as punishment.
Sources have told SW Radio Africa that
the group is led by ZANU PF Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa,
Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo, party spokesman Rugare Gumbo and Political
Commissar Webster Shamu. They are believed to be pushing for the party to
either expel or suspend the senior officials quoted in the
cables.
Mutasa is quoted by the Daily News newspaper as saying that
Wednesday’s meeting should confront the officials, who he described as ‘sell
outs’ who must be punished, saying if anyone breaches the ZANU PF
constitution, they “must be brought before a disciplinary
committee.”
Mutasa was also quoted by the state media as saying that the
officials implicated “should go through normal disciplinary procedures of
the party and if anyone is found guilty of having sold out he must be
punished accordingly.”
“If some party members were punished in the
past for selling out, the same should happen to those implicated in the
WikiLeaks," he added.
Some of the officials implicated include including
Vice Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo, Defense Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa, Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and the party’s spin-doctor
Jonathan Moyo.
Political analyst and former Zimbabwean diplomat Clifford
Mashiri told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that it is unlikely that the
officials implicated in the WikiLeaks revelations will avoid some form of
punishment.
“There is no way that ZANU PF will fail to punish people. I
think they will either suspend people or expel people. But some action will
be taken,” Mashiri said.
Mashiri explained however that the party
will need to be “analytical” with how it decides who to punish and who to
absolve. He explained that according to the country’s laws, some of the
revelations will be viewed as treasonous, while some other comments are just
personal opinion.
“ZANU PF is the master of double standards so we will
wait and see how this plays out,” Mashiri said.
By Thelma Chikwanha and Chengetai Zvauya Wednesday, 14
September 2011 10:19
HARARE - A bloodbath is expected today when
embattled President Robert Mugabe meets “sell outs” masquerading as top Zanu
PF officials for the first time since last week’s explosive WikiLeaks which
revealed that his “close” associates want him out.
A devastated
Mugabe is said to be seething with anger that he ended up confiding his
anger with “arch enemy”, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai saying he felt
betrayed by his people even those in his presidium some of whom sought
assistance from the US authorities to find ways to push the 87-year-old
leader from power.
But sources yesterday that Mugabe is facing a dilemma
as those exposed as “regime change merchants” in Zanu PF hold powerful
positions in the party.
But Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus
Mutasa, who has an input on the agenda of politburo meetings, told the
Daily News that today’s meeting should confront those exposed of working for
Mugabe’s ouster.
Mutasa wants disciplinary action for everyone who shared
Zanu PF secrets with United States officials as shown in the diplomatic
cables leaked by whistle-blowing website, WikiLeaks.
“The issue must
be discussed in the party if the people want that. I am not the one who
wrote the Zanu PF constitution. If one has breached it, he must be brought
before a disciplinary committee.
“This is democracy. I believe in
democracy and let’s discuss this issue. I addressed this issue in Mutare
last week at our party meeting and our supporters agreed with it,’’ said
Mutasa.
Mutasa described the senior Zanu PF members mentioned in the
WikiLeaks as “sell-outs” who must be punished. “Those implicated should
go through normal disciplinary procedures of the party and if anyone is
found guilty of having sold out he must be punished accordingly,’’ said
Mutasa to the state media.
“If some party members were punished in the
past for selling out, the same should happen to those implicated in the
WikiLeaks," he added.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo also shares the
same sentiments with Mutasa describing the WikiLeaks revelations implicating
senior party members as disappointing.
He said Zanu PF needed to dig
deep into the issue.
Gumbo warned the nation to brace for more
leakages.
Politburo members mentioned in WikiLeaks for either plotting
the “Mugabe must go” campaign or who were implicated by association are Vice
Presidents Joyce Mujuru and John Nkomo, Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere,
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Dzikamai Mavhaire, Cephas Msipa and Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
The politburo members take advantage of Mugabe’s advanced age
and manipulate him through lies and deception while behind his back, they
organise plots to fast-track his removal from power.
All the “sell
outs” in the politburo are at the forefront of praise-singing Mugabe to
hoodwink him into believing they are working together.
The leaked US
cables laid bare the fact that Zanu PF, like most Zimbabweans and the rest
of the world, no longer want Mugabe.
Mujuru, who is gunning to replace
Mugabe, held a secret meeting with US ambassador Charles Ray at an obscure
location at a time when she was acting president.
According to the
cables, Mujuru wanted the meeting to be “private and confidential” and even
requested for more such clandestine meetings.
“Turning to politics,
Mujuru said the Zanu PF old guard was giving way to ‘young blood.’ She
noted that she (55 years old) and new party chair Simon Khaya Moyo (64 years
old) are on the younger side and form one half of the Zanu PF presidium
(along with Mugabe and new vice president John Nkomo). The presidium would
be together for five years. Mujuru concluded, ‘Let’s work together,” Ray
quoted Mujuru as saying.
Vice President John Nkomo is alleged to have
confided in the late politburo member Edson Zvobgo in 2003 that the
country’s economic woes could be solved once Mugabe was removed from
power.
In the leaked US diplomatic cables Kasukuwere, who was described
as “dangerous and with a potential to be a thug”, reveals that he also
wanted Mugabe out.
“He also stated that President Robert Mugabe and
his cronies must be phased out of their leadership role and some in his
party had proposed that the two vice presidents (the late Simon Muzenda and
Joseph Msika) should step down as a first step,” wrote former US ambassador
Tom McDonald after his meeting with Kasukuwere in 2000.
Moyo, whom US
officials say is a useful messenger for extracting data from Zanu PF told US
ambassador that Mugabe had throat cancer. He even gave advice on how to
infiltrate Zanu PF to weaken Mugabe so that he can be pushed out.
The
serial flip-flopper, who is now suing the Daily News for stories published
from the leaked cables defended his position saying that he was in political
wilderness and was not a member of Zanu PF.
Moyo however, admits that the
WikiLeaks are a blessing in disguise. He confirmed that his plots on Mugabe
were true as reported in WikiLeaks.
Moyo would at times initiate meetings
with US officials whenever he had fresh information.
The US
diplomatic cables also revealed how Moyo and defence Minister Mnangagwa
plotted a break-away from Zanu PF.
The defence minister, Mavhaire, Msipa
and Sikhanyiso Ndlovu all confirmed in different cables that Mugabe had to
go.
