By Tichaona Sibanda
13
march 2013
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has stuck to its guns and refused to accredit ZimRights to observe this Saturday’s referendum.
This is despite a directive issued by the principals to the GPA, following their meeting on Tuesday, that the commission had no right to refuse anyone the opportunity to observe the vote on Saturday.
On Tuesday ZimRights sent the commission a letter of appeal, but was turned down on the grounds that they have a pending court case related to issues to do with elections.
This latest development forced ZimRights to ask its lawyers to file an urgent High Court application challenging ZEC’s refusal to accredit them.
ZEC’s decision to ban ZimRights from the referendum led to the Crisis Coalition, with about 300 affiliate member groups, threatening to withdraw from ‘the observation process’ if they didn’t reverse this stance by late Wednesday.
Mcdonald Lewanika, the director for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, told SW Radio Africa that they ‘still stand’ with their threat to boycott the referendum if ZEC does not reconsider their position.
Lewanika said during Wednesday’s observer briefing, ZEC commissioner Geoff Feltoe stressed that other civil society organizations that had been turned down would now be allowed to observe, but not ZimRights.
‘We noticed a claw back on ZEC’s earlier position….instead of blanketing everyone we are noticing ZimRights is the only institution left alone. While we appreciate the claw back we wait to see the court action as we stand solidly behind ZimRights,’ Lewanika said.
Lewanika stressed that they will give the electoral body until the end of Wednesday to change their minds.
‘We gave ZEC until the end of Wednesday, so after that we will make our position clear. Even the Principals agreed that ZEC must not prohibit local civil society organisations and NGOs from accreditation on the basis that they are facing investigations, charges or prosecution by the police,’ Lewanika said.
When President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met on Tuesday, they pledged that the referendum process would be as transparent as possible and insisted that no local persons would be banned from accreditation on the basis that they’re under investigation.
In January, ZimRights director Okay Machisa was arrested by the police and charged with conducting illegal voter registration and fraud, an allegation Zimrights denies. The legal case is still pending, which is the excuse that ZEC is using to stop them from being observers at the referendum.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Nomalanga
Moyo
13 March 2013
The Supreme Court has thrown out an appeal by the
National Constitutional
Assembly seeking to have the referendum date
extended by at least two
months.
The NCA took their case to the
superior court after the High Court dismissed
their application seeking to
delay the constitutional referendum scheduled
for Saturday.
The
constitutional lobby group was arguing that the referendum date,
announced
by President Mugabe on February 15th, was too soon for citizens to
study and
understand the draft constitution.
High Court judge Justice George
Chiweshe, who infamously set aside results
of the 2008 presidential
election, had ruled against the NCA on the grounds
that the president’s
decision could not be reviewed by the courts.
In a two-part judgement the
Supreme Court Wednesday agreed with the NCA
challenge, and ruled that the
president can be questioned by citizens in the
courts.
But Chief
Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku dismissed part of the NCA appeal in
which the
group was asking for the postponement of the referendum from March
16th to a
later date.
Justice Chidyausiku and five other judges unanimously agreed
that the time
set out by the president was adequate.
A spokesman for
the group said they did not agree with the ruling and
believed that “the
four weeks given was not enough”.
In a statement, the NCA said the group
was dismayed by this ruling but
remained “unshaken”.
“We are working
flat out in the remaining two days to mobilise as many
Zimbabweans as
possible to come out in their numbers and vote no in the
referendum,” the
NCA said in a statement released soon after the ruling.
Speaking to SW
Radio Africa, NCA spokesman Madock Chivasa said he was
confident that the
majority of Zimbabweans will reject the draft on
Saturday.
Chivasa
said: “There is no way Zimbabweans would accept a constitution they
have not
even seen. However, the NCA will accept the decision should the
majority
vote yes for the draft charter on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, the NCA announced
that one of its activists had been arrested for
sticking up ‘Take Charge’
posters in Harare’s Machipisa Shopping Centre.
Prince Masukusa was
reportedly arrested on Monday and was still being
detained at Machipisa
Police Station on Wednesday.
The NCA said it condemned the continued
harassment of its “members as we
approach the referendum, which casts doubt
over the credibility of the
referendum.
“We note that the police are
acting in a partisan manner as they are not
subjecting those campaigning for
the yes vote to such harassment,” read the
statement.
http://www.iol.co.za
March 13 2013 at 07:44pm
By Angus
Shaw
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's official election body said
Wednesday it will
not back down on its ban preventing a leading human rights
group from
monitoring a referendum Saturday on a new
constitution.
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association is facing charges related
to alleged
electoral offenses and will not be cleared to observe the
referendum, said
the election commission's acting head Joyce Kazembe.
Officials with the
group, also known as ZimRights, have been accused of the
illegal possession
of voter registration forms and fraud in obtaining them.
The group denies
any wrongdoing.
Most independent civic groups say
they will boycott vote monitoring Saturday
if any activists are barred
access to observe polling.
Police loyal to President Robert Mugabe have
intensified raids and arrests
targeting activist groups in recent weeks and
have seized from offices
documents and equipment, including cheap radio
receivers that can tune in to
stations not controlled by Mugabe's local
broadcasting monopoly.
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said the
government was investigating
what he called the recent illegal importation
of the cheap radio receivers,
according to Wednesday reports from the state
Herald newspaper, run by
Mugabe loyalists. Charamba said the devices were
imported with the
assistance of diplomats he did not identify. The
hand-cranked radios, also
capable of sending data on 3G mobile phone
networks, are British made.
Charamba said the foreign ministry in Harare
planned to summon the head of
the embassy concerned but did not
elaborate.
“We are also investigating whether it has such a mandate
within its terms of
reference to engage in such work,” Charamba said,
according to The Herald.
British officials said Ambassador Deborah
Bronnert was not summoned to
Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengwegwi's
office by late Wednesday.
The Herald alleged the radios were distributed
to Western-backed rights and
pro-democracy groups plotting for “regime
change” against Mugabe's party.
Mugabe led the nation to independence from
Britain in 1980 but was forced by
regional leaders to join a coalition
government with the former opposition
leader, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, after the last violent and
disputed elections in
2008.
