http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
06 September 2010
More than a million dollars was spent over the
weekend for a top billing
concert in Harare, despite international warnings
of hunger and child
malnutrition.
The concert at the National Sports
Stadium, which was headlined by megastars
Akon and Sean Paul, forms part of
the government's efforts to market
Zimbabwe as a top tourist destination.
The show was sponsored by the Tourism
Authority and a promotion company
called Zimswag, which has revealed that
US$1.2 million was spent on the
concert. The company's Chief Executive
Officer, Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa,
would not reveal where the money came
from although Tourism Minister Walter
Mzembi has claimed the show was
'privately funded'.
The concert was
part of the government's celebrity-host programme that was
launched two
years ago to help boost Zimbabwe's tourist appeal. The
exercise, which has
been dismissed as a waste of money and resources, has
also been veiled in
controversy. In April the tourism authority brought in
Jamaican artist
Sizzla Kalonji to perform. Not long after that performance,
he was rumoured
to have been 'given' a farm by the authorities.
What impact this
extravagance is having on tourism isn't known. Concern is
instead being
raised that the kind of money being spent could be better used
elsewhere,
like feeding starving children. The United Nations (UN) has
warned that
almost two million Zimbabweans will need food aid in the coming
year, saying
that the humanitarian situation still remains "fragile."
At the same time
the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said that less than
10 percent of
Zimbabwe's children aged two and under are consuming a diet
that is
"minimally acceptable." The UN agency said the majority of
Zimbabwean
toddlers were at risk of malnutrition due to a lack of balanced
diets.
"Only 8.4 percent of children under 2 are consuming a diet
that is minimally
acceptable," WFP said in the latest Global Update: Food
Security Monitoring
released last week.
The WFP report corroborates a
recent joint survey by the Zimbabwe government
and the UN Food and Nutrition
Council, which found that more than a third of
children aged below five in
the country are malnourished. The Zimbabwe
National Nutrition Survey carried
out in January 2010 revealed a worsening
problem of chronic malnutrition,
posing long-term survival and development
challenges for
Zimbabwe.
Pedzisai Ruhanya from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition told SW
Radio Africa
that these misguided priorities are a sign that Zimbabwe is
still under a
dictatorship. He argued that Zimbabwe will never be a favoured
tourist
destination until there is respect for the rule of law and respect
for
property rights, among other things. Ruhanya added that these are not
priorities for the dictatorship that is the Mugabe regime.
"This is
the reality of living under a dictatorship," Ruhanya said. "The MDC
is just
an appendage to this unity government and they wield no power to
change
anything."
Meanwhile, money spent on extravagant tourism boosters could
also be used to
improve the countrywide power network, as electricity power
supply across
the country remains inconsistent. Over the weekend subscribers
to Econet
wireless were unable to make calls or send messages because of
power cuts.
Econet's corporate communication manager, Rangarirai Mberi,
confirmed that
the telecommunications provider had been facing transmission
challenges
since Friday.
"Usually, the biggest threat to quality of
service is power outages at our
base stations," Mberi is quoted as
saying.
In June, the company experienced similar transmission problems
which
were blamed on faults in the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority
grid, which also led to extended power outages.
However the
government clearly believes it has got it's priorities right, as
there is
enough power to keep jamming SW Radio Africa broadcasts, which were
once
again intermittently blocked over the weekend
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Staff Reporter
Monday, 06 September
2010 16:59
HARARE - American music star, Akon, who performed in front
of a 30 000 plus
crowd at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday morning gave
the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) a lesson in human rights and freedom of
expression.
During his three day visit, he humbled the usually
overzealous police by
insisting that he did not want them as part of his
security team.
He even ordered them off his convoy as he walked around
the streets of
Harare meeting ordinary Zimbabweans.
Akon made it
clear at the show that he was not happy with the conduct of the
ZRP officers
who were roughing up people and raining batons on them.
Immediately after
he got on stage in the early hours of Sunday, Akon started
by telling the
overzealous police officers to "stop it."
"Police stop swinging those
batons onto my fans," said an enraged Akon
repeatedly.
"I want to
meet with my fans so move the barricades forward and let them
come
closer."
He later threw himself into the crowd straight off the stage and
also got
into a glass balloon and conducted a crowd scanning exercise, a
move which
has made his shows around the world popular.
