http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Monday, 25 April 2011
13:37
HARARE - Negotiators to the three political parties who signed
the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) are disagreeing on the role of the army
and
intelligence officers during elections.
However, they agreed
on the election road map to be submitted to the unity
government’s
principals.
The six negotiators from Zanu PF, and the two MDC formations
met in the
capital yesterday as has been planned by the South African
facilitators
early this month that the three parties will discuss the
election roadmap
that will lead to another round of workshops early next
month.
The negotiators last month completed their review of the GPA which
they
submitted to the South African facilitators led by Charles Nqakula, an
advisor to President Jacob Zuma.
Zimbabwe’s GPA negotiators are
rushing against time to resolve all the
outstanding issues to the unity
agreement as the South African Development
Community (Sadc), the guarantors
of the unity pact, resolved that the
country must work on resolving
outstanding issues.
The Sadc troika on politics, defence and security
said the country must stop
violence which has been rampant across the
country.
A source who is privy to the negotiations that were held
yesterday in the
capital said the three parties agreed on the need for
electoral reforms, and
on how people should vote.
“The negotiators
are still disagreeing on the role of the uniformed forces
especially the
deployment of soldiers and intelligence officers during
elections,” a top
government official who requested anonymity said.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC party has complained that the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
is heavily staffed by intelligence officers
who are loyal to President
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.
ZEC for reasons yet to be known
delayed the announcement of 2008 harmonised
elections by weeks. Mugabe lost
to Tsvangirai in the elections that the MDC
said were tampered
with.
Efforts to contact the negotiators were fruitless as their mobile
phones
went unanswered.
http://www.bulawayo24.com
by Bhebhe Mandla
2011 April 25
16:59:06
The police in Mutare and Kwekwe have banned planned marches by
the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which are part of May Day
commemorations.
There are reports that the police temporarily banned the
marches for
security reasons until further notice.
However police in
Bulawayo have not yet responded to ZCTU's request for
permission to hold the
May Day marches.
http://www.radiovop.com
25/04/2011 14:09:00
HARARE,
April 25, 2011- It is not difficult to tell when elections loom in
Zimbabwe.
The populace is treated to an outpouring of vitriol, which is
designed to
cow the opposition and bolster President Robert Mugabe’s
prospects.
President Robert Mugabe, 87, hasn’t actually set the date
for an election
yet. But the climate is unmistakable. Just about anybody who
can hold a pen
is being required to sign a petition seeking the lifting of
Western
sanctions which, we are told, are responsible for the nation’s
myriad woes.
Some two million signatures are due to be handed in to the
British and
United States embassies, although rampant coercion is likely to
be seen in
Western eyes as invalidating the process.
The driver of
deputy prime minister and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
official
Thokozani Khupe was arrested and detained for suggesting the
exercise was “a
waste of time.”Headmasters in rural areas such as Chivhu
have been told to
use their schools as signing centers while shop owners
have been told they
would lose their licences if they didn’t sign.
But not everybody has been
persuaded. One resident of a Harare township said
there was a noticeable
lack of enthusiasm where he lives.
“Most people here refused to comply,” he
said, reflecting the views of the
country’s youth.Meanwhile, police have
refused to allow the MDC to hold
rallies on the outskirts of the capital.
Those places were already booked by
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, they were told.
When asked about the following week
the police said those places had already
been booked as well. In fact all
available space was block-booked for the
rest of the year.
Harare’s mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said he had records to
show there were no
such bookings. But nevertheless the police prevented any
MDC rallies from
taking place.They did not have sufficient resources to
control crowds was
there new excuse, although the riot police are quick to
show their brutal
presence if people do gather.
Meanwhile, the state
broadcaster has been abusing its monopoly by carrying
hagiographical
accounts of Mugabe’s rule while excluding mention of other
parties. It has
also been screening grisly pictures of bodies retrieved from
a mine at Mt.
Darwin, 110 miles northeast of Harare, who Zanu-PF claims were
victims of
Rhodesian forces in the country’s 1970s bush war. But observers
note that
some of the 640 bodies brought up to the surface were still
covered with
skin and emitted fluids suggesting a more recent origin.
The MDC says 200
of its followers were killed in the political violence of
2008 but they have
been careful not to claim the Mt. Darwin bodies as their
former members in
the absence of forensic tests.Dumiso Dabengwa,
intelligence chief of the old
opposition Zapu party, has warned if Zanu-PF
continues to make political
capital out of the Mt. Darwin exhumations he
will draw attention to the
estimated 20,000 victims of Mugabe’s Fifth
Brigade in Matabeleland in the
early 1980s.
The pre-election campaign so far hasn’t been all plain
sailing so far
Mugabe.Having carefully orchestrated the election of
Zanu-PF’s chairman
Simon Khaya Moyo to the speakership of the House of
Assembly, Mugabe came
down with a bump when his candidate lost to the MDC’s
Lovemore Moyo, the
previous speaker dethroned in a civil suit.
The
president was stung by remarks from his regional colleagues denouncing
violence. Southern African leaders in a summit communique from Livingstone
in Zambia on March 31 expressed concern over the political polarization in
Zimbabwe which they said was “characterized by violence, intimidation and
arrests.”
“There must be an immediate end to violence, intimidation, hate
speech,
harassment and any other form of action that contradicts the letter
and
spirit of the (inter-party) global political agreement (GPA),” the
regional
leaders said in unprecedented public remarks.
Usually heads of
state are reluctant to criticize each other over such
issues.
Zimbabwe’s state press struck back with ferocity, referring
to Zuma’s
“duplicity.”
“His disconcerting behavior has now become a huge
liability,” said
Zimbabwe's state-owned Sunday Mail.
This follows shuttle
diplomacy by Tsvangirai ahead of the summit in which he
pointed out
persistent human rights abuses and departures from the agreement
that
created the coalition government.
Communiques from SADC summits are
usually dull reading. But the
uncompromising language the Livingstone summit
communique, clearly critical
of Mugabe, represents a significant coup by
Tsvangirai. Taken together with
the MDC's victory over the House speakership
provides the party with an
important boost when its fortunes were flagging.
It now remains to be seen
what use Tsvangirai and the MDC can make of their
advantage.
-GlobalPost
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Pindai Dube
Monday, 25 April
2011 16:46
HARARE - An MDC official in Matabeleland North province,
Oliver Chikumba,
was last week arrested for insulting President Robert
Mugabe after he
refused to sign the Zanu PF anti-sanctions
petition.
Last month, Witness Dube, the personal driver for MDC
vice-president
Thokozani Khupe, was also arrested in Bulawayo for refusing
to sign the same
Zanu PF anti-sanctions petition.
Chikumba, the
former secretary for information for the main MDC in
Matabeleland North
Province, was dragged to Hwange Magistrate’s Court on
charges of insulting
Mugabe, after he refused to sign the controversial
petition, which is being
forced on the people throughout the country.
According to the State
outline, Chikumba was approached by a Mrs Mlonyeni, a
Zanu PF women’s league
member, outside TM Hwange Supermarket, who requested
him to sign the Zanu PF
anti-sanctions petition.
Chikumba refused to sign the anti-sanctions
petition and is alleged to have
told Mlonyeni to bring Mugabe to him first
before signing.
The infuriated Mlonyeni, with the help of Darlington
Nhova, suspected member
of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO),
arrested Chikumba and
dragged him to Hwange police station, where he was
detained for four days
before being brought to court on Friday.
He is
being charged for contravening Section 33 of the Criminal (Procedure
and
Codification) Act.
The matter was postponed to April 29.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by PASSOP
Monday, 25 April 2011 16:26
PASSOP has
been informed that the Zimbabwean Consulate will finally be
delivering
passports to Zimbabweans who applied for them in Cape Town,
following months
of misinformation, which caused much panic amongst Cape
Town based
Zimbabwean applicants. We welcome this move, but note with
concern the
inconsistency in the Zimbabwean consulate’s public statements.
We also note
with concern that there remain applicants for the Zimbabweans
Dispensation
Project who still need to apply for passports, who have not
been given any
opportunity to do so in Cape Town.
We will monitor the process to ensure that
they are held to account, it is
important that human rights are respected
during the distribution process
and that no more assaults or political
interference occurs. Consulate
officials will be distributing passports in
Cape Town from the South African
Department of Home Affairs office in Boston
Centre, Bellville between 28 and
30 April 2011.
Applicants will be
required to bring their passport application receipt for
R750.00 and a
Zimbabwean ID/ expired/valid passport. Please note parents and
guardians
collecting for children below 16 years will be required to bring
their
child’s birth certificate and parents Zimbabwean ID.
For comment from PASSOP
please contact: Langton Miriyoga – 084 026 9658 or
Braam Hanekom –
0843191764
http://af.reuters.com
Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:27pm
GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's tourism industry earned about
13 percent of
the impoverished state's gross domestic product in 2010 and
should grow an
average 6.9 percent annually over the next decade, a minister
said on
Monday.
Zimbabwe, isolated and shunned by the West for
suspected human rights abuses
under President Robert Mugabe, has made steady
gains in tourism ever since a
unity government formed in 2009 brought a
measure of stability.
"I have set a ... $5 billion revenue target, 5
million arrivals by 2015,
with the current peace and stability prevailing in
our country and our
ability to spin a more positive image of ourselves as
preconditions,"
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Walter Mzembi wrote in
the government
controlled Herald newspaper.
Tourism earnings jumped
47 percent last year to $770 million while the
number of visitors rose 15
percent to 2.3 million, the Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority told Reuters
separately.
Tourism collapsed after Mugabe began a forcible take-over of
white-owned
farms about a decade ago. Political violence and an economic
meltdown kept
tourists away from the country's nature preserves and its
gateway to the
Victoria Falls.
Zimbabwe's economy expanded for the
first time in 2009 under the unity
government led by Mugabe and rival Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who
leads the Movement for Democratic
Change.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, an MDC member, told Reuters in
January he
expects the economy to grow by about 8-15 percent in 2011 with
agriculture,
mining and tourism seen as key industries. He estimated GDP at
$6 billion.
Mugabe is pressing for an election this year, before agreed
democratic
reforms are complete, a move that Biti says could lead to a
bloodbath and
renewed economic collapse.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff
Writer
Monday, 25 April 2011 16:49
HARARE - Harare mayor Muchadeyi
Masunda has claimed that the city council is
losing revenue at properties
which have either been used or occupied by Zanu
PF supporters whom he
accuses of refusing to pay the municipality.
Masunda said Zanu PF is
using Carter House in Mbare without paying council
its dues.
The
Harare mayor told the Daily News that Carter House is council property
reserved for travellers either in transit or stranded.
Carter House
as far as I know about it, is a transit place and no one should
own that
building because it is supposed to serve as a hotel to people who
would have
failed to proceed to where they should, said Masunda.
He also bemoaned
the non compliance with their by laws which could have seen
Zanu PF paying
for the holding of the anti-sanctions rally near the
Magistrates
Court.
They were supposed to have paid at least US$1000 for the
anti-sanction
campaign but up to this day they have not paid anything to the
city.
If Joyce Meyer paid almost US$4500 for her church service why
should they
not pay? The City of Harare is home to all political parties and
no-one has
monopoly to control of any resource within the city, said
Masunda.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo could neither deny nor confirm
the
allegations but referred all questions regarding payments to the party’s
finance department.
Masunda, warned political parties that have a
tendency of using unhealthy
designations for holding rallies saying most of
them are held without police
clearance.
We discourage the use of open
space for political gathering because most of
these places do not have
ablution facilities and they are very difficult to
manage hence we charge
high prices but some political movements tend to use
them and do not pay
anything to council, said Masunda.
The City of Harare is home to
legitimate stakeholders and we want to treat
all of them as equal partners
to the development of the city.
We don’t allow block booking to anyone
because we are here to serve everyone
including Zanu PF, the two MDC
formations and even other political parties
that want to use our properties
can approach either the city valuation
department or the department of
housing, said Masunda.
http://www.radiovop.com
25/04/2011
17:32:00
BULAWAYO, April 25, 2011- Thembelihle Nursing Home in
Mpopoma high density
suburb of Bulawayo's only HIV/Aids nursing home, run by
the Grace Mugabe,
faces closure after allegedly running out of
funds.
The Nursing Home is designed to provide terminally ill HIV/Aids
patients
with enough food to regain their strength. It was opened in October
2006 and
was adopted by Grace.The Nursing home chairperson Ellen Nzimande,
confirmed
that the home is facing closure, due to a shortage of drugs and
medical
supplies, rising cost of food and the growing poverty of Zimbabwean
citizens, which are making it a lot harder for them to run it
properly.
She said “most of the donors pulled out in February this year
and since
then, we have been depending on some well-wishers, especially
churches.”
Grace has not been seen in public for more than a month now
and is believed
to be in China. There are conflicting reports about her with
some reports
saying she is pursuing studies at a Chinese university and some
saying she
is seeking medical attention and some saying she has ran away
from his
husband.
Zimbabwe used to have one of the highest number of
people infected with
HIV/Aids in the world, but the figures decreased
recently. The level of
infections has changed dropped dramatically primarily
due to change in
sexual behaviour because of improved public awareness of
Aids deaths and a
subsequent fear of contracting the virus. Other important
drivers have been
the influence of education programmes that have shifted
people’s attitudes
towards having multiple concurrent sexual partners in
extra-marital,
commercial and casual relations and have increased the
acceptability of
using condoms for casual sex.
-Source: Bulawayo24.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/
By Brian Latham - Apr 25, 2011 6:30 PM
GMT+1000
Zimbabwe’s first-quarter gold production in fell 19 percent
compared with
the last quarter of 2010, the state-controlled Herald
reported, citing
Chamber of Mines President Victor
Gapare.
High-carbon ferrochrome production slumped 18 percent and
platinum
production fell two percent, the Harare-based newspaper said on its
website.
Nickel production rose almost four percent, the Herald
said.
The newspaper didn’t provide the volumes of minerals produced for
the
quarters.
Zimbabwe has the world’s second-biggest platinum
deposits after South
Africa. The country mines mainly platinum, ferrochrome,
gold, coal, diamonds
and nickel.
http://www.radiovop.com/
25/04/2011
17:31:00
JOHANNESBURG, April 25, 2011- The secessionist and radical
Mthwakazi
Liberation Front (MLF) has summoned its national organising
secretary Max
Mkandla to appear before the organisation’s disciplinary
committee following
his controversial comments condemning the burning of the
Zimbabwean flag by
South Africa based members last week.
MLF
spokesman David Magagula told Radio Vop that Mkandla will be required to
explain his actions when he appears before the disciplinary
committee.
“ We have sent him a letter advising him to appear before the
disciplinary
committee and explain why he decided to attack the organisation
in the media
instead of following proper channels, ” Magagula told Radio
Vop.
According to Magagula, Mkandla should be organising people in his
area to
identify and burn Zimbabwean flags they will come across in
Matabeleland.Last week Mkandla condemned the burning of the Zimbabwean flag
in Johannesburg.Mkandla who is a former Zipra cadre described those who
burnt the flag as criminals.
But MLF leaders in Johannesburg have
supported the actions of the youths who
organised the march and burning of
the flag describing it as a symbol of
oppression against ethnic minorities
in Matabeleland province. MLF has also
announced that its leader and former
Zipra guerrilla officer Fidelis Ncube
who is affectionately known as
General Nandinandi will address supporters
in Johannesburg on Saturday.The
organisation has been under pressure from
supporters to force Ncube to
address people in Johannesburg.Ncube is based
in Gaborone, Botswana.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
By Jonathan
Brown
Monday, 25 April 2011
Sitting in the front rows, well
ahead of the pop stars, sporting heroes and
celebrities, will be figureheads
from some of the world's most controversial
regimes. While Colonel Gaddafi's
representative has been officially
uninvited (but only after the attacks
began on citizens in Libya),
diplomatic niceties dictate that the
representatives of other unsavoury
members of the London diplomatic corps,
including those of North Korea and
Iran, will be welcome.
Despite
Zimbabwe having withdrawn from the Commonwealth in 2003 and Robert
Mugabe
being subject to a travel ban and sanctions, Zimbabwe's ambassador to
London, Gabriel Machinga, remains on the guest list because the two
countries retain "normal" relations. St James's Palace said that all heads
of mission in London have been invited as a matter of course. Diplomats and
heads of state are invited by the Queen rather than the royal couple, the
Palace said. A recent report for the US Congress found that, while
state-sponsored abuses were at a lower level than in 2008, Zimbabwe security
forces continue to beat and torture opponents of Mr Mugabe's
Zanu-PF.
The presence of Prince Mohamed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz of Saudi
Arabia and
Princess Fadwa bint Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman is also
likely to
draw protests. Bahraini human rights protesters are staging weekly
demos
outside the Saudi embassy in London against the country's deployment
of
troops to help quash the democracy protests there. Last month Amnesty
International highlighted the case of Mohammad Salih al-Bajadi, a
30-year-old Saudi businessman who co-founded a human rights organisation,
who was arrested and held incommunicado after attending a protest.
A
little further along the pew will sit King Mswati III of Swaziland. It is
nearly four decades since political parties and trade unions were banned;
three days of planned protest to mark the occasion were called off earlier
this month after most of the leadership of the opposition was arrested by
the security forces and a curfew declared.
There has already been
anger in his own country, where more than a quarter
of adults have HIV/Aids
– the highest prevalence in the world – over the
absolute monarch's
inclusion on the wedding guest list in London. The king,
who has an
estimated fortune of $100m, is no stranger to weddings: he has
been married
13 times and stages an annual dance where he can choose afresh
from hundreds
of bare-breasted virgins. Seventy per cent of his subjects
continue to live
in absolute poverty, enjoying fewer rights than neighbours
in Zimbabwe, and
six out of 10 deaths result from Aids.
Who's in and who's
out
Neither Tony Blair nor Gordon Brown has been invited to the Royal
Wedding.
