http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 16 April 2011 22:46
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI AND NQOBILE BHEBHE
POLICE are reportedly trying to bar the
MDC-T congress set for month-end in
Bulawayo in a bid to scuttle MDC-T plans
for general elections which
President Robert Mugabe says should be held
later this year.
The MDC-T, which won general and presidential
elections in March 2008, is
favoured to win the coming elections and so the
police moves to bar the
congress are meant to shore up Mugabe and his Zanu
PF party’s chances of
upstaging the MDC-T.
The openly partisan
police claim they do not have adequate manpower to cover
the meeting and are
also demanding US$10 000 a day to provide extra
security. The party is also
being barred from using education institutions
for accommodation, which
might leave hundreds of delegates stranded.
Zanu PF uses schools
and colleges whenever it holds its meetings and has
never paid the police
for ensuring peace and security at its functions.
Since the Public
Order and Security Act was passed into law, the police have
routinely used
the lack of manpower as an excuse to bar political gatherings
and there are
fears that the police were planning to stop the MDC-T’s
elective
congress.
The police have been used by Zanu PF recently to thwart
MDC-T programmes and
arrested MDC-T legislators on charges that have failed
to stand in court of
law. They are accused of selective application of the
law.
The police reportedly informed the party that they had reviewed
the security
situation in light of MDC-T’s organising secretary, Elias
Mudzuri’s
sentiments that the party could not guarantee peace during its
congress.
Mudzuri is reported to have said: “I cannot guarantee peace
during the
congress . . . Even God has never guaranteed peace but given some
guidelines
of living with each other.”
But, Nelson Chamisa, the
party’s spokesperson claimed that Mudzuri had been
misquoted and it was
unfortunate that police could be using this as a guise
to throw spanners
into the congress.
He said the congress would go ahead, as the police
did not have the powers
to suspend it, after being informed on
time.
Deputy spokesperson, Thabitha Khumalo said the police had
informed them on
the shortage of manpower, but did not say what they would
do to increase the
number of officers during the
congress.
Khumalo said they had been informally told that they might
have to pay for
extra security, although this was yet to be
confirmed.
“There is nothing concrete yet, but we might have to pay,”
she said. “Basing
on history, we might have to pay US$10 000 a
day.”
The former trade unionist said in cases where police had said
they did not
have adequate manpower, they demanded that organisers of
meetings pay the
equivalent of daily allowances for the officers who would
be on duty.
The MDC-T congress will be held from April 28 to 30,
which means if the
police get their way, the party would have to fork out
US$30 000 for the
three-day meeting.
Contacted for comment during the
week, police spokesperson, Wayne
Bvudzidjena said he would look into the
issue and provide more details.
However, efforts to contact him later
were in vain, as his mobile phone was
off.
With 5 000 delegates
expected in Bulawayo, most hotels and lodges are
fully-booked and the
situation is being worsened by the fact that some rooms
have been booked by
delegates attending the Zimbabwe International Trade
Fair, which begins a
week after the party’s congress.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 16 April 2011 22:17
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will finally have his way in the
stalemate over the
appointment of MDC-T treasurer general Roy Bennett as
deputy Agriculture
minister when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai withdraws
the former
commercial farmer’s nomination to Senate this
week.
Tsvangirai has been forced to take the drastic action after the
popular
politician missed 21 consecutive seatings of the Senate. He was
forced into
self-imposed exile in South Africa by sustained Zanu PF
persecution.
According to the law, if a senator misses 21
consecutive sittings he loses
his seat.
It was not clear
yesterday who Tsvangirai had chosen to replace Bennett as
senator and deputy
Agriculture minister designate.
Mugabe refused to swear in the former
Chimanimani MP citing his race and
colonial past.
Bennett said he
feared arrest if he returned to Zimbabwe after police
indicated that they
were looking for him in connection with a US$1 million
lawsuit filed against
him by High Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu. His
legal woes came hard
on the heels of his acquittal on terrorism, banditry
and insurgency
charges.
MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa yesterday confirmed the new
developments.
“It is true that Bennett’s period of absence outlived
the stipulated time in
parliament,” he said.
“The next step would
be taken in consultation with the other principal
Mugabe with the MDC-T
informing him on who it wants to replace Bennett. As
you know, it’s a
non-constituency post.”
However , Chamisa refused to shed light on
Bennett’s possible replacement
although unconfirmed reports indicate that it
would be a toss between
Marondera Central MP Ian Kay’s wife Kerry and united
MDC founding youth
secretary-general Bekithemba Mpofu.
Bennett,
also popularly known as Pachedu by many MDC-T supporters, is the
only
ministerial designate Mugabe refused to accept. He is also likely to
lose
his post at the MDC-T congress with Mpofu, who holds a PHD in Finance
from
the UK, again being linked to the position.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:24
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
EMPLOYEES at a company where Youth Development,
Indigenisation and
Empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere is a partner have
seized property
worth US$63 440 to recover their overdue
salaries.
The UTc Victoria Falls workers attached the property with the
help of the
Deputy Sherriff after obtaining a High Court order against the
destination
management company.
The company is said to have
been struggling to pay workers since 2009
resulting in the wrangle spilling
into the courts.
The High Court ordered UTc to surrender property
worth US$57 427 and pay
other costs related to execution of goods, which saw
the total figure
ballooning toUS $63 440.
Company vehicles,
trailers, boats, furniture including desks and chairs,
fridges, computers,
printers and even mailing trays were all expected to be
attached to
compensate 26 non-managerial employees who staged the legal
battle.
Court documents show that UTc is facing serious
cash-flow problems.
The company is part of the United Touring
Group (UTG) Zimbabwe, formerly
owned by United Touring International based
in the UK.
Non-managerial employees last year approached the High
Court over unpaid
wages and salaries stating that the company completely
stopped paying them
in September 2009 after they were forced to take 50%
salary cuts at the
beginning of the year.
