This is to let you know that
unless we are able to raise required finances by October 31, the Zimbabwe
Connection will have to cease operations. To put it in perspective, we need
about AUD$30,000.
Because we are now dealing with
such enormous numbers on both sides of the equation, it has become necessary to
install a virtual private network to give others access to our database of
skills and jobs available. This would enable the work of making connections
between Zimbabweans seeking positions and Australians unable to find the skills
they need locally, to be spread effectively among the many volunteers who have
offered to help.
It is very sad, coming at a time
when what this organisation is doing is now being recognised, not only in
Southern Africa, but throughout Australia. Over the last two years,
we have been able to achieve unprecedented and much needed growth in skills and
experience to the regional areas of Australia – and find positions for Zimbabwe families which mean they are
employed in their area of expertise from the moment they
arrive.
Unfortunately the main database
and point of entry is through my computer, and unless everything is centralised
so that we don’t have duplications and inefficiencies, it can at this stage,
only be operated on my computer. A virtual private network would grant
privileged access to certain people who would be able to download cv’s or look
for positions on offer.
As a registered charitable
organisation, we can only accept donations and we have to be very sure we do not
cross the boundaries between migration or employment agency work.
Unfortunately the workload has increased to such a point that it is severely
affecting my health, finances and, because it is voluntary and takes so much
time, my ability to earn a still very necessary living. In addition, and for
me perhaps the most frustrating of all, I know that I am unable to respond as
effectively as I should to the now hundreds of enquiries and offers of jobs
which come in every month.
I would like to thank my
committee, in particular Mandy Campbell and her wonderful group of welcoming
carers, as well as all those who have tried so hard to help and borne with me
during the turmoil of the last few months. I will work doubly hard until
October 31st to ensure that anyone on my database at present gets my
full attention – and I hope you will join me with a few prayers that sufficient
funding might come through to allow us to continue.
Jill
Lambert
Zim Standard
Bishop accused of adultery
By Caiphas Chimhete
but
says he is being framed by some church leaders unhappy with his
appointment
THE incoming Bishop of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, Rev Dr
Charles
Mugaviri, is enmeshed in an intriguing controversy.
He was nabbed by
police last week in the company of gay activists near the
State House and at
the same time he is being blamed for the breakdown of the
marriage of a
church member in circumstances that threaten to tear the
church
apart.
The Bishop, however, regards all this as a plot by senior
church leaders,
unhappy with his appointment and age. He is
36.
Investigations by The Standard last week revealed that all has not
been well
in the Methodist Church for the past 12 months, with several
meetings held
over Mugaviri, who stands accused of being involved in an
adulterous
relationship with Deborah Ndebele, the wife of Emmanuel Ndebele, a
member of
the church.
However, Church elders kept a series of crucial
meetings called to
deliberate on these matters a secret until last week when
the Bishop ran
into trouble with the police after he was arrested near
President Mugabe's
official residence.
The Bishop was in the company
of GALZ director, Keith Goddard, and Nyaradzo
Musasa, a staff member of the
organisation.
Assistant Commissioner Crime for Harare Province, Killian
Mandisodza,
confirmed police detained the Bishop at around 3 pm together with
the gay
activists after they were found parked close to State House on 17
August
this year.
"It's a no-stopping zone that is why they were
detained.
"We are not worried whether he is gay or not. Anyone is free to
belong to
any organisation or association in the country," Mandisodza
said.
The three were detained at Harare Central Police Station and spent
a night
in custody. The following day Goddard paid a $25 000 fine for parking
at a
security zone and the others were released without a charge.
The
Bishop, who denies any association with GALZ, told The Standard that he
found
himself in the company of gay activists after Nyaradzo Musasa
indicated to
him that they were in "trouble" near State House.
Mugaviri said he
assisted them because he also wanted Musasa to help him
explain to church
leaders that he was not a member of GALZ as was being
alleged by some church
members.
"I think it was a trap to tarnish my name. She (Musasa) said she
was beaten
by the police but when I arrived there was nothing like that.
Instead, I was
arrested and taken to Harare Central Police Station," Mugaviri
said.
Musasa denied she was part of any plot to discredit the
Bishop.
"Mugaviri asked for my assistance and I was just doing that. I
think it was
a coincidence," she said.
In a spirited effort to clear
his name, the Bishop went as far as getting a
letter from GALZ, which he took
to the church's elders.
In a letter to outgoing Bishop Clever Mukandi
dated August 20, Goddard
wrote: "This is to confirm that the Reverend Charles
Mugaviri is not a
member of GALZ, has never attempted to join this
organisation and has never
visited our premises."
It is not just this
accusation that the new bishop is fighting to ward off.
Investigations by
this newspaper last week revealed that there are also
divisions in the church
over allegations that Mugaviri was involved in an
adulterous relationship
with Deborah Ndebele.
While Deborah Ndebele denied being intimate with
Mugaviri, she told The
Standard that the Bishop had unsuccessfully tried to
force himself on her on
Valentine's Day last year.
She said on 14
February last year, Mugaviri phoned her while she was
attending a Sunningdale
Methodist Church Funding Dinner Dance at the
Sheraton in Harare. He invited
her out.
"Mugaviri came to the Sheraton but refused to have dinner at the
hotel
saying people would see us and I wondered. We drove into town but all
places
were occupied, so we proceeded to Cresta Lodge, where he had already
booked
a private room without my knowledge," explained Deborah Ndebele,
adding that
Mugaviri had made several other advances in the past, which she
turned down.
Deborah Ndebele said while they were having dinner at Cresta
Lodge, her
husband phoned her and asked Mugaviri to take her home
immediately.
Asked why she did not decline Mugaviri's invitation, Deborah
Ndebele said:
"I was his secretary, it was difficult for me to
refuse."
Her husband, Emmanuel Ndebele, former treasurer of the Church
resigned from
his job in March this year in protest against the alleged sex
scandal.
On Friday he told The Standard that he was going through very
difficult
times because of the Bishop, among other men, whom he alleged
were
responsible for the breakdown of his marriage.
"My friend, I am
going through a very difficult time. Anyway, the issue of
Mugaviri is part of
my divorce proceedings," he said, claiming that his wife
might have other
boyfriends, beside the Bishop who infuriated him most
because he was a
"church minister and a personal friend".
He claimed three other men, who
were going out with his wife, had apologised
but Mugaviri had refused to do
so. "Mbavha dzese dzakapinda mumba mangu
dzakapinda neburi rakaboorwa
naMugaviri ," said Emmanuel Ndebele. He did not
name the other men whom he
said had apologised. His wife denied having any
extra marital
affairs.
Emmanuel Ndebele wrote to Mugaviri on August 17 this year
notifying him of
his intention to take legal action.
But the Bishop
flatly denied ever making advances to Mrs Ndebele saying he
treated her only
as a secretary and a family friend. He said there were some
senior ministers
in the church who were "cooking up" cases against him in
order to prevent his
confirmation as substantive Bishop. Mugaviri said his
problems started when
he was appointed Bishop-designate in August last year.
"It is totally
unfounded and I have evidence to prove my innocence," said
Mugaviri, who was
flanked by his wife, Shingirirai, during an interview with
The Standard on
Friday.
