http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Former Rhodesian prime
minister Ian Smith's farm in central Zimbabwe has
finally been taken from
his family by Robert Mugabe's officials.
By Peta Thornycroft,
Johannesburg4:00PM GMT 06 Dec 2012
Mr Mugabe's lands ministry has given
Gwenoro farm, where Rhodesia's last
white minority leader lived with his
family for nearly 50 years, to a small
technical college in Zimbabwe's
midlands.
It was on this farm in Shurugwi, about 140 miles south west of
Harare, that
Mr Smith's ashes were scattered after his death in Cape Town
five years ago.
His long-time farm manager, Owen Jarman, said: "The two
adjoining farms were
taken about 10 years ago, but we all hoped this one,
the small home farm,
would survive.
"But it didn't and we were told
in September we must go and so that is what
we are doing."
Mr Smith
bought Gwenoro, which means "place of the kudu", in 1948, the year
he won a
parliamentary seat for the Rhodesia Front party which claimed it
would
preserve white rule.
Mr Jarman managed the 4,000-acre cattle ranch when
the former prime minister
went to live in Harare after his wife died in
1994. Mr Smith left Zimbabwe
after the death of his only child, Alec, in
2006, moving to Cape Town to be
near his stepchildren.
Mr Jarman said
he is packing up the farm, trying to sell off some of the
assets such as
cattle, and paying retrenchment packages to long-time
workers.
"There are
about 10 workers who lived here and worked for Mr Smith for many
years. His
former gardener, Moroi Chata has nowhere to go and is very old
and frail and
I am appealing to the authorities to provide him with a home."
Mr Smith
declared independence from Britain in 1965, leading to a civil war
that
ended with a settlement ahead of the first non-racial elections in
1980, won
by Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party.
Some 4,000 white farmers in Zimbabwe have
had their land and homes taken by
Mr Mugabe's supporters in seizures that
began in 2000.
Mr Jarman said he has told Mr Smith's stepchildren, Robert and
Jean, that
the farm has been seized. "They were sad to hear this news," he
said, "but
have not been back here since they scattered his ashes."
http://mg.co.za/
06 DEC 2012 07:55 - REAGAN MASHAVAVE
Facing would-be
successors and widespread unpopularity, Robert Mugabe hopes
to this week
plot a path to victory at Zimbabwe's upcoming elections.
The
Zanu-PF's annual conference, which begins on Friday, is the last before
the
country's much-anticipated national polls scheduled for next
year.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's leader since independence from Britain 32 years
ago,
hopes to use the elections to tighten his grip on power.
The
veteran leader is currently locked in a shaky power-sharing government
with
longtime rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
And he faces a series of
other challenges: the dire state of the country has
made his rule deeply
unpopular, and his allies have begun jockeying to
replace the 88-year-old
despite the fact that he is officially the party
candidate.
Analysts
say Mugabe's party has little to entice voters, and will likely
deliver a
populist message of black empowerment, even if his so-called
indigenisation
policy aimed at redistributing wealth to black Zimbabweans
has often served
the president's cronies more than the country.
"This time their message
is centred around indigenisation, but it's
meaningless to the majority of
the population struggling to earn a living,"
said Takavafira Zhou, a
political analyst from Masvingo State University.
'Self-enrichment for
the elite'
The controversial indigenisation law was passed two years ago,
forcing all
foreign-owned firms to cede a 51%share to locals in what Mugabe
says is a
reversal of imbalances created during colonial rule.
But in
fact the programme is about "self-enrichment for the elite in
Zanu-PF," said
Earnest Mudzengi, an independent analyst.
Running under the theme
"indigenise, empower, develop and create jobs", the
two-day congress will be
held at the party's 5 000-seater conference centre
on the outskirts of the
central city of Gweru.
The conference comes as the party battles to patch
up after factionalism
cost it dearly in the 2008 general elections, where
for the first time since
independence in 1980 it lost its majority in
Parliament.
Critics say Zanu-PF as a party has run out of fresh
ideas.
"Zanu-PF is a sunset political movement which is not
forward-moving. They
cannot even discuss critical issues like succession,
which is affecting the
party," said
Mudzengi.
Implementation
Little new is expected to come out of the
conference, which "will likely be
discussing the same old rhetoric of
fighting imperialists and preaching
about indigenisation, which they do not
have the capacity to implement",
according to Mudzengi.
If free and
fair elections are held "under the current state of the economy
and public
perception, Zanu-PF will lose", he said.
Analyst Takavafira Zhou said
that because the party's chances of victory
"are next to nothing", a repeat
of the violence that rocked the 2008
elections is probable.
"It's
highly likely that they will manipulate the flawed electoral system
and use
violence to force themselves back in office," said Zhou.
Zanu-PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed allegations his party would
resort to
violence.
"We are clear of our policy that we do not approve violence,"
he said.
Securing votes
Gumbo said he is confident the party's
policies will deliver electoral
success.
"We have developed policies
such as the land reform and indigenisation
policies that we believe will
secure votes for us," he said. "Our policies
are sought by ordinary
people."
Mugabe was forced into the current coalition government to stop
a wave of
violence around the disputed 2008 vote and halt an economic
tailspin.
Regional leaders brokered the power-sharing deal to avoid a
full-scale
conflict.
The deal also pushed for political, security,
electoral and media reforms,
which observers say have been slow in coming
and limited in scope.
"We haven't seen reforms in the country, especially
in the electoral
sector," said independent analyst Mudzengi, who said the
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission is still staffed with Zanu-PF
sympathisers.
"The electoral system may be manipulated in favour of
Zanu-PF," he said. –
AFP
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Blessing
Zulu
05.12.2012
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe chaired his Zanu-PF
party’s Politiburo
meeting Wednesday ahead of the official opening of its
13th annual National
People's Conference in the Midlands city of Gweru on
Friday.
Zanu-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa told VOA some
of the
issues on the agenda include a Central Committee annual report
detailing the
activities of the party and the potentially divisive matter
of the criteria
for choosing Members of Parliament.
The Politiburo
was also deliberating on the state of the unity government,
the
constitution-making process and strategies for elections expected to
take
place next year.
The Politburo received reports from the party's national
political
commissar, Webster Shamu, on the recent elections of provincial
chairpersons
in Matabeleland North and Bulawayo.
Authoritative Zanu
PF sources said the party cited factionalism for various
problems in
Masvingo region.
Its Central Committee is meeting Thursday before
deliberations move to the
controversial Chinese-built multi-million dollar
conference centre in Gweru.
Zanu PF Youth League secretary for external
affairs Tongai Kasukuwere told
VOA that the youth are backing President
Mugabe, 88, to remain at the helm
of the party and to contest as their
presidential candidate in elections
expected next year despite his advanced
age.
Political analyst John Makumbe, who has expressed interest in
contesting in
elections on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic
Change party ticket, said the conference is "much ado about
nothing" as the
party is not willing to discuss Mr Mugabe's succession.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will this week address Zanu PF’s
national conference
in Gweru looking to rouse the party rank and file for a
final hurrah as he
readies to fight what would likely be his last election
next year.
Zanu PF has since endorsed the 88 year-old to run again in
March and aides
say he will tell about 6,000 delegates from around the
country that he has
one final mission: keeping his party in power and
completing the economic
empowerment of the country’s historically
disadvantaged black majority.
Indeed, the possibility that the March poll
will likely be Mugabe’s last
gives added significance to the election,
especially after long-term rival,
Morgan Tsvangirai, nearly brought the
veteran leader’s lengthy stay in power
to an unhappy end in 2008.
The
MDC-T leader stunned Mugabe with a solid trouncing in the first round of
the
Presidential ballot, before pulling out of the runoff claiming his
supporters were being brutalised by Mugabe's henchmen.
Regional peers
then refused to endorse Mugabe’s second round ‘win’ resulting
in the Zanu PF
leader being subjected to the ignominy of sharing power with
a man he
disparages as a lackey of Western imperialists.
But this time round Zanu
PF appears to be pulling all the stops to prevent a
repeat of the 2008
debacle. The party looks to be flash with cash and is
openly flaunting its
riches to the annoyance of partners in the coalition
government.
War
chest
Mugabe is set to address the party faithful at a newly-built US$6
million
conference centre just outside Gweru. Officials insist that the
facility
belongs to the party and dismissed allegations that it was built
from
diverted diamond funds.
Said deputy Midlands chairman Larry
Mavhima: “This is not a Government
project, but a private project, a Zanu-PF
project. We have our right to
privacy and are not accountable to MDC
formations or anyone but ourselves.
“That (diversion of diamond funds) is
absolute rubbish; hogwash! If anyone
can prove that I will personally borrow
US$1 million and give that person.
“This money was raised by people in
this province who want to see Midlands
developing. If we have stolen the
money then those people should go and
report to the police.”
Early
last month, the MDCs were also left seething after Mugabe launched a
US$20
million agricultural support scheme aimed at helping poor farmers
around the
country acquire inputs for the new farming season.
The scheme was
brazenly launched at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare,
suggesting it was a
party, instead of government programme.
Complained MDC legal affairs
secretary and Education Minister David Coltart:
“Zimbabweans have a right to
know who the ‘well-wishers’ are and where their
money comes from. Is it
clean? Parallel governance at its worst.”
