The Standard editor,
Nevanji Madanhire and reporter, Patience Nyangove, have been picked up by the
police in a move that could signify a renewed crackdown on the independent
media.
Nyangove was
arrested earlier this morning by two detectives who came to the offices of Alpha
Media Holdings, publishers of the The Standard, NewsDay and The Zimbabwe
Independent.
An hour later three detectives who identified themselves as
Sergeants Mhangura, Kahoba and Makore picked up Madanhire.
The company
human resources manager, Loud Ramakgapola accompanied Madanhire to the Harare
Central police station where Nyangove is detained.
It is unclear what
charges the two will face but earlier Nyangove was told that she was under
arrest for referring to a senior police officer as “notorious
Makedenge”.
She made the reference in an article about Jameson
Timba, the Minister of State in the
Prime Minister’s office.
Chief Superintendent, Crispen Makedenge stands
accused of abducting and torturing human rights campaigners including Jestina
Mukoko.
Nyangove was driven away in an unmarked car and taken to Harare
Central Police Station.
The Standard Editor Nevanji Madanhire confirmed
that he was being taken to the police station.
“Yes, I can confirm that
three detectives came and right now in the process of securing the services of a
lawyer who will establish the nature of the charges.”
Two journalists from the Zimbabwe Standard
newspaper were on Wednesday picked up by the police, over a story the paper
published about the arrest last week of the MDC-T Minister Jameson Timba,
who was released from custody on Sunday.
On Wednesday morning the
paper’s editor, Nevanji Madanhire, posted on the social networking site
Facebook that reporter Patience Nyangove had been picked up from their
offices by two detectives.
An hour later three detectives, who identified
themselves as Sergeants Mhangura, Kahoba and Makore were back at the Alpha
Media Holdings offices to pick up Madanhire.
Loud Ramakgapola, AMH’s
human resources manager, accompanied Madanhire to the Harare Central police
station where Nyangove is being detained. Madanhire and Nyangove have both
been charged with criminal defamation.
The arrest of the two journalists
comes barely two days after the Daily News newspaper reported an imminent
crackdown on reporters. The independent daily paper said a ZANU PF politburo
member, presumed to be serial flip flopper Jonathan Moyo, was plotting the
arrest of journalists from the independent media over stories critical of
Robert Mugabe.
It is assumed the charges against the journalists stem
from a story Nyangove wrote on Sunday in which she referred to police
officer Crispen Makedenge as ‘notorious.’
In the article Nyangove
wrote; ‘Police have denied arresting the Minister, who is also the MDC-T’s
secretary for international affairs, despite his personal assistant
Munyaradzi Bwanya saying he saw officers, including the notorious Crispen
Makedenge, taking him to Harare Central Police station.’
In recent months
the ZANU PF members in the inclusive government have become increasingly
intolerant of any critique of their leader and party and have used any
criticism as an excuse to crack down. Though the country has made some
reforms in the last year to allow more independent papers to publish, there
are still draconian laws that stifle journalists. Reporting on topics such
as human rights abuses, ZANU PF corruption or the junta taking over the
reins of power, is routinely punishable by arrests and days in filthy police
cells.
Exiled journalist Makusha Mugabe told SW Radio on Wednesday that
detaining journalists on a regular basis is an attempt to silence the
scribes from writing the truth and to intimidate the others.
‘What is
criminal about referring to Makedenge as notorious? Ask MDC activists and
pro-democracy campaigners like Jestina Mukoko who have been arrested in the
last three years and they will tell you this Makedenge is evil and a gross
human rights violator.
‘So when journalists write the truth about these
characters they get arrested. This is amazing,’ Makusha said.
By Thelma Chikwanha, Community Affairs Editor Wednesday, 29
June 2011 14:25
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe visited the Medical
Chambers in Harare’s Avenues area for the second time in two weeks
yesterday, triggering more speculation about his health.
Mugabe, who
recently returned from a week-long trip to Malaysia, was spotted arriving at
Medical Chambers just after 2pm yesterday.
The centre houses specialist
doctors and physicians like urologists, oncologists, gynaecologists and eye
specialists.
While presidential spokesperson George Charamba refused to
comment on Mugabe’s health problems and his now frequent visits to Medical
Chambers, sources said the 87-year-old leader was being checked by
specialists for an undisclosed illness before he flies out today to
Equatorial Guinea.
International media and diplomats have said that
Mugabe has prostate cancer associated with his advanced age – which his
office has refuted strenuously.
When the Daily News arrived at the
Medical Chambers yesterday, armed soldiers were milling around the centre
while police and plain clothes security details were planted around the
whole area adjacent to the facility.
The frail octogenarian, who has
been at the helm of the country since Independence in 1980, is expected to
travel to Equatorial Guinea today where he will attend an African Union
summit.
Mugabe, who regional leaders have reportedly been trying to
persuade to retire, has been to the Far East five times since January with
sources saying the trips were being used to get him medical
assistance.
However, Charamba said early this year that Mugabe had been
to the Far East for an eye cataract operation.
According to health
experts, there is a link between prostate cancer and cataracts. They say
that men who take tamsulosin hydrochloride, which treats urinary detention,
are at high risk of developing complications after cataract
surgery.
A local doctor who preferred anonymity said that at 87, one is
prone to different kinds of infections.
He said that common diseases
which are normally easy to treat become difficult to treat at that
age.
“Dementia and amnesia are also very common at this age,” said the
doctor.
At the Sadc summit in Sandton, South Africa last week, Mugabe
reportedly referred to President Jacob Zuma as Mandela in a sign that health
experts say shows that dementia may be taking its toll on him.
And at
the Livingstone, Sadc Troika Summit in March, Mugabe moved around the hotel
in a golf cart.
Mugabe’s illness is causing a lot of divisions within
Zanu PF with several party heavyweights jostling to take over from
him.
A top military man has also indicated that he would be interested in
taking over from Mugabe who has avoided naming a
successor.
Securocrats have since the beginning of the year exerted
themselves more forcefully than ever on the former ruling party in their
quest for power.
Last week Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba
repeated the army’s sentiments that they would not serve any other president
other than Mugabe.
He went as far as to call Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai a threat to national security a development which political
analysts say was a coup threat.
Constitutionally, if the president is
incapacitated, the last acting vice president will take over the reins until
elections can be held within three months.
Sadc leaders have also
raised concern on whether Mugabe was still fit enough to rule bearing in
mind his advanced age and his failing health and some have reportedly advised
him to step down.
The octogenarian however says that he is doing well for
his age and that he would like to hit the 100 year mark.
MDC sources said the party believes the unity government is now
entirely dysfunctional, so the new emphasis for the former opposition is to
push hard for an election supervised by the Southern African Development
Community
Blessing Zulu & Sithandekile Mhlanga |
Washington
The Movement for Democratic Change formation of
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says it has given up trying to
negotiate with President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party to resolve the
longstanding crisis in Harare's unity government, charging that the heads of
the country's security services are in charge, not Mr. Mugabe.
MDC
sources said the party believes the unity government is now entirely
dysfunctional, so the new emphasis for the former opposition is to push hard
for an election supervised by the Southern African Development Community
based on a clear road map.
Ministers who attended Tuesday's cabinet
meeting described it as tense.
Mr. Tsvangirai told supporters in Bulawayo
on Sunday that rogue elements in the state security services have “created a
war situation in the country which by its very nature subverts the
constitutional order and undermines … civilian authority.”
Mr
Tsvangirai added that the onus falls on SADC, Africa and the broader
international community to ensure a free and fair election.
Police
dismissed the remarks as a provocation of law enforcement.
South African
President Jacob Zuma’s team of facilitators is due in Harare in early July
to press negotiators for the three unity government parties to complete the
election road map and defuse rising tensions among those
parties.
Tsvangirai MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told VOA Studio 7
reporter Blessing Zulu that the party is under siege by the police and other
security services.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said Mr. Mugabe is
still very much in charge.
Rival M-D-C formation leader Welshman Ncube
has made it clear he and Mr. Tsvangirai are on the same page regarding
security service chiefs and their obligation to stay out of politics
following recent comments by Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba to the
effect that Mr. Tsvangirai is a pawn of the West and thus a security
threat.
Ncube, minister of industry and commerce, told a rally in Lupane
East in Matabeleland North Province on the weekend that the service chiefs
should stop imposing rule by President Mugabe on the Zimbabwean
people.
Spokesman Edwin Ndlovu of the Ncube M-D-C formation told reporter
Sithandekile Mhlanga that service chiefs should be non-partisan civil
servants.
In a related development, a Harare High Court justice
discharged Energy Minister Elton Mangoma from defending himself against
charges that he abused his office in ordering the purchase of fuel in
January from a South African company without going to tender.
