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Zimbabwe deadline for foreign firms looms
By Reagan Mashavave (AFP) – 17
hours ago
HARARE — Foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe have until
Sunday to hand
in plans to sell majority stakes to local blacks, under a law
that has
alarmed investors, who are uncertain how the rules will
work.
The government's order for the transfer of 51-percent ownership has
been
called the final phase of "economic emancipation", after controversial
land
reforms targeting white-owned farms a decade ago. But analysts are
sceptical.
"There is no way the locals and the government have the
money to buy shares
in the companies. Everybody knows that," Anthony
Hawkins, a University of
Zimbabwe economics professor, told AFP.
The
indigenisation drive could hurt the economy in the same way as the land
reforms, which sparked an economic nose-dive after supporters of President
Robert Mugabe violently seized white-owned farms, he warned.
"My
concern is that this is much more of a political policy and it will have
an
economic harm just like the land reforms. It looks like they are doing
this
for the elections," said Hawkins about polls expected next year.
"This
will reduce the amount of investment in the country as the new owners
will
not have the money to, for example, expand projects. The community does
not
have the money, as well as the workers and the government is broke."
The
push is without the violence of the land seizures, which Mugabe said was
a
way to correct colonial-era wrongs, but there are mixed signals on how the
law will be implemented.
Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere
has warned that non-compliant
companies risk nationalisation.
But
certain firms have arranged their own deals and deadlines ahead of
Sunday's
cut-off date, making the government appear flexible on how the law
is
implemented.
British insurer Old Mutual will carry out a first phase to
hand 25 percent
of its local concern to black Zimbabweans. South Africa's
Impala Platinum,
Zimbabwe's biggest foreign investor through its Zimplats
subsidiary, has
been given until November 15 to outline its
plans.
William Black of the South African company Investec Securities
said the
compulsory 51 percent stake is too high and will put off foreign
investors.
"Investors can choose globally where to put their money and
countries
shouldn't make it too difficult for foreign investors if they want
to
attract that money," said Black.
He said most companies can only
invest in big projects in countries where
there is certainty and security
for their profits and operations.
Kasukuwere has argued that the law is
not aimed at victimising foreign
companies, but rather to fight poverty and
to put control of the economy in
local hands.
"I want to say in many
instances after having worked in many of the mines
for 30, 40 years, many of
our people are retired in abject poverty in rural
communities. We expect to
see an empowered worker in our nation," Kasukuwere
said.
But Ray
Valentin, an official of Africa Minerals Resources mining company,
said
Zimbabwe's indigenisation laws would "stifle" investment at a time the
government is trying hard to lure foreign companies to help revive the
country's economy.
"Mining companies traditionally are looking for
much larger stakes than 51
percent or 49 percent, simply because of the risk
involved in project,
funding issues and operating the mine et
cetera."
Valentin said his plans to invest in Zimbabwe had to be put on
hold since
the push to make companies comply with the indigenisation
regulations.
"At the moment we haven't invested much at all. We were
planning to invest a
large amount of money in the coal mining area but we
have now decided to
probably focus on Mozambique," Valentin said.
Zimbabwe Companies Facing Indigenization Move to Empower
Workers
http://www.voanews.com/
23
September 2011
Business leaders said the models advanced this week by insurer
Old Mutual
and hotel operator Meikles Africa Limited are attractive to
companies
looking for a palatable way to comply with indigenization
rules
Gibbs Dube | Washington
Business leaders in Zimbabwe say
many foreign-owned companies are taking
steps to transfer a majority of
their shares to their own workers as the
most constructive way to comply
with the county's indigenization or black
empowerment
program.
Representatives of the National Chamber of Commerce, the
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries and the Matabeleland Chamber of
Industries told said
most of these firms will transfer the shares as
grants.
They said workers will be motivated to boost production if they
have a stake
in their firms, and they also see this approach as a way to
ensure that
indigenization does not benefit politicians, especially ZANU-PF
officials
pushing indigenization.
Business leaders noted that the
indigenization models advanced this week by
insurer Old Mutual and hotel
operator Meikles Africa Limited are attractive
to companies looking for a
palatable way to comply with the Indigenization
and Economic Empowerment Act
and regulations obliging them to put 51 percent
of their equity in local
hands.
Old Mutual’s proposal to the Indigenization Ministry would give
policy
holders a stake of 10 percent and workers 9 percent with the rest
placed
with a youth empowerment fund and investment partners. Meikles
envisions
putting 10 percent in worker hands.
Former Chamber of
Commerce President Trust Chikohora said foreign-owned
companies are finding
innovative ways of complying with the indigenization
program, including
community ownership trusts benefiting residents of their
local
areas.
Bulawayo Chamber of Commerce Chairman Isaac Mabuka said proposed
employee
share ownership schemes will boost worker incomes in the long
run.
“We believe that workers who have put a lot of time in running some
of these
corporations have to be given first preference in getting shares
instead of
allowing ZANU PF members to forcibly grab the shares,” Mabuka
said.
Michael Sata Sworn In as New Zambia
President
September 23, 2011
Photo: AP
Zambia's new President Michael Sata, right, takes the
oath of office on the steps of the supreme court in Lusaka, September 23,
2011.
Michael Sata,
leader of the Patriotic Front party has been sworn in as Zambian president at a
ceremony in the grounds of the Supreme Court in Lusaka. Sata won a decisive
electoral victory over former president, Rupiah Banda of the Movement for
Multiparty Democracy.
In his inaugural address to the country, President
Sata returned to the themes of his election campaign - a recommitment to the
rule of law, and fighting poverty and corruption, and said he planned to make a
difference in these areas within 90 days.
Sata also promised Zambians
that to cut government expenditures he would reduce the size of
government.
Sata, who is Zambia’s fifth president since the country
declared independence from Britain in 1964, was accompanied by his predecessor,
Banda and the country’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda. He was welcomed by
thousands of slogan chanting party supporters who had travelled from across the
country to witness the inauguration.
The victory by Sata and his
Patriotic Front has ended two decades of rule by the Movement for Multiparty
Democracy which came to power in the country’s first multiparty elections in
1991. Earlier former president Rupiah Banda addressed the nation to concede
defeat and bid an emotional farewell.
“But now it is time for me to step
aside. Now is the time for a new leader. My time is done. It is time for me for
goodbye. May God watch over the Zambian people and may he bless our beautiful
nation,” Banda said.
Banda thanked the Zambian people and said it had
been a privilege and honor to serve them. But he said, it is now time for them
to support the new president.
“I urge you all now to rally behind your
new president. Yes our new president. Yes, we may have different ideas but we
both want the same thing - a better Zambia. Now is not the time for violence
and retribution. Now is the time to unite and build tomorrow’s Zambia
together,” he said.
Many Zambians have hailed Banda’s “grace” in exiting
office, and have said he is an example to other Africa leaders who refuse to
recognize their electoral defeat.
Zambia’s currency, the Kwacha, tumbled
to an all-time low of 5,030 to the dollar on the news of Sata’s victory.
Financial analysts said this reflected uncertainty in the markets over Sata’s
plans for the economy.
He campaigned on a pro-poor platform and has in
the past fiercely criticized foreign, particularly Chinese, investment in the
country's mining industry. Judy Smith-Höhn, senior researcher at the Institute
for Security Studies said his rhetoric was at times xenophobic - and that he
said he would tax foreign companies to fight poverty.
However Smith-Höhn
says that in the past year this has changed, and that Sata began to speak
instead of smart partnerships with Chinese and other foreign investors, and that
his economic policy is unlikely to be greatly different from that of his
predecessor.
“And it seems more likely you’re going have a continuation
of the current more pragmatic, pragmatic economic policies that are being
followed. And then also with continued strong involvement from foreign
companies, like Chinese businesses,” she said.
Smith-Höhn said the
Zambian economy will have to improve very significantly for to enable Sata to
live up to his election promises and greatly reduce poverty in his
country.