Mugaviri also produced a letter, written by Cresta Lodge general
manager,
Leonard Chihwai, stating that he never booked at Cresta Lodge on the
day in
question.
"This is to confirm that we have checked our Hotel
records and the above
mentioned (Mugaviri) was not neither (sic) booked nor
stayed at the Hotel on
14 February 2003," says the letter.
Attempts to
independently verify this particular assertion were
unsuccessful. The Hotel's
deputy general manager, Sekai Sikhosana, said: "If
ever he booked here, it
was his private business and it is only him again
whom we can give that
record, if he makes a request. People's records here
are private and
confidential."
Mugaviri claimed that on February 14 last year, he was
home with his family
together with a friend, Pedzisai Mashizha, and a
relative, Sikoliwe Mugodhi.
Mugodhi also claimed she was with the
Mugaviri family the night in question
and that he did not go
out.
Mugaviri claimed that some ministers, who were jealous of his
meteoric rise
in the church and subsequent election as Bishop at a conference
at Waddilove
High School in Marondera two weeks ago, concocted the issue of
infidelity.
Being a young Bishop, Mugaviri, who holds a doctorate in
Theology from
Birmingham University, said some older ministers of the church
were not
happy with his meteoric rise. He had also worked as Senior
Chaplain
(1999-2000) and Acting of Dean of Students at the University of
Zimbabwe
between 2000 and 2003.
"It is evident that I am dealing with
church politics. The fact that it was
raised a few days after my appointment
to the office of Bishop is designed
to tarnish my image."
Several
senior church ministers contested for the post of Bishop of the
Methodist
Church but Mugaviri was not sure who among them was behind the
whole
campaign.
Rev Levee Kadenge, Rev Munetsi Hokonya, and Rev George Mawire
are among
those who contested the post of Bishop of the Church.
But
the final battle was between Mugaviri, who polled 71 votes against
Kadenge,
who received 69 votes.
Kadenge refused to comment saying: "Our head
(Bishop Mukandi) has the
mandate to do so. Please do not put our church in
shame. Leave us alone."
Bishop Mukandi confirmed that, he, together with
other senior church leaders
tried to mediate in the alleged sexual scandal
involving Mugaviri and Mrs
Ndebele.
He said the church's Pastoral
Committee and other smaller committees had
initially advised Mugaviri to step
down as an aspiring candidate for the
post of Bishop but he
refused.
"As a democratic institution, we allowed him to contest and he
won. A
suspect is innocent until proven guilty," said Mukandi who on Friday
placed
an advertorial in The Herald announcing Mugaviri as the new presiding
Bishop
with effect from December this year.
Joseph Mafusire, who is
the Mugaviri's lawyer, said that people who did not
want to see him confirmed
as Bishop were making the accusations against his
client.
"Their
accusations could not stand, no wonder he (Mugaviri) was confirmed
as
Bishop," said Mafusire yesterday.
Zim Standard
Govt drive against graft losing steam
By Foster
Dongozi
WHEN the government launched its much-publicised crackdown on
corruption
towards the end of 2003, Zimbabweans dismissed the initiative as a
stunt
designed to win votes ahead of the March 2005 parliamentary
election.
Cynics suggested the stunt was designed to settle personal
scores with
business people and bankers who had crossed the paths of the Zanu
PF top
leadership.
Nine months down the line, the scepticism
appears to have been vindicated.
The so-called anti-corruption drive appears
to have lost both direction and
momentum.
Most of the suspects who
were being investigated have now been cleared of
the charges or were
conveniently out of the country when the investigations
started, raising
questions about the authenticity of the crackdown on
corruption, spearhead by
the Anti-Corruption ministry.
Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner
Wayne Bvudzijena vehemently
denied that they were being used as pawns in a
war to settle personal
scores.
"That is a very crude allegation to
make. But then in a country such as
ours, people are free to air their
opinions. We as the police don't have a
role to play in political issues but
should politicians commit crimes then
naturally we will investigate them,"
Bvudzijena said.
Asked why most suspects were outside the country when
investigations were
launched, thus allowing some of them to abscond,
Bvudzijena said: "That
might be true, but we don't determine when people can
give us leads or
information on corrupt activities."
The head of
Intermarket Building Society, Nicholas Vingirai, and the founder
of Barbican
Bank, Mthuli Ncube, were outside the country when the
investigation was
launched, while the remaining NMB directors found their
way out of the
country when investigations started.
Chinhoyi Member of Parliament,
Philip Chiyangwa, who was facing charges of
contempt of court, perjury and
attempting to obstruct the course of justice
was acquitted on August 26. The
magistrate said the State had failed to
establish a case against
him.
In acquitting Chiyangwa, Harare provincial magistrate, Judith Tsamba
said:
"It appears that initially, there was a reasonable suspicion linking
the
accused (Chiyangwa) to the offences. However, in view of the evidence
on
record, it is surprising that this case was brought to trial."
He
had been linked to operations of the collapsed asset management company,
ENG,
after some of the company's vehicles were found on his property.
Four
days later, Zanu PF supporter and aspiring Kadoma East Member of
Parliament,
Bright Matonga, had charges he was facing under the Prevention
of Corruption
dropped.
Matonga, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) chief
executive
officer, was arrested in March on corruption charges involving
$1,25
billion.
Prosecutor, Venrandah Munyoro told the court that the
Attorney General's
Office had decided to drop the charges because it wanted
to research on
certain evidence.
After being arrested in a blaze of
publicity early this year, Harare
businesswoman and Zanu PF supporter, Jane
Mutasa, was fined $8,5 million for
illegally dealing in foreign
currency.
The anti-corruption crusade also netted ENG directors, Nyasha
Watyoka and
Gilbert Muponda.
Muponda was granted bail and skipped the
country, reportedly headed for the
USA.
Ever suspicious, Zimbabweans
suggested his connections to powerful people in
the ruling Zanu PF could have
facilitated his way to freedom.
But while the anti-corruption drive steam
appears to be fizzling out, the
spotlight will remain trained on Finance
Minister Christopher Kuruneri, and
Zanu PF central committee member, James
Makamba. Kuruneri faces charges of
allegedly externalising funds, while
Makamba faces charges of illegally
dealing in foreign currency.
Pastor
Goodwill Shana, the chairperson of Transparency International
Zimbabwe, said
the haphazard nature of the anti-corruption crusade made it
open to abuse and
different interpretations.
"The anti-corruption drive has been very
selective and haphazard in
addressing issues of corruption. There is need to
be more serious and
vigorous because it looks like the anti-corruption
measures are implemented
when it is convenient.
"We could start, for
example, with all people in leadership positions
declaring their assets and
this would avoid problems such as multiple
ownership of farms."
Zim Standard
Tungamirai fills power vacuum
By Walter
Marwizi
RETIRED Air Marshall Josiah Tungamirai has assumed the role of
the ruling
party supremo in Masvingo, following the death of veteran
nationalist Dr
Eddison Zvobgo, The Standard can reveal.
Tungamirai has
for years been an active player in Masvingo's politics
although playing
second fiddle to the late Vice President Simon Muzenda and
Zvobgo, Masvingo's
two illustrious sons who are buried at the Heroes' Acre.