Jamaican
dancehall king Sean Paul who shared the stage with Akon on the
night also
weighed in on the issue of human rights in Zimbabwe. He kept on
reminding
Zimbabweans to continue fighting for their human rights and used
his now
famous beliefs in freedom of expression to rally the strong crowd to
fight
for human rights.
"Hello Zimbabwe, those who value human life can I have
your hands up," he
said as he psyched up the thousands of fans who packed
into the National
Sports Stadium.
"We have to fight for our rights
Zimbabwe."
He later invoked the liberation spirit when he sung Bob
Marley's song
Zimbabwe.
"I am going to sing the song done by a man
whom I respect so much and who
has had much influence in my career and the
man loved Zimbabwe," said Paul,
before belting out the rendition of Bob
Marley's song, Zimbabwe.
The song which was released by Marley in 1980 as
a special independence
dedication for Zimbabwe, talks about the need to free
Zimbabwe of
oppression, human rights violations and also
encourages
Zimbabweans to fight for their rights.
Some of the
lyrics of the song say: "Every man gotta right to decide his
own destiny,
and in this judgement there is no partiality. So arm in arms,
with arms,
we'll fight this little struggle, 'Cause that's the only way we
can overcome
our little trouble.
"Brother, you're right, you're right, you're right,
you're right, you're so
right!
We gon' fight (we gon' fight), we'll
have to fight (we gon' fight), We gonna
fight (we gon' fight), fight for our
rights."
Although the song was done some 30 years ago with a different
meaning ,it
still remains relevant to present day Zimbabwe where human
rights violations
and personal freedoms are still to be
recognised.
About 500 people were killed during the 2008 presidential
poll violence.
Just last week a group of squatters in the Borrowdale area
had their houses
razed in a move that invoked the memories of Operation
Murambatsvina of 2005
which left thousands of people
homeless.
Blessing Chimuti who attended the show told the Daily News that
what the duo
did showed that they had done their homework on
Zimbabwe.
"Its not by accident that the two guys spoke about human
rights, they have
been too many parts of the world and seen suffering, so
just like
Zimbabweans they felt they have a duty to encourage us to keep
fighting for
a better Zimbabwe," said Chimuti.
http://news.radiovop.com/
06/09/2010 09:32:00
Bulawayo - THREE white
commercial farmers from Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland
North province on
Wednesday stand trial for posing a security threat to the
state after they
were found in possession of firearms.
The three white commercial farmers
- Nigel Fawcett, Mackomic Russel and Gary
Godfrey - also face charges of
refusing to vacate their land after their
farms were gazzetted for
acquisition.
Fawcett (56) and Russel (51) reside at Kennelys Farm while
Godfrey stays at
Fountain Greaves farm, both in Nyamandlovu.
The trio
who are represented by Advocate Tim Cherry will appear at the
Bulawayo
Magistrates Court.
Charges against the trio by the state are that they
were found in possession
of firearms that were at a gun cabinet at their
farms on 17 July, 2010.
According to the state, the trio refused to
handover gun cabinet keys to
Nyamandlovu police who wanted to inspect the
firearms, a move the police
said posed a security threat to
Zimbabwe.
For refusing to allow police to inspect firearms at their
farms, the trio
faces charges of contravening Section 13 (1) of the Firearms
Act, Chapter
10:09.
Fawcett, Russel and Godfrey who also face charges
of refusing to vacate
their farms for the past three years stand accused of
violating provisions
of Section 3(2) as read with Section 3(3) of the
Gazzetted Land
(Consequential Provisions), Chapter 20:28.
According
to the state, a 45 day notice issued to the three to vacate their
farms
after were gazzetted for acquisition expired on 4 February 2007. But
they
have for the past three years resisted attempts to leave their
farms.
White commercial farmers continue to face court action for
resisting
attempts to vacate their farms under the agrarian reforms which
began at the
turn of the millennium.
Violent evictions of the last
remaining white commercial farmers are still
continuing despite the
inclusive government having had called to an end to
the farm
disturbances.
An umbrella body of human rights groups has urged the
government to publicly
denounce the continuing lawlessness and violence in
the key farming sector
as one of the conditions of restoring the viability
of commercial
agriculture.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum says
restoring the rule of law would enable
the government to come up with a
credible land reform programme that
addresses historical imbalances and
injustices of the 2000 fast track land
reform process.
