The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Judge
reserves ruling on acquittal in Bennett case
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
10 March
2010
High Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu reserved his decision to
31st
March, on whether or not Roy Bennett should be acquitted.
This
was after hearing submissions on Wednesday from the State, which
opposed an
application made by the defence to have their client acquitted.
On Monday
the prosecution had closed its case, prompting the defence to
apply for a
dismissal saying the State had failed to show evidence linking
their client
to the alleged offense.
This was followed by a counter application by the
State which said at the
Wednesday hearing that there was no basis for an
acquittal.
The MDC Treasurer General is accused of conspiring, with
firearms dealer and
key state witness Peter Hitschmann, to possess weapons
of war to commit acts
of sabotage, insurgency or terrorism.
But lead
defence counsel Beatrice Mtetwa told the court that there has been
nothing
in the State's submissions that linked her client to the possession
of
firearms and nothing that was produced before the court that implicates
the
MDC official.
The State also alleges that Bennett communicated via email
with Hitschmann
to blow up communication lines, but the defence argues there
is no evidence
before the courts which shows the emails were
authentic.
"What we had in court were merely some papers which were
purportedly to be
copies of an email. But we argued that an email is an
electronic mail - once
it is a document it is a document and not an email
anymore.And we were
arguing that in order to authenticate an email you need
to go to the
evidence of an expert to show that the document that was before
the court
was indeed an email that was routed through the internet, but
there was no
such evidence," said lawyer Trust Maanda.
Prosecutor
Johannes Tomana also argued that the MDC official funded the
acquisition of
the alleged firearms. However, Bennett's defence team told
the court that
the prosecution failed to prove this. Maanda said attempts
were made by
Tomana to show that Hitschmann had a personal bank account in
Mozambique and
that some deposits were made into the account, but he said
there was no link
between that account and Bennett.
He said: "In fact the submissions that
were put before the court today were
actually saying there were 'unknown'
deposits by 'unknown' persons put into
Hitschmann's account.' The lawyer
said, again there was no evidence
connecting the MDC Treasurer
General.
Justice Bhunu said he will need two weeks to look at the
submissions
presented by both sides and come up with a ruling. Maanda said
if the High
Court judge rules in favour of the defence team it will mean the
end of the
terrorism case - unless the State appeals. On the other hand if
the judge
rules in favour of the State, the matter goes to the defence and
the trial
will proceed.
From the beginning the MDC-T has described
this case as more political
harassment of one of its officials. Over the
years Bennett and his farm
workers have been under extreme attack at the
hands of the Mugabe regime.
He spent a year in prison for pushing a ZANU
PF Minister in parliament after
being insulted during an argument. Prior to
this his commercial farm in the
Chimanimani area was invaded by the then
ZANU PF led government. His farm
workers were killed, raped and beaten by so
called war vets and soldiers.
Bennett's wife suffered a miscarriage during
this violent period at the
farm.
Currently, Robert Mugabe is refusing
to swear Bennett in as the Deputy
Minister of Agriculture, claiming he is
facing serious charges - although
there are other ministers in government
facing cases before the courts.
Malaysia
expresses anger over seizure of Zim farm
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
10 March
2010
The Malaysian government has officially protested the seizure of a
Malaysian-owned banana plantation in eastern Manicaland, in a move which
threatens diplomatic ties between the two countries.
An official from
Kuala Lumpur's embassy in Harare, Mohamad Nizan Mohamad,
told journalists
that Vice President John Nkomo has been approached on the
matter. He said
Nkomo has promised to take the matter to Robert Mugabe, a
friend of former
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
"The issue of our existing
investments and how they have been affected was
raised and the response was
positive and encouraging," Mohamad said after
meeting Nkomo on Monday. "We
were assured by the Vice President that our
matter would be taken to the
President."
The property, Fangundu Farm, was seized last year by retired army
general
and ambassador to Tanzania, Edzai Chimonyo. He was ordered by the
High Court
to vacate the property by Justice Tedious Karwi, who ruled in
January that
Chimonyo's occupation of the plantation was illegal. But
Chimonyo has
refused to leave the farm, which he said was allocated to him
in 2006 under
the land 'reform' programme.
Fangundu Farm is owned by
Matanuska (Pvt) Ltd, a farming entity whose
shareholders are Malaysian and
Dutch property investors. Their company,
Property Route Toute BV, is
registered in the Netherlands and recognised and
approved as an investor
through the Zimbabwe Investment Centre Act. The
property is also legally
supposed to be protected under a Bilateral
Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (BIPPA) signed by both
Malaysia and Zimbabwe.
The
government's refusal to honour BIPPAs is widespread, with ZANU PF intent
on
seizing any and all profitable land under the guise of land 'reform',
including properties belonging to foreign investors. Zimbabwe's already
damaged reputation as a safe investment zone has been further crippled
because of the violations of a number of different BIPPAs. A previous one
between South Africa and Zimbabwe was completely ignored and a number of
South African farmers lost their land in Zimbabwe in the land grab campaign.
Zimbabwe is now set face a seizure of its South African assets as
compensation for the loss of the South African owned land, after the
Pretoria High Court moved to enforce a landmark regional ruling declaring
Zimbabwe's land reform unlawful.
Meanwhile the House of Assembly last
week ratified a new BIPPA signed by
Zimbabwe and South African officials
last November, in theory making the
latest BIPPA enforceable. Both
governments have previously argued that they
could not offer South African
farmers protection from land attacks because
the Agreement was not ratified.
Deon Theron, the President of the Commercial
Farmers Union (CFU), expressed
doubt that any form of protection would be
ensured.
"Nothing will make a
difference until the government demonstrates goodwill
towards land owners
that their land won't be seized, and this has not
happened at all," Theron
said.
Nkomo
seeks to rescue banana plantation
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27829
March 10, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Vice President John Nkomo has moved in to help
Malaysian and Dutch
investors regain control of their banana plantation
which was seized by a
retired army general who is now Zimbabwe's ambassador
to Tanzania.
Fangundu Farm was invaded in December last year by
Ambassador Edzai
Chimonyo. Nkomo met a high powered delegation from
Malaysian investors,
Rainbow Century SDN BHD Route Toute BV,in Harare on
Tuesday and reportedly
promised to help them regain control of their
plantation.
Rainbow Century and Dutch-based investor jointly own Route
Toute BV, whichin
turn owns Matanuska, a farming organisation. Matanuska
produces bananas for
the export market.
The project falls under the
Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA).
But
Chimonyo has dug in his heels, setting the stage for a court battle with
Matanuska who are challenging his occupation of their 80 hectare
plantation.
The ambassador is harvesting bananas estimated to be worth
$US45 000 a week
and pocketing the proceeds.
A High Court judge last
month dismissed a court application by Matanuska
seeking to stop Chimonyo's
operations on the estate. Justice Felistus
Chatukuta ruled that since the
farm was acquired by the state Matanuska did
not have any title to the
property and crops anymore. The company has
appealed against the
ruling.
On Tuesday a delegation from Malaysia that included diplomats met
Nkomo and
expressed disappointment at the failure by the government of
Zimbabwe to
save the project which falls under BIPPA.
"There was a
fruitful meeting with the VP," said a source close to the
company. "We are
hopeful things will work out now."
There was no immediate comment from
the VP's office but sources said it was
unlikely the Malaysians will have
any joy since the matter was already
before the courts.
The sources
said the Malaysians should have taken the diplomatic and
political route
from the onset instead of pursuing the matter through the
courts.
