Zanu PF Denies Race To Replace Msika

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, August 13, 2009 - Zanu PF Secretary for Administration,
Didymus Mutasa, has denied reports that there are raging squabbles within
the rank and file of the party over who will replace the late Vice President
Joseph Msika.

"There are no squabbles as some people and the media might want to
suggest," said Mutasa in an interview with Radio VOP on Thursday. "The
procedure that was followed to replace the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo
by the late Vice President Msika is the same procedure that is going to be
followed to replace him."
Several media reports in the past week suggested that there is a race
in the Matabeleland region among former Zapu members to replace Msika.
According to the reports, the jostling is between, Minister of State
responsible for National Healing, John Nkomo who also happens to be the
highest ranking party member from the region, Bulawayo Governor Cain
Mathema, Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu and Zimbabwe ambassador to
South African Simon Khaya Moyo.
Dumiso Dabengwa has also been thrown into the picture with reports
that President Robert Mugabe has sent envoys to try and coerce him to
abandon his new Zapu party and take up the vice presidency post.
President Mugabe is said to have considered the move to bring back
Dabengwa in the fold to fulfill the late vice president's death wish
to have former intelligence supremo succeeding him.
Turning onto Finance Minister Tendai Biti's suggestions that the
squabbles in Zanu PF might lead to a political implosion in the same
scale as those witnessed in Ivory Coast and Somalia. Mutasa said those
were just utterances and nothing close to that will happen.
"That's just wishful thinking nothing of that sort will happen in Zanu
PF," said Mutasa.
Biti had said the failure by ZANU PF to resolve President Robert
Mugabe's succession issue could plunge Zimbabwe into Somalia-type
anarchy. Biti went further to suggest that last week's death of Vice
President Joseph Msika had reignited the vicious battle to succeed Mugabe as
leader of ZANU PF party making the possibility of a military coup the
more likely.

ZAPU deny Mugabe approached Dabengwa for Vice Presidency

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
13 August 2009

ZAPU, which broke away from ZANU PF last year, has denied reports suggesting
Mugabe approached party leader Dumiso Dabengwa about replacing the late Vice
President Joseph Msika. ZAPU spokesman Methuseli Moyo told our Behind the
Headlines series on Thursday that there was no truth to reports linking
Dabengwa to the Vice Presidency. 'There is no truth in it. We have just seen
the media reports but when you check the source of the story it's coming
from someone who is neither from the President's Office nor from ZAPU. I don't
think anyone would believe such a story,' he said.

Moyo says Dabengwa has denied the approach and insists he has not met anyone
from ZANU PF about becoming Vice President. Asked if it was possible Mugabe
could have had a private chat with Dabengwa without the knowledge of his
party, Moyo responded by saying "why would Dabengwa leave his own party to
join another party where he is going to be a Vice President when he is the
leader of ZAPU?" He said they did not believe any of their members would
ever consider rejoining ZANU PF after over 20 years of disappointment since
the unity accord signed in December 1987.

There is fierce infighting within ZANU PF over who will succeed Msika.
Newsreel reported last week that although current ZANU PF national Chairman
John Nkomo is the front runner, the faction led by Defence Minister Emerson
Mnangagwa is jostling to have Mines Minister and Mugabe blue-eyed boy Obert
Mpofu as the replacement. This has infuriated Nkomo and most in ZAPU who
consider Mpofu a 'sellout' after his defection to ZANU PF long before the
unity accord. Bulawayo Governor Cain Mathema, and Zimbabwe's ambassador to
South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo, are the dark horses.

The breakaway ZAPU believe reports of Dabengwa being offered the post are an
attempt to test the waters and gauge reactions. "It's more to do with the
dilemma in ZANU PF. When Dabengwa and others pulled out of ZANU PF clearly
they left behind a big hole. When you speak to ZANU PF members in
Matabeleland they are saying none of the crop in ZANU PF can fill Msika's
boots," Moyo told us. But he poured cold water on any chance of Dabengwa
rejoining ZANU PF saying 'there can be no miracle they can perform to
correct all the bad things that made us leave."

Mahlangu trial postponed and judge dismisses Bennett application

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
13 August 2009

The trial of MDC official Thamsanqa Mahlangu, who is facing allegations of
stealing a cell phone from war veteran Joseph Chinotimba, was on Wednesday
postponed to August 26th after the State said it needed more time to prepare
and to give the defence team the relevant papers from witnesses.  The
Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment is facing
charges of theft, together with his Personal Assistant Malven Chadamoyo.
Defence Lawyer Charles Kwaramba said the two women who were allegedly found
in possession of the phone line belonging to Chinotimba are now also facing
the same charges of theft. Patience Nyoni and Geraldine Phiri were facing
charges under the Telecommunications Act, but the prosecutor announced on
Wednesday that the State was now charging them for the offence of theft.
Chinotimba has also filed a civil lawsuit against the four, in the sum of
US$19.5million, for loss of business.
Kwaramba said his client denies the charges and says he has a good
explanation as to how he came to be in possession of the cell phone. He
added: "Obviously in due course we will be able to divulge the involvement
of the girls but at the moment we don't want to prejudice our defence
because that is where the State's case really resides - in the evidence of
the girls. So we are still dealing with it and we have not seen the
statements from the girls."
Meanwhile, a High Court Justice Lavender Makoni on Wednesday threw out an
application by MDC official Roy Bennett to have his bail conditions relaxed.
The MDC-T National Treasurer was appealing to the courts to relax his
reporting conditions, including the return of his passport, so he can travel
on business. Bennett, who is also the MDC Deputy Minister of Agriculture, is
facing charges of terrorism and sabotage.