"The continued
violation of property rights has negative impact on economic
recovery," a
statement by the forum that is a coalition of 19 human rights
groups
recently said in part.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Eyewitness News | 2
Hours Ago
Last year Zimbabwe officially adopted the US dollar as its
national
currency. However, the vice president said on Monday the nation
should
consider adopting the Chinese Yuan.
Joyce Mujuru said the move
makes sense because of Zimbabwe’s "Look East"
policy.
Mujuru
said China is now Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner.
The Asian
giant absorbs most of Zimbabwe’s mineral and agricultural
produce.
She said adopting the Chinese Yuan would be a logical
step and could help
solve some of the country’s liquidity
constraints.
Top Zanu-PF officials have welcomed the suggestion
but economists are not so
sure.
However, economic consultant
John Robertson told Eyewitness News the idea
was not
workable.
He said Zimbabwean retailers are already supposed to
accept the Euro and the
British Pound but those two currencies have never
caught on.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
6 September 2010
The inclusive government reportedly endorsed
a decision by the South African
government to end a special dispensation
that allowed thousands of
Zimbabweans, to enter that country without
documents.
The special dispensation was introduced in April last year
after the
economic meltdown, created by Robert Mugabe's policies, saw
hundreds of
thousands flee to South Africa.
With the end of the
special dispensation set for 31st December, Zimbabweans
would have to apply
for new permits if they wished to stay in South Africa.
Many would also have
to have accompanying documentation issued by Zimbabwean
consulates and
embassies in South Africa.
But it has emerged that the co-Home Affairs
Minister, ZANU PF's Kembo
Mohadi, held a meeting with his South African
counterpart Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, where they agreed to the withdrawal of
the special
dispensation.
The bilateral meeting which centred on
immigration issues was held at the
Castello De Monte Guesthouse, Waterkloof
Ridge in Pretoria.
Dewa Mavhinga, a leading Zimbabwe human rights lawyer
based in Johannesburg
told SW Radio Africa on Monday that the meeting
between the Home Affairs
ministers from the two countries took place on 17th
June.
Questions have also been raised as to how the South African Home
Affairs
Ministry will manage to process applications from an estimated
million
Zimbabweans, in the four months that are left. There is already a
backlog of
200,000 asylum seekers from Zimbabwe whose papers have yet to be
processed.
Mavhinga, who is the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition's regional
director in
South Africa, said the decision to stop the special dispensation
was
ill-timed.
'We met today (Monday) with the director-general of
the Home Affairs
ministry who told us the Zimbabwe government, through its
co-Home Affairs
Ministers endorsed the decision to start deporting illegal
Zimbabweans from
December,' Mavhinga said.
He added; 'It's not only
ill-timed but it is of no benefit to Zimbabweans
who are suffering as a
result of political persecution. What shocked many of
us was that we were
meant to believe this was a unilateral decision made by
the South Africans,
not knowing the Zimbabwe government knew from June that
this was going to
happen.'
There has been widespread anger over this decision, with many
analysts
pointing out that it sends a wrong message to suggest things are
improving
on the ground in Zimbabwe, when for most people living in the
country there
has been no change whatsoever.
There are no definitive
figures on how many Zimbabweans are in South Africa,
although the
International Organisation for Migration estimates the figure
to be between
1.5 to 2 million.
http://www.mg.co.za
KENICHI SERINO | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -
Sep 06 2010 15:34
Plans to have Zimbabweans in South Africa apply for
new permits following
the end of a special dispensation by home affairs are
impractical, the
country's MDC party said in Johannesburg on
Monday.
"It is highly fortuitous for anyone to expect home affairs to
process
Zimbabweans' applications in four months, when there is already a
backlog of
200 000 asylum-seekers who have not been processed," Movement for
Democratic
Change South Africa (MDC SA) chairperson Austin Moyo told
reporters in
Johannesburg.
"We urge the ANC-led government to be
compassionate and considerate."
Last week, the Home Affairs Department
announced it was ending a special
dispensation for Zimbabweans on December
31 this year. The dispensation,
implemented in April last year, allowed
Zimbabweans crossing into South
Africa the right to live, work, study and
access basic healthcare for six
months.
Moyo said it was too early
for Zimbabweans to return to their country as the
situation there had not
yet normalised.
"We are appealing for patience from the South African
government until at
least the elections are held in Zimbabwe. Then we can
start to have the
negotiations over a managed repatriation process [instead
of a situation]
where people are just dumped in the country."
Moyo
was accompanied by representatives from the Zimbabwean Exiles Forum,
the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, and Central Methodist Church Bishop Paul
Verryn. Verryn was representing the organisation Peace Action, but is best
known for providing shelter to thousands of Zimbabwean migrants at the
church in the Johannesburg CBD.
'Situation is still
desperate'
Verryn backed Moyo's claim that Zimbabwe was not yet ready for the
return of
its migrants.
"The allegations that things have improved in
Zimbabwe to the point where
people can return, we can only interpret as a
statement which relates to the
middle and upper classes of
Zimbabwe.
"But for the vulnerable in the country the situation is still
desperate."
Verryn accused the South African government of mismanaging
its policy
towards Zimbabwean migrants, because of its own position as a
mediator
between that country's political factions.
"At no point in
South Africa has there been a concession that conditions in
Zimbabwe are
refugee-producing conditions. The reason for that, I think, is
that South
Africa is directly involved in the negotiations.
"To concede that
Zimbabwe is a refugee-producing country is to concede
failure [in
negotiations]."
Verryn said that Peace Action's worry was that the
special dispensation's
cancellation would lead to an increase in xenophobic
attitudes.
"It will send a message that these people are not bona fides,
that they are
criminals. So our anxiety about xenophobia is raised to
another level.
"The anxieties are that xenophobia is going to be fuelled
out of
recognition. The reason being that home affairs has found it very
difficult
to cope with legitimising Zimbabweans in this county. With new
legislation,
we doubt they will be able to address this new spate of
applications."
With the end of the special dispensation in December,
Zimbabweans would have
to apply for new permits if they wished to stay in
South Africa. Many would
also have to have accompanying documentation issued
by Zimbabwean consulates
and embassies in South Africa.
"Zimbabweans
are comfortable being documented," MDC SA spokesperson
Sibanengi Dube said.
"But what we are saying is that South African home
affairs will not produce
the documents.
"It would be a mission for them to process all the
applications for
Zimbabweans when they are having trouble themselves
producing documents for
South Africans," said Dube.
Dube said the
issue was "not incompetence but inefficiency".
Unprepared
Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition regional coordinator Dewa Mavhinga said the
Zimbabwean
government was also not prepared for the potential flood of
applications.
"The government of Zimbabwe does not have the resources
to issue the
millions of permits and passports," he said.
Dube also
expressed fears that the end of the dispensation would make life
more
difficult for Zimbabweans in South Africa, empower human traffickers
and
encourage police harassment and bribery.
"You will see police raiding
buildings either to evict Zimbabweans or to ask
for "cooldrinks money","
said Dube.
Verryn said new legislation that encouraged foreigners to
prove their
legitimacy was reminiscent of pass laws.
"We are being
bedevilled with this legislation, which is so reminiscent of
the apartheid
era.
"My anxiety is that we will see an increase of police needing to
check the
validity of people living in this country, and that in itself
creates the
old problem that we were suffering the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s of
people
being pursued under pass-law legislation." -- Sapa
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
06 September,
2010 02:59:00 APA
Maputo - The Mozambican capital on Thursday will
host a special summit of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
billed to discuss the
political deadlock situation in Zimbabwe,
state-controlled Radio Mozambique
reports on Monday.
The summit to be
attended by the SADC Troika on Security Policy will discuss
the situation in
Zimbabwe which has deteriorated after the Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
has decided to suspend cooperation with the party of
President Robert
Mugabe.
This decision, taken more than two weeks ago, is threatening the
functioning
of the Unity government signed by both parties in 2009 to end
political
violence and rebuild the wrecked economy.
"They agreed to
hold a meeting in Maputo on Thursday, but we still do not
know any details
about the meeting," Mozambique Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Yunassy
Muchanga told the station.
James Maridadi, spokesman for the Prime
Minister of Zimbabwe, confirmed the
involvement of Morgan Tsvangirai in the
Maputo meeting.
"The Prime Minister will be in Maputo on Thursday to
attend the conference
on the power sharing agreement ," he said.
Last
month, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza received the first vice
minister
of Zimbabwe Thokozani Khupe who called for "help" to "resolve
certain
differences in that country."
The request was made days prior to the SADC
annual summit held last month in
Windhoek, Namibia.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
06 September
2010
A 23 year old man has been sentenced to a year behind bars with hard
labour,
for ‘insulting’ Robert Mugabe.
On Friday Chipinge provincial
magistrate Samuel Zuze handed down the stiff
sentence to Gift Mafuka, who
was accused of make an “insulting” remark to
two children wearing pro-Mugabe
T-shirts. Mafuka apparently asked the boys
why they were wearing T-shirts,
picturing an old person with wrinkles.
Mafuka was found guilty of
contravening the Criminal Codification and Reform
Act, by “insulting the
office of the President.” However, his sentence was
reduced by two months on
condition he does not call Mugabe ‘old’ again in
the next five years. Mugabe
will be 91 by that time.
Human rights lawyers have called the sentence
“political” as Mafuka’s
comments could not in any way be considered a crime.
The lawyers have
encouraged Mafuka to appeal, saying his conviction and
sentence were
unlikely to stand up in a higher court.
May we suggest to
Mr. Mugabe that he checks in with his plastic surgeon the
moment there is a
window of opportunity in his busy schedule, as clearly he
is in need of a
top up of the Botox he has on a regular basis.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Irene
Madongo
06 September 2010
Members of the MDC-T say the police are
still supporting ZANU PF militia
terror campaigns during the constitutional
outreach exercise, despite claims
by Theresa Makone, the MDC-T’s co-Minister
of Home Affairs, that the police
have turned over a new
leaf.
According to Pishayi Muchauraya, the MDC-T’s Manicaland province
spokesperson and Makoni South MP, the police still continue to support the
militia in areas in Nyanga, where he says ZANU PF has set up terror
bases.
He said, for example, that on Saturday there was a Constitution
Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) meeting, at Bhumbira Primary school in Ward
Nine Nyanga South. But it was aborted when violence perpetrated by war vets
and ZANU PF militia broke out. Instead of the police arresting the
perpetrators of the violence, they arrested the injured MDC members
instead.
Yet in an article in the Zimbabwe Independent on Friday, Makone
had vouched
for the police saying they had turned over a new leaf and were
no longer
partisan.
When told that his fellow MDC-T member Makone was
claiming that the police
are now neutral Muchauraya emphasized that the
police are still supporting
ZANU PF.
“At Bhumira Primary School we
had ten uniformed police officers who also had
some guns. But what they did
is they had to arrest those people who were
injured and make sure they are
not spotted by some COPAC observers. It was
the entire MDC executive in the
area which was injured, and arrested by the
police. The other one who nearly
had his eye removed was also arrested upon
making a report,” Muchauraya
said.
“Police will be present at all COPAC meetings,” he said. “The
Zimbabwe
Republic Police is acting like an extension of ZANU PF and they are
actually
assisting the militia.”
Makone’s praise for the police
directly contradicts many observers and human
rights groups who maintain the
police still enforce the law in a partisan
manner and fail to arrest and
prosecute known ZANU PF perpetrators of
politically-motivated violence.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
06 September
2010
Since Wednesday there has been intermittent jamming by Robert
Mugabe's
regime of short wave broadcasts from SW Radio Africa. Using a heavy
noise
like a slow playing record, some of our programming and news bulletins
have
been drowned out.
Experts say jamming radio broadcasts is
expensive to do and you need a lot
of power. Last week our sources said the
Central Intelligence Organisation,
which falls under the President's Office,
is running the operation.
The Zimbabwe National Students Union criticized
the jamming describing it as
'an attempt to subvert a people's right to
receive and impart information as
prescribed by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights to which Zimbabwe is
a signatory.' The union said it had hoped
the inclusion of the MDC in
government 'was a buffer against such
authoritarian tendencies' but it
seemed 'politicians are of the same make,
no matter which political
organization.'
As yet no government
official has issued a statement on the jamming. This
has been the trend over
the years where they choose not to say anything. It
was only in March 2007,
after jamming had begun in 2005, that the then
Deputy Information Minister
Bright Matonga admitted they were jamming our
broadcasts. Speaking in
parliament at the time Matonga boasted the
government was generating
electronic interference to block the broadcasts.
But what is different
this time is that we now have a government of national
unity, made up of two
formations of the MDC who have clearly stated a
commitment to freeing the
media. This is the perfect opportunity for them to
prove their commitment.
And if they can't put a stop to the jamming, it is
then made absolutely
clear to everyone that the unity government is nothing
more than a
sham.
Newsreel tracked down the controversially appointed Broadcasting
Authority
of Zimbabwe chairman, Tafataona Mahoso, and asked him if they were
taking
applications for independent radio stations. "I can't answer that
question'
he told us before referring us to 'the media centre at the Harare
Sheraton.'
He said the Chief Executive of BAZ, a Mr. Muganyuka, would answer
our
question. Mahoso then launched into a vitriolic attack against SW Radio
Africa, describing it as a 'pirate radio.'
Reminded that we were
Zimbabweans broadcasting from exile because of
repressive media legislation,
Mahoso hung up his phone.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Energy Bara
Monday, 06
September 2010 14:53
MASVINGO - As hunger and starvation stalk some
parts of the country, the
inclusive government is battling to resuscitate
the food for work programme
amid reports that over USD 200 million is
required to avert disaster.
Under the food for work programme, hungry
people, mostly villagers , are
engaged to work on government development
programmes in return for either
food or cash.
Masvingo Governor Titus
Maluleke yesterday said that the government would
re-introduce the food for
work programme but was battling to start the
project due to lack of
money.
The failure by the government to raise money for the food for work
programme
comes at a time when some humanitarian food aid agencies have
indefinitely
suspended working following interference in their operations by
politicians
mostly from Zanu PF.
"The government is battling to
reintroduce this programme which, when
further delayed, might result in loss
of lives due to hunger", said
Maluleke.
"As funds to start the
project are made available people will be engaged
to repair schools,
bridges , clinics and other infrastructure which had been
neglected for
years" added Maluleke.
"We are appealing to government to urgently look
for funds for the project
because the situation in some areas of Masvingo is
catastrophic".
According to Governor Maluleke areas like Chiredzi ,
Mwenezi, Zaka , Gutu
and parts of Masvingo district are the hardest hit with
some families
already surviving on either wild fruits or food hand outs from
fellow
villagers.
"The situation is critical in some areas and some
families are already
relying on fruits or food handouts from fellow
villagers who have some food
to spare", said Maluleke.
The government
needs more than USD 200 million to avert starvation in the
country where
most people failed to yield anything due to poor rainfall.
Government
sources said that no money was budgeted for humanitarian aid
during the 2009
2010 announced by finance minister Tendai Biti.
"We are looking at over
USD 200 million to make sure that we procure food
for the starving
populations", said the source.
Prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai has
already toured different parts of the
country to assess the crop and food
situation.
During his tour he described the situation in some of the
affected areas as
catastrophic adding that government has to immediately
come up with
resources to deal with the food situation.
"We have come
up with a cabinet task force on food", said Tsvangirai . "The
task force
will have to come up with ways to avoid starvation".
Some humanitarian food
aid agencies have stopped operations due to political
interference.
In Gutu, two humanitarian aid agencies suspended
operations after the
Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chairman threatened to
take over the
distribution of food aid arguing that Non- Governmental
Organisations were
biased towards other political parties.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Reporter
Monday, 06 September
2010 16:57
HARARE - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
resident
co-ordinator Alain Noudehou and incoming Word Vision country
director,
Edward Brown, have given a vote of confidence to the Zimbabwe
inclusive
government which they say has made progress since its consummation
in 2009.
After meeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at his Harare
offices, the
duo said they had seen positives between Tsvangirai, his
deputy, Arthur
Mutambara and President Robert Mugabe which they are pleased
to support.
Noudehou, who replaced long-serving resident representative
Agostinho
Zacarias said his courtesy call on Tsvangirai was a continuation
of the
UNDP's support for the inclusive government.
The UNDP has been
at the centre of the constitutional making funding which
last week was
dealt a body blow when donors pulled the plug on the
supplementary budget
which had been drawn up to conclude the outreach
programme in Harare and
Bulawayo.
An estimated US$8 million had been budgeted for the remainder
of the
national outreach programme.
World Vision, which has in the
past clashed with Mugabe and his combative
Zanu PF supporters, said it is
pleased with the actions of the country's
leaders.
Brown said
although he is yet to meet with partners that include Non
Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and continue with dialogue which his
predecessor had
been actively involved in, the signs were good.
"So far so good", Brown
told journalists when asked if the trio of
Zimbabwean leadership was working
from the same template.
Both the UNDP and World Vision have been heavily
involved in humanitarian
aid in Zimbabwe.
World Vision was once
banned by Mugabe in 2008 when political temperatures
hit a boiling point
prompting its temporary withdrawal from humanitarian
relief and development
operations.
At the time, World Vision had activated a relief programme
that involved
distributing 4 000 metric tonnes of food that benefited about
700,000
people, including 400,000 school children in supplementary feeding
programs
and 100,000 elderly and chronically ill people in institutional
feeding
programs.
http://news.radiovop.com/
06/09/2010 19:29:00
Harare,
September 6, 2010 -There was drama on Monday morning at the Ministry
of
Education, Sports, Arts and Culture headquarters in Harare when
Ministers,
senior officials and the entire staff stampeded to get out of
18-floor
building after malfunctioning elevators developed an electrical
fault which
caused fire at the building.
So hectic were the corridors of the building
as ministers, senior staff and
ordinary members of staff jammed the
corridors in an enduring physical
exercise climbing down the stairs to
safety.
No-one was hurt during the incident because the fire was immediately
put out
by Harare City Council Fire Brigade whose response was swift.
The
electrical fault occurred in the 18th floor around mid-morning.
Ironically
the floor houses the offices of Education Minister David Coltart
who is said
to have been out of office when the fire broke
out. But his deputy, Lazarus
Dokora was not as lucky as he had to endure the
climb down using the stairs
from his high rise office.
Dokora was said to have been forced to abandon the
meeting when the fire
broke out.
Staff from the ministry could be
seen milling outside the building telling
tales of how they escaped after
the fire started.
"I was in the lift that jammed for some 15 minutes before
we were rescued by
people from the company that made the elevators,"
an
unidentified man could be heard saying. "The smoke actually came into the
lift."
The lift was later fixed by EICCO, the company which installed and
maintain
lifts at the ministry's offices.
The staff later refused to get
back into the building after the fixed lifts
malfunctioned again.
government offices have malfunctioning elevators which
are always
down.
Maintenance at the government offices is sub-standard. Last year at
the
inception of the Government of National Unity (GNU) the
Minister of
Environment and the Minister Health teamed up to lead a group of
volunteers
to clean government offices at Mukwati Building in
Harare.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Steven Nyathi
Monday, 06
September 2010 12:38
Harare - Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique have
signed access agreements
paving the way for the construction of a $7 billion
new railway line linking
Botswana to a new deep-water port to be built near
Maputo in Mozambique.
According to a statement by Australian mining giant,
Walkabout Resources the
arrangement of finance for the project is expected
to be completed by the
end of 2011.
The first phase of construction is
due to start between 2012 and 2015.
Alan Mulligan, managing director for
Walkabout Resources told delegates at
the Africa Down Under conference being
held in Western Australia that the
proposed line is set to benefit companies
currently exploring for coal
projects on the continent.
"Access
agreements have already been signed between the three countries over
the
route of the 1,100km heavy haul railway line," he said.
The mining giant is
expected to build a heavy haul connecting line through
to the coal rich
Hwange region. The main line will run close to a number of
projects proposed
for coal fields in southern part of the country.
Walkabout said the railway
line would start from the eastern Botswana town
of Serule and end at a new
deep-water port to be built near Maputo at
Technobanine point in the
district of Matutuine.
A number of private consortiums are looking at funding
and building the line
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Sidney Saize
Monday, 06 September
2010 15:14
MUTARE - A Mutare-based non governmental
organization,(NGO) the Family Aids
Support Organisation, FASO made up of
people living with HIV/AIDS on
Saturday launched information on HIV and AIDS
in braile language.
The new information brochure is targeting the blind
who say they are
overlooked when such critical information is disseminated
by most civic
organizations in the country.
FASO, which was founded
in 1992, has at least 6 000 members in Manicaland
province, all living
positively.
Casper Pound , the FASO's programmes officer said the
decision to come up
with information in braille was taken after noticing
that the society for
the blind was being marginalized in many ways
especially with regards to
information on HIV/AIDS.
"We were touched
by the plight of the blind with regards to lack of
information in braille
for the minority groups in our communities," said
Pound.
A braille
teacher, Ernest Mahuni says the inclusion of the blind is
commendable.
Mahuni who is blind, said FASO had taken a move that
should be amulated by
other organizations. He said the introduction of
such information in
braille will go a long way in saving many
lives.
Information packaging in the country has been leaving minority
groups such
as the blind.
HIV and ASIDS information has been
unavailable in braille for the blind to
access and use in making informed
decisions abut the killer virus.
Numerous pleas on the need for most
important information to be in
transcribed into braille have not been
heeded.
The blind are saying they expect the current constitution making
outreach
programme to cater for them.