Western nations have imposed banking, business and travel
restrictions on
Mugabe and his party leaders, alleging their involvement in
a decade of
human rights violations and political
repression.
Charamba described the radios as a gadget designed to subvert
electoral
processes and its importers had “a sinister intention to suggest
to the
world that the government of Zimbabwe is so absurd as to stop the
distribution of radios” at election time.
Outlining concerns about
the device, The Herald said U.S. movie actor Tom
Hanks was a goodwill
ambassador for the British firm making it and
attributed to him remarks that
had the technology been available in the Cold
War it could have ended Soviet
repression and “brought the Soviet Union to
its knees” long before its
eventual collapse.
After independence in 1980, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF
party maintained close
ties with Soviet leaders.
The Herald claimed
Hanks lent his name to supporting the radios without
batteries, costing
about $30, after he said he “immediately saw the impact
it could have on the
impoverished people in Africa and the world.” - Sapa-AP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
13 March
2013
The leaders of the unity government have agreed that Supreme Court
Judge
Rita Makarau will be sworn in as the head of the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, after the referendum.
This was announced by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at a press conference
in Harare on Tuesday.
Speaking on behalf of the government principals,
Tsvangirai said they had
agreed that “it would be improper to have a
temporary Chairperson for such a
key institution as ZEC and that
constitutionally, a substantive chairperson
enjoys security of tenure which
an acting chairperson does not
have.”
“Security of tenure of the Chairperson and Commissioners is
critical to the
independence of ZEC. The principals expect Justice Makarau
to be sworn in
soon after the referendum subject to the completion of the
procedural
requirements under the Constitution,” a statement by Tsvangirai
said.
He went on to tell journalists at the press conference that that
acting ZEC
chairperson Joyce Kazembe was not qualified to run the electoral
body.
“Let me say this: The vice-chairperson (Kazembe) will not be
chairperson of
ZEC when we go for elections,” he said, adding: “We need a
qualified judge
to run elections. She is not qualified to be in that
position.”
The Prime Minister gave no more details about the decision,
which is being
described as an illegal and unconstitutional move. According
to the
parliamentary watchdog series Bill Watch, the appointment of the ZEC
chair
can only be finalised when both the Judicial Service Commission and
the
Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders have been
consulted.
Political analyst Clifford Mashiri also questioned if the
rules, stipulated
by the constitution, had actually been followed in terms
of choosing the ZEC
chair. He said it was “preposterous” that the MDC has
allowed ZANU PF to
choose a judge “that is know to have ZANU PF sympathies,”
to head such an
important body.
“Morgan Tsvangirai is just giving in
to Robert Mugabe’s demands,” Mashiri
said.
The Prime Minister also
announced Tuesday that the Observers Accreditation
Committee (OAC) which is
responsible for the accreditation of observers at
both the referendum and
the election must be “re-configured.” He said this
needs to done to create
“equitable political representation to ensure the
political ground is fair
and level for all contestants.”
Tsvangirai gave no details about when
this ‘reconfiguration’ will happen,
despite the referendum now being just
three days away.
Analyst Mashiri said on Wednesday that if the unity
government was in any
way committed to carrying out a successful referendum,
the process would be
postponed until the issues raised by Tsvangirai have
been dealt with.
“The government does not seem interested in this
referendum. They only want
it rubberstamped so they can have elections. They
are trivialising and that
is very worrying,” Mashiri said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
13 March 2013
The government has invited the United Nations to
send its team to Harare to
assess the country’s financial needs to fund the
forthcoming elections, most
likely to be held in July this
year.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said that following discussions and
consultations between government ministries, President Mugabe had agreed
that they should send out an invitation to the UN to help with funding for
the poll.
‘The intervention of the UN and international bodies is
critical to fund the
general election,’ said Biti, who admitted Zimbabwe had
no capacity to fund
the elections using its own resources.
The
government initially wrote to the UN in February, requesting funding for
the
referendum and elections. But the continental body wrote back stating it
was
late to help with funds for Saturday’s vote.
However, for elections, the
UN sent back detailed terms of reference, which
the government has been
studying for weeks. The UN said any form of
assistance must be preceded by a
formal request from the Member State.
In providing electoral assistance,
the UN manual book on providing funding
for a general election is clear that
the assessment team has to meet all
stakeholders before a decision can be
made.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that no other strings have
been
attached by the UN for funding, except to allow the assessment team to
have
direct contact with political parties, ZEC, civil society and law
enforcement agencies.
‘This visit and engagement allow the UN to
determine whether it can provide
the assistance requested, to suggest
options, to identify the most
appropriate implementing agency and to provide
useful information to the
Government as to how and when such assistance
could be provided,’ a source
said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE government has increased licence fees for mobile phone
companies by 80
percent to US$180 million in a decision that may be linked
to the country's
scramble to raise funding for elections expected later this
year.
“The Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructure will,
from 30
June 2013, issue new 15-year licences under the Converged Licensing
Framework at a fee of US$180 million,” Finance Minister Tendai Biti told
reporters in Harare early this week.
The decision will immediately
hit Econet Wireless and Telecel Zimbabwe whose
licences are said to be due
for renewal in June while the state-run NetOne
has another year before it
must pay the increased fee.
According to the Herald newspaper, Biti said
the licensing revenue “would be
leveraged in support of some of the
financial requirements of both
referendum and election
programmes”.
Zimbabweans are set to vote on a draft new constitution this
Saturday while
elections to choose a substantive government are expected
later in the year.
While funding for the constitutional referendum has
been raised locally, the
government has appealed for international support
with the general
elections.
“As far as elections are concerned there
is a real challenge. Things are
excruciatingly tight,” Biti said last
weekend. “The support of the
international community is
critical.”
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai added Tuesday: “While
acknowledging the
tremendous efforts being made towards raising financial
resources to fund
the referendum and the elections, the (GPA) principals
appreciate that
domestic resources will not be enough and it is necessary to
seek external
support through the UNDP.
“After further discussions on
the UNDP’s terms of reference, the Ministers
of Finance and Justice have
been mandated to communicate with the UNDP with
a view to kick-starting the
process.
