By Tichaona
Sibanda
8 September 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki flew into
Harare on Monday in a
last-ditch attempt to 'bang heads together' and
salvage the power-sharing
talks between ZANU PF and the MDC.
Mbeki,
the SADC appointed mediator to the Zimbabwe talks, has the task of
attempting to bring together Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara to sign a power-sharing deal following weeks of relentless attacks
and counter-attacks. According to media reports he met Mugabe and Tsvangirai
separately, soon after jetting into the country to resume adjourned
power-sharing talks.
Luke Tamborinyoka, the MDC's Director of
Information told Newsreel that the
inter-party talks to a negotiated
settlement were 'on life support' and
would require 'forceful intervention'
by Mbeki if they were to be
resuscitated.
"Mbeki is probably coming
to convey his determination that a process in
which he has invested so much
of his personal prestige cannot be allowed to
collapse. But our position has
been made clear and it will never change,"
Tamborinyoka said. A source said
Mbeki may have been told to 'bang heads
together' if necessary, or risk
having his role as mediator to the talks
taken away by the African Union or
the United Nations.
It's believed the South African leader is going to
spend as much time in the
country as necessary in his efforts to secure the
signatures of the three
political protagonists. A diplomat in Harare said
Mbeki might spend 'up to
three days,' although part of his job has now been
made more difficult by
the breakaway faction of MDC led by
Mutambara.
A statement from the party said on Monday it will 'remain
independent,' and
not work with ZANU PF if no power sharing deal was reached
with Tsvangirai.
The party leadership decided that any agreement would have
to be a three-way
deal that includes Tsvangirai's MDC.
South African
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told
journalists Mbeki
would meet all the political leaders in Harare.
Under Mbeki's
mediation, Mugabe and Tsavngirai agreed that the MDC leader
should become
Prime Minister of a new government, but they reached a
stalemate over how
much power Mugabe should wield as President.
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe
Standard reported on Sunday that Tsvangirai is
prepared to sign a 50/50
power-sharing deal with Mugabe, provided that he is
given the powerful
Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the police.
The paper quotes an
unnamed senior MDC official who reported that Tsvangirai
is ready to sign
the deal if he is given real power, and not just a
ceremonial Prime
Minister's post as Mugabe has demanded.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
IOL
September 08 2008 at 07:17PM
South African President Thabo Mbeki
held talks with Zimbabwe's
political leaders in Harare on Monday, where he
is trying to inject new
momentum into stalled multi-party talks on a
power-sharing government.
Mbeki, the 15-nation Southern African
Development Community
(SADC)-appointed mediator in Zimbabwe, is on his
second trip to Zimbabwe in
as many months as he tries to resolve a dispute
between Mugabe and Movement
for Democratic Change leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The two men are at loggerheads over how to share power
in a unity
government.
Mbeki was met on arrival at Harare
airport by Mugabe. The two held
talks at a city-centre hotel. Tsvangirai and
the leader of a breakaway
faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara, who is also
a party to the talks,
joined the talks shortly afterwards, along with their
negotiators.
This visit by Mbeki, which a South African embassy
official predicted
could last two days, was devoid of the anticipation that
surrounded the last
round of talks he brokered between Zimbabwe's leaders in
Harare in early
August.
Those talks broke off after Tsvangirai
balked at a deal that would
have seen Mugabe retain much of his
powers.
A recent summit of SADC leaders in Johannesburg and a later
round of
talks in South Africa failed to end the deadlock.
"The
issue is about the constitution which gives too much power to the
president," MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti told a rally in Gweru, 300km
south-west of Harare, on the 9th anniversary of the MDC's
founding.
"We need an interim constitution that deals with that,"
he said.
Mugabe has threatened to forge ahead with forming a
government without
the MDC, unless Tsvangirai signs up to a deal that would
make him prime
minister but without the full powers of a head of
government.
Tsvangirai on Sunday reiterated his belief that no deal
was better
than a "bad deal." His party has the most seats in the lower
house of
parliament, making it difficult for Mugabe to govern without
him.
Tsvangirai also gained more votes than Mugabe in March
elections but
failed to pass the 50-per-cent threshold to unseat the
authoritarian leader.
The MDC, the West and a handful of African
countries refused to
recognise Mugabe's victory in a run-off ballot at the
end of June that
Tsvangirai boycotted over a spate of killings of his
supporters.
Zimbabweans see a negotiated political settlement as
the only panacea
for the country's decade-long political and economic
woes.
Mugabe's populist policies are widely blamed for inflation of
11.3
million per cent, widespread food, fuel and drug shortages and mass
emigration.
- Sapa-dpa
africasia
HARARE, Sept 8 (AFP)
Zimbabwe's political rivals had not reached a deal
in power-sharing talks on
Monday, President Robert Mugabe said as he emerged
from negotiations
mediated by South Africa's Thabo Mbeki.
Asked if he
had reached a deal with his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe
said: "Not
yet".
"We are moving forward, we are not going back. It was a good
meeting," he
added.
Officials said that the talks will likely
reconvene on Tuesday.
Tsvangirai also left the meeting venue shortly
after Mugabe's departure, but
did not speak to journalists.
His MDC
party's spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, told reporters that "negotiations
are
still in progress" and expressed hope that the talks would be finalised
on
Tuesday.
"Negotiations are still in progress. We are trying to find areas
of
consensus," he said.
"There are still some serious differences,
but we are trying to narrow those
(differences). We are hoping to finalise
the process tomorrow (Tuesday)", he
added.
President Mbeki is
mediating the talks between Mugabe and his political
rivals -- Tsvangirai,
who leads the main branch of the opposition MDC, and
the head of a smaller
MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara.
IOL
September 08 2008 at
01:43PM
Harare - South African President Thabo Mbeki will meet on
Monday in
Harare with leaders of Zimbabwe's rival political parties in an
effort to
revive stalled power-sharing talks, the foreign ministry
said.
"We confirm that the president will visit Zimbabwe today as
part of
his ongoing SADC (Southern African Development Community)
facilitation
work," said ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
Mamoepa said Mbeki, the SADC mediator in the power-sharing talks,
would meet
leaders of the negotiating parties - the ruling Zanu-PF, the main
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a smaller MDC offshoot.
While the two MDC groups were upbeat about the Mbeki visit, the ruling
Zanu-PF and government officials were reticent to speak about
it.
The MDC welcomed Mbeki's visit, saying they expected Mbeki to
ease the
current deadlock.
"We welcome President Mbeki's visit.
We expect him as mediator to play
the simple but important role of deflating
the current impasse in the
negotiations," said MDC spokesperson Nelson
Chamisa.
"He should persuade Zanu-PF to abandon their meaningless
hardline
stance. The bottom line is people of Zimbabwe are suffering and
they need a
'pain-stop' to come out of these talks," he said.
The MDC splinter group led by Arthur Mutambara said it was hopeful.
"If this meeting with Mbeki takes place, it will be a good opportunity
for
the leaders of this country to chart a new path for a new Zimbabwe. We
are
excited and hopeful," spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa told reporters.
"Zimbabwean people are anxious to see an end to this crisis which has
dragged on for too long. We cannot continue to keep the people in suspense,"
he said.
Zanu-PF chief negotiator and Zimbabwe Justice Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa simply said: "I am not aware of the (Mbeki) visit. I would
not
want to make any comment at this stage."
Talks deadlocked
last month when the MDC, the biggest party in
parliament following election
in March, balked at a proposal which would see
President Robert Mugabe
retain control of the country's security ministries.
It was unclear
early Monday whether Mbeki would meet the parties
together or
separately.
Mbeki's trip comes after Mugabe threatened last week to
form a cabinet
if MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai delayed signing a document to
pave the way
for a power-sharing deal.
Speaking at a rally on
Sunday, Tsvangirai called for fresh elections,
supervised by international
observers, if the deadlocked talks did not reach
a
breakthrough.
He also said that he would only sign a deal that
gives him
"sufficient" power.
"We would rather have no deal
than a bad deal," he said.
Speaking earlier at the same rally, the
MDC's deputy leader Tendai
Biti recalled that the talks had stalled over
powers invested in the
president by the current constitution.
"The president created in this constitution is a monarch, an imperial
president," said Biti, the MDC's secretary-general.
"That's the
sticking point," he said. "It's the issue of the powers of
the president as
enshrined in this constitution that is making these talks
not to move
forward."
The talks began after both sides signed a memorandum of
understanding
on July 21 in Harare.
Mugabe won a June 27
presidential run-off poll after the first-round
winner Tsvangirai withdrew
from the vote in protest at widespread election
violence.
africasia
HARARE, Sept 8 (AFP)
A splinter faction of Zimbabwe's opposition MDC on Monday
stressed that it
would not make any deal with President Robert Mugabe's
party that did not
include the main opposition branch.
"Detailed
assurances were given by the leadership of the party that no
bilateral
agreement had been reached with ZANU-PF and that no bilateral
agreement
would be entered with ZANU-PF in future," the splinter faction
said in a
statement.
The Arthur Mutambara-led faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change, also
known as MDC-M, holds 10 seats in Zimbabwe's
parliament. It could swing the
majority in favour of either the MDC, which
has 100 seats, or Mugabe's
ZANU-PF, which holds 99 seats.
The
statement by the MDC-M faction was issued following a meeting of its
leaders
and MPs at the weekend ahead of power-sharing talks Monday in Harare
mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"The president
(Arthur Mutambara) assured the caucus that any agreement
would have to be a
tripartite agreement which includes the MDC
(Tsvangirai)," it
said.
The statement came after media reports that the smaller MDC had
signed a
deal with Mugabe after Tsvangirai refused to sign an agreement to
pave the
way for a unity government.
Talks to end Zimbabwe's
political crisis following a disputed presidential
run-off election in June
deadlocked last month after Mugabe and Tsvangirai
failed to reach a deal
over the sharing of executive powers.
Mbeki, the regionally appointed
mediator in the talks, was in Harare on
Monday with the three political
rivals in a bid to revive the stalled
negotiations.
Tsvangirai said
at a rally on Sunday that he would not accept any deal that
did not give him
"sufficient" powers.
Mail and Guardian
MAIL & GUARDIAN ONLINE REPORTER - Sep 08 2008
14:15
Zimbabwe's main opposition faction, headed by
Morgan Tsvangirai, is prepared
to sign a 50-50 power-sharing deal with
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF,
provided that the opposition is given the
powerful Ministry of Home Affairs,
which controls the police.