Kasukuwere and his
partners used a loan from Barclays to buy UTc from
business tycoon Ketan
Somaia.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:01
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
CIVIL servants’ salaries have become a politically
contested area in recent
days with the ruling coalition of Zanu PF and the
MDCs, poles apart on how
to treat the burning issue.
President Robert
Mugabe has set a June deadline for the public workers to
have their salaries
increased, but many claim this is a populist statement
and the country
cannot afford a ballooning wage bill.
Critics argue that
President Mugabe seeks to score political mileage and
such measures would
only serve to weaken an already ailing economy.
Finance minister, Tendai
Biti on the other hand maintains that the
government does not have the money
to increase salaries.
Biti said 70% of the government’s revenue
was already going to salaries and
with the seemingly opaque way diamond
revenues were feeding into government’s
coffers, a salary review was
impossible.
His assertions are finding currency with the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF), which just concluded an economic
assessment of Zimbabwe.
“It would also be important to guard
against wage increases in both private
and public sectors in excess of
productivity growth to prevent an erosion of
competitiveness of
labour-intensive industries that are critical for
employment generation and
poverty reduction,” IMF said.
But renowned economic commentator
Eric Bloch said while he usually agreed
with IMF’s views he begged to differ
when it came to the issue of public
workers salaries.
“A civil
service salary increase is likely to generate economic benefits in
excess of
concomitant economic negatives,” he said last week.
Bloch said
although the increases could be a slight catalyst for a rise in
inflation,
as there would be some increase in consumer spending power,
thereby raising
demand, the inflationary impact would not be of magnitude
“and will probably
be counterbalanced by the partial, albeit small, rise in
capacity
utilisation of industry and commerce”.
The economist said even
Biti was likely to agree that public servants needed
money because there was
a growing likelihood of strikes and a salary review
could pre-empt
that.
He said there were growing numbers of civil servants who
were quitting their
jobs and the government had a responsibility to stem the
tide.
Govt must trim the civil service —
analysts
Economist Brains Muchemwa agreed with Bloch, saying the civil
service had to
be restructured for any meaningful salary increases to be
effected.
“The most important thing that the inclusive government
should do now is to
reduce the size of the civil service so as to improve
the conditions of
service and free up fiscal space to enable efficient
application of
resources to competing needs of the economy,” he
said.
An audit of the civil service has unearthed that over 75 000
ghost workers
are milking US$20 million from Treasury every
month.
Most of them are reportedly part of a Zanu PF militia who were put
on the
government payroll ahead of the controversial 2008 presidential
election
run-off.
Muchemwa said since Zimbabwe adopted the multi
currency regime it had become
difficult for the country to come up with
policies that promoted expansion
and job creation, hence the restructuring
of the civil service was critical.
Civil servants are among the
lowest paid professionals in the country,
earning an average salary of
US$225 per month. For the past two years they
have been clamouring for a
salary increase, but these pleas have so far
fallen on deaf ears.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 16 April 2011 21:15
BY INDIANA
CHIRARA
Government has bought CD4 count machines to be installed at
all provincial
hospitals to help in the management of HIV and Aids cases, a
senior official
has said. CD4 counts help determine the stage of infection,
guide drug
choices and indicate the patient’s response to treatment and
disease
progression.
The tests also help doctors know when HIV patients
may start taking the
life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). Shortages of
CD4 count machines
have been blamed for thousands of premature deaths of
Aids patients in
Zimbabwe in the past. Tapiwa Magure, the National Aids
Council chief
executive said the shortage of the machines had eased
significantly in the
last few years.
“All central hospitals in
the country now have CD4 count machines and very
soon all provincial
hospitals will have them as we have already bought the
machines,” he
said.
“Plans are also in the pipeline for all health institutions where
testing is
initiated to have these machines.”
He said the country
was moving away from the World Health Organisation
clinical staging method,
which was being relied on when there were few CD4
count machines.
The
method saw people being put on ARVs once they were diagnosed with
opportunistic infections such as Tuberculosis and cancer of the
cervix.
“The CD4 count machines which we have in the country are the
latest in the
world,” Magure said commenting on the quality of the imported
machines. They
are just the same as the machines that are being used in the
developed world
and people are guaranteed reliable
results.”
Meanwhile, the Elizabeth Glaizer Pediatric Foundation
(EGPF), a
non-governmental organisation, recently donated 200 CD4 count
machines to
the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
The
machines will be dedicated to serving pregnant women. Agnes Mawumba, the
EGPF country representative said the donation was meant to protect mothers
and their unborn babies.
“It’s no longer prevention of mother to
child transmission only, but the WHO
new guidelines are now protecting the
health of the mother, through having
their CD4 count checked,” Mawumba said
at the handover ceremony.
“It enables them to be put on treatment on
time.”
Health and Child Welfare minister Henry Madzorera, who
received the
donation, said the health delivery system had recovered
immensely since the
formation of the unity government in 2009 but more
needed to be done to
consolidate the gains.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:23
THE mystery
surrounding First Lady Grace Mugabe’s whereabouts deepened
yesterday with
President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman saying he does not know
where she
is.
Grace is reportedly in Singapore where she is seeking treatment after
she
allegedly dislocated her hip in an awkward fall at their Borrowdale
house.
Last Friday her husband flew to the Asian country but
returned home for the
burial of Central Intelligence Organisation deputy
director general Menard
Muzariri who was declared a national
hero.
His wife, who usually accompanies him to state occasions,
was conspicuously
absent.
When asked whether she had returned
home, Charamba who last week confirmed
that the First Family was in
Singapore said: “I am not in touch with that
side.”
But last week,
Charamba hinted that Grace could be battling an illness.
He
disclosed that she had not fully recovered from a complication she
suffered
while giving birth to her last-born son Chatunga 14 years ago. Her
principal
private secretary Lawrence Kamwi yesterday refused to comment
saying he was
not the Mugabes’ spokesperson.
