The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Air
Zimbabwe pilots end strike
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
16 September
2011
A six week strike by pilots at Air Zimbabwe, which brought the
airline to a
halt, has ended, its chief executive said on
Friday.
Flight operations of the airline will gradually return to normal
this
weekend after pilots ended the costly strike, which saw the national
flag
carrier lose
millions of dollars. The pilots were demanding
payment of outstanding
salaries and allowances.
The passenger airline
owed its workers about US$9 million in unpaid salaries
and allowances. The
strike by the pilots and cabin crew forced Air Zimbabwe
to cancel most of
its domestic, regional and international flights.
The pilots were
reporting back to work on Friday and it is believed the
airline will step up
operations in the next 48 hours. It is also expecting
to return to operating
at normal capacity by next week Monday.
The strike, which left hundreds
of regional and international passengers
stranded, has further damaged the
image of the airline, which used to be a
symbol of prestige but is now
widely thought of being on its death bed.
Air Zimbabwe operates a daily
Harare-Johannesburg route, a twice-weekly
flight to London and a weekly
flight to Beijing, China. Like many state
businesses in Zimbabwe, Air
Zimbabwe has been hit hard by mounting debts and
mismanagement.
SW
Radio Africa’s Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme said on Friday
that
the best option to resolve the never ending crisis at the airline is to
privatise or merge it with other partners. He said the pilots’ action has
once again reignited debate over the privatisation of such ailing
state-owned enterprises.
This comes as analysts say any move on the
part of the government to further
subsidise the airline or other ailing
national institutions, will not bode
well with international
donors.
The country’s tourism sector has also been hard hit by the Air
Zimbabwe
strike due to a drastic decline in tourist arrivals to key resort
areas,
particularly Victoria Falls.
The protracted dispute between
management and the pilots resulted in massive
cancellation of bookings by
tourists who had planned to visit Victoria
Falls, the country’s prime
tourist destination in the month of August.
Reports said tourism officials
estimate that at least 80 percent of bookings
have been cancelled so far
since the Air Zimbabwe pilots went on strike
since July.
Electoral
Amendment Bill to spark heated debate
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
16
September, 2011
Public hearings on the Electoral Amendment Bill were set
to begin this week,
with the proposed polling station based voters’ roll and
the issue of
Diaspora votes expected to spark heated debates.
The
Bill was gazetted on the 27th of June and is due to undergo debate and a
vote in parliament in a few weeks. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network
(ZESN), which includes 38 member groups, is also conducting its own
independent hearings on the proposed changes.
Polling station based
voting would see the residents of any constituency
able to vote only at
their local polling station, and nowhere else in the
country. Zimbabweans
outside the country would be denied the right to vote,
and government
workers only would have postal voting rights.
Supporters of localised
voting insist the new system will prevent people
from voting more than once.
But those against it say it also makes it easy
for perpetrators of violence
to block supporters of a rival candidate, or
party, from reaching their
voting station.
The MDC-T secretary for elections, Seiso Moyo, told SW
Radio Africa that the
proposed voting system is “generally a good practice”
because it does
prevent multiple votes by individuals. But he said there are
concerns that
if the issue of violence is not resolved, voting can become
problematic.
“People can be victimised or targeted after an election
because in any local
area they know each other. Perpetrators of violence can
also block each
other so that they cannot go and vote,” Moyo
said.
Regarding Diaspora votes, ZANU PF insists their candidates are at a
disadvantage because they cannot travel to campaign in countries that have
imposed targeted sanctions on the Mugabe regime.
Moyo argued that
every citizen must be allowed to vote “regardless of where
they are” and the
MDC-T would fight for that right when debate on the
Electoral Bill begins in
a few weeks in parliament.
Bookmark and Share
Gwisai
trial delayed again
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
16 September,
2011
The trial of University of Zimbabwe law lecturer Munyaradzi
Gwisai and five
other activists, facing charges for inciting violence, has
been delayed
again after their lawyer failed to appear in court. Provincial
magistrate
Kudakwashe Jarabini deferred the trial to Tuesday, September
20th.
The state’s representative, Edmore Nyazamba, told the court
that Defense
Lawyer Alec Muchadehama was engaged in another case at the
Supreme Court. “I
believe he thought he would make it here,” the state run
Herald newspaper
quoted Nyazamba as saying.
Gwisai, a former
Highfield MP and co-ordinator of the International
Socialist Organisation,
and the others were initially accused of plotting to
overthrow the
government and charged with treason. But the state later
altered the charges
to inciting violence and threatening public security.
He is jointly
charged along with activists Hopewell Gumbo, Antoneta Choto,
Tatenda
Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma and Welcome Zimuto.
Several events linked to the
state have delayed the trial since the group’s
arrest in February, when
police disrupted a meeting where a group of 50
activists viewed and
discussed videos of the uprisings in North Africa. The
others accused were
later released for lack of evidence.
The first witness testified this week on
Wednesday and more witnesses were
to be called on Thursday if the defense
lawyer had turned up. 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
is attempting to frustrate
them.
Mugabe/Tsvangirai
Discuss Fate Of Stripper Ambassador
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 16, 2011 -
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan are discussing the fate of
Zimbabwean Ambassador to Australia,
Jacqualine Zwambila who has been accused
of undiplomatic behaviour, a senior
government official has said.