A
senior official of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Monday
that Morgan Tsvangirai is ready to sign the deal if he is given real power
and not just a ceremonial prime minister's post, as Mugabe has
demanded.
Talks on power-sharing between the three key parties --
Zanu-PF, the MDC
under Tsvangirai and the Arthur Mutambara-led faction of
the MDC -- have
been bogged down by differences on which ministries Mugabe
and Tsvangirai
should control.
The three parties already seem to have
agreed that Mugabe will remain
president while Tsvangirai becomes prime
minister. Mutambara's party was
supposed to get the post of speaker of
Parliament, but the plan was scuttled
after the two factions disagreed on
the candidate and it was taken over by
the Tsvangirai faction.
The
MDC under Tsvangirai has 100 out of 210 seats in the House of Assembly.
The
Mutambara faction has 10 seats, and Zanu-PF has 99. An independent
candidate
holds the remaining seat.
Mugabe, in power since 1980, is reportedly
insisting that he retain the
security ministries, including defence, justice
(along with prisons), and
home affairs.
He has offered economic
ministries to Tsvangirai in what observers believe
is an effort to gain
sympathy from the West so that sanctions can be lifted
in order to get
Zimbabwe's economy back on track. At present, inflation is
put at anything
above 20-million percent, and the Zimbabwe dollar has been
losing half its
value almost weekly.
Tsvangirai told his supporters on Sunday that he
would rather have fresh
elections than accept a deal in which he would not
be given real power.
A senior official of the party said the MDC would
sign the deal if it was
given the home affairs post because it would be in
charge of the police.
"We want that post so that we can arrest the war
veterans and the militias
that go around beating up people. If Mugabe
retains that post, we are in
trouble [and] the violence will continue, so we
won't sign," the official
said.
Asked whether it was not be better to
sign the agreement and then try to
reform the government from within, the
official said: "That's a non-starter.
You people don't know Mugabe. [Joshua]
Nkomo tried it and failed."
South African President Thabo Mbeki was due
in Zimbabwe on Monday to try to
seal the deal between the three
parties.
Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of the presidential
elections in
March but failed to win an outright victory to avoid a run-off.
His party
claims it won an outright victory. He pulled out of the run-off
scheduled
for June 27 citing violence that left more than 100 people dead,
leaving
Mugabe to win uncontested.
SABC
September
08, 2008, 14:30
Political analyst Dennis Kadima has expressed pessimism
at President Thabo
Mbeki's capacity to break the deadlock in the Zimbabwe
negotiations.
"If somebody else could play that role . South Africa will
have the leverage
to look at the process and use its influence to make sure
that the parties
don't change the rules of the game, or they don't negate
what they had
approved before. At the moment, there is no country that can
play that role
..." says Kadima.
Mbeki will meet Zimbabwe's rival
parties in Harare this afternoon amid
growing doubts over his chances of
securing a power-sharing deal to end the
political crisis.
Yesterday,
opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan
Tsvangirai said he
would rather quit talks than sign a bad deal and
challenged President Robert
Mugabe to hold a new election. Mugabe had
threatened to form a government
alone if Tsvangirai did not sign a deal last
week.
South Africa's
Presidency has confirmed Mbeki's trip, which many believe
will either
culminate in a political settlement or confirm the collapse of
the
talks.
http://www.zimbabwetoday.co.uk
Military manoeuvres indicate that Zanu-PF is
preparing for conflict
With the power-sharing talks between Mugabe's
ruling Zanu-PF and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change now stalled
and showing no signs
of progress, Robert Mugabe has moved swiftly to prepare
for an armed
struggle within Zimbabwe.
A highly-ranked Army commander
told me today, Monday: "Civil war is now
definitely in prospect. Our
officers currently undergoing training in South
Africa have been immediatly
recalled in mid-course, for what were described
as more important military
duties.
"I'm also aware that regiments from Imbizo, Mbalabala and Carbone
barracks
have been placed on high alert. And their training has been
re-focused to
include much more direct action on the ground."
Another
sign of imminent action by Zanu-PF is the size of the military
presence on
our city streets. Much bigger patrols have been noticed this
week in Harare,
Bulawayo and other cities, especially towards nightfall.
Meanwhile, as
SADC, the grouping of nations in the region, continue to
insist that the two
parties must reach an agreement through negotiation, MDC
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai has called for new elections, to be supervised by
the
international community.
Speaking at a rally this weekend to mark the
ninth anniversary of the
creation of the MDC, he said the talks had
deadlocked over Mugabe's
insistence on retaining control over the country's
security forces.
And he pointed out that it is these security forces -
the police, the army,
the militias etc - which Mugabe has always used to
brutalise and terrify the
people of Zimbabwe.
Many observers now
believe that he will use the same forces if and when
social order here
finally breaks down, and he decides on the violent
elimination of the
opposition once and for all.
Posted on Monday, 08 September 2008 at
15:10
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 08 September 2008 10:25
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News)---SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki flew
into
Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Monday morning, but the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was unlikely to sign a
proposed
power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe unless his demands
were
met.
According to MDC spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa, who spoke to
CAJ News
over telephone on Monday, the country's main opposition was
demanding that
Tsvangirai becomes the sole leader to chair the cabinet
meetings.
Among other demands put forward by the MDC were that
Tsvangirai be
allowed to hire and fire ministers and be accorded the
opportunity to
control key government apparatus.
"The
people spoke on March 29 during harmonised elections, so why is
ZANU-PF
complicating things? Our president (Tsvangirai) should be given the
executive powers he deserves by virtue of being the democratically elected
leader of Zimbabwe," said Chamisa.
On the other hand, ZANU-PF's
Patrick Chinamasa, said his party would
not allow Tsvangirai to co-chair the
cabinet with Mugabe, as that was not
"practical".
"The MDC
should understand how government operates. The proposal is
not possible and
not acceptable at all," said Chinamasa.
President Mbeki's
spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, confirmed on
Monday afternoon that the SA
leader was in the Zimbabwean capital Harare,
but declined to shed more light
on the proceedings of the power-sharing
talks arguing that the media would
be briefed midweek.
"I am here in Harare with Mbeki, but once
again, we are not compelled
to reveal to nature of the discussion. The media
will be updated about the
deal when time is ripe," said
Ratshitanga.
Close sources within ZANU-PF''s supreme decision
making body, the
politburo, said Mugabe was ready to allow Tsvangirai to
co-chair other
government meetings other than cabinet.
Mugabe
is also said to be unwilling to allow Tsvangirai to take charge
of the
defence and security ministries.
"This is where the bone of
contention is. Mugabe wants to control all
the important organs of the state
while relegating Tsvangirai to a mere
ceremonial prime minister," said a
politburo source --CAJ News.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 08 September 2008
11:56
ZIMBABWE - HARARE - President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa
is edging
closer to serious trouble that could see him facing the wrath of
South
Africans over his failure to objectively handle the Zimbabwean
political
crisis for finding a solution, and now risking his country being
stripped of
the right to host the 2010 soccer World Cup. In that context,
one of the
serious issues of concern is the political and economic situation
in
Zimbabwe.
Mbeki has really backed himself into a cul-de-sac
by fatuously
maintaining a supportive and defensive approach towards his
handling of an
intransigent Zanu (PF) regime headed by Robert Matibili
Mugabe.
As the SADC appointed mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis,
Mbeki has,
shockingly, gone out of his way to block censure and punishment
of Mugabe
but yet without any workable solution coming out of his infamous
quiet
diplomacy strategy.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter in July
stated that he had a Plan B based
on three countries he had already advised
and obtained commitment from to be
able to step in and take over in the
event SA fails to host the tournament.
ZimDaily has it on good
authority that FIFA, who are keeping a keen
eye on developments in SA and
SADC in general recently sent a secret
investigation team to the region with
particular interest on Zimbabwe and
how the situation in this country was
affecting the whole region.
A damning report casting aspersions on
the Zimbabwean issue was
submitted, triggering desperate deliberations
between FIFA, the SA
government, soccer leaders as well as
business.
The broader international community, particularly the
west, which has
been at loggerheads with Mugabe for close to a decade, is
also deeply
involved in the deliberations.
"Mbeki has been
forced to explain the situation, particularly by his
government, SA business
as well as the 2010 organising committee," a highly
placed source in Mbeki's
administration told us in confidence.
"He managed to get another
chance by promising that there would be a
solution to the Zimbabwean crisis
and seemed to have made a substantive
breakthrough when he succeeded in
having the Zimbabwe leaders to sign the
MoU in July. However, his two-week
deadline has long elapsed and everything
now points towards a serious
confrontation over the matter."
FIFA secretary general, Jerome
Valcke has in the past weeks made
several correspondents to Mbeki through
the SA organising committee, showing
the deep concern over the situation in
Zimbabwe.
"There is concern over the security situation in the SADC
region
because of the political situation in Zimbabwe and questions are
being asked
on whether this presents a conducive environment for hosting the
tournament," one of the correspondents leaked to ZimDaily
states.
It is for this pressure, coupled with a groundswell of
grumbling
within his government, which has been forcing Mbeki to spend most
of his
time recently trying to scrap a settlement between Mugabe and his
nemesis,
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
"Mbeki's last hope is
beating the announcement by FIFA that an
alternative host would take over,
otherwise he knows what awaits him in SA,"
a member of the ANC, SA's ruling
party said.
We also spoke to sources within the SA 2010 organising
committee, and
one of them said, "It is unimaginable that after all we have
put together
and sacrificed, the finals may be moved to another
country.
The amounts put into the preparations are too much to go
down the
drain." A massive R5 billion is estimated to have already been
spent on the
preparations.
But it is in the ANC that Mbeki
faces the worst prospects and harshest
reprimand if the soccer tournament
goes because of his "playing with Mugabe"
The troubled SA leader
was given the loud message by ANC that he was
no longer popular at Polokwane
last year when he lost the party's presidency
to Jacob Zuma, with whom he is
engaged in a multi-faceted political battle
often turning ugly.
"The Zuma ANC will relish an opportunity to skin Mbeki alive and that
shall
be very possible if the worst comes to happen around the soccer world
cup
issue," an SA diplomat based in Harare told us. "They (the Zuma ANC) are
already seeing this coming and busy sharpening their knives for a final
kill."
