The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Violence in Harare as ZANU-PF Militants Attack MDC Backers Over Market
Stalls
http://www.voanews.com
07 September
2011
About 300 suspected ZANU-PF youths besieged Mukambo open
market at the
Machipisa shopping center in Highfield, a Harare suburb, and
assaulted
vendors with logs and implements seized from their
stands
Studio 7 Reporters | Harare, Washington
Suspected
militants of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party
appeared
Wednesday to ignore his appeal for an end to violence as they
besieged
market stalls at a shopping complex in Harare, demanding the
eviction of all
vendors belonging to the former opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
party.
Witnesses said about 300 ZANU-PF youths wielding logs and other
makeshift
weapons rampaged through the Mukambo market at the Machipisa
Shopping Centre
in Highfield, a populous Harare suburb with many MDC
supporters. They said
the youths grabbed axes and other implements being
sold by the vendors and
assaulted them.
VOA correspondent Thomas
Chiripasi reported that property at the shopping
center was vandalized and
cash was stolen. Several people were reportedly
injured.
Re-opening
Parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Mugabe urged an end to the political
violence,
that has plagued the country for the past decade and more,
challenging
legislators to promote peace. But even as Mugabe preached peace
Tuesday,
activists of his ZANU-PF party attacked an MDC Harare city council
and a
journalist outside Parliament.
Market vendors said the incident arose
from corruption perpetrated by
unnamed senior ZANU-PF officials who were
using the party’s youths as
fronts. The vendors said the police were present
when the violence broke
out, but did not take any action.
Witnesses
said the ZANU-PF youths were demanding rentals be paid to them
instead of to
the MDC-controlled city council. They said the ZANU-PF youths
wanted to
charge monthly rentals of $50 apiece for them to conduct their
business at
the market.
Vendor Denford Machaya said politics should not be the basis
for determining
who should be allowed to do business at the municipal
marketplace.
Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for the MDC wing of Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, said ZANU-PF should tell its supporters not to
engage in
violence.
Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka told Jonga
Kandemiiri that the police
swiftly acted to bring the situation under
control - but said they made no
arrests.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo said party youths cannot defy Mr. Mugabe’s
call for calm. But he
accused MDC members of acting provocatively to
instigate violence in the aim
of attracting international attention and
sympathy.
Highfield East
lawmaker Pearson Mungofa of the MDC said it was disturbing
that Mugabe
repeatedly urged peace his followers then did the opposite.
ZANU
PF youth attack Chitungwiza council
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
08
September, 2011
A rowdy group of about 50 ZANU PF youth are reported to
have stormed the
local authority offices in Chitungwiza on Wednesday,
sending council workers
running for safety. Police reportedly made no
arrests.
This was on the same day that another mob of youths from ZANU PF
attacked
vendors and innocent bystanders at Machipisa Shopping Centre in
Highfields.
The incidents occurred a day after Robert Mugabe talked of
peace in
parliament, while his party’s supporters assaulted people outside
the
building.
Newsday newspaper said the youths in Chitungwiza, who
wore party regalia and
chanted ZANU PF slogans, demanded to see management
regarding a stand at
Zengeza 2 shopping centre, which council had
repossessed.
The gang reportedly went from office to office looking for
the town planner
and even disrupted a meeting between the mayor and council
department heads,
without any fear of being arrested. Mayor Philemon Chipiyo
reportedly said
he did not know what was going on.
Newsday said
police attempted to calm the situation and failed, as the youth
continued to
shout at them about the loss of their stand.
The National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) released a statement on Thursday
calling on politicians to do
more than just denounce violence verbally.
Spokesperson Maddock Chivasa told
SW Radio Africa that political parties
need to find ways to restrain their
supporters and punish those who
perpetrate any acts of
violence.
Chivasa also denounced the partisan behavior of the police,
saying it
“indirectly encourages” the youth to behave violently because they
know the
police will look the other way. The NCA said they fear this will
affect the
period leading to elections, which are expected in Zimbabwe in
2012.
Meanwhile an alleged power struggle between the Chitungwiza Mayor
and his
deputy is reported to have almost turned into a physical fight on
Wednesday
after they hurled insults at each other.
According to
NewsDay newspaper, Mayor Philemon Chipiyo was saved from a fist
fight with
his deputy Rangarirai Mutingwende, by the town clerk Godfrey
Tanyanyiwa.
Their differences appear to have started when the Mayor
reversed a council
decision to buy a car for the deputy mayor, saying he
does not need one and
can always use the Mayor’s car during work
hours.
Zim
farm murder ‘not mere robbery’
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
08 September
2011
The President of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) has said that
the recent
murder of an Mvurwi farmer last week was not the result of “mere
robbery”,
saying something urgently needs to be done to protect the
country’s
remaining commercial farmers.
CFU head Charles Taffs told
SW Radio Africa that the death of Colin Zietsman
in his home last Friday has
shocked the commercial farming community “who
have been left very unsure
over what to do next.”
Zietsman was beaten to death in the early hours of
last Friday morning by
two men, who also beat up his wife Tinks, after
demanding money from the
couple. The motive for the attack has not been
clear. But Taffs said that he
doesn’t believe it is just
robbery.
“The brutality of the attack shows you that this wasn’t mere
robbery. This
is part of the larger problem, in that farmers continue to
face violence,
threats, harassment, persecution, all with total impunity,”
Taffs said.
He explained that at least 22 farmers have been killed since
the start of
Robert Mugabe’s land grab campaign in 2000, “and not a single
person has
been brought to book over the murders.” Hundreds of farmers have
also fled
the country, while it’s believed that at least two million farm
workers and
their families have been left with nothing over the past
decade.
Taffs then continued by saying that the persecution of the
farming community
has continued unabated, with three farmers in the Midlands
evicted off their
properties this week alone.
“The situation is that
farmers continue to be persecuted and prosecuted. We
have about 152 farmers
in court fighting for an appeal against their
eviction. But the evictions
aren’t happening according to the court, its all
happening outside of the
law,” Taffs said.
The CFU head also said that it was “no surprise” that
the country is in such
dire economic straits, explaining how lines of credit
for the agriculture
sector have slammed shut in recent weeks.”
“Of
course no one is going to lend into this environment. So it means that
the
suffering of the country is prolonged,” Taffs said.
He said that they
have appealed to the government, repeatedly, to intervene,
explaining that
“as long as this continues the agriculture sector will never
recover.” He
said a moratorium on the land invasions must be put in place
urgently.
“But the government is totally silent,” Taffs
said.
He added: “Our farmers are being subjected to constant threats,
intimidation, extortion, theft, eviction, violence and murder, and no one is
protecting us, not the police, not the courts, not even our government.”
Archbishop will find
Zimbabwe Church in chaos
8 September 2011 Last updated at 17:45 GMT
By
Brian Hungwe BBC News, Zimbabwe
Mr Mugabe, who is himself a Catholic, remains a key
figure in Zimbabwe
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will
find his followers dismayed and a Church in chaos when he visits next month.
The Anglican
Communion in Zimbabwe is resting on shifting sands. A chorus of discord from
within has pitted followers against each other.
The country's
political situation has created deep-seated divisions among congregants, choking
the faith of the communion.
The ructions are
anchored on divisive political lines that have pitted President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party on one side, and members of the Church said to support Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change on the other.
