Zimbabwe's capital,
Harare, has been crippled by the en masse resignation of opposition
councillors after their recent decision to resign in protest against
political interference in their duties by the government. Harare was plunged
into chaos two weeks ago after the withdrawal of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) councillors because of the Zanu PF government's
attempts to hijack the municipality's operations. Zanu PF won only one ward
during the 2002 elections, while the MDC mopped up all the other 44 seats,
including the mayoral post. The MDC controls all other cities and towns,
leaving the central government unable to influence events in Harare and other
city councils. Because of this, the government has resorted to arbitrary
interventions. This has led to the dismissal of popularly elected Harare
mayor Elias Mudzuri and a dozen councillors. As a result, the MDC decided to
pull out its Harare councillors in protest against the "persistent
interference and hijacking of our democratic mandate by the
regime".
The council has since been unable to form a quorum to hold
critical meetings to deal with emergency issues such the water crisis in the
city. The withdrawals have left Harare with only 15 councillors, including
some of the MDC who decided to remain, but this is not enough to form a
quorum of 16. Confusion at the Harare council, which has been rocked by
corruption and incompetence since the mid1990s, has caused advanced decay in
the city. Delivery of social services has deteriorated markedly and the
capital, once known as the Sunshine City due to its fair weather and
cleanliness, is now called the Garbage City. Refuse collection has become
extremely erratic, and the council is unable to ensure enough water for the
city's 2,5-million residents. Roads have huge potholes and traffic lights are
nearly always out of order. Schools and clinics are also declining rapidly
due to officials' dereliction and incompetence. The condition of Harare is
seen as emblematic of the state of affairs nationally. Zimbabwe has been
gripped by a serious political and economic crisis but Local Government
Minister Ignatius Chombo claims councils could still function without enough
elected councillors. "The remaining councillors will carry on with their
duties and will team up with district administrators and the Harare governor
and resident minister (Witness Mangwende) to run the city," he said.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 6 Sep 2004 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) has warned
that a proposed government bill to regulate NGOs more tightly was likely to
have a serious impact on the economy and civil society if passed into
law.
NANGO Executive Director Jonah Mudehwe told IRIN the government did
not seem to appreciate the effect the legislation would have on unemployment,
or foreign currency and aid inflows, and his association had commissioned
an impact assessment study that was due out in a fortnight.
The
controversial bill, expected to be tabled in October, seeks to register and
vet NGOs, while outlawing foreign-funded organisations involved in governance
and human rights issues. These NGOs, the government argues, are used as
proxies by Western powers to destabilise the country.
Zimbabwe's Council
of Tourism president, Shingi Munyeza, has pointed out the potentially
significant impact of the "NGO bill" on the tourism industry.
"The hotel
and tourism industry depends a lot on NGO-sponsored workshops and conferences
for business. About 60 percent of our business is conference-driven in terms
of hotel bookings. If a conference is held at a hotel with tourist
attractions, like the Victoria Falls, the same delegates are the very people
who will visit the attractions, and that says a lot about what will happen to
the industry if the bill is passed into law," Munyeza told
IRIN.
Mudehwe said targets set under the UN Millennium Development Goals,
to which Zimbabwe was a signatory, were also at potential risk. "Essentially,
the Millennium Development Goals look at improving the human rights of
everybody in the world, while combating problems like infant mortality,
malaria, HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation. With the proposed NGO bill I
foresee a reversal on some of the gains."
NGOs are expected to march
in the capital, Harare, on Tuesday against the proposed legislation, and make
a submission to a parliamentary committee. NANGO, which represents about 300
organisations, has reportedly also met with Social Welfare Minister Paul
Mangwana over the same issue.
Mudehwe noted that aspects of governance
and human rights were issues that many NGOs could not avoid. "For example, an
NGO for people living with HIV/AIDS may want to engage on advocacy campaigns
on the right to treatment, which is a human right, but under the proposed
bill, that [could] become illegal."
Human Rights Watch (HRW), the
US-based civil liberties watchdog, joined the domestic protest over the NGO
bill on Friday, arguing that it would grant the government the right to
interfere in the legitimate activities of civil society groups.
The
proposed government-appointed Council of Non-Governmental Organisations would
have "virtually unchecked power" to investigate and audit the activities and
funding of civil society groups. "The law would empower the Council to
constantly monitor the groups; leaders of any such organisations found to be
in violation of the act would be subject to fines and imprisonment. The
organisations could lodge objections to Council decisions, but the Minister
would resolve them with no possibility of recourse to the courts," HRW said
in a statement.
