http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
26/12/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
Casualties ... Death toll on the
rise
THE festive season death toll on Zimbabwean roads has surged to 134
in the
past 11 days compared to just 72 during the same period last
year.
The number of crashes has also reached 795 against last year's
average of
799, according to police spokesperson Paul Nyathi.
“The
major cause of these deadly accidents has been over-speeding by
drivers,
inattention and misjudgment on the part of drivers, following too
close
behind the vehicle in front, overtaking as well as reversing and
turning
errors,” Nyathi said.
He said 10 056 motorists have since been ticketed
for various traffic
offences while 762 defective vehicles have been
seized.
Manicaland Province incurred the highest number of casualties
with 28 deaths
from 74 accidents. During the same period last year, only
five people died
from 53 crashes.
Mashonaland East is second with 24
deaths from 41 smashes compared to 18
loses last year.
The death toll
in Masvingo stands at 21 from 50 accidents. In Matabeleland
North 18 deaths
were noted from 25 accidents. By this time last year, only
two deaths from
21 accidents had occured.
In Matabeleland South 13 people have been
killed while Midlands has
registered 10 deaths.
Harare has the
highest number of accidents with 311 where 10 people have
died compared to
285 during the same period last year with seven deaths.
Bulawayo has seen
104 crashes that killed three people while Mashonaland
West has recorded
seven deaths
On the national average, 736 people have been injured
compared to 555 last
year.
The single deadliest crash yet occurred
near Mutare on Sunday when a haulage
truck crammed with 63 people flipped
over, killing 18 passengers.
On Monday another accident involving a
commuter omnibus killed eight people,
six of them family members.
A
total of 147 people were killed during the entire festive period last
year -
which runs from December 15 through January 15 - while 1, 304 others
were
injured.
Police say given the mounting statistics, they anticipate this
year's
holiday to be the deadliest in recent history.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
26/12/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
NINE traffic police officers have been arrested in
Masvingo in the past few
days for demanding or accepting bribes from
motorists, authorities announced
on Wednesday.
Corruption by law
enforcement agents staffing roadblocks is cited as one of
the primary
factors contributing to the high incidence of accidents which
have killed
134 people since the beginning of the festive season 11 days
ago.
In
particular, the haulage truck crash that claimed 18 lives near Mutare on
Sunday has caught public attention with many people questioning how the
lorry, overloaded with 63 people, was allowed to pass several police
checkpoints all the way from Harare.
Officers are accused of
compromising road safety by taking kickbacks and
allowing through overloaded
or defective vehicles, as well as drunk
drivers - all recipes for
disaster.
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri announced a few weeks ago
that since
January, some 123 police officers had been apprehended for
engaging in
various forms of graft.
“We utterly condemn any form of
corruption, and shall continue to invoke the
wrath of the law to completely
destroy this cancerous social scourge,”
Chihuri told a recent pass-out
parade in Harare.
“Let me remind officers and members of the force that
we have zero tolerance
to corruption. All police officers should bear in
mind that the general
public deserve a full measure of police service from
them.”
Zimbabwean police are rated among the most corrupt in the Southern
African
region.
President Robert Mugabe has also criticised corrupt
officers saying they
were giving government a bad image.
“Mapurisa,
mapurisa, mapurisa! We want you to be straightforward people. You
are
representatives not only of Government, but of the people as a whole,”
Mugabe said at a Zanu PF conference.
“If you want to be paid to do
your job, then you are practicing corruption
and you cannot boast of having
a well-disciplined police.
“Kumisa vanhu mumigwagwa. Mota yako haina
mabreaks haungaende mberi kana
uchida, bhadhara US$200 woenda, [You always
stop motorists on the road and
say your car has faulty brakes, you can’t
proceed. If you want to go pay us
US$200],” Mugabe added.
A report by
the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACTSA) last month
said
corruption in the police force was on the increase.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Studio7
Reporters
25.12.2012
The Bishop Chad Gandiya-led Harare diocese of the
Anglican Church of the
Province of Central Africa on Tuesday rejoiced as
they conducted their first
Christmas mass in their church buildings after
five years in the ‘wilderness’.
The Cathedral of St. Mary and All Saints
in the capital was packed to
capacity as parishioners joyfully sang various
hymns during the first
Christmas mass to be held by the Harare diocese after
losing and
repossessing their property.
Bishop Chad Gandiya could not
hide his joy as he led a Christmas sermon.
Gandiya said all glory should
be given to the Almighty as they never
envisaged going back to their church
buildings let alone joining the rest of
the world in celebrating
Christmas.
Gandiya said that life was not easy out there as they braved
tough weather
conditions while worshipping under trees and rented
places.
Jubilant worshipper, Grace Dzvairo, said no one ever thought that
the
Anglican Church dispute would come to an end.
The Gandiya-led
parishioners last held such a mass at the church buildings
in 2006 after
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga grabbed all properties claiming that he
was against
homosexuality being allegedly promoted by the Church.
Bishop Kunonga and
his colleagues formed a rival faction of the church which
drove out those
led by Gandiya from the church properties.
The Supreme Court this year
ruled that Bishop Kunonga should hand over the
Gandiya-led parishioners. He
has since been driven out of most church
buildings.
November 19 has
since been declared by Bishop Gandiya as a day of
thanksgiving for the
Harare diocese.
The Christmas service was held under the theme “growth in
service-growing as
we serve.”
Meanwhile, Christmas celebrations
in Harare were generally low key as rains
fell on the capital affecting many
functions at homes and outdoor centers
around the city.
In some parts
of the city, rains started as early as 10 am and by lunchtime
most of the
city was affected forcing residents to stay indoors or put their
planned
outdoor festivities on hold.
It is also that time of the year again
when Zimbabwe’s sons and daughters
who live and work outside the country
flock home to spend time with family
and friends, after at least a year of
living hundreds or even thousands of
kilometers away.
It is a common
site during the festive season to see an influx of foreign
registered cars,
most sporting the GP tag of South Africa’s Gauteng Province
while others
come from Botswana, Namibia or Zambia.
Public buses and airplanes are
also full, an indication that Zimbabweans are
scattered all over the world
in pursuit of greener pastures.
At the same time, police say the
number of people who have died in road
accidents in the past ten days has
gone up to 127.
The statistics come after a commuter omnibus crash that
killed 8 people near
Chivhu late yesterday. Six victims were members of the
same family, police
say.
The Chivhu crash came on the heels of the
deadliest accident yet this
festive season that killed 18 people near Mutare
on Sunday.
The crash has since been declared a national disaster. Names
of the victims
were released Tuesday.
The Chivhu crash came on the
heels of the deadliest accident yet this
festive season that killed 18
people near Mutare on Sunday.
The crash has since been declared a
national disaster. Names of the victims
were released Tuesday.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Staff Reporter 1 hour
ago
HARARE - The ageing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
has left Harare for
the Far East on alleged traditional annual vacation but
sources says he has
gone for "routine medical" check-up.
In a statement
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Media, Information and
Publicity,
George Charamba said Vice President Joice Mujuru will be Acting
President.
Zimbabwean officials have always dismissed reports President
Robert Mugabe's
ill health and that he usually gets treatment in Singapore,
saying he goes
there on holiday there with his family.
The 88-year-old
president has been the subject of several health scares in
recent years,
with some reports saying he has prostate cancer, but in
interviews with
state media he laughed off suggestions that he was seriously
ill.
Mugabe
is one of Africa's longest serving leaders and has ruled the former
British
colony in southern Africa since 1980. He is sharing power with
political
rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in a fragile coalition
formed three
years ago.
"Some sick and malicious people are spreading false stories about
him being
seriously ill while others are saying he is dead or dying out
there," one
ZANU-PF official said.
Mugabe has made frequent visits to
Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, where
medical care is far better than in
his impoverished state.
Mugabe and ZANU-PF are blamed for turning his
resource rich state into an
economic basket case due to massive fiscal
blunders, with international
donors and foreign firms waiting for a more
responsible government to be in
place before sending billions of dollars in
the country.
Today Zimbabwe's capital Harare was quiet, with government
offices and
businesses only -re-opening after the Festive
holiday.
Mugabe, who celebrated his 88th birthday on February 21, was
endorsed by his
party as its presidential candidate for a general election
he wants to be
held before the end of this year despite opposition from his
major political
rivals.
Analysts say Mugabe will face a tough challenge
convincing voters to extend
his 32-year rule after a devastating economic
crisis many blame on ZANU-PF.