Nolbert Kunonga,
an excommunicated Bishop of the Anglican Church and supporter of Zanu-PF, has
clung to the vast empire of the Church's assets, and is now evicting pastors
aligned to Bishop Chad Gandiya from Church properties surrounding Harare's
diocese.
While Bishop
Kunonga's services are virtually empty, Bishop Gandiya - who is recognised as
the Bishop of the Anglican Communion in Zimbabwe - still commands a significant
following.
Recently, staff
were evicted from St John's Chikwaka, a children's home in eastern Mashonaland
province.
Bishop Gandiya
said: "We take care of close to 100 children, some of them orphans. He (Kunonga)
has ordered some of the sisters there, taking care of the children, out of the
premises.
"Who will take
care of those children? Everyone is turning a blind eye to the assault on our
Church.
"This is affecting
the people in our community. Nobody is raising a finger, what's exactly is
happening?" said Bishop Gandiya.
But the assault
does not end there, he says.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's visit is eagerly awaited
in Zimbabwe "Father Farayi
Kuwanda was evicted from his house on Tuesday, his property was thrown out in
Seke, at St Aden's," Bishop Gandiya said.
"Its depressing,
this is persecution of the Church. It's also in many ways embarrassing. We have
the laws of the country being flouted left, right and centre. He [Dr Williams]
will certainly find the Church in chaos."
After they were
evicted, some priests have had to live in the open air with their families.
In 2008 at Budiriro, police descended on a church during
the middle of a service and tear-gassed the congregants.
"Some were choked,
and others got badly injured in the stampede," Bishop Gandiya said.
"We have had many
incidents in which Kunonga's people had been bussed to attack and disrupt
services."
Bishop Kunonga is
using an interim court ruling in his favour to be in charge of Church assets and
evict clergy loyal to Bishop Gandiya.
On four occasions
I sought an interview with Bishop Kunonga, all in vain.
Taking sides
The clergy, who
are supposed to be the moral compass of society, have openly taken political
sides, dividing the communion.
While the Church
should abide by the scriptures, preach good news, love, respect and tolerance, a
corrosive political virus seems to have decayed the very principles occupying
the heart of the communion.
Dr Williams, the
head of the 77-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion, is expected to hold
a meeting with President Mugabe during the first visit by a high-profile British
figure in years.
Bishop Gandiya has
said Dr Williams is coming to add "solidarity" with his besieged communion in
Zimbabwe.
The expectation is
that the archbishop will be polite but tough, given the tone of his January
letter to President Mugabe, in which he urged him to "put to an end these abuses
forthwith".
He added there
were concerns "that the unmerited, unjust and unlawful persecution of members of
the Anglican church in Zimbabwe" had resulted in the "unnecessary suffering of
many thousands of people".
'Exploited the
church'
Dr Enos Moyo, of
the University of Zimbabwe's theology department, said that "conservative
Churches, with an educated clergy, for convenience, take sides when they realise
they have something to gain" and added that "politicians have exploited the
Church".
President Mugabe,
a Catholic, has recently been visiting rural Apostolic faith Churches in eastern
Manicaland province.
Mr Mugabe's
ministers have followed suit, and have been seen wearing the white robes of
faith Church adherents, barefoot, addressing thousands of the church followers.
It is not
difficult to understand why. Elections are beckoning, and every vote counts.
Archbishop
of Canterbury requests meeting with Robert Mugabe
http://www.guardian.co.uk
Rowan Williams hopes to
discuss the violent persecution of Anglicans in
Zimbabwe when he tours the
region next month
Press Association
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 8 September 2011 10.43 BST
The Archbishop of Canterbury is
hoping to have face to face discussions with
Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe next
month amid the violent persecution of
Anglicans in the country.
Rowan
Williams has requested a meeting with the Zimbabwean president when he
travels to Harare as part of a tour of the south of the continent, according
to his spokeswoman.
Williams, who will become the first prominent
British representative to
visit Zimbabwe's capital in a decade, is making
the journey in an attempt to
"show solidarity" with Anglicans in the region,
she said.
In recent months priests are said to have been beaten and
arrested by
police, staff evicted from church buildings and property seized,
while some
Anglicans have allegedly been arrested and murdered.
Some
have questioned whether Williams would make the trip due to the violent
regime, but Lambeth Palace said there had never been any debate over the
matter.
The Archbishop's spokeswoman, who confirmed he will also
visit Malawi and
Zambia during the trip, said the recent persecution is
"more of a reason to
go because people need more pastoral care".
She
said: "The aim of the trip as a whole is a pastoral visit and it's to
show
solidarity with Anglicans there, that's really the aim of the trip."
Dr
Chad Gandiya, the Bishop of Harare, told the Times he hoped the visit
would
bring respite to the Zimbabwean Church.
He said police had been acting on
the instructions of Nolbert Kunonga, the
leader of a breakaway church and a
Mugabe supporter.
Last month the country's chief justice ruled that all
Anglican property in
the Harare diocese was under Kunonga's
custody.
Gandiya said despite the attacks, church attendance numbers were
thriving.
"I often think, where are all the people coming from. Sometimes
I ask them
if they know what they are committing themselves to," he
said.
Referring to Williams' visit he added: "He is visiting the
province. He is
going to Malawi and from there he is coming to Zimbabwe. It
is a pastoral
visit, it is not a political visit.
"He is not coming
to tell Kunonga off because that is not his business. He
is coming to
encourage Zimbabwean Anglicans in their faith."
Lambeth Palace added it
has requested a meeting with President Mugabe but
has received no reply as
of yet.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical dog
collar in
2007 in protest at the regime of Mugabe, saying he would not wear
it again
until the president had left office.
Kunonga
takes over mission
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Thursday, 08 September
2011 11:33
HARARE - Controversial Zanu PF-aligned Anglican Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga has
turned the fight for the church’s assets
dirtier.
He has taken over Daramombe Mission, one of the country’s
oldest mission
schools.
With the help of the Deputy Sherriff,
Kunonga’s camp on Monday evicted the
mission’s clergy, teachers and nurses
manning the institution’s clinic.
The latest turn of events in a
long-drawn fight for the control of the
church’s assets comes as the office
of the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams has indicated that he is on
his way to Zimbabwe to meet President
Robert Mugabe over the Anglican Church
issue.
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been in turmoil ever since the
Church of
the Province of Central Africa (CPCA), the church’s supreme
authority in the
region, first suspended and later excommunicated
Kunonga.
Kunonga claims he revolted against the mother church because it
supported
the ordination of gay priests.
Kunonga ,with the backing of
government, police and security agents, has
been able to grab control most
church halls and other properties in Harare
and has regularly blocked Bishop
Chad Gandiya, who leads another faction of
the church, from using the
property.
Sources at Daramombe Mission told the Daily News yesterday that
chaos
erupted at the school as members of Kunonga’s group and the Deputy
Sherriff
visited the school on Monday to take over classrooms, church halls
and the
clinic.
The mission school has been a subject of a bitter
tussle between the
Masvingo Anglican Church diocese and the Kunonga camp.
Masvingo Diocese is
aligned to the Gandiya group.
“The priest’s
(Vengesai Murombedzi) belongings spent the better part of
Monday and Tuesday
in the open as he was ejected from the parish’s house. It
is a sad
situation.
“Right now the Deputy Sherriff is busy ejecting teachers and
other staff,”
said one of the teachers who asked for
anonymity.