But Justice Makoni said the MDC official is facing a criminal charge and he
would have to clear his name first before he could be allowed to travel. "In
my view, the applicant should wait for his trial date in October and then
solve his personal issues later. Like the State said, those are the
consequences of facing a criminal charge. Therefore, I will dismiss the
application for variation of bail conditions," the judge said.
Bennett's lawyer Harrison Nkomo told SW Radio Africa he was 'uncomfortable
and unhappy' with the judge's ruling saying his client has committed no
offence. "Furthermore he was arrested on 13th February. If indeed the State
has a case against him - from the 13th February to the 13th October, why are
they taking this long to try him? There is no question about it, they are
trying to frustrate him and this is a ploy to cripple his ability to perform
his duties."
The defence lawyer said it was also worrying that his client had still not
been furnished with State papers. Nkomo said the State's star witness is
Peter Michael Hitschmann, who has already stated he is not going to testify
against Bennett.  "One really begins to wonder how they are going to prove
their case without Hitschmann."

UN labour group investigates torture of ZCTU leaders

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
13 August 2009

A three-member delegation of the United Nations' International Labour
Organisation (ILO) has started its probe into Zimbabwean workers rights
violations, including the abuse and torture of leaders of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
The team of lawyers from South Africa and Mauritius arrived in Zimbabwe on
Wednesday for a two-week stay, during which time they will conduct
interviews with ZCTU leaders and up to 40 labour and workers-rights
activists. The group of witnesses is set to testify under oath about the
abuses they suffered at the hands of police after various protests against
deteriorating working and living conditions in Zimbabwe over the last
several years. The ILO lawyers are also expected to meet with the police,
several government ministers, security agencies and labour leaders.
The ILO inquiry was initiated due to what the UN labour rights group has
called "the appalling track record of the Robert Mugabe regime on labour and
trade union rights." The regime has for several years singled out Zimbabwe's
trade union movements as targets of forceful repression, and trade union
witnesses have been encouraged to testify for the inquiry. The ZCTU has
since 2002 reported on trade union violations in Zimbabwe to the ILO during
annual conferences, which eventually led to body setting up a commission of
inquiry earlier this year.
In 2006 several ZCTU leaders and activists, including Secretary General
Wellington Chibhebhe, suffered severe injuries at the hands of police after
a public demonstration, while others are said have suffered some permanent
disabilities. Police however denied assaulting or torturing the ZCTU
officials, insisting that the unionists were injured after they tried to
jump off a moving police truck. But lawyers representing the union leaders
alleged at the time that their clients were tortured while in police
detention at the notorious Matapi Police Station in Mbare.
Western governments and local human rights groups condemned the torture of
the ZCTU activists, but Robert Mugabe publicly backed the police for their
treatment of the unionists, who he accused of plotting to topple his
government. Mugabe this week once again accused western governments and
rights groups of trying to tarnish Zimbabwe's reputation, saying the
accounts of military abuse at the Chiadzwa diamond fields are false.
Zimbabwe meanwhile could face being blacklisted from the ILO if the group
finds the country guilty of violating trade union rights. A report set to be
sent to Geneva later this year will determine if Zimbabwe will join Myanmar
and Colombia on the ILO blacklist.
Chibhebhe on Thursday said the ZCTU is very pleased that the ILO probe is
finally underway, adding that "our wish is that the truth finally comes out,
because after so many years the truth must be told." He explained that being
blacklisted is the worst-case form of punishment for the country, saying it
is more likely that the ILO will make recommendations to the government over
labour rights protections.
"For us the important thing is that there is this chance for the truth to be
told," Chibhebhe explained. "If there is to be forgiveness and national
healing, then the truth must be acknowledged."

MDC-M expel MP's and threaten to sue Speaker of Parliament

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
13 August 2009

The National Executive Council of the MDC-M held a heated meeting in Harare
on Thursday, in which it endorsed a decision to expel three legislators and
outspoken official Job Sikhala. The four are accused of 'indiscipline and
disrespecting the party leadership'. Last week Sikhala announced he was the
new president of the party, saying the party had lost direction under the
leadership of Arthur Mutambara, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister.
Sikhala said he was trying to rescue the party from being auctioned off to
Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said the party's Secretary
General, Welshman Ncube, also threatened to sue the Speaker of Parliament
Lovemore Moyo, for allegedly failing to announce his party's decision to
expel the three MPS who include Nkayi MP, Abedinico Bhebhe.

Muchemwa said the party leadership, including Mutambara and Ncube, held a
press conference after a heated Council meeting at which Ncube told
journalists that the Speaker of Parliament's conduct was 'tantamount to
showing favour to the three expelled  MPs by not excluding them from
parliament after their party had written to him to that effect.'

Muchemwa said the Council meeting became heated because Sikhala and the
other MPs and their supporters held a similar meeting at the Quality
International Hotel -  the same venue Mutambara and others were holding
their meeting. Muchemwa said the police had to be called in, resulting in
Sikhala's group being told to leave.

The three MPs, Abednico Bhebhe (MP for Nkayi South), Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane
East) and Norman Mpofu (Bulilima East), are however not going without a
fight. They are currently seeking an order in the courts barring Parliament
from removing them from the House. The MPs say they are being victimised for
pushing for a unity pact with the Tsvangirai led MDC.
But the MDC- M said it is now preparing for by-elections.