SUCCESSION BATTLE
There are fears that if
Mugabe dies in office without settling a bitter
succession battle in his
ZANU-PF, the party could erupt in internal conflict
and destabilise the
country.
Although ZANU-PF officials rally behind Mugabe in public, in private
many
want him to retire and pass the baton to a younger heir due to fears
his
advanced age may cost the party victory in the upcoming
election.
While some ZANU-PF members now see Mugabe as a political liability,
many
also recognise him as the only one able to control a highly partisan
Zimbabwean army led by veterans of the 1970s independence war.
Many are
also unsure whether his potential successors in the party can
defeat
Tsvangirai in a free election. Elections must be held by next year
under
their power-sharing deal.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
00:00
Herald Reporter
Mashonaland Central Jomic provincial liaison
committee has dismissed reports
by some sections of the media that there are
torture camps in the province.
The article was published in October this
year
purporting that Zanu-PF has torture base camps and was causing havoc
ahead
of of next year’s harmonised elections in Muzarabani, Fox Farm and
Rushinga.
Speaking at a joint meeting held in Bindura recently,
representatives of
Mashonaland Central Jomic Committee which comprises
Zanu-PF and the two MDC
formations urged the media to shun disseminating
falsehoods.
“We really need the media to consult us before they publish
stories,” Mbire
legislator Paul Mazikana, who is the information and
publicity secretary of
Jomic in Mashonaland Central said.
“There are
no torture bases here in Mashonaland Central.”
Mr Mazikana said some media
houses created platforms for violence to erupt
with the information they
published.
MDC provincial chairman Godfree Chimombe said:
“We cannot
confirm that the person who supplied such information is in our
structures.
“Maybe he is trying to gain some favours to gain entry into
the committee.”
The meeting hit a deadlock when MDC-T failed to deliver
concrete information
as to why they were silent for the past two months
since the publication of
the story.
The story alleged that Zanu-PF
youths were using beerhalls as camps to
terrorise MDC supporters in
Muzarabani.
ZESN was quoted as confirming that the party had such bases.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 27 December 2012
00:00
Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
FRIENDS and colleagues of
the late Zanla Chief of Defence, Cde Josiah Magama
Tongogara want KGVI
Barracks and Boxing Day renamed after the veteran
liberation fighter.
Chairperson for Josiah Magama
Tongogara Legacy Foundation, Dr Simbi
Mubako wants the commemoration of
Boxing Day to be replaced with naming the
day in honour of the liberation
war icon who died on December 26
1979.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga
wants KGVI,
an army barrack named after King George to be named after Cde
Tongogara.
The duo said this yesterday while addressing friends,
relatives and
colleagues attending the commemoration of Cde Tongogara at
KGVI.
Dr Mubako said Boxing Day was a name inherited from the colonial
period.
“I want to propose that you work through various channels, including
and
especially Cabinet, to have this day renamed in honour of the late Zanla
Commander, who gave so much to us,” he said.
“Next year when we meet
on this occasion, we don’t want to talk about Boxing
Day. We want to talk
about Josiah Magama Tongogara Day.”
The proposal drew applause from the
floor.
When it was the turn of Gen Chiwenga to be on the floor, he
departed from a
prepared speech where he was reading Defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
speech to make his request.
“The history of Cde
Tongogara is very clear. I want to give my plea, that
this name, KGVI must
be buried. I am pushing forward that this barrack be
named after Josiah
Magama Tongogara,” he said.
Gen Chiwenga, who was winding up his speech,
was received with thunderous
applause from the floor.
During the event,
Minister Mnangagwa took the audience down memory lane
where he narrated how
they used to relate with Cde Tongogara.
He said after finishing time in
prison, he went to stay at Cde Tongogara’s
residence in Zambia where he
would be left at home with a sister to
Tongogara.
It was during this time
that he fell in love with the sister and eventually
married her.
http://www.radiovop.com
Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai
Biti
Harare, December 27, 2012 - The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe say
government’s proposed fiscal reforms, which will see huge reductions in
banking service charges and interest, will wear down industry profitability
and compromise recapitalisation.
Finance minister Tendai Biti said banks
should, starting January 2013, not
levy fees on deposits of less than $800
and give 4% interest on deposits of
at least $1 000 held over 30 days
interest of 4% per annum, but the Bankers
Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ)
argues its members, whose income ratio is 40%,
will incur huge financial
loses.
The association said 70 % of individual banking customers earn
less than
$800 per month which would imply free banking for a majority of
Zimbabwean
and that banks currently generate 60% of their income from loans
and
advances and 40% from non-interest income.
“As at 30 September
2012 banks overall profits were in the region of $90mln
and therefore a
reduction of $72m revenue annually will create severe
viability and
sustainability challenges for the banking sector,” said BAZ in
a position
paper seen by Fin24.
“Banks are currently saddled with non-performing
loans due to the short term
credit and high cost of funding at a time when
the productive sectors
require cheap, long term credit. BAZ cannot therefore
rely solely on the
interest margin on loans because of the high level of
non-performing loans
of at least 12.3% against the Basel II level of 5%,”
read part of the
document.
BAZ said indigenous banks operating at the
lower end of the market with a
wide branch network and in the remote areas
of the country will face serious
viability challenges and may be forced to
close some of their rural
operations as they are subsidised in part by these
charges.
Some banks may fail to pay their employees.
“Banks such
as POSB,BAZ, Agribank, CBZ, Bank ABC will be the most
affected….banks will
also be less inclined to open accounts for low income
earners and the net
effect of these measures will be serious setbacks to the
financial
inclusion,” added BAZ.
Meanwhile The Herald reports that Finance minister
Tendai Biti has set new
rules on bank ownership, triggered by instances of
malpractice in the
financial sector in the past few years.
In the new
rules to be included in the amendments to the banking laws,
individuals and
companies would be allowed to hold shareholding of up to 5%
and 25%
respectively, down from 25% and 40%.
The rules also extend to
applications for bank loans by individuals in which
they are shareholders or
directors. Biti said cabinet had also agreed that
individuals holding
shares, as well as directors of the banks, would not be
allowed to apply for
loans from the same institutions they own or work for.
Biti said the
changes would also see the establishment of the Office of the
Ombudsman who
would be responsible for monitoring interest rates.News24
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer
Wednesday, 26 December
2012 12:42
HARARE - A top research institute has said the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
(Zec) secretariat remains wholly unreformed and full of
intelligence agents
and cannot deliver free and fair elections.
The
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), a public think tank said in a report
titled, “Zimbabwe Election Commission: Can it Deliver FreePolls?” without
fetters on Zimbabwe from Sadc — guarantors of the fragile coalition
government — then the country is headed towards yet another sham
election.
“The problematic, partisan, and militarised Zec secretariat
that presided
over the 2008 sham election remains intact, now serving under
newly-appointed commissioners,” notes the think tank.
An attempt to
break away from Zec’s past electoral shenanigans were made in
2009 through
the appointment of independent commissioners seconded by Zanu
PF and the two
MDC formations but the secretariat remains largely unreformed
says the
report.
Headed by Lovemore Sekeramayi, the unreformed Zec falls in Zanu
PF’s scheme
of things to hoodwink the region and pretend that there are free
and fair
elections, when the “electoral context, environment and
administration are
crafted to deliver a pre-determined outcome of regime
retention and
continuity.”
“ZDI contends that the unreformed Zec
secretariat, as currently composed,
cannot deliver free and fair elections,”
the damning report says. “Zec, as
currently composed, provides an
opportunity to undermine the way through
which powerful political forces can
manipulate popular influence through
institutionalized mechanisms and
political strategies.”
A human factor decadence in Zec and the offices of
the Registrar General
Tobaiwa Mudede, impinge on the country’s hopes to have
credible polls as the
CIO and the army —whose top brass has already declared
allegiance to
Mugabe — will be in charge of the process and not the
commissioners who
cannot announce election dates, notes the
report.
“The increased militarisation of the state has led to the
military taking
control of an expanding range of decisions and actions, from
electoral and
political strategies to the formulation and implementation of
agrarian and
economic policies.”
Since independence a creeping
militarisation of the state by Mugabe’s
government has been effected and
today most of state institutions,
parastatals and other bodies are led by
retired or serving security
personnel.
According to ZDI, both Zec
personnel and commissioners largely represent the
Zanu PF regime’s
interests.
It says Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, the head of the
commission, was a
former high-ranking member of the Zanu PF military wing
Zanla.