Zambia's
fiery populist, Michael Sata, wins presidential election
http://old.news.yahoo.com
The Christian
Science Monitor
By Alexander Mutale – Fri Sep 23, 2:43 pm
ET
Lusaka, Zambia – Zambia’s new president Michael Sata is known for his
fiery
speeches, his harsh criticism of Chinese investment in the Zambian
copper
mining industry, and his fondness for the governing philosophy of
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe. But in his first major statement since
being
declared the winner of this week’s presidential elections, the
opposition
leader struck a gentler line, albeit a still skeptical
one.
“The rule of law and justice will be the cornerstone of my rule. I
hope
investors will abide by Zambia’s labour laws.” Mr. Sata said Friday at
his
inauguration ceremony at the Supreme Court in Lusaka on Friday. However,
he
also acknowledged that foreign investment is key to Zambia's future
growth
and promised that his government would continue to partner with
foreign
investors during his term in office.
RELATED: Top Five
Millenium Development Goal Success Stories
Despite his reassurances,
markets were rocked by the announcement. Investors
began selling off Zambian
currency, the kwacha, signaling nervousness that
Zambia would become a
riskier investment climate under the populist
president with strong opinions
on foreign investment. In Chingola, a city in
Zambia’s northern Copperbelt
region, Indian and Chinese businessmen closed
their shops, a sign of concern
that Sata’s victory might encourage his
supporters to riot and loot
shops.
But China welcomed Sata’s election, in part because Sata has
hinted that his
government may continue some of the business-friendly
policies of his
predecessor, President Rupiah Banda. Zambia is Africa’s
largest producer of
copper, and if production increases, it could become the
fifth largest
supplier in the world by 2013.
In the 2006 presidential
race, Sata promised to send away some foreign
businessmen, whom he called
“infestors,” but at a recent campaign rally, he
said of China, “We need
foreign investors because they provide jobs for our
people. But they must
respect Zambian workers.”
In a country where 70 percent of the population
lives below the poverty
line, Sata's campaign platform of lower taxes, more
money in people’s
pockets, and promises to life people out of poverty within
90 days
resonated. Yet he also told voters to “brace yourselves for hard
work,” and
vowed to “lead by example.”
Incumbent President Banda
graciously accepted defeat, urging his supporters
to accept the election
result. Sata’s margin of victory was substantial
enough with 95 percent of
the votes tallies for the electoral commission to
stop the vote count. Sata
reached 1.15 million votes to Banda’s 961,000.
What remains to be seen is
how Sata's famous temper serves him in office.
Nicknamed 'King Cobra'
Zimbabwe Civic Activists Find Model to Emulate in Zambian
Elections
http://www.voanews.com
23 September
2011
Zimbabwe civil society activists who observed the Zambian
ballot said the
election was conducted in a way that should inspire
Zimbabweans given their
sad history of often violent and contested
ballots
Violet Gonda & Sithandekile Mhlanga |
Washington
Zimbabwe Election Support Network Chairman Tinoziva Bere
commented that, 'It
was a breath of fresh air to see efficiency of this
kind.'
Zambian Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata was sworn in as the
country’s
new President on Friday following his electoral victory over
incumbent
President Rupiya Banda in a ballot observers say offered a
democratic lesson
to Zimbabwe on free and fair elections with a graceful
concession by the
losing candidate.
Banda conceded defeat earlier
Friday in a tearful speech urging unity,
ending 20 years of power by his
Movement for Multiparty Democracy.
"The people of Zambia have spoken and
we must all listen," he said, urging
supporters to reject acts of
retribution, saying "now is not the time for
violence."
Zimbabwe
civil society activists who observed the Zambian ballot said that
despite a
few skirmishes here and there the election was conducted in a way
that
should inspire Zimbabweans given their sad history of often violent and
contested elections.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network Chairman
Tinoziva Bere told VOA reporter
Violet Gonda that unlike in Zimbabwean
elections, observers were allowed to
take part from as far afield as America
and as nearby as Zimbabwe. He said
the police did not intimidate voters and
that he encountered no problem in
being accredited as an
observer.
“It was a breath of fresh air to see efficiency of this kind,”
Bere said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Director McDonald Lewanika, also
an observer,
said that Zambia, which has seen three incumbents conceding
defeat since
1991, is among an elite few African nations which have mastered
the
democratic process.
”This election shows the importance of being
vigilant and the ability of
people to be able to protect their vote. Also,
(Banda's) MMD had been in
power for 20 years and people felt that 20 years
is too long – their ability
to unseat incumbent presidents should inspire
the people of Zimbabwe that
something like this can actually be
done.”
Mr. Sata was reported to have described Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai,
head of the larger formation of the Movement for Democratic
Change, as “a
Western puppet financed to cause trouble in Zimbabwe,” and to
have defended
the controversial land reform program which President Robert
Mugabe launched
in 2000.
But MDC Organizing Secretary Nelson Chamisa
said Mr. Sata's statements could
have been based on incorrect information
about Mr. Tsvangirai. He added that
his party hopes to officially engage
with Mr. Sata very soon on democratic
matters.
Mugabe
Stuck In New York After Tyre Bursts
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 24, 2011-
Zimbabwe’s ageing leader, President Robert
Mugabe and several government
officials are stuck in New York after an Air
Zimbabwe plane that was
supposed to ferry them back home burst its tyres on
Friday.
Informed
sources said the long haul aircraft burst four of its rear tyres as
a result
of hard landing when it landed at an airport in New York to pick up
the
ageing leader and his delegation which include ministers and senior
government officials who had been in the US attending the UN
summit.
The sources said the aircraft which was parked at an airforce
base close to
New York burst its tyres as it landed at an airport in New
York due to bad
weather.
Engineers traveling with Mugabe secured two
tyres to replace the burst ones
in the US and were on Saturday awaiting
delivery of the fourth tyre from Air
Zimbabwe’s spares store in
London.
The tyre burst resulted in the cancellation of Mugabe’s flight on
Friday.
The Zimbabwean leader was scheduled to arrive in the country on
Saturday. He
is now expected to leave on Saturday and arrive in the country
on Sunday on
condition that the tyre from London arrives on time in New
York.
Sources said engineers on Saturday faced another challenge as they
were
failing to fix one of the tyres which was reportedly not compatible
with the
specifications on the aged aircraft.
The sources said the
aircraft’s captain identified as Madungure was likely
to be in trouble for
botching the octogenarian leader’s trip.
Mugabe chartered one of Air
Zimbabwe aged planes to travel to New York to
attend the just ended UN
session. He travelled with Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
and Health and Child Welfare Minister Henry Madzorera
and other government
officials.
Vice President Joyce Mujuru also chartered an Air Zimbabwe
plane this week
when she travelled for the swearing in ceremony of Zambian
new leader
Michael Sata.
Air Zimbabwe has in recent months been
rocked by a plethora of problems
ranging from wild cat strikes, fuel
shortages and mismanagement.
Zimbabwe's
CSO’s launch advocacy charter at UN human rights council
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
A coalition of
Zimbabwean Civil Society Organisations (CSO)’s on Friday 23
September 2011
officially launched a Human Rights Advocacy Charter on the
sidelines of the
18th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva,
Switzerland.
24.09.1101:58pm
by ZLHR
The Advocacy Charter
was launched during a special event jointly organised
by Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights, the International Commission of
Jurists (ICJ) and the
Geneva-based Zimbabwe Advocacy Office.
The theme of the event was, ‘The
Universal Peer Review Process (UPR) and the
current human rights situation
in Zimbabwe.’
In his opening remarks, Martin Okumu-Masiga, the deputy
director of ICJ’s
Africa Programme highlighted the importance of the
forthcoming review of
Zimbabwe’s compliance with its human rights
obligations on 10 October 2011.
Masiga noted that the review process was an
opportunity for Zimbabwe to
reflect on its human rights record and take
corrective measures to address
concerns that would have been raised by
fellow states during the peer review
process.
Officially
commissioning the Advocacy Charter, Dzimbabwe Chimbga, a projects
manager
with ZLHR gave a narration of the process through which a coalition
of over
thirty organisations had undertaken since the beginning of 2010 to
work
together to put a report highlighting the key human rights issues in
Zimbabwe, culminating in the validation and adoption of the Advocacy
Charter.
