Rare voice of sanity Professor John Makumbe dies

Professor John Makumbe has died at 63

By Violet Gonda
27 January 2013

Outspoken political analyst and highly respected academic, John Makumbe, has died.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that Makumbe, who was a key member of his party, died at Arcadia Medical Centre in Harare on Sunday morning after suffering a suspected heart attack.

He is survived by his wife, Virginia, and five children.

Late last year, the University of Zimbabwe professor announced he was going to take a break from teaching to contest in the forthcoming general elections as an MDC-T candidate for Buhera West constituency in Manicaland province.

He told SW Radio Africa, shortly after his announcement last November, that he had been, “doing a lot of talking and now it is time to show that I can also walk the walk.”

Makumbe said: “There are various ways of emancipating Zimbabwe from the tyrannical system of government we have endured under ZANU PF. You can either make noise from your white castle or you can put on your boots and overalls and fight for the emancipation of the country.”

Mwonzora said Makumbe was a “hero of the democratic struggle” in Zimbabwe and the MDC-T owes the success of the constitution making process to his wisdom as he was the technical adviser for the party.

Tributes are pouring in for the man who many have described as “a rare voice of sanity” in Zimbabwe.

Journalist Farai Sevenzo said: “Makumbe was a rare act – a walking talking thinking advert against prejudice and tyranny.
He had a forensic analytical mind that came with charm and a disarming sense of humour, which made the task of interviewing him never boring. A big loss.”

Zimbabwean Glen Mpani said, “Professor’s commitment to a free Zimbabwe was unquestionable. His untimely death before achieving what he dedicated his life for, should spur those who remain to make his dream a reality.”

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights director Irene Petras said: “The white man from Buhera has gone too soon.”
“He was one of the few outspoken voices of conscience remaining in the academic community and a much loved member of the civil society. His wit, intellect and humour ensured that he and those around him were able to survive troubled times and remain resolute to the struggle for a better Zimbabwe.”

CIO boss attaches ACR property

http://www.herald.co.zw

Sunday, 27 January 2013 00:00

Daniel Nemukuyu

CENTRAL Intelligence Organisation director general Retired MajorGeneral
Happyton Bonyongwe has attached mining equipment and other property at
Africa Consolidated Resources offices in Harare. Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe won a
US$10 million defamation suit against the ACR director Mr Andrew Cranswick
end of last year.

He had sued Mr Cranswick over a WikiLeaks report that linked him to diamond
looting in Chiadzwa.

High Court judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo granted a default judgment against
Mr Cranswick and also ordered him to pay costs of the suit.

The deputy sheriff has already attached the property from ACR’s Herbert
Chitepo Avenue offices but is yet to remove it from the premises for
auctioning.

The property, according to a notice of attachment, includes two combined
gold catchers, 14 sieves, a 10 000 litre tank, fridges, generators, plasma
television sets, furniture and many others.

Mr Cranswick has filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court
seeking to stop the removal of the property from ACR premises.
He deposed an affidavit from Gauteng in South Africa seeking to stop the
removal and subsequent sale of the attached property.

Mr Cranswick indicated in his affidavit that he was never served with the
summons for the US$10 million defamation. He said he had since instructed
his lawyer Mr Jonathan Samukange to file an application for rescission of
the default judgment.

The urgent chamber application has been set down for hearing on Tuesday in
Justice Hlatshwayo’s chambers. Mr Cranswick said he read about the US$10
million default judgment in the press and that he had never been served with
the summons.

He argues that he has a strong defence to the summons and that the matter
should be reset as an opposed matter.Mr Cranswick, who openly told the court
he was not coming to Zimbabwe for fear of being “unlawfully” arrested, says
he was not staying in the United Kingdom where service of the summons could
have been done.

He argues that he was not in willful default and that the default judgment
should be rescinded.Before the court proceedings were instituted, Rtd
Maj-Gen Bonyogwe’s former lawyer Mr Joseph Mafusire (now judge of the High
Court) wrote to Mr Cranswick demanding the money.

The parties failed to agree, resulting in the filing of the lawsuit last
year.

The report the CIO boss complained about was headlined: “Regime elites
looting deadly diamond field” and it was dispatched on December 8, 2009.
According to Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe’s lawyers, the report indicated that
“certain highranking Zimbabwean Government officials and wellconnected elite
were generating millions of dollars in personal income by engaging in
illicit trade in diamonds from Chiadzwa mine in eastern Zimbabwe.”

Rtd MajGen Bonyongwe was mentioned among other officials or personnel or
officers in the Zimbabwean Government.

The letter quoted a portion of the WikiLeaks report that reads: “Cranswick
said that RBZ Governor Gideon Gono, Grace Mugabe, wife of President Robert
Mugabe, Vice President Joice Mujuru, (the then) Mines and Mining Development
Minister Amos Midzi, General Constantine Chiwenga and wife Jocelyn, CIO
director Happyton Bonyongwe, Manicaland Governor Chris Mushohwe and several
white Zimbabweans including Ken Sharpe, Greg Scott and Hendrick O’Neill, are
involved in the Marange diamond trade.”