"The VP may have promised but his hands are tied because this
case is before
the courts, the Supreme Court, for that matter," said a
Zimbabwean foreign
affairs official. "These people should have taken this
route from the start
because to stop it now can be difficult and can create
some problems."
The sources said the other set back was that Chimonyo, a
retired army major
general, is adamant that no one will reverse his
acquisition of the farm.
Tsvangirai
and Mugabe deadlocked on ministerial functions
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
10
March 2010
The Principals to the Global Political Agreement on Monday
failed to come to
an agreement concerning the unilateral re-assignment of
ministerial
functions that were gazetted by government last week
Friday.
Analysts said the latest stand-off between Robert Mugabe and
Morgan
Tsvangirai appears to have set back any previous progress made in
earlier
talks and has left a cloud of mistrust.
Mugabe, without any
consultation with the Prime Minister or his deputy
Arthur Mutambara, last
week gazetted the legal instruments stating which
minister is responsible
for the administration of which Acts of Parliament.
The ZANU PF leader
unilaterally stripped some ministers from both formations
of the MDC of
their powers, escalating tensions in the shaky inclusive
government.
Statutory instruments published in the state Gazette on Friday
show that
Mugabe trimmed down powers of the Ministry of Information and
Technology and
the Ministry of Labor, both controlled by the Tsvangirai MDC
formation, and
reassigned those powers to ministers of his own ZANU PF
party.
Information Communications Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa
lost key
portfolios to Transport Minister Nicholas Goche. Goche thereby
became the
Minister of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural
Development,
overseeing operations at state-run fixed-line telephone company
TelOne,
state cellular provider NetOne, Zimpost and their governing body,
the Postal
and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
Other Acts were
assigned to the Office of the President and Cabinet, meaning
that they will
be under the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Analysts point
out that there is no constitutional provision for Acts to be
administered by
the Office of the President and Cabinet. The Acts assigned
to the CIO are
Emergency Powers Act (previously with Home Affairs) and the
Interception of
Communications Act.
Now that there is an inclusive government and a Prime
Minister it would have
been hoped that Mugabe would have consulted and
agreed with the other two
principals on the allocation of ministerial
functions.
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC national spokesman, and one of the
most affected in
the trimming of powers, told SW Radio Africa the issue of
ministerial
functions was being handled by the principals.
'The MDC
does not and will not support such moves. The party will defend
what it got
at the formation of this government,' he said.
Exiled journalist Makusha
Mugabe said there was no reason for Robert Mugabe
to cannibalize the MDC
ministries, adding that his actions prove that as far
as he is concerned, he
is the only man in charge of the inclusive
government.
'He might as
well fire the ministers because all they do now is to go to
their offices
and do nothing. This does not make sense, otherwise why did he
establish the
ministries-appoint the ministers and strip them of their
powers for no
apparent reason,' Mukusha said.
He added; 'This proves to the MDC they
are not dealing with a sincere person
and we just wonder why SADC is not
intervening when violations of the GPA
have become numerous.'
IMF
chief says aid for Zim not possible yet
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
10 March
2010
The head of the global financial lending body, the International
Monetary
Fund (IMF), has said it is still not prepared to offer Zimbabwe any
new
loans, citing the ongoing political crisis in the country.
IMF
head Dominique Strauss-Khan told reporters on Wednesday, after a two day
visit to South Africa, that the group was interested in renewing its
relationship with Zimbabwe. But Strauss Khan added that the political
environment needs to change first to allow this relationship to
happen.
"We are happy to help. We are ready to help, but... as long as the
political
situation will not make it possible to come back on track in terms
of
arrears and governance, it will be very difficult for us to come back,"
Strauss-Kahn said.
His comments came after meeting with South African
President Jacob Zuma, who
argued that financial aid should be resumed to
Zimbabwe's unity government.
Zuma, as the regional mediator in Zimbabwe's
political crisis, has been
lobbying for Western countries to resume giving
aid to Zimbabwe, going as
far as to call for the lifting of targeted
sanctions, still in place on key
individuals in the Robert Mugabe regime.
Zuma has faced serious criticism
for this move, with observers commenting
that he has adopted former mediator
Thabo Mbeki's destructive policy of
'quiet diplomacy'.
Last week, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown resisted
pressure from Zuma on the
sanctions issue, declaring that more progress
needs to be made by the unity
government before the lifting of the targeted
sanctions is considered. IMF
chief Strauss-Kahn also rebuffed Zuma's
attempts to persuade a change on
policy towards Zimbabwe by saying: "We are
not yet at the point where
resuming lending is possible."
The IMF has
already agreed to restore Zimbabwe's voting rights, seven years
after the
country was suspended over its multi million dollar debt. But the
Fund said
the country was still ineligible for loans until it had paid off
its US$1.3
billion debt. In the meantime, Zimbabwe will once again be
allowed to take
part in IMF decision-making and voting, in a move which
observers have said
recognises the country's efforts to repair the shattered
economy.
The IMF
originally suspended Zimbabwe's voting rights in 2003 over its multi
million
dollar arrears, as well as 'policy differences' with the previous
ZANU PF
administration. These differences were mainly related to the chaotic
land
grab campaign that destroyed the financial powerhouse of agriculture in
Zimbabwe, a sector that has still not recovered. The seizure of land in the
name of 'land reform' meanwhile has continued, further dissuading potential
investors from investing in Zimbabwe.
The country's investment potential
has been further damaged by the
controversial indigenisation law that came
into effect this month, which
orders foreign companies to cede more than 50%
of their company to
indigenous Zimbabweans. The law, approved by ZANU PF
well before the unity
government was formed, has further divided the fragile
coalition, with the
MDC calling it 'counter productive' and a threat to
investment. Meanwhile,
trading on Zimbabwe's stock exchange has plummeted
from a daily average of
US$2 million to US$500 000, as a direct result of
the law, which has left
investors understandably nervous.
Damning
report on torture to be launched Thursday
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
10 March
2010
A damning report outlining how Mugabe's regime has used torture and
imprisonment to manipulate elections and other political processes will be
launched at the Book Café in Harare on Thursday. The report entitled 'Cries
from Goromonzi - Inside Zimbabwe's Torture Chambers' was commissioned by the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and contains 23 harrowing testimonies from
individuals tortured between 2000 and 2009.
The group has chosen the
11th March for the launch because it coincides with
the third anniversary of
the Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer rally, where
police shot dead activist
Gift Tandare, in cold blood. Several other
political and civil society
leaders were picked up at the time, including
then opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, who was brutally assaulted in
police custody. The country
witnessed a massive escalation of human rights
abuses soon after the
rally.
'Cries from Goromonzi' will examine the 'pervasive use of torture
and
imprisonment of citizens in secret detention camps in Zimbabwe to
extract
information, stifle public dissent and determine political processes
and
electoral outcomes,' a statement from the Crisis Coalition said. It will
feature testimonies from MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa who was attacked and
brutally beaten on his way to the airport and Tsvangirai's Chief of Staff,
Ian Makone, who was subjected to torture while in detention.
Women
who were tortured describe the sexual abuse they suffered, including
gang
rape and infection with the deadly HIV virus that causes AIDS. Some of
the
testimonies name the perpetrators of crimes and where they were
tortured,
such as which rooms were used at the Harare Central Police
station. An
infamous torture base in Goromonzi was the motivation behind the
name of the
report.
Several guests have been invited to be part of the report launch,
including
Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Useni Sibanda (Christian Alliance),
Irene Petras
(Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights) and Jonah Gokova (Crisis
Coalition
Chairperson). One of the victims, Rosy Mupfawa, is expected to
give her
testimony in front of everyone attending.
Moyo
challenges court ruling over Speaker
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27840
March 10, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
Harare - Tsholotsho North legislator, Prof Jonathan Moyo
has renewed his bid
to oust Lovemore Moyo, Speaker of the House of Assembly,
24 hours after High
Court judge Bharat Patel threw out his 2008 challenge to
have Moyo's
election to the powerful post set aside.
The former
Information Minister launched an appeal in the Supreme Court
Wednesday.
The controversial politician, who was elected as an
independent MP but later
crossed the floor to rejoin Zanu-PF, is adamant
Justice Patel erred in
passing a judgement in favour of Lovemore
Moyo.
The Speaker is the national chairman for Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's
mainstream MDC party.
"The learned Judge.erred in
finding that a proper election of the Speaker of
Parliament was conducted in
terms of the constitution," Moyo argued in his
notice of appeal.
The
appeal was filed through his lawyer Terrence Hussein of Ranchod and
company.
The notice of appeal further reads, "The learned judge erred
in conceding
the first respondent's failure to implicate and enforce his own
procedures
for the election.
"The judge erred in finding that the
participants' exposure of their
completed ballot papers was not a violation
of the secret ballot.
"He also erred in finding that a secret ballot took
place. Wherefore
appellant will pray that the appeal be allowed on any one
or more or all of
the grounds of the appeal and that the decision of learned
Judge Patel can
be set aside."
Moyo, a political scientist by
profession, and three fellow legislators from
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara's breakaway MDC faction had argued
that the election of the
Speaker on August 25, 2008, was fraught with
irregularities.
He
claimed that the Speaker's election was conducted in a "chaotic and
disorderly manner" in a process that violated the secrecy of the
ballot.
Lovemore Moyo was sued jointly with Clerk of Parliament, Austin
Zvoma, who
was accused of failing to safeguard the Parliamentary Standing
Orders that
would have delivered a legitimate electoral
outcome.
Zvoma said the alleged chaos was merely a result of the
increased membership
of the House from 150 to 210 MPs.
Jonathan Moyo
further claimed that mainstream MDC MPs were forced to show
their ballot
papers to party Chief Whip Innocent Gonese and MDC vice
president Thokozani
Khupe as proof that they had indeed voted for the party's
choice of
candidate.
But in his ruling, Justice Patel said the controversial
politician's
application lacked merit.
The judge did concede that
Lovemore Moyo's election was not perfect but said
this did not prevent the
MPs from electing a candidate of their choice.
He said brandishing their
votes on their own volition, free from any
intimidation, did not "detract
from the secrecy of their vote or vitiate the
secrecy of the ballot as a
whole".
"On the evidence before this court," ruled Justice Patel, "there
is nothing
to show that any of the members in the House did not cast their
votes in
secret or that the members who did display their votes did so under
any
threat or duress."
Lovemore Moyo became the first legislator from
an opposition party to assume
the powerful post of Speaker of Parliament.
Reserve
Bank reform bill approved by Senate
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
10 March 2010
A
reform bill, meant to trim the excessive powers of the Reserve Bank
governor, sailed through the Senate on Tuesday, despite ZANU PF having
earlier threatened to scupper it. Analysts are divided over who has come out
the winner in the power struggle after both ZANU PF and the MDC-T had to
trade concessions to have the bill approved.
Since last year ZANU PF
has been arguing that the suggested reforms were
heavily tilted in favour of
the MDC Finance Minister, to the disadvantage of
the ZANU PF central bank
governor. Even after the lower house of parliament
had approved the bill
they kept threatening to attach 10 amendments to it in
an attempt to swing
the balance of power back in Governor Gideon Gono's
favour.
The MDC-T
meanwhile did not have it all their way. In order for the bill to
be
initially approved by the lower house of parliament they agreed to a
provision that granted Gono and other senior bank officials immunity for any
crimes they committed during their tenure. Only when they put in this
provision did ZANU PF agree to support the bill.
Activists reacted
with outrage at the concession that allowed the man
accused of funding the
repressive regime to have immunity against any
prosecution. Gono was a key
member of the notorious Joint Operations Command
that led the campaign of
terror and murder in the run up to the June 2008
election.
The second
stage of the approval process, which was the Senate, became
another
battleground as ZANU PF sought to amend the previous version of the
bill
passed by the lower house. The MDC-T at this stage also retaliated by
threatening to attach an amendment that removed the immunity for Gono and
his officials. In the end the Senate approved exactly the same version of
the bill agreed earlier. What's left is for Mugabe to sign it into
law.
So much for the brinkmanship, who has come out the winner? An
analyst we
spoke to said Finance Minister Biti had got his wish to force the
central
bank to 'stick to its core business of monetary policy management
and
stabilization of the Zimbabwean dollar.' With no signs that the Zimbabwe
dollar will be back anytime soon, Gono in the meantime does not have much to
do and predictably has been keeping a low profile of late.
London
based economic analyst Bekithemba Mhlanga told Newsreel the
motivation for
ZANU PF agreeing to the bill in the end was money. He said
reforming the
central bank was vital to attempts to get external funding for
the coalition
government and even they could not run away from this reality.
Ex-Governor
Chased Out Of Farm
http://news.radiovop.com
10/03/2010 13:33:00
Masvingo, March 10, 2010
-Embattled former Masvingo Governor Willard
Chiwewe, who was unceremoniously
relieved of his duties by President Robert
Mugabe in his maiden term, two
years ago, is seeing red after his sucessor,
Titus Maluleke this week
ordered him to vacate a farm which the former
governor forcibly grabbed from
a black family during his tenure in office.
The move to muscle out
Chiwewe, from Ganyani Farm in Masvingo East, is yet
another swing in the
Zanu PF factional puzzle amid reports that Maluleke is
trying to punish his
predecessor for being symphatetic to a faction known
openly to back Vice
President Joice Mujuru.
Chiwewe was reportedly given until the end of
April this year, by Maluleke,
to vacate Ganyani farm or risk being openly
embarrased in yet another twist
to factional bickering in Zanu
PF.
Zanu PF is normally known to condone even illegal actions and
excesses by
its members but the latest move to elbow out Chiwewe from
Ganyani farm has
set the stage for a tug of war between rival factions in
Zanu PF in
Masvingo.
Maluleke is reported to have ordered lands
officials to make sure that
Chiwewe vacate Ganyani farm on the grounds that
the farm was grabbed from a
black person.
''We have since been
ordered by Maluleke to make sure that Chiwewe vacates
Ganyani farm by the
end of April this year because he acquired the land
illegally by abusing his
position to grab a farm owned by a black person and
in this case the Ganyani
family.
''However, to us there is more to it because there are many
heavies who
broke the rules and illegally used their political muscles to
grab some
properties in the name of land reform but nothing was done to
them. In this
case we think its factional bickering nothing else, Chiwewe is
simply being
scarificed,''said a senior lands official who preferred
anonymity.
Contacted for comment Chiwewe said,''There is simply nothing I
can do if the
situation is like this, farming becomes really child's play if
we have no
protection from hyenas with their own vendettas that are not in
sync with
the land reform programme, why target me of all the
people.''
Sources said Maluleke, linked to the faction led by Defence
Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa, had in the past openly vowed to fix Chiwewe
when he
succeeded him about two years go.
MDC youth plan
anti-Chiadzwa graft protests
http://www.zicora.com
Posted By Own Staff Thursday, 11 March 2010
01:19
The Movement for Democratic Change youth wing is planning
nationwide
demonstrations to lobby for the arrest of people linked to
corruption at
Chiadzwa diamond fields.
The planned protest would be
in response to Zanu PF youth's month-long
ultimatum issued on Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to call for the lifting
of sanctions or "risk
action from the youth of Zimbabwe".
The ultimatum expires on March 24.MDC
called for the immediate arrest of
Zanu PF youth who made unspecified
threats against the premier but no one
was arrested.During his birthday
celebrations last Saturday in Bulawayo
President Mugabe urged youths across
the country to rally against sanctions,
a move that could incite clashes
between MDC and ZANU PF youths.
"I want our youth movement (Zanu PF)
across the country to now raise their
voices louder than before in demanding
that imperious countries of Europe
and America leave us alone and drop those
evil sanctions that they have
imposed on us," said Mugabe.
He added,
"Let it be a vigorous campaign across the country.Why of all
countries in
the world, of all countries in Africa should Zimbabwe be
burdened with
sanctions?"
Youth Assembly Chairman and member of parliament for
Nkululmane Thamsanqa
Mahlangu said MDC youths would soon stage nationwide
demonstrations.
"Now that these hoodlums have been allowed to demonstrate
without fear of
arrest, Zimbabweans shall soon be embarking on nationwide
demonstrations for
the arrest of all those linked to the nauseating
corruption at Chiadzwa".
Mahlangu, who is also deputy Minister of Youth,
said Tsvangirai was not
under threat from the youth of Zimbabwe but "from a
sulking minority in Zanu
PF which is busy looting diamonds in
Chiadzwa".
"We shall soon be taking to the street and giving our own
deadlines for the
opening of new newspapers and television stations, a
speedy resolution to
the outstanding issues and the completion of media and
constitutional
reforms," said Mahlangu. No dates have been
set.
Mahlangu said the youth assembly took great exception to the
so-called
ultimatum issued to the premier "giving him a deadline to solve a
Zanu PF
ulcer which it invited upon itself through electoral theft and gross
human
rights abuses".
The 'motley group of hired thugs", Mahlangu
said, were openly incited by
Zanu PF's geriatric Politburo."These Zanu PF
saboteurs, who are found in the
military top brass and the Zanu PF
Politburo, have unleashed these hired
street urchins toprevent the hawk-eyed
Prime Minister from putting a dead
end to the shameful corruption in
Marange," said Mahlangu.
According to Mahlangu, Tsvangirai was fighting
to "divert these proceeds
from their private pockets into the national
coffers so that we can pay
civil servants decent salaries which they
deserve".
Goche
challenged over cancelled licences
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27834
March 10, 2010
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - A total of 20 drivers who obtained their drivers'
licences at the
Chiredzi Vehicle Inspection Department depot between January
and June last
year have given the Minister of transport and Infrastructural
Development
Nicholas Goche a two week ultimatum to reverse his decision to
cancel their
licences.
Minister of transport and Infrastructural
Development Nicholas Goche
The drivers on Wednesday petitioned Goche,
giving him a two week ultimatum
to reverse his decision or risk court
action.
On Monday Goche announced that he had cancelled 199 drivers'
licences
obtained at Chiredzi VID. He said the documents were corruptly
obtained.
However in a sudden turn of events 20 of the affected drivers
yesterday
wrote a letter to the minister in which they said he should prove
to them
that they did not get the licences through proper
channels.
In a letter signed by 20 of the affected drivers the minister
has been
ordered to revisit the whole issue so that some of the drivers
involved, who
might have obtained their documents through proper channel are
not
unnecessarily punished.
"We demand that you reverse your decision
because we the undersigned
obtained our licences through the proper
channel.
"While we acknowledge that there are some people who
fraudulently obtained
the licences during this period it has also to be
noted that there are some
people like us who got their licences
properly.
"Given such a scenario we are giving you 14 days to reverse
this decision or
risk court action because we feel the circumstances in
which one obtained
his licence has to be established before such action is
taken.
"We have consulted our lawyers and we feel this issue has to be
resolved
before spilling into the courts".
Goche yesterday said he
had not received the letter from the concerned
drivers and therefore could
not comment before seeing the contents of the
letter.
"I have not
seen the letter", said Goche. "I am waiting for it because that
will make
our work easier to deal with those who fraudulently obtained
licences at the
Chiredzi depot.
Goche on Monday said he had cancelled 199 drivers'
licences obtained at the
depot arguing that there were obtained through
under hand dealings.
Of the 199 drivers' licences cancelled 99 were Class
Two licences while 101
were Class Four licences.
Goche argued that
some people were issued with these certificates of
competency the same day
they applied for them while others had licences
delivered to their homes
after they paid bribes.
At least nine VID officers at the Chiredzi depot
have been suspended as
investigations into under hand dealings in the
issuance of licences deepen.
It has now emerged that some of the drivers
who got their licences in
Chiredzi were now employed by large haulage
companies and the move by Goche
to cancel their licences would render them
instantly jobless.
SA
army along the Zim-Moz border
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Staff Reporter
Tuesday, 09 March
2010 11:48
JOHANESSBURG - South Africa will deploy police officers and
soldiers along
the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders to curb the influx of
illegal immigrants
into the neighboring country, an official has
said.
According to media reports, a police official announced that they
were going
to deploy four companies comprising of South African defence
forces and
police on Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders to arrest illegal
immigrants and
guard against cross border criminal activities.
"Those
arrested will be charged bail of up to 1000 rand," said the official.
The
statement comes amid reports that the neighbouring country's police was
concerned over the influx of Zimbabweans.
South Africa provincial
Commissioner for Limpopo, Calvin Sengani, last week
told South Africa's
Parliament that the increased migration continued to
stretch their resources
and manpower. He said Zimbabweans were flooding
their cities and town and
causing a great number of problems.
The South African Department of Home
Affairs between January and February
deported 2000 illegal immigrants, 179
of them Zimbabwean ex convicts who had
been arrested for committing various
criminal offences in that country.
On Monday last week, South African police
rounded up 17 Zimbabwean suspected
to be commercial sex workers in Musina
during a routine clean up exercise in
the border town.
ZESA
blasted over tariff claim
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 10 March
2010 09:03
BULAWAYO - State-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA)
management shocked many when it announced last week that its tariffs
were
very low and were not even in line with those charged in other SADC
countries.
Most households, especially those in Bulawayo and Harare, are
currently
receiving ZESA monthly bills with amounts as high as US$2000. ZESA
spokesperson Fullard Gwasira last week said, "Tariffs currently charged by
ZESA were actually below regional average and the utility was not concerned
about consumer's income as the tariffs are based on production and
operation".
In response to Gwasira's statement, residents blasted ZESA
for charging
exorbitant bills which were beyond reach of many.
"I am a
civil servant my salary is below U$150, last month ZESA sent me a
bill of
US$1800 and I am shocked when they are trying to justify this, where
do they
think we get the money to pay such bills?" said Babra Mangena a
teacher
Another resident, Vaida Ncube, said: "The current ZESA management
should be
sacked as they are very incompetent and ignorant. How can they
defend such
high bills? It's shocking, I think they don't know the value a
US dollar".
Last month Energy and Power Development Minister, Engineer Elias
Mudzuri
directed ZESA to take physical meter readings on all households and
come up
with accurate charges. But there has been no action from ZESA
yet.
Mudzuri admitted that ZESA was short charging customers and the power
utility should stop producing estimated electricity bills.
Stop
Fighting, War Vets Ordered
http://www.herald.co.zw/
9 March 2010
Harare - PRESIDENT
Mugabe has told the feuding Zimbabwe National Liberation
War Veterans'
Association leadership to stop abrogating constitutional
procedures and
organise a congress to settle their dispute.