Chimbga noted that although the UPR process did not allow
for direct
interventions by CSOs during the review itself there were
mechanisms by
which other stakeholders, CSOs included, can make submissions
to the Office
of the UN High Commission that would form part of the overall
submissions to
the state.
“CSOs can additionally lobby UN member
states to relay certain questions or
recommendations to the State under
review during the actual review process.
It is this space, among other
state-targeted initiatives, that the coalition
of CSOs had sought to
explore,” said Chimbga.
Commenting on the current human rights operating
environment in Zimbabwe,
Chimbga noted that, notwithstanding the signing of
the Global Political
Agreement that brought about the coalition government,
cases of human rights
violations continued to be reported across the
country.
He said in 2011, more than one thousand cases of various human
rights
violations, including arbitrary arrests, persecutions and harassment
of
human rights defenders had been documented by ZLHR.
Chimbga urged
the government to take advantage of the UPR process to
evaluate its record
in the past decade in the protection and promotion of
human rights and take
cogent measures to correct its failings that are well
documented. The human
rights lawyer said a case in point was the failure to
address cases of
impunity through investigating and prosecuting those guilty
of human rights
violations arising from the violent election of 2008.
With fresh
elections imminent, Chimbga urged the government to create
conditions that
would allow for the holding of a free, fair and credible
election by
ensuring that the electorate freely exercised its right to vote.
He declared
that the era of disputed elections should become a thing of the
past.
In response, the State representative only identified as
Munhundiripo based
at the Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe to the UN in Geneva
acknowledged that
the events of 2008 were ‘regrettable’.
He however
defended the State arguing that no country in the world had a
‘pristine
human rights record. ’
Munhundiripo pointed out that since the inception
of the coalition
government the human rights situation had greatly improved
although it
remained work in progress.
He also pointed towards the
progressive amendments to most of the repressive
legislation such as the
Public Order and Security Act (POSA) as evidencing
the progress the State
was making to address human rights.
Munhundiripo further blamed the poor
performance of the economy for the poor
service delivery and the falling
standards in areas such as health and
education. He concluded by suggesting
that the on-going constitution making
process could address most of the
issues of political contestation that
negatively impacted on the enjoyment
of human rights.
Contributing to the discussion, Marlon Zakeyo, a
Zimbabwean lawyer and
coordinator of the Zimbabwe Advocacy Office observed
that a lot of the human
rights violations in Zimbabwe did not require
material resources to be
addressed. He gave an example of the brutal
repression of people
particularly around election period. All it required
was for the State to
desist from violating the rights of citizens without
any impact to the State
resources.
Whilst commending some of the
positive statements made by the government
delegate, Zakeyo urged the State
representative to ensure that the same
spirit of co-operation exhibited
during the meeting should be translated
into real gains on the ground for
human rights defenders and ordinary people
back home in Zimbabwe where the
enjoyment of human rights still remain
elusive to many.
The UPR is a
United Nations-led state to state review process of each member
States’
record of compliance with international human rights law. The
process
culminates in recommendations being made to the particular State on
how it
can enhance the protection and promotion of human rights of its
people.
Zimbabwe will for the first time in history be subjected to
the review
process on 10 October 2011. It will remain key for civil society
to follow
up on the implementation of the recommendations on the ground
during the
period between Zimbabwe’s review next month and the next cycle of
review in
2016.
PM
Tsvangirai meets UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai yesterday (Friday) met the United Nations
Secretary-General Mr
Ban Ki-Moon in New York where the UN boss pledged to
support the SADC effort
for violence-free elections in Zimbabwe.
24.09.1103:43pm
by MDC
Information & Publicity Department
The UN Secretary-General
expressed dismay at the slow pace of the
implementation of the Global
Political Agreement, urging the parties to
speed up reforms for a free and
fair poll.
“We hope that the next election will be held in a free, fair
and non-violent
manner. The next election in Zimbabwe should be held
differently from the
one held three years ago,” the UN boss said.
“We
are pleased that you are putting independent Commissions in place,
especially the Human Rights Commission and on our part, we will do
everything possible to ensure a free and fair election. We want to prevent
tension and violence in the next election.”
The PM thanked the United
Nations for its concern over the situation in
Zimbabwe, urging the world
body to assist by supporting the regional effort
to ensure all parties
adhere to the roadmap.
“We are worried about State sanctioned violence
and some of us are committed
to ensuring that we have a legitimate and
credible poll. We are seeking
global support for the position of SADC on the
roadmap to a credible poll,”
the PM said.
PM Tsvangirai lamented the
slow pace of reforms, especially media reforms,
which he said were a key
ingredient for a conducive environment for free and
fair
elections.
In his concluding remarks, the UN secretary-general said his
main focus on
the global scale was on sustainable development, provision of
energy, food
and clean water.
“In Zimbabwe, we want to ensure that
there is no violence, no loss of lives
and no loss of property,” he
said.
The PM met the UN secretary-general at the world body’s
headquarters in New
York.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the
Minister of State in his office,
Hon Jameson Timba, Principal Director in
the PM’s Office, Mr Lazarus
Muriritirwa, Head of Protocol, Mr James Maridadi
and the PM’s spokesperson.
Anglican
conflict rages on
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Deputy Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and
Culture Lazarus Dokora has
refused to talk about the Anglican conflict where
an excommunicated bishop
has grabbed an orphanage housing 80
children.
23.09.1102:54pm
by Zwanai Sithole Harare
Parliament
could not discuss the matter because Dokora said it was still
before the
courts.
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, a close ally of President Mugabe, was
excommunicated
four years ago for inciting Zanu (PF) violence from the
pulpit in political
sermons that infuriated parishioners.
Following
his excommunication, he claimed he was forming his own Anglican
church.
Bishop Chad Gandiya, leader of the mainstream Anglican group, has
fought to
retain control of church property, but a Supreme Court ruling by
the Chief
Justice gave custody of all church property to Kunonga. Even
though Gandiya
has appealed the ruling, Kunonga has proceeded to seize
mission schools and
priests' homes on the church premises. But it is
Kunonga's seizure of the
Shearlly Cripps orphanage housing 80 children that
attracted the attention
of Parliament.
Zengeza West MP Collen Gwiyo brought the matter to the
House of Assembly
this week.
"My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts
and Culture. I would like the minister to
explain government policy with
regard to church disputes that are now
interfering with classes, in
particular there is a faction led by Bishop
Kunonga of the Anglican church
which has actually affected the education
system," Gwiyo said.
Dokora, a Zanu (PF) minister, said the basic
principles of natural justice
must prevail.
"When a matter is before
the courts or a judgement is in the course of being
implemented, the less we
speak about it, the less we interfere with that
process, the safer for all
of us," Dokora said.
Gwiyo insisted that the minister address the matter
because it was affecting
children.
"Minister, can you tell this House
what your role is in terms of
safeguarding the education of
children?"
Dokora responded by saying that the efforts of his ministry
were focused on
ensuring that stakeholders in the education sector were able
to obtain the
services that his ministry was mandated to discharge.
Kunonga
part of Mugabe’s grand plan
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Some ill-informed or misguided people refer
to a split in the Anglican
Church with followers aligning themselves to one
diocese led by Bishop Chad
Gandiya and others to another led by Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga. Others talk and
write about there now being a Kunonga
faction and a Gandiya faction in the
Anglican
Church.
23.09.1102:22pm
by PIUS WAKATAMA
There is no such
thing. The truth is that Kunonga, who was Bishop of Harare,
rebelled against
the Church, was kicked out and formed his own church which
can never be an
Anglican church. In Zimbabwe there is today one Anglican
Church, which has
so far proved to be very united. Officially it is known as
the Anglican
Church of the Province of Central Africa – which covers Zambia,
Botswana,
Malawi and Zimbabwe.
When Kunonga was elected Bishop of the Diocese of
Harare in 1997, he was a
strong Zanu (PF) supporter, who hero- worshiped
President Robert Mugabe.
Anglicans saw nothing wrong about this since the
church was composed of
people supporting different political parties.