Tungamirai's
seniority over other politicians such as governor Josiah
Hungwe, Foreign
Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge, among others, is based on his
contribution and
liberation war credentials.
He was a military strategist and guerrilla
leader.
All along Tungamirai, who retired from the Air Force of Zimbabwe
1992, had
been overshadowed by both Muzenda and Zvobgo who for years were
involved in
a bitter factional war over control of the populous
province.
In 1995, however, he hogged the limelight when he rejected
calls from senior
Zanu PF officials not to defy party rules barring any
election challenge to
ruling party's Vice-Presidents.
Tungamirai, was
interested in the Gutu North constituency, where Muzenda,
keen to leave some
"landmarks" in his home area, also wanted to stand.
At the height of the
political drama that characterised the two politicians'
struggle for the Gutu
North tucked in south-eastern Masvingo, Tungamirai
remarked:
"If a
parent finds me already in the ring and insists on fighting, I cannot
go
out."
He, however, bowed out of the race after President Mugabe asked him
to.
Apart from his war exploits, Tungamirai is also member of the
Politburo,
which is the ruling's party highest decision-making
body.
He also boasts being the only surviving Masvingo politician who
witnessed
the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement on 21 December 1979, a
deal
that marked the end of the settler regime.
At that conference, he
rubbed shoulders with the late Zanla general Josiah
Magama Tongogara, the
late Vice President and "Father Zimbabwe", Joshua
Nkomo, among other heroes
of the struggle.
Last Saturday, the veteran freedom fighter who was in
Mucheke to bid
farewell to his colleague, Zvobgo, did not hide the fact that
he was already
in the driving seat of the provincial politics.
"I
fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe since 1972 and the objective was
to
free the country. Now my focus is to unite people in Masvingo,"
Tungamirai
said.
"I do not have a new vision for the province, unity
is what was cherished by
both the late Vice President Simon Muzenda and
Eddison Zvobgo when they were
alive. They wanted to see us united and that is
precisely what I want to see
happening," Tungamirai said.
Commenting
on the forthcoming Zanu PF primary elections, which are likely to
be marred
by divisions, Tungamirai said:
"It's normal for people to be divided when
they are campaigning. What is
crucial is that after the primary elections we
want the candidates and their
supporters to be united. Everybody should
embrace unity."
Hungwe said last week he was not competent to talk about
who was the most
senior politician in Masvingo.
"Zveukuru ndezvavakuru
izvi. Isu tiri vadiki tinongohwa naPresident kuti
vati mukuru ndiyani.
Hatitauri izvozvo isu. Eh Tungamirai mukuru, handiti
imember yePolitburo?
Vakuru, isu tiri vadiki," (the issue of who is the most
senior politician is
beyond us. We will wait to hear from the President. We
therefore do not
discuss the issue. Tungamirai is senior. He is a member of
the politburo and
therefore senior) said Hungwe.
Zim Standard
Mutare buys ambulances
By our own Staff
MUTARE -
The city of Mutare last week acquired four new ambulances, boosting
its fleet
to six and reviving its health delivery capacity. The new vehicles
cost the
council $525 million.
Before the purchase of the ambulances the city,
with a population of more
than 300 000 people, solely relied on two
ambulances.
In the event that one of the ambulances went in for
repairs, it meant the
entire population was serviced by only one
ambulance.
Misheck Kagurabadza, the Executive Mayor of Mutare, said he
hoped the new
ambulances would normalise health service delivery in the
city.
"The ambulances are set to breathe fresh air to many in Mutare
since this
will go a long way in ensuring no one dies as a result of the
unavailability
of ambulances," Kagurabadza said.
He said for the city
to operate normally, it requires at least five
ambulances.
"Now that
we have six, we are grateful."
The mayor said he expected the ambulances
to be put to use any time from
now.
The purchase of the ambulances met
with joy by Mutare residents, many of
whom hired private vehicles after
failing to get service from the council.
"Now we will depend on council
ambulances which we hope will be used
properly in order to last longer on the
roads," said Rudo Sangano of
Sakubva.
Service delivery has remained a
problem for many local authorities.
Recently, the United Nations
Children's Fund, Unicef, donated nine ox-drawn
"ambulances" for use mostly by
rural communities.
Zim Standard
Land reform displaced 150 000 farm workers, says
report
By our own Staff
MORE than 150 000 farm workers have been
internally displaced after they
lost their jobs since the beginning of the
controversial land reform
programme in 2000, according to findings of an
assessment mission by
Refugees International.
Two researchers from the
United States-based organization - Sarah Martin and
Andrea Lariec - observed
that "economic disruption, political intimidation
and harassment" have
resulted in the displacement of thousands of former
farm
workers.
They note that, as conditions for the former farm workers
deteriorated, the
government was "imposing restrictions and preventing
humanitarian agencies
from providing them with assistance, resulting in a
hidden crisis of
internal displacement in the country".
Since 2000,
when the land occupations began, Zimbabwe's economic situation
has
deteriorated and food production has dropped, say the
researchers.
"Unemployment has spread rapidly. An estimated 78% of farm
workers, who
represented 25% of the national active working force, have lost
their jobs.
"This crisis has been caused by the poor implementation of
the Fast-Track
Land Reform programme by the government, compounded by
regional droughts.
"The government has implemented special political
re-education programmes
while impeding humanitarian access to organisations
deemed to be part of the
political opposition to consolidate their political
strength in anticipation
of upcoming parliamentary
elections."
Refugees International says former farm workers who spoke to
them, told
horrendous tales of how they were violently removed from farms
during the
land reform exercise.
"The war veterans destroyed houses in
order to push farm workers off the
land and to ensure that they could not
return. In some cases, people were
ferried to communal areas or dumped at
road sides," one former farm worker
told Refugees
International.
However, Martin and Lariec say not all former farm workers
were removed from
farms by violent eviction and explain a different kind of
'displacement'
"Displacement is also due to economic conditions on the
former commercial
farms," say Martin and Lariec.
"Some of the new
settlers have been unable to farm their allotment of land
due to lack of
financial capital or lack of essential agricultural inputs.
"Many of the
new settlers refuse to or cannot pay minimum wage to
farm
workers."
The assessors say some former farm workers accused new
settlers of using
intimidation, hunger, and other methods to get the farm
workers to work for
them in "slave labour" conditions.
"In some case,
new settlers ban access to NGOs that provide food assistance,
telling farm
workers, 'If you are getting food, you will be sent out of
the
farm'.
"The majority of former farm workers have opted to stay on
the farms or
remain 'trapped' on the land. Those who have remained have few
livelihood
options and turn to other activities such as gold panning and
hunting of
game for commercial sales."
One farm worker told the
researchers: "My wife works for the new settlers to
keep the peace and I pan
for gold. Life on the farm is not good but I have
nowhere else to
go."
Refugees International also observed that the deplorable living
conditions
on the farms are making farm workers "increasingly
vulnerable".
"Lack of sufficient food and access to basic services such
as water and
sanitation, healthcare and primary education have made the
former farm
workers that are trapped on the farms increasingly
vulnerable.
"It is estimated that there are 900 000 to 1,2 million
orphans in Zimbabwe
and an average of 12 orphans per commercial farm. Both
orphans and children
of former farm-workers are particularly impacted by the
economic problems.