The trial of former Highfields MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, plus five
others accused of plotting to overthrow the Mugabe regime, finally got
underway in Harare on Wednesday, after at least four delays caused by the
state. Hopewell Gumbo, one of activists on trial in the controversial case,
told SW Radio Africa that they pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“We
also notified the court that we intended to apply for a discharge and
removal from remand,” Gumbo explained.
He said this was because the
state changed the original ‘treason’ charges but did not amend their case
outline presented to the court. But the judge ruled that all these issues
can be addressed within the context of the trial and proceeded to call
witnesses.
The activists were arrested in February this year when police
disrupted a meeting where a group of about 50 had gathered to watch and
discuss video footage of anti government protests in Egypt and
Tunisia. The others accused were later released for lack of evidence. Those
still facing charges include Gumbo, Gwisai (who leads the International
Socialist Organisation) Antoneta Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma
and Welcome Zimuto.
“The first witness was actually arrested along
with us, brutalized by the police and assaulted, but was later turned into a
state witness”, Gumbo said after the hearing. More witnesses are scheduled
to testify on Thursday.
Last week the trial was postponed after the judge
failed to show up. It was the fourth time the trial had been delayed, with
the state changing the initial charges at one point and then submitting more
evidence on another occasion. Lawyers for the activists have said the state
was attempting to frustrate them.
Harare, September 14, 2011 - Chief
Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has summoned lawyers representing the feuding
Anglican Church factions to a meeting scheduled for
Wednesday.
Chidyausiku on Tuesday ordered lawyers representing the Bishop
Chad Gandiya-led Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) and those
aligned to ex-communicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga to report to his
chambers at 12:00 on Wednesday.
Although the agenda of the meeting
was not clear, informed sources indicated that Chidyausiku wanted to engage
the lawyers over the church feud which escalated following a ruling which he
delivered last month in favour of Kunonga and giving him custody and
entitlement to some Anglican church property.
“Please be advised that
the Honourable Chief Justice will see the parties’ legal practitioners at
12:00 noon on Wednesday 14th September 2011,” reads part of the brief letter
written by Supreme Court Registrar, Nomonde Mazabane.
The summoning
of the lawyers representing the two Anglican factions has prompted the
rescheduling of a hearing of an urgent chamber application from 12:00 to
14:00 PM on Wednesday, filed by rights group, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights challenging the Writ of Ejectment issued in favour of Kunonga’s
faction and which he has relied upon to evict Priests and administrators
loyal to Gandiya.
In August, the Chief Justice ruled that while he
reinstated the appeal filed by the CPCA, he categorically stated that ‘the
appeal shall not suspend the operation of the order’ giving the
ex-communicated Kunonga full custody of Anglican properties, yet the Zanu
(PF) sympathiser had left the Anglican Church voluntarily to form his own
Province of Zimbabwe.
Since the granting of the Supreme Court order,
members of the Anglican Church affiliated to Bishop Gandiya have been on the
receiving end and have received constant threats, harassment and lately
severe beatings from Kunonga’s hooligans, masquerading as clergy.
The
latest casualties were three care givers who were on Monday evicted from
Shearley Cripps Home, an orphanage in Murewa leaving more than 100 orphans
vulnerable.
Kunonga’s loyalists evicted the three Sisters, namely
Sister Dorothy, the Matron, Sister Plaxedes and Sister Anna Chitsura basing
their actions on a Writ of Ejectment, which they obtained on September, 12,
2011 after the ex-communicated Bishop caused the Registrar of the High Court
to issue it against the Bishop Gandiya led faction.
By Everson Mushava, Staff
Writer Wednesday, 14 September 2011 12:26
HARARE - Former
information minister and Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo has launched
a $100 000 lawsuit against the Daily News over stories exposing his support
for Western sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his inner
circle.
A representative of the Daily News said the paper stood by
its stories and would defend them in court.
Moyo’s lawsuit, the
second against the Daily News, comes as reports indicate that Zanu PF
officials want to use lawsuits to silence the country’s top and fearless
newspaper.
A decade ago, Moyo threatened to silence the Daily News and
hours later, its printing press was bombed.
The popular newspaper was
banned and only came back early this year, courtesy of Sadc initiatives to
form the inclusive government.
The stories, published on September 6 and
7, also showed Moyo telling United States diplomats that Mugabe had throat
cancer, before advising the diplomats how best to get Zanu PF stalwarts to
abandon the 87-year-old leader.
The Daily News sourced the stories
from confidential US diplomatic dispatches leaked by whistle-blower site,
WikiLeaks.
Moyo has since confirmed he indeed met the diplomats and that
contents of the leaked dispatches were all true.
In summons delivered
to the Daily News yesterday, Moyo is suing the writer of the articles,
Thelma Chikwanha, the Daily News editor Stanley Gama and the Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the Daily News.
The Daily
News has 10 working days to indicate its intention to defend the
suit.
Moyo argues that sections of the stories carried by the paper
were “wrongful, unlawful, false, scandalous and defamatory” as understood by
members of the public.
In one of the Daily News articles headlined
“Moyo’s plans to oust Mugabe”; the paper reported on September 6 that Moyo
“endorsed travel and economic sanctions imposed on Mugabe’s ruling elite by
the US and other Western countries to the extent that he even offered
suggestions on potential targets.”
In another article on September 7
headlined “Moyo advised US on Zanu PF sanctions list” published a day later,
the Daily News reported that; “Jonathan Moyo, who has been very vocal on the
contentious issue of sanctions, advised the US government on key Zanu PF
individuals he wanted placed on the restrictive measures.”
Moyo said
the literal sense of the publication would mean that he compiled and
supplied a list of Zanu PF members and requested that they be included on
the sanctions list.
He also said it meant that he supported the concept
of sanctions against Zimbabwe and placing of Mugabe under
sanctions.
Quoting the phrase, “potential targets”, Moyo said the
publication suggested that he played a big role in the “enlargement of the
sanctions list” by the inclusion of others.
Moyo further said the
articles suggested that he was dishonest, inhuman and a hypocrite who
criticised sanctions against Mugabe and yet behind Mugabe’s back, he
supported the measures.
“The articles and publications as aforesaid are
also scandalous, contrived and highly defamatory of Moyo as it is common
cause that to this day, Moyo and his family are not only on the said
sanctions list in particular, but have also been victims of the sanctions
regime in general,” reads part of the summons.
Moyo said the articles
distorted the truth and thus were very defamatory.
