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Gukurahundi finally classified as genocide by leading experts

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
15 September, 2010

The Gukurahundi massacres that saw tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans
killed by soldiers loyal to the Mugabe regime in the mid eighties, were on
Thursday classified as genocide by the internationally recognized group
Genocide Watch. Based in Washington DC, the group's chairperson, Professor
Gregory Stanton, said the Mugabe regime has been trying to sweep this
atrocity under the rug for 30 years now but this classification now means
the perpetrators can be prosecuted no matter how much time has passed.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa Professor Stanton said: "It's been clear to us
from the beginning that this was genocide. The reason why it is important to
label it as genocide is because genocide is the crime of crimes. It is the
worst of all crimes against humanity"

More importantly Professor Stanton explained that there is no statute of
limitations for genocide or for crimes against humanity. This means the
people who committed these crimes may be called into court at any time.

He added: "They've been trying to act as though this is something that
should be forgotten. But it shouldn't be forgotten because in fact denial is
the final stage of genocide. So the question is how do you bring people who
have committed genocide to justice."

The Professor, who was in Harare meeting victims of the atrocities back in
2001, said that a crime as serious as genocide should be investigated by the
High Commissioner for human rights at the United Nations, by the African
institutions on human rights and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Since Zimbabwe is not party to the treaty of the ICC, the court could not
directly indict Robert Mugabe and others that were involved in the killings.
"But the United Nations Security Council can in fact refer the situation to
the ICC, just as they referred the situation in Darfur. And it is the way in
which President Bashir of Sudan has now been indicted for genocide,"
explained Professor Stanton.

Zimbabwean writer and journalist Geoff Hill, who has been working closely
with Professor Stanton to have the Gukurahundi classified as genocide said
the development "brings us one step closer to The Hague", where the ICC is
based.

Hill explained that the Gukurahundi fits the criteria for genocide because
it was committed against people based on their identity, such as color, race
or religion. He said Mugabe targeted for annihilation the Ndebele people in
Matabeleland and the Midlands, leaving no doubt that this was indeed
genocide.

Just over a year ago, Geoff Hill became the first African to be voted onto
the board of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a
group closely linked to the UN and the ICC.

Hill said that although many years had passed since the Gukurahundi, the
genocide classification is important for survivors and for the families of
those who died, because they need to know it will never be "too late" to
seek justice.


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Tsvangirai says Zimbabwe is Making Slow Progress

http://www.voanews.com/

Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg 16 September 2010

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says there is slow progress
towards democracy, with many serious political and economic problems
outstanding.

Speaking at an investment conference, Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said some people 's impatience with the slow pace of reform had
forgotten how bad it had been in Zimbabwe in the past Decade.

"Just as I share your frustrations at the slow place of reform and progress
within our society," Mr. Tsvangirai said.  "Today, 18 months since the
formation of the inclusive government, it is easy to forget the madness of
the previous decade.  It is easy within the context of frustrated potential
to forget exactly what was done to our country, its people and its enormous
prospects."

He said the policies of the previous Zanu-PF government were designed to
keep it in power.

"For more than 10 years prior to this, public policy was dictated by
partisan survival interests," Mr. Tsvangirai said.  "Growth was substituted
for looting; security was replaced by oppression; inflation destroyed
people's pensions, savings and lives."

Mr. Tsvangirai said the road forward for the inclusive government has been
difficult, even though most children are back in school with books,
hospitals have reopened with medicine, hyper-inflation is gone, and there is
far less violence.

"Does this mean that the madness of previous years has been completely
eradicated?  No!  Because we are in a coalition government with those we do
not share a common vision of the future," Mr. Tsvangirai said.  "The failed
policies of the past continue to haunt us.  Disdain for the rule of law and
property rights continue to undermine our image as a safe investment
destination."

He told the conference the present coalition administration is a
transitional authority that will take Zimbabwe to a new constitution and
fresh elections.


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'Madness persists in Zim'

http://www.iol.co.za/

    September 16 2010 at 12:10PM

While Zimbabwe is making "tangible" progress, the "madness" still persists,
its prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday.

"The progress is tangible. There are medicines in the hospitals, food in the
supermarkets and water in the taps," he said at the "The Future of Zimbabwe
Summit" in Johannesburg, hosted by UK publication The Economist.

Inflation had fallen into single digits and seven percent growth was
expected for the country this year.

"But the madness has not been completely eradicated. We are in a coalition
and that is difficult. I share the frustration that the pace of reforms is
slow, but the pace is realistic when you consider where we've come from."

Tsvangirai was referring to the power-sharing agreement between his party,
the Movement for Democratic Change and President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF,
which came into being in February 2009, following a run-off election in June
2008.

"It's easy now to forget the madness and what was done to our country and
its enormous prospects. Only in 2009 did the inclusive government begin to
rebuild and restore.

"Prior to this, growth was substituted by looting and inflation destroyed
pensions and even lives," Tsvangirai said.

There had been a range of "misguided" policies in place to keep the previous
regime in power.

"We, the victors have now been forced to make a deal, and this was not an
easy decision." Tsvangirai said no one would have expected him to sit down
with Mugabe "and converse as human beings".

"But that is the reality of the political situation in Zimbabwe today. There
is this process of conciliation." - Sapa


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Zimbabwe PM says indigenisation not expropriation

http://af.reuters.com

Thu Sep 16, 2010 12:08pm GMT

* Tsvangirai says indigenisation will be gradual

* Says "minimum" black ownership levels yet to be decided

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said on Thursday a law to increase local black ownership of
foreign firms would be implemented gradually and without forced sales.

Zimbabwe's government published regulations earlier this year forcing
foreign-owned firms, including mines and banks, to transfer a 51 percent
stake to black Zimbabweans, a move that divided the power-sharing government
and spooked investors..

"Remember, it's willing buyer, willing seller. There's no expropriation,"
Tsvangirai told a conference on Zimbabwe's political and economic prospects
in neighbouring South Africa's commercial capital.

Foreigners regularly cite the law as their main concern about investing in
Zimbabwe, which is desperate for external capital to rebuild the economy
after a decade of chronic mismanagement and decline under President Robert
Mugabe. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told Reuters in an exclusive
interview earlier this month he will press ahead with plans to transfer
control of foreign firms -- including mines and banks -- to local blacks.

"What's being implemented are minimum thresholds. You can't start with 51
percent," Tsvangirai said. "But you also have to say how, over time, you are
going achieve the maximum threshold."

In the more immediate future, companies would have to adopt much lower
levels of black ownership while presenting a road map towards ultimate black
Zimbabwean majority ownership, he said.

Tsvangirai, whose MDC party is now in a power-sharing administration with
arch-rival Mugabe's ZANU-PF, said the government was still drawing up the
thresholds for the minimum, initial levels of black ownership.

As a hypothetical example, he spoke of a minimum initial black ownership
level of 10 percent for the country's key mining sector.


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Air Zimbabwe in a bind over Mugabe New York trip

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Written by Moses Mudzwiti
Thursday, 16 September 2010 17:54

Air Zimbabwe is in a bind - President Robert Mugabe wants to travel to New
York - but the state-owned airline's pilots have downed tools amid threats
to discipline or sack them.

Peter Chikumba, the chief executive of the trouble airline, has refused to
deny or confirm reports that all 40 pilots had been sacked for striking.
A disciplinary hearing this week failed to take place after pilots simply
ignored the airline's summons. The pilots have been on strike for a week
demanding immediate payment of allowances and outstanding salaries. The
airline says it can not afford the demands.

Unconfirmed reports that Mugabe intends to fly to New York today
(Friday) ahead of Tuesday's UN summit have placed Air Zimbabwe between a
rock and a hard place.

Mugabe is the airline's best customer - often chartering a whole aircraft
for his family and aides. Chikumba once publicly claimed Mugabe's money was
essential for the survival of the loss-making airline.

The chief executive denied reports that the president had often commandeered
aircraft to the detriment of paying passengers saying "I wish we could have
more customers like Mugabe."

Yesterday the airline remained mum on how it would transport its favourite
flyer. Insiders suggested the airline would charter a plane from an unnamed
airline in SA.