In as much as Mutambanengwe is sober, ZDI says he is erratic as he
spends
most of the time engrossed in Namibia’s legal affairs where he was
seconded
by Mugabe to be judge.
In the vacuum, Joyce Kazembe steps in
and her links to Zanu PF are glaring,
according to ZDI.
“Their
continued involvement in the management of elections casts aspersions
on
Zec’s ability to preside over free and fair elections,” the ZDI report
says.
“They failed in the past and there is no reason to believe they will
succeed
in the future.
“With the exception of Feltoe and Nyathi, the other
commissioners have a
long history of working under the Zanu PF government
and ZDI is of the view
that they are compromised.”
Also a mystery
that confounds researchers on Zec is the manner through which
Zec workers
are recruited.
Zec claims it has 10 provincial election officers and 60
district election
officers nationwide.
Zanu PF has fiercely resisted
an audit of the commission.
ZDI says the amended Electoral Act falls
short of guaranteeing that
elections will be free and fair.
“In the
run-up to the June 2008 presidential run-off election a number of
Zec
employees were arrested and charged with a number of offences including
‘abuse of office’ widely viewed as a form of persecution and intimidation
that could undermine the independence of the commissioners and Zec staff as
provided in the Act — that every commissioner and member of staff of the
commission shall perform their functions independently,” says ZDI.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Wednesday, 26 December 2012 12:37
HARARE -
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary-general Tendai Biti
says
Zimbabweans must vote for his party next year so that they can revive
the
economy, which he says had been destroyed by Zanu PF.
The
lawyer-cum-politician chronicled the country’s history claiming that
under
Mugabe’s rule, education and health delivery ceased to be important as
corruption and crushing of opponents became the hallmark of the Zanu PF
rule.
“In 1982 to 1987 we had Gukurahundi, in 1990 we had Esap
(Economic
Structural Adjustment Programme) that led to thousands of jobs
being lost,
and then in 2000 they embarked on the land reform programme
which resulted
in 4 000 farmers being declared non-Zimbabwean,” Biti
said.
“Five years later, we had Operation Murambatsvina which resulted in
one
million people being homeless, and then came the 2008 violence that led
to
over 200 people being killed.”
Biti said next year’s elections are
as significant as the watershed 1980
elections that ushered in black
majority rule.
“The 2013 election is fundamental just like the 1980 one
that brought 75
years of colonialism to an end. This one is not about
fighting someone
called (Ian) Smith who is gone, but 32 years of
dictatorship by a cruel and
corrupt leadership.
“We cannot take this
country back again. When I was young, I thought a
million was the last
number, but this Mugabe taught us that we can have
trillions, zillions and
quintillions,” Biti said.
Organised as a Christmas party for MDC
supporters in Harare East, the rally
was graced by the party’s youth
chairperson, Solomon Madzore, Jameson Timba,
a minister of State in Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office, among
other senior party
officials.
Biti, who is also Finance minister in the fragile inclusive
government
formed four years ago, boasted of having disciplined Zanu PF
ministers by
not fully supporting their programmes.
“They say that
Biti is refusing to support farmers. I used to stress myself
whenever they
talked about money, but now I have taken a diplomatic
approach, I keep
quiet. I tell them get the money if you have the keys,” he
said.
Speaking at the same rally, Madzore urged youths to register as
voters
telling them that those who are not registered are useless to the
party.
“If you are not a registered voter, you are of no use to us, you
are worse
than a Zanu PF supporter,” he said.
Madzore said Mugabe and
his cronies should not intimidate voters.
“Everyone will die even Mugabe,
or (General Constantine) Chiwenga will die,
so do not intimidate us with
your guns,” he said. - Xolisani Ncube and Wendy
Muperi
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Blessing
Zulu
26.12.2012
The business community says it is engaging the three
political partners in
the national unity government to work for calm ahead
of next year’s landmark
constitutional referendum and general
election.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) blames what it
calls the
government’s “policy inconsistencies” for making 2012 a very
disappointing
year for business and the economy overall.
In 2012,
industrial capacity utilization dropped from last year’s figure of
57
percent to 44 percent.
ZNCC president, Oswell Binha, told the VOA that
political instability is a
cause for concern.
Government missed all
its economic targets this year.
In January, Finance Minister Tendai Biti
said Zimbabwe would see 9.4 percent
growth, later revised down to 4.4
percent.
What the final figure will be when tallied next year remains to
be seen, but
what is clear is that Zimbabwe faces several major economic
hurdles.
One is a massive trade deficit of $3 billion and an external
debt of $11
billion. Industrial capacity utilization continues to decline,
now at only
44 percent.
Unemployment in the formal sector is around
90 percent, which means few
Zimbabweans have steady income to be spent on
goods and services that drive
the economy.
Several of Zimbabwe’s
elections since independence have been marred by
violence and allegations of
human rights abuses.
Such incidents prompted Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai to pull out of the
2008 presidential election run-off, which led
to the creation of the
national unity government.
Many businesses
have also faced upheaval, particularly under the
controversial black
empowerment programme.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
by Everson Mushava 7 hours 26 minutes
ago
A Cabinet committee set up to break the deadlock in
the constitution-making
process will meet today after it missed President
Robert Mugabe’s Christmas
Day deadline to conclude the exercise.
Mugabe
had threatened to unilaterally dissolve Parliament and call for fresh
elections if the deadline was not met.
He made the threats at the recent
Zanu PF annual conference in Gweru.
The 88-year-old leader risks isolation
from the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) if he calls for polls
without the minimum reforms demanded
by regional leaders.
Under the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) brokered by Sadc in 2009, a
referendum on
the new constitution must be held before elections can be
called as a way of
avoiding bloodshed that characterised the last polls.
The Cabinet committee
had been scheduled to meet on Christmas eve to thrash
out the more than 30
issues the three governing parties have differed on.
Douglas Mwonzora, the
MDC-T Copac co-chairperson yesterday confirmed that
the committee would meet
today, but described Mugabe’s deadline as
impossible.
“The December 25
deadline is impractical. We are meeting tomorrow (today) to
try to find
common ground,” he said.
MDC-T and Zanu PF have been accusing each other of
delaying the constitution
making process.
The committee set by Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is made up
of Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa (Zanu PF), Finance minister Tendai
Biti and Regional Integration
minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
(MDC).
The three Copac
co-chairpersons — Mwonzora, Edward Mkhosi (MDC) and Paul
Mangwana also sit
on the committee.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric
Matinenga chairs the
committee.
The parties have failed to reach an
agreement on issues such as devolution
of power, appointment of governors,
executive powers for the President, the
National Prosecuting Authority and
dual citizenship, among other issues.
Mangwana insisted in a recent interview
with a United States news agency
Bloomberg that Mugabe would call for
elections if there was no agreement on
the constitution this
month.
“There are about 30 outstanding issues that haven’t been resolved so
Zanu PF
has resolved that an election will be called by President Robert
Mugabe if
no progress is made this month,” he said.
Mugabe usually goes
on holiday in January for the whole month.
A Sadc meeting in Tanzania early
this month reiterated the regional body’s
stance that fresh elections in
Zimbabwe were not possible without reforms.
Tsvangirai also told Bloomberg
that Mugabe could not unilaterally call for
elections because of the
GPA.
“It isn’t up to Mugabe, it is up to the people of Zimbabwe,” Tsvangirai
said.
“It’s their constitution and they own it.The election has to be
agreed by
all parties and Sadc.”
Mugabe has been threatening to call for
elections with or without reforms in
the past two years saying the inclusive
government had become dysfunctional.
The threats have brought uncertainty in
the economy sparking a reversal of
gains made under the inclusive
government. - NewsDay
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
Staff Reporter 1 hour
ago
REQUESTS for fiscal support by State enterprises and
parastatals will from
next year be considered by Treasury only if they
comply with statutory
obligations, provisions of the corporate governance
framework and the Public
Finance Management Act.
In an update report
prepared for the Office of the Prime Minister recently,
Minister of State
Enterprises and Parastatals Mr Gorden Moyo said that this
was a “major
decision” by the Cabinet reached after serious lobbying by his
ministry.
“The start of a new financial year presents an opportunity to
have a fresh
start so as to ensure that performance contracts are in place
at all SEPs,”
said Minister Moyo.
“Hopefully, the State Enterprises
Management Bill will be tabled before
Parliament in the first half of the
year. Once adopted, this Bill will
empower the ministry to ensure that SEPs
comply with standards of good
corporate governance.” SEPs have over the
years been heavily reliant on
fiscal support from Treasury.
Minister Moyo
also said Government was in the process of establishing a
State Enterprises
Advisory Council, which will provide advice and ideas on
the SEPs management
and reforms.
He said the council will act as the SEPs “think tank”.
The
council will be composed of chief executives and board chairpersons of
identified SEPs.
“The terms of reference for this Advisory Council will
include making
recommendations on restructuring and also solving inter —
institutional
problems such as inter-parastatal debt,” said Minister Moyo.
He did not,
however, indicate the timeframe of when the Advisory Council
would be in
place.
In 2010, Government identified SEPs that required
urgent restructuring but
the progress has been slower than anticipated.
There has been, however,
notable restructuring progress at Agribank, Grain
Marketing Board, Air
Zimbabwe Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, ZPC, Arda Chisumbanje
Project, Zimbabwe Grain
Bag, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (now NewZim
Steel) and the National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe.
Minister Moyo said
Agribank would be privatised in the first half of next
year as the financial
and legal advisors for this transaction have already
been
appointed.
Minister Moyo expressed concern over “the speed of restructuring
process
(that) has been hindered by resistance to change and the fear of
losing
power by those who perhaps benefited from lack of transparency.” He
also
said there were clear turf wars where some parastatals and ministries
choose
not to co-operate.
On inter-parastatal debt strategy, which is now
over US$1 billion where
Government departments and local authorities are
included, the Government
has started engaging SEPs to implement some of the
mechanisms for clearing
the arrears. He said, Government would pay an
estimated US$124,4 million to
SEPs who, in turn will pay their statutory
obligations to the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority.
The “flagship” programme
of corporate governance would be stepped up. He
said it was the
responsibility of the line ministries to ensure that the
boards are in place
at SEPs and the Ministry of State Enterprises and
Parastatals would seek the
support of the Office of the Prime Minister to
ensure that boards are
appointed at all SEPs.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 27 December 2012
00:00
Victoria Falls Bureau
LIQUIDITY challenges have forced
local tourists on holiday in Victoria Falls
to cut back on activities amid
revelations that while hotels and lodges were
performing very well, the
activities side was rather sluggish, as locals cut
down on extra
expenses.
As a result, the majority of locals in Victoria Falls for the
festive season
have been spending time walking around town or swimming in
the swimming
pools at the lodges and hotels they are booked in because of
the
unavailability of cash to spend.
Some tourists have also spent
fewer nights in the resort town compared to
last year, attributing this to
negative financial circumstances.
Zimbabwe’s economy is now increasingly
reeling from a liquidity crunch,
which is deepening even though the
multi-currency system has brought
exchange stabilisation and macro-economic
stability thereby forcing the
local tourists to cut back on holiday
expenditure such as food and drink and
visiting activities and
attractions.
In an interview yesterday, Hospitality Association of
Zimbabwe president, Mr
Tich Hwingwiri said while the hotels were 100 percent
full in term of room
occupancy, the numbers were not corresponding to
figures participating at
activities such as bungee jumping, white water
rafting and game drives among
other attractions offered in the resort
town.
“While hotels are full, figures participating at activities are
going down.
People are mainly focused on accommodation. Some are spending
time swimming
at the hotels while others are taking walks around town. We
also noticed a
new trend whereby people have their breakfast at around 10am
and they then
skip lunch in order to cut on costs,” said Mr
Hwingwiri.
“Even the night spots are dead because very few people are
going out and we
understand that the liquidity crunch is affecting them
thereby negatively
affecting returns in the tourism sector,” he
said.
Mr Hwingwiri however, said some hotels like Elephant Hills Resort
in
partnership with some cruise companies were offering lunch cruise between
12
noon and 2pm in a bid to maximise on room occupancy.
“Elephant
Hills Resort has been running lunch cruises for its guests. It is
one of the
innovations that some players in the industry are putting in
place to
encourage spending from the tourists,” he said.
Other players said only
sunset boat cruises and tours of the Victoria Falls
Rainforest were the two
major crowd pullers this festive season.
“We were running full boats from
December 23 to today (yesterday). Locals
love sun set boat cruises a lot but
they have cut back on other activities.
On accommodation, our new Deluxe
Suite lodge was a hit, even senior
Government officials are staying with
us,” said Mr Ben Tessa, general
manager of Khanondo
Safaris.
According to white water rafting statistics from Rafting
Association of
Zimbabwe between December1 and 25, about 1 600 tourists went
for the
activity last year compared to 961 people this year. Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Dr Gideon Gono last month said the major problem with the
country in terms of the liquidity crunch was that the major sources of
liquidity and broad money supply in the economy, which comprise export
earnings, Diaspora remittances, offshore lines of credit, foreign direct
investment and portfolio investments, were not performing well.
http://www.zimdaily.com
26 December 2012
SOUTH AFRICAN
-based Zimbabwean businessman and academic, Mutumwa Mawere,
has raised the
tempo of his Presidential campaign bid as leader of the newly
formed United
Movement for Democracy Party (UMDP) with his direct pop shots
at his
opponents.
On his Facebook wall Mawere blasts Zanu PF saying they have failed
Zimbabwe
and says; "If they are given a new term whats new"?
“Enough is
enough Zimbabweans its time for a united movement”!
“Zimbabweans how do you
feel about your constitution being managed by
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara?
“In my view the three have nothing to do with the constitution
because it
belongs to the people.”
“why should the executive reject or
edit what people want”?
He goes on to say: “Minister of finance is MDC-T and
the Reserve Bank
Governor is Zanu-PF they are both in agreement that the
local banks should
raise $100 million? I am looking to empowerment instead
saw oppression.”
Mawere goes on to appeal to the youths: “Youths of Zimbabwe
you are invited
to be part of the only way going forward for
Zimbabwe.”
“Mutumwa Mawere is a Zimbabwean businessman who has beyond doubt
build the
most successful and powerful business empire in the history of
Zimbabwe and
Africa at large. The quality of a man he is in business is a
inspiration to
the youths.”
“The GREAT QUALITIES of a leader have been
proven. Being AFRICA HERITAGE
SOCIETY PRESIDENT, He has shown the world how
to lead people, create jobs
and run successful business.”
“Beyond doubt
Mawere is going to be "His Excellency the president of the
republic of
Zimbabwe" in this lifetime.”
Responding to attacks on his Facebook wall, Mr
Mawere said: “It is sad that
fellow Zimbabweans see things negatively
starting with Mawere's citizenship
by birth he qualifies to benefit as a
Zimbabwean.
“Its a matter of giving up his citizenship to never think that
Mawere who
build a powerful empire in the history of Zimbabwe can not rise
to be
president in fact you too can be president so what more Mawere never
put a
ceiling for anyone in life you will be shocked. Gareth Garikai
Mutyambizi
Dewa let’s start the debate if you say Zanu PF hasn’t failed the
country
tell us what it has done in good faith.”
Mawere’s UMDP is
predominantly made up of breakaway MDC99 structures.
Influential and brave
former MDC99 Spokesperson, Aaron Muzungu, and Vice
President, Biviana
Musimi, are among its members.
“After falling out with the MDC99 leader, Job
Sikhala, on matters of
strategy, we realized that to achieve our objective
of democratically
changing the political dispensation in the country, we had
to break away and
form a new political party under the leadership of Mutumwa
Mawere,” said
UMDP National Spokesperson, Aaron Muzungu.
Visionary
leader
Muzungu described Mawere as a practical and able leader with a vision.
“Mawere is the man and most suitable candidate to head Zimbabwe. His
business successes speak volumes about his leadership capabilities. He has
what it takes to restore Zimbabwe’s lost economic, social and political
glory.”
He said since political events were moving fast, UMDP would
announce its
interim structures at the September launch and embark on
vigorous campaigns
in preparation for coming elections. If elections were to
be held in the
distant future, Muzungu said the party would go to congress
at a date to be
announced before making inroads into the electorate for
membership
recruitment.
“The congress would endorse the presidency of
Mawere and Biviana Musinami as
his vice. Party structures suggested that I,
(Muzungu), should hold the
secretary general portfolio. Other national and
provincial executive members
are expected to retain positions they held at
MDC99, though with some minor
changes. As a party, we would maintain the
objectives we valued dearly at
MDC99. We would throw everything into the
fight towards democratically
removing President Robert Mugabe from power,”
said the firebrand Muzungu.
MDC99 fight on
He added that he would miss Job
Sikhala’s strength and bravery as a fighter
for democracy. MDC99 vice
Secretary General, Danuel Dhimbo, said his party
would continue to grow
“from strength to strength”.
“We dismissed some of these people from MDC99
because of their dishonesty
and wayward behaviour.” Sikhala could not be
reached for comment as he was
reported to be out of the country.
He
recently told the media, that he dismissed Muzungu and others from MDC99
as
he could no longer trust them.
Political observers have welcomed Mawere onto
the political scene,
describing his move as healthy for democracy.
On his
Facebook Wall, there has been mixed reactions by members of the
public with
some backing him and some aggressive attacks from members of
both Zanu PF
and the MDC.
Searchmore Muringani- “Why at ths time Mawere do u thnk u bring
change 2 the
pple of Zim wasvorei MDC-T yanga yava mulast mile yekuchinja
saka iwe
urikuda change ipi. Just exercise ur democratic right bt let me
remind u
wants again tht u cnt fool Zimbabweans l knw every 1 above 35yrs ws
Zanu pf
bt iwe wave Zanu pf Agend. U ar dreamng if u thnk u remove Mugabe
hope
yevanhu iri pana Morgan T chete nt u poor Mawere u ar ill advised.U wr
in
thr 2gthr wth thm.It took Tsvangirai 2 shw u tht zizi harina nyanga.Nw
evry
Jack and Gill wnts 2 b president bt we knw tht u only wnt 2 confuse th
voters.”
Oswell Jeranyama- “What wrong with the MDC-T candidate who did
it in 2008
and is still popular with the electorate? Is it wise to bring a
new
candidate into the race at the eleventh hour?Is this about attempting to
bring the right leadership to Zimbabwean political landscape or disturbing
it? I like Mr Mawere and respects his knowledge and experience BUT I do not
think the timing is right.”
Brighton Musonza, responsing to Mollin
Munyaradzi Ziwira, “any politician
can make all promises of goodies in
nicely written glossy pamphlets as party
manifestos or superb deliverance on
press conferences or rallies. Its easy
doing that and it is their primordial
right of birth of doing so. I've
already criticised (not challenged) the
process in which Mr Mawere has
lunged-in. He has not publicly convened an
interim meeting that elects him
as party leader but he is already calling
himself the Presidential candidate
which to me sounds a bit awkward, unless
he wants to tell us he is running a
one man-show. There is always a common
conventional processes in which
parties are formed and leaders are
elected.
It starts by interim leadership, then a party convention which
elects
leaders and then leaders declare their ambitions to challenge for
national
leadership. I do very much respect Mr Mawere and his past track
record as a
businessman and I have followed his writings in recent
years.
I have also been sympathetic to the way he lost his business empire,
but we
have to abide by the unwritten rule book or otherwise we continue
piling-up
a bunch of warring egotistic elitists in our politics who can't
agree on
anything and they look at this nation and its subjects as one giant
class
room and we're their students. If you have a careful look at the
current
political scene; University lecture rooms have emptied the lecturers
into
politics and with them they bring-in their petty academic rivalry and
the
result is a prolonged political conflict as a result of their unbridled
political hubris.”
Nehanda Kaguvi Mugabe, - “Zimbabwe doesnt allow dual
citizenship,i remember
him wanting the south african gvm to help him fight
smm coz he is their
citizen. Mawere is south african by adoption thats his
first hurdle.
Phillip Madzimure Mawere is the spokesman of disposited
Madagacan leader.
Mollin Munyaradzi Ziwira - Brighton Musonza .. "As
Zimbabweans we have
complained a lot abt everything. We ought to blame
ourselves for everything
we not happy for in our country ..i wonder if we
are given the chance to
serve our nation what will you do? I am sure we do
worse than what we have
on our table. We need to change the way we think as
Zimbabweans ..we need to
go back to our first love for our country."
"We
all forgot why we fought for freedom. Why are we not all involved in the
matters of our country the same way we all got involved during Chimurenga
war? We won our freedom because we were in one accord. We lost focus and its
all abt me and my gold mine and my farms. We all need to enjoy the land of
Zimbabwe. No matter who comes to power if he not strong enough to bring us
together we will fall ( united we stand and divided we fall )At times PHD
will not do much to serve a nation but wisdom does..and wisdom comes from
God if we ask for it."
"I cant wait to hear Zimbabweans speaking with one
voice. All we good at is
criticizing each other a spirit to break progress..
Most of us have children
and i wonder what are we to tell them abt our
Zimbabwe or what will they
inherit from us??? 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my
people, who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I
will forgive their sin and
will heal their land.. I am a daughter of
Zimbabwe and i am proud of men and
women who have given their life so we can
have freedom and just. We have a
lot of heroes in our country and i pray we
continue to pursue the will of
God for our country..Zimbabwe. ONE
LOVE!"
Justice Chembwa mjtumwa - mawere for presidency in Zimbabwe thats
idealism
but realism is that zanu pf will rule until chickens come home to
roost.
Jackson Muzivi - Zvatanga manje how can a South African become a
Zimbabwean
President. Kana mashaya madii kungonyurura ini from nowhere. we
wait to see
when he registers to contest and only then will we take him
seriously.
Aggrey Gumisai - Mawere contributed to the rot in this country
through his
corrupt acts whilst he was enjoying power through unholy
alliances. What
would make anyone suddenly believe he is a saint. This is a
guy who is
bitter because he lost an empire he had corruptly built using
peoples'
resources. Now how can this sour grapes case become a credible
president,
the weakness of crooks is that they think they can fool all the
people al
the time. This guy pushed a fake indigenisation program which
infact was a
disguised self enriching scam with his cronies against whom he
now wants
everybody to join in condemning. Chawakadya chinomuka!
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 27 December 2012 00:00
Herald
Reporter
FORMER Midlands provincial Governor and farmer Cde Cephas Msipa has
called
on the corporate world to venture into contract agriculture with land
reform
beneficiaries for the programme to be a success.
Cde Msipa
said contract farming was one of the best ways of creating
synergies between
farmers and corporates.
“We have challenges of financing our operations
because financial
institutions don’t have enough cash to give to farmers as
loans,” he said.
“I urge companies to close that gap by introducing
schemes like contract
farming to cement relations between farmers and these
corporates who need
agricultural produce.
“All these corporates
should introduce these schemes so that they can be
guaranteed of the produce
because farmers will take their produce there.
Most of the new farmers don’t
have capital except land and labour, so it
would be good if corporates
provided inputs.”
Cde Msipa, who benefited from Dairiboard Zimbabwe loan
scheme that saw him
importing 25 bull heifers from South Africa, said
farmers were willing to
venture into contract farming.
He urged
corporates to buy from contracted farmers at competitive prices.
Cde
Msipa also called for benefication of agricultural products in areas
where
they are produced.
He said there was need for the Government to bring in
investors who can
beneficiate agricultural products like cotton in Gokwe so
that communities
in those areas can also benefit.
“I would want to
see cotton being beneficiated in Gokwe from the see up to
the final
product.
“At the moment cotton farmers in Gokwe are not happy that ginners
are not
paying them competitive prices.
“It is possible to
beneficiate cotton in areas like Gokwe. We can have one
of the world’s
biggest textile companies in Gokwe if we bring in the right
investors who
want to beneficiate these products,” said Cde Msipa.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
00:00
Wenceslaus Murape Senior Reporter
HARARE City Council’s
medical aid society faces collapse after council
failed to remit over US$4
million in deductions from workers’ salaries for
nearly a year. This has
left thousands of council
workers stranded as they fail to access medical
facilities because they are
in arrears.
Council has an obligation to
remit workers’ deductions to Harare
Municipality Medical Aid Society (HMMAS)
every month.
But the local authority failed to remit US$2 289 797 from
general council
workers, US$2 129 830 from Harare Water workers and US$520
000 from Rufaro
Marketing workers.
The Harare Municipality Workers
Union (HMWU) and the Zimbabwe Urban Councils
Workers Union have since
written to Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda demanding the
money owed to the medical
aid.
The letter was copied to Local Government, Rural and Urban
Development
Minister Ignatius Chombo and his Labour and Social Services
counterpart
Paurina Mpariwa.
HMWU executive chairman Mr Cosmas Bungu
said some workers died after failing
to access medical
services.
Others were now consulting traditional healers and faith
healers because
they did not have an alternative.
Mr Bungu said they
could not rule out going on strike if council continued
to withhold the
funds.
The medical aid society wrote to council demanding the remittances
since
January 17, but got no response.
“May we point out that
deducting funds from our members and not remitting
same for the intended use
is tantamount to fraud and is illegal,” reads part
of the letter.