"A vibrant civil society is essential to a functioning
democracy," Georgette Gagnon, deputy director of HRW's Africa Division, was
quoted as saying. "With parliamentary elections in March, the government
needs to ensure space for civil society."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 6 Sep 2004 (IRIN) -
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party moved a step closer to gaining total control
of parliament after it won a new parliamentary seat from the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at a weekend by-election.
ZANU-PF
recaptured the Seke parliamentary seat by default after the MDC boycotted the
poll, in line with a decision it took last month to suspend its participation
in all elections, alleging the lack of transparency and fairness in electoral
processes.
The ruling party now holds 98 of 150 seats in parliament, two
short of the two-thirds majority it would need to amend the
constitution.
"We are sticking to our guns and will continue to suspend
our participation in elections until the government adheres to SADC [Southern
African Development Community] guidelines on free and fair polls," MDC
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told IRIN on Monday.
"Too much is being
made over the possibility of ZANU-PF assuming full control of the parliament,
but the government already makes laws which violate the constitution," he
noted.
The protocol, agreed in Mauritius last month by the 14-nation SADC
bloc, guarantees equal access to the state media and freedom of association,
which the MDC has claimed was "severely lacking" in Zimbabwe.
"In the
lead-up to next year's parliamentary elections we will focus our attention on
pressurising the government to stick to the protocol," Themba Nyathi
said.
Meanwhile, scores of NGO workers are expected to take to the
streets on Tuesday to protest impending legislation that will require all
NGOs to register with a government-appointed regulatory council and disclose
details of their programmes and funding.
If passed, the proposed
Non-Governmental Organisations Bill will also clamp down on foreign NGOs
concerned principally with "issues of governance".
The draft bill is
expected to be tabled in parliament in October for discussion and
debate.
FORMER ZANU
PF secretary-general, Edgar Tekere has publicly thrown his weight behind the
nomination of Politburo member and Minister of Water Resources and
Infrastructural Development, Joyce Mujuru as the ideal candidate to replace
the late vice president Simon Muzenda.
Muzenda, who was widely perceived
as the ruling party's chief strategist and the godfather of the
faction-ridden Masvingo province, died last year after long
illness.
"Mujuru is my running horse," Tekere said. "I am campaigning for
her in my own way and I am already celebrating her victory ahead of the
party's congress." December has been set as the provisional month to hold the
party congress when a new leadership is expected to be elected. Tekere's
sentiment come hard on the heels of revelations that Zanu PF's womens league
was lobbying for Mujuru's candidature.
It is widely believed that the
Women's League, which has been pushing for the empowerment of women not only
in the ruling party's rank and file but in government as well, has already
begun lobbying senior party stalwarts for Mujuru to fit into Muzenda's
shoes.
Tekere praised Mujuru, once appointed Minister of Defence after
the death of her colleague Moven Mahachi, for the crucial role she played
during the war for independence.
"When President Mugabe and I went
into Mozambique to deal with the discontentment in ZANLA, Mujuru was one of
the few that helped rebuild our forces. "I have a lot of respect for her. It
is because of her that I learnt to take pride in saluting a woman," Tekere
said. Tekere noted that Mujuru, who joined the liberation struggle at the age
of 18, rose through the ranks to become the Camp Commander in Chimoio,
Mozambique.
Tekere said the possibility of Mujuru's candidacy had already
been raised in Manicaland and that the women's move to elevate the former
guerrilla was no surprise.
"I will support for her," he
added.
He said this year's congress was a chance for gender to triumph
over male chauvinism, and that it was a perfect opportunity to honour Mujuru,
the legislator for Mount Darwin North.
Parliamentary Speaker and ZANU
PF secretary for administration Emmerson Mnangagwa and Anti-Corruption and
Anti Monopolies Minister Didymus Mutasa have also been touted as possible
candidates for the hot post.
Political commentators said this week that
it still remained a mystery whether Mujuru, the wife of the retired general
and ZANU PF kingpin Solomon Mujuru, would get the necessary backing from
members of the Politburo or the Central Committee at
large.
Ultimately, Mujuru would have to sweat it out with Mnangagwa,
whose is widely perceived as President Mugabe's blue eyed boy, and Mutasa,
the first Parliamentary Speaker soon after the country gained independence
from Britain in 1980.