Teachers and nurses at Daramombe Mission were being replaced
by those from
Kunonga’s camp.
“They are targeting headmasters for
both schools and a number of teachers
are to be ejected from the school,”
said another teacher who was already
looking for transport to ferry his
belongings from the institution which has
both a primary and secondary
school.
Mugabe and Zuma in Showdown Over
Regional Monitors
http://www.voanews.com/
07
September 2011
Although two full SADC summits have have resolved JOMIC
be bolstered by SADC
delegates, President Mugabe vowed late last week that
ZANU-PF would never
permit what he called outside
interference
Blessing Zulu | Washington
Facilitators for
South African President Jacob Zuma, mediator in Zimbabwe
for the Southern
African Development Community, have vowed not to back down
on fulfilling a
regional resolution to deploy three SADC delegates to
Harare's Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee to track compliance
by the
power-sharing partners.
Although two full SADC summits and a mini-summit
of SADC's troika on
politics, defense and security have recommended JOMIC be
strengthened,
President Mugabe vowed on Friday that ZANU-PF would never
permit what he
called outside interference.
ZANU-PF and SADC sources
say relations between Mr. Mugabe and Pretoria have
soured, noting the letter
Mr. Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba sent to
facilitator Lindiwe Zulu
accusing her of overstepping her authority by
seeking a meeting with the
Zimbabwe Media Commission without clearance from
the Foreign Affairs
Ministry.
Charamba also took offense at a letter from Zulu to Information
Minister
Webster Shamu complaining about lack of access, calling it
“offensive” and
“objectionable.”
Lindiwe Zulu told VOA reporter
Blessing Zulu that "we've gone past that
discussion" as to interference in
Zimbabwe's internal affairs. "All the
parties agreed to it, the only thing
remaining was just the terms of
reference" for implementing the
resolutions.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo insisted his party will not
receive the SADC
trio. Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for the MDC formation of
Prime minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, says ZANU-PF wants to sabotage
reform.
Negotiator Moses Mzila Ndlovu of the MDC wing led by Industry
Minister
Welshman Ncube says ZANU-PF is reneging on an agreement. Political
analyst
John Makumbe sees a “vintage” ZANU-PF move intended to frustrate
SADC.
‘Cancel
Mugabe, Gaddafi deals’
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetai Zvauya, Senior Writer
Thursday, 08
September 2011 10:32
HARARE - Libya's new rulers have agreed to
investigate what they believe to
be shady deals struck between fallen
dictator Muammar Gaddafi and President
Robert Mugabe’s regime.
In
a report to Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), sacked Libyan
ambassador to Zimbabwe Taher Elmagrahi recommended the cancellation of all
business deals entered into between Gaddafi and the then Zanu PF
government.
Mugabe, one of Gaddafi’s closest friends, expelled Elmagrahi
and four other
senior diplomats early last month for flying the NTC flag at
the Harare
embassy.
Spokesman for the diplomats, Mohammad Elbarat
told the Daily News yesterday
by phone from Tripoli that the NTC would dig
into deals that were done under
the table.
He said the diplomats
suspected foul play because Gaddafi and his family
never made public the
investments they made in Zimbabwe’s petroleum, mining,
agriculture and
tourism sectors.
“The NTC will investigate whether state funds were not
abused by the Gaddafi
family to amass wealth in Zimbabwe, said
Elbarat.
“We have asked the NTC to cancel all the deals that Gaddafi made
with Mugabe’s
government, and the NTC has agreed since Mugabe’s government
is refusing to
recognise the NTC,” said Elbarat.
“These deals were
not done in good faith and we want the NTC‘Cancel Mugabe,
Gaddafi
deals’
to investigate them because we had no documents to follow the
transactions
and this must be made clear on who benefited and for what
purpose,” said
Elbarat.
The NTC is the governing arm of rebels that
have overrun Gaddafi in most of
Libya and is now recognised by many
international powers, including in the
Arab world and parts of
Africa.
The decision to investigate Gaddafi deals in Zimbabwe is the
first boomerang
effect of Mugabe’s decision to expel the
Libyans.
There are few known Libyan investments in Zimbabwe. One of them,
a 14
percent stake in a local bank through Libya’s central bank, will remain
unaffected by the power shift in Tripoli, according to a bank
official.
As part of Mugabe and Gaddafi’s enduring friendship, Libya
provided millions
of dollars in direct aid and vast quantities in subsidised
fuel to Harare.
The US State Department says Libya at one time supplied 70
percent of
Zimbabwe’s fuel.
Sacked Libyan diplomats however, think
their country’s money could have been
sunk in Zimbabwe for the personal
benefit of Gaddafi and his close family.
It is those deals that the NTC has
agreed to investigate.
In an interview with the Daily News before his
departure, Elbarat claimed
Gaddafi and his family travelled to Harare on
different occasions. But they
kept the embassy in the dark about deals they
would have signed with Mugabe’s
regime.
“Gaddafi was treating these
investments as his personal property,” he said,
accusing Mugabe of being
stuck in the past. Mugabe and Gaddafi are some of
the few coterie of
continental leaders that have hung on to power for over
30 years.
“We
briefed the NTC leadership of what happened to us on how we were forced
to
leave Zimbabwe,” said Elbarat.
“We are taking advice from the NTC which
is now running Libya and your
government wants to remain struck in the past
with diplomatic relations with
Gaddafi who is no longer in charge of the
country,” he said.
Elbarat’s team was forced to travel by road to
Botswana before catching a
connecting flight to Cairo after being given 72
hours to leave Zimbabwe.
“We travelled from Egypt to Tripoli by road as
the airport is still closed,”
said Elbarat.
“All the Libyan embassies
worldwide have hoisted the new flag and no one
among the diplomats were
forced back home as what happened to us.
“We are not trying to cause a
diplomatic row with your government but it
must realise that it does not
help to have relations with Gaddafi,” said
Elbarat.
Broke
Zimbabwe can't feed inmates
http://www.africareview.com
By KITSEPILE NYATHI in HararePosted Thursday,
September 8 2011 at 18:58
Zimbabwe’s economic problems are reaching
into police cells, forcing
authorities to stop feeding remand
prisoners.
According to the law, suspects can be held at police stations
for at least
48 hours before being taken to court after which they are
transferred to
prisons.
Assistant commissioner Martha Mofolo said
police were facing financial
constraints and suspects risked starvation if
their relatives did not
provide food.
“We are short of resources and
our operations are hampered by such
constraints,” she told a workshop on the
rehabilitation of offenders.
“At the moment, there is no longer food for
suspects and witnesses.
“Relatives have to bring the suspects food at
police stations to avoid
starvation.
“If your relatives do not bring
you food, then tough luck. But at the end of
the day, suspects have learnt
to share the little they have.”
Succumbed to Aids
The formation of
a unity government between President Robert Mugabe and long
rival now Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009, halted the economic
decline, but is yet
to prompt the anticipated turn around.
Inputs
politicised
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zanu (PF) headmen here have come up with a list of supporters
of President
Robert Mugabe who will receive farming inputs in the
forthcoming farming
season.
06.09.1112:07pm
by Tony
Saxon
Perceived MDC-T supporters have been left out, despite the
inputs being
bought using government funds from the Ministry of Finance
under the farm
mechanisation programme.