It was Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe’s contention that the report was false and he
was never involved in any illegal trade of diamonds from Chiadzwa.
He felt the report that reached millions worldwide seriously defamed him and
that he should be paid damages.

“Our client was never involved in any trade in diamonds from Chiadzwa or
anywhere else. He has not been involved in any mineral of whatever kind in
Zimbabwe or elsewhere,” read the letter.

Mr Cranswick’s conduct, Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe’s lawyers said, severely
damaged his fame and reputation.

‘Harare City Council has failed residents’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Sunday, 27 January 2013 12:57

HARARE - Communities are not being run smoothly in Harare due to the dismal
failure by council to service the people, Precious Shumba, the Harare
Residents Trust Coordinator has said.

“The City of Harare has dismally failed to address critical service delivery
issues, namely the provision of adequate and quality water to the citizenry,
refuse collection, representative democracy where residents are treated as
key stakeholders, and the provision of other essential services like road
maintenance and upgrading, street lighting, maintenance and upgrading of
municipal cemeteries, restructuring the council management structures to
save money, and critically — policy formulation, enactment of regulations
and by-laws to reflect the current economic, social, cultural and political
situation within communities,” said Shumba.

Shumba said the power struggles among councillors was retrogressive.

“The constant power struggles among councillors and council officials on the
other hand, and the struggles that exist between the minister of Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development and the elected councillors have a
significant negative impact on service provision, leaving residents exposed
to the excesses of senior council management’s executive decisions, without
the intervention of the electorate’s representatives — the elected
councillors,” he said.

City of Harare’s failures cannot be looked at in isolation, said Shumba.

“While it is all good to point out the supposed weaknesses and failures of
the City of Harare, it is prudent to analyse service provision by local
authorities in the context of the structure of local governance in Zimbabwe
where the Cabinet sits at the top, under President Robert Mugabe, with
minister Ignatius Chombo being the central government eye and his deputy is
powerless, if not insignificant in transforming how services are rendered
and how local authorities are administered in terms of available
legislation.

“These challenges in the local government sector cannot be addressed in
isolation from the national governance structure, where there are numerous
pieces of legislation governing local authorities, bestowing executive
authority in the minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development,
and town secretaries and town clerks, with mayors and councillors being
figureheads, just in existence to provide a semblance of representative
democracy.

“In fact most councillors have found out they are powerless and ineffectual,
leaving most of them with no other option than to concentrate on wealth
accumulation, corruption, and engaging in hopeless and wasteful power
struggles.

“In all this, residents are at the mercy of the local authorities who make
budgets without enforceable conditions to consult residents and other
stakeholders,” he said.

Shumba added: “All local government legislation have to be harmonised to
harness and balance the aspirations and interests of residents, local
authorities and central government, without disempowering the citizenry, as
is the current set up where residents are simply there to pay for services,
whether rendered or not rendered.

“Structures of local authorities have to be decentralised to ensure that
communities directly benefit from their revenues, and that decision-making
is a responsibility of a collection of stakeholders rather than being
centralised in the office of town clerks and the minister of local
government.

“Let residents have a significant voice on how their resources and allocated
and distributed, and how service delivery priorities are decided.” -
Margaret Chinowaita, Community Affairs Editor

Zengeza blast caused by goblin: survivor

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

26/01/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

A survivor of the January 21 blast at a house in the Zengeza 2 suburb of
Chitungwiza has revealed an extraordinary tale of greed and witchcraft.

Clara Banda, who lived in the same neighbourhood as tragic traditional
healer Speakmore Mandere, 24, claims she was also part of a “cleansing
ceremony” which went kaboom – leaving five dead and a dozen others injured.

Harare police said Saturday they were yet to establish the cause of the
blast which damaged several houses on Ndororo Street. Charity Charamba, the
national police spokeswoman, says it is unlikely an explanation will be
found in the next seven days.

In the absence of an official explanation, neighbours have been filling in
the gaps for an expectant media – and some of the theories put forward
beggar belief.

Yet Banda, hospitalised after being struck by shrapnel from the blast, is
not just another neighbour. She was at Mandere’s rented home as a
consultant – herself boasting supernatural powers – for a cleansing ceremony
to kill what she describes as a troublesome GOBLIN brought by businessman,
Clever Kamuyedza, and his wife, Svodai.

Mandere, also known as Sekuru Shumba, had invited Banda and another
traditional named only as Virginia to help him with the “cleansing ceremony”.
Consultations with Kamuyedza – a kombi operator – lasted three days and a
fee of US$15,000 was to be paid.

Banda has no doubt why they gathered on a hot afternoon on January 21. They
were to take a “money-making goblin” from Kamuyedza which had turned hostile
by making “extreme demands”.

Banda, who suffered minor burns and a blow to the eye, said: “The tragedy
fell upon us while we were conducting the ceremony to dispose of the goblin
that this businessman brought to Sekuru Shumba.

“After assembling the team for the cleansing ceremony, Sekuru Shumba invited
Kamuyedza, his wife and two of their associates to his home for
consultations.