“I am not their spokesperson,” he
said. “There is one spokesperson and you
should go to
him.”
Sources last week said Grace actually left the country soon
after the burial
of Harare governor David Karimanzira on March
27.
Some publications last week tried to rubbish The Standard
story claiming
that it was planted to divert attention from Mugabe’s own
health problems.
However, the 87-year-old Zanu PF leader appeared fit at
Muzariri’s burial
and spoke for more than an hour.
—Patience
Nyangove
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 16 April 2011
21:18
BY INDIANA CHIRARA
A prominent Aids activist has blamed
culture for the slow uptake of the
female condom in Zimbabwe. The female
condom, which was first introduced in
the country in 1997, has been touted
as the best way of empowering women in
sexual relationships.
Mary
Sandasi, the Women and Aids Support Network director told journalists
last
week that Zimbabwean women were still not able to negotiate for safer
sex
because of their upbringing.
“The way a child is groomed has effects
on their future,” she said. “When a
girl child is growing up she is taught
to be submissive to her husband and
boys grow up knowing they are more
superior than girls.
“At the end of the day even those women who are
well-resourced may not be in
a position to negotiate for safer sex as they
lack confidence.”
Sandasi said age differences in many couples also
made it difficult for
women to initiate the use of female
condoms.
“Campaigns and marketing of the product is vital,” she said.
“Training
workshops for women are also of great importance for them to value
themselves.
“It’s time women learnt to protect themselves than to wait
for men to
protect them.”
Patience Kunaka, the Population
Services International (PSI) interpersonal
communications manager said they
had embarked on many initiatives to promote
the use of female
condoms.
“We have community outreach progammes where we are training
hairdressers,
barbers, church women and we are also working with sex workers
at border
posts and at growth points,” Kunaka said.
But she said
more work had to be done to reach all parts of the country but
the efforts
were being hindered by lack of funds. PSI has mainly been using
hair salons
to distribute the female condom.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 16 April 2011 21:20
BY CHIPO
MASARA
IN a country where the majority live in abject poverty and
struggle to put
food on the table, fishing is contributing immensely towards
food security
and income generation in Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately, owing to
detrimental fishing methods, the fish population has
been dwindling in the
country’s lakes and rivers. Facts on the ground
continue to point to the
fact that Zimbabweans are either generally ignorant
or are not interested in
conserving the environment.
I’m strongly for the idea that fish and
other aquatic life forms suitable
for human consumption found in our lakes
and rivers be utilised to provide
food and a source of income for people,
most of whom are impoverished.
However, to ensure sustainability,
this should be done within the confines
of the law and the governing
environmental policies. Like all other aquatic
life forms, fisheries in
Zimbabwe are under the control and management of
the Zimbabwe Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority, under the Parks and
Wildlife Act (Chapter
20:14).
It specifies that fishing in Zimbabwe is allowed only in some
specified
waters and only after the issuance of a permit.
But
because most people are evidently primarily concerned with maximum
self-enrichment without a care for the environmental impact, a lot of
illegal and unregulated fishing is going on in the whole country with
reports by FAO showing that Zimbabwe’s fish population is now way below the
Sadc average.
The fact that Zimbabwe is a landlocked country with
a limited fishery output
does not help the situation. According to Johnny
Rodrigues, chairman of the
Zimbabwe Conservative Task Force (ZCTF), although
also causing a
considerable amount of harm, mostly by fishing at the wrong
spots, people
that fish with fishing rods do not pose as much of a threat to
the fish
population as those who illegally net fish on a commercial
basis.
He added that net fishing was not illegal as long as one had a
licence and
adhered to the stipulated days allowed for netting and net at
the authorised
areas.
“There is also a law regarding the type of
net you should use. The holes in
the nets should be big enough to allow the
smaller fish to escape,”
Rodrigues said.
Unfortunately,
fishermen, especially those that are fishing illegally, are
either ignorant
or wouldn’t be bothered to comply with such measures and
resort to the most
regrettable fishing methods that do despicable damage to
the fish
population.
A good case to point would be in Kariba where the law
enforcers are having a
torrid time with kapenta rigs insisting on fishing in
restricted breeding
areas, where the fish go to lay their
eggs.
“The fish swim down to the rivers to hatch their eggs and if
they are left
alone, the eggs hatch and the newly born fish would swim into
the main lake
where they would grow, ensuring the stability of the fish
population. When
these illegal fishermen go down the rivers and catch fish
which are full of
roe, they are actually destroying tens of thousands
because those eggs would
never get the chance to hatch,” lamented the ZCTF
chairman.
Most of the fishermen, desperate for an easy catch, leave
the main lake
preferring to fish in the rivers, all the while oblivious, or
simply
uncaring for the extent of the damage they are
causing.
Although the law enforcement agencies have been on high
alert, fish poaching
remains rampant, meaning more has to be done if the
country is to conserve
its fish population.
This calls for a
relook at existing policies with a view of tightening them.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:20
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
NATIONAL Healing, Reconciliation and Integration
minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu
who was arrested on Friday for attending a mass
in memory of victims of the
post-independence army massacres in Matabeleland
and Midlands is likely to
spend the long weekend in police cells, his lawyer
said yesterday.
Ndlovu, who is the deputy secretary general of the MDC
led by Welshman
Ncube, is being detained in Lupane, the Matabeleland North
capital. A
Catholic priest, Father Marko Mabutho Mnkandla has also been
arrested in
connection with the event.
Ndlovu’s lawyer
Matshobana Ncube of Abameli Human Rights Lawyers said the
minister is being
charged under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act
for allegedly saying the police, intelligence service and
the army were
being used by President Robert Mugabe to advance his
interests.
Ncube said his client was likely to appear in
court on Tuesday because
tomorrow the courts would be closed for the
Independence Day holiday. “The
minister, who is a war veteran, is
disappointed that he may fail to follow
the independence proceedings yet he
contributed to the liberation struggle,”
he said.