Justice
Chinembiri Bhunu said the state had failed to prove the charge beyond a
doubt and criticized Mangoma's subordinates in the ministry who testified
against him, saying they should have known the procedures for bypassing the
tender procedure under the circumstances at the time when Zimbabwe was
facing critical fuel shortages.
Correspondent Thomas Chiripasi reported
from Harare High Court.
President Robert Mugabe would like to be remembered as a
great post-colonial leader, but he is more likely to be listed among Africa’s
worst despots – with a legacy of brutality and avarice that ruined the
country.
There was so much
hope when he came to power in 1980, surrounded by perhaps the most educated
cabinet on the African continent. Many believed this was the face of a new
Africa – far removed from the Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko and Emperor Bokassa
stereotypes.
But despite his
education and refinement, Mugabe has, in the long run, proved to be no
different. Surrounded by a ruthless cabal of power- and diamond-hungry generals,
he has made Zimbabweans an object of pity around the world.
The news from
Zimbabwe grows more desolate every week. The most insidious and lasting damage
from the latest catalogue of oppression and injustice may be the abduction of
minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jameson Timba, a top strategist of
Zimbabwe's hitherto fiercely brave worker-based party, the
MDC.
Timba was told by
intelligence officials who abducted him that his safety could no longer be
guaranteed. This happened after Timba had blown holes in claims that SADC had
failed to force Zanu (PF) into closer accountability for its
behaviour.
There are not many
left now to uphold the rule of law in Zimbabwe, whether the issue be illegal
seizures of foreign firms, punishment of government-sponsored thugs, or misuse
of criminal process against opposition leaders.
What can be done
to stop a desperate situation becoming even worse? On the face of it, pressure
could be applied at three different levels, but each has limitations. Within
Zimbabwe, frustration and hostility could easily boil over. But the people have
had to weigh the attractions of mass Egypt-style demonstrations against the huge
risk of a bloody response from Mugabe's security forces, who are likely to
remain loyal to him for now.
At the regional
level, Mugabe ought to be susceptible to pressure from his peers. There is
plenty at stake, with their energy and other bills not being paid, and their
region's stability at risk as Zimbabwe moves closer to chaos and
collapse.
Analysts in Harare
suggest that the government's ultra-hardline stance stems in part from Mugabe's
own bruised vanity, and partly from political and economic desperation and from
shrewd calculation.
Faced with open
hostility on the streets of Harare, Mugabe sought to bolster his support,
pointing out that half of the economy is still in the hands of whites: take the
foreign-owned firms, he told his mainly rural and tribal supporters, and you
will all be as rich as the whites.
Internationally,
Mugabe's frequent racial outbursts and his clear sponsorship of attacks on
whites, political opponents, the media and the judiciary have made him a
pariah.
A proud freedom
fighter who spent years in white Rhodesian prisons, who was feted as a leader of
the Non-Aligned Movement and an apartheid era champion of African rights, Mugabe
is now commonly mentioned in the same breath as the world’s most notorious
dictators.
Zimbabwe Premier and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai
yesterday said he was shocked by the war veterans' attack on party
secretary-general and Finance minister Tendai Biti.
"The attack on
Minister Biti posed a serious threat to peace in Zimbabwe especially as
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF continued to push for early elections"
Tsvangirai said.
Tsvangirai also asked if the safety of ordinary
Zimbabweans be guaranteed when cabinet ministers are at the mercy of
hooligans, He said there is a better and more civilised way of expressing
grievances.
On Monday, hundreds of war veterans staged a demonstration at
the new Government Complex demanding that Finance Minister, Tendai Biti
either increases civil servants salaries or resigns.
The
demonstrators carried placards with messages which read 'Biti IMF puppet,
Zimbabwe is a sovereign country, "Stop Playing US and UK
politics."
Another placard read "War vets want a new Finance
Minister."
The minister has on several occasions said Treasury does not
have the money to increase government's wage bill, a position his critics
are contesting.
Tamborinyoka said Monday's incident was aimed at
intimidating and cowing MDC-T officials and supporters ahead of possible
elections which President Mugabe and Zanu PF are agitating for this
year.
Tamborinyoka declined to reveal what action Tsvangirai would take,
saying it was premature to do so.
Last week when addressing a rally
in Bulawayo Tsvangirai said they will not pull out of the GNU irregardless
of whatever Zanu-PF will throw at them.
Security chiefs in Zimbabwe also
said Biti's reluctance to increase civil servants' salaries was now a threat
to national security.
By Michael J.
Kavanagh - Jun 30, 2011 2:06 AM GMT+1000
Human Rights Watch
called on governments, companies and consumers to refuse to buy Zimbabwe
diamonds until all members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
agree the country is protecting people’s rights.
The Kimberley Process,
which was created in 2003 to prevent so-called “blood diamonds” from
financing conflict, said on June 23 that exports from Zimbabwe’s Marange
fields could resume. The decision was broadly supported by African
countries, while the U.S. and Canada objected.
“If diamonds from Marange
are KP certified we’d be arguing for consumers not to buy those diamonds
from sellers,” Tiseke Kasambala of Human Rights Watch said by phone from
Johannesburg today. “The allowing of exports while there are ongoing abuses
is a terrible decision.”
In 2009, restrictions were placed on the export
of gems from the Marange field, which is near Zimbabwe’s border with
Mozambique, after an investigation found human-rights violations and
smuggling at the site. In 2008, more than 200 people were killed when
Zimbabwean security forces took over the concessions, according to a Human
Rights Watch report.
Kimberley Process President Mathieu Yamba said June
23 that Zimbabwe was now complying with the organization’s requirements and
had guaranteed cooperation with civil society representatives and special
monitoring of its exports. Yamba did not answer his phone when called for
comment by Bloomberg today.
“Consensus cannot mean that everyone has
to say ‘yes’,” he said June 23 in response to Canada’s objection.
Posted 6/29/2011 10:59 AM from International Business Times in
Investing, Commodities
A Zimbabwean delegation met with a senior
Chinese Communist Party ( CPC ) leader today to "further their cooperation,"
according to China's state-owned Xinhua news agency.
Li Changhchun, a
Standing Committee member of the CPC's Central Committee Politburo, met with
Simon Khaya Moyo, who led the southern African delegation. Moyo is the
national chairman of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF).
In May 2010, the CPC and Zanu-PF signed a political and
economic treaty entitled a Memorandum of Understanding.
The two
political parties pledged to promote the treaty's objectives, which included
strong political and economic cooperation.
Zimbabwean union leaders have
long blamed strong ties between Beijing and Harare for the inability of
Zimbabwean workers to keep Chinese companies and employers operating in
their country accountable to local laws.
Zimbabwean employees have long
accused Chinese employers of underpayment, unsafe labor conditions and
physical abuse.
Late last year, unions wrote a letter to Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe, asking that he ensure that Chinese companies are
not above the law in legal disputes with their workers.
Harare said
that it would investigate the claims, but no substantive move was made to
bring the accused employers to justice.
In May of this year, indigenous
Zimbabwean workers at Shanxi Corporation, a Chinese construction company in
Harare, came forward accusing their bosses of overcharging for company
accommodations and not providing the protective clothing necessary for
construction work.
The views and opinions expressed herein are
the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU and
international partners have called on officials in Zimbabwe to speed up the
implementation of a power-sharing agreement, also underlining their concerns
following last week's bust-up in a Kimberley Process meeting on
diamonds.
Members of the Friends of Zimbabwe Group met in Brussels on
Tuesday (29 June), releasing a statement a day later in which they welcomed
some progress towards a new constitution, democratic reforms and credible
elections.
"However, serious concerns remain. Continued violence,
intimidation, and ongoing arrests demonstrate disregard for human rights,"
the group said in a final communique.
Last month, Zimbabwean Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai predicted elections would take place in 2012,
while President Robert Mugabe has been pushing for an earlier vote amid
reports of increased political harassment of his opponents. The two men have
been bound in an awkward power-sharing agreement following disputed
elections in 2008.
Updated in February, EU sanctions against Zimbabwe
target 200 people and 40 firms linked to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, accused of
committing rights abuses.
Tensions over Zimbabwe's Marange diamond mine
erupted last week following a meeting between stakeholders in the Kimberley
Process (KP), a joint initiative between governments, industry and civil
society groups to stem the flow of conflict diamonds.
Despite civil
society groups rejecting a text enabling international sales of diamonds
from the controversial mine, KP group chairman Mathieu Yamba later said a
consensus had been reached, provoking uncertainty in the industry and
criticism from the EU and US.
"The EU recalls that trade in Marange
diamonds requires a consensual solution respecting KP decision-making
rules," a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in
a statement.
Watchdog group Human Rights Watch says Zimbabwean armed
forces are engaging in the forced labour of children and adults at the mine,
as well as beatings and killings.
But born of conflicts in countries
such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone,
the Kimberley Process is designed to tackle the illicit activities of rebel
groups, rather than government activities.
"The Kimberly process was
created for a specific purpose ... it's a bit futile to make it do something
that it wasn't originally created to do," US ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles
Ray told EUobserver on Wednesday.
"If we miscalculate and Zimbabwe is
knocked out of the Kimberley Process, that does not help solve the human
rights problems. In fact, that exacerbates them."
MEPs who want the
EU to push ahead with US-style rules on conflict minerals such as gold, tin,
tungsten, and tantalum are keenly aware of the limitations of the current
agreement covering international diamond sales.
Following the signing of
the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the US securities and exchange commission (SEC)
is expected to come forward with rules later this year that will require
US-listed companies to check whether raw materials used in their products
are coming from militarised mines in eastern DRC and the surrounding
area.
The European Commission is currently considering the merits of
similar legislation, with euro-deputies who support such a scheme keen for
it to cover government as well as rebel group abuses.
Thousands of Harare residents, already
struggling to pay exorbitant water and service bills, have been issued
summons by the City Council demanding payment of unpaid bills. And according
to the state run Herald newspaper, those who fail to appear in court “risk
losing household property” because the city has secured court orders to
attach the property.
But the Harare Residents Trust (HRT) has vowed to
fight the Council over the issue of unpaid bills, saying the bills are
estimates intended to enrich councillors who are not providing any services
to the residents.
HRT coordinator Precious Shumba said the decisions
being made by councillors are “inconsiderate” of the general economic
conditions residents are facing and will not be honoured. “There has been
no refuse collection in many areas, some people have had no water for years
and road conditions are terrible. We will fight this,” Shumba
said.
The Herald said over 5 000 households and 538 companies owe a total
of $34 million in unpaid water bills, rates and supplementary charges and
suummons were issued to residents mostly in the high density suburbs of
Mbare, Mabvuku, Highfield, Tynwald, Kuwadzana, Tafara and Kambuzuma. The
council says residents in all areas owe a total of $80 million and central
government reportedly owes an additional $90 million.
Lesley Gwindi, the
city spokesperson, told the paper last Friday that this was the only way to
recoup the unpaid revenue, which the city “intends to plough back into
service delivery”. But residents in the affected areas have reacted angrily
to the city’s actions, citing poor service delivery, inflated rates and
salaries for councillors who “don’t care”. Gwindi claimed the city was
failing to provide services to the "same people" clamouring for world class
services but refusing to honour their debts.
Harare Mayor Muchadeyi
Masunda reportedly said those affected can set up payment plans with the
council to avoid their property being seized. But Shumba and the residents
said they are mobilizing to resist the seizures and will be questioning the
legality of the bill estimates.
The outspoken Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU), Wellington Chibebe, has been appointed to a global trade
union post in Brussels, in recognition of his commitment to the rights of
workers in Zimbabwe.
The veteran labour and political activist was
unanimously elected to the position of Deputy Secretary General of the
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Council, a position
he is to take up in August.
Chibebe is also known to Zimbabweans as a
strong critic of ZANU-PF and its policies, and an inspiring public speaker
who uses music to get his message across. He has led the ZCTU since 1999 and
received global awards for his work.
Politically, Chibebe has played
a key role in the struggle for democracy through his involvement with the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), the pressure group advocating for a
new “people-driven” constitution in Zimbabwe.
“I remember many
incidents where he was brutalized or jailed by the police during our
protests,” recalled Madock Chivasa, who is spokesperson for the NCA. The
ZCTU is a member organization of the NCA.
Chivasa described Chibebe’s
appointment as “significant” in terms of its effect on the trade union
movement in Zimbabwe. “That recognition shows that the international
community recognizes what the ZCTU and, in particular, Mr. Chibebe, has been
doing”, Chivasa said, adding; “It will enable him to highlight the issues
affecting ordinary workers in Zimbabwe,” he added.
A statement by the NCA
described Chibebe as a “multi-talented union leader, powerful orator and
gifted singer who mesmerizes crowds at most gatherings he addresses with his
captivating, inspiring songs and oratory skills”.
And those skills will
certainly be missed in a country with unemployment rates higher than 80% and
from where most professionals have fled for greener pastures.
The NCA
said they hope Chibebe continues to work for better working conditions, good
remuneration for workers and a democratic society.
Japhet Moyo is
currently serving as the acting secretary general of the ZCTU.
Local and foreign arrivals into the Zimbabwean
hotels of the African Sun group are increasing, says Chief Executive Shingai
Munyeza. 29.06.1108:31am Ngoni Chanakira Harare
Occupancy so
far this year is up by seven percent and 32 percent, respectively, on last
years figures.
Zimbabwe's tourism had nose-dived during the past decade,
mainly due to the country's poor macro-economic fundamentals. This was
exacerbated recently by talk of elections, which is scaring away not only
tourists but potential investors too.
Several countries had issued
travel warnings against Zimbabwe.
"Airline seats have increased due to
the introduction of additional flights by regional carriers and this has
ameliorated the impact of the disruption in service by the national carrier,
Air Zimbabwe,” Munyeza said.
He said the group’s hotels in South Africa
had also witnessed an improvement in occupancy, although at a much slower
pace owing to a general over-supply of hotel rooms.
"An additional 4
100 rooms were added to the Sandton and Rosebank area of South Africa in the
last two years," he said.
"The increase in oil prices and the continued
strengthening of the South African Rand, which has made South Africa more
expensive as a destination, will continue to exert pressure on the pricing
of regional packaged deals that ordinarily include South Africa as part of
their itinerary."
Munyeza said the world travel industry had proven its
resilience with an unexpected rebound in 2010, following a lack-lustre
performance in 2009 that was heavily affected by the global economic
recession.
"Global travel grew by five percent in 2010, powered by
emerging markets, with Africa recording eight percent growth," he
said.
African Sun Limited is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)
and has a market capitalisation of $831 472 907.Its share price currently
stands at 2c.
Revenue for the hotel group for the period ended March
31, 2011 amounted to $27,74 million up from $26,06 million achieved in the
previous period.
Munyeza said this was spurred by a strong revenue growth
recorded in Zimbabwe.
A group known as Lulz Security (LulzSec) has announced that it has
hacked into the Zimbabwe government website (http://www.gta.gov.zw) and taken material
on “everything” there is to know about the government’s internet
database.
The government website has information on official reports,
national policies, official speeches and the country’s constitution. It also
has information on the economy, taxation and labour laws, among other data.
Most importantly it serves as a link to the websites for the different
ministries that make up the government.
On Wednesday, IT expert
Douglas Siwira told SW Radio Africa that the hacking will leave the
government portal severely compromised. He said the hackers will have taken
things like administrator passwords and be able to alter anything they want
on the site, if they choose to. In another countries government websites
usually contain social security numbers and similar confidential
information.
On Tuesday LulzSec posted several files online, including in
some cases passwords and database files, which it said were from the
governments of Brazil, Australia, Anguilla and Zimbabwe. The campaign by
LulzSec, which has been dubbed “AntiSec”, targets governments that engage in
corruption and censorship.
The group criticized Mugabe for his
repressive regime and said its campaign actually started by targeting the
Zimbabwe government “userbase” which it described as "rather small." Also
taken from the portal were a “set of e-mail credentials.” These files have
since been uploaded to file-sharing websites like Pirate Bay, Mega Upload
and others.
A statement released by the group said; “We provide material
that is primarily against corrupt Governments (in our world this is all
Governments) and corrupt companies. In this release you will find network
data for the Governments of Zimbabwe, Australia, Anguilla (a British
overseas territory in the Caribbean) as well as internal information about
companies like Universal and Viacom.”
There is speculation that
LulzSec is affiliated to the larger hacking group known as Anonymous. In
January this year Anonymous hacked into the Zimbabwe government website in
retaliation, after the First Lady Grace Mugabe sued the Standard newspaper
over a WikiLeaks story alleging she was benefiting from the illegal trading
of diamonds from Chiadzwa.
At the time Anonymous said on its website that
it was targeting Mugabe and his regime “who have outlawed the free press and
threaten to sue anyone publishing WikiLeaks.” At that time the Zimbabwean
government website was unavailable for over a week, and the finance ministry
website displayed a message saying it was under maintenance.
Since February 2000, following the first electoral defeat to a
Zanu (PF) led government when people rejected a proposed constitutional
draft, senior military officials have issued partisan public statements in
support of President Mugabe and Zanu (PF) and opposed to an election outcome
that favors any party leader other than Mugabe or his
nominee.
29.06.1110:19am Zimbabwe Briefing
In March 2008
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, signaled
his readiness to set aside the constitution should Robert Mugabe be defeated
at the polls, describing Mugabe’s opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai as an agent of
the West and vowing to instruct the military not to take orders from
him.
This was not the first time the military leadership had vowed not to
salute Tsvangirai. On 9 January 2002 all security chiefs publicly and
jointly declared that they would not salute a president lacking “liberation
credentials.”
The former Commander of the Defence Forces General, the
late Vitalis Zvinavashe issued a statement declaring that the country’s
security sector would only support political leaders who “pursue Zimbabwean
values, traditions and beliefs for which thousands of lives were lost in
pursuit of Zimbabwe’s hard-won independence, sovereignty, territorial
integrity and national interest.”
The statement continued:
To
this end, let it be known that the highest office on the land is a
‘straightjacket’ whose occupant is expected to observe the objectives of the
liberation struggle. We will, therefore, not accept, let alone support or
salute anyone with a different agenda that threatens the very existence of
our sovereignty, our country and our people.
Similarly,
Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba told traditional chiefs, soldiers and
the police at 3-3 infantry battalion in Mutare on October 23, 2010, that no
person without revolutionary credentials would rule Zimbabwe. Nyikayaramba,
a serving senior military official, publicly proclaimed his support for Zanu
(PF) saying, “I am where I am today because of the party. Some of us
actively participated in the struggle and we cannot stand up and say we do
not belong to that party.”
More recently, on 27 May 2011, Nyikayaramba
told a weekly Zimbabwe paper that the military wants elections in 2011 which
will be won by Zanu (PF) adding, “Truly speaking, I am in Zanu (PF) and Zanu
(PF) is in me and you can’t change that.”
In May 2008, Army Chief of
Staff Major-General Martin Chedondo told soldiers at an army shooting
championship in Harare:
The Constitution says the country should be
protected by voting and in the 27 June presidential election run-off pitting
our defence chief, Cde Robert Mugabe, and Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T, we
should, therefore, stand behind our Commander-in-Chief. Soldiers are not
apolitical. Only mercenaries are apolitical. We have signed and agreed to
fight and protect the ruling party’s principles of defending the revolution.
If you have other thoughts, then you should remove that
uniform.
Major-General Engelbert Rugeje addressing a rally in Masvingo in
May 2008 stated:
This country came through the bullet, not the
pencil. Therefore, it will not go by your x of the pencil. We cannot let the
efforts of such people as the late Chimombe to liberate this country just go
to waste. Today I came here by helicopter with the late Chimombe’s body. The
next time I will come next week to Jerera, the helicopter will be full of
bullets. You know what you did.
Rugeje also promised villagers that
on his return after the vote, ‘the helicopter will be full of bullets.’ In
Mudzi in April 2008, soldiers reportedly handed out bullets to villagers and
told them:
If you vote for MDC in the presidential run-off election, you
have seen the bullets; we have enough for each one of you, so
beware.
President Mugabe endorsed this view by the military at one of his
election rallies and warned:
The war veterans came to me and said,
‘President, we can never accept that our country which we won through the
barrel of the gun can be taken merely by an ‘x’ made by a ballpoint pen.’
Zvino ballpoint pen icharwisana ne AK? [will the pen fight the AK rifle?] Is
there going to be a struggle between the two? Liyekele ukhupikisana
lombhobho [do not argue with a gun].
These extremely partisan political
statements by the military are a subversion of the will of the people and a
vitiation of elections as an expression of democratic choice. Chiwenga, in a
manner that could unduly influence elections, publicly predicted resounding
electoral victory for Zanu(PF) presidential candidate, Robert Mugabe when he
said:
Our comrade, Defence Forces chief, our leader President Mugabe and
comrade-in-arms will romp to victory. We say so because we have no apology
to make to any house nigger and puppets. “If the opposition wins the
election, I will be the first one to resign from my job and go back to
defend my piece of land. I will not let it go…I am giving you an order to
vote for the President (Mugabe). Do not be distracted…I will only support
the leadership of President Mugabe.
Shocking and blatantly partisan
as the above statements might be, the military leadership has not stopped
there. A more sinister form of direct military interference in the political
and electoral affairs of Zimbabwe has been through direct participation by
members of the military in perpetrating abuses and in the intimidation of
the citizenry.
CHIREDZI, 29 June 2011
(IRIN) - The mostly dry Chiredzi district in southeastern Zimbabwe will grow
drier as rainfall becomes increasingly uncertain, but trophy hunting and rearing
crocodiles for their meat and skins can become major money earners to help rural
households overcome poverty while adapting to climate change.
In one of
several initiatives under a project backed by the UN and government, elephants,
warthogs, giraffes, buffaloes and impala - a type of antelope - are kept in an
area measuring about 7,000 square kilometres and sold to trophy hunters licensed
by the government in cooperation with the district authorities, while the
community gets free meat from the slain animals.
"The project is now
well established and the beneficiaries are building a school and a clinic from
the money they receive from the sale of the animals," said Leonard Unganyi, who
manages the project run jointly by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the
government-controlled Environment Management Agency (EMA). "They have also
bought a truck and set up a grain-grinding mill to benefit the community."
He said the project, which helps communities cope with drought and
climate change, would be replicated in other parts of the country because 90
percent of Zimbabwean farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture and are struggling
to become food secure.
Using revenue from community-based trophy hunting
initiatives to generate income for sustainable development activities is not
unusual. In the late 1990s, Pakistan pioneered development of the Community
Based Trophy Hunting Programme (CBTHP), according to the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP).
Finding sources of income to build the resilience of poor
rural communities to erratic rainfall in Zimbabwe’s troubled economy is a tall
order.
"Chiredzi district, which has always been vulnerable to drought,
is one of the many areas countrywide that have been affected by climate change.
Households have been severely affected by rainfall distribution, resulting in
poor harvests," said UNDP-EMA's Unganyi.
Even though we have a garden,
we cannot sell the vegetables because there is no one to buy
Susan Chivambu agreed. "There were hardly any rains to
talk about in the last agricultural season and my family only managed to produce
a few bags of maize. Very soon that will be gone and we will have to scrounge
for food, just like we have done in the last three years."
Her family
has been forced to sell some of their livestock every year. "Even though we have
a garden, we cannot sell the vegetables because there is no one to buy," she
said. Two goats she would be taking to the market for the fortnightly sale were
tethered to a nearby tree.
"Adaptation to climate change is a fairly new
phenomenon in Zimbabwe," said Unganyi. "There is a need for policies and
strategies that empower affected local communities."
Tapping into
another lucrative market, 300 households in Chilonga village in Chiredzi
district have set up a cooperative crocodile farming project, now in its second
year and close to becoming profitable. Each member contributes to the food and
upkeep of the crocodiles.
Evelyn Hanyani's cassava crop unlike the hardy cereal
sorghum did well
The villagers have
benefited from infrastructure left behind by a white commercial farmer,
including ponds, incubators and boilers. William Tonono, a member of the
crocodile project, told IRIN that they were rearing 880 crocodiles, some of
which were ready for market.
"Even though we still have problems raising
money to buy food and medicines for the crocodiles, we hope that when we sell
our first batch, money problems will be a thing of the past," said Tonono.
Zimbabwe’s export earnings from crocodile meat and skins are worth millions of
dollars. A skin 40cm wide is valued at US$9 per centimetre, according to
Padenga, a Zimbabwean company that
trades in skins. UNDP-EMA will help the cooperative to market their
produce.
"Our aim is to make sure that the money we realise from this
project will be enough to provide our family needs, but judging by our progress,
we will be able to buy cars in the near future," Tonono said.
Another
initiative gives rural residents an alternative to dependence on their dwindling
livestock. Families where Chivambu lives have been organized into clubs that
breed fish in the nearby Masukwe Dam. They hope to harvest the first batch of
fish by the end of 2011.
Cassava and hardier grains
Other families have been given the option of farming hardier
crops like cassava, and small grains like sorghum and millet which thrive in dry
conditions, but the results have been mixed.
Evelyn Hanyani’s cassava
crop thrived and she hopes to sell some of the produce to support her family of
15, but her sorghum crop performed poorly, partly because of long dry spell in
February 2011.
"We cook the cassava every morning and use it as a
substitute for bread,” she said. We also grind it to prepare flour for bread,
and sometimes use the ground powder in the place of maize-meal and pick the
leaves to use as vegetables."
Her neighbour, Tsotsowani Makondo, 40, a
mother of nine, opted to grow small grains. "Despite the drought in the area
this year, I am happy with my yields. My family will not die of hunger because I
harvested enough sorghum and millet to last me ‘til next year," Makondo told
IRIN.
Her children are not used to eating millet and sorghum instead of
Zimbabwe’s staple food, maize-meal, so she sells some of her produce to buy
maize.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET) notes in its
report on Zimbabwe in June 2011 that staple cereals are readily available
nationally, but prices are higher than the same time in 2010. Predominantly
rural districts like Chiredzi have not shown improved sources of income for poor
households compared to a year ago.
The districts of Chiredzi, Buhera,
Mangwe, Bikita, and Mutare reported the highest maize grain prices in Zimbabwe.
FEWS-NET said the trend was likely to continue to 2012 because of the poor
harvests in these areas. "This means access challenges for the poor households
in the areas of concern will have worsened, and more households will be food
insecure."
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
For
nearly 9 years the Zimbabwe Vigil has been protesting in London against human
rights violations in Zimbabwe. Rose Benton, one of the coordinators, joins
Question Time to tackle issues raised by listeners. Why are Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora apathetic when it comes to protesting? How does the Vigil respond to
allegations that they take advantage of desperate asylum seekers in the UK?
Rose Benton and the Zimbabwe Vigil
Interview broadcast 8 June 2011
Lance
Guma: For almost nine years The
Zimbabwe Vigil has been protesting in London against human rights violations in
Zimbabwe. Rose Benton, the coordinator, is my guest on Question Time and joins
us to take questions sent in by listeners using FaceBook, Twitter, Skype, email
and text messages. Rose Benton thank you for joining us.
Rose
Benton: It’s a pleasure Lance. I
just wanted to say that there is another co-ordinator for Vigil, that’s Dumi
Tutani and a Vigil management team which is always consulted and contributes to
all the decisions we make. We are a sort of very democratic sort of
organisation, so I’m not solely in charge and don’t make all the decisions.
Guma: OK
Rose. Now it’s nearly nine years of vigils at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London;
trace for us the history of the organisation – why was it set up and what are
you trying to achieve?
Benton:
Well back in 2001 we met at a
regular Zimbabwe Forum and had various speakers come to talk to us and one of
them was Roy Bennett and one of them was Tony Reeler and both of them suggested
a vigil along the lines of the anti-apartheid vigil and so we looked at this and
we decided that we didn’t have the resources for a 24/7 vigil so what we would
do is hold a weekly protest from two to four every Saturday.
That’s what we
have achieved and now we haven’t missed a Saturday apart from when they fell on
Christmas Day so that is a considerable achievement. Achievement, I think our
main purpose is to be an on-street visible protest, to raise awareness about the
situation in Zimbabwe and to stop people forgetting Zimbabwe, I think that is
our main purpose.
And we have, there
are thousands of people who pass by where we are on the Strand, it’s a very busy
area, it’s very near Convent Garden so we get a lot of people from all
nationalities, surprising number of who know about Zimbabwe and know that there
are problems there but then there are a lot of people who don’t know and are
interested to find out. So we’ve done that all through the time we’ve been
protesting and also as a focal point at the Vigil we run, we’ve always run
petitions which we send out. I can talk more about those later if you like.
So it’s a total
question of awareness, the whole business of trying to overthrow dictatorships
and human rights abusers is a long and arduous process, and it is a process,
it’s not an immediate thing. When I started I thought a couple of years we will
have achieved what we wanted but here we are, nearly nine years later and things
are not good in Zimbabwe.
Guma: Now
your relationship with the MDC is an interesting one; clearly a lot of MDC
involvement in the initial set-up, just explain this for us from the beginning
and how it is now.
Benton:
Yes at the beginning, a lot of
people, everything was focused around the MDC and there were MDC groups that
actually started The Vigil but through the years it became apparent that we
shouldn’t tie ourselves to any political party, it restricted us in the other
people who would come and join us so we have changed to a totally non-party
political organisation.
We never really
were a party, we were never really an MDC vigil, we were always non-party
political but we always welcomed all MDC members because a lot of our supporters
are MDC and of course they are absolutely welcome because they support our aims,
our mission statement which is to protest against human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe until there are free and fair internationally monitored elections.
Guma:
Another group that you have a close relationship with, and in fact all your
statements have something on them, the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe
group, ROHR, explain the relationship for our listeners also.
Benton:
Yes, the Restoration of Human
Rights was actually set up by The Vigil as our face in Zimbabwe so we have a
very, to my mind, we are the same organisation. The Vigil’s face in Zimbabwe is
ROHR.
Guma:
Marceline emails us from Scotland and says having come to The Vigil on one
particular day, she thought the turn out did not represent the huge numbers of
Zimbabweans living in the UK, most of whom claimed asylum on political grounds
and her question is: is there a problem of motivation or fatigue with the
crisis?
Benton: The numbers for The Vigil have varied through the years.
When we started we used to get about 30 people to The Vigil. We got to a high
point of getting around 250 a week, that was 2008 when the crisis in Zimbabwe
was so crucial. Nowadays we get about a hundred but you know we’re a regular
protest; we’re not a one-off demonstration where you can get everybody to come.
It’s a regular
protest that people have to commit to and I think for a hundred people a week at
a regular protest is a good number so I don’t get the feeling of, the key
members of our organisation are very committed to the human rights cause in
Zimbabwe and we’ll keep fighting.
The thing is about
immigration, people come to this country from Zimbabwe, they’ve fled because of
having a bad life in Zimbabwe and they’ll do everything they can to settle here
and sometimes their energies for just living here, sorting out their own lives
here take up everything so if they come here for us it’s a bonus.
The thing is about
people who come to us because they want help with their asylum issues, many of
them become committed to the human rights cause and start thinking beyond
themselves and that’s a very good thing. We’ve got people who’ve been with us a
long time who came probably for the reasons of wanting support for asylum and
have stayed with us and committed themselves to the human rights cause.
Guma: Is
there any particular reason why you selected a Saturday for your protest? Some
will argue maybe Saturdays when people are off and resting from a week’s worth
of work and maybe a week day would have been better when the embassy is open.
What do you make of that?
Benton: Well the thing is that people, the very reason is
because people don’t work on a Saturday and we do get more people in, it means
that we can get people from all over the country. People come to us from
Scotland; they actually travel overnight on a coach from Scotland, spend the day
with us and travel overnight again to get back home in the evening.
And they come from
Northern Ireland and the north of England, it’s a heavy commitment and I don’t
think they would be able to do that during the week, they wouldn’t be able to
get away in that way. I think that even though the embassy isn’t open, and even
actually if you are there during the week there’s not very much sign of the
embassy being open.
Guma: Now
The Vigil, Rose over the years has received some negative press with allegations
that you take advantage of asylum seekers who are desperate for letters from the
organisation confirming their participation in your activities. Brian who lives
in London has Twittered a similar question – is this fair criticism?
Benton: No
it’s absolutely not. The thing is about The Vigil, we do write letters for
people, we write letters strictly on their attendance because we know nothing
else about them, we know nothing about their human rights commitments, all we
know is that they are committing to being on the street and being visible as a
human rights protester against the abuses in Zimbabwe and we will write letters.
We have a small
admin charge which is necessary because we have no funding so basically we need
to cover our own costs so that’s all we charge and it’s, and we do not abuse, we
keep very strictly to our procedures and we’ve actually outlined our procedures
in our diary several times and basically the reason we say that people at The
Vigil, The Vigil attendance counts as an element in your asylum cases because
you are visible on the street. We are photographed by people, we have fairly
good evidence that CIO keeps an eye on us and also on the photographs that are
spread around websites so you are a visible presence if you protest with us.
Guma: Your
partner organisation, ROHR, that you say has a presence in Zimbabwe, has
obviously also faced similar accusations that on occasions they demand as much
as two hundred (pounds) from people who want letters. Is there any truth in
these claims?
Benton:
I think what ROHR, ROHR doesn’t,
ROHR asks for membership because by committing to membership you are committing
to human rights. If you don’t commit to that membership then you are just using
ROHR and not making no commitment to them so that’s what they ask for, they ask
for membership fees and they are not actually payment for letters.
Guma: OK
what are these membership fees? Just to clarify for people who are listening.
Benton:
I think it’s £10 a month, that
what I, I don’t run the ROHR administration but I think it’s £10 a month
membership fees which is probably in line with a lot of organisations.
Guma:
Tonderai Munyuki writes to us and says we know your weekend vigils have been
important in terms of informing people who pass by the area here in the UK but
have they had any effect on the situation in Zimbabwe?
Benton: This is quite difficult to say whether they’ve actually
had an effect but I know that we are known and resented by the human rights
abusers in Zimbabwe. It’s a slow process, you dig away. Every time we pick up on
some issue and publicise it, it gets round to the world more. I’m sure it
influences people like the EU in their applying of targeted sanctions and things
like that.
A constant keeping
up, keeping issues in the public eye so when you look at what’s happening,
nothing seems to have changed in Zimbabwe but it’s interesting that recently
SADC has been much tougher on Mugabe and I think we’re part of that process
because we constantly look at what is happening and bring to the attention of
people the anomalies and unfairness of the situation.
Guma: I
suppose you’ve answered part of the next question but Susan Mawanza sends a text
message and says apart from the weekly vigil does your organisation lobby
government officials and other organisations to influence their policies on
Zimbabwe?
Benton: Well yes, you know we have run petitions ever since we
started. We started red off with a very big petition to the UN human rights
commissioner who, and we had a very big event in connection with that. We
delivered it to parliament; we hired a red double-decker, open plan
double-decker and drove around the streets of London delivering it to the
parliament, to the UN offices at Milbank and driving around the streets and
increasing awareness.
