http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
27 September 2011
Former CIO deputy Director-General, Lovemore
Mukandi, who has been on the
run for a decade since allegedly defrauding the
spy agency, is back in
Harare after reportedly being extradited from
Canada.
Mukandi fled to Canada in 2001 but resurfaced in Harare last week.
Before he
fled the spy boss was facing charges of defrauding the State of
Z$17 million
in a scam involving the construction of five CIO safe
houses.
Reports suggest he was extradited by the Canadians, though
there is no
extradition treaty between the two countries. Attorney General
Johannes
Tomana could only confirm that Mukandi was back in Zimbabwe,
without going
into details. The former CIO boss has already appeared in
court and was
remanded in custody. His lawyers have filed an application for
his release
and for the charges to be dropped.
In the absence of
clear information as to how he ended up in Harare, the
rumour mill has gone
into overdrive, with some suggesting he voluntarily
decided to go back home
after striking a deal with the Attorney General’s
office. There is
precedence for this.
Last month, fugitive ENG Asset Management boss,
Gilbert Muponda, who was
facing charges of abusing Z$61 billion in
depositors’ funds in 2003, went
back to Zimbabwe after spending seven years
holed up in Canada.
He was arrested on his return and spent a night in
custody before all
charges against him were dropped. He’s now a free
man.
Top Zimbabwean banker James Mushore who was on the police wanted
list,
returned home in 2007 after spending four years based in London. He
made a
dramatic escape across Lake Kariba to Zambia and then on to England
in 2004
after the authorities indicated he was wanted for breaching exchange
controls and immigration laws. When he went back to Harare he handed himself
to police, spent a week in custody, before he was also cleared of all
charges.
Analyst Bekithemba Mhlanga told us he could only speculate
that Mukandi
might have struck a deal with the authorities and voluntarily
went back
home.
‘What clouds the situation is there is no extradition
treaty between Canada
and Zimbabwe and the obvious question that comes up is
how then did he go
back to Zimbabwe.
‘We have seen several cases
where purported fugitives have gone back home
and had their charges dropped.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the state drops
Mukandi’s charges as well because
this is someone who knows the system and
who knows how to play the system,’
Mhlanga said.
A former CIO operative however told SW Radio Africa there
is speculation
Mukandi was deported from Canada for having been a senior
figure in Robert
Mugabe’s regime.
‘When he fled the country, it
wasn’t political but he was running away from
justice. He was not a
political refugee in Canada but what I know is there
was a concerted effort
by many Western countries to have him sent back home,’
the former spy said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
27
September 2011
As Zimbabwe continues to refuse to officially recognise
Libya’s National
Transitional Council (NTC), questions are being raised over
whether the
rebel group holds the Deeds to Zimbabwe House in
London.
The deeds to the Embassy were reportedly handed over as ‘surety’
to ousted
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by his friend Robert Mugabe, back
in 2002.
The transaction was said to have been personally facilitated by
Mugabe,
after his ZANU PF government’s failure to pay for oil supplied by
the Libyan
state company Tamoil. Tamoil said in 2002 that Zimbabwe had
failed to meet
its US$90million quarterly payment as part of a US$360
million oil deal
Gaddafi had agreed to.
ZANU PF at the time dismissed
the reports that the deeds to Zimbabwe House
had been handed over, calling
it an attempt to “discredit” the government.
Also in 2002 the UK’s Foreign
Office said that it had not been informed of
any change in ownership of the
property. A spokesman was quoted in 2002 as
saying: “It’s their property so
I suppose they can do what they like with
it.”
SW Radio Africa has
been unable to verify if the Deeds remain in Libyan
hands, but it appears
that in 2002 Gaddafi was somehow placated. Not long
after the reports of the
Deeds-handover, a partnership between Tamoil, the
Libya Arab Foreign Bank
and Zimbabwe’s National Oil Company (NOCZIM) was
created. This joint venture
resulted in Tamoil Zimbabwe, which never
operated, and NOCZIM was last year
threatened over more than US$40 million
in debt to the
Libyans.