With unprecedented hyperinflation approaching 30 million
percent,
under the iron bondage of a dictator, Robert Mugabe heading a
military junta
and one of the worst levels of humanitarian crisis in peace
time, Zimbabwe
is simply a bad destination for anyone.
SA has
already made it clear that it would need the serious
involvement of its
neighbours in hosting the teams and fans that are
expected for the soccer
finals, including Zimbabwe.
But not only is the impoverished
country doing nothing as way of
preparing infrastructure and other
requirements, it is actually further
sliding backwards under the current
situation.
Above all this, the major concern is the political chaos
Mugabe causes
in and outside Zimbabwe, as recently epitomised by massive
demonstrations in
SA, Botswana and other SADC countries against the
geriatric dictator.
"FIFA shall never take that risk for anything.
There is no way the
west will accept to attend the tournament under such as
political
situation," our SA diplomat source privy to the goings-on told
us.
On Monday we reveal how Mbeki now considers ditching Mugabe
to avoid
the above-explained trouble, a possibility that could bring a new
twist to
the Zimbabwean political issue.
Zimdaily
By Lance Guma
08
September 2008
Former Gweru Urban Member of Parliament Timothy Mukahlera
has dumped the
Mutambara MDC to rejoin the main party led by Morgan
Tsvangirai. Addressing
thousands of supporters at the MDC's 9th anniversary
celebrations at Mkoba
Stadium, Mukahlera said he was disenchanted by the
leadership of the
Mutambara faction and had decided 'to come back home.' He
follows a growing
list of prominent officials that includes Lovemore Moyo,
Blessing Chebundo,
Sam Sipepa Nkomo and Gift Chimanikire among others, who
have deserted the
party since the acrimonious split in October
2005.
Speaking to Newsreel on Monday party spokesman Nelson Chamisa
confirmed he
had re-introduced Mukahlera to party supporters on Sunday. "This
is a
people's
struggle. We need to make sure the revolutionary train has
enough space and
seats for all democrats," Chamisa said. Mukahlera remarked
in the local
shona language, "Chakashata chakashata, ndadzokera kumusangano-
What's bad
is bad, I have come back to the party."
Meanwhile, Newsreel
is reliably informed that 2 Mutambara MP's almost came
to blows on an Air
Zimbabwe flight to Harare from Bulawayo soon after the
vote for the speaker
of parliament. Edward Mkhosi (Mangwe) and Siyabonga
Malandu Ncube (Insiza
South) are said to have exchanged some harsh words in
front of other
passengers. Mkhosi is alleged to have called Malandu a
'sellout' for being
loyal to Mutambara, while Malandu accused Mkhosi of
being aligned to the
Tsvangirai camp. Mkhosi challenged his colleague to
instigate a by-election
in his constituency 'if he saw fit.'
The Mutambara MDC reportedly held
heated meetings on Saturday and Sunday at
the Kadoma Ranch Hotel. Members of
the top leadership are said to have
demanded an explanation as to why rebels
in the party voted for Lovemore
Moyo (Tsvangirai MDC) as parliamentary
speaker instead of Paul Themba Nyathi
their candidate. Any future rebels were
threatened with by-elections in
their
constituencies.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By
Violet Gonda
8 September 2008
International pressure is mounting on
ZANU PF as another western country has
slapped the regime with sanctions.
Canada on Friday froze assets of ZANU PF
officials and banned arms exports to
Zimbabwe.
The country's airline Air Zimbabwe has for the first time also
been
targeted. The North American country said the Zimbabwean airliner will
be
prohibited from flying over, or landing in Canada.
Canadian Foreign
Affairs Minister David Emerson said his country was
imposing the punitive
measures because there has been no effort to promote
democracy in Zimbabwe,
and it does not recognize the illegitimate ZANU PF
government.
Besides
the usual names of people who have appeared on sanctions list
imposed by the
United States, European Union and Australia, such as Robert
Mugabe, Ignatius
Chombo, Patrick Chinamasa and Didymus Mutasa, the list also
includes
journalists, spouses and children of ZANU PF officials.
Tanya (19) and
Natasha Muchinguri (14) the children of 'Minister' Oppah
Muchinguri have also
been included on the sanctions list. Former Minister
Dumiso Dabengwa's 37
year old daughter Ijeoma, and Patrick Chinamasa's child
Gamuchirayi have also
been sanctioned.
Chinamasa's wife Monica who was controversially
appointed to the Makoni
Rural District Council recently, even though she was
not elected, is among
the spouses of ZANU PF officials targeted.
Other
spouses include George Charamba's wife Rudo, Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon
Gono's wife Hellin, Ignatius Chombo's 'two wives' Marian and Ever,
and the 84
year old leader's 43 year old wife Grace.
Andrew Manyevere, the MDC Chief
Representative in Canada says sanctions are
another way of facilitating
negotiations and to force the regime to stop
repression in Zimbabwe. He said:
"When Mugabe does targeted retribution,
abuse and torture, he tortures the
whole village." The MDC official said by
targeting the regime's children and
relatives the message is clear that the
Canadians are not only targeting the
ZANU PF officials "but targeting their
whole survival thread."
Ceasar
Zvayi and Munyaradzi Huni are the only journalists on the list of
181
Zimbabweans. The two were also added to the EU sanctions list in July
after
they were accused of hate-mongering against opposition
members.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 08 September 2008
14:11
The following persons have been listed by the Canadian Government
for
targeted sanctions. They include Ignatius Chombo's two
wives.
Robert Gabriel MUGABE, date of birth: 21/02/1924
President
Joseph MSIKA, date of birth: 06/12/1923
Vice-President
Joyce MUJURU, date of birth: 15/04/1955
Vice-President
Flora BUKA, also known among other names as
Flora BHUKA, date of
birth:
25/02/1968
Minister of State
for Special Affairs in the President's Office
responsible for Land and
Resettlement Programmes
Aeneas Soko CHIGWEDERE, date of birth:
25/11/1939 Minister of
Education, Sports and Culture
Chenhamo Chakezha CHIMUTENGWENDE, date of birth: 28/08/1943 Minister
of State
for Public and Interactive Affairs
Patrick Anthony CHINAMASA,
date of birth: 25/01/1947 Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs
Edward CHINDORI-CHININGA, date of birth: 14/03/1955
Formerly Minister
of Mines and Mining Development
Tongesai
Shadreck CHIPANGA, date of birth: 10/10/1946 Formerly Deputy
Minister of Home
Affairs
Ignatius Morgan Chiminya CHOMBO, date of birth:
01/08/1952 Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development,
ZANU-PF Politburo
Member, Secretary of the Politburo Committee on Lands and
Resettlement
Nicholas GOCHE, date of birth: 01/08/1946 Minister
of Public Services,
Labour and Social Welfare, and ZANU-PF Politburo
Secretary for National
Security
Rugare Aleck Ngidi GUMBO,
date of birth: 08/03/1940 Minister of
Agriculture (formerly Minister of
Economic Development); ZANU-PF Politburo
Deputy Secretary for
Administration
Tichaona Joseph Benjamin JOKONYA, date of birth:
27/12/1938 Minister
of Information and Publicity
Christopher
Tichaona KURUNERI, date of birth: 04/04/1949 Formerly
Minister of Finance and
Economic Development
Joseph Mtakwese MADE, date of birth:
21/11/1954 Minister of State for
Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation;
formerly Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development
Elliot Tapfumanei MANYIKA, date of birth: 30/07/1955 Minister
without
Portfolio; ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for
Commissariat
Amos Bernard Muvenga MIDZI, date of birth:
04/07/1952 Minister of
Mines and Mining Development
Emmerson
Dambudzo MNANGAGWA, date of birth: 15/09/1946 Minister of
Rural Housing and
Social Amenities; ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for
Legal
Affairs
Kembo Campbell Dugishi MOHADI, date of birth:
15/11/1949 Minister of
Home Affairs; ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for
Legal Affairs
Jonathan Nathaniel MOYO, date of birth:
12/01/1957 Formerly Minister
of Information and Publicity
July Gabarari MOYO, date of birth: 07/05/1950 Formerly Minister of
Energy and
Power Development; formerly Minister of Public Service, Labour
and Social
Welfare
Obert Moses MPOFU, date of birth: 12/10/1951 Minister
of Industry and
International Trade; ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for
National
Security
Olivia Nyembezi MUCHENA, date of birth:
18/08/1946 Minister of State
for Science and Technology Development; ZANU-PF
Politburo Secretary for
Science and Technology
Oppah Chamu
Zvipange MUCHINGURI, date of birth: 14/12/1958 Minister of
Women's Affairs,
Gender and Community Development; ZANU-PF Politburo
Secretary for Women's
Affairs
Stan Isaak Gorerazvo MUDENGE, date of birth: 17/12/1941
Minister of
Higher and Tertiary Education; ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary
for
External Affairs
Samuel Creighton MUMBENGEGWI, date of
birth: 23/10/1942 Minister of
Finance; formerly Minister of Indigenization
and Empowerment
Simbarashe Simbanenduku MUMBENGEGWI, date of
birth: 20/07/1945