But we’ve done a
lot of petitions to the EU, to the UN, to southern African, to SADC, to the AU,
to FIFA, to the British government, there’ve been, we’ve run constant petitions.
Our current petitions are – one is to the UN Security Council asking for
peacekeeping forces in Zimbabwe before, during and after elections and a real
strong monitoring of processes if there is an election to make sure they are
free and fair and the other petition is to the EU government saying they should
stop government-to-government aid to all SADC countries who do not honour their
human rights commitments i.e. they tacitly support Mugabe in his brutality to
his own people.
Guma:
Recently you sent out a statement that a group of Zimbabweans had met to
consider the political stalemate and that the conference resolved to form a new
global movement called Zimbabwe Yes We Can. Ephraim Tapa was elected president
of the new movement. Now tell us about this.
Benton:
Yah my understanding is, because I
haven’t actually personally involved in this process is there’s a lot of people
who feel there’s a real vacuum in the political climate in Zimbabwe and a need
for something stronger. I have heard that Ephraim has been approached by a lot
of people from different groups and so they did all meet in Leeds to set up a
sort of on the ground protest movement which they are calling Zimbabwe Yes We
Can.
And this group,
movement is kind of based on the protest movements that have taken place in the
Middle East to really work on how they can disrupt the dictatorship. There’s a
very interesting treatise by a man called Gene Sharp called From Dictatorship to
Democracy which was used as the bible for the Egyptian protest where he lists
all the ways that you can overthrow a dictatorship.
He says
dictatorships only exist by this, because of the tacit support of the people,
either through fear or whatever but basically what he is saying is that if you
can find the right way to overturn them by finding weaknesses, so this is all a
process. And it is such a process isn’t it? I mean you know, you think you can
overturn things because it’s unfair but there’s so many people who have a stake
in what’s happening, a stake in continuing the corruption, a stake in continuing
to put the country’s wealth into their pockets which causes real problems and
it’s not just Zimbabwe, so many countries are like this.
Guma: Is
this movement, Zimbabwe Yes We Can, is it a political party? Most of the
coverage seems to have suggested that it’s a political party.
Benton:
I think at the moment it’s a group
of people getting together to find out what’s the way forward so as it stands at
the moment it’s not a political party. Definitely not yet, not a political
party. What might develop who knows? There’s certainly room for a political
party in Zimbabwe and it all depends on how things go and I don’t know enough
about the in and outs.
Th ey’re having
another meeting in June and maybe more will become apparent from that meeting
but for the moment it’s just gathering support for a big grassroots movement and
I think there’s some fairly high powered people involved, I don’t know quite who
they all are and there’s been a lot of interest both in Zimbabwe and in the
Diaspora in this and that’s not just the UK, I think from South Africa and from
the US. I’m not really the best person to ask about this because this is all
what I’ve heard from other people.
Guma: OK
well you know in everything that is done there are cynics and some are already
pointing to this as just a fund raising venture by disgruntled people who were
expelled from different political parties. They’re pointing to people like
Ephraim Tapa saying well he was expelled from the MDC, now he’s starting this
group – you’d like to put in a word for him there?
Benton:
Yes I have actually spoken to
Ephraim personally about this and he did not start this group, he was approached
by many different people to get involved in this so it wasn’t his initiative in
the first place. He was just pulled into it and they see him as a leader and he
gets a very bad press and I never understand why because I’ve known him for many
years and he’s been consistent in his human rights activism.
So he’s one person
who has consistently worked very hard and stayed a human rights activist even
though he’s in this country, sorted out his life here and he could just sit back
and do nothing but he doesn’t. So I absolutely support Ephraim Tapa and his
efforts, I have worked with him very closely for many years and I find the
negative publicity, it’s largely jealousy and stupidity.
Guma:
Final question for you Rose, almost nine years of Zim Vigil protest as we
pointed out at the beginning of the programme, if you were to pick your
favourite moments in all that time of activism, whether it was a campaign or a
petition, what would you pick as your favourite project?
Benton: Well we’ve had some very high-powered protests; the
protest when Zuma arrived and was outside the South African embassy was quite a
high point. We’ve had very heart-warming protests, (inaudible) during election
times in Zimbabwe and that’s something I think, also we’ve had some very good,
wonderful visitors – Pius Ncube visited us in the early days as did Roy Bennett,
David Coltart and last week, yes, Benjamin Zephaniah came, the famous London
poet and he was very, very damning about Mugabe which you can read on our last
diary.
Oh yes another
famous visitor was Nick Clegg before he became deputy prime minister so it’s
always been very interesting outside the embassy and I think probably the
biggest thing for me is the life of The Vigil and the warmth of the people there
and the fact is that we just want to continue there because of the suffering of
the people of Zimbabwe and we will do that.
Guma: Well
Zimbabwe that was Rose Benton one of the…
Benton:
Oh hang on, what about Lisbon,
Lance?
Guma: Yes
I was waiting for you to say that.
Benton:
It’s hard to remember everything,
what about Lisbon? Lance was with us in Lisbon (covering the protest), our
protest in Lisbon was extraordinary. We took 25 activists over there and we
protested solidly for three days. I think Dumi Tutani who was leading the
singing and dancing sang four hours solid without a break.
And always at The
Vigil everybody else shouts slogans but the Zimbabwe way of protesting through
song and dance is so effective. Sometimes people say we are having a party but
in fact it is the Zimbabwe way and it is, it draws a lot of attention and a lot
of sympathy and people coming to support us.
Guma: Well
Zimbabwe that’s Rose Benton, one of the coordinators of The Zimbabwe Vigil here
in the United Kingdom. Rose, thank you so much for your time.
SW Radio
Africa – on line 24 hours a day at www.swradioafrica.com and daily broadcasts on 4880 kHz in the 60m band between
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The death
of a policeman in Glen View has seen over 24 MDC-T members arrested as part of a
politicized witch hunt. The Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly,
Promise Mkwananzi, speaks to SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma on Question
Time and tackles questions from listeners on the subject. Having been in South
Africa for the SADC Summit, Mkwananzi also shares his views on its
resolutions.
Interview
broadcast 15 June 2011
Lance
Guma: The death of a policeman in
Glen View has seen over 24 MDC-T members arrested as part of a politicized
witch-hunt. The Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly, Promise
Mkwananzi, joins me on Question Time. Listeners were encouraged to send in their
questions in advance of the interview using FaceBook, Twitter, Skype, email and
text messages. Mr Mkwananzi thank you for joining us on the
programme.
Promise Mkwananzi
Promise
Mkwananzi: Thank you very much Lance for having me on the
programme.
Guma: OK
Promise, 24 party members behind bars, most of them members of the Youth
Assembly, your reaction to these developments?
Mkwananzi:
I want to say that the developments are very regrettable and they reflect
basically the failure of the rule of law system in our country led by the police
who go out to arrest as many people, 24, related to the murder of one person and
we have insisted in the past that the police must carry out professional
investigations into the matter and bring those responsible to book not just in
respect of the Glen View murder but as well as other numerous cases of
politically motivated murder, assault, violence, intimidation that has taken
place in our country since time 2000 going forward.
Guma: I
see here spectacular developments, they are even arresting Councillor Warship
Dumba, the councillor for Mount Pleasant of all places, being accused of
murdering this policeman.
Mkwananzi:
Yes I do see the pattern that you can see yourself, Councillor Dumba is on
record for having resisted the machinations of Comrade Chombo at local level in
the Council specifically and for having opposed corruption and did his best to
expose the corruption which we see at Council as well as at the broader Local
Government and definitely his arrest doesn’t come as surprise. It is the same
pattern whereby those that have spoken against the evils of our society are at
the forefront of being persecuted by the regime of Robert
Mugabe.
Guma: One
of our listeners, Knowledge, sends us an email asking you to clarify what
happened in Glen View as far as your information is concerned.
Mkwananzi:
The information which we have gathered so far indicates that there was indeed an
altercation in Glen View on the said date and relating to the late police
officer, but what we hear is that there was a misunderstanding between the
police and members of the public that were drinking beer in a bar and that
misunderstanding culminated into I think, a violent exchange between the police
and the members of the public which led to the unfortunate and untimely death of
the police officer.
Guma: Your
detractors are saying you clearly command a lot of support in the urban centres
so by the law of probability those youths are MDC-T youths.
Mkwananzi:
I think those assertions are unfounded as they are regrettable. The reality is
that we must not assume the fact that the MDC has the majority of support in the
urban areas therefore the person that died was killed by an MDC activist; I
don’t think that reflects a true and real spirit of justice that we know and
that is why I repeated that the police must carry out a proper investigation, a
professional investigation of the murder and bring those responsible for the
murder to book.