Ncube said
the lawyers’ organisation felt Ndlovu’s arrest was a form of
harassment to
suppress independent views. MDC Bulawayo provincial
spokesperson, Edwin
Ndlovu said one of their youth leaders Mbuso Fuzwayo was
questioned by
police when they visited the minister yesterday for wearing a
t-shirt
inscribed with the words Gukurahundi.
Fuzwayo was released
without charge with police taking his details saying
they wanted to check
with their Harare headquarters if he had a criminal
record.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:18
BY NQOBILE
BHEBHE
GWERU — Africa Import and Export Bank (Afreximbank)
president Jean Louis
Ekra is scheduled to officially open the Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair
as organisers break with tradition at one of the
major events in the country’s
business calendar.
Industry and
Commerce minister Welshman Ncube told The Standard on Friday
that the
decision to invite Ekra was in line with their objective to refocus
the
exhibition into a proper “trade show.”
This year’s exhibition
will be held from May 3-7 in Bulawayo under the theme
“Optimising Business
Synergies — Now and Beyond.”
“This year we have invited a person
who is not a head of state, the
president of the Afreximbank as our guest
because we realise that we need to
mobilise lines of credit for the
industrial sector .
“The bank has supported Zimbabwe more than
any other with lines of credit
and has a mandate to promote exports in
Africa.
“In recognition of that, we have invited its president in
the hope that he
would appreciate what local industry is doing with the
money they have
advanced,” Ncube said.
But sources revealed
that no foreign leader was willing to officiate at this
year’s fair. In the
past decade nearly all leaders of southern African
countries have officiated
at the fair.
Last year, controversial Iran leader Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad had to be roped in
at the last minute. Ncube expressed optimism
that this year’s exhibition
would be much better than recent
ones.
“When the inclusive government was formed the trade fair
was all but dead
and we had to postpone it in 2009 from the usual dates
because of the
inability of local industries to
participate.
“But as of last week 95% of the available space had
been taken up and we
have 10 more local companies participating than last
year,” he said.
More than 400 local and international exhibitors
are believed to have taken
part at last year’s exhibition.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:17
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
FORMER Zipra commanders have vowed to block the
erection of the
controversial North Korean-desig-ned statue of the late
Vice-President
Joshua Nkomo at the Bulawayo international airport named
after him.
Government was forced to pull down the statue a few days after
it was
erected along Bulawayo’s Main Street following complaints from the
nationalist’s family.
The latest threat comes amid
indications that government wants to erect the
effigy at Joshua Mqabuko
Nkomo International Airport, whose construction is
almost
complete.
But the Zipra Veterans Trust (ZVT) last week vowed to
block the move saying
erection of the statue without returning his
properties seized by government
in the 1980s was the highest form of
hypocrisy by President Robert Mugabe.
The official said if
government genuinely wanted to honour Nkomo it must
return his properties
and those of Zapu.
“Mugabe and his cronies just want to get
political mileage in Matabeleland,”
said one ZVT
official.
“We cannot allow the erection of that statue without
government returning
his properties, some of which have been taken over by
senior Zanu PF
officials.”
On April 1 2011, the Joshua Nkomo
Foundation had a meeting with members of
the ZVT, where the issue of the
statue was raised.
Sources said there were some disagreements
with some saying if former Zipra
commanders block the erection of the
statue, Nkomo might never be recognised
again.
The former Zipra
members insisted that it was better if Nkomo was not
honoured than for his
name to be used as a “pedestal” for Mugabe and Zanu PF’s
political
mileage.
The meeting was attended by chairman of the Foundation
Francis Nhema, Nkomo’s
daughter Thandiwe, former Information minister
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and ZVT
officials.
Nhema last week
confirmed the meeting but refused to give details.
“We wait for
guidance from government because he (Nkomo) was de-clared a
national hero,
as a result of that the matter ceases to be our issue but a
government
matter,” said Nhema, who referred further questions to the
Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi, who has been
dealing with the
matter, said he could not comment as he was attending a
meeting. Chairman of
Zipra’s finance and projects committee Frederick
Mu-tanda confirmed ZVT’s
position.
“Yes, Zipra’s position is
that government has to return the properties first
before they erect the
statue,” said Mutanda.
Former Zipra commanders recently met with
Air Force commander Perence Shiri
complaining about marginalisation despite
the signing of the Unity Accord in
1987.
They also raised the issues
of the seized Zapu properties.
They wanted Shiri, who they view
as more accommodative, to present their
case to Mugabe and other security
commanders.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:06
BY KHOLWANI
NYATHI
SICKNESS, pressure from neigh- bours and fissures in his
Zanu PF party seem
to have conspired to slow down President Robert Mugabe’s
push for elections
later this year.
Only a few weeks ago, Mugabe
appeared unstoppable as he sought to defy
everyone who believed that
Zimbabwe is not ready for fresh elections.
The Zanu PF campaign manifesto
was anchored on an
ambitious lobby to get two million signatures
on a petition that calls for
the lifting of punitive measures against
Mugabe’s inner circle imposed by
the West.
The party, which ensured
its resurrection a decade ago through a ruinous
agrarian reform programme,
had also set its sights on grabbing what remains
of foreign-owned companies
to use them as bait for reluctant voters.
But Mugabe appears to
be having too much in his hands right now to worry
about elections. There
are indications that his wife Grace is seriously ill
after she allegedly
fell down at their Borrowdale home and dislocated a hip.
She is
said to be receiving treatment in Singapore and this has seen Mugabe
making
four trips to the Asian country since January. The last trip was on
April
8.
His spokesman George Charamba also confirmed that his boss had used
one of
the trips to see doctors for his own health
problems.
These problems have forced the 87-year-old former
guerilla leader to make
fewer public appearances than usual. As if that was
not enough Southern
African Development Community (Sadc) leaders who in the
past have been
accused of being soft in dealing with an intransigent Mugabe
have suddenly
changed their game plan.