“In
the mean time, we have instructions from our members to demand payment
of
the money with immediate effect.”
The medical aid society said the demand
was without prejudice to any course
of law that may expedite recovery of
sums due and owing to enable HMMAS to
renew its license for 2013.
Mayor
Masunda confirmed that the local authority was in arrears to HMMAS.
“The
issue was raised during our last full council meeting and we are making
arrangements to clear the arrears,” he said.
The mayor said it did
not make sense to deduct contributions from workers
and fail to remit
them.
“We have an anomalous situation where council is owed more than US$200
million by ratepayers and the Government.
“Recently, we engaged the
Ministry of Finance and they made a commitment of
paying US$50 million of
the Government debt.”
The mayor reiterated that they had an obligation of
serving the workers and
would not prejudice them in future.
The
Government recently said it would ban medical aid societies that fail to
clear arrears to service providers by the end of this month.
Late
payment for services has resulted in specialists like anaesthetists,
orthopedics, neurologists and physicians demanding cash upfront from
patients with valid medical aid cards.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
26/12/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
THE female rapists who have been terrorizing men and
eluding police arrest
have resurfaced in Gweru where they staged a daring
abduction of a uniformed
soldier on Sunday and took turns to rape him in
broad daylight.
Midlands Police spokesman Leonard Chabata says the
unnamed military man, 32,
hitch-hiked a BMW in downtown Gweru Sunday morning
intending to travel to
Harare where he is employed.
The car had three
female passengers and a male driver who instead of heading
to Harare,
detoured into the bushes where the females allegedly gang-raped
the
complainant.
Chabata says on arrival at the Ridgemont turn-off, one of
the female
occupants, stout and light in complexion, took out a container
from her
handbag and sprayed the soldier with an unknown substance which
weakened
him.
The suspects then forced him to drink yet another
unknown substance which
made him to pass out and presumably to crank up his
erection at the same
time.
“At around 11:30AM, the complainant gained
consciousness and discovered that
he had been dumped in a bushy area about
100m away from the highway,”
Chabata said.
“He also discovered that
his trousers and undergarments had been removed.
All his belongings were at
the scene where he was dumped.”
He picked himself up and filed a
complaint at the Gweru Central Police
Station.
Chabata urged members
of the public to cooperate with police in the search
for the
suspects.
He also counseled: “We are also appealing to members of the
public to always
use public transport when travelling.”
In October a
Harare man was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a four-member
gang that had
offered a lift from the city centre.
Last year three Gweru women,
Rosemary Chakwizira and sisters Sophie and
Netsai Nhokwara were arrested at
a road block after police discovered used
condoms with semen in the boot of
their vehicle.
The three were suspected of being part of a female gang
targeting men to
collect their semen for alleged ritual purposes, but were
acquitted due to
lack of evidence.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Staff Reporter 2 hours
14 minutes ago
NEW DELHI, India - A Zimbabwean woman was
on Thursday arrested for allegedly
smuggling narcotics worth Rs 1.5 crore at
Indira Gandhi International (IGI)
airport.
Acting on intelligence,
40-year-old Zimbabwe national Lydia Ndari Murwira
was intercepted near the
immigration counter of departure hall and was
interrogated, which resulted
in recovery of Ephedrine, a controlled
substance under Narcotics Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act.
"The recovered substance in the form of powder
weighed 9.90 kgs (gross
weight including packing/wrappers) and its value in
the international market
is Rs 1.50 crore," an official release said.
The
passenger has been arrested, it said.
According to customs official,
Murwira was to board a flight for Harare
(Zimbabwe) from here.
On
December 25, a Zambian woman was arrested for allegedly smuggling
narcotics
worth over Rs six crore at the IGI airport.
The accused was identified as
32-year-old Emely Chilonga Chibuye.
The passenger, who had come from Adis
Ababa, was carrying 41.5 kgs of
Ephedrine Pseudoephedrine valued about Rs
6.22 crore.
Ephedrine is an anti-depressant but commonly abused as party
drug.
Security officials identified the woman as Chibuye Emmlychilonga, 32,
from
Zambia and her travel documents revealed that she was travelling to
Adis
Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
"Her appearance appeared to
be suspicious when she came to the airport and
based on this profiling she
was selected for thorough checking. On screening
and physical checking of
her baggages, 35 kgs of Methylenadroxhlyle,
Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine
drugs were recovered in a powder form, which
was concealed in clothes," a
CISF officer said.
The woman was later handed over to Narcotics Control
Bureau (NCB) sleuths
who arrested her for further interrogation, they
said.
The woman was on a tourist visa to India, they added.
Anti-narcotics sleuths
estimate the value of the seized contraband, also a
popular party drug, to
be about Rs 2.8 crore.
Early this month, three
foreign national women, including two from Zimbabwe,
were apprehended at the
Indira Gandhi International IGI airport for
smuggling narcotic
drugs.
CISF officials said that initially, a Zimbabwe national reported
to gate no
3 of terminal 3. The passenger, identified as 35-year-old
Karimazondo Mike,
was booked to travel to Johannesburg via Abu
Dhabi.
It appears the person with the name Mike was using someone's
passport.
"On profiling him, CISF staff found his appearance suspicious and
shortlisted him for screening and physical checking of baggage before he was
permitted entry into the terminal. When his bag was checked, personnel found
25.7 kg of methaqulane, a recreational drug," saidHemendra Singh, PRO,
CISF.
Mike was accompanied by two women, Zimbabwe national Ncube Ellah
(45) and
South African national Khumalo Shila (41). Both had completed
check-in
formalities but were called back and their bags were checked again.
CISF
found 65 kg of pseudo-ephedrine drug in their bags.
Security
agencies informed the Narcotics Control Bureau which confirmed the
recovered
drugs are methaqulane and pseudo-ephedrine.The passengers were
arrested and
handed over to the NCB.
"The two female passengers had come to India on
December 3 on a multiple
entry business visa valid till November 2013. Mike
had also come to India on
December 3 but on a double entry tourist
visa.
The value of the methaqulane is about Rs 20.56 lakh in the Indian
market and
about Rs 1.23 crores in the international market. The
pseudo-ephedrine is
worth Rs 39 lakh in the Indian market and Rs 2.34 crore
in the international
market," said Singh.
As of this year, sixteen
Zimbabwean women have been stuck in Asian jails -
14 convicted of drug
smuggling and two others awaiting the conclusion of
their trial facing the
death penalty if convicted.
Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Deputy Director legal
and consular Mr Chris
Mavodza warned people against the temptation to be
used as mules by
international smuggling syndicates.
Zimbabweans are
tempted to be drug mules because of lucrative payments.
Mr Mavodza said in
most some Asian countries, drug trafficking carries a
mandatory death
sentence or life imprisonment and there is little that any
government in the
world can do for its citizens who are convicted in that
region.
The
warning comes barely a week after China executed a South African woman,
Janice Linden, for drug smuggling after rejecting appeals by the South
African government to spare her life.
Linden was convicted in 2009 of
attempting to smuggle 3kg of crystal
methamphetamine in luggage through an
airport in the southern city of
Guangzhou.
She claimed innocence saying
the drugs had been planted in her suitcase.
The trial court and two appeals
courts rejected her plea.
Mr Mavodza described drug trafficking as a
scourge afflicting most countries
in the world saying combating it involves
more than the Foreign Affairs
ministry alone, but roping in law enforcement
agents in other countries as
well as Interpol.
According to Mr Mavodza,
of the 16 women now in Asian jails, 14 are jailed
in China where they have
been convicted of offences ranging from drug
trafficking to illegal ivory
trade.
Eight are serving their sentences at the Beijing Women Prison, Beijing
Second Prison and Tianjin Prison while six others are detained at the
Guangzhou Prison.
Two Zimbabwean women are facing the death penalty in
Malaysia after they
were arrested for trafficking 7kg of cocaine worth
US$900 000.
Faith Rusere and Joyce Tafadzwa Munhenga have denied the charges
and claim
the drugs were planted in their luggage without their
knowledge.
"It has been observed that almost all of those convicted of drug
related
offences are female single parents aged between 27 and 37
years.
"Six of the convicts were sentenced to death while one lady sentenced
to
life imprisonment succumbed to illness and died on April 14, 2010," he
said.
Once someone is convicted, there is little that the embassy can do
except
wait for the execution to take place or for the prison term to
expire, but
Mr Mavodza said the prisoners receive regular consular visits
from Embassy
officials.
"The Embassy also facilitates communication
between prisoners and members of
their families in Zimbabwe," he said.