The
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Joey Bimha, told
Radio
VOP that the disciplinary matter involving Zwambila is now entirely in
the
hands of the political party leaders in the coalition
government.
Zwambila stands accused by her former Butler Felix Machirida,
whom she
recruited in Zimbabwe and travelled with to Canberra when she was
appointed
the country’s envoy to Australia, of forcing him to get intimate
with her.
Machiridza is not the first person to accuse the envoy of
practising
sexually suggestive behaviour to male counterparts. She was last
year
accused by male embassy staff in Canberra of removing her clothes in
rage.
“The matter involving Ambassador Zwambila is now being dealt with
by the
political party principals,” said Bimha. “We asked her to send us her
response to the allegations and she said needed time to study them before
responding. I cannot give you much detail because the case is now with the
political party representatives.”
Sources in the Movement Democratic
Change party led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said the matter is
being dealt with although some members want
Zwambila recalled for putting
the name of the party in disrepute.
However it is highly unlikely that
she will be recalled because she is a
close ally of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, who insiders say would
rather have her in Australia. The sources
say her return will further stoke
fractious relations within the party’s
women’s league.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai is set to appoint, Lucia Matibenga,
as the next
minister of Public Service to replace the late Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro.
Matibenga was controversially disposed off her position of
head of the women’s
league by Theresa Makone and her appointment to a
ministerial post is seen
as a move to placate, the female constituency in
the party.
'War Vets'
Leader Moves To Matabeleland South
http://www.radiovop.com
By Vusisizwe Mkhwananzi, Gwanda,
September 16, 2011 - War veterans leader
Jabulani Sibanda who has been
accused of orchestrating acts of violence in
Masvingo has taken his act to
Matabeleland South were he has warned
villagers to prepare for the worst in
the next elections.
Sources who attended one of Sibanda’s meetings in
Chief Nhlamba’s area said
the former freedom fighter lashed out at villagers
for abandoning Zanu (PF)
in the past election in favour of Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
formations.
Zanu (PF) won two out of seven
parliamentary seats in the province and
Sibanda has vowed to win them
back.
“We will be forced to call you twice a day to rallies until you
back us”,
Sibanda reportedly said.
In Masvingo the self proclaimed
war vet leader forced villagers to attend
rallies where he threatened to
murder those who do not support Robert Mugabe
in elections.
Sibanda
has lined up various meetings across the province and will be
meeting
traditional leaders, fellow war veterans and villagers.
Political analyst
Buletsi Nyathi says Sibanda’s presence in the region has
sent fear among
villagers.
“People are terrified. 'War vets' have in the past intimidated
villagers and
Sibanda’s presence is meant to instill fear among villagers
ahead of the
envisaged elections”, said Nyathi.
Sibanda also told the
gathering those ZANU PF officials who have been
supping with the devil as
exposed by whistle blower website WIKILEAKS will
be dealt with secretly.
Rights
Lawyers Challenge Protest March Ban
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 16, 2011 -
Human rights lawyers have challenged a police
ban on a march organised by
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) to
commemorate the brutal
assault of trade unionists at the hands of the police
five years
ago.
In a letter written to Chief Superintendent Titus Chagwedera, the
Officer
Commanding Harare South District, the ZCTU lawyer, Belinda
Chinowawa, of
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the banning or
prohibition of
the commemoration is irregular, illegal and unconstitutional
because the
umbrella labour federation is a bona-fide trade union which is
exempted from
giving notice to the police of its intention to hold public
gatherings or
processions.
Chinowawa said the police should assure
the ZCTU in writing by 12:00 PM on
Friday that they will not disturb or
interfere with the labour union’s
commemorations.
The human rights
lawyer said if the police do not positively respond to
their letter, it
shall be assumed that the threats to ban the event made to
the ZCTU still
stand and an application shall be made to the High Court on
an urgent basis
to seek relief.
The ZCTU advised the police on August 31, 2011 that they
intended to hold
the commemoration at a hall in the high density suburb of
Kuwadzana on
Saturday to remember the events that occurred on 13 September
2006, during
which ZCTU leaders including Lovemore Matombo, Wellington
Chibebe, Lucia
Matibenga and several other unionists were severely assaulted
and tortured
upon arrest and in police cells. This was after they staged a
demonstration
protesting against poor remuneration, harassment of informal
traders and
lack of access to anti-retroviral drugs.
But the police
in a letter dated September 13, 2011 outlawed the
commemorations on the
basis that there is a potential threat that the event
would be hijacked by
some “political malcontents and criminals".
2008
abductees want charges dropped
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Friday,
16 September 2011 16:12
HARARE - Supreme Court judges yesterday
reserved judgment in the case in
which seven political and rights activists
tortured and abducted by state
agents in 2008 want charges against them
permanently dropped.
The activists, who include MDC official Kisimusi
Dhlamini, have applied for
a stay of execution before their matter is
brought to trial.
Dhlamini is jointly charged with Gandhi Mudzingwa,
Andrison Manyere,
Zachariah Nkomo, Chinoto Zulu, Mapfumo Garutsa and Regis
Mujeyi.
The seven, who have spent two years waiting for the case to be
heard, were
abducted and tortured by State security agents in 2008 before
being charged
with plotting an insurgency.
They are accused of
contravening Section 23 (1) (a) (i) (ii) of the Criminal
Law (Codification
and Reform) Act, Chapter 9: 23.
