http://www.globalpost.com
Gaddafi is praised by Mugabe's
party, but other Zimbabweans celebrate his
death.
Andrew
MeldrumOctober 20, 2011 14:04
Not everyone is celebrating the death
of Muammar Gaddafi.
Gaddafi remains a hero in the eyes of President
Robert Mugabe’s ruling
Zanu-PF party.
“This is a sad day for the
people of Africa. This is the beginning of a new
recolonization of Africa,”
said retired Major Cairo Mhandu, a Zanu-PF member
of
parliament.
“Through the forces of NATO and the West, we have lost one of
our brothers,”
said Mandhu to GlobalPost. “Muammar Gaddafi won elections and
was a true
leader. It is foreigners who toppled him, not Libyans. Gaddafi
died
fighting. He is a true African hero.”
Mandhu said that there are
no lessons for other African leaders from the
fall of Gaddafi.
“North
Africa is different from southern Africa,” said Mhandu. “In southern
Africa,
we won power through a liberation struggle. In North Africa
governments came
to power through coup d’etats. In southern Africa we have
constitutions and
we follow elections. The lesson is we follow our
constitution and hold free
and fair elections.
Other Zimbabweans, however, disagree with
Mhandu.
“Gaddafi was a tyrant and a big ally of Mugabe. Gaddafi’s death
means one
less comrade less for Mugabe,” said Iden Wetherell, an editor of
the
Zimbabwe Independent.
“Mugabe will be more isolated. Gaddafi
helped prop up Mugabe, through oil
and finances,” said
Wetherell.
“Mugabe must be worried about the images from Sirte. He will
feel a twinge
of nervousness to see Gaddafi’s body and Libyans celebrating,”
said
Wetherell. “But I am sure Mugabe will stick out his jaw and declare ‘To
hell
with them’ when he sees the festive mob. But he must feel more
isolated.”
The differences of opinion over Gaddafi strike at the core of
Zimbabwe’s own
clash over the rule of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF
party.
“Everyone I have met, from shopkeepers to political analysts, say
Gaddafi's
death is a lesson well learned,” said another Zimbabwean
journalist.
“Zimbabweans feel particularly close to the events in Libya
not only because
Gaddafi was a close Mugabe friend, at one time, but also
because they live
in a dictatorship hence the excitement here at seeing a
dictator fall,” he
said.
Many other Zimbabweans are celebrating
Gaddafi’s downfall.
"It encourages, motivates us that it is possible to
oust a strongman who has
all the cash and weapons at his disposal. But I
also feel an element of
jealousy. The Libyans are done with their dictator
yet we still have ours,"
said Harare taxi driver identifying himself as Amos
Gapara.
Many Zimbabweans called in to the radio show “Studio 7,” which is
broadcast
by Voice of America into Zimbabwe, to express their happiness at
Gaddafi’s
death.
"I am glad this murderer is dead. Dictators have NO
place in the world
scene,” said one caller. “I don't care if he provided a
bit more stability
or money to the people than other dictators. He is still
a murdering
dictator. Now the Libyan people can have an even better future
without the
fear of a secret police destroying his life for saying something
wrong to a
friend."
Zimbabwean journalist Sandra Nyaira, who works
for “Studio 7,” said her own
opinion is that Gaddafi was responsible for his
bloody end.
“Gaddafi was the sole architect of his own downfall and his death
and
dethronement should serve as a notice to all African dictators that one
day
there will be a day of reckoning,” said Nyaira.
“Gaddafi had time
to leave if he wanted, right in the beginning, but he
thought the revolution
was going to be defeated. But where is he now? Who
would have thought that
Africa's strongman Gaddafi would go out this way?
I'm sure not even he
himself ever imagined that his lifeless body would one
day be dragged and
spat at with people celebrating over it,” said Nyaira.
“If only Africa’s
leadership would learn from the North African experience
on the need to
uphold democracy and the rule of law, holding free and fair
elections and
agreeing to pass on the baton stick.”
By Lance
Guma
20 October 2011
SW Radio Africa continues exposing more offices and torture centres used by the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) countrywide.
Last week we published a 2008 list on our website containing addresses of over 76 offices and buildings, including some 759 telephone and extension numbers.
The justification for the exposure is that some of the buildings have been used to interrogate and torture abducted opposition activists. Hundreds of perceived ZANU PF opponents have been and continue to be abducted by CIO agents and taken to these offices to be tortured. Some have been killed.
This week we look at an addresses in Highlands and Avondale, Harare where SW Radio Africa listeners report hearing what they suspected to be torture sessions. We have been alerted to a house in Natal Road, in Avondale where there is a large square white double story house at the corner with Second Street extension.
In 2008 neighbours reported hearing ‘blood curdling screams’ coming from the house during one evening. On another night they reported smelling burning flesh. Another house said to be used by the CIO is along Enterprise Road, next door to the Highlands Presbyterian Church. Again the building is a large white double story house with heavily burglar barred windows.
In Masvingo the CIO has an office at 10153 Lundi Star Drive in the city’s Rhodene suburb. Deployed there is a notorious middle ranking CIO officer known as Nick Maunze. Last year he threatened journalist Godfrey Mutimba with unspecified action over a story he wrote for a local paper. Maunze even bragged that he once forced former MDC MP Job Sikhala to drink urine during a torture session in 2003.
Referring to Sikhala, Maunze said: “I am the one who forced Sikhala to drink urine when he was arrested and it is not hard for me at all to deal with an even smaller fish and useless reporters like you. What will you do to me?” Maunze, who is reported to run a supermarket at Yeukai Business Centre, was also implicated in the murder of an MDC-T activist in Chivi.