Indigenisation
In addition,
Mugabe will also be buoyed by progress made in implementing the
party’s
indigenisation programme which forces foreign companies to not only
cede
majority ownership and control to locals but also fund the equity
transfers.
Dismissed by critics as unworkable and likely to cause
disastrous investment
and capital flight from a still-recovering economy,
the programme,
spearheaded by Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, is in
fact looking
to be unstoppable.
Most of the country’s major mining
companies are already implementing
compliance plans approved by Kasukuwere
and insist that they remain
committed to Zimbabwe despite initial murmurs of
disapproval and, in some
cases, outright threats to either completely pull
out of the country or
suspend expansion programmes.
Kasukuwere, who
has vowed to force the policy on other sectors of the
economy, briefed a
politburo meeting in Harare Wednesday on the programme
which will anchor
Mugabe’s campaign for the March elections.
“We were given a presentation
by Kasukuwere and his staff. They presented a
documentary called broad-based
empowerment concept. It is an excellent
document. We want it presented at
conference,” said party spokesman, Rugare
Gumbo.
“We will have
intensive discussion on indigenisation. The conference will
concentrate on
broad-based empowerment concept which fits well with our
theme -
‘Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment’.”
Mugabe also goes
into next year’s elections aided to no small measure by the
misadventures of
his main rival.
Survey
Tsvangirai was recently damaged by embarrassing
revelations about his
private life which also came on the back of an
international survey
suggesting support for the MDC-T leader ad his party
had collapsed across
the country.
US-based international research
group Freedom House warned that Mugabe would
likely command the support of
31 percent of voters in a presidential
election, ahead of rival Morgan
Tsvangirai on 19 percent, an alarming
prospect for the MDC-T.
Said
South African academic, Susan Booysen, who devised and conducted the
survey:
"I've heard people saying MDC-T is just not doing work in the
constituencies
and is spending too much time in the palace. They're taking
for granted
they're the crown princes. They are not capturing the desire for
change.
“Perhaps they think they are crown prince that need only wait
for Mugabe to
go for it to fall in their lap. This is a wake-up call for
them that there
is no honeymoon.”
Tsvangirai this week claimed that
improvements registered in education,
health and other social services were
down to his party’s involvement in the
coalition government. He added that
the MDC-T was also responsible for the
country’s economic recovery; but it
remains a jobless recovery as
unemployment is still very high.
Mugabe
also suggested during the launch of the input support scheme that he
would
use the MDC-T’s not always edifying performance in government against
the
party as campaigning for the March ballot gets into full swing.
Said the
Zanu PF leader: “This animal (inclusive Government) wants to eat,
but when
we say the food comes from farming, the other side (MDC) says they
are
incapable, but the Zanu PF side continues to say we should farm, we
should
get inputs.
“How is this animal supposed to survive? How is the nation
supposed to
survive? Are you (MDC) not getting this message?
“They
say we don’t have money, but they are the ones in charge of the
Finance
Ministry. Hatina mari, hatina mari. Saka hatina mari, hatina mari,
ihurumende yerudziyi? Hatina mari, naizvozvo hatina fertiliser, naizvozvo
hatigone kurima.
“If it were a Zanu PF Government without these other
partners, do you think
you can tell that to the people? A government can
dare not say we have no
money to give people to grow food for the
country.
“We can’t say that. We must have the capacity even to borrow. No
government
does without borrowing from others.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff
Writer
06 December 2012
Senior commanders from ZAPU’s former military
wing, ZIPRA, have said the
military should respect the outcome of next
year’s election results.
For the first time in many years, the ex-ZIPRA
members convened a meeting in
Bulawayo and unanimously agreed to issue a
statement urging the security
forces to respect the one-man, one-vote
principle.
The statement was published in the country’s newspapers on
Wednesday and
will pour cold water over repeated threats by ZANU PF linked
army generals,
who have vowed not to allow a candidate without liberation
war credentials
to succeed Robert Mugabe.
The former commanders said
Zimbabweans and former freedom fighters are
perturbed about pronouncements
reported by the media, regarding the choice
of the country’s future
leaders.
‘The generally expressed view has been that ex-combatants shall
recognise
only those leaders who have liberation war credentials. The
position of the
former ZIPRA High Command is that we will support the person
who respects
the ideals and values of the liberation struggle.
‘We
will support anyone who recognises that the effort to liberate the
country
was premised on the concept of one-man, one-vote, to be a democratic
principle which respects the will of the people will carry the support of
former freedom fighters,’ the ex-ZIPRA commanders said.
Top military
commanders like Brigadier-Generals Trust Mugoba, Douglas
Nyikayaramba and
Martin Chedondo, have issued countless threats since 2002
that no party
other than ZANU PF would be allowed to rule Zimbabwe.
Our Bulawayo
correspondent Lionel Saungweme said the ZIPRA statement was a
major boost to
all democratic forces in the country. He said the stance by
the
ex-commanders would reverberate far and wide beyond the Zimbabwe
borders.
‘I think it’s a statement of intent that they would not sit
and watch the
military suppressing the will of the people. ZAPU, as a former
liberation
war movement, has many friends in Southern Africa who would be
keen to
follow the events unfolding in Zimbabwe,’ Saungweme said.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
THURSDAY, 06 DECEMBER 2012 09:11
Former
members of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) High
Command
have poured cold water over repeated threats by army generals not to
allow a
candidate without liberation war credentials to succeed President
Robert
Mugabe.
The generals first made the threats on the eve of the 2002
presidential
elections where they claimed the Office of the President was “a
straitjacket”.
Subsequent threats were issued in 2008, leading to
one of the most violent
election campaigns in history that was blamed on
security forces.
Several army commanders, including Brigadier-Generals
Trust Mugoba, Douglas
Nyikayaramba and Martin Chedondo, this year issued
statements saying no
party other than Zanu PF would be allowed to rule
Zimbabwe.
The statements were seen as aimed at Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, who
poses the greatest threat to Mugabe’s ambitions to rule
perpetually.
But the ex-Zipra members yesterday broke their silence
warning the security
forces to respect the one-man, one-vote
principle.
“Of late among other things, Zimbabweans and former freedom
fighters are
perturbed about pronouncements in the media regarding the
choice of the
country’s future leaders,” the former commanders said in a
statement
published in yesterday’s newspapers.
“The generally
expressed view has been that ex-combatants shall recognise
only those
leaders who have liberation war credentials.
“The position of the former
Zipra High Command is that we will support the
person who respects the
ideals and values of the liberation struggle.
“One who recognises that
the effort to liberate the country was premised on
the concept of one-man,
one-vote to be a democratic principle which respects
the will of the people
will carry the support of former freedom fighters.
“Nationalist leaders,
the likes of Joshua Nkomo and others, worked
tirelessly for this
principle.”
According to the statement, the position was taken at a
recent meeting of
the former commanders.
The Zipra High Command
co-ordinated PF Zapu’s military training and
acquisition of arms under the
stewardship of the late Vice-President Joshua
Nkomo.
The MDC-T
immediately seized on the pronouncement by the ex-Zipra commanders
saying
the party was committed to ensuring the welfare of ex-fighters once
it got
into power.
“We commend such an unwavering standpoint on the values and
principles
guiding the war of liberation which those in Zanu PF structures
sought to
desecrate and disrespect in pursuit of selfish personal partisan
interests,”
the MDC-T said in a statement.
“The continued total
disregard of surviving heroes during national events
such as the Heroes and
Independence days, as well as their unwarranted
discrimination in the police
and the army, is abosolutely disconcerting.
“As we look forward to a new
Zimbabwe, we remain grounded in the values and
principles of democracy,
peace, stability and national security of our
country as ascribed in your
unbridled resolve.”
The ex-Zipra commanders also said they hoped the
recent tour of Matabeleland
by Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General
Constantine Chiwenga, would
see the government resolving a number of
grievances that former liberation
fighters led by Nkomo had.
They
said the visit generated hope for the return of Zipra properties
confiscated
by Mugabe’s government in 1982 during the Gukurahundi
disturbances.
“The return of the properties and title deeds will
definitely restore peace
and unity,” the commanders said.
“The
properties belong to the former Zipra cadres and their welfare would
have
been better off had they been economically utilised for their
benefit.”
The ex-commanders said 32 years after independence, 75% of the
ex-Zipra
cadres had not received recognition, honours, awards and liberation
medals
for their efforts in liberating the country - Newsday.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
06 December
2012
Zimbabweans are being urged to throw their weight behind local
anti-corruption initiatives, with the country being ranked as the most
corrupt in the Southern African region.
Transparency International
has released its latest corruption perception
Index, with Zimbabwe being
placed 163 out of a total of 176 countries around
the world. The Index,
which ranks countries and territories based on how
corrupt their public
sector is perceived, suggests that Zimbabwe’s
corruption record is
worsening, with the country dropping nine places on the
Index since last
year.
The latest report puts Botswana as the least corrupt country in
Southern
Africa, ranking 30, followed by Namibia (58), South Africa (64),
Lesotho
(64), Swaziland (88), Zambia (88), Malawi (88) and Mozambique
(123).
“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all
aspects of
decision-making,” said Transparency International in a statement.
“They must
prioritise better rules on lobbying and political financing, make
public
spending and contracting more transparent, and make public bodies
more
accountable.”