However, their support for
him turned into dismay for he immediately went
about “decolonizing” the
Church by preaching hatred against
whites.
He even removed plaques from the Anglican Cathedral walls of
those who
founded and contributed to the building of the cathedral because
they were
“white colonialists”. In fact, he was attempting to turn the
Church into a
Zanu (PF) supporting political institution. This was at a time
when other
Christian leaders, notably, Bishop Pius Ncube of the Roman
Catholic Church
were criticising Mugabe’s government for its human rights
excesses.
In 2003, the Zanu (PF) government gave Kunonga a 1,630-acre
farm with a
seven-bedroom house, worth over $1 million as a reward for his
efforts in
promoting the party. It had been confiscated from its white owner
without
compensation.
Church leaders rebuked Kunonga for preaching
partisan politics from the
pulpit. His response was to pour scorn on them.
There was nothing they could
do. They decided that he was not fit to be a
Bishop of the Anglican Church
and dethroned him in January, 2008. Kunonga
did not accept his dethronement
with humility. Instead, he decided to form
his own church.
Kunonga, like all Zimbabweans, knew that Mugabe, hated
homosexuality. He,
therefore, announced that he was breaking away from the
Anglican Church
because it condoned homosexuality. This was, of course a
blatant lie. The
Anglican Church was left with no option but to
excommunicate him and
consecrate retired Bishop Sebastian Bakare to replace
him.
Kunonga left the Church with about 50 followers to form what he
calls the
Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe. It would have been
more
realistic if he had called it the Mbuya Nehanda Church of
Zimbabwe.
He refused to accept his dismissal and insisted that he was
still bishop of
Harare and that all church properties belonged to him. Most
Church members
refused to support him, even some leading Zanu (PF)
supporters in and out of
government. Kunonga, however, had the support of
President Mugabe for it was
he who had administered the oath of office to
Mugabe after the questionable
2008 presidential re-run which was boycotted
by Morgan Tsvangirai because of
violence. The dethronement of Kunonga might,
therefore, have led some to
question Mugabe’s own legitimacy as
President.
When Bishop Bakare assumed his duties at the Anglican
Cathedral in Harare,
Kunonga retaliated by unleashing violence against
Anglican worshipers. In
this he was assisted by Zanu (PF) thugs and the
police. Worshipers were
barred from entering Church buildings. Lay-leaders
and priests were arrested
and beaten.
A court ruling by Justice Rita
Makarau determined that the two groups should
share the church buildings by
worshipping at different times until a final
determination by the High
Court. After the ruling Kunonga continued to
harass Anglican worshippers and
one day even physically attacked Bishop
Bakare. The police continued to
support and assist him in violation of the
court ruling.
In March
2009, the whole country was shocked when a resident of Harare was
shot and
injured as police fought running battles with parishioners who
wanted to
worship in the Anglican Cathedral. After a while Canon Chad
Gandiya was
ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Harare and Bakare was able to
go back into
his deserved retirement.
In July 2009, High Court Judge, Justice Ben
Hlatshwayo ruled in favour of
Kunonga in the property dispute. The newly
consecrated Bishop Gandiya
immediately appealed that ruling in the Supreme
Court. Over a year later
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku shocked the world
by upholding Hlatshwayo’s
ruling granting Kunonga control over all Anglican
assets in Harare.
After the Chidyausiku ruling “all hell broke loose,” as
the saying goes.
Kunonga, with the help of the police, violently seized
control of church
properties including schools, churches, orphanages,
rectories. Priests, nuns
and teachers have been evicted from their homes and
workplaces and have been
replaced by suspected Zanu (PF) faithful s without
any training at all.
Kunonga has also been busy ordaining priests with no
theological background
at all.
Some of the properties, including
churches, have been turned into businesses
and brothels. Hardly a day goes
by without some newspaper headline screaming
about some outrageous and
unbecoming act by Kunonga. In actual fact, by his
actions, he has proved
that he has conclusively proved that he is neither a
bishop nor a
Christian.
Kunonga is not acting in isolation. True, he is greedy for
wealth and power
but he is also part of a grand plan by the powers that be
to control the
whole organized Church - from the traditional
missionary-founded
denominations to the indigenous apostolic
groups.
What Kunonga and his allies are doing makes a lot of sense,
warped as it may
be. Eighty percent of Zimbabweans are professing
Christians. That is a
decisive vote in any political contest. Kunonga is not
motivated by
religious or spiritual fervour. He is just a key actor in a
clever and
vicious, but misguided, political strategy. In Zimbabwe the
Anglican Church
was regarded as dangerous because of its independence and
influence as well
as its umbilical connection to the hated British. All that
had to be broken
through the only method they know, which is
violence.
As I write, the violence against the Anglican Church has
worsened. In a
recent press release the Diocese detailed the turn of events
in the whole
country. It said, “Clergy and members of the laity belonging to
the Anglican
Diocese of Harare (CPCA) across Harare, Mashonaland West, East
and Central
have been receiving threats, constant harassment and lately
severe beatings
from Kunonga’s hooligans, masquerading as clergy,
accompanied by “certainly
hired thugs.” Many are now waiting, with much
anticipation and bated breath,
for the forthcoming visit to Zimbabwe of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who
is also head of the international Anglican
Church Communion.
Recently, Gandiya was brutalised by thugs in his own
home and robbed of his
laptop, money and cell phone at gunpoint. The arrest
and persecution of
Anglican priests and church leaders has also increased
with savage
intensity. However, in the midst of all this confusion and
suffering, the
bishop said he was encouraged by the faith, commitment and
courage of his
Anglican Church followers.
US Ambassador To Zimbabwe Urges Security Reforms Before
Elections
http://www.voanews.com
23 September
2011
US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray characterized Harare’s
relations with
Washington as strained, but pledged to continue to engage all
of the parties
in Harare's national unity government
Blessing Zulu |
Washington
US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray has warned that
without reform of the
nation's Defense Forces and other national security
institutions, Zimbabwe's
next election could be chaotic even if the country
carries out electoral and
other needed reforms.
President Robert
Mugabe has threatened to call for elections by March 2012
and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai told the New York Times this week that
he considers it
possible for elections to be held in the third quarter of
next
year.
Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and top military officers, have
threatened to disregard election results if Mr Tsvangirai were to emerge the
winner.
Mr. Tsvangirai has said Zimbabwe could become the next Ivory
Coast under
such circumstances, referring to the armed civil conflict that
followed
elections in that West African country until former President
Laurent
Gbagbo, who refused to concede defeat by now-President Alassane
Outtara,
could be removed by force.
In Washington this week, Ray
characterized Harare’s relations with
Washington as strained, but pledged to
continue to engage all the governing
parties in Harare.
Ray recently
met with President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF Chairman Simon
Khaya Moyo
recently. But soon after those meetings, ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo
charged that Ray's overtures masked a new strategy for regime change.
The
U.S. government has said ties cannot be fully normalized without reforms
allowing free and fair elections. Ray said his recent moves are no departure
from that policy.
Centre-based
polling system concerns
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The electorate here has called on stakeholders to
abandon the centre-based
polling system as it would provide Zanu (PF) and
its agents of terror an
opportunity to identify and victimise voters
suspected to have voted for
Mugabe’s opponents.
23.09.1106:31am
by
Jane Makoni
The concern was raised at an MDC-T Mrewa North District
rally held at the
business centre last week.
“Zanu (PF) has already
made it clear that unlike the previous ward-based
voting system, the
proposed centre polling system would leave people exposed
to danger that
could be even worse than June 2008. Villagers from across the
district
expressed their fears and suggested that a safer system be
implemented.
“MDC formations in the inclusive government must consult
with the vulnerable
electorate, especially those in the rural areas, and
come up with a
people-friendly poling system. People also called on SADC and
other bodies
interested in free and fair elections to consider deployment of
election
observers and peacekeepers as a matter of urgency as Zanu (PF) was
already
on the war path,” said MDC-T Mrewa North District Main Chairperson
and
Parliamentary Candidate, Golden Mutize.
