http://www.timeslive.co.za
Reforms must be implemented now, says
damning report
Apr 16, 2011 12:20 PM | By HARARE
CORRESPONDENT
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa has warned of revolts
like those in
North Africa and "unprecedented upheavals" if reforms are not
implemented in
Zimbabwe.
It was a warning contained in a damning
report, which the Sunday Times has
seen, handed to President Robert Mugabe
and his partners in the unity
government this week.
In the report,
which was presented to the recent SADC Troika on the
Zimbabwean situation in
Livingstone, Zambia, Zuma admonishes the three
partners in the global
political agreement for failing to implement
positions agreed during his
mediation in the Zimbabwe crisis.
An angry-looking and frustrated Mugabe
left that summit in Zambia and
reportedly told a meeting of Zanu-PF's
central committee that Zuma had no
business telling him what to
do.
Zuma said the revolts in North Africa - where dictators in Egypt and
Tunisia
were toppled and where Libya's Muammar Gaddaf i was under siege -
reveal the
need and importance of a speedy resolution to the Zimbabwean
problem.
Zuma's frank assessment of the situation in Zimbabwe also
angered one of
Mugabe's chief spin doctors, Jonathan Moyo, who cast
aspersions about the
South African leader's mediation in the
crisis.
The report cites Zuma as having told the meeting that the
situation in
Zimbabwe could no longer be tolerated and that talk of fresh
elections was
counterproductive.
Zuma said once the international
community's attention shifted from the
problems in North Africa and the Arab
world, indications were that Zimbabwe
would be the next focal
point.
"It is time the SADC must speak with one voice in impressing to
all the
parties concerned that the situation can no longer be
tolerated.
"The focus that Zimbabwean parties have placed on elections
without creating
the necessary climate for those elections is an unfortunate
sidetrack," Zuma
stressed in the document.
"The fact that Zimbabwean
parties are in electioneering mode, and are more
and more agitating for the
holding of elections, while they have not done
enough groundwork towards
ensuring that the building blocks and institutions
are firmly in place
towards the holding of free, fair and democratic
elections, is
counterproductive."
Zuma said elections could not be held in the current
environment as it was
characterised by violence, intimidation and
fear.
Despite widespread opposition from Movement for Democratic Change
formations
and from other Zimbabwe politicians, Zanu-PF has said that
conditions in the
country are conducive for polls that it says must be held
this year.
If Zimbabwe proceeded with the polls, it might find itself in
a worse
situation than in 2008 when there was a lot of bloodshed in the
country,
Zuma said in the report.
He continued that there was a "lack
of political will" to move the process
forward by implementing issues that
had so far been agreed.
"While the media commission has been established,
the biggest challenge is
that the board of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation has not been
appointed, nor has the Media Trust been
constituted.
"Those matters, including the absence of enabling
legislation, restrict the
media commission in discharging its
functions."
Zuma said there should be unbiased and equal access to the
print and
electronic media for all political parties and the right of reply
for all
aggrieved persons.
Zuma found issue with Zimbabwe's failure
to constitute important commissions
such as the land audit, the
anti-corruption commission and the absence of an
enabling law for the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
On targeted sanctions, Zuma said the
call for their removal by all parties
was not happening consistently and
regularly.
(AFP) – 6 hours ago
HARARE —
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday warned of
"dangers and
difficult choices" ahead of possible elections later this year.
"As we
enter our 32nd year of liberation, there will be many treacherous
voices
trying to convince you to cast away your determination for a new and
democratic Zimbabwe," Tsvangirai said in a statement before Monday's
Independence Day commemoration.
"The coming year will also hold many
challenges, dangers and difficult
choices."
The message comes as
tensions grow in the power-sharing government of
President Robert Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, ahead of elections Mugabe has vowed
would be held later this
year.
In the latest incident, police detained co-minister for national
healing
Moses Mzila-Ndlovu and a Roman Catholic priest after addressing a
memorial
services for victims of a government crackdown on dissidents in the
1980s.
Tsvangirai insists elections should only be held when conditions are
ripe.
Without giving names, he said the country was being held at ransom
by a
clique of people.
"It is a fact that there are some among us who
are determined to take this
country back to the dark years of repression,
violence and intimidation,"
Tsvangirai said.
Meanwhile, The Standard
newspaper reported that Tsvangirai has taken a
decision to replace Roy
Bennett's seat in the Senate, after he had missed 21
consecutive seatings
while exiled in South Africa.
The 53-year-old white ex- farmer was picked
by Tsvangirai for the deputy
Agriculture minister job, after the formation
of the unity government.
He was arrested in February 2009, shortly before
he was to be sworn in, over
accusations that he had funded a plot to topple
Mugabe five years ago.
Mugabe has refused to swear him in pending his
legal woes.
"It is true that Bennett?s period of absence outlived the
stipulated time in
parliament," said Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for
Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic Change told the privately-owned
Standard.
According to the newspaper, ministers are required to have a
seat in the
upper or lower houses of parliament and after losing his seat,
Bennett is
not eligible to become minister.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
17/04/2011 00:00:00
by
Business Reporter
IN remarks that may rattle the country’s mining sector
further,
Indigenisation and Empowerment minister, Saviour Kasukuwere has
hinted that
the government may consider the value of minerals to be equal to
51 percent
of the value of companies and so pay them nothing.
Under
the country’s indigenisation legislation, foreign-owned companies must
give
up at least 51 percent of their shareholding to locals as part of
measures
to economically empower the country’s previously marginalized black
majority.
But investors are concerned that neither the government nor
any of the
intended beneficiaries can raise the cash needed to take up the
equity which
some analysts have estimated at more than US$1
billion.
Speaking in an interview after addressing mining companies and
others at a
closed conference organised by the SA Institute of International
Affairs in
Johannesburg Kasukuwere said it did not make sense to make
Zimbabweans pay
for their minerals.
“Why should I pay for minerals
that belong to us? You can’t value on the
basis of an asset that is not
yours. Then I have to tax the people of
Zimbabwe to pay for their
resources,” Kasukuwere said.
Asked if this meant miners risked getting
nothing for their shares,
Kasukuwere said: “That’s a commercial decision,
isn’t it? I mean if it makes
sense that you’re going to be exploiting these
resources worth so much, if
it makes sense, then that is how we must
proceed.”
Prodded further on whether the policy would be implemented
along the lines
of the country’s land reforms, Kasukuwere ominously
remarked: “Exactly. It’s
the same...”
Zimbabwe has given miners until
May 9, 2011 to submit plans for complying
with the indigenisation law and –
if approved by the government – six months
to complete the divestiture of at
least 51 percent of their shareholding.
The Chamber of Mines has already
warned that the legislation risked slowing
growth in the sector while
critics say the policy will scare-away
much-needed investment.
But
Kasukuwere said there was no need for panic.
“I think it is always better
that investors are at ease in jurisdictions
where they are working and that
there is fair benefit that also accrues to
the people of the country,” he
said.
He also dismissed concerns that ordinary Zimbabweans would ne
benefit from
the measures with the shares going to politically-connected
people.
“We’ve basically warehoused the shareholding on behalf of the
majority of
Zimbabweans so that we can allow the majority to participate in
the fund. It’s
a board that spearheads empowerment processes and programmes.
Secondly, we
are setting up the Sovereign Wealth Fund to store value for
generations to
come,” he said.
“Thirdly, we have a partnership that
can be entered into with the Zimbabwe
Minerals Development Corporation. And
to some extent workers and management
as well as communities will be
considered.”
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/04/2011
14:17:00
MASVINGO, April 17, 2011- Movement for Democratic Change
President Morgan
Tsvangirai has warned top party officials to stop splitting
the party along
factional lines using money ahead of their national Congress
to be held in
Bulawayo at the end of this month.
Addressing party
supporters and the factious provincial leadership at the
Civic centre on
Saturday Tsvangirai, who was in Masvingo to mend fences
between the two
warring factions in Masvingo pitting Bernard Chiondegwa and
Masvingo urban
Legislator, Tongai Matutu that has split the MDC apart since
the provincial
elections held last week, Tsvangirai said top officials were
using money to
sway supporters from supporting other members.