Zimbabwe’s low ranking puts it among some of the
most corrupt countries in
the world, according to the index, which ranks
Afghanistan, North Korea and
Somalia the bottom three.
Zimbabweans
are now being urged to join the fight against corruption by
supporting local
efforts to stamp out the problem. This includes becoming
grassroots
whistleblowers and using a newly launched SMS hotline to report
incidents of
corruption.
The SMS hotline was launched by Transparency International
Zimbabwe last
month, and encourages the public to send anonymous messages
about the
corruption they have encountered. WitnessES and victims of
corruption can
send an SMS to (+263) 0775 220 700.
Precious Shumba
from the Harare Residents’ Trust told SW Radio Africa that
Zimbabwe’s
corruption record will not improve until there is a united effort
to fight
the problem. He said corruption has become so endemic in Zimbabwean
society
that “handing over a bribe for anything is a norm.” He added that
reporting
measures, like the SMS platform, were a good step towards changing
the
attitudes ‘corroding’ society.
But he warned that there is also a safety
element of the SMS campaign that
could put people off using it, saying: “The
major challenge of this
whistleblowing exercise, is will it be transparently
vetted? Who has access
to the numbers and who will be monitoring?”
He
warned that in a country where fear is still as large an issue as
corruption, many members of the public might be too afraid to have their
numbers associated with weeding out corruption.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, December 06, 2012 - Two members of the Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in
Gutu were left
homeless after their houses were razed to the ground by
suspected Zanu (PF)
arsonists.
Political violence in the province has
resurfaced ahead of general polls
next year.
Solomon Madyazvivi and
Enock Makoke, both officials of the former opposition
party were left
without shelter and lost property worth thousands of dollars
after suspected
Zanu PF supporters torched their homes in a space of a week.
MDC
information department told Radio VOP that Madyazvivi, a secretary for
ward
1 in Gutu west, had his home-stead set ablaze on Monday night a few
days
after Zanu (PF) war veterans had threatened to fix known MDC supporters
during a rally.
“I was left homeless after my house was torched. I
strongly suspect that
Zanu (PF) war veterans and supporters are responsible
for this act of
violence. A few days before this we heard that war veterans
threatened a
repeat of the 2008 violence and were targeting MDC officials in
the area. I
am in real trouble because I lost my property,” said
Madyazvivi.
He said his family was leaving in the open at a time the
province despite
heavy rain down pours.
Makoke, another MDC activist,
in ward 29 in the same district, had earlier
on lost his huts after being
attacked by supporters of their arch rivals in
the shaky inclusive
government.
MDC spokesperson here Harrison Mudzuri confirmed the incident
and blasted
Zanu (PF).
“We confirm that two of our activists had
their houses torched in a space of
a week with the latest incident on Monday
night. We have always condemned
violence and we are disturbed that it is
re-surfacing at a time we are
moving towards elections,” Mudzuri
said.
Mudzuri said Zanu (PF) should stop intimidating MDC supporters by
employing
dirty intimidation tactics through violence.
Zanu (PF)
provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke refuted the allegations.
“Zanu PF
supporters are not violent and arsonists. We are sick and tired of
the MDC
guys who always hide behind blaming Zanu (PF) whenever their members
are
involved in domestic violence. Our members do not set other peoples’
homes
ablaze. MDC members are liars and they always want to use our name for
silly
reasons,” said Matuke.
“Even if they refuse we are 100% sure that they
are responsible for the
attack of our members. No-one doesn’t know that Zanu
(PF) has the culture of
violence whenever elections are called. We are going
to take up the matter
...we want perpetrators to be brought to book,”
Mudzuri said.
He said police reports were made although Zanu (PF) members
always get way
with crime. Police in Masvingo declined to comment.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Thursday, 06 December 2012
11:04
HARARE - Some forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe are destabilising
the
country, marring a ceasefire brokered by principals in the coalition
government, a lawmaker has said.
Members of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC have planned rallies
across the country, trusting that the
truce would protect them from a
military that is said to have frightened off
MDC supporters for months.
“When you look at the constituencies,
especially in Gokwe — we have soldiers
who have been deployed in areas and
these soldiers are also intimidating
people in these areas,” Kadoma Central
MDC MP Editor Matamisa said during
debate on the president’s speech last
Friday.
Mugabe’s opponents had called for mass rallies to test whether
the
authorities would tolerate a return to peaceful organisation, as Sadc’s
election roadmap said they should.
“You will find that as of now,
people are being intimidated by the uniformed
forces in this country,”
Matamisa told Parliament.
“Yet what surprises me is that the head of
State and the leader of the party
is preaching peace; preaching harmony yet
the people from his party are
doing the exact opposite of what he is
saying.”
International pressure has grown for Zimbabwe to fulfil all its
commitments
to the power sharing Global Political Agreement (GPA) by
withdrawing troops,
permitting media access to all parties and discussing a
political
transition.
Mugabe has told Parliament that he wants a free
and fair, violence-free
poll.
“Let us all shun violence in all its
manifestations and latent forms,
especially as we look forward to our
national elections,” Mugabe told the
official opening of Parliament
recently.
Matamisa said Mugabe’s ceasefire declaration was insincere and
renewed a
call for soldiers to return back to the barracks.
“They
have to go to do some civilian jobs such as construction of schools
and dams
— all that happens in a country when there is peace and this is
what I am
expecting to see in Zimbabwe which has peace,” she said. - Gift
Phiri,
Politics Editor
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
06 December 2012
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR) marched from Harare Gardens
through the streets of the capital
on Thursday, to commemorate International
Human Rights Day, which falls on
December 10th.
The lawyers delivered petitions to the Supreme Court, the
High Court,
Parliament, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and the
Attorney
General’s Office, asking for protection for legal practitioners
while they
do their work. The petitions had already been delivered to the
Principals in
the unity government.
Andrew Makoni, chairman of the
ZLHR, told SW Radio Africa that Human Rights
Day comes this year at a time
when lawyers and their clients in Zimbabwe are
experiencing serious
violations of their individual and professional rights.
He said: “The
petition cites the increased level of intimidation we are
experiencing as
lawyers because of our work. We complain of arbitrary arrest
and wrongful
detention of lawyers on unsubstantiated charges. We also
complain of
unlawful access to and seizure of client files. These are the
challenges we
face.”
Makoni explained that the ZLHR decided on their own local theme
this year,
because the challenges they face in Zimbabwe are unique. The
theme was:
“Respect, promote and protect the legal practitioners from all
forms of
threats, harassment and intimidation in the course of carrying out
their
duties”.
Makoni said abuses against lawyers include being denied
entry into police
stations or access to clients, verbal and physical
attacks, as well as
wrongful arrest, detention and “persecution through
prosecution” of lawyers.
The lawyers have documented many of these incidents
and raised the issues
with government in the past, but nothing has been
done.
Asked whether they viewed the judiciary system as being partisan,
Makoni
said:
“With the courts having made certain pronouncements
concerning the conduct
of of lawyers it would be difficult for me to comment
on whether the
judiciary is partisan or not, but there may be public
perceptions of such a
bias.”
He was referring to recent comments made
by a Supreme Court judge, who
blasted lawyers from the ZLHR for talking to
the press and criticizing
judicial rulings.
Makoni said the lawyers
expect the level of intimidation and harassment of
lawyers to increase as
the country heads towards elections, because that is
when violence levels go
up and lawyers are called upon to represent victims
and perpetrators.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
President Robert Mugabe, after drawn-out
consultations with his inner circle
of advisors, ordered Bishop Kunonga to
be dumped by Zanu (PF) and the CIO
because he failed dismally to achieve
what he had been assigned to do.
05.12.12
by Staff
Reporter
A highly-placed source told The Zimbabwean this week: “From
the middle of
last year, the President started regularly questioning the
Kunonga project,
especially during politburo meetings. He complained that
Kunonga was not
taking the party anywhere and pointed out that he had
received reports
indicating that the bishop was personally gaining from the
project.”
In addition, Kunonga’s continued persecution of Anglicans was
seen as
achieving the opposite of what he had been assigned to do, as he was
creating “too many enemies and unnecessarily discrediting the
party”.
The final straw that broke Kunonga’s back, said the source, was
the Supreme
Court ruling that recently reversed the High Court order of 2011
and
determined that since he left the Church in 2008, he could not claim
ownership of Anglican property in Zimbabwe.
“He had become a burden
and he is now finished. Did you ever wonder why the
State media is the one
that has been loudest in exposing Kunonga, especially
after the Supreme
Court ruling?” he asked.
Kunonga was roped into the Zanu (PF)
commissariat in the late 1990s, when he
was approached by the secret service
while studying for a PhD in sociology
in the United States.
In 1997,
he was ordained as the Anglican Bishop of Harare by Bishop Peter
Hatendi. At
that time Kunonga had already become an ardent supporter of Zanu
(PF), the
source said.
He reportedly accepted the invitation to leave the US and
come to work for
Zanu (PF) from within the Church. Although he claimed to
have completed his
PhD, that was never verified.
“Kunonga came in as
part of a project to rally Anglicans in Zimbabwe behind
the party and
guarantee it a steady support base. But he was a bad choice
right from the
start. Many people had been told that he was studying
theology, yet he
hardly knew anything about the Bible, even though he had
some religious
background,” added the source.