Former ambassador and Zanu PF director, Arthur
Chadzingwa said of Mujuru's candidature: "Her support is quite widespread and
she has made no enemies. Rather, she has developed political friendships. She
has a distinctly developed character in politics that has seen her rise above
all factionalism."
Mugabe drags feet over Moyo, Msika Brian
Mangwende
INFORMATION Minister Jonathan Moyo could go "scot free" as it
emerged this week that Vice President Joseph Msika and ZANU PF's national
chairman John Nkomo have pulled out of the special committee formed to
investigate complaints against Moyo's alleged public attacks on the party's
bigwigs.
Initially, the high-powered committee that was set up by the
ruling party's supreme decision body-the Politburo-comprised President Robert
Mugabe as chair with Msika and Nkomo as committee members.
But, Msika
and Nkomo's pull out leaves, President Mugabe alone to deal with the man he
thrust into his cabinet to head the government's propaganda department in
2000 and later into Parliament as a non-constituency legislator before
placing the former Mugabe critic was thrust into the Politburo.
Party
insiders who spoke to the Sunday Mirror this week said Msika and Nkomo, who
of late had become prime targets of Moyo's bitter attacks against ZANU PF's
old guard, refused to be placed on their defence against Moyo.
The
sources also claimed that as soon as the decision to haul him before
the committee was finalised, Moyo, who is considered a provocative loose
tongue within the ruling party's rank and file, prepared a 30-page document
in his defence.
"The Vice President (Msika) and the national chairman
(Nkomo) have refused to be humiliated by the President and Moyo," the source
said. "Indications are that President Mugabe has been left alone to deal with
Moyo. Msika and Nkomo believe that Mugabe should come out in the open because
many people are saying Moyo is hiding behind him and that is where he is
getting the power to attack senior members of the party." According to the
source, Msika and Nkomo-who is also the ruling party's disciplinary chairman
and Minister of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement-were angered by President
Mugabe's inaction after the pair was attacked in the public media despite
several calls to reprimand the mercurial Moyo.
"The two are breathing
fire over failure by the President to step in because nobody really knows
where he (Moyo) is deriving his power from," the source said.
However,
another party insider thought otherwise. The insider who preferred to remain
anonymous said it was not up to President Mugabe to discipline Moyo, but the
disciplinary committee chaired by the national chairman who is widely
perceived as a no-nonsense man, but whose indecision to deal with Moyo has
baffled many.
Asked the source: "Why are they (Msika and Nkomo) bothering
President Mugabe? Has the national chairman failed to haul Moyo before a
disciplinary hearing. As a matter of fact, the problem lies with Msika and
Nkomo for failing to take charge and discipline Moyo if found guilty of
breaking the party's code of conduct." Moyo's diatribe on the presidium and
his boss Nathan Shamuyarira sparked a chorus of angry voices from the ruling
party's old guard including retired ex-army chief Solomon Mujuru who is
reported to have lost his cool over the firebrand minister way back in 2001
and considers him a "Johnny-come-late" or Mafikizolo. Speaking to the
Sunday Mirror yesterday, Msika denied having pulled out of the
high-powered committee, but indicated that President Mugabe was dragging his
feet in dealing with Moyo.
"The President said we would meet over the
issue, but nothing has since materialised." Another source said Msika's and
Nkomo's withdrawal from the disciplinary panel could further loosen the tie
that binds the ruling party and further split the party. So far, Moyo has
clashed with vice president Msika over the Kondozi debacle which saw
thousands of farm being made redundant following the property's acquisition
by the Agricultural Rural Development Authority.
He fought Shamuyarira
over the invitation of the Sky Television news crew that eventually
interviewed President Mugabe to tell the world the Zimbabwean
story.
Then Moyo, the architect of the much-despised Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act went for Nkomos' scalp over the
issuance of withdrawal letter in the continuous multiple farm ownership
series. Efforts to get comments from Nkomo and the ruling party's information
chief Nathan Shamuyarira proved fruitless at the time of going to press.
EU behind MDC boycott By Tawanda Majoni and Brian
Mangwende
.as Mbeki's hypocrisy is exposed
The Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)'s decision to boycott next year's parliamentary
elections was done following advice from the European Union, the Sunday
Mirror was told.