He said the continued use
of money to buy loyalty from supporters was
responsible for the alarming
increase in factionalism in the party, a
situation he said could spell the
down fall of the country’s biggest mass
movement party that has been
fighting dictatorship in the country for the
last decade.
“Our party
is being destroyed by some individuals who are abusing their
financial
muscles to buy loyalty of people thereby splitting our movement.
Our party
when we formed it had no money and was a party of the poor with a
vision to
represent the poor in the country but since the coming in of some
people
with money the party is dividing, money is splitting our party” he
said.
Tsvangirai pleaded with party officials and supporters to unite ahead
of the
congress so that the party will emerge powerful to fight its common
enemy,
Zanu (PF) in this year’s anticipated elections.
He added that the party
would crack whip and chase away all those who abuse
their money and use it
to split the supporters of the party when they are in
a critical time to end
Robert Mugabe’s 31 - year-old rule.
“I want to warn all those who are
using money to fane factionalism that they
have no place in MDC. Any one who
will be caught doing that will be expelled
from the party because we do not
have time to deal with people who want to
pull back the struggle. We should
be united and strengthen our party so that
when we fight our enemy we will
be very strong, ” he added.
Reports indicate that some top MDC officials
are buying supporters and
manipulate them to hate other officials a
development that has funned
factions as party officials jostle for positions
in the provincial and
national executive in elections to be held at the
Party’s third congress to
be held in Bulawayo.Kenyan Prime Minister Raila
Odinga will be the guest of
honour.
http://www.radiovop.com
17/04/2011
12:23:00
BULAWAYO,April 16,2011-The Welshman Ncube led MDC national
youth assembly
has threatened massive protests over the arrest of National
Healing and
Reconciliation Minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu who is also a senior
member of
that party.
Addressing a media conference in Bulawayo on
Saturday morning Descent
Bajila, the MDC youth assembly secretary general
said they were closely
following Mzila- Ndlovu,s case and if he is not
released by Monday they
will visit all police stations around the country to
stage protests.
“ If they don’t release him after the weekend we are
going to embark on
massive protests countrywide whereby all MDC youths
will visit every and
each police station and also ask to be arrested in
solidarity with
Minister Mzila- Ndlovu, ”said Bajila.
Bajila said
they were shocked that Mzila-Ndlovu was arrested for addressing
and
organising a Gukurahundi prayer meeting which is part of his job as the
National Healing Minister.
“Mzila-Ndlovu was doing his job and we are
shocked why they arrested him.
The MDC appointed him on that position to
work hard and his duties included
tackling the Gukurahundi issue. You can’t
talk about national healing
without talking about Gukurahundi massacres,”
the MDC youth leader added.
Mzila Ndlovu is being held in the same camp with
Roman Catholic priest
Father Marko Mabutho Mkandla who was arrested on
Wednesday evening after
organising a mass to honour the victims of the Five
Brigade.
In 1981, President Robert Mugabe sought the help of the North
Koreans to
train a special and secretive army unit which he christened “
Gukurahundi.”Its
recruits came from the ranks of former Zanla guerrillas
from Tongogara
Assembly Point.On its formation the then Zapu leader Joshua
Nkomo described
the brigade as Mugabe,s tribal and personal army unit whose
mission was to
exterminate ethnic minorities in Matabeleland and some parts
of the Midlands
provinces.
Human rights groups estimated that 20 000
civillians were murdered by the
brigade under the command of a former Zanla
cadre, Perrence Shiri, now
Zimbabwe,s Air Marshall.
http://www.radiovop.com
17/04/2011
18:40:00
HARARE, April 17, 2011- Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) have
demanded a probe into the death of an 82- year-old Nyanga
village kraal
head, Rwisai Nyakauru who died after he was incarcerated in
prison for three
weeks.
Nyakauru, a kraal head for Nyakauru village
in Nyanga North constituency in
Manicaland province, passed on around 1:00am
on Saturday at his son’s
residence in the Waterfalls suburb of Harare. He
was a victim of organised
abduction and assault by some war veterans and
Zanu (PF) supporters. Nyanga
North legislator Douglas Mwonzora and
Nyakauru’s son Isaac confirmed the
death of the
octogenarian.
Nyakauru was abducted from his home by some war veterans
and Zanu (PF)
supporters on 14 February who detained and assaulted him at
Taziwa Shopping
Centre in Nyanga before handing him over to police at
Nyamaropa Police
Station who charged him with contravening section 36 of the
Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.
The kraal head was
assaulted all over his body by a group of people led by
war veteran Wilfred
Pokoto with sticks and a cattle prod during his
detention. His assailants,
who accused him of leading MDC-T supporters to
destroy some shops belonging
to Zanu (PF) supporters in the area, ordered
him to lie on his stomach
before brutally assaulting him. They also took
away his
spectacles.
Nyakauru’s condition was aggravated when he was detained for
three weeks at
Mutare Remand Prison together with 23 other individuals
including Nyanga
North Member of Parliament and Constitution Select
Committee (COPAC)
co-chairperson Hon.Douglas Mwonzora after prosecutor
Tirivanhu Mutyasiri
vetoed a bail order which had been granted to Nyakauru
and 23 other
detainees by Nyanga Magistrate, Ignatio Mhene.
The bail
order was later reaffirmed by the High Court. As a result of the
invoking of
Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Nyakauru
languished
in remand prison where his condition worsened. A medical report
prepared on
10 March 2011 by prison doctors indicated that Nyakauru suffered
from chest
pains, severe bronchospasm and respiratory infection during his
detention in
prison. Mwonzora, who spent time with Nyakauru at Mutare Remand
Prison
described his death as a tragedy.
“ His story is a story which tells how
brutal and senseless this regime is.
You had an 82- year -old being accused
of public violence and the Attorney
General’s office believing in its story.
It’s a tragedy but within that
tragedy he was defiant, ” said
Mwonzora.
ZLHR, which represented Nyakauru, Mwonzora and 22 other villagers
when they
were arrested in Nyanga in February called for a probe into the
circumstances leading to the death of the kraal head.
“Those
implicated in, and responsible for, his abduction, assault and
detention, as
well as the police who denied him medical attention when he
was incarcerated
in police cells, and the prison authorities who failed to
afford him medical
treatment while at Mutare Remand prison are complicit in
and contributed to
his sad death. ” said a statement from the human rights
lawyers.
http://bulawayo24.com
by Byo24News
2011 April 17
13:05:09
According to reports in Zimbabwe, the Tsvangirai led MDC are set
to drop Roy
Bennett as a Senator next week. The non-constituency senator has
failed to
attend 21 consecutive sittings, the maximum allowed by
law.
Last year the former Chimanimani Member of Parliament was acquitted
on
banditry, sabotage and insurgency charges. It is understood the police
are
still keen to question him regarding further allegations.
In
2009, emerging from jail, Bennett was quoted describing his jail
experience
as traumatic adding; "I would not wish it on my worst enemy."
The
potential of further arrest has undoubtedly influenced him to remain in
exile and in the process forfeiting the Senator post and inevitably his role
as the Treasurer General of the MDC-T.
Nelson Chamisa, MDC-T
spokesman was quoted in The Standard confirming that
his party are in the
process of replacing Bennett as a Senator.
"The next step would be taken
in consultation with the other principal,
Mugabe, with the MDC-T informing
him on who it wants to replace Bennett. As
you know, it's a non-constituency
post." He said.
This new development is set to pave the way for Dr
Bekithemba Mpofu who is
widely tipped to replace Bennett as the party
Treasurer General. Mpofu, the
founding youth secretary general is said to be
Matabeleland region nominee
for the post.
The Matabeleland provinces
are believed to be keen on the position to ensure
an equitable distribution
of senior posts in the party which they argue won
the united MDC support in
the region.
Currently the party is accused of making leaders in
Matabeleland junior
partners and deputies particularly after failing to
appoint a respectable
number of cabinet ministers from the
region.
The next congress is expected to set the tone for election
campaigns in the
region due to the prospect of Professor Welshman Ncube
becoming a
presidential candidate.