Even though his allegiance to Zanu (PF)
was obvious to Anglicans in the
early years, not many followers cared
because the party was then accepted as
the main political formation in the
country.
“With the formation of the MDC in 1999, things started to change
as politics
fast became polarised. Kunonga gradually became heady and he was
encouraged
by the “system” because the Zanu (PF) support base was severely
threatened.
The thinking was that he would be able to ensure that Anglicans
would be
persuaded to stay with Zanu (PF). For several years, it was hoped
that he
would do so. He always claimed that he had a huge following, but
some within
the system doubted him,’’ said the source.
In his
desperation to prove his allegiance to the party and Mugabe, Kunonga
reportedly abused the pulpit to preach politics, and became infamous for
demonising the opposition, western nations and homosexuals in his
sermons.
In early 2008, in the run-up to the March general election, the
Church of
the Province of Central Africa dethroned him, but he retaliated by
announcing a breakaway establishment, the Anglican Church of the Province of
Zimbabwe.
This marked the beginning of massive legal battles and the
grabbing of
hundreds of Church properties across the country by members of
his faction.
The High Court subsequently ordered that the two factions
share the
properties, leading to sometimes nasty physical confrontations,
with the
police clearly supporting Kunonga’s faction.
In August 2011,
the High Court ruled that Anglican Church property in the
Harare Diocese
should be administered by Kunonga, forcing thousands of
worshippers aligned
to Chad Gandiya to worship in the open or to rent space.
During this
period, Kunonga seized scores of churches, schools, hospitals
and a shrine
belonging to the Anglican Church. Some of the properties were
converted into
private lodgings while others were run as commercial
entities.
Our
source said Kunonga converted to his own use the thousands of dollars he
received as rent from Anglican properties such as Pax House located next to
Parliament, where numerous institutions and firms are
tenants.
Kunonga, when contacted for a comment, seemed bitter about the
State media
blitz against him.
“I cannot tell you anything that The
Herald does not know, so go and get
answers from that newspaper. The
journalists there are fully briefed on what
is happening,” said Kunonga, who
singled out one reporter from the stable
who has consistently reported on
the Anglican saga.
The revelations from our source have brought into
doubt the impartiality of
the judiciary, which in the past has been accused
of pandering to the whims
of Mugabe and Zanu (PF) and making rulings that
align with their interests.
The party has consistently tried to use
various churches to drum up support,
including various apostolic sects and
Obediah Musindo’s Destiny of Africa.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff
Writer
Thursday, 06 December 2012 11:03
HARARE - Judge President
George Chiweshe has postponed the matter in which
excommunicated bishop
Nolbert Kunonga is fighting to retain church property
after a Supreme Court
ruling declared him an illegal occupant.
Kunonga’s lawyer Jonathan
Samukange is trying to turn the tables against the
Church of the Province of
Central Africa (CPCA) arguing the church was not
supposed to evict his
client when his appeal had been set down for hearing
at the High
Court.
Speaking to the Daily News after the case was heard in chambers at
the High
Court yesterday, Samukange said the CPCA is approaching the courts
with
dirty hands.
“I am arguing that they should not have proceeded
with evicting people and
these are the matters which will be decided by the
court on Monday,” said
Samukange.
“Any eviction that took place after
the matter had been set down for hearing
should not have been carried out as
that was contempt of court.
“The judge is going to consider all the
issues raised but the main arguments
have not been heard,” said
Samukange.
Lawyers said Chiweshe has only heard the preliminary matters
and has not
heard the main issue in which Kunonga is sensationally claiming
ownership of
church properties using indigenisation laws and other pro-Zanu
PF
sentiments.
Thabani Mpofu, the CPCA lawyer, said the Anglican
Church headed by bishop
Chad Gandiya had already completed the eviction of
Kunonga and his
surrogates.
“Judgment was reserved to Monday and
evictions of Kunonga have been
completed.
“There is no possibility of
anybody from Kunonga’s side going back to the
churches. Our clients will
have their church services as usual,” said Mpofu.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
05/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
MDC-T secretary general and Finance Minister Tendai is, on
Friday, expected
to present a paper on the experience of working with
President Robert Mugabe
and his Zanu PF party in unity government at the
University of Manchester.
Biti has been in charge of the country’s
finances since his MDC-T party
joined Zanu PF in a coalition government
following violent but inconclusive
elections in 2008.
A top Harare
lawyer before joining politics, Biti is praised world-wide for
his
stewardship of the country’s economy over the last three years, a view
not
shared, however, by Zanu PF which accuses him of refusing to support the
key
agriculture sector.
In a statement, Manchester University said: “He
(Biti) is especially noted
for reducing inflation from an estimated 500
million percent in December
2008 to single digits within three months of
taking over the ministry.
“In 2009, he officially launched a
controversial report by BWPI which among
other policy recommendations urged
the Government to set aside tax credits
to compensate the mainly white
farmers who lost their land.”
Dr Admos Chimhowu of the university’s
Brooks World Poverty Institute added:
“Tendai Biti has played a major part
in presiding over this economic
stabilisation and growth.
“Following
the formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in March
2009,
Zimbabwe is emerging from a decade of socio-economic decline.
“Conditions
have improved markedly now. Although poverty levels are still
high, welfare
conditions continue to improve and life expectancy has risen
to 50 years and
inflation fallen just above 3.5 per cent
“But more importantly, the
economy has recorded four years of growth.”
Fresh polls are expected next
year to end the shaky coalition government
which, despite helping ease
political tensions and stabilising the economy,
has been riven by deep
divisions between Zanu PF and the MDC formations.
Both Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agree the arrangement is no
longer workable
because of policy differences but the MDC-T leader wants
political reforms
completed to ensure free and fair elections.
A referendum on the
country’s new constitution is expected to be held early
next year leading to
the fresh polls in March.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff writer
06 December
2012
Zimbabwe will be part of the agenda at a SADC summit being held in
Dar-es-Salaam this weekend to discuss the crisis in the eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo.
President Jacob Zuma, who is the chief mediator on
Zimbabwe, is expected to
attend, together with the SADC Troika on Politics
and Defence, currently
chaired by Tanzania.
A well-placed source in
South Africa’s international relations department
told the media that while,
“the issue of the DRC will dominate the agenda,
the meeting on December 7
and 8 will also hear a report from Tanzania on the
SADC mediation on
Madagascar and a report from South Africa on [the]
mediation in
Zimbabwe.”
The report on Zimbabwe follows a visit to Harare last week by
Zuma’s
facilitation team, which was briefed on the constitution-making
process and
preparations for next year’s elections.
During the team’s
visit both the MDC-T and MDC-N expressed serious concerns
at the slow pace
of reforms, and blamed ZANU PF of pussyfooting around,
ahead of the
elections.
The Dar-es-Salaam summit is part of diplomatic efforts to stem
the crisis in
the DRC which saw the strategic eastern city of Goma falling
under the
control of the M23 rebels, raising fears of a broader regional
conflict. The
rebels have since pulled out, but regional leaders are anxious
to find a
lasting solution to the crisis.
http://www.africareview.com
By AFRICAREVIEW.COM | Thursday, December 6
2012 at 19:16
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is in Kenya at
the invitation of
his counterpart Raila Odinga.
The offices of Mr
Odinga and Mr Tsvangirai in Nairobi and Harare
respectively confirmed the
visit Thursday evening.
The Nairobi office said the Zimbabwe PM would
Friday pay a courtesy call on
Mr Odinga before proceeding to attend the
National Delegates Congress for Mr
Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement
party.
Mr Odinga and Mr Tsvangirai have had close ties that have been
made stronger
by their unique circumstances.
Both of them ascended to
their current offices courtesy of power sharing
deals occasioned by hotly
disputed presidential election results.
Both Zimbabwe and Kenya are
poised to hold presidential elections next year
in which the two premiers
are key players.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
06 December 2012
All parties in the inclusive government
remain committed to seeing the
completion of the constitution making
process, a cabinet minister said on
Thursday.
Eric Matinenga, the
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, told
SW Radio Africa he’s
optimistic the much leaner COPAC management committee
of seven people will
be able to resolve the differences and finalise the new
constitution
soon.
This new committee, recently appointed by the principals to the
GPA, has
Matingenga as the chair, Tendai Biti from MDC-T, ZANU PF’s Patrick
Chinamasa
and Priscillah Misihairambwi-Mushonga from the MDC-N. The three
COPAC
co-chairs complete the set-up.
The group convened its first
meeting in Harare on Wednesday and Education
Minister David Coltart stood in
for their COPAC chairperson Edward Mkhosi.
Matinenga said the meeting
Wednesday was about laying down the groundwork
for the work
ahead.
‘We had to agree on certain administrative issues and how we
approach the
task on hand. We wanted to set the parameters and that was
done. What the
parties will do now is bring back on Monday next week their
positions on the
COPAC report.
‘Let’s not forget that in the
meanwhile the co-chairs have been informally
working all along to resolve
the impasse. So I don’t see ourselves taking
long to break the deadlock,’
the Minister added.
Matinenga said one thing which came out of
Wednesday’s meeting was that each
of the three parties committed themselves
to the successful completion of
the exercise.
‘Personally I’ve looked
at the COPAC report from the second All-stakeholders
conference and I cannot
see ourselves sitting for two weeks dealing with the
issues. It’s either we
agree to move on or agree to disagree,’ he said.