Justifying his $100
000 suit, Moyo said: “The Daily News commands a fairly wide, multi-sectoral
and multi-racial readership in the country and on the internet.”
Tourism players in Zimbabwe say 80 percent of bookings by
tourists have been cancelled because of a month long strike by Air Zimbabwe
pilots
The national carrier has not been flying since the end of July
due to a protracted wage strike by pilots.
The drop in tourist
arrivals would affect the southern African country's chances of achieving a
projected six percent growth this year.
In July, tourism authorities
reported a 16 percent increase in tourist arrivals for the first quarter of
2011.
Zimbabwe Council for Tourism president Emmanuel Fundira said there
has been a marked decline of tourists visiting the prime resort town of
Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls, which is the southern African
country’s drawcard for foreign tourists is losing its prime market share to
Zambia due to the absence of Air Zimbabwe.
A limited number of
tourists determined to view the Falls are resorting to using chartered
flights or flying via South Africa but these options are
expensive.
Tourists on small chartered flights with a capacity of 12
passengers fork out between US$4 000 and US$8 000 from Harare to Victoria
Falls while commercial planes charge up to US$600 per passenger via
Johannesburg.
Travelling by road is not an option for most tourists as it
is time consuming. It would require two travelling days.
Hotels in
Victoria Falls also been hit hard with low occupancy rates.
In his
mid-term fiscal policy statement Finance Minister Tendai Biti who indicated
that the tourism sector had registered growth during the first half of the
year, bemoaned the challenges facing the national airline saying they were
having a negative effect on the sector's growth.
With Air Zimbabwe
grounded, it is losing close to US$8 million per month to foreign airlines,
particularly South African Airways and Kenyan Airways which are servicing
the routes.
Meanwhile, striking Air Zimbabwe pilots risk having their
flying licenses revoked if they continue with their industrial
action.
′′An aviation expert said pilots were subjected to regular tests
to ensure that they were still capable of performing their
duties.
′′He said in most instances pilots’ licences are valid for six
months after which they have to undergo tests.
If, however, a pilot
has not flown for about 90 days, they will undergo a simulator test. ′′“At
the moment that equipment is not available in Zimbabwe.
”Pilots
operating long-haul planes will have to go to Ethiopia for testing while
operators of small aircraft go to South Africa,” the expert said.
Harare - Tourists have cancelled up to 80 per cent of their bookings
for Zimbabwe's landmark Victoria Falls resort since pilots with the national
carrier embarked on a strike at the end of July, media reported
Wednesday.
Zimbabwe was banking on 6-per-cent growth in its crucial
tourism sector this year. But the strike beginning July 29 means that it
'may not' register that figure, wrote the Herald newspaper, quoting industry
officials.
'The grounding of Air Zimbabwe planes has really affected the
flow of tourists to Victoria Falls as evidenced by the cancellation of
bookings,' said Emmanuel Fundira, the president of the Zimbabwe Council of
Tourism.
Victoria Falls, one of the world's largest waterfalls, is
situated on Zimbabwe's westernmost tip. It used to be the country's biggest
drawcard for foreign tourists but, at an estimated two-day drive from
Harare, air transport is essential to the resort.
Chartered flights
between Harare and Vic Falls - as the site is known by locals - cost up to
8,000 dollars for 12 passengers, massively pushing up the cost of a luxury
holiday.
Some tourists are resorting to flying out of Harare to
Johannesburg and from there to Victoria Falls, wrote the Herald. But that
too is expensive.
Pilots at the beleaguered Air Zimbabwe grounded planes
protesting at the non-payment of full salaries and allowances for June and
July.
Separate reports Wednesday suggested that the pilots have now been
out of action for so long that they may have to take tests to prove their
flying capabilities before being allowed back in the sky.
'The
situation is not good for the whole industry,' said an official with Rainbow
Tourism Group, Zimbabwe's second largest hospitality chain.
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will recall an
ambassador who has been accused of stripping down to her underclothes before
male embassy staff members, the Herald reported Wednesday.
Jacqueline
Zwambila, Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia, denies the charges and says
they are politically motivated.
But officials have now completed an
investigation into her conduct and the decision to recall her 'was reached
last month,' said the official newspaper.
Zwambila is from Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), which shares power with Mugabe's Zanu-PF in an uneasy 31-month-old
coalition.
'It (the decision) was communicated to the (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai so that he recommends another person to take up the posting. He
has however up to now not responded to that communication,' said the paper,
quoting high government sources.
Zwambila was accused of stripping in
front of male embassy staff loyal to Mugabe to punish them for leaking
information about her to an Australian-based columnist for Zimbabwe's
Herald, which is controlled by top Zanu-PF officials.
For an older
woman to remove her clothes in the presence of younger males is regarded as
an act of protest that is highly insulting in the local Shona
culture.
Zwambila is also accused of summoning her butler to her
bedroom to order a Coke, when she was dressed only in her
underclothes.
The ambassador's lawyers in Australia - where Zwambila has
launched a lawsuit against the columnist - say the accusations are
defamatory and that politics is 'at the heart of the case.'
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An
intensified push by Zimbabwe's government to force foreign-owned companies
to turn over majority stakes to locals is being seen as politicking ahead of
elections expected early next year and could end in a compromise to avoid a
return to economic chaos.
Ministers loyal to President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party have been ramping up calls for foreign companies to relinquish
control of 51 percent of their local operations to Zimbabweans, a move
analysts say is linked to drumming up votes.
The targeted companies
range from the local unit of Britain's Barclays to Zimplats, owned by South
Africa's Impala Platinum -- the world's no. 2 platinum producer.
At
stake are assets worth billions of dollars. The total value of Zimplats'
proven platinum resources and estimated reserves at current prices is around
$175 billion.
Investors and foreign companies are unsure if they will
be compensated if they give up the stakes. Even if compensation is offered,
many wonder how the government can afford it with foreign debt already at
115 percent of GDP.
"It is still uncertain whether the 51 percent
will be paid for. I have a lot of money to invest but unfortunately with the
current policy it will not happen," said one executive at a recent mining
conference in Harare.
Zimbabwe's Indigenisation & Economic
Empowerment act was signed into law in March 2008 before its last disputed
election and is now used by ZANU-PF to portray itself as fighting for the
interests of black Zimbabweans.