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Herbert
Muchemwa MURERWA, date of birth: 31/07/1941 Formerly Minister
of Finance and
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Education
Christopher
Chindoti MUSHOHWE, date of birth: 06/02/1954 Minister of
Transport and
Communication
Didymus Noel Edwin MUTASA, date of birth:
27/07/1935 Minister of State
for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement; ZANU-PF
Politburo Secretary for Administration
Munacho Thomas Alvar MUTEZO, date of birth: 14/02/1954 Minister of
Water
Resources and Infrastructural Development
Ambrose MUTINHIRI,
date of birth: 22/02/1944 Minister of Youth
Development, Gender and
Employment Creation
Sikhanyiso Duke NDLOVU, date of birth:
04/05/1937 Minister of
Information and Publicity; ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary
for Education;
formerly Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education
Sylvester Robert NGUNI, date of birth: 04/08/1955
Minister of Economic
Development; formerly Deputy Minister of
Agriculture
Francis Dunstan Chenayimoyo NHEMA, date of birth:
17/04/1959 Minister
of Environment and Tourism
Michael
Reuben NYAMBUYA, date of birth: 23/07/1955 Minister of Energy
and Power
Development
Sithembiso Gile Gladys NYONI, date of birth:
20/09/1949 Minister of
Small and Medium Enterprise Development; ZANU-PF
Politburo Deputy Secretary
for Indigenization and
Empowerment
David Pagwese PARIRENYATWA, date of birth:
02/08/1950 Minister of
Health and Child Welfare; ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy
Secretary for Health and
Child Welfare
Sydney Tigere
SEKERAMAYI, date of birth: 30/03/1944 Minister of
Defence; ZANU-PF Politburo
Secretary for Health and Child Welfare
Webster Kotiwani SHAMU,
date of birth: 06/06/1945 Minister of State
for Policy Implementation; Member
of ZANU-PF Politburo
Samuel UDENGE
Minister of State
for State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and
Anti-Corruption; formerly Deputy
Minister of Economic Development
David CHAPFIKA, date of birth:
07/04/1957 Deputy Minister of
Agriculture
George CHARAMBA,
date of birth: 04/04/1963 Permanent Secretary,
Department for Information and
Publicity
Phineas CHIHOTA, date of birth: 23/11/1950 Deputy
Minister of Industry
and International Trade
Abigail
DAMASANE, date of birth: 27/05/1952 Deputy Minister of Women's
Affairs,
Gender and Community Development
Lazarus DOKORA
Deputy
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education
Aguy
GEORGIAS
Senator; Deputy Minister of Economic
Development
Saviour KASUKUWERE, date of birth: 23/10/1970
Deputy Minister of Youth
Development and Employment Creation; ZANU-PF
Politburo Deputy-Secretary for
Youth Affairs
Andrew LANGA,
date of birth: 13/01/1965
Deputy Minister of Environment and
Tourism
Jaison Max Kokerai MACHAYA, date of birth: 13/06/1952
Formerly Deputy
Minister of Mines and Mining Development
Shuvai Ben MAHOFA, date of birth: 04/04/1941 Formerly Deputy Minister
of
Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation
Titus Hatlani
MALULEKE
Deputy Minister of Education, Sport and
Culture
Reuben MARUMAHOKO, date of birth: 04/04/1948 Deputy
Minister of
Foreign Affairs; formerly Deputy Minister of Home
Affairs
Joel Biggie MATIZA, date of birth: 17/08/1960 Deputy
Minister of Rural
Housing and Social Amenities
Bright
MATONGA, date of birth: circa 1969 Deputy Minister of
Information and
Publicity
Obert MATSHALAGA, date of birth: 21/04/1951 Deputy
Minister of Home
Affairs; formerly Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs
Melusi Mike MATSHIYA
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs
Partson MBIRIRI
Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and
Urban
Development
Tobaiwa Tonneth MUDEDE, date of birth: 22/12/1942
Registrar General
Edwin MUGUTI, date of birth:
02/05/1964
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare
Tracey MUTINHIRI
Deputy Minister of Indigenization and
Empowerment
Kenneth Kaparadza MUTIWEKUZIVA, date of birth:
27/05/1948 Deputy
Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise
Development
Walter MZEMBI
Deputy Minister of Water
Resources and Infrastructural Development
Abedinico NCUBE, date
of birth: 13/10/1954 Deputy Minister of Public
Service, Labour and Social
Welfare
Hubert Magadzire NYANHONGO
Deputy Minister of
Transport and Communications
Tinos RUSERE, date of birth:
10/05/1945
Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining
Development
Morris SAKABUYA
Deputy Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and Urban
Development
Isaiah
Masvayamwando SHUMBA, date of birth: 03/01/1949 Deputy Minister
of Education,
Sports and Culture
Mishek SIBANDA
Chief Secretary to
the President and Cabinet
Timothy STAMPS, date of birth:
15/10/1936 Health Advisor, Office of
the President
Patrick
ZHUWAO, date of birth: 23/05/1967 Deputy Minister of Science
and Technology;
nephew of Robert MUGABE
(President)
Cold Comfort Farm
Trust Co-Operative
Address: 7 Cowie Road, Tynwald, Harare, Zimbabwe
Other information:
Owner: Didymus MUTASA (Grace MUGABE also
implicated).
Jongwe Printing and Publishing Company
Address: 14 Austin Road, Coventry Road, Workington, PO Box 5988,
Harare,
Zimbabwe Other information: Editorial-writing branch of the
ZANU-PF.
ZIDCO Holdings
Address: PO Box 1275, Harare,
Zimbabwe
Other information: Financial holding company for the
ZANU-PF.
Zimbabwe Defence Industries Pvt Ltd
Address:
10th Floor, Trustee House, 55 Samora Machel Avenue, PO Box
6597, Harare,
Zimbabwe Other information: Directors include Leo MUGABE and
Solomon
MUJURU.
Michael Chakanaka BIMHA
Chairman, Air
Zimbabwe
Joseph CHINOTIMBA
Deputy Chairman, Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans Association
Miriai
CHIREMBA
Chief, Financial Intelligence Unit, Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe
Pirirayi DEKETEKE
Chairman, Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe
Tshinga Judge DUBE, date of birth:
03/07/1941 CEO, Zimbabwe Defence
Industries
Gideon GONO,
date of birth: 29/11/1959
Governor, Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe
Munyaradzi KEREKE
Chief Counselor, Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
Tafataona P. MAHOSO
Chair, Media
Information Commission
Kenneth Vhundukai MANYONDA, date of
birth: 10/08/1934 Vice Chairman,
Air Zimbabwe
Justin
MUTASA
Chairman, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings; CEO, Zimbabwe
Newspapers
Group
Herbert NKALA
Chairman, Zimbabwe
Newspapers Ltd.
Douglas NYIKAYARAMBA
Chairman,
National Railways of Zimbabwe
Jabulani SIBANDA, date of birth:
31/12/1970 Formerly National
Chairman, Zimbabwe National Liberation War
Veterans Association
Fred ZINDI
Chair, Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe
Fortune
Zefanaya CHARUMBIRA, date of birth: 10/06/1962 President of
the Council of
Chiefs; formerly Deputy Minister of Local Government, Member
of Parliament
and ZANU-PF Central Committee Member
Alice CHIMBUDZI
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee Member
Victoria CHITEPO, date of
birth: 27/03/1928 ZANU-PF Politburo
Committee Member
Dumiso
DABENGWA, date of birth: 06/12/1939 ZANU-PF Politburo
Committee
Member
Sobuza GULA-NDEBELE, date of birth:
12/08/1954 Attorney-General
Richard HOVE, date of birth:
23/09/1939
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Economic
Affairs
Munyaradzi HUNI
Journalist for state newspaper
"The Herald"
Kumbirai KANGAI, date of birth:17/02/1938 ZANU-PF
Politburo Secretary
for External Affairs
Thenjiwe LESABE,
date of birth: 05/01/1933 ZANU-PF Politburo Member
Edna
MADZONGWE, date of birth:11/07/1943 President of the Senate;
ZANU-PF
Politburo Deputy Secretary for Production and Labour
Joshua
MALINGA, date of birth: 28/04/1944 ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy
Secretary for the
Disabled and Disadvantaged
Fidelian MAPHOSA
ZANU-PF
Politburo Committee member
Dzikamai MAVHAIRE
ZANU-PF
Politburo Member; Deputy Secretary of the Politburo Committee
on Lands and
Resettlement
Gilbert MOYO
Directed ZANU-PF
militias.
Headman MOYO
ZANU-PF Provincial Chairman,
Matabeland North
Musa MOYO
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee
Member
Simon Khaya MOYO, date of birth: 01/10/1945 Formerly
ZANU-PF Politburo
Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs; Zimbabwe Ambassador to
South Africa
Leo MUGABE, date of birth: 28/08/1962
Member of Parliament; Nephew of Robert Mugabe (President)
Sabina MUGABE, date of birth: 14/10/1934 ZANU-PF Politburo Senior
Committee
Member
Solomon Tapfumaneyi Ruzambo MUJURU, date of birth:
01/05/1949 ZANU-PF
Politburo Senior Committee Member; formerly Commander,
Zimbabwe Defence
Forces
Tsitsi MUZENDA
ZANU-PF
Politburo Senior Committee Member
Naison NDLOVU, date of birth:
22/10/1930 ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary
for Production and
Labour
Richard NDLOVU, date of birth: 26/06/1942 ZANU-PF
Politburo Deputy
Secretary for the Commissariat
John Landa
NKOMO, date of birth: 22/08/1934 Speaker of Parliament and
Chairman of
ZANU-PF
George NYATHI
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy
Secretary of Science and Technology
Bharat PATEL
Public Prosecutor
Khantibhal PATEL, date of birth: 28/10/1928
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy
Secretary for Finance
Selina M.