The leaders, led by
South African President Jacob Zuma are now demanding
that the 87-year-old
leader plays ball and the weeks leading to a special
Sadc summit on Zimbabwe
in Namibia next month will provide the sternest test
to Mugabe’s diplomatic
skills.
Disloyal Zanu PF MPs who voted for MDC-T chairman
Lovemore Moyo to be
Speaker of Parliament ahead of their own chairman Simon
Khaya- Moyo have
also given the geriatric leader
headaches.
The frustrations were evident at the burial of the
deputy director general
of the Central Intelligence Organisation Mernard
Muzariri on Thursday when
Mugabe lashed out at traitors from within.He said
he was aware that there
were “sell-outs” within the ranks of Zanu
PF.
Mugabe’s fallout with Zuma has also left one of his
self-appointed
propagandists, Jonathan Moyo badly bruised. Moyo has been on
a lonely but
damaging crusade against Zuma since the Livingstone rude
awakening.
There are reports that just like in his first
flirtation with Zanu PF, the
acerbic professor of political science has
rubbed his seniors in the party
the wrong way.
Khaya-Moyo refused to
discuss the allegations when The Standard sought his
comment last
week.
However, the Tsholotsho North MP defended himself through
an online
publication saying the storm that he precipitated was a “fake
hullabaloo.”
However, another analyst Bril-liant Mhlanga believes Zanu PF
was not bruised
as much as its opponents wanted to believe and its
anti-sanctions campaign
would resonate with the
electorate.
“Zanu PF’s elections strategy of using sanctions is
selling,” he said.
“People have to be careful not to dismiss it so
early.”
Mhlanga said the decisions of the Sadc troika were not
representative of the
sentiment in the region and cannot give Mugabe
sleepless nights.
Sadc communique shocked Zanu
PF
BEKITHEMBA Mpofu, a political analyst said it was clear that Zanu PF
was in
sixes and sevens, especially after the Sadc troika on peace and
security
meeting in Zambia last month.
“It is evident that the
Sadc communiqué was a shock to the Zanu PF system,
it was not expected and
the fallout from it was not planned,” Mpofu said.
“Like any ordering
or prioritisation of work and activities, their
electioneering programmes
have to take a back seat while they firefight for
their very
existence.”
He said Zanu PF had survived this long largely because of the
solidarity
from neighbouring countries.
Mpofu said Zanu PF’s only
option was to abandon its inflammatory programmes
such as the anti-sanctions
campaign where its foot soldiers coerce people to
append their signatures
and the grabbing of companies.
“The First Lady’s sickness and
Mugabe’s own health challenge have not helped
the situation,” he
said.
“Instead it has allowed the dark sinister forces within the
party which were
identified by (Prime Minister) Morgan Tsvangirai to have
free rein in the
presidential office.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:04
BY KHULANI
NKABINDE
BULAWAYO — The inclusive government has an obligation to
look after the
elderly and infirm in society, Deputy Prime Minister,
Thokozani Khupe has
said.
Khupe said this on Friday at Ekuphumuleni
Old People’s home where she
donated food worth US$2 000, a day after the
institution sent out an SOS for
food through our sister paper,
NewsDay.
“I understand that besides lacking food, you have a
number of challenges
here such as the need for an ambulance and medicine,”
Khupe said.
“The government needs to come in and
help.”
She promised to approach the Minister of Health and Child
Welfare, Henry
Madzorera and his Water Resources Development and Management
counterpart,
Samuel Sipepa- Nkomo on access to medicine and the sinking of a
borehole at
the institution’s Nondwene Plot
respectively.
The institution hopes to start a market gardening
project at the farm once
a borehole is sunk. The DPM said she was moved
after being told that the
institution was running out of
food.
There are 32 patients at Ekuphumuleni. The institution
houses elderly people
who would have been discharged from hospital and looks
after them until they
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 14:22
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) will soon
embark on a salaries
disclosure campaign to force executives to improve
workers’ conditions.
ZCTU chief executive Wellington Chibebe (pictured) last
week said his
organisation would soon be distributing flyers with salary
structures
prevailing in the various sectors.
“The flyers will
show the highest salary being offered in the sector and
also the lowest,”
Chibebe said. “The workers will then use these figures to
negotiate for
better remuneration. If this does not force the executives to
improve
workers’ conditions, we will then name and shame people.”
Chibebe
said under the “name and shame campaign.” ZCTU would identify
executives,
their companies, salaries and allowances, as well as identify
their
children’s schools and how much the companies are paying in
fees.
Also to be listed are the numbers and types of cars the
executives have.
Under the first phase of the campaign, the lowest salary
would be published
against the executive’s salary while under the second
phase; the lowest paid
worker would be identified by name, their salary
published together with
some detail on their living
conditions.
“We have been doing research into salaries being obtained
in the various
sectors and we have come to the conclusion that employers
haven’t been
honest with their workers,” Chibebe said. “From the time we
changed over to
the foreign currency regime, company executives pegged their
salaries so
high that they have never felt the burden that the poorly-paid
workers have
to endure daily. We are saying there is no confidentiality in
times of
hardship so the executives should disclose their salaries so that
workers
understand when they plead poverty.”
Chibebe said it was
disheartening that some executives are earning as much
as US$11 000 monthly
in basic salaries and numerous benefits while some
workers earned as low as
US$150.
“We have cases of some parastatals and some timber companies
as examples,”
Chibebe said. “We will also be knocking on parliament’s doors
to seek
legislators’ intervention so the economic recovery burden is shared
by
everyone. When the economic crisis hit the United States of America,
government intervened and some people’s salaries were slashed,” Chibebe
said.
“Why should the current crop of executives be allowed
to continue bleeding
the economy at the expense of productivity and everyone
else?” he said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011
14:01
BY NDAMU SANDU
STRIKES have been synonymous with Air
Zimbabwe since the turn of the
millennium.