“We therefore expect a Needs Assessment Mission to visit the
country soon
after the referendum because time is of the essence.”
http://www.iol.co.za
March 13 2013 at 11:35am
Zimbabwean
police watch members of Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party leave the
venue where
the country's main opposition was to hold its main pre-election
rally on
June 22, 2008, in Harare.
Harare - Zimbabwe rights activists say they are
suffering under a police
crackdown designed to be an ominous warning ahead
of a constitutional
referendum this week and elections later in the
year.
Since late in 2012 President Robert Mugabe's police force has
detained staff
from prominent civil groups and raided offices of election
and human rights
monitors.
Violence has not hit the levels seen
during the bloody 2008 election, which
saw as many as 200 people killed and
many more disappeared, arrested or
tortured.
Nor has it reached the
levels of 2005's “Operation Murambatsvina” or “drive
out the trash,” which
left an estimated 700 000 people homeless.
But rights groups believe they
could be seeing a precursor of worse to come.
“Their intention is to
intimidate civic society,” Mcdonald Lewanika,
executive director of Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition told AFP.
“This is a clear calculated move to
target certain civic society
organisations to intimidate rights
activists.”
Police have justified the crackdown saying their targets were
civic
organisations they tagged “a serious security threat.”
But
Zimbabwe-watchers say that the arrest of top rights activist Jestina
Mukoko
in particular Mugabe's Zanu-PF intended to send a clear message.
Last
week she was charged with a litany of offences, including operating an
unregistered organisation, smuggling radios into the country and
broadcasting without a licence.
“It is not by coincidence that
Jestina has been targeted, everyone knows
what happened to her when she was
abducted and tortured,” said Lewanika.
“The police are acting as an
extension of Zanu-PF.”
Mukoko was previously arrested in 2008 and
detained at an undisclosed
location before being taken to the notorious
Chikurubi prison, a
maximum-security centre outside Harare.
Her
lawyers claimed state agents severely tortured her and forced her to
confess
to banditry and treason.
She was charged in 2009 with plotting to
overthrow Mugabe, but the charges
were later dismissed.
What has
shocked rights groups about the latest crackdown is that it has
come under a
government in which Mugabe shares power with pro-democracy
leader, now Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Political analyst Clever Bere blames
Tsvangirai for not putting enough
pressure on Mugabe to halt the
harassment.
“The issue of police targeting pro-democracy has not started
today, this has
happened during the course of the unity government,” Bere
said.
“The MDC should have done more, particularly when the inclusive
government
started,” he said. “They have a minister of home affairs and
above all a
Prime Minister of government.”
“If they had acted enough,
this persecution of civic society would not have
lasted to this
day.”
Lovemore Madhuku, chairperson of the pro-democracy group the
National
Constitutional Assembly insists the problems run beyond the
government, and
speak to state for Zimbabwean democracy.
“This shows
the nature of our society that people allow police to arrest
people for
distributing radios, it shows the failure of our society,”
Madhuku
said.
“Our problems go deeper than the blame on politicians, people are
not
protesting to say what is happening is wrong.”
The current raids,
he added, are the “reality of what is happening. These
are not signs of what
will happen.”
“What more does one want to see.” - AFP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
13 March
2013
The constitutionally mandated anti-corruption watchdog was this week
barred
from carrying out two separate legal searches, in a move that has
been
described as ‘scandalous’.
The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption
Commission was granted search warrants by the
High Court on Monday, allowing
it to search the premises of the Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC), and the National Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Board
(NIEEB).
On Monday and Tuesday, attempts were made by the Commission to
search the
NIEEB offices in Harare, but those attempts were blocked by armed
men who
barred the investigators access to the premises.
The
Commission’s offices were then reportedly stormed by armed police on
Tuesday, who blocked a team of investigators from carrying out the ZMDC
raid.
According to the NewsDay newspaper, the police action blocking
the ZMDC
probe was a result of an urgent call made by the ZMDC chairman
Godwills
Masimirembwa to Police Commissioner General Augustine
Chihuri.
The police have denied this is the case, but NewsDay quoted
Masimirembwa as
saying that he made the call because the Commission team was
supposed to be
accompanied by the police. Masimirembwa also said ZMDC
lawyers would be
challenging the legality of the High Court warrant on the
grounds that it
was not issued by the proper authority.
The NIEEB is
also set to contest the Commission’s warrant, which was granted
by the High
Court after a Magistrates Court dismissed it.
The NIEEB has been
implicated in massive corruption, made public by the
Daily News newspaper,
which last month uncovered serious flaws in the nearly
$1 billion Zimplats
indigenisation deal. Daily News journalist Gift Phiri,
who has been
investigating the NIEEB activities, said the attempts to bar
the
anti-corruption probe were “scandalous.”
“I don’t understand why they are
stonewalling the investigation. It seems
like there is some kind of cover up
happening,” Phiri told SW Radio Africa.
He added that this makes the
situation more suspicious than it was “because
these actions don’t paint a
good picture in terms of transparency.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
11:14
HARARE - An aspiring Manicaland councillor in President Robert Mugabe’s
Zanu
PF is battling for life at Rusape Hospital after surviving a petrol
bomb
attack in a suspected politically-motivated case, police have
confirmed.
National police spokesperson Charity Charamba said police are
investigating
a case in which William Chapepa is alleged to have been
petrol-bombed by
unknown people on Monday night and sustained burns on his
thighs.
“We have received a case in which Cde William Chapepa, a Zanu PF
aspiring
candidate in Makoni West, ward 1, was attacked by unknown people,”
Charamba
told a news conference yesterday.
“According to information
given to the police, Chapepa woke up around 2am
after hearing explosive
sounds only to find a flame of fire besides his car.
When he tried to check
what it was, he discovered that it was a petrol
bomb.”
Charamba said
police were probing the attack.
The reported petrol bomb comes barely a
month after a schoolboy, Christpower
Maisiri whose father Shepherd is an MDC
aspiring MP in the nearby
constituency died in a fertiliser and chemical
inferno, according to
police. - Xolisani Ncube
US Embassy
Harare
Public Affairs
Section
STATEMENT on the
alleged petrol bombing of the home of ZANU-PF official
Harare, March 13,
2013: The Embassy of the
United States of America is deeply concerned about the alleged petrol bombing of
the home of ZANU-PF candidate William Chapepa in Makoni West on March 12.
Chapepa is standing for election to become a councilor in Manicaland. He is now
in hospital with serious burns as a result of the fire that is currently under
investigation.
As in the case of the
death of the son of an MDC-T Headlands district deputy organizing secretary in
February, this terrible occurrence is an opportunity for the Zimbabwe Republic
Police to conduct a thorough investigation, and, if it is determined to be
arson, to hold all responsible for this atrocity to account. Swift professional
law enforcement work to bring the perpetrators to justice is vital to reassuring
Zimbabweans that their political leaders sincerely want, and will insist on,
peace and peaceful elections in 2013.
As Zimbabwe brings
its Global Political Agreement to an end, non-partisan, efficient, and
professional law enforcement is critical to gaining the confidence of the
Zimbabwean people, neighboring countries, and the international community.
Respect for the rule of law and apolitical policing are also essential for
creating the conditions for credible and non-violent Zimbabwean elections later
this year.
#
# #
Comments and queries
should be addressed to Sharon Hudson-Dean, Counselor for Public Affairs. E-mail:
hararepas@state.gov Tel. +263 4
758800-1, Fax: 758802.
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http://www.sokwanele.com/
AUTHOR:SOKWANELEDATE:MAR 13, 2013
National Constitutional
Assembly activist Prince Masukusa was on Monday 11
March 2013, arrested for
sticking up NCA ‘Take Charge’ posters at Machipisa
Shopping
Centre.
The NCA is urging the people of Zimbabwe to vote no at the
referendum.
Masukusa is currently in detention at Machipisa Police
Station.
The NCA condemns the continued harassment of members as we
approach the
referendum, which cast doubt over the credibility of the
referendum.
We note that the police are acting in a partisan manner as
they are not
subjecting those campaigning for the yes vote to such
harassment.
We urge our supporters to remain vigilant in the wake of such
cowardice acts
by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
No amount
of intimidation, threats or arrests will cow this revolutionary
movement
into submission. We remain steadfast and resilient in our campaign
for a
genuine people driven constitution.
Our Lawyers are attending to the
matter.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Reuters | 13 March, 2013 10:13
It
could be a scene from any African mobile phone ad: flanked by two
mohawked
teenagers and shuffling stiffly to a pulsing hip-hop beat, an old
man puts a
phone to his ear and addresses a young lady with an awkward
"What's
up?"
But the ageing, suited star of "Getting Connected" is Zimbabwean
president
Robert Mugabe and the message is political not commercial: the
veteran
leader is making a big pitch for the youngsters who have little time
for his
long speeches.
However desperate it may look - Mugabe is an
89-year-old social conservative
who prefers choral arias to hip-hop - the
video is a sign of the importance
given to the generation of Zimbabweans
born after the liberation struggle.
This year, for the first time since
independence from Britain in 1980, more
than half the 13 million population
are 'Born Frees', offspring of the
nation that emerged from the shackles of
white-minority rule in the
then-Rhodesia. The median age is 33, according to
the National Statistics
Office.
An election due this year, with youth
and technology loosely pitted against
history and conservatism, will serve
as an important barometer of whether
Africa is moving on from an era in
which anti-colonialism holds sway over
its politics.
It also has
important lessons for South Africa's ruling African National
Congress, which
faces its own demographic day of reckoning in a decade,
having only won its
struggle against the white-minority apartheid government
in 1994.
On
paper, Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's 61-year-old rival, appears better
placed
to tap into a social group desperate for jobs and leadership change
to mend
a limping economy.
A 2000-2008 economic crisis blamed largely on Mugabe's
policies forced a
quarter of Zimbaweans to leave the country. HIV/AIDS and
malnutrition are
among factors contributing to life expectancy that is below
the sub-Sahara
average - 50 versus 54, according to the World
Bank.
"The future lies in dumping this grandfatherly generation that came
to power
before many of us were born," said 27-year-old engineering graduate
Mthulisi
Mpofu, warming himself by a fire in a thatched hut near the second
city of
Bulawayo.
"They are old and tired and have nothing to offer
us. If the youth does the
right thing, I don't see how we are not going to
have a new government, new
policies and
jobs."
Frustration
However, Mugabe's liberation generation ZANU-PF
party is fighting hard and -
in the absence of any reliable opinion polls -
the outcome of a general
election is hard to predict.
Mpofu is one of
over 150 000 high school and college graduates joining the
job market
annually, the product of huge investment by Mugabe in education
after 1980
that is now coming up against one of the world's highest
unemployment
rates.
On average, just 20 000 graduates will manage to find a formal job
each
year; the rest will join the 80 percent of workers sitting idle and
frustrated - an affront to a nation that claims one of Africa's highest
literacy rates.
But it is far from given that the potentially huge
numbers of disenchanted
youngsters will come out to oppose Mugabe as he
seeks to extend his 33 years
in power.
A million or more are
estimated to be working - in most cases illegally - in
South Africa and will
either be unable to return home to register or
reluctant to risk signing up
at embassies and consulates in Zimbabwe's
neighbour.
As a result,
local rights groups working to promote a free and fair vote
after three
violent and disputed elections estimate that only 20 percent of
those on the
current voters' roll are under 35.
In Harare and Bulawayo, potential new
voters are being turned off by the
bureaucracy of a registration process
that requires them to present a
national identity card and utility bill
under a family name proving
residence at a given address.
"This whole
system is designed to frustrate people," said Lawrence Fakazi,
23, who
queued for two hours with friends in Harare before giving up after
being
shunted from one office to another. "We are not going to bother
again."
In the countryside the system is even more onerous, requiring
a testimonial
from a village head to confirm a new voter's address, a step
that raises
suspicions ZANU-PF officials are blocking supporters of
Tsvangirai's MDC.
The end result is widespread youth
apathy.
"Although we are the biggest victim of bad governance, the truth
is our
generation is also not committed to politics in the same manner that
the old
generation is," Mpofu said.
Generation x-1G
The MDC
has also fallen short of its promises, failing to set up youth
voters' clubs
promised three years ago apparently for fear of exposing its
plans and ideas
to rivals.
Shifting the blame, MDC officials say ZANU-PF is at fault for
making the
registration process deliberately clunky, especially for a
generation hooked
on Facebook and Twitter.
"ZANU-PF is working to
stifle the registration to avoid being overrun at the
elections," spokesman
Douglas Mwonzora said. "Zimbabwe is going through both
a political and
generation change in these elections."
Instead, the push to mobilise
voters is falling to rights groups trying to
energise people with text
messages, radio jingles and website ads, riding on
a doubling in the use of
new media and social media since the last elections
in 2008.
Latest
government figures show that 90 percent of Zimbabwe's 13 million
people now
use mobile phones and Internet users have more than doubled to
4.5 million
people in the past year.
Typical of the trend is a coalition of 10
pro-democracy youth groups called
X-1G (www.x1g.org) asking first-time voters to be the
"political game
changers".
"We are a non-partisan organisation but
our view is that the young now
constitute a majority of the population and
must assume some big
responsibility in how the country is governed," X-1G
activist Tawanda
Chimhini said.
Fighting back
ZANU-PF is not
standing idle. It has been offering cheap business start-up
loans of $20,000
to youth groups and promising opportunities in foreign
firms forced to sell
51 percent of their shares to locals under a black
economic empowerment
push.
Spearheading the drive is the young and tech-savvy ZANU-PF minister
Saviour
Kasukuwere, nicknamed Tyson for his combative style. For most young
Zimbabweans, Kasukuwere's creaseless visage and gleaming smile stand out
starkly against a ZANU-PF gerontocracy in which even Mugabe has confessed to
feeling lonely because so many of his comrades have died.
Young
voters are generally unimpressed by ZANU-PF's fondness for 1970s
liberation
war history lessons, recalling instead hyperinflation of 500
billion
percent, food shortages and 4,000 dead from cholera at the nadir of
the
economic crisis in 2008.
"Nothing is given, but I think the party that is
able to motivate its
supporters and to win the new young voters stands to
win the elections,"
said Eldred Masunungure, a University of Zimbabwe
political science
professor.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Nomalanga Moyo
13 March
2013
Finance Minister Tendai Biti has increased the price of fuel, in a
desperate
bid to raise money for the upcoming elections.
The price
hike was announced on Monday and has already sparked an outcry
from
Zimbabweans worried about the extra financial burden this will add to
their
already tight purses.
Through his state of the economy report, Biti said
government had increased
excise duty on fuel by at least 20 percent, and
suppliers have already
indicated they will be passing this on to
consumers.
Industry players said they will be increasing the price of
fuel by 5 cents.
Currently, fuel prices are pegged at $1.50 to $1.55 per
litre for petrol and
$1.38 to $1.40 per litre for diesel.
Most
Zimbabweans rely on public transport to make their journeys, and the
fuel
price increase is set to drive up the cost of other commodities.
“Poor
people will not be able to buy fuel for their vehicles. How are the
people
going to afford, 90% of the people are not working,” a pensioner told
a
daily newspaper.
Commuter transport operators who spoke to the press said
the increase would
eat into their profits, and cited the demands for bribes
by traffic police
and council officials as an added burden.
Quoting
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe’s February report, the Daily News
wrote
that persistent fuel price hikes have led to an increase in the cost
of
living from $560 to $570, based on an urban family of six.
Economic
analyst Tony Hawkins said the price hike is likely to raise
Zimbabwe’s
inflation, which is currently at 3%, by at least two percentage
points.
Hawkins said the announcement wasn’t surprising considering
that government
revenue is under pressure, with expenditure rising
particularly ahead of
elections.
He said he does not believe the hike
was necessitated by just the need to
raise money for the polls but because
revenue is generally low and
government had to do something.
“There
was not much Biti could do as we are already quite a high tax
country, be it
personal income tax, sales tax or company tax.
“So government had to look
at easy and relatively inexpensive ways of
raising money and the fuel tax is
one of those,” Hawkins added.
Bekithemba Mhlanga, also an economic
analyst, agreed that Biti’s
announcement will certainly raise inflation,
although not by much.
Biti said although government has been able to
raise funding for the
immediate needs of the referendum to the tune of $31.5
million, allowances
for polling agents are yet to be guaranteed.
On
Monday, the government indicated that it had raised $40 million by
selling a
“voluntary bond” to Old Mutual Plc’s local unit and NSSA for
Saturday’s
referendum.
The government has also indicated that it will be re-engaging
the
international community through the United Nations Development Programme
to
help fund the general elections.
Biti said government increased
excise duty on fuel because Zimbabwe had the
cheapest prices in southern
Africa, adding that “it has also been
unavoidable that government seeks
recourse from the ordinary taxpayer.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE government's move to raise excise duty on fuel has
outraged ordinary
Zimbabweans with analysts warning that the decision would
adversely impact
business and, likely, undermine prospects for sustained
economic recovery.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti this week confirmed
excise duty on fuel would
go up by between 20% and 25% as the cash-strapped
coalition administration
battles to raise cash to fund key activities,
including elections later this
year.
“One of the measures that we are
going to implement with immediate effect is
that we are going to raise
excise duty on diesel and petrol,” Biti said
while presenting his monthly
economic review.
“We are going to raise excise duty of diesel to $0,25
from $0,20 and $0,30
from $0,25 for petrol. It has been unavoidable that
government seeks
recourse from the ordinary tax payer, hence, excise duty on
diesel and
petrol is being reviewed upwards.”
And faced with prospect
of consequent increasse in the prices of basic goods
and services, ordinary
Zimbabweans slammed Biti’s decision saying it would
worsen the plight of the
struggling poor.
“Poor people will not be able to fuel for their
vehicles. How are the people
going to afford. Ninety percent of the people
are not working,” a pensioner
told Newsday.
A commuter omnibus
operator added: “The commuters will also not be able to
pay the $1 that we
will be demanding for a single trip. This means our
families in the end will
suffer.”
Economic commentator told state radio: “(The increase) will
translate to
more burdens on the general public as transport costs will also
go up and
the industries will be greatly affected as production costs will
be
unsustainable.”
Businessman Supa Mandiwanzira added: “This move is
dangerous as it will
affect the consumer, considering that most of the
products and services will
also increase and it will have huge bearing on
the country’s inflation
figures.”
However, Biti insisted that the
country would still meet its inflation
targets adding local fuel price would
remain among the cheapest in the
region despite the duty
review.
“Zimbabwean fuel is by far the (cheapest) in the region,” he
said.
“South Africa increased its fuel last week by 80 cents so the cost of
fuel
in South Africa is almost one and half to Zimbabwe, so there will be no
inflation effect at all.
“We are actually the lowest in the region
that is why you see tankers from
Zambia coming into purchase fuel (here) so
there is no inflation effect at
all.”
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
13.03.13
by Nelson
Sibanda
Resettled villagers in the Chitora area of Ward 1 in Shurugwi
North are set
to lose their farmland and livelihoods over their political
affiliation. The
area is home to hundreds of people given the relatively
fertile farmland by
the government. However, according to sources, MDC
members have been
threatened with eviction by their rivals in Zanu
(PF).
MDC-T Vice Organising Secretary for Shurugwi North, Hardy
Ngazimbi, told The
Zimbabwean that party members were threatened by Zanu
(PF) youths that they
would lose their farmland if they held party meetings
in Ward 1. “My office
received reports that Zanu (PF) youths in the company
of Headman Fanuel
Kubvoruno warned MDC-T members against holding political
rallies in the area
as it was their territory,” said Ngazimbi. He said they
had taken up the
issue with JOMIC for redress and were awaiting feedback.
Ngazimbi said MDC-T
members Edson Manyowa and Causemore Machazani were
ordered to appear before
acting chief Nhema early this week for a
disciplinary hearing in connection
with their MDC-T
politics.
Machazani confirmed the disciplinary hearing and threats to be
evicted from
the land for being MDC. Nhema, however, denied knowledge of the
hearing. “As
a chief there is no way I can punish my subjects for exercising
their
freedom of choice, association and expression,” he said.
Nhema
said political parties should be allowed hold rallies without
interference
from anyone. The acting chief is brother to Francis Nhema, a
senior Zanu
(PF) official and sitting MP for Shurugwi.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Wednesday, 13 March 2013 10:55
HARARE - The
trial of seven Hurungwe men accused of killing a suspected
cattle rustler
has opened at the High Court, seven years after the incident
allegedly took
place.
Temba Kasenga, Last Maponga, Masamba Kasenga, Verengai Mutanga,
Lazarus
Chaparira, Oden Nziradzemhuka and Standani Mangokwani are facing
murder
charges after they allegedly killed Givemore Murengwa in February
2006.
They all denied the charges when the trial opened on Monday before
High
Court judge Felistas Chatukuta.
They told the court that although
they were present when the incident took
place, they did not participate in
assaulting Murengwa.
The court heard how a beast belonging to Getrude
Gono of Ziome Village in
Hurungwe went missing seven years
ago.
According to court papers, Gono made a police report.
In the
report, she implicated Tinashe Mupepeti and Givemore and Bradwell
Murengwa
as prime suspects.
Following the accusations, the court heard the seven
men apprehended
Givemore and took turns to assault him until he bled from
the nose and
mouth.
They allegedly took Givemore to the police
station, but Mangokwani continued
assaulting him with a stick along the
way.
Upon arrival at the police station, the court heard, Murengwa was
assaulted
by Emmanuel Manyukwa who is still at large, using a baton
stick.
Murengwa died soon after his release from police cells. A post
mortem
revealed the death was due to multiple bruises and head injuries. -
Tendai
Kamhungira
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
13.03.13
by Gladys
Ncube
Three Zanu PF members appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate John
Masimba
(today),Tuesday on charges of assaulting fellow party members at
their party’s
Bulawayo Provincial offices on Sunday.
Noah
Gatsi, Ashley Shorai Mashungu and Robert Ncube who are in the Zanu PF
Bulawayo provincial structures are facing charges of causing public violence
under Section 36 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
Act.
Allegation against Gatsi,Mashungu and Ncube are that they went on
rampage on
Sunday at the Bulawayo provincial headquarters, Davies Hall
during a
provincial meeting using chairs and other weapons to assault other
party
members demanding the resignation of provincial chairman Killian
Sibanda
whom they accuse of corruption and dictatorship. They alleged did
this in
the presents of national chairperson, Simon Khaya-Moyo and other
senior
party officials.
The trio’s lawyer Charles Moyo immediately
applied for bail but prosecutor
Jeremiah Mutsindikwa opposed to bail saying
the country was approaching a
volatile period in terms of political
activities where cases of violence
were likely to escalate and the nation
wants peaceful elections.
There has been an increase in cases of
infighting within Zanu PF in the past
recent weeks as factionalism hit the
President Robert Mugabe led party
countrywide. Last week another Zanu PF
official Themba Mliswa and seven
other party members were arrested in
Hurungwe East after they attacked their
party legislator for the area Sarah
Mahoka while she was addressing a
meeting at Zimonja Business Centre in
Zvipani. Mahoka was admitted to
Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital after the
attack.Mliswa and his seven a
accomplices’ were denied bail by Chinhoyi
Magistrate Felix Mawadze and the
matter is now on trial.
http://nehandaradio.com/
on March 13, 2013 at 5:02 pm
The
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) was last week dragged to
the
Harare magistrates’ court on allegations of owing its workers US$19
million
which is said to have accumulated from between January 1 and
September 30
last year.
Protesters vent their anger with power utility
Zesa
Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU) alleges that ZESA failed to observe
the
employees right to fair labour practices.
ZESA which is being
represented by Garikai Churu (35) the legal advisor and
corporate secretary,
was arraigned before Harare magistrate Anita Tshuma
charged with
contravening section 6 (1) (a) of the labour act chapter 28:02.
ZEWU is
arguing that the money accrued after an agreement between the
workers and
ZESA. State led by prosecutor Oscar Madhume alleges that from
January 1 2012
at a time unknown to the state, a collective bargaining
agreement for the
Zimbabwe Energy Industry was gazetted.
It is said that ZESA was to pay
its employees the prescribed wages and
salaries which was effective as from
January 1. ZESA is however said to have
never paid the money and the total
value in question is US$18 897 848 which
was accrued for more than 7000
workers until the month of September.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Board (NIEEB) has
approached the High Court in a bid to block the
Anti-corruption Commission
from searching its offices and seizing documents
as part of a probe into
empowerment deals reached with foreign mining
firms.
The anti-graft body is investigating allegations of corruption and
gross
irregularities in the country’s indigenisation programme which has
divided
the coalition government and led to public spats between the central
bank
and the Empowerment Ministry.
Foreign companies are now required
by law to transfer ownership and control
of at least 51 percent of their
Zimbabwe operations to locals and compliance
deals have since been reached
with mining companies such as the South
Africa-based platinum producers,
Implats and Anglo Platinum.
However, some of the deals have come under
fire over allegations they may be
financially detrimental to the country
while the ZIEEB raised eyebrows after
demanding that Implats and Anglo
Platinum pay a Harare firm millions of
dollars for advisory services
provided to the board.
The anti-corruption commission on Monday obtained
warrants from the High
Court to seize documents from Mines Miniter Obert
Mpofu, Empowerment
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Transport Minister
Nicholas Goche.
Tsungai Tongogara, the commission’s general manager, said
the body wanted to
search the three ministers’ offices for documents which
“would assist in the
investigation of the alleged corrupt deals”.
But
the NIEEB has also approached the court with an urgent application
seeking
to block the graft commission from searching its offices.
In his
application, NIEEB chief executive, Wilson Gwatiringa, stated: “Quite
clearly the search warrant (Obtained by the anti-corruption commission) is
fatally defective, unlawful and of no force and effect.
“It must be
stated that the (Commission) has never bothered to request the
targeted
documents from applicant, which documents, as a matter of irony,
are already
in the public domain given the near hysterical prominence given
to a certain
transaction executed by the applicant in the local media.
“There is every
reason to suspect that (the Commission’s) actions are driven
by certain
considerations other than those motivated by a genuine and lawful
intention
to investigate a matter of obvious public concern.”
The NIEEB handed
Implats’ local subsidiary, Zimplats, a US$17 million bill
for advisory
services provided by Harare firm, Brainworks Capital, and
demanded another
US$3 million from Anglo Platinum for work related to the
company’s Unki
Mine.
However, both Implats and Anglo refused to pay the money arguing
that
Brainworks had been contracted by and provided its services to the
NIEEB and
the government.
“Brainworks Capital was not contracted by
Unki as its advisors. Neither was
the scope of works to be carried out nor
fees to be charged agreed upfront,”
Unki’s chief financial officer Collin
Chibafa told the NIEEB.
Zimplats also stated: “Neither Implats nor
Zimplats was involved in any way
in engaging Brainworks Capital to act as
advisors of NIEEB/the government of
Zimbabwe or were we privy to the
contractual arrangements relating to
Brainworks Capital’s fees and
Zimplats.
“As such both Implats and the board of Zimplats believe that
the issue of
Brainworks Capital’s fees should therefore be settled between
NIEEB and
Brainworks Capital.”
The NIEEB has yet to respond but Zanu
PF politburo member, Jonathan Moyo,
who has defended the indigenisation
deals, insisted that the tax-payer would
not be responsible Brainworks’
bills.
“The suggestion that the dispute over the payment of the US$17
million means
that taxpayers will foot the bill is a far-fetched falsehood
because the
worst case scenario is clearly that the shareholders of an
indigenised
Zimplats will foot the bill, failure of which Brainworks will
have to bite
the dust,” Moyo wrote in a recent newspaper article.
The
indigenisation programme, a key election campaign platform for Zanu PF
has
divided the country’s coalition government with the Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party warning it would reverse the deals if it
wins the
next polls.
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has also been
involved in public
spats over the programme with central bank governor
Gideon Gono who urges
caution over forcing foreign banks to comply with the
legislation and has
argued against the current equity-based empowerment
approach.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/03/2013
00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ZIMBABWE on Tuesday fell short
of accusing Britain of smuggling thousands of
small radios into the country,
which were being distributed “illegally” in
rural areas – President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party says in order to aid
its rivals in elections due this
year.
Without naming the foreign mission responsible, Mugabe’s spokesman
George
Charamba said the Foreign Affairs Ministry was exploring “the
complicity of
this embassy”, adding: “Soon people will be
summoned.”
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party maintains a tight grip on the airwaves.
So-called
“pirate” radio stations broadcasting from England, the United
States and the
Netherlands are regularly jammed.
Zanu PF fears the
radios – known as Life-Players – could be used to “subvert
the country’s
electoral processes”.
It is believed the radios – which have seen dozens of
NGO activists
arrested – are manufactured by a United Kingdom-based company,
Lifeline
Energy.
The wind-up and solar-powered radios have an audio
storage capacity of 64
gigabytes and can receive FM, AM and Show Wave
signals.
If Zimbabwe carries through its threat to summon Britain’s
ambassador, this
would mark a significant escalation of tensions between the
two countries.
Relations have been frayed since Mugabe’s government embarked
on land
reforms in 2000 which targeted farms owned by descendents of British
colonialists.
Charamba added in a statement: “We are investigating to
see whether this was
consistent with the provisions of the Vienna
Convention. We are also keen to
understand the interests of that embassy by
bringing that consignment using
its diplomatic status.
“We are also
investigating the institutions which received those radios for
distribution
countrywide. We are also trying to establish their registration
status. We
are also investigating whether they have such mandate within
their terms of
reference to engage in such work.”
The Zanu PF side of the ruling
coalition recently came under fire from the
MDC factions and NGOs for
instigating a police clampdown on the groups
distributing the
radios.
But Charamba says laws have been broken. Electronic shops selling
radios
must also sign-up buyers for a mandatory listener’s licence, which
the
government says was not being done by the NGOs.
Said Charamba:
“There are fundamental questions that come into play. How
were they (radios)
imported? Who is holding the dealer’s licence? Who
shipped the radios into
Zimbabwe? How did they make it through our borders
and which border points
were used? Who was the clearing agent and what was
the
purpose?
“There was a sinister intention to suggest to the world that the
government
of Zimbabwe is so absurd as stopping distribution of radios.
There are many
radio-dealers in this country and who go about their business
unimpeded.
Radio penetration in this country is the highest on the continent
and that
has been achieved without this monastery gadgetry.
“It is
not about radios but a specific gadget that has been produced against
the
tenets of the Global Political Agreement and subverting the electoral
processes apart from undermining our laws.”
No comment was
immediately available from the UK embassy in Harare last
night.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A STRIKE by train drivers entered a second day
on Tuesday with disruptions
to two passenger rail services between Harare
and Shamva, and Harare and
Lions Den.
Several freight services were
also cancelled, officials said.
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) just
about coped with the industrial
action as auxiliary staff kept some services
working.
About 400 NRZ staff including train drivers and engineers are on
strike,
demanding unpaid allowances and salaries dating back eight months.
The total
salaries bill is said to top US$30 million.
NRZ general
manager Retired Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai said the strike
would further
hurt the company’s recovery efforts which are already hampered
by huge debts
and obsolete equipment.
“This parastatal depends on moving people and
goods to generate revenue, but
if the drivers decide to strike, how else can
we be able to generate cash to
pay them. This course of action will instead
worsen our plight,” Karakadzai
said.
In Bulawayo, about 50 striking
workers met at their Mpopoma offices
demanding “a meaningful response from
the management.” In Gweru about 25
workers spent the day sitting on benches
used by commuters at the main
railway station.
Railway Association of
Enginemen secretary general Wilmore Muzah said they
would continue with the
strike until management addressed their grievances.
“These people take us
for granted and they left us with no choice but to
resort to the last course
of action to make our grievances heard,” said
Muzah.
People with the signature R G Mugabe emblazoned over their fronts or atop a stylish beret can be seen proudly walking around Zimbabwe's capital - a city that is usually a hotbed of anti-Mugabe feeling.
Over the last three years, Zimbabwe's 89-year-old leader has become an unlikely fashion icon for the designer label House of Gushungo.
"This is the most valuable T-shirt I can wear," 28-year-old Liberty Mangwiro, resplendent in his black R G Mugabe top, tells me as he walks to his car in a smart business district of Harare.
"It represents the man who stands for what he believes in Africa."
But the firm behind the label is now at the centre of a dispute with President Robert Mugabe's own party, Zanu-PF, as the country heads towards Saturday's referendum on a new constitution and elections expected in July.
The party wants to make money from what it sees as a profitable scheme and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is trying to patent the R G Mugabe signature.
"It's an intellectual property which we have to maintain. We have allowed every Jack and Jill to do what they like about the whole thing," Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo tells the BBC, while President Mugabe in a suit and tie looks down on him from a portrait on his office wall.
"The main reason why the brand is so popular is that he is a highly intellectual leader," he says.
"But we want to control it to make sure whoever is going to use it will have to pay something. So we are going to restrict it as a party," he says.
Mugabe 'overwhelmed'Sales have been slowly growing for Yedu Nesu, the company behind the House of Gushungo, though it is reluctant to discuss profits made so far.
T-shirts, costing between $10 (£6.50) and $15, umbrellas, berets and even sports clothes bearing the liberation leader's signature sold out at a stall in Gweru during the Zanu-PF conference in December.
Away from Zanu-PF events though, it is hard to find anywhere to buy the products as the company does not have an official outlet, although it says it is moving soon to a shop in central Harare.
Its most recent accessory is a cap with 1924 - the year of Mr Mugabe's birth - imprinted on it, which was released in time for the president's birthday celebrations last month.
Justin Matenda, Yedu Nesu's chief executive, says the Zanu-PF leader himself gave the blessing for the signature branding when asked - and has no shares in the venture.
"He was overwhelmed," said the 29-year-old businessman, who heads a three-man team.
They design and market the products and outsource the manufacturing.
"Yedu Nesu has the sole rights to market, distribute and manufacture the brand… the Robert Mugabe regalia," he said.
"The president does not want to make money," said Mr Matenda, explaining that the understanding was that once the fashion company began to make a profit, some of it would go a humanitarian cause.
Zanu-PF may see the label as a way to woo urban young trendy voters as it traditionally garners most of its support in rural areas.
Metropolitan hubs are the heartlands for the Movement for Democratic Change, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai is set to challenge Mr Mugabe once more in this year's presidential election.
Appealing to voters born after independence in 1980, when Mr Mugabe came to power, and who did not experience life under white-minority rule, is a challenge for Zanu-PF.
At the moment it is mainly middle-aged people who can be spotted in Harare sporting the R G Mugabe clothes line.
Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told the BBC that: "The Mugabe fashion craze is a desperate attempt by his brand managers to catch the young voters.
"It's an attempt to seduce the young, first-time voters who are believed to be almost a million - a very big number considering Zimbabwe's voting population."
But he said he did not think the designer clothes would make any difference to the way people vote.
"No amount of fashion labels will save him in the next election."
Versace, Polo... Mugabe?Youth appeal is also the goal for House of Gushungo.
Saint Mahaka, the label's designer, gives an insight into their strategy.
"The young guys are into fashion. They talk about label, label, label... he [Mugabe] is already a brand himself.
"We decided, there is Versace, there is Polo, there is Tommy Hilfiger, people are putting on these labels, but don't know who they are and what the story is.
"We know President Mugabe's story, we know who he is.
"And those who resonate with his story and what he stands for - there is something only for the older guys but for the young guys as well."
Moses Donsa-Nkomo, who teaches intellectual property law at the University of Zimbabwe, says Yedu Nesu may risk a political backlash if it attempts to register the brand without permission from Zanu-PF.
The House of Gushungo team says their business is driven by a desire to ensure Mr Mugabe's legacy, not by avarice.
While many people accuse Mr Mugabe of wrecking what was once one of Africa's most diversified economies, his supporters argue that he is standing up for the rights of black Zimbabweans against the powers of colonialism - and the designer clothes are part of that battle.
"We all came from families that went through the liberation struggle," says Mr Matenda.
"Our upbringing has been mentored by the concept and principles of empowerment and upholding the ideals of black Zimbabweans," he said.
"We are just there to propel his identity, to maintain his legacy."