Not all abductions result in CIO operatives taking their victims to their offices for interrogation and torture. The agency also has a habit of taking victims to abandoned farms, killing them and dumping their bodies there. In March 2007 freelance cameramen Edward Chikomba, a former employee of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, was found dead in Darwendale outside Harare.
Chikomba was kidnapped from his Glen View home at gunpoint by 4 suspected CIO agents who forced him into a 4×4 vehicle and drove off. According to his wife who witnessed the abduction, Chikomba said he knew he was in danger when he saw the four men arrive at their house and said: ‘I am dead’. It’s alleged that Chikomba’s ‘crime’ was that he provided film footage of a badly beaten Tsvangirai to foreign news media.
In another example Abigail Chiroto, the wife of Emmanuel Chiroto the MDC-T deputy Mayor of Harare, was also abducted from her home in June 2008. A mob of ZANU PF militants, including CIO agents based at the Hatcliffe office, descended on the Chiroto home. On seeing Chiroto was not there they destroyed the house using a petrol bomb then they abducted Abigail and 4 year-old son Ashley.
Fortunately for Ashley the mob decided to dump him outside a police station but his mother was not as lucky as they took her to a nearby farm. Two days later on the 18th June Abigail was found brutally murdered. She was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head and a deep cut on her stomach. A post-mortem report showed she had been savagely assaulted and her limbs broken.
The use of farms as a dumping ground for murdered activists is a trend all too familiar with the CIO.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
20 October 2011
Hundreds of MDC-T youth activists on Thursday
marched through the streets of
Harare to express their dismay at the
continued ‘unlawful detention’ of
their leader, Solomon Madzore and
others.
The activists marched from the Rotten Row magistrates’ courts to
Harvest
house, their party headquarters in central Harare. But a High court
Judge on
Thursday denied Madzore’s urgent bail application to be released
from
custody. He is being detained at Chikurubi maximum security
prison.
The youth leader and 28 other activists are facing charges of
murdering a
police inspector back in May. All deny the charge. Clifford
Hlatswayo, the
youth assembly spokesman, told SW Radio Africa the arrest and
detention of
their colleagues is illegal.
‘This is why we took to the
streets today (Thursday) in solidarity with our
colleagues who were
unlawfully arrested and detained. These people are not
guilty of anything,
what we are seeing is a political party desperate to
cling on to
power.
‘ZANU PF is desperate. This is why they are using the uniformed
forces to
fight in their corner. We will not keep quiet about this, it’s
only the
start to a campaign to remind Zimbabweans of these illegal
detentions and
harassment,’ Hlatswayo said.
The march was closely
monitored by a heavily armed police response team,
which kept a distance
from the protesters. Hlatswayo told us the reason the
march remained
peaceful was the manner in which their members conducted
themselves.
‘We were very peaceful and we noticed at times that the
police tried to
provoke us but we kept calm. Our peaceful procession
deterred the police to
interfere and disrupt the march,’ he
said.
Meanwhile the MDC-T reported that Rebecca Musarurwa, one of the
eight MDC
members still in remand prison, collapsed in court on Thursday and
was
rushed to hospital.
Her condition is unknown but the party said when
she was arrested in May,
she was seriously assaulted by the police while in
custody at Harare Central
Police Station. Musarurwa has been in remand
prison for over five months
now.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, October 20, 2011 - Human
rights lawyers have named and shamed eight
police officers for masterminding
the torture of Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) youth leader,
Shakespeare Mukoyi.
Gift Mtisi, a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights identified the
police officers from Glen Norah police station
as Inspector Kwiyo, Assistant
Inspector Dube, Constable Cherengo, Constable
Muponya, Constable Willie,
Constable Marimira, Constable Ncube and Constable
Muhonde.
Mukoyi, the youth chairperson for the MDC Harare province was
assaulted and
tortured by the police in April after his arrest and detention
at Glen Norah
police station.
The MDC youth leader was arrested on 9
April 2011 during a church service
organised to pray for peace that was
suppressed when police stormed the
church hall during prayer and swooped on
congregants and a clergyman. Mukoyi
was charged with contravening Section 89
of the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act for allegedly assaulting
Emmanuel Jeketera, a police officer
with clenched fists and booted feet all
over his body at Chitubu Shopping
Centre in Glen Norah suburb.
As a
result of the assault and torture Mukoyi sustained injuries all over
his
body and suffered a broken neck that had to be supported by a cervical
collar.
Mukoyi is demanding $200 000 from the Ministry of Home
Affairs as well as
police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri and eight
of his officers for
unlawful arrest and torture. The litigation follows
Mukoyi’s recent
acquittal on the charges.
“Our client was
unlawfully assaulted and tortured by Inspector Kwiyo and
other officers
whose force numbers are not known by our client on 9 April
2011 being police
officers stationed at Glen Norah.
During the suppression of the prayer
meeting, the police indiscriminately
fired tear gas canisters at residences
and churches surrounding the venue of
the church service while children who
were within and outside the parameters
of the church were affected by the
tear smoke.
The church service was organised by a coalition of churches
under the theme
“Saving Zimbabwe… the unfinished journey”.
The church
service was aimed at presenting an opportunity to pray for peace
in Zimbabwe
as part of the process of finishing the journey to save the
country.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Writer
Thursday, 20
October 2011 08:59
HARARE - The case of the Glen View residents who
are accused of killing a
police officer in the suburb in March was yesterday
postponed to today.
MDC youth chairman, Solomon Madzore and 27 other
Glen View residents are
accused of murdering police officer, Petros
Mutedza.