"It has been signed into law before but
never enforced. It has also been a legislation that interestingly has been
introduced during times of election campaigning. This time is no different,
as the Zimbabwean government is anticipating elections," said Mark
Schroeder, sub-Saharan Africa analyst at U.S. think-tank
Stratfor.
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere indicated a softening
of the government's hardline stance on Wednesday, saying progress had been
made in talks with mining firms and the ownership law could be waived in
some cases.
This change in tone is further evidence that the policy has
been politically driven.
"While Kasukuwere and Mugabe have both
talked tough on the issue, it is likely that in light of the recent
harrowing experience with hyperinflation and economic collapse, both will
seek to reach some compromise with local mining firms in order to avoid a
wholesale shutdown of the industry and risk a new bout of economic pain,"
said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah of DaMina Advisors in New York.
MURKY
POLITICS
Mugabe and long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime
minister, were forced into a fragile power-sharing government after the 2008
election and this has made formulating policy even more
difficult.
"In the murky world of Zimbabwe's coalition politics and the
even murkier faction-riddled ZANU-PF it is simply impossible to state with
any certainty what government policy really is," Tony Hawkins, Head of the
School of Business at the University of Zimbabwe, wrote in a recent opinion
article.
Analysts say if the policy is implemented in its current form,
Zimbabwe will fall back into economic chaos.
The economy has started
stabilising, showing solid growth since the formation of the unity
government after a decade of hyper-inflation, food shortages and
contraction.
But Zimbabwe remains one of the poorest countries in the
world. The CIA World Factbook ranks it in 224th place on GDP per capita out
of 227 countries in the world.
Hawkins says three-quarters of the
population live on less than $1.25 per day, unemployment is over 50 percent
and foreign debt arrears stand at 80 percent of GDP.
"Zimbabwe's
recovery depends on foreign investment, which is simply incompatible with
indigenisation, no matter how it is packaged," Hawkins said.
Analysts
said it was unlikely the empowerment plan would be implemented without
significant changes.
"At the end of the day I don't think that the
programme will be implemented in the radical way that it is being presented.
Even the craziest must know what damage it will do to the economy," said
Eldred Masunungure, political science professor at the University of
Zimbabwe.
*
Talks ongoing with companies * Government ministers tone down
comments * No licences cancelled * Investors still left in the
dark
By Nelson Banya and MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE,
Sept 14 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe ministers said the country would not suspend any
mining permits and that exceptions may be made to laws requiring foreign
miners to give majority stakes to locals, bringing relief but no clarity to a
policy that has alarmed investors. The remarks by the mines
minister and the empowerment minister at a mining conference come after most
foreign operators appear to have bowed to government pressure on
the issue, though details of deals struck remain clouded. The
recent empowerment law, signed in 2008, requires foreign miners to transfer
51 percent equity stakes in local entities to black investors. In August
several companies received letters directing them to submit new plans within
14 days or risk losing their licences. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu
told the conference in Harare that the government did not intend to cancel
any permits. "We have no intention of cancelling any licences. There
are some negotiations taking place with some parties. No licence has been
cancelled. We have no such intention," he said. While investors in
the country with world's second-largest platinum reserves may welcome the
comments, the abrupt change in tone will keep them guessing and reinforces
the impression that the policy has been ad-hoc and based on brinkmanship.
Companies that have felt the heat have included Zimplats , 87
percent-owned by Impala Platinum , the world's second-largest platinum
producer, and Canada's Caledonia Mining Corporation . Both have so
far survived threats to have their mining licences revoked for failure to
comply with the new ownership law.
The charm
offensive was maintained by Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who has
been the face of the mine ownership drive by President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF Party. "With the mining industry, we've had our running
battles, but now we've made tremendous progress," he said. "When
there are exceptional circumstances, we'll look at those circumstances in a
manner that allows our country to move forward. We are aware of the capital
requirements in mining; we are alive to those realities," he told the
conference. Analysts have maintained that those "capital
requirements" could force the government's hand. Impoverished Zimbabwe
simply has no money, private or public, to buy majority stakes in mining
operations, nor the cash to keep them running. Companies have said
they will not get a viable return on their investments in Zimbabwe if they do
not have majority stakes. The chief executive of Implats said in August that
"51 percent equity just does not work". Analysts also see the
law as a way for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to get badly needed funds ahead of
elections scheduled for next year. The stakes are extremely high.
Zimplats, for example, accounts for about 10 percent of Implats' roughly 1.8
million ounces of platinum production per year.
HARARE - Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu has strongly
contradicted claims by Youth and Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere
that government will be cancelling mining licences over the implementation
of the country’s indigenization law.
Speaking at a Zimbabwe Mining
Indaba on Wednesday, Mpofu said his Ministry has “no intention of cancelling
any licenses. There are some negotiations taking place with some parties. No
license has been cancelled. We have no such intentions.”
A
controversial indigenization law enacted in 2008 but only being more
forcefully implemented now, requires multi-national companies to sell a 51%
stake in local assets to designated black-owned entities. Critics say just
like the land grab campaign, the new exercise is another formalised
looting.
While investors in the country with world’s second-largest
platinum reserves may welcome the comments, the abrupt change in tone will
keep them guessing and reinforces the impression that the policy has been
ad-hoc and based on brinkmanship.
Companies that have felt the heat
have included Zimplats, 87 percent-owned by Impala Platinum, the world’s
second-largest platinum producer, and Canada’s Caledonia Mining Corporation.
Both have so far survived threats to have their mining licences revoked for
failure to comply with the new ownership law.
Kasukuwere who has been
leading a drive to force foreign miners to give 51 percent stakes to locals,
told a mining conference on Wednesday the law could be waived.
"When
there are exceptional circumstances, we'll look at those circumstances in a
manner that allows our country to move forward. We are aware of the capital
requirements in mining, we are alive to those realities," Empowerment
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said.
By Chengetai Zvauya, Senior Writer Wednesday, 14
September 2011 10:58
HARARE - Members of Parliament have defied a
Cabinet directive that parliamentary public hearings of various portfolio
committees be stopped.
This was after Justice and Legal Affairs
Minister Patrick Chinamasa informed parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders
Committee (SROC) that cabinet had decided to push Parliament to stop public
hearings.
Public hearings are meetings where citizens are given a chance
to input into proposed legislation.
Douglas Mwonzora, chairman of the
Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs told the Daily News that his committee had agreed with
SROC members to disregard the Cabinet directive.