POTE
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Gender and
Culture
Stanley SAKUPWANYA, date of birth: circa 1945 ZANU-PF
Politburo
Secretary for the Disabled and Disadvantaged
Eunice SANDI
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Home
Affairs
Tendai SAVANHU, date of birth: 21/03/1968 ZANU-PF
Politburo Deputy
Secretary of Transport and Social Welfare
Nathan Marwirakuwa SHAMUYARIRA, date of birth: 29/09/1928 ZANU-PF
Politburo
Secretary for Information and Publicity
Absolom
SIKHOSANA
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Youth
Affairs
Solomon Chirume TAWENGWA, date of birth: 15/06/1940
ZANU-PF Politburo
Deputy Secretary for Finance
Jabulani
TSHAWE
ZANU-PF Provincial Chairman, Bulawayo
Charles
UTETE, date of birth: 30/10/1938 Chairman of the Presidential
Land Review
Committee; Chairman, Industrial Development Corporation
Vitalis
ZVINAVASHE, date of birth: 27/09/1943 Member of the ZANU-PF
Politburo,
Secretary of the Politburo Committee on Indigenization
and
Empowerment
Abu BASUTU
Air Force General;
Matebeleland South
Happyton BONYONGWE, date of birth:
06/11/1960 Director-General,
Central Intelligence
Organisation
Wayne BVUDZIJENA
Assistant Police
Commissioner
Augustine CHIHURI, date of birth: 10/03/1953
Police Commissioner
Constantine CHIWENGA, date of birth:
25/08/1956 Lt. Gen.; Commander
Zimbabwe Defence Forces
Thomsen JANGARA
Assistant to Police Prefect, Chief Police Commissioner
based in
Southerton, responsible for Harare South
Musarahana
MABUNDA
Assistant Police Commissioner
Barbara
MANDIZHA, date of birth: 24/10/1959 Deputy Police Commissioner
Godwin MATANGA, date of birth: 05/02/1962 Deputy Police
Commissioner
Innocent MATIBIRI, date of birth: 09/10/1968
Deputy Police
Commissioner
Bothwell MUGARIRI
Senior
Assistant Police Commissioner
Munyaradzi MUSARIRI
Assistant Police Commissioner
Elisha MUZONZINI, date of birth:
24/06/1957 Brigadier; formerly
Director-General, Central Intelligence
Organisation
Perence SHIRI, date of birth: 01/11/1955 Air
Marshal, Air Force
Levy SIBANDA
Deputy Police
Commissioner
Phillip Valentine SIBANDA, date of birth:
25/08/1956 Commander;
Zimbabwe National Army
Innocent
Tonderai MATIBIRI
Assistant Director General of the Police; Relative of
Robert MUGABE
(President)
Edmore VETERAI
Senior Assistant Police Commissioner, Officer Commanding Harare
Paradzai ZIMONDI, date of birth: 04/03/1947 Prisons Director
George CHIWESHE, date of birth: 04/06/1953 Chairman, Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission
Joyce KAZEMBE
Deputy Chair, Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission
Lovemore SEKERAMAYI
Chief
Election Officer, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Abina CHAPFIKA,
date of birth: 23/08/1961 Spouse of David CHAPFIKA
(Minister of
Agriculture)
Monica CHINAMASA, date of birth: 03/05/1905 Spouse
of Patrick Anthony
CHINAMASA (Minister of Justice)
Gamuchirai CHINAMASA, date of birth: 11/11/1991 Child of Patrick
Anthony
CHINAMASA (Minister of Justice)
Jocelyn CHIWENGA
Spouse of Lt. Gen. Constantine CHIWENGA (Commander Zimbabwe
Defence
Forces)
Ever CHOMBO, date of birth:
20/09/1956
Spouse of Ignatius CHOMBO (Minister of Local Government,
Public Works,
and Urban Development)
Marian CHOMBO, date of
birth: 11/08/1960 Spouse of Ignatius CHOMBO
(Minister of Local Government,
Public Works, and Urban Development)
Hellin Mushanyuri GONO,
date of birth: 06/05/1962 Spouse of Gideon
GONO (Governor, Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe)
Natasha MUCHINGURI, date of birth: 16/06/1905 Child
of Oppah Chamu
Zvipange MUCHINGURI (Minister of Women's
Affairs)
Tanya MUCHINGURI, date of birth: 11/06/1905 Child of
Oppah Chamu
Zvipange MUCHINGURI (Minister of Women's
Affairs)
Grace MUGABE, date of birth: 23/07/1965
Spouse of Robert MUGABE (President)
Rose Jaele NDLOVU, date of
birth: 27/09/1939 Spouse of Sikhanyiso
NDLOVU (Minister of Information and
Publicity)
Georgina Ngwenya NKOMO, date of birth: 4/08/1966
Spouse of John NKOMO
(Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of
ZANU-PF)
Louise S. NKOMO, also known among other names as
Louise Sehulle NHEMA,
date of birth: 25/08/1964 Spouse of Francis NHEMA
(Minister of Environment
and Tourism)
Peter Baka NYONI, date
of birth: 10/01/1950 Spouse of Sithembiso NYONI
(Minister of Small and Medium
Enterprise
Development)
Tsitsi Chihrui SEKERAMAYI,
date of birth: 27/04/1905 Spouse of Sydney
SEKERAMAYI (Minister of
Defence)
Tinaye Elisha CHIGUDU, date of birth: 13/08/1942
Provincial Governor,
Manicaland
Willard CHIWEWE, date of
birth: 19/03/1949 Provincial Governor,
Masvingo
Josaya
Dunira HUNGWE, date of birth: 07/11/1935 Formerly Provincial
Governor,
Masvingo
Ray Joseph KAUKONDE, date of birth: 04/03/1963
Provincial Governor,
Mashonaland East
David John
MAFA
ZANU-PF Provincial Chairman, Mashonaland West
Sekesai MAKWAVARARA
Acting Mayor of Harare; Member of ZANU-PF
Politburo
Ephraim Sango MASAWI
Governor, Mashonaland
Central and ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary
for Information and
Publicity
Angeline MASUKU, date of birth: 14/10/1936 Provincial
Governor,
Matabeleland South and ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Gender and
Culture
Cain Ginyilitshe Ndabazekhaya MATHEMA, date of birth:
28/01/1948
Provincial Governor, Bulawayo Metropolitan
Thokozile MATHUTHU
Provincial Governor, Matabeland North and ZANU-PF
Politburo Secretary
for Transport and Welfare
Rido MPOFU
ZANU-PF
Provincial Chairman, Matabeland South
Cephas
George MSIPA, date of birth: 07/07/1931 Provincial
Governor,
Midlands
Nelson Tapera Crispin SAMKANGE
Provincial Governor, Mashonaland West
Cesar
ZVAYI
Rudo Grace CHARAMBA, date of birth:
20/06/1964
Ijeoma DABENGWA, date of birth:
27/10/1971
Ruth Chipo MURERWA, date of birth:
27/07/1947
Beauty Lily ZHUWAO, date of birth: 10/01/1965
BILL WATCH 35/2008
[6th September 2008]
Parliament is adjourned until October
No Bills or Statutory Instruments were gazetted this week
No Acts await gazetting - all Acts previously passed have been gazetted
No Dates for By Elections Announced
There are two vacant seats in the House of Assembly and three vacant constituency seats in the Senate. The proclamation/s calling the by-elections to fill the vacancies must be gazetted within 14 days after the President is notified of the vacancies by the Speaker or the President of the Senate [Electoral Act section 39]. As all the vacancies were known early last week, the proclamation/s should be gazetted very soon.
House of Assembly vacant seats: Gokwe-Gumunyu [resulting from the death of the incumbent] and Matobo North [seat vacated by Mr. Lovemore Moyo on election as Speaker].
Senate vacant seats: Chegutu [seat vacated by Mrs Madzongwe on election as President of the Senate], Chiredzi [seat vacated by Mr Maluleke on appointment as Provincial Governor, Masvingo] Gokwe South [seat vacated by Mr Machaya on appointment as Provincial Governor, Midlands].
Reports from the Matobo North constituency say ZANU-PF supporters moved into by-election campaign mode immediately after Mr Moyo's election as Speaker and are employing intimidatory tactics of a kind that attracted condemnation of the run-up to the Presidential run-off election from SADC, AU and PAP election observers. This also violates the MoU and the Inter-Party Declaration condemnation of political violence.
Progress on Talks
The lack of progress in the SADC-sponsored MoU talks has reportedly resulted in moves to return the Zimbabwe situation to the agenda of the UN Security Council. The Security Council has asked for a detailed report on the status of the talks from Haile Menkerios, UN Special Envoy to Zimbabwe and UN representative on the Reference Group set up on 18th July to liaise with the SADC-appointed mediator, President Mbeki.
There has been pressure on the leader of the MDC, Mr Tsvangirai, to sign the agreement but he has refused on the grounds that the deal does not yet include the power sharing demanded by the election results. The secrecy surrounding the talks makes it difficult for this to be assessed. The talks were supposed to be completed after two weeks, but they have dragged on and it is about time the Facilitator, President Mbeki, released an official statement giving the citizens of Zimbabwe details on what has been agreed, and the sticking points. Speculation and unofficial "leaked" information breeds mistrust and enables propaganda, which in turn breeds violence.
A Zimbabwe Government spokesman has announced that President Mbeki is expected in Harare on Monday 8th September to continue his efforts to break the current deadlock in the talks.
Ministers and Cabinet Not Yet Announced
There has been no announcement of a new Cabinet, although Mr. Mugabe was reported as having said on Wednesday that "If after (Thursday 4th September) Tsvangirai does not want to sign, we will certainly put together a cabinet."
Latest reports suggest, however, that no announcement will be made before President Mbeki's imminent visit to Harare.
In spite of Ministers not having been appointed, the official attitude is that former Ministers have continued in office. However, as outlined in Bill Watch 34, once Parliament opened, former Ministers who failed to gain seats in the election, and were not given appointed Senate seats, automatically became ineligible to continue as Ministers [Constitution, section 31E(2)]. But there has been no sign of any vacation of office by the individuals concerned. Reports in the State media this week are still referring to some of them who lost their seats as Ministers and as carrying out their Ministerial functions, eg. Sikhanyiso Ndlovu is being referred to as Minister of Information, Joseph Made as Minister of Agricultural Mechanisation, Mike Nyambuya as Minister of Energy and Power Development. The others who lost their seats and should no longer be functioning as Ministers are: Samuel Mumbengegwi [Finance], Amos Midzi [Mines and Mining Development],], Munacho Mutezo [Water Resources and Infrastructural Development], Oppah Muchinguri [Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development] and Rugare Gumbo [Agriculture].
Provincial Governors and Appointed Senators
All ten Provincial Governors have been appointed [names in Bill Watch Special of 25th August and Bill Watch 34 of 30th August], but there has not been any announcement of the swearing-in of the six new Provincial Governors [section 7 of the Provincial Councils and Administration Act requires provincial governors to swear oaths of loyalty and of office before assuming office].
There are still two appointed Senators to be announced and sworn in.
Election-Related Court Cases
Election petitions
More election petitions were dismissed by the Electoral Court, this week and last week, all for failure to comply with the procedures laid down for such petitions by the Electoral Act. The total number of petitions dismissed on such grounds now stands at 33. The decisions affect both MDC and ZANU-PF petitioners. Appeals against the earlier decisions have been lodged in the Supreme Court, but have not been set down for hearing. If the appeals are dismissed by the Supreme Court, it is likely that all the election petitions will end up being dismissed on similar purely procedural grounds, i.e., without ever reaching the stage of hearing evidence on the allegations of electoral malpractices on which the petitions are based.
Application to set aside Presidential election
On 1st August Mr Chiota and Mr Shumba succeeded in a Supreme Court application for a declaration that the Presidential election nomination court's refusal to accept their nominations was not in accordance with the law. Mr Chiota is now seeking a Supreme Court order nullifying the Presidential election results. The matter has not been set down for hearing. It has been reported that Mr Chiota has also made an application to the SADC Tribunal.
MDC MPs in custody on criminal charges
Of the six MDC MPs arrested last week on various criminal charges, three were still in custody at the time of writing. The others had been released on bail. Of the three still in custody one was denied bail by the magistrates court and has appealed to the High Court against that decision, while the other two, although granted bail by the magistrates court, continue to be detained pending the State's appeals to the High Court against the granting of bail.
SADC Tribunal - Land Case
The Land Reform Programme case - decision soon
The SADC Tribunal is expected to hand down its decision on 11th September. The applicants have applied for a ruling that the Government's land reform policy as embodied in Constitution Amendment No. 17 of 2005 is in breach of Zimbabwe's treaty obligations as a member of SADC.
Contempt ruling against the Government - no action yet
On 18th July 2008 the Tribunal ruled that the Government was "in breach and contempt" of the Tribunal's December 2007 and March 2008 interim restraining orders, which prohibited the Government from directly or indirectly interfering with the applicants' occupation of their land pending the Tribunal's decision of the main case. In accordance with the SADC Protocol setting up the Tribunal this ruling was referred to the recent SADC Summit for the Summit's decision on appropriate action. The Summit referred the matter to the Committee of SADC Ministers of Justice for advice on what would constitute appropriate action. It is not yet known when that Committee will meet.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.
By Tichaona
Sibanda
8 September 2008
An Airforce of Zimbabwe fighter pilot used
his last moments to steer his
stricken jet away from a primary school
situated within Thornhill airbase in
Gweru and managed to avert a major
disaster.
The K-8 jet, a two-seater basic trainer and light attack
aircraft finally
hit two high rise flats, and then plunged into a house,
which was empty, and
burst into flames killing the two pilots instantly on
Friday.
During its final few seconds, the pilot also avoided a children's
playing
field inside the base's married quarters. The US$20 million jet that
carried
no armaments had taken off from the airbase for a training exercise.
It's
believed the two-man crew were part of a group of airmen from the
airforce
who were going to take part in an airshow in South Africa later this
month.
Witnesses told Newsreel the pilot must have known he was going
down but
wanted to make sure he didn't hit the school or hit the more
densely
populated areas of the airbase.
The pilots, well known figures
in the base were praised for steering the jet
clear of the school moments
before it crashed. The jet is thought to have
developed power loss as
witnesses on the ground reported it lost altitude
while flying over the
base.
It skimmed over trees and houses as it headed for the school before
turning
sharply and smashing into two high rise residential flats as
witnessed by
the horrified residents. In one flat, there were two children
who escaped
unhurt. The two flats and the house were extensively
damaged.
Debris was scattered across the housing estate and witnesses said it
was a
miracle that there were no deaths on the ground. The crash happened in
the
morning when children had gone to school and most adults were at
work.
"If it had been early or late evening or on a weekend, we could be
talking
of a different story. But those guys could have ejected from the
stricken
jet but they stayed with the plane to prevent it from crashing
into
heavily-populated areas. They are heroes," said one distraught witness
who
knew both the pilots.
..
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
6 September 2008
Posted to the web 8 September
2008
Most of the council's clinics are now closed during weekends and
holidays
because the local authority cannot provide transport for its workers
on a
regular basis, a report released last week has
revealed.
Thorngrove Hospital, the country's biggest tuberculosis
treatment centre
would also be affected by the measures described as
"desperate" by
councillors.
The closure of the clinics, which
council says would be for a period of
three months in the hope that the dire
economic situation in the country
improves, is expected to pile more misery
on city residents.
The majority of the residents can no longer afford
astronomical fees
demanded by private service providers.
Council's 19
clinics, mainly in the poor high-density suburbs, had become
the only
alternative for residents shunning poorly resourced government
referral
hospitals and private clinics now charging in foreign currency.
But
according to a report tabled before a full council meeting on Wednesday,
only
the four clinics that provide maternity services namely Pelandaba,
Nkulumane,
Luveve and Northern suburbs will remain open during weekends
and
holidays.
"The service provision rationalisation is a temporary
measure that will be
reviewed from time to time and cut across other council
services that are
currently being examined such as sewer and water workshops,
libraries, grave
digging and banking services," the report said. "TB patients
would collect
all their medication during the week from the nearest clinic so
that their
treatment is not disrupted."
Thousands of TB patients are
treated at the Thorngrove Hospital every week.
Initially, the council's
General Purposes Committee had proposed that the
measures should be in place
for the next six months but the period was
reduced to three by council,
fearing this would have a serious impact on the
health of the city's more
than 1.5 million inhabitants.
Council said it had tried to provide
transport to its workers to enable them
to report for duty regularly but this
was proving to be difficult because of
perennial fuel shortages.
The
country's health delivery system has virtually crumbled under the weight
of
the deadly economic and political crisis in the country with most
government
hospitals operating without essential drugs and personnel.
Poorly paid
doctors and nurses are on strike most of the times as the
government
struggles to give them salaries that match the country's
rampaging
inflation.
CHITUNGWIZA, 8 September 2008 (IRIN) - The
Zimbabwean government has confirmed the deaths of four people from cholera, and
is verifying the cause of death of eight others in the dormitory town of
Chitungwiza, 25km southeast of the capital, Harare.
Photo:
IRIN
Do-it-yourself water
service
Persistent water
cuts, breaks in the sewerage system that allow raw sewage to flow into the
streets, and the inability of the local authorities to collect and dispose of
domestic refuse have all been blamed for the outbreak. Health officials
confirmed that 35 people were admitted to the local hospital for treatment of
the waterborne disease.
Chitungwiza town council buys treated water from
Harare, but the capital is not supplying its own residents with enough clean
water, causing diarrhoea and cholera outbreaks earlier this year after some
areas went for more than three months without water.
The state-run
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), which is responsible for treating and
distributing water, has admitted to pumping raw sewage into Lake Chivero,
Harare's main water source, because it could not afford to treat it. Local
authorities like Harare and Chitungwiza have not collected domestic refuse from
residential areas for more than six months, forcing residents to dump garbage in
available public spaces.
Deputy health minister Edwin Muguti, who
visited Chitungwiza, immediately banned fruit and vegetable sales by street
vendors "to contain the disease outbreak ... What is needed is clean water and
proper disposal of human waste."
ZINWA has managed to restore water
supplies to some areas in response to the outbreak, and the fire brigade has
begun delivering water to homes and clinics unable to be reconnected.
Never ending crisis
Tapuwa Taruvona, who lives
in Chitungwiza, told IRIN that the outbreak was an indication of how bad
Zimbabwe's political and humanitarian crisis had become.
"No aspect of
Zimbabwe is functioning properly. What we need is a new government that will
sort out the mess that we are in. If the cholera outbreak is contained it will
only be briefly, because water cuts will return, sewage will continue to flow in
the streets, while refuse will not be collected."
Precious Shumba,
coordinator of the advocacy group, Harare Residents Trust, which promotes good
local governance, said: "ZINWA does not have the capacity to treat and
distribute water. It does not have the capacity or ability to attend to sewerage
treatment, and that is why we have these disasters happening and waiting to
happen. ZINWA should allow other players to come in and offer better service to
the residents."
Zimbabwe is in limbo after presidential elections in
June were won by President Robert Mugabe, the sole candidate, following a
boycott by the opposition protesting the political violence that claimed the
lives of over 80 of its members.
Mugabe blames the country's eight-year
recession on Western powers determined to secure regime change; the opposition
accuses the government of wholesale mismanagement and corruption in its bid to
stay in power.
ff/oa/he
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo - Traditional chiefs throughout
the country will be holding
their annual retreat in Bulawayo starting from
Tuesday to Friday.
President Robert Mugabe is expected
to deliver a keynote address
during the indaba.
" We had to
postpone the meeting last week because some of the chiefs
were in Libya where
they were attending the country's national independence
day. Everything is
now in place for the meeting and all the chiefs have been
booked at local
five star hotel in the city,"' said an official of the
Ministry of Local
government in Bulawayo.
The official said the chiefs were also
expected to tour the Matopos
National Park on the outskits of Bulawayo, the
Njelele shrine and Cecil Jonh
Rhodes's grave in Matopos before being hosted
to a receiption on Friday
night.
During the meeting the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono
is also expected to address the chiefs
on the central bank's new farming
inputs scheme which the chiefs are expected
to spearhead in the rural areas.
During their last meeting in
Bulawayo, the chiefs literally fell over
each other in praising the 84 four
year Mugabe, with chief Serima of Gutu
shocking all and sundry by calling
Mugabe to rule Zimbabwe until donkeys
have developed horns.
The
government has been accused of bribing chiefs with luxuries such
as vehicles,
cellphones, sofas, generators in retain for political fovours.
During the
just ended elections chiefs openly campaigned for the ruling
party in rural
areas.
Last year the annual meeting was held in the resort town of
Nyanga.
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo - Panic and fear has already gripped
Matobo constituency
where a bye-election will be held in the near
future.
The election will be held to replace Lovemore
Moyo, the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) national chairman
who was appointed
Speaker of Parliament.
Ruling Zanu PF has
warned villagers that a repeat of the terror in the
run up to the
presidential run off is coming to weed of pockets of
MDC
strongholds.
A government official revealed that Zanu PF was
already recruiting
people in Bulawayo who will visit the constituency to
educate people ahead
of official campaigning and election.
"They
have already started to recruit young men who will go there and
assist war
veterans to make sure that no one votes MDC. They want that sit
they lost in
2000 to MDC and they will use all the machinery like in the run
up to the
presidential run off. People are scared and they are saying Moyo
should not
have gone for the post of speaker to save them from more
brutality. They saw
bad things in the past election and some of them are
still in Botswana in
refugee camps," said a police officer from Kezi who
chose to remain
anonymous.
There will also be a by-election in Edna Madzongwe's
constituency
following her appointment as president of the senate and two
more to replace
appointed governors. Elections will be held before the end of
the year,
according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
http://www.radiovop.com
BULAWAYO - STRIKING Zimbabwe doctors are demanding
that government pay
their salaries in foreign currency and have vowed not to
go back to work
setting the stage for a bruising confrontation with the
government.
The doctors, who have now been on strike
for close to two weeks, were
early this year awarded "hefty salaries" and a
package that included being
supplied with vehicles by the
government.
The doctors are demanding that government peg their
salaries in either
United States dollars or South African rand in order to
hedge the salaries
against rampant inflation.