Lawyers representing the residents, most of whom are mainstream
MDC party
members, are today expected to file an application for refusal of
further
remand.
Crowds of activists sang and danced outside the
courts as the 28 were
appearing before Magistrate Don
Ndirowei.
Hordes of riot police officers could be seen milling outside
the court
keeping a vigil on MDC supporters who last week staged an
impromptu
demonstration following the arrest of Madzore.
The State
alleges Mutedza, had gone to Glen View 3 as part of a team that
was assigned
to go and disperse a group of alleged MDC supporters who were
braaing and
drinking alcohol at a shopping centre in the suburb.
The residents
allegedly started shouting at the police officers and began
throwing stones,
empty bottles, steel stool frames and other missiles at the
police.
The police were allegedly out-numbered by the group and
Mutedza rushed to a
Nissan Hardbody which he mistakenly identified as a
police vehicle.
He was hit by a brick on the left side of his head and
fell down, the state
said. The group allegedly kicked him and he became
unconscious.
Mutedza was rushed to Harare Central Hospital where he died
on arrival.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Rebecca Musarurwa, one of the eight MDC
members in remand prison today
collapsed in court at the Harare Magistrates’
Courts and had to be rushed to
hospital. The reasons of her collapsing and
her current condition are still
unknown.
20.10.1103:31pm
by The
Zimbabwean Harare
When she was arrested by the police in May, she was
seriously assaulted by
the police while in custody at Harare Central Police
Station.
Musarurwa who has been in remand prison for over five months, is
part of 28
MDC activists who are facing trumped-up charges of murdering a
policeman in
Glen View, Harare in May.
The 28 activists were in court
for the second day since yesterday for a
ruling after applying for refusal
of further remand.
Due to Musarurwa’s health, Magistrate Donald Ndirowei
was forced to postpone
the ruling to tomorrow, Friday.
Among those in
remand prison is Solomon Madzore, the MDC Youth Assembly
chairperson who was
denied bail at a separate ruling at the High Court today
after Justice
Hlekani Mwayera ruled that he was a flight risk.
Others in remand prison
are; Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere of Ward 32 Glen
View, Rebecca Mafikeni,
brothers Lazarus and Stanford Maengahama, Phineas
Nhatarikwa and Stanford
Mangwiro.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Thursday,
20 October 2011 08:54
HARARE - The trial of Munyaradzi Gwisai and
five other social activists
accused of planning Egypt-style protests resumed
yesterday, with state
witness Jonathan Shoko, an undercover police officer
who claims to have been
part of the planning meeting, giving
evidence.
The matter is expected to continue next Monday, with Shoko
taking the stand
again to continue giving his evidence.
Shoko told the
court yesterday that he attended the meeting that led to the
arrest of
Gwisai and five other social activists.
He told the court of how Gwisai
and his colleagues allegedly plotted to
spark a revolution.
This is
the basis upon which the state has built its case against the six.
“He
(Gwisai) said on March 1 scores of people should gather at Africa Unity
Square without police detection and ignite a revolution,” said
Shoko.
Shoko is the second state witness. Rinos Chari the first witness,
testified
on September 14 when the trial kicked off after the commencement
of the
trial had faltered on several occasions.
Chari told the court
that he was severely assaulted by police as an
accomplice before he was
turned into a key state witness.
Gwisai, 43 is jointly charged with
Antonater Choto, 36, Tatenda Mombeyarara,
29, Edson Chakuma, 38, Hopewell
Gumbo, 32 and Welcome Zimuto, 25.
Prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba had
initially preferred treason charges against
the six but they are now facing
charges of conspiracy to commit violence or
alternatively inciting public
violence or participating in a gathering with
intent to promote public
violence, breaches of peace and bigotry.
Nyazamba told the court that the
six convened a meeting at Zimbabwe Labour
Centre in Harare, where they
agreed to act in concert to forcibly and
seriously disturb peace, security
or order of the public in Zimbabwe on
February 19 this year.
The
state further alleges that they agreed to mobilise the people of
Zimbabwe to
revolt against the government and demand the resignation of the
president of
Zimbabwe after watching video footage of revolutions in Egypt
and Tunisia.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Nkululeko Sibanda, Senior Writer
Thursday, 20
October 2011 08:44
HARARE - Investigations into the death of retired
army commander Solomon
“Rex Nhongo” Mujuru have taken a new twist with
police seeking a court
inquest to help determine circumstances that led to
Mujuru’s demise.
Mujuru died at his Beatrice farmhouse two months ago
and it is not clear
whether he died before the fire or was killed by the
inferno.
The family, friends and the public suspect foul
play.
Police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri told the state-run
Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) on Tuesday that they had now handed
over the
probe to the courts for an inquest.
An inquest is a judicial
investigation in common law jurisdictions,
conducted by a judge, or
government-appointed official.
Legal experts said yesterday the matter
could have been taken to the courts
as part of efforts by the police to
avoid being blamed for whatever is the
outcome of their probe.
“The
police might refer the matter to the magistrate or the courts so that
the
enquiry into the death of an individual is probed at that level without
them
being at the centre of implicating any particular person as behind that
death or incident.
“In that case, a magistrate or judge can then
order, after listening to the
evidence provided that there was foul play in
the particular case or there
is need for further thorough investigations
into the matter. Due to the fact
that the Mujuru death is highly political,
if for instance the police found
no evidence that he was murdered as what
many people would want to believe,
they just decide to run it through the
courts so that they are not blamed
for covering up,” explained one senior
lawyer.
He said the court can direct the matter to the attorney general
if they feel
that there is a case to answer or direct the police to
investigate further.
“If the courts feel there is no foul play, they just
dismiss it,” said the
legal expert.
One such inquest was launched
after Joanna Mafuyana, wife to the late
veteran nationalist, vice president,
and father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo died
in July 2003.
It was suspected
there had been foul play in her death and an inquest was
held.
Police
spokesperson assistant commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena recently said
the
police investigations into the Mujuru matter had been completed.
Acting
senior police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka also confirmed to the
Daily News
yesterday the matter was now in the hands of the courts.
“What the police
commissioner-general (Chihuri) said when responding to ZBC
questions is
adequate.
“There is and there shall be nothing to the contrary. The
commissioner-general was very clear and whatever he said is the position.
The matter is now with the courts,” said Mandipaka.
Family members
and sources close to the family said recently they were
convinced the police
investigations would draw blanks given the lack of
capacity in the country’s
police force.
It is feared the investigations into Mujuru’s report were
hampered by lack
of requisite infrastructure and equipment that could
facilitate the
production of proper results into what could have happened to
the late
retired general.
The late army commander died in what is
suspected to have been an inferno
that gutted the family farmhouse in
Beatrice.
However, police details are said to have arrived at the scene
of the
incident late when some of the people who were first to arrive at the
scene
of the incident had apparently tampered with the scene of the
incident.
This effectively means that some of the vital information that
could have
helped the police to get to a conclusion on the matter had
already been
removed when the police arrived.
The scene was also not
cordoned off to stop people from tampering with the
scene and
evidence.
According to informed sources, the police investigations’
outcome was at
serious variance with the one produced by an independent
investigator who
was hired by the Mujuru family to get to the bottom of the
matter.
Vice President Mujuru has since the death of her
husband been clamouring for
“the true facts” of what happened.
She
once told a delegation of the Mighty Warriors that went to comfort her
at
her Chisipite home that what had been given as an account of the
circumstances of her husband’s death was not convincing.
“We have not
been told what happened between 8pm when he arrived at home
until the next
morning when the fire was discovered. We are just
told that he was killed by
a fire and that is it. There is nothing else that
is said,” said the Vice
President.
Moreover, Mujuru said it was not clear how Mujuru could fail
to escape the
fire through the windows when they were not even secured by
burglar bars.
“Our two grandsons used to come into our bedroom when we
were sleeping using
those windows. They could simply come through into the
room. Now one wonders
why a man with military training… a military man could
fail to escape
through those windows,” she said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
20
October 2011
Police in Harare have requested an inquest into the death of
retired army
general Solomon Mujuru, in a clear indication they’ve been
unable to
establish the facts relating to his suspicious death in a farm
house fire
two months ago.
The 67 year Mujuru, regarded by many as a
political power broker in ZANU PF,
died at one of his commercial farms in
Beatrice, 35 km south of Harare,
after his house caught fire at night and
the roof collapsed on him. His body
was found burnt beyond
recognition.
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri this week told
the state media
they had handed over the probe to the courts for an inquest.
An inquest is a
legal inquiry into a death and it is held in public, in
cases where the
death was violent, sudden or unnatural.
General
Mujuru’s widow Vice President Joice Mujuru, plus close family
friends, have
been demanding answers over his death. A legal expert told SW
Radio Africa
that an inquest would allow relatives and other people to ask
questions and
to be represented by lawyers, if they wish.
He said the inquest would
also try to establish whether Mujuru died before
the inferno at his house or
if he was killed by the fire.
‘People must be aware however that an
inquest does not set out to apportion
blame as a trial does. If during the
inquest it becomes apparent that his
death could be due to murder, the
presiding court officer will send his
findings to the attorney-general’s
office to see if they can press charges
against anyone responsible for his
death,’ the lawyer said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
20
October 2011
The process of shortlisting four possible candidates to
receive commercial
radio licences is being slammed as favouring ZANU PF
linked groups, amid
speculation that the final decision has already been
made.
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) this week started
chairing the
public hearings of the four shortlisted candidates, who include
KISS FM, the
Zimpapers Talk Radio project, AB Communications and Radio VOP
(Voice of the
People). At least 11 other applicants were not accepted, but
BAZ has not
explained why.
The Chairman of the media watchdog group
MISA-Zimbabwe, Njabulo Ncube, told
SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the
shortlisting process has been
completely non transparent, and so far there
has been no explanation for the
reason why the four were shortlisted and the
others were not. He said that
these are the very serious questions that need
answering.
“We need to know what criteria the other groups did not meet.
We need to
know how the BAZ came to this decision. All this needs to be put
on the
table,” Ncube said.
He added: “We expected more diversity than
what we have. If BAZ was genuine
about the merits of this exercise and of
having free, non partisan
information, then they would have licensed
community radio stations first.”
He also slammed the inclusion of
Zimpapers in the list of shortlisted
applicants, arguing that: “Zimpapers
already has a dominance in the print
media. This is a sign that the ZANU PF
side of government wants to
perpetuate its monopoly in the broadcasting
sector too.”
The MISA-Zimbabwe Chairman also accused the other
shortlisted candidates of
having questionable links to ZANU PF. KISS FM is
partnering with ZBC to
provide news broadcasts, while AB Communications is
led by Supa
Mandiwanzira, who until recently was the President of the ZANU
PF
Affirmative Action Group (AAG). That leaves Radio VOP, which Ncube said
has
been shortlisted only as an attempt to give the process
credibility.
“The general consensus is that the two successful applicants
might already
have been handpicked to suit the purpose of a particular
party. This is just
a choreographed process,” Ncube said.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Nkosana Dlamini, Harare,
October 20, 2011 – The ZimPapers Talk Radio
(ZTR), one of the four
prospective radio licence holders, says if granted a
licence, it will break
away from the patent bias towards President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu (PF),
something that has now been associated with its papers.
The ZTR is one of
the four prospective broadcasters short listed for ongoing
public hearings
by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).
Zimpapers board of
directors member Tapuwa Mandimutsira told the Tafataona
Mahoso chaired BAZ
on Thursday they will be an autonomous entity that will
“bring a distinct
product to the market”.
“The board of directors acknowledges the
responsibility of journalists,
artists and photographers to report, comment
on affairs of city, state,
nation and the world fairly and accurately
regardless of any commercial,
personal or political interests including
those of any share holder,
director, manager, editor or staff member,” said
Mandimutsira.
But in a later interview with Radio Vop, Media Institute of
Southern Africa
(MISA)-Zimbabwe Chapter director Nhlanhla Ngwenya, who
witnessed the
two-hour-long hearing at the Harare International Conference
Centre (HICC),
dismissed the statements.
“This is the rhetoric that
we have been hearing from some quarters in
government particularly those
that support Zanu (PF)...they try to suffocate
the reality on the ground on
the pretext that there is a positive story on
Zimbabwe,” said
Ngwenya.
“The propaganda empire is going to be expanded should they get a
licence.”
Zimpapers owns eight papers among them the The Herald, weekly
Sunday Mail,
Sunday News, Chronicle, Manica Post, tabloid H-Metro,
vernacular newspapers
Kwayedza and Umthunya which are all perceived to be
biased towards Zanu
(PF).
Meanwhile, in his main presentation,
Mandimutsira said the radio station
would be funded from the ZimPapers
coffers and has put its budget at US$612
510.
He said the station
would start broadcasting in a period of 12-15 months if
granted a
licence.
According to Mandimutsira, the radio station would air news,
current
affairs, music among other programmes, on a 24 hour basis and would
be
manned by a staff of 37 led by a general manager.
He said the
station will broadcast primarily in English, Shona and Ndebele
and would
reserve slots for minority languages such as Tonga and Karanga.
Zimpapers
board chair Dr Paul Chimedza said the prospective radio station
will join by
the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation’s television and radio
stations in
relaying its signals through the Transmedia, a private company
in which
government has shares.
Chimedza, who is ZimPapers board chair, is also
board chairman of
Transmedia.
Asked how he would double being
chairman of both entities, Dr Chimedza was
at pains to convince the BAZ
board saying he would instead recuse himself in
cases of conflict of
interest.
“Where we feel there would be conflict of interest or perceived
conflict of
interest the chairman will recuse himself,” he
said.
Further probed on how he would make up for areas where the
Transmedia
transmitters cannot service, Chimedza said they will buy
transmitters to man
towers that have no transmitters in these
areas.
According to MISA-Zimbabwe, the Transmedia transmitters cover not
more than
60 percent of the country, leaving the rest of the population
exposed to
stations from neighbouring countries.
The other three
applicants are Kiss FM, Radio VOP and Supa Mandiwanzira's AB
Communications.
Radio VOP and AB Communications will have their public
hearings before the
end of the month.
Two successful applicants would be issued with licenses
to operate radio
stations for a period of 10 years each.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
20 October, 2011
Intimidation and vocal disruptions by
ZANU PF elements during public
hearings on the Electoral Amendment Bill have
forced the parliamentary
committee to call for written submissions only, in
order to protect
contributors.
It is not clear whether hearings will
proceed in some areas, but a decision
to cancel public hearings in at least
three districts was reached after ZANU
PF thugs caused chaos that made it
impossible for people to make
contributions freely.
The latest
incident was reported in Masvingo, where on Wednesday a group
made up mostly
of ZANU PF women repeatedly broke into song whenever
suspected MDC
supporters were expressing their views on the electoral
process in
Zimbabwe.
On Monday in Marondera, hearings taking place at Nehanda Hall
were cancelled
after ZANU PF supporters prevented anyone suspected to be MDC
from
contributing to the debate, again by chanting slogans and singing
songs.
People were also verbally threatened.
Makoni South MP Pishai
Muchauraya, who is also a portfolio committee member
conducting the
hearings, told SW Radio Africa they moved the Marondera
hearings miles away
to Headlands Community Hall. This excluded many
residents who wanted to
contribute their views.
The Marondera hearings marked the beginning of
nationwide public
consultations on the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was
scheduled to end in
Harare on the 24th October.
Seiso Moyo, the MDC-T
secretary for elections, told SW Radio Africa that he
believes the
parliamentary committee will try to proceed with public
hearings in the
remaining areas. But all areas affected by disruptions would
revert to
written submissions only.
“This is rather unfortunate because these
hearings are part of the
parliamentary process of involving ordinary people
in making laws for their
country,” Moyo explained, adding: “The committee is
composed of members from
all three parties in the unity government and it
would be very unfortunate
if ZANU PF is behind the
disruptions.”
Pressed on the issue of ZANU PF violence Moyo said he had
not yet received a
final report from the portfolio committee on
constitutional affairs, but he
was aware the perpetrators had been singing
ZANU PF songs and chanting party
slogans. Others claimed to be war
vets.
Professor Ken Mufuka from the Global Zimbabwe Forum said postal
submissions
would cut off the majority of the population. Many would not be
able to
afford paper and postage and some would need assistance to write
their ideas
out clearly.
“The writing process is not as easy as it
appears and many people would need
help. This cuts a large majority of the
people and only party operatives
would submit their ideas,” Mufuka told SW
Radio Africa on Thursday.
The same strategy of intimidation and
disruptions marred the constitutional
amendment hearings that were held
around the country, severely delaying the
process.
Mufuka pointed to
this ongoing intimidation as proof that the environment in
the country is
still far from being conducive to holding peaceful elections.
“It is clear
that ZANU PF is resisting electoral changes that would level
the playing
field and regional leaders must adopt a tougher stance against
Mugabe and
his party,” the Professor explained.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Staff Writer
Thursday, 20 October 2011
09:01
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) says it is yet
to be
furnished with a High Court order issued last week by a Bulawayo judge
ordering President Robert Mugabe to hold by-elections in three Matabeleland
constituencies in two weeks.
The three constituencies fell vacant
after the MDC party, led by Professor
Welshman Ncube, fired its legislators
for allegedly bringing the name of the
party into disrepute.
Abednico
Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni, and Norman Mpofu, all former Members of
Parliament
for Nkayi South, Lupane East, and Bulilima East constituencies,
respectively
left the party after falling out with the party leadership.
The High
Court, last week, ordered that by-elections be held in the three
constituencies to fill in the vacant seats left by the trio, in 14
days.
Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi handed down
the
landmark judgment.
“I hereby order President Robert Mugabe and
Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions
(Zec) to announce elections dates in Lupane
East, Nkayi South and Bulilima
East in a period within 14 days,” read
Justice Mathonsi’s judgment.
But Joyce Kazembe, the deputy chairperson of
Zec said the judgment was still
yet to reach the commission and they can’t
organise for any election until
the judgment is formally lodged with the
commission.
“We have not yet seen that judgment,” she said.
“We
shall comment on that issue as and when we are in possession of the
judgment.”
Asked whether the commission was in a position to hold the
elections as
ordered by the judgment and Mugabe proceeds to call for
elections, Kazembe
said they would make due consideration after they receive
the judgment by
Mathonsi.
“As things stand right now, we are not in a
position to comment on whether
we are ready or not.
“All I can say is
that once we have the judgment, like I said, it would be
easy to then
discuss these matters. For now, it’s not as easy as people
might think,”
Kazembe added.
Currently there are 19 seats to be filled in Parliament
according to papers
filed by Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman
Mpofu at the Bulawayo
High Court when they argued their case.
The
three argued that the government was in violation of the constitution
which
requires the president to call for by election whenever a
Parliamentary seat
falls vacant.
The Attorney General which acts as government advisor on
such matters has
not yet filed an appeal or raised an intention to do
so.
Parties in the inclusive government have been reluctant to commit
themselves
to by elections citing among other things a debilitating
financial burden
and fears that another round of elections might destabilise
the country due
to the volatile political environment that still exists in
the country.
No by-elections have been held since the unity government
was formed in 2009
though seats have been vacated by deaths and political
parties’ infighting.
http://www.businessweek.com
October 20, 2011,
10:39 AM EDT
By Godfrey Marawanyika
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) --
Zimbabwe will reopen a contract for an aerial
assessment of the geology of
the Marange diamond fields by the end of the
year, Deputy Mines Minister
Gift Chimanikire said.
The tender was suspended last year because of
“administrative problems,”
Chimanikire said today in an interview in the
capital, Harare.
The Marange diamond fields are in the east of Zimbabwe,
about 90 kilometers
(56 miles) south-west Mutare. Human Rights Watch has
accused Zimbabwean
authorities of killing local villagers and illegal miners
at the site. In
2008, more than 200 people were killed when security forces
seized the
Marange fields, according to the New York-based group. Zimbabwe’s
government
has rejected the accusations.
Anjin Investments Ltd., a
Chinese company, is the top producer of diamonds
in Zimbabwe, Chimanikire
said.
Anjin, a unit of China’s state-owned Anhui Foreign Economic
Construction
Group Ltd., produces about 234,750 carats of diamonds a month
from the
Marange field, Chimanikire said. Mbada Mining Ltd. produces about
164,490
carats a month, followed by Marange Mineral Resources Ltd. with
about
104,710 carats, he said. A carat is a fifth of a gram.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The government is in a quandary over how to effectively
deal with its
deplorable road network amid revelations that about $2.5
billion is needed
to rehabilitate it.
17.10.1102:46pm
by Paul
Ndlovu
Speaking in Bulawayo during a budget consultative meeting,
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti said the country’s road network was terrible
and needed urgent
attention. The minister said Zimbabwe ‘has become the
pothole capital of the
world’.
“Our road network covers 90 000 km,
but only 17 percent of it is paved,”
Biti said.
He added that it was
regrettable that countries like Malawi now had better
roads than
Zimbabwe.
“Malawi has a road network of about 15 000 km and about 40
percent of it has
been paved,” he said, adding that it was more worrying was
that of the
country’s 17 percent paved roads, most of them were in a
disastrous state.
“We need about $2,5 billion to deal with our major road
networks,” said
Biti.
The government lacks the capacity to re-develop
the road network and Biti
called on private partners to invest. The upcoming
plans to expand the
country’s busiest roads from the Plumtree and Beitbridge
border posts will
begin soon, according to the minister.
“Thankfully
the government has found a private partner for the expansion of
the
Plumtree-Mutare road and we hope work will begin soon,” he said.
This
month the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) singed a $206 million
loan
agreement with Zimbabwe for road infrastructural development.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 20 October 2011 00:00
Felex Share
Herald Reporter
HARARE City Council workers yesterday went back on strike
demanding better
salaries. Council workers' representatives yesterday
accused management of
lacking commitment in negotiations. The unions said
the workers will only
resume work when they are given a written undertaking
and reasonable payment
plan on the money they are owed.
The workers
got an arbitral award of a 16 percent salary increment effective
January
this year. However, council reportedly gave each worker a top-up of
US$20.
Harare Municipal Workers' Union chairperson Mr Cosmas Bungu
yesterday said
council wanted to award increments on a sliding scale against
a Labour Court
directive.
"There is a court order that they want to vary
on a sliding scale, which is
impossible. In the past days we have
negotiated, they are failing to come up
with a written payment plan," he
said. Council spokesman Mr Leslie Gwindi
said council had done everything it
could, but there was no consensus.
"We still believe negotiating is the best
way forward. They have tabled
their demands and we have given them our side,
but they are refusing," he
said.
The strike comes as acute water
shortages hit western suburbs and satellite
towns following a big pipe burst
at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant.
The water woes are likely to persist
due to the strike. This is the second
time the workers have downed tools in
as many weeks.
Chitungwiza has been without water since last Saturday.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Garikai Chaunza, Harare, October 20,
2011 - At least 2 000 Zimbabweans
are deported every month from neighbouring
countries with Botswana topping
the list with 500 deportees, the
International Organisation of Migration
(IOM) has said.
“Two
thousand Zimbabweans are deported every month from neighbouring
countries
with Botswana recording the highest number of Zimbabweans being
deported. We
have assisted 530 people who were deported since 7 October.
This phenomenon
is not new as it has been going on since 2006, with the
reasons being the
same - that of documentation," IOM Chief of Missions
Vincent Houver told
Radio VOP in Harare Thursday.
"The assistance which we offer ranges from
counselling to medical treatment.
The other worrying thing which we have
realised is that HIV prevalence is
high among the deportees and as such we
have clinics in the country’s
borders..."
It is estimated that over
three million Zimbabweans are in the Diaspora and
other African countries
for economic and political reasons.
Most of these people who are seeking
economic refugee neighbouring countries
went without proper documentation
during the country’s economic turmoil over
the past decade.
Of the
1,5 million Zimbabweans estimated to be staying in South African as
political and economic refugees, only under 300 000 applications were
processed under the Zimbabwe Documentation Project. The rest now face
deportation to Zimbabwe.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Conductors of the ongoing census in South
Africa have said foreign
nationals, mainly Zimbabweans, are giving false
information regarding their
countries of origin.
19.10.1108:28am
by
Chris Ncube
Statistics South Africa officials said some of these
nationals were not
comfortable among enumerators fearing information they
would expose
themselves to deportation.
Officials urged Zimbabweans
to cooperate as the exercise was not a
witch-hunt to detect illegal
Zimbabweans.
“Government wants to know the number of people who are in
South Africa. As
such, the population census aims to count the number of
everyone living
within these borders. We have had problems, mainly with
Zimbabwean
nationals, who do not cooperate with the enumerators. They fear
the
information the give could be used to easily trace and deport them. It
is
not true that such information would be used against them,” said an
official, Stanley Molefe, said during a workshop in
Johannesburg.
South Africa, which has resumed deportations of
undocumented Zimbabweans in
the country following the lifting of a Special
Dispensation previously
accorded to Zimbabwean nationals, is conducting its
third population census
since 1994.
The 2011 census forms part of the
2011 round of African censuses, which aim
to provide comprehensive data on
the continent, for improved planning and to
aid
development.
Estimates earlier this year put the country’s population at
50,6 million.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, October 20, 2011 - Zimbabwe's most feared Zanu (PF)
official and
Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa did not play any defining
or important
role in the liberation struggle, although he seems to suggest
to have played
a bigger role, a senior commander during the war of
liberation has said.
Wilfred Mhanda whose war name is Dzinashe
Machingura, a former Zimbabwe
African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) said
Mnangagwa did not play a
prominent role in the liberation of the country.
The former war fighter made
the revelations at a symposium in Harare in a
discussion to remember and
honour Mozambique's late President Samora
Machel.
Mhanda wrote his book titled "Dzino--Memories of a freedom
fighter" which
gives accounts of the liberation struggle. Responding to
questions from
journalists why Mnangagwa's name was never mentioned in his
book, Mhanda
said: "If his (Mnangagwa's) name is left out that means he did
not play a
prominent part during the liberation struggle," Mhanda
said.
Mnangagwa was President Robert Mugabe's personal body-guard and
secretary
during the liberation war. He was appointed Minister of State
security at
independence and blamed for the Matebeleland Gukurahundi
massacres which saw
more than 20 000 civilians being killed after
disturbances in the early 80s.
Mnangagwa joined the war of liberation in
the mid-1960s and was arrested for
bombing a train in Masvingo and sentenced
to death but he survived the
hangman's noose and was sentenced to 10 years
in jail.
He commands a faction in Zanu (PF) which was rival to the one
that was led
by the late army General Solomon Mujuru who was killed in a
mysterious fire
at his farm in Beatrice. His family has demanded that police
investigate
what led to Zimbabwe's first army General's
death.
Meanwhile, Mhanda said commanders during the war made a mistake by
convincing Machel that Mugabe be regarded as their leader. He said Mugabe
had not been properly nominated at a congress to lead Zanu (PF).
"We
ourselves as ZIPA (Zimbabwe People's Army) commanders had made an error
by
convincing President Samora Machel to accept Robert Mugabe as our leader.
We
later regretted it," Mhanda said.
Mhanda said Zimbabweans must not wait
for war veterans or Zanu (PF)
officials to solve the country's problems but
everybody must be involved in
defining the destiny of the
country.
"The struggle to liberate Zimbabwe was not to liberate the war
veterans or
the Zanu (PF) leadership, it was to liberate everybody. It is
everybody's
responsibility to participate in shaping the course of
development of their
country. It is everybody's responsibility in shaping
the course of
development of their country; we cannot abdicate that
responsibility to Zanu
(PF). Zanu (PF) or Robert Mugabe do not have title
deeds over Zimbabwe, we
all Zimbabweans it is our responsibility," Mhanda
said.
"Books must be reviewed by people, who give their honest opinions
and not
necessarily those who support even those who oppose. That is the
basis of
subsequent editions of the book."
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, October 20,
2011 - The Midlands Governor Jason Machaya has agreed to
pay US 15000 and 20
herd of cattle to the family of the Movement of
Democratic Change (MDC)
activist slain by among others his son, Farai in
2009.
Moses Chokuda
was murdered by the Governor's son and three others, Abel
Maposa and
brothers Edmore and Bothwel Gana. Chokuda's body had been lying
in a
mortuary for the past four years as the family refused to bury him
demanding
justice. Following the compensation the family will now bury their
son at
Chipere village in Gokwe on Saturday, according to an MDC-T
statement.
The courts found the four men accused of murdering Chokuda
guilty and
sentenced them 18 years each in jail.
“The burial of
Chokuda also follows compensation of 20 herd of cattle and
US$15 000 by
Jason Machaya to the Chokuda family. The Machaya family
requested Chief
Njelele to be their negotiator,” the MDC confirmed in a
statement.
After the High Court conviction, the Chokuda family claims
that the police
attempted to force them to bury their son but to no avail.
The family
insisted that they wanted compensation first before they buried
the late MDC
youth member.
Chokuda was 25 at the time of his death.
By Andrew Muchineripi (AFP)
– 7 hours ago
HARARE — Rob Nicol hit a century on his one-day
international debut as New
Zealand romped to a nine-wicket win Thursday in
the first match against
Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club.
Nicol, 28,
made 108 not out as New Zealand chased down a modest target of
232, winning
with 39 balls to spare.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor admitted it was a
disappointing outcome
after he made an unbeaten 128 to enable his side to
post 231-6 after
suffering a disastrous start in which the home side crashed
to 21 for four
off 11 overs after winning the toss.
Taylor and
Forster Mutizwa (69) put on 156 for the fifth wicket.
"To rebuild from
where we were this morning was quite tough," said the
Zimbabwe captain.
"Forster and I did a decent job that way, but 230 was
never good enough.
We're a better side than this."
Opening bowler Doug Bracewell, another
debutant for the Black Caps, put
Zimbabwe under early pressure, taking the
first three wickets to fall.
But Taylor and Mutizwa stopped the rot with
a brave stand that took the
total to 177 before the latter was caught by
wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum
off the bowling of James
Franklin.
Taylor, a 25-year-old right-hander with a highest ODI score of
145 not out
in South Africa last year, continued to sparkle in sunny,
slightly cloudy
conditions and slammed three sixes in a penultimate over
that yielded 21
runs.
Mutizwa hit three fours and one six off 98
balls.
Zimbabwe's bowlers were again unable to exert pressure on an
in-form New
Zealand top-order.
Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill
put on century opening-stands in both
Twenty20 internationals which preceded
the three-match 50-overs series - and
once again the total soared into three
figures before a wicket fell.
In the shortest game, Guptill was partnered
by Brendon McCullum, but New
Zealand captain Ross Taylor decided to move
Nicol up the order to bat with
Guptill in the first ODI.
Nicol, who
played in three Twenty20 internationals before making his bow in
the
slightly longer form of the game, put on 153 in 29.3 overs with Guptill,
who
made 69.
He became only the seventh player to score a hundred on his
one-day
international debut.
The only New Zealander to achieve the
feat previously was Guptill, who made
122 not out against the West Indies in
Auckland.
Nicol made his runs off 131 balls and hit 11
fours.
Partnered by the in-form McCullum, Nicol added an undefeated 79
for the
second wicket. McCullum made 39 not out.
Ross Taylor said his
bowlers had put New Zealand in a strong position.
"On a flat wicket you
need to bend the ball sideways and that they did. Full
credit to Rob Nicol,
who before this game was batting at number seven."
http://www.ft.com
October 20,
2011 2:45 am
From
Geoffrey Van Orden MEP.
Sir, Before the Archbishop of Canterbury went to
Zimbabwe I wrote to him
warning that Robert Mugabe’s one aim would be to get
him to support lifting
the European Union’s restrictive measures on the
regime’s close circle of
kleptocrats.
Now Alec Russell suggests (“How
to take tea with Mugabe and turn the tables”,
Comment, October 18) that the
Archbishop should indeed have lent his moral
authority to President Mugabe’s
ambition. That’s rather like the judge
telling the burglar he can keep his
swag just to see the smile on his face.
Of course, South Africa has
always held the key to change in Zimbabwe, and
the efforts of all decent
governments should focus on encouraging South
Africa and other countries in
the Southern African Development Community to
do more. In particular, a date
should be set for elections in Zimbabwe
enabling full international
supervision, including of the voter registration
process.
Perhaps the
people of Zimbabwe will then, at last, have the opportunity to
reap some of
the prosperity with which their country, properly managed, is
richly
endowed.
Geoffrey Van Orden, Conservative Defence and Security Spokesman,
European
Parliament