“The consultations lasted three days during which we discussed whether or
not we could handle this kind of ritual.
“Kamuyedza kept the goblin at home and only brought it to Sekuru Shumba’s
lodgings for destruction on the fourth day.
“Sekuru was in the bedroom with Kamuyedza and two other men. I was with Mai
Tsitsi (Kamuyedza’s wife) and Virginia (another healer) in the lounge.

“Other members of the group sat outside since the house was already packed.
Sekuru Shumba beheaded the goblin. Clever (the businessman) subsequently
told his wife to collect the US$15,000 from their car that was parked
outside.

“That is when Sekuru shouted that the goblin was fighting back. All I
remember after that is a loud bang coming from the bedroom. The walls of the
house crumbled. Virginia and I struggled to get outside.

“I was hit by debris falling off a crumbling wall, but my friend Virginia
was not so lucky. She is still nursing serious injuries from that blast.”

In the aftermath of the explosion, five people were dead including Mandere,
seven-month-old Kelly Chimina who was asleep in one of the bedrooms,
Kamuyedza and two of his associates – retired Detective Constable Alex Shamu
and a yet-to-be-named man thought to have a military background.

Rescue workers took more than 24 hours to gather body parts after the blast
mutilated the bodies of the dead. Some body parts were picked as far away as
50 meters.

Pictures of some of the dead appeared to show evidence they were burnt which
military experts suggest would be consistent with an incendiary device like
a landmine or some kind of bomb.

But in the absence of a police explanation of what happened, the voices of
Banda and other survivors will reinforce a strong belief locally that what
happened shortly after 3.20PM on that day will elude scientific enquiry.

Yet the human toll is not in question. Victoria Sarangera, a neighbour,
remembers the immediate aftermath vividly.
“I was outside doing the dishes when all of a sudden there was a loud bang
and I was hit by a brick,” she told the Sunday Mail.

“When I turned back, there were two men who were already dead. Their skin
had turned black. One of them had a deep gash on the head and his brains
could be seen while the other man’s body had been ripped into two.

“A cloud of smoke went up into the air. Sekuru Shumba was lying motionless.
Kamuyedza was also dead. At that moment, a tenant at the house, Mai Kelly,
was looking for her daughter whose corpse was later retrieved under a bed.

“Limbs and other human parts were strewn all over.”
Among the survivors was Mandere’s aide Tawanda Maruma who had stepped
outside to prepare some concoction in a clay pot, his wife Liliyosa Nyawata
and Kamuyedza’s wife, Svodai. They have all been questioned by the police.

Chitungwiza blast: $40 000 vanishes

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Sunday, 27 January 2013 12:57

HARARE - The Chitungwiza “house of death” mystery continues to deepen amid
reports that $40 000 cash was stashed in the house.

This comes as sources close to the late traditional healer said he used to
keep large sums of money at his home.

Police sources also told the Daily News that a soldier and an ex-police
officer are the two unidentified persons who died along with Speakmore
Mandere, the traditional healer and an infant.

Although police officers were still tight-lipped yesterday, funeral
proceedings for the late officer identified as Shamuyashe formerly with
Criminal Investigations Department (CID), were underway at his Zengeza home
in Chitungwiza.

“There is money here, this guy dealt with rich people and he had money. As
far as I know, he had kept over $40 000 in his house which he got from
various clients including senior politicians in the community,” said our
source.

The powerful blast, whose source is yet to be officially established,
damaged four houses and left 34 people homeless.

Top security personnel have been roped in to unravel the cause of the
mysterious blast.

Officers from CID Law and Order section and forensic experts assisted by
army bomb disposal unit were still searching for clues from evidence
collected.

The body of the late cop is expected to be buried in Masvingo, his rural
home.

Senior police officers who spoke with the Daily News said the involvement of
a soldier and a policeman could possibly give credence to the theory that a
bomb caused the blast.

Felix Muchemwa, a retired brigadier general, has already concluded that the
blast was caused by a bomb.

“There is no mysticism involved. All the signs point to an incendiary bomb,”
he said this week.

Police spokespersons yesterday ducked at questions on the matter.

Harare police spokesperson Tadious Chibanda referred the Daily News to CID
headquarters saying he had not received any briefing from investigators.

Officers from CID head office referred this paper to police spokesman Oliver
Mandipaka whose phone went unanswered.

After the horror blast which left Chitungwiza residents in shock allegations
of black magic were rife with residents disputing the presence of a bomb in
the explosion.

Residents in the raucous suburb of Zengeza in Chitungwiza now live in fear
following the deadly explosion.

A visit to Ndororo Street, the scene of the ghastly blast, showed that
residents there are still in fear, unsure of their safety following the
incident.

Residents who spoke to the Daily News said effects of the explosion will
affect them for the rest of their lifetimes. - Staff Writer

Zim civic society groups angry

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Sunday, 27 January 2013 13:12
ADDIS ABABA - President Robert Mugabe has received a warm welcome at the
heads of state and government of the African Union (AU) where the Zimbabwean
situation is off the agenda.