While Prince William and Kate Middleton have sent invitations to an
array of
politicians, war veterans, sports stars, musicians, and charity
heads, the
names of the two former Labour prime ministers are missing from
the guest
list.
Even the landlord of Miss Middleton's local pub will
have a seat in
Westminster Abbey on Friday. John Haley, who runs the Old
Boot Inn in
Bucklebury, the Berkshire village where the Middleton family
lives, said he
was privileged to receive one of 1,900 invitations.
It
is thought that Mr Blair and Mr Brown were not invited because they are
not
Knights of the Garter, members of the most senior British order of
chivalry.
The former Tory prime minister Sir John Major does hold the title,
suggesting that he will make an appearance at the event. At the wedding of
Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981, all surviving prime ministers –
Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James
Callaghan – were in attendance.
The 200 invited politicians and
diplomats include David Cameron, his deputy
Nick Clegg, the Labour leader Ed
Miliband and the Commons Speaker John
Bercow.
Foreign royalty invited
include the Sultan of Brunei, the King and Queen of
Norway and King
Constantine, the former sovereign of Greece, and his wife
Queen Anne-Marie.
Celebrity guests will include David and Victoria Beckham,
Sir Elton John,
Guy Ritchie and the socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.
Louise Wells
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/6601
April 25th, 2011
Living
in Zimbabwe as a woman I feel completely disempowered to do anything
about
the political situation and the effects it has on me and my family.
The
inclusive government, from what I can gather by the limited information
I
can access, is not delivering what it said it would after the horrors of
2008.
I understand that Zanu PF and the MDC are not working together
in a manner
to improve the political situation, alas from what I hear, it is
beginning
to get worse as talk of another election starts. Rumours of
violence and
political campaigning are gripping my community.
The
decision makers are mostly men and the entrenched patriarchal system and
cultural norms makes it ever more difficult for women to participate at any
decision making level. In 2008 there were 210 seats and only 30 (14.29%)
were taken up by women.
Although at the grass roots level, women are
active in mobilizing the
electorate to vote in large numbers, their passion
and activism is not
reflected in positions of power despite making up 50% of
the population.
Our political system in Zimbabwe would unquestionably
benefit from an
increased presence of women. However there are not many
women who would
voluntarily go into politics in its current state because it
is just too
difficult and they would rather use their talents to another
way.
When I look at my own life, I ache to make a difference in my
community, but
that decision comes with risks. I know of many people who
have become
politically conscience have been met with violence, isolation or
worse,
several have been arrested at some point and even
tortured.
And the time it would take to participate in civic or political
activities
would take me away from my children. Without adequate
alternatives for child
care, I am shackled from participation before I even
begin. I have not
however fully investigated my friends’ thoughts on this
issue, perhaps if
enough of us wanted to become involved in our own futures
we could take
turns with childcare – I don’t know?
Women and children
have been the hardest hit sector from the political and
economic crisis our
country has endured. We are responsible for ensuring our
children are fed,
extended family members are safe and have often been the
targets for
political oppression through rape and abuse. Our sexual organs
have become
battle grounds. Yet we have almost no voice. When our men are
targets for
abuse, they with relative ease flee their homes, and if needed
the country
with the clothes on their backs. We cannot do that with
children.
One
woman in my area did become publically involved and became chastised and
humiliated because she dared to criticise and speak her mind in an arena
regarded as a male space. I don’t want that to happen to me.
I have
heard of groups like WOZA with its brave members making statements
against
wrongs in government, but I also hear that they are frequently
arrested and
beaten. Am I brave enough to go through that, and do I believe
it will
really make a difference? Perhaps on my own, no. But if enough of us
band
together our voices will be strong, loud and important.
Surely we should
have a voice, and stand shoulder to shoulder with our men
and not in their
shadow?
I hope we can begin to tackle some of these fears and
discriminations as I
am tired of having my world decided and created by
others who do not
understand, nor try to understand my needs and fears. We
should begin to
build strategic coalitions with our men in politics and find
common ground
on which to build on. We need a critical mass so we can no
longer be
dismissed or ignored.
And we must not assume that all men
in political positions are gender
insensitive. Can we try to identify those
who have an open door policy and
perhaps learn from them how to best put our
ideas across without alienating
other men?
But numbers alone are not
enough. We must educate ourselves so that when
given the opportunity to
speak we can participate for the benefit of the
women we speak with or on
behalf of.
Let’s make a difference, take out futures into our own hands
and work
together with all to bring our beautiful country into a new
dispensation of
tolerance, peace and growth.
This entry was posted by
SA on Monday, April 25th, 2011 at 6:49 am.