Last week President Mugabe
praised the Finance Minister Tendai Biti for
releasing early the funds
allocated to the farm mechanisation programme.
Headmen working with
members from the Zimbabwe National Army and senior Zanu
(PF) officials,
especially aspiring Members of Parliament, will control the
distribution of
the inputs.
The move will also be taken as a campaign platform for the
forthcoming
envisaged elections.
Villagers told The Zimbabwean last
week that only Zanu (PF) card carrying
villagers would receive the inputs,
which include seed and fertilizers
(compound and ammonium
nitrate).
District Administrators who are all aligned to Zanu (PF) will
distribute
farm implements including hoes, ox-drawn ploughs and disc harrows
among
others.
“Suspected MDC-T supporters were left out and the
headmen only wrote names
of people who are well known Zanu (PF)
sympathisers,” said a villager from
Chief Chiduku. “It is not fair at all.
These inputs were sourced by the
government of
Zimbabwe and not Zanu
(PF). The painful thing is that the beneficiaries, who
are war veterans,
will sell these inputs for a song, depriving other
villagers of access to
these inputs.”
War veterans interviewed said MDC-T supporters should not
receive anything
as the land reform was a Zanu (PF) initiative.
“This
is a Zanu (PF) thing so what do MDC people want. They have got money
from
donors let them go and buy the inputs elsewhere,” said Kenneth
Machemedze, a
well-known war veteran in Headlands.
Over the years, the distribution of
farm inputs and implements have been
marred in controversy as only chiefs,
headmen, Zanu (PF) officials and
councillors, senior army officials and a
few selected party activists have
been benefitting. Despite being offered
these inputs and implements, the
country has continued to produce poor
harvests.
Cholera
Cases Down - UN
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zimbabwe’s cholera cases are gradually declining although
10 out of 62
districts in the country have reported outbreaks, the
Geneva-based United
Nations has said.
06.09.1111:17am
by Ngoni
Chanakira Harare
In a Report made available to The Zimbabwean the UN
said generally, the
country's cholera situation was improving.
"Ten
out of the 62 districts (Bikita, Buhera, Chimanimani, Chegutu,
Chipinge,
Chiredzi, Kadoma, Murewa, Mutare and Mutasa) have reported cholera
cases.
The number of districts affected at the same time in 2010 was 20,"
the UN
said in its Consolidated Appeal (CAP) Report for 2011.
A total of 879
cumulative cases and 38 deaths were reported by May 15, 2011,
giving a crude
Case Fertility Rate (CFR) of 4,3 percent.
"A total of 177 cases were
found positive by laboratory confirmation," the
report said. "The majority
of cases (689, or 78,4 percent) are being
reported in Chipinge and Chiredzi
in the south-east of the country. A team
has been sent to the area to study
the situation."
The UN said the 2011 CAP Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Programme (WASH), on
the other hand, was "progressing smoothly".
Zim
threatens Old Mutual
http://business.iafrica.com/
Thu, 08 Sep 2011 3:13
Old Mutual Zimbabwe has
been told by Zimbabwe authorities to honour an
indigenisation compliance
agreement struck with the government last year, or
risk being kicked out of
the country, despite the diversified investment
group's involvement in
joint-venture investments with Zimbabwe state
companies.
Earlier this
year, the group was roundly criticised for holding investments
in
controversial Zimbabwe ventures such as diamond mining and the
state-controlled Zimpapers media group, which publishes newspapers such as
The Sunday Mail and The Herald. In Zimbabwe, Old Mutual has several other
investments in the property, pensions and insurance sectors among other
investments spheres such as unit trusts.
The investment group, local
business executives said confidentially, was
shocked when they received a
letter dated 1 September from the empowerment
minister, Saviour Kasukuwere,
saying Old Mutual had seven days to submit a
compliance plan under the
controversial policy. Even so, there are now
concerns that Kasukuwere is
selectively applying the law.
Interestingly, the seven-day ultimatum
lapses today and it remains to be
seen what the next move regarding the
group's situation will be, as there
has not been any information or the
slightest hint from the company
regarding its response to the
ultimatum.
"It's selective and targeted," said Trevor Ncube, the
proprietor of the
Mail& Guardian and three other independent newspapers
in Zimbabwe, in an
interview with Moneyweb. Several Zimbabwe analysts
re-iterated this,
highlighting that they had been "actually surprised that
Old Mutual had been
given the ultimatum" when it had been, in some way or
other, supporting some
institutions with close links to the state through
its controversial
investments.
Most of the senior executives with
companies that have been targeted for
takeover by the empowerment ministry
over reluctance to comply, have
reportedly gone underground while some are
nowhere to be seen. "We are not
discussing that issue," said an executive at
Old Mutual.
Zimplats and Impala Platinum executives, whose Zimbabwe
group, according to
Kasukuwere, was set to lose its license for
non-compliance, were also mum on
the latest developments on Wednesday.
However, others such as Nestle
Zimbabwe have said that they will continue to
engage the government. Similar
comments were made by Implats earlier in the
week.
"Old Mutual has several investments in the country and most of
these are in
partnership with state institutions and this is why they were
never doubtful
of their future. Although they have been given an ultimatum,
their situation
is much different from that of the other major foreign
firms, which explains
the firm's close ties with the state," said economist
Jeffrey Kasirori.
"You are required to provide me with the progress
report within seven days
of receipt of this letter, failure of which no
further indulgence shall be
granted", said Kasukuwere in his 1 September
letter to Old Mutual chief
executive, Luke Ngwerume.
This was in
response to a plan made by Old Mutual last year that it would
cede 27% of
its equity to its employees, 17% to Zimbabwean pension funds -
some of which
it controls — and about 7% to the National Indigenisation
Trust Fund (NITF).
This was before the government started its crackdown on
foreign firms
operational in the country.
The company first courted controversy with
its 18% shareholding in state-run
newspaper firm, Zimpapers, while it was
also criticised after it emerged
that it had an interest in one of the
companies that was involved in the
mining of diamonds in the controversial
Marange fields. The England and
Wales incorporated firm has confirmed that
it has an indirect interest in
Mbada Diamonds, a South African company that
jointly mines for diamonds in
Marange.
Investors’
fears increase
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Roadwin Chirara, Business Writer
Thursday, 08 September
2011 12:21
HARARE - A renewed plan to seize Old Mutual and Zimbabwe
Platinum Mines
(Zimplats) under government’s fast-track indigenisation
programme has
increased investor fears at a time there was optimism that
Zimbabwe would
not implement its controversial programme in its current
form.
While President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said “foreign
investments would be
safe”, analysts argued the latest move not only
increased uncertainty, but
would have “disastrous” effects on the country’s
economy.
“It would be disastrous to the economy if it’s forced to close
in terms of
jobs and tax revenues. It’s the single biggest company
functioning in the
economy at the moment,” said economist John
Robertson.
He said it was surprising that government was back tracking on
an earlier
deal with the Australian listed miner based on ceding of claims
and social
grants.
“It would seem government is just not sticking to
its own commitment. The
indigenisation minister (Saviour Kasukuwere) seems
to be abrogating on the
agreement,” Robertson said.
He said there was
need for the indigenisation ministry to fully consider the
repercussion of
its actions to suspend the miner’s operations.
“It will be economic
sabotage. He has to really think first before acting on
it. This will impact
on investors and prospectors. It will disastrously
impact on the country’s
ability to attract investment,” he said.
Takunda Mugaga, also an
economist, questioned the capacity of government to
acquire the Zimplats
disputed claims and its ability to run the mining
operation
effectively.
“It’s a sad development,” he said.
“It seems
indigenisation has taken a new twist in the past 24 hours, you
have a
minister giving ultimatums or decrees to companies,” Mugaga said,
adding
that government does not have the capital or capacity to fund such an
operation.
He said the Kasukuwere needed to be well-informed of the
impact of his
planned action.
“He needs to be advised and I think
ill-advice from his indigenisation
committees is what is causing this,” he
said.
However, Zimplats said it could not comment on the ministry’s
announcement.
“In line with the disclosure regulations on the ASX we are
not able to make
any comments on this issue today.
Initial disclosure
has to be to our shareholders and thereafter our other
stakeholders,”
spokesperson Busi Chindove said.
On Tuesday, Kasukuwere announced that
his ministry had reached a deadlock
with Zimplats over its proposed
indigenisation plan and had started the
process of cancelling its operating
licence through the mines ministry.
Government and Zimplats failed to
agree on an earlier agreement in which the
miner ceded claims in exchange
for the reduction of its indigenisation
threshold.
The development
could cost the country a planned $10 billion investment by
Impala Platinum
Holdings, 87,3 percent shareholder in Zimplats, which it
said would be
determined by the implementation of country’s indigenisation
policy.
Zimplats accounts for close to 10 percent of group
production.
David Brown, Implats chief executive, said while his company
was willing to
invest more in the country, government’s indigenisation model
would not
work.
Impala, which produces about 25 percent of the
world’s platinum, is spending
35 billion rand over the next five years to
expand production as rising
demand drives up the commodity’s
prices.
It first invested in Zimbabwe in 2001 when it bought 30 percent
of Zimplats
for the equivalent of $47 million and later took control of the
company.
It is currently the biggest investor in Zimbabwe’s mining
industry.
Zimplats produced 182 100 ounces of platinum in the year to
June 2011 and is
in the midst of a $460 million expansion of its Ngezi mine,
southwest of the
capital Harare to boost output to 270 000 ounces in
2014.
It signed an agreement with the government in 2006 to release a
portion of
its mining claims in exchange for a combination of black
empowerment credits
and cash.
Over 50 Zim mines face
the axe, say reports
http://mg.co.za/
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Sep 08 2011
13:48
More than 50 foreign-owned mining firms risk losing their
licences after
failing to submit acceptable indigenisation and empowerment
plans as
directed by government, the Zimbabwe Herald newspaper reported on
Thursday.
According to Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere, these firms also risked
prosecution.
Already, the minister has indicated that his department had
started the
process of cancelling the operating licence for Zimplats after
the company
failed to comply with the law, the newspaper said.
"Up to
45 mining companies have either had their plans approved or have
agreed on
an implementation framework and will generate revised plans to
achieve a 51%
indigenous threshold," the newspaper quoted Kasukuwere as
saying.
"Companies that did not respond or have not complied with the
indigenisation
and economic empowerment legislation will be prosecuted or
have their
business operating licences cancelled."
In terms of the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Act enacted in 2008,
foreign-owned firms have
been forced to cede for value at least 51% equity
to locals.
"Leading
the band of delinquent foreign-owned mining firms is the country's
largest
platinum miner Zimplats, which might be first to lose its licence,"
the
Herald added.
"The firm wanted government to recognise its claim that it
had localised 30%
of its equity after releasing a block of mineral reserves
it says were worth
$150-million. The state said it would rather pay for the
reserves than award
credits."
The Herald added that although Zimplats
maintained that discussions with
government were continuing, Minister
Kasukuwere on Tuesday had disclosed
that discussions had reached a dead end.
-- I-Net Bridge
Impala’s
Zimplats Proposes Arbitrator to Help Resolve Zimbabwe Law Dispute
http://www.bloomberg.com
By
Godfrey Marawanyika and Carli Lourens - Sep 9, 2011 2:16 AM
GMT+1000
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP)’s Zimbabwean unit
proposed that an
independent arbitrator be approached to resolve a dispute
over ownership
that could see the company lose its license to mine in the
country.
Zimplats Holdings Ltd. (ZIM) Deputy Chairman Muchadeyi Masunda
said he held
“constructive” talks with Empowerment and Indigenization
Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere earlier today. The Minister on Sept. 6 notified
Impala, the world’s
second-largest platinum producer, that he had asked the
Mines Minister to
cancel the company’s license for failing to submit an
acceptable plan to
transfer control to local black Zimbabweans.
“We
agree that it’s not possible and not in anyone’s interests to stop
operations at Zimplats,” Masunda said in a telephone interview from Harare,
the capital. “We have never said we are opposed to empowerment, but what we
need is clarity on a given policy and predictability on the
policy.”
Zimbabwe, which has the world’s second-biggest reserves of
platinum and
chrome after neighboring South Africa, wants all foreign or
white-owned
companies to submit plans to sell 51 percent stakes in local
assets to black
Zimbabweans. More than 50 mining companies may lose their
permits as their
ownership proposals aren’t acceptable, the state-controlled
Herald reported
today, citing Kasukuwere.
Impala’s operating licence
hasn’t been canceled and talks “between
management and the relevant
authorities in this regard are ongoing despite
the Minister’s letter of 6
September 2011,” the company said in an e-mailed
statement today.
Biggest
Investor
Johannesburg-based Impala is the biggest investor in Zimbabwe’s
mining
industry and could invest as much as $10 billion more to expand its
output,
Chief Executive Officer David Brown said last month.
“The
only major area of disagreement is the implementation, in its current
form,
of the Release of Ground Agreement of 2006,” Impala said today. “The
government acknowledges the existence and validity of the agreement, but
wants to renegotiate certain terms.”
Zimplats agreed with the
government in 2006 to release a portion of its
mining claims in exchange for
a combination of black empowerment credits and
cash. Impala said in a June
statement that year the area contains 99 million
ounces of platinum,
palladium, rhodium and gold.
The ground is “valuable” and can be turned
into a profitable open-pit mine,
Brown told investors in Johannesburg last
month.
Deficit or Surplus
Impala’s dispute may affect global platinum
supplies, Walter de Wet, head of
commodity research at Standard Bank Plc,
said today in a note.
“Lost supply from Zimplats could be the difference
between a platinum market
remaining in a deficit next year and a possible
surplus,” De Wet said. While
forecasting a 75,000- ounce shortage in 2012,
the bank sees a “real risk” of
excess supply if U.S. and European economies
go into a recession, he said.
Zimbabwe will probably produce 350,000
ounces of platinum next year, or 6
percent of global mine supply, according
to Standard Bank. Anglo American
Platinum Ltd. is the world’s largest
supplier of the metal.
MDC-T
takes measures to protect rally goers
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
08
September, 2011
The recent eruption of politically motivated violence by
ZANU PF youth in
Harare has raised fears that violence may erupt again over
the weekend, when
the MDC-T celebrate their 12th Anniversary with a rally at
Gwanzura Stadium
in Highfields.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told
SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the
party is taking steps to protect those
who come to the rally on Saturday.
Mwonzora explained that the party has
taken measures to ensure that the
event is peaceful, by retaining their own
security.
“The situation in Highfields is now back to normal and there is
calm. We
thank the people of Highfields who stood up to the hooligans, while
the
police did nothing to repel them,” Mwonzora explained.
The MDC-T
spokesman was referring to reports that the police did nothing to
protect
people on Wednesday, when ZANU PF youths attacked market vendors and
innocent civilians at Machipisa Shopping Centre in
Highfields.
Mwonzora said the attacks took place despite calls for peace
by Robert
Mugabe, because of factionalism within the ageing dictator’s
party. “It was
a manifestation of the fact that Mugabe is no longer in
control of his party
machinery,” the party spokesman said.
He added:
“So people need not fear coming in their numbers to the
celebrations. We
have invited leaders of other political parties to come and
listen.”
Mwonzora said the MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai will be
the keynote
speaker and his message will focus on the party’s achievements
over the last
12 years, and how much more there is to do to heal Zimbabwe.
Mugabe
Fuming Over WikiLeaks
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 08, 2011 - President Robert
Mugabe is believed to be
seething with anger over revelations some of his
Zanu (PF) senior officials
were “winning and dinning” with diplomats from
the United States of America
behind his back, amid revelations the party has
instituted an internal probe
to deal with those fingered in the embarrassing
disclosures.
Attorney General, Johannes Tomana disclosed to Radio VOP on
Tuesday that
investigations will soon start, adding there would be no sacred
cows.
The leaks revealed that senior Zanu (PF) officials had gone behind
Mugabe's
back to see American ambassador, telling him that they wanted
Mugabe to go
but were afraid of asking him to retire. It is understood the
disclosures,
which leaves Mugabe with a few senior party officials to trust
and isolated,
has angered him to the extent that he wants those implicated
prosecuted by
the AG.
Rugare Gumbo, the Zanu (PF) spokesman,
described the Wikileaks 'disturbing'.
“Those named in the cable leaks
must examine their conscience as the party
is seriously investigating the
matter,” said Gumbo. “It is unfortunate that
some senior and prominent
people have been implicated but the party is
looking into the matter with
the seriousness it deserves.”
At the official opening of parliament
by Mugabe on Tuesday, most of the Zanu
(PF) officials looked very
uncomfortable.
Skhanyiso Ndlovu, who was quoted by the explosive Wiki
Leaks cables nearly
bumped into a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
outside broadcasting
van on Tuesday. Zanu (PF) supporters who gathered
outside parliament booed
him as he entered parliament,shouting: “Wiki Leaks,
Wiki Leaks.”
Zanu (PF) politburo member and Minister of Youth Development
and
Indigenisation, Saviour Kasukuwere, who has positioned himself as a
champion
of the youths, had his own constituency turning against him. They
booed him
shouting: “Kasukuwere Wikileaks.”
According to the cable
reports, Kasukuwere is said to have told US
ambassador Charles Ray that it
was time for President Robert Mugabe to go.
Kasukuwere is among Zanu (PF)
officials pushing for leadership renewal in
the party.
USA ambassador Ray
Charles, in his cables, described Kasukuwere, as a
“dangerous character and
who had the potential of being thug.”
Zanu (PF) legislator for
Tsholotsho, Jonathan Moyo, an arch critic of the
Americans by day, but who
nicodemously visited them by night, was
conspicuous by his absence at
parliament.
The US envoy described him as a great orator and shrewd
analyst and faithful
messenger and a reliable source of Zanu (PF)
information.
The mob also shouted “Wiki leaks” when the US ambassador
also arrived at the
parliament house.
This is not the first time the
Wiki leaks have caused an explosion. The
first time it exposed Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and officials in Zanu
(PF) and pseudo political
analysts made a beeline urging Tomana to institute
investigations and
prosecute Tsvangirai for sharing information with the
Americans.
Chamisa
says MDC united behind Tsvangirai
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
8 September
2011
The MDC-T national organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa, has
categorically
refuted claims in confidential US embassy communications that
quoted him
describing his party leader as ‘inept and indecisive.’
The
allegations were made in US documents revealed on the WikiLeaks website,
based on cables sent by the US embassy in Harare to the US State department
in Washington.
The cable claims that Chamisa and MDC-T deputy
Justice Minister Obert Gutu
also questioned Tsvangirai’s leadership
credentials during a meeting with
the US ambassador in Harare, Charles Ray,
in January 2010.
Chamisa, long viewed as a close confidante of Tsvangirai and
a future leader
of the party, on Thursday stressed that the ‘report is
totally baseless and
contains fabricated information with the intention to
spread lies and
rumours.’
He criticized state media scribes for
giving credence to uncorroborated
reports and described some of them as
‘political mosquitoes and tsetse flies’
needing advice on how to accurately
report on events.
Chamisa blamed the Herald and Sunday Mail newspapers for
spinning the
Wikileaks story to the advantage of ZANU PF. He instead told
journalists in
Harare that the MDC-T is fully behind its leader ‘who is the
most popular
President in this country.’
In a separate statement Gutu
also denied the WikiLeaks reports. ‘I have
never held any meetings with
Ambassador Charles Ray in my entire life. The
so-called WikiLeaks
disclosures are a monumental fiction that can easily
rival the fictional
works of Dambudzo Marechera or Charles Dickens.
‘The motive behind these
false, nonsensical, malicious and defamatory
allegations against me defies
all logic. Whilst I respect the right of
individuals to engage in free and
honest debate, I am totally dumbfounded as
to the reasons why my name should
be dragged into the mud like this. I have
no skeletons in my cupboard and
because of that, the truth shall, as usual,
always set me free,’ Gutu said.
Mugabe
bought loyalty of army to keep him in power
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
8
September 2011
A confidential WikiLeaks cable has revealed how a military
coup against
Robert Mugabe is simply not possible as he ‘has bought the
loyalty of nearly
all officers’ in Zimbabwe.
The March 2001 cable
reveals that all indications are that the country’s
military will always
back Mugabe’s re-election, even if it appears
illegitimate. The classified
cable headed ‘How President Mugabe will hang on
to power’ goes on to give
different details how the military will help him
remain at the helm of ZANU
PF and government.
‘Mugabe relies on his special forces more than ever.
Units like the
parachute regiment and Presidential Guard are more frequently
called upon to
carry out special tasks, such as the beating of
residents.
‘Because of their greater discipline and loyalty, they would
also be called
upon to protect Mugabe should crowds descend on State House,’
said the
cable, which was compiled by the US charge d’ affaires officer in
Harare,
Earl M. Irving.
More tellingly, the cable also reveals that
the soldiers received training
from China on how to counter any uprising
against Mugabe.
‘They learned at courses in China that if you kill one
person, you will
frighten a thousand,’ the cable said. It also offered a
glimpse of how the
military could turn against its
commander-in-chief.
‘There is only one case in which the military would
turn on Mugabe, and that
would be if the bullets ran out before the people
did. If a crowd of 100,000
descended on State House, for instance, and they
did not disperse after a
large number were killed, it is conceivable the
military leadership would go
to Mugabe and tell him they could no longer
protect him, and ask for his
resignation,’
The communication, leaked
last week by WikiLeaks, a web-based organisation
that has released over the
internet over 300,000 secret diplomatic files
from US missions around the
world, had a premonition in 2001 that Mugabe, if
faced with an electoral
defeat, would manipulate the figures to ensure he
claimed
victory.
‘If it appears Mugabe’s vote tally would fall slightly short of
his opponent’s
(Tsvangirai), the president would likely postpone announcing
the results so
that he would have time to rig the outcome,’ the cable
said.
Seven years later when it appeared he had lost the 29 March 2008
presidential election, Mugabe did just that by arbitrarily blocking the
result to manipulate it in his favour.
It took the Zimbabwe election
officials five weeks to release the results,
giving the Joint Operations
Command (JOC) (the supreme organ of the state
security including the heads
of the military, police, intelligence services
and prisons) time to
mastermind the election violence leading to the sham
run-off poll in May
2008.
Gono
eyed ministerial position
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Thursday 08 September
2011
HARARE – Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono was
eyeing the
finance minister position and a seat on Zanu (PF)’s powerful
Politburo in
2008 but feared reprisals from hawks in the faction-ridden
party, a leaked
US diplomatic cable revealed this week.
The RBZ
chief, who is considered one of the powers behind President Robert
Mugabe’s
throne, allegedly told former US ambassador James McGee during a
secret
meeting in July 2008 that he had talked with vice-president Joseph
Msika
“who said he and others wanted Mugabe out as executive president (and
possibly in a ceremonial role) by the beginning of September” of that
year.
“Gono added that in a new government he (Gono) was hoping to be a
minister
in charge of finance, economic development, and policy formulation.
He would
also become a member of the Zanu (PF) Politburo,” the leaked cable
said.
The central bank chief however asked McGee to arrange a soft
landing for him
if things did not work out.
“Trying to hedge his
bets, Gono asked the ambassador for help in arranging a
‘soft landing’ in
the event that Zanu (PF) in-fighting left him outside of
government,” the
cable added.
Gono is a member of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), a
shadowy
organisation that has been accused of masterminding political
violence.
The JOC comprises the commanders of the army, air force,
police, prison and
intelligence services and is chaired by Defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The secretive JOC has played a major role in
Zimbabwe’s politics from behind
the scenes.
Gono sits on the
committee as an economic advisor with key responsibility to
finance its
activities.
The RBZ chief has been linked to another secret meeting with
McGee in which
he allegedly told the US ambassador that Mugabe has prostate
cancer and has
been told by doctors he would not live beyond 2013.
He
denies holding the secret meetings with the ambassador. -- ZimOnline
WikiLeaks:
Moyo sues Daily News
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
07/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
TSHOLOTSHO North MP Jonathan Moyo [Zanu PF] said Wednesday
he is suing The
Daily News over “criminal distortions” arising from the
newspaper’s coverage
of the United States embassy cables leaked by
WikiLeaks.
Moyo said he had “no problem” with a March 30, 2007,
diplomatic cable
written by former US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher
Dell, following a
private meeting, adding: “But I have very serious legal
issues with The
Daily News who for reasons best known to themselves have
decided to rewrite
the original cable in a defamatory and criminal
way.”
The former Information Minister’s lawyer Joseph Mandizha confirmed
he had
been instructed by Moyo to begin legal action against the
newspaper.
In a September 6 article under the headline ‘Moyo's plans to
oust Mugabe’,
the paper claimed that the MP “endorsed travel and economic
sanctions
imposed on Mugabe's ruling elite by the US and other Western
countries to
the extent that he even offered suggestions on potential
targets”.
Moyo said: “Those claims are scandalously defamatory. There is
absolutely
nothing of the sort contained in the cable in
question.”
In another article headlined ‘Moyo advised US on Zanu PF
sanctions list’
published on September 7, The Daily News reported that
“Jonathan Moyo who
has been very vocal on the contentious issue of sanctions
advised the US
government on key Zanu PF individuals he wanted placed on the
restrictive
measures, latest WikiLeaks have revealed".
The same
article also claims that “Moyo advised that sanctions had to hit
hard the
key players in Zanu PF to weaken President Robert Mugabe and his
party”.
Moyo stormed: “There is absolutely nothing of the sort in the
cable in
question and the claim is wilfully and intentionally
defamatory.
“The cable in question does not have anything whatsoever
about any names of
key Zanu PF individuals that I wanted placed on the
sanctions list; nothing
whatsoever. The claim is entirely an invention of
the Daily News.”
In the cable, reproduced here by New Zimbabwe.com,
Ambassador Dell wrote:
"Moyo said his colleagues were aware of the
Ambassador's remarks in a SW
Radio interview that the U.S. should consider
expanding sanctions to
parliamentarians.
"He said he understood a
policy of expanding sanctions to include politburo
and central committee
members (and their families) because they are in
decision making positions;
he thought it unfair, however, to include the
large majority of
parliamentarians who are not members of either committee.
“Including them
on the sanctions list might push them into Mugabe's camp;
not including them
might be an incentive to exercise independence.”
Moyo, who is under
United States travel sanctions and was an independent MP
at the time, said:
“Given that the Zanu PF politburo and central committee
were already on the
list, myself included on grounds that I was a decision
maker who had been an
architect of laws such as AIPPA which are alleged to
have narrowed
democratic space in Zimbabwe, it is absurd and defamatory to
suggest I
sought the addition of any names to the list.
“It is very clear from the
cable that the sanctions issue arose after I
queried comments Ambassador
Dell had made on SW Radio to the effect that his
government was going to add
parliamentarians on the sanctions list.
“I told him, as clearly captured
in the cable, while I understood their
sanctions policy, adding Zanu PF MPs
on the sanctions list when they are not
in the politburo or central
committee was unfair and inconsistent with the
claim that the likes of
myself and politburo and central committee members
were put on the list as
decision makers in the party or government.
“This is what is clearly
contained in paragraph 15 of the cable which deals
with issue by actually
recalling what I said. It is notable that in fact
Dell recalls me as having
said I ‘understood’ their sanctions policy and not
having said I ‘accepted’
it.”
Moyo said he had asked his lawyers “not to waste time asking for a
retraction from The Daily News” but issue them with summons straight
away.
“Their malice in doctoring the cable is too apparent to the point of
bordering on criminality,” he said.
Moyo, who has repeatedly
criticised western sanctions on Zimbabwe, is
sensitive to suggestions he
would have asked for the same sanctions to “hit
hard” on Zanu PF officials,
as claimed by The Daily News.
The Daily News’ news editor Guthrie Munyuki
said last night: “We are yet to
get a copy of the summons, I imagine we will
be in a better position to
respond then.”
From Zimbabwe to South Africa in search of an
education
7 September 2011 Last updated at 22:44 GMT
By Mukul
Devichand Crossing Continents, BBC Radio 4
Continue reading the main
story
The collapse of
affordable schooling in Zimbabwe is leading thousands of children to make a
perilous trek to South Africa. But some of those who make it, penniless, to
Johannesburg, get what they want - a top-quality
education.
The wide Limpopo
river that separates Zimbabwe and South Africa is known for its crocodiles,
snakes and unpredictable currents. But for Zimbabwean children crossing the
border, alone, it is human beings who pose the biggest danger.
Moses Matenere was
17 years old when he made the crossing a couple of years ago.
Trapped in the
lawless no-man's-land between the Limpopo river and the electric fence that
stretches along South Africa's border, the teenager was attacked by a gang of
armed thieves - known locally as the Magomagoma.
The gang robbed
Moses, threatening him by holding a knife under his legs. They then forced him
to watch other men captured by the gang, as they were told to rape young girls.
"They just rape...
it happened in front of my eyes," he remembers, shuddering with the pain of the
memory.
Sacrifices
Back in Zimbabwe,
Moses came from a family with connections. As a member of the ruling Zanu-PF
party, Moses' father got his son into a good school.
Moses Matenere dreams of returning home as a qualified
doctor At the time,
Zimbabwe boasted one of the best education systems in Africa, but in 2008, amid
hyperinflation and political violence, the country sank into
chaos.
Teachers went
unpaid, and school fees rocketed. When Moses' father died, his mother could no
longer pay the bills and had to withdraw her son from school.
Most Zimbabwean
families still value education, however, and believe it is worth making
sacrifices for.
So a couple of
years ago, Moses' mother packed him some rice scones and he joined the invisible
train of children living on the streets, begging and heading to South
Africa.
It was not an easy
journey.
After his
encounter with the Magomagoma at the border, Moses managed to get to
Johannesburg in a shared taxi, persuading the driver that his cousin in the city
would pay the fare on their arrival.
But the cousin
never turned up and the driver took his revenge, holding Moses hostage for more
than a week, and beating him with ropes.
When he finally
escaped, he found his way to the Central Methodist Church.
This is a
sanctuary for Zimbabweans in Johannesburg, who make up a large proportion of the
1,000 or more destitute people who sleep on its floor every
night.
Any unaccompanied
children who turn up are helped out on the fourth floor by volunteer Takudzwa
Chikoro, a former child migrant himself, now aged 21.
"Most of the
children have stories," he tells me, in the dark, as children sleep on the floor
around him.
"Some have been
raped, some have been robbed."
Cambridge syllabus
Takudzwa has his
own harrowing story. At the age of 16, he too was robbed by the Magomagoma -
rumoured to be former Zimbabwean soldiers - and then had to walk across the
South African bush drinking from waterholes used by wild animals.
Hear the full
report on Crossing Continents on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 8 September at 11:00
BST and Monday 12 September at 20:30 BST
After he arrived in Johannesburg, he slept rough and
worked for traditional African healers - sangomas - some of whom put children to
work in the criminal underworld.
But like Moses,
one day he arrived at the Methodist church. He was given a bed in a church
dormitory in Soweto, and a place at the church-run Albert
School.
The church is
sometimes criticised for the squalor of the living conditions it provides for
adults and children. But for the Zimbabwean migrant children who make up the
majority of the Albert School's pupils it provides what they want most - an
education similar to the one they began in Zimbabwe.
"They tend to feel
that what [other] South African schools have on offer is not what they want,"
says Anne Skelton, Director of the Centre for Child Law at the University of
Pretoria.
"The older and
more advanced they are with their studies, the more particular they are about
the education they are accessing."
Pupils at the
Albert school study the Cambridge International syllabus, which awards O-levels
and A-levels similar to those traditionally studied in British schools - and in
both exams, more than 70% of pupils pass with grades between A* and
C.
Dried-out drain
Takudzwa has
already passed his A-levels and is hunting for a university scholarship to study
law abroad, in the hope of becoming a human rights lawyer.
The border town of Musina is "not a nice place" for young
Zimbabwean migrants He was offered a
place at Dundee University in the UK, but could not take it up because, as a
former illegal migrant, he didn't have a valid travel document - a common
problem for pupils at the Albert School.
Moses is now in
form three, with ambitions of becoming a doctor, and returning triumphantly to
his mother in Zimbabwe.
"She will be
proud," he beams. "I have a bright future ahead of me now."
Success stories
like these motivate other Zimbabwean children to undertake the dangerous trip
south.
In the South
African border town of Musina, new arrivals sleep rough on the streets,
congregating on a notorious patch of waste ground. Some mix with older
teenagers, who drink and sniff glue.
"It's not a nice
place," says 12-year-old Takwant, an orphan who crossed the border illegally
last year. "No money for soap, no toilet, no house, no bath."
He sleeps in a
dried-out drain with his friends, 10-year-old Talent, and Justin,
15.
"I want to go to
school," says Justin. "If I go to school I can change my life, I can live with
cars and wives and daughters."
His ambition is to
save up to join an uncle in Johannesburg. For now, he survives by
begging.
You can
listen to Crossing
Continents on BBC Radio
4 on Thursday 8 September at
11:00 BST and Monday 12 September at 20:30 BST. You can also listen via the
BBC
iPlayer or the
podcast.
Wikileaks – What will George Charamba say now?
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 08/09/11
After ‘Zanu-pf welcomed Wikileaks as
propaganda manna’, according to Mugabe’s
spokesman George Charamba in
December last year, is it now a case of ‘he who
laughs most, laughs
last’?
In his opinion piece ‘Wikileaks- One shame more one gain less,’
(New
Zimbabwe, 04/12/10), George Charamba writing as Nathaniel Manheru, did
not
conceal his excitement with his opening lines ‘screaming’: “WIKILEAKS!
WikiLeaks! Oh WikiLeaks!”
That was before Mugabe’s propagandist
settled down to passionately tear into
his MDC opponents, the American
Ambassador and everything that was in his
way like a bulldozer with
supporting quotations from Mexico’s armed
revolutionary leader, one Zapata
and others.
“I am Zanu-pf and the temptation to go for Tsvangirai beckons
compellingly,”
Manheru said, adding: “I want to go back to Wikileaks. Zanu
(pf) welcomes
this as propaganda manna. It should and it must wring out of
this hefty
disclosure every ounce of propaganda value.”
George
Charamba did not know what was around the corner. The details are now
history. Remember the Shona saying: “Pamudonori ndipo pazvinoda” meaning the
one who despises others and brags too much will have his fair share of
misfortune one day.
The state-owned media is trying its best to avoid
causing further
embarrassment amid media reports that the Head of State and
Government and
Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Mr Mugabe
is said to be
seething with anger.
Although, an article on the Herald
website yesterday tried to play down the
fallout from Wikileaks disclosures,
it curiously tried to spin saying the
cables might have been made up as
Western propaganda.
What is fascinating, though, is that while some
people are denying what is
being attributed to them in the cables, a Zanu-pf
Politburo Member Jonathan
Moyo has owned up to what is on one of the cables
and reportedly told the
New Zimbabwe.com (07.09.11) that:
“It is very
clear from the cable that the sanctions issue arose after I
queried comments
Ambassador Dell had made on SW Radio to the effect that his
government was
going to add parliamentarians on the sanctions list.
“I told him, as
clearly captured in the cable, while I understood their
sanctions policy,
adding Zanu-pf MPs on the sanctions list when they are not
in the politburo
or central committee was unfair and inconsistent with the
claim that the
likes of myself and politburo and central committee members
were put on the
list as decision makers in the party or government.
“This is what is
clearly contained in paragraph 15 of the cable which deals
with issue by
actually recalling what I said. It is notable that in fact
Dell recalls me
as having said I ‘understood’ their sanctions policy and not
having said I
‘accepted ‘it.”
While the party faith full may say ‘hang on a minute’ to
that admission, the
next question for Jonathan Moyo is why then does he now
describe the
sanctions as illegal if he understood the sanctions policy as
reported in
the cable?
With the latest Wikileaks disclosures moving
so fast like a tsunami, sucking
in Zanu-pf politburo and central committee
members among the party’s
loyalists, what will George Charamba say
now?
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