But no industrial action at
the airline has been as debilitating as the
current strike which has
grounded Air Zimbabwe planes for three weeks, with
pilots insisting on being
paid their overdue salaries.
Analysts told Standardbusiness last week
that the real problems at the
airline were not being
addressed.
Instead, the airline was concentrating on stopgap
measures.
“The real problem at the airline is that it is not
generating enough revenue
while the costs are increasing and there is too
much political
interference,” an aviation expert said.
The
airline says it has no money to run the operations while pilots believe
management at AirZim is top-heavy, which sees it gobbling the bulk of the
revenue generated.
The sentiment at the airline is that the
equipment it uses is now antiquated
and expensive to
maintain.
However, experts say even if the airline were to get new
planes today, it
would still collapse because there is no appreciation of a
good business
model.
“To get a new 737 plane costs around US$60
million and it has to be paid in
10 years, meaning an installment of US$500
000 per month without factoring
in interest,” an expert
said.
“This is unsustainable without a good business model and it
will increase
the airline’s debt and accelerate its demise.”
On
the issue of staffing, the expert said the organisation was not
overstaffed
but there were structural defects which needed to be addressed
to utilise
the existing resources.
“In the region each pilot flies a maximum of
100 hours a month and at Air
Zim, they fly around 20 to 30 hours a month and
basing on their salaries,
pilots in Zimbabwe are actually expensive,” the
expert said.
The airline has since independence witnessed a high
turnover of chief
executives with government playing a role in recruitment.
In some cases
appointed heads had no aviation experience and failed to
breathe new life
into the airline. The situation has been compounded by the
appointment of a
board with no aviation experience.
In the
current board, chaired by Jonathan Kadzura, there is no single member
with
experience in the airline business despite Transport minister Nicholas
Goche
telling stakeholders in 2009 that the situation would be
addressed.
The only hope for the national carrier is that there are
some African
airlines that were in a worse position than Air Zim but turned
the corner
when their governments stopped interfering.
How
Kenya Airways was salvaged from the ruins of EAA
Kenya Airways, created
from the ashes of the East African Airways, is one
clear example of a
moribund airline bouncing back to life. The East African
Airways (EAC) was
jointly owned by the governments of Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania but collapsed
in 1977 due to ideological differences in the three
countries.
Following the breakup of the EAC, the Kenyan
government embarked on plans to
set up its own airline which resulted in
Kenya Airways (KQ) being
incorporated as a wholly owned government
corporation and the flag carrier
of the east African nation in January
1977.
According to a paper, entitled The Making of an African Success
Story: The
Privatisation of Kenya Airways, the new airline was to face
problems such as
little technical expertise, overstaffing since it tried to
accommodate some
of the staffers from its predecessor
airline.
Managerial problems were to haunt the airline and from 1977
up to 1995 at
least 10 chief executive officers were appointed to give the
airline new
wings. Therefore, each successive holder of the office had
insufficient time
to develop and implement effective
strategies.
By 1991, KQ was unable to pay its debts, which had
run into millions of US
dollars with government continually rescuing the
airline. The Kenyan
government responded by setting up a committee to
investigate the problems
at the airline and recommend solutions. The probe
committee subsequently
recommended full commercialisation of the business.
The committee
recommended the firing of the entire board, the position paper
said.
“In order to turn the company around, the new board came to the
conclusion
that the airline could only become a commercial success if its
route and
fare structure, fleet acquisition decisions, hiring and promotion
practices,
and financial systems were based on normal commercial principles,
free from
political interference,” the paper said.
A consultant
was hired to work on ways to improve the fortunes of KQ. When
the fortunes
appeared rosy, the airline began a search for a strategic
partner
culminating in the selection of Royal Dutch Airlines in 1995. In
January
1996, the Kenyan government sold 26% of its shareholding to KLM for
US$26
million. Now the airline is a roaring commercial success story.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011
09:35
The word revolution in simple terms means a change in ways
of doing things
either politically, economically or socially. In African
politics the word
revolution has been commonly used to describe the uprising
against colonial
governments in favour of majority rule.
The
early 1960s were the early years of revolutionary movements by the
people of
the then Southern Rhodesia against colonial rule. The
revolutionary era saw
the brutal assault, oppression, injustice and unlawful
detention of
political activists. Those who pioneered the revolution
promised milk and
honey through democracy, the rule of law and other
elements of good
governance on attaining independence in 1980.
Robert Mugabe was
one of those nationalists who fought for the end of
colonisation in Zimbabwe
but has betrayed the ideals of the struggle.
Regrettably, Mugabe
and his Zanu PF party have over the past three decades
failed to deliver
even one of the promises they made to the majority of
Zimbabwe despite the
untamed propaganda that they always dish out to the
people through state
media.
Mugabe has turned from a hero to a villain because of his
failure on the
political front coupled with confusing economic policies
which saw the
country being reduced to one of the worst economies in the
world. The
emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai was Mugabe’s acid test on his party’s purported
democratic
values.
Mugabe inherited and even expanded the
repressive, oppressive and
undemocratic style of ruling imposed by Ian Smith
on the black majority. The
last decade saw fierce oppression, assassination
attempts, arrests on
baseless allegations and prosecutions being levelled
against Tsvangirai and
his followers in an attempt to avert the existence of
real democratic
change.
What Mugabe is failing to take into
account is the fact that the political
gimmicks and tactics he is using were
used by some politicians in the past
and ended in tragedy hence they are now
deposed. Mugabe, just like Smith, is
now banking on his oppressive machinery
in the name of the security forces
and the judiciary to suppress
revolutionary movements by banning MDC
rallies, arresting and prosecuting
party officials in a desperate attempt to
avoid real
change.