"Besides insufficient food, children lack money for
uniforms, supplies, and
transport to schools. Some children have to work as
casual labour on farms,
performing tasks such as picking cotton or weeding
crops to help support
their families.
"Orphans are usually the first
to drop out of school for lack of funds.
These orphans are vulnerable to
exploitation as child labour."
Older orphans drift to nearby cities and
towns to make a living on the
streets or as prostitutes.
However, in
the face of these rapidly growing levels of vulnerability, the
government,
both at national and local levels, is setting barriers to access
for
humanitarian agencies, says Refugees International.
"By progressively
reducing the operational space of humanitarian agencies,
the government is
preventing assistance from reaching those who need it.
Zim Standard
'Revisit ISP licensing'
By our own Staff
MUTARE -
AFRICA University (AU) Vice Chancellor Professor Rukudzo Murapa
last week
appealed to the government to revisit its legislation regarding
issuing of
licences to Internet Service Providers, (ISPs).
Professor Murapa said the
legislation in place prohibited individuals and
institutions such as the AU
from running ISPs .
"The current licensing fees are prohibitive. For
example, POTRAZ (Post and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe) requires educational
institutions to pay at least US$70 000 per
year as licencing fees.
The AU vice chancellor was speaking during the
presentation of 25 computers
valued at US$56 000 which were donated to the
institution by First Lady,
Grace Mugabe.
Speaking at the same
occasion, the First Lady said she had cut down on some
of her needs in order
to raise money to buy the equipment.
"I had to forgo some things to
ensure I get these computers for you. I am
ploughing back to the community
what I got from it. I did my secondary
education in Rusape," she
said.
She said statistics showed that Africa still falls far short in the
usage of
computers. "Recent records show that in Africa 1 000 people share
a
computer, compared to one computer among 40 people in the world. We
are
happy Zimbabwe is doing well in this area."
She said it was time
more people became computer literate as the world was
fast changing.
Zim Standard
Makamba launches appeal
By our own
Staff
BUSINESSMAN James Makamba on Friday appealed to the Supreme Court,
with his
attorney filing an urgent chamber application against a decision
granting
the State an appeal against the businessman's release.
High
Court Judge Lawrence Kamocha last week ordered that Makamba be freed
from
jail after quashing five charges of externalising foreign currency
levelled
against him.
But Supreme Court Judge, Justice Vernada Ziyambi on
Monday last week granted
the Attorney-General leave to appeal against
Makamba's release.
In the application before the Supreme Court, Makamba's
lawyer, George
Chikumbirike, argues that Justice Ziyambi had misdirected
herself in
granting the Attorney-General leave to appeal.
"It is
respectfully submitted that the learned Judge of appeal (Ziyambi JA
sitting
in chambers) misdirected herself (completely) in making the order
granting
the Attorney General leave to appeal without giving the appellant
an
opportunity to oppose the application orally or in writing,"
argues
Chikumbirike.
He added that Justice Ziyambi's procedure was
unprecedented as it had no
legal basis and moreover, the case was going to be
set down before the
Regional Court on September 10 .
"Had it not been
for the application seeking leave which was filed by the
respondent, the
appellant's trial would have been finalised on the 10th of
September 2004.
However, because of the unprocedural order granted by the
Learned Judge of
Appeal, the appeal is therefore pending and the matter at
the Regional Court
will, in all probability, be postponed," Chikumbirike
says.
He said
that it was necessary for the matter to be determined before the
date of the
sentencing so that proper guidance is given to the Regional
Court on whether
to proceed or not with the ruling.
Chikumbirike wants the order granting
leave to appeal put aside and the
application by the Attorney General placed
before another judge of appeal,
giving sufficient opportunity to the
appellant to make representations
before a decision is made.
Makamba,
who is still to be sentenced on six other charges of illegally
dealing in
foreign currency that he has already pleaded guilty to, is
fighting for his
total freedom.
The businessman, who spent almost seven months in custody,
was arrested for
allegedly externalising several millions of pounds and about
US$1 million,
and illegally buying properties abroad in contravention of
foreign exchange
regulations.
However, the state's case gradually
collapsed, with prosecutors unable to
produce evidence to sustain their
allegations.
Eventually, Makamba was convicted on his own plea on six
charges of
illegally selling US$130 000 to his mobile phone company,
Telecel.
Zim Standard
Rights activists arrested
By our own Staff
TWO
human rights activists were last week arrested at Porta Farm, while
assessing
the situation of squatters, who are being evicted by the police in
defiance
of a High Court order.
An official from the Amnesty International
Zimbabwe, Obert Chinhamo, and
another one from the Non Violent Action For
Social Change (NOVASC), Masanho
Maruwacha, were arrested on Thursday for
allegedly mobilising Porta Farm
residents to resist a government directive to
vacate the farm.
The two had gone to the farm following reports that
police and members of
the notorious Chipangano group linked to the ruling
Zanu PF were evicting
Porta Farm residents, in complete defiance of a High
Court order stopping
the government from evicting the squatters.
Zim Standard
President's farm neglected: workers
By Foster
Dongozi
FARM workers at Bineth Farm, outside Kadoma, owned by Malawian
President,
Bingu wa Mutharika say poor housing at the farm - dilapidated pole
and mud
structures - poses a health hazard.
The workers, who spoke on
condition of anonymity also called on the Malawian
President to ensure that
electricity was installed at the compound.
"In addition, not all the
22 workers at the farm have been paid their August
wages and this is very
demoralising, but we hope that since Mr Wa Mutharika
is now a Head of State,
our conditions of service will improve," said one
farm worker.
A
spokesperson for the farm, only identified as Mai Nyoni, who is an in-law
to
President Wa Mutharika, was not available for comment.
Wa Mutharika
reportedly bought the farm in 1994 and named it Bineth. Bin, is
taken from
his name, Bingu and eth from the name of his Zimbabwean wife,
Ethel, said to
hail from Murehwa, according to some farm workers.
The Malawian leader
was in the country to open the 94th edition of the
Harare Agricultural Show
nine days ago.
On the same night, Newsnet reported that Wa Mutharika had
extended his stay
in Zimbabwe to attend the burial of national hero, Dr
Eddison Zvobgo last
Sunday.
It, however, did not mention that, in
addition to attending Zvobgo's burial,
the Malawian Head of State intended to
take time out to visit his dairy farm
just outside Kadoma, on the
Gokwe-Sanyati Road.
The Standard established that after opening the
Harare Agricultural Show,
the Malawian leader, in a State motorcade, drove
towards the gold-mining
city of Kadoma, where he was booked into Executive
Suite of Kadoma Hotel and
Conference Centre whose buildings are owned by the
Zvobgo family.
"The Executive Suite costs $800 000 a night and the
Malawian Embassy paid
for their president's stay at the hotel," said an
employee at the KHCC
hotel.
Security at the hotel on the night was
very tight. The security details were
reportedly courteous to hotel
guests.
"On Saturday morning, Wa Mutharika and his delegation which
included the
Malawian First Lady, Ethel wa Mutharika checked out of the hotel
and their
motorcade drove towards the farm on the Gokwe-Sanyati road," a
source at the
hotel told The Standard.