“But we as MPs and
together with the Standing Rules and Orders Committee members did object to
that because we feel that we must not treat these legal bills differently.
There is need for consistency in the ways our laws are made,” said
Mwonzora.
“We are of the opinion that we cannot treat laws differently.
We have subjected the Zimbabwe Human Rights Bill and Public Order and
Security Act (Posa) to public hearings so it must follow that all proposed
laws like Electoral Amendments Bill there will be a public hearing as well,”
said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora said they were going to announce to the
public tomorrow (Thursday) the days and venues for public hearings of the
Electoral Amendments Act.
The amendments to the Electoral Act are meant
to push for free and fair elections.
“As legislators, we feel that it
is our duty of making laws and the executive and Cabinet is there to
implement the laws. This is the separation of powers captured in our
constitution. We must exercise it and this is why we have turned down the
cabinet directive,” said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora said they had resolved that
they would engage the police and political parties to maintain law and order
during the public hearings. Public hearings have in the past been disrupted
by violent political activists.
“We don’t want a repeat of what
happened two months ago during the public hearings of the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Bill,” said Mwonzora.
Rowdy Zanu PF supporters violently disrupted
public hearings for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Bill in various provinces,
including Harare in July.
Ailing Higher Education Minister Stan Mudenge has been
dragged to the labour court by Gweru Teachers College lecturers over unpaid
salaries and allowances. College principal Florence Dube has also been cited
as a respondent. 14.09.1110:25am by Brenna Matendere
Munyati
According to court papers, the lecturers, represented by
Gweru lawyer Walter Chikanda, say the Higher Education ministry and the
college principal owe them $1 082 each.
In July the lecturers staged
a six-day sit-in to push for payment of their allowances in line with
recommendations by the ministry. But instead they were punished by having
their salaries cut off.
In December 2009, the ministry introduced a 30%
staff retention allowance in a bid to retain staff following a massive
exodus the previous year.
The circular stateted that lecturers and staff
in Grade C would get $100 while support staff in Grade A and B would get $75
per month. The lecturers are back at work awaiting a ruling on their
application.
The urban elite who control most of Zimbabwe’s business
interests have not been spared President Robert Mugabe’s anti-white rhetoric
and many are expressing deep concern over recent threats made by Mugabe and
his cabal. 14.09.1101:13pm by Chief Reporter
For the past few
months, business owners have watched with increasing nervousness as foreign
firms have been made the scapegoat for Zimbabwe's economic failings, being
described as colonial thieves and enemies of the state.
In his speech
at the Zanu (PF) election manifesto release, Mugabe targeted white
businessmen as "the enemies who despise us". He referred to them as
“mabhunu”, a derogatory Shona word akin to calling a black man a
“kaffir".
Mugabe said they must tell their governments to remove
"sanctions" or risk losing their investments here. The majority of business
owners, however, are white Zimbabweans with no connections to foreign
governments.
Sitting around a green-baize card table in the Harare Club,
an establishment founded in 1893, six high ranking business men said they
could find little cause for optimism.
Mike, an industrialist who,
like his friends, has lived in Zimbabwe for more than 30 years, was certain
about the ultimate intention of Mugabe and his "band of
gangsters".
"This is the start of the ethnic cleansing. The white farmers
were an easy target because of the land issue, but we will be next. I have
lived here for 34 years and never actively considered leaving. Now I am
thinking about it for the first time. There will be nothing left for me if
they take my firm."
The men discussed their options if Mugabe followed
through on his threats, admitting that they were "financial captives" whose
savings would amount to almost nothing if they were to emigrate to Britain
or South Africa.
Matthew, a textile businessman and engineer, said his
family would have a low standard of living if they were to move to
Britain.
Charles, who worked with Mugabe's government in the eighties,
compared the president to a petulant child who was prepared to destroy the
country simply to deny it to others.
"He has turned vicious because
all the things he wanted to be, he is not. He wanted to be the leader of a
successful African country striding the world stage."
The men agreed
that things were close to getting out of control. John said: "I think we all
thought Mugabe would go so far and then put a lid on it, but this Kasukuwere
chap (the minister of Indigenisation) is grinning his way through Zimbabwe's
Kristallnacht. He is going to see to it that the whites get 'what's coming
to them'."
While Martin, a former British civil servant who worked for
Ian Smith's Rhodesian government, reckoned it was time to send in United
Nations peacekeepers, Charles, who was once an admirer of Mugabe,
disagreed.
Instead, Zimbabwe's problems must be "sorted out internally"
at the next polls. Mugabe has already rejected EU and British observers.
Whether Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who wants an exclusive MDC
government, is the man for the job is yet to be seen, but, Charles added: "I
wouldn't care if the man had two heads, anything is better than what we have
now."
Chief Cleopas Suku of Bulilima district in
Matabeleland South has pleaded with villagers in his ward to vote for Zanu
(PF) to avoid him losing his government truck. 14.09.1101:15pm by
Zwanai Sithole Harare
The chief shocked villagers during a ward
development meeting held at Nata business centre last week when he
threatened his subjects with unspecified action if they voted for the Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led MDC.
The meeting, which was organised by a
local non governmental organisation, Matabeleland Draught Alleviation Trust
was turned into a political rally by the chief.
“MDAT had called the
meeting to prepare for the coming rainy season. We always give a chief an
opportunity to address his subjects on issues related to the agenda
of
the day. On this day the chief started by politicising the meeting and
begged villagers to vote for Zanu (PF) during the forthcoming elections. The
chief said he did not want to lose his truck and his monthly allowances if
MDC happened to win the elections,” said the coordinator of MDAT who refused
to be named for fear of victimisation.
The coordinator said the
traditional leader threatened to banish suspected MDC supporters from the
area if Zanu (PF) lost the next election.
“During the meeting the chief
even bragged that he had a list of all MDC supporters in the area. He said
he had no problem with his subjects supporting Zapu or the Welshman Ncube
led MDC but not MDC –T.”
Last month finance Minister, Tendai Biti snubbed
a meeting organised by the chief’s council to review upwards the perks and
allowances of traditional leaders. Traditional leaders in Zimbabwe have been
accused of being an appendage of Zanu (PF). The president of the chief’s
council, Fortune Charumbira, has on numerous occasions openly admitted the
chiefs’ allegiance to the former ruling party.
A Dangamvura primary school teacher, who was
dragged from her classroom by the police on Monday, said she is being
accussed of distributing political pamphlets to school children.