It
has emerged that international drug syndicates were targeting Zimbabweans
to
transport their consignments because it is thought that locals have
lesser
chances of raising suspicion as China and Zimbabwe enjoy very cordial
relations and considerable trade.
According to the World Drug Report
2010, about one percent of people
involved in trafficking in Pakistan are
Zimbabweans hired by dealers to
secure markets for the banned
substances.
While South Asian countries hand down lengthy prison terms for
traffickers,
South East Asian, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern nations
typically impose
death sentences.
Air Zimbabwe, like all other airlines,
warns passengers flying to these
countries that they face the death penalty
if caught carrying drugs and
advises passengers not to accept packages from
anyone.
Last week, a Zimbabwean woman, Regina Makwembere, 40, was spared a
death
sentence and instead sentenced to serve seven and half years by a
Magistrate’s
court in Hong Kong after being convicted of smuggling hard
drugs.
Makwembere, a dressmaker by profession, had amphetamine drugs in her
luggage
as she passed through the Hong Kong International Airport en-route
to
Thailand in March this year.
Per her account, she picked the drugs
from a lady named Pearl in South
Africa who helped her smuggle them via the
Oliver Tambo International
Airport.
Amphetamine is a psycho-stimulant
drug that produces increased wakefulness
and focus in association with
decreased fatigue and appetite.
Makwembere has been in jail since March this
year and had travelled to South
Africa by bus around February 15 after which
she stayed in a hotel in
Johannesburg before meeting the named, ‘Pearl’ and
heading to Hong Kong.
The value of the contraband meant for Thailand was not
disclosed.
Makwembere is not the only one. Fifteen other Zimbabwean women are
reportedly serving sentences in Asian jails for hard drug-related
offences.
Regina may have found relief in the form of mere luck since in Asia
drug-linked crimes usually attract automatoc death sentences.
Zimbabwean
citizens are used to transport their consignments because locals
had lesser
chances of raising suspicion.
According to an inside source plans were at an
advanced stage to implement
new visa regulations as a result of the rampant
drug trafficking.
Several countries such as Zimbabwe that until now enjoyed
visa-free travel
to some Asian countries will have visa requirements imposed
upon them as a
way of curbing drug trafficking.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Blessing Zulu, Jonga
Kandemiiri
25.12.2012
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has warned
Zimbabweans to brace themselves
for the year ahead which he says is replete
with challenges such as
concluding a new constitution, holding a national
referendum and a watershed
election, and hosting a premier world event, the
United Nations World
Tourism Conference.
In his Christmas and New
Year message, Mr. Tsvangirai said people must
remain resilient in concluding
the new constitution which he acknowledged
was “always going to be rough and
tough, given our differences, our
diversity as political
persuasions.”
Mr. Tsvangirai also urged Zimbabweans, particularly the
youth, to register
and vote. He also called for a peaceful election
campaign, urging the
Attorney-General and the police to act impartially and
professionally.
He also said perpetrators of violence must be brought to
book, calling upon
politicians and the media not to promote violence through
hate speech.
Tsvangirai acting spokesman William Bango told Studio 7 that
the year ahead
can only be overcome by unity.
Meanwhile, according to
sources and the state-controlled Herald newspaper,
the committee appointed
by the ruling party principals to break the impasse
from the Second All
Stakeholders Conference, met on Sunday to discuss the
outstanding issues but
failed to resolve the deadlock.
The committee of seven is said to have
finally resolved to involve the
principals and Zanu PF and the two
formations of the Movement for Democratic
Change in an effort to find the
way forward.
Zanu PF is now claiming that there are 30 contentious
constitutional issues
although Constitution and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Eric Matinenga
disputes the figure.
Matinenga was not
immediately available for comment. But National
Constitution Assembly
spokesman Madock Chivasa told Studio 7 that
Zimbabweans are paying little
attention to the constitution-making process
and politicians have taken
advantage of that to settle some political
scores.
http://nehandaradio.com
on December 27, 2012 at 1:38
pm
C.A DISCUSSION OF HOW TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE 1980S DISTURBANCES,
IN
TERMS OF REAL NUMBERS OF VICTIMS.
The figures in the HR Data Base
are clearly a base-line set of figures which
can only grow in the future.
Only one district in Zimbabwe was fairly
comprehensively researched for this
report – namely Tsholotsho. In addition,
a pilot study was conducted in
Matobo.
Both of these studies resulted in a dramatic increase in
existing knowledge
of how events unfolded in these two regions in the 1980s,
and both extended
the named data base considerably, and allowed the
incorporation of numbered
victims. Numbered victims are generally excluded
from all other districts.
What was also noticeable in Tsholotsho was how
the gap between numbered and
named victims closed as interviewing
progressed, and a larger proportion of
named as opposed to numbered victims
began to be reported.
The lower levels of offences evident in the other
districts in Zimbabwe
reflect the fact that extensive research has not been
done in these regions,
rather than reflecting that these districts were not
severely affected by
events.
While the compilers of this report do
not claim to have any final answers in
terms of real numbers of victims in
the various categories of offence, some
cautious suggestions can be
made.
The basis of these suggestions will be discussed separately for
each
category of offence, with a clear difference being maintained between
what
may certainly be known at this stage, and what may further be
supposed.
1.DEAD and MISSING
The HR Data Base has the following
figures, for named victims: Dead:1437
Missing:354 Total:1791 To this can be
added a minimum of 130 Tsholotsho dead
and missing and a minimum of 133
Matobo dead and missing which became
apparent when the `village by village’
summaries were collated.
This brings the definitely confirmed dead to
2052.
Deaths in Non-Case Study Areas in Matabeleland North: independent
researchers in Lupane and Nkayi who have done extensive interviews for a
different purpose in these regions in recent years, suggested that
approximately 1300 dead would be a fair estimate for these two regions
combined.
Their intention was not specifically to “count the dead” in
these regions,
and they have not collected names. Their estimates are based
on ward by ward
estimates given to them by councillors in the general course
of their
interviews on other topics, but they feel these estimates are, if
anything,
conservative, and exclude the missing.
As this estimate was
put forward by researchers of proven integrity with a
known understanding of
events in these districts, and no possible motive for
exaggeration or
misrepresentation, it seems fair to consider including it in
an estimate:
this would add another 1000 to the figure for the dead,
bringing it to
around 3000+.
There is little known about deaths in other regions in
Matabeleland North,
although indications are that they were considerably
less affected by 5
Brigade than Tsholotsho, Lupane and Nkayi. No comment or
estimate will
therefore be made about these regions.
Deaths in
Matabeleland South: it has already been commented that the pilot
study in
Matobo, which was far from comprehensive, resulted in a five-fold
increase
in the numbers of dead and missing. Yet prior to the case study,
the named
dead for Gwanda, Matobo and Bulilimamangwe were all in the range
of
40-50.
Judging from the CCJP archives and paralegal information, which is
the only
current source of data on Gwanda and Bulilimamangwe, these two
districts
were as severely hit in 1984 as Matobo. There are on archival
files evidence
of mass murders, mass graves, mass beatings and mass
detentions in these two
districts. We can also assume that the figure of 220
dead in Matobo is
conservative, as interviewing here was limited.
In
addition, there are the many eye witness accounts of Bhalagwe on file.
These
include both archival accounts and those recorded in the last few
months.
All are very consistent in referring to daily deaths at Bhalagwe.
From
mid-February, villagers adjacent to Antelope Mine also refer to nightly
trips by trucks to the mine shaft, followed by the disposal of bodies and
the throwing of grenades in afterwards.
There was a change in
strategy on the part of 5 Brigade in 1984. They had
apparently realised in
1983 that it was not possible to kill hundreds of
well known people in front
of hundreds of witnesses in their home villages,
and expect the fact to
remain hidden.
In 1984, the new strategy of translocating many thousands
of civilians and
grouping them at Bhalagwe, where everyone effectively
became strangers, has
made it much harder now to identify either exact
numbers or names of the
dead.
Most detainees did not know the names
of those they were detained with.
People can also not remember exact dates
on which they witnessed a certain
number of people beaten to death or shot,
so it is not possible to sort out
eye witness accounts in a way that
prevents double counting of deaths.
One solution for those who wish to
arrive at some idea of how many might
have died at Bhalagwe, is to estimate
5 deaths a day, multiplied by 100
days, (Feb to May) and to decide that
approximately 500 died at Bhalagwe. 5
deaths a day might well be too
conservative, however.
The real number could be anything between 300 and
1000…. The inability to
arrive at more accurate figures at this stage is a
testimony to the
effectiveness of the 1984 strategy in keeping deaths
anonymous.
For example, one person interviewed, who was 16 years old when
incarcerated
at Bhalagwe, recounted how he personally helped dig the graves
and helped
carry and bury the corpses of 9 men, 7 of whom had been beaten to
death and
2 of whom had been shot.
He did not know the name of a
single one of these 9 victims, nor could he
say exactly how many others had
died during the 10 days he was there, except
to say that they were “very
many”. These dead were from all over
Matabeleland South, and some were from
Matabeleland North: only extensive
interviewing in all districts will help
resolve the issue of how many died
at Bhalagwe.
Other evidence on the
archives for Gwanda and Bulilimamangwe states that
there are mass graves in
both districts, mainly from 1984, but in the case
of Bulilimamangwe, also
from 1983, when parts of this district were adjacent
to the curfew zone and
affected by 5 Brigade in Matabeleland North.
Judging by the pilot study
in Matobo, it seems fair to estimate at least
several hundred deaths in each
district. Only extensive further research
will come up with more accurate
figures.
In the rest of Matabeleland South, including Beitbridge, deaths
also
occurred, although in smaller numbers. No comment or estimate will be
made
on these.
Those who are concerned about putting a precise figure
on the dead in
Matabeleland South could choose a number between 500 and
1000, and be
certain that they are not exaggerating.
Deaths in the
Midlands: named and numbered dead and missing for the
Midlands, suggest
Gweru was worst hit with around 70-80 deaths, with deaths
and missing for
the whole Province currently standing at a conservative 100.
Archival
figures for unnamed victims suggest several hundred more deaths and
disappearances – no more accurate suggestion can be made than this, without
extensive further research.
Deaths According to The Chronicle: While
it seems reasonable in the face of
conflicting reports to disregard the
“General Report” claims in respect of
dissident offences, the “Specific
Report” figures have been borne out in
part.
Even this statement is
not made without qualification: there were several
occasions where recent
interview data convincingly attributed offences to
the army or CIO when The
Chronicle attributed these offences to dissidents.
However, in Tsholotsho,
while the route to the final number may have
differed, figures arrived at in
interview data and in The Chronicle were
fairly close in terms of how many
people were specifically killed by
dissidents.
In addition, there are
some murders that can be uncontentiously attributed
to dissidents in the
non-case-study districts, and which have not been taken
into estimate yet,
including the deaths of commercial farmers.
The Chronicle may therefore
be conservatively assumed to provide support for
the deaths of at least 100
to 150 people at the hands of dissidents, which
have not been factored in
elsewhere.
FINAL ESTIMATE: The figure for the dead and missing is not
less than 3000.
This statement is now beyond reasonable doubt. Adding up the
conservative
suggestions made above, the figure is reasonably certainly 3750
dead. More
than that it is still not possible to say, except to allow that
the real
figure for the dead could be possibly double 3000, or even higher.
Only
further research will resolve the issue.
The number of dead is
always the issue in which there is the most interest,
wherever in the world
human rights offences are perpetrated. While such a
focus is understandable,
it should not be considered the only category of
offence to give an
indication of the scale of a period of disturbance.
From the point of
view of this report, compilers are concerned with the
plight of those still
alive. Of course, the loss of a breadwinner compounds
the plight for his/her
survivors, and in this way the number of dead from
the 1980s indicates the
number of families having to survive without
financial assistance from
able-bodied husbands, wives and children.
But many other families who
perhaps suffered no deaths were left with
permanent health or emotional
problems which, a decade later, have
compounded seriously on their families
in monetary and social terms.
2.PROPERTY LOSS
The HR Data Base
currently has on record 680 homesteads destroyed. A reading
of the “village
by village” summary of Tsholotsho will confirm that this
figure is
conservative. Researchers in Lupane and Nkayi have also referred
to hut
burnings, and the burnings of entire villages, particularly in
Lupane. What
this means in terms of final figures is hard to say: therefore
no estimate
will be made.
Properties were also destroyed in Matabeleland South which
are not yet
formally recorded, and the ZANU-PF Youth riots affecting the
Midlands in
1985, and the property destruction resulting from this has been
documented,
for example in LCFHR. Readers of the report should therefore
bear in mind
that the figure of 680 homesteads destroyed is far from
complete.
In addition, there was the damage caused by dissidents. The
Chronicle
reports a multitude of bus burnings and the destruction of dam and
road
building equipment. Cooperative ventures were also destroyed on
occasion,
and commercial farmers had livestock shot and property
destroyed.
Again, to try to assess this now in precise monetary terms
would be a
complicated and somewhat arbitrary procedure. The section
following (Part
Three, II) on legal damages attempts to make this sort of
assessment on ten
specific cases only, to illustrate how such damage might
be assessed.
Perhaps the most significant type of “property loss” to
those in affected
regions, is the fact that throughout the 1980s, when the
government was
investing in development projects in other parts of the
country,
Matabeleland was losing out, on the true premise that the
disturbances made
development difficult.
3. DETENTION
Possible
numbers of detainees are also very difficult to assess at this
stage. Some
attempt was made in the case study on Matobo to estimate a
figure for those
detained at Bhalagwe.
Based on an average stay of two weeks, and an
average holding capacity of
2000, it was assumed that any number of
civilians between 8000 and double
this figure could have passed through
Bhalagwe. As some reports put the
holding capacity at considerably higher
than 2000 at its peak, this
assumption does not seem unreasonable, but it is
an assumption nonetheless.
Apart from Bhalagwe, both documents on file
and lists of named victims in
Chikurubi in 1985 suggest certainly hundreds
and likely thousands of
detainees over the period from 1982 to
1987.
The detention centres at St Pauls in Lupane and in Tsholotsho
operated from
mid 1982, and certainly hundreds were detained in 1982 alone.
Africa
Confidential refers to 700 detained at Tsholotsho in 1982, and St
Paul’s
detention centre was also large. There are also reference to 1000
detained
in Bulawayo in March 1983.
In 1985 and 1986 there were
further detentions, both before and after the
general elections. Elected
ZAPU officials were picked up in rural areas, and
hundreds were detained in
urban centres too. LCFHR refers to 1300 detained
in Bulawayo in early 1985
and 400+ detained in Bulawayo in August 1985.
There are official
documents signed by police confirming large numbers of
detainees. For
example, CCJP wrote to Nkayi Police station inquiring about
the whereabouts
of a certain man who had been detained. The police wrote
back saying they
had detained 80 people that day in Nkayi, and most had been
subsequently
released. They had no record of this particular man.
Again, there is no
easy formula for arriving at a figure for detainees. It
seems reasonable to
assume at least 10 000 were detained, some for a few
days and some for far
longer, between 1982 and 1987. This is an assumption
based on what is known
now of the general unfolding of events, and the
holding capacities of
various detention centres.
4. TORTURED/ WOUNDED
Named torture
victims, inclusive of those assaulted, stand at around 2000.
In addition
to these named victims, the Tsholotsho case study identified 70
villages
involved in mass beatings, and 4 mass beatings at railway sidings.
The
Matobo case study identified another 25 mass beatings.
This is a total of
99 known mass beatings. A figure of 50 per mass beating
was decided on as
reasonable (see Part One, II), which would mean 4950
further assault
victims. This puts the total number of those fairly
definitely known to have
been physically tortured at around 7000.
Mass beatings were also a
definite phenomenon of 5 Brigade behaviour in
Lupane and Nkayi in
Matabeleland North, and Silobela in the Midlands, as
well as in
Bulilimamangwe and Gwanda in Matabeleland South, but no estimate
will be
placed on how many people this may have affected.
In addition, reports of
Bhalagwe make it clear that detention here was
synonymous with beatings,
usually daily. Physical torture of one kind or
another was almost mandatory,
not only at Bhalagwe but in all detention
centres and jails.
Several
thousand more beating victims could therefore safely be assumed, but
precisely how many remains to be established.
CONCLUSION
The
above estimates are offered merely as estimates. A careful reading of
the
Historical Overview will make it clear that the evidence on record
supports
the general claims being made here in terms of likely numbers of
victims,
and will in fact suggest that these claims are conservative. But
only
further comprehensive research will establish more accurate numbers for
all
categories of offence.
Taken from a report on the 1980’s disturbances in
Matabeleland and the
Midlands. Compiled by the Catholic Commission for
Justice and Peace in
Zimbabwe, March 1997.