Alec Muchadehama of Mbidzo, Muchadehama
and Makoni Legal Practitioners and
Advocate Bhatasara are representing the
abductees.
“Judgment has been reserved in the application,” said
Muchadehama.
In yesterday’s application, Chris Mutangadura from the
Attorney-General’s
office said that the case had been improperly referred to
the Supreme Court.
The abductees successfully applied for the matter to
be referred to the
Supreme Court in 2009.
They want the Supreme Court
to permanently drop the charges on the basis
that the torment they received
at the hands of State security agents in 2008
violated their constitutional
rights.
They argue that the kidnap and torture violated their right to
liberty and
right to full protection of the law. They argued that evidence
obtained from
them by the police was inadmissible in court because it was
sought through
unconstitutional means of torture.
The abductees want
the Supreme Court to determine on the violations of their
rights before the
High Court hears the allegations of insurgency.
Lawyers for the abductees
argue that the State has not disputed medical
reports showing that the
abductees were tortured while in State security
agents’ custody.
In
2009, the Supreme Court ordered a permanent stay of similar charges
against
prominent peace campaigner Jestina Mukoko on the basis that her
kidnap and
torture had violated her constitutional rights.
Mukoko was abducted from
her Norton home in 2008 in similar circumstances to
the other abductees and
charged with recruiting people to train at camps in
Botswana.
EU Presses South Africa's Zuma to Press Harder for Reform in
Zimbabwe
http://www.voanews.com
16 September
2011
President Zuma urged the lifting of sanctions on President
Mugabe and his
inner circle, but EU Council President Van Rompuy countered
that the EU had
already lifted restrictions on business entities tied to
ZANU-PF
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington
A high-level
European Union delegation visiting South Africa this week urged
President
Jacob Zuma to step up his mediation efforts in Harare and push for
democratic reforms that will allow free and fair Zimbabwe
elections.
Mr. Zuma has been mediating the Zimbabwean political crisis at
the behest of
the Southern African Development Community.
Concluding
a summit to promote diplomatic and trade ties between Pretoria
and Brussels,
the European delegates said the extended Zimbabwe crisis
should be resolved
before elections.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU
Commission Chief Jose
Manuel Barroso led the team meeting with Mr. Zuma and
other officials.
President Zuma urged the lifting of sanctions on
President Robert Mugabe and
his inner circle, but South African government
sources said Van Rompuy
countered that the EU had already lifted some
restrictions on business
entities with links to ZANU-PF.
Van Rompuy
said a credible road map for the elections Mr. Mugabe says should
be held
before March next year is of “utmost importance” to any review of
restrictive measures.
Brussels and Washington imposed the punitive
measures on Mugabe and his
inner circle almost a decade ago protesting the
breakdown of the rule of law
and human rights violations by the ZANU-PF
government in power at the time.
London-based political analyst Brilliant
Mhlanga told VOA reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo that maintaining sanctions only
hardens Mr. Mugabe’s
anti-reform position.
President Mugabe Deplores Surge in Violent Crime in
Country
http://www.voanews.com
16 September
2011
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena attributed the surge in murders
to
deepening poverty across the country, with petty arguments occurring over
small sums of money, exacerbated by drunkenness
Violet Gonda &
Sandra Nyaira | Washington
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has
deplored a recent surge of violent
crime in the country saying rapes,
murders and armed robberies are a blight
on society.
Addressing a
Harare reception Thursday for officers returning from regional
games in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the president urged the Zimbabwe
Republic
Police to crack down on such violent crimes to “ensure sanity
prevails."
Mr. Mugabe said police should put as much into fighting
crime as they did
competing in regional police competitions. Zimbabwe police
claimed 55 medals
in the Southern African Regional Police Chief Cooperation
Organization games
in Lubumbashi, Congo.
"Crime, crime, crime. It's
spoiling the relations of families, social,
business and other activities in
our country," Mr. Mugabe said. "We just
have to work hard in combating crime
as we have done so to win these
accolades you have shown us
today."
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Theresa Makone of the Movement for
Democratic
Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said she was
pleased to
see police in the news for the right reasons. She praised the
police as a
disciplined, professional force, adding she was happy the force
had
continued to raise the country's flag high.
"Today we are happy
that this is a disciplined force because without
discipline, you will have
not achieved results like these," Makone told the
officers.
But
political analyst Effie Dlela-Ncube told VOA reporter Chris Gande he was
surprised by Makone’s praise of the police given its record of harsh
treatment of her MDC party even as public confidence in the national police
force has declined.
Police this week said 124 girls were raped in the
first two weeks of
September while murders also surged to 12 a week from
four a week during the
period.
Police said some of the rapes
reflected negligence by parents and guardians
who left minors in the custody
of relatives and strangers for long periods
of time.
Police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena said murder often results from poverty,
with petty
arguments occurring over small sums of money, and drunkenness. He
said the
highest number of rapes were seen in Harare, Mashonaland East and
Midlands
provinces.
Women's Trust Director Precious Gombera called the statistics
shocking and
told VOA reporter Violet Gonda that severe punishment must be
imposed for
such crimes.
Lawyers for Human Rights Director Irene
Petras said the rise in crime shows
that police must have sufficient funding
so they can properly investigate
such cases.
Meanwhile, the police
say they have become more concerned with hard drugs,
including heroine,
which are finding their way into the country.