It has also emerged that the South African government
was reportedly aware of the MDC's intention to withdraw from participating in
elections but President Thabo Mbeki did not bother to inform his counterpart,
President Robert Mugabe.
A source closely connected to one of the EU
diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe said the diplomat confided in her that the
EU representatives in Harare met to find a way of pressurising Zimbabwe to
acquiesce to Southern African Development Community (Sadc) electoral demands
before meeting with the MDC. "Following the promulgation of the Sadc
guidelines on electoral reform in Mauritius, EU representatives in Harare met
to assess the recommendations, following which they resolved that there
should be a way of putting pressure on the government.
"After that
they contacted the MDC and a meeting followed during which they advised the
party to announce that they would be boycotting next year's parliamentary
elections," she said.
The MDC made its announcement on Wednesday 25
August, slightly over a week following the meeting by Sadc countries in
Mauritius where the guideline on electoral reform-which among other things
calls for all political parties to gain access to state media and space for
campaigning- was made. The main opposition party announced that it would not
be participating in future elections until the government moved to
significantly change laws and practices pertaining to elections.
The
MDC has been accusing the Zanu PF government of electoral fraud,
voter intimidation and victimisation, as well as the use of legislation
biased against the opposition.
On the day the MDC announced the
boycott, numerous diplomatic cars were seen parked at Harvest House, but it
could not be established if that was connected to the announcement, since
diplomats frequently visit the party's headquarters.
While no comment
could be obtained from the EU at the time of going to print, the MDC
secretary general, Welshman Ncube, however dismissed the claim that the EU
was behind the boycott.
Ncube said no one was aware that the MDC intended
to announce the boycott, saying the decision was made by the party's
executive.
"No one had an inkling of our intention to withdraw from next
year's elections. Most of them are questioning our move, saying we should
have taken Zanu PF to task in the Seke by-election." Following the death of
MDC's Bennie Tumbare-Mutasa in July, a by-election was announced for
Seke constituency. Zanu PF last week won on the technicality that MDC did
not nominate a candidate.
The MDC has been charged with depending too
much on external material support and advice, an allegation that the party
vehemently denies. At its formation, critics accused it of being funded by EU
member countries, mostly Britain, and the USA, while President Robert Mugabe
has been using every available opportunity to berate the MDC for alleged lack
of patriotism.
There are apparent double standards in the way South
Africa has been handling Zimbabwe's inter-party dialogue following the
revelation by a senior government official from Pretoria that Mbeki knew
about the MDC's move to boycott all future elections. A source within Mbeki's
office, speaking on condition of anonymity, divulged to the Sunday Mirror
yesterday said that the South African leader had been briefed of the
opposition party' s intentions before the official announcement more than a
week ago.
However it could not be established at the time of going to
press whether Mbeki, widely perceived to have a soft spot for President
Mugabe, agreed to the MDC's move to boycott.
The South African
government official said: "President Mbeki was told about the intended
boycott. He knew about it well before the official announcement , but I am
made to believe that he thought it was not a wise move by the MDC. As a
matter of fact, he thinks it's a political gimmick by Zimbabwe's opposition
party." Contacted for comment, Mbeki's spokesperson, Bheki Khumalo was
hesitant to divulge intricate details on the matter, but maintained that the
two political parties should resume negotiations to save the country from
total collapse. He reiterated that internal dialogue was the only way to
solve the differences in Zimbabwe.
"Our position has always been that the
Zimbabwean problem needs an internal solution," he said. "I would not want to
elaborately comment on the Zimbabwean situation now, but the South African
government believes that the solution to the crisis lies with the Zimbabwean
people." Political dialogue between ZANU (PF) and the MDC to settle the
current impasse hit a snag in 2002 after the two archrivals disagreed on the
agenda for talks, also accusing each other of negotiating in bad faith. ZANU
PF's head of the talks delegation and Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa refused to comment on the
matter.
He only said: "I cannot comment at the moment." A clear
indication that ZANU (PF) has adopted a " wait and see" attitude. Ironically,
Chinamasa himself is on record as saying that the MDC pullout is non-event
and his party is not at all troubled by that action.
The revelation
that Mbeki kept to himself knowledge of the impending boycott brings to
question the role South Africa has been playing to resolve the political
impasse in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki, together with Nigerian president, Olusegun
Obasanjo and Australia's John Howard were tasked by the Commonwealth after
the contested March 2002 presidential elections to help solve the political
problems Zimbabwe had plunged into, especially by bringing Zanu PF and MDC to
the talking table so as to end prevailing polarisation.