The doctors'
representatives earlier met with the Health Services
Board (HSB) and failed
to reach an agreement.
However during a meeting held in Harare on
Friday the doctors vowed
that they will not return to work unless and until
the government gives in
to demands to pay their salaries in foreign
currency.
Health Deputy Minister, Edwin Muguti, said the government
was looking
into the doctors demands and said something was being worked out
by his
ministry.
"We are putting together a package for the
doctors and the doctors
will get handsome salaries we are through with the
new salary structures and
we have also hiked the cost of living adjustment
allowances for them I will
not get into details on how much they will
get,"Muguti said.
Hospitals Doctors Association president, Amos
Severegi, said nothing
has been reached with the government and said the
doctors were still on
strike as they have not yet reached an agreement with
the government
Severegi also confirmed that the doctors wanted
their salaries to be
pegged in foreign currency saying the local currency was
losing value at a
faster rate.
"We have not agreed on anything
with the Health Services Board and I
do not know where the minister's
statements are coming from but however we
have asked some few doctors to
attend to go back to work for the sake of
patients,"Severegi
said.
Doctors and nurses across the country went on strike two
weeks ago
demanding better working conditions and demanding to be paid in
foreign
currency.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE - Marauding Zanu PF youths from Bindura last
week forced a law
firm that has been representing MDC activists in Bindura in
the town to
close.
The Zanu PF youths last week
raided the offices of Dinha, Bonongwe
and Partners, before taking away with
them office furniture and hundreds of
files.
Sources from the
politically volatile Mashonaland Central Province
said the youths were
allegedly working on instructions from recently
appointed Mashonaland Central
Governor Advocate Martin Dinha. Dinha is one
of the founder members of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice and a silent
partner in the firm.
"The youths took with them hundreds of files, office furniture and
equipment,
locking the doors on their way," said one of the sources.
A
professional assistant in the firm, only identifying himself as Mr
Jena said
the raid and the closure of the offices had left them homeless.
Jena said he had been handling most of the MDC activists'cases and
was
brutally assaulted in June in the wake of the June 27 Presidential
run-off.
He has since moved away from Bindura as he fears that the youths
might
return with other instructions.
Zimbabwe Lawyers from
Human Rights (ZLHR) communication officer
Kumbirai Mafunda confirmed the
devolopment saying the firm had in the past
represnted more than 238
opposition activists including Bednock Nyaude the
MDC MP for Bindura
South.
He said as a result of the closure lawyers from other towns
will be
attending to the trials and remands of the activists where
necessary.
Zimbabwe
Standard (Harare)
EDITORIAL
6 September 2008
Posted to the web 8
September 2008
IF ever evidence of the scale of sheer incompetence of
the Zimbabwe National
Water Authority (Zinwa) was required, it was there last
week for everyone to
see: at least 10 people died from cholera in
Chitungwiza.
The latest outbreak, comes after weeks of increasing numbers
of cases and
reports of serious diarrhoea across the capital city, as a
result of sewage
spills that have contaminated Harare's water
reservoirs.
There have been previous outbreaks of cholera in Kadoma,
Chegutu, Mabvuku,
Epworth and the western sections of Harare. These should
have prepared the
authorities to cope with such emergencies.
There is
not much point in suggesting that the Ministry of Water Resources
and
Infrastructural Development cracks the whip on Zinwa because the
collapse of
the water utility and sewer system has taken place on its watch.
The
government fails to appreciate why the majority of the people are
against it.
It is because of its dismal record of delivery! People want
service not
slogans. Voters want results not uninterrupted record of
unfulfilled
promises. This has absolutely nothing to do with sanctions!
The latest
victims of the cholera outbreak in Chitungwiza need not have
died, but the
government's record of neglect is breathtaking. Chitungwiza is
an area
enveloped by the stench of sewage - similar to the one that greets
visitors
to Zimbabwe on their way from the Harare International Airport at
Queenspark
shopping centre or near 1 Commando Barracks.
The question the government
must answer is how many more lives is it
prepared to sacrifice before it can
act- soon after it allowed food
shortages brought about by its ban on
non-governmental organisations to
threat lives of the most vulnerable groups
of Zimbabweans? This government
does not care!
But it is also
incapable of realising the extent of the collapse of such
services as the
urban and national road network, water, electricity, sewer
network and
telecommunications is beyond it and requires external expertise
and funding.
This is why it is critical for Zanu PF to agree to a
power-sharing deal with
the MDC so that external assistance can revitalise
collapsed infrastructure,
while key personnel critical for recovery are
attracted back to the
country.
The latest deaths provide a compelling argument for the
disbandment of this
creature of incompetence called Zinwa immediately. How
many more lives
should be lost and how many more children must be imperilled
before the
government recognises that it has an emergency?
It is
inexcusable that the government can be allowed to experiment with
people's
lives all because it wants to remain in control. If it wants to
remain in
control, then the best way is to ensure that people who know their
work are
appointed to the right position instead of the current system of
patronage.
Voters would not care about who is in power as long as they
served the people
first and not their personal or party interests.
It is irresponsible,
reckless and criminal that we can have a government
that specialises in
fire-fighting problems, which are essentially the result
of its own making,
negligence and incompetence. The government has no
plausible defence for not
disbanding Zinwa.
International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 08 Sep 2008
By Sitambule Kim, Zimbabwe Red Cross communications manager in
Midlands
Province, Zimbabwe
When his mother finally succumbed to AIDS
and passed away in 2005, six year
old Tinashe Magama was taken in by his
grandmother. The grieving family were
immediately made beneficiaries of the
Zimbabwe Red Cross Society's food
assistance programme. For Tinashe and his
grandmother, their trauma was
lessened in a small but meaningful
way.
But the food assistance programme phase came to an end in 2006 and
since
then life has become more and more difficult for Tinashe and his 66
year old
grandmother. His grandmother, because of her age, really needs to be
looked
after herself. But instead, like so many of her generation, she must
try to
find ways to make ends meet - to make sure that Tinashe goes to school
and,
most importantly, has regular meals.
"Soon after his mother's
death, the Red Cross incorporated us in their food
distribution programme and
at least with food on our table, life was
bearable," says Mrs Enia Magama,
Tinashe's grandmother, who has lost six
children to HIV and AIDS over the
past four years.
"After the end of the programme, I had to resort to
illegal gold panning in
the nearby disused mines which are death traps as
they may collapse whilst
one is underground."
Food in the area is
generally inaccessible, with the area - Lower Gweru
district in Midlands
Province - having suffered through consecutive droughts
in recent
years.
"A 20 kilogramme bag of maize meal is quite exorbitant as we have
to compete
for it when it's available," Mrs Magama continues. "Those with
money are
able to buy at our expense.
"We rarely have two meals per
day. We have a small garden where we grow
vegetables which we prepare without
any cooking oil as we cannot afford it.
We cannot even dream of having meat;
it's unaffordable."
On top of all this, the family from the effects of
the floods which hit most
parts of Zimbabwe early this year. The rising
waters left only one hut
standing at their homestead - the other three having
been washed away.
Sometimes Tinashe has to forego attending school as he
helps his grandmother
in the panning fields, 30 kilometres away from their
home.
"Its difficult going to school on an empty stomach so sometimes I
don't go
to school," says Tinashe. "Instead, I accompany my grandmother to
the gold
panning field so that we get something to buy some food.
"At
times we go for some days without any meal and neighbours, if they have
any
to spare, generously give us something."
But this generosity is
increasingly on the decline. No one has much to spare
nowadays.
For
Tinashe and the other 53,000 orphans and other vulnerable children who
are
supported by the Red Cross in Zimbabwe, their sole hopes are pinned on
the
Red Cross; that one day the food which they used to get will be
back
again.
This year's harvest in Zimbabwe is expected to provide
only 40 per cent of
the country's food needs. The ability of the government
to import food will
be constrained by soaring global prices and
hyper-inflation. Through its
community home-based care programmes across the
country, the Red Cross will
provide food aid to thousands of people living
with, or affected by HIV and
AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable
children.
Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
6 September 2008
Posted to the web 8 September
2008
Jennifer Dube
Accra
While the European Union welcomes the
Zimbabwe government's recent decision
to lift a ban on humanitarian
activities of non-governmental organisations
in the country this does not
alter the way it has been channelling funds to
Harare, EU Director-General
Stefano Manservisi said last week.
Speaking during a multilateral
conference on aid effectiveness in Ghana,
Manservisi said Zimbabwe risked
missing out on a rekindled global
determination to improve aid
delivery.
He said although favouring budgetary support -- massive
funding amounting to
millions of American dollars and co-ordinated by several
donors in direct
contact with governments -- as the best form of aid, the EU
would continue
operating through non-government organisations in
Zimbabwe.
In a report -- Aid Effectiveness: A progress report on
Implementing the
Paris Declaration -- released ahead of the Forum, Uganda and
Tanzania are
cited along with Ghana as "good examples of good practice" and
Manservisi
said the EU could afford extending budgetary support particularly
to Ghana
because of its entrenched democratic system.
"The decision by
Zimbabwe to lift the ban, although not applicable to all
aid agencies, is
very welcome," Manservisi said. "But I am sorry to say that
nothing will
change as long as no sound democratic reforms are put in
place."
On
June 4 the government banned local and foreign donors from providing
vital
food and other relief to poverty-stricken rural families, accusing
them of
politicising aid distribution to campaign for the opposition MDC.
The EU
was among other groups which repeatedly called for a reversal of the
ban
which was affecting about 1,5 million aid beneficiaries.
But speaking at
the forum, representatives of governments, donor community
and civil society
said it was imperative for stakeholders to take more
tangible steps towards
the achievement of a 2005 Paris Declaration on
improving aid in all receiving
countries.
Putting more emphasis on five principles for effective aid --
prioritising
recipient countries' national development strategies and
procedures,
collective donor projects which are relevant to community needs,
managing
for results and mutual accountability -- the Paris Declaration,
received
mixed assessments.
While donor and government representatives
said significant implementation
progress was made over the past three years,
civil society representatives
dismissed the declaration as a failure and
seemed especially irked by an
alleged desire by government and donors to
sideline them in issues of policy
making.
While Ghana was repeatedly
cited as a model of a successful implementation
of the Paris Declaration, aid
experts painted a gloomy picture over
Zimbabwe's chances of keeping pace with
other countries in implementing the
plan.