At a meeting with editors of
media houses operating in the country at
Zimbabwe House last Thursday,
President Mugabe said he expected war vets to
stop talking through the
media.
"They should all be silent and go to a meeting and elect a
leadership at
congress," he said in reference to conflicting statements
emanating from
leadership camps led by Cdes Jabulani Sibanda, Joseph
Chinotimba and Basten
Beta.
Cde Chinotimba has claimed the
chairmanship of the association from Cde
Sibanda, while Cde Beta has said he
will wait for a congress to elect a new
executive.
Earlier, Cde Beta
had opposed Cde Sibanda's leadership with Cde Chinotimba
at the time
supporting the latter.
President Mugabe said the divisions started after
the 2008 harmonised
elections when a group led by Cde Beta approached him
and said they would
not "lose what we got through the bullet through the
ballot".
He said he impressed upon them the need to observe the
importance of the
ballot.
However, President Mugabe said, they did
not hold any such meeting and
instead formed a group they called Mwana
Wevhu.
"They wanted to hold separate conferences and we said no to that.
We said we
wanted them to sit down and unite and discuss who they wanted to
lead them.
"We had a meeting and they agreed not to proceed with separate
congresses.
"Jabulani was not present, Chinotimba was there at that
meeting and he (Cde
Sibanda) went on to announce that their congress would
go on," President
Mugabe said.
He said Cde Sibanda tried to hold his
congress but was blocked by police
from doing so.
"They then all
agreed to have one congress though they complained. We
thought that they
were now more together.
"But midway Chinotimba oti ndatora simba . . . Ko
rinongonokorwa senzungu?
Ndi Chinotimba atimbaka apa? Jabulani says there
are no changes."
Now there were reports that some of the provinces were
supporting Cde
Sibanda.
Five of 10 provinces have said they still
recognise Cde Sibanda's
chairmanship.
Manicaland yesterday dismissed
Cde Chinotimba's "boardroom coup" calling it
a move by a "power-hungry
individual".
Manicaland provincial chairperson Cde Vladimir Mukada said:
"The vote of no
confidence against Cde Sibanda was unprocedural and it is a
reflection of
cowardice since it was done outside the constitutional
forum."
Cde Mukada said Cde Chinotimba was the association's
disciplinary committee
chairman and if there was any misunderstanding with
the chairman, he was
supposed to summon and charge him with
misconduct.
He accused Cde Chinotimba of working against the spirit of
the revolution.
"Cde Chinotimba is power-hungry. Recently he secured a
position as Zanu-PF
Central Committee member for Manicaland yet he won the
war vets vice
chairmanship using the Harare provincial structure. In 2008,
he contested as
a candidate for Buhera South House of Assembly membership,
but we have it on
record that he once contested for the same position in
Harare," he said.
Harare, Mashonaland East, Masvingo and Midlands have
also dismissed Cde
Chinotimba's actions.
Parly
to ask diamond firms to cooperate
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Ndodana Sixholo Wednesday 10 March
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Parliament will write to the directors of
two firms
licensed to mine diamonds at Chiadzwa diamond field to cooperate
with the
House's inquiry into alleged irregularities in the diamond sector,
a top
legislator said on Tuesday.
Edward Chindori Chininga, chairman
of the House special committee on mines,
said they were going to write to
Mbada Investments and Canadile Miners'
directors who have continued to play
truancy with committee, dodging for the
second time on Monday a hearing to
probe their activities at the
controversial diamond field in eastern
Zimbabwe.
"Parliament will now write to them and explain the rules of
Parliament. We
are not after confrontation, we want to look at the things
that affect the
country," Chininga said.
Some members of the
committee had indicated on Monday that the it would
institute contempt of
Parliament charges against Mbada and Canadile
directors, for refusing to for
the hearings.
The two are joint venture companies between state-owned
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and some South African
investors extracting
diamonds at the Chiadzwa field that is also known as
Marange.
MPs who spoke to ZimOnline Monday had said the contempt of
Parliament motion
was expected to be moved in the House next
week.
But committee chairperson Edward Chindori Chininga poured water on
the probe
saying they had resolved to write to the directors of the two
companies and
"persuade them to cooperate with Parliament".
"We are
not in a rush to put them into contempt. This is a very serious
charge,"
said Chininga a former minister of mines and member of President
Robert
Mugabe's ZANU PF
Marange is one of the world's most controversial diamond
fields with reports
that soldiers sent to guard the claims after the
government took over the
field in October 2006 from a British firm that
owned the deposits committed
gross human rights abuses against illegal
miners who had descended on the
field.
Human rights groups have been
pushing for a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds but
last November, the country
escaped a KP ban with the global body giving
Harare a June 2010 deadline to
make reforms to comply with its
regulations. - ZimOnline
Outbreak of measles hits half country
http://www.indcatholicnews.com
Posted: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 10:06
pm
Zimbabwe: outbreak of measles hits half country |
measles,Zimbabwe,
Epidemiological Bulletin,World Health Organization,
WHO
An outbreak of measles has hit 28 of the 62 districts of Zimbabwe and is
still spreading. The illness is more serious in a population where many are
suffering from malnutrition, HIV and other conditions. According to the
latest Epidemiological Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO),
since the beginning of the epidemic in October 2009, there have been about
1,200 suspected cases, 221 confirmed and 50 resulting in
death.
UNICEF, together with other organizations involved in the health
sector, has
undertaken an intensive vaccination program. The campaign aims
at all
children aged six months to 14 years. In the eastern part of
Zimbabwe, in
the District of Buhera in the Manicaland Province alone, more
than 25,000
children are already vaccinated. Now the organization is engaged
in a door
to door campaign, to highlight the importance of vaccination of
children,
although the strategy also finds resistance among those who refuse
the
vaccine because of religious beliefs.
The epidemic of measles has
also struck a group of families belonging to the
"Johanne Marange Apostolic
Church" in the area of Nzvimbe, about 70 km from
the city of Mutare, on the
border with Mozambique. The elders of the church
do not allow the
vaccination nor allow their followers to receive medical
treatment, and
prefer to sprinkle holy water on the patients as a remedy.
The report says
that 30 people belonging to religious groups, mostly
children, died from
measles, although the number could be higher, due to the
practice of
Vapostori, "quick burials."
In Zimbabwe, children receive their first
measles vaccination at nine months
after birth, and the second dose at 18
months. Symptoms of the disease
usually appear between 8 and 12 days after
infection and include high fever,
bloodshot eyes, and
tiny white spots
inside the mouth. Each year, this disease causes hundreds
of thousands of
deaths among children in developing countries.
Zimbabwe
Police Fail to Enforce High Court Ruling Against Former Anglican
Bishop
http://www1.voanews.com
Sources in the authorized branch of the Anglican Church of the
Province of
Central Africa said that the police on Sunday refused to enforce
a High
Court ruling which rejected a Kunonga appeal of an earlier
ruling
Sandra Nyaira | Washington 09 March 2010
A Zimbabwe
High Court ruling last week against former Harare Anglican Bishop
Nolbert
Kunonga has not ended the plight of parishioners locked out of
church
buildings by Kunonga loyalists.
Sources in the authorized branch of the
Anglican Church of the Province of
Central Africa said that the police on
Sunday refused to enforce the High
Court ruling given by Justice Chinembiri
Bhunu which rejected a Kunonga
appeal of an earlier ruling.
Kunonga
resigned from the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa
in 2008
and was later excommunicated for disobedience.
Some Anglican parishioners
have been holding services in the open while more
prosperous parishes have
rented space from other denominations or commercial
space to worship.
Kunonga, whose loyalists have seized control of Anglican
churches in the
capital with the backing of police, have barred the opposing
faction pending
a final decision in the courts as to the control of Anglican
church property
in the vast Harare diocese.
Kunonga is a staunch supporter of President
Robert Mugabe - a factor that
contributed to the rift between him and the
Province of Central Africa.
Anglican Priest Paul Gwese said the Church of
the Province of Central Africa
is seeking the assistance of political
leaders in ending the dispute which
he says has worn down Anglican
parishioners.
Faction of
Zimbabwe Student Union Alleges MDC Role in Clash Over
Constitution
http://www1.voanews.com
The National Constitutional Assembly, aligned with the
ZINASU faction
alleging the attacks, issued a statement on Tuesday
condemning such violence
and pinning blame for the clash on the MDC
formation of Prime Minister
Tsvangirai
Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington
09 March 2010
A faction of the divided Zimbabwe National Students
Union has charged that
its leaders were attacked at a memorial service for
the Susan Tsvangirai,
the late wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, on
Saturday in Harare, by
elements of the Tsvangirai formation of the Movement
for Democratic Change.
The ZINASU faction said its president, Tafadzwa
Mugwadi, its secretary
general, Kurayi Hoyi, its treasurer, Tafadzwa Kutya,
and its legal affairs
secretary, Archieford Mudzengi were hospitalized at
the Avenues Clinic
following the alleged attack.
The National
Constitutional Assembly, aligned with the ZINASU faction
alleging the
attacks, issued a statement on Tuesday condemning such violence
and blaming
the Tsvangirai MDC formation, with which it differs on the
approach to
revising the national constitution.
The NCA statement said the alleged
behavior of the MDC youths was "typical
of, if not worse than that of
ZANU-PF thugs," referring to the former ruling
party of President Robert
Mugabe. The NCA urged Mr. Tsvangirai to publicly
denounce such
violence.
Secretary General Kurayi Hoyi of the union faction that alleged
the attacks,
told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the rival faction of ZINASU
organized
the attacks with the cooperation of Tsvangirai MDC
elements.
Speaking for the rival ZINASU faction, Wisdom Mugagara said
members of his
formation have been attacked since Saturday in retaliation.
Bleak future for winter wheat production
http://www.herald.co.zw, Wednesday
March 10, 2010
By Martin
Kadzere
ZIMBABWE could be bracing for another year of food insecurity,
amid bleak
expectations for both the maize harvest next month and the
forthcoming
winter wheat production.
A recent maize crop assessment
conducted by the Government has revealed that
11 percent of maize crop
planted during this summer season was a complete
write off, a figure
independent observers believe could be higher.
The winter wheat crop is
not expected to contribute much to food security.
Government has only
managed to release US$10 million instead of US$45
million required to
finance
50 000 hectarage.
Banks largely supported the 2009/10
summer cropping season of which 11
percent of the crop has been declared a
write off.
Speculation is rife that since some farmers may fail to pay
back their
loans, few financiers would be prepared to take the risk of
availing more
loans for this year's winter wheat programme.
There is
also a lukewarm participation by the private sector, which, during
the past
two seasons, has financed winter wheat through contract farming
programmes.
The majority has abandoned the contract farming schemes
because farmers were
breaching the contracts through side
marketing.
Side marketing is when a farmer decides to sell their produce
outside the
contractual agreement after being supplied with
inputs.
For optimal winter wheat yields, planting should begin during the
beginning
of May and it is unlikely that farmers would be able to secure
enough
funding during the few weeks remaining.
"It is a tough
situation. Given the challenges facing the Government and
farmers, this
year's crop could the lowest in years.
"There is insufficient money to
buy inputs while irrigation equipment at
many farms is quite old," said one
analyst with a local bank.
Apart from funding constraints, frequent power
cuts were also likely to have
adverse effects on yields. Zimbabwe is
grappling with frequent power cuts
largely due to low generation at Hwange
Power Station, the country's largest
power plant.
Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph
Made has warned
farmers without reliable electricity and water supplies to
avoid planting
winter wheat.
Economists have pointed out that a deficit in wheat and
maize harvests would
mean the Government would have to commit more funds
towards importation of
grain.
"Importation of food is not
developmental and the country is going to loose
more money as a result of
poor harvests," an economist based in Harare said.
The economist added
the situation would also compound the current liquidity
on the market since
money "will be going out".
A Glendale farmer however said "farming is
business and farmers should treat
it as business."
"The US$10 million
is enough but the problem is farmers still need to
continue relying on
Government funds. Government has a lot of
commitments.its not only winter
wheat so serious farmers should approach
banks and get money to finance
production" he said.
The US Department of Agriculture's foreign
Agricultural Service said
recently wheat harvests would not exceed 18 000
tonnes.
Zimbabwe needs about 400 000 tonnes of wheat per annum.
Hot Seat: (Part 2) Mayor of Harare Much Masunda
|
SW Radio Africa Transcript
HOT SEAT: PART 2 -Harare Mayor Much Masunda
See
PART 1 - Harare Mayor Much Masunda
BROADCAST: 05 March 2010 |
|
VIOLET GONDA: Welcome to the final part of an interview with
the Mayor of Harare Much Masunda on issues to do with service delivery in the
capital city. In this last segment the Mayor starts off by explaining why
there’s a water crisis in the city.
MUCH MASUNDA: At this time last year, February 2009 that was
just a week or two after we’d been given back the responsibility of producing
and distributing potable water to the whole of Harare , ZINWA was producing on
average 300 mega litres of water. |
 |
|
Now as we speak Violet, we are producing over 600 mega litres –
close to the installed capacity of the two water treatment plants. Now the two
water treatment plants that provide potable water to not only Harare but the
dormitory towns to Harare like Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and in urban
settlements like in Epworth. The demand for water in those areas is 1 300 mega
litres.
What we have now brought into sharp focus by producing water at near
installed capacity, the installed capacity at Morton Jaffrey is 640 mega litres
a day and Morton Jaffray abstracts water from the two lakes - Lake Chivero and
Lake Manyame and both of those lakes are 87% owned by the City Council and the
other 13% is owned by government. And then Prince Edward water treatment
abstracts water from two dams - Seke Dam and Harahwa Dam and both of those dams
100% owned by the City. So the installed capacity at Prince Edward is just under
100 mega litres.
But the work that we’ve done since we came into office with the assistance of
the much-maligned western countries - we got for instance 650 000 Euros from the
EU which enabled us to titivate the PE plant to a point where that plant can now
produce an excess of 100 mega litres a day. But the only constraint that we are
faced with now is that the water levels at both Harahwa and Seke are perilously
low, unlike Chivero and Manyame which are virtually 100% full.
So there’s a difference, there’s a demand for water to the tune of 1 300 mega
litres and we are producing at near optimum levels at about 600 plus, close to
700 and there’s just not enough water to go around. I don’t think anyone would
like to be in the invidious position of Engineer Christopher Magwenzi Zvobgo
because on a daily basis he has to make a call – I’ve got 650 mega litres of
water – who is going to get it? And even I as Mayor of Harare haven’t had water
for the last five years. But I pay my bills religiously because the money has
got to come from somewhere and money doesn’t grow on trees I think that’s what
people need to appreciate.
GONDA: I was actually going to ask you that question because
the ordinary person doesn’t want to hear about what the problem is; the ordinary
person just wants to have water. So why is it people are being forced to pay for
water that they are not using and also these are people who are struggling to
make ends meet, they don’t even have the money and yet they are forced to pay
this money but they are not getting the water.
MASUNDA: Violet, I’d occasion to take the Prime Minister,
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai to Mabvuku and Tafara and before we embarked on the
tour I said, Mr Prime Minister, please keep a sharp lookout for two things.
Virtually every other house in Mabvuku and Tafara - and we all know that the
people that live in Mabvuku and Tafara are not exactly well heeled - but every
other house Violet, and I’m not joking, has got a satellite dish, if not two.
And I said to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister keep a look out for the people
that we are going to meet - every person, other person that we met had a cell
phone and I ask, with tears rolling down my cheeks, how much does it cost to
have a satellite dish installed? I mean how much does it cost on average to have
a cell phone? So there has to be a paradigm shift there Violet, people need to
realise that these services cost money and we can’t provide these services to
the satisfaction of all the ratepayers, the residents of Harare if they
themselves are not prepared to pay for the services. Where is the money going to
come from?
GONDA: But Mr Mayor, I’m not sure I understand what you are
saying here because water is a basic human right so it doesn’t really matter if
people are able to buy satellite dishes or cell phones… (interrupted)
MASUNDA: It’s about priorities.
GONDA: …yes but you are the service providers, you are
supposed to be providing water to the people they are paying for this.
MASUNDA: Yes, I’m glad you are asking all these questions
Violet. Do you know how much it costs us a month to procure water treatment
chemicals? $2 million.
GONDA: Yes but you’ve just said you received a large grant
from the European Union so clearly you have the money... (interrupted)
MASUNDA: Listen to me, the 650 000 Euros that we got from
the EU was fully utilised in procuring flow meters and filters and you name it –
the things that were meant to get the PE plant working because those two plants
Violet have not received the TLC that they needed over the years. So we needed
to fix the pumping capacity and get it to where it should be, so I’m talking
about the recurrent expenditure here.
And the residents themselves could also help us, both the residents and the
industrial operators, because the pollution from domestic and industrial users
has created such a problem in terms of purifying the water that we have to
procure between eight and ten different water treatment chemicals to render the
water potable, in other words, drinkable. And that money’s got to come from
somewhere. We can’t expect taxpayers from other countries to chip in and provide
this kind of current expenditure, it must come from the ratepayers themselves
-because government hasn’t got the money and there’s no way that we could get
back to where we were with the Reserve Bank printing Zim dollars; they certainly
can’t print US dollars or Rands.
GONDA: OK so you say the ratepayers are not prioritising but
your critics say it’s actually outrageous that you acquired an expensive
Mercedes Benz worth 150 000 dollars at a time when the Council was saying it had
no money and also it was purchased at a time when the City was failing to
deliver a reliable service to ratepayers. So how do you respond to that?
MASUNDA: Violet, this question about the Mayoral vehicle has
been thrashed to death. The vehicle that was acquired for use by the Mayor’s
Office – not just me personally – it was actually purchased for 130 000 not 150
000 anyway. But I think that’s an appreciation that up until, there’s a point
beyond which I could not continue providing my own vehicles for use in official
duties. I don’t want to start making odious comparisons about what happens in
other sectors, but that vehicle was budgeted for long before I came into Office,
it was felt that the mayoral vehicle was overdue for replacement and it was
replaced.
GONDA: But if you are talking about priorities is that
really a priority since you were complaining about ratepayers managing to buy
satellite dishes and cell phones? And you say this vehicle was budgeted for but
according to the Standard newspaper, the Council Procurement Board was very
critical of this purchase and some Minutes that were obtained by the newspaper
actually said that the Board raised concern over the City’s ability to afford
such an expensive vehicle and that the City had embarked on an intensive debt
collecting system to finance this project - so I’m not understanding why you
would defend this when your own Procurement Board was not happy with this
purchase?
MASUNDA: Violet, I didn’t have any input at all into the
deliberations of the Procurement Committee and the team that was responsible for
the procurement of the mayoral car and it’s not about defending the procurement
of that particular vehicle. If a lower spec vehicle had been procured, I’d have
had no problem at all with that because I’m not a materialistic person. I’ve got
my own things, so a decision was made, just like we have a decision that’s in
place that says certain positions call for certain chariots. But I hear what you
are say, if I had my way I’d have procured a lower spec vehicle because when I’m
carrying out my Mayoral duties, I had to use an official car, not my car.
GONDA: Yes but are you forced to use a vehicle that is worth
$130 000 dollars?
MASUNDA: No I’m not forced. This is why I’m saying if I had
my way, I would have influenced the procurement of a lower spec vehicle but when
you get told by the people that are responsible for doing these things that here
is a resolution that was passed I don’t know when, that says the Mayoral vehicle
shall be this type of vehicle, so. But up until then Violet I must say, I made
huge sacrifices to provide my own vehicles to carry out official duties and
that’s in addition to, and I won’t bore you with the details, what I get paid as
an allowance as a Mayor a month is less than what I earned an hour - and yet I
spend an inordinate amount of time on Mayoral business trying to fix this
problem and I will fix this problem. I’m not a quitter.
GONDA: And you mentioned earlier on that you are Chairman of
Old Mutual; do you not believe though that there is a certain conflict of
interest here between your position as Mayor and as Chair of Old Mutual, which
is one of the biggest property-owning and managing companies in Zimbabwe ? Is
there not an element of conflict of interest here?
MASUNDA: No there isn’t, not that I’m aware of. But with
these things Violet what you do is for instance, declare your interest up front
which is what I did, the very first day I came into Office, I submitted to the
General Secretary the list of my interests which included amongst others, Old
Mutual and John Fisk and others. So the way to go about it is to manage that
situation. So for instance there’s not a single occasion so far that’s come up
where there’s been an irreconcilable conflict between my interest as Chairman of
Old Mutual and the interests of the City of which I’m Mayor. If that situation
were to arise, I would recuse myself from the debate and hand over to the Deputy
Mayor for that particular item. So there’s nothing new about this conflict of
interest situation but it’s a matter that has to be properly and proactively
managed if it created a problem.
GONDA: And how is the Council dealing with issues to do with
corruption because ratepayers are complaining about councillors who are not
delivering, some of them are corrupt? Then there are issues to do with tenders
with the airport deal? What can you say about what’s happening with these issues
and also issues to do with the Town Clerk who Councillors recommended should be
suspended but I understand that the Local Government Minister intervened and
blocked this?
MASUNDA: You just fired a whole lot of questions at me…
Right let me deal with the Town Clerk situation first. The Town Clerk, together
with the other functionaries, in other words, the Heads of Department, have
performance related contracts. And those contracts are very clear about the
circumstances under which the incumbents can be relieved of their jobs, and for
instance I do an appraisal of the Town Clerk. And he in turn does the
performance appraisal of the other Heads of Department starting with the Chamber
Secretary right down to the Director of Waste Management Services. So as things
stand there is nothing there which could necessitate the removal of the Town
Clerk from his position. You are talking of a situation Violet that occurred in
the first couple of months after we’d come into Office when the Councillors were
agitating for certain changes to be effected almost immediately.
And some of them, rightly or wrongly is another matter, genuinely believed
that the functionaries who were in situ when we came into Office were not on the
same page with them as it were. But as an attorney of over 36 years standing, I
said to them – guys, there’s a way of doing things so if there are instances
where the Town Clerk is not delivering or any of the other functionaries, let
those matters be brought to the fore and be appropriately dealt with. But we are
not going to have a situation where the Town Clerk or any of the other
functionaries are removed from their respective jobs on account of pressure from
outside the Council - because of the perception that they must have been pro
ZANU PF or whatever for them to have lasted that long. So I think that is a
matter that will be dealt with appropriately as and when the circumstances
dictate. Because I am not going to tolerate a situation Violet where I’m
dictated to by external sources about the performance of people that are
accountable to us as a Council.
GONDA: And what about the Airport Road Project? What
progress has there been investigating the role of Michael Mahachi and this
tender?
MASUNDA: I’m pleased to tell you Violet that at the
stakeholders meeting that was held on the 17 th of February at the Prime
Minister’s Office, that meeting was chaired by the Minister of State in the
Prime Minister’s Office, Gorden Moyo. I attended accompanied by Tendai Mahachi,
the Town Clerk and Engineer Phillip Pfukwa and his team and Ignatius Chombo was
there as Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development. There were
two issues that needed to be dealt with. One, I don’t think there’s anybody, and
I said it very clearly and I think everyone understood, there’s no-one in his or
her right mind who can quarrel with the importance of that Airport Road Project
from a national and a city perspective - because we don’t want a situation
Violet where we could end up with the situation that occurs in Nairobi where it
takes you the best part of three hours to commute from Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport to the city of Nairobi and I think that’s way under 20
kilometres, I think maybe 15 .
So in terms of the future that Project is critical, it’s important, so I
think we are all agreed on that. But from the City of Harare perspective the
method that was a source of bother related to the circumstances under which
Michael Mahachi came to be Project Manager of this project - the Airport Road
Project - when indications were that, this whole thing, the contract and other
ancillary matters were consummated during the time that he was the Chairman of
the Commission that was tasked with the responsibility of running the City. And
he was also there by the way, and so assurances have been given about the
circumstances that led to his appointment as the Project Manager - because
Michael Mahachi in his own right is a Quantity Surveyor and a partner in a firm
of quantity surveyors. That’s the first thing and secondly, we were told that
the matter had been investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission, ably
assisted by the Transparency International Zimbabwe and, I’m not aware of the
findings but the indications during the meeting was that he’s totally been
exonerated. So, what we have now resolved to do is to put our heads together and
mobilise resources that need to be mobilised to get that project over and done
with.
GONDA: And what is the role of Sasha Jogi who was a
Commissioner under Mike Mahachi? Has there been an investigation around the
Newlands by-pass because some say that there is a conflict of interest with his
role in the Newlands by-pass?
MASUNDA: Right, let’s go back to what I said about the
Special Interest Councillors. Sasha Jogi is one of 11 Special Interest
Councillors who were appointed by Ignatius Chombo and he is amongst three of the
Special Interest Councillors, the other two are Hironi Mutorongo (sp) and Lisbon
Marufu. Those three gentlemen were part of the last Commission that was headed
by Michael Mahachi, the other one that was there up until late last year, was
Alfred Tome who was doubling up as the Acting Provincial Administrator of Harare
and a member of the Commission. So those were the four individuals who Ignatius
Chombo saw fit to appoint as Special Interest Councillors when we came into
Office and then he subsequently appointed another seven making a compliment of
11.
So Sasha Jogi in his personal capacity is an Urban Planning Expert and one of
the better ones in Zimbabwe and he’s a partner with Over Arup, which is a firm
of consultant engineers. And like Michael Mahachi, there will inevitably be
instances where there could be a conflict of interest in terms of any work that
their respective firms may tender for but I’m unaware of any conflict that has
arisen since I’ve been there. There may have been instances that occurred before
the 1 st of July 2008 , but knowing Sasha as I do, I think he’s the sort of
individual who would proactively deal with any conflict that may arise, not only
for his own good but for the good of the other interested party. There are quite
a lot of issues that are being raised about that Newlands by-pass but none that
are Sasha Jogi specific as it were.
GONDA: So what are some of the issues that are being raised
about the Newlands by-pass?
MASUNDA: I think they’re related to the cost and how
long it took and there are some people that feel that their rights over certain
property in the Gun Hill area got trampled upon because that road was supposed
to have taken a different route, you know that kind of thing. But the problem
with a lot of our compatriots in Zimbabwe , especially in Harare is that they
tend to place undue emphasis on the scuttlebutt that does its rounds instead of
actually coming up with specific things, so they can be dealt with and dealt
with as they should.
GONDA: So what measures is the Council taking to ease the
burden upon ratepayers?
MASUNDA: In a normal situation Violet you would try and
ease the burden more on the ratepayers in the high density areas because they’re
the ones who haven’t got much by way of disposable income but one needs to make
sure that you don’t go overboard by doing that. So the way that we are trying to
go about it is to make sure that the Council assets and there are many of them
are made to sweat more so that we generate revenue and relieve the burden of the
ratepayers in general especially the ones that are in the high density areas.
Let me give you an example – Rufaro Stadium, Gwanzura Stadium – those are
stadia that belong to the City and all these golf courses and other recreational
facilities that are dotted around Harare, they all belong to the City Council
and Harare has a distinction when you compare it to other metropolitan areas of
having about 13 golf courses within a 25 kilometre radius. So what we need to do
is to revisit the arrangements that are currently in place with these sports
clubs and golf clubs and so forth and make sure that they pay as far as possible
without killing their operations, an economically viable rent as opposed to the
peppercorn rent that they are paying.
You take Rufaro Stadium and Gwanzura; there’s a huge opportunity which we’re
exploring at the moment of setting up giant screens to screen English Premier
football matches because as you know we are an Anglophone country and we are all
mad about English Premier League and on Saturdays we could take the crowds there
to Rufaro Stadium and the capacity there is about 40 000 seats. If we get 30 000
people paying $5 each that will be $150 000 every Saturday and we’d have two
lots of people going in there because there’s an early match and a match much
later in the evening. And we could do likewise on Mondays and Tuesdays, even
Wednesdays when we’ve got all these Championship League matches and generate
revenue to ply back into developing the infrastructure in places like Mbare. And
do likewise at Gwanzura Stadium and Dzivarasekwa Stadium. You know the
opportunities are there for us to generate revenue because we can’t keep looking
at the proverbial cows like Old Mutual and First Mutual and Pearl Properties and
others because over time they’ve been milked almost dry.
And we are not, and I emphasise Violet, we are not a profit making
organisation but we are not a loss making organisation either. We are there to
provide services and I’m determined to make all these Council assets that I’ve
talked about sweat more and get to a situation for instance where we are going
to see, with the restoration of sanity in the markets, we want to see a
situation where we are going to start trading Local Authority bonds, Municipal
bonds to raise revenue - to deal with all these issues that are of concern to
the citizen. Because in the past Local Authority bonds were gilt edged bonds,
people falling all over themselves to invest in Local Authority, Municipal bonds
and there is a market for that. You know the money market was principally made
up of Municipal bonds and government stock and we should make sure we stop
talking about things and do things because you can’t have all these investment
workshops in this country when in the next breath, (Minister) Saviour Kasukuwere
is talking about Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment regulations that are
going to make a nonsense of all these other initiatives that we are pursuing.
And I just want to get on with it and in fact I’ve given myself a deadline that
in less than five years that I’ve got, as I said earlier in the absence of
another set of harmonised elections, to have made a huge difference and groomed
the next person to become mayor.
GONDA: OK, now on that note we have come to the end of our
programme. That was Mayor of Harare, Mr Much Masunda. Thank you very much for
participating on the programme Hot Seat.
MASUNDA: My pleasure.
Feedback can be sent to violet@swradioafrica.com |
Zimbabwe: Weekly Bulletin
#9 - week ending 8 March 2010