Mutize, who chaired the
meeting, told the gathering that they should be
alert and make their
observations and concerns known to the powers that be.
“They must help to
make the political playing field even for all
participants. The coming
election should produce a clear and undisputed
outcome. Not a single life
should be lost during or after the polls.”
Ncube
won't ride MDC-T 'hyena': Dube
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE Welshman Ncube-led MDC last night appeared to rule out a
coalition with
the rival faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, comparing such a
united front to
“riding a hyena to fight a lion”.
Responding to
newspaper reports that Ncube had raised the possibility of a
united front to
confront President Robert Mugabe at the next election, the
MDC insisted last
night that its leader “stirred a debate” on the subject,
which was “not
similar to advocating for it”.
Party spokesman Nhlanhla Dube said: “As a
party, our position is that
because of the historical actions of the MDC-T
where they turned down our
call for a united front in the last election, we
are not in a position to
look around for such coalitions again but will
dedicate our efforts to
building our party in our quest for a just and fair
Zimbabwe.
“In any case, as a party we believe that riding a hyena to
fight a lion is a
self defeating exercise that will put the democratic
struggle in jeopardy,
for we are convinced that MDC-T is no different from
all other enemies of
democracy and they are undoubtedly an impediment to a
just and a fair
Zimbabwe.”
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, in an
interview with a French magazine last
month, suggested the Ncube-led MDC was
a regional party and all but
confirmed unity was unlikely.
“To me it
will always be essential to have peace talks; at the appropriate
time we
will talk to them and find out whether they still feel that they can
go it
alone,” Tsvangirai said, while insisting that his party had won the
2008
elections despite the split three years earlier.
“Now they have retreated
to be regional party; so I don’t think that is
healthy for uniting the
people. So we will have to put that into
consideration, as to whether they
want to be a national flag or (sic).”
But Dube accused the MDC-T of
“basking in past glory”, adding: “The
political landscape has changed and
the people of Zimbabwe know the kind of
leadership that they want, a
leadership with the undiluted commitment and
capacity to deliver real
change.”
Zim Appeals
For US$16, 5 Million For Census
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 24, 2011 -Zimbabwe
is appealing for US$16, 5 million to
carry out the country’s census which
starts next year, Zimbabwe Central
Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) has
revealed.
ZIMSTAT Director General, Mutasa Dzinotizei told Reporters in
Harare Friday
on the sidelines of a handover ceremony of seven used 2010
vehicles by the
U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International
Development’s
(USAID) Economic Growth Office, to his the department that a
conference or
an indaba was going to be held with development partners to
see how much
they could contribute.
“$16, 5 million is needed to
carry out the census programme but what is
important at the moment is the
dissemination, collecting, the analysis and
the publication of
results.
“The figure is just preliminary and the government of
Zimbabwe is very much
prepared for the programme given that it is a legal
requirement that we must
carry out a population census after every ten
years,” ZIMSTAT Director
General, Mr Mutasa Dzinotizei told Reporters in
Harare Friday.
USAID Mission Director Melissa Williams said “Good,
reliable statistics were
the foundation of growth-oriented public
policy.
“We hope that this donation, quickly followed by the start-up
of the
Strategic Economic Research and Analysis (SERA) Project, will allow
ZIMSTAT
to continue playing a key role in assisting decision makers create
better
policies that directly impact and benefit the citizens of Zimbabwe,
she
said.
According to ZIMSTAT mapping which is the initial stage
of conducting census
has already started and expected to be complete by end
of year.
The last census was conducted in 2002.
ZUPCO
evicted
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The City Council here has evicted the Zimbabwe United Passenger
Company from
its largest depot in Kelvin industrial sites over non-payment
of rates and
rentals.
22.09.1110:51am
by Zwanai Sithole
Harare
According to the latest council minutes in possession of The
Zimbabwean, the
cash-strapped public transporter owes the city council
US$107 573, 90 in
unpaid rates and rentals as of June 2011.
The
council, according to the minutes, has resolved that ZUPCO should
immediately vacate the Kelvin North premises and only retain the City Hall
selling office and Khami road depot which the company is leasing from the
local authority.
ZUPCO's Division Operations Manager, C.Z Muwoni,
recently wrote a letter to
Bulawayo city council pleading with the local
authority to recede its
decision over the issue.
"ZUPCO maintains
that it requires retention of the three premises which are
stand 2200A
Steeldale, Khami road, and stand 13274 Kelvin North and the City
Hall
tickets office. ZUPCO intends to increase its fleet before the end of
this
year; the increase in fleet would be beneficial to the community in
Bulawayo
urban and undoubtedly restore order in the industry," reads part of
Muwoni's
letter to council.
However, council shot down ZUPCO's request saying the
company was
negotiating in bad faith and had failed to pay its rentals and
rates
"Zupco has not increased its fleet. The few buses seen around are
only
plying rural areas and therefore not servicing Bulawayo,” said the
Director
of Housing and Community Services, Isaiah Magagula, in his response
to
ZUPCO'S request.
ZUPCO has been facing serious viability problems
over the past years.
Company buses have been used to carry Zanu (PF)
supporters to party
functions such as conferences free of charge. ZUPCO
buses have also been
forced to ply less profitable rural routes, in a
development widely viewed
as an attempt to appease rural voters. The company
has also been riddled
with allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
CFU
to work with govt on land reform
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Only 200 white commercial farmers are
actively engaged in farming
activities, the Commercial Farmers Union has
confirmed.
22.09.1104:33pm
by Ngoni Chanakira Harare
The
once-powerful farming association had more than 4 500 members before the
controversial land resettlement programme began in 2000.
Marc
Carrie-Wilson, CFU's Legal Affairs Manager, told The Zimbabwean in an
exclusive interview that the few farmers left were trying their best to
restore agricultural production to its1980s glory days, when Zimbabwe was
known as the bread basket of southern Africa.
"The major problem
facing the commercial farming sector in Zimbabwe today is
lack of finance
and knowledge. The agricultural colleges are not producing
farmers who want
to farm but those who view farming as a hobby," he said.
He said the
union’s new President, Charles Taffs, was overseeing a major
change in
direction for the organisation. This comes as many believe the CFU
has lost
direction and “should be abandoned".
"I really don't think so,"
Carrie-Wilson said. "Maybe the disgruntled
individuals are saying so because
we now have a new President who is very
strong."
He said there was
now new thinking within the CFU and it was working with
the government to
restore agricultural production.
During the 1980s, Zimbabwe held the SADC
Food Security Portfolio, which led
to President Robert Mugabe winning the
coveted US$100 000 cash Prize for
Sustainable Hunger from the United States
of America.
But the country is now more of a basket case and has to
regularly beg from
its "poor" neighbours, many of whom ironically benefited
from Zimbabwean
commercial farmers who were forced to leave their land when
Mugabe and Zanu
(PF) henchmen grabbed most commercial farmland for their own
purposes.
The so-called “land reform” programme, heavily criticised by
the West,
resulted in the country being isolated from the international
community and
targeted sanctions were then slapped on some 200 Zanu (PF)
individuals.
"Things have now changed," said Carrie-Wilson said. "The CFU
has changed and
we are working with the government on land reform."
Mugabe’s
peace speech insincere: MDC
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
MDC legislators this week shredded the
President's official opening address
in Parliament two weeks ago, where he
called for an end to violence.
23.09.1102:36pm
by Chief
Reporter
The legislators said Mugabe was being insincere, and Zanu
(PF) thugs were
busy battering MDC activists outside Parliament as he made
his sham call for
peace. In his address, Mugabe claimed the coalition he
formed in 2009 with
his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was making
steady progress,
including establishing independent commissions and adopting
electoral
reforms. But it was his call for an end to violence amid
escalating
crackdown on MDC structures by thugs loyal to his Zanu (PF) that
has angered
the MDC legislators.
As Mugabe was speaking during the
official opening address, supporters from
his Zanu (PF) party were running
amok outside the parliament building,
attacking MDC
supporters.
Nyanga South MP Willard Chimbetete said in the House of
Assembly on Thursday
Mugabe was the only person capable of stopping the
violence, but he was
insincere, and speaking with a forked
tongue.
"He was instructing people not to be engaged in violence, but as
he was
saying that, people were being beaten outside there," Chimbetete
said.
"There was violence outside. We have heard about a group called
Chipangano
which is a violent group."
Chimbetete was talking about a
purge of all market stalls and taxi ranks in
the capital by the so-called
Chipangano militia, which is now under the
direct control of Zanu (PF) youth
chairman, Jim Kunaka.
The militia has violently ejected all perceived MDC
supporters from Mbare’s
Mupedzanhamo flea market and last month invaded
Machipisa market in
Highfield under the same modus operandi. The markets
have been doled out to
Zanu (PF) supporters instead.
"We will not get
any investors if there is violence in the capital city.
When are you going
to learn to campaign peacefully?" added Chimbetete.
Glen Norah MP Gift
Dzirutwe said Mugabe's speech was uninspiring and accused
the ageing leader
of regurgitating the same old rhetoric.
"The leader of the nation is
supposed to be inspiring his people and to
invigorate them, but when the
President said what he said, it was the same
old story: investment is on the
uptake. On the ground, it is different as
the companies are closing. He
was
talking about peace and the shortage of electricity. He could have
extracted
it from the previous speeches he made five or so years
ago.
"On the issue of peace, there was violence outside Parliament
Building but
no one on this side totally agreed with the President and they
never took it
seriously when he repeated: no to violence."
Dzirutwe
said two of his constituents were "massacred" outside Parliament.
EU
responds to Tomana threats
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The European Union has officially responded to
Zimbabwe’s two-week ultimatum
demanding its justification of continuing
targeted measures the western bloc
imposed on some senior Zanu (PF)
officials and companies a decade ago.
23.09.1105:04pm
by Tavada
Mafa
In an interview Thursday, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell'
Ariccia said
his organisation had responded to a letter from Attorney
General Johannes
Tomana asking the EU to justify its refusal to lift
sanctions and threatened
legal action.
“Unfortunately the response is
still confidential at this stage…. If Mr
Tomana wishes to divulge the
contents he can do so, but I cannot communicate
the contents of the letter.
The only thing I can tell you is that in general
terms the EU gives supreme
importance to respect of the rule of law. There
are legal mechanisms in the
EU that permit to act on situations where people
consider that their rights
are violated.
This is done in the full respect of the law and bearing in
mind that the
ultimate interest is to protect the rights of all citizens
within and
outside Europe,” said the Ambassador "adequate mechanisms are in
place,
which permit to challenge decisions and/or actions by any Government
in
front of an impartial judicial system".
He added that, even in the
case of the targeted EU measures "a notice was
published in the Official
Journal (OJ) of the EU, drawing the attention of
those concerned to the
possibility of submitting a request that the listing
decision should be
reconsidered in accordance with relevant provisions laid
down in the EU
Decision (Decision 2011/101/CFSP, published in the OJ of the
EU)"
Tomana said if the EU failed to give a satisfactory answer
within two weeks
he was going to lodge a lawsuit at the General Court of
European Court of
Justice.
“Unless I hear from you in the next 14
days, I shall be taking steps as may
be necessary and appropriate to protect
the rights and interest of the
government of Zimbabwe and all the natural
and legal persons and entities,
subjects to the restrictive measures in
terms of your aforesaid decisions,”
Tomana threatened in his
letter.
The EU imposed targeted sanctions on a list of some 200 Zanu (PF)
officials
and associated companies in 2002, following alleged human rights
abuses and
a flawed electoral process by President Robert Mugabe and his
then ruling
Zanu (PF) party.
The Zimbabwean on Sunday failed to get a
comment from Attorney General
Johannes Tomana as his mobile phone was not
reachable.
Responding to the threats by Tomana recently, EU Managing
Director for
Africa, Nicholas Westcott told journalists in Zimbabwe that
western bloc was
ready for the legal battle with Harare.
“If anybody
disagrees with that there is a due legal process which is open
to anyone. If
the government of Zimbabwe wishes to avail itself to that,
that is fine. We
are governed by the law rule of law. It is a process I
recommend to all
countries to insure that there is an impartial judicial
system which will
enable anyone to challenge decisions or actions by a
government or in our
case an international organisation and allow a free
judiciary to make its
decision”, he said.
Poor
nutrition affects ZNA recruitment in Mat South
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
02:00
Bulawayo Bureau
MANY aspiring soldiers from Matabeleland South
province could not make it
into the Zimbabwe National Army during a recent
recruitment exercise after
failing to meet the mandatory body mass index due
to poor nutrition, a
senior army officer has revealed.
ZNA Commander,
Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, said Matabeleland
South province
had the least number of successful candidates in the
recruitment exercise
conducted recently.
"This year, we had a reduced number of army recruits from
Matabeleland South
because most of the candidates who applied for military
training did not
meet the required body mass index in line with ZNA
requirements.
"This is largely because of food shortages affecting
several households in
the province, hence we saw it fit to partner with seed
companies and help
alleviate starvation.
"We are also concerned about the
unpredictable climate change, which is also
another factor that contributed
to food shortage," he said.
The body mass index, or Quetelet index, is a
proxy for human body fat based
on an individual's weight and
height.
In simpler terms, body mass index is defined as "the individual's
body
weight divided by the square of his or her height".
It can be used
to indicate if one is overweight, obese, underweight or
normal.
He said
this on Saturday in Gwanda at a function where the ZNA donated
several bags
of maize seed and fertiliser to more than 30 traditional
leaders in
Matabeleland South province.
The handover ceremony coincided with
commemorations of the annual
Traditional Leaders' Day.
Lt Gen Sibanda
said the donation was meant to boost food production in the
drought-prone
province.
Several parts of the province have been hit by drought resulting in
livestock dying and most families running out of food.
Said Lt Gen
Sibanda: "As ZNA we noted with great concern that Matabeleland
South was the
worst affected province in terms of food crisis due to drought
coupled with
inadequate farming inputs and therefore in an effort to
complement
Government efforts in addressing this challenge, we decided to
partner with
local seed companies and distribute bags of see maize and
fertiliser to the
needy communities."
Lt-Gen Sibanda said efforts were also underway to
revive the Isiphala
Senko-si/Zunde Ramambo concept, which was aimed at
boosting food production
in the country.
He also implored chiefs to play
a leading role in mobilising their
communities in preserving the
environment.
"We continue to lose a lot of vegetation through
deforestration and we
therefore urge chiefs and all traditional leaders to
educate their
communities on the importance of nature. Drastic measures must
be
implemented to stop veldfires as they continue to ravage our environment
and
in the process disrupting the ecosystem, destroying property and in some
cases killing people, hence we need more fire guards.
"Those who
cause such fires should be heavily fined and we all need to play
a watchdog
role, particularly when it comes to preserving our environment
for future
generations and again we urge our people to plant more trees in
their
respective areas," he said.
Rural
folk suffer as cash shortage hits hard
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Although those living in urban
areas now have a few dollars in their
pockets, it is a different story for
Maria Basikiti a villager in the remote
area of Kazozo in Nyanga
North.
23.09.1106:17am
by Tony Saxon
Widowed with three children,
she is one of many villagers who rarely sees a
US dollar and battles to feed
themselves and their families.
“Foreign currency is not readily available
here. I came across a $1 note
once, but I do not even know what other
denominations look like. As a result
I have resorted to barter trade,”
Basikiti told this reporter.
“Due to the remoteness of our area and the
non-availability of foreign
currency, business people have been reluctant to
set up shops and it seems
that we are living in an another world where money
does not exchange hands.”
The government adopted a multi-currency system
in 2009 to curb runaway
inflation.
The business people in Kazozo said
lack of capital was a major handicap.
“Although things seem to have
normalized, especially in the urban areas, it’s
still difficult for us to
make ends meet because we lost our capital during
the Zim dollar era to
inflation,” said Norman Chetsanga who used to own a
diesel-powered grinding
mill and a tuck shop at his homestead.
Chetsanga said banks were hesitant
to open up branches as there was no
business.