Civic society groups which had hoped the AU would use the summit to ratchet
up pressure on Mugabe to implement reforms such as security sector alignment
were left seething.

They say despite the completion of a draft constitution, the situation in
Zimbabwe, where military generals routinely threaten to override electoral
outcomes, is far from ideal for a credible poll.

“We are surprised by the absence of Zimbabwe on the AU agenda,” said Nixon
Nyikadzino, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition programmes manager who is here in
Addis.

“We are still convinced that Zimbabwe is a high conflict zone which needs
fostering and monitoring by both Sadc and the AU who are the guarantors of
the Global Political Agreement.

Absence of civil war in Zimbabwe does not translate to peace since we all
know that Zimbabwe is now gearing for a constitutional referendum and
elections,” he said.

World attention is focused on the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, as African
leaders open a two-day 20th ordinary summit today (Sunday), but they gave
little indication they would criticise let alone censure Mugabe over
outstanding issues from a political pact signed four years ago, which the
veteran ruler still refuses to implement in full.

Mugabe got a warm welcome in Addis Ababa, where the AU is also marking its
50th golden jubilee.

He strutted into the main conference hall side by side with other heads of
state on Friday for the 353rd session of the Peace and Security Council
meeting chaired by Kenya President Mwai Kibaki ahead of the General Assembly
today.

The AU Peace and Security Council meeting completely sidestepped criticism
of Mugabe.

In the closed-door session, Kibaki reportedly said peace and security was
under threat in Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Guinea Bissau, Sudan and South Sudan and Mali.

The exploding Mali crisis has overshadowed even the AU summit’s official
theme, which is “Pan Africanism and African Renaissance”, with the AU
contemplating scaling-up African troop deployments to bolster the shaky
Malian army, which recently got reinforcements from the recent French
military intervention to repel Islamist insurgents, who seized swathes of
Mali’s desert north following a coup last year.

Mugabe attended the meeting with Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi.

Critics and activists such as Nyikadzino say it is disheartening that
Zimbabwe’s long-running and festering crisis was sliding off the AU agenda,
overshadowed by the more recent and catastrophic Mali conflict, which is
featuring prominently on the summit agenda.

Diplomats say the assembled leaders are under pressure to act — the latest
being an attempt to mobilise funding for Mali in a donor conference
scheduled just after the general assembly that will include European Union
and UN Security Council representatives.

Other entrenched conflicts such as in the east of Democratic Republic of the
Congo are also expected to dominate the summit, together with the push for a
raft of stalled oil, security and border deals in Sudan and South Sudan.

However, Zimbabwe, facing a repeat of the sham 2008 poll amid economic
stagnation and social collapse, was completely off the agenda for
discussion.

A senior West African diplomat said: “As you can see from the agenda,
Zimbabwe is not on it. It is not a subject that will consume their time.”

The diplomat accused the AU of being “a club of dictators” and expressed
sadness Zimbabwe was sliding down the priority scale of crises in Africa.

He said Zimbabwe remains a divisive issue and consensus is one of the
building blocks of the new AU.

Meanwhile, Sadc heads of state were said to be planning a meeting on the
sidelines of the AU summit, although this was yet to be confirmed yesterday.

Some nations in the AU support Mugabe, whilst others think he has mismanaged
his country and should go. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor

Mugabe, Tsvangirai resist running mate clause

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Sunday, 27 January 2013 13:11
HARARE - Both President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
resisted the issue of running mates because it could open a can of worms in
succession battles.

Eric Matinenga , the minister of Constitutional Affairs yesterday told
reporters that the draft constitution which was being finalised and expected
to be in the public domain next week, had sought to capture the people’s
views and had not deferred any issue, except the running mate clause.

Matinenga said all the outstanding issues such as executive powers,
devolution, composition of the Attorney General’s office and the creating of
the prosecuting authority would be implemented immediately after the draft
becomes the country’s governance charter. A referendum to endorse or reject
the draft is likely in March or early April.

“The issue of the running mate was not part of the outreach programme. Some
people said the management committee wanted to be naughty and wanted to
address some shortcomings of some political parties.

“Others said it was meant to address the same issue in all political parties
and nobody was happy to have this clause,” he said.

“I don’t have personal communication with the big people (Mugabe and
Tsvangirai) but I know that they were not happy with the clause. It is a
very dramatic change of daily political business and we now know what is
going to happen with those who want to run for high office as we are going
to have running mates,” said Matinenga.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai managed to have the clause deferred for the next 10
years as they will not be required by law to choose running mates in this
year’s presidential elections.

The running mate clause will force presidential candidates to pick their
likely successors while still on the campaign trail.

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai’s parties are torn apart by factions led by
senior members who are eyeing the two leaders’ positions.

Matinenga said politicians claiming they outwitted others in having their
views captured in the draft are misleading people.

“Some of the politicians will explain this to their political constituencies
and this is what their constituencies want to hear.

“There are no winners or losers in the draft. It is not a charter for one
political party,” said Matinenga.

‘Zim scribes among most frightened’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Jeffrey Muvundusi, Own Correspondent
Sunday, 27 January 2013 12:20
BULAWAYO - Former journalism lecturer at the National University of Science
and Technology (Nust) and Fort Hare University head of department,
Bhekimpilo Sibanda, has described Zimbabwean journalists as the most
educated but a frightened lot who squirm from freely executing their duties.

He said it was this fright that leads to self-censorship therefore denying
the nation the real situation on the ground.

Speaking during the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe organised press
conference at the Bulawayo Press Club, Sibanda said as the nation heads
towards elections this year journalists need to stamp their authority as
they have the capability to build or destroy the nation.

“Zimbabwean journalists are amongst the most educated I have seen, I have
met, but they are also amongst the most frightened in the world,” said
Sibanda.

“Most of the problems that arise from the mistakes we make in the media are
through fright and self-censorship. Even before you go to your own editor
you have removed the meat out of your story,” Sibanda added.

Harassment and intimidation of journalists particularly those in the private
media have become common in Zimbabwe especially before and during the
general elections.

On the turn of the millennium most journalists were tortured or maimed by
Robert Mugabe’s government, a move that also led to some being forced into
self- exile.

As if that was not enough, repressive draconian laws such as Public Order
and Security (Posa) and Access to Information Protection of Private Act
(Aippa) were enacted which further compounded the operation of media
practitioners.

Sibanda described local journalists as their own enemies when it comes to
effective dissemination of information to the people.

He said journalists really needed to be brave in order to ensure a peaceful
and democratic nation.

He said in South Africa it only took one brave journalist to unlock the
colonial repressive media laws.

“The South African media was worse than ours because for every sentence you
had to be cleared from Pretoria to read that. The point I am making is the
day Mandela and Winnie walked out of prison……..it took only a single
journalist who said Mandela is out to hell with this,” said Sibanda, also a
former lecturer at the University of Limpopo.

“We must from now know whom we are serving. A true journalist sides with the
people. You must be loyal to the truth and stop taking opinions and making
them into establishment,” he said.

Sibanda, who was one of the lecturers to successfully push for the
introduction of the Journalism Faculty at Nust, said elections by their
nature had the propensity to stir conflict regardless of the political
party.

As a result he urged journalists to always get their facts right through
observing the fundamental principles of reporting which include fairness and
balanced reporting.

Save Valley hunters charged US$70k

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

26/01/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

AN “upper-end” hunting expedition on the Save Valley Conservancy, the
subject of bitter divisions in the coalition Cabinet and threats of aid cut
by the European Union can cost up to US$70,000 a pop, a safari operator has
revealed.

Chunks of the 3,400 square-kilometre wildlife reserve in the south-east
Lowveld were last year parcelled out to top Zanu PF officials in a decision
that sparked a public row between Environment Minister Francis Nhema and his
Tourism counterpart, Walter Mzembi.

Nhema backed the “indigenisation” of the lucrative but largely
white-controlled wildlife sanctuary. Mzembi warned that the move would hurt
the country’s tourism sector adding the 25 individuals handed concessions in
the area had also secured farms under the country’s land reforms.

But in what might help explain the fight for control of the conservancy,
safari operator, Alistair Pole, said hunters can pay up to US$70,000 on a
single expedition in the conservancy, according to USAToday.com.

Speaking at the annual convention of Safari Club International in Nevada,
US, Pole, owner of Zambezi Hunters, said “an upper-end hunting expedition
can cost up to $70,000 before all is said and done”. “To these folks, it's
worth it,” he added.

Most of the hunters were spending a fortune for the “thrill of game hunting”.
“ This stuff can fight back," he said, adding two professional hunters were
recently killed by Cape Buffalo.

Pole’s firm charges US$53,000 for a 21-day lion safari with other species
such as buffalo, leopard and plains game also available for hunting.

The late Higher Education Minister, Stan Mudenge was among 25 individuals,
most of the top Zanu PF officials, accused of trying to muscle their way
onto the conservancy.

Mzembi said at the time: "It is wrong to have minority ownership of
conservancies, but it is even more unpardonable to replace that minority
white with a minority black, in the face of a crisis of expectations and
thirst for empowerment from our black majority.

“This business of empowering people who are already empowered severally in
other sectors, such as farming, ranching, sugar cane farming, mining, etc,
will not pass the moral test nor will it endear us to the people except to
ourselves."

The development also drew threats of aid cut by the European Union with
Germany warning it could boycott the United Nations world tourism congress
set to be jointly hosted with Zambia at the Victoria Falls resort in August.

Running along the banks of the Save River, the conservancy – respected as a
leader in wildlife management and research – is collectively controlled by
international investors, white ranchers who formerly ran cattle on the land.

Conservancy officials deny allegations the sanctuary is white controlled,
insisting indigenous businessmen and hundreds of rural farmers are also
involved.

"It is a working example of how something really special can be a success,
by including all sectors of the community, especially the rural poor who
have previously got nothing out of wildlife," said Wilfried Pabst, a German
businessman who is vice-chair of the conservancy.