Air Zimbabwe has already leased two planes from SA to help it meet some of
its local and regional obligations. International flights to the UK and
China remain grounded.

Mugabe, 86, this week had his pay increased from US$400 to US$1 750 a month,
hardly enough to pay for a first class return ticket to the US.


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Chegutu farm burned down by land invaders

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
16 September 2010

A farmer in Chegutu has become the latest victim of the continued onslaught
against the commercial farming community, after her property was burned down
by land invaders this week.

Catherine Jouineau-Meredith's Twyford Farm was burned to cinders on Tuesday
by the ZANU PF senator who has led violent attacks on the property since
last year. Senator Jamaya Muduvuri moved on to the property in March after
successfully evicting Jouineau-Meredith, who was ordered to leave the farm
and fined US$200 for occupying it "illegally".

As a French citizen Jouineau-Meredith is meant to be protected by a
bilateral investment protection agreement, signed between France and
Zimbabwe. But this BIPPA, like others meant to protect foreign owned land in
Zimbabwe, has been completely ignored. Jouineau-Meredith also has a High
Court order from 2007 that recognised her rights to the farm. But again, the
total disregard for the rule of law in Zimbabwe means the court order has
offered no protection against illegal land invasions.

Senator Muduvuri has already looted the once productive farm of all its
crops and equipment and Jouineau-Meredith wrote this week that the fire was
the final end of Muduvuri "gutting" the property. She wrote; "It has taken
one year for my profitable farm to become a totally abandoned land where no
crop has been planted and the home has been destroyed."

Muduvuri already owns Shiloh Farm near Kadoma, Mandalay and Brunswick farms
near Chegutu, and Hoffmarie Farm in Kadoma, clearly demonstrating that the
land grab has nothing to do with 'land reform'. Twyford farm is now the
fifth property that he has grabbed to add to his collection of unproductive
pieces of land.

Twyford Farm was visited by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last year
when he went on a tour to verify widespread reports of renewed farm
invasions. The deputy Prime Minister's delegation, which included the two
Home Affairs Ministers Giles Mutsekwa and Kembo Mohadi; Herbert Murerwa, and
the Minister of Lands and Land Resettlement, sternly warned Muduvuri to stop
harassing Jouineau-Meredith or attempting to take over her farm.

The delegation, which also included the French deputy ambassador Stephane
Toulet, also told Muduvuri to stop interfering with her farming activities,
stop entering the farm or her house, using her farming equipment or selling
her farm produce. Muduvuri assured the deputy Prime Minister that he would
stop interfering with Jouineau-Meredith's farming activities, but clearly
his promises were as empty as the unity government's promise to protect
farmers.

"My continuous efforts towards the Prime Minister's office have been filled
with empty promises and no action," Jouineau-Meredith wrote this week. "What
happened on my farm has NOTHING to do with any kind of land reform."

The incident happened the day before the two year anniversary of the signing
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which included the promise of
security for all land owners. The MDC, as partners in the coalition
government, have come under pressure to use their position to make sure this
happened, but nothing has changed.

The party itself commemorated the signing of the GPA with a statement,
expressing "concern and dissatisfaction with the deliberate delays by ZANU
PF in fulfilling its commitments to the agreement." The party said that
"Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF have shown their dishonesty through the refusal
to accept certain key aspects of the GPA. Our position remains unchanged. We
demand the resolution of all outstanding issues."

This is the same statement the MDC has made repeatedly during its time in
government, and patience is beginning to wear thin with the party for not
doing or saying more. There have been no statements about ongoing land
invasions in recent months or even about ongoing reports of violence marring
the constitutional outreach process. Critics have argued that the MDC now
needs to be much more public about their discontent and make it clear what
plans they have for Zimbabwe's political future.


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Police in manhunt for Tsvangirai ally

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Hendricks Chizhanje Thursday 16 September 2010

HARARE - Zimbabwe police have launched a manhunt for one of the country's
senior political figures, Roy Bennett, but have refused to disclose to his
lawyer the nature of the crime they suspect him of committing.

Bennett, who was last May cleared of charges of attempting to overthrow
President Robert Mugabe but must return to court after the state challenged
his acquittal, is a top ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and is
treasurer of the former opposition leader's MDC-T party.

His lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said plainclothes policemen have in recent weeks
visited several properties owned by Bennett in Harare inquiring about his
whereabouts but have not stated the reasons for which they wanted to see the
politician.

Mtetwa said she phoned the police to establish why they were looking for
Bennett but they would not say and instead asked her to come in person to
the police station so they called tell her why they wanted to see her
client.

In a subsequent letter to the police Mtetwa pleaded with the police to
advise her "of the reasons why a posse of notorious CID Law and Order
officers are stalking his (Bennett) premises when it is known that he is
currently out of the country."

The lawyer warns the police in the letter that she will be forced to
approach the courts for appropriate relief" should they persist in their
refusal to disclose the reasons for their actions.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was not immediately available for comment
on the matter.

Bennett is Tsvangirai's choice for deputy agriculture minister in the unity
government but Mugabe has refused to swear him into office until he is
cleared of treason.

The treatment of Bennett, especially Mugabe's refusal to swear him into
office, is one of the key issues at the center of a bitter dispute between
the veteran leader and Tsvangirai, which has held back the Harare coalition
government. - ZimOnline

 


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Service chiefs will be safe - Tsvangirai

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Own correspondent
Thursday, 16 September 2010 15:47

JOHANNESBURG - Negotiations are currently underway to offer assurances about
the future to members of the security sector, Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on Thursday said.

The senior members of the security sector are generally viewed as being
behind President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party. Before the 2005
presidential election, the top uniformed forces brass went on national
television to declare that they would not accept anybody without a
liberation history as president.

This was largely viewed as a direct attack on Tsvangirai, who has no
liberation history to talk of.

While addressing an economic summit on Zimbabwe, organised by The Economist
magazine in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai said government had engaged the
military with a view to reaching a win-win position for the future.

"There is skepticism on the role of the security forces in undermining the
will of the people. We respect our security forces and we hope that in line
with the GPA, they will respect the rule of law, the GPA itself and the
Constitution of Zimbabwe. Discussions are taking place to build confidence
across the barriers of yester-year," said.

Tsvangirai without elaborating on what sort of assurances that were under
discussion to allay fears of either arrest for past iniquities or the
stripping of ill gotten riches.

"There are mechanisms to make sure that they are assured of the future. We
are not oblivious to the fact that armed forces are a pillar of the state
and have to be given assurance about the future."

When asked to elaborate on what he meant by assurances, he said he was not
at liberty to do so but he appeared to be angling towards currying favour
with the security forces who remain a stumbling block to a peaceful
transition and transfer of power in the event of a change in government.

Members of the country's armed forces stand accused of spearheading a
campaign of violence against mainly MDC supporters after the March 2008
elections.

About 200 people were killed and thousands others displaced by the violence.

Asked if the country had put in place a conducive environment for the
holding of an election next year, Tsvangirai said: "There is no better time
for elections.

"I don't need to convince you that there won't be violence but what has
happened so far should be convincing enough. Barriers on political divide
are being watered down because of our working together."

Tsvangirai said that President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party were as
much a problem as they were a solution to the Zimbabwe problem.

Describing Mugabe as an "elephant in the living room", Tsvangirai said: "He
has a split personality as a hero and villain. If I was him I would want to
go down as a hero than a villain."

The summit, which ran under the theme, The Future of Zimbabwe - When will
Zimbabwe see a real recovery - was attended by international, African and
Zimbabwean businessman in the Diaspora.

 


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Didymus Mutasa vows Tsvangirai will never be President of Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
16 September 2010

ZANU PF will never handover power to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, even if
he wins next year's elections, Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa
said on Wednesday.

'Who is Tsvangirai? He will never rule this country. Never ever. How can we
let the country be ruled by sell-outs. He will only do so over our dead
bodies. If we go to the polls and he defeats Mugabe, ZANU PF and the people
of Zimbabwe will not allow that,' Mutasa has been quoted as saying.

The ZANU PF politburo member and MP said this at Bota business centre in
Zaka, Masvingo province, where he was officiating at an agricultural field
day organized by the South East Growers Association.