“Banks demand security
and collateral which we don’t have. We call upon
government through the
Ministry of Finance to establish a fund to assist
distressed small business
in growth points and business centres in remote
areas,” added
Chetsanga.
The working class includes few teachers at Kazozo Primary
School.
“We get our salaries from Nyanga and Mutare, and do all our
shopping There.
We don’t keep any money with us because we cannot buy
anything here,” said a
teacher. Small-scale business operators from Mutare,
about 250 km away, and
Nyanga have taken advantage of the poverty-stricken
villagers and flooded
the area with basic commodities in exchange for maize
and livestock among
other things.
“Before he died my husband left 14
cattle and 10 goats for me, but now I
have only seven cows and four goats
because of barter trade. I paid
livestock for schools fees for my children
and their upkeep,” said Basikiti.
She said a cow was exchanged for five
cartons of 12x 2 litres cooking oil
plus two cartons of 24 bars of laundry
soap.
A goat is worth 6x2litres of cooking oil or a carton of green bar
laundry
soap.
Some traders barter clothes and fish in exchange of
maize, beans, sunflowers
and groundnuts. Others barter firewood for
groceries.
Kenneth Mutiwekuziwa a firewood vendor said: “I always have my
clients from
Mutare who come to me with groceries and I give them
firewood.”
But Chief Kazozo is against barter trading in his area. He
told The
Zimbabwean that many of his people were being short changed by
traders.
He said the informal traders who had invaded the area were
ripping off the
desperate villagers who have no choice but to give in to
their demands
although they were a far cry from the market price for the
commodities.
“The government should gazette the prices. These
unscrupulous informal
traders are ripping off villagers. I would like the
police to come and
arrest them before the villagers continue losing out,”
said the angry chief.
“Times are hard for everyone and we are just trying
to make ends meet, we
buy the maize here at a lower price and resell at a
profit to private
millers in town. But at least we are serving the villagers
by bringing the
groceries at their door steps,” said George Shereni a trader
from Mutare.
Villagers
despair as funds run out
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Delays in completing vital water harvesting for
a micro-irrigation scheme
below the Nyangani Mountain Range are having a
negative impact on local
communities as many can no longer endure long
periods without water.
23.09.1106:24am
by Tonderayi Matonho
The
delays are due to lack of funds to purchase outstanding materials such
as
polythene piping and accessories to help channel water from the small
dams
and reservoirs built high up the mountain range by the local people
under
the auspices of Chitsanza Development Association.
“About $90 000 is now
needed by the CBO to finally complete the water
project, whose combined
effect will end Nyanga District’s Ward 19 and 22’s
water woes” said Diana
Sedze, the Director of CHIDA, in an interview
recently. The community-based
organization works with the Zimbabwe National
Environment
Trust.
“Given the persistent droughts, the project aims to improve and
support
local livelihoods and also act as a climate change mitigation and
adaptation
measure,” she said.
CHIDA, composed of 15 villages, is an
autonomous body owned by the villagers
who practise mixed farming, growing
mainly maize, sorghum, sweet potatoes,
groundnuts, yams, onions, leafy
vegetables and garlic.
In the lower plains of the mountain range, open
grazing of cattle, goats and
sheep is common. But without access to adequate
water many crops are wilting
and dying.
The national office of the
Global Environment Facility/Small Grants
Programme recently announced that
there would be no financial disbursements
this year because “the global
document that was supposed to be endorsed by
the GEF Council (in New York)
has not yet been signed and (we) have to wait
till June 2012.”
The
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Francis Nhema,
praised the project on a visit last year and promised assistance by
instructing a representative of the Environmental Management Agency who was
present to make a list of the required materials.
There has been no
sign of the promised assistance.
The local community are keenly aware of
how critical it is to access water
from the small dams to improve their
daily lives. Each dam is currently full
and has a holding capacity of 1 500
cubic metres of water. The water will
not be paid for by consumers implying
that no costs will be recouped upon
provision. The water will be referred to
as non-revenue water.
The district, which falls in Region IV, which is
drought-prone, faces
rampant food shortages and poverty. The local
community, through CHIDA, saw
the importance of sourcing water from the
natural and perennial streams and
springs within the mountain range. Thanks
to gravity, they will not require
pumps.
“Nonetheless, for the scheme
to be fully operational, materials such as
polythene pipes and fittings to
facilitate the flow of water down to the
villages and fields are needed,”
said Ward 19 Counselor, Alexander
Muchadeyi, adding that the timelines
within which the project should have
been completed is lapsing by the
day.
Due to policy shifts, funding cycles of the Canadian International
Development Agency and the Norwegian People’s Aid, which assisted in
establishing the small dams and reservoirs, ended in 2007 and 2008
respectively.
2008
election trauma lives on in many
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Edward Chizikani, an MDC-T supporter,
reveals still unhealed wounds on his
back and shoulders, suffered when a
group of militia from President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party attacked his
home in Chimanimani district in May
2008, at the height of the un-contested
Presidential run-off election that
returned Mugabe to
power.
23.09.1106:14am
by Tony Saxon
The wounds are a vivid
reminder of what Chizikani says was a vicious
campaign by Mugabe loyalists
to silence opponents.
But less than three years after Chizikani escaped
death by a whisker, Mugabe
and party hardliners are talking of elections
next year.
Chizikani and many other voters in his predicament have every
reason to be
dismayed, as they fear that an election would see the country
spiral into
another cycle of political violence.
“I feel there is too
much anger and fear among people. Myself and others who
are in my same
situation are not ready for elections,” said Chikizani, a
member of the
MDC-T Chimanimani coordination committee.
His words strike a chord with
millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who say they
are more worried about the
inclusive government restoring the economy,
creating jobs and food security
than a vote that could tear the fragile
country further.
“Zimbabweans
have not healed from the election trauma of 2008. We need more
time to have
confidence in the electoral system, that if Zimbabweans cast
their votes it
will really count for something,” said Chikizani.
“June 2008 is still
fresh in our minds. Why doesn’t the government first
improve services and
make sure the economy is functioning again. We don’t
want to lose lives and
be beaten again,” said Martin Chemwanyisa, an MDC-T
supporter in Cashel
Valley.
He is one of many victims of the 2008 violence still living in
abject
conditions after their homes were burnt down by suspected Zanu (PF)
activists.
The
generation that broke Zimbabwe’s soul
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
One of the most memorable moments
in my teenage years was when my father sat
me down for our last man-to-boy
chat. I was 14 years old.
23.09.1106:27am
by David Mutori
He
told me I had to start taking responsibilities that the man usually
takes.
He gave a list of things including inspecting and ensuring that the
cattle
kraal was properly closed each night.
The first few days after our chat,
he would double check to ensure I had
done what was expected. Then he let me
take full responsibility. He would
consult me, just to teach me to give my
views.
A mutual relationship between the generations was thus nurtured by
my
father. I saw a similar nurturing culture taking place at village head
and
chief level. This passing on of knowledge, skills and responsibility has
allowed smooth transitions between generations.
In the early 2000s,
my father lamented that this was not repeated at
national government level.
He said generations coming after the Zanu (PF)
era would need to start all
over again, as the party was still fighting for
things that were relevant in
the 1970s and before and had no idea about what
was relevant in the modern
times.
Zimbabwe’s Generation Me had taken the country in 1980 and, like a
dog with
a bone, would seek to keep it to themselves – even from their own
children.
He said they saw free thinking as a threat and did everything
they could to
choke initiation. They demanded that we all join them but then
“you had to
pretend that you have no brains of your own”.
Under their
reign the country went bankrupt, and lost the honour of having
its own
currency. At least a third of the population got pushed out and is
now
scattered in foreign lands.
Generation Me sat on developmental plans and
many Zimbabweans died
needlessly due to collapse of the healthcare system.
This generation sees
people as expendable. They never had a vision and they
mistrust anyone who
has.
What makes our problem worse is the fact
that Generation Me does not trust
younger generations, they do not even
trust their own children. Instead of
at least grooming their own children to
take over from them, they encourage
them to leave the country.