Workers at the farm confirmed
that the Malawian President visited the farm
last Saturday morning.
"A
beast was slaughtered for people of Malawian origin from Patchway Mine
and
other surrounding areas who came to meet Wa Mutharika," another farm
worker
told The Standard.
The farm worker said the hill next to the farm and
surrounding areas were
teeming with armed soldiers and policemen during the
visit.
When The Standard drove along the Harare-Kadoma Highway on
Saturday, members
of the Police Support Unit were heavily deployed along the
route to guard
the Malawian leader, who returned to Harare towards
sunset.
Wa Mutharika was said by his workers to have 35 dairy cows, 40
head of beef
cattle and several goats. The Malawi president also runs a small
vegetable
garden.
Sam Banda, an official at the Malawian Embassy,
confirmed on Friday that the
President visited the farm last week but could
not comment further.
Zim Standard
MDC accuses Manyika of fanning violence in Mutare
By our
own Staff
THE opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the
ruling Zanu PF
party is on a warpath in Sakubva, Mutare, where its members
are looting and
beating up suspected supporters of the MDC.
Pishayi
Muchauraya, MDC spokesperson for Manicaland province, said at least
three
people were injured while several others were left nursing bruises
after
nocturnal attacks last week.
Muchauraya said the current wave of
violence started after Zanu PF political
commissar, Elliot Manyika, allegedly
"incited" youths to "deal with all
those who sympathise with the opposition
party".
Manyika addressed a meeting in Sakubva last Saturday and
allegedly told the
meeting that all Zanu PF supporters arrested for political
crimes, related
to the 2000 parliamentary and 2002 presidential elections,
would soon be
freed.
According to Muchauraya, Manyika's statement
signalled to the youths that
nothing would happen to them, even if they
committed heinous political
crimes against supporters of the opposition
party.
Since Saturday, Zanu PF supporters and youth militia patrolled
high-density
suburbs in Mutare, during the night, beating up suspected MDC
supporters, he
said.
"I can directly link this on-going violence to
the meeting because his
(Manyika's) language was inflammatory and instigatory
in nature. It is
typical thuggery by Zanu PF, each time we approach an
election, they behave
like this," said Muchauraya, who added that it had
become extremely
dangerous to conduct any form business during the
night.
Manyika, a former Minister of Youth Development, Gender and
Employment
Creation, denied inciting violence but he confirmed "meeting Zanu
PF
leadership" in the town the day in question.
"I only met the party
leadership. How could I do a thing like that? I know
you, you have been
writing rubbish about me for a long time, write what you
want," Manyika
shouted before switching off his mobile phone.
The MDC, however, insists
those severely beaten up by the youths include MDC
chairperson for ward four
in Sakubva, Monica Mangoma, Abigirl Nyamupenza of
ward five, and Susan
Mhlanga of ward three.
The three were treated at a private clinic and
discharged.
"Mangoma was assaulted on Monday night and she sustained a
fracture in the
right arm and two broken fingers," Muchauraya
said.
During the attack Mangoma allegedly lost about $50 000, her
tuck-shop was
destroyed while Nyamupenza was robbed of $150 000 and her
sewing machine
seized by a group of youth militia and Zanu PF
supporters.
The group also allegedly looted Mangoma's tuck-shop but The
Standard could
not establish the value of the goods taken.
"Zanu PF
must abandon this barbarism and adopt civilised means of winning
elections,"
Muchauraya said.
He said all incidents of violence were reported at
Chisamba Police Station
in Mutare but no action has been taken although he
gave them some of the
names of the suspects.
Police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena said he had not received reports of
violence in
Mutare.
"Give me the list of names of the people and the dates they
reported the
cases so that we can follow that up," Bvudzijena said.
Zim Standard
NGO bill is what AIPPA is to private
media
.BORNWELL Chakaodza, Editor of The Standard analyses the
recently introduced
NGOs Bill and argues why legislators should stop it dead
in its tracks when
it comes to Parliament.
TWO analytical pieces on
the Non-Governmental organizations Bill (NGOs Bill)
by the International Bar
Association (IBA) and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) are some
of the most insightful, well-written and
in-depth analyses that I have read
in recent months.
The two pieces clearly demonstrate the extent to
which the Zimbabwean
government is determined to exert full and complete
control over
non-governmental organizations in this country. Indeed, the Bill
itself
makes very grim reading.
The NGOs Bill is but the latest in a
series of draconian laws clearly
designed to control and manipulate public
opinion thereby severely limiting
democratic space in Zimbabwe. The
similarities between this proposed Bill
and its earlier cousins the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (2002) and the Public Order and
Security Act (2002) are so glaring that
one can only describe them as
identically different.
The Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA) provides for
the compulsory registration of media houses
and journalists and the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA) is now being
used to prosecute journalists for
publishing 'false information'. The
proposed NGOs Bill has with it a system
of compulsory registration and a
requirement for all NGOs to fully disclose
their activities and funding
sources as well as deregistration and other
punitive measures in the event of
non-compliance.
With AIPPA, journalists have an albatross around their
necks in the form of
the Media and Information Commission (MIC), a
controlling organization
appointed by the Minister of information to exert a
stranglehold on those
perceived to be in opposition to the government and
government policies. The
equivalent of MIC in the NGO Bill is the NGO
Council, which will regulate
and monitor functions of NGOs and is charged
with the formulation of rules
for the registration or deregistration of
non-governmental organizations.
Needless to say, AIPPA together with its
controlling body, the MIC, has had
a devastating and chilling effect on the
operations of journalists in
Zimbabwe. Not only has this repressive Act
introduced a climate of fear in
our media environment but also, worse, it has
resulted in the mindless
arrests of journalists and the closure of a number
of newspapers notably The
Daily News, The Daily News on Sunday and recently
The Tribune.
With the NGO Bill so identical in both form and content with
AIPPA, there
are storms ahead for non-governmental organizations in
Zimbabwe.
This is hardly surprising. We have an oppressive regime in
Zimbabwe at the
moment and it is the independent media and civil society
which have taken up
the cudgels to challenge the excesses of this
government.
The private media, individuals and a number of
non-governmental
organizations have been part and parcel of pressuring for
change in Zimbabwe
and it comes as no surprise that they are currently under
siege.
The flurry of new legislation and the revival of the old laws
under the
Rhodesian Smith regime in recent years must be understood within
this
context. Clearly, there is a pattern and 'logic' behind all these
draconian
laws. Repressive laws are the hallmarks of totalitarian and
oppressive
regimes the world over. The Mugabe regime is firmly in that
league.
The late national hero, Dr Eddison Zvobgo, aptly described the
Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act as the "most determined
and
calculated assault on our political and civil liberties". I can hear
him
beyond the grave saying exactly the same words about this NGOs
Bill.
We appear to have come to a stage in our country where anything the
current
government does is wrong. It need not be like that. Zanu PF fought
for
freedom and democracy and no one can take this good fight away from them.
Pr
esident Mugabe and the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo were much
loved
and respected nationally and internationally.
The freedom and
democracy they fought for included the right to free speech
and a vibrant and
dynamic civil society. But now all the laws that have been
passed in the last
four years or so are designed to suppress the free speech
and a strong civil
society they fought for. The mind really boggles.