"Two-thirds of stakeholders of the conservancy are black. It is now being
threatened by a collection of greedy individuals who are bringing nothing
into the conservancy and will destroy it.”

Constitution deal seen boosting tourism

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

26/01/2013 00:00:00
by Brian Paradza

THE completion of the constitution-making process will help restore
international confidence in Zimbabwe as a tourist destination, a cabinet
minister has said.

Speaking to journalists in Harare Saturday, Tourism and Hospitality MInister
Walter Mzembi said the seemingly unending constitutional reform process was
one "missing pillar" in the sector's efforts to market the country as a
tourist destination.

"What happened last week is a positive development. The finalisation of this
important process will certainly induce positive developments for the sector
and the message we have been telling the people out there will now have
takers. This was the missing pillar,” said Mzembi.

President Robert Mugabe and rivals Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube and
Arthur Mutambara last week reached a deal to break the impasse which had
threatened to derail efforts to write a new constitution for the country.

The deal is expected to see the draft new constitution being put to a
referendum leading to new elections this year with leaders of all the
political parties urging their supporters to ensure there was no repeat of
the violence experienced in the 2008 ballot.

Turning to preparations for the United Nations tourism meeting to be jointly
hosted with Zambia at the Victoria Falls resort in August, Mzembi said the
inspectorate team which was in the country last week was impressed with the
country's level of preparedness for the event.

"I met with the UN head of mission in Zimbabwe to get an independent
assessment on the team and he confirmed to me that the team was impressed
with the level of preparations,” he said.

“The team met the Vice President (Joice Mujuru) and other key sector
representatives and also travelled to Victoria Falls. The communication I am
getting is that they were impressed.”

Zimbabwe’s preparations for the event have been under spotlight following
revelations by the then secretary for tourism, Sylvester Maunganidze that
the country might have overstated its capacity to when bidding to host the
gathering.

The claim was however rejected Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive
Karikoga Kaseke.

Along with mining, tourism has been one of the drivers of the country’s
economic recovery over the last few years.

As the tourists head back to safari in Zimbabwe, is it on the Rhodes to recovery?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

By GRAHAM BOYNTON

PUBLISHED: 10:22 GMT, 27 January 2013 | UPDATED: 11:16 GMT, 27 January 2013

There's a surge of cautious optimism about Zimbabwe these days.

After what locals call 'the lost decade' when nobody came, there are foreign visitors in the wildlife lodges and there's talk of a tourism renaissance.

And not all the visitors are Americans who can't tell the difference between Zimbabwe, Zambia and Zanzibar. There are French, Germans, Swiss and, well, a smattering of Brits.

Out of Africa: While Zimbabwe has had its problems, its wildlife is as spectacular as ever

International airlines are beginning to fly in again – Emirates started going there for the first time early in 2012 and last November KLM flew its inaugural service into Harare. Both fly three times a week to Zimbabwe's capital and there is talk of other international airlines following suit.

However, there is no sign of British Airways resuming the route it abandoned in 2007. This year, several British tour operators will be featuring Zimbabwe in their brochures. Yet it seems that we, the former colonial rulers, are the most reluctant to dip our toes back in the water.

As everyone who has read a newspaper knows, this formerly prosperous colony has suffered social, political and economic misfortune in recent times and has fallen to 176th out of 184 countries in terms of economic performance.

Up close and personal: Photographer Kim Wolhuter watches a cheetah stroll by from the comfort of his safari truck

A political power-sharing arrangement and the abandonment of the hyper-inflated Zim dollar in 2009 has help spark a renaissance, but there remain significant economic issues to resolve – last year the national airline, Air Zimbabwe, went bust. It still operates infrequent internal flights, but basically you have to catch a bus between the major cities, even if it is a luxury, air-conditioned one.

Fallen hero: This statues of Cecil Rhodes is relegated to a dusty corner of Bulawayo

For all that, this is a country populated by friendly, hospitable people and blessed with a spectacularly varied landscape. So from the Matopos Hills, where Cecil John Rhodes, the creator of colonial Rhodesia, is buried, through to the Hwange National Park, one of the greatest on the continent for wildlife, through to Mana Pools on the shores of the mighty Zambezi, and Gonarezhou, the remote game-rich reserve in the lowveld, this country has everything for wildlife tourists.

I must, however, declare an interest. I grew up in this lovely, beleaguered place in the days when it was called Rhodesia. It was – and still is – a country with extraordinary potential, potential that could easily have been fulfilled if only generations of politicians had let the ordinary people get on with their lives.

Those politicians certainly recognised the potential: soon after Robert Mugabe took control from the colonial leader Ian Smith in 1980, he said he was fully aware that he had inherited the jewel of Africa and undertook to take care of it. History will judge whether he kept his word.

Despite the dearth of internal air links, the potholed roads, the creaking infrastructure and the down-at-heel feel of the main cities, it remains one of the best countries in Africa for a Western tourist. The wilderness areas have been least affected by the turmoil and remain unspoilt expanses of real Africa.

