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Zimbabwean Artist to Stand Trial for Massacre Paintings

http://news.yahoo.com/

ARTINFO

 Lucie Alig - 2 hrs 47 mins ago

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwean painter Owen Maseko will go to trial later
this month in his native country for exhibiting realistic depictions of
massacres that took place three decades ago under the regime of Robert
Mugabe, who served as prime minister at the time. The artworks - some small,
others wall-engulfing murals - depict images of political events that,
according to government authorities, are prohibited under current law.

In March, the police shut down Maseko's exhibit under Section 33 of the
Criminal Law and Codification Act, which punishes citizens for undermining
the authority of the president. Mugabe has remained in power since 1980,
despite international protest over his alleged human-rights violations.
While censorship would seem to be taking place, Maseko's attorney told the
Associated Press that "the artist is not charged under censorship laws."
Rather, the works have been cited for "obscenity and ethnic bias."

Maskeo told reporters, "The most important thing as an artist is... to be
relevant to the society we are living in." And in making the works, Maskeo
was also engaging with a long history of similar projects: In the 1814
painting "The Third of May 1808," Goya depicted Spanish soldiers being
gunned down by Napoleonic forces. And in his 1868-69 painting "The Execution
of Emperor Maximilian," Manet portrayed the Habsburg duke being gunned down
by Mexican partisans. In both cases, these landmark works helped earn them
fame in their countries. In Maseko's case, it could land him in jail.


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Diamonds can earn Zim US$2 billion annually

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

by Own Corespondent Wednesday 01 September 2010

HARARE - Diamond output from the controversial Marange fields could easily
reach 40 million carats by 2013, catapulting Zimbabwe to top global gem
producer and earning US$2 billion a year for the cash starved southern
African nation, a government adviser on diamonds said.

Zimbabwe sold its first stockpile of diamonds from the notorious Marange
last month, when it was allowed to auction 900,000 carats by the Kimberley
Process certification scheme, which regulates global gem trade.

The Ministry of Mines says the country holds more than 5 million carats from
Marange, where it runs two joint venture mining operations, Mbada Diamonds
and Canadile Miners, with two little known South African firms.

Belgian diamond expert Filip van Loere, who is advising Zimbabwe's unity
government to ensure full compliance with the Kimberley Process, said Harare
could become a major player in the global diamond industry within three
years.

"With the new diamond find in Chiadzwa (Marange), we're estimated at 40
million carats per year and $2 billion per year in revenue," van Loere told
the media yesterday.

"Zimbabwe has been propelled to the number one spot as the world's most
important player and it will be number three in value. That is estimated to
come along within the next two to three years."

That would be good news for the coalition government, formed by President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, which has struggled to
win donor support to fully revive the economy.

The government has said it needs at least $10 billion to resuscitate the
economy, which fell apart after a decade of hyperinflation and foreign
currency shortages.

Zimbabwe is expected to sell the second tranche of Marange diamonds next
week, when South African Kimberley Process monitor Abbey Chikane returns to
the country. He will then produce a report on whether Zimbabwe should be
allowed to sell more diamonds.

Van Loere said Zimbabwe could surpass traditional top diamond producers like
Russia, Botswana and South Africa, but warned that a sudden increase in
output on the global market could cause a glut of the gems and push prices
down.

"The main issue for Zimbabwe is to be careful in harvesting this resource.
Zimbabwe might add 20 percent to global trade, but then prices will go down
at least 60-70 percent, so we have to be responsible, Zimbabwe should not
become the main producer just for the sake of it," van Loere said.

He said there was room for more players to exploit the Marange diamonds,
which some experts have said are the biggest find of the century. The
sprawling Marange fields span more than 66,000 hectares and Mbada Diamonds
and Canadile Miners are only exploiting less than 6,000 hectares.

"Currently, the two mines occupy 10 percent of the total area. We need two
or three more firms in the area," said van Loere.

Witnesses say the fields outside Mbada and Canadile are being manned by the
army, who they accuse of working with illegal diggers to siphon diamonds
worth millions of dollars in a well orchestrated cartel.

Critics say a powerful military and political clique close to Mugabe is
running the cartel and analysts fear that Zimbabwe's diamonds could be a
major source of conflict in future.

Over 30,000 illegal panners descended on the Marange fields in 2006, but the
government deployed the army two years later in a bid to stop panning and
smuggling of gems, but rights groups say the security forces committed
atrocities during the crackdown on the panners.

Yesterday, Canadile Miners launched the construction of a $20 million
diamond processing and auction centre in Mt Hampden, outside Harare. -
ZimOnline.


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Stock exchange home closed

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

by Hendricks Chizhanje Wednesday 01 September 2010

HARARE - Municipal authorities on Tuesday shutdown a building housing the
Zimbabwean Stock Exchange (ZSE), living brokers and investors unsure whether
the bourse will open for business today.

The ZSE conducts one call over session every weekday in the morning on the
floor of the exchange.

But it was uncertain whether there will be any trading today after Harare
City Council officials shut down 101 Union Building, which houses the ZSE,
saying tenants at the building have not paid water bills.

There are several tenants at the building in Harare's central business
district and it was not clear whether the ZSE was among those failing to pay
water bills estimated at US$7 000.

A ZSE official told ZimOnline that the bourse could temporarily relocate to
another building to allow trade to continue and avoid inconveniencing
brokers.

"We are likely to move trading to another building," said the official, who
did not want to be named because he did not have permission to discuss the
matter with the Press.

ZSE chief executive Emmanuel Munyukwi could not be reached for a comment on
the matter last night.

Failure to trade would be a morale sapping blow to a ZSE that has seen trade
shrink 19 percent since December last year, while market capitalisation
dropped to US$3.19 billion in June from nearly $4 billion at the beginning
of the year, according to figures released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
recently.

The drop in trade figures is chiefly blamed on foreign investors fleeing the
bourse, scared by a controversial government scheme to compel foreign-owned
businesses to sell stake to local blacks.

Under the programme all foreign- owned firms valued at US$500, 000 or more
will be required to transfer significant stake to locals by 2015.

President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party, who enacted the law in 2008
before forming a power-sharing government with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC, had initially wanted foreigners to cede 51 percent
shareholding to blacks.

They backed own after stiff opposition from Tsvangirai and agreed to set
varying percentages of shareholding foreign-owned companies in various
sectors of the economy must transfer to locals.

Analysts say the empowerment programme is a huge disincentive to potential
foreign investors who will question the wisdom of pouring money into an
economy where the government can intervene to force them to cede stake to
locals. - ZimOnline.

 


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MP still refusing to leave invaded farm

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
01 September 2010

An MP in Somabhula who has snubbed a number of court orders telling him to
leave the farm he has invaded, has this week ignored another eviction
notice.

Philip and Ellen Hapelt from Grasslands Farm had to get a second eviction
order on Monday, after MP Jabulani Mangena refused to leave the property
last week. On Tuesday, Ellen Hapelt tried to convince the Gweru police to
uphold the court order protecting her and her husband on their farm, but to
no avail. The police have repeatedly refused to support the Hapelts,
expressing their own fears of Mangena.

While Ellen was unsuccessfully trying to get the police to carry out the
court ordered eviction, Mangena's manager and his workers tried to assault
Philip. The couple's daughter Lauren told SW Radio Africa that the situation
was very tense, but "my dad's workers managed to intervene and stop Mangena's
workers from attacking him." Lauren explained that her mom insisted on a
police escort back to the farm, which she described as "a small victory
because it's the first time we've been able to get the police out there."

Mangena has led a campaign of harassment, vandalism and violence against the
Hapelts and their workers, claiming he has an offer letter entitling him to
the property. Late last year, the Hapelts were brutally beaten by a gang of
thugs, in an attack the family believes was meant to drive them from their
farm.

The Hapelts many years ago voluntarily gave up the majority of their land
for the sake of 'reform', under an agreement that would allow them to remain
on their homestead with a small portion of farming land. They already have
two Court orders that entitle them to live on the farm without fear of
invasion or persecution. But Mangena is openly disregarding the courts and
has previously threatened the Hapelts with more violence if they approach
the courts again.

Lauren said on Wednesday that Mangena is acting completely above the law,
saying the family's only option will be to lay contempt of court charges
against the MP. She said there is little hope that this will do anything, as
Mangena has proved his as no regard for the courts. She said they are
"playing a wait and see game," adding it's unlikely her parents will be able
to keep their property.


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Mliswa made me destitute - witness

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

By Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 17:52

HARARE - The trial of Zanu-PF activist and businessman Temba Mliswa
continued at the Harare magistrate's court Wednesday with key State witness,
Paul Westwood narrating how stressed and traumatized he was when he was
forced out of his company, Noshio Motors.