ZCTU threaten to sue ZBC over false story

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
13 August 2009

Zimbabwe's Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has threatened to sue ZBC, the
state broadcaster, if they do not retract a false story they broadcast
alleging that the labour body participated in disrupting the first all
stakeholders' constitutional conference in Harare. ZCTU President Lovemore
Matombo told Newsreel on Thursday that they have written to the broadcaster
requesting an 'unreserved retraction' of the story. They also want the ZBC
to give the same prominence to the retraction as they did to the first
story.

The ZCTU letter dated 6 August gives the broadcaster 10 days to comply, or
face a defamation suit. The labour body also wants a written apology to be
published in prominent newspapers. ZANU PF thugs disrupted the
constitutional conference demanding an endorsement of the controversial
Kariba Draft and even threatened to repeat the violence of the 2008
elections. But the state broadcaster went on to run a story blaming the
ZCTU, the National Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe National
Students Union for disrupting the meeting.

Amazingly footage of the disruption clearly showed ZANU PF MP's Patrick
Zhuwawo and Savior Kasukuwere leading the chaos. Police details called to
quell the rowdy mob could be seen half heartedly marshalling them out of the
hotel, in stark contrast to the brute force used to crush opposition
activists.

Mugabe too old for effective rule - Biti

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21071

August 13, 2009

By Our Correspondent

MUTARE - Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe's Finance Minister and a top MDC official
says President Mugabe has now become too old to continue to rule the country
in an effective manner.

Biti, the MDC secretary general, told about 400 cheering supporters at
Dangamvura Grounds in Mutare, that Zimbabwe now urgently needed younger
politicians such as Morgan Tsvangirai to effectively tackle the many
problems facing the country.

Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, is the country's Prime Minister under the
inclusive government negotiated to end a political stalemate in the wake of
a flawed presidential run-off election held last year on June 27.

"The major problem is that our country is being led by very elderly people,"
Biti said amid applause. "We now need wheelchairs in Cabinet because a lot
of too old people."

He was speaking during election victory celebrations hosted by Giles
Mutsekwa, the MP for Dangamvura-Chikanga constituency. Mutsekwa is the home
affairs minister, a portfolio which he shares with Kembo Mohadi of Zanu-PF.
The celebrations were held during the Heroes' Day holiday.

Biti said it was disappointing when leaders hang on to power despite their
very advanced ages. He said if civil servants were forced to retire when
they reach 65 years of age it was imperative for political leaders to do the
same.

He said President Mugabe and his elderly lieutenants should now step aside
because of old age and allow Tsvangirai, who is relatively younger and
raring to go, to take over. One of Mugabe's two vice presidents, Joseph
Msika, died last week at the ripe old age of 86. Msika spent the last 46
days of his life on a life-support unit at the West End Hospital in Harare
after medical experts in Cape Town had given up on him.

Towards the end Msika, known for his predilection for scotch and cigarettes
into his old age, requested to be allowed to step down and rest. Mugabe
would not allow him to retire. As his former deputy was buried at Heroes
Acre on Monday, Mugabe told mourners that the VP's death was a delayed
reaction to years on incarceration in Gonakudzingwa Detention camp in the
1960s and 1970s.

Mugabe and Msika were among the black nationalists detained by the Ian Smith
regime for periods of up to 10 and 11 years.

"Chipai Save vachiri kutemwa dzinobuda ropa kuti vatonge," Biti said in
Shona, meaning: "Please hand over to Tsvangirai who is still full of life
and bountiful energy."

In MDC circles Tsvangirai is not called by his name, but by his totem, Save.

President Mugabe, now 85, and known by his own totem, Gushungo, in Zanu-PF
circles, appears anxious to cling on to power with a dogged determination
after three decades of dictatorial rule during which Zimbabwe, once a
prosperous nation and a net exporter of food, has been reduced to a poor
country 80 percent of whose citizens survive on food handouts from the
western nations that the President loves to despise.

"Zimbabwe is a free country," Mugabe lashed out characteristically at Msika's
burial at Heroes' Acre on Monday. "Zimbabwe needs not be tied to any one
corner of the world, least of all a corner of former imperialist and racist
colonizers. We are not part of Europe and the United States."

Biti said it was disheartening when leaders die of advanced age while in
office instead of retiring and resting from the hectic political offices.

While Msika died at 86, two vice presidents before him, Joshua Nkomo and
Simon Muzenda died in office at the ages of 82 and 81 respectively. In the
30 years he has been in power Mugabe has not clearly defined a line of
succession within his Zanu-PF party, preferring, except in the case of Vice
President Joice Mujuru, deputies with little prospect of ever succeeding him
because of their old age.

Biti said Tsvangirai could not effectively solve the country's problems as
long as "there are two drivers on the steering wheel".

Biti said the MDC entered into the power-sharing deal with its sworn
political nemesis so as to extricate the country from a 10-year economic and
political crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Biti said the MDC was committed to having a liberalized media in Zimbabwe
and to bringing international news organizations such as CNN, BBC and Sky
News into the country.

He said they were also committed to ensuring the country goes through a
proper national healing process to unite the people divided for almost a
decade because of the political rivalry between the two major political
parties, the MDC and Zanu-PF.

Biti attacked the country's justice system saying it was being selectively
applied to victimize MDC legislators.

He queried why eight MDC Members of Parliament had been arrested and
promptly convicted of various criminal offences when at the same time no
Zanu-PF parliamentarian had been subjected to similar treatment.

"The justice system has become effective when it comes to convicting MDC MPs
but Joseph Male is a free man," he said.

Mwale, a reclusive Central Intelligence Organisation operative, has roamed
freely and with total impunity despite calls by the High Court for his
arrest for the alleged gruesome murder of two MDC activists, Talent Mabika
and Tichaona Chiminya. The two were killed at Murambinda Growth Point,
Buhera, during the violent campaign ahead of the 2000 parliamentary
election.

According to sworn testimony, Mwale and an accomplice Kainos "Kitsiyatota"
Zimunya, a Zanu-PF official, intercepted an MDC vehicle in which Mabika and
Chiminya were travelling. They poured petrol on the vehicle as well as
directly on Mabika and Chiminya. A bomb was then thrown into the vehicle
which caught fire. The two died a horrifying death.

For the past ten years the police have sat on the docket implicating Mwale
and Zimunya.

Zimbabwe: teachers' salary still below poverty line

http://www.ei-ie.org

[2009-08-12]

Zimbabwean teacher unions ZIMTA and PTUZ have called the recent salary
increase that places teacher salaries at US$155 a month 'inadequate' and
urged the government to provide a living wage for teachers.

The continuing low salaries and poor working conditions for teachers could
force more teachers to abandon the profession, thus increasing teacher
shortage and further threatening progress towards Education for All.
Teacher unions expressed concern that even with the raise, teachers would be
unable to provide for themselves and their families. At current costs, the
average Zimbabwean family requires at least three times the increased salary
for teachers to meet their basic needs.
EI members ZIMTA and PTUZ are questioning government commitment to education
spending and have criticised the lack of government consultation with
teachers. In a statement issued in June, ZIMTA termed as "indefinite and
undependable" the government's reliance on donor contributions to fund
teachers' salaries.
Plans for government spending on cars for MPs have provoked anger across the
trade union sector in Zimbabwe. Both teacher unions are urging the
government to make education a national priority - believing that taking
steps to secure teachers regular salaries that are sufficient is a key
strategy for improving the flagging education system.

AirZim On the Verge of Collapse

Financial Gazette

Shame Makoshori

7 August 2009

Harare - NATIONAL airline, Air Zimbabwe Holdings (AirZim), is technically
insolvent and on the verge of collapse.

Its sole shareholder, the government, has run out of funds to bail it out
amid mounting overheads, which include a US$1,2 million monthly salary bill.

AirZim's board has already sent early signals to the parastatal's 1
420-strong workforce that the airline could suffer the same fate as Tanzania
Airways or Aero Zambia, which collapsed under heavy debts if no solution is
found to rescue the passenger carrier.

Developments at the airline confirm desperate attempts by the government to
parcel out 60 percent of AirZim's shareholding to private players to pave
way for a US$750 million fresh capital injection.

Confidential documents leaked to The Financial Gazette indicate that the
AirZim board has tasked management to institute cost-cutting measures to
minimise the financial haemorrhage.

The measures include a contentious decision, now before an arbitrator, to
cut the airline's salary bill by 50 percent. This would be achieved by
sending a significant number of the workers on forced leave on rotational
basis until breathing space is found.

But the workers at the parastatal are challenging attempts by management to
place them on involuntary leave for periods ranging between three and 12
months.

"The honourable arbitrator is reminded of the dire financial state of the
respondent (AirZim), which is no secret," Dube, Manikai and Hwacha -- 
AirZim's legal representatives -- argued in documents dated July 27 2009
presented for arbitration.

"Its shareholder (government) is out of funds to finance its operations and
capitalisation. It is on the verge of collapse. Ordering the restoration of
the status quo (working without involuntary leave) would send the respondent
(AirZim) almost immediately straight into real liquidation and the forced
retrenchment of all employees on paltry packages, which may not exceed their
present monthly incomes."

The documents show that AirZim has a weak balance sheet with creditors in
excess of US$28 million.

Chief executive officer, Peter Chikumba, told this paper yesterday that the
road to recovery for the parastatal was bright after a tumultuous period
that started in 2000. But to make the recovery possible, Chikumba said
AirZim must right-size its staff.

"The issue of overstaffing has been known at AirZim since 2004 in a study by
government, management, workers and consultants," Chikumba said. "However,
the current management happens to be the one that has taken the bold steps
to implement (staff rationalisation).

"We strongly believe that should the company and the economy in general
improve, AirZim can recover to 1996 levels when it carried one million
people.

"Then it will be possible that we recall some of the workers, but for now,
our levels of business do not require 50 percent of the staff. I do not want
to come here and look like a cruel person wanting to retrench workers; I
have a vision for AirZim," he said.

Chikumba said an ongoing restructuring along with the planned programme to
attract investors, could see AirZim returning to profitability.

"What we are trying to do is to restructure. It is important that we focus
less on short-term measures like retrenchments, but look at broader aspects
of restructuring, which is the first step to come out of the ICU (intensive
care unit), thus creating the first framework to attract investors," he
said.

The parastatal has resorted to borrowing to procure fuel and pay allowances
and internal memos also confirm the gravity of the problems.

"The company is actually insolvent," an internal document presented by
AirZim's chief economist and treasurer on April 22 2009 reads in part.

Cost-cutting measures, which started in January, are projected to save up to
US$1 million per month, or US$12 million per year.

So far, the measures have saved US$500 000 per month.

This is still inadequate to meet the airline's operating costs. Cashflow
deficits have remained at unsustainably high levels of US$4,5 million,
US$2,2 million, and US$3,5 million in January, February and March 2009
respectively.

The airline was projecting a net loss of US$10 million for the year-ended
March 30 2009, which Chikumba attributed to low volumes of passengers
affecting airlines across Africa.

This loss position might persist between 2009 and 2010 if the hostile
environment confronting the State-run airline, and others across the world,
does not improve.

At the end of April, AirZim employed 178 engineers who earned, on average,
US$1 300 per month, 60 pilots who on average took home US$4 600, 136 flight
attendants whose salaries averaged US$327 with about 600 general staff
taking a total of US$244 910.

"The unions (at the airline) argued that they do not see (the) need to put
any employee for involuntary unpaid leave as it is quite possible to reduce
the wage bill and achieve the targeted 50 percent reduction without any
employee being forced to go on unpaid leave," the internal minutes read.
"The unions maintained that the focus should not be on the numbers of staff,
but on reducing salaries and benefits for identified staff in conformity
with the outcome of a salary benchmarking exercise," the minutes read.

AirZim has in the past decade relied on government handouts, mostly from the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to run its ageing fleet after the hostile
macro-economic conditions hit hard on its coffers.

The global financial crisis last year, which influenced mergers, takeovers
and even the collapse of several respected brands and some African airlines,
added to the company's woes.

In February, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the airline had been draining
US$3 million per week from the fiscus.

Zimbabwe hospitals "overwhelmed" as junior doctors strike

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Africa News
Aug 13, 2009, 10:00 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwe's four major hospitals are being overwhelmed by patients
as a week-old strike by the country's junior doctors strike intensifies, the
head of their union said Thursday.

Hundreds of junior doctors in the two central hospitals in Harare and two in
the western city of Bulawayo downed tools last week in a row over pay.

The doctors are demanding an increase in pay from the 370 dollars they have
been receiving from the power-sharing government formed in February by
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

'It's a very serious situation,' said Dr Brighton Chizhande, head of the
Hospital Doctors Association which comprises doctors doing their
post-graduate training.

'The hospitals are doing only emergency cases. Some outpatients departments
are closed. Theatre cases are markedly reduced.'

He said senior doctors not on strike were 'overwhelmed' as they were forced
to take over the minor but essential procedures usually done by junior
doctors.

Junior doctors in smaller district hospitals in the countryside had not yet
joined the strike, but these were receiving larger allowances from the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, he said.

Doctors at the central hospitals were being paid by the government and a
coalition of Western donors.

Zimbabwe's state health system shut down almost entirely last year as the
country's economic crisis, marked by hyperinflation and a worthless
currency, saw hospitals run out of drugs, food, medical equipment and
bedding and medical staff were on strike for over a year.

The worst cholera epidemic in Africa in recent year, which caused around
4,000 deaths, was ended only by the intervention of Western aid agencies.

Economic reforms introduced by Tsvangirai's Finance Minister Tendai Biti
produced immediate results, with doctors agreeing to return to work for low
pay on condition of later pay rises.

'There is a lack of seriousness on the part of government,' Chizhande said,
citing the possibility of a swine flu outbreak or a further cholera
outbreak. 'This is a matter of life and death for the patients.

Zanu PF Ex- MP Returns Looted Property

http://www.radiovop.com

BIKITA, August 13, 2009 - ZANU PF central committee member and ex
Member of Parliament (MP) for Bikita West constituency, retired colonel
Claudius Makova, has returned the district constituency office property he
looted last month, following a probe into the matter by the police.

MP for the area, Heya Shoko, confirmed in a telephone interview with
Radio VOP Thursday morning that he had been informed that some property had
been returned.
Makova last month had, in the company of ZANU PF youths, stormed the
constituency office and grabbed a desk, a computer, chairs, telephone
headset, and some curtains claiming that he had bought them with his own
money. The bulky losing MP claimed the property did not belong to the
Zimbabwe parliament.
"I have been informed that he came early today (Thursday) and dropped
some property. I am yet to check for myself if he brought everything.
I think he realized that his move to loot the property claiming that
it was his was valiant but ill-advised," Shoko said.
However, Cassiano Chaodza, the district constituency officer who mans
the office, said Makova is yet to surrender all of the property.
"He only brought back a desk, some chairs and a telephone headset. No
computer, and curtains," Chaodza said.
Makova however insisted that he had brought back everything.  "...I
have returned what was not mine. What I bought with my own money, I kept,"
he shouted, before abruptly hanging the phone.
  Police provincial spokesperson, Inspector Phibion Nyambo, said he
was to verify if everything looted was returned.

 Comment

"why not charged" by raymond at Thursday, 13 August 2009 13:08

looting is theft or burglary.with force its agrovated burglary.10
years for the bastard.why no charges.

Headman In Hot Soup With Zanu PF

http://www.radiovop.com


Chipinge, August 13, 2009 - Headman Naison Chichichi of Museve  area
in Chipinge has fled his homestead after ZANU PF supporters threatened to
assault him for presiding over cases of political violence committed  during
the run up to last year's presidential run off  elections.

The headman, who is now staying with his son in Bulawayo, fled the
area on Sunday following numerous threats from ZANU PF supporters.
"I went to collect my father from the rural areas over the heroes
holidays because his life was in danger. Since the time he started presiding
over cases
of politically motivated violence at his traditional court last month,
things have not been good," the headman's son Enock, told  Radio VOP.
The son said on numerous occasions he had advised his father not to
preside over cases related to political violence at his court, but said the
father was
defiant.
"... he would argue that it is his right and responsibility as a
traditional leader to do so".
He had summoned to his court all ZANU PF supporters in the area who
looted perceived opposition supporter's properties and livestock and some of
the looted items had already been returned to their owners." said the son.
One of the high profile cases of political violence which the headman
presided over involved a war veteran who took three goats and two buckets of
maize from Pedzisai Chitiyo.
Chitiyo was accused of supporting the MDC.The headman ordered the war
veteran, Maurice Mazungunye to return the goats and maize to Chitiyo. After
the incident, Mazukunye reported the incident to ZANU PF officials in
Chipinge who instructed the headman to stop with immediate effect to preside
over cases involving politics and threatened him with unspecified action.
"I am trying to get in touch with the president of the Chiefs Council,
Fortune Charumbira so that this issue can be solved. My father wants to go
back home and continue with his traditional duties, but right now he cannot
do so."

Villagers To Give Way To Game Park

http://www.radiovop.com


CHUNDU, August 13, 2009 - Confusion has gripped over 2 000 villagers
in the remote area under Chief Chundu in Hurungwe, amid conflicting
statements that they face eviction from their homes of nearly three decades
to pave way for a game park.

The majority of the villagers here suffered the same fate in 1983 when
they were evicted from Nyamakate when Government introduced resettlement
scheme and were accommodated under Chief Chundu's area.
The area is under Hurungwe's rural council ward's 8 and has had an
influx of many people from around the country since then as some came from
as far as Masvingo for the virgin land.
However villagers claim that they have been haunted by reports that
they will be evicted within the next three months to pave way for a yet to
be named Chinese company that want to venture into safari operations in
partnership with acting Chief Chundu.
''We have heard of the notice that Chief Chundu has facilitated our
eviction before the onset of rain season and is working with a Chinese
company. We are still yet to get details on how are we going to be
compensated and where we are to be resettled. Its confusing and unjust to
us.'' said 47 year old peasant farmer Lameck Mapanga under headman Nyaguwa
village in Mahwau area.
He lamented that he had spent 25 years farming in the area and had no
hope to start of yet another new life anywhere.
Dejected rural folks complained on how they would face the fate of
being evicted with some loosing hope of their lost relatives and getting
away living deceased graves. Traditionally, its a taboo to leave a relatives
grave far away from where you reside.
'' I lost my parents early this year and I have to leave their graves
because the Chief Chundu respects animals than his subjects. Its unfortunate
for us all'' said Barnabas Tore of Kabidza area.
Though there are conflicting reports, villagers in Mahwau have been
addressed by one Felix Chambwe warning them to be prepared for eviction.
Villagers to be affected include those in Madzikita, Mayamba, Kabidza,
Mahwau and part of Karuru area all in ward 8 and it will extend part of
Zambezi basin that links Chundu with Guruve in Mashonaland Central.
Some villagers recounted that the same exercise was aborted in 1994 by
the council when youths demonstrated against the erection of a buffer-zone
fence that could have pushed out at least five hundred villagers then.
''We had few youths who demanded an explanation on why the council had
allowed veterinary officials to lead the erection of a buffer-zone in
Mayamba area and a grader assigned for the exercise was stopped. Although
Campfire programme was council top priority, they had no justification to
evict us and we have enjoyed our stay here' said Rosina Kamuchira of
Mayamaba village.
However local councilor Paddington Chavhura confirmed the threats the
villagers were facing from acting Chief Picture Chundu but council had no
plans to evict the villagers.
'Unless if this is done behind council's back then the Chief will be
answerable on compensating those affected. Council is battling to get some
developmental projects done and cannot afford to create resettlement crisis
for nearly two thousand families'' said councilor Chabvura.
Hurungwe rural district council chief executive officer Joram Moyo was
not immediately available for comment at the time of writing, but a source
at the  Magunje council offices confirmed that the issue was tabled during
last Friday council meeting and council had not sanctioned the eviction of
villagers in Chundu area.
''Chief Chundu is working on his own and is still yet to communicate
with the council over this project and it will never take off as council can
not afford to be dragged in controversy of land issue at this stage'' said a
source who has no authority to speak to the press.
However Chief Chundu refused to discuss the issue when approached for
comment saying, ''I am the Chief and no -one has the right to ask what I do
with my land as well as animals and my subjects,'' before driving off in his
car.

Talking about a successful harvest

Photo: Flickr

Planning for plenty

HARARE, 13 August 2009 (IRIN) - The Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the sole buyer and seller of grain in Zimbabwe, is planning to sell agricultural inputs and become a "one stop shop" for farmers.

The GMB has been mired in controversy in recent years, and has been accused of providing preferential treatment to supporters of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party - senior party members and military officials allegedly received distributions of scarce maize, the staple food, and were handed agricultural inputs that were then resold on the informal market at greatly increased prices.

Maize is subject to price controls in Zimbabwe. GMB corporate affairs manager Muriel Zemura told IRIN that the board was paying US$265 a ton for maize, and had arranged with agricultural input suppliers to sell fertilizer, seed, chemicals and other inputs at its depots.

"After farmers have collected their money for delivering their maize to the GMB, they will, within the same complex, be able to buy most or all the inputs that they need for the new agricultural season," she said.

"The inputs on sale at our depots belong to the manufacturers, and not ourselves, so we are making it convenient for the farmers so that they don't spend a lot of money on travel costs."

Zemura dismissed any allegations of past GMB impropriety, and said so far the GMB had received fertilizer and chemicals, but not maize seed. The planting season is due to start in September/October.

The unity government, formed in February 2009 between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said recently it would target small-scale farmers with agricultural inputs to boost food production, but did not elaborate on how these would be distributed.

Zemura said the GMB was well-positioned to fulfil the distribution role. "Nothing has been said officially to us about distributing any inputs, but we are anticipating that it will happen. We have the skills, logistical ability, capacity, and we have a presence throughout the country."

A combination of environmental and political factors has decimated Zimbabwe's once thriving agricultural economy in the last decade; in the first quarter of 2009 nearly 7 million people depended on food aid.

Building on Malawi's success

"As the government, we want to make sure that small-scale farmers in communal areas get the requisite support from the government, since they contribute between 60 [percent] and 70 percent of our grain output," Tsvangirai told a recent meeting of businessmen and farmers in the arid province of Masvingo, 300km southeast of the capital, Harare.

We want to make sure that this coming agricultural season is a success, through the wholehearted support from the government to at least one million households that we have targeted to assist with fertilizer and seed, and we hope that is going to go a long way in providing food security

He said they would borrow from the Malawian model, in which small-scale farmers had produced about 3.7 million tons of maize in 2009, compared to the 1.2 million tons produced jointly by Zimbabwe's commercial and small-scale farmers.

"We want to make sure that this coming agricultural season is a success, through the wholehearted support from the government to at least one million households that we have targeted to assist with fertilizer and seed, and we hope that is going to go a long way in providing food security."

Malawi first implemented an agricultural subsidy programme in early 2000, and by the 2008/09 farming season about 1.7 million small-scale farmers had benefited. Small-scale farmers were able to buy inputs at one-tenth of the usual price - the costs being borne by both donors and government - and were also not obliged to repay the balance of the subsidy.

However, Malawi's subsidy programme has elicited concerns over being open to corruption, and not the most cost-efficient method of delivering food security.

Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe's minister of finance, has set aside US$140 million to procure agricultural inputs for small-scale farmers. "Malawi is a very small country compared to Zimbabwe, and of the 3.8 million tons produced in that country, the bulk of the crop came from small-scale farmers who were supported to the tune of US$186 million."

Biti said several options were being weighed by the government to ensure transparency and accountability, such as communities embarking on public works programmes and being paid in farming inputs, while another consideration was that inputs would be provided as low-cost loans, with repayments being made after the harvest.

Vulnerable groups, such as child-headed households, the elderly, and the disabled would also benefit from a US$66 million scheme to distribute inputs to them.

Too late

Renson Gasela, an agricultural expert and former head of GMB, told IRIN the distribution of agricultural inputs was being left too late. "To start with, the government has no capacity to distribute the inputs countrywide before the onset of the rainy season between September and October. All serious farmers should have their implements like seed, fertilizer and chemicals by June," he said.

"Have the beneficiaries been identified? Is the maize seed and fertilizer available? If the implements can get to the farmers immediately then there would be a bit of hope. Unfortunately, it looks like the whole exercise is at the planning stage, which means inputs will get to fewer farmers very late, which will create more food shortages," he warned.

"Experience has shown that small-scale farmers have very low yields per acre. So what needs to happen is that as many of them as possible should get seed and fertilizer, so that they produce enough for their families and extra to feed the nation, but based on the lack of movement in terms of distribution of inputs, if nothing is done now, then we are facing a disaster." 

The flag that couldn’t fly

Zim's greatest hit: The Mugabe basket-case continuo

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za

Coenraad Bezuidenhout

Had it not been for the 13-or-so million lives involved, one could almost
feel sorry for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. It seems the old man has
had it with foreign donors only getting off their wallets for NGOs active in
his country, rather than having the cash mainlined fresh into Zimbabwe's
porous state coffers. Lest one might expect some level of gratitude to the
so-called West for not hightailing it altogether, consider that Mugabe's
recent rants may be a little bit more than an out-of-tune song over a bad
hand of cards.

Allow me a bit of blogger's licence, and I'll number the continuo anew .

I) After a decade of fairly sensible post-liberation government, the
post-colonial-nationalist diet on which Mugabe kept the ruling party
(Zanu-PF) fired up and unified behind him started to cause some weight to
gather around its waist. Expanding generations of cronies grew up to
overtake the somewhat more - if not entirely - principled roles played by
older liberation icons. These young'uns were made up of
delinquents-in-waiting from the hopelessly (Zanu-fied) rural areas,
organised by preying opportunists such as the Chenjerai Hunzvis and
leveraged as magic carpet rides by the (since reformed) Jonathan Moyos of
the day.

II) Faced with the upheaval they were causing, Mugabe figured that he could
either retire in fear of some sort of retribution, such as trumped up
corruption charges (these would after all not have been too difficult to
construct) for having betrayed these Young Turks' insatiable nationalist
desire or he could trump them at their own game. Whereas the former might
have had dire results for Mugabe but spared Zimbabwe its rapid decline of
the last decade or two, the outcome of the latter choice is now,
unfortunately, a fact of history.

III) Timeous, strong opposition there was not. Voter turnout, consistently
below 50% from the nineties onwards, also suggested that Zimbabweans were
either not particularly enthralled with their electoral choices (Zanu-PF or
Zanu-PF?) or failed to see the connect between what happened at the ballot
box and how their lives may be improved. When promising opposition did
eventually emerge in the late nineties, the Zanu-PF one-party state had
entrenched itself to such a degree that it would only be de-consolidated
with tremendous effort.

IV) To make sure that it would not be easy, Zanu-PF engaged in a number of
dirty tricks. Police brutality, intimidation, vote rigging, deceitful
propaganda, obstructionist negotiation tactics - these were all a part of
the game, right up to, and even beyond the establishment of the unity
government on January 11 2009. In this regard, the plentiful graveside
revellers of African democracy will be quick to point out the MDC's then
Deputy Agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett's arbitrary incarceration
even after a court of law granted him bail late in February.

V) By the time it became apparent that the March 2008 presidential election
had been botched, Zimbabwe already sat with a four-figure inflation rate,
unmanageable foreign debt, untold domestic human misery and not enough money
for Zanu-PF to continue indefinitely without collapsing under its own
weight. Mugabe and his government needed money, urgently. And the only way
it could get some, was to acquire a veneer of respectability so that it
could approach foreign governments and financial institutions anew. Enter
former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who had by then already been
mediating in the Zimbabwe crisis for some time.

VI) It was clear that Mugabe appreciated Mbeki's obvious partisan approach
to the mediation process - whereas the MDC at various points expressed its
dismay with Mbeki as the Southern African Development Community's point man
on Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime was at pains to appear welcoming to him.
Notable for his tendency towards African exceptionalism, Mbeki, despite his
experience of South Africa's negotiated settlement, seemingly never bought
into the need for a strong opposition or the consolidation of democratic
institutions, such as free and fair elections. Apparently particularly
careful about being seen as a tool of the West, Mbeki pushed for a
negotiated settlement that would see Mugabe remain in the president seat
despite having lost any legitimate claim to it in the March 2008 election
(he obtained 43.25% to Tsvangirai's 47.9%). MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
would become the prime minister.

VII) Cringe-worthy comparisons of the ensuing situation with the
prohibition-era musical Chicago may be forgiven: upon assuming office,
Tsvangirai's limited options indeed made him look like one of the puppet
reporters singing off the hymn sheet of Mugabe's Billy Flynn. His first
steps were to visit other countries to seek aid and trade deals for the
economic recovery of his country. Aid and trade, which was to be
administered by a bloated Zimbabwean government, in which the notoriously
corrupt Zanu-PF still controlled the Reserve Bank, and the majority of the
ministerial portfolios - R80 billion Tsvangirai then reckoned it would take
to get Zimbabwe's economy going again. Ironically, that was almost a third
less than the $12 billion in investment futures guru Clem Sunter estimated
lay awaiting a credible political solution in Zimbabwe at about the same
time.

VIII) At the end of February 2009, after its monthly Foreign Ministers'
Meeting, it became apparent that despite the establishment of the government
of national unity in Zimbabwe, the European Union would not be changing its
policy towards our beleaguered neighbour. In fact, Zimbabwe had for the
first time in years not even featured on the agenda. Since President Barack
Obama occupied the Oval Office, the stance of his government has been that a
Zimbabwe with Mugabe at the helm will not be able to take care of its
people - a sentiment again repeated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on
her recent visit to South Africa. This does not only mean that travel
sanctions against Mugabe and many other Zimbabwean officials will remain in
place. It also suggests that very little in the way of economic rescue
packages and investment will realise, despite pleas from Tsvangirai.

IX) Mugabe, left with preciously little patronage to dispense, faced with
armies of cronies to keep from turning on him, exercises what is seemingly
the only option open to him - attempting to keep his followers united by
ranting against enemy number one (aka "the West") and threatening to bring
the so-called reforms to a grinding halt.

If Zimbabwe had half the luck that befell South Africa, number 10 in this
progression would somehow involve an apoplectic fit and a De Klerk-type
character emerging to challenge Mugabe's PW Botha. As far as I can see,
though, the key ingredients are just not there. No rooted, enlightened
Zanu-PF grouping has gathered any form of momentum yet. Also, Zimbabweans,
while known for their peace-loving good naturedness, are also not exactly
renowned for the type of civil zeal that saw movements such as the United
Democratic Front emerge in South Africa in the eighties. Finally, the
substantial Zimbabwean diaspora has also not been half as successful as the
global anti-apartheid movement at mobilising their fellow citizens still
resident in Zimbabwe in tandem with their own protest actions and pressure
exercised by foreign governments.

A particularly flamboyant and (in anticipation of the barrage of reactions
that this may elicit) also a particularly "indigenous" Zimbabwean friend of
mine once mused that if the entire Zimbabwe were to all turn gay, it would
be a country full of "bottoms" (so-called "Gayle" for the passive partner in
homosexual relationships). My friend is full of it at the best of times, but
I do fear that his stupid little remark may not be entirely without basis.
For as long as the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe keep on taking the
punishment of corrupt, impoverishing government, the possibility will remain
for Mugabe and his cohorts to resort to ever more desperate tactics to keep
themselves singing the main song. Until the day comes that Zimbabweans show
continuous, open and vociferous opposition to the raw deal that Mugabe has
dealt them, it will not be game over for the basket case that that country
is seemingly likely to remain.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

Time for New Politics in Zimbabwe- The UDA Speaks