46
year-old Eusebia Chikonyora, a Grade 7 teacher, told SW Radio Africa from
Mutare on Wednesday that she “vehemently” denies the allegations and
considers them to be nonsense.
“I vehemently deny these astonishing
claims, which are nothing but a figment of their imagination,” Chikonyora
said, describing as ‘absurd’ the claims that she distributed the ‘MDC-T
fliers’ in August, despite the school children being on
holiday.
Chikonyora said she had never felt so humiliated in her life
when she was arrested and led away by the police in full view of other staff
members and school children, knowing too well she had doing nothing
wrong.
An informant had allegedly told the police Chikonyora had been
seen distributing MDC-T materials to school children in the eastern border
city.
“The month of August is a school holiday in Zimbabwe and my husband
or family can vouch that I spent most of the time at home. I challenged the
police to tell me who their source was but they refused,” Chikonyora
said.
She added: “I strongly believe the police wanted to victimise me
because of the simple reason that I do not share their political views. Its
a smear campaign by some people to try and have me removed from the school I
teach.”
Her fears were confirmed when a female police officer, an
Inspector Marume tried to lecture her on politics, saying there was good
reason for the government to transfer her from Dangamvura to ‘the back of
beyond.’(rural areas).
“Inspector Marume told me she had the powers
to throw me deep into the rural areas where ZANU PF people will be waiting
to demonstrate against me so that I’ll be forced to resign from the civil
service. Of course I knew it was a lie because she does not have the powers
or authority to move me anyway as I’m employed by the Public Service
Commission,” she added.
Workers at the Cold Storage Commission branch
here have gone for the past two years and eight months without a salary due
to viability and alleged mismanagement problems. 14.09.1109:26am by
Jane Makoni
The branch employs 62 workers and 54 of them signed a
petition which was forwarded to the company headquarters in Bulawayo last
week, demanding immediate investigations into the way the branch was being
run by manager, Zvayitwa.
“As workers we said enough was enough and
it was high time CSC put the Marondera Branch in order. We work for nothing.
Imagine the plight of the worker given that children school fees, medical
expenses, food, clothing, accommodation, electricity and water bills have to
be met,” said a disgruntled worker on condition of anonymity.
Sources
at the company said corruption and mismanagement could be at the centre of
failure by the CSC branch to pay workers their dues.
Meanwhile, workers
at the Marondera CSC Branch expected a slight change in their fortunes
following the recent implementation of a cattle slaughtering deal between
Zimbabwe and Botswana. Since July this year, Botswana has been delivering
consignments of part of the 45 000 cattle earmarked for slaughter and sale
in the country.
CSC was among the country’s biggest employers before the
Zanu (PF) led farm invasions. The company suffered during the agrarian
reform programme and the subsequent ban of Zimbabwe meat exports to the
European Union countries struck the final nail in the CSC coffin.
The
CSC Chief Executive Officer, Ngoni Chinogaramombe, could also not be reached
for comment at his Bulawayo Head office.
MDC-T policy chief and Bulawayo South
legislator Eddie Cross told Parliament recently he has to endure at least 36
police roadblocks every time he travels to Harare and
back. 14.09.1101:19pm by John Chimunhu
"I travel the
Bulawayo-Harare road weekly. On average there are 18 roadblocks manned by
the ZRP and at all these roadblocks they're collecting fines - for every
conceivable reason," Cross said.
"In my constituency they tell me that
every ET (commuter taxi) pays at least $10 per day (in bribes) to the
police. I have no reason to dispute that.”
He added his voice to calls
for the abolition of spot fines for motorists, which he said were illegal
and encouraged corruption while the money was not going to state coffers. He
also called for the removal of toll gates, saying a fuel levy would be a
more efficient way of collecting revenue.
Chairman of Parliament's
Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, which monitors the police, Paul
Madzore, said the committee had received numerous complaints from the public
about police corruption.
Resettled farmers who were
allocated land on former commercially owned floriculture farms in
Matabeleland North have abandoned growing flowers after failing to supply
quality products to the international market. 14.09.1108:28am by Zwanai
Sithole Harare
Most former floriculture farms in the Umguza prime
farming area have now been turned into vegetable producing plots.
A
visit to a former floriculture producer, Rockie Farm, last week revealed
that new farmers have stopped growing and exporting flowers to Europe due to
low response from foreign buyers.
“When we were allocated this farm
in 2006, we inherited flowers which were left by the former owner of the
farm. The following year we tried to grow the crop with the assistance of
local Agritex officials. But customers started to shun our crop claiming
that the flowers were of poor quality,” said Lucas Dhlomo, a new
farmer.
He accused the rightful owner of the farm, Steve Mandel, of
influencing foreign buyers not to buy flowers from black farmers.
“We
know that this snubbing of our crop is part of the sanctions which has been
imposed on the country by the West. Mandel used to freight lots of flowers
to Europe every week but because we are now black farmers they are no longer
interested in our crop,” claimed Dhlomo.
Another new farmer, Jealous
Mandebvu, admitted that the new farmers were facing challenges in growing
the crop.
“I have tried to grow flowers on my plot but they developed
some stains (sic) and the output was of low quality. The poor appearance of
the flowers was not appealing to foreign buyers who are very particular
about the crop,” said Mandebvu.
Agricultural Rural Development Authority workers at
Roy Bennett's former Charles Wood farm here have not been paid their wages
for over five months. 14.09.1108:08am by Zwanai Sithole
Harare
Workers told The Zimbabwean that they last received salaries
in March this year.
As a means of survival, the workers have now
resorted to stealing Bennett's property such as vehicle spare parts,
workshop equipment and corrugated iron sheets from workers’
cottages.
"ARDA's workers have stripped Charles Wood farm of everything
which Bennett left. They are not getting paid and ARDA is only running a
grinding mill which was left by Bennett. The coffee bushes have all been
cut," said a worker at the farm who refused to be named for fear of
victimisation.
The worker said most of Bennett's tractors and trucks had
been stripped of spare parts and the parts were being sold openly in
Chimanimani town.
"If you want spares for UD trucks go to a person called
Hazvinei Chikati. He works for ARDA and is selling equipment stolen from
Pachedu's farm," said the worker.
Other workers said living standards
at the farm had deteriorated. "The water system is no longer working and the
pipes have been vandalised. The workers are now using nearby bushes as
toilets," he said.
President Robert Mugabe was visibly shocked on
Monday when a top EU diplomat told him that targeted measures against him
and his clan would only be lifted after free and fair elections were
held. 14.09.1101:57pm by John Chimunhu
Sources told The
Zimbabwean that Mugabe had appeared horrified when Nicholas Westcott, the
managing director for Africa for the European External Action Service in the
EU had stated the position during a one-hour meeting at State
House.
Mugabe is believed to be desperate to have the punitive
measures removed so he can travel to Europe for treatment for a 'worsening'
prostate cancer condition.
Diplomats also told this paper that
Mugabe's officials have secretly approached British officials to find out if
a travel ban on him can be lifted on 'humanitarian grounds' so he can get
treatment in the UK.
Mugabe's family is said to be unhappy with the
Chinese medicines and herbs he has been taking for several years, as there
has been no improvement in his condition. He is believed to have paid
millions to Chinese and Singaporean doctors drawn from state
coffers.
British officials are said to have responded that there would be
an outcry if Mugabe was allowed to tap into the National Health Service,
which is failing to cope with British citizens.
A desperate Mugabe
has tried various strategies to have the measures lifted, including
petitions, threats of international litigation and seizure of Western
firms.
The Herald quoted an unnamed 'source', believed to be Mugabe's
spokesman George Charamba saying, "The President asked him (Westcott) why
the EU should act as a judge of our systems and whether they had judged
themselves before they cross seas to come and judge us. He told him that
Zimbabwe will have its elections because it has to and not to meet the EU
standards."
Westcott later told journalists that he had discussed the
“sanctions” issue with Mugabe but would issue a detailed statement
later.
On ZBC, Westcott said: "It would be fair to say that if the people
of Zimbabwe and the parties here achieve full implementation of the GPA and
there are elections held that are free, fair, transparent, peaceful, then I
can see no reason why targeted sanctions should continue."
Mugabe has
unilaterally declared that elections will be held by March 2012. Observers
from the EU and Britain are banned.
Former Zimbabwean High Court judge, Benjamin Paradza,
was recently admitted to the bar in New Zealand.
by Staff
Reporter
Judge Benjamin
Paradza: fled Zim in fear of his life.
He fled Zimbabwe
in fear of his life in 2006, after being subjected to a trial criticised
internationally as being trumped up to remove him from office.
“I couldn’t
believe that I was really back in court. It felt like coming back home. I have
always been a courtroom lawyer. Standing in front of the judge that day was the
most exciting moment of my life in New Zealand,” he told local
media.
He was appointed
to the Zimbabwean bench in 2001. In light of the events that unfolded, many
believe President Mugabe expected him to be yet another compliant judge. Five
years later he was arrested on charges of corruption and perverting the course
of justice.
Paradza was
charged, tried and convicted after he had freed the Mayor of Harare, an
opposition politician at the time, following a habeas corpus
application. The mayor had been charged with holding a
political
rally without the
permission of the police and was being held in custody. Another Paradza judgment
that went against the wishes of Mugabe involved his ordering the government to
issue a passport to Judith Todd, the veteran human rights and democracy opponent
of the Ian Smith government.
The show grounds here were filled with Zimbabweans and
South Africans who came together to celebrate the first-ever Zimbabwe Human
Rights Arts Festival last weekend, organised by the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition.
by Regina
Pazvakavambwa
Jonah Moyo
perfoming at the festival.
"Choosing to host
the festival in Musina was not by accident but it was because Musina is the
first port of call for Zimbabweans coming to South Africa. It made sense to
spread information on organisations that can better assist Zimbabweans with
various issues pertaining to access to education, health and legal services,”
said Dewa Mavhinga, Regional Coordinator of the Coalition.
Zimbabwean artists
such as Madiz, Jonah Moyo and the Devera Ngwena Jazz Band entertained the
gathered crowds with music and dance. Madiz was the pick of the crowd, perfuming
his hit song commonly known as Amina. Although the festival was addressing
critical issues of human rights and human dignity it was also the perfect space
to allow migrant Zimbabweans to forget about all the challenges they
face.
Mus’ Town, a local
drama group of young South Africans, performed a drama that acted out the
experiences of Zimbabweans who crossed the Limpopo. Such experiences range from
sexual abuse of young girls, xenophobic attacks, child labour and the challenge
of accessing education services by young migrants.
Mus' Town
Drama Group explore sensitive issues on stage.
The use of art,
according to Sharon Gwati, the festival coordinator, can help to generate
dialogue which will assist migrants to move forward.
Mavhinga
highlighted the importance of civil society organisations coming together to
work for the common good of human rights and dignity.
Nora Tapiwa from
Global Zimbabwe forum expressed her concern at the high number of unaccompanied
Zimbabwe minors found in Musina.
“There is an
alarming number of minors that cross the Limpopo and set up their base in
Musina, but most alarming is the exchange of food and other necessities for
sexual favours that is rampant in the border town,” she
said.
By Taurai Mangudhla, Business
Writer Wednesday, 14 September 2011 11:32
HARARE - Global
insurance firm Old Mutual (OM) proposed to arrange a credit facility for
government to purchase up to 400 Zimbabwean commercial farms that were
unlawfully grabbed by Zanu PF in 2000, WikiLeaks has
revealed.
According to latest US diplomatic cables, leaked by whistle
blower, OM approached government in 2002 seeking to break a deadlock on the
controversial fast-track land reform, which discredited the country’s rule
of law and rendered the country an unfavourable investment
destination.
OM offered to fund the land purchase, with a successive
removal of “lawless” war veterans from the land resettlement picture, in a
bid to demonstrate to the international community that law and order was
returning to Zimbabwe.
The cable revealed that Patrick Rooney, then Delta
Corporation chief executive, told former US Ambassador Tom McDonald that
OM’s proposal would allow war veterans occupying farms to be relocated to
the purchased properties. “Rooney continued that this proposal would soon
be put to President (Robert) Mugabe, but it was unclear to him whether the
president would accept it.
“The chief executive said that Vice-President
(Joseph) Msika had endorsed the programme, but believed that Minister of
State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo, Minister for Local
Government Ignatius Chombo, and Minister for Lands, Agriculture and
Resettlement Joseph Made could still scuttle the effort,” McDonald is quoted
as saying in the report, adding that the Commercial Farmer’s Union (CFU)
was not involved in the “private” business proposal.