Over the years Mugabe and his cronies have frequently labelled Tsvangirai a
'puppet' used by one-time colonial power Britain to try to bring down the
regime. But the former trade union leader insists he is his own man with
much popular support.

Commenting on Mutasa's latest outburst MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa said
the statement was treasonable to even suggest the people's will could just
be discarded like that.

'But to us his statements are nothing new considering that he (Mutasa) is a
perennial day dreamer who believes in things that are incredible. He's the
same person who is perennially living in the past; in cloud cuckoo land, a
person who thinks that diesel will come out of some rock,' Chamisa said.

This was in reference to spirit medium Nomatter Tagarira, who in 2007
claimed that she could conjure refined diesel out of a rock by striking it
with her staff, leading ministers in ZANU PF, including Mutasa, to believe
they had found a solution to Zimbabwe's fuel shortage.

Eventually her story was exposed as a hoax, but not before the regime gave
her Z$5 billion, a car and a farm, in return to exclusive rights to the
diesel fuel from Maningwa Hills near Chinhoyi, some 100 km northwest of
Harare.
The MDC spokesman said Zimbabwe does not belong to ZANU PF, adding that such
talk betrayed the thinking of the party who believe they were born to be in
power forever.

'It shows you how confused Mutasa is. Zimbabwe is bigger than ZANU PF and
how can he say the people of Zimbabwe will resist to be ruled by a person
they vote into power. That is total madness,' Chamisa added.
Tsvangirai meanwhile said on Thursday that negotiations are currently
underway to offer assurances about the future to members of the security
sector, which had all along refused to engage with the MDC.
Addressing an economic summit on Zimbabwe in South Africa, Tsvangirai said
government had engaged the military junta with a view to reaching a win-win
position for the future.

'There is skepticism on the role of the security forces in undermining the
will of the people. We respect our security forces and we hope that in line
with the GPA, they will respect the rule of law, the GPA itself and the
Constitution of Zimbabwe. Discussions are taking place to build confidence
across the barriers of yester-year,' The Prime Minister said.

 


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Notorious war vets leader attacks Mugabe

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Pindai Dube
Thursday, 16 September 2010 09:55

BULAWAYO - Notorious Midlands war veterans' leader Biggie Kufakunesu
Chitoro, who was behind  the brutal political violence in the province
during the 2000 general elections campaigns, says a coalition government
with President Robert Mugabe will not work.

Chitoro led Zanu PF terror gangs who killed and tortured many MDC
supporters, mainly in Zvishavane and Mberengwa districts of the Midlands
province.

However in an interview with the Daily News at his homestead  in Madhoro
village in Mberengwa on Tuesday, Chitoro, who  last year came out in public
asking for  forgiveness  from  his victims, said Mugabe was the stumbling
block in the  smooth running of the government of national unity.

"We  know  that  old man can't share  power  with anybody, that's  why you
see this unity government facing many problems," said Chitoro, who says he
has quit politics and is now a born again Christian.

"Look, in the 1980s he brutalized Joshua Nkomo supporters forcing him
(Nkomo) to go under his feet."

Chitoro says Mugabe is good at using other people, especially uneducated
ones in order to stay in power.

"He is good at using other people, especially among us war veterans because
the majority of our colleagues never went to school," he said.

The war veteran leader said although he is still Mberengwa district chairman
for  the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), he
wanted nothing to do with Zanu PF.

"You don't need to be Zanu PF to lead war veterans. I am still the chairman
and have nothing to with that party vakandishandisa zvikakwana (they used me
and that was enough)," he said.

Chitoro said he now spends most of his time conducting business for his
Vapostori church or at his garden.


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Mugabe deploys riot police to kick out land invaders

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Written by Jane Makoni
Thursday, 16 September 2010 07:11

MARONDERA-SVOSVE - Zanu (PF) youths who invaded Eldorado Ranch in Macheke
last Saturday, were chased off the land by heavily armed riot police
allegedly sent by President Robert Mugabe, The Zimbabwean  can reveal.

Rowdy youths led by Zanu (PF) ward 21 councilor, Huni and party ward 18
chairman, Gombiro, besieged Eldorado Ranch and forced farm workers to stop
planting tobacco seedlings in the fields. They divided the farm into small
plots which they allocated to youths present. Management raised the alarm
and farm owner, Khalfan Khamao, alerted Zanu (PF) top officials who
dispatched riot police to drive the invaders off the land.

Leaders of the invasion were taken to the police for questioning and then
released. Normalcy was restored at the farm," said a police officer privy to
the invasion.

Highly placed sources allege that Khamao, believed to be of Arabic origin,
supplied the Zimbabwe National Army with fire-arms, "so there was no way the
head of state could fold his arms while the trusted arms supplier was messed
up by rowdy party youths".

"Khamao is so close to Mugabe that he regularly supplies the first family
with game meat. Part of Eldorado Ranch was partitioned into a Game Park. The
Game Park measures more than 2 000 hectares and is home to a wide variety of
wildlife," said the source.

Khamao is reportedly the owner of Catercraft Company. The company provides
catering services at the Harare International Airport. Efforts to seek
comment from Khamao were fruitless. His secretary at Catercraft initially
said he was in a board meeting. The number was later put on continuous voice
mail.

Marondera District Police Spokesperson, Inspector Bhulisani Bhebhe, on
Sunday promised to confirm the farm invasion and riot police incident on
Monday. However, he did not take calls from his mobile number come Monday.

Zanu (PF) is grabbing remaining white owned farms under an operation
code-named "Land for the youths".


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Villagers cry foul over military harassment in Chiadzwa

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Sidney Saize
Thursday, 16 September 2010 09:52

MUTARE - Civic organisations in Manicaland province have condemned the
continued harassment of villagers in Chiadzwa, amid the continued presence
of soldiers in the area who have unilaterally banned public transport from
operating.

Villagers in the diamond rich remote area of Chiadzwa in Mutare West are
being forced to disembark from buses and walk long distances of up to 20km
to their homes as vehicles are prohibited from travelling further inland.

Shuah Mudiwa the Member of Parliament representing Mutare West said he is
unhappy about the ill-treatment of his constituents  by the military
stationed at Chiadzwa diamond mines.

"I want to acknowledge that their presence brought sanity in terms of
illegal mining of the diamonds, but I am so disappointed and concerned about
the fact that they have actually banned the movement of buses in the area.

"The people are suffering and when we try to get the reason why buses are
not operating, we are told that the soldiers are the ones who stopped them,"
said Mudiwa.

Mudiwa said in addition, the soldiers have banned other forms of transport
from plying the routes in Chiadzwa.

The director of  The Centre for Research and Development, CRD, a diamond
watchdog, Farai Maguwu said the soldiers' presence in the area was uncalled
for. He said Chidzwa diamonds had to be de-militarized to curb ongoing human
rights abuses.

"We say there is need for the demilitarization of the diamonds of Chiadzwa
because of the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by the soldiers
against innocent civilians of Marange," said Maguwu.

Maguwu criticized recent press comments made by the commander of 3 Brigade
in Mutare Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba who told a local weekly,
The Manica Post, that the military won't leave Chiadzwa.

Nyikayaramba said the military would remain in Chiadzwa until elaborate
safety measures are in place to safeguard diamond claims from illegal
panners.

Maguwu said Nyikayaramba's comments bring into light the probable interests
of the army in the diamond claims.

"This shows that the military has got vested interests, it goes beyond the
security of the area we would expect the government to come up with a plan
to ensure there is security apart from deploying the soldiers. We do not
expect the military to swear that they will not leave the diamonds.

The comments were so unfortunate," Maguwu said.

Reverend Levi Maengamhuru of ZimRights called on the military to respect the
villagers, and concentrate on stopping illegal diamond panners from "laying'
their hand on the precious gems.

"It is sad that our military is abusing their own people when  we expect
them to be protecting the citizens, we feel the present of the soldiers in
the Chiadzwa area would  be seen in bad light if such abuses persist."

Blessing Nyamaropa, a human rights lawyer who works with the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights, said the military's presence was necessary until
licensed private companies implemented their own security measures to avoid
the influx of illegal panners and dealers.