When contacted for comment, Dr
Mpofu could not confirm if he is campaigning
for the Treasurer General
position. "I will serve in any position that l am
nominated and elected by
the party structures," he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Thelma Chikwanha, Senior Saff Writer
Sunday, 17
April 2011 16:29
HARARE - Regional non-governmental organisations
have expressed concern with
the slow progress in the implementation of the
Global Political Agreement,
GPA, and also the attacks on Sadc by Zanu PF
officials and their
mouthpieces.
This emerged following the
meeting between Prime Morgan Tsvangirai and the
Sadc Council of
non-governmental organisations who are on a fact finding
mission following
Sadc’s rebuke of President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF
party.
Sadc’s troika on politics, defence and security summit in
Livingstone
lambasted Mugabe and his party for perpetrating violence and
intimidation
against opponents.
The visit by the organisation which
represents the interests of civil
society groups within the region comes at
a time when regional leaders are
apparently appearing to be fed up with
President.
While the organisation’s representative refused to speak to
journalists
after the meeting with Tsvangirai, the Daily News has been told
that issues
which were discussed includes Mugabe’s attack on Sadc during his
central
committee meeting, and the state media’s attack on President Jacob
Zuma’s
facilitation which have created diplomatic problems between South
Africa and
Zimbabwe.
“Jonathan Moyo’s utterances came up for
discussion as the civic society
group was adamant that nothing appears in
the state media without official
blessing.
The group also expressed
concern with the violence and intimidation going on
in the country,” said a
source close to proceedings.
The regional NGO organisation also held
meetings with various stakeholders
including the Zimbabwe Electoral
Committee, ZEC, and the Joint Monitoring
and Implementation Committee,
Jomic, to find out if they were implementing
guidelines given by South
African President Jacob Zuma and his team.
The fact-finding team had also
come to establish and see first-hand the
violence meted out on innocent
members of the public by a police force and
some sections of the Zanu PF
militia. Last week, police wielding baton
sticks, guns and tear gas
canisters descended on innocent worshipers who had
gathered to pray for
peace in the country.
Civil society leaders have since called on
government to reform the security
sector to ensure the security of
Zimbabweans.
http://www.bulawayo24.com
by Byo24News
2011 April 17
13:15:00
Another cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe is likely, according to the
World
Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare.
A document produced by WHO and the ministry stresses that a
cholera
epidemic - similar to the deadly one experienced in 2008 - cannot be
ruled
out.
The Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin from the ministry and
WHO says cases of
cholera continue to be reported .
About 937 cases
were reported last year, with 22 deaths, and this year there
have already
been 16 deaths among 431 cases reported.
The document states: "Nine out
of the 62 districts - Bikita, Buhera,
Chimanimani, Chipinge, Chiredzi,
Kadoma, Murewa, Mutare and Mutasa - have
reported cases since the start of
2011. There were 431 cumulative cases: 373
suspected cases, 58
laboratory-confirmed cases and 16 deaths reported by
March 20. The crude
case fatality rate is 1.6%."
Most of the cholera cases, 94.9%, are
reportedly occurring in rural areas,
where drainage systems are poor and
hygiene is at a minimum.
In 2009, it was reported that cholera victims in
Zimbabwe were 10 times more
likely to die than those who contracted the
disease elsewhere, according to
aid agencies such as the Red
Cross.
The area most affected by the disease is Mutare, where 152 cases
have been
reported already this year.
According to Portia
Manangazira, the epidemiology and disease control
director in the Ministry
of Health, Apostolic churches contribute to the
difficulties in fighting the
disease. Taking clinical medicines is against
the Apostolic creed and in
most cases members hide their children from
immunisation and treatment
against disease.
The government has promised to work on provisions to
arrest people who hide
children needing treatment from Ministry of Health
and Child Welfare
officials.
Another problem in Zimbabwe's fight
against cholera is funding. The
emergency response fund (ERF) last month
hosted a round-table donor event to
support the fund. Speakers included the
Norwegian ambassador; Christian
Care, representing Zimbabwe's NGOs; Help
Germany, representing international
NGOs which have received ERF funding in
the past, and the United Nations'
Humanitarian Coordinator.
The
Norwegian ambassador emphasised the decline in financial contributions
to
the ERF comes against a delicate humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe. The
country's preparedness and response capacity in case of a cholera outbreak
remain weak.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by IRIN
Sunday, 17 April
2011 08:38
HARARE -- Jennifer Madongonda, 43, shares a seven-roomed house
with three
other families the low-income suburb of Budiriro, about 15km
southwest of
the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Seven months ago the
municipality cut off
water supply because they couldn't pay the
bill.
"Water supplies to this suburb are very erratic. People get running
water at
most four times a week and for short periods, but for us who live
at this
house, it means nothing because we accumulated a huge bill that we
are
struggling to pay," Madongonda told IRIN.
"We used to rely on the
boreholes that were set up in 2008 but most of them
have broken down and no
one has come to repair them. Our neighbours don't
want to share their water
because they are afraid they will accumulate huge
bills
too."
Budiriro was regarded as the epicentre of the cholera epidemic that
began in
August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared
at an
end in July 2009. The waterborne disease killed more than 4,000 people
and
infected nearly 100,000 others, and all water sources were found to be
contaminated in the working class ssuburb.
Many neighbourhoods had
dug shallow wells after the collapse of water and
sanitation infrastructure
in Zimbabwe's economic implosion, creating ideal
conditions for the
proliferation of cholera, which infects the
gastrointestinal system, causing
vomiting and diarrhoea that can lead to
acute dehydration; left untreated,
it can kill within 24 hours.
To combat cholera, donor organisations,
including the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) Zimbabwe, drilled scores of
boreholes, but many have since fallen
into disrepair and at night it is not
uncommon to see long queues at the few
remaining working boreholes as
residents jostle to get water for the next
day.
"We now cook at all
sorts of times - sometimes at midnight or early
morning - when we manage to
get water. We can hardly spare any to wash
clothes because we don't have
containers big enough to store it," Madongonda
said.
A stream about
5km away is used for laundry and bathing. "Many women
complain of skin
problems and we suspect it is because the water is polluted
with sewage and
dangerous chemicals dumped in the stream by factories. It
will not be long
before there is another cholera outbreak," she warned.
UNICEF Zimbabwe's
head of communications, Micaela Marques de Souza, told
IRIN the boreholes
drilled "in response to the 2008/09 cholera outbreak were
handed over, and
are being maintained by Harare City [municipality]".
"I am aware of the
fact that most of the boreholes, even some drilled last
year, have broken
down because there are too many residents using them and
some of them are
careless, but I am surprised that we are supposed to be
repairing them," a
senior health official in the municipality's public works
department, who
declined to be named, told IRIN.
Reticulated water is also becoming
scarce In Glen Norah, the suburb next to
Budiriro, where boreholes were also
sunk to combat the cholera epidemic.
"A lot of people use the bush and
buckets to relieve themselves because of
the water shortages. Toilets are
overflowing and our children suffer from
running stomachs most of the time."
The tap water was "suspicious", because
whenever supplies returned briefly,
it was dirty, Glen Norah resident
Trymore Purazi, 28, told
IRIN.
Chris Magadza, a researcher at the University of Zimbabwe, told
participants
at a recent workshop that "clinical studies carried out on
Harare's water
supplies, and the results obtained, revealed that the water
bodies carry a
significant amount of pollutants, which pose a potential
health risk."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Chief Reporter
Sunday, 17 April
2011 08:17
HARARE - Zimbabwe marked 31 years of independence on Monday,
although
government's planned lavish party had to be scaled back after a row
over the
arrest of a minister of National Healing and Intergration from one
of the
coalition partners in the unity government. Our chief reporter
explains why
he did not celebrate.
Although the opposition two years
ago swept away the party which had ruled
for 28 years, the majority of
Zimbabwe's 12m people still live below the
poverty level of $1 a
day.
Because of mass unemployment, there is rising poverty and vice -
prostitution, armed robbery and carjackings - in Harare and other major
towns.
Basic infrastructure such as roads, landline telephones, railways
and
electricity are in a shocking state of disrepair.
Although
Zimbabweans embraced a new era of democracy with the landslide
opposition
victory two years ago, corruption and political tensions still
haunt the
so-called unity government.
One could argue that infact little has gone
right since the Union Jack was
lowered on the eve of April 17,
1980.
Robert Mugabe - young, and confident - took over the reins of power in
1980
after a bitter 16-year bush war which claimed over 40,000 guerilla war
fighters.
He set up a political system that would last for more than
three decades,
now based on political nepotism, ethnic favouritism and the
detention or
elimination of political rivals.
Under the old man -
Zimbabwe started off very well with significant gains in
education and
health care.
As Zimbabwe turned 31 on Monday, the most pertinent question is:
Where did
it all start to go wrong? The commonplace poverty and
international
isolation has never been this stark. Never has the country
lacked a unifying
vision for the nation and its rulers so reviled by those
they govern.
Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya-Moyo says the day is very
very
important because its the day the country attained internal self
rule.
"Its a very important day in the history of our country,"
Khaya-Moyo said.
"We must recognise that its the birthday of our country and
naturally we
celebrate in a joyous manner the defeat of settlerism and
colonialism. We
must reflect on what happened, the prosecution of the
liberation struggle.
Thousands of our colleagues were killed, others maimed,
others disappeared.
We remember them with honour. We are free because of
their sacrifices."
Khaya-Moyo steers clear of commenting on how Zanu PF has
re-invented and
abused the national rallying cry of Independence and used it
as basis to
seek absolute rule.
For the first ten years, Mugabe
presided over a rapid reconstruction
programe underlined by expansionist
policies in education and health which
ran concurrently with probably the
worst repression in independent
Ziumbabwe's history, which saw the
assassinations of an ethnic minority
loyal to his political opposition,
Zapu. The era, which came to be known as
Gukurahundi, saw the brutal
suppression and impoverishment of the smaller
ethnic Ndebele
group.
Mugabe's renowned charisma and the leading role he played in
pursuit of
independence ensured that he managed to retain a heroic glow even
as he
subjugated Zapu which he eventually intergrated into his Zanu
PF.
Then, a younger Mugabe outlawed all political parties and kept the
police
busy rounding up all suspected enemies of his regime.
Most of them
say they were tortured, jailed or detained without trial.
Commentators
suggest that if President Mugabe had retired in 1990, Nelson
Mandela-style,
he would have gone with his reputation intact.
The architect
of
reconciliation, he presided over nation-building, the expansion of
education
and social services, and played an important role on the world
stage.
The future seemed bright at the dawn of the second decade of
Independence.
The one-party-state project was about to be abandoned, the
state of
emergency lifted and the economy opened up to
investment.
But by 1990 evidence of the rot was already discernible. A
brutal campaign
of suppression in Matabeleland had revealed a totalitarian
agenda that held
lives cheap.
By the early 1990s, Zimbabwe began to lose
its reputation as one of Africa's
most stable and prosperous countries after
disastrous IMF prescriptions that
restructured the economy with disastrous
consequences. Anti-debt campaigner
Hopewell Gumbo says the IMF's Economic
Structural Adjustment Programme
(ESAP) devastated the economy.
"The IMF
prescription recommended a slash in government spending, scaled
back on
social programmes, stopped subsidies in education. The IMF stopped
UZ
students from getting bacon at campus. ESAP resulted in retrenchments
because the IMF wanted a lean government."
The concommitant result
catalysed public anger against Mugabe. And the
resistance to the Mugabe
regime, mainly from the working class, was met with
increased
repression.
Pressure from foreign donors forced Mugabe to hold
multi-party elections
starting in the 90s mainly against smaller parties.
.
But strongholds of the working class then decided in 1999 to mount its
first
serious challenge through the opposition MDC. , Mugabe in 2000
launched his
bid for political survival by authorising war veterans to seize
commercial
farms. It was a death blow to the economy which ended 20 years of
self-sufficiency in food production and choked off forex
earnings.
From that there has been no recovery.
The MDC claims the
president rigged the first three multi-party elections in
the 21st century
in 2000, 2002 and 2005, although many Zimbabweans believed
a split in the
opposition itself denied them victory in the 2005 elections.
Then, for a
moment - in March 2008 - the country seemed to have shed the
skin of
repression, 28 years after independence.
A new coalition government
brought together leaders from opposition parties
and Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF
- a political feat that had eluded the
opposition in 10 years of multi-party
politics in the 21st century.
Zimbabweans - fed up with rising
unemployment, economic meltdown, crime and
graft - voted decisively for the
first time for change in the 2008 polls,
ending 28 years of misrule and
grotesque corruption.
But 26 months on, the opposition alliance seems to
have been manipulated by
Mugabe, a cunning political veteran, who has
refused to share executive
authority with his erstwhile partners in the
GNU.
Despite dramatic moves to enact economic reforms that ended a decade
of
economic meltdown, internal feuding in the ruling coalition has
undermined
the credibility of the unity government and eroded confidence
among
Zimbabweans in the new era.
From the beginning, Mugabe and his
coalition partners Morgan Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara contained some
ambiguities.
The ramshackle coalition running the country has dismally
failed the nation
espcially in political reforms necessary for a fresh poll.
The
2008 post-election euphoria has worn off.
While the MDC says there
have been abuse of the rule of law through
arbitrary arrests of prominent
MDC figures, mainly ministers, there is
widespread concern that even the MDC
has succumbed to the corrupting
influence of power.
Elton Mangoma, the
Energy minister and a top ally of Tsvangirai, has been
implicated in one of
the biggest multgi-million dollar corruption scandal,
in which kickbacks
were allegedly paid to a phoney company importing fuel.
He has denied any
wrongdoing, and says the charges are trumped-up.
Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, the
minister of National Healing's arrest last Friday
has resulted in the
boycott of Independence festivities by the MDC led by
Prof Welshman
Ncube.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF ministers and army generals are already at the
centre of
scandals involving diamonds mined in the rich Marange diamond
fields, while
government struggles to pay a living wage to civil
servants.
Feuding - mostly over a new constitution that would dilute
Mugabe's
presidential powers - is already slowing the coalition
government's efforts
to reverse the country's long decline.
Two years
ago, ubiquitous euphoria led to dancing in the streets when the
coalition
government took power.
But Mugabe's refusal to share power and
belligerant rhetoric has failed to
persuade multilateral lenders such as the
IMF to resume lending, cut off due
to failure by Mugabe's previous
government to amortise its debt with the
Bretton Woods institution. Western
countries, concerned about the pervasive
corruption under Mugabe, have
withhheld pledges of US$10 billion in aid
until the GPA is fully
implemented.
But many Zimbabweans are concerned over the ability of the
new government -
and that of a combative 87-year-old president who has not
been in the best
of health - to continue governing and cleaning up
Zimbabwe's politics.
As a result, Zimbabwe has been held hostage to this
intellectually brilliant
but deeply flawed leader. He is the sole reason
many did not celebrate
Independence Day on Monday.
But thankfully, as
events in Ivory Coast illustrated last week, no regime
lasts forever. Sooner
or later tyrants who abuse their people face an
inevitable
reckoning.
Political analysts say those who have betrayed the promise of 1980
by
encouraging, promoting, and excusing the brutal dictatorship that so
blights
our lives would do well to ponder the fate of other self-proclaimed
leaders
who are now discovering that no army can resist an idea whose time
has come.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Methuseli
Moyo
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:35
Zimbabwe turns 31 on April 18, 2011.
Congratulations, Amhlophe, Makorokoto
Zimbabwe.
Sadly, events in the last
31 years have left the population wondering if for
sure we are independent.
In our view, this is a valid question prompted by
the Zanu-PF regime under
Robert Mugabe’s leadership style. It has been a 31
years of controlling
power, 31 years of ever declining employment, 31 years
of worsening poverty,
31 years of virtually no development for most areas,
31 years of hunger, 31
years of homelessness, 31 years of fear, 31 years of
no freedom of speech,
31 years of no freedom of assembly. The list of human
rights violations is
endless.
If truth be told, we replaced a white Ian Smith regime with an
equally
brutal, murderous, segregationist and self-centered black regime.
The
Zanu-PF regime has easily equalled if not bettered the Smith regime on
the
genocide front, killing an unbelievable 20 000 in Matabeleland and the
Midlands during Gukurahundi in the 1980s. Their only crime was supporting
Zapu, or belonging to the wrong tribe. As if the 20 000 were not enough,
hundreds more nationals have been killed since the year 2000. Their crime:
supporting a rival political party, the MDC. Zapu, the authentic and founder
liberation movement of Zimbabwe, firmly believed and still believes in the
doctrine of non-discrimination, freedom for all, the right to life for all,
the right to one’s political opinion, the right to work, and the right to
earn a decent wage. Sadly, our fellow liberation movement and disputed
winner of the 1980 elections, Zanu, has used their 30 years in power to
destroy all the hopes the people had when our nation became
independent.
Zapu takes this opportunity to call on the Zanu-PF establishment
to stop
immediately those activities that continue to render our
independence
meaningless. These include the continued use of the justice
system to punish
opponents and critics, the curtailment of freedom of speech
and assembly,
freedom of the press, freedom of worship, among other human
rights. It is
sad that we are supposed to be celebrating independence when
several
citizens, including a Cabinet Minister and priest, are languishing
in police
cells for attending a memorial church service for victims of
Gukurahundi,
and for saying the obvious. It is sad that we celebrate
independence at a
time when someone has been languishing in the
Rhodesian-built Khami Maximum
Prison for allegedly expressing his wishes
about a separate state of
Matabeleland, which we all know was the case
before colonization.
It is sad that we celebrate independence at a time when
fellow nationals
have lost land and all their assets, while some are on the
brink of losing
their businesses for having a white skin. As our late leader
Dr Joshua
Mqabuko Nkomo always stressed, the war was never against the
colour of
Smith, but against the unjust system. Zapu believed and still
believes it is
very possible to correct racial imbalances without
victimizing anyone.
Racism, whether black or white, is a sin.
Zapu calls
on the Zanu-PF establishment to be honest with themselves and
answer the
question whether people are really free or what has simply
changed is that
we are now a colony of the people who claim to have
decolonized us. Zapu,
the founder and authentic liberation movement of
Zimbabwe, offers itself to
the people of Zimbabwe to once again to lead a
real Third Chimurenga to
re-liberate ourselves.
We take this opportunity to thank the international
community, AU, SADC, and
in particular our neighbour South Africa’s
political leadership for working
tirelessly to assist the people of Zimbabwe
to move towards democracy, which
certainly will arrive after the forthcoming
elections. Zanu’s 31 years in
power has surely made us all wiser. None but
us can liberate ourselves.
Thank you.
Methuseli Moyo
Director
Publicity, Information and Marketing
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Apr 16, 2011 12:36 PM | By ZOLI MANGENA and VLADIMIR
MZACA
The volatile Matabeleland region is seething over President Robert
Mugabe
and Zanu-PF's decision to bury former Central Intelligence
Organisation
(CIO) deputy director Mernard Muzariri with a trumpet blasts at
the Heroes
Acre this week.
Muzariri, declared a national hero by
Mugabe and his party for his
contribution to Zimbabwe's liberation struggle,
was given a state funeral
and buried on Thursday at the North Korean-built
Heroes Acre in Harare.
However, political parties and civil society
groups in Matabeleland, a
region fiercely opposed to Zanu-PF, say the move
showed Mugabe and his
party's lack of remorse over civilian massacres that
occurred in the region
between 1982 and 1987.
Activists say Muzariri
was involved in the Gukurahundi killings, in which at
least 20 000 civilians
in the southwestern and Midland regions were
slaughtered by Mugabe's Fifth
Brigade. Most of the victims were minority
Ndebele civilians who supported
PF-Zapu, led by the late Joshua Nkomo.
Mugabe and Nkomo, as well as their
parties Zanu-PF and PF-Zapu, were bitter
rivals.
After gaining power
in 1980, Mugabe unleashed a reign of terror in a bid to
destroy Nkomo and
his party to establish a one-party state and ensure that
he became
president-for-life.
Activists say Muzariri was central in the murders of
civilians during the
civil strife and should not have been buried at Heroes
Acre.
Muzariri was posted to Bulawayo, the capital of Matabeleland
region, in 1982
where he was responsible for all CIO operations.
The
agency, working with the Fifth Brigade and other state security forces,
has
been accused of committing gross human rights abuses and atrocities.
This
is seen as part of the reasons for Mugabe's fear to relinquish
power.
Zapu spokesman Methuseli Moyo said Muzariri's hero status
confirmed that
Zanu-PF had a "blueprint" for the massacres as it rewarded
all those who
were involved.
"Muzariri's national hero status
confirms that Zanu-PF intended to kill and
suppress the opposition [Zapu] in
the early 1980s. Muzariri was directly
involved in the mass brutal killings
and declaring him a national hero is
celebrating his legacy. As long as one
is associated with Mugabe and is a
killer he is guaranteed of national
honours," Moyo said.
Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda leader,
Effie Ncube, said the move
undermined reconciliation and national healing
efforts. "How can people
forgive and forget when Zanu-PF is giving gun
salutes to the same people who
were involved in the killings of more than
20000 defenceless citizens in the
Midlands and Matabeleland?" Ncube
said.
"As long as things like this continue to happen, the Heroes Acre
will never
be taken as a legitimate national shrine because most of the
people buried
there are mass murderers. Those affected by Gukurahundi are
getting the
message loud and clear from Zanu-PF - the party does not care
nor regret the
killings."
Zenzele Ndebele, a filmmaker who has
produced a documentary on Gukurahundi,
said the Muzariri issue compromised
efforts to move Zimbabwe beyond the
bitter memories of the
massacres.
"Zanu-PF arrests the victims who want this issue addressed,
while protecting
and honouring perpetrators. All those who have blood on
their hands are
promoted and credited with influential positions in
government, the army,
police and the secret service. There seems to be a
club of Gukurahundi
criminals out there who are untouchable," Ndebele
said.
National Healing and Reconciliation co-minister Moses Mzila Ndlovu
has also
been arrested for saying that there won't be any reconciliation
without
justice for victims.
Ndlovu gave an emotional address during
a public debate forum, Independent
Dialogue Series, on transitional justice
on Wednesday in Bulawayo, saying it
was not possible to bring perpetrators
of human rights abuses to justice
when they were still in
power.
Human rights lawyer Kucaca Phulu said holding perpetrators to
account was
difficult because atrocities were committed by army, police and
intelligence
officers with orders from the top.
In a speech at his
burial, Mugabe described Muzariri's death as a blow to
the nation and urged
the younger generation to emulate his deeds.
Mugabe has not openly
apologised for the massacres, except admitting that
they were an "act of
madness".
http://www.radiovop.com
17/04/2011 18:42:00
MASVINGO, April 17,
2011- In a bid to unite different factions of his MDC-T
party Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has invited both the newly elected
executive members and
those who lost provincial elections to the national
congress expected to be
held in Bulawayo at the end of this month.
Under normal circumstances,
those who lose an election are not supposed to
go for national congress as
delegates but after a four hour closed door
meeting with his supporters in
Masvingo, Tsvangirai concluded that no one
was going to be barred from
national congress.Tsvangirai held a meeting with
both the losing candidates
and the newly elected candidates after the losers
insisted that they wanted
a third round of election in Mucheke stadium.
“I have heard your queries
and one thing which is common to you all is that
you are dedicated party
cadres who want to attend the congress hence I am
now inviting all of you to
the forth coming congress,” said Tsvangirai amid
applause from the
members.Tsvangirai said the outstanding issues between the
two factions were
not serious hence the problems would be solved after
congress.
“Since
your immediate request is to attend a congress, I have granted you
that
permission and we will solve everything at our pace later. However, I
plead
with you not to fight each other because you know that we are all here
because of our one common enemy, Zanu(PF)." Tsvangirai told the
meeting.After the meeting members of various factions managed to talk to
each other for the first time since last week when the Elphas Mkonoweshuro
faction walked out of Mucheke stadium in protest as Tongai Matutu (MP for
Masvingo Urban) faction romped into victory.
Member of Parliament for
Zaka West Festus Dumbu openly told Tsvangirai that
unless the elections are
run for the third time, he was not going to respect
the current
executive.But Tsvangirai said for now, the current executive
should be
respected. MDC-T Masvingo spokesperson and Member of Parliament
for Zaka
Central Harrison Mudzuri told Radio Vop that Tsvangirai proved to
be a ‘real
leader by uniting the fighting factions in Masvingo’.
Although Mudzuri
refused to give details of the meeting, he said the meeting
gave hope for
unity.
“ We are one and we will never split. The meeting brought us
together as a
family and it was a starting point. We are sure that fighting
each other or
factionalism in Masvingo will soon be a thing of the past, ”
said Mudzuri.
http://www.radiovop.com
17/04/2011
12:26:00
NETHERLANDS, April 17, 2011- Zimbabwean human rights lawyer
Alec Muchadehama
received on Friday the Lawyers For Lawyers award in the
Netherlands.The
father of three is humbled by the award received from his
Dutch legal
colleagues. It doesn’t make his work in Zimbabwe any easier, but
now
Muchadehama knows that the world is watching. And there is another
bonus,
winning the award gives him protection against harassment from the
Mugabe
regime.
“It is an encouragement to me and others to keep
defending, but my heart
goes out to the people we represent, the actual
victims of the repression.
They deserve the prize more than myself” says
Muchadehama who traveled to
Amsterdam to receive the prize in person.
“Apparently, lawyers around the
world are watching. And that is a defence
mechanism, because now I know that
if I’m attacked in the line of duty,
lawyers may come to my rescue!”
Muchadehama is a member of the Zimbabwean
Lawyers for Human Rights, a
non-profit organisation that wants to improve
the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe. After receiving several local
awards, the Lawyers For Lawyers
award is the first international prize that
Muchadehama brings home.During
his career, 45-year-old Muchadehama
experienced the brutality of the ZANU-PF
regime in person. He was arrested
three times while defending others, and in
2006 the University of Zimbabwe
graduate had to seek refuge in the Dutch
embassy in Harare to escape from
prosecution.
Right now, he is defending 46 suspects in a case that has
gained
international attention. The group was watching video tapes of the
Jasmin
revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia when the police rushed in to arrest
them.
But Muchadehama expects victory in court. “The judge has indicated
that the
State’s evidence is very weak. That’s why six of the key suspects
have been
released on bail. I don’t think that they will be convicted, but
we’ll hear
the final verdict when their case comes up on April
20.”
The Lawyers For Lawyers award is handed out for the first time,
after a
prominent jury carefully considered several nominees. “The nominees
had to
be put forward twice by different lawyers or firms” says jury member
Egbert
Myjer, normally a judge with the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, France. “With this level of excellence, we decided to weigh the
nominees on their current activities. We wanted attention for people that
put their lives on the line as we speak. Unanimously, the jury declared
Muchadehama the winner of this award.”
Alec Muchadehama is praised
because of his perseverance. “This lawyer did
not give up, he deserves
international recognition. And, this prize may also
give him extra
protection” judge Myjer tells Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
“When one is
known internationally, it might be harder for the Zimbabwean
government to
harm him.”
But Muchadehama is not certain about the protection that the
award will give
him: “I don’t know how the regime will respond, the people
down there act
in a funny way. I see it as a buffer against a possible
attack on my person.
If they want me, they must know that everyone in every
corner of this world
is watching.”
After several dictatorships in the
Middle East have been toppled, many look
at the situation in Zimbabwe.
Muchadehama: “The fact that the state has to
repress the people is an
indication that the people want change. Not in the
Egytian way, or in the
Tunesian way, but I foresee change coming.”
Change in Zimbabwe can only
happen when president Robert Mugabe steps aside.
And this is not very likely
to happen, the 87-year-old dictator has
announced that he wants to win
another term. But Muchadehama doesn’t believe
it would take much longer:
“Nothing lasts forever, particularly
dictatorships!”
-Radio Netherlands
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Apr 16, 2011 1:16 PM | By VLADIMIR
MZACA
Zimbabwe has a shortfall of 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity of
the 2000MW
required daily and the country's power utility intends to cover
that through
the introduction of energy-saving legislation.
The
country currently produces only 1300MW and imports 300MW, leaving a
shortfall of 400MW.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa)
has urged policymakers to
introduce a bill that will force electricity users
to opt for energy-saving
lights and do away with incandescent light
bulbs.
"The best way to go around the energy issue is to lobby for the
banning of
incandescent light bulbs. We have in the past pushed for
parliament to look
at the issue," said Fullard Gwasira, the spokesman for
Zesa.
If the authority has its wish granted it would like to see
legislation that
puts incandescent bulbs on a high import tariff.
If
this happens, they would become a luxury and fewer people would prefer
them
and switch to energy-savers, most of which are produced
locally.
"Energy-savers use less power and are more durable compared to
incandescent
light bulbs," said Gwasira.
Incandescent light bulbs
have been banned in other parts of the world.
In 2009 a Europe-wide
campaign to ban incandescent bulbs began.
The only complaint has been
that energy-saving bulbs are not as bright as
the incandescent
ones.
"The whole world wants to save energy and banning these bulbs is
one of the
ways," Gwasira said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Sunday, 17 April 2011
09:06
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s security chiefs who have stubbornly resisted
democratic
reforms could be forced to give way to change – this time because
of death,
with a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) top director buried
last week
and Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) supremo Constantine Chiwenga
reportedly
grappling with an undisclosed but serious health
problem.
Also known as securocrats, the security chiefs have the hard
power to
prevent a smooth democratic transition in Zimbabwe, often acting as
spoilers
to any efforts by the country’s coalition government to institute
much-needed political reforms.
They publicly identify with President
Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF), not only
because of a long history dating back to
the liberation struggle but also
because of the economic benefits derived
from this association.
Analysts said last week’s death of CIO deputy head
Menard Muzariri and news
of Chiwenga’s poor health could be a harbinger of
things to come for
Zimbabwe’s troubled political landscape.
“This
could all point to a gradually loosening of Mugabe’s grip on Zimbabwe
as the
bedrock of his power makes way for forces of nature,” political
analyst
Donald Porusingazi told The Zimbabwean On Sunday.
Mugabe confirmed during
Muzariri’s burial that the reclusive CIO director,
who succumbed to cancer
last Monday, had been ill for some time and has
regularly been sent for
treatment in China.
The late CIO boss is alleged to have been behind a
ruthless state campaign
to cow opposition to Mugabe since the
1980s.
He allegedly participated in the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres that
saw the
murder of more than 20 000 innocent civilians by the army and secret
service.
ZDF commander Chiwenga reportedly fell seriously ill two
weeks ago and was
also airlifted to China.
The acting ZDF commander
is Air Force of Zimbabwe commander Perence Shiri,
himself rumoured to be
ill.
Similar rumours of illnesses have been made against Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
Chihuri spent more than a week in a private South African
hospital in 2007
and has since then looked frail.
Mnangagwa is
believed to be the figurehead for the group of Zanu (PF)
hardliners opposed
to coalition government formed by Mugabe and his
arch-rival Morgan
Tsvangirai two years ago.
“The demise of the intransigent security chiefs
could pave way for a new
crop of generals more amenable to reforms,”
Porusingazi observed.
There has also been widespread speculation about
Mugabe’s health after his
aides two months ago broke with tradition to
confirm that the 87-year-old
Zimbabwean strongman had during his January
vacation in Singapore undergone
an operation to remove an eye
cataract.
He has returned to Singapore twice since February for alleged
cataract
reviews on his eye, stoking up speculation about the Zimbabwean
leader’s
health, even as some of the reports suggested that his last visit
on April 8
was to accompany his wife, Grace, who was not feeling
well.
Grace was not with Mugabe at Muzariri’s funeral for reasons that
were not
made public.
In power since Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence
from Britain and Africa’s oldest
leader, Mugabe’s health is a closely
guarded secret.
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/04/2011
18:41:00
BULAWAYO, April 17, 2011- As the 18th of April 2011 draws
closer Zimbabwe’s
Independence Day is already in the forefront of politics
and tabloids. The
statements being bended around question whether
Independence Day should be
about celebrating or politics. Some have even
made insinuations that
Zimbabwe is not independent and for that reason they
do not celebrate
Independence Day.
In many ways Zimbabweans have
short comings when it comes to National
identity. Natives of other African
Countries can be identified through
national apparel or attire and other
visible attributes. While the natives
of Zimbabwe have this identity crisis
the country itself has its own
distinct identity which it draws from the
Liberation struggle.
It is important to note that politics does not
operate in isolation of
strategic opportunities meaning that it will always
ride on the momentum of
advantageous circumstances. Indeed the Independence
Day is a strategic and
unique opportunity across the Zimbabwean political
spectrum. With this
background in mind let’s turn to the competitive
advantages and penetrative
advantages of Independence Day to political
parties.
Two political parties, more specifically the oldest parties in
Zimbabwe
cannot be detangled from drawing competitive advantage from
Independence
Day. The two can be viewed as one depending on one’s political
position.
They draw competitive advantage on the grounds of their
contributions in the
Liberation struggle which led to the independence of
Zimbabwe. The
competitive advantage resonates in the value, rarity,
inimitability and
non-substitutability of Independence of
Zimbabwe.
The value obviously comes from the freedom which people used to
be denied of
and more importantly the birth of a new state with a new name
Zimbabwe. This
marked a social paradigm shift and political dichotomy.
What’s more is that
Zimbabwe’s independence contains elements of rarity
compared to other
countries; consequently this adds value to the
Independence Day.
Independence is inimitable meaning no one is able to
rewind the clock and do
it again. Even religious philosophies and
hypnotherapy practices cannot
reverse and get a rebirth of Zimbabwe.
Furthermore it is non substitutable
in that it is a nationally recognised
day. Regardless of future developments
in the political arena independence
will still be sustainable.
Emerging and newly established political
parties, movements and pressure
groups challenge the dominance of the older
political group/s. More
specifically they point out that the older political
group/s use/s the
celebrations of the Independence Day as a platform for
political Leverage.
Indeed it is has become the norm that a sharp political
message is part of
the diet on Independence Day. Although it is common sense
to reflect on the
birth of Zimbabwe, emerging and newly established
political groups argue
that it is deliberately over done and too
political.
While there is case against politicking, it is important to
note that
emerging and newly established political groups are seeking to
lower the
competitive advantage of their rivals through penetrative
strategies. The
penetrative strategies draw their strength from their value.
Their value is
in that they appeal to a wider apolitical audience,
supporters of emerging
and newly established political parties, movements
and pressure groups. The
non inflammatory and low political tone penetrates
the hearts and souls of
those who just want to celebrate Independence Day
and because it sounds
responsible and less exclusionary.
The
penetrative strategies used by emerging and newly established political
groups lack rarity, inimitability and non substitutability meaning they
cannot monopolise the political arena. Although this is a weakness that
works in favour of apolitical natives it is still political. It is political
in that post independence political movements cannot claim participation in
the liberation struggle so they sell this weakness to the public by arguing
for depoliticisation but that very act itself is politics. Whether by
accident or design the Independence Day is political and any insinuation
which claims to be apolitical about this day is
political.
--------------
Farai Chikowore: is a Local Governance
Reader who graduated in Strategic
Public Management (MSc) and in Public
Policy Government and Management (BA,
Honours) at De Montfort University. He
likes to evaluate the contribution of
political discourse to understanding
government policies. His main areas of
interest are in Research in:
Partnership Working, Local government, Local
governance, Democratic renewal,
Policy process and Strategic
Management.source:Bulawayo 24.com
Thobile Gwebu (centre)
Vigil supporters are
disappointed that Mugabe’s Ambassador to London has been invited to the Royal
Wedding on 29th April. Management team member Luka Phiri spoke for
many when he said he was shocked. But we understand that the demands of
diplomatic protocol sometimes trump common sense. And – who knows? – the
presence of Ambassador Machinga might be entertaining as he goes around
Westminster Abbey soliciting signatures supporting the 2 million person
anti-sanctions petition. Judging by the level of coercion, every signature
counts!
Zim Vigil regular,
Swazi national Thobile Gwebu took a stronger line when she heard that King
Mswati of Swaziland would be present at the wedding, travelling to London with
an entourage of no less than fifty to stay at the super expensive Dorchester
hotel. Thobile, who launched a Vigil outside the Swaziland High Commission in
London modeled on our own protest, was particularly annoyed that the world’s
last absolute monarch would make impoverished Swaziland a laughing stock at the
occasion, what with his 13 wives. Mswati was a pupil at Sherborne public school
in England which was founded in 1550 which seems to be the epoch where Mswati
aims to keep Swaziland.
On the plus side,
Thobile was able to reach a large audience by being interviewed on the BBC TV
Newsnight programme on Friday (15th April), which looked at the
brutal repression of the recent unrest in Mbabane (check: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b010dqgv/Newsnight_15_04_2011/
– 15.10 minutes into the broadcast – available until Thursday 21/4). She has
since been invited to speak on South African radio.
‘Mswati may be coming
to London but I hope I have helped alert people to what is going on in my
homeland’, she told us at the Vigil.
Her comments
resonated with President Zuma’s report on the state of play in Zimbabwe. In the
light of the uprisings in North and West Africa, he warned SADC leaders of the
dangers of taking people for granted. Zuma’s warning has not been heeded in
Swaziland or Zimbabwe. Indeed, violence in Zimbabwe has been increasing – even
in the absence of the whisky-loving commander of the defence forces, Constantine
Chiwenga, who has gone to China to dry out.
The Vigil is marking
the 31st anniversary of Zimbabwe’s Independence on 18th
April by protesting outside the Zimbabwe Embassy from 12 noon to 3 pm against
this violence. We are being joined by Action for Southern Africa, the successor
organization of the anti-apartheid movement, which will be sending a card to the
Zimbabwean Ambassador to pass on demands for an immediate end to the violence, free and fair elections and justice for the
people of Zimbabwe.
On
domestic matters, it was good to see several members of the Vigil management
team back: Addley Nyamutaka (studying in Bournemouth), Bonny Adams
(investigating sustainable farming in India) and Arnold Kuwewa (who has just
come out of hospital). Also thanks to regular supporter Edna Mdoka for her help
on the front table.
For latest Vigil
pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
FOR THE
RECORD: 117 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND
NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe.
·
ZBN News.
The
Vigil management team wish to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not
responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that
they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no
control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN
News.
·
The Zim Vigil band
(Farai Marema and Dumi Tutani) has launched its theme song ‘Vigil Yedu (our
Vigil)’ to raise awareness through music. To download this single, visit
website: www.imusicafrica.com.
·
‘Stop the Violence in
Zimbabwe’ Vigil. Monday
18th April outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand WC2. The
protest, on Zimbabwean Independence Day, has been organized by Action for
Southern African (ACTSA) which has invited the Vigil to join them. ACTSA will be
protesting from 1 – 2 pm but the Vigil will be there from 12 noon – 3 pm. Check:
http://www.actsa.org/page-1028-Events.html for more
details.
·
ROHR
Newcastle general meeting.
Saturday 23rd April from 2 – 6 pm. Venue: Warwick Court, Warwick
Street, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 1EY. 3 mins walk from the Gateshead Interchange opposite Gateshead Civic Centre and Gateshead Police Station. Free parking available. Contact Susan
Ndlovu 07767024586, Allen Chamboko
07500246416, Kuda Derera 07411337933, Rugare Chifungo (Coordinator)
07795070609
·
ROHR
Yorkshire general meeting.
Saturday 23rd April from 2 – 6 pm. Venue: Dock Green Inn,
Ashley Rd , Leeds LS9 7AB. Contact: Chinofunga Ndoga
07877993826, Prosper Mudamvanji 07897594874, Wonder Mubaiwa 07958758568, Donna
Mugoni 07748828913.
·
ROHR Manchester
Vigil. Saturday
30th April from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Cathedral Gardens,
Manchester City Centre (subject to change to Piccadilly Gardens).
Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa
Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende
07886839353, Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P
Chibanguza 07908406069. Future demonstration: 28th May. Same time and
venue.
·
ROHR Harlow general
meeting. Saturday
7th May from 2 – 6 pm. Venue: Sherards Hatch Nursery, Ployters Road,
Harlow CM18 7PS. MP Mr Robert Halfon, ROHR President, UK National executive and
a well-known immigration lawyer will be present. Contact Bothwell Nyemba
07725208657, Grace Kachingwe 07405637283, Aleck Kayima 07961907097, Lloyd
Kashangura 07506481334 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 /
07932216070.
·
ROHR Woking general
meeting. Saturday 7th
May from 2 – 6pm. Venue: Woking Homes, Oriental Road, Woking, GU22 7BE. Contact,
Isaac Mudzamiri 07774044873, Sithokozile Hlokana 07886203113, Saziso Zulu
07861028280 or P.Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070.
·
ROHR Manchester
meetings. Saturday
14th May: (committee meeting from 11 am – 1 pm, general meeting from
2 – 5 pm). Venue: The Salvation Army Citadel, 71 Grosvenor
Road, Manchester M13
9UB. Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa
Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende
07886839353, Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P
Chibanguza 07908406069.
·
ROHR Nottingham
general meeting. Saturday
14th May from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: St Saviours in the Meadows Church,
Arkwright Walk, Nottingham NG2 2JU. The church is just a few minutes walk from
the train station. ROHR National Executive members will be attending to discuss
the abuse of human rights and political situation in Zimbabwe. Contact: Allan
Nhemhara 07810197576, Mary Chabvamuperu 07412074928, Christopher Chimbumu
07775888205, P Chibanguza 07908406069 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 /
07932216070.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith Todd’s
acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe. To receive a copy by post in the UK
please email confirmation of your order and postal address to ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and send a cheque
for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners Close, Burgess
Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust which provides
bursaries to needy A Level students in Zimbabwe
·
Workshops aiming to
engage African men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the
Terrence Higgins Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator Takudzwa Mukiwa (takudzwa.mukiwa@tht.org.uk) if you are
interested in taking part.
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
http://www.politicsweb.co.za
Eddie Cross
17 April 2011
Eddie
Cross explains the food crisis in Zimbabwe
The BBC carried a story today
about the rise in global food prices. The IMF
stated that on average prices
for food had risen 36 per cent this year and
among these was a 74 per cent
increase in maize prices. In the past, perhaps
since about 1950, Zimbabwe
had enjoyed a situation where by and large
agricultural prices were set at
export parities and global food prices were
themselves already quite low. As
a consequence we became accustomed to
relatively cheap food and this was
clearly apparent when you crossed the
border into any of our regional
neighbours.
After independence in 1980, the policies that had created
that situation
were maintained and agriculture was the main contributor to
national growth
and development. In 2000 all that changed, commercial
farmers and their 350
000 workers were made the target of a campaign that in
the past ten years,
has seen some 7 000 farms deliberately invaded and taken
over by force. They
were then occupied by so called A1 and A2 farmers, the
former small scale
and the latter large scale squatters.
Since then
the majority of these farms have become largely defunct, their
homesteads
and farm building derelict and their arable lands have returned
to bush or
been the subject of subsistence style agriculture. Although the
land audit
promised in the GPA has not been carried out because of Zanu
opposition, it
is known that perhaps as many as half these properties have
been abandoned
after their assets had been looted.
As a consequence, agricultural output
has collapsed to about 20 per cent of
the levels that had prevailed in the
era before the farm invasions.
Zimbabwe, for the first time in half a
century is now a net importer of all
types of food and agricultural
products. Cotton and tobacco being the sole
exceptions.
As a result
food prices are dictated by import costs and are therefore
higher than in
our neighbouring countries. Remember that import parity
prices means that
you pay the world market price PLUS the cost of
transporting the product to
Zimbabwe - sometimes over thousands of
kilometres. Export parity pricing
means that you pay prices set at world
market levels LESS the cost of
transport to the overseas or regional
clients.
The commercial farmers
that own the farms that are invaded and occupied by
this rag tag collection
of people, had built some 10 000 dams on their
properties and could, when
required irrigate their crops when normal
rainfall failed. To do this they
had the pumps, pipelines and irrigation
equipment to irrigate up to 267 000
hectares of land.
People who do not know Zimbabwe think that farming is
an easy game. They do
not appreciate that in fact this is a tough country to
farm in - just take
one factor, our mean average variation in rainfall is
about 40 per cent. In
the main grain belt of America it is 5 per
cent.
Anyone who has visited to States will know how you can drive
through a
hundred kilometres of flat, rich farm land and see crops planted
from
horizon to horizon. Not in Zimbabwe, our typical commercial farm was
about 2
000 hectares of which, perhaps a quarter was arable - but in small
irregular
patches separated by small kopjies or hills and wetlands or
vlei.
Then our soils - we have millions of hectares of poor sandy soils
that are
very hard to farm. Our heavy soils are also difficult to cultivate
and need
heavy equipment. Finally the season is short - 90 to 120 days at
most and
the need to plant on time and to do things strictly to the calendar
is
legendary. If you miss these deadlines the land is a hard task master and
will punish you with low yields and poor quality.
Just to compound
these difficulties we suffer from severe storms. Hail is a
constant threat
and droughts are a regular occurrence - not always
nation-wide but always
difficult to deal with, in some years (1992/3) the
dry conditions can be so
severe that crops are decimated, dams dry up and
livestock die in their
thousands.
What is also not appreciated is that these farms were all
large business
ventures - some of them large even by world standards. We had
individual
companies that grew 150 000 tonnes of grain a year, the two sugar
companies
grew 500 000 tonnes sugar, individual tobacco growers grew on
average 300
000 kilograms of tobacco, the largest tobacco growers in the
world. As such
they had to borrow significant sums of money each year to
finance their
crops and livestock activities. Many of the best farmers were
engineers or
accountants and relied on outside expertise for the
rest.
To support these farmers was a network of training establishments
and
research stations - some of them world famous. These same farmers
consistently grew crops that yielded well above regional and even
international best practice standards.
We held the world record for
yield in maize production for example. We were
the second largest exporter
of flue cured tobacco in the world and the
largest exporter of beef in
Africa. We were self sufficient in tough crops
like wheat and barley even
though our climate was not suitable and they had
to be fully
irrigated.
I think Zanu PF thought that by simply taking over these farms
at no cost to
themselves, that they would be able to make easy money. Most
of the farms
they invaded had been paid for over 25 or 30 years by farmers
who struggled
every year to make the bond payments. Nearly all the farmers I
knew put
every cent they made back into their farms with the result that
many were
real show places.
The fact that these highly successful
enterprises simply collapsed under
their new stewards came as a real
surprise to many, but not to those who had
sweated blood to create these
business ventures out of the bush, living in
mud huts for years while they
built barns and cleared lands.
A very small percentage of any population
has the capacity or the
inclination to go farming - it is generally thought
that this percentage is
below 5 per cent of any population. In our surveys
of the population since
2000 we have never had a reading of more than 5 per
cent for all Zimbabweans
who see farming as a way of life and a life
choice.
Sure we all want a piece of land - it is after all the only way
the average
person in Africa can ensure some security in the long term, but
that does
not mean that all are going to be able to farm, or even want to
farm.
The other surprise for Zanu PF is that they have not been able to
shake the
sure grip of title rights as a legal basis for farm operations.
They know
they do not own the farms they occupy and that one day they will
have to
account for what they did to the rightful owners who still hold
title.
That is simply a legal fact and will not go away. However that is
scant
comfort for the average Zimbabwean who must today pay 30 to 50 per
cent more
for his food than he would have if the agricultural industry was
working as
it once did.
Eddie Cross is MDC MP for Bulawayo South.
This article first appeared on his
website www.eddiecross.africanherd.com