As the process has
already taken three years, there are no guarantees of
completion any time
soon.
Meanwhile principals to the GPA have appointed Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai to be their spokesperson as they try to unlock the stalled
constitution-making process which has been beset by constant
bickering.
The Daily News newspaper reported on Thursday that the move
was meant to
reduce partisan interpretation of the leaders’
decisions.
‘As leaders of government and the political process in the
country, we have
decided to have our own spokesperson to remove
miscommunication and portray
a collective image when information is given to
the public regarding our
activities and decisions.
“I will therefore
speak on behalf of Principals from now on rather than have
COPAC
spokespersons trying to interpret what we want to say. It will avoid
confusion and partisan positions. We want to make sure the people get
exactly what we want them to get,’ the paper quoted Tsvangirai as saying.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Thursday, 06 December
2012 11:03
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says he will not
quit as MDC
president even if he were to lose to President Robert Mugabe in
next year’s
make or break elections.
In an exclusive interview with
the Daily News on Tuesday, Tsvangirai was
quick to declare his party will
win the polls.
On earlier statements attributed to him that he would step
down if he lost
next year’s polls, Tsvangirai said the statements were not
serious.
He blamed journalists for sensationalising “jokes”.
“I am
a messenger of hope and cannot be a carrier of bad news. I cannot be
discouraging my own supporters or threatening them. We will win the next
elections. I do not know how journalists sneak into our closed-door meetings
and misconstrue the jokes we make with our people,” said
Tsvangirai.
“I am not under any pressure to make that decision now and if
there are any
people who have been misled by those reports, they need to
calm down. I
intend to see through my five-year term from the mandate I
received at last
year’s congress and I will be here until the next
congress,” Tsvangirai
said.
Tsvangirai was reacting to media reports
claiming he had told supporters in
Gweru that he would quit as party supremo
if he loses next year’s
presidential I’ll not quit: Tsvangirai elections to
Mugabe.
The MDC president has already lost twice to the former guerrilla
leader and
Zanu PF strongman, who turns 89 in February.
In the same
interview, Tsvangirai revealed that Zimbabwe will borrow a major
chunk of
the funds needed for next year’s elections and referendum. This
will add a
burden to taxpayers already reeling from government’s $10 billion
debt.
The Daily News reliably understands that the Principals have
agreed to seek
assistance from regional bloc Sadc, the African Union and the
United
Nations.
Tsvangirai confirmed that the country will be
approaching institutions such
as the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) for assistance.
“We do not have the money,” he
said.
“Whatever we have is not enough to cover the $220 million required
by Zec
for the two processes. I will be meeting with Finance minister Tendai
Biti
and Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to map out the modalities of the
borrowing,” Tsvangirai said.
Curiously, the UNDP which has been
funding the constitution-making exercise
has been under fire from Zanu PF
hawks for pushing a regime-change agenda
through the draft document produced
by a parliamentary select committee
commonly referred to as Copac.
In
his 2013 budget presentation last month, Biti provided $50 million for
the
referendum and elections. Biti indicated that the contentious revenue
from
diamonds would be required to cover up for the cash shortfalls for
elections.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Thursday, 06 December 2012
11:03
HARARE - Harare residents are drinking recycled urine for water as
cases of
diarrhoea and typhoid continue to rise, officials have
said.
Researcher and water expert Christopher Magadza told journalists
during a
wetlands media tour that Harare, due to loss of wetlands, is being
supplied
with water containing 50 percent recycled urine.
“Manyame
used to have a perennial flow but not anymore. It is because of
disturbances, mainly caused by human beings. So, much water in Lake Chivero
right now is sewage,” said Magadza.
“For every glass, you have 50
percent water and 50 percent treated urine,
which again is not being treated
so well. We will have so many troubles —
excluding cholera and typhoid — an
increase in liver cancer! Imagine what 11
chemicals will do to your
stomach?” he said.
Harare council had recorded 937 cases of typhoid with
four confirmed deaths
in the city as of Harare residents drinking urine,
says researcher Monday
and Glen View suburb was the
epicentre.
According to the ministry of Health and Child Welfare director
for
Epidemiology and Disease Control Portia Manangazira, the outbreak, which
was
confined to Chitungwiza since June, has now resurfaced in other suburbs
of
Harare.
The disease is now causing havoc in Budiriro, Mbare,
Kuwadzana and Mabvuku
amid fears that a cholera outbreak could soon hit the
metropolis.
Health and Child Welfare minister Henry Madzorera said the
water-borne
diseases could soon overwhelm the cash-strapped inclusive
government if
council fails to address the issue of garbage and supply of
safe water.
“I remind all Zimbabweans to take extra caution to avoid
falling victim to
typhoid, cholera and other diseases.
“The
determinants of these preventable but highly transmissible diseases
remain
largely unaddressed in that sustained provision of adequate and safe
water
is not guaranteed for both urban and rural communities,” said
Madzorera.
Madzorera further revealed that diarrhoea is topping
fatalities of
waterborne diseases standing at 265 deaths out of 428 894
cases recorded
countrywide since January.
During last week’s full
council meeting, councillors admitted that water
being pumped to residents
is of poor quality and may trigger adverse health
problems.
Wildlife
and Environment expert Willie Nduku said government should quickly
move to
separate politics and human life issues when handling wetlands
issues.
“We wrote a series of letters regarding the flat and hotel
being built on
the Borrowdale vlei but they won’t listen to us. They listen
to voters
because they want votes.
“During the 1960’s Lake Chivero
averaged 12 metres in depth but now it is
around six metres. It is getting
filled with mud. We already have a water
crisis,” said Nduku. - Wendy Muperi
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 06 December 2012
10:07
MASVINGO - The deputy sheriff has attached the Masvingo mayor’s
Mercedes
Benz vehicle and other property over $3,5 million owed to workers
in a
salary dispute dating back to 2008.
The luxury car and eight
other vehicles as well as movable property are set
to go under the hammer
after the High Court recently ruled that the council
pays workers salary
increments from 2008 to date.
There was drama at Civic Centre when the
deputy sheriff towed the mayoral
car, a minibus and seven pickup
trucks.
Business came to a standstill and there was pandemonium as senior
council
officials ran from their offices to their cars upon realising that
the
deputy sheriff and his team were attaching the vehicles.
Some of
the officials drove their vehicles off.
Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers
Union (ZUCWU) officials told the Daily News
they approached the High Court
after council defied an arbitration award and
a Labour Court order in favour
of the workers.
“After defying an arbitration and Labour Court order to
grant us our
increments we felt the employer was not co-operating and the
only way
forward was to approach the High Court to give us the go ahead to
attach the
property,” Manase Vunganai, the ZUCWU regional chairperson
said.
Some offices were empty after they were cleaned by the deputy
sheriff.
Mayor Femias Chakabuda said the development would not affect the
“smooth
operation” of council work and service delivery.
He said
council would find means to pay the workers’ dues and save the
property
before it is auctioned.
“They have literary attached all our movable
property. We will, however, try
to come up with ways to raise the money for
the workers at the same time
save the property from being auctioned,” said
Chakabuda. - Godfrey Mtimba
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Nomalanga Moyo
06 December
2012
A Gwanda-based police officer has been branded ‘a danger to society’
and
sacked from his job for allegedly possessing a picture of MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, according to reports.
Assistant Inspector William
Mutsago, who was based at Gwanda Police Station
in Matebeleland South, is
said to have told his bosses that he was not
responsible for the picture,
which was saved on a memory card. He was
nevertheless fired without
compensation.
A statement from the MDC-T on Tuesday said Mutsago was
summoned to a hearing
in October last year, following an anonymous letter
written against him. He
was accused of engaging in activities likely to
discredit the force,
detained for 14 days and subsequently dismissed after
his appeal was
rejected.
During the hearing, Mutsago had argued that
he was not the sole user of the
memory card which was also used by other
staff, including those in the press
and public relations
department.
Despite protesting his innocence, Gwanda Police Station has
since written to
the Public Service Commission calling for Mutsago to be
blacklisted across
public sector departments, describing him as a “danger to
society”, the
MDC-T added.
Meanwhile Mutsago’s wife, a constable also
based at Gwanda station, is
awaiting a ruling on the appeal she lodged,
after she was charged with the
same offence. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights is reported to be
handling Mutsago’s case.
Last year, another
police officer was fired for playing Simudza Ngerengere,
a song by MDC-T
parliamentarian Paul Madzore. Assistant Inspector Tedious
Chisango, who was
stationed at Ntabazinduna just outside Bulawayo, was
accused of “teaching
police recruits on regime change”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
December 6, 2012 in Business
The cost of living, as measured
by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe’s low
income urban earner monthly basket
for a family of six, went up 0,08% in
November, pushed mainly by the
rise in meat prices.
Report by Gamma Mudarikiri
The cost of
living in the period marginally increased to US$572,63, up
from
US$572,18 in October.
The food basket rose to US$160, 22 in November,
from US$160,01 in October
representing a 0,13% increase.
“Of all
the commodities in the basket, meat has shown a consistent upward
increase
in price as from July 2012,” CCZ said.
The price of beef has been rising
steadily this year. Between July and
August,the price of economy beef
increased marginally to US$3,95 per kg
from US$3,92 per kg. In September the
price went up 13,8% to US$4,50 per kg.