Since government declared Chiadzwa a protected zone, dozens of families have
since been relocated to Odzi's Transau Farm against their wish.

Nyamaropa said villagers should be allowed to move freely and urged soldiers
deployed to Chiadzwa to respect human rights.


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North Korean ties spell end for controversial Zimbabwean statue

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Sep 16, 2010, 13:35 GMT

Harare - Public anger over a decision to allow a North Korean firm to make a
statue of a Zimbabwean freedom fighter resulted in government plans to take
it down before its unveiling, according to reports Thursday.

The three-metre bronze statue of Joshua Nkomo had been under threat by the
family of the deceased leader of the Ndebele ethnic group. They had vowed to
tear it down, angered that the Zimbabwean subsidiary of a North Korean
company had created it.

In the mid-1980s, North Korean military instructors, invited by President
Robert Mugabe, trained a brigade that went on to kill thousands of Ndebele
citizens during a low-intensity insurgency.

'It was highly insensitive of the government to have hired the North Koreans
to produce the statue without consulting Nkomo's family or the people of
Matabeleland,' said political analyst Grace Mutandwa. 'Let's just say the
North Koreans are not the Ndebele's favourite people.'

After its completion, the statue remained covered by a black cloth on a
plinth until Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi removed the shroud
Wednesday, announcing plans to dismantle it 'with immediate effect.'

Originally, Mugabe had planned to participate in a public unveiling of the
statue.

In the 1960s, Nkomo became the first national leader of the fight by blacks
against the white minority government of Ian Smith. He led a rival faction
to Mugabe's in the 1970s before independence in 1980 and Mugabe's election
as prime minister.

Shortly after, Mugabe accused Nkomo and his ZAPU party of being behind an
insurgency and launched a crackdown in western Zimbabwe, in which thousands
of civilians were killed or disappeared. Nkomo died of prostate cancer in
1999, aged 82.

This is not the first time this year the Ndebele have protested over North
Korea's relations with Zimbabwe.

The North Korean national football team had been due to train in Bulawayo
before the World Cup in neighbouring South Africa in June and July, but the
visit was called off after Ndebele groups vowed to disrupt their training.


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Minister gets death threats

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Tavada Mafa
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 21:26

BINDURA - Zanu (PF) factionalism has reared its ugly head in Mashonaland
Central with the provincial Governor, Advocate Martin Dinha, now forced to
reside at Hotels in Harare after threats to his life by Zanu (PF) militia
who are allegedly loyal to Youth and Indigenization minister, Savior
Kasukuwere.

The controversial governor belongs to the Emerson Mnangagwa faction while
Kasukuwere claims to belong to a third Zanu (PF) faction loyal to President
Mugabe. Kasukuwere used to belong to the Solomon Mujuru faction, but later
fell out with Vice President Joyce Mujuru when she failed to secure a senior
government post for him. This was after Kasukuwere had helped secure Mujuru's
victory against Mnangagwa.
Dinha is currently staying at Rainbow Towers Hotel which has been his home
for the past two months.
"Tension is evident at provincial functions organized by Kasukuwere without
the knowledge of the Governor. Dinha feels isolated and left out because he
believes that, as provincial governor, he should be invited to all functions
taking place in Mashonaland central," said highly placed sources.
This is not the first time Dinha has deserted the province. In the run-up to
the March 2008 harmonised elections and the controversial June Presidential
run-off, Dinha who was Bindura Mayor then, relocated to the Holiday Inn
hotel in Harare after allegedly getting death threats from the late the Zanu
(PF) political commissar Elliot Manyika.
Dinha was threatened after showing an interest in contesting the Bindura
seat which was held by Manyika.


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Court Conducts Inspection in loco as Magistrate Set to Deliver Ruling on Maseko's Application

 

zlhr logo16 September 2010

HRD’s Alert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAGISTRATE TO DELIVER RULING ON MASEKO’S APPLICATION AS COURT CONDUCTS INSPECTION IN LOCO

 

Bulawayo Magistrate Ntombizodwa Mazhandu will on Friday 17 September, 2010 deliver her ruling on an application filed by lawyers representing visual artist Owen Maseko seeking a referral of his matter to the Supreme Court to determine whether or not the criminalisation of creative arts infringes on freedom of expression and freedom of conscience.

 

Magistrate Mazhandu will deliver her ruling at 16:00hrs at the Bulawayo Magistrates Court sitting at Tredgold building after hearing submissions from both Maseko’s lawyers and State Prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare who opposed the application.

 

Maseko’s lawyers Lizwe Jamela, Nosimilo Chanayiwa and Jeremiah Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) want the Supreme Court to make a determination of the violation of the protection of the artist’s freedom of expression as enshrined in Section 20 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the protection of freedom of conscience, particularly freedom of thought guaranteed in terms of Section 19 (1) of the Constitution and the protection of the law as provided in terms of Section 18 (1) of the Constitution.

 

The lawyers also want the Supreme Court to determine whether or not bona fide works of artistic creativity can be subjected to prosecution under Section 31 and 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) without infringing on the provisions of Sections 18 (1),  19 (1) and 20 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

 

On Thursday 16 September, 2010 Magistrate Mazhandu visited the Bulawayo National Art Gallery to carry out an inspection in loco of Maseko’s exhibition together with the talented visual artist, his lawyers and Zvekare.

 

ENDS

 

Kumbirai Mafunda

Senior Projects Officer

Communications&Information

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)

6th Floor Beverley Court

100 Nelson Mandela Av

Harare

Zimbabwe

 

Tel: +263  4 705 370/ 708118/ 764085

Fax: +263 4 705641

Mobile: +263 91 3 855 611

Email: kumbi@zlhr.org.zw info@zlhr.org.zw kmafunda@yahoo.co.uk

www.zlhr.org.zw

 

“We Need Generational Change”

 

 


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Daniel Chingoma Forms Political Party

http://news.radiovop.com

16/09/2010 17:04:00

Harare, September 16, 2010 - In a surprise move, engineer Daniel Chingoma,
has formed a political party, the Zimbabwe Integrated Revolutionary Party
(ZIRP), Radio VOP can reveal.

Chingoma, Managing Director of Taisek Engineering (Private) Limited
(Taisek),  is a Zimbabwean engineer made famous by his 'helicopter
invention" in Harare.

The engineer regularly shows off his helicopter at the annual Harare
Agricultural Show (HAS) at his stand.

"I think Zimbabweans need a party that is for intellectuals," he said in an
interview with Radio VOP.

"There are no parties for intellectuals in Zimbabwe and that is why things
are going down especially the infrastructure. This is very bad and that is
why I have formed my own party."

He said he would go to well wishers especially academics to help him raise
funds for his campaign against he MDC-T, MDC-M and Zanu (PF) in the next
election.

He says he is putting up his posters and campaign message in toilets
throughout the country.

"Everyone goes to the toilet and d so I have decided to put up my posters in
the toilets for both men and women," he said when asked how he was
advertising himself.

"Since the ZBC TV and radio only allow Zanu PF to advertise I will do so in
toilets."

Chingoma already has put up several photocopied posters in toilets in Harare
at several bus terminus and people are laughing all the way because they
have never seen such a political campaign.
 


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Silence of the lambs

Voice for Democracy

   

 

 


Celebrating

 

United Nations Day of Democracy

15 September 2010

Voice for Democracy
 

 

 


SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

 

He is brimming with confidence. President Robert Mugabe, Commander-in-Chief and the Head of State and Government, will not be moved by plaintive cries that conditions for free and fair elections are essentially non-existent. Ready or not: when he says there will be elections - elections there will be! Yet a recent survey of voting intentions shows his main opponent, the MDC, winning by a wide margin.

 

What could possibly account for the President's confidence? Well, about a quarter of those interviewed during the survey refused to disclose their voting intentions. By some coincidence, they came mostly from areas with a history of violence in the run-up to previous elections. If they could be persuaded to vote for the aging President - who has brought them nothing by fear, misery and poverty - his confidence might be justified.