It is indeed an irony
that at a time when the whole world is moving in the
direction of universal
values of democracy and freedom of expression, the
government of Zimbabwe is
setting the clock back. We are living in a
pluralistic world with many voices
and these voices must be given expression
and not to stultify them. It is
saddening to see this government
passionately wanting to close all democratic
space in Zimbabwe.
The NGOs Bill, which seeks to repeal the old Private
Voluntary organizations
Act, No 3 of 1966 (PVO Act), prohibits the
registration of a foreign
non-governmental organization if its sole or
principal objects involve or
include issues of governance. The issue of
governance in this case includes
"the promotion and protection of human
rights and political governance
issues".
This prohibition is further
underscored by a prohibition on foreign funding
in Section 17 of the Bill,
which says that "no local non-governmental
organization shall receive any
foreign funding or donation to carry out
activities involving or including
issues of governance".
The above section clearly spells disaster for all
local non-governmental
organizations which receive foreign funding to enable
them to carry out
their work. Human rights is everybody's business. Good
governance is not an
exclusive matter for governments. NGOs and civil society
as a whole have an
important role to play.
The real losers of course
will be poor Zimbabweans. Apart from government,
they also depend on the
goodwill of donors to keep body and soul together.
They will have much less
of everything and their dreams for a better future
for their children will be
shattered. How will the government justify the
destitution that millions of
Zimbabweans will fall into as a result of NGOs
pulling out of this
country?
In a country where poverty alleviation ought to be the prime
objective of
the State, it would appear that the government is putting its
own survival
ahead of people's own welfare and well being. It does appear
that the
government is bent on killing almost everything. First, it was
land
takeovers, and then came assaults on various sectors which
included
industry, the independent media, education and now the civil
society.
Even without this NGOs Bill, Zimbabwe was already a fractured
society. It is
bound to get worse. Since the Zimbabwe crisis began four or so
years ago,
more than half of the estimated 1 500 NGOs in Zimbabwe were no
longer
operating due to funding and the political problems.
Continued
next week...
Zim Standard
Comment
Tobacco target: A tall order
THERE
is need to be realistic in setting targets for tobacco production
during the
2004/2005 season.
The Zimbabwe Association of Tobacco Growers (ZATG) and
other authorities
have set the target for tobacco production next year at an
ambitious 150
million kg. The problem with this estimate is that it ignores
the fact that
during the past four years production of the crop has been in a
free fall.
In 2000, the year of the start of land invasions, tobacco
production stood
at nearly 240 million kg. Last year, production of the crop
had fallen by
almost a third, to 80 million kg. That pattern of decline has
been
maintained with this year's crop registering a poor 65 million kg, a
further
decline in the size of the crop produced.
The proposal put
forward is that next season's crop is increased almost
three-fold the size of
this year's production.
It is unclear whether the factors responsible for
the decline in production
during the past four years have been considered
before arriving at the
target for the next tobacco season.
The causes
of the free-fall in production have primarily been the invasions,
which have
disrupted farming activities on the previously large-scale
commercial farms;
inadequate funding for the new farmers delays in accessing
loans; lack of
machinery necessary to undertake higher levels of production;
inability to
access agricultural inputs such as seed, chemicals and
fertilizers and the
workforce to carry out farm production activities.
There is an additional
external dimension - the weather, which can have a
decisive bearing on the
scale and size of cropping patterns and activities.
The assumption that
has been made is that every new farmer allocated land by
the government can
perform as well as the previous farm owner.
What this assumption
overlooks are the skills and the workforce that are
critical in making a
success of farming activities. More than 200 000 of the
estimated 350 000
farm workers who were active in 2000 have lost their jobs,
while the
remainder are not all in full-time employment because jobs
available are
seasonal, or where jobs are available the workforce has
complained about poor
working conditions.
It is difficult to achieve the best results possible
with disgruntled
workers. It's harder when the said workers compare their new
employers with
the previous ones. The unfortunate impression is that while
many of the
displaced commercial farmers did not treat their workers that
well, the new
farmers come off as being less sympathetic to the plight of
their workforce.
That impacts negatively on productivity.
For the
suggested tobacco production targets for next season to have any
meaning
there is need to put focus on the graduates of the Farmer
Development Trust
(FDT) and graduates from the country's colleges of
agriculture.
If
each of the graduates from these institutions is provided the land,
the
inputs and the funding, the level of production is likely to take off.
There
are also some remaining commercial farmers who have welcomed the idea
that
the land reform programme is, in part, about seeking to empower
indigenous
Zimbabweans and these commercial farmers have gone out of their
way to try
and assist.
If those concerned about increasing levels of
production are genuine in
their quest to ensure the country achieves higher
levels of productivity,
this is the area they should be focusing their
attention on.
Cotton production has moved from the large-scale commercial
growers to being
a preserve of the smallholders because the growers continue
to receive the
necessary support in funding, in procurement of inputs, in
support
(extension) services and, of course, the price paid for their crops
have
been critical as an incentive.
Zimbabwe realized US$130 million
from the 65 million kg of tobacco sold this
season.
This represents
probably a quarter of the potential foreign exchange
earnings Zimbabwe could
have realised this season. Unfortunately, the
reduced foreign currency
earnings affect the country's ability to import
critical requirements such as
fuel necessary to keep the economy on its
feet, and medical drugs for the
ailing health sector.
By building on what it already has - FDT and
agricultural graduates -
Zimbabwe will have a realistic chance of nearing the
set targets and in the
process boosting the country's capacity to earn more
foreign currency. Every
time Zimbabwe misses an opportunity, it allows
someone to capitalise on its
shortcomings.
Claiming back its share of
the market is always going to be harder
Zim Standard
You just can't bank on the outside world
overthetop By
Brian Latham
IT wasn't just the troubled central African nation's
opposition More Drink
Coming Party that was banking on help from abroad this
week. Troubled
residents were also saying that the Southern African Disaster
Community
would spring to their aid. Even western diplomats considered it
possible.
Over The Top took a quick look at the Community's membership
and concluded,
in seconds, that newly established norms on electoral
procedures stand about
much hope of being implemented as a proverbial
snowball in hell.
Troubled central Africans might think they've got
problems, but these things
are all comparative. Compared with, say, Angola or
the Democratic Republic
of Congo, the troubled central African nation is a
shining beacon of good
governance.
These aren't the sort of things
troubled central Africans want to hear, so
perspective needs to be
established. Of course, in the wider, global sense,
the troubled central
African country remains a pariah regime. But in the
narrow confines of the
Southern African Disaster Community; well, there are
countries that couldn't
even spell the word "election."
Being judged by such "peers" should not
give hope to anyone, least of all
troubled central Africans looking for what
these days seems to be called a
level playing field.
So, if troubled
central Africans actually think these electoral norms will
be implemented in
their life times, they ought to sit back, pause for
thought, and ask
themselves just how likely it is that democracy, even a
semblance of
democracy, will ever be brought to countries like Angola and
the DRC where
such a thing has never existed?
And if democracy and free elections won't
see the light of day elsewhere in
the region, what motive will inspire
dictatorships to declare the troubled
central African nation unworthy of
membership?
The answer, naturally, is that no such motive
exists.