Despite
several visits by Mbeki and Obasanjo to Harare, the intra-party dialogue
remained a low key affair, with Zanu PF insisting that the MDC should
renounce its links with foreign countries hostile to the government, while
the main opposition accused the ruling party of half-heartedness.
The
international community late last year sought to make Mbeki the point man in
resolving the Zimbabwean crisis, but the South African head of state has
unwaveringly preferred quiet diplomacy.
Pretoria has been showing
increasing fatigue in trying to bring the two political adversaries to the
negotiating table, with Khumalo recently admitting to the Sunday Mirror that
his country had not been following the interparty dialogue process "for some
time".
Observers attribute the apparent exhaustion to continued failure
to have real talks take off, while the political landscape in Zimbabwe has
changed over the two years.
The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe in
March 2002 following the Marlborough House statement that cited electoral
fraud, a chaotic land reform programme, human rights excesses and economic
mismanagement as some of the reasons why Harare had to be monitored by the
club's troika.
While then there was much pressure, both local and
international, to halt the fast track land redistribution programme that
began in earnest in 2000, there is now the wide acceptance that blacks had to
be resettled on land formerly monopolised by whites, and that the
resettlement process cannot be reversed.
Political polarisation, which
was marked by interparty violence from 2000, analysts say, has largely
subsided, while the MDC seems to be increasingly weakening, thereby
undermining to some extent the relevance it enjoyed in local and
international politics.
This is seen also as progressively rendering
MDC-Zanu PF talks irrelevant, with analysts arguing that whatever issues the
two parties intend to tackle should be addressed through Parliament.
LONDON, Sep 6 (IranMania) - Iran's Minister of Cooperatives Ali Soufi Sunday
stressed the importance of bolstering bilateral relations with Zimbabwe in
all fields, Iran's Official News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Soufi, in
a meeting with Zimbabwean Minister of Transport and Communications Chris
Mushowe, the similarity of stances of the two countries on political,
cultural and economic issues at the domestic and international arena is an
indication of the importance Iran attaches to its ties with African
states.
He, moreover, said that an African headquarters, headed by
First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref, has been established in Iran aimed
at boosting cooperation with African states in various cultural, scientific
and research areas. The Iranian Minister said that Iran will do its utmost
to implement the memorandum of understanding already signed between the
two countries during a previous joint commission meeting.
Mushowe, for his part, said talks held between Iranian and
Zimbabwean officials in their latest joint commission meeting had been
positive and that the projects approved in the commission meeting have been
fruitful. He added Iran can help Zimbabwe in the establishment of airlines as
well as reconstruction and supply of equipment needed for its
expanding international routes.
He lauded Iran`s positive role
in dispatching road-building equipment to Zimbabwe to expand the commercial
and international routes of the country, saying his country desires to avail
of Iran`s educational and technical know-how. "We are confident Iran can help
Zimbabwe expand its airline industry as well as construct roads and
railroads," he said.
Herald Reporters FUEL queues
have resurfaced in Harare and some major towns, raising fears that the fuel
shortage could worsen.
A survey conducted by The Herald yesterday
revealed that some filling stations in Harare and Chitungwiza had neither
petrol nor diesel while others were selling diesel only.
Long winding
queues could be seen at some filling stations, as motorists waited patiently
to buy the precious commodity.
Other service stations which had fuel were
limiting quantities, prompting motorists to hop from one filling station to
the other to fill up their tanks.
There were reports that some areas
like Bulawayo, Mvurwi and Shurugwi had actually run dry.
In Harare,
the situation was particularly critical on Saturday when queues could be seen
at some major filling stations leading into and out of town.
A fuel
attendant at one of the service stations in the city centre said they were
failing to import fuel owing to foreign currency shortages and the increase
in duty.
"We are not able to get adequate quantities because of foreign
currency shortages. We are importing limited supplies," said the fuel
attendant who preferred anonymity.
He added that the problem was being
further compounded by the five percent duty that they were required to
pay.
"We also have to pay levy to Noczim (the National Oil Company of
Zimba-bwe) of $110 per litre to bring in the fuel into the country, in
addition to the duty."
Presenting the 2004 national Budget in November
last year, the then Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Herbert
Murerwa, indicated that the Government was planning to introduce a $110 levy
per litre of both leaded and unleaded petrol.