Gaddafi has since been ousted and the rebel led National
Transitional
Council (NTC) now holds the reins of power in the oil rich
country. Zimbabwe
(in the form of Mugabe) has refused to recognise the new
administration, and
last month expelled the Libyan Ambassador who declared
his allegiance to the
NTC. Most recently Mugabe has insisted that Gaddafi’s
regime be included in
discussions for Libya’s future, putting his own
allegiance on display.
Uncertainly surrounds the NOCZIM debt, because
Tamoil is now under
international embargo as a
Gaddafi-company.
Commentators have said that Mugabe is refusing to
recognise the NTC over
concerns about what will happen to Gaddafi’s
investments in Zimbabwe. The
Libyan despot is said to be a majority
shareholder in the Commercial Bank of
Zimbabwe, as well as the holder of
numerous properties.
Political analyst Clifford Mashiri told SW Radio
Africa that it is likely
that Gaddafi still holds the Zimbabwe House deeds,
explaining that his
transactions for years have not been transparent. But he
argued that if the
Deeds are now in the hands of the NTC, the administration
will hold onto
them.
“Libya will hold on to any guarantee, pending
the conclusion of the
political process which is unfolding. Zimbabwe owes
much money to Libya
because of oil and these Deeds, if the reports are true,
should remain the
surety for that debt,” Mashiri said.
http://af.reuters.com/
Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:59am
GMT
* Body says many firms disregarding law
* Firms face
cancellation of permits, fines
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, Sept 27
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe will soon probe foreign-owned firms to
establish their
level of compliance with a law requiring them to sell at
least a 51 percent
shareholding in their Zimbabwean operations to locals, an
official said on
Tuesday.
The heavily criticised law is aimed mainly at mining firms and
banks
operating in a resource-rich state that has become an economic basket
case
because of what analysts say are years of mismanagement by President
Robert
Mugabe's government.
Critics see the law as a way for the
government to squeeze cash out of
foreign firms in Zimbabwe and say the
money will go to top officials, not to
ordinary people, who rank among the
poorest in the world.
The ministry charged with enforcing the law will
team up with police to
conduct the investigations, Wilson Gwatiringa, chief
executive of the body
set up to advise the government on implementing the
law, told reporters.
"The board is aware that many non-indigenous
companies have not complied
with the indigenisation law as they are
reluctant to submit their plans for
approval," Gwatiringa
said.
Foreign firms deemed non-compliant could be fined or have their
operating
licences cancelled.
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere
gave the mining industry until Sept.
30 to turn over majority stakes to
locals or face asset seizures. But that
deadline is set to pass without
incident as the authorities are in ownership
talks with mining
firms.
The world's leading platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum ,
number two
producer Impala Platinum and Rio Tinto , which operates a diamond
mine, are
some of the major foreign mining firms with assets in
Zimbabwe.
"Rather than a standardised process, the implementation of the
law is driven
by rent-seeking," said political risk consultancy Africa
specialist Anne
Fruhauf.
A major reason for the law is to allow
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to build up a
war chest ahead of national elections
that could come as early as next year,
she said.
Critics say
Zimbabwe, which is emerging from a decade-long slump during
which its
economy contracted by as much as 50 percent, has no capacity to
raise the
funds needed to take over the mining assets.
Mugabe was forced to share
power with his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime
minister, two years ago
after disputed elections in 2008. The two have sharp
differences over the
ownership policy, which Tsvangirai says threatens
Zimbabwe's economic
recovery.
(AFP) – 8 hours
ago
HARARE — About 700 foreign companies in Zimbabwe missed a deadline to
submit
plans to sell 51 percent of their shares to local blacks under a new
law, a
government official said Tuesday.
Wilson Gwatiringa, head of
the National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Board, said firms
defying the so-called indigenisation law would
face "serious consequences"
including "cancellation or suspension of
operating licences as well as
payment of hefty fines."
"Many non-indigenous companies have not complied
with the indigenisation law
as they are reluctant to submit their
indigenisation plans for approval,"
said Gwatiringa.
He estimated
that "maybe around 700" companies had not complied, adding that
the board
"will be undertaking a wide-scale compliance audit across all
sectors of the
economy."
Gwatiringa urged all foreign-owned companies to submit their
new
shareholding proposals to the board, although the deadline had passed on
September 25.
"We would like to encourage all companies and
businesses that have not
complied with the indigenisation law to take
immediate steps to do so," he
told a news conference.
Gwatiringa said
those that defied the directive would face "serious
consequences" that
include "cancellation or suspension of operating licences
as well as payment
of hefty fines."
Under a new law, all foreign-owned companies --
including banks, mining and
manufacturing firms -- must sell 51 percent of
their equity to local blacks
by 2015.
But Zimbabwe has also proved
willing to strike individual deals with
companies, giving platinum-mining
giant Zimplats more time to submit its
proposal and allowing British insurer
Old Mutual to conduct a "first phase"
of compliance by handing over 25
percent of its shares.
Long-ruling President Robert Mugabe says the
indigenisation law aims to
fight poverty and put control of the economy in
local hands, but the scheme
has raised tensions within the shaky unity
government with Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai's party,
which holds most economic portfolios in government,
fears the law will scare
off investors.
http://www.theafricareport.com
Tuesday, 27
September 2011 17:13
Zimbabwe’s Defence Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa
has warned Western countries
harbouring hopes of invading the country to
topple veteran ruler, President
Robert Mugabe that the army would crush
them.
Mnangagwa, considered to be one of the shrewdest politicians in
Zimbabwe and
touted as Mugabe’s heir apparent, singled out the United States
and Britain.
“The United States, Britain and their allies invaded Libya
so that they can
plunder their oil resource. They might have succeeded in
Libya, but that
will not happen here,” he said, during a tour of a farm,
which the army
grabbed from a white family.′′“
Our detractors with
the help of sell-outs have been working hard to bring
anarchy to Zimbabwe,
but that will not happen because we will crush them.”
Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s
chief election agent during the disputed 2008 election,
claimed that Prime
Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai was a Western puppet assigned
to effect an
“illegal regime change”.
The defence minister is a senior member of
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, which
routinely accuses Tsvangirai of being a Trojan
horse for the US and Britain,
whom they accuse of trying to recolonise
Zimbabwe.
Despite Mnagagwa’s grandstanding, a South African-based
think-tank Southern
Africa Report (SAR) in July said the Zimbabwe army was
no longer a
formidable force.
This was in contrast to, what it
described as, antics of invincibility
portrayed by hardline generals who
have threatened a military coup in the
event Mugabe lost the next poll and
defending the country in case of an
invasion.
The think-tank further
said the army lacked modern machinery and now relies
on obsolete
weapons.
Volcano
Meanwhile, as the signs of restiveness continue
to show in the country, a
youth organization -Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC)
on Monday threatened street
protests against the failure of the inclusive
government to provide
resources that would enable them to venture into job
creation activities. ′′
Briefing members of the parliamentary portfolio
committee on gender and
youth development, ZYC board member Lucky Kandemiri
said youths were likely
to take to “mass disobedience” to air their
disgruntlement.
Kandemiri said the country is seating “on an active
mountain, a volcano is
going to erupt soon”.
“So from now on we take
a stand to forward the needs of youths even if it
means employing civil
disobedience and passive resistance,” he said.
An inclusive government
was inaugurated in 2009 and has seen the economy
stabilise, despite economic
improvement job creation and provision of social
amenities has stalled as
the coalition partners wrangle over positions in
government.
http://www.voanews.com
26 September
2011
Permanent Secretary Washington Mbizvo of the Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary
education told reporters recently that institutions with
a critical shortage
of lectures would close
Chris
Gande
The Zimbabwean government has said it will close
universities or university
programs that are inadequately funded because
they compromise the quality of
education.
Permanent Secretary
Washington Mbizvo of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary
education told
reporters recently that institutions with a critical shortage
of lectures
would close.
The ministry recently suspended doctoral programs at the
National University
of Science and Technology in Bulawayo due to a shortage
of lecturers.
Zimbabwe has 13 universities, nine state-run, the others
private.
University of Zimbabwe Vice-Chancellor Levy Nyagura told
Parliament recently
that his instituiton was hiring expatriate lecturers and
bringing back
former staff members.
Many university lecturers, like
other Zimbabwean professionals, have left
the country in droves to seek
better paying jobs in neighboring countries.
Education expert Isaac Mpofu
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Chris Gande that the
government must give a
higher priority to education before shutting down
programs.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Tuesday 27 September
2011
GWERU – Four ZANU-PF activists including the son of a top
party leader were
on Monday sentenced to a total of 72 years in prison for
the murder of an
opposition supporter two years ago.
In one of the
very few cases where members of President Robert Mugabe’s
party have been
punished for committing violence, Justice Nicolas Mathonsi
ordered Farai
Machaya, the son of provincial governor Jason Machaya; Abel
Maphosa; Edmore
Gana and Bothwell Gana to 18 years in jail each for killing
Moses Chokuda in
March 2009.
Mathonsi, who said the sentence would send a “clear message
on the sanctity
of life”, also slapped suspended jail terms of 12 months
each on two
Zimbabwe army soldiers, Obert Gavi and Tirivashoma Mawadza, who
took part in
the assault of Chokuda.
Chokuda, whose body remains in
Gokwe District Hospital mortuary after his
parents refused to bury it
demanding that his killers be brought to justice
first, was kidnapped by his
attackers who bundled him into a ZANU PF
Midlands province truck and sped
off with him.
Chokuda, who was a member of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC party
and was seized from Gokwe business centre where he
had gone to attend a
party meeting, was never seen alive again. His body was
only discovered two
days later, dumped in some bushes and with signs that he
had been brutally
tortured and assaulted.
An autopsy report produced
in court showed that Chokuda, who sustained
several injuries all over his
body, died from fractures on his cervical
spine.
While the MDC has
said the killing of Chokuda was politically motivated,
prosecutors insisted
that it was purely a criminal act, telling the court
that Machaya and his
co-offenders had accused Chokuda of breaking into
Machaya’s shop.
But
instead of taking Chokuda to the police after they had seized him,
Machaya
and his colleagues and with the assistance of the two soldiers
heavily
assaulted their victim which led to his death.
In his ruling Mathonsi
said it was unacceptable that Machaya and his
colleagues chose to take the
law into their own hands. He said: “This is
unacceptable. Instead of
reporting the burglary matter to the police 3km
away, you hired soldiers of
fortune, who in turn assaulted the deceased.
“The four of you proceeded
to assault the deceased and in the process you
abducted people and
masqueraded as police officers and members of the army.
A sentence that
sends a clear message on the sanctity of life and the need
to uphold the law
is necessary.”
There was no immediate reaction from the MDC. However the
former opposition
party has in the past accused the police of applying the
law selectively by
targeting its supporters for arrest while turning a blind
eye on ZANU PF
activists who, according to Tsvangirai’s party, are behind
most of the
political violence in the country.
Meanwhile Chokuda’s
father told journalists outside Gweru Magistrates’
Court, where the High
Court is sitting while on circuit here, that he was
still not going to bury
his son until the parents of his killers come
forward for talks on the
matter.
This appears to suggest that in addition to the killers of his
son being
jailed, Chokuda’s father may also be seeking compensation for the
death of
his son through the traditional courts. -- ZimOnline
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
27 September
2011
Over a month after retired General Solomon Mujuru died in a farm
house
inferno, the report into his death is still not complete.
The
mysterious death of Mujuru, who died in a fire on August 15th aged 62,
created outrage among his friends and peers who strongly believe he was
murdered.
Mujuru’s wife, Vice President Joice Mujuru, has described
the death as a
‘mystery’ and the family is believed to have hired private
South African
investigators to get to the bottom of the
situation.
Many observers have linked Mujuru’s death to the battle for
control of ZANU
PF when Robert Mugabe steps down. Mujuru was well known for
campaigning for
his wife to take over from Mugabe, while a faction backing
Defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa wanted the ZANU PF strongman to be the
next leader of the
party.
Police spokesman senior assistant
commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena reacted
rather harshly when asked by Newsday
when the report will be ready.
‘No comment. The time will come for
members of the public to know. We cannot
be stampeded by anyone into
discussing something prematurely,’ Bvudzijena
said.
Tuesday, 27 September
2011
Police in Harare have banned the MDC Youth Assembly from holding a
peace
march in central Harare next month. On Monday, the MDC Youth Assembly
Secretary, Promise Mkwananzi notified the police of the party’s intention to
hold a peace march in central Harare on Saturday 16, October
2011.
The peace march is in support of calls by President Morgan
Tsvangirai and
Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe for the creation of a peaceful
environment in the
country. The two leaders have further urged the youths to
be peaceful and
not to be used by politicians to perpetrate violence against
innocent
people.
However, the Youth Assembly was today informed by
the police that the police
had banned all public marches except those
organised by government
ministries or departments.
The Youth Assembly
said it was unhappy with the police decision and would
seek legal assistance
in order to challenge the decision in court.
The proposed peace march by
the Youth Assembly comes at a time when hundreds
of Zanu PF youths under the
notorious wing – Chipangano – have taken over
bus ranks in central Harare
and are demanding cash from bus operators and
vendors. The Zanu PF youths
are also responsible for assaulting innocent
people especially and
Mupedzanhamo, Siyaso and Mbare Musika.
The police have not been taking
any action against these rowdy Zanu PF
youths although most of them are
known. Early this year the police denied
the MDC from holding its meetings
and rallies across the country in clear
defiance of the Public Order and
Security Act (Posa).
According to Posa, the police needs only to be
notified that a political
party is holding a meeting and they have no right
to deny that. The ZRP has
no powers to stop public gatherings and the MDC is
seriously concerned that
it is being used to be the agency and hangman of
Zanu PF, which is a fading
and expiring political party.
Zanu PF
youths have been granted and escorted by the police to hold their
meetings
most of which have turned violent as they looted and assaulted
innocent
people.
--
MDC Information & Publicity
Department
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Two City of Harare councillors, Casper Takura
of Ward 20 Tafara and Warship
Dumba of Ward 17 Mt Pleasant who were arrested
this morning at Mabvuku
Police Station have been transferred to Harare
Central Police Station.
27.09.1104:55pm
by MDC Information & Publicity
Department
Charges for their arrest remain unclear but the MDC
maintains that the
arrests are politically motivated.
Meanwhile,
police in Harare have banned the MDC Youth Assembly from holding
a peace
march in central Harare next month. On Monday, the MDC Youth
Assembly
secretary, Promise Mkwananzi notified the police of the party’s
intention to
hold a peace march in central Harare on Saturday 16, October
2011.
The peace march is in support of calls by President Morgan
Tsvangirai and
Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe for the creation of a peaceful
environment in the
country. The two leaders have urged the youths to be
peaceful and not to be
used by politicians to perpetrate violence against
innocent people.
However, the Youth Assembly was today informed by the
police that the police
had banned all public marches except those organised
by government
ministries or departments.
http://www.iol.co.za
September 27 2011 at 09:57am
Harare - A pressure
group on Monday denounced what it described as the
inhumane condition facing
women imprisoned in police cells in Zimbabwe.
In a petition to the
country's highest court, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
said incarcerated
women were being forced to take off their underwear and
shoes, while their
cells have no light or sanitation.
“The application seeks to highlight
the plight of women in detention, by
showing the added hardships they have
to endure on account of their sex. The
filth, coupled with lack of access to
sanitation, constitutes a violation of
the rights of women in detention,”
Belinda Chinowawa of the Zimbabwe of
Lawyers for Human Rights told the
German Press Agency dpa.
The petition follows the recent arrest of four
WOZA activists, who were
detained at Harare Central Police station for
demonstrating against
escalating energy costs.
In 2005, the country's
Supreme Court Chief ruled that two police cells in
Harare were “degrading
and inhumane and unfit for holding criminal
suspects.” - Sapa-dpa
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
27 September
2011
Continuous adjournments by Parliament have led to many Zimbabweans
calling
into question the role and value of the institution, given the high
running
costs to cover salaries and allowances for 210 MPs and 93 senators,
among
other things. Although a few MP’s and Senators have since died, the
numbers
are still huge.
On Monday it was announced that Parliament will
adjourn again until Tuesday
4th October while the Senate also adjourned to
Tuesday 11th October.
The reason given for these unscheduled adjournments
is that “essential
Parliamentary stenographers have been diverted” to the
Constitutional
Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) to assist in the completion
of its National
Report on the outreach process.
Veritas who monitor
legal and constitutional affairs questioned the
adjournment saying: “It is
astonishing that MPs and Parliament have been
inconvenienced in this way.
COPAC separated its funding out from Parliament
and has a lavish amount of
funding both from the fiscus and from donors. It
could have hired
stenographers. Parliamentary running costs are considerable
even when it is
not sitting.”
The group argued that “these continual adjournments cost
the tax payer
money. Also the voters expect more of their legislators – very
little
Parliamentary business has been done over the past three
years.”
For example both Parliament and the Senate sat on Tuesday 20th,
Wednesday
21st and Thursday 22nd September, but Veritas said: “The Senate’s
sittings
were brief, dropping to only 20 minutes on Thursday. The House of
Assembly
put in longer hours: 2 hours 35 minutes on Tuesday, 2 hours 41
minutes on
Wednesday, 1 hour 50 minutes on Thursday. The House of Assembly
then
adjourned for 10 days and the Senate for 17 days.”
One
frustrated listener told SW Radio Africa that it was sad to hear that MP’s
were running away from Parliament and drinking beer at the nearby pub. He
suggested some of the MP’s even go for parliamentary sittings while ‘drunk’.
The listener said the pub which is near Parliament should be shut down and
‘perhaps the MP’s would get more work done.”
http://www.businesslive.co.za/
27
September, 2011 11:12
Wallace Mawire
Zimbabwe is to conduct a national infrastructure
audit to establish the
status of the country's infrastructure, Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara says.
Arthur Mutambara at a recent
infrastructure, building and construction
conference held at the inaugural
Zimbuild expo in Harare
Mutambara informed delegates at a recent
infrastructure, building and
construction conference held at the inaugural
Zimbuild expo in Harare, on
the need to rehabilitate the country's
infrastructure to improve
competitiveness.
Zimbuild is a sector expo
held by Marketplace Interventions Ltd with support
from the Infrastructure
Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) and other key
players, to assess the
state of the infrastructure, building and
construction industry in
Zimbabwe.
It is reported that the economic challenges that faced Zimbabwe
are having
an effect on the construction sector. Zimbuild aims to create
sustainable
value chains in the built environment and to reposition the
construction
sector in Zimbabwe. An infrastructure master plan is expected
to be produced
after the audit.
Making a presentation on the role of
infrastructure in country
competitiveness, Mutambara said the proposed
master plan was a work in
progress and was expected to be completed in six
to eight months.
"We intend to carry out an audit of the infrastructure
in the country so
that we can begin work on rehabilitating it," Mutambara
says.
Mutambara said that unless Zimbabwe addressed the issue of
infrastructure,
it will be difficult to move the country forward. He said
infrastructure had
the potential strength to improve the country's
competitiveness.
Mutambara added that some of the areas which would be
focused on included
water, energy, telecoms, ICT, power, roads and rail,
amongst others.
"The private sector must work with government to improve
the state of
dilapidated infrastructure in Zimbabwe through Public Private
Partnerships,"
Mutambara says.
Some of the issues that will be
examined in the audit include long term
plans for rehabilitating defunct
infrastructure, building a solid
infrastructure base, creating
competitiveness including monitoring and
evaluation as well as establishing
what resources were required to fulfil
these goals.
http://www.voanews.com/
26
September 2011
Sources said Kasukuwere with Local Government
Minister Ignatius Chombo and
Mhondoro-Ngezi lawmaker Bright Matonga have
bypassed Chief Nyika of the area
around the Zimplats operation in forming a
community trust
Gibbs Dube | Washington
Zimbabwean
Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and two ZANU-PF
lawmakers are at
odds with a traditional chief in Mhondoro-Ngezi
constituency, Mashonaland
West Province, over how to administer a local
community stake in platinum
producer Zimplats likely to be ceded by the
company under the country's
black empowerment law.
The weekly Standard newspaper reported and Cabinet
sources said that
Kasukuwere in league with Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo and
Mhondoro-Ngezi lawmaker Bright Matonga have bypassed
Chief Nyika of the area
around the Zimplats operation in forming a community
trust to hold Zimplats
shares ceded under indigenization.
The sources
said Kasukuwere, Chombo and Matonga, all ZANU-PF members or
officials, have
sought the help of three other chiefs in moving to set up a
community trust
in the apparent intention of gaining control over shares
worth some $120
million.
Nyika, who formed the Mhondoro-Ngezi Community Development
Foundation some
time ago, was reported to be furious and threatening to
derail the ZANU-PF
proposal.
Neither Kasukuwere nor any of the other
ZANU-PF officials, nor Nika, could
be reached immediately for comment.
Kasukuwere was said to be busy Monday
scrutinizing company indigenization
plans as a deadline for submission of
such plans passed on
Sunday.
Deputy Indigenization Minister Tongai Matutu said the Cabinet
should act
swiftly to stop politicians from grabbing shares under the guise
of
empowering local populations.
Development worker Liberty Bhebhe
said the goings-on in Mhondoro-Ngezi show
that ZANU-PF officials want to
enrich themselves through indigenization.
Economist Tony Hawkins said
community trusts will not benefit most
Zimbabweans. "If the aim of this
program is to empower Zimbabweans then we
should not have a limited number
of people that belong to certain community
trusts," said
Hawkins.
Meanwhile, Indigenisation Ministry Legal Adviser Psychology
Mazivisa told
VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that Kasukuwere on Tuesday would
announce the
consequences for companies which failed to meet Sunday’s
deadline to file
plans to comply with the Indigenization and Economic
Empowerment Act and
related regulations.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Sep 27, 2011, 16:35
GMT
Harare- A Zimbabwean man is appealing to the country's high court for
the
return of 300 million dollars worth of diamonds that disappeared from
the
court that wrongly convicted him of illegally possessing the precious
stones.
Newman Chiadzwa, 55, was convicted and sentenced to five
years in prison
over the possession of 43,028 carats of diamonds. The high
court quashed the
sentence earlier this year, prompting Chiadzwa to approach
prosecutors, who
used the diamonds as an exhibit during his
trial.
According to magistrates, the diamonds, weighing a total of 8.61
kilograms,
had been handed over to mines ministry officials.
However,
Chiadzwa's defence lawyers said Tuesday they had had no luck
getting them
back from the ministry.
Zimbabwe diamonds are not new to controversies.
Aside from claims of human
rights abuses committed by the army during the
mining process, the country's
finance minister has said over 100 million
dollars realised from the auction
of diamonds last year were still not
accounted for.
http://www.radiovop.com
4 hours 56 minutes ago
The United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID) has
committed US$35 million towards the
implementation of the Zimbabwe
Government’s National Action Plan for Orphans
and Vulnerable Children (NAP
for OVC 2) to improve the plight of the poorest
and most vulnerable children
in Zimbabwe over the next four
years.
DFID in partnership with the Netherlands, Sweden and the
Delegation of the
European Union will provide cash transfers to the poorest
households and
ensure that the most vulnerable children in Zimbabwe are
protected from
violence and abuse. Donor support is provided through the
Child Protection
Fund, a specific funding mechanism managed by UNICEF to
support the
implementation of the NAP for OVC 2.
Head of DFID
Zimbabwe, Dave Fish says “we are committed to working with the
National
Government, bi-lateral and multi-lateral partners to protect the
most
vulnerable and support the poorest households in Zimbabwe to climb out
of
poverty.”
In Zimbabwe, DFID supports a range of development programmes
that directly
benefit the most vulnerable Zimbabweans, helping to reduce
poverty and
hunger; increase access to education and employment; empower
women and
girls; improve maternal and child health; reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS;
and reduce the number of people without access to water and
sanitation. This
year DFID’s budget for Zimbabwe is $130m, the largest ever.
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 27/09/11
You don’t need to be a rocket
scientist to know that the on-going crusade
against Anglicans and Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) must be retribution for
targeted sanctions imposed on
Mugabe and his inner circle by the West for
rights abuses.
It is fair
to say that the eviction of innocent Anglican priests, nuns,
headmasters,
teachers, nursing staff, carers of orphans from church—owned
properties by
pro-Zanu-pf Nolbert Kunonga with the blessing of the police
and some of the
judges is Mugabe’s way of roughing up his arch enemy
Britain.
Similarly, the continued incarceration of WOZA’s leaders
Jenni Williams and
Magodonga Mahlangu who were honoured last year by U.S.
President Barack
Obama, can be argued as Mugabe shadow-boxing America over
sanctions.
At the moment, judging from body language and his rhetoric,
Mugabe is very
paranoid and isolated both at home and abroad in the wake of
those
devastating Wikileaks revelations showing how some of his lieutenants
are
impatiently waiting for his retirement or death, whichever comes
sooner.
At home, the only string holding the fragmenting Zanu-pf is fear
of
stalking, physical harm, abduction, disappearance without trace, torture
or
being thrown into a mine shaft by political thugs like Chipangano and men
in
dark glasses who drive unmarked twin-cab vehicles.
The leaked
cables have opened up a Pandora’s box in the art of diplomacy
after we
learnt how some African ambassadors of countries Mugabe counts on
as friends
wished for regime change and his early departure as far back as
ten years
ago.
As a sign of his weakened position Mugabe dared not declare the
diplomats
Persona Non Grata, only to vent his anger at those African
countries that
recognized Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC)
describing them as
“sellouts”.
Robert Mugabe is the odd-one out on
the entire African continent if not the
whole world after the African Union,
the United Nations, the Arab League,
the European Union and even Russia,
China and South Africa recognised Libya’s
NTC.
Fortunately, the
African Union realised how its credibility was at stake if
it refused to
recognise the NTC when it had earlier endorsed UN Resolution
1973 allowing
NATO forces to protect innocent civilians who were being
threatened by
Muammar Gaddafi.
Even if Mugabe continues to persecute Anglicans and WOZA
in particular as
well as the opposition and civil society in general, the
consolation is that
targeted sanctions have proved more effective in
punishing tyrants like him
than the International Criminal Court (ICC) which
takes time to bring
culprits of human rights abuses to book, with some dying
before facing
justice.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst,
London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