Wonderful, warm and fuzzy words coming out of South Africa and
one or two
other countries will remain just that: words. They won't translate
into
action because most of the region doesn't want them to translate
into
action.
And why should they? Things are very cosy and comfortable
for the ruling
elite throughout the region. If anything, those countries that
began by
making a passing stab at accountability and transparency and
democracy are
starting to inch backwards.
The answer, as always, has
to come from within. The only friends that
troubled central Africans will
ever have are. troubled central Africans.
There are no friends to be found
among the mewling politicians of the west,
still less among the self-serving
politicians of this continent. There
really is nothing to be gained by
pinning hope on foreigners. They have
their own problems.
If evidence
were needed, it can be found in the announcement by the Zany
Party that the
electoral norms are not legally binding - and in the
overwhelming silence
from the region in response to that statement.
Put simply, if they're not
legally binding, they won't be implemented. Why
spend money on something you
don't have to do, will inevitably cost you
votes and may even lose you
control of the gravy train?
Of course, this makes the More Drink Coming
Party's decision to pull back
from elections even more astonishing. Surely
they've a reasonable
understanding of the sort of governments that can
determine whether
elections are free and fair? Compared with elections in
Angola, troubled
central African elections are cleanly fought contests
between gentlemanly
brothers.
The problem for troubled central
Africans is that they shouldn't be
comparing themselves with the likes of
Angola and the DRC. They should be
saying they can do better than that.
Zim Standard
A day in the life of RBZ's new Governor
By Rangarirai
Mberi
THE security man at the RBZ's front switchboard probably sums up
the new
work ethic around the central bank.
"It's not cold at all," he
says, even as a morning gale rushes in through
the gaping entrance straight
at his station. "It's nothing."
It's a whole lot warmer in Gideon
Gono's office, where the Governor has been
working since he turned up for
work just before 4AM. Still, the same work
ethic that keeps that frontman at
work with little respect for the morning
wind, is easy to detect.
Gono
and his assistant, lawyer Fortune Chasi, are hunched over a pile of
papers. A
meeting has just ended - the last of a series of briefings that
Gono has been
holding with his staff since 4AM. Bedtime for the previous day
had been
midnight.
Ordinary organisations such as this should be made of ordinary
family
people, leading ordinary lives inside ordinary working hours. Not
here. We
found a not-so-ordinary staff that has come to expect
dead-of-the-night
calls and an occasional SMS from the Governor, demanding
progress.
Gono's duo of personal assistants told Standard Bussiness of
how they have
had to get used to the long hours, the night calls and a
fanatical Governor.
"It's difficult, especially with children at home,"
said one of Gono's PAs.
"I have to explain to my husband the nature of the
job; he understands, but
it's difficult".
Standard Business was
recently allowed access to some of central bank's
structures and staff. We
heard from the RBZ's top security people, PAs, a
Deputy Governor and drivers,
how they have had to adjust their lives since
Gono took office last
year.
Working up to as late as 2:30 in the morning takes its toll on an
ordinary
human being, but someone has to do it, they say.
"It's
national duty," said one security man who has spent 12 years at the
bank.
"What makes the burden lighter is that we know that we are working
towards a
goal".
Nick Ncube had obviously heard of the eternal hours at the RBZ
when he
joined the Bank in May from the Ministry of Finance as Deputy
Governor. He
signed up anyway.
"The Governor is a slave driver, but
I'm a slave driver in my own right,"
Ncube says.
"There's been a new
work ethic here since Governor Gono took over. After
work, as I leave - and
its almost always late - I see people still at their
desks, working. Top
level, middle level, junior staff; everyone".
Ncube says friends have
urged him to slow down for the sake of his health.
The three-hour policy
meetings the Governor convenes each afternoon are
tough, but "I'm up for it",
the Deputy Governor says.
"Given my weight, friends have said I really
shouldn't be doing this. But I'
ve been at it for 15 years. Hard work is in
my system," Ncube adds.
Gono uses the economy's dire need for urgent
relief to justify his tough
demands on his staff, demands that few employees
elsewhere would ever take.
"This is reflective of the magnitude of the
challenges that confront us as
an economy. It's in line with what I said in
December when I called on the
nation to put in an extra hour beyond the
traditional hours," Gono told
Standard Business.
The economy might be
in a rut, but long hours are not everybody's hobby. The
ZCTU has been sharply
critical of Gono's controversial directive that banks
open for
longer.
"I'm not prescribing something that I'm not doing myself," he
responds.
What about the rest of the staff, do they share Gono's uncanny
obsession
with "turnaround", a term he must have used a hundred times during
our
interview?
"The turnaround agenda here just imposes on the
different individuals to
want to work late," Gono says.
But he does
have other personal interests, surely?
"I enjoy my work," he insists,
although he admits the job has brought strain
to his own family.
Gono
makes no attempt to conceal his past, that "tea boy" past some of his
many
foes love to joke about.
Standard Business spoke to Sam Nyamukutu, who
gave Gono his first job at
Kwekwe's Natbrew Maltings in 1977.
"I was
struck by his humility and immediately took a liking to him. I'm
not
surprised that he's where he is today." Nyamukutu said.
Gono has
been put up on a ridiculously high pedestal, with a big badge
reading
"saviour" pinned on his sleeve.
Government types claim that Gono is
leading a miracle economic recovery, but
it remains a recovery that the
average Zimbabwean is yet to see. Gono admits
as much, predicting even more
blood and tears before any real recovery.
He acknowledges that he has not
been to the world's top universities, but he
shows a pile of books from which
he draws much of his guidance.
They are books with curious titles. The 11
Behaviours that can Derail your
Climb to the top, and Lions Don't Need to
Roar, are some of the topics.
There is also the inevitable, The Greenspan
Effect.
Then Gono whips out a book, Andrew Finan's The Corporate Christ,
clearly his
favourite. He reads from it passionately, leaning over it,
stroking the
words as if they were some ancient code to long life, lapping
the words up
religiously.
Here, we saw Gono on a whole new plane, far
removed from the usual monetary
technocrat, closer instead to some zealous,
small town church pastor.
The book claims to reveal "the world changing
secrets of a management and
marketing genius". "Jesus," Gono gushes. "He knew
how to formulate and
execute a strategy."
The book explains much of
the policy Gono has followed since he took office.
Finan, the author, says
Jesus saw things in black and white - either you
were in with him, or you
were out. Once one decided "in", they had to walk
the whole nine yards.
Shades of Gono's recent memo to his top officials,
quizzing their commitment
and asking whether they were in or out.
Finan talks of how Jesus used the
"carrot and stick" in his messages.
Perhaps the same carrot and stick Gono
has used on exporters and bankers.
It is hard not to feel for the staff
at RBZ, working the phones through the
night, scouring the world for foreign
currency or attending to each of the
letters from hopeful whistleblowers that
come in by the hundreds each day.
But if there has been any midnight oil
burning at other State departments,
it has certainly not been about turning
around the economy, and one wonders
whether the backbreaking work at the RBZ
may yet be in vain.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF usurped meaning of Heroes Acre
Sundaytalk with
Pius Wakatama
AT Zimbabwe's cherished national Heroes'Acre, in Harare,
lie some of the
most illustrious sons and daughters of the soil of our
naturally rich
country. They gave their lives for the liberation and
betterment of their
people without reservation. They are an inspiration to
the present
generation and to generations to come.
Among them,
however, lie some, whose heroism is debatable. They were made
heroes, not by
their lives and their actions but by the Zanu PF politburo
because it was
politically expedient to declare them national heroes. We all
know
that.
Veteran freedom fighters, George Nyandoro and James Chikerema
used to
heatedly discuss the significance of the Heroes' Acre. Both of
them
concluded that the real meaning and importance of the place had been
usurped
by Zanu PF for political interests.
Since to them the place
had lost its meaning they decided not to be buried
there. Of course, this was
not to be. When Nyandoro died, the ruling party
had to put aside its
differences with him. He was buried at the national
shrine as befitted
him.
Not to accord him hero status would have caused a commotion in the
country
because everybody knows the role he played in the liberation of
this
country.
James Dambaza Chikerema is still alive. After the burial
of his colleague
and friend, Nyandoro, I asked him about what had become of
their resolve not
to be buried at the Heroes' Acre. Before he could answer,
his cousin said:
"He will be buried there, whether he likes it or not. He
will have no say in
it because he will be dead."
Chikerema just threw
up his hands in resignation.
As with Chikerema and Nyandoro there is
nothing debatable about the late
Eddison Jonas Mudadirwa Zvobgo's heroism.
All Zimbabweans from various walks
of life and across the political divide
bore testimony to this. The
government and people of Zimbabwe were united in
mourning his death and
giving him a resounding farewell from the depths of
their hearts.
I said all Zimbabweans united in mourning Dr Zvobgo. This
needs to be
qualified for there is a minority who shed crocodile
tears.
Their tears were the most profuse and they wailed the loudest.
They also
waxed lyrical in narrating and extolling the virtues of Eddison
Zvobgo.
But, deep down in their hearts, they were saying, 'good
riddance'. To them
Dr Zvobgo was a real thorn in the flesh.
These
schemers were irritated by his criticism and refusal to endorse,
in
parliament, oppressive bills which flagrantly flouted provisions of
the
constitution. They wanted him out of the party either by expulsion
or
resignation. They, therefore, ganged up on him when he was sick and
accused
him of, among other things, and of all things, refusing to campaign
for
Robert Mugabe and, instead, campaigning for Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
the
opposition MDC. How absurd!
In his condolence message, President
Mugabe said in Cde Zvobgo the nation
lost one of its great and sharp legal
minds upon whom the government and the
ruling party relied for professional
advice.
"His grasp of constitutional matters and excellent communication
skills
enabled him to be at the centre of things during the Lancaster
House
conference both as a participant and as the Patriotic Front
spokesman."
If this is true, one wonders then why the party so blatantly
refused to take
his advice on legal matters. We all know that he was strongly
opposed to the
nefarious Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill
as chairman
of the Parliamentary Legal Committee. In fact, he had to go
public in his
opposition to it. Isn't it hypocritical to then say that the
government and
the ruling party relied on him for professional advice when a
bill he was so
strongly opposed to is now law?
To those in my age
group and to me, personally, Zvobgo was a real role
model. I had the
priviledge to interact with him for a brief period when I
was a student in
Wheaton, Illinois in the United States. He is the one who
first informed me
that the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) had
deposed the Reverend
Ndabaningi Sithole and elected Robert Mugabe to lead
the party.
What
amazed me most about the man was his energy and dedication to
his
convictions. In fact, he stuck so strongly to what he believed, that
he
found it difficult to listen to someone else's point of view.
One
had to insist that he listen. Once he realised that you felt strongly
about
your views just as he did about his, he would listen. He did not like
to
waste time with people who simply argued without thinking or
conviction.
Dr Zvobgo was a good father, a busy political activist and a
student at the
same time. How he could juggle these roles successfully was
beyond my
comprehension. He was absent from home and school quite a lot but
his home
was intact and warm, his school work excellent and his political
career is
being lauded by Zimbabweans today.
Having been raised in a
Christian home Dr Zvobgo was a God-fearing man. He
believed in God's leading
in his life. One of the questions I discussed with
him was how Christianity
could ever be compatible with the Marxist/Leninist
communism, which was
espoused by Zanu. He was convinced that one could be a
communist or
"socialist", as he put it, without compromising his faith in
God.
That
Dr Zvobgo had ambitions to be president of Zimbabwe one day is no
secret.
Some whose actions clearly indicated that they had presidential
ambitions
denied this loudly and vehemently, but not Zvobgo.
He was no hypocrite.
He stated plainly and clearly that if he was given the
chance he would gladly
accept the challenge to lead Zimbabwe. Maybe this was
part of the reason for
his political downfall.
Some of us wonder where the country would be
today had Dr Zvobgo been given
the chance to lead Zimbabwe as its
president.
Surely, we would not be the pariah and poor nation, which we
are today,
where only thieves, robbers, fraudsters and the corrupt can
prosper. We
hoped that one day he would lead the nation but the devil
somehow
infiltrated Zanu PF and messed up the whole thing.
In its
editorial comment of August 27, 2004, The Zimbabwe Independent said:
"So as
we mourn the passing of a dedicated freedom fighter in the bush and
at law
and a nationalist who faithfully espoused the principles and
objectives of
our liberation struggle up to the end, let us not forget those
ideals have
not been fulfilled. In fact, most of our 'liberties' are in
great danger from
opportunistic mafikizolos."
I concur. However, most of our liberties are
in danger not only from
opportunistic mafikizolos, but also from old veterans
of the struggle who
like Zvobogo's proverbial lunatic from Ngomahuru
Psychiatric Hospital refuse
to hand over their batons to younger team mates.
They would like to rule
until they drop dead.
This was recently
confirmed by the Zanu PF Manicaland provincial chairman,
Mike Madiro, who
said: "All sitting legislators, who hold senior party
positions, particularly
the most senior ones like Didymus Mutasa and
Kumbirai Kangai, can't be
challenged."
Since these old timers refuse to hand over the baton
willingly, some Zanu PF
young bloods tried to challenge them according to the
party's constitution.
Their fate is not enviable. James Kaunye declared his
right to stand for
elections against Mutasa. He was beaten up by party thugs
and almost lost
his life.
Under these circumstances can our decent and
well-qualified young people be
blamed for giving politics a wide berth? They
would rather continue in their
jobs or run their businesses. Others are
leaving in droves to seek their
fortunes in foreign
countries.
Recently Eddison Zvobgo Jnr announced that he would follow in
his father's
footsteps in politics. He should be encouraged because "for evil
to triumph
it is enough that good men do nothing."
Unfortunately,
instead of encouraging the young man, some party
incorrigibles like Masvingo
Zanu PF chairman, Daniel Shumba, see him as a
threat to their political
future. Young Zvobgo should not be daunted. As his
father's son, he should
meet these die-hards head on. It is fortunate that
he has well-wishers like
retired Air Marshall Josiah Tungamirai to advise
and encourage him.
My
advice to young Zvobgo is, don't waste time. The people need you. If Zanu
PF
gives you a hard time, as they did your father, go in as an independent
or,
better still, join the MDC. I am sure you will find a warm
welcome
there.
He who has earns to hear, let him hear.