Mugabe is unnecessarily rewinding the sad memories of the
liberation
struggle through the so-called exhumations and Chimurenga files
using the
public media in an attempt to regain lost glory. The events of
June 2008
leave many people wondering whether the exhumed bodies are indeed
a result
of the Rhodesian brutality of the 1970s or Zanu PF brutality of
June 2008.
The ageing politician does not seem to understand the meaning of
the term
“reconciliation” which he propounded in 1980.
He is
still preaching the brutality of the Rhodesia today as if they never
sat
down and agreed to set aside past political differences. The extent to
which
Mugabe and his party are preaching about the brutality of the
Rhodesian
regime appears as if Zimbabwe is the only country that was under
British
colonial rule. Many former British colonies are working harmoniously
with
other countries and their economies are flourishing. Zanu PF and Mugabe
want
to use the past as justification for their failed policies.
The
general outcry over anarchy, political and judicial injustice, unfair
land
distribution and autocratic governments levelled against the Smith
regime
are still evident in the Mugabe regime. So it is new wine in old
bottles.
Having realised that he has lost grip on the
political front to Morgan
Tsvangirai, Mugabe is left with no option than to
introduce terror to gain
fear and not support.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17
April 2011 09:28
Tomorrow is Independence Day. Do we have any
reason to celebrate? Yes and
No!
Anyone who was there in 1980
will remember the palpable euphoria that
greeted the dawn of our
Independence. It was the greatest day of our lives.
Zimbabweans came from
literally all over the world to celebrate. The
previous decade had been most
painful as the liberation war painfully played
out.
With its
back to the wall the Rhodesian military outfit, comprising
professional
soldiers, mercenaries and askaris, waged a war of attrition
that is said to
have claimed 200 000 lives. The guerrillas too were not
saints in this. Tens
of thousands of civilians died at their hands. Only
those who were armed
were safe; most of the civilian casualties were people
caught in the
crossfire.
Thousands of people had emigrated in search of refuge;
lucky youths got
scholarships to study abroad. But on the eve of
Independence Day, thousands
flooded the country as they came back to
celebrate.
But what were we celebrating?
We
celebrated the end of the war. We celebrated the end of colonial rule. We
celebrated the prospect of freedom, peace and justice. We took for granted
that under our own black government freedom, peace and justice were natural
and prosperity would follow.
We celebrated our young
leadership, which while executing the struggle, had
also acquired knowledge.
It was a cosmopolitan lot; some having studied at
some of the best
institutions in the Americas, in Europe and in Asia.
We had an
intellectual for Prime Minister. Robert Mugabe boasted seven
university
degrees (none of which was in violence). He was erudite,
charismatic and
conciliatory. All permanent secretaries in our ministries
had PhDs. Most
ministers had doctorates too. There was no way this group of
talented
individuals could ever fail us. There was such a lot of
international
goodwill that aid poured in to rebuild the country.
Our economy
was in the hands of a capable man, some said about the best on
the globe.
Bernard Chidzero (1927-2002) had worked for the United Nations
Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1968 to 1980, for the last
three years
as deputy secretary-general.
His UN career had begun in 1960 as
an economic affairs officer in the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and
afterwards as the first black
African to be named UNDP resident
representative (in Kenya, 1963-68).
When he returned to Zimbabwe
at Independence in 1980, he became successively
a member of parliament and
Minister of Economic Planning and Development and
later Senior Minister of
Finance; he was still working as an adviser to the
government when he
died.
He presided over the Seventh Session of UNCTAD and chaired
the Joint
Ministerial Committee of the World Bank and the IMF (1986-99). He
was
educated at the University of South Africa, Ottawa and McGill
Universities
in Canada, and Oxford University.
There were
many more illustrious sons and daughters of the soil who made up
the
inaugural government
So, when did the rain begin to beat us, so
to speak?
The answer, unfortunately, is that the rain began to
beat us right at the
beginning!
We had emerged out of a
painful war and we had a very hostile regime ruling
the country to our
south. South Africa was under apartheid and was staunchly
fighting
liberation movements not only on its own soil but also in the whole
region.
So there was a real reason in the new government of Zimbabwe to fear
a
reversal of our fortunes.
But that fear was transformed into a
culture; the ruling elite became
paranoid.
According to
psychologists “paranoia is a thought process believed to be
heavily
influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality
and
delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs
concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. Historically, this
characterisation was used to describe any delusional
state.”
In 1980 it was clear that Zanu PF felt insecure on the
throne. Moves towards
a one-party state were attempts to bring security. It
began to see threats
all round it. The greatest of these it saw as coming
from its partner in the
unity government, PF-Zapu, led by liberation
luminary Joshua Nkomo. Zanu PF
then set on a path to crush it. What followed
will remain one of the darkest
periods in our country’s
history.
Battered and humiliated PF-Zapu had to sign a unity
accord in 1987 if for
nothing else but to save the people of Matabeleland
and the Midlands
targeted as an ethnic group.
That Zanu PF
“victory” did not cure the paranoia. People within Zanu PF
itself were
beginning to speak out on the evils of a one-party system. It
was about this
time that another liberation luminary Edgar Tekere, an ally
of Mugabe, was
to form the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, a political party he
created singularly
to halt Mugabe’s drive towards his greatest dream.
It must be at
this sta-ge that Mugabe’s paranoia heightened. The
revolutionary leadership
was slowly purged from government to be replaced
mainly with bootlickers who
had no revolutionary history. The reason for
their ascendency was simply
that they promoted the leader’s dream. That was
the birth of the cronyism
that has bedevilled the country and has led us
into the mess we find
ourselves in.
The new leadership was of two types. The first
comprised small but
buccaneering business people who saw an opportunity to
grow their
businesses. They knew if they became part of government they
would easily
get government business by manipulating the tender system. In
government
they were also able to clinch big business deals with foreign
companies.
The second comprised hungry individuals who had
nothing to their name. They
were mainly related to the head of state and saw
the opportunity to make
money through the clientelism that had taken
root.