For October and November, the economy
beef price recorded further increases
of 13,33% and 13,73% to US$5,10 per
kg and US$5,80 per kg respectively.
The prices of the other basic
commodities, among them bread, salt, onions,
cabbage, bath and laundry soaps
remained unchanged from the October figures.
The CCZ survey is conducted
twice; during the first and the last weeks of
each month. The total cost of
the food basket and the price of each
commodity are arrived at by averaging
prices gathered from several retail
outlets throughout the country.
http://www.zimeye.org
By Business Reporter
Published:
December 6, 2012
The MDC-T party’s economic policy, known as
Jobs, Upliftment, Investment,
Capital and Environment (Juice), officially
launched in Harare by party
leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last
week, has taken a new twist
with the party labelling ZANU PF’s
indigenisation drive an angel of death.
The MDC-T party’s JUICE is
expected to serve as a working alternative to
Zanu PF’s indigenisation
policy spearheaded by Indigenisation Minister
Savior Kasukuwere at a time
when the latter described Juice as a “stale
plan”. MDC-T’s spokesperson
Douglas Mwonzora has in turn labelled
Kasukuwere a “perennial
failure.”
This week, the MDC-T party’s ambassador to the United Kingdom
took stage to
further ambush Kasukuwere’s policy saying that ‘it
kills.’
Below is his critique:
Friends, Zanu-PF is making
a lot of noise at the moment about
indigenisation. But understand this:
indigenisation kills.
‘That is an extreme statement’, I hear some of you
thinking. Yet I am not
exaggerating. Indigenisation kills because it places
national wealth in the
hands of a few and takes it out of the hands of the
many.
Indigenisation Kills - Roy Bennett
This money should be
going to places like our hospitals. If you have a loved
one who has died
because of inadequate medical facilities, it is because the
money that
should be going to Treasury is being stolen before it gets
there.
Zimbabwe is a rich country, but the wealth is not being used for
development. Where there is rule of law, companies are taxed and the
proceeds are used to maintain public services.
Sadly, the nation’s
wealth is currently being carved up and fed to the
Zanu-PF patronage
machine. I am not against some monies going to local
community trusts. But
even here the lion’s share must go to the Treasury so
that it benefits
Zimbabwe as a nation.
And there must be full transparency at every step
of the way. The
beneficiaries at local level must be known to all and the
way the money is
spent locally must be accounted for. Likewise, company
revenues must be
known and they must be seen to be paying all taxes that are
owed.
We cannot have a situation where Zanu functionaries get in a smokey
room
with target companies and cut deals whose details are hidden. This is
theft.
As we speak, billions of dollars are being taken out the back door.
Billions
that could be used to heal our people, to heal our economy, to
breath life
and hope into our nation. – Roy Bennett
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Wednesday, 05 December 2012 18:35
Njabulo Ncube,
Assistant Editor
PRIME Minister (PM) Morgan Tsvangirai’s economic
blueprint — the Jobs,
Upliftment, Investment, Capital and the Environment
(JUICE) — is an
ambitious election project whose implementation could prove
difficult for
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) given the poor
calibre of some of
its administrators.
PM Tsvangirai, who is battling an
implosion in his faction riddled MDC-T,
launched his economic blueprin at
High Glen Shopping Centre last Thursday as
he eyes elections President
Robert Mugabe wants held in March next year.
The MDC-T is promising to create
a million jobs in the next five years in a
country where unemployment is
estimated at over 94 percent. The blueprint
rivals the indigenisation and
black economic empowerment programme which
ZANU-PF is using as its election
strategy.
A number of foreign-owned firms, particularly in the mining sector,
have
already embraced the Indigenisation Act which compels foreign investors
to
surrender 51 percent of their shareholding to black
Zimbabweans.
Critics say the indigenisation drive is scaring away potential
foreign
investors and that the policy is being implemented in a partisan
manner.
In launching his economic policy, PM Tsvangirai said JUICE was meant
to
bring about a holistic transformation of society and growing the national
cake for the benefit of all the people.
“The MDC believes that in order
to spur sustainable economic growth, it is
imperative to grow the national
cake,” he said in his foreword to the JUICE
document.
“Concentrating on
sharing the existing small and diminishing cake is a
recipe for disaster.
The current version of indigenisation is tantamount to
nationalisation and
expropriation and is clearly a political gimmick by
ZANU-PF,” he
added.
Psychology Maziwisa, a fiery MDC-T critic and political analyst,
disagrees.
This week, Maziwisa lashed out at the economic blueprint, saying
it was much
ado about nothing.
“It’s an empty policy by an insubstantial
party desperate to gain support
from the people ahead of crucial elections
next year. It’s absurd that a
party that has failed to create a single job
in four years can talk of
creating one million jobs in five years. They are
obviously taking
Zimbabweans for fools,” said Maziwisa.
Some of the
benchmarks in JUICE include achieving an average growth rate of
eight
percent in five years, normalisation of Zimbabwe’s international
relations,
domestic savings mobilisation, macro-economic stability anchored
on a single
digit inflation and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
constituting
at least 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
An MDC-T led
government will also envisage running a green economy,
deepening and
strengthening the role of Small-to-medium Enterprises (SMEs),
implementing a
Natural Resources Charter, reaching a US$100 billion first
world economy by
2040, an increase in power generation capacity to 6 000
megawatts by 2018,
reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure, building
a social contract
and ensuring sustainable and decent wages.
Bulawayo-based economic
commentator, Eric Bloch said although he was yet to
see the complete JUICE
document, it sounded like a “very good” programme in
that it sought not only
to create jobs but to grow skills while also making
citizens economically
active.
“The creation of a million jobs is subject to the restoration of
monetary
liquidity,” said Bloch.
He said average GDP of eight percent was
possible and could even be
exceeded.
“That also is subject to major
policy changes in the banking sector and
agriculture,” he said, adding that
good agricultural seasons normally
translate into improved economic
growth.
Bloch said the restoration of Zimbabwe’s international relations
remained
key to attracting FDIs, adding that the country could not continue
to
operate in isolation.
He said the country’s economy would grow
significantly after next year’s
elections regardless of which political
party wins the polls.
Economist, Stevenson Dlamini, who teaches at the
National University of
Science and Technology’s Department of Banking said
although jobs could be
created in the next five years, targeting a million
in five years was
rather “too ambitious” on the part of the MDC-T.
“FDI
into the country has not been fast flowing enough to justify the
creation of
a million jobs. The policy (JUICE) goes in the positive
direction but it is
a bit ambitious,” he said.
Dlamini said jobs could be created in the SME and
the small scale mining
sectors, but not to the magnitude envisaged by the
premier.
“Looking at the rate at which the economy has been growing since
2009, an
average GDP of eight percent is achievable by 2018,” he
added.
Solusi University dean of Faculty of Business, Bongani Ngwenya, who
described JUICE as a positive initiative, said its success rested on
implementation.
He, however, said the US$3,8 billion 2013 national
budget, which does not
adequately address infrastructural development, key
to economic recovery,
does not tally with the MDC-T’s economic
blueprint.
ZANU-PF’s Indigenisation Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere has
dismissed JUICE as
being a “stale plan”.
http://nehandaradio.com
on December 6, 2012 at 2:28
pm
Jobs, Upliftment, Investment Capital & the Environment
(JUICE)
A comprehensive approach to sustainable, inclusive and people
centred
development
Foreword
By Morgan Tsvangirai
The
biggest challenge that confronts our economy today is unemployment.
Millions
of our youths face a bleak future with rising joblessness, which is
a result
of the growth stagnation of our economy.
The issue of jobs is no longer
just an economic issue. It has become an
issue of political stability and
social cohesion. The country is sitting on
a time bomb because of youth
unemployment. We have to generate decent jobs
for the hundreds of thousands
of young men and women that are leaving
colleges, vocational training
centres, polytechnics and universities every
year.
In order to do
this we need to build a sustainable economic framework that
grows the
economy. The MDC believes that in order to spur sustainable
economic growth,
it is imperative to grow the national cake. Concentrating
on sharing the
existing small and diminishing cake is a recipe for disaster.
The current
version of indigenisation is tantamount to nationalization and
expropriation
and it is clearly a political gimmick by ZANU PF. The MDC’s
jobs plan
entitled Jobs, Upliftment Investment Capital and the Environment
(JUICE) is
a comprehensive plan for the generation of decent jobs that will
not only
end poverty but also empower citizens.
JUICE advocates for a Broad Based
Economic (BBE) upliftment of citizens by
expanding people’s choices in
attaining sustainable livelihoods not through
asset striping and looting.
Zimbabwe desperately needs new domestic and
foreign investment in order to
increase capital formation.
This can be achieved by polices that increase
investor confidence. As JUICE
clearly demonstrates, it is possible to
achieve upliftment without
suffocating the economy. We should never allow a
situation where the goose
that lays the golden egg is
killed.
Zimbabweans who are committed to sustainable development know
that our
society can do better if we can combine job creation with durable
human
upliftment, sustained investment capital and respect for our
environment.
Instead of indigenization for a few elites based on
unsustainable extraction
and exploitation, it is vital for Zimbabwe and the
world to know that the
degeneration of our great country’s investment
climate, the appearance of
renewed shake-downs on behalf of cronies, and the
return to patronage can be
reversed, in the interests of genuinely
inclusive, pro-poor development and
job creation.