As far
as this bunch is concerned Zimbabwe was born when we voted them into
power,
and it will die when they die. Zimbabwe is theirs – not ours at all.
Wikileaks:
Delta boss planned deal to enable government to buy up 400 farms
http://www.insiderzim.com/
Saturday, 24
September 2011 07:01
Delta Corporation boss Patrick Rooney told United
States ambassador to
Zimbabwe Tom McDonald 10 years ago that his company was
arranging a credit
facility that would enable the government to buy 300 to
400 commercial farms
that had been designated for
acquisition.
According to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks Rooney
told McDonald
on 2 November 2000 that part of the proposal was to relocate
war veterans
occupying farms to the purchased farms.
He hoped that
the move would help break the logjam on land reform and remove
the war
veterans from the land resettlement picture, thereby demonstrating
to the
international community that law and order was returning to Zimbabwe.
The
proposal had already been accepted by Vice-President Joseph Msika and
was
now going to be put to President Robert Mugabe.
Rooney feared that the
proposal might be scuttled by Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo, Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made.
Wikileaks:
Chombo, Chinamasa raided RBZ
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The latest Wikileaks revelations name Local
Government Minister Ignatius
Chombo, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and
political turncoat Jonathan
Moyo as some of the Zanu (PF) officials who
raided central bank coffers for
scarce foreign
currency.
23.09.1104:59pm
by Vusimusi Bhebhe
Their voracious
spending spawned the dramatic collapse of the Zimbabwe
dollar.
The
three were named together with Agriculture Minister Joseph Made by
Standard
Chartered Bank chief executive Washington Matsaira during a meeting
he held
with former US ambassador Joseph Sullivan in February 2003.
Chombo was
Minister of Public Works at the time.
Matsaira, who was the president of
the Zimbabwe Bankers Association at the
time, told Sullivan that President
Mugabe's inner-circle "hawks" were
“subverting the Tripartite Agreement as
well as the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries' proposal to devalue the
Zimdollar for exporters”.
“Hardliners - Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, Agriculture Minister
Joseph Made, Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo and Public Works Minister
Ignatius Chombo – are either still enriching
themselves from the GOZ's
interventionist policies (often accessing U.S.
dollars at the official rate)
or unwilling to press Mugabe to make a
change,” Sullivan said in a cable
written on 19 February
2003.
According to Matsaira, the resistance by the hardliners to allow a
devaluation of the Zimdollar led to decision-making paralysis and the
emergence of an every-man-for-himself mentality in the country.
Their
actions perpetuated a critical foreign exchange shortage that hit
Zimbabwe
between 2000 and 2009 and spawned a thriving parallel market during
the past
nine years that starved the official inter-bank market of
funds.
“Matsaira thinks Zimbabwe is gradually being "Zaire-ized,"” said
the cable -
a reference to Mobutu Sese Seko's misrule in the Democratic
Republic of the
Congo.
The Zimdollar eventually collapsed in 2009
amid flourishing business by cash
barons such as the ministers.
Wikileaks:
Hungwe, Moyo traded secrets for sanctions removal
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
FORMER Masvingo governor Josiah Hungwe and the
ex-Labour Minister July Moyo
were removed from United States sanctions after
they “provided useful
information” to American diplomats.
A leaked US
embassy cable reveals how politburo member Hungwe, his wife
Ruthmae, and
Moyo were let off the sanctions net by giving away Zanu PF and
government
secrets.
A July 11, 2005, cable marked “sensitive” and signed by the
Deputy Chief of
Mission, Eric T. Schultz, suggested names to be added and
removed from the
US travel ban.
The sanctions, in place since 2002,
are said to target “members of the
government of Robert Mugabe and other
Zimbabwean nationals who formulate,
implement, or benefit from policies that
undermine or injure Zimbabwe’s
democratic institutions.”
Under a
section marked ‘Names to be Deleted’, Schultz said: “Embassy
suggests that
we take this opportunity to remove certain names from our
existing visa
sanction list...
“Josiah Hungwe, ex-Masvingo Provincial Governor who has
provided the Embassy
with useful information in the past. He is also on the
outs within Zanu PF
after the December 2004 Party Congress;
“Ruthmae
Hungwe, wife of Josiah Hungwe;
“July Moyo, ex-Minister of Social Welfare,
Labour, and Public Works who
worked constructively with the embassy and NGOs
while minister and is
currently suspended from the party.”
As the
trio were being lined for removal from the sanctions, dozens more
people
were being added including Phillip Chiyangwa’s wife, Jocelyn;
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s three daughters – Chido Emmah, Justina Mhurai and Farai
Seline
as well as Jonathan Moyo’s two daughters and son – Nokuthula, Lungile
and
Tawanda.
The public released of the cable by whistleblower website,
WikiLeaks, will
add to growing concern within Zanu PF over unsanctioned
contacts between
American diplomats and senior party leaders.
Top
officials including Vice Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo have
been
revealed to have criticised President Mugabe’s reluctance to quit in
meetings with American interlocutors.
But despite growing demands
within the party for Mugabe to take action,
political analysts say this is
unlikely as it would divide the party.
The good, the bad and the downright ugly
Dear Family and Friends,
The good, the bad and the ugly is a very apt
description of life in
Zimbabwe this week. The good has come in the form of
the fast
approaching rainy season. Temperatures have soared over the last
few
days and the first rain clouds have started to gather on the
horizon.
Heaven in the garden has come from standing under the
drooping,
dripping mulberry tree and feasting on ripe, sweet purple
berries.
Purple fingers, lips and tongue; angry, impatient birds cursing
from
overhead! A rare treat came for me with the appearance of a
carmine
bee eater sitting on the electricity lines over my house. Carmines
are
usually associated with hot lowveld river valleys where they
build
nests in big colonies, burrowing into sand cliffs and river banks.
At
first I thought this Carmine Bee-eater must be lost but then I
saw
another one, and then another two. For a couple of hours they
stayed
around before swooping high into an invisible current of wind
and
disappearing. The final treat of the week came with the sound
of
running feet on the roof just after dark. Not human feet but those
of
the Night Ape as it headed towards an avocado tree for an
early
appetizer before starting its nocturnal rounds.
In between the
‘good’ and the bad came the absurd, just to bring
us down to earth. First
came the story of the four men apprehended by
police in Harare. The police
forgot to handcuff their captives and
then left them unattended in a police
car whose engine was running,
while they chased after another suspect. The
four suspects put the car
in gear and drove away, chased by the Police in a
second car which
proceeded to run out of fuel before the men could be
re-arrested. The
Herald newspaper described the escape as “the conclusion of
an
otherwise highly-successful police operation.”
Second came the
report that Air Zimbabwe, teetering on the edge of
bankruptcy, had just
received yet another emergency cash injection
from the government. The 2.8
million US dollar bail out had finally
managed to break the airline’s two
month long strike. On one of
their first resumed flights, from Victoria Falls
to Harare, there was
only one passenger on board an aircraft which seats 60
people. Talk
about a good way to make a return on government
money!
The ‘bad’ this week came with the interception by riot police
of
women in Bulawayo marching to commemorate the International Day
of
Peace. The women were singing songs about national healing and
handing
out flowers and leaflets when an estimated 50 riot police moved in
on
them. Eyewitnesses described riot police chasing and beating
the
unarmed protestors with baton sticks causing a number of injuries
and
many being taken to hospital. Twelve of the women were
arrested,
including WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga
Mahlangu.
The downright ‘ugly’ this week came with more reports of Zanu
PF
youths taking over council properties, car parks, markets, bus and
taxi
ranks in Harare where they are intimidating people, extorting
bribes and
using violence against people who report them to the
police. Unbelievably the
co Home Affairs Minister, Theresa Makone,
whose ministry is in charge of the
Police, was quoted in the press as
saying there was chaos. She said: there is
nothing I can do to stop
their invasions.”
This is hardly the picture
of law and order that Zimbabwe so
desperately needs in the turbulent months
leading to another election
and hardly the image to attract tourists and
investors. Until next
week, thanks for reading, love Cathy Copyright � Cathy
Buckle. 24
September 2011.
www.cathybuckle.com