The paranoia intensified. The ruling elite saw enemies
everywhere; in the
West, in the Commonwealth and even in regional blocs such
as the Southern
African Development Community. We all remember the
diplomatic tiff that
arose when the chairmanship of the Sadc Organ on
Politics, Defence and
Security was taken away from
Zimbabwe.
So, the events that have made Zimbabwe a pariah state
characterised by
political violence, electoral fraud and Machiavellian
leadership are a
manifestation of the paranoia in the country’s leadership.
The freedom,
peace, justice and prosperity we are supposed to celebrate each
Independence
Day have not materialised three decades down the line.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:27
By
Blessing Vava
The Movement for Democratic Change headed by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai will soon hold its watershed congress in
Bulawayo. Since the
dates for the congress were announced there has been
fierce jostling for
positions. Sadly factionalism and divisions are now
rearing their ugly heads
in the party. But a question which quickly comes to
mind is: what is the
importance and significance of this congress, both for
the party and the
nation as a whole?
This I say mindful of
the fact that the MDC got the majority of votes in the
last elections held
in Zimbabwe and therefore they remain arguably the most
popular political
party in the country.
For us ordinary people, I think the
congress presents the party with an
opportunity to redeem itself and return
to its founding principles and
ideologies they have since negated. This is
unlike what we witnessed in the
last congress held in Harare in 2006 at the
City Sports Centre where some
cadres with no clear ideological standpoint
gate-crashed and found
themselves into leadership positions without really
understanding their
roles and the basic principles governing the
party.
This time around those of weak ideological grounding
should be exposed and
should not be allowed to occupy any position in the
party. But the
misfortune that may haunt the congress is that a majority of
the delegates
might be largely a pool of mediocrity as we have witnessed in
the past. So
there is need during the ongoing provincial congresses to elect
quality
leadership.
What should be the focus of the MDC as
they conduct the congress?
Fundamentally it should be noted that
the congress is the highest
decision-making body outside the National
Council in the MDC and it
converges after every five years. Hence there is
need for seriousness when
the party goes to congress. To some the congress
presents an opportunity to
grab those positions they have been yearning for
so dearly while to others
it will be an occasion to mix and mingle and make
merry. But the most
important aspect of this watershed congress is not about
electing a new
leadership as some might think.
The single
most important objective of this congress is to lay bare the
aspirations,
frustrations and struggles of the suffering people of this
country, the
working class people, the unemployed youth, the vulnerable
groups, those
infected and affected by the HIV and Aids who are finding it
difficult to
have their issues raised and listened to in a country where
polarisation and
intolerance have become the order of the day.
This congress
should be able to develop a clear action plan to advance the
aspirations of
the party and the people of Zimbabwe since it is now
evidently clear that
the Zanu PF regime has totally failed the people. The
congress should be
able to debate and interrogate the failures and successes
made by the party
since its formation and also usher in new strategies of
dealing with other
opposing political players. It should be able to address
the issues of
violence, factionalism and the cracking alliance between the
workers and the
students’ movement.
When the MDC was formed in 1999, it was a
product of a coalition of the
students, the working class and other
vulnerable groups of our society and
its main objective was to address the
aspirations of the poor. Remember the
National Working People’s Convention
(NWPC) in 1999 organised by the ZCTU,
NCA and the students movement was the
alliance which stood by its baby the
MDC for all these years. Sadly the MDC,
like a stubborn child who refuses
advice from its parents, decided to run
away from home unceremoniously. To
put it straight, they failed to maintain
the alliance with partners largely
due to the fact that those with money
were now dictating the pace and
thereby deliberately sidelining the working
class and the poor people.
The congress provides the MDC with an
opportunity to address this anomaly if
they still seek to remain a viable
force in the country. Indications are
that if they remain rigid the alliance
would be faced with no option but to
transform itself into a formidable
political movement that will address the
aspirations of the
poor.
The ANC of South Africa is a party that can stand the test
of time. It has
managed to maintain its allies whose grassroots
organisations have played a
key role in maintaining its
power.
The alliance comprising COSATU, SASCO and the SACP has
remained the ANC’s
support base.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Sunday, 17 April 2011 09:25
The crude
arrest of Lupane priest Marko Mabutho Mnkandla and subsequently
that of
National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration co-minister Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu for holding a mass in memory of Gukurahundi victims should be
condemned in the strongest terms.
Although details about the fate of
these two were scant yesterday, the mere
fact that police detained a priest
for conducting his normal church work is
disgraceful.
The Zimbabwean
constitution guarantees freedom of worship, and arresting
priests smacks of
attempts by the regime to emasculate the church.
The church’s
work in seeking justice for victims of Gukurahundi is
well-documented and it
is not surprising that Zanu PF is keen to muzzle it
ahead of elections
anticipated later this year.
The problem for President Mugabe and
Zanu PF is that the Gukurahundi
atrocities cannot be wished away and no
amount of repression will stop
people from demanding
justice.
The massacres remain a massive time bomb that will haunt
Mugabe to his
grave.
It would certainly be in the country’s
interests if Mugabe initiated a
process that would result in compensation
for victims and bring to justice
all those responsible for the
massacres.
Simply arresting leaders such as Mzila-Ndlovu whose
job it is to promote
national healing on allegations of failing to notify
police of a meeting
held at a school in Lupane will not solve the problem at
hand.
Mzila-Ndlovu has of late been outspoken on the need to
address people’s
grievances and his arrest can only poison the political
environment further.
It will also show all and sundry that Mugabe has learnt
little from the
revolts gripping North Africa and the Middle
East.
Just as autocrats in those regions have realised —
belatedly — the will of
the people cannot be repressed forever, and Mugabe
is better advised to make
amends while there is still time.
A
good start would lie in complying with the recommendations made by the
Sadc
Troika to end the politically-motivated arrests and violence and allow
for
the crafting of a proper roadmap for credible elections.