This document marks
the beginning of that alternative national process that
will lead Zimbabwe
back to a firm path to sustainable development.
Morgan Richard
Tsvangirai, MDC President
SECTION ONE – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.
Introduction
Zimbabwe is a structurally weak economy arrested by
“enclavity”, huge levels
of poverty, social underdevelopment, decayed
infrastructure and a crippling
debt overhang.
Regrettably, 32 years
of a Zanu PF government have compounded the country’s
structural problems as
self-induced policy distortions we implemented by a
government with neither
the vision nor the craft competence of moving the
country forward.
At
the epicentre of Zimbabwe’s woes is the economy’s failure to create jobs.
Jobs are not just the engine of poverty reduction or a derivative of
rowth – they are transformative in and of themselves, and can help drive
the pathways to development.
This policy document is the MDC’s job
plan and sets out the foundations of a
multi-sectoral approach to job
creation, wealth creation and poverty
alleviation.
In its first 5
years an MDC government will implement coherent, effective
and forward
looking policies to address Zimbabwe’s longstanding economic
problems of
high unemployment, deepening poverty and inequality.
It will establish a
pathway for inclusive and sustainable long-term growth
based on a broad
based human upliftment model.
The MDC’s entry into a coalition government
in 2009 led to a structural
recovery of the economy and the restoration of
our international dignity
following a decade of negative economic growth and
economic mismanagement.
The MDC government will consolidate the recovery
we initiated and provide a
firm foundation for macroeconomic stabilization
and growth.
The MDC Policy – Jobs, Upliftment, Investment Capital and the
Environment
(JUICE) is our framework to create jobs, and build a strong,
growing economy
that is financially and environmentally sustainable, where
growth is evenly
shared across the country and not by a privileged
few.
With more than 8 in every 10 people unemployed, the pressing need
for our
government will be to create new jobs, which are more empowering
than
indeterminate share ownership. This policy document sets our plan for
spurring growth, long term prosperity and a credible route to a 21st century
economy.
In conceiving JUICE, the MDC is guided by the following
objectives:
1. Creating decent employment opportunities for all
Zimbabweans.
2. Creating an enabling environment for citizens to acquire
entrepreneurial
skills and to flourish in doing business with no hindrance
aside from
standard laws that protect workers, communities, consumers and
our ecology.
3. Establishing a friendly environment for both domestic and
Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) to rapidly increase the productive sector’s
capacity
utilization to a level that ensures job creation through genuine
capital
investment.
4. Enabling policies that promote capital
formation through efficient
financial markets.
5. Greater integration
with regional and global markets to facilitate
sustainable growth.
6.
Implementing a comprehensive program that provides for the delivery of
good-quality social services such as education and healthcare, in a way that
is affordable to all.
7. Restructuring the ownership and control of
the economy through a broad
based economic empowerment programme, which
meets the needs of all
Zimbabweans.
8. Provide opportunities to every
citizen to pursue happiness, achieve
social justice and nurture our natural
environment in a democratic society
without state bureaucratic
hindrance.
9. Manage our foreign debt.
2. Strategies for Building
a Strong, Sustainable, Balanced Economy
JUICE is based on ten (10)
strategies that will be implemented as part of
the economic transformation
process, each with complementary themes.
These strategies are clear,
transparent and forward-looking. Implementing
these strategies will mean we
are putting Zimbabwe back on its feet using a
fresh, dynamic and new
economic model.
JUICE is our plan for a strong economy and our plan to
transform Zimbabwe
into one of Africa’s strongest and competitive economy,
restoring our
‘Breadbasket of Southern Africa’ status.
In the short
term, immediate measures will be implemented to consolidate the
stabilization of macroeconomic fundamentals. Our medium to long term polices
will set us on a path for sustainable growth.
We will focus on
resuscitating our industries, reforming and making the
public sector more
competitive, creating new jobs, developing and supporting
our SMEs sector
and the informal sector.
Our policies for sustainable growth will
mobilize state resources towards a
common national vision of uplifting every
Zimbabwean out of poverty and
improving the daily experiences of our people
and reducing inequality.
The following policies will drive this
strategy;
1. Transformation to a Democratic Developmental
State
1.1How the state should do business
1.2Political
governance
2. Creating Sustainable Jobs & SMEs
Development
2.1Entrepreneurship
2.2SMEs
development
2.3Formalising the informal sector
2.4Enhancing skills
development
2.5Sector specific job creation potential
3. Creating
an Enabling Environment for Inclusive
Economic
Participation
3.1Social dialogue and social
contract
3.2Respect for property rights and rule of
law
3.3Mainstreaming gender
3.4Upliftment and poverty
reduction
4. Creating a Safer and More Stable Macroeconomic and Financial
System
4.1Fiscal reforms
4.2Tax reforms
4.3Reforming the
financial sector
4.4Debt sustainability and debt relief
5.
Reforming Public Services to Deliver Quality Social Services
5.1A
performance driven civil service
6. Sustainable Growth
Strategies
6.1Private sector development and industrial
transformation
6.2Rescusitation of industry
6.3Increasing
productivity
6.4Value addition
6.5Infrastructural
development
6.6Public-private partnerships to deliver
infrastructure
7. A broad based Economic Empowerment Agenda
7.1The
Pitfalls of the current indigenization policy
7.2Tenets of a broad based
empowerment strategy
8. Creating a more balanced
economy
8.1Cluster based development
8.2Rural
transformation
8.3Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
9. Opening
Zimbabwe for business
9.1Investment Promotion and
Facilitation
9.2Regional and Global integration
10. Environmental
Responsibility
10.1 Resource Governance
10.2 The
Environment
2. 3 What Will our Policies Achieve?
Implementing
JUICE will be a critical conduit for development. Our policies
will deliver
tangible outcomes towards poverty reduction, employment
creation, equity and
social cohesion.
JUICE will direct resources towards development within
the constraints of
our fiscal resources achieving some of the following
benchmarks;
Figure 1: Key Benchmarks
JUICE KEY
BENCHMARKS
As a direct result of JUICE we expect to achieve the
following;
1. One million new jobs to be created between
2013-2018
2. Projected average growth rate of 8% per annum between
2013-2018.
3. Macroeconomic stability anchored by single digit
inflation.
4. Deepening and strengthening the role of SMEs.
5.
Domestic savings mobilization.
6. Normalization of Zimbabwe’s
international relations.
7. Implementation of a Natural Resources
Charter.
8. Running a green economy.
9. A US$100 billion first
world economy by 2040.
10. An increase in power generation capacity to
6,000 Megawatt by 2018.
11. Reconstruction of the country’s
infrastructure.
12. Building a social contract and ensuring sustainable
and decent wages.
13. Attracting FDI that is at least 30% of GDP.
Transparency International (TI) launched the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 on the 5th of December 2012. The CPI ranks countries or territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI reflects the views of observers from around the
world, including experts living and working in the countries or territories evaluated. Previously countries were ranked on a corruption scale from 1 to 10 where 1 the highest level of corruption and 10 being the least. For the year 2012 however Transparency International updated the methodology for the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012. Corruption Perceptions Index is now presented on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Zimbabwe being one of the countries assessed scored 20 on the CPI score and out of the 176 countries it was ranked number 163. In 2011 Zimbabwe had CPI score of 2.2 an overall rank of 154 out of 182 countries assessed. This year score therefore
The latest CPI reveals that corruption is on the increase in Zimbabwe. Over the year a lot corruption issues have emerged in the print out media from some of the key institutions and sectors such as education, health, mining, sports, and agriculture among others. Corruption has been rampant in the education sector where gross nepotism, favouritism has been used by education officials to exclude deserving orphans from benefiting from the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). There has been poor service delivery in the health sector in which drugs meant for free distribution to HIV positive people were being sold at a fee by local nurses. The extractive industry has been tainted with incidents of bribery in the issuing of mining licenses and claims. All this shows that corruption in Zimbabwe is a key governance issue which is affecting development and the democratization process, Corruption amounts to a dirty tax, and the poor and most vulnerable are its primary victims especially the rural and marginalized communities.
As such there is need for the Zimbabwean government to step up anti-corruption initiatives. Politicians and leaders should show will (especially those holding highest offices in the land) in combating corruption. The government must prioritise better rules on lobbying and political financing, make public spending and contracting more transparent, and make public officials and institutions more accountable.
Despite efforts of putting in place the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) it remains incapacitated to achieve its mandate. While legal frameworks to combat corruption exist it is also imperative to move towards a paradigm shift of implementing and enforcing various legislation such as the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act and international instruments such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) that deter abuse of office. More so since corruption has a demand and supply side, it is important that the citizens of this country take a lead in fighting corruption by denying bribes and kickbacks. Over the past few years critics have blamed corruption on the office bearers and those in power. In depth analysis on the matter reveals that it's the ordinary citizens who are actually fueling corruption through bribing the bureaucrats and the office bearers. This means that the power to combat corruption does not lie in the various pieces of legislations and institutions but in people and the culture that they choose to adopt.
After a year with a global focus on corruption, people's expectations were that the governments would take a tougher stance against the abuse of power. The Corruption Perceptions Index results demonstrate that there are still many societies and governments that need to give a much higher priority to this issue. The government is strongly called upon to have a serious re-think in enacting effective anti-corruption mechanisms for the betterment of the country.