 

Violence did the trick in June 2008, so why discard a winning strategy? In most areas where violence was endemic during the last election, some bases were reactivated during the COPAC outreach programme. Only the odd voices in these areas - under the watchful gaze of the President's supporters - could be heard repeating the mantra: 'Kariba Draft'. The rest sat in stony silence - and fear.

 

After the initial indignation of having lost the March 2008 election, the President now has everything firmly back under his control: a free hand to make virtually all appointments, command over the entire state security apparatus, and the backing of most SADC leaders. He has even suborned the Prime Minister and the MDC. While the President refuses to fulfil his obligations under the GPA, the Prime Minister dutifully calls for the lifting of 'sanctions'. While the President mocks the rulings of the region's highest court, the SADC Tribunal, the Prime Minister and his MDC ministers keep a shameful silence. Even while the President continues to intimidate and arrest his opponents, including members of the MDC, Home Affairs Minister Makone assures the public that the police have 'turned over a new leaf'.  

 

The President is confident because he can so easily distract his opponents from the core issue in the forthcoming elections: the imperative of guaranteeing violence-free elections.

 

The Voice for Democracy's message on this UN Day of Democracy is that peace is a fundamental condition for democracy. It is peace that allows candidates to campaign freely and for voters to cast their ballots - free of intimidation or violence - for the candidate of their choice.  It is only through peaceful elections that the will of the people can be expressed as the sole source of a government's legitimacy.

 

The equation is simple. We need violent-free elections to usher in democracy, and we need democracy to bring justice and economic development to Zimbabwe. The Voice for Democracy therefore makes an urgent appeal to the President, the Prime Minister, SADC leaders, civil society, and the international community to make a binding commitment to peace, to refocus their energies, and to immediately start putting in place those structures and procedures that will guarantee violence-free and fair elections.

 

Zimbabweans yearn for a peaceful and democratic transfer of power so that they may all live in hope, dignity and freedom. We must not fail them.

 

 

Speaking Truth to Power

 


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Woman who took part in violent attacks on white farmers in Zimbabwe denied UK asylum

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

By David Gardner
Last updated at 7:52 PM on 16th September 2010

A woman who admitted taking part in savage evictions of white farmers from
their homes in Zimbabwe lost her bid for asylum after a High Court judge
accused her of 'crimes against humanity.'

Mr Justice Ouseley threw out the widowed mother-of-two's appeal to remain in
the UK after she confessed to beating up ten people during two land
invasions.

The judge said the state-sponsored mob violence, which saw white famers'
land seized and shared out among President Robert Mugabe's cronies, was akin
to genocide.

'We are satisfied that the two farm invasions were crimes against humanity,'
he said, likening the 39-year-old woman's role to a concentration camp guard
who followed Nazi orders during the Holocaust.

The woman, who cannot be named, came to Britain illegally in 2002 and did
not claim asylum until six years later.

Her bid for refugee status was rejected on the grounds that her own violent
actions in Zimbabwe disqualified her from humanitarian protection in this
country.

She admitted to being part of a gang of thugs from Mugabe's Zanu-PF party
who invaded two white-owned farms intent on causing maximum terror and
driving away black workers.

The woman, referred to only as 'SK", agreed she had beaten up to ten people
whilst their homes burned, 'inflicting enough pain to get them to run away.'

She said that on one occasion, she beat a woman so badly she thought she
would die.

However, she insisted she had taken part in the raids under duress to prove
her loyalty to Mugabe's regime and she had never intended to kill anyone.

Mr Justice Ouseley, sitting at the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum
Chamber said the farm invasions were 'part of widespread, systematic attacks'
against white farmers and their black workers, carried out with the full
knowledge of the regime 'as a deliberate act of policy'.

The intention behind the 'obviously inhumane' invasions 'was to cause great
suffering or inflict serious physical or mental injury' on victims and cow
them into never returning to their homes or opposing the Mugabe regime, he
added.

'The aim was achieved by the mob violence of beatings administered to men
and women, burnings and lootings in a deliberately brutal and terrifying
experience.

'They were undertaken for political reasons, the suppression of perceived
opposition and for the financial advancement of the regime members and
supporters,' he added.

There was also a 'clear racial element' to the attacks, the judge said.

Zimbabwe had 4,500 white commercial farmers and agriculture was the
cornerstone of the country's economy before the Mugabe government's
controversial land seizures began a decade ago. Of the 300 farms left, at
least 152 of them have reportedly been targetted for eviction with foreign
farmers at the top of the list to go.

The Tribunal accepted that the woman was a 'lesser participant' in the
bloodshed and others were even more brutal.

However, she took 'a voluntary, even if reluctant' part.

Even though not a ringleader, the same could be said of concentration camp
guards who 'make a substantial contribution to genocide' despite their
peripheral role, said the judge.

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1312701/Woman-took-violent-attacks-white-farmers-Zimbabwe-denied-UK-asylum.html#ixzz0zj4tnlf0


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A Boy and a Bicycle(s)

http://www.nytimes.com

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: September 15, 2010

Early this year I wrote a column from Zimbabwe that focused on five orphans
who moved in together and survive alone in a hut.

The eldest, Abel, a scrawny and malnourished 17-year-old, would rise at 4 o'clock
each morning and set off barefoot on a three-hour hike to high school. At
nightfall, Abel would return to function as surrogate father: cajoling the
younger orphans to finish their homework by firelight, comforting them when
sick and spanking them when naughty.

When I asked Abel what he dreamed of, he said "a bicycle" - so that he could
cut the six hours he spent walking to and from school and, thus, take better
care of the younger orphans. Last week, Abel got his wish. A Chicago-based
aid organization, World Bicycle Relief, distributed 200 bicycles to students
in Abel's area who need them to get to school. One went to Abel.

The initiative is a pilot. If it succeeds and finds financing, tens of
thousands of other children in Zimbabwe could also get bicycles to help them
attend school.

"I'm happy," Abel told me shyly - his voice beaming through the phone line -
when I spoke to him after he got his hands on his bicycle.

Before, he said, he wasn't sure that he would pass high school graduation
exams because he had no time to study. Now he is confident that he will
pass.

The bicycle project is the brainchild of a Chicago businessman, Frederick
K.W. Day, who read about Abel and decided to make him and his classmates a
test of a large-scale bicycles-for-education program in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Day is a senior executive of the SRAM Corporation, the largest bicycle
parts company in the United States. He formed World Bicycle Relief in 2005
in the belief that bicycles could help provide cheap transportation for
students and health workers in poor countries.

At first, his plan was to ship used bicycles from the United States, but
after visits to the field he decided that they would break down. "When we
got out there, it was clear that no bike made in the U.S. would survive in
that environment," he said.

After consulting with local people and looking at the spare parts available
in remote areas, Mr. Day's engineering staff designed a 55-pound one-speed
bicycle that needed little pampering. One notorious problem with aid groups
is that they introduce new technologies that can't always be sustained; the
developing world is full of expensive wells that don't work because the
pumps have broken and there is no one to repair them.

So World Bicycle Relief trains one mechanic - equipped with basic spare
parts and tools - for every 50 bicycles distributed, thus nurturing small
businesses as well. Abel was one of those trained as a mechanic this time.

In the world of aid, nothing goes quite as planned, and it's far too early
to know whether this program will succeed. World Bicycle Relief tried to get
around potential problems by spending months recruiting village elders to
oversee the program (it helps that the elders receive bicycles, which they
get to keep after two years if they provide solid oversight). Elders will
ensure that fathers and older brothers do not confiscate bicycles from girls
on the grounds that females are too insignificant to merit something so
valuable.

Parents sometimes try to save daughters the risk of walking several hours
each way to school by lodging them in town. But the result is sometimes
sexual extortion; if a girl wishes to continue her education by staying in
cheap lodgings, the price is repeated rape. With bicycles, those girls will
now be able to stay at home.

World Bicycle Relief has given out more than 70,000 bicycles so far, nearly
70 percent to women and girls. It expects to hand out 20,000 bicycles this
year. And if all goes well, Abel may be the first of tens of thousands of
Zimbabwean students to get a bike.

So, for Abel, this is something of a fairy-tale ending. But one of my
challenges as a journalist is that many donors want to help any specific
individual I write about, while few want to support countless others in the
same position.

One obstacle is donor fatigue and weariness with African corruption and
repeated aid failures. Those are legitimate concerns. But this column isn't
just a story about a boy and a bike. Rather, it's an example of an aid
intervention that puts a system in place, one that is sustainable and has
local buy-in, in hopes of promoting education, jobs and a virtuous cycle out
of poverty. It's a reminder that there are ways to help people help
themselves, and that problems can have solutions - but we need to multiply
them. Just ask Abel.


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Meeting Morgan

http://economist.com/

Sep 16th 2010, 17:11 by A.R. | JOHANNESBURG

RARELY does Zimbabwe's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, speak so frankly
in public about his relationship with his old rival, President Robert
Mugabe, as he did on Thursday September 13th at an Economist conference in
Johannesburg. Describing his weekly Monday meetings with Mr Mugabe as
cordial ("he's as human as you are") he argued that the president is willing
to contemplate a graceful exit from power within the coming years. Why?
"Because he will want to secure his legacy, he will not want to be
remembered as a villain. Robert Mugabe believes he has left Zimbabweans
talking across the political divide. And as a victim of his repression, I
can say reconciliation is the only solution. Some say we must have instant
justice, an eye for an eye against those who did us wrong, but an eye for an
eye may leave Zimbabwe blind".

The prime minister is criticised in some quarters as weak, with Mr Mugabe
and his powerful colleagues who control (among other things) the armed
forces and security forces running rings around the leaders of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), who won the 2008 election but were only able to
form a power-sharing government in 2009. Mr Tsvangirai retorts that a
gradual process of co-operation and reconciliation has already brought
considerable benefits-Zimbabwe's economy grew by 4% or so last year and may
do better this year, with inflation low and investment partly returning. The
problem is that reconciliation may soon fall apart, if an election, which is
likely late next year, causes sharp divisions and a return to thuggish
violence against MDC supporters. Mr Tsvangirai, however, argued that
"benchmarks" could ensure a fairer election next year. He meant a new
voters' roll, more monitors, an independent electoral commission, an outcome
to be announced promptly. Maybe so. But would Mr Mugabe (and would
neighbours such as South Africa) meekly accept an outright MDC win, which
polls suggest is most likely?

Mr Tsvangirai concluded that Zimbabwe is a "post conflict" society, one
where locals and foreigners have to give up on old confrontation and think
about recovery. "The nation's destiny is not to be held to ransom by Robert
Mugabe. He's going to move on. We must think of the 55% of Zimbabweans
younger than 15". That would be nice, but the last time this correspondent
interviewed Mr Mugabe, the 86-year-old said he would only be standing down
"when I am one hundred years old". So just 14 years to go then.

 


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Morgan Tsvangirai praises Robert Mugabe 'the hero'

http://www.guardian.co.uk

Zimbabwe president acknowledges atrocities of past decades but says Robert
Mugabe can rescue his legacy

    * David Smith in Johannesburg
    * guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 September 2010 20.41 BST

Morgan Tsvangirai The Zimbabwe prime minister praised Robert Mugabe at a
conference in Johannesburg. Photograph: Desmond Kwande/AFP/Getty Images

Robert Mugabe is a hero, a liberator and the founding father of Zimbabwe,
Morgan Tsvangirai, arch rival and victim of rights abuses under his regime,
said today.

The conciliatory words chosen by the Zimbabwean prime minister came as he
challenged the world to see the president as not only part of his country's
problem, but also part of the solution.

Speaking at a conference in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai acknowledged the
atrocities of the past decade but insisted Mugabe could rescue his legacy.

"I suppose Robert Mugabe has been portrayed as a demon," he told the
Guardian. "He himself made a contribution to that caricature because I
cannot defend what he did over the last 10 years in terms of violence, in
terms of expropriation and all these other activities.

"But there is also a positive contribution to our country that he has made.
Remember that he was the national liberation hero, and so those are positive
years. I suppose there is the personality conflict between a hero and a
villain, of which you have to make an assessment. History will have to judge
him."

Tsvangirai entered a unity government after disputed elections in 2008 which
left more than 200 people dead. The Movement for Democratic Change leader
claims that Mugabe accepts the power-sharing agreement and the need for free
and fair elections, probably next year.

"He's committed to this transition, once that is transition is done, he is
committed to ensure we have a peaceful election," Tsvangirai said. "That
will restore his legacy as the founding father of the nation as well as the
liberator, rather than the villain he has come to be associated with."

Tsvangirai, who was beaten by Mugabe loyalists in 2007, effectively ruled
out any criminal prosecution of the president or his allies after they leave
office. He argued that Zimbabwe had gone through two negotiations: the
power-sharing deal and a new constitution, which could go to a referendum
next year.

"Those processes by their very nature are processes of reconciliation and
finding common ground How would we turn around after going through those two
processes and start embarking on a retributive agenda? It doesn't make
sense.

"That does not take away what we have experienced, and as one of the victims
of that repression, I can tell you that . reconciliation is the only
solution for that country to have assured stability, peace and progress."

In earlier remarks, Tsvangirai told the Economist magazine conference: "I go
around the country sometimes addressing people - those who have lost their
loved ones, those who have been beaten, those who have been tortured - and
when I talk about reconciliation some of them say, 'You can't say that, we
want instant justice.'

"I say, 'Yes, an eye for an eye is very good, but remember if it's an eye
for an eye, it may leave Zimbabwe blind.' I know it's difficult to accept
but there is no other way out of it than to preach national healing,
national reconciliation. It includes of course having to accept the fact
that Mugabe may be part of the problem, but he's also part of the solution."

Tsvangirai angered critics in the west earlier this year when he spoke out
against homosexuality. But he saidtoday: "We're not writing a constitution
for the west, we're writing a constitution for Zimbabweans. It is
Zimbabweans that have to give their views regarding that particular issue. I
hope they will be progressive, they will be liberal, but I know how
Zimbabweans feel about that particular subject."

Asked for his personal view, Tsvangirai said: "There's no such thing as
personal view. If I give my personal view, people will say the prime
minister is influencing what the outcome should be. My personal view is
known publicly and I don't need to repeat that."

In a generally upbeat performance at the event in Johannesburg, the prime
minister pointed to steady improvements in hospitals, schools, supermarkets,
water and petrol supplies, inflation and economic growth as evidence that
the country is recovering and on the right track.

But the pressure group Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition rejected such optimism,
expressing disappointment as how "the hopes of many Zimbabweans have been
shattered and betrayed by the inclusive government"
 


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Legal notes on death of Robert Mugabe

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

16 September, 2010 09:30:00    By Derek Matyszak , Research and Advocacy
Unit, Harare -

ZANU PF supporters have on several occasions expressed the wish that
President Robert Mugabe die in office. With speculation about Mugabe's ill
health rife and more plausible than usual, it is interesting to consider the
legal position and what ought to happen in terms of the current constitution
if Mugabe were to die today.

Section 29(3)(b) of the Constitution provides that if the president becomes
incapable of performing the duties of his office by reason of mental or
physical incapacity he will cease to hold office if a joint committee of the
Senate and House of Assembly formed at the request of a two thirds majority
of Parliament so recommends.

This provision was supplemented in 2007 by Constitutional Amendment No 18,5
drafted specifically with the possibility of Mugabe's sudden death or
retirement in mind. Section 28(2)(b) of the current constitution now
provides that if the office of the president becomes vacant by reason of
death, resignation or removal from office, the two Houses of Parliament will
come together as an electoral college to elect a new president.

The new president will remain in office until the next election.6 If these
provisions are implemented, given the intense jockeying that is like to take
place to fill this immensely powerful post, the procedure to be followed is
of some interest.

The election of the president through the Parliamentary Electoral College
must take place within 90 days of the death or resignation. The procedure to
be followed is set out in the Fifth Schedule to the Electoral Act.7The Clerk
of Parliament plays an extremely important role in this
regard.mugabe-worried7

1 Mugabe, at the burial of his sister Sabina on 01.08.10, giving
instructions to Western powers, - perhaps directing them to the most
probable venue for his next round of negotiations with them on "sanctions".
Mugabe is a practising Catholic. The issue of eternal damnation is obviously
much on his mind, as he frequently mentions "hell" in conjunction with the
West, aid and "sanctions" - see for example To Hell with Western Aid, Says
Mugabe The Zimbabwe Independent 09.07.10. 2 Let Mugabe Die in Office, Says
Moyo The Standard 26.09.10 3 The word is selected as it is not beyond the
bounds of possibility that those interested in assuming power might declare
the constitution suspended and place Zimbabwe under formal military rule. 5
Act No 11 of 2007. 6 Section 29(1) of the Constitution. 7 Chapter 2:13.

He [8]sets the date of the election on not less than 14 days notice and
simultaneously invites nominations for the post from members of
Parliament.910 Candidates must have at least 25 nominators and must signify
their acceptance of the nomination in writing. The Clerk of Parliament,
whose decision is subject to review by the Supreme Court, may reject any
nomination which does not comply with the Act.11Where there is more than one
candidate a vote then takes place, with the House of Assembly as the
preferred venue, and presided over by the Chief Justice.12 Half the members
of the Electoral College constitute a quorum, but, if there is no such
quorum, the matter is simply adjourned for an hour and those present
thereafter constitute a quorum.13

Voting is not secret. The Chief Justice directs persons to gather in blocs
in parts of the House allocated to each candidate and for whom they wish to
vote. One member of the bloc is appointed to compile a register of number of
persons and their names in his or her candidate's bloc.14 The tally of
supporters in each bloc is then given to the Chief Justice, who announces
the figures.

If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes, the candidate with
the least number of votes is eliminated and the process repeated until such
a majority is achieved.15 If there are only two candidates, who receive an
equality of votes, the process is repeated over and over, with such
adjournments not exceeding 48 hours as the Chief Justice may determine,
until one candidate has attained majority.

The Chief Justice announces that candidate as duly elected as president.16
Lists of those comprising the voting blocs, indicating who voted for whom is
entered into the Journals of both Houses.17 However, since the enactment of
the Constitutional Amendment No 19, (which incorporated, almost verbatim,
Article 20 of the appallingly drafted Inclusive Political Agreement) little
is clear and free from ambiguity in relation to the composition of Zimbabwe's
government.

One of the most glaring anomalies is that Zimbabwe's constitution is unique
in that it does not merely provide that Zimbabwe is to have a president, but
it is a constitutional requirement that the president is a specific
individual, Robert Gabriel Mugabe.18On the death of Mugabe there can be no
compliance with this provision.

It is unusual that constitutional provisions are drafted in such a way that
their implementation may be avoided on account of vis maior (an act of God).
However, from this provision it may be inferred that the legislature did not
contemplate that the post of presidency would be occupied by any other
person during the subsistence of the Global Political Agreement (GPA19), and
thus that no provision was made for the contingency of 8 Currently a male,
Mr. Austin Zvoma. 9 Paragraph 2(1)(a) and (b) of the Fifth Schedule. 10
Paragraph 3(1)(a) and (b) of the Fifth Schedule. 11 Paragraph 3(5) and
paragraph 3(8) of the Fifth Schedule. 12 Paragraph 5(a) of the Fifth
Schedule. 13 Paragraph 6(2) of the Fifth Schedule. 14 Paragraph 7(1)(a) of
the Fifth Schedule. 15 Paragraph 8(1)(b) of the Fifth Schedule. 16 Paragraph
9(1)(b) of the Fifth Schedule. 17 Paragraph 9(2) of the Fifth Schedule. 18
Article 20.1.6(1) of Schedule 8 to the Constitution - the provisions of the
Kenyan Constitution establishing a unity government contain no equivalent
provision. It is also a constitutional requirement that the Prime Minister
is Morgan Tsvangirai, and no one else. 19 This is the term generally applied
to what is more correctly the Inclusive Political Agreement.

Mugabe's death. It is then arguable that Article 20.1.10 of Schedule 8 to
the Constitution was not intended to apply to the presidency. Article
20.1.10 provides: In the event of any vacancy arising in respect of posts
referred to in clauses 20.1.6 and 20.1.9 above, such vacancy shall be filled
by a nominee of the Party which held that position prior to the vacancy
arising. The office of president is a post referred to in clause 20.1.6. If
it is held that this clause does apply to the presidency any vacancy arising
through the death of Mugabe, must be filled by a nominee of ZANU PF. The
provisions of Schedule 8 to the Constitution "shall, during the subsistence
of the Interparty Political Agreement, prevail notwithstanding anything to
the contrary in [the] Constitution."

However, a further question arises as to whether 20.1.10 is intended to
replace the provisions relating to the Parliamentary Electoral College or to
exist alongside them. If they are to replace the provisions, then ZANU PF
may nominate a replacement for Mugabe, and the nominee is presumably sworn
in as president as if elected without further ado. This interpretation
should not be accepted lightly.

An enormous amount of power is concentrated in the presidency. Section 28 of
the Constitution requires that the president is democratically elected
either through a national election or through an electoral college
comprising primarily democratically elected representatives of the people.
The effect of this interpretation is that these democratic provisions are
excluded in favour of a provision which allows the president to be selected
by a party cabal, and the person so selected may lawfully continue in office
until 2013 or the next election.20 This clearly subverts normal democratic
practice.

However, there is no need to interpret Article 20.1.10 in this manner.
Article 20.1.10 is not "contrary to something elsewhere in the constitution"
and does not contradict the provisions relating to an Electoral College.
Reading the provisions together would merely create a requirement that only
ZANU PF nominees may be submitted to the Clerk of Parliament as candidates
for election by the Electoral College to ensure that the vacancy is filled
by a nominee of ZANU PF.

To summarise, as the constitution now stands it is unclear whether Article
20.1.10 applies to the presidency. If it does not, any Member of Parliament
able to muster the endorsement of 25 other Members may submit nominations
for election to the presidency through the Parliamentary Electoral College.
If 20.1.10 does apply, it is unclear whether the law requires simply that a
ZANU PF nominee is appointed as president without further ado, or whether
the law requires that an election is conducted through Parliament acting as
an electoral college, but with only ZANU PF nominees as candidates.

This ambiguity in the law to be followed upon Mugabe's sudden death, when
considered alongside the uncertainties of ZANU PF's succession politics,21
has the potential to turn the merely messy into the thoroughly chaotic, as
each contender endeavours to apply an interpretation of the law which is
most advantageous to him or her. Past displays of ruthlessness
20 There is considerable speculation as to when the next elections will be
held, though there is no legal requirement to hold elections before 2013. 21
Zanu Must Conclude Succession Debate ASAP http://www.zimonline.co.za
03.09.10. by competing factions within ZANU PF over the succession issue
suggest that this is not a prospect to be welcomed.

There is no constitutional requirement that the nominee submitted by ZANU PF
for appointment as president is the person who succeeds Mugabe as leader of
ZANU PF in terms of ZANU PF's Party Constitution. There is also no provision
in Zimbabwe's Constitution indicating who has the authority to submit the
name of the ZANU PF candidate as nominee to fill the vacancy, the assumption
being that this would be determined by ZANU PF as a party and more
particularly, that Mugabe would represent ZANU PF for the purpose of
submitting nominations for executive vacancies.

The ZANU PF constitution also contains no clear provisions as to what is to
happen on the demise of its president.22 The president is elected by the
National People's Congress.23 This Congress convenes every five years and
the 230 member Central Committee is mandated to act on behalf of the
Congress when it is not in session. Fissures with ZANU PF might develop into
open rifts within the Central Committee, which may be unable to reach
consensus on the ZANU PF nominee. Rival groupings may both claim the right
to put forward a candidate for immediate appointment as President in terms
of Article 20.1.10.

In this situation a faction or factions of ZANU PF may seek to exploit the
ambiguity of the law outlined above, and, if they feel that their favoured
candidate will not be put forward under 20.1.10 as the sole and most
probable electee may demand that the competing nominees face an election
through the Parliamentary Electoral College, arguing, as they would have
every right to, that this is the correct and lawful procedure to be
followed. At this juncture it is also worth noting that the provisions of
Article 20.1.10 only have application during the subsistence of the GPA.