Rooney also
informed McDonald that he and other business leaders were seeking to appoint
an impartial mediator to give a platform for the two warring parties, MDC
and Zanu PF, to work out their differences.
“There is currently a short
list of potential mediators, at the top of which is former Zambian President
Kenneth Kaunda (who) is a good possibility, but may be a problem with Mugabe
because of his prior confidential support of Joshua Nkomo,” the report
said.
“There are no South Africans on the short list, Rooney continued.
The ambassador told Rooney that the US government welcomes both these
initiatives and encourages all the parties involved to keep the channels of
dialogue open (before he) asked Rooney to keep US apprised of any
developments in these negotiations.”
Meanwhile, commercial farmers
have welcomed the proposal saying that it would unlock Zimbabwe’s economic
value. Deon Theron, CFU past president, said farmers would support OM’s
proposal given the potential return to a stable political and economic
environment for agriculture.
“What we have always said is that rule of
law should always be followed and this illegal land grab should be resolved
in Zimbabwe and we support such initiatives whether they are coming from
government, an international or local pressure group,” he said, adding that
conflict resolution between commercial farmers and government was long
overdue.
“The sooner we resolve the conflict, the better.”
Charles
Taffs, incumbent CFU president, added that the proposed purchase and
reallocation of seized land was critical in remodelling the country’s
investment image.
“The international community has a negative
perception on Zimbabwe especially given the on-going indigenisation
exercise. Zimbabwe’s biggest asset is land and we can maximize value as soon
as we get free trade on the land market, but the problem is that current
policy is not allowing this to happen,’ he said.
Economist Erich
Bloch also agreed that the decision to buy illegal settlers off the farm
land could have changed Zimbabwe’s economic fate.
“We could certainly
have attracted investment if we had pursued the land reform on a willing
buyer willing seller basis instead of government taking land that it never
paid for.
“The decision to just grab land was a major blow to our
investment credibility,” he said. In the meantime, government –– through
Saviour Kasukuwere’s Indigenisation Ministry –– is pushing for all
foreign-owned firms to immediately relinquish a minimum 51 percent share
holding to Zimbabwean locals.
The initiative is steaming ahead in a
typical grab all approach given government’s lack of funds to legitimately
pay for the stakes in the foreign firms.
Recently, Kasukuwere
threatened to suspend licences of all firms that failed to submit acceptable
indigenisation compliance proposals.
Former Mines Minister Edward
Chindori-Chininga has described current minister Obert Mpofu as a crook and
a thief. 14.09.1108:45am by The Insider Email Facebook Twitter
Print
According to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks
Chindori-Chininga told United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray on
21 January 2010 that Mpofu had entered into unlawful partnerships with Mbada
and Canadile to mine diamonds in Marange.
Chindori-Chininga was chair
of the Parliamentary Committee on mines at the time.
The ambassador
also met Greg Sebborn an advisor of African Consolidated Resources who told
him that Mbada was airlifting diamonds out of the country and had been
stopped from auctioning 300 000 carats by Emmerson Mnangagwa who was acting
Minister of Mines.
ACR was the legal owner of the Marange diamond claims
at the time but this was reversed nine months later by Judge Charles Hungwe
who had initially ruled in ACR’s favour.
Former Zimbabwean journalist Sydney Masamvu has
attracted a lot of attention following revelations that he was working closely
with the United States embassy in Pretoria and was providing the embassy with
impressive insights and analysis.
A search of the
Wikileaks cables shows that there are 39 cables that cite his name, the same
number as those that cite Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
He beats other
prominent media personalities like Alpha Media boss Trevor Ncube and multiple
award winning journalist Geoff Nyarota.
The Insider has
decided to publish all 39 cables in full so that our readers can judge for
themselves.
The cables will be
published in batches of 10 over the next four days.
Webster Shamu unfairly diverting attention to media
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 14/09/11
By threatening a media clampdown
because of Wikileaks, Minister Webster Shamu is unfairly diverting attention
from the real issue – Zanu-pf hypocrisy and betrayal of their
leader.
Rather than target defenceless journalists some of whom have been
physically abused by people who enjoy political protection from arrest and
prosecution, the Minister should say how soon the perpetrators of violence
on the media will face the music.
The Media Minister’s attack on the
independent press and overseas based radio stations only exposes the
regime’s hypocrisy as Zanu-pf chefs queue for interviews with the same
stations which Shamu is denigrating. Evidence is there on podcasts or
digital media files.
Webster Shamu is missing an important point that is,
the urgency to open Zimbabwe’s airwaves in line with the GPA signed in 2008.
He must expedite the transparent and non-partisan licensing of private radio
and television stations to bring Zimbabwe at par with other progressive
countries in the region or else WikiLeaks will fill the vacuum.
The
Minister would be ill advised to withdraw licences of media organisations
and accreditation of foreign and local journalists under the pretext of
“protecting the highest office in the land”.
The little that is there of
the independent media is treading very carefully daily like walking on eggs
due to Zimbabwe’s highly restrictive and apparently vindictive media
regulatory regime.
There is no point in comparing the number of laws
governing media freedom in Zimbabwe and other countries as a way of judging
the degree of democracy and freedom of the Press. For instance, Zimbabwe’s
interests are different from the UK’s.
Despite undertakings to the
contrary in the GPA and the Government Workplan 2010, POSA and AIPPA are
still on the statute book therefore Zimbabwe does not need a dozen laws in
order to restrict the democratic space and harass
journalists.
Accusing the media of vilifying the President is just a
diversionary tactic on the part of Minister Webster Shamu, who knows very
well that the constitution of Zimbabwe allows for all holders of public
office including their spouses to be held accountable.
Obviously, it
is not out of disrespect of the office of the President that the media is
reporting how some Zanu-pf politicians including politburo members made a
beeline to the American Embassy to say things which appear to be a breach of
the Official Secrets Act while other disclosures border on treason albeit
difficult to prosecute in this case.
The Media Minister should know very
well that the media’s role is to inform, educate and entertain. Even without
the Zimbabwean media’s coverage of the scandalous leakages, people were
still going to know about how some chefs betrayed “the highest office in the
land” starting from 1966 to 2011. Zimbabweans are very
inquisitive.
The most positive impact of WikiLeaks on Zimbabwe can
arguably be said to be the demystifying of Zanu-pf’s inner circle. The
masses will be wiser at the next elections even if the looming clampdown on
the independent media becomes a reality.