BILL
WATCH 53/2012
[4th
December 2012]
Both
Houses of Parliament have Adjourned until Tuesday 5th
February
2013
Budget Goes through Parliament in Three Days
500-plus
WOZA [Women
of Zimbabwe Arise] supporters
staged a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament at midday on Tuesday 27th
November. The demonstration marked the
beginning of WOZA’s “Peace Now” programme to commemorate this year’s 16 Days of
Activism against Violence against Women.
Riot police prevented any demonstrators from entering the
building,
but the demonstrators were able to present Parliamentary officials with
the Woza Moya Newsletter containing a list of
demands on constitutional and women’s rights issues. The attitude of police and security officials
was hostile, but restrained. The demonstrators were able to complete their
protest with several short speeches, singing and prayers.
House
of Assembly
Fast-tracking
approved At the start of business on Tuesday 27th
November the House approved Government motions to fast-track Budget
business. This involved the suspension
of Standing Orders to allow the Estimates of Expenditure and all stages of the
two Budget Bills [see below] to be taken in one day, to
authorise same-day reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee and to allow
late-night sittings, instead of automatic adjournment at 7 pm.
Portfolio
committee reports The Budget debate then continued with
contributions from the chairpersons of all portfolio committees, starting with
the report of the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment
Promotion presented by Hon Zhanda. All
reports highlighted the fact that allocations made in the Estimates fell far
short of what had been asked for. The
report on the allocation for the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry,
for instance, showed that there was no allocation at all for hosting next year’s
United Nations World Tourism Organisation conference at Victoria Falls, despite
a special bid for $11 million for the purpose of this “grand occasion”, with its potential for
boosting the tourism industry.
[For
details of main Budget allocations to Ministries, see Bill Watch 52/2012 of 24th November]
Estimates
and Bills approved Several backbenchers made thoughtful speeches
after the committee reports. Hon Chinyadza mentioned the stifling effect of inadequate
resources on Parliament itself, citing the failure to set up Constituency
Information Centres and the inability of the Public Accounts Committee to meet
as often as it should because of insufficient funding. The
Minister of Finance replied to points raised and wound up the debate. The House then:
·
approved
the Estimates of Expenditure for 2013
·
passed
the Finance (No. 2) Bill through all its stages
·
passed
the Appropriation (2013) Bill through all its stages.
All
this took until 9.15 pm, at which point the House adjourned.
A
procedural error over quorum Unfortunately, a procedural error occurred
during the Budget debate when an MP objected that there was no quorum – i.e.,
there were fewer than 25 MPs present.
The bells were then rung to summon MPs back to the House [these bells are
clearly audible in every part of Parliament building] and should have been rung
for a full 7 minutes. But after 4 minutes, although there was still no quorum,
the Deputy Speaker directed that the bells be stopped, permitted the withdrawal
of the no-quorum objection, and allowed proceedings to continue. This was contrary to Standing Order 27, which
does not allow for the withdrawal of such an objection, and says that if a
quorum is not assembled after the ringing of the bells, the presiding officer
must adjourn proceedings to the following day.
Error
corrected The sequel to this surprising lapse came on
Wednesday when the Deputy Speaker acknowledged her mistake, declared the
previous afternoon’s post-objection proceedings null and void, and ruled that
neither the Estimates nor the two Bills had been validly passed. [Ruling
available from veritas@mango.zw] This
invalidity was rectified in a 65-minute
sitting during which the House, now with a quorum but without any debate,
re-approved the Budget presentation, the Estimates and all stages of both
Bills. The Bills were then transmitted
to the Senate.
Comment:
it is extraordinary that, when a matter as important as the Budget was being
debated, and MPs had voted to work late so that Parliament could adjourn for the
Christmas break by the end of the week, MPs were not dedicated enough to ensure
that at least 25 MPs were in the chamber throughout the debate. 135 MPs were recorded as present in the
Chamber at the start of the afternoon.
Did most of them leave the building by late afternoon? The brief corrective proceedings on Wednesday
may have put the procedural defect right legally – but the nation will hardly be
reassured to know that fewer than 25 MPs out of 135 could be bothered to see
Tuesday’s important debate through to its conclusion.
MPs
Christmas present? This year, unlike last year, MPs did not
threaten to throw out the Budget. The
general feeling that the Minister had done a good job in exceptionally difficult
circumstances may account for this. Only
cynics will say MPs co-operated because the Minister had reminded them their car
loans [$30 000 to each MP, totalling $9 million ] had been written off by the
Treasury.
Senate
The Minister of
Finance explained the Finance Bill to Senators on Wednesday and it was given its
Second Reading. On Thursday, Budget
business initially gave way to the scheduled routine Question Time. One Senator obligingly asked the Minister of
Finance about Cabinet’s role in the Budget approval process – was it really
Biti’s Budget or was it a collective Budget presented by him as Minister of
Finance on behalf of the Cabinet, including the President? The Minister took Senators through the
process, explaining the vital role of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,
the only Cabinet Committee chaired by the President, in Budget preparation. He said that only the taxation aspect is not
discussed by the Committee – that is discussed only by the President, the Prime
Minister and the Finance Minister. After
approval by the Cabinet Committee, the Budget must go to Cabinet for
approval. Only after that does the
Minister take it to Parliament.
Therefore, said the Minister, “ the budget is not mine, I am just a
spokesperson.”
After
Question Time, the Finance Bill went through its remaining stages and the
Appropriation Bill was taken through all stages. Both Bills were passed without debate and
without amendment. [Bills
available from veritas@mango.zw]
The
two Bills must now be sent to the President for his assent. They should be in force on the 1st January
which would necessitate their gazetting before the end of December.
Non-Budget
Business in Parliament Last Week
Adjournment
until 5th February
On
Thursday both Houses adjourned until Tuesday 5th February. This means there will be no sittings until
that date, unless members are recalled by the presiding officers for special
sittings. Standing Orders authorise
the presiding officers to take this step at the request of the
President if they are satisfied that the public interest so requires. [House
of Assembly Standing Order 187, Senate Standing Order 194.] If the next two or three weeks produce an
inter-party consensus on the draft constitution, a recall would be appropriate
to allow it to be debated in Parliament, as required by the GPA, before it goes
to the Referendum.
In
the House of Assembly
Microfinance
Bill
The Bill was introduced on 29th November
and referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee for a report on its
constitutionality.
Motions On 29th November ZANU-PF chief whip Joram Gumbo moved the traditional motion of thanks to the
President for the speech delivered at the opening of the present
session. He was followed by several
other speakers thanking the President before the adjournment until 5th
February.
Hon
Gonese’s motion to restore his lapsed Private Member’s Bill to amend s. 123
of Criminal Procedure Act to the Order Paper was not dealt with. The motion will be carried forward for
consideration in February. The Bill
lapsed at the end of the last session.
In
the Senate
Motion
on the President’s speech On Tuesday 27th, before adjourning after only
40 minutes, the Senate filled in a little time with contributions to the debate
on the motion of thanks to the President for his speech opening the session;
this debate continued on Wednesday afternoon while Senators waited for the
delayed arrival of the Finance and Appropriation Bills from the House of
Assembly.
Motion
against the death penalty On Wednesday Senator Marava, seconded by
Senator Hlalo, both of MDC-T, moved a motion condemning the death penalty as
inhuman and a violation of human rights; deploring Zimbabwe's recent vote
against a UN General Assembly resolution for a moratorium on the application of
the death penalty; and urging the Government not only to reverse this vote but
also to accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Convention
on Civil and Political Rights and “establish a de jure moratorium on the
application of the death penalty aimed at its definitive abolition”. In the ensuing debate at least one Senator
said the death penalty should be retained in Zimbabwe irrespective of
international trends towards abolition.
Debate will continue when the Senate resumes in
February.
MDC-T
Deputy Minister Sworn In
On
28th November President Mugabe swore in MDC-T deputy National Chairman Senator
Morgan Komichi as Deputy Minister of Transport,
Communication and Infrastructural Development.
The post had been vacant since Dr Mudzingwa’s
death in April. Senator Komichi was
nominated by MDC-T in June.
ZANU-PF
Conference This Week
Now that Parliament
has adjourned until February, ZANU-PF MPs can attend their
party conference from 4th to 9th December without, as in past years, delaying
Parliamentary business. The Politburo
will meet on Wednesday and the Central Committee on Thursday, with the main
gathering starting on Friday.
Government
Gazette of 30th November
Income
Tax Bill gazetted
This
Bill was gazetted on 30th November. It
is a large Bill aimed at replacing the current Income Tax Act, which dates from
1967. It has 224 clauses and 15 detailed
Schedules and covers over 200 pages.
There is a helpful 9-page explanatory memorandum. [Please
note that a soft copy of the Bill is NOT yet available.]
Statutory
Instruments
Customs
and excise duty
SI
184/2012 increases the duty on cigarettes and other tobacco products with effect
from 1st December [the “sin tax” mentioned by the Minister of Finance in his
Budget statement].
SIs
182 and 183/2012 provides for suspension of duty for certain mining
operations.
Local
authority by-laws SI 181/2012 enacts new fixed penalties for
breaches of Gweru municipal traffic by-laws.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied