Officials 'reaping where they did not sow'

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 17:55
HEADLANDS - Four years ago 55-year-old Sherita Masarirambi lost her
job at Masori Range in Headlands in Manicaland province.

This was after the government acquired the plantation farm then owned
by commercial farmer, Johan Hains.

The farm was later given to Makoni Rural District Council to manage.

Without any source of income, Masarirambi and other farm workers were
stranded.

As if that was not enough, Kassim compound, the only place she had
stayed since childhood was razed under Operation Murambatsvina in 2005.

Even today Masarirambi, a mother of five, is still struggling to come
to terms with her loss.

So dire was the situation at the compound that when the United Nations
special envoy Anna Tibaijuka came to Zimbabwe in 2005 at the height of
Operation Murambatsvina she visited Kassim compound.

A few days after Tibaijuka's visit to Kassim compound Masarirambi and
many other farm workers were bundled into army trucks and dumped 30km away
from Headlands at Gudo Farm a mountainous area, with loose sandy soils not
suitable for agriculture.

But while Masarirambi is struggling to eke out a living from the
barren soils at Gudo Farm, senior council officials from Makoni Rural
District Council and politicians are allegedly fattening their pockets from
timber sales from the plantation at Masori Range.

"When we were working at Masori Range we had a better life. We were
paid better by farmer Hains," recalls Masarirambi.

"But here the soils are poor. We don't get much from our fields.
Survival here has been tough for us. We are alive by the mercy of God."

The Standard understands that over the past months senior council
officials and top politicians have been looting the timber plantations.

Names of the senior politicians have been withheld for legal reasons.

Villagers accuse the council of not ploughing back into the community
using proceeds from the farm.
MDC councillor for ward 32 in Headlands Mununudzi Chitsa said there
was a lot of neglect at the farm as the beneficiaries are more concerned
with harvesting the timber.

When The Standard visited Masori Range, there was evidence of
widespread lack of proper management at the farm and haphazard felling of
gum trees.

A veld fire destroyed a large section of the gum plantations. There
was no fireguard to protect the plantations from future fires.

In some parts of the farm, a fireguard was only set up in the section
that had already been destroyed by veld fires while most of the gum trees
were untended and overgrown with grass and weeds.

Chitsa said even as the timber business was thriving, Headlands area
was lagging behind in development.

"The timber is being sold off almost on a daily basis. For years I
have watched trucks come and buy the timber but we don't know where the
proceeds are going to because there are so many services the local
authorities are failing to deliver in the location," Chitsa said.

"Look at the state of our roads. In the location there is no water,
garbage lies piled up and hasn't been collected since 1994. If this is not
addressed we will soon have a cholera outbreak here," he said.

There is a serious shortage of drugs at the local clinic where most
people from surrounding farms come for treatment. Nurses have nowhere to
stay.

"All these things need to be addressed and when an area has natural
resources such as timber, the community must benefit. What makes it worse
here is Headlands farm is in the ownership of a council. So where are the
proceeds going if they are not benefiting Headlands?"

But chief executive officer of Makoni Rural district council Edward
Pise dismissed allegations of corruption.
Pise said the timber at the farm was disposed of by way of a tender,
adding that there were three institutions that were awarded the tender.

He said the three  are Lomagundi Timber sales (also known as Woodrow),
Divorce Farm and Stubbs or Tsanga Range owned by Mark Stubbs.

On the lack of development in Headlands, Pise said the rural council
was doing its best.
"It's no true that there are shady deals involving the selling of
timber at the plantation. The Ministry of Lands and Agriculture gave us this
farm under the land reform programme with the realisation that it must
benefit the people," Pise said.

But for Masarirambi and a host of others who lost their employment at
that farm, no benefit has come their way.

BY BERTHA SHOKO

Prisons: a Serious Abuse of Human Rights

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 17:50
A human rights tragedy and a serious abuse of human rights is how
released Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) treasurer and Deputy
Minister of Agriculture-designate, Roy Bennett referred to Zimbabwe's prison
conditions.

The state of prisons is one thing and the exercise of rights another.
Yet given the gravity of crimes faced by ex-convicts and serving prisoners
under the Zimbabwe system, debate rages over how the situation can be
addressed.

Do prisoners, some facing serious charges from murder to treason have
any rights or rights to enjoy those rights?

Former political prisoner, dubbed Africa's 007 and mercenary, Kevin
Woods, was pardoned in 2006 after serving 18 years in Zimbabwe's Chikurubi's
Maximum Security prison.

He spoke to a correspondent of The Standard and reflected on the
rights of prisoners, making a strong case for an investigation into Zimbabwe's
prison system.

SC: As a former prisoner what is your opinion about prisoners' rights?

KW: I believe that a prisoner should retain every single human right,
except his freedom. In Zimbabwe, when you enter jail, they seem to expect
you to take off your human skin and put on the skin of a lesser animal.

Because that is the way prisoners are treated. They are not treated as
normal human beings with rights.

SC: In your book, the Kevin Woods Story, you make a reference to a
lone fight to maintain your humanity, self-dignity and sanity in a "prison
system that belongs to the Middle Ages." What did you mean by this and what
did it mean during your incarceration?

KW: The conditions in Zimbabwe prisons are commensurate with the
Zimbabwean economy. The economy is dead, and so are the prisons.

You have to use all your will to live and every trick in the book to
survive. This includes smuggling in of food etc. I had to smuggle toilet
paper into prison at one stage.

I have been out for two and half years now and therefore conditions
would have deteriorated so much more than when I was there.

You should get hold of Roy Bennett. He will have up-to-date comments
on the conditions which were barbaric during my incarceration.

No water for months on end, overflowing toilets, no food, no
electricity, no blankets, and the ones we had were infested with lice.

The medical treatment is pathetic. I had a heart attack whilst in
prison. The heart specialist I was taken to was threatened by the CIO not to
diagnose me as having a heart problem because that would have opened the way
for my lawyers to demand a prison transfer to South Africa for treatment.
The doctors all swore in affidavits to the High Court that I was faking my
heart condition. Well, in January last year I had open heart surgery at
Luthuli Hospital in Durban. So who is the liar?

SC:How do you feel now? Has anything changed?

KW: I am feeling okay. I have no hate in my heart.  There were times
when Mugabe was refusing to release me, even after Nelson Mandela asked him
six times to do so that I hated him.

All other Frontline States released the South African agents they had
in 1994 when Mandela became President except Mugabe.

I regretted not eliminating Mugabe so many times as I sat on death
row, waiting to be hanged. I was in the CIO and was in control of Mugabe's
close security when he came to Matabeleland on many occasions. I could have
easily eliminated him.

Mugabe is not free. I am. Mugabe sits behind high walls and razor
wire. He has armed soldiers around him always.

He has made his own prison, where he now sits.

SC: Were you Zimbabwe's prisoner or South Africa's prisoner as you say
you felt abandoned by the South African government and at the same time
rejected by the country of your birth?

KW: I was Zimbabwe's prisoner. I do not deny I was involved in the
campaign to attack guerrilla facilities in Zimbabwe. I have served my time
for my crimes.

I have since found out that the old South African government spoke to
Mugabe on many occasions. I was not told this whilst in jail.

So I was not really abandoned by the old SA government. Mugabe used to
insist I was a Zimbabwean and had to face Zimbabwe justice.

Yet when I was released I was immediately deported to South Africa as
a South African citizen!

SC: Are you a different person since gaining your freedom?

KW: Jail is not the place I would recommend to change one's attitude.
However, I believe I am a better person than before jail. I certainly do not
take life for granted as I did back then.

SC: If there is anything that you would want changed within the prison
system, particularly in Zimbabwe, what will it be?

KW: I would want to see reform in Zimbabwe prisons. Officers should
not be allowed to beat up prisoners unless they are escaping.

Prisoners should be allowed food from relatives. There should be a
parole system to ease the congestion. A commission of inquiry, with powers
to change things should visit and investigate Zimbabwe's prisons.

Awareness up, Cholera Cases Down

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:47
HUMANITARIAN agencies say cases of cholera in the country continue to
slow down and they attribute this to high awareness levels.

Unicef communications officer Tsitsi Singizi said over the past two
months there has been an "encouraging" decline in cases of cholera in most
parts of the country.

Singizi said the trend around the country shows that the epidemic is
slowing down and attributed the decline to educational campaigns being
undertaken by aid agencies.

She said for the first time since the cholera epidemic broke out last
August, on April 9 Zimbabwe did not record a cholera death.

"Whereas at the peak of the epidemic an average of 1 500 cases were
recorded throughout the country on a daily basis, there has been a drastic
reduction to around 100 cases a day," Singizi told The Standard.

"We find this decline to be very encouraging. The ideal situation, of
course, would be that we don't have a cholera crisis at all. But this
development doesn't mean all the hard work has to stop. If at all aid
agencies must really step up efforts to bring cholera under control."

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week said as of April 14 at
least 4 264 people had died of cholera in the country while a total of 96
423 cases had been recorded since August 2008.

Singizi said there were worrying reports of cholera cases in Harare,
Chitungwiza and Mashonaland West province.

In these areas, aid agencies are concerned about problems of water
supply and general sanitation issues.

As a result of the water crisis last week Budiriro and Glen View areas
reportedly had an upsurge of cholera cases, according to Unicef.

The director of Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), Itai Rusike
warned against complacency in light of the decline in cholera cases.

Rusike said CWGH visited parts of Bikita, Zaka, and Chiredzi in
Masvingo province, where he saw signs of a "huge slow down".

He said although there were still a few sporadic cases "here and
 there", the cases are easily manageable when presented on time to a
treatment centre.

"We are still very worried about those deaths that are occurring in
communities and that go unreported because these are potentially disastrous.
Although many people now know about the disease, communication problems in
rural areas may be a challenge," Rusike said.

He warned of a much bigger cholera epidemic if problems such as burst
sewer pipes, water supply and refuse collection are not addressed.

"In 2006, we warned government on the possibility of a cholera
epidemic but they didn't listen.
"It is a matter for concern to us that the problems that caused the
cholera in the first place have not been dealt with.

Since the cholera epidemic began last year, relief agencies, under the
coordination of WHO, have been working tirelessly to bring the cholera
epidemic under control.

BY BERTHA SHOKO

Europe Zim's largest trading partner

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:05
EUROPE remains the largest overseas market for Zimbabwe in terms of
tourist arrivals ahead of Asia, according to a report by the Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority (ZTA).

The report  signals that it is still a long way before the country can
reap benefits from the "Look East" policy.
According to the Tourism Trends and Statistics annual report arrivals
from Europe declined by 1% to 108 159 last year from 109 119 in 2007 but the
region remained the largest overseas market for Zimbabwe.

This represents a 5.5% contribution to tourist arrivals.

"Europe remains the largest overseas market in terms of total arrivals
followed by Asia," the report said.
Arrivals from Asia recorded an 11% increase last year to 46 849.

The report attributed the 22% decline in arrivals to harsh media
reports on political violence in the country in the aftermath of the March
29 harmonised elections and the cholera outbreak.

"The adverse performance was partly due to harsh media reports citing
political violence especially after the March harmonised elections and also
the cholera outbreak in the country during the second half of the year," the
report said.

BY NDAMU SANDU

Ncube Slams Bulawayo Over Trade Fair

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:05
BULAWAYO - Industry and Commerce Minister, Professor Welshman Ncube
has castigated the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) for failing to spruce up the
image of the city ahead of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).

Zambian President Rupiah Banda is expected to officially open this
year's Trade Fair, which kicks off on April 28 and runs until May 2.

Addressing stakeholders to a ZITF meeting in Bulawayo last week, Ncube
said it was "unacceptable" that the local authority appeared not geared for
the trade showcase.

He said there was an urgent need for the council to embark on a
programme that would bolster the image of the city as it was the host city
for the showcase.

"We are demanding that something be done about ZITF because this helps
us boost our partners' confidence that we are capable of doing some of these
things," he said.

Ncube called for cleanliness and upliftment of the city's standards to
boost the international community's confidence ahead of the Common Market
for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) summit scheduled for early June in
Victoria Falls.

"It has to be borne in mind that we are preparing to host the Comesa
summit in June and failure to project ourselves in times such as ZITF
seriously affects the confidence in those that are watching from the
sidelines that we can be able to host the summit come June," Ncube said.

"So we have to do all in our energy and power to make this whole thing
a success so that tomorrow is much better."

Ncube's comments come on the back of failure by the council to ensure
that the city was adequately prepared to host international visitors who are
expected to showcase their products at the annual Trade Fair.

Potholes characterize Bulawayo's roads, with uncollected garbage
pilling all over the country's second largest city.

"This (lack of cleanliness) is something that we will not allow,"
Ncube said, adding: "We as a ministry are doing our part in trying to lure
exhibitors to the trade fair. As partners and stakeholders, we all have to
play our part. We shall, from this meeting engage with the city fathers to
ensure that the city and its environs are well prepared for ZITF."

Bulawayo Metropolitan province governor Cain Mathema also expressed
dissatisfaction over the state of the city ahead of the fair.

"It is sad to see our city in this situation. There are a lot of
potholes on the city's roads. There is sewerage flowing in each and every
corner. Surely, the city fathers have and must do something about this. This
is unacceptable," Mathema said.

But the council says it was still trying to financially find its feet
given that its funds had been affected by the dollarisation of the economy
adopted by government last year.

The local authority recently unveiled a US$416 million budget it says
is adequate to help it fulfill its obligations and requirements.

BY NKULULEKO SIBANDA

EU-ACP Ties Threaten Regional Integration

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:05
NEW ties between the European Union (EU) and the African Caribbean and
Pacific Countries (ACP) have a risk of undermining regional integration by
fragmenting countries into numerous blocs, trade experts have warned.

ACP countries used to enjoy unilateral trade preferences with the EU
but the waiver expired in December 2007 in line with the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) rules of non-discrimination.

The parties could not complete a comprehensive trade agreement,
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in line with WTO rule. They settled
for interim agreements while working on completing the full trade deal.

To date 20 ACP countries have initialled the agreement of partial
scope requiring continued negotiations to reach a full agreement in mid
2009.

Initialling reflects a country's intention to sign the trade deal.

The other countries have said they will not append their signatures to
the agreement. Trade experts say EPAs have split ACP countries into
configurations which have undermined regional integration.

Thomas Deve, Policy Analyst for Africa at the UN Millennium campaign
said EPAs "will kill off any ambitions we have for regional integration
within and across Africa and South-South relations with other developing
regions".

"Already, the EPAs have split all of Africa's regions - in West Africa
for example, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire have broken ranks and endangered unity
by going ahead to agree 'interim EPAs' with Europe," he said.

Richard Kamidza, Programme Associate at the South Africa-based
think-tank, Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (Idazim)
says EPAs have split the 79 ACP countries into clusters despite being weak,
vulnerable and poor.

He said while the Caribbean and Pacific regions are physically
defined, the same cannot be said of Africa where countries hop from one
regional grouping into another.

Of the 16 Economic Community for West African states, eight belong to
the West African Economic and Monetary Union while the remainder are members
of the Central African Economic and Monetary Union.

Fifteen countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) have
overlapping membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development;
the Indian Ocean Commission; the East African Community (EAC) and the Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

Kamidza said EPAs negotiations are characterised by two unequal
partners both politically and economically which will expose the already
weakened ACP countries.

"EPAs are premised within the neo-liberal policy framework of
'one-size-fits-all' trade liberalisation and market integration, which
entails opening up ACP markets to EU producers and consumers; entrenching
Structural Adjustment Programme and redressing EU's crisis of overproduction
and profitability," he said.

EPAs, he said, will expose ACP's weak industrial capacity to EU
products and services. The majority of ACP countries export mainly raw
competitive products to EU markets.

Kamidza said EPAs trap ACP countries into aid dependency.

"Increasing aid dependence which in the case of Malawi, Mozambique and
Tanzania is estimated to rise to between 27-50% of the gross national income
by 2010 from between 14-24% in 2004," he said.

Rangarirai Machemedze, deputy executive director at the Southern and
Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute said while the
EU was negotiating as a bloc, ACP countries were negotiating on an
individual basis which creates divisions among member countries.

". . . the fact that they (interim EPAs) were concluded by individual
countries has resulted in divisions among ACP regions to the extent of
jeopardising regional economic integration," he said.

Machemedze said the concessions made within these agreements are
greater - both in extent and scope - to those that would have been required
to ensure their basic conformity with WTO norms.

Machemedze said interim agreements tie ACP negotiators to a detailed
and intensive negotiating agenda on trade-related disciplines and trade in
services.

Kamidza said the introduction of new issues including services,
intellectual property, environment, investment and competition were part of
the EU's psychological warfare.

He accused the EU of dangling the development aid envelope through the
10th European Development Fund to force some countries to leave one EPA
configuration for another.

As a result, Tanzania had dumped the Sadc grouping in favour of EAC in
the negotiations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which initially was in
the ESA grouping has joined CEMAC.

But the EU contends that EPAs are pro-development and support regional
integration.  Zimbabwe initialled an interim agreement with the EU.
According to the agreement, Zimbabwe will liberalise 80% of its imports from
the EU by 2022.

The liberalisation will come in two phases: 45% by 2012 and 35%
liberalised progressively until 2022.
But there are products excluded by Zimbabwe from liberalisation,
mainly to protect sensitive products or infant industries - of animal
origin, cereals, beverages, paper, plastic and rubber, textile and clothing,
footwear, glass and ceramics, consumer electronics and vehicles.

The successful conclusion of EPAs was meant to fully legalise EU-ACP
trade relations with WTO rules and in the process remove the likelihood of a
legal dispute within the WTO by non-ACP countries.

Since the trade preferences were ending on December 31, 2007, EPAs
were meant to guarantee a continuation of trade flows from the ACP to the
EU, avoiding disruptions due to the absence of a favourable trade regime as
from January 1, 2008.

It was also meant to guarantee a continuation of the EU-ACP conditions
of trade, that is, the maintenance of the market access conditions
established by the Lomé Conventions and lock EPAs parties into a road map
for the continuation of negotiations on areas of mutual interest.

BY NDAMU SANDU

Alex Magaisa: National Healing-Skeletons can't be hidden forever

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


AwayfForeverhidden
Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:24
THIS weekend, Zimbabwe celebrates her 29th birthday rather sadly, as a
mere shell of what she used to be; a shadow of what might have been but for
inept management by her handlers.

But make no mistake about it, the day of independence remains an
important occasion. It is a national day; one that cannot and should not be
privatised by individuals.

We may differ on the politics, the economics and many other indices
but the day of the nation's founding must not be denigrated.

It is there to which we must return to recover the values and
aspirations that have been eroded over the last 29 years.

It might seem odd to be in celebratory mood at a time when Zimbabwe is
literally on its knees, begging from whoever cares to listen.

Indeed, at the time of our independence, one of our great supporters,
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, then President of Tanzania is said to have remarked
to President Mugabe, "You have inherited a jewel. Keep it that way." To be
sure, the new Zimbabwe was far more developed than most of its neighbours,
except South Africa. It was the envy of most of Africa. But looking at it
now, it seems Mwalimu's words went unheeded.

One cannot struggle to understand those who view the day of
independence with scepticism. Indeed, one ironic circumstance is that in
Smith's jails, President Mugabe and his comrades gained several academic
degrees yet in present-day jails, even a petty thief is literally condemned
to die a slow and painful death.

Such is the gap in the way the colonial state and the
post-independence state treats the weakest members of society and it's a
real shame.

Yet, to my mind, the failures of individuals should not be allowed to
overshadow the sacrifices of the many men and women who gave life and limb
to overcome colonialism.

It was a fight that needed to be pursued given the circumstances of
the time and they fought the good fight. Indeed, it's a shame that they had
to fight at all and in the process cause more pain and suffering - the
wounds of which have yet to heal.

That their surviving comrades have trampled on their sacrifices is
cause not to denigrate their efforts but to reflect on what needs to be done
to fulfil their dreams.

In my view, perhaps the biggest shortcoming is that Zimbabwe has never
gone through a process of what may be referred to as "national healing".

National healing defies easy definition; indeed, it is one of those
phrases that are used so often on the assumption that everyone knows what it
means but upon asking, no one can actually give a coherent answer! It could
mean so many things to so many people. I suspect there are many doctoral
theses on the subject!

To my mind, however, it symbolises a process, not a single event. At
independence, politicians gathered at Lancaster House in London, made a
political deal which they called the Constitution and exchanged seats, with
the new replacing the old but no more.

Although there was a lot of rhetoric about reconciliation, it never
quite translated into practice. Nothing concrete was done to heal the wounds
of the past. Too many things were swept under the Lancaster House carpet.

Our politicians got back home and locked skeletons in the cupboard
hoping that no-one would discover them. In doing so, a bad precedent was
created.

Over the years, more and more skeletons have been added into more and
more cupboards. That's because perpetrators have long known that there is no
accountability for wrongful actions or omissions.

They have the mentality of the jungle creature which survives simply
because it is the fittest and can trample upon the weakest, with no reason
whatsoever to account for its actions. Not surprisingly, over the years, the
house of stones has become a house of skeletons.

It is for this reason that the new inclusive administration needs to
seriously begin a process of national healing. How shall that be done?
National healing has to begin with the acknowledgement and acceptance that
there exists what may be termed a "national wound".

This symbolises the wrongful acts (or omissions) that have been
committed against individuals and communities over the years.

Therefore, there has to be a process of identifying this national
wound - these wrongful things that have happened in the past.

Some are obvious and well-known such as the Matabeleland atrocities,
others less so and perhaps forgotten such as what happened during the
colonial era and the war years.

This raises the question of times-frames. At what point do you begin
to identify these wrongful acts that constitute the national wound?

To my mind, this identification process has to be extensive and
comprehensive. It is not for me to set a time-frame but it is plain that
some of the problems that we have faced more recently, around the land
question for example are manifestations of these attempts to redress what
are considered to be wrongs of the colonial era.

Clearly, however erroneous its methods may have been, the previous
government and people aligned to it have for the past decade been guided by
this memory of the wrongful acts committed during colonialism.
Lancaster did little to address this matter.

Instead it sought to maintain the status quo, which was always going
to be unsustainable in the long run.

The result has been disastrous, given the violent farm seizures that
took place in the last decade to the detriment of agricultural production.

Yet what has happened has also opened new wounds, upon those who
property was forcibly taken this time around. This too, is a wound that will
not go away that easily.

The liberation struggle of the 1970s was a valiant effort but it also
brought untold suffering among the people. Lives were lost and limbs were
broken on either side.

But these wounds were not dealt with at independence and they have
continued to fester over the years.

Indeed, the atrocities committed against the people of Matabeleland
opened up a great wound upon the body of the nation.

The memory of those atrocities will not simply evaporate with time. It
is a deep wound on the national psyche and one that needs attention.

Likewise, the wrongful acts visited upon citizens under the guise of
Operation Murambatsvina in 2005.

Then there is the violence, the killings and torture, loss of property
and various other wrongful acts committed against individuals, especially
during election periods.

Independence is as much about freedom as it is about putting minds to
rest. Zimbabwe is plagued by too many restless souls it's not surprising
that it continues to be mired in difficulty.

The skeletons in the cupboard will continue knocking. I hope there
will come a day when it will be universally recognised that each one of us,
that each tribe and race, despite our differences and difficult past has
played a part in building Zimbabwe.

Each one of us, black or white has left an imprint on the body of the
nation. It is not because we choose to be Zimbabwean; it is because we are
Zimbabwean and can never be anything else however much we travel the world
and find new homes.

Many will testify, black or white, that however beautiful the grass
appears elsewhere, there is only one place we call home. It is the place
that carries our umbilical cords. It is the place to which we were joined at
birth.

*Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent and
can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk    or a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk

BY ALEX MAGAISA

Sunday Opinion: Renewed Land Plunder a Disregard for GPA, an Affront to JOMIC

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:20
EXACTLY twenty-nine years into our "independence" many Zimbabweans are
worried about the resurgence of property rights violations.

The renewed plunder is ostensibly spearheaded by President Robert
Mugabe in disregard for the Global Political Agreement (GPA). It is more
poignantly an affront to the "person" of the Joint Monitoring Implementation
Committee (JOMIC).

While Minister of Industry and Commerce Professor Welshman Ncube, also
co-chairperson of JOMIC argues that the entity still has an "effective
monitoring mandate", public posturing of Mugabe and Didymus Mutasa, a
Minister of State in the President's Office, sound a high decibel in
ultimate contradiction.

Mutasa, the author of Zimbabwe's obnoxious "offer letters" used by
Zanu PFactivists to occupy farms, tells the world that Movement
forDemocratic Change (MDC) Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's protest
against the latest land invasions are from a man "who does not live in
Zimbabwe".

One might also question why Zanu PF Foreign Affairs Minister,
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, vigorously denies that there are political prisoners
in Zimbabwe!

Meanwhile Mugabe, for the second time in three months, has publicly
insisted that land invasions disguised as "reforms" will continue. When this
high level diatribe is interpreted at grassroots level, it becomes a licence
for organised decimation of what is left of property rights in Zimbabwe's
commercial farming sector.

What this does is to cast doubt on credibility of Tsvangirai and his
team, who, for good reason, appear mere junior partners in an increasingly
hollow political union.

Mutasa is a "minister" of sorts, so technically is subordinate to
Tsvangirai and in terms of rules of natural justice; he should be censured
for insulting his immediate superior.

But the reality on the ground is that of a parallel reporting system
that places Mugabe at the helm of political ministries which act in an orbit
external to the GPA.

The question therefore is: If Mugabe's utterances are against the
letter and spirit of the Sadc-brokered GPA, why is it that the "new"
Parliament does not impeach him?

The biggest challenge facing the MDC, as I have always insisted, is
their ideological misalignment on the subject of land reform.

The GPA puts a clearer perspective on this dichotomy: "RECOGNISING and
accepting that the Land Question has been at the core of the contestation in
Zimbabwe and acknowledging the centrality of issues relating to the rule of
law, respect for human rights, democracy and governance.

The Parties hereby agree to: (a) conduct a comprehensive, transparent
and non-partisan land audit, during the tenure of the Seventh Parliament of
Zimbabwe, for the purpose of establishing accountability and eliminating
multiple farm ownerships; (b) ensure that all Zimbabweans who are eligible
to be allocated land and who apply for it shall be considered for allocation
of land irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political
affiliation; (c) ensure security of tenure to all land holders; (d) call
upon the United Kingdom government to accept the primary responsibility to
pay compensation for land acquired from former land owners for resettlement;
and (e) work together to secure international support and finance for the
land reform programme in terms of compensation for the former land owners
and support for new farmers."

On any clear day, it is therefore impossible to comprehend why the
MDC, realising the incapacity of JOMIC to guarantee the democratic rights of
citizens, is not evoking the clause that binds the implementation of this
agreement to be guaranteed and underwritten by the Facilitator, Sadc and the
AU.

Moreover, the bravado of JOMIC is now permeating to MDC's "economic
ministers" Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
who are on a war path of aggression to persuade Americans, British and the
rest of the world that time is ripe to "lift sanctions" against Zimbabwe.

My submission is that Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara
and his anti-sanctions MDC team have landed their strategic capsule way
outside the waters of good political judgement.

If we add on the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres, unconstitutional
military foray into the DRC in the late 1990s, Operation Murambatsvina, and
displacement of millions of Zimbabweans during elections and finally,
Zimbabwe's slide into politically-instigated abject poverty, President
Mugabe is a genuine case for impeachment.

*Rejoice Ngwenya is director of Coalition for Liberal Market Solutions
in Harare and an affiliate of www.AfricanLiberty.org

BY REJOICE NGWENYA

Comment: A Calculated Strategy to Frustrate Progress

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 18 April 2009 16:20
THE strategy that hard-line Zanu PF mandarins have adopted is to focus
on getting targeted sanctions lifted, but once this has been achieved they
will step up efforts to frustrate the inclusive government, determined to
force the MDC into pulling out of the imperfect union.

Ever since the September 15, 2008 Global Political Agreement President
Robert Mugabe and his party have done everything in their power and employed
every tactic at their disposal to provoke the MDC into abandoning the unity
government.

The first move was "tampering" of the agreement documents in the hope
that the two MDC formations would not notice.

The degree of distrust has led to two ministers presiding over the
Ministry of Home Affairs - MDC-T's Giles Mutsekwa and Zanu PF's Kembo
Mohadi.

Next in Zanu PF's catalogue of activities was the unilateral
announcement of appointment of permanent secretaries.

Then there was the dispute over the mandates of ministries. Zanu PF
decided unilaterally that the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity
would have telecommunications instead of this department falling under the
Ministry of Information Communication Technology, which the three principals
agreed when allocating ministries.

Apparently Zanu PF did not abandon this project. The culmination of
which was the announcement last Friday that President Mugabe had "acted
decisively" and removed telecommunications from Nelson Chamisa's Information
Communication Technology ministry to Nicholas Goche's Ministry of Transport
and Infrastructural Development.

Zanu PF also tried to sneak in more ministers sworn in on February 13.
This plot was foiled and resulted in the likes of Dr David Parirenyatwa and
Paul Munyaradzi Mangwana eventually not being part of the government even
though announcements to this effect had been published.

Zanu PF also sought to remove the remaining outstanding issues - the
tenure of the Governor of the Reserve Bank and that of the Attorney-General,
and the appointment of provincial governors, permanent secretaries and
diplomats - from being resolved after the GPA.

It needed the January 26 -27 Sadc Summit in Pretoria to rule that "the
appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney-General will be
dealt with by the Inclusive Government after its formation".

But nine weeks later there is no resolution as Zanu PF continues to
stall and place hurdles in the way of progress.

Similarly the matter of political prisoners remains unresolved
although the three principals agreed in mid-February that all political
detainees who had been formally charged would be released on bail while
those that had not been charged would be released unconditionally.

Several MDC activists, including senior members of the party remain in
prison.

Then there is the matter of MDC-T treasurer, Roy Bennett, who was
arrested, spent more than a month in prison and was later released. He is
still to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture - more than two
months after the inclusive government came into being.

The recent wave of farm invasions would not be continuing if Mugabe
had ordered their immediate end.
Zanu PF's true colours will become more brazen and evident the day
targeted sanctions are removed.

That is why restoration of law and order, an end to farm invasions and
respect for human rights must be a condition for their removal.

Zim Standard Letters

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/

Civic Leaders Should Take up Challenge
Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:32
THE role that has been played by civic society leaders during the past
decade deserves acknowledgement. They were conscious enough to realise the
need to step up pressure against the ruling elite to open up space for
others.

They have been hounded for the past nine years. One cannot underplay
their activism.

However, I believe it's now time they shifted their focus and became
proactive in educational programmes meant to empower our society on human
rights. We have some unsung heroes in our civic leaders, who really care for
their communities and the nation.

It is their resolute passion for betterment in different areas of life
that brings them together first and foremost.

Why do I advocate for them to refocus? It has been my observation over
the last decade that Zimbabwe lost its vibrancy mainly due to society
ignorantly leaving their fate to be decided by a few selfish individuals. As
a result, scoundrels have eventually become "celebrated" national leaders.

Uncouth people, with total disregard for human dignity and life have
been masquerading as revolutionaries.

It is my considered view that after being in the trenches for so long
a time and in the resultant political lull that we now find ourselves in, it's
incumbent upon civic leaders to actively try to educate communities about
their various fundamental rights.

Political leaders have taken advantage of people's ignorance and
trampled upon them while enriching themselves and their cronies. The
majority see no evil.

My appeal is for civic organisations under one umbrella to ignite, in
people, a desire to be involved actively in issues affecting their lives.

They need to educate communities in both urban and rural areas of
their rights. These rights are not known by many.

Urban folk require education on the need to be involved in elections
at all levels concerning and affecting their lives. Council elections are
very important but people seldom participate.

We only see the gullible and less informed youths and single mothers,
who are promised meager rations, voting in by-elections. People don't know
that they will be bound by the decisions of the few who vote.

People, therefore need to be educated on the importance of organising
themselves to peacefully demonstrate for service delivery by local
authorities.

They need empowerment on how to confront elected politicians from the
ward level up to ministerial level.
Our youths need to be educated not to allow themselves to be abused by
politicians, especially during elections for a mere scud.

In rural and resettlement areas our folks need to be taught that land
does not belong to Zanu PF or President Robert Mugabe. This is a natural
resource, God-given to all citizens. ]

We don't owe anyone anything for getting our land. Land was going to
be appropriated by future generations.

This is the right time to educate people as the politicians try to
find each other. Civic society leaders should not waste time. It's an
excellent window period.

Both urban and rural people need to be educated on their right to
boycott food and service provided, when they deem it is inappropriate.

In my humble view, people should be educated on both the strategies
and need to be actively involved in the areas highlighted. Politicians will
never do this for us.

We must empower our people to confront the inevitable in life. We have
been abused by our politicians to the extent that they have left our country
in tatters.

We have learnt our lesson the hard way.
The MDC members have been in the trenches but now that they have
occupied higher office there is always the human propensity to trample on
others.

We won't allow them.
I suggest that civic society groups form committees that will be
tasked with going out to meet communities, specifically to educate them as
part of a process of empowering them.

They can visit churches, watering holes, market places, shopping
centres and higher and tertiary institutions. Workers in factories can be
visited during lunch breaks.

I aim to provoke debate among civic society leaders.

Odrix Mhiji
Chitungwiza.

-------------
Poor Quality Education Unaffordable to the Majority
Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:32
EDUCATION has become a privilege rather than a right as the majority
of the students cannot afford to pay.

Although the government revised the tuition fee, it is still beyond
the reach of many. The government ceased to subsidize education in 2006.

This was a heavy blow to many underprivileged students who cannot
afford to pay the exorbitant fees. With the dollarisation of education in
February 2009, many institutions including the oldest institution of higher
learning, failed to open as very few students have paid the fees.

The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge, when
announcing the new fees structures on March 5, 2009, made reference to Fort
Hare University.

He said the new fees structures were at par with other fees from
institutions in Africa. The minister should be aware that at Fort Hare
University students are paying R2 000 for a full academic year.

That is US$200, which is reasonable. There has also been a decline in
the quality of education in Zimbabwe. The November results for Higher
Education Examinations Council (HEXCO) examinations 2008 are still to be
released.

Students from polytechnic colleges have failed to proceed to Part 2
because results have not yet been released.

The delay in the release of results compromises the quality of
education in polytechnic colleges and this has also serious implications on
the quality of graduates produced.

On March 23, 2009 it was reported that the Ministry of Higher and
Tertiary Education was working on a draft bill that seeks to repeal the
Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council Act and the Higher Education
Examinations Council in a bid to enhance the quality of education and
training in the country.

The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education confirmed the drafting
of the Zimbabwe Qualifications Authority Bill, which will oversee the
development and administration of the Zimbabwe Qualifications framework.
This is meant to create good, sound quality education.

Blessing Vava
National Spokesperson
ZINASU.

-------
Prison Officials Heartless
Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:28
IT really made sad reading to hear the Commissioner of Prisons,
Paradzai Zimondi boasting that the Zimbabwe Prisons Services (ZPS) has at
least 27 farm prisons across the country.

What makes this statement worrying is that it comes barely two weeks
after an international outcry across the world over the lack of adequate
food in prisons in the country.

But senior ZPS authorities have made these farms with a total arable
area of 3 482 hectares derelict as they embark on self-serving interests
while prisoners go for days without food.

With all this arable land, the prisoners across the country would
never have gone hungry for a single day or died while in custody. Reports by
human rights groups show that at least 20 prisoners are dying each day.

However, the senior ZPS officers and other Zanu PF and government
officials took it upon themselves and abused the prisoners by forcing them
to provide free labour at their farms against international laws and those
of the International Labour Organisation.

Agricultural inputs which were made available by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe to the ZPS where diverted to the black market or to senior prisons
officials.

All this corruption has been going on unchecked at the 27 prison
farms.

It is high time heads rolled at the ZPS and those implicated should be
held accountable and charged for the deaths of innocent prisoners across the
country while they looted state property.

Agrippa Zvomuya
Harare.

------------
They Don't Care
Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:25
DOES the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge
really care about the education in Zimbabwe and the students at large?

Does the Chancellor of state universities worry about the state of
universities in Zimbabwe? First, they set the fees at US$1 400.

Maybe they thought we are all corrupt enough to have access to that
kind of money. They then reduced the fees to a level which is still
unaffordable for the majority of us, children of  peasants.

When they introduced the cadetship scheme some of us smiled thinking
that finally the government really cared about students. But we were wrong
to express such optimism for a government which has over the years looked at
students as enemies of the state.

The cadetship forms contain such cruel clauses that lay bare the
heartless nature of those who claim to care about education in Zimbabwe.

Student
Harare.

----------

      Standard SMS
       Saturday, 18 April 2009 15:42
      IT'S obvious that Zesa's advert on Sunday April 5, 2009 had
printing errors. Otherwise how can it be justified that H12 Marlborough has
had load-shedding every day since the advertised schedule. Please advise if
we are in a different country. - Candles, Harare.

      **********
      ACCORDING to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa's)
load-shedding advert, H12 is showing on Tuesdays as "First areas to be
affected - morning peak."

      It does not reflect evening peak for the same day. However it is
reflecting under additional areas that could be affected. We have had no
electricity; please can we have an explanation?

      If Zesa does not have one it should say so. We have tried to
phone all Zesa Head Office numbers. There is nobody picking up the phones. -
In the dark, Harare.

       Incompetence!

      ZESA'S incompetence has scaled ridiculous levels. This is
incompetence; malpractice and sabotage of the people's rights, more so after
the power utility published its load-shedding schedule "urging its valued
customers" in Harare to take note of the advertised schedule for their
planning purposes.

      How does Zesa expect us to plan when its employees do not follow
what the company publishes? If there were changes for whatever reasons
customers should have been informed.- Furious, Harare.

      **********
       ZESA'S incompetence reveals a case of the right hand not knowing
what the left is doing. The advert of April 5, 2009 was another wasted and
unnecessary expense. At least have the decency to keep to the schedule. -
John, Harare.

      Sharp and brief

      THE Standard readers' views and comments page is now boring
because it's the same as the letters' page. What happened to those sharp,
brief, witty comments, which were a pleasure to read?- Anon, Harare.

       Planning for recovery

      IF Zimbabwe is to fully recover it needs to invest seriously in
future generations. The sad truth is that most of the youngsters are ruining
their lives because they do not have positive role models to emulate.

      The people that seem to be living well are dealers. It is these
that young people are looking up to. That kind of life is short-lived. They
will be digging an early grave for themselves.

      Most of them do not understand the virtues of hard work and
patience. Their minds have been corrupted by get-rich-quick schemes.-
Rudderless, Harare.

      What sanctions?

      COULD the Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara,
explain what sanctions he is talking about that he wants lifted?

      If he is talking about targeted restrictions then he must be
day-dreaming because the rest of Zimbabweans want them in place until Zanu
PF behaves.

      Political prisoners should be released, newspapers and radio
stations that were closed down should be allowed to start operating, a new
constitution must be written and farm invasions stopped.

      Why doesn't Mutambara talk about Ghandi Mudzingwa, Shadreck
Anderson Manyere, Chris Dhlamini and all the political prisoners? He should
be added on the sanctions' list.

      Why doesn't he talk about human rights abuses and the commercial
farmers like Ben Freeth, who are being forced off their land? - I spy,
Harare.

      **********
      THE government should start charging duty on importation of
finished products such as chicken and eggs because they are killing local
industries. - Tagara, Harare.

      A dismal failure

      THE Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Gideon Gono has failed
dismally in his role as the guardian of the central bank. Not only did he
fail in his effort to turn around the economy, he worsened the situation.

      All his projections on inflation were the stuff that dreams are
made of. Now he is trying to defend himself instead of saying he is sorry to
us. - Tineyi , Banket
      **********
      GIDEON Gono's gymnastics are not found in the RBZ Act. We all
know that Zanu PF's Presidium said no to "textbook economics", so why talk
about the RBZ Act? He declared sanctions against bankers by setting minimum
withdrawal limits and failed to pay his staff at the RBZ. He must
leave. -Banker, Harare.
       **********
      ZBH'S statement on television and radio licences is misplaced
and nonsensical. We do not pay US$45 to DStv out of patriotism.

      We are more than happy to do so because we get value for money.
What does ZBH offer? Torture to our eyes and ears! The author of the
statement watches DStv. He must not lie to us. - Moyo, Harare.

      Don't forget

      DEAR Prime Minister you know that we are behind you and that you
are our hero. Please, we do not want to think that you have forgotten what
happened during the Presidential election run-off.

      Many other heroes of the struggle for democracy were abducted
and tortured. Some even lost their lives at the hands of President Robert
Mugabe's supporters.

      Even after formation of a government of national unity we are
still witnessing violence. Do Zanu PF supporters know the scope of your
powers or is it that they despise your position?

      Is Mugabe serious about the GNU and the Global Political
Agreement? Soon we shall see the perpetrators of violence filling up
Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and not the innocent ones. - Ndizvo chete.

      **********
      ZIMBABWE'S ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo lives in
a world of his own. He needs to be informed that Zimbabweans in South Africa
are refugees, who ran away from Zanu PF's brutality, misrule and
poverty-creation policies. - Mudavanhu, Harare.

      Investigate UZ

      I AM appealing to the Prime Minister and Parliament to set up a
Select Committee to investigate the administration at the University of
Zimbabwe.

      Professor Levi Nyagura has failed to run the oldest institution
of higher learning in the country. - Parent, Sanyati.

Morgan Tsvangirai on his personal grief and his hopes for Zimbabwe

http://www.guardian.co.uk

In his first interview since the tragic deaths of his wife and grandson,
Morgan Tsvangirai tells Alex Duval Smith in Harare about his struggles with
grief and loneliness and the challenge of building a new political and
economic future for Zimbabwe

Alex Duval Smith
The Observer, Sunday 19 April 2009

Morgan Tsvangirai is sitting in the converted maid's quarters that serves as
his office, at his home in the Harare suburbs. It overlooks the garden with
the pool where his two-year-old grandson Shawn drowned a fortnight ago, only
a month after his wife Susan was killed in a car crash.

In his first interview since the double tragedy, he describes the depths of
his grief and pays a touching tribute to his wife of 31 years. "I don't know
how to replace her," he says. "It's almost unimaginable that anyone could
ever take her place, with the same qualities and the same love and care."
The deep voice cracks as he struggles to hold back tears. "Susan and I were
married for 31 years. As you can imagine, that made her almost a lifelong
companion. She was humble. Not very pretentious at all."

He seems to be missing a cufflink but does not say so, just fiddles with his
shirt under his jacket sleeve. "Sometimes you become totally absent-minded.
You're missing something, looking everywhere for it." He doesn't say the
next bit: "Susan would have known just where I'd put them." Instead he says:
"And then you realise you are not feeling her presence." She died two days
after his maiden speech to Zimbabwe's parliament as prime minister, as he
embarked on a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe. Shawn
drowned on 4 April when, like many toddlers, he slipped out of sight of his
parents and into the pool in the garden.

It is early morning in Strathaven, where Tsvangirai lives. The battered red
Movement for Democratic Change campaign bus stands in the drive, looking
spent. Security staff are cleaning cars that are already shiny. Tsvangirai's
office walls are lined with political biographies and MDC campaign posters.
He looks dapper in his dark suit as he speaks slowly, carefully choosing his
words.

The couple, both from modest, Shona working-class homes, met in 1976. Susan
was visiting her uncle in Bindura, where Tsvangirai, the eldest of nine
children, had risen from plant operator to foreman after only two years at
the nickel mine. They married in 1978 and Edwin, the first of their six
children, was born. At independence in 1980, when Mugabe, then 56, became
prime minister, Tsvangirai was 28 and Susan 22. A mineworkers' leader, he
joined the victorious Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF) but built his political career in the trade union movement. By
1989, at the age of 37, he was head of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions.

Ever in the background, attentive to her husband and his growing retinue,
Susan - the kind of woman who would always have a needle and thread - was
already "mother" to many.

"She was a solid pillar behind my career. She touched a lot of people in a
very profound way," he says with a sudden depth to his timbre that defies
grief. When Tsvangirai launched the MDC in 1999, Zimbabwe had lost its
beloved first lady, Sally Mugabe, who died from kidney failure in 1992.
Robert had married the young Grace, who was already showing excessive
spending habits. Zimbabweans looked to Susan, a churchgoing Methodist full
of restraint, as a future "amai" (mother) in the Sally mould.

"She was a very clear adviser on many issues both in the party and in the
family. Losing her is a real personal loss. People have said, 'Do this, do
that' to overcome the grief. It's only natural for people to feel sorry, but
really the question is that it is a personal life experience that I have to
go through on a daily basis."

His early mornings have just got a bit lonelier with the departure of
relatives who had come home for Susan's funeral and Easter. Among them were
the couple's second son, Garikai, 29, and his wife Lillian. They were the
parents of Shawn, who had been living with Susan and Tsvangirai while they
got settled in Canada.

Tsvangirai is not one to drop God into the conversation, even less the
restive Shona ancestors whom some people believe must be haunting Zimbabwe
if their prime minister has been so cruelly damned by two bereavements.
"When Shawn died the immediate reaction from me was, 'Why me?' We thought
that with the passing of Susan we had come to accept the reality. But
Shawn's death was the more devastating for Gari and Lillian. It was another
bolt from the blue. The boy was just a lovely boy."

No one suspects foul play in Shawn's death. But questions remain over the
incident on 6 March that saw an oncoming lorry swerve into the southbound
lane of the Harare-Masvingo road, forcing the Toyota Land Cruiser in which
the Tsvangirais were travelling into a manoeuvre that killed Susan and
slightly injured the other three occupants. It was four days before
Tsvangirai's 57th birthday and the couple were on their way to their rural
home in Buhera, 140 miles southeast of Harare, at the end of a whirlwind
period that had started with Tsvangirai's swearing-in on 11 February and
ended with his maiden speech.

In a country where the regime has often been accused of killing its foes in
faked car accidents - and given that Tsvangirai has survived three known
assassination attempts since 1997 - questions are inevitably being asked.
Indeed, Zimbabwe's cabinet has voted to invite a senior foreign judge to
head an inquiry into the accident. But the road to Masvingo is notorious.
Last Thursday 29 people died in a bus accident on the same road.

Tsvangirai insists they were the victims of a real accident and he dismisses
talk of the hidden hand of restive ancestral spirits. "In our custom they
say all sorts of things but, really, it was an accident." He admits that his
security arrangements are lacking. "We are taking measures to prevent a
recurrence of such an incident. But the thing is that if the United States
president can be shot, who am I to have a foolproof security arrangement?"

He is talking more animatedly now. Tsvangirai is a man who will bury his
grief in his work, and he has plenty to do. The MDC's decision in January to
enter a South African-brokered coalition with Zanu-PF has been a leap of
faith into a world of non-believers. Preceded by 10 years of farm invasions,
beatings, torture and killings of his supporters, flawed elections and his
own two treason trials, the marriage with 86-year-old President Mugabe's
regime seems doomed.

He understands the "cynical" western view that Zanu-PF entered the coalition
only to use the MDC to obtain the lifting of US sanctions and European
travel restrictions on the elite. But he denies he is being used: "We are
the majority party, how can we be used? Western scepticism is justifiable
because nearly 30 years of one man creates an impression that there will
never be change. But let me tell you there is an irreversible process
happening and no one wants to go back. The international community must
accept that the transition is not an event, it is a slow process that
requires changes of mindsets and cultures of governance. It is going to take
some time."

But is there time? Tsvangirai and his ministers have inherited a situation
in which more than half the population is on emergency food aid, the health
system is limping on with drugs provided by Britain and state schools are
only functioning because of foreign aid. Investors are not returning,
because Tsvangirai still has not secured either guarantees of transparency
in landownership and the judiciary, or the removal of Gideon Gono, the
central bank governor who vandalised the economy.

The recent mini-scandal in the wake of ministers accepting new Mercedes cars
was a clear example of the compromised position in which Tsvangirai now
finds himself. These days, as a leading member of the unity government, he
rarely criticises Mugabe. Three political prisoners, including his own
former adviser, Gandhi Mudzingwa, are battling to clear their names after
enduring four months of captivity on apparently trumped-up charges. Mugabe
last week removed the communications portfolio, including oversight over
surveillance, from Nelson Chamisa, the MDC minister of information and
communications technology, and gave it to the Zanu-PF-controlled Transport
Ministry.

Tsvangirai insists: "Gandhi, Gono, Johannes Tomana [the attorney-general]
and Chamisa's portfolio erosion are all outstanding issues that will be
dealt with at our meeting to review the global political agreement." That
meeting was due two weeks ago, then last week, but has not happened. The
party says a meeting between Mugabe and Tsangvirai is now scheduled for
Monday.

Tsvangirai's supporters point to elements of progress. Hyperinflation was
halted overnight last month by scrapping the Zimbabwe dollar and replacing
it with hard currency. In another sign of progress, an all-party committee
has been created to draft a constitution due to be put to a referendum next
July, before elections in as little as two years. The unity government has
found the funds to pay soldiers, the army, civil servants and MPs $100 a
month. Imminently, in a significant signal of trust, the World Bank is
expected to announce a post-conflict "pre-arrears grant" of about $100m to
the Zimbabwean treasury.

Tsvangirai claims his party's democratic ideals will not be subsumed in the
machinery of Mugabe's ruthless regime. But even when talking about
sanctions, the president's hobby-horse, he does not condemn him. "There are
those who say, 'Let's speak with one voice to get sanctions removed.' I say,
let's act with one voice on unnecessary diversions like farm invasions that
are blocking our path to building international confidence."

The danger is that Tsvangirai has responsibility without power. He carries a
burden not only of grief but of tremendous expectations. And as he faces up
to the most complex chapter of his life, he must do so, tragically, without
Susan.

'Free' Zimbabwe needs time to repeal old laws

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/


Sunday, 19 April 2009
 STEPHAN HOFSTATTER

THE Quill Club, in the Ambassador Hotel opposite parliament in
downtown Harare, is the unofficial press club where hacks used to hobnob
with Zanu (PF) MPs.

They've since been joined by their counterparts from the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
At the height of the election violence last year only reporters from
the state controlled daily newspaper The Herald and TV station ZTV would
show up.
"We're right next door to the defence ministry," says Financial
Gazette political editor Njabulo Ncube, pointing out the window to a drab
government building. "They were plotting our abduction in there."
Zimbabwe's MDC Deputy Information Minister Jameson Timba is in charge
of reforming the country's repressive media laws.
He's upbeat about the country's reconstruction prospects, dismissing
criticism that investor confidence will never return as long as Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono keeps his job.
"Gono has been kneecapped - he's lost all his revenue collection
powers and his salary is dependent on the MDC controlled finance ministry,"
he says. "It's time to invest."
Timba doesn't believe the MDC sold out by agreeing to become a junior
partner in the powersharing agreement with Zanu (PF) despite winning last
year's elections.
"We had no choice - the alternative was to become Somalia," he says.
"And then no donor would touch us."
Asked why laws allowing journalists to be jailed for criticising the
government or working without a state licence haven not been repealed yet,
he says this was a key topic at a recent cabinet retreat with President
Robert Mugabe at Victoria Falls.
Zanu (PF) supports his proposals on creating a free press, he says,
but repealing laws takes time. "Give us six months, not six weeks."
These assurances are hard to take at face value in a country where
foreign correspondents are used to working underground to avoid arrest. But
they're repeated by a Zanu (PF) politician, Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi.
"You can come to Zimbabwe any time and report freely," he says . "We
are a free country now."
Last week, Mzembi publicly called for Zimbabwe to "re-engage the
international media" if it wants to market the country successfully as a
tourism destination.
These are encouraging signs. But as with the unity government's
economic reforms, the fear remains that until a real government is elected,
even legislated freedoms could be reversed.

The Weekender/Business Day

No cash for political parties

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 17 April 2009

BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's three main political parties will this year not
benefit from any funding under the Political Parties (Finances) Act (PPA)
because the government does not have the money, government sources told The
Zimbabwean on Sunday.
The sources, who did not want to be named, said it was felt that it
would not be viewed in good light both by Zimbabweans and the donor
community for the government to extend a begging bowl to regional neighbours
only to turn back and use the money on non-essential functions.
 "The consensus is that this year there will be no disbursement of
funds under the Political Parties Act as the government is broke and the
funds have not been budgeted," said the source.
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) and Deputy Premier
Arthur Mutambara's faction of the MDC are entitled to receive funding from
treasury.
The PPA stipulates that any political party represented in the House
of Assembly and in the Senate is entitled to receive funds from the
government.
The funds are released by treasury from the national budget but this
year there was no budgetary provision for the parties to receive the funds
under the Act.
The MDC-T holds 100 seats in the House of Assembly, Zanu (PF) has 99,
the MDC-M 10 and an independent candidate Jonathan Moyo has one seat.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga said
the government had not yet discussed or taken a formal position on the
funding of the political parties.
"This issue of funding of political parties under the Political
Parties (Finances) Act has not been discussed from a funding perspective and
it would be difficult to comment on the issue as it has not been looked at
considering the state the economy is in," Matinenga said.
He however said it was not clear whether the parties would receive
their allocations this year or not.
Under the PPA political parties are barred from receiving funding from
external sources.
BY MOSES TEMBO

Time running out for Sibanda

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 17 April 2009
HARARE -  Law experts said Zimbabwe should hold by-elections in seven
House of Assembly and Senate constituencies by mid-May to accommodate Gibson
Sibanda, deputy leader of a breakaway Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
faction who was appointed Minister of State in February but is yet to secure
a seat in both houses of parliament.

Sibanda, who is Minister of State in Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara's Office responsible for National Healing, has just over a month
left before the end of the three months constitutional deadline for him to
secure a parliamentary seat or risk losing his ministerial position.

He was defeated in last year's House of Assembly polls and could not
secure one of the three non-constituency seats reserved for his party under
a power-sharing deal signed last September with President Robert Mugabe and
Morgan Tsvangirai of the larger MDC faction.

Under the Zimbabwean Constitution, he cannot hold office for more than
three months without a seat as either a Member of Parliament (MP) or
senator.

His three months will be up on May 19, which means he has to become a
senator or MP before then.

"MDC-M has no vacant appointed seats available, so it looks as if Mr
Sibanda will have to take his chances in a by-election," observed Veritas, a
group of lawyers.

Sibanda's MDC wing was allocated a total of three non-constituency
seats following an amendment to the Constitution in February - one seat in
the House of Assembly and three in the Senate.

The House of Assembly seat was allocated to Mutambara following his
appointment as Deputy Prime Minister while the senatorial seats were given
to party secretary general Welshman Ncube and Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.

This left the smaller MDC faction one seat short of its requirements
and time is running out.

Ncube, who is Minister of Industry and Commerce and
Misihairabwi-Mushonga were sworn-in as senators two weeks ago.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga is Minister of Regional Integration and
International Co-operation under Zimbabwe's coalition government.

There are three constituency seats to be filled in the House of
Assembly and another three senatorial constituencies requiring by-elections.

The four House of Assembly vacant seats are for Matobo South,
Gokwe-Gumunyu, Guruve North and Bindura constituencies.

Matobo fell vacant after MDC member Lovemore Moyo was elected Speaker
of the House of Assembly while Gokwe-Gumunyu, Guruve North and Bindura seats
became vacant following last year's deaths of Zanu (PF)'s Ephraim Mushoriwa,
Cletus Mabharanga and Elliot Manyika, respectively.

The by-elections for Gokwe-Gumunyu, Guruve North and Bindura could,
however, pose legal challenges for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission because
of the constitutional timeframe for holding such polls.

Under Zimbabwe's electoral laws, a by-election is to be called within
three months of a sitting MP's death.

There is also the pending case of the MDC MP for Chimanimani West,
Lynette Karenyi, who was convicted in January of forging signatures on her
nomination papers for last year's parliamentary elections.

Parliament is still to decide on the fate of the legislator who could
lose her seat if parliamentarians uphold the court ruling.

Senatorial by-elections are due in Chegutu, Chiredzi and Gokwe South
constituencies following the reassignment of the incumbents to other
positions.

The Chegutu senatorial seat was vacated by Zanu (PF) member Edna
Madzongwe after her election as president of the Senate.

The Chiredzi seat fell vacant after Titus Maluleke of Zanu (PF) was
appointed provincial governor of Masvingo while and the Gokwe South seat was
vacated by Jaison Machaya when he was named Midlands provincial governor.
BY NEVER CHANDA

People demanded ZAPU pull-out, Dabengwa

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15382

April 18, 2009

By Mxolisi Ncube

JOHANNESBURG - ZAPU interim national chairman Dumiso Dabengwa says that last
year's decision to pull out of the unity accord with President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF came from the people.

Dabengwa said the people had grown tired Mugabe's rule. Dabengwa emphasised
to this correspondent that the new party is called ZAPU, not PF-Zapu.

A former Minister of Home Affairs and member of Zanu-PF's Politburo,
Dabengwa told about 500 people who attended a ZAPU meeting in a hotel in
Johannesburg Saturday, that disgruntled Zimbabweans nagged the former ZAPU
leaders and urged them to pull out of the accord.

The accord was signed in December 1987 by Mugabe and former ZAPU leader, Dr
Joshua Nkomo, now late.

The unity stopped mass killings in the country's western regions after
Mugabe deployed his North-Korean-trained Five Brigade soldiers on what was
described as a campaign against dissidents backed by ZAPU, then Zimbabwe's
strongest opposition party.

Civilians estimated at up to 20 000 civilians were killed while others
disappeared without trace.

"People told us that they had grown tired of the current (Mugabe) rule in
Zimbabwe which has drifted away from the independence values that we fought
for," said Dabengwa.

"Former ZAPU members in Bulawayo province then sat down and discussed these
concerns, resulting in them passing a resolution that was handed over to
(Vice President) Joseph Msika, as the man who filled in Nkomo's shoes,
telling him that enough was enough and they wanted out of the unity accord
with Zanu-PF."

Dabengwa said Msika had advised the former ZAPU members to prepare for a
meeting at which the Vice-President would address the people and tell them
whether he agreed with the decision to pull out of the unity accord or not.

"He said that we should address the whole populace just as Nkomo did before
he signed the unity accord, when he explained the need for the unity, key of
which was to end the Gukurahundi atrocities that continued to claim innocent
lives," said Dabengwa.

Dabengwa said that it was after this directive from Msika that the revived
ZAPU held its convention in December last year, which resulted in the
election of the party's current interim leadership.

He said that Msika would be expected to address the people at the party's
special congress to be held on May 8.

"At the convention, all our other provinces supported the resolution made by
Bulawayo province," said Dabengwa, "that we should pull out of the unity
accord for good.

"So never again will the bull (ZAPU symbol) return to the Zanu-PF kraal.
Let me tell you now that no one will stop the bull as it sprints back home
after breaking out of this kraal."

Dabengwa added that the party's congress, which he said was scheduled for
next month, was expected to give a final stamp of approval to the decision
to pull out of the unity accord.

"We have followed all the necessary procedures and what now remains is for
the congress to be held next month when we will serve Zanu-PF with the final
divorce papers," he said.

He said that the party was still the same old ZAPU, albeit with new
strategies in line with the dynamics of modern politics.

"We still want to foster the same old ZAPU spirit, where people would meet
and identify each other as umntwana wenhlabathi/mwana wevhu/son of the soil,
rather than discriminate each other on tribal lines as has been propagated
by the current (Zanu-PF) leadership," said Dabengwa.

"We want people to be proud of who they are and where they come from, just
as they used to be in the old days.

"We want the Karanga's, the Ndaus, the Zezuru, the Ndebeles, Kalangas,
Nambyas and the Tongas to be proud of and to be recognized for who they are,
not to be discriminated against.

"We want that to be also reflected on people's party T-shirts, which should
be written in all Zimbabwean languages and dialects, according to the
languages of those wearing them, including the so-called minority
 languages."

Dabengwa, who said that ZAPU supported the national unity government between
Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic for Democratic Change (MDC), called
on the party's members to contribute in the writing of Zimbabwe's new
constitution.

"We want a situation whereby it is people who govern and give leaders
agendas to push forward, not the current scenario where leaders impose
everything on the people because that is not what we fought for," he said.

Lawyer who freed MoS man in Zimbabwe is nominated for top human rights award

 

By Laura Powell
Last updated at 10:00 PM on 18th April 2009

 

Harrison Nkomo's bravery in standing up for human rights in Zimbabwe has led to his nomination for a prestigious award

A lawyer who defended a Mail on Sunday journalist arrested for reporting on the election in Zimbabwe has been nominated for a prestigious human rights award.

Solicitor Harrison Nkomo has risked imprisonment and arrest by taking on cases that have infuriated President Robert Mugabe.

Now Mr Nkomo has been shortlisted for the Index On Censorship magazine’s esteemed Bindmans Law And Campaigning Award, which honours lawyers and activists who have fought repression or struggled to ensure freedom of expression.

Previous winners include Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who reported on the torture and murder of Chechens. She won it in 2002 but was then murdered in 2006.

Mr Nkomo represented Stephen Bevan, a former Mail on Sunday Deputy Features Editor, who was arrested for reporting in Zimbabwe last April during the aftermath of the disputed elections. Police hauled Mr Bevan to a police station in the capital, Harare.

They detained him for four days without running water or a bed until Mr Nkomo persuaded a magistrate to grant him bail.

Mr Bevan said: ‘I spent four nights sleeping on the police station floor – a terrible place with no blankets or mattresses and crawling with lice.

‘Harrison has acute political skills and is a real ducker and diver – a street fighter. This is a brave guy who did fantastic service for me and other journalists and members of the opposition. He richly deserves to be shortlisted for this award.’

A year before the contested election, Mr Nkomo represented Mr Mugabe’s fiercest opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, who was arrested on suspicion of protesting in the streets.

Mr Nkomo was injured when he intervened in the fighting to protect Mr Tsvangirai, who is now sharing power with Mr Mugabe.

Mr Nkomo narrowly escaped arrest when one of his clients, the British reporter Phillip Warington Taylor, skipped bail in October.

Mr Taylor had been facing charges of practising journalism in Zimbabwe without accreditation.

Other nominees for the award include Gamal Eid, the founder of the Working Group For Freedom Of Expression In North Africa, and Harry Roque, a campaigner for human rights in the Philippines. 

The awards ceremony will be held in London on Tuesday.

Parly Still to Finalise Code . . . Nine Years On

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/

17 April 2009

Harare - PARLIAMENT has for the past nine years failed to finalise a code of
conduct for members of the august House making it difficult for
administrators to enforce legal provisions making it mandatory for
legislators to declare their assets.

In an interview this week, the Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, said the
requirement for the declaration of assets was brought about by Parliamentary
reforms in 2000, but to date not a single lawmaker has declared his or her
assets because mechanisms for the provision's implementation have not yet
been adopted.
"The provision is not yet operational. The requirements on the nature of
assets to be declared and when are not yet in place.

"I am hopeful that at the next meeting of the Standing Rules and Orders
Committee, the matter will be considered," said Zvoma. "We are still working
on the code of conduct. The management and principles have not yet been
finalised."

Asked why it has taken so long, Zvoma said a draft is now in place, but it
is not yet a public document as it has to be adopted first by Parliament.

In his inaugural address to Parliament on March 4, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai directed that the mechanism for the declaration of assets must
now be enforced as part of the fight against corruption through increased
accountability and transparency.

Said the premier: "Mr Speaker, Sir, we also have an opportunity to
distinguish ourselves as leaders, not just through the policies we develop
and legislation we pass, but also through the ways in which we conduct
ourselves as the elected representatives of the people.

"As a start, I request Mr Speaker, Sir, that you ensure that the mechanism
for the declaration of assets by Honourable Members is enforced."

Turning to the issue of the 25-member select committee, expected to work on
drafting a new Constitution which process has already come under fire from
civic society, Zvoma said the question of having the committee chaired by a
non-Member of Parliament was referred to the three principals -- President
Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara -- 
who are yet to decide on the way forward.
Asked who would chair the committee in the meantime, Zvoma replied: "We will
proceed as normal. Parties have agreed that in the meantime they can
co-chair."

He said the Standing Rules and Orders Committee, which considers and decides
on all matters concerning Parliament, was not divided on the issue.