The levy would also
apply to diesel imports.
The money was to be collected by the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority at all border posts.
Apart from the levy and duty,
sources in the fuel industry said most players could not afford to pump their
fuel through the Beira-Feruka-Msasa pipeline and were using road
transporters.
However, Mozambican authorities warned that they would soon
impose a ban on fuel tankers which they blamed for damaging the country's
roads.
Indigenous fuel suppliers were said to be trying to pool their
resources in order to purchase fuel in bulk, which would be pumped straight
to Harare.
According to petroleum industry experts, pumping of fuel
through the pipeline is a lot cheaper than road transport.
Energy and
Power Development minister Cde July Moyo recently urged fuel importers to use
the Beira pipeline saying Mozambique had a right to ban Zimbabwean fuel
tankers.
The central bank last week said it would continue supporting
fuel imports by allocating importers foreign currency to procure the
commodity.
By Tsitsi
Matope A HARARE Central Hospital doctor, mortuary attendant and some
police officers are being accused of demanding payments for post-mortems that
are conducted free of charge in all Government hospitals.
The mortuary
attendant and police details are also accused of smuggling out close to $1
billion worth of chemicals, including sprays and gloves, used in the
mortuary, which they allegedly sold to private funeral parlours.
Mortuary
attendants are also reported to be contracting out the incineration of baby
corpses to private funeral parlours in return for kickbacks.
But instead
of incinerating the bodies, the funeral parlours were discreetly taking back
the bodies to Government hospitals for incineration to
cut costs.
Harare Central Hospital only incinerates bodies of babies
or foetuses from its own wards and nursery.
Over a month ago there was
a deadlock between the police and doctors who refused to conduct post-mortems
on behalf of the police in deaths where foul play was
suspected.
Parirenyatwa Hospital was the worst hit with the doctors
claiming that they wanted incentives to conduct post-mortems, which, they
insisted, were the responsibility of the police.
However, their
requests were still to be considered although reports have since surfaced
that some police officers based at Harare Central Hospital were conniving
with a certain doctor at the institution to demand payments from relatives of
the deceased or risk having the bodies held indefinitely in the
mortuary.
The Herald called one senior police officer on the pretext that
they had a relative who was due for an autopsy and wanted to know how long
they would have to wait.
"Why do you listen to what people say ambuya?
You can just come togara pasi toronga (We can sit down and discuss)," the
police officer (name supplied) said.
The officer, who was impatient to
know when the meeting would take place, repeatedly asked the time he should
meet with this desperate family.
According to reports, post-mortems have
been performed on over 30 bodies after relatives had agreed to a "negotiable"
payment.
It is understood that certain police officers who booked the
post-mortems made it clear to relatives of the deceased that bodies were
piling up because there was no pathologist to replace Dr Alex Mapunda who
retired in May this year.
After faking a complication, they then
offered to do the relative a favour by requesting for assistance from a
certain doctor.
They then disappeared before returning with information
that the doctor had agreed to conduct the post-mortem provided the family
paid $1 million.
Harare Hospital Medical Superintendent Mr Chris
Tapfumaneyi confirmed receiving such reports against mortuary
attendants.
Asked what the hospital was doing to bring the culprits to
book, Mr Tapfumaneyi said: "We are only able to carry out effective
investigations if the people who were made to pay the money can come forward
and help us in our investigations.
"We have also tightened our
supplies of chemicals to the mortuary to monitor how they are being
used."
He said doctors had made it clear during a series of meetings with
some Government officials, including the police, that they wanted to be paid
for such services.
"But this was not considered and made official for
people to pay, which makes any demands for payments very illegal and subject
to an investigation."
Mr Tapfumaneyi said the hospital had promoted
the particular doctor recently on the basis that he had shown a great deal of
commitment to his work by offering to conduct post-mortems.
"If he is
indeed involved in this alleged scam, it is unfortunate," he said.
Police
Assistant Commissioner Killian Mandisodza said they had received a complaint
from a man who wanted an autopsy conducted on his relative suspected to have
been murdered in Epworth.
"One of our officers is said to have created an
artificial complication although in our investigations it was not clear
whether money was demanded. We have since had the officer transferred from
the hospital police post," Asst Comm Mandisodza said.
He urged people
who could have been duped out of their money to report the cases to Harare
Central Police Station to assist investigating officers to nab the culprits
involved in this scam.