Guma: It’s
claimed police are also looking for you and the Youth Assembly Chairperson
Solomon Madzore and some reports even suggest both of you are currently in
hiding. How far true is this?
Mkwananzi:
What is true in the statement you have just said is that the police are looking
for us; what is not true is that we are in hiding. But what we have said is that
because of the failure of the rule of law system in our country it is impossible
for us to surrender ourselves to the police.
I think you know
what has happened to Last Maengahama and others when, in detention at the
moment, they have been tortured before they have even been proven guilty so that
is why we have not submitted ourselves to the police. But I can tell you that
our lawyers are working out and they will soon be approaching the police to hear
really why the police are looking for us.
Guma: Some
people like Peter Handina on FaceBook are accusing MDC-T of allowing ZANU PF to
patronise them and insist that security sector reforms are needed without fail.
Do you agree you as a party have allowed ZANU PF to patronise you and do as they
please?
Mkwananzi:
No I don’t agree. We have I think, done our best in very, very difficult
circumstances to bring ZANU PF in line with what Zimbabweans aspire for and you
will note that in government where we do not have a controlling stake, we have
done so much to ensure that we have critical reforms; if you look at the
Ministry of Finance, if you look at the reforms which have been introduced in
parliament that are still on-going, if you look at the reforms which we are
introducing in the media, in the rule of law, in POSA, AIPPA and
others.
It’s more of a
process than an event and it’s a protracted process arising out of the fact that
we are fighting an entrenched regime which is resisting, kicking and screaming
to adhere to the rule of the people of Zimbabwe.
Guma:
Arnold on FaceBook says you were recently in South Africa for the SADC Summit
that dealt with the Zimbabwean crisis this past Sunday. Reports suggest there
were clashes between youths from both MDC formations, ZAPU and Mthwakazi. Can
you shed light on what happened since you were there?
Mkwananzi:
Yes indeed, what we did ourselves as the MDC was to say look let’s allow this to
be a people process, let the people drive the process, let’s show SADC that it’s
not the MDC which is making these demands but it is the people of Zimbabwe and
in accordance with that principle, we took a back stage from the
processes.
That doesn’t mean
that our supporters were not there. They were there and enmasse they were
disciplined and they were going out there in their ordinary capacity as citizens
of Zimbabwe to demand SADC to act in accordance with the principles which they
have laid down in their own pacts and protocol.
But unfortunately
in the process, members of a group called Umthwakazi then started burning MDC
t-shirts and I’m told started even firing tear gas to people that were gathered
at the venue to showcase their dismay of the failure of SADC to handle the case
of Zimbabwe.
Guma: So
are you laying the blame squarely on Mthwakazi, saying they caused the problems
in South Africa?
Mkwananzi:
Mthwakazi specifically burnt t-shirts which belonged to our
party.
Guma: And
you are suggesting this is what created the fracas?
Mkwananzi:
That was the fracas, it’s not what created the fracas, it was the
fracas.
Guma: Much
has been made about some of this friction in South Africa; I don’t know having
spent some time there, what you make of it, the relationship between the groups
Mthwakazi, ZAPU and the two MDC formations there? Do you think there’s a culture
of intolerance there that needs to be eradicated?
Mkwananzi:
I must say with regret that the relations within those groups which you
mentioned are not as rosy as they should be and I think as leadership we did our
best, at least from the perspective of our party, to talk to our people and to
insist that we must be disciplined, we must be non-violent and we must be
tolerant of views that are divergent to others. So I think going forward, we are
going to see changes within the MDC which is led by Morgan Tsvangirai in terms
of the behaviour of our supporters in South Africa.
Guma: What
did you make of the Summit in general and do you think it achieved
anything?
Mkwananzi:
I think it is very welcome that the Summit did endorse the Livingstone
resolutions of March 31st. Its a significant step forward and as the
Youth Assembly has already written in a statement saying they commend the
principled stance which SADC took and which SADC continues to take but we
challenge SADC particularly on the implementation side of things to ensure that
Resolution 24, Article 24, that resolution is followed up with
speed.
That is the
Article which talks about the appointment of a staff compliment from the SADC
countries to come and compliment the work of JOMIC and ensure that the
implementation of the processes are expedited and that we begin as soon as
possible to lay the foundation for a democratic free and fair, credible
election.
Guma: Now
you say the Summit endorsed the Livingstone Resolutions; ZANU PF clearly are
holding a different view saying the word used there was ‘noted’ and not
‘endorsed’.
Mkwananzi:
Yes they are words but you would note that when Dr Solomao then addressed the
conference after the Summit he was asked to clarify and he was quite clear in
terms of what the Resolution spelt out in terms of the actual meaning of that
Resolution is that they ‘uphold’ the Resolutions of the SADC Summit and that
secondly the whole SADC Summit which took place in Jo’burg is, it does not have
power to review what had taken place in the organ for politics and defence which
is governed by a separate treaty, the main SADC Summit, I hope you get what I’m
saying.
Guma: Yah
you think what you essentially are saying is that ZANU PF are simply playing
with words?
Mkwananzi:
ZANU PF are lying. It is dishonest, it is untrue what ZANU PF has sought to
portray, they tried to do it immediately after the SADC Summit when George
Charamba addressed the media saying that the meeting had rejected the
Resolutions, the Livingstone Resolutions. But I can tell you that immediately
after Jonathan Moyo, after George Charamba addressed, Lindiwe Zulu came and
clarified that the position which had been expressed by George Charamba was not
a true reflection of what had transpired in the SADC Summit
meeting.
Guma: Now
this whole propaganda war over the use of this word ‘noted’ and ‘endorsed’, some
are saying, or some are expressing disappointment with the communiqué saying the
communiqué does not capture the entirety of the deliberations during the Summit
and that the communiqué was rather watered down. Do you share that
view?
Mkwananzi:
Yes I would agree but the thing is this is a diplomatic forum and you don’t want
to antagonise the other party by really making them feel embarrassed by what is
happening and I think that is the most important point which people must
note.
What is important
is not the wording but the content and the process that arises out of that
process, particularly the Item 24 which I referred to whereby SADC is moving in
a concrete way by appointing additional staff to come and assist JOMIC to set
out timelines, to monitor and evaluate the reforms that are related to the
fulfilment of the GPA and ultimately to lay the ground for free and fair
elections. I think, to me, it was a very positive Resolution and it was a very
firm stance taken by SADC. Where I see the problem is on the implementation and
follow-up side.
Guma: We
have a question from Ben who is in Bulawayo and essentially he wants to know in
terms of the SADC Summit and the way things are progressing, does it mean we are
now reliant on SADC for our political solutions and nothing will come from any
other process?
Mkwananzi:
Absolutely not, that would be the height of naivety. We have said in the Youth
Assembly that we are preparing for people to vote, we are going to go out of our
way to capture the first-time voters, to mobilise young people to register to
vote and to come on the voting day to vote. But not only that we are also coming
up with a plan to ensure that sooner (inaudible) should ZANU PF leave, should
ZANU PF lose and refuse to leave power, we must have a way and a plan to defend
the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
Guma: My
final question for you Mr Mkwananzi is just a reflection on the relationship
between the MDC-T Youth Assembly and the Ministry of Youth led by the ZANU PF MP
for Mt Darwin, Saviour Kasukuwere. You wrote a letter to him last time, what was
it about?
Mkwananzi:
Basically, it’s about three issues; the first issue relates to the Zimbabwe
Youth Council. We said that the Zimbabwe Youth Council must open up the
democratic space to allow for youths from all walks of life to be able to
participate, to be able to access the Empowerment Fund regardless of their
political affiliation, that is what we have said and we have said that they must
as well be more consultative on the process of formulating the youth policy, or
reviewing the (inaudible) policy.
We do feel there
that the Zimbabwe Youth Council is operating in a closed way, they are not
reaching out to young people particularly those that are perceived to be
sympathetic to the opposition and we want that to be resolved, including the
fact that we are not getting enough feedback from the Zimbabwe Youth Council as
the MDC, as a party which is a stakeholder in that Ministry.
The second thing
relates to what Kasukuwere called the Youth Development Officers; there are
about 7000 of them that are employed by the Ministry of Youth. We do not know
what they are doing and we do see them as part of the ghost workers in the civil
service because they are being paid about 165 dollars a month and they don’t do
anything, we don’t know what they are doing and we hear that there are plans
that they want to use them as monitors in the coming elections because they
think that teachers and other civil servants are not sympathetic to ZANU
PF.
And the last thing
is the resurgence of the youth militia and the training institutions which
continue to train the youth militia despite the position taken by government,
that the problem of national service must be reviewed and then begin in a
professional rather than a partisan manner. Those are the three issues which we
have with the Ministry of Youth.
Guma: Any
chance of any of them being addressed or it’s one of those ZANU PF things where
you will say it and they will not move an inch?
Mkwananzi:
We have written a letter to them and I think we have not received any response
but I can assure you that we will leave no stone unturned in following up on
those issues and ensuring that the ghost workers within the Ministry of Youth,
the Zimbabwe Youth Council and the rest of the issues which I have alluded to
are addressed in an effective way as we move forward.
Guma: I
had said final question; let me just add one more question we’ve just received
via text message right now – previously there were attempts to get all the party
youths to take part in some anti-violence campaigns between the political
parties. I don’t know which donors were sponsoring this particular initiative –
anything on the horizon in terms of this right now?
Mkwananzi:
Yes part of the things which are being done are still at a preliminary stage,
not so significant as to speak about but I can assure you of two things. Number
one that our MDC-T Youth Assembly is open to that kind of dialogue, we are very
much positive and looking forward for the other parties to come on board so that
we can together condemn violence and speak to the issues which affect young
people going forward. The second thing is that we do see that obviously from the
other things particularly ZANU PF there is some hesitance to come on board and
undertake such a process.
Guma: Well
Zimbabwe that’s the Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly, Promise
Mkwananzi joining us on this edition of Question Time. Mr Mkwananzi, thank you
so much for your time.
Mkwananzi:
Thank you very much Lance, thank you to all your listeners, good
day.
A compelling case for an International Press Tribunal
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 29/06/11
In view of the ongoing harassment
of journalists not only in Zimbabwe but the world-over, there is now a
compelling case for an International Press Tribunal. The ideal organisation
needs to investigate violations of press freedom globally and take action,
unlike the current practice of just ranking countries on an annual basis and
issuing statements of condemnation.
For example, currently there is no
provision for the benefit of victims of crimes against journalists such as
the bombing of the Daily News printing press which resulted in mass
unemployment, distress and even breakdown of families due to unemployment
and stress.
It is being suggested in this paper that there be an
International Press Tribunal, more or less structured along the lines of the
International Criminal Court minus its bureaucracy and voluntary membership.
The ideal tribunal should be compulsory or automatic within the confines of
international law e.g. membership of the UN should mean acceptance of its
jurisdiction on all matters of human rights including press freedom. In my
view no member-state of the United Nations should be exempt from the
jurisdiction of UN-related bodies like the ICC and in this particular
instance the International Press Tribunal.
No country in the UN
should be allowed to say, because we have not ratified that treaty,
therefore we are not involved like the present case with some mass murderers
are left on the loose by the ICC because their countries have not ratified
the ICC convention. The suggested IPT should be something with teeth and
really bites not just snarl!
How the new system could work To save
money and other resources the IPT could use secure online voting by
accredited journalists to grade countries and classify persecutors of
journalists (POJ) and show the duration e.g. POJ10 meaning persecutor of
journalists for the past ten years. I know that press freedom is very
controversial but as it is a human right and that it has its own
responsibilities too.
Zoning of countries Countries could be zoned
by the IPT based on a standard criteria that assesses press freedom e.g.
press censorship, violence against the press, harassment of journalists,
risk of abduction, threats, disappearance without trace, arrests, physical
attacks; stalking by state agents, torture and/or being killed; impunity of
perpetrators; exorbitant accreditation fees, unjustified confiscation of
press cards, arbitrary expulsions, denial of visas and or work permits,
victimisation; no recourse to appeal and so on.
States which are friendly
to journalists or press freedom, could be graded Green, being the best or
ideal work environment; Orange would be associated with a lot of checks and
the probability of arrests but with access to legal representation and
incarceration in filthy prisons but still survive, and finally Red, being
untenable, with nearly everything that erodes press freedom including
extra-judicial targeting of institutions and individual journalists for
harassment and terror, break-ins, theft of computers, hard-drives and
servers, a high risk of censorship, confiscation of material, abduction,
disappearance without trace, arrest without access to legal representation,
torture and/or being killed.
Penalties for countries • Naming or
labelling of countries based on their press freedom record in news reporting
e.g. “The Red Republic of Diamondia is hosting an international seminar on
patriotic editing skills;” • Isolation e.g. not inviting the Red Republic
of Diamondia and its government leaders to international gatherings of Green
countries!
Penalties for Individuals Penalties could involve naming
and shaming Persecutors of Journalists (POJ) regardless of rank in news
coverage e.g. “The President of the Red Republic of Diamondia, H.E. Mr Vote
Rigger, POJ20 has visited …” Or “The Minister of XYX of the Red Republic of
Diamondia Mr/Dr/Prof/Mrs …POJ10 has today opened a
workshop…”
Isolation would involve not inviting for example the Minister
of Bad Mornings, Mr Reporters Nightmare, POJ10 to a banquette hosted by the
Ambassador of a Green Republic/ country. An asset freeze and a travel ban
would be strengthened by not allowing offending individuals travel on
private and public owned means of transport of Green countries e.g.
aeroplanes, trains, buses, taxis, ships etc.
One disadvantage of this
suggestion is the general reluctance to change as the present is always
considered better than the unknown, no matter how unbearable the status quo
is.
Advantages • More effective than just condemnations as
currently in practice; • Swifter - does not need resolutions at the UN
Security Council; • Simpler and easier to administer, no bureaucracy
involved; • Only the culprit will suffer instantly; • No possibility
of busting e.g. for a POJ from a Red country finding his or her way into a
Green country or function uninvited ; • Better than the ICC which takes
ages to prosecute for crimes against humanity e.g. Vietnam’s former dictator
may not live to hear his sentence; • With good co-ordination, the system
will work as long as it receives legal authority in the same way countries
and leaders are ranked on the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. •
Penalties for countries and individuals could remain in force until real
contrition is demonstrated.
The current system of safeguarding
journalists’ welfare does not seem effective as it is just ignored with
impunity by dictators and their cronies. That should stop. Zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Bill Watch - Parliamentary Committee Series of 28th June [Meeting on Human Rights Commission Bill off]
BILL WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SERIES
[28th June 2011]
In our
Bulletins dated 25th and 27th June we notified as open to the public a meeting
on Thursday 30th June between the Senate’s Thematic Committee and the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill.Parliament have now advised that the meeting
has been replaced by a workshop for the Committee and the Commission, which will
take place at a venue outside Parliament.Please
note that the workshop will not be open to the public.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied.
Bill Watch 25/2011 of 29th June [Electoral Amendment Bill Gazetted]
BILL
WATCH 25/2011
[29th
June 2011]
Electoral
Amendment Bill
gazetted
The Electoral
Amendment Bill [H.B. 3, 2011] was gazetted on Monday 27th June.[Electronic version of the Bill available on request from veritas@mango.zw]
Bill Referred to Portfolio
Committee
Under normal
Parliamentary procedure the Bill now stands automatically referred to the House
of Assembly Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs.The portfolio
committee must consider the Bill and prepare a report for presentation by its
chairperson during the Bill’s Second Reading stage in the House.The committee has the power to call for
evidence from the public and to hold public hearings for the purpose.As this important Bill is urgent, public
hearings are likely to be soon.Interested individuals and organisations should therefore waste no time
in preparing their views on the Bill for presentation to the portfolio
committee.
When Will the Bill be Presented to
Parliament?
In terms of Standing
Orders the responsible Minister, the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, is
permitted to present the Bill to either the Senate or the House of Assembly 14
days after its gazetting.This means
that the Bill could receive its First Reading shortly after the House of
Assembly resumes on Tuesday 12th July.
Bill to go to Parliamentary Legal Committee
after Presentation
After its First
Reading the Bill will be referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee for its
report on whether or not the Bill is consistent with the Constitution.Interested organisations and individuals who
believe any of the Bill’s provisions infringe the Constitution should prepare
their representations now for submission to the Parliamentary Legal
Committee.
What is in the Bill?
According to the official explanatory
memorandum printed with the Bill the principal changes provided for are as
follows:
(a)to incorporate the
provisions of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act into the Electoral Act and
to repeal the ZEC Act
(b)to base the voting
process at polling-station level, with voters obliged to vote at their nearest
polling station rather than at any polling station within their constituencies
[polling station voters rolls will be
prepared]
(c)to ensure that
electronic copies of voters rolls are available in analysable
form
(d)to restrict postal
voting to voters who are outside the country on Government business [this means there is no provision for
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who are unable to return home to vote in their
constituencies]
(e)to allow electoral
officers and members of the Police Force and Defence Forces who have to be away
from their constituencies on duty during an election, to cast their votes in
advance of the election at special polling stations established for the purpose
[this special polling will be under the
control of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission]
(f)to introduce greater
transparency in the counting and collation of votes at all
levels
(g)to establish new
mechanisms to prevent politically-motivated violence and intimidation during
elections;
(h)to extend the
jurisdiction of the Electoral Court
(i)to ensure that the
results of presidential elections are announced speedily [the announcement must be within five days
of the end of the poll].
Veritas makes every
effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied
Even though we have a garden,
we cannot sell the vegetables because there is no one to buy