Criminal Investigations
Department Drugs Section chief Luckson Mukazhi said
nationals are being used
by international drug cartels using the country as
a transit
point.
He said the couriers were being paid in drugs and not cash,
leading to the
hard drugs finding their way into communities, particular
through schools.
Health Minister Henry Madzorera said new anti-drug
programs are being
launched.
Finance Minister Biti Seeks to Re-Engage World Bank
http://www.voanews.com
16 September
2011
Blessing Zulu
| Washington
Zimbabwean Finance minister Tendai Biti was due in
Washington on Monday for
meetings with US and multilateral financial
officials on the sidelines of
the annual meetings of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund,
seeking development aid and debt
relief.
The World Bank has set aside US$72 billion in development aid for
Sub-Saharan Africa through its concessional rate lending facility – but
Zimbabwe has been excluded due to concern over the indigenization process
and political uncertainty related to elections.
President Robert
Mugabe recently said elections must be held no later than
March of next
year, but Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai - backed by the
Southern African
Development Community - has said many reforms must first be
put in
place.
US and World Bank officials said they would ask Biti for an update
on those
reforms, the stalemate in the power-sharing Harare government, his
proposals
to pay international debt arrears, implementation of a civil
servant audit,
and other key issues.
Biti was to meet with US
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Johnnie Carson.
The
Zimbabwean finance minister told VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu
that he
intends to make Harare’s case in Washington though the odds of
success are
long.
AG Tomana Steps Up Legal Challenge to Western
Sanctions
http://www.voanews.com
15 September
2011
Zimbabwean Attorney General Johannes Tomana said sanctions
violate the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights provision holding that no
one should
be arbitrarily deprived of his or her property
Ntungamili
Nkomo | Washington
Zimbabwe Attorney General Johannes Tomana is
ramping up his bid to legally
challenge sanctions put in place by Europe,
the United States and others in
response to alleged human rights violations
and election rigging over the
past decade, arguing that the imposition of
such targeted sanctions violates
international human rights
law.
Tomana notified the European Union last week of Harare’s intention
to file
suit in the European Court of Justice if the bloc failed to justify
its
sanctions targeting President Robert Mugabe and many of his ZANU-PF
colleagues and related companies.
The government's chief attorney
told the state-controlled Herald paper in an
interview published Thursday
that sanctions violate the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights provision
holding that no one should be
arbitrarily deprived of his or her
property.
In addition to travel restrictions, sanctions allow the
freezing of
financial assets.
Tomana called on individuals and
entities affected by the U.S. measures to
seek legal recourse in the
country's courts, adding that he was available
for legal
advice.
Washington and the Europe have demanded political and democratic
reforms
before they will consider lifting the sanctions now in place for the
better
part of a decade.
The European Union's top diplomat for Africa
on Tuesday in a meeting with
President Mugabe urged the unity government in
Harare to fully implement the
2008 Global Political Agreement for power
sharing as a key step to removing
sanctions.
Attorney General Tomana
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that it
is high time Zimbabweans
more forcefully confront the countries imposing
such sanctions.
"Take
for example ZEDERA [the US Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery
Act],"
Tomana said. "It is a law that can be challenged in the US courts."
But
political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
disagreed, saying the chances of Tomana succeeding in such a suit were
remote at best.
Zimbabwe,
South Africa snub Libyan rebels at UN
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
16/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZIMBABWE and South Africa stood shoulder-to-shoulder on
Friday in refusing
to recognise the Libyan Transitional National Council –
but the opposition
was only symbolic as the UN General Assembly voted 114-17
to approve a seat
for the rebels who toppled the regime of Muammar
Gaddafi.
Fifteen countries, including Saudi Arabia, abstained from the
vote.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) had called for a
decision
to be deferred to get more information on events in
Libya.
The African Union has not yet recognised the transitional
government,
although individual countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Sudan
have. The
AU is to meet again on Monday in New York in a new bid to take a
stance.
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Angola and
Lesotho were some of the SADC countries who voted in opposition
to granting
a UN seat for the rebels who took power with the help of
military firepower
from western countries led by France, Britain and the
United States.
They were joined in this cause by Kenya and Latin American
countries
including Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe has been on the record saying the Libyan
uprising
was a false revolution engineered by "vampires" that seek to drain
the North
African country's oil.
“We do not agree with the form of government that
was in Libya," Mugabe
said. "We looked forward to it reforming its system in
its own way, not in
the way they (the West) desire."
Nicaragua said it
objected because the Libyan revolution against Gaddafi was
backed by NATO
and it was "not a real revolution."
"Revolution cannot be but authentic,
not made by proxy or can never be
seized by a cupola of states with clear
hegemonic interests," said the
Nicaraguan envoy Maria de
Chamorro.
Venezuela's ambassador, Jorge Valero, called Libya's rebel
leadership "a
group under the guidance of the United States and NATO which
has no legal or
moral authority."
Cuba's ambassador Pedro Nunez
Mosquera said NATO had staged "a military
operation to change the regime to
promote their political and economic
interests." He said "thousands" of
civilians have been killed in NATO
airstrikes since March.
But the
193-nation assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing the
council's
envoys to take over the UN seat of the Gaddafi regime and to
participate in
the debates of the 66th session.
The move allows interim government
leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, to attend
next week's UN gathering of world
leaders in New York. Jalil is to meet US
President Barack Obama and other
key figures on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly.
The UN
Security Council was to vote later Friday on a resolution that would
ease
economic and arms sanctions against Libya and set up a political
mission in
Libya to help the government organize elections and write a new
constitution.
About 90 countries now recognize the transitional council,
whose leaders
moved to Tripoli this week.
Libya has had no official
UN representative since March, when Gaddafi
withdrew the credentials of the
ambassador, Abdulrahman Shalgham, who went
over to the
rebels.
Shalgham, a former foreign minister under Gaddafi who gave a
tearful speech
to the Security Council in March supporting international
action against the
former strongman, is expected to be the transitional
council's envoy to the
UN.
The MDC Today - Issue 239
Friday, 16 September 2011
A senior
army soldier and known Zanu PF supporter, Colonel Hungwe today
stunned
scores of people gathered for the trial of Hon. Amos Chibaya at the
Gweru
Magistrates’ Courts when he disowned a police affidavit which
implicated the
MP for assaulting him.
Hungwe made a report in May this year that he had
been assaulted by Hon.
Chibaya, the MP for Mkoba. After the police report,
Hon. Chibaya was
arrested and was remanded in custody at Hwahwa Prison for a
week before
being granted bail.
However, during cross examination in
court today, Hungwe said he was not
assaulted by Hon. Chibaya but some
unknown youths at a shopping centre in
Mkoba. Hungwe dismissed as false a
police affidavit, which recorded that he
was assaulted by Hon. Chibaya
although it carries his signature.
Ruling in the case is expected to be
made next Friday.
Meanwhile, Sicino Dube, the former MDC Midlands South
provincial chairperson
died yesterday after a short illness. Mr Dube joined
the MDC at its
inception in 1999 and has held several positions in the
Midlands South
province since then.
Mourners are gathered at his home
at Mataga Growth Point in Mberengwa.
For more on these and other stories,
visit; www.realchangetimes.com
Together,
united, winning, voting for real change!!!
--
MDC Information &
Publicity Department
Mugabe push for pulpits'
pulling power
RAY NDLOVU
Sep 16 2011 00:00 |
In an attempt to garner votes
ahead of elections expected before March next year, Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party is using the churches to build support for its
87-year-old leader.
A video clip obtained by
the Mail & Guardian shows leaders of the Epworth, Mudzi North and
Rushinga branches of Vadzidzi vaJesu, a branch of the Apostolic Christian
Church, eulogising Mugabe's leadership at a church service and urging
congregants to support him because "he carries the blood of Jesus".
Some Perceptions on the Poverty Question in
Zimbabwe
Solidarity
Peace Trust
16 September
2011
By Busani Mpofu
We invite you to participate in discussion stimulated by
this article by following
this link and submitting comments on this or other essays included in the
section on our website known as the Zimbabwe Review.
You may also respond via email: please send your comments to discussion@solidaritypeacetrust.org.
Please note that some comments may be selected for publication on our website
alongside the article to further stimulate debate.
The World Bank estimated urban poverty in Zimbabwe in 1990/91 to be 12
percent while the 1995 Poverty Assessment Study found urban poverty to be 39
percent. In January 2009, Save the Children estimated that 10 out of 13 million
Zimbabweans, over 75 percent of the population, were living in 'desperate
poverty.' In April 2010, UNICEF noted that 78 percent of Zimbabweans were
"absolutely poor" and 55 percent of the population, (about 6.6 million) lived
under the food poverty line while New Zimbabwe estimated that more than 65
percent of Zimbabweans lived below the poverty datum line in December 2009.
Recently, commentators have argued that it is very clear that poverty is
increasing in the country. The sense we get from the above statistics is that
some agencies have defined certain percentages of Zimbabweans as poor, below
some abstractly conceived poverty lines. The statistics, however, do not tell us
how long those poor people have existed in poverty conditions or the historical
and social dimensions of people's understandings of poverty-what it is to 'be
poor.'
This article attempts to tackle some perceptions about poverty in Zimbabwe,
partly addressing the issue of the changing understandings of what being 'poor'
has meant to those perceived as poor. Drawing from the experiences of the urban
poor, I also attempt to explore historical and social dimensions of people's
understandings of poverty-what it is to 'be poor'. This is partly because what
people do for themselves, as poverty alleviation strategies, presumably turns
crucially on how they understand their own circumstances (rather than on whether
the state or some other agency defines them as poor or not). Inevitably, the
centrality of unemployment as the main cause of poverty featured high among
urban Africans during the colonial period. The conception of unemployment,
however, appeared to have changed in the post-colonial era especially after 2000
when some professional jobs like teaching began to be associated with
poverty.
Perceptions on identifying poverty, its causes and solutions as perceived by
the poor themselves, politicians, planners, practitioners, academics and
outsiders vary considerably. Other scholars have contended that the problem of
defining and fighting poverty is more of a political and technical problem than
a rational activity while Pete Alcock argued that we need not look further than
politics and politicians to find the causes of poverty as they run the country
and are therefore responsible for the problems within it. Understanding poverty
thus also requires an understanding of the social policies which have been
developed in response to it and which have thus removed, restructured or even
recreated it.
A challenge with studying poverty is that it has many facets and people have
their own varied and changing notions of it. Worse still, the poor themselves
are not a homogeneous group, they are diverse. According to John Iliffe, it is
their diversity that makes it even harder to study them. The above problematic
is also related to various contested definitions of poverty used by
anthropologists, economists, development workers, geographers, sociologists and
urban planners and historians. Economists sometimes use indexes and formulas to
back up their theories that may be very confusing to historians, while
sociologists and development workers may feel they have the monopoly of writing
about poverty because of the proximity of their work to the poor in societies
and also because the they have at times used the word poverty as a catchword for
some of their programmes.
There is therefore no one correct, scientific, agreed definition of poverty
because poverty is inevitably a political concept, and thus inherently a
contested one.
This full article is available for download from the Solidarity Peace
Trust website in PDF format: please use this
link to download the article.
Rights reserved: Please credit
the Solidarity Peace Trust as the original source for all SPT material
republished on other websites unless otherwise specified. Please provide a link
back to http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/1109/some-perceptions-on-the-poverty-question-in-zimbabwe/
for this report
This article can be cited in other publications
as follows: Mpofu, B. (2011) ‘Some Perceptions on the Poverty Question in
Zimbabwe’, 16 September, Solidarity Peace Trust:
http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/1109/some-perceptions-on-the-poverty-question-in-zimbabwe/
For further information, please contact Selvan Chetty - Deputy
Director, Solidarity Peace Trust
Email: selvan@solidaritypeacetrust.org
Tel: +27 (39) 682 5869 Fax: +27 (39) 682
5869
Address:
Suite 4 3rd Floor MB Centre 49 Aiken Street Port Shepstone
4240 Kwazulu-Natal South Coast
|
'Peace
and Democracy: Make Your Voice Heard'
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
‘Peace and Democracy: Make Your
Voice Heard’
“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men
that the
defences of peace must be constructed.”
(UNESCO Constitution,
1945)
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition joins the rest of the world in
commemorating
The International Day of Peace and Democracy. The day comes at
a time when
the world is facing challenges of dramatic proportions
characterised by
civil unrest, politically motivated violence, civil wars
and strife. The cry
for peace seems to be drowned by the noises of dictators
refusing to leave
power and virtual monarchs oppressing their own people. In
the midst of such
challenges, this year’s theme, “Peace and Democracy: Make
Your Voice Heard,”
indicates that there is a causal relationship between
sustainable peace and
the people’s ability to be able to vent, and cry wolf
when the situation
demands it. The theme allows for a reflection on the
Zimbabwean situation,
as it makes it clear that the artificial peace enjoyed
in the country, which
is not predicated on sound institutions and people’s
ability to exercise
their freedoms, and enjoy their rights, is nothing, if
not fragile.
The fact that the day coincides with the 3rd Anniversary of the
signing of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA), puts the Zimbabwean
situation in sharp
contrast to the aspirations and spirit of the day. The
harassment,
intimidation and muzzling of citizens is on the upsurge, with
continued
infringements and interference by the state in church and
religious matters.
These attacks on the “ Peace makers” flies in the spirit
and aspirations for
peace, and is aided in its assault on the need for peace
by the constant
hounding and harassment of journalists, physical and
psychological
victimisation of ordinary citizens, and the continued use of
prosecution for
purposes of persecuting perceived opponents of ZANU
PF.
The Coalition contends, on this day, that Zimbabwe’s aspirations for
lasting
peace should be complemented by substantial promotion of the culture
of
peace, professionalism and restraint on the part of uniformed forces, as
well as the reform of laws and institutions which are anathema to peace. The
Coalition calls upon Zimbabweans to observe and celebrate this day through
increased calls for the respect of the rule of law, and reforms to laws,
institutions and attitudes that by their nature fight against the promotion
of peace, tolerance, the respect for human rights and democracy, in our
country.
The Coalition cautions the Inclusive government from continuing
to engage in
actions that spit in the faces of Zimbabwe’s suffering masses,
as
exemplified by the recent lavish spending of government on luxury
vehicles.
This is taking place in a country where the government is said to
be broke,
delivery of essential social services is poor and where civil
servants
cannot even afford bus fares. Such actions are infuriating, and can
be a
threat to peace.
As the world celebrates the International Day of
Peace, it is important to
keep in mind that Democracy is an objective,
Democratization is a process
and lastly that Democratization serves the
cause of peace, justice and
progressive change without force. Let us
continue to strive together for a
more inclusive, democratic, and peaceful
future for us all.
Issued by: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Political Reform Still Lacking In
Zimbabwe
Editorial
09-15-2011
While reforms have been made to halt the country's
notorious hyper-inflation and steady its economy, the political and electoral
changes needed to conduct free, fair, and non-violent elections have not
occurred.
Photo: AP//Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
A
Zimbabwe human rights activist marches in Harare on World Human Rights Day.
(file). (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Since a
transitional government was formed in Zimbabwe two and a half years ago to end
its bitter, debilitating political crisis, hopes have been high that open
elections could one day be held to return the Southern African nation to
democracy, peace and stability. While reforms have been made to halt the
country's notorious hyper-inflation and steady its economy, the political and
electoral changes needed to conduct free, fair, and non-violent elections have
not occurred. The political "roadmap" drawn up earlier this year to lead
Zimbabwe toward a true democracy remains just that: a plan on paper, not an
actual journey.
The people of Zimbabwe deserve free, fair and peaceful
elections, but the conditions do not yet exist for this to happen. A number of
basic reforms must be in place before another round of elections can go forward.
These include constitutional reform, an update of the voters roll and a
re-drawing of constituency boundaries. Police and others in the security sector
must uphold the law in an objective, nonpartisan manner to ensure that voters
aren't intimidated when going to the polls. They are a critical part of the
state infrastructure that must honor, protect and respect the will of the people
as expressed in credible future elections. Finally, election monitors must be
allowed to observe the voting for an independent assessment of its
fairness.
The United States and the rest of the international community
are prepared to assist the Zimbabwean people in implementing reforms and are
watching closely to see whether the needed changes are forthcoming, before
credible elections can be planned, much less
conducted.
Gukurahundi
tragedy to unfold on London stage
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
16 September
2011
The human tragedy of the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s is set
to be
brought to life on a London stage, in a production inspired by the
real life
story of a survivor.
The Rain That Washes opens at London’s
Chickenshed Theatre at the end of
September.
The one man play has
been inspired by the story of the Theatre’s Building
Supervisor, a
Zimbabwean man called Christopher Maphosa.
Three years ago, Christopher
approached the Theatre’s Director of Creative
Development, Dave Carey, to
tell his story and how he saw Ian Smith’s
Rhodesia become Robert Mugabe’s
Zimbabwe, including his memories of the
Gukurahundi.
Carey told SW
Radio Africa on Friday that Christopher’s story is
“extraordinary.”
“The more he was telling me, the more and more my
jaw was just hanging open
at this extraordinary story he was relating. So
this became the catalyst to
put it on stage,” Carey explained.
The
play uses elements of Christopher’s journey, including living in refugee
camps in Botswana, receiving Marxist training in Bulgaria, being beaten at
the hands of Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU, being arrested by the notorious 5th
Brigade, and surviving the Gukurahundi. Christopher was eventually able to
flee Zimbabwe under Mugabe’s regime.
Carey said that the play is a
“very moving and powerful piece of theatre,”
that he explained has been
created to reflect the journey of many people
during the
Gukurahundi.
“This is not an impersonation of Christopher, but
potentially an everyman
tale. We’ve also tried tie not make it a lecture,
but make it a story. We
hope the reaction will be positive,” Carey
said.
The Chickenshed Theatres has been running for more than 30 years
and is
renowned for its work covering human rights issues and other
difficult
events.
The play opens on September 29th at the Theatre in
North London. For more
information and to buy tickets follow this
link:
http://www.chickenshed.org.uk/1184/shows/the-rain-that-washes.html
MDC
gives Trevor Ncube nightmares
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Writer
Friday, 16 September 2011
21:00
HARARE - The publisher of NewsDay, the Zimbabwe Independent and
the Standard
newspapers, Trevor Ncube, was so disgusted with Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC that he claimed to have nightmares about the idea of
them
taking over power.
According to a United States diplomatic
cable released by WikiLeaks, Ncube
said this to embassy officials at a
meeting on 30 August 2007 where he also
suggested a “Third Way” political
solution for Zimbabwe that would involve
people like former Industry
Minister Nkosana Moyo and former Finance
Minister Simba Makoni.
In
addition, Ncube also mentioned Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, whom he
called "progressive."
“Gono had managed to keep Mugabe's trust,
maintain ties to both MDC
factions, and build a constituency in the military
– an impressive
achievement,” reads the cable quoting Ncube.
The
Alpha Media chairman went on to say another potential third way leader
Welshman Ncube was extremely bright but was not a politician. He said that
Jonathan Moyo was also intelligent and hard-working, but was tainted by his
links to Mugabe.
Asked about Arthur Mutambara, Ncube waved his hand,
saying Mutambara had
been a "major disappointment” and said: “Arthur's time
has passed."
A note by the US embassy officials said Ncube's "third way"
idea smacked of
Jonathan Moyo's earlier efforts to assemble a "third
force".
Apparently, none of the personalities mentioned by Ncube as
potential
leading players for his third way appeared to have bought the
proposal.
Ncube said he initially supported Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC
– “even
giving them a financial contribution” -- but believed the party had
"poor
quality leadership," had tribalist and violent tendencies, and had not
offered a vision for the future of Zimbabwe.
Ncube told the US
officials that the ideal political solution for Zimbabwe
was a “Third Way”
which would draw support from the best of the MDC, Zanu
PF, civil society
and the diaspora.
IDASA analyst Sydney Masamvu told the embassy officials
that he believed
that Jonathan Moyo and Ncube were working together on the
“Third Way”.
In their commentary, embassy officials said though they
could not comment on
the viability or advisability of the “Third Way”, which
they believed Ncube
was going to push aggressively.
“Ncube is
connected, sharp and ambitious, and we suspect he envisions a role
for
himself in such a ‘Third Way’ regime,” the comment says.
Ncube also
called for a more "nuanced" Western approach to Zanu-PF, arguing
that
moderates in the party, should be supported, not isolated.
"Zanu
PF will disintegrate when Mugabe dies" - Ray
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
16/09/2011 18:34:00
NewsDay
Many in Zanu PF are waiting for President Robert Mugabe to
die and the
United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, predicts
chaos if and
when the ageing leader is no more with many people scrambling
to succeed
him.
The latest cable released by whistleblower website
WikiLeaks adds to other
disturbing statement about President Mugabe’s health
and the “Mugabe must go
mantra” attributed to party stalwarts including
Vice-Presidents Joice Mujuru
and John Nkomo, Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and
Reserve Bank governor Gideon
Gono, among others.
However, the
statement all but confirms that a Zanu PF open debate on
succession will not
see the light of day as long as Mugabe is still alive.
Ray said this in a
cable filed to Washington in January 2010 after the US
ambassador paid a
courtesy call on Nigerian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Kunle
Adeyanju at the
Embassy of Nigeria in Harare where they discussed the
Zimbabwean political
situation.
“There are many ‘pools’ within Zanu PF waiting for Mugabe to
die, and when
that happens, there will be an internal scramble to seize
power which could
spell chaos,” Ray wrote.
The US envoy said there
was no confidence in the MDC-T taking over power as
the party was
divided.
“While Nigeria acknowledges that Mugabe’s Zanu PF has ruled
poorly, there is
concern that MDC-T is incapable of governing the country by
itself. There
are also leadership struggles within MDC which, if they are
not settled,
will further compromise MDC’s ability to develop into an
effective governing
party.”
Ray said President Mugabe blames Nigeria
for the planned expulsion from the
Commonwealth and Adeyanju told him that
just two weeks before he was to
present his credentials, the Nigerian
President in a speech said: “Mugabe
must go.”
“The Zimbabwean Foreign
Ministry had planned to cancel his presentation and
withdraw the agreement
but Mugabe intervened, and at the ceremony said that
Nigeria’s President was
‘misinformed’ about conditions and events in
Zimbabwe.”
Zanu PF is
deeply divided over the WikiLeaks revelations that have all but
soiled
relations and ushered in a tense atmosphere that has left President
Mugabe
exposed.
A letter from the diaspora
Friday September 16th 2011
Last week ‘Bishop’ Kunonga threatened to
replace the nuns at the Shearly
Cripps Orphanage with his own sisters. This
week his threat became a
reality. I am not sure how a renegade bishop,
ex-communicated from the
Anglican Communion who sets up his own church and
makes himself a bishop,
can actually have an order of nuns at his disposal
but presumably that is a
mere technicality for someone like Kunonga. After
all, he has Zanu PF and
the police on his side and was physically assisted
by the ZRP when his
thuggish followers raided Daramombe Mission in the south
of the country and
evicted teachers, nuns and priests.
It was the
attack on St Johns Mission just outside Murehwa that really
caught my
attention. That area of the country was my home for over ten years
and I
still have friends there. Like most Zimbabweans they are church goers
and
they must be appalled to see their churches being taken over by this
renegade priest/turned land-grabber. The fact that Kunonga had a High Court
judgement that gave him authority over all Anglican properties means little
when one remembers that it was the Chief Justice who made the order. A
fellow judge this week confirmed something that many of us have long
suspected when he described the Chief Justice as a ‘rabid party man’. Of
course, the Chief Justice was going to find in Kunonga’s favour and this
week the ‘Bishop’ followed through and evicted the nuns who care for 100
children at the Shearly Cripps Orphanage. While Kunonga may not have
physically hurt the children, his action in depriving them of their carers
must have left the youngsters traumatised. Almost as shocking as this attack
on the nuns and their charges was the fact that it was received in total
silence by other Christian denominations. No church as far as I know has
publicly spoken out to condemn Kunonga’s actions against the Anglican
Church. The Christian spirit seems sadly lacking in Zimbabwe but then, as I
understand it, Mugabe himself has condemned his own Catholic church because
it is ‘run by white men’
There is no doubt that Mugabe has become more
anti-white as the election
draws closer. Perhaps he thinks that’s what ‘his’
people want to hear. When
he launched his party’s manifesto this week he
referred to whites as
‘mabhunu’, a term of racial abuse he once used about
non-Zimbabwean African
residents of Mbare. It is no wonder white business
people are worried about
their future in the country when Cabinet Ministers
appear to be following
Kasukuwere’s lead on the takeover of foreign owned
companies. Like the farm
invasions, this is clearly a politically inspired
move on Zanu PF’s part but
unlike the land invasions it is doubtful whether
indigenisation of mines
will actually happen. Speaking at a mining
conference, the Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Mines described the
51% of shares required from
foreign-owned mining companies as ‘an aspiration
not a target.’ At the same
event Obert Mpofu said the government would not
cancel the licences of
mining companies that have not complied. Confusion
reigns supreme and we can
only expect more of the same in the run-up to the
elections
Mugabe’s reported fury about Wikileaks and the threat to
prosecute the
‘leakers’ would leave him short of praise-singers – and that
could seriously
damage his ego! Chief among his praise singers is Webster
Shamu, the
Minister of Media Information, who says he will cancel the
licences of any
newspaper or radio station that vilifies Mugabe. “We are not
against
criticism,” Shamu says, “but no vilification.” He goes on to accuse
private
radio stations of “vitriolic attacks and the use of hate language
against
the person of His Excellency the President. The problem is that Zanu
PF
regard anything less than fulsome praise and fawning flattery as
criticism.
This cult of the personality that has dominated Zimbabwean
politics for so
long is profoundly damaging to democracy, not least because
it seriously
affects one’s judgement and mental powers!
Yours in the
(continuing) struggle, PH. aka. Pauline Henson author of the
Dube books,
detective stories with a political slant set in Zimbabwe and
available from
Lulu.com