"Aid has always been
political," said Antonio Tujan Jr., Philippines
politician and chairman of
the Reality
of Aid, an independent reviewer of poverty reduction and
development
assistance. "Dealing with franchise countries like Zimbabwe
continues to be
a challenge."
He said without responsible governance
and ownership, donors would face
challenges in engaging in large-scale
programmes, including budgetary
support, aimed at developing a country as
opposed to merely providing
humanitarian relief to those most in
need.
Overall however, the stakeholders were optimistic the Accra Forum
was a
major tangible step in the world's aim to achieve a better life for all
by
2010. It resulted in a joint document called the Accra Agenda for
Action,
which spells out steps to improve performance in terms of the
Paris
Declaration. The forum was attended by more than 2 000 delegates
and
Zimbabwe was conspicuous by its absence.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
By Mutumwa D. Mawere
Last
updated: 09/09/2008 18:46:00
WHAT should the role of the State be in the war
against poverty in
post-colonial Africa ?
After 52 years of
independence, the experience of State ownership of
economic assets in
post-colonial Africa is mixed and what emerges is that
there exists no
empirical evidence supporting the proposition that the State
can be a more
reliable and efficient manager of assets.
The absence of black corporate
role models in post-colonial Africa is not
accidental but is largely a
consequence of policies that were put in place
to exclude blacks from
meaningfully participating in the formal economy.
The enlightened black
elites who took over the control of the State saw in
the State a convenient
window to redirect resources to the poor as well as a
friendly investment
platform to advance the cause of nation building.
Regrettably, the State has
not been effective as a shareholder.
In response to the ineffectiveness
and inefficiency of the State as a
shareholder of productive enterprises,
many of the African countries now
have adopted market friendly policies
notwithstanding the absence of serious
domestic capitalists.
Africa's
key productive assets remain foreign controlled resulting in
critical
decisions on investment being made outside the continent.
South Africa is
Africa 's youngest country and the most developed but
already there are calls
for the nationalisation of economic assets.
The labour movement, a key
alliance partner of the ruling African National
Congress (ANC), together with
the South African Communist Party (SACP) has
been vocal about the need to use
the State as a an instrument of asset
ownership transformation.
In
response to the country's energy crisis, South Africa 's largest
mineworkers
union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), on May 23, 2008,
called for
the nationalisation of the country's coal mines.
The NUM president
Senzeni Zokwana said: "If the ANC is saying that the price
of coal is a
problem why must you buy coal that is expensive, why can't you
nationalise
one mine or two or three and begin to say this mine is
State-owned to feed
Eskom?"
In February 2008, the ruling ANC's secretary-general, Gwede
Matashe, also
said that the country had to create more State-owned
enterprises in the
mining industry. He particularly highlighted the platinum
industry.
Nationalisation is the act by which a nation takes possession
of assets
without requiring the owner's consent, with or without payment
of
compensation. The link between nationalism and nationalisation is
often
direct and causal.
In many developing countries the call for
nationalisation is mostly
associated with the level of mistrust between State
actors and the owners of
private enterprises. Nationalisation is not unique
to developing countries
but has been used by many developed countries
concerned about job losses as
well as in response to economic
crises.
The main wave of nationalisation in Britain was under the Labour
government
of 1945-51 when public utilities such as electricity, gas, and the
railways,
and basic industries such as coal, were brought into public
ownership.
The steel industry was nationalised, and then partially
denationalised by
the succeeding Conservative government, only to be
renationalised by the
Labour government of 1966-70. Aerospace and
shipbuilding were nationalised
by the Labour government of
1974-9.
Failing companies such as British Leyland were also coming into
public
ownership, but with government shareholdings placed under the
supervision of
the National Enterprise Board rather than as public
corporations.
The political, constitutional, and administrative problems
associated with
nationalisation have created a lively conversation point on
such questions
as what form the relationship between State and the public
corporations
should take and how the legislature could secure the
accountability of the
nationalised industries.
The emergence of
sovereign funds as players in the global marketplace has
given a new impetus
to the call for nationalisation. However, in the case of
post-colonial
Africa, the political actors operating in the State are never
accountable to
the citizens to make nationalisation a viable policy
instrument.
There
is a deeply held view in Africa that ownership change alone can be
an
effective instrument for promoting resource utilisation and
allocation
efficiency.
To the extent that the actors in the State in
most of the African economies
lack commercial and business experience, the
viability of a strategy
premised on the State assuming the ownership role is,
therefore,
questionable.
Mutumwa Mawere's weekly column is published
on New Zimbabwe.com every
Monday. You can contact him at: mmawere@global.co.za
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
6
September 2008
Posted to the web 8 September 2008
Ndamu
Sandu
POWER utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)
Holdings
says the restoration of electricity supplies from the Democratic
Republic of
Congo (DRC) and Zambia will help alleviate the power cuts which
have
delivered a blow to Zimbabwe's already battered
economy.
Zimbabwe's power crisis has been aggravated by problems facing
regional
utilities to satisfy the growing demand.
Members under
the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) are struggling to
contain growing
demand resulting in some of the regional utilities cutting
down on
exports.
ZESA used to import power from DRC's Snel but supplies were
stopped owing to
a technical and supply and demand problems faced by the
company.
Fullard Gwasira, ZESA spokesperson told Standardbusiness the
struggling
parastatal had a power purchase agreement with Snel and Zambia
Electricity
Supply Company (ZESCO) that runs until next
year.
"However, once the technical fault has been repaired, normal
imports will
resume from Snel as it has always shared a cordial business
relationship
with ZESA Holdings," he said. "We actually have a power
purchasing agreement
with Snel into 2009."
Gwasira said ZESA has in
the past imported from ZESCO as well as using the
utility as a conduit for
imports from the DRC.
"ZESA is currently not getting electricity supplies
from Zambia due to the
fact that ZESCO is currently refurbishing their
system, just like we are
doing, and are thus not in a position to export
power until they have
completed the refurbishment," he said.
Gwasira
said the temporary interruption of electricity supplies from Snel
had an
effect on the severity of load-shedding "and the local power
supply
challenges should be viewed from such a broader picture encompassing
SAPP,
to appreciate that the local power utility does not operate in
isolation".
"The eventual position is that a challenge of one utility
translates into a
challenge of the other utility as well," he said.
In
the absence of imports from Snel and ZESCO, ZESA, has been relying on
imports
from Mozambique's Hydro Cahora Bassa (HCB). Once the country's
saviour, HCB,
has become impatient with ZESA's delays in payment and
resorted to switching
off the power utility.
HCB supplies ZESA with 185 MW.
Locally,
ZESA Holdings is generating an average of about 1050MW from its
electricity
generating power stations at Hwange and Kariba. The small
thermal power
stations have not been generating owing to a host of problems.
Harare Power
station, which was generating 25MW recently shut down owing to
a milling
plant problem. The utility's engineers and technicians are
currently working
on the problem, Gwasira said.
Munyati and Bulawayo power stations have
been operating intermittently as
and when coal is available.
"ZESA
Holdings is pleased to note that coal deliveries are improving as
the
colliery has taken delivery of conveyor equipment from an external
supplier,
a factor we communicated in a joint communiqué a month ago as the
source of
the coal constraint," Gwasira said.
With demand slightly
under 2000 MW, it means that at any given time nearly
half of the country
will be load shed.
Load-shedding by ZESA has been a blow to the economy
tottering on the brink
of collapse. Faced with incessant power cuts, some
sectors have resorted to
settling their electricity bills in foreign
currency. Regrettably, despite
paying in foreign currency, they have not been
immune from load shedding.
Two weeks ago Collen Gura, Metallon Gold Zimbabwe
told a business meeting
that despite settling their bills in foreign
currency, miners continue
experiencing power outages.
But Gwasira was
singing from a different song sheet insisting ZESA had
fulfilled its end of
the bargain by supplying uninterrupted electricity to
customers paying their
bills in foreign currency.
"... not all mining houses are part of this
scheme," he said. "Those who are
outside this scheme unfortunately are
affected by load-shedding whenever
demand outstrips supply."
From New Era (Namibia), 8 September
By Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek - The power purchase
agreement signed between Namibia and Zimbabwe
continues to bring more power
to Namibia, with 40 megawatts more flowing in,
an increase from 80 megawatts
to 120 megawatts since end of last month.
National power utility, NamPower,
confirmed to New Era on Friday that the
agreement is on course and Zimbabwe
through its Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (Zesa) has since last month
increased its export to Namibia by 40
megawatts from 80 megawatts. Under the
deal signed between the two
countries, Namibia will receive 150 megawatts for
a minimum of five years as
part of a power purchase agreement with Zimbabwe
Electricity and
Transmission Company (Zetco)'s holding company, Zesa. The
US$40 million
provided by Namibia would be used to refurbish and expand
Hwange Power
Station. The four generators at Hwange are capable of generating
a total of
480MW, but have operated erratically as the station struggles to
cope with
frequent equipment breakdowns and coal shortages. The first 40
megawatts
from Zesa started flowing into Namibia on January 3 this year, with
the
additional 40 being imported from June and the latest by end of last
month.
The remaining 30 megawatts that will fulfil the agreed quantity for a
period
of five years will start flowing in before end of year, NamPower
said.
The imports take place amid reports that Zimbabweans have to be
subjected to
blackouts most of the time because that country has to save
electricity to
export to Namibia given the binding agreement. NamPower
Corporate Affairs
and Marketing Manager, John Kaimu, said the increase in
power supply from
Zimbabwe has come at the right time as Namibia experiences
a drop in the
generation capacity from its dependable Ruacana Hydro Power
Station. Being a
seasonal power station, during September, the generation
capacity of the
station goes down as the water level or flow in the Kunene
River also drops.
During this period, NamPower collects water in its dams for
hours before it
releases it to run the turbines. Kaimu said the Kunene River
water inflow
stands at 62 cubic metres per second, making it difficult to run
the
turbines at the station. Three months ago, the inflow stood above 300
cubic
metres per second. "We are collecting water until a certain level
and
release it for hours to run turbines. We cannot run all the generators
the
entire day," Kaimu said. The seasonal power generation plant continues
to
constitute 63 percent of the country's generation capacity contributing
240
megawatts of the country's 384-generation capacity. "We are importing
more
from other countries," Kaimu said.