Under cross examination by Mliswa's lawyer Charles Chinyama, Westwood said
Mliswa's takeover of his firm resulted in him being evicted from his home
after he failed to pay his bills.

"I was evicted from my house, my children were thrown out of school and I
was struggling to pay my domestic workers," Westwood said.

He said following the death threats by Mliswa, who is jointly accused with
five others - Alfred Mwatiwamba, George Marere, Pastor Hammarskjold and his
wife Brendaly Banda and Martin Mutasa, the son of Presidential Affairs
Minister Didymus Mutasa - he  opted out of the company.

"I was forced out of the company. I opted out for me to get a fair market
value of my company," Westwood said.

He said he had to dispose of his personal assets as he was struggling to
make ends meet.

"I struggled to put food on the table for my family. I struggled to pay my
utility bills; the land line telephone at my house was cut off. I struggled
to pay Zesa and water bills," he said.

He said he even failed to pay for medical bills as a result of the stress
and trauma caused by Mliswa's illegal takeover of his company.

Westwood also said workers at the company had also been threatened and were
living in fear.

However, Chinyama said Westwood was not a credible witness as he has
suffered from abuse of drugs.

"You have suffered not from an addiction of drugs?" Chinyama asked Westwood,
adding this showed that he was not mentally stable.

Westwood admitted that he was on prescribed drugs, but was interjected by
the presiding magistrate Never Katiyo who asked the lawyer to focus on the
criminal nature of the case.

"The criminality of the case lies on what happened on December 18, when the
company was taken over," Katiyo said.

Prosecutor Goodwill Nyasha said Chinyama should not attack the character of
the witness but produce documentary evidence to prove their claims.

Chinyama dismissed claims that Mliswa misrepresented to Westwood that he was
sent by Minister of Youth, Saviour Kasukuwere or by President Robert Mugabe.

He said Mliswa was indeed a bona-fide vice president of the Affirmative
Action Group and had never misrepresented himself to Westwood.

He also said Westwod's firm was never taken under the indigenisation policy
as the firm's threshold was way under that stipulated by government for a
firm to be acquired.

The trial continues on September 27 when the State will continue with its
case.


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ZANU PF torture trial postponed

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
01 September 2010

The torture trial of a Norton MDC activist, that will see top ZANU PF
officials face questioning, has been postponed until later this month.

Mapfumo Garutsa was abducted in November 2008 and held incommunicado for 22
days, on claims that he committed acts of terrorism and banditry. His
captors accused him of bombing two bridges, police stations, and undergoing
training in Botswana. Garutsa says he was repeatedly assaulted and denied
food during his ordeal, and he is now demanding close to $200,000 from top
government officials.

Home Affairs co-Minister's Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa, Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa and former State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa have all
been listed in Garutsa's case. The activist is also claiming damages from
police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, Prisons Commissioner Paradzai
Zimondi, Happyton Bonyongwe, Director General of the Central Intelligence
Organisation, Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi (Assistant Director of the CIO) and
senior police officers, identified as Senior Assistant Commissioner Nyathi,
Chief Superintendent Makedenge, Detective Chief Inspector Mpofu, Chief
Superintendent Magwenzi, Superintendent Joel Shasha Tenderere and
Superintendent Regis Takaitei.

Garutsa's trial was set to get underway on Monday, but newly appointed Judge
President George Chiweshe, who is a known Mugabe loyalist, postponed the
matter until September 13. The case will now be heard along with that of 17
other abductees, including human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, who are
suing the ministers and security officials for more than $20 million.

The senior officials are also facing legal action from a Harare woman who is
personally seeking more than $3 million in damages, after being severely
assaulted by police at the time of the abductions. Shamiso Nziramasanga was
four months pregnant when she was ordered to report to Mt Hampden Police
Station in 2008. She was severely assaulted by a policeman identified only
as Constable Bako, and threatened with further violence if she reported the
assault. A few days later she was admitted to hospital in severe pain, where
doctors found that her uterus had ruptured from the beatings she endured.
She lost her baby and also had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy. He case
has also been grouped together with that of the 18 abductees and will be
heard later this month.

The group of 18 abductees disappeared 10 weeks after Morgan Tsvangirai
signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which formed the unity
government and offered Zimbabweans a glimpse of change. Rights groups say
the shocking details of torture and impunity accompanying such cases provide
a compelling case for the coalition government to urgently undertake
security sector reforms as dictated by the GPA. But almost two years since
that agreement was signed, there is still no meaningful change.

It is now also 17 days since a regional summit of government leaders
endorsed a plan to get the stalled unity government working. That plan was
meant to see 24 outstanding issues of the GPA implemented within 30 days,
but 17 days since then, nothing has been done.

 


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Kunonga turns church into school

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

Written by John Chimunhu
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 13:43

CHITUNGWIZA - Defrocked Anglican bishop Nolbert Kunonga (Pictured) has
infuriated members of the church by turning a church building here into a
school while they are forced to conduct services in the open.
Investigations by The Zimbabwean showed that the church building at Zengeza
2 is now a crèche known as ECD Pre-School. The new name has been emblazoned
all over the security wall, which has also been decorated with fancy cartoon
characters advertising the school, much to the chagrin of church members.
The members accuse Kunonga of using the organization's properties for
personal profit since he forcibly took them over with the help of armed
police and allegedly biased courts. Kunonga is a strong ally of President
Robert Mugabe and is still asked to conduct prayers at national events even
though he no longer belongs to any church group. During visits to the
centre, this paper was told that the school caters for anyone who can pay,
but members of the bona fide Anglican Church led by Bishop Chad Gandiya are
not allowed to send their children there.
When this reporter visited the Zengeza 2 church, several elderly women
allied to Kunonga were seen cooking food on open fires in preparation for a
meeting. Posing as a parent intending to send a child there, this reporter
was interrogated for several minutes by the women. "Who sent you here? Are
you from Gandiya? We don't want any Gandiya people here," said one of the
women.
Later, however, the women revealed that any child sent to the school had to
be vetted by women aligned to Kunonga to ensure they had nothing to do with
Gandiya and the proper Anglican Church. It could not be established how many
children are already enrolled at the school or how much Kunonga's gang
earned from the activities as knowledgeable people were not contactable.
However, many similar crèches are making a killing by introducing numerous
fund-raising activities that require cash.
Apparently, the intervention of the government's organ on healing and
reconciliation has failed to end the squabbles in the church. A congregant
in Zengeza confirmed that they were still not allowed to use the building
for worship despite recent high-level interventions by national healing
organ chair John Nkomo.
"What Kunonga is doing is not only criminal, but evil. We are being forced
to meet for services in the open, with children in this cold, yet he is
using God's building to make money. This is very bad," said a woman who
asked not to be identified.
Comments from Kunonga and Gandiya could not be obtained at the time of going
to press. However, a senior member of the Anglican Church blamed the
authorities for not enforcing church orders to have Kunonga removed
completely from church activities.


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Zimbabwe needs $200 million for fresh polls - media

http://www.busrep.co.za/

September 1, 2010

Zimbabwe will need 200 million US dollars (157 million euros) to hold polls
next year if leaders insist on meeting unity deal time-frames, media
reported Wednesday.

Fresh elections are due in 2011 under the power-sharing pact signed two
years ago by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The "200 million would be required for two elections (including
parliamentary polls)," Finance Minister Tendai Biti was quoted as saying by
the state-run Herald newspaper.

Biti said a decision on elections lay with Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who formed
a compromise government last year to pave the way for fresh polls after a
bloody presidential run-off election in which Mugabe was the sole candidate.

Zimbabwe's electoral commission indicated last week that it will not be able
to draw up a clean voters' roll and organise elections next year because of
lack of funding.

Electoral reforms are also needed for credible polls, it said.

Parliament is to amend electoral laws to speed up the announcement of
results and create a system for reporting political violence before the new
polls.

The parties also agreed to draft a new constitution before the next
elections but a drive to gather suggestions for the new charter has been
marred by reports of intimidation.

Under the power-sharing deal, Zimbabwe was meant to draft a new constitution
and put it to a referendum by November 2010, with new elections by February
2011. - Sapa-AFP


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Zimbabwe to become world's top diamond producer: Expert

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

 1 Sep, 2010, 03.31PM IST,PTI

MT HAMPDEN: Zimbabwe will become the world's top producer of diamonds
following the discovery of the gem in the Marange area of the eastern
province of Manicaland within the next five years, an expert has said.

Zimbabwe was on its way to toppling countries such as Russia, Botswana and
South Africa as the top diamond producer, International diamond consultant
Fillipe van Laere said on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the
establishment of the Zimbabwe Diamond Technology Centre (ZDTC).

Diamond mining company Canadile Miners Private Limited is spearheading the
establishment of the USD 20 million project at this town located some 5 km
from the capital, Harare.

Van Laere, who is based in Belgium, has been in Zimbabwe for close to a year
assisting the country to meet requirements of the international diamond
watchdog, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).

The KPCS last month granted Zimbabwe permission to sell diamonds from the
Marange diamond fields following a protracted battle between the country and
western countries such as the United States and Australia which were against
selling of the gems, labeling them "blood diamonds".

"Until very recently, Zimbabwe was a secondary player in the international
diamond business. If you look at the statistics in 2008-2009, they show that
Zimbabwe was in 12th position, however with the new diamond finds in
Chiadzwa whose production can reach 40 million carats per year and USD 2
billion per year in revenue.

"Zimbabwe is simply propelled to the number one spot as the world's most
important diamond producer in the next two or three years," said van Laere.

He added that it was crucial for Zimbabwe to establish two more well
equipped diamond mining companies to boost production of the gems. There are
four companies involved in diamond mining at the moment.


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'Beware of Mugabe', Makumbe tells Chanakira

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

By Guthrie Munyuki
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 17:02

HARARE - "Be wary of Mugabe's benefaction," is the warning Professor John
Makumbe is giving Nigel Chanakira in his on-going wrangle for control of
Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd (KFHL).

President Robert Mugabe at the weekend insinuated that the battle-weary KFHL
founder and ex-chief executive could repossess his bank, and Meikles Africa
shareholders their money later, under the controversial Indigenisation Law.

"Chanakira is a banker and businessman," Makumbe told the Daily News in an
exclusive interview. "He knows how business is run.  He must not be fooled
by Mugabe and the Indigenisation Law.

"This law is ruinous and dangerous for business. This is not the way
Chanakira should regain his bank. Today he can benefit from Mugabe, but
tomorrow the same Mugabe will come and take away the same bank, that's how
Zanu PF operates,"

He said Mugabe was politicking and Chanakira should resist the temptation to
benefit from his posturing, which he said was not new in the veteran former
guerilla's modus operandi.

"Involving politicians to settle disputes is not the way business is done.
The matter is between Chanakira and Meikles Africa shareholders. Chanakira
should instead find ways of settling this dispute," said Makumbe.

"Chanakira must not be fooled by Mugabe. The whole thing kills of the
economy. Political interference drives away investors and that's the last
thing Zimbabwe needs at the moment."

Mugabe at the weekend said Meikles is obliged to sell its 42,9% stake in
KFHL to Chanakira who has the right of first refusal, in terms of
empowerment laws.

"We have said ownership should be 51% local, and 49% foreign," Mugabe said.
"We should not be afraid to take what is ours. If it is in South Africa then
foreign rules would apply," Mugabe was quoted saying at the weekend.

Analysts said that Mugabe took encouragement from both Finance Minister
Tendai Biti and central bank chief Gideon Gono, who gave the two feuding
companies an ultimatum to resolve the simmering dispute.

Both Biti and Gono said last month they had had "enough of this nonsense",
referring to  the raging saga which is centred on the outstanding balance
that Chanakira must pay Meikles Africa shareholders to regain control of
KFHL, whose flagship is Kingdom Bank.

Chanakira is struggling to pay off the conglomerate US$22,5 million to pave
way for his firm's de-merger from the group.

Had Chanakira, who had been given up to August 5 by Meikles Africa
shareholders to pay off the money, succeeded, he would have snapped up a
43,9 % stake to re-gain control of KFHL.

KFHL merged with Meikles Africa in 2008 to become Kingdom Meikles Africa Ltd
(KMAL) in a deal that raised prospects of the financial concern listing on
the Wall Street's elite bourse, the New York Stock Exchange.

The new conglomerate included TM Stores, Meikles Hotel, Meikles Stores,
Tanganda, Cotton Printers and Kingdom Bank and its subsidiaries.

However, what had promised to be a new era for KMAL turned into horror as
disputes emerged which led to an acrimonious divorce between the two merged
entities.

In the meantime, the Meikles board has given a thumbs up to the KFHL
demerger from the group.

An Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) has been slated for October 4.

At the EGM, the shareholders will decide what to do with KFHL once the
demerger has been consummated.

Legally, the Meikles shareholders, who hold both shares in Meikles Africa
Limited and KFHL, cannot be bullied and have the prerogative of deciding who
should invest in the latter once an investor - who might not be Chanakira -
is found.


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Tony Blair: military intervention in rogue regimes 'more necessary than ever'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Former PM defends foreign policy record, revealing that the experience of
Iraq and Afghanistan has not diminished his commitment to taking on
opponents

    * Owen Bowcott
    * guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 September 2010 13.08 BST

Globalisation has made military intervention in rogue regimes overseas more
necessary than ever, Tony Blair argues in his memoirs. Not toppling Robert
Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, is one regret voiced by the former prime
minister.

His belief that Iran needs to be confronted in its nuclear ambitions and as
a last resort prevented by force shines through. The experience of Iraq and
Afghanistan has not diminished his commitment to taking on opponents.

His appetite for international affairs, he admits, has been sharpened by his
role as a mediator in the Middle East. "Personally I have never felt a
greater sense of frustration or indeed a greater urge to leadership," he
writes in his postscript.

But it was the Balkans that formed the crucible for his new policy of
liberal interventionism. "My awakening over foreign policy was ... abrupt,"
he explains. "It happened over Kosovo."

Distinctions between foreign and domestic policy are breaking down as
consequence of globalisation, he maintains. Television news beams foreign
crises into every living room. "The world [is] interconnected not just
economically or in self-interest but emotionally, the heart as well as the
head."

Looking back he admits he was surprised: "The 1997 campaign was fought
almost exclusively on a domestic policy basis. If you had told me on that
bright May morning as I first went blinking into Downing Street that during
my time in office I would commit Britain to fight four wars, I would have
been bewildered and horrified."

Foreign policy based on "narrow self-interest" is outdated, he asserts.
"Global alliances [have to] be ... based on shared global values." That
realisation has resulted in the undermining of the old political divisions
of left and right.

"We ended up in the bizarre position where being in favour of the
enforcement of liberal democracy was a 'neoconservative' view and
non-interference in another nation's affairs was 'progressive'."

Kosovo was his first test. The "ethnic cleansing" and killings "completely
changed my own attitude to foreign policy", he admits. While Europe stalled,
in favour of pacification rather than resolution, Blair was "extraordinarily
forward in advocating a military solution".

He persuaded Bill Clinton, the US president, he suggests, to take part in
aerial bombardments even though there was no direct US interest in the
region. "I saw it essentially as a moral issue. And that, in a sense, came
to define my view on foreign and military intervention."

Clinton, he says, was "the most formidable politician I had ever
encountered". He exults in their close political empathy, describing them on
one occasion working US crowds "like two old music hall queens".

Many opposed Blair. He compresses their counter-arguments. "Beginning wars
is relatively easy; it's ending them that's hard. Innocent people die;
unintended consequences develop; bad situations can be made worse."

On the range of his military targets, he comments: "People often used to say
to me: If you got rid of the gangsters in Sierra Leone, [Slobodan]
Milosevic, the Taliban and Saddam, why can't you get rid of Mugabe? The
answer is I would have loved to, but it wasn't practical (since, in his
case, and for reasons I never quite understood, the surrounding African
nations maintained a lingering support for him and would have opposed any
action strenuously)."

Over Kosovo, Blair recounts how he tried to "stoke up concern" with other
European leaders. Kosovo became the template for his subsequent military
interventions. His close relationship with and affection for his generals is
a recurring theme.

"The leader has to decide whether the objective is worth the cost," he
states. "What's more, he or she must do so unsure of what the exact cost
might be or the exact price of failing to meet the objective. ... In this
context, by the way, indecision is also decision ... Omission and commission
both have consequences."

The expedition to restore democracy to Sierra Leone in 2000, Blair says, "is
one of the least discussed episodes of my 10 years as prime minister, but
it's one of the things of which I am most proud." His father used to teach
at Freetown University in the African nation's capital.

The former prime minister's discussion of his early foreign adventures
contain remarkably few references to United Nations resolutions or
international law, considering he is a lawyer by training.

In one passage he comes curiously close to expressing a sneaking admiration
for the bold action of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 rather than
Kerensky's social democrat government.

Seeking to systematise his theory of foreign interventions in regimes that
are "oppressive or dictatorial", he writes: "They may pose no outside or
external threat; or it may be easily contained diplomatically. It may - as
with Mugabe - be impractical to intervene."

A judgment has to be made. "If change will not come by evolution, should it
be done by revolution? Should those who have the military power contemplate
doing so?"

On Iraq, he insists that he never regarded those who opposed war in Iraq as
"stupid or weak-minded".

About 9/11, he concedes that: "I misunderstood the depth of the challenge
... If I had known then that a decade later we would still be fighting in
Afghanistan, I would have been profoundly disturbed. I hope I would have
still taken the same decision, both there and in respect of Iraq."

Blair is uncompromising in the face of the dangers he perceives in Tehran,
discussing them in the context of the growing danger that terrorists will
obtain nuclear weapons. "It is America that leads the challenge to Iran and
its nuclear ambitions," he says. "But let us be frank: Iran is a far more
immediate threat to its Arab neighbours than it is to America ... That's why
Iran matters. Iran with a nuclear bomb would mean others in the region
acquiring the same capability; it would dramatically alter the balance of
power in the region, but also within Islam."

In his interview with the Guardian, he declared: "I wouldn't take the risk
of Iran with a nuclear weapon."

Speaking to Andrew Marr in a BBC interview to be broadcast in full tonight,
Blair says: "I think it is wholly unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear
weapons capability and I think we have got to be prepared to confront them,
if necessary militarily. I think there is no alternative to that if they
continue to develop nuclear weapons. They need to get that message loud and
clear."


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Tsvangirai reshuffles information department

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
01 September 2010

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is reported to have appointed a new
spokesman for his office, in a reshuffle that sees him replace former ZBC
Radio 3 DJ James Maridadi with the outgoing Director of Information Luke
Tamborinyoka.

William Bango, previously a spokesman for Tsvangirai several years ago,
takes over from Tamborinyoka as the Director of Information. Coincidentally
both Bango and Tamborinyoka worked for the Daily News before it was banned
in 2003.

Maridadi remains in Tsvangirai's office in a new role as Chief of Protocol.
His duties will include planning and executing trips, ceremonies and
functions that involve the Prime Minister.

MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel they were still 'finalizing'
the reshuffle and referred all questions to Timba. Pressed on the motive for
the reshuffle he said it was 'to strengthen the party and the role of the
Prime Minister in government.'

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Jameson Timba, is the
person who will implement the reshuffle in consultation with the Public
Service Commission. The changes involving Tamborinyoka and Maridadi will
have to go throught the PSC, since both will be civil servants, Bango's
position in the party at Harvest House needs no such formality.

Timba also remained tight lipped on the matter, telling Newsreel on
Wednesday; 'As I indicated before, current or future changes to the Office
will be communicated officially by this Office.' Pressed on the reason for
the delay in announcing the appointments Timba said; 'Any engagement or
disengagement of staff in government is obviously a process that involves
the public service commission.'

Commenting on the imminent changes political commentator Bekithemba Mhlanga
said it was likely Tsvangirai felt his party information department was
performing better than the information department in his office. He said the
position of the PM's spokesman required a combative character who could
match the likes of Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba and Maridadi, for all
his likeability, was viewed as a soft touch.

 


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Zimbabwe bush fires kill 10 people, 10 elephants

http://www.afriquejet.com/

 

Harare, Zimbabwe - Widespread summer bush fires in Zimbabwe killed 10 people
and 10 elephants recently, police said Wednesday.

-Within the past two weeks, we have about six people who have perished
during veld fires. Ten elephants were burnt to death at Derbyshire Ranch in
Shangani in Matabeleland South Province,- police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka
said.

An environmental agency said the fires, most of them started deliberately,
had also destroyed almost a million hectares of land.

The Environmental Management Agency said more people died in other parts of
the country, bringing the death toll to 10 in the last few weeks.

Among the victims was a 13-year-old boy, who died while trying to save his
employer's cattle from a fierce fire.

Cornered by the inferno, the boy sought refugee up a tree, but the fire
engulfed the tree and burnt him to death.

Widespread bush fires have engulfed much of Zimbabwe, and most of them are
deliberately started mainly by hunters to clear bushes.

Harare - Pana 01/09/2010


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Zimbos overfed on propaganda

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by John Chiminhu
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 10:24

HARARE - Elements in the transitional government are actively blocking
attempts to promote media freedom in the country, ensuring that Zimbabweans
are 'overfed on government propaganda', a new report by the South
Africa-based Gender Links says.
Describing the country's media landscape as a 'wasteland', the report,
Taking Stock: Southern Africa Media Progress Study (Zimbabwe), said the
publicly-funded media was not fulfilling its mandate because of political
interference.
"Zimbabweans remain overfed on government propaganda.
The country's media wasteland is further demonstrated by the fact that
though Zimbabwe's constitution guarantees all citizens the right to freedom
of expression and information the public media is still shackled to
political control, still enjoys a de facto monopoly of the news market and
present a narrow perspective of the Zimbabwean story, in complete violation
of their mandate to serve all shades of national opinion," said the 129-page
study. Gender Links blasts the authorities for failing to honour their
commitments under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of 2008, where they
promised to enhance media freedom.


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Deadline extended for phone subscribers to register SIM cards

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 September 2010

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)
has given more time to the country's three mobile phone operators to
register all their subscribers' SIM cards.

Initially, the registration period ran from June to the 31st August. But
Nelson Chamisa, the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology,
told us Wednesday the exercise has been extended to an indefinite date. He
said a new deadline would be established in the coming weeks.

'POTRAZ has decided to extend the deadline on the account of people having
failed to meet the deadline of 31st August.' Chamisa said.

He added that the decision to register SIM cards was reached for security
purposes and for protection of mobile phone consumers and SIM registration
is a growing trend across Africa and the globe. The country's three
networks, Econet, Telecel and Netone, have a combined subscriber base of
about 5,8 million.

'People have been worried and concerned about issues of security, issues of
privacy, secrecy and confidentiality. But when one weighs issues of the
demerits and the merits, using the cost benefit analysis, the advantages
outweigh the disadvantages,' he said.

The Minister explained that the advantages come in the sense that
authorities will be able to trace and track sources of crimes, adding that
people with nothing to hide should not worry.

'For instance, there have been cases where someone calls you, abuses you and
then throws away the SIM card, once registered it becomes easy to track such
people. The mobile phone has lately been used by some people not as a tool
of communication but as a weapon against fellow citizens,' Chamisa said.

He added; 'This is what we are against, the transformation of a mobile phone
as a beautiful gadget or tool of survival into a weapon of deception or
criminality.'
In countries like Nigeria, authorities there have registered 30 million
subscribers while in South Africa and Botswana, the exercise is still
ongoing.

Authorities in some of these countries introduced tough laws where it would
be an offence to sell a SIM card without taking fingerprints and recording
the buyer's name. Also required is an address, mobile number, ID or passport
number and checking their ID book or passport and a bill to confirm their
address.

'In our case, what our network providers require is only proof of a customer's
identity. Given that many people have landlines, it already means the
service providers have their costumers' personal details. It's clear this
law aims to help law enforcement agencies to identify the users of mobile
numbers and track criminals using mobiles for illegal activities,' Chamisa
added.

However, despite the minister's assurances, the registration remains
controversial because not all mobile phone users may be willing or able to
turn over personal information when they purchase a SIM card.

This is because of fears that the personal information collected could be
used for government or security surveillance purposes. Under Zimbabwean
laws, it is a criminal offense to spread falsehoods using a mobile phone,
especially those deemed prejudicial to the state.

This law is enshrined in the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, a
piece of legislation that has largely been criticized by civic organizations
and human rights and media freedom activists.
 


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UNDP Spurns Additional Funding Request for Zimbabwe's Constitutional Outreach

http://www.voanews.com

The UNDP said however, that funding for collating raw data and carrying out
the referendum were available.

Brenda Moyo & Patience Rusere | Washington 31 August 2010

The United Nations Development Program says it has no additional funding for
finalization of public consultations for Zimbabwe's constitution revision
exercise.

Sources said UNDP turned down government's supplementary budget proposal of
US$8 million late Monday at a meeting with the parliamentary committee
leading the outreach.

The committee was seeking additional funding to see through phase two of the
revision exercise, which entails gathering of people's views on what they
want included in the new constitution.

The UNDP however, told COPAC leaders that it had no more funds for this
particular task. But it said funding for collating raw data and carrying out
the referendum were available.

COPAC co-chairman Edward Mkhosi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Brenda Moyo that
consequently, they are now seeking permission from the UNDP to divert funds
meant for advertising to finish the outreach phase.

The Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, meanwhile alleged Tuesday that ZANU-PF had set up militia bases
in Manicaland Province to intimidate villagers not to participate in
outreach meetings.

Deputy party spokesperson Thabitha Khumalo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo that some villagers in the violence-prone area are now
staying away, fearing for their lives.

But ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo dismissed the claims saying his party was
only operating information centers in Manicaland and not militia bases.

Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association urged people to participate
in constitution revision meetings and advocate for the inclusion of economic
and social rights in the supreme law of the land.

Zimrights programs co-ordinator, Olivia Gumbo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Patience Rusere, the current constitution does not contain these facets
despite their importance. She urged people to safeguard their rights.

In other constitution-related news, civic group, Bulawayo Agenda, said
morale dampened amongst outreach teams in Bhulu, Matebeleland South Monday
after they were served with notices to vacate their hotel rooms over
non-payment.

The Bulawayo-based groups said most people at this meeting felt it did not
matter whether the country had a prime-minister or not but insisted that
whoever had executive powers should have their powers curtailed to avoid
vesting too much power in one individual.

In Mbayi, Nkayi, Matebeleland North, Bulawayo Agenda said, attendance was
better, with most villagers pressing for the recognition of traditional
healers and respect for all local languages.


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African Bank Launches Crucial Fund for Zimbabwe to Revive Battered Economy

http://www.voanews.com

The credit facility will see the bank disbursing the money in two tranches
with the initial tranche of US$70 million aimed at boosting the agriculture
and manufacturing sectors through the acquisition and replacement of
obsolete equipment.

Gibbs Dube | Washington 31 August 2010

The Africa Import and Export Bank has launched a US$100 million loan
facility in conjunction with the Zimbabwean government in an effort to
revive the country's battered private sector.

Reports said the Zimbabwe Economic and Trade Revival Facility was launched
on Monday in Harare by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Finance Minister
Tendai Biti and representatives of the bank.

The credit facility will see the bank disbursing the money in two tranches
with the initial tranche of US$70 million aimed at boosting the agriculture
and manufacturing sectors through the acquisition and replacement of
obsolete equipment.

The bank will provide US$50 million and the Zimbabwe government US$20
million sourced from its International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing
Rights account.

According to the reports, the second tranche amounting to US$30 million will
be targeted at supporting the acquisition of spares and raw materials for
the private sector.

The Zimbabwe economy faces liquidity problems due to lack of capital.
Average industrial capacity utilization currently stands at 45 percent in an
economy set to grow by 4.5 percent this year.

While economists see the loan facility as a positive development in boosting
the country's growth, they are skeptical that the funds may be diverted for
other purposes.

Deputy Chairman of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Masimba
Kuchera, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that government needs to
tightly monitor the loan facility.


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After Robert Mugabe

http://www.guardian.co.uk

The president's health is in the spotlight - and it is hardline generals who
are set to determine the face of Zimbabwe's future

    *
          o Blessing-Miles Tendi
          o guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 September 2010 19.07 BST

During August, Robert Mugabe was pictured walking unsteadily and requiring
the assistance of aides when going up and downstairs at various summits. The
images sent long-running speculation in Zimbabwe about the state of Mugabe's
health - he is said to have a form of cancer - into overdrive. Mugabe
appeared healthy at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
(Comesa) Heads of State Summit in Swaziland this week, but his
characteristically sprightly demeanour was absent.

Mugabe's health has been a closely guarded secret for decades. He has made a
point of displaying power through the appearance of good health and
youthfulness. Rich and deeply dyed hair, an enviable physique for a man of
his age, Botox treatments and pristine dress are some of Mugabe's many
expressions of power. He cannot appear to be unhealthy or ageing, because
that is a sign of weakness, and weakness encourages ambitious, younger and
better-looking political vultures to strike.

Over the past year I have posed questions about Mugabe's health to three
ministers in his cabinet: the energy and power development minister, Elton
Mangoma, regional integration and international co-operation minister,
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and minister of education, sports and
culture, David Coltart. All three ministers have spoken in glowing terms of
the 86-year-old's remarkable sharpness of mind. However, they are not as
forthcoming on the subject of Mugabe's physical health. "He is an old man,"
was their refrain.

The views of informed sources and the images of a frail Mugabe lend credence
to reports that he is losing his physical powers. It is time to start
thinking seriously about a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe.

It is unlikely that Mugabe will be able to unilaterally handpick and impose
a successor in his Zanu-PF because the party is rife with factionalism
surrounding two powerful party figures: the minister of defence, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, and the most senior living guerrilla figure from Zimbabwe's
liberation war, retired military general Solomon Mujuru. Mugabe has to
negotiate a compromise successor with these factions, lest Zanu-PF fall
apart. But after years of avoiding the succession issue while internal
fissures have deepened, Mugabe may be unable to manage and settle the matter
effectively in his lifetime. If this happens, military generals are likely
to have the most influence over Zimbabwe's future.

Many of these generals are hardliners who have actively supported the
seizure of white-owned commercial farms since 2000 and controversially waged
political violence to prop up Mugabe and Zanu-PF after they lost the March
2008 elections. The military generals fear prosecution for their grave human
rights violations since 1980 and have amassed breathtaking quantities of
ill-gotten wealth they risk losing in a post-Mugabe era. They have a fervent
interest in guaranteeing that the post-Mugabe political scene will be
sympathetic to them.

This leads us to four possible scenarios. The first is that the generals
negotiate immunity from prosecution and loss of wealth in exchange for not
blocking a democratic transition. A second scenario is that they stage an
outright military coup that would see them take direct command of Zimbabwe,
shielding themselves from prosecution and securing their economic interests.
A return to constitutional rule would probably see the installation of a
civilian leader chosen from the Zanu-PF party, which the generals are
strongly aligned with.

A third scenario is that the military will intervene by backing one of the
Zanu-PF faction leaders, and move to enforce party discipline in order to
prevent defeat at the hands of the opposition MDC parties in the next
elections. A fourth is that the rival factional loyalties in Zanu-PF are
also present in the military. This last would paralyse the party and the
military amid self destructive and violent infighting that would spell the
end for Mugabe's once-dominant political party.

The great leader seemingly appears healthy and unflappable in public. But
all is not well with Mugabe, and we must ready ourselves for his departure.
 


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Analysis: Stability key to farm sector recovery

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

by Edward Jones Wednesday 01 September 2010

HARARE - Zimbabwe's agriculture sector is emerging from the intensive care
after a decade of decline blamed on President Robert Mugabe's often violent
seizures, but its full recovery remains fragile and will depend on political
and economic stability in the southern African nation.

Once a breadbasket of the region during the first two decades of
independence, Zimbabwe has for the last 10 years relied on food handouts
from aid agencies after production plummeted when Mugabe's supporters
forcibly took commercial farms from white farmers.

The plunge in production coincided with the collapse of the economy, which
was marked by hyper-inflation and acute shortages of foreign currency and
high unemployment.

Commercial farming was once a preserve of white Rhodesian farmers, but in
the last decade the sector has embraced a new crop of black farmers who have
struggled to maintain previous production levels due to widespread shortages
of farming inputs like seed and fertiliser.

"We are very happy to see this recovery and I think it is sustainable and it
means the whole economy will recover as well," Wilson Nyabonda, president of
the black Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union.

The plunge in agriculture could have bottomed out as witnessed by rising
production in tobacco and maize and a rebound in dairy and cattle farming.

Tobacco farmers this year surpassed the target of 70 million kgs, with a
bigger crop of 120 million kgs, although still far below the 236 million kgs
achieved in 2000 at the start of the land seizures. But there are signs that
the momentum will hold next year.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairman Andrew Matibiri says tobacco
seed sales are 66 percent up on last year.

There are now 51,000 registered small-scale black tobacco growers, compared
with the 130 white farmers that the white dominated Zimbabwe Tobacco
Association says remain.

Black farmers now account for 42 percent of production, a 100 increase from
last year. Attracted by good prices, more black farmers grew tobacco, and it
is no wonder they jammed auction floors this year.

Maize production reached 1.35 million this year, slightly up from 2009 but a
bigger jump from 2008 when output plumbed new depths of 500,000 tonnes.

Food security improving

"There is a feeling that the food security situation is improving from what
it was in 2008 when the country had probably had its worst output," said
Jacopo D'Amelio, regional information coordinator with the United Nations
Food Agriculture Organisation.

Morgan Nzwere, head of Zimbabwe's top maize seed supplier Seed Co said local
seed production will rise 200 percent this year due to increasing demand.

But questions remain on what is really driving the recovery in agriculture.

Mugabe and his ZANU-PF are quick to remind everyone that the much criticised
land reforms are finally paying dividends and black farmers are now filling
the gap left by the white commercial farmers.

The reforms have earned the country a bad reputation for not upholding the
sanctity of property rights but ZANU-PF is unmoved by the criticism.

"The land reform was vilified by many people especially the West but we have
been vindicated. What more evidence do you want to show that land reform is
a success?" ZANU-PF spokesman Joram Gumbo said yesterday.

That success is disputed by the few remaining white farmers, who once
contributed $600 million to the economy from annual exports.

The Commercial Farmers' Union, which in its glory days had more than 4,500
members, is now a pale shadow of its former self, comprising a few hundred
bitter farmers who remain under pressure from Mugabe's supporters to leave
their farms.

The union's annual congresses were once a parade of wealth and power, but
now serve only as a platform for evicted farmers to vent their anger.

But some have moved on and have started thriving farming operations in
Mozambique, Zambia and even Nigeria. That could be their only hope.

Political, economic stability

Economic analysts say higher agriculture production is a result of political
and economic stability that has been ushered in the country in the last 20
months.

The analysts say a stable economy and the introduction of multiple foreign
currencies in place of the worthless Zimbabwe dollar has reinvigorated
farmers and encouraged them to return to their fields, in anticipation of
real earnings.

They argue that although the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe splurged more than
$400 million in three years on agriculture equipment and subsidised inputs
for farmers, this had failed to lift production to current levels.

In the 2008/9 agriculture season, after Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a
political deal to end an election dispute, donors began to provide free
fertiliser and seed to 700,000 households, which saw national maize output
more than double.

FAO says donors, led by the European Union, plan to provide free and cheap
inputs to some 500,000 households.

Will recovery hold?

But analysts question whether the recovery will continue, noting that more
than one million people would still need food aid this year.

The analysts also pointing to failure by farmers to get bank credit, which
ultimately drives many into the arms of shady schemes where they are given
inputs and forced to sell their crops at below market prices. This practice
is rampant in tobacco and cotton industry.

Farming experts fear that any relapse in the economy and a return to
political violence will hit agriculture the most.

Although the unity government has been rocky, which is blamed on ZANU-PF
intransigence, it has managed to stabilise the economy and its policies have
reassured Zimbabweans that the country could be on an irreversible path
towards full recovery.

"It is wishful thinking to imagine that we will see a sustainable recovery
without addressing those fundamental issues that have led to the collapse in
agriculture," John Robertson, a consultant economic analyst said.

"As long as there is no respect for property rights and as long as there is
no tenure system in place, we can just forget that Zimbabwe will retain its
breadbasket status."  --ZimOnline.


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Analysis: Basic freedoms remain under threat

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

by Edward Jones Tuesday 31 August 2010

HARARE - The licencing of private newspapers for the first time in seven
years has raised hope of media plurality and opening up of democratic space
in Zimbabwe but analysts warned that the freedom of press and expression
remained under threat from hardliner elements in President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF.

The newly created Zimbabwe Media Commission in May licenced four private
dailies, including the banned Daily News, in a sign that the fragile unity
government was following through on promises to open up the media to
non-state publications.

But analysts cautioned, saying there was still a long way before total
freedoms had taken root in the troubled southern African nation.

"Having more newspapers does not equate to freedom of the press or
expression," John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political science
lecturer said.

"ZANU-PF may no longer be overtly suppressing the media but certainly
freedoms and liberties remain under attack from certain people within that
party who have more to lose from an open society that respects freedom of
every Zimbabwean," he said.

Political analysts said the banning of paintings by prominent visual artist
Owen Maseko on the Gukurahundi massacres in the southern part of Zimbabwe
during the early years of independence was yet another illustration of
ZANU-PF's intolerance of freedom of expression.

The massacres, which civil society groups say left 20,000, mostly innocent
civilians dead, are a sore point in the country's history that Mugabe has
always sought to avoid and sought to sweep under the carpet.

The government last Friday took the unusual step of enacting the ban on
Maseko's exhibition in a weekly government gazette.

"There is no way we can talk about national healing and not talk about
Gukurahundi," said Zenzele Ndebele, who recently produced a documentary on
Maseko's work.

Critics say Mugabe, 86 and in power for the past three decades, has
increasingly become dictatorial using police and the military on one side
and tough legislation to suffocate activities of his opponents.

In 2003 Mugabe's then government brazenly shut down the country's largest
daily, the Daily News and its sister Sunday edition, following up on the
enactment of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA), which outlaws foreigners from permanently seeking employment as
journalists.

The government also banned foreign news corporations like the BBC and CNN
from operating in the country, forcing many journalists to operate under
cover, which earned Zimbabwe the notorious label of being one of the most
dangerous places for journalists to work in, along with war-torn countries
like Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa said at the weekend that a
Kwekwe-based freelance journalist in the Midlands province was arrested and
later released for taking pictures of the statue of the late Vice President
Joshua Nkomo in Bulawayo in a classic case of harassment.

The police routinely use AIPPA and security legislation to harass and deny
journalists access to information and ban civic society activities. ZANU-PF
is against the repeal of the laws.

"All these diabolical instruments of repression that were used in the past
have not been repealed so it does not instill confidence that we are moving
towards political pluralism and freedom of the citizenry," Makumbe said.

ZANU-PF has been resisting opening up the airwaves, long dominated by
partisan state national broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to name new members of
the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, which issues licences to radio and
television broadcasters, but critics say ZANU-PF is dragging its feet,
fearing the entrance of private players would end ZBC's monopoly. -
ZimOnline.


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The Zimbabwe Economy : Third Quarter 2010 Economic Indicators and Trends – John Robertson

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/5976
 

Consumer price index forecastWhile the rand has remained strong against the US dollar, its fairly steady rate and the almost static business conditions in the domestic economy have made Zimbabwe’s inflation a less threatening issue in recent months. Before May this year, price trends were affected by the steep falls in prices in the first half of 2009, and these caused the year-on-year gaps to become temporarily exaggerated.

The June and July figures this year have seen the figures reach levels more appropriate to Zimbabwe’s use of a relatively hard currency. Possible movements in the rand exchange rate seem likely to keep the figure trending downwards in the coming year.

In the forecast shown in the adjacent table, inflation projections have been held between 0,2% and 0,5% a month, at which rates the annual figures would decline to figures below 3% during the first half of next year.

If the rates shown in the table are achieved, only by the end of 2011 is the index expected to reach its re-based starting point of December 2008=100.

Consumer price indexThis forecast is illustrated in the graph, which also shows the steep falls in the index during the first five months after the authorities legalised the use of US dollars.

However, the forecast shown could easily be affected by uncertainties that relate mainly to local production costs. These are at risk of being driven higher by continuing pressures for higher wages. Pay awards already agreed, some back-dated, have placed many local manufacturers at a disadvantage in their efforts to compete against South African suppliers.

To ease the difficulties for some producers, duties have been increased on a range of imports, but these could also impact on Zimbabwe’s inflation rate.

Exchange Rate MovementsRecent international currency market developments, the main feature of which has been a fall in the value of the US dollar against most of the rest, have kept the rand exchange rate strong enough for it to be a source of speculation on whether it will remain strong. Based on the rates for June 9, when some speculation on the rate of US recovery moved the markets, the rand, euro, pound and yen are all seen to have appreciated by similar amounts.

Rand per U.S. DollarSince September 2009, the rand has remained close to an average of R7,50 to the US dollar, but in the past few weeks it has moved closer to R7,30. This has become an issue of concern to employers in general and exporters in particular, specially now that the trades unions have become more militant in spite the extremely serious unemployment rate.

In the past year, the stronger rand has drawn imports into the South African market and it has made many of the country’s exports less profitable to their producers. Both of these have added to existing impediments to employment growth, so the rand exchange rate has become the subject of serious political debate.
Initially, a weakening rand would reduce Zimbabwe’s consumer goods import costs, but a fall of almost any percentage would also affect Zimbabwean manufacturers’ efforts to recapture their home markets. However, a weakening of the rand could more than offset the duty increases. Supermarket chains and many other retailers are thought likely to continue sourcing most consumer goods from South African suppliers while the range offered by local manufacturers remains limited.

The prospects of the rand holding to that rate could be affected by the US dollar’s own decline against the euro, the yen and sterling, but if interest rates rise slightly in Europe or the United States, or if South African interest rates are permitted to decline, South Africa could quickly experience an outflow of deposits that would be almost certain to weaken the rand.

Western and Japanese central bankers have remained convinced that very low interest rates are needed to encourage investment, and this has given the South African banks an opportunity to entice savings from abroad by offering more attractive rates.

However, new thinking suggests that the same low interest rates have a powerfully negative effect on spending and is this effect that is keeping the recession in place. Evidence suggests that this remains true even when savings are high and times are good, simply because savers are reluctant to dip into capital. In uncertain conditions, the best way to stimulate demand is to offer good rates of interest, as it is these payments that help underpin discretionary spending.

If interest rates rise in Europe and the rand falls, Zimbabwe will not be in a strong position to counter these changes. Many manufacturing companies are having difficulty competing with South African suppliers, so reductions in retailers’ import costs could cause the failure of such manufacturers, specially if they are being forced to accept demands for higher wages.

Contract workers have already become some of the casualties, but permanent staff members’ job security will soon be put at risk if their wage demands force their employers to downsize or go out of business. Bankruptcies so caused will even prevent handouts of severance packages.

Reliable statistics on consumption patterns remain scarce, but reports on rural communities suggest that many are having to be supported by aid donors and foreign NGOs. Indications suggest that remittances from Zimbabweans working abroad have trended downwards in the past year. Reduced levels of support are thought likely to become more noticeable with the return of a significant number of those who have been working, or trying to find work abroad, specially in South Africa.

However, seasonal incomes to communal and some resettlement farmers have improved as conditions affecting tobacco, cotton and cattle producers have changed for the better, assisted by contract buyer support as well as the encouragement offered by the formal marketing organisations.

Small-scale tobacco producers have enjoyed a higher degree of success this year and the crop is now estimated at close to 120 million kilograms. Most of these growers have relied upon the tobacco auctions, on which prices started the selling season at well above US$3 per kilogram, but these tailed off to below US$2 per kg when Chinese buyers reached their purchasing targets and withdrew from the market.

By the end of August, the auction price averaged US$2,65 for the season, compared to the contract price average of US$3,06 per kg. By that date, the payouts from the auctions had exceeded US$111 million and contract growers had earned another US$233 million.

Although the costs per hectare incurred by those tobacco growers who cultivate only a few hectares are much lower than for those few who still plant 40 hectares or more, the lower average prices most of them have achieved might affect their level of commitment in the coming season.

Cotton production declined from 246 000 tonnes in 2009 to 156 000 tonnes in 2010, partly because support from contract buyers had been weakened by the evidence of side-marketing. Prices offered this year again disappointed growers and despite the passage of new legislation to prevent side-marketing, the problem appears to have become worse.

Cattle sales have increased since dollarisation. The communal farmers’ former reluctance to sell more animals than was absolutely necessary has been changed by the fact that US dollars have been accepted as an equally good store of value as animals on the hoof and the sales numbers have increased, adding appreciably to rural incomes.

Agriculture: Maize ProductionMaize production volumes have become somewhat politicised by claimed successes that cannot later be substantiated. Finance Minister Biti reported in his Mid-Term Fiscal Review that maize grown in 2009 amounted to 1 240 000 tonnes and this had increased to 1 330 000 tonnes this year. However, on the basis of evidence collected by the Commercial Farmers Union, the figures illustrated in this graph, 718 000 and 819 000 tonnes respectively, were the amounts produced.

Apparently the higher figures quoted by the Minister were derived from Grain Marketing Board records and reported rural area retentions. The gap is perhaps explained by the significant difference between the price offered by the GMB and the much lower price offered for maize in South Africa. This appears to have made possible imports of South African maize that have been passed off as local production and profitably on-sold to the GMB.

If this is the correct explanation, Zimbabwe remains with a serious maize deficit and total imports this year are likely to be, again, about one million tonnes. Arbitrage deals appear to have accounted for about half the gap and aid organisations might have contributed most of the balance.

Statistics on employment levels are now being collected now for the first time in four or five years and no results are yet available, but the Minister of Finance, in his Mid-Year Fiscal Review, said that PAYE collections for the period January to May 2010 came to US$126,3 million, compared to US$30,5 million for the same period in 2009.

The chaos just before and after the Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned in the first quarter of 2009 is more likely to explain this 300% increase than the Minister’s claim that “…this revenue trend indicates increase in remuneration and employment levels”. Whether marginal increases in employment have occurred has yet to be seen, but many companies are known to be making strenuous attempts to downsize their operations.

Reports indicate that, but for the costs of funding severance packages, many more people would have been retrenched.

Working from its very low base, Zimbabwe’s projected GDP growth rate, now officially put at 4,5% in 2010, is much lower than first estimated and well below the figure needed to constitute evidence of a significant recovery.

Growth prospects from 2011 are thought likely to remain low, partly because of power cuts and partly because longer-term bank finance will remain scarce and expensive. These constraints have prompted the IMF to set its forecast for 2011 at 2,2% and it suggests that, if current policies are not changed, the growth rate will fall to zero in 2012.

In the absence of the needed policy improvements, more optimistic growth figures would have to depend upon export commodity price improvements that, in turn, would depend upon an acceleration of the growth rates of countries in the industrial world.

At present, the investment inflows needed to make possible the recovery of production volume increases show little sign of materialising. This is partly because of the discouraging impact of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, but also because the banks remain severely handicapped by liquidity shortages and because power generation constraints remain in place with no quick solution is in sight.

Investor confidence suffered a severe downturn with the publication of indigenisation regulations in February. Government’s very slight amendments since then seem unlikely to overcome the current reluctance that has caused a withdrawal of a significant number of development or expansion plans.

At present, given its power shortages, high operating costs and political uncertainties, Zimbabwe will not readily attract foreign investment funding into any project that seems likely to take some years to show a return. Local funds for such projects are not readily available because bank liquidity remains low. Substantial project registration fees and new provisions that require some registration procedures to be repeated in two years have further discouraged business promoters.

Sectoral Growth Rate TableDespite a claim frequently repeated by government that “productive sector capacity utilisation has increased from less than 10% to more than 40%” and repeated yet again by Minister Biti in his Fiscal Review, this table from the same Review shows that manufacturing output, which declined by 33,4% in 2008, grew by 10,2% in 2009 and is forecast to grow by another 4,5% in 2010.

These growth figures do not tie in with the implied growth of several hundred percent that would have resulted from the “capacity utilisation” claim. As the Minister’s table shows, the reported performance of the other productive sectors also falls a long way short of this claim.

Producers of consumer goods are particularly concerned about the severe competition from South African and Far Eastern imports, and those in the food processing industries remain concerned about the volumes and quality of crops available from Zimbabwean farms.

As a result of these difficulties, job creation is slow and the unemployment numbers, now being exacerbated by the return of many Zimbabweans from South Africa, remain extremely serious. Estimates still place the unemployment figure at more than 70%.

With limited employment growth, disposable incomes are unlikely to show meaningful signs of improvement. For the existing wage earners, the heavy extended family dependency burden will continue to force most to concentrate their expenditures on basic essentials.

Although signs of modest recovery are evident, government’s reluctance to accept the need to restore civil rights and property rights has prompted the IMF and other analysts to suggest that a continuation of current constraints will limit Zimbabwe’s growth rate to levels well below the rates that would be within reach under more imaginative policies.

Year End Estimates

Year End Estimates (click to enlarge)

John Robertson

August 31 2010


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Bill Watch 34/2010 - 31st August [Update on Elections,Parliament and Legislation]

BILL WATCH 34/2010

[31st August 2010]

The House of Assembly has adjourned until 5th October, the Senate until 12th October

SI and General Notices of Special Interest

Transitional conditions for magistrates transferred to Judicial Servicer; Competition Commission ruling against ZESA’s abuse of its monopoly; Gukurahundi Murals prohibited.  [See Legislation Update at end of bulletin.]

Next Elections

President Zuma’s report to the SADC Summit included two recommendations that are relevant to the next elections:

·       The Inclusive Government and the Zimbabwean political parties should find an uninterrupted path towards free and fair elections and the removal of impediments as and when they arise;

·       The SADC Troika should persuade SADC to help Zimbabwe to draw up guidelines for a free and fair election, where intimidation and violence would not play any part and where the result of such elections would be credible.  [Note: so far there has been no news on this initiative.]

Elections in 2011?  No date is given for the next elections in the GPA nor in the SADC Summit’s decisions – nor in the implementation matrix for the 24 issues agreed by the principals [see Bill Watch 33/2010 of 30th August].  But there has been a general assumption that they will be some time in 2011.  Both President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirayi have also talked of elections in 2011.  But Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC] chairperson Justice Mtambanengwe has cast doubt on ZEC’s ability to conduct elections in 2011, citing financial constraints and the fact that the voters roll is in “disarray”.  And in a recent radio interview Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara said it was not possible to put the voters roll in order in time for elections in 2011.

Electoral Amendment Bill:  President Zuma’s report recorded that the principals have instructed the Minister of Justice to organise immediately the completion of the Bill to amend the Electoral Act.  This is reflected in the Implementation Matrix.  The principals had already agreed on certain amendments and the negotiators last week met the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to consult them on the amendments.  Completion of drafting and subsequent gazetting of the Bill are awaited.

Diaspora Vote:  At the moment the Electoral Act does not allow Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to vote, and as far as is known the agreed proposed amendments make no provision for a Diaspora vote, despite considerable pressure for this provision.

Voters Roll Problems:  If funding for compiling a new voters roll can be found, it should not be impossible to have it in place for elections in 2011.  Kenya, with a much larger population, managed to produce a new roll in a matter of months.

By-Elections

GPA Parties Extend No-Contest Pact:  President Zuma’s report to the SADC Summit on the Zimbabwe negotiations reveals that the three GPA party principals have agreed that “if and when electoral vacancies occurred, the parties would not stand against each other in the resultant by-elections for the duration of the lifespan of the Inclusive Government, in order to avoid conflict”.  This extends the GPA’s original twelve-month no-contest provision [Article 21], which fell away last September.  This does not mean that there should not be by-elections – an inter-party agreement cannot by itself change the Electoral Act, and the Act requires the prompt holding of a by-election whenever a constituency seat in the House of Assembly or the Senate falls vacant.  If the agreement is honoured, the GPA party which held a seat before it fell vacant will put up a candidate and that candidate will not be opposed by candidates sponsored by the two other GPA parties – but there is nothing to stop independent candidates and candidates from other non-GPA political parties standing. 

Will Overdue By-Elections be Held?  A separate question – not mentioned in the Zuma report or the implementation matrix – is whether and when the Government will comply with the Zimbabwean law and Constitution and publish the Presidential proclamations needed to give the go ahead for the by-elections needed to fill the 17 vacancies that have accumulated since July 2008 – 16 of the by-elections are long overdue, in breach of the strict time-limits laid down by the Electoral Act[Note: The calling of by-elections is not a ZEC responsibility.  ZEC can only organise a by-election once the President has gazetted a proclamation calling the by-election – fixing dates for the nomination court and voting.  This is not a matter for the President’s personal decision; it is a Presidential function requiring the advice of Cabinet; so in principle not only the President, but also the responsible Minister – the Minister of Justice – and to a lesser extent the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet must share the blame for the present extraordinary situation.  A court case pending in Bulawayo – see next item – may force action at last.]

Ex-MPs Ask High Court to Order Calling of By-Elections: Three former MDC-M MPs, who lost their seats in the House of Assembly in August 2009 after being expelled from the party, have applied to the High Court in Bulawayo for an order compelling the President to call the necessary by-elections and ZEC to conduct them.  The three – Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman Mpofu – wish to stand for re-election as independent candidates.  The President’s response to the application is expected to be filed later this week.  [Note:  Section 39 of the Electoral Act says that the President must, within 14 days of being informed of a vacancy by Parliament, gazette a proclamation calling a by-election to fill the vacancy.  The 14-day deadline has long since expired for these vacancies.  In a similar situation in mid-2008 an application to the High Court resulted in the calling of a by-election to fill a vacant Bulawayo seat and the by-election was held on the same day as the Presidential run-off election.]   

ZEC attitude:  ZEC chairperson Mtambanengwe has said ZEC is “concerned” about the by-election backlog but declined further comment, saying the question is sub judice – a reference to the case in Bulawayo. 

Parliamentary Update

Another Vacancy in Senate: The death of Senator Chiratidzo Gava [ZANU-PF, Kadoma] on 30th July increased the number of vacant constituency seats in the Senate to 7 – and created a need for another by-election.  There are also 10 constituency seats vacant in the House of Assembly.

MDC-T MPs arrested and questioned in MasvingoOn 17th August Tachiona Mharadza, MDC-T MP for Masvingo West, was detained by police in Masvingo on allegations of waving a gun and disrupting a Zanu PF meeting at Zano in Masvingo North but was released late that night after the accusers failed to pick him out in an identity parade.  On 19th August Masvingo police arrested Jani Varandeni, the MDC-T MP for Bikita South, but later released him on bail pending a court appearance.   And five other MDC-T Parliamentarians, including Deputy Youth Minister Tongai Matutu, were last week held briefly by Masvingo police on allegations of public violence and told that prosecution might follow. 

Death of Gibson Sibanda

We record with sorrow the death on 23rd August of Gibson Sibanda, vice-President of the MDC-M and member of the National Healing Organ.  His death has also raised the question whether in spite of an inclusive government, award hero status in still hands of the former ruling party.

ZAPU Congress

The revived Zimbabwe African Peoples Union [ZAPU] held a three-day congress in Bulawayo last weekend – the first congress since before the ZANU-ZAPU merger of 22nd December 1987.   Dumiso Dabengwa was elected party President for a five-year term.  The congress adopted an amendment to the party constitution stipulating that the party president must relinquish that post if elected President of the country.  The party announced its intention to have candidates in all provinces for national and local authority elections.

Update on Legislation

Public Order and Security Amendment Bill:  This Private Member’s Bill awaits resumption of the Second Reading Debate when the House returns.  It lapsed at the end of the previous Session but has been restored to the Order Paper by resolution of the House of Assembly.  [Electronic version available.]

Bills awaiting presentation in Parliament: [Electronic versions available]

·     Zimbabwe National Security Council Amendment Bill

·     Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure) Bill

[Summaries of both these Government Bills were given in Bill Watch 22 of 8th June]

Bill gazetted on 27th August:

·     Energy Regulatory Authority Bill [Veritas summary and electronic version coming soon]

Bill being printed:

·     Attorney-General’s Office Bill [not yet available]

Two Bills awaiting gazetting as Acts

·     Finance Bill [giving effect to Finance Minister Biti’s mid-term taxation changes]  [As some of the taxation changes are stated to be with effect from 1st August, gazetting as an Act is now significantly overdue.]

·     Appropriation (2010) Amendment Bill [to give effect to the amended Estimates of Expenditure for 2010].   [Electronic version available.]

These Bills were passed by Parliament following the presentation of Finance Minister Biti’s Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review on 14th July [final vote in Parliament on 16th July].  They will not become law until gazetted.

Statutory Instruments

·       Several SIs under the Civil Aviation Act have been gazetted: Aerodromes Regulations [SI 119], Aeronautical Telecommunications and Information Services Regulations [SI 120], Investigation of Accidents and Serious Incidents Regulations [SI 136], Air Traffic Services [SI 139], Air Navigation (Amendment) Regulations [SI 140].  [Electronic versions not available.]

·       On 30th July SIs 126 to 133 were gazetted under the Customs and Excise Act and the Value Added Tax Act following the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review. Customs tariff amendments were gazetted on 6th and 27th August [SIs 134 and 148].  A customs duty suspension amendment was gazetted on 27th August [SI 147].  [Electronic versions not available.]

·       SI 135 of 6th August contained the Judicial Service (Transitional) Regulations made by the Judicial Service Commission.  [Electronic version available.]  The SI applies the Public Service Regulations to those members of the Public Service transferred to the Judicial Service [e.g. magistrates], with the modification that all references to the Public Service Commission will now be read as references to the Judicial Service Commission.  Other members of the Judicial Service [e.g. Supreme Court and High Court judges] are not affected.

·       SIs 138 and 144 establish new districts of Sanyati and Mhondoro-Ngezi in Mashonaland West with effect from 13th and 27th August respectively.

General Notices

·       GN 227/2010 of 6th August notified public holidays for 2011 for public information [Electronic version available.]

·       GN 233/2020 of 20th August set out the Competition Commission’s order to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority [ZESA] following its finding that ZESA had been guilty of restrictive practices manifesting abuse of ZESA’s monopoly. [Electronic version available.]

·       GN 236 of 27th August gave notice that the Board of Censors has declared “prohibited” the Gukurahundi murals painted by Owen Maseko on the walls of the Bulawayo National Art Gallery for “portraying the Gukurahundi era as a tribal biased event”.  Also prohibited: a male nude statue on display at the Gallery, and the showing of video clips of the Gukurahundi murals.  [The murals were unveiled at an exhibition in March that was promptly closed down by police.  Mr Maseko and the Gallery curator have been summoned to answer charges of contravening the Censorship and Entertainments Control Act.]  [Electronic version available.]  

 

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

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