I spent two days in Hwange watching huge herds of elephant passing across the horizon – trekking, as Out Of Africa author Karen Blixen said, 'towards the sunset as if they had an appointment at the end of the Earth'.

Uninhibited: Graham encountered a group of white rhino which walked past him as he enjoyed a G&T at his hotel

From dramatic reports about elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade, you might think that these great creatures are heading for extinction. This may be the case in east and central Africa, but certainly not in the south.

In fact, Zimbabwe, like neighbouring Botswana and South Africa, has a surfeit of elephants (more than scientists believe current levels of vegetation can sustain), and in my short time in Hwange I counted more than 700 in herds of up to 80.

Cruelty of nature: Wild dogs have a particularly brutal way of hunting their prey

If you are looking to see species that are endangered – rhino, lion, cheetah and wild dog fall into this category – then Zimbabwe is also a good starting point. In Hwange, I watched a family of wild dogs, or painted wolves as they are now called, hunting impala in an exhilarating and terrifying chase.

They hunt in large family units, and once they have cornered their prey they tear it apart piece by piece to the accompaniment of awful squeals. That may sound appallingly graphic, but this is wild Africa, red in tooth and claw, and it is an extraordinary privilege to witness it.

A few days later, 700 miles away at a water hole near Pamushana, Zimbabwe’s most luxurious wildlife lodge, I sat drinking G&Ts at sunset while eight white rhinos appeared out of the bush and walked past me, untroubled by my presence. Earlier in the day I'd watched a family of cheetahs lolling about after a kill, again quite relaxed in the company of humans.

Out here, hundreds of miles from the urban sprawls, from the grim toil of modern African life, there is an ancient order at play, a slow majestic rhythm of life (and death) with which we so-called civilised humans have lost contact.

Ask any travellers to the African wilderness and they will tell you that after a few days, their senses become sharper, their pulses slow down and they begin to feel more in tune with the planet.

So, for all its man-made troubles Zimbabwe has managed to visit on itself, it has also been able to preserve some of its wilderness and thus its wildness. Because of the lack of tourist development in recent years, you won't find convoys of vehicles following animals as you do in Kenya's Masai Mara.

And because of the absence of development since independence in 1980, you will not be delivered to these wild places on tarmac super-highways as you are in South Africa. Providing this year's electoral processes go off smoothly (there is supposed to be a new constitution, a referendum and then an election) and it maintains its slow economic recovery, Zimbabwe will once again become a major African safari destination.

The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.

Travel Facts

KLM (0871 222 7474, www.klm.com) offers flights to Harare via Amsterdam from 17 UK departure points. Return fares from London start at £642. Expert Africa (020 8232 9777, www.expertafrica.com) offers a range of holidays to Zimbabwe. Prices start at £4,409 for an 11-night itinerary with four nights in Mana Pools, three in Hwange and three in Matobo Hills, plus a night in Zambia's capital Lusaka. It includes international flights with KLM from Heathrow, all internal transfers, full board, almost all drinks and all activities.

Open letter to Chatham House – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 26th January 2013

A friend of the Vigil recently alerted us to a new book on Zimbabwe to be discussed at a meeting at Chatham House, the influential London think tank.

A blurb for the book on Amazon reads: ‘The news from Zimbabwe is usually unremittingly bleak. Perhaps no issue has aroused such ire as the land reforms in 2000, when 170,000 black farmers occupied 4,000 white farms. A decade later, with production returning to former levels, the land reform story is a contrast to the dominant media narratives of oppression and economic stagnation. Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land offers a more positive and nuanced assessment of land reform in Zimbabwe. It does not minimize the depredations of the Mugabe regime; indeed it stresses that the land reform was organized by liberation war veterans acting against President Mugabe and his cronies and their corruption. The authors show how “ordinary” Zimbabweans have taken charge of their destinies in creative and unacknowledged ways through their use of land holdings obtained through land reform programs. US and European sanctions are a key political issue today, and the book points out that sanctions are not just against a corrupt and dictatorial elite, but also against 170,000 ordinary farmers who now use more of the land than the white farmers they displaced.’

Vigil representatives were unable to get tickets to attend the meeting chaired by former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind. So we wrote this open letter to express our views.

Open letter to Chatham House

The Zimbabwe Vigil is disappointed not to be able to attend the discussion of the contentious new book ‘Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land’ at Chatham House on 31^st January. We asked for tickets but were told the meeting was full so we will be present outside.

The Vigil has been protesting against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for more than ten years. We believe the illegal and violent seizure of commercial farms is an abuse of human rights. British courts have found this to be the case.

If, as claimed in the book, agricultural production is returning to former levels, the Vigil warmly welcomes it. But this assertion does not square with the statement by the UN that 1.6 million Zimbabweans are facing starvation – some 12% of the population – and for yet another year Zimbabwe needs international food aid.

We leave it to experts to assess the reliability of the book’s agriculture assertions and criticism of sanctions but notice that production last year of maize, Zimbabwe’s main food, was put by Index Mundi at 965,000 mt – less than half the 2000 maize crop of 2,148,000 mt.

We would also point out that, thirteen years since the land invasions began, Zimbabwe has sunk to being the third smallest economy in the 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), bigger only than little Lesotho and Swaziland. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said this month that the average annual income was $370, with 85 % of the population existing under the poverty datum line.

Whether or not the agricultural situation is improving, and it could hardly fail to, the land seizures were illegal under international law and the SADC treaty. This has fatally undermined agriculture sector finance, especially since Zimbabwe has yet to meet its legal obligations to pay compensation.

The main victims of Mugabe’s land seizures were 150 – 200,000 black farm workers dispossessed of their homes and livelihoods. (With their families, more than one million people were affected.)

We invite the authors of the book to meet the Zimbabwe diaspora in London to discuss their findings.

Zimbabwe Vigil

PS The blurb on the back of the book talks about ‘scholarly rigor’. Here’s a bit of scholarly rigor from page 26: After talking about African corruption it goes on to say ‘Greed is not just an African problem. After leaving office as Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair received millions of pounds in just two years, and he used tax avoidance methods introduced when he was Prime Minister.’ Are the scholars responsible for this book suggesting that Mr Blair is corrupt?

The Vigil felt we had to comment on this sloppily-edited book because we are disturbed by its overtly political nature, embellished by faux-biblical rhetorical flourishes (‘and so it came to pass’ . . . and pass again! – see page 209). As for its research, the authors say ‘in May 2011 when we did much of our fieldwork’ . . . more like a short holiday! The book distorts the situation in Zimbabwe by sanitizing the violence meted out by the Mugabe regime. It has already been picked up by ideologues such as Jonathan Steele (see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/23/britain-mugabe-phobia-zimbabwe). Mr Steele was a supporter of East Germany and an apologist for President Assad. We were not surprised his article was published in the Guardian. We well recall the article by a Guardian journalist in 2005 hailing ‘Murambatsvina’ as a justified tidying up town planning exercise.

The meeting is at 5 pm on Thursday 31^st January and the Vigil will be demonstrating outside Chatham House from 4.15 – 5.30. We will be handing out the Vigil’s open letter and a statement from the MDC on land reform together with a letter to the Guardian by Ben Freeth in response to Jonathan Steele’s article.

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website – they cannot be downloaded from the slideshow on the front page of the Zimvigil website.

FOR THE RECORD: 57 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

· Chatham House Demonstration. Thursday 31^st January from 4.15 – 5.30 pm. Venue: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 10 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4LE. Nearest underground: Piccadilly Circus and Green Park. From Piccadilly station walk on the south side of Piccadilly, turn left into Regent Street then right into Jermyn Street, left into Duke of York Street. Chatham House is on the corner of Duke of York Street and St James’s Square.

· Zimbabwe Action Forum (ZAF). Saturday 2^nd February from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. The meeting will take place straight after the Vigil. Directions: The Strand is the same road as the Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction away from Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side of the Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian restaurant at street level. It's next to a newsagent. Nearest underground: Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.

· Launch of the ROHR Coventry Branch. Saturday 2^nd February from 1 – 6 pm. Venue: Stoke Heath Community Centre, 14 Burroughs Close, Coventry CV2 3QH. Contact: Hilda Gwesele 07939 127 819.

· Next Swaziland Vigil. Saturday 2^nd February from 10 am – 1 pm. Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB. Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest stations: St James’s Park and Victoria. www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.

· ROHR Leicester Branch meeting. Saturday 9^th February from 12.30 – 3.30 pm. Venue: The Brite Centre, Braunstone Ave, Braunstone, Leicester LE3 1LE. Contact: Christopher Kamuzonde 07449150041, Enniah Dube 07403439707

· Zimbabwe Vigil Highlights 2012 can be viewed on this link: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/467-vigil-highlights-2012. Links to previous years’ highlights are listed on 2012 Highlights page.

· The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the views and opinions of ROHR.

· ZBN News. The Vigil management team wishes to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN News.

· Vigil Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.

· Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.

· Useful websites: www.zanupfcrime.com which reports on Zanu PF abuses and www.ipaidabribe.org.zw where people can report corruption in Zimbabwe.

Vigil co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.

Bill Watch - Parliamentary Committees Series 1/2013 - 26th January [Committee Meetings 28 to 31 January: Lobbying Opportunities on Bills]

COURT WATCH 2/2013 of 25th January [Supreme Court & High Court Judges & Labour and Administrative Court Presidents]

Constitution Watch 1/2013of 27th January [Final Draft of New Constitution]

CONSTITUTION WATCH 1/2013

[27th January 2013]

Final Draft of the New Constitution

This is the final draft approved by the GPA Party Principals and COPAC Co-chairs

Veritas has had permission to distribute it

This draft will be presented to Parliament for endorsement after Parliament re-opens on the 5th February. After that it can go to the Referendum. This will probably to be held towards the end of March. COPAC’s duty now is to make the draft familiar to the public before the Referendum so that there can be an informed vote, although the three GPA parties have said they have instructed their members to vote Yes.

The unzipped version is over 550 KB – if anyone needs it in an unzipped version please request from veritas@mango.zw

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied