http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
14:44
VILLAGERS in Chiadzwa, Manicaland, are demanding the immediate
withdrawal of
soldiers from the diamond rich area, whom they accuse of
demanding national
identity cards and assaulting those found without.
According to an
application filed at the High Court by Malvern Mudiwa and
Newman Chiadzwa on
behalf of the Chiadzwa Community Development Trust, the
villagers also want
the declaration of Chiadzwa as a protected area in terms
of the Protected
Places and Areas Act (Chapter 11:12) declared unlawful and
void.
They said the police and the army have unlawfully ordered the business
operators at Zengeni Business Centre to close their shops.
The villagers
said the police, acting on orders from Police
Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri, were also threatening to close all
businesses operating in
Chiadzwa.
Through their lawyer George Gapu of Scanlen & Holderness, the
plaintiffs
served summons on co-Ministers of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa and
Kembo
Mohadi, Chihuri and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa in December
last
year and the case is now before the High Court.
Public buses have
been prohibited from plying routes in Chiadzwa that pass
through Zengeni
business centre, the court papers read.
The villagers said demanding identity
cards, prohibiting public buses and
closing businesses in the area were
unconstitutional as such acts violate
Section 22 of the Zimbabwe
constitution that guarantees freedom of movement.
In the summons the
villagers blamed the abuses on the declaration made by
Mohadi in 2007 making
Chiadzwa a protected area in terms of the Protected
Places and Areas
Act.
The summons read: “The plaintiffs’ claim is for a declaratur that the
declaration of Chiadzwa as a protected area in terms of the Protected Places
and Areas Act is unlawful and therefore void; ii) a declaratur that the
prohibition of buses from plying routes in Chiadzwa is unlawful as it
violates section 22 of the constitution of Zimbabwe and has no lawful
basis.
“A declaratur that members of the Zimbabwe National Army are not
authorised
officers in terms of the Protected Places and Areas Act.”
In
their declaration, the plaintiffs added that: “In pursuant to the
declaration, officers employed by the Zimbabwe National Army and the
Zimbabwe Republic Police moved into the Chiadzwa area and are demanding
identity cards from the local residents/inhabitants and are randomly
assaulting people found without the identity documents.”
The villagers
want the court to direct and compel Mnangagwa to remove
soldiers from the
Chiadzwa area or alternatively direct him to ensure that
members of the army
cease demanding their identity cards and stop assaulting
them.
In
response, the ministers and police commissioner represented by the Civil
Division of the Attorney-General’s office denied the allegations and
dismissed them as malicious.
“These allegations are malicious, further
shown by the lack of proof, proof
which can only be in the form of
affidavits by business people alleging such
threats”, read the defendants’
plea. “The declaration of the area was done
way back in 2007 and the
applicants now seek to reverse a process that has
seen the moving in of
investors in Chiadzwa and diamond mining is underway.”
The defence also said
the allegation that provisions of the Protected Areas
Act are
unconstitutional could only be challenged in the constitutional
court.
“The plaintiffs have approached a wrong forum to have their
concerns
addressed. Therefore we pray that this application
be dismissed
with costs,” the defendants said.
The defence further said that the
plaintiffs have issued summons against the
defendants without giving notice
in writing of the intention to bring claim
in accordance with provisions of
the State Liabilities Act as read with a
section of the Police
Act.
Replying to the defendants’ plea, the plaintiffs said the State
Liabilities
Act does not apply to the claim in issue and that they were not
required to
give notice for a claim of this nature.
One of the
plaintiffs, Newman Chiadzwa, was last month jailed for five years
and fined
US$132 764 for possessing 43 028 carats of diamond by a Mutare
magistrate.
The Zimbabwe army and police have been accused of mass murder
in a fierce
crackdown on illegal diamond mining in the Chiadzwa
area.
Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 200 people were killed
during the
crackdown, but local villagers believe that the figure was much
higher and
that people were secretly buried. Government has rubbished the
claims.
Government sent in the army and intelligence officers after the local
police
were accused of taking bribes from the miners and failing to keep law
and
order in the area.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 13:30
DONORS funding the
constitution-making process have disbursed only US$2,1
million of the total
US$14 million they promised and outreach teams will no
longer be deployed
this weekend until the rest of the funds are released.
According to plans
from the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (Copac),
the outreach teams
were supposed to be deployed to provinces as from
tomorrow after the
training of rapporteurs, but the process has now been put
on ice until
donors have released the remaining funds for the process.
The budget
for the constitution-making process has however gone down from
the projected
US$21 million to US$18,5 million.
It also emerged this week that
funds for training the rapporteurs were not
supplied by the donors but by
government.
Copac co-chairperson Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana told the
Zimbabwe Independent
on Wednesday that the donors have not provided the
requested funds as they
were still looking at the budget submitted by
Copac.
"The donors have indicated that they are still consulting
their home
countries on the budgets we supplied and until the funds are
released the
constitution outreach programme will be delayed," Mangwana
said.
Asked when exactly the process will begin, Mangwana said it was
difficult to
come up with dates when dealing with donors that have different
procedures
to follow before releasing funds.
"They (donors) will
only disburse after approval from their home countries
and the outreach
process will only begin once we have received funding from
the donors as the
training of rapporteurs was funded by government,"
Mangwana
said.
Constitutional Affairs minister Eric Matinenga however said
there was no
crisis at the moment as donors were working at satisfying their
procedures.
"The donors through the UNDP have agreed to provide the
funds and they will
do that through phases. The Swedes last week released 15
million Swedish
Kroners (US$2 million) that they had pledged to the
process," Matinenga
said.
He however could not give dates as to
when the outreach programmes would
commence in the
provinces.
"The process is on course and the donors are supportive
and we agreed with
the donors that the funds will be disbursed quarterly and
the first quarter
will be to cover the outreach process and the training of
rapporteurs," he
said.
Matinenga however said the process will
not be behind time as the donors are
in the process of disbursing funds that
were promised.
The constitution-making process has been delayed by
close to nine months.
The three political parties in the inclusive
government agreed to craft a
people-driven constitution after which
elections would be held.
The parties have clashed on the process with
Zanu PF campaigning for the
Kariba draft to be used as the basis for a new
constitution. The Kariba
draft was crafted by the three parties before the
March 2008 harmonised
elections.
The two MDC formations however
want people's input in drafting the new
constitution.
Loughty
Dube
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 09:14
ZANU PF and MDC
negotiators have in their latest talks agreed on a raft of
far-reaching
electoral reforms designed to prevent a repeat of the
March/June 2008
presidential election fiasco which edged the country to the
brink of civil
strife.
The proposed new amendments to the Electoral Act, exclusively
obtained by
the Zimbabwe Independent this week, are designed to prevent the
2008
experience by introducing strict procedures on how the poll is to be
conducted and results announced. They are also calculated to stem systematic
rigging. Zimbabwe's elections since 2000 have been hotly disputed due to
political violence and rigging.
After the extensive changes,
touted as the single biggest achievement in the
last round of inter-party
negotiations which ended last week with agreement
on many issues but
deadlock on several disputes, presidential election
results will no longer
be delayed by more than five days.
"We agreed to amend the Electoral
Act so as to oblige the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) to declare the
presidential results by not later than five
days after the final date of
voting," one of the negotiators told the
Independent. Elections could be
next year.
Results will be audited to ensure reconciliation and the
date for the
run-off will be fixed ahead of the first round of the
election.
"We also agreed to an amendment to the Electoral Act to
provide for an audit
with respect to presidential election results to verify
that the numbers do
add up. The verification is to be done at the polling
station, district,
province and national levels," another negotiator
said.
The results of the March 2008 presidential election, in which
President
Robert Mugabe lost the first round to Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
before bouncing back in June via a campaign of violence, were
delayed by
more than a month amid fears of manipulation and panicky attempts
to manage
the president's shock defeat.
After the reforms, there
will be counting of presidential election ballots
at a local level to
prevent manipulation and vote-rigging.
There will also be the
creation of presidential constituency centres to
collate results at the
House of Assembly constituency level.
Direct transmission of presidential
election results from the polling
station to the appropriate House of
Assembly constituency centre and
straight relaying of the results return
from the House of Assembly
constituency centre to the provincial command
centre en route to the
National Command Centre will also be
introduced.
As a result, the controversial National Command Centre -
manned by state
agents accused of manipulating past elections, especially
the 2008 one -
will no longer be able to fiddle with the
results.
The changes also seek to prevent parties from using
political violence as a
tool of winning elections. There will be a special
body in the electoral law
to deal with political violence.
The
Attorney-General's office will set up a special unit to prosecute
perpetrators of violence. Special courts will also be established at a
magistrate's court level to deal with cases of violence.
ZEC will
now have powers to summon parties accused of violence and give them
warnings. Those convicted of violence will be banned from
elections.
The amendments span presidential elections, political
violence, the period
between nomination day for election candidates and
polling, creation of ward
centres for council elections for the collation of
results, House of
Assembly constituency centres, senatorial constituency
centres and
presidential election constituency centres.
They also
deal with posting results outside polling stations and new
election centres,
postal voting, police and council clearance certificates
for candidates in
local government elections, the police's role in
elections, voter education,
delimitation, jurisdiction of the Electoral
Court and announcement of
presidential elections results.
Section 38 of the Electoral Act
currently provides that the period within
which an election should be held
after nomination day should not be less
than 28 days and not more than 50
days. The parties agreed to extend the
period between nomination and polling
day to not less than 42 days and not
more than 63 days to give candidates
more time to prepare for elections.
Negotiators agreed after
extensive discussions on the need for new and
effective measures to deal
with "the menace of politically-motivated
violence during the campaign and
post-election periods".
The parties agreed to the following measures
to be incorporated into the
Electoral Law:
. Set up a Special
Body to receive complaints or allegations of
politically motivated acts of
violence, to monitor and to carry out
investigations of such reports. The
special body will closely liaise with
the police and with multi-party
liaison committees;
. To refer these allegations to police for
expeditious investigations and
prosecution;
. To empower ZEC
to summon candidates, election agents or political
parties against whom
allegations of violence have been made or on their own
initiative where they
believe or have reason to believe that acts of
violence have been
perpetrated;
. To empower ZEC to warn candidates, election agents
or political parties
against acts of violence perpetrated on their behalf by
their supporters;
. Set up special courts at the magistrates'
level to try cases of
politically- motivated violence committed during the
election period;
. Ensure the Attorney-General sets up a special
unit to prosecute cases
of politically-motivated acts of violence committed
during the election
period;
. Provide in the law that upon
conviction by special courts, the court
can make a special order banning
candidates from further participation in
the election
process.
Dumisani Muleya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 08 April 2010 16:39
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe last week jointly swore in commissioners of the
Zimbabwe Human
Rights Commission (ZHRC) and the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission in line with
constitutional provisions.
His partners in the inclusive govern-ment,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and his deputy Arthur Mutambara described
the move as progressive. But
sceptics say it takes more than a ceremonious
event for the commissioners to
carry out their duties.
Firstly,
critics argue that the calibre of some of the commissioners is
questionable.
They also say other commissioners have no "demonstrable
record" of
upholding human rights. The appointments of the commissioners
have also been
seen as comeback time for some political activists who
hitherto had been
relegated to obscurity.
A local human rights pressure group,
ZimRights, this week said ZHRC could
fail to deliver.
"While the move is
a stepping stone in the fulfilment of the provisions of
the Global Political
Agreement, ZimRights doubts that it will make
meaningful contribution to the
human rights situation in the country," read
a statement issued by the
rights group.
"A peek at past commissions shows that they have been
nothing but toothless
bulldogs, and have done nothing yet to change the
status quo."
Secondly, with no enabling Acts of Parliament to
operationalise the
commissions and parliament currently adjourned until
June, no meaningful
work can be carried out unless the new laws are
fast-tracked. Again this
could come with its flaws.
However,
MDC-T Senator Obert Gutu, who last year chaired the interviewing
panel of
lawmakers that selected the commissioners, said the ZHRC is
"composed of men
and women of integrity who should be able to rise above
partisan politics
and ensure that the democratisation process in Zimbabwe
continues to gather
irreversible momentum."
Only time will tell.
The Zimbabwe
Independent this week looked into the profiles of ZHRC
commissioners. The
commission comprises chairperson Reg Austin, Ellen
Sithole, Kwanele Jirira,
Nomathemba Neseni, Elasto Mugwadi, Joseph Kurebwa,
Japhet Ndabeni Ncube,
Jacob Mudenda, and Carol Khombe.
Reg Austin, a renowned law professor
and experienced election administrator,
the University of Zimbabwe Dean of
the Law faculty is an ex-Zapu activist
who joined the former liberation
movement as a teen. He subsequently worked
in various countries where he was
among other things instrumental in
formulating legal policies for
transitional governments.
He served as Chief Electoral Officer of the
United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia; as Director of the
Electoral Component, United
Nations Observer Mission in South Africa; as
Director of Legal and
Constitutional Affairs at the Commonwealth
Secretariat, London; as a
Director of the Electoral Unit at International
IDEA in Stockholm; and
served as Chief Electoral Adviser for Afghanistan's
2004 presidential
election.
Austin was last week quoted by a
state-controlled daily saying the
commission would attempt to authenticate
"rumours" of human rights
violations.
"There are a number of
rumours that we have heard and we will have to find
out the facts," he
said.
Jacob Mudenda (64) is the former Zanu PF governor for
Matabeleland North who
according to reports fell from grace after his name
was implicated in the
messy Willowgate Scandal. Mudenda then went into
private practice at his
Bulawayo-based law firm after the 1980s car scheme
scandal that involved
senior government officials. For him this could be a
major comeback. Former
Standard editor Davison Maruziva, who was then
Chronicle deputy editor,
reported in 1988 Mudenda's alleged purchase of a
30-tonne Scania P112
mechanical horse, ostensibly for his father's refuse
removal business in the
small town of Dete.
Jonathan Maphenduka,
then business editor of the Chronicle, reportedly
contributed to the
Willowgate investigation when he travelled to Dete to
probe the Mudenda
family garbage removal enterprise. Maphenduka's report
revealed that the
Scania was, in fact, due to replace a donkey-drawn cart.
It also emerged
that Mudenda profitably sold the truck in question to a
Bulawayo-based
company.
Ellen Sithole (47) - the name could probably ring bells for
"learned"
members of the legal fraternity who read law at the University of
Zimbabwe.
She is also sister of Irene Sithole, former law officer in the
Attorney
General's office who unfortunately failed to make it during last
year's
interviews. A Google search of the UZ law lecturer shows that apart
from
imparting knowledge to law students, Sithole has written various papers
advocating women's rights. She is "fighting" for women's rights, we are
told.
Ellasto Mugwadi (60) - The appointment of Mugwadi, a former
chief
immigration officer, received wide criticism from pressure groups. A
lawyer
by training, Mugwadi's unceremonious deportation of American
journalist
Andrew Meldrum made him infamous. Reports show that Mugwadi in
2003 refused
to comply with a High Court order that blocked the deportation
of Meldrum.
The journalist was abducted despite promises to his
lawyer that he would not
be, and forced out of the country despite having a
valid residence permit.
It is also during Mugwadi's tenure that former
Southern Rhodesian prime
minister Garfield Todd was stripped of his
citizenship under controversial
provisions that outlawed dual
citizenship.
Apart from Todd thousands of farm workers of foreign origin
and some white
commercial farmers also lost their right to vote due to this
piece of
legislation that came on the eve of the 2002 presidential
elections.
Kwanele Jirira is a social worker with a doctorate in Gender and
Labour
which could make her influential in advocating gender mainstreaming.
She
also has an MA in Political Science and BSc in Social Work. Jirira has
23
years of lecturing experience.
Carol Themba Khombe is a
professor at the National University of Science and
Technology department of
Animal Science. Despite being a renowned researcher
in this field, Khombe's
name is little known. Her studies include, The
inheritance of weaning weight
in Mashona cattle grazing on free range in
Zimbabwe. But she has no notable
record on human rights.
Joseph Kurebwa (44) University of Zimbabwe
political scientist and pro-Zanu
PF scholar with an interesting past. His
appointment as group
editor-in-chief of a CIO-owned outfit, the Zimbabwe
Mirror Newspapers Group,
was controversial. During the 2008 general
elections he ran a controversial
poll ostensibly on behalf of the UZ
political science department which
placed Mugabe ahead of his rivals, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni. This
survey was disowned by the department and
the opposition MDC-T described it
as an intelligence ploy to campaign for
the octogenarian leader.
At the interview he promised to make the
commission "visible" after
revealing that Zimbabweans were now losing
confidence in the justice system.
Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube (71) - for the
former MDC executive mayor of Bulawayo
this could be time for him to bounce
back to prominence after losing in the
2008 House of Assembly elections on
an MDC-Mutambara ticket. Ndabeni-Ncube
holds a doctorate in economics among
other qualifications in commerce.
Nomathemba Neseni - a social worker
who through the Institute of Water and
Sanitation Development is renowned
for advocating for the provision of safe
and clean water. Urban residents
have been living for years without the
precious liquid due to the breakdown
of infrastructure.
By Bernard Mpofu
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
12:55
CONSERVATIONISTS, villagers and tour operators in Zambia want to
bar Protea
Hotels Zambia's plan to build a 144-bedroomed hotel on the banks
of the
Zambezi River. Protea Hotels plans to construct the hotel in a wild
area
upstream from the world-renowned Mana Pools National Park and World
Heritage
Site. The hotel will be about 12km from the Lower Zambezi National
Park.
Protea Hotels Zambia is 97,5% owned by Union Gold and 2,5% by Mauro
Guardigli, an Italian living in Zambia.
The group operates under the
Protea Inns and Hotels (Pty) Ltd franchise of
South Africa.
The
construction of the hotel, the environmentalists argued, would have a
huge
impact on Zimbabwe.
According to information from various sources, the hotel
will be built in an
area which has already exceeded Zambia government's
recommended number of
hotels.
A campaign against the project was started
on the social network Facebook,
with 8 070 individuals in support of the
campaign -- "Save Mana Pools
against the building of the hotel as of
yesterday".
Conservationists said the proposed hotel would disturb plans to
have World
Heritage Status extended to the Zambian side of the
Zambezi.
But Protea Hotel chairman Mark O'Donnell said protests against the
proposal
were out of context because the environmental impact assessment
(EIA) was
yet to take place.
"Management wants to develop something that
is appropriate and in harmony
with the area," O'Donnell told businessdigest
from Zambia yesterday. "I have
been quoted out of context most of the time.
I do not know if I should
continue talking to the media. We are a
responsible company that follows the
law and do things properly. So much of
this is taken out of context, it is
so disturbing, the negative reports are
coming from people who do not know
what is going on down there."
Grant
Cumings, vice chairman of Conservation Lower Zambezi of Zambia, was
quoted
in the Zambian media saying "the size and nature of the development
was
inappropriate for the site".
"That model has proved successful for Protea
Hotels in downtown Lusaka, but
why put it in a wilderness? It will double
overnight the number of hotel
beds in the area, which are all operating at
less than 50% occupancy, so it
is not like there's a huge market waiting to
go there. And they're not
coming in at a cheap price," Cunnings said.
An
environmental planner, Derek Chittenden, said the hotel proposal "flies
in
the face of all sound planning principles".
"If this goes through, it's the
beginning of the end for that area. It will
have a huge impact on the
Zimbabwean side, yet neither the Zimbabwean
national parks or the government
-- or even Unesco -- knew about the
proposal," Chittenden was quoted
saying.
O'Donnell however said management had approached the Environmental
Council
of Zambia (ECZ) to consult them about producing an EIA study.
He
said the purpose of an EIA was to ensure that what is done in the lower
Zambezi area is appropriate for the area.
"People with concerns on the
project are free to approach ECZ and submit
their proposals. Protea will
take into account what ECZ will advise," O'Donnell
said.
The hotel will
consist of a central lodge, conference centre and six
double-storey blocks
of rooms. There will be moorings on the river for boats
and a parking lot to
take 40 vehicles.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 12:41
HWANGE Colliery
Company Ltd has attributed a decrease in production to
persistent breakdowns
of the aged plant and equipment. Hwange Colliery
chairman Tendai Savanhu
said despite all three mines working, consistent
breakdown of equipment
resulted in production declining by about 11%.
"The decrease in production
was caused by the persistent breakdowns of the
existing aged plant and
equipment. The dragline was down for the first three
quarters of the year,"
said Savanhu when announcing the company's year-end
financial
results.
Total coal and coke sales for the year amounted to 1 709 952 tonnes
ended
marginally lower than 1 722 801 tonnes achieved in 2008. Export sales
stood
at 138 062 tonnes against 251 575 tonnes during the same period last
year.
"Demand for coal and coke products in the domestic market was not as
anticipated because most sectors operated below capacity. However demand in
the export market remains strong," Savanhu said.
The Hwange coking coal
and Hwange industrial coal sales amounted to 429 213
tonnes and were
slightly below the tonnage of 494 990 achieved the previous
year.
A total
of 185 726 tonnes of coal fines were sold during the year locally
and to
export markets and this was 26% above the 147 228 tonnes sold in
2008.
"Hwange Power Station coal supplies to Zimbabwe Power Company's
Hwange Power
Station amounted to 1 033 602 tonnes and is comparable to 1 073
602 tonnes
delivered the previous year," said Savanhu.
Coke sales,
including breeze amounted to 47 785 tonnes of which 80% was
exported and
this was far less than the 154 529 tonnes sold in 2008. The
coke oven
battery which is currently under maintenance was out of production
for the
greater part of last year.
During the period under review Hwange Colliery
achieved a turnover amounting
to US$66,4 million and a gross profit of
US$23,3 million.
The company realised an operating profit of US$5,8 million.
Attributable
profits for the year amounted to US$2,6 million.
"The
property plant and equipment amounted to US$71,6 million. Share capital
and
reserves amounted to US$52 million," said Savanhu.
Current assets amounted to
US$49 million and included the trade receivables
of US$25 million mainly
attributable to the company's major customer --
Zimbabwe Power Company.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 12:24
AFRICAN
Consolidated Resources (ACR), which was elbowed out of the Marange
diamond
fields, is prospecting for the precious stones in an unspecified
area in the
country. ACR had rights to mine diamonds in Marange but
government cancelled
its licence saying they had inappropriately acquired
it.
The company has
stopped operations and two other companies - Mbada and
Canadile - have
partnered with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Company to
extract the
precious stones.
ACR, which has continued to be optimistic and kept
shareholders informed on
the events surrounding the Marange issue, a
fortnight ago concluded a
contract with a company to assist them in
prospecting for alternative
mineral reserves.
ACR signed an agreement
with Aero Mags to have the latter supply the diamond
mining company with
survey services over an area prospective for diamonds.
"The area to be
investigated is unrelated to the company's interest in the
Marange diamond
fields," said ACR.
Aero Mags specialises in aeromagnetic survey based on an
aerial survey of
the earth's magnetic field.
Under the contract, ACR is
expected to pay US$151 792 whether the survey is
successful or not while
US$115 890 is payable conditional upon discovery of
a kimberlitic pipe, that
is a rock that has a probability of containing
diamonds.
ACR would pay an
additional US$115 890 in the event of a discovery of
diamonds which can be
economically mined.
The AIM listed company (London Stock Exchange's
international market for
smaller growing companies) has seen a lot of
movement in its share price
since the beginning of the year.
It opened
the year trading at £14,50 (US$22,03) per share before sliding to
£8,62 at
the beginning of March.
This drop in share price was at a time when
the
company was making efforts to resume operations
at Marange through
effecting a High Court order which confirmed their right
to the diamond
fields, which was issued last September.
The share price started to pick up
in the second week of March and it was
trading at £11,75 at the close of
business on Wednesday.
Shares traded have also been fluctuating with the
highest (more than 8
million) two weeks ago.
A sharp increase in the
number of shares traded two weeks ago saw one of the
company's major
shareholders, London and Amsterdam Trust, increase its stake
to 6,07% from
4,93% at the beginning of the year.
It is not clear from whom London and
Amsterdam Trust bought the ordinary
shares amounting to 1,14% of the issued
shares.
Leonard Makombe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 12:20
ZIMBABWE has so far
earned US$45,3 million from 13,39 million kgs of tobacco
since the auction
floors opened last month, the Tobacco Industry Marketing
Board (TIMB) said
this week. In its latest weekly update, TIMB said 13,39
million kgs of
flue-cured tobacco worth US$45,3 million has been sold during
23 days of
trade so far.
A total of 19,6 million kgs worth US$56,4 million were sold
during the same
period last year.
Auction floors are not open daily
during working days as was the case last
year.
Tobacco is the country's
second largest foreign currency earner after
mining. It contributed 26% to
the GDP last season and this year it is
expected to contribute
more.
Seventy-seven million kgs of the golden leaf is expected to be sold
this
year, up from 42 million kgs last season.
About 45% of this is to be
auctioned with the balance being sold under
contract. The Tobacco Sales
Floor (TSF) auction floors have so far handled
3,5 million kgs valued at
US$11,68 million. The average price was US$3,33 a
kg.
Zimbabwe Tobacco
Auction Centre (Zitac) handled 4,18 million kgs valued at
US$14 million at
an average price of $3,35 a kg.
Zitac usually caters for large-scale tobacco
farmers, while TSF mainly
accommodates smallholder farmers.
A total of
5,7 million kgs valued at US$19,59 million have been sold under
contract
farming at an average price of US$3,44 a kg.
TIMB said most of the tobacco
being presented is from small-scale producers
(A1 and communal area
growers).
It said the quality of the crop presented was "very good" despite
11 381
bales out of the 136 843 bales delivered being rejected.
TIMB said
the bales were rejected because they were oversized, underweight
or
overweight and bad handling of the crop resulting in some of the tobacco
becoming too wet.
Farmers are expected to get better prices for their
crop this year because
of an envisaged global shortage stemming from
hailstorm damage of tobacco in
Brazil.
About 22 000 growers had
registered to sell their tobacco this season, which
is a reduction from 28
000 that registered last year. The early opening of
the season in March is
expected to assist farmers repay their loans ahead of
time, thus cutting
down on interest payments. This will also assist early
preparations for the
coming season.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010 12:16
AT least 21 foreign
companies have confirmed participation at this year's
Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair (ZITF) being held in Bulawayo under the
theme "Unlocking
investment potential". ZITF general manager Daniel Chigaru
said about 484
exhibitors had confirmed their participation.
The trade fair will run for
four days starting April 20.
Of the 484 exhibitors, 21 foreign exhibitors
from 14 countries which include
Botswana, Ghana, India, Iran, Indonesia,
Italy, China, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey
and Zambia will be exhibiting.
Chigaru said they were also expecting visitors
from Germany, India, South
Africa and the United Kingdom.
Companies that
have confirmed their participation from South Africa include
ABC Ventilation
systems Pvt Ltd, Cemcrete (Pvt) Ltd, Department of Trade and
Industry
Panasonic Business Systems, RS Digital, Sew-rite (SRI)
International
Linkages and the South African - German Chamber of Commerce
and
Industry.
Foreign participation at the ZITF has been improving this year,
according to
organisers who credit the turnaround to the generally improved
economic and
political situation.
"Apart from that we have many local
exhibitors who have not participated in
this event during the past 10 years
who have shown keen interest in
participating in this year's commercial
event," Chigaru was quoted saying.
Chigaru said due to the strong response
from exhibitors and investors, his
organisation has engaged international
agents to step up marketing of this
year's event.
In recent years the
trade fair has been an empty shell due to the country's
economic decline
over the past decade, drawing mostly state-run enterprises
and some Chinese
companies.
But the economy has shown signs of recovery since the installation
of a
government of national unity in 2009 - Staff Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
09:24
IT had all the trappings of a state visit.
But below the
surface of speeches, presidential receptions and a busy
itinerary, Julius
Malema's solidarity tour was nothing more than a squalid
pantomime designed
to boost the sagging fortunes of the two parties
involved.
Both
desperately need some good publicity. Malema has been immersed in
controversy for much of this year as revelations emerge of his
"tenderpreneur" tendencies. Questions have been asked as to how he became so
rich so quickly. And the Zimbabwe visit, designed to be a triumphal tour,
ended with Malema being castigated in South Africa for inciting race hatred
which, his detractors say, led to the killing of white farmers.
The
murder of AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche last weekend was laid squarely
at
the door of Malema who the Afrikaner leader's followers blame for stoking
racial tensions with his "Shoot the Boer" song.
He gave us a sound-byte
during his visit here which has placed President
Jacob Zuma in a spot of
bother.
Zuma has been trying to knock heads together in Zimbabwe. But his
impartiality will have been undermined by Malema's cavorting with Saviour
Kasukuwere. It will be difficult for the South African facilitators to claim
an independent stance when Malema openly identified with Zanu PF.
That
will make Zuma's job that much harder. And Zuma's appeal for calm on
the
land issue in South Africa where Terre'Blanche is just the latest
casualty
of politically inspired violence will carry much less weight after
Malema's
predictably maladroit behaviour.
We knew the Malema visit would backfire --
just like everything else Zanu PF
does. Now Zimbabwe will appear more
disgraced and more isolated than ever
just when it is attempting to build
bridges to the West. South Africa is in
a position to take risks over
matters such as nationalistion. Zimbabwe isn't.
There are two saviours
involved in this story and neither is the real McCoy.
As the MDC Youth League
aptly pointed out, Malema's pro-poor stance was
"false struggle rhetoric".
Malema was "a false revolutionary leading a
lavish lifestyle", said MDC
Youth League secretary-general Solomon Madzore,
quoted in the
M&G.
"If you look at him and the likes of Kasukuwere you will see that
there is
nothing that will identify them with the poor. I have seen Malema's
two
mansions in Sandton," he helpfully added.
At the several rallies he
addressed during his stay Malema consistently
praised President Mugabe and
Zanu PF's policies saying he would lobby his
party to follow Zimbabwe's land
reform and indigenisation programmes which
the ANC has largely
eschewed.
Malema obviously did not consult the majority of Zimbabweans to get
their
views on Mugabe's record on the economy and land reform.
These
views were made known on March 28 2008 when the majority of
Zimbabweans
rejected Mugabe and his Zanu PF party for taking the country to
the
dogs.
Malema has not been told that previously productive commercial farms
became
derelict after they were occupied by Mugabe's followers.
As for
the indigenisation programme, we are glad Malema was there at
Zimplats near
Chegutu and Ngezi Mine in Mhondoro to witness BEE Zim-style.
He saw Zanu PF
Youth League leaders Absolom Sikhosana and Mugabe's nephew
Patrick Zhuwawo
holding a closed door meeting with senior officials at Ngezi
Mine who were
berated for having the temerity to submit their own proposals.
We were not
told what they discussed but we can bet they want a stake in the
lucrative
mining concern and appear determined to use their political muscle
to
benefit from the indigenisation diktat.
It is becoming increasingly obvious
the indigenisation laws were designed to
empower a small clique of Zanu PF
stalwarts and their hangers on.
And why did the Herald allow Kasukuwere to
attack Zimplats Mine's
indigenisation proposals without telling us what the
proposals were?
How professional was that?
"Indigenisation plans submitted
by Zimplats are "crazy, retrogressive and
unacceptable as they fall short of
what is envisaged by the law," the Herald
reported Kasukuwere as
saying.
Instead of telling us what the company had proposed we were only
told of
Kasukuwere's anger towards the proposals submitted to his
ministry.
"Zimplats' proposal is very crazy, it is crazy," Kasukuwere told
the Herald.
"I am going to meet them next week on their proposal, which is
very crazy.
We insist that 51% should go to indigenous people."
Zimplats
management should tell Kasukuwere where to go. Bloated fat-cats of
a
discredited regime need to be confronted. We do not know as yet what is
"crazy" about the Zimplats' indigenisation proposals but we know that what
is certainly crazy is Kasukuwere's call for parliament's portfolio committee
on Mines and Energy "to look at the foreign-owned mines and see how they
contributed to the fiscus and the community they were serving".
"They
should go to these mines and see who owns them. They (parliamentary
portfolio committee on Mines and Energy) are scared," he said.
Nothing
wrong with the committee visiting Zimplats as suggested by
Kasukuwere. But
why can't the same parliamentary committee tour Chiadzwa?
Can Kasukuwere tell
us why the government has made spirited efforts to
thwart the committee's
attempts to tour Chiadzwa or to hold public hearings
with the Chiadzwa
community and residents of Mutare to get their views on
the goings on in the
diamond sector?
As for Kasukuwere's demands to know how much foreign-owned
companies have
contributed to the fiscus, can he tell us how the country has
benefited from
the diamonds being extracted from Chiadzwa?
The people
from Chiadzwa know who has benefited from this national resource;
that is
why they are not allowed to meet with the parliamentary committee on
Mines
and Energy.
Malema wasn't told that every time Mugabe visits Zimplats' Ngezi
mine, he
speaks highly of their social commitment. With its network of
houses, roads,
schools, and recreation areas it is a model for the
country.
Why now is there a different tune from ministers? Could it be
because they
are preparing to carve up the pie?
Chris Mushohwe has
let the cat out of the bag.
As mentioned above, last Thursday the governor
and resident minister for
Manicaland barred MPs from the portfolio committee
on Mines and Energy
access into the Chiadzwa diamond fields saying they
"will pick up diamonds
which are all over the place".
The MPs wanted to
see for themselves what is happening at the Chiadzwa
diamond fields.
We
curiously wait to hear Mushohwe's response to comments made by MP for
Chiredzi West, Moses Mare. Furious at Mushohwe's actions, the MP queried:
"Does this mean that each time he visits Chiadzwa he picks up
diamonds?"
Mushohwe is always touring the diamond fields. Let's hope he is
not
pocketing the diamonds that are "all over the place" each time he goes
there. But evidence that the diamonds are being picked up and pocketed by
someone is there for all to see.
Our eyebrows were raised by police
reactions to a story about
recommendations by the Harare City Council that
Philip Chiyangwa should be
arrested because of the alleged irregular manner
in which he acquired land
in the capital. He is threatening the City of
Harare with a criminal
defamation suit and digging around for
evidence.
Detectives visited journalists at the Standard last week who wrote
stories
about the recommendations, wanting to know the source of their
stories.
We find nothing unusual in the stories because they were sourced
from
council documents.
What we find disturbing is the exercise of
Chiyangwa's clout. Someone is
frantically trying to prevent journalists from
opening a can of worms, using
his wealth and power to do so. This is not the
new Zimbabwe we all want to
see. Journalists must be allowed to get on with
their public watchdog role
unmolested.
Poor old Arthur Mutambara. It
must be bad enough being seen as a tool of
President Mugabe, then not being
taken seriously as a result of eccentric
behaviour. There was the notorious
ABC interview where he completely lost
it. And the US dinner party that went
pear-shaped after a difference of
opinion. There was also the swearing-in
ceremony where "So help me" was
separated from "God" by a pause that seemed
like hours!
More recently we recall him trying to get into the picture at the
swearing
in of the electoral and human rights commissions. And before that,
praising
Mugabe to the skies despite the president's failure to meet any of
the
targets Mutambara identified a year ago as essential for investor
confidence. There was also a visit to some farms followed by robust
criticism but zero follow-through.
Now he has been subjected to a new
form of ignominy: media manipulation!
Every time Herald hacks mention the
episode last year when Mutambara "had to
intervene at the last minute" to
get the British and French embassies to
grant visas to an inter-ministerial
lobby seeking the lifting of sanctions,
it has to be reported as "at
President Mugabe's instruction". So Arthur is
reduced to a mere cypher. That
will make his intervention less credible next
time.
Mutambara is a
likeable and intelligent politician -- a national rarity! But
he must find a
way to project himself that is neither comic nor fawning. No
more funny
intonations please. Seriousness of purpose and consistency of
outlook are
key. What for instance does he think of a society where artists
are locked
up for depicting Gukurahundi atrocities or forced to cancel a
display of
photo-journalism covering the 2008 violence because Zanu PF is in
denial
about its sanguinary role?
Has he been completely neutralised? And what of
other members of his party?
Where is the once principled voice of Paul
Themba Nyathi? When did we last
hear from him? Paul: Vuka! Time for an op/ed
piece.
One of the main tenets of a professional press is the right of
reply. That
means allowing those who are subject to claims by politicians
and others to
have their say by way of response.
Recently President
Mugabe held a meeting with the press. Mugabe commented on
the absence of
white journalists. His spokesman George Charamba claimed that
they had been
invited but chose not to attend.
That was not in fact the case. They had not
been asked. Worse still, when
one of those concerned, AP correspondent Angus
Shaw wrote to the Sunday
Mail, where Mugabe's and Charamba's remarks had
been published, setting the
record straight, the paper declined to publish
his letter.
Muckraker therefore publishes the letter below. Nothing could
more usefully
illustrate the way in which state editors refuse to do the
right thing at
the behest of their political masters. This is unprofessional
behaviour at
its worst and is a predictable product of a captive press where
editors are
given their
marching orders by state functionaries.
For
the record, Shaw wrote as follows:
"I would like to put the record straight
regarding your report in the March
7 edition quoting Secretary for Media,
Information and Publicity George
Charamba on invitations to President
Mugabe's 'Meet the Press' briefing. It
is not true that everyone was
invited, as Mr Charamba contended after the
president asked where were white
journalists and then went on to suggest
maybe we had 'chickened out'. I was
not invited and certainly would not
have missed the event if I had been
informed on the telephone numbers
regularly used by Mr Charamba's ministry
to contact me."
"Angus Shaw, Associated Press."
Finally, we have
heard from the Media Commission. They have woken from their
long slumber and
are ready to start work. And what grand project are they
about to embark on?
They want to hold a workshop!
Muckraker hereby offers to address the workshop
and tell them their
fortunes!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 08 April 2010
16:53
ZIMBABWE'S ranting and raving against allegedly "illegal"
international
economic sanctions continues unabated. Aided and abetted by
the war
veterans, the Zanu PF Youth League, the Affirmative Action Group and
other
radicals, the president and his political colleagues endlessly persist
in
their contentions that the cause of Zimbabwe's economic ills, and of the
consequential hardships and sufferings of most of the populace, is almost
wholly those sanctions. In so doing, the focus of Zimbabweans from the real
causes of Zimbabwe's immense economic ills has been progressively, most
successfully, diverted from the real sources of the devastation that has
been wrought upon the economy.
Although often said before, the reality is
that those sanctions that have
been imposed have had minimal economic
consequences. The Zimbabwe Democracy
and Economic Recovery Act of the United
States imposes only one notional
sanction, being the US veto of funding for
Zimbabwe by the International
Monetary Fund. There is no substance to that
sanction, as the IMF is, in any
event barred from giving funding to Zimbabwe
for so long as the country
continues to be in default in servicing debt on
past advances, except for
occasional grants of special drawing rights. The
US legislation does not
prohibit trade with, or investment in, or travel to,
Zimbabwe. Effectively,
therefore, no sanctions have been imposed by the US
which have jeopardised
the Zimbabwean economy to any significant
extent.
Somewhat more far-reaching sanctions are applied by the European
Union (EU),
for trade with, and funding for, Zimbabwe's government, its
parastatals, and
other entities directly or indirectly linked to government.
But, as with the
US, no constraints have been imposed on Zimbabwean trade,
investment or
travel. Despite the recurrent, vitriolic and recriminatory
contentions of
the Zanu PF elements of government, the reality is that
sanctions have had
very little impact upon the Zimbabwean economy. The only
sanctions of
substance are of a non-economic nature, being restrictions
imposed upon less
than 200 politically-active Zimbabweans, who may not
travel to the countries
imposing the sanctions, may not operate bank
accounts or invest in those
countries, and cannot send their children there
for education. Undoubtedly
it is these personalised sanctions that have
fuelled the ire of the
politicians, whilst at the same time it is very
convenient to them to be
able to blame, although without substance,
sanctions for the traumatised
state of the economy. It also suits their
agenda to claim that the
sanctions are illegal, notwithstanding that it is
the right of any country
to decide who it will not interact with
economically.
However, it cannot be denied that the Zimbabwean economy has
been decimated
by sanctions. The tragedy is that those sanctions are
self-imposed. One of
the first and foremost sanctions was against white
Zimbabwean farmers.
Instead of addressing very necessary land reform
constructively (and
equitably), Zimbabwe legislated grossly discriminatory
land policies, and
implemented them in a manner that very rapidly emaciated
the previously
virile agricultural sector, which for many decades had been
the foundation
of the economy. It compounded those sanctions by blatant
disregard for the
fundamental principles of justice and of international
law, and further
compounded them by contemptuous breach of numerous
Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreements.
As disastrous
as that self-imposed sanction proved to be, it did not suffice
to satisfy
the government's determination to regulate and control the
declining economy
ever more intensively, notwithstanding that in doing so it
was achieving
naught but to accelerate the decline.
The regulations, and the controls that
they constituted, were naught but
further economic sanctions. They ranged
from excessive labour legislation,
undermining industrial productivity and
viability, to two years of
devastatingly disastrous price controls which
exacerbated product shortages,
and fuelled a virile black market. They
included vastly excessive direct and
indirect taxes (amongst the world's
highest), further undermining the
economy and intensifying the survival
traumas of formal sector enterprises,
of their employees, and of the
populace at large. Of course, as these
economic "sanctions", created by
those charged with furthering the nation's
wellbeing, intensified the
economy's collapse, those who created the
sanctions more and more
determinedly sought to disclaim culpability. They
attributed all the ills to
alleged diabolical stratagems of the
international community in general, and
especially those of the former
colonial powers and their allies. In order to
give apparent credibility to
these specious contentions, they placed
especial emphasis upon the so-called
"illegal" sanctions, despite their
virtual non-existence.
So great was the political resolve to ascribe all
fault for the never-ending
contraction of the economy to others, and thereby
to delude the populace to
believe that the politicians were guiltless,
coupled with an equally great,
paranoic hatred for the colonialists of old,
that the craving to impose
evermore sanctions became more and more
pronounced. With Machiavellian
cunning, they devised a further sanction par
excellence.
Recognising the very real need for indigenisation and
economic empowerment
as a just and necessary action to advance Zimbabweans
and activate them in
the economy, it resolved to legislate to bring that
into being.
But, in order to exact revenge upon all
non-indigenous Zimbabweans that
their hatred of those non-indigenous sought,
they legislated in such a
manner as to only destroy the economy yet further
and to hinder and reverse
what had been a slowly developing potential of
economic recovery.
They cavalierly disregarded and dismissed all reasoned
and rational advice
from the existing business community, from intending
foreign and domestic
investors, from many of the international community,
and others.
Not only had they legislated destructively, instead
of pursuing
indigenisation and economic empowerment that would be nationally
beneficial
and an enhancement of wellbeing for many Zimbabweans, but they
have
dogmatically refused to heed good and sound, unbiased
advice.
Those advice, if reacted to positively, would ensure
successful attainment
of substantive indigenisation, and of wideranging
economic empowerment.
Instead, since February 12, when the
regulations were gazetted, the economy
has contracted, business confidence
decimated, and potential investors
almost wholly alienated, concurrently
with critically-needed international
lines of credit being
withheld.
Hundreds of intending investors have lost interest in
Zimbabwe as an
investment destination. An intending German trade mission,
due to have
visited Zimbabwe this month, has cancelled the visit (as have
several other
similar missions from several EU countries). In a nutshell,
government has
self-imposed yet another devastating sanction upon
Zimbabwe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 08 April 2010 16:49
WHILE
South African President Jacob Zuma is reportedly pushing for elections
as
early as April 2011, most Zimbabweans, including the feuding three
political
parties, are not ready, politicians and analysts have said.
The analysts
said statements from Zanu PF and the MDC-T calling for fresh
polls next year
were political gimmicks.
An early election, the analysts said, would
be suicidal for Zanu PF because
President Robert Mugabe’s party may never
regain absolute power after having
lost its parliamentary majority,
especially now when it is deeply divided.
The MDC-T feels that a new
constitution must be crafted first, followed by
creating an environment that
will guarantee security of people, freedom to
campaign, and media and
electoral reforms before Zimbabwe can hold elections
that are credible, free
and fair.
Zimbabweans want a guarantee that there will not be a
repeat of the June 27
2008 period, during which more than 300 MDC supporters
were allegedly
killed, thousands tortured, injured and displaced by state
security agents,
Zanu PF militia and war veterans.
They said
people would only heal if justice is done to perpetrators of
violence during
the 2008 elections, while others said government should set
up a truth and
reconciliation commission for people to publicly admit their
crimes.
Nothing has been done to those who raped, tortured,
assaulted and killed
opponents and they are still freely roaming the streets
and villages
throughout the country, leading a normal
life.
According to a report titled Fighting for a New Constitution:
Human Rights
Violations Experienced by Female Members of the National
Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) launched last week in Harare, 90% of the women
interviewed
said a truth and reconciliation commission should be established
and 98%
were of the opinion that people who committed violence against women
should
be prosecuted.
While the situation has improved under the
global political agreement (GPA)
compared to the chaotic and violent 2008,
Zimbabweans argue that elections
should be held after achieving national
healing.
Although they are aware that at some point, the inclusive
government will
have to give way to a popularly elected government, people
feel that time
cannot be 2011.
The Zimbabwe Independent spoke to
MPs from the three political parties to
get people’s views on early
elections.
Legislators interviewed agreed that national healing
should be prioritised
before elections are held.
The legislators
said Zimbabweans were concerned about bread and butter
issues and would
prefer to see the economy improve first before elections
are
held.
Zanu PF MP for Mudzi South, Eric Navaya, said: “Because of the
drought and
low incomes, people are not thinking about elections. They are
more
concerned about making money to feed their families and about service
delivery.
“Where will government get money from for elections
when they can’t even
raise enough to improve service delivery and to pay
their workers?
Zanu PF MP for Mazowe South, Margaret Zinyemba, said
national healing should
come first before elections.
“At
leadership level, we have come to tolerate each other and we understand
each
other, but this has not filtered down to the grassroots where people
are
still looking at each other with suspicion,” she said. “National healing
should have come first. They should set up committees to assist the three
ministers (of national healing) because the ministers alone cannot do it.
National healing should be taken as the most important thing –– until people
are healed, there cannot be elections.”
Navaya said areas that
experienced high incidents of violence in 2008 should
be given time to heal
before elections can be held.
“National healing is extremely
important. These areas need to be given time
for national healing to avoid
more violence in future,” he said.
Harison Mudzuri, MDC-T MP for Zaka
Central, said government was not doing
enough to ensure national healing
took place.
Mudzuri criticised the manner in which the ministers of
national healing
were conducting their meetings, which he pointed out did
not give victims of
violence a chance to narrate their ordeals.
He said
such meetings should be done in such a way that those people who
committed
politically motivated crimes should be able to publicly confess.
“The
term national healing should be done in the same way as South Africa
conducted its truth and reconciliation hearings. This thing of let’s forget
and forgive is not what people want,” Mudzuri said. “We are not doing enough
in terms of national healing – it is far below what people are expecting.
Reports in the media that they had a meeting here and there is not what
people want. People want to see victims narrating their experiences, crying
and expressing their emotions. People need to experience it.”
In
addition, Mudzuri said people would be ready for polling if there were
guarantees that they would be free and fair and also
non-violent.
“People need proof that they are going to be
violence-free and that people
who committed those crimes are being arrested
and that something is being
done to stop violence,” he said.
As
the government embarks on the constitution-making process, Mudzuri said
people in rural areas were being intimidated to support the Kariba
draft.
“There is also violence being done in a subtle manner in terms
of
intimidation. People are being told that they will be beaten up after the
elections if Zanu PF loses and are being told to support the Kariba draft or
else,” he said.
Already, there have been several reports of
violence in some parts of the
country. The Victims Action Committee (VAC),
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition,
and the Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe
said some churches were being
persecuted for political
reasons.
VAC said 28 people, including 10 children under the age of
12 and two
teenagers, were last Wednesday forced to flee their homes in
Shamva after
being threatened with violence.
A Zanu PF supporter
allegedly threatened to descend on them with a group of
youths at night to
destroy their homes for being MDC supporters.
VAC said the families
are now squatting in nearby bushes with no access to
food, water and
shelter.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and Restoration of Human Rights
Zimbabwe
reported that Zanu PF supporters burnt down an Apostolic Faith
Mission
Church building in Muzarabani before threatening villagers there
with
violence.
About 55 people have since fled their homes to
seek refuge at St Albert’s
business centre.
Meanwhile, Energy and
Power Development minister Elias Mudzuri experienced
the intimidation first
hand about a fortnight ago when youths yielding
machetes and knobkerries
tried to bar him from addressing villagers in Zanu
PF’s stronghold Uzumba
Maramba Pfungwe.
Press reports said youths aligned to Zanu PF set up
roadblocks to stop
people from going to Mashambanhaka and Katiyo clinics
where Mudzuri was
expected to commission electricity.
Mudzuri was
quoted later saying: “I was shocked to see youths stopping
vehicles and
demanding answers to ridiculous questions. We all know Uzumba
Maramba and
Pfungwe (UMP) are Zanu PF strongholds and people in this area
have been
brutalised and are still very afraid. But at this stage in this
time we do
not expect this.
He added that: “I went there prepared for such an
eventuality because we are
aware that UMP is a difficult place in terms of
intimidation. It is this
culture of impunity that makes Zanu PF militia take
the law into their own
hands.”
The government must now walk the
talk on national healing and in promoting
non-violence, civics
say.
Articles XVIII of the GPA says “the government shall apply laws of the
country fully and impartially in bringing all perpetrators of politically
motivated violence to book”.
Until this is done, politically
motivated violence will continue to
escalate, particularly now as the
country embarks on the constitution-making
process and as they prepare for
fresh elections.
By Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 08 April 2010 16:44
THE
recent visit to Zimbabwe by the African National Congress (ANC) Youth
leader
Julius Malema is expository to the juncture at which most if not all
of
Southern Africa's liberation movements find themselves at.
My
understanding is that one of the main but subtle reasons that Malema
visited
Zimbabwe was a public relations manoeuvre in his quest to establish
a
vibrant network of youth movements from the liberation parties across
Southern Africa.
Malema strikes me as someone whose current
antics are directly or indirectly
aiming towards presidential ambitions in
South Africa. He may therefore be
thinking ahead in order to create a trail
towards this larger-than-life
dream for self or someone behind the scenes.
There are huge prospects that
President Zuma may either not make it or may
struggle at the ANC's 2012
congress, which will ultimately determine the
party's candidate for the next
presidential election.
The main
reason for former president Thabo Mbeki's fallout with the ANC at
their
Polokwane meeting and his eventual ouster was his supposed leftist
political
posturing as well as his sublime approach towards revolutionary
objectives.
He was adjudged to be too mild towards pro-poor programmes and
policies,
which in the eyes of the party's radicals was tantamount to a
betrayal of
ideals of the struggle for democracy in South Africa. Some
smeared him with
pro-capitalist excesses protective of the economic
imbalances that had been
predominant in the apartheid era.
Zuma's short romance as the head of
state is already under heavy scrutiny
from an otherwise impatient ANC. There
is therefore already talk of a
reluctance to retain him at the 2012
congress. In that light, I believe that
many other individuals are already
busy permuting possibilities while others
are creating grand mastery plans
for self-elevation, should Zuma's ejection
create a presidential
space.
From the unfolding events in the recent past, I have doubt
that the actions
and expressions of Malema are in any manner isolated from a
particular
thought process that has some tinge of consideration for a
post-Zuma
possibility.
Malema's main ecstatic insinuations
include his radical stance towards a
pro-poor policy framework, a rushed
economic re-distribution framework, an
urgent Zimbabwe-style land reform
programme, a reincarnation of
revolutionary attributes and discharges of the
intra-apartheid era and a
general anti-imperialist notion hinged not only on
a racial divide, but an
international acclamation of Africa's total
liberation.
Malema's agenda is being pursued through a vehement
disregard for
conventional authority structures either within the party or
the country's
legal system. In fact he has gone on to attribute the media
and the
judiciary sectors in South Africa as still being dominated by
apartheid
regime operatives whose mandate is derived from the historical
structures
rather than the new dispensation. Malema is therefore on a trail
and he may
be the only or one of the few who know exactly where this will
lead.
Malema's strategy (or whoever is behind him) is to approach
this rise into
prominence through a wider and regional appeal rather than an
entirely
internal methodology. The intention seems to be to reconnect the
regional
revolutionary youth movements through the creation of a common
identity in
the fundamentals of the struggles of the
past.
The consideration may be to bring together the ANC, Zanu
PF, MPLA of Angola,
Frelimo of Mozambique and Swapo of Namibia youth wings
into a coalesced
force that can then gain regional prominence. If this were
to succeed Malema
would naturally become the face behind the coalition.
Judging by the rousing
and "demi-god" status afforded to him on his Zimbabwe
tour, I have no doubt
he will be found befitting of leading this regional
onslaught. Once Malema
has secured the leadership of a powerful regional
body of youth movements
from Southern African countries' revolutionary
parties, it will allow him
muscle to position the ANC and his personal brand
not just as a South
African entity but also rather with a regional
influence.
The ANC does not really face a major threat from
opposition political
parties in South Africa. It has a sizeable following
and loyalty which may
see it sweep into power many times over before a
formidable opposition
offers severe contestation. The major battle is
however within the ANC
itself where there is an evident split between
revolutionary conservatives
of the nature of Malema and those that seem to
find comfort in a more
liberalised political execution. Zuma was seen as one
who would rescue the
ANC from its fall from being a precisely
revolution-credentialed party;
however this hope is hastily fading away as
he is now viewed as compromising
the radicalism expected of such a political
genre. Malema is out to expose
the alternative pathway that Zuma should have
followed and therefore remind
the party of the need to place him exactly
where Mbeki ended up.
If Malema is able to re-ignite the
revolutionary spirit in the party and
re-connects it to the emotions of the
poor people, then the scales will tip
in his favour and whoever else may be
behind him. If he even goes as far as
re-igniting the revolutionary spirit
in regional political parties through
their youth wings, this will be
another feather in his political cap, which
will convince all internal ANC
functionaries of the relevance of the party
in the wider regional
revolutionary agenda. A regional platform will
influence a regional agenda
and will inevitably set a broader revolutionary
scheme within which the ANC
becomes attached to. This will result in the
obliteration of any vestigial
resistance of half commitments to the
revolutionary agenda of the party.
Malema's prominence will therefore be
validated and the ANC agenda
predetermined.
However, as Malema came to Zimbabwe, it may be
unfortunate that our dear
comrades in Zanu PF may not have been aware of the
grand plan behind his
euphoria. They could have therefore endorsed a grand
plan, whose details may
have escaped their analysis. In essence, Zanu PF's
hero granting to Malema
may have been an endorsement of the power struggles
tearing apart the ANC.
So the revolutionary warpath that Malema brought to
Zimbabwe could have
really been a sly abuse of Zanu PF in inducing internal
ANC political
disputes and the creation of personal positioning in readiness
for his final
onslaught, come 2012.
At his rally in Mbare, Malema
unorthodoxically attacked the violent nature
of political campaigning that
has become synonymous with Zimbabwe's
landscape. Remembering that Malema
represents a youth wing which has utterly
rebuffed dominance by its
mainstream party leadership, he could have been
hinting that Zanu PF's youth
wing should transform from being a
rubber-stamping and abuse-prone appendage
of the party into a more
autonomous wing. If the Zanu PF youth wing follows
the self-styled and
free-willed demeanours of Malema's ANC youth wing, then
they may be able to
resist the recurrent abuse by some party leaders in
perpetuating or
retaliating in political violence.
Political
violence in Zimbabwean political parties has become the preserve
of the
youth wings driven to fulfil the ambitions of senior party leaders.
Malema's
influence could therefore cause the emergence of a defiant youth
wing in
Zanu PF premised on the revolutionary stance of party structures'
self-determination. Malema's open challenge to his party leaders and his
political ambitions could also set a tone in Zanu PF where the youth wing
may break from blind loyalty and even allow a self-set agenda. Could
Malema's
influence be the breaking point for the transformation of Zanu PF's
youth
wing? His euphoria will surely have deeper influences than could have
been
suspected.
=Trevor Maisiri is the co-founder and executive
director of the African
Reform Institute - a political leadership
development organisation which
also functions as a political
"think-tank".
By Trevor Maisiri
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
10:06
THE current debate about indigenisation in Zimbabwe is intensifying
as
companies submit their plans to achieve a broad-based ownership structure
to
fulfil government's controversial requirements. The debate has also been
fuelled by the visit to Zimbabwe last weekend of South Africa's ruling ANC
Youth League firebrand Julius Malema.
For nearly three decades
the subject of indigenisation has been on the
political agenda.
It is
very important that we now have informed public debate on this issue.
We
need broad consultations and consensus on the matter to ensure a
structured
and workable programme, instead of taking a headlong plunge into
implementation, risking disastrous consequences.
Government, which is
spearheading the issue, must learn from previous
mistakes, especially on
land reform, and use those calamitous experiences to
inform sound policy
initiatives and implementation.
There is no doubt that Zimbabwe, like
many other post-colonial societies,
needs indigenisation and economic
transformation to emerge from colonial
economic ownership
structures.
Many enlightened and progressive people do agree with the
ideological
underpinnings of indigenisation, the principle of it, the policy
and even
the law in the case of Zimbabwe.
However, there is
serious disagreement on the approach. Just as on land
reform, there are
differences on how to achieve the same objective. Those
who supported Zanu
PF's violent and chaotic land seizures argued that it was
the most practical
way of doing it given the resistance of the landowners at
the
time.
But critics argued that a structured and organised programme would
have
achieved land redistribution while safeguarding the economic base and
ensuring sustainable economic growth.
Zanu PF's strategy
prevailed. Land was seized violently and haphazardly.
Peasants marched onto
the farms and grabbed everything they could find.
Politicians and other
well-connected individuals confiscated prime land and
creamed off the
output.
But the majority of new farmers have dismally failed. Sooner
rather than
later it dawned on them that they did not have the capital,
technology or
skills to utilise the farms. As a result most of the land now
lies fallow
and derelict. What followed, as they say, is history. This is
not
"destructive criticism" as Zanu PF apologists claim, but
reality.
The same - if not worse - will happen if foreign companies
are seized
recklessly. What Zimbabwe needs is a measured approach, not a
reckless and
irresponsible method, to achieve indigenisation.
It
should not be seen as an event but a process. This is what Minister
Saviour
Kasukuwere and his noisy sycophants from the Zanu PF Youth League
need to
understand and appreciate.
They have a good cause, but should not spoil
it through uninformed arguments
and inflammatory rhetoric.
Malema,
their guest last weekend, spoke eloquently on this issue despite
occasional
lapses into poisonous demagoguery. Indigenisation policy must not
be
informed by populist rhetoric but economic realities on the
ground.
The programme must be designed to ensure a broad-based
ownership of the
economy by locals, sustainable economic growth, employment
and poverty
alleviation. As Malema kept on saying throughout his visit, it
must not be a
pretext for primitive accumulation of wealth by the
elite.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono has - for a change - been
clear on this
issue. He has been consistently urging caution and the need
for a structured
and measured indigenisation programme.
Gono says
Zimbabwe needs economic empowerment and transformation but
"strategic
thinking" must drive this, not populist rhetoric. He says
indigenisation
must not be allowed to degenerate into a calamity like the
land reform
programme or become a ploy which thieves in public office and
business
vultures use to loot the economy.
Kasukuwere doesn't get it. He can't
in all seriousness argue that there is
nothing wrong with him "becoming
rich" and expect poor people to support
him. Of course, there is everything
wrong with him becoming rich by taking
advantage of his position in public
office. It's that simple.
The minister must get this clear and stop
uttering ridiculous statements
which only serve to undermine his cause. His
puerile outbursts on Zimplats
and other companies were unhelpful just like
his dreadful regulations on
indigenisation. Those regulations are bad law
and must be withdrawn.
The cabinet committee on indigenisation and
empowerment - which Kasukuwere
chairs - must broaden its consultations with
business, political parties,
civil society and ordinary people to come up
with a realistic policy on the
issue. It must gather input from a wide
cross-section of stakeholders to
achieve a broad national consensus and
legitimacy among Zimbabweans.
Government must not mess up a good cause
through policy and implementation
failure.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
09:52
WHILE chastising Pharisees for their hypocritical tendencies Jesus
said:
"You blind guides! You strain gnats out of your wine, but you swallow
camels." He was referring to people who are very particular over petty
issues and yet are grossly careless about matters of devastating
consequences.
This verse, found in the book of Mathew Chapter 23
aptly depicts Zanu PF's
reaction to allegations of corruption involving
officials from the MDC party
led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
While conveniently ignoring blatant cases of corruption
and outright plunder
of national assets by its own officials, Zanu PF has
chosen to go to town
with the allegations of graft in local authorities
controlled by the MDC.
Councillors from the MDC party in cities and
towns across the country stand
accused of self-enrichment through underhand
dealings.
They are accused of, among other things, receiving "hefty"
sitting
allowances, wresting council-owned houses in the high density
suburbs from
poor residents and creating jobs for the boys in the local
authorities under
their control.
Chitungwiza former mayor Israel
Marange (MDC) was convicted and sentenced to
one-year imprisonment for
corruption emanating from criminal abuse of
office. He has since been fired
from the MDC. He has been granted bail
pending appeal against conviction and
sentence.
Evidently embarrassed by all this, the MDC responded by
setting up a
committee to unravel cases of corruption involving its
officials in public
offices.
The committee, led by Tapiwa
Mashakada, is crisscrossing the country
investigating the alleged cases of
corruption.
The MDC has wasted no time in wielding the axe on those
found on the wrong
side of the party's code of conduct. Councillors from
Chitungwiza were the
first casualties. More councillors from other local
authorities are set to
fall by the wayside as investigations
widen.
Reports have also linked top officials in the MDC to
corruption although no
specific incidents have been publicly revealed or
proved.
But in a curious development, Zanu PF has reportedly begun
publishing and
distributing a newsletter - free of charge - openly accusing
top MDC
officials as if they were already convicted. The state media does
the same:
embarking on a crusade to smear MDC councils as house-grabbers and
thieves.
The newsletter is apparently meant to spruce up the image of
Zanu PF ahead
of elections expected to be held after the life of the
inclusive government
due to end next February.
The newsletter
this week carried a lead story titled MDC paying lip service
to
corruption.
While corruption must be condemned and crushed wherever
it rears its ugly
head, I find it amusing that Zanu PF has the temerity to
point a finger at
the MDC while it ignores the mud that soils its
leadership. \The MDC has at
least demonstrated its desire to rid corruption
within its ranks.
Cases of high level and shameless corruption which
has brought Zimbabwe to
its knees has top candidates residing nowhere else
but right in the heart of
the former ruling party. Other than vague
references, nothing has been said
or done about them.
Although it
is fast becoming a public secret, the nation still waits to be
told the
names of those behind the plunder of Chiadzwa.
Top Zanu PF officials
and government ministers, who in 1980 emerged from the
bush with nothing
save for their AK rifles and combat gear, became wealthy
overnight. The
source of the wealth that many of them have accumulated
remains a mystery
until today.
Certain senior officials in Zanu PF and government have
set tongues wagging
over the bundles of greenbacks that have suddenly become
synonymous with
their names.
Others have gone on a
property-acquiring spree of obscene proportions.
Zanu PF has said and
done nothing. The party leadership code was long ago
shredded.
The Harare City Council has compiled a damning report
detailing how senior
Zanu PF officials were irregularly allocated prime land
in the capital city.
The report has now been adopted by council.
Strangely, the police have been
questioning journalists, demanding to know
how they got hold of the damning
report.
The land reform
programme has seen some of the worst corrupt activities.
Inputs, equipment,
fuel and bank loans have disappeared without trace.
Scores of Zanu PF
officials now own multiple farms.
President Robert Mugabe
occasionally complains but no action has been taken
or is likely to be taken
at all. The list is long.
The gnat-sized corruption blamed on MDC
councillors could never in any way
be equated to Zanu PF's camel-load of
vice. Let's see some consistency here.
Kelvin Jakachira
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 09 April 2010
09:32
AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) youth president Julius Malema is
full of
riddles and his Easter visit to Zimbabwe had his Zanu PF hosts
cheering him
on at one moment and then at another left them open-mouthed in
surprise.
Malema's visit was in a sense useful as there were many
political and
economic issues under the spotlight and observers sought
signals on how the
youths in ANC appreciated them, and maybe predict future
policies.
When addressing his maiden rally in the country,
Malema, showing his roots
as a product of a nationalistic liberation
movement, predictably ventured
into the obvious issues of sovereignty,
militancy, radicalism, defending the
"gains" of independence and
empowerment.
If his Zanu PF hosts expected a glossy appraisal of
their track record, they
were shocked when Malema said they could still be
militant and radical
without cutting off people's hands.
His
message was clear, there is no need to maim, kill and amputate and say
one
is defending their position.
Zanu PF youths, the audience to this
message, may have felt uncomfortable
with this as they would have expected
their fellow comrade, for whom they
had sung the banned song 'Shoot the
Boer' to preach killing.
Malema was also spot on when he said the
proposed economic empowerment
should not be used as an opportunity to
further enrich the fat cats.
For his fellow comrades, used to public
policies for individual benefit,
Malema was out of sync.
These
are people who have benefited from "land reform" and various quasi
fiscal
activities which were implemented by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
between
2004 and 2008 and they believe it is a right to individually benefit
from
such policies.
The poor, Malema may have observed, have continuously
been used as pawns and
the grand masters were once again preparing to move
them around the
indigenisation chessboard.
This is when Malema
should have declared victory and gone back home.
However, as
controversial as he is, the ANC youth president steered into the
politics of
succession in Zanu PF and by extension the country, saying
President Robert
Mugabe should not go.
"In South Africa we had Oliver Tambo who served
for 30 years as ANC leader
without being challenged," Malema
said.
In November 2008 Malema was saying: "He (Mugabe) must step
down. We need a
new president in Zimbabwe. Zanu PF is not the problem, the
problem is the
old man who is refusing to leave power."
What is
Malema saying? At one time Mugabe should not go and at another he
should go.
This would suggest policy confusion!
Comparing Mugabe's stay in power
to that of Tambo is like comparing apples
and oranges, arguing that both are
round fruits.
Tambo was ANC leader in exile at a time when they were
fighting for
liberation and the other leaders such as Nelson Mandela were on
Robben
Island.
At that time, the ANC was preoccupied by strategic
issues and leadership
change was not important and if Tambo had shown signs
of faltering in his
leadership definitely he would have been
challenged.
One also has to see how there was massive lobbying for
positions as soon as
the ANC was unbanned and transformed into an opposition
political party
after 1990.
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe will next week
mark 30 years as the leader of the
country and in preparing a balance sheet
of his stay in power, there is more
debit than credit.
Mugabe,
Malema should understand, is now a liability in terms of strategy
and as he
was saying less than two years ago, he is the problem. Even Zanu
PF knows
the leader is a liability and that is why in 2008 more votes went
to the
party than to the president.
Malema should have taken time to reflect
and acknowledge that comparing
Tambo's stay at the top of ANC is in no way
similar to Mugabe's stay in
power.
Instead, he should have seen
the link between the violence he condemned when
he addressed Zanu PF youths,
and the desire to stay in power at any cost by
the leaders of the
party.
Why would Malema want a leader in Zimbabwe to stay in power
when he
spearheaded the recalling of then president Thabo Mbeki after Judge
Chris
Nicholson ruled that there was political interference in the Jacob
Zuma
case?
Why would Malema, who also campaigned against Mbeki's
attempt to have a
third term as ANC president, want Mugabe to continue in
Zimbabwe 30 years
after?
It may be an indulgent approach to
Zimbabwe's domestic politics or a failure
to appreciate the situation in the
country. Whatever the case, the Malema
visit has simply widened the
political divide.
Constantine Chimakure