If the GPA has terminated due to the withdrawal of any party (and there is
no legal impediment to a party so doing), then the constitutional
requirements of convening an electoral college must be implemented and
nominees will not be restricted to persons from ZANU PF. If MDC-T shows more
chutzpah than it has hitherto, it may insist that Article 20.1.10 has no
application to a vacancy in the presidency or decide to withdraw from the
GPA precisely so that Article 20.1.10 has no application and its own
nominees might be advanced as candidates to the Electoral College. Once
again, matters could get extremely messy juridically.

If MDC-T withdraws from the GPA after the death of Mugabe, but before the
appointment of a replacement it is unclear whether Article 20.1.10 should
still have effect, or whether it will fall away and the constitutional
provisions relating to the Electoral College have sole, unadulterated
application. In other words does one apply the constitutional provision
prevailing at the time of Mugabe's death or at the time of determining the
replacement?

Given the current composition of the Houses of Parliament, in the event of
an electoral college being convened, the MDCs' position will present
possibilities for manoeuvre. The 100 seat Senate comprises 60 elected seats,
10 provincial governors, 12 appointed seats and 18 chiefs. Of the 12
appointed seats, four must be nominees of MDC-T and two nominees of MDC-M.
The 22 The Constitution of ZANU PF is a skeletal document, bereft of detail,
though the constitutional procedures of the party have presumably been
elaborated in party resolutions. 23 The composition of which is undefined in
ZANU PF's constitution.

House of Assembly has 214 seats, 210 of which are elected, while one
Vice-President, the Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers hold seats
ex officio.24

Due to vacancies arising from the death and suspension of some Members, the
current party voting strengths in the House of Assembly are MDC-T 96;
ZANU-PF 96; MDC-M 7, a total of 199 Members. In the Senate the MDC-T has 27,
the MDC-M 8 and ZANU PF 29 elected and appointed Members. The remainder of
sitting Members comprise 10 Provincial Governors and 17 traditional Chiefs
making a total of 91 sitting members.25 Mugabe has extensive powers over the
appointment and dismissal of Chiefs26 and all Provincial Governors in the
Senate are Mugabe appointees.27 On the basis of their past records, the
Chiefs and Governors can be expected to vote with ZANU PF. On this basis the
combined voting strengths in the two Houses sitting as an electoral college
is the MDC formations 138 (15 MDC-M) and 152 ZANU PF. ZANU PF thus has a
narrow margin of a 14 seat majority by virtue of the presence of Governors
and Chiefs in the Senate (and therefore the Electoral College).

The significance of the manner in which these appointments are made thus
comes to the fore. Article 20.1.3(p) of Schedule 8 to the Constitution and
section 115 of the Constitution together require that any appointments made
by Mugabe in terms of any Act of Parliament be made with Tsvangirai's
consent.

The appointment of both Governors and Chiefs are made by Mugabe in terms of
Acts of Parliament and thus both require Tsvangirai's consent. Mugabe has
refused to follow this constitutional requirement in regard to the
appointment of Governors (a matter of some current controversy) and
Tsvangirai has not attempted to seek compliance in regard to the appointment
of Chiefs. Leaving the dispute over the appointment of the Governors to
SADC, rather than testing this in the courts, may thus not be the wisest
course of action for MDC-T.

Nonetheless, it is obvious that in a poll by the Parliamentary Electoral
College to choose between several ZANU PF candidates competing for the
presidency, it would be numerically possible for the MDC-T, MDC-M or either
party alone to determine the outcome. One would expect the MDC to provide
support to one candidate or the other only in exchange for some political
concessions relating to the powers of the future president and the
governance of the country.

However, these legal niceties are unlikely to find traction in the less
subtle realm of Zimbabwe's present political milieu. A powerful political
cabal within ZANU PF will most probably impose its anointed successor
claiming the authority of Article 20.1.10 to do so.

This cabal may have the political power and brute force to swiftly crush any
rivals seeking to advance an alternate person 24 If the persons appointed to
these posts already held seats in Parliament, the appropriate party may
nominate a non-constituency member to the House where they held a seat (one
of the 12 appointed seats in the Senate is such a seat).

Only those in these posts who were not members of parliament become ex
officio members of the House of Assembly - Article 20.1.8 of Schedule 8 to
the Constitution. 25 The figures are from Veritas Bill watch 30/2010. 26 The
President appoints Chiefs in terms of section 3 of the Traditional Leaders
Act [Chapter 29:17] though "wherever practicable" he must appoint a person
nominated by the appropriate persons in the community concerned and in
accordance with customary laws of succession.

The 18 Chiefs in Parliament comprise the President and Deputy President of
the Council of Chiefs and two Chiefs from each of the eight non-metropolitan
provinces (sections 34(1)(c) and (d) of the Constitution) chosen by an
electoral college comprising the provincial assemblies of Chiefs (section
40(b) of the Electoral act [Chapter 2:13]). 27 The Provincial Governors were
appointed by Mugabe in August, 2008 under section 4 of the Provincial
Councils and Administration Act [Chapter 29:11].

Their term of office being two years (under section 6) these posts are
technically vacant, and so too, then, are these Senate seats. or process to
determine the succession. And if it has the power to rapidly impose its will
in this manner, so too will it have the power to ensure that the advent of
democracy in Zimbabwe is indefinitely delayed.


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Constitution Watch 17/2010 - 15th September [COPAC Bulawayo Outreach Meetings 18th to 20th September]


CONSTITUTION WATCH 17/2010

[15th September 2010]

Outreach Meetings: Bulawayo:

Saturday 18th September to Monday 20th September

This is the Schedule released by COPAC for the Outreach Meetings for Bulawayo.  Starting times have not yet been confirmed, but meetings will probably run from 9 am to 4 pm.

Provincial Contact Person for Bulawayo:- D. Mpofu [0734 044064]

 

DATE

WARD

MEETING POINT

COPAC OUTREACH TEAM NO.

Saturday

1

Small City Hall

Team 1 Mat South

18th September

2

Richmond Hall

Team 2 Mat South

 

3

Elangeni Training Centre

Team 3 Mat South

 

4

Tennyson Primary School

Team 4 Mat South

 

5

Church of Ascension

Team 5 Mat South

 

6

Barham Green Hall

Team 6 Mat South

 

29

Mthimkulu Primary School

Team 7 Bulawayo Province

 

8

McDonald Hall

Team 1 Mat North

 

9

Mpopoma Hall

Team 2 Mat North

 

10

Ethumbane Hall

Team 3 Mat North

 

11

Emakhandeni Hall

Team 4 Mat North

 

12

Njube Hall

Team 5 Mat North

 

13

Iminyela Hall

Team 6 Mat North

 

14

New Lobengula Hall

Team 7 Mat North

 

Sunday

15

Beit Hall

Team 1 Mat South

19th September

16

Inzwananzi Primary School

Team 2 Mat South

 

17

Pumula North Hall

Team 3 Mat South

 

18

Magwegwe Hall

Team 4 Mat South

 

19

Old Pumula Hall

Team 5 Mat South

 

20

Mgoqo Primary School

Team 6 Mat South

 

21

Tshabalala Hall

Team 7 Bulawayo Province

 

22

Mtshane Primary School

Team 1 Mat North

 

23

Queen Elizabeth II Primary School

Team 2 Mat North

 

24

Nketa 8 Hall

Team 3 Mat North

 

25

Mgiqika Primary School

Team 4 Mat North

 

26

Senzangakona Primary School

Team 5 Mat North

 

27

Dumezweni Primary School

Team 6 Mat North

 

28

Mahlatini Primary School

Team 7 Mat North

 

Monday

7

Stanley Hall

Team 7 Bulawayo Province

20th September

7

Jairos Jiri Centre, Nguboyenja

Team 7 Bulawayo Province

 

Harare Meetings:  Times and dates of outreach meetings for Harare Metropolitan area [Harare, Chitungwiza, Ruwa] will not be finalised until Thursday afternoon.  Veritas will circulate the final schedule as soon as it becomes available from COPAC.

 

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied

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