Jail Video

Chinamasa Denies SABC Footage on Zim Prisons

http://www.radiovop.com


HARARE, April 2 2009 - Zimbabwe's Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
has dismissed as "false" an SABC TV3 Special Assignment documentary which
aired horrifying footage exposing how prisons in the country have become
death camps for thousands of inmates who are deprived of food and medical
care.

The documentary, shown on Tuesday's night on South Africa's state
broadcaster SABC3, documented the "living hell" for prisoners at Beitbridge,
Khami and Chikurubi Maximum prisons.

In an interview with RadioVOP on Wednesday, Chinamasa said the
documentary, which shocked most Zimbabweans due to its horrifying pictures
of gravely ill inmates, accused the SABC team of fabricating the story.

"What was shown by the SABC3 is not true," said Chinamasa. "The SABC
is lying. We do not allow cameras into our prisons. We have made
investigations and found out that the footage is not from Zimbabwean but
other countries," he said.

"The pictures shown are not from Zimbabwe prisons but elsewhere in
Africa and these are being attributed to us. We know our prisons are facing
challenges but that documentary was false. Also it is unethical for the SABC
to show such pictures of foreign prisoners and attribute them to Zimbabwe. I
want to re-state that no-one is allowed inside our prisons with cameras," he
said.

But the SABC team said the film, made by SABC's Special Assignment
programme, was shot over three months with cameras smuggled into the
prisons.

The film showed how prison staff have converted cells and storage
rooms to "hospital wards" for the dying and makeshift mortuaries, where
bodies "rot on the floors with maggots moving all around".

In October last year the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and
Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) released a report indicating that
there were 55 prisons in Zimbabwe, with ae capacity to hold 17 000 inmates.
But in October 2008 it was estimated that more than 35 000 people were in
jail.

Mutasa Implicated in Latest Farm Invasions

http://www.radiovop.com


HARARE, April 2 2009 - Former Lands and Land Resettlement minister,
Didymus Mutasa, has been fingered as one of the agent provocateurs in the
on-going farm invasions.

Documents in possession of RadioVOP indicate that Mutasa, now Minister
of State in the President's Office, allegedly heads an active group known as
the Land Inspectorate Commission and is assisted in the latest invasions by
Temba Mliswa, the Mashonaland West secretary for Lands.

The revelations are contained in a 40-page report on the latest farm
invasions presented to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on March 27 by the
Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (CFU).

"What has become very evident from the reports coming in is that there
is a very active group which we understand is called the Land Commission,
allegedly headed by the previous Minister of Lands, Minister Mutasa," reads
part of the CFU report.

The reports states that from 6 February 2009 onwards the Attorney
General Johannes Tomana and Ministry of Lands, held workshops around the
country and basically instructed magistrates, prosecutors, police and land
officials to fast-track prosecution of remaining farmers.

"It would appear that this is to make way for immediate occupation by
persons in favour of the ZANU PF party and many of these new beneficiaries
are alleged to have been involved in the recent political violence," said
the report.

The CFU went on to plead with the Prime Minister's Office to call for
a moratorium on the prosecution of white farmers.

Home Affairs Ministers Summon Kunonga, Bakare

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE, April 2 2009 - Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Ministers on Wednesday
summoned the two feuding Anglican bishops in a desperate bid to end
infighting between parishioners loyal to the church leaders.

Giles Mutsekwa, one of the two Home Affairs Ministers appointed to
serve in the coalition government alongside ZANU PF's Kembo Mohadi,
disclosed on Wednesday that Bishop Sebastian Bakare and Nolbert Kunonga
appeared before the two ministers to answer to charges of infighting between
their supporters, and to explore ways of resolving the church dispute, which
has in recent months sucked in the police.

"Government is worried about the disagreements in the Anglican Church.
The image of the police is beginning to be tarnished. So on Wednesday we
summoned Bishop Bakare and Bishop Kunonga and we had a detailed discussion,"
Mutsekwa, the Movement for Democratic Change legislator told parliament in
response to a question raised by one legislator during the weekly question
and answer session.

However, Mutsekwa said the two co-ministers' intervention had hit a
brick wall after they were informed by the two church leaders of the pending
court processes pertaining to the dispute.

Mutsekwa said his ministry has since ordered the Attorney-General (AG)
Johannes Tomana to give his legal interpretation before any action is taken
against Kunonga and Bakare.

"We ran into a snag as there are court orders and appeals. We have
referred the issue to the government chief law officer to give his
interpretation. We are hoping that once we have his interpretation we can
give directives," said Mutsekwa.

The police have in recent months and weeks defied a court order
obtained by Bakare ordering the parishioners aligned to Bakare and Kunonga
to share church premises and properties. Last weekend police barred
parishioners sympathetic to Kunonga from conducting services at several
churches in Harare and assaulted several of them.

But Mutsekwa said the two ministers had cautioned the police against
using heavy-handed approaches against worshipers.

"We have also asked the police to restrain themselves with regards to
using violence against the people," said Mutsekwa.

Kunonga broke away from the Church of the Province of Central Africa
in 2007 and created the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe. The Province responded
by deposing Kunonga and appointing Bakare to head the Church of the Province
of Central Africa. Litigation over the control of diocesan properties ensued
and last year the High Court issued an order directing Kunonga and Bakare to
share the use of church facilities pending the outcome of litigation.

The controversial Kunonga has in the past vociferously defended
President Robert Mugabe over his controversial policies particularly the
violent seizure of white farms for redistribution to former freedom fighters
and supporters loyal to ZANU PF.

Parly wants answers over "mass graves" at Chiadzwa

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Nqobizitha Khumalo Thursday 02 April 2009

BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe parliamentarians will next week question Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu over allegations that 83 illegal miners allegedly killed by the
army were buried in mass graves at the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the east
of the country.

Legislators will use the question time next Wednesday to also quiz Mpofu on
the operations of the government's Zimbabwe Mining and Development
Corporation (ZMDC) at Chiadzwa that have remained shrouded in controversy.

According to the parliamentary order paper, legislators will ask Mpofu
"questions on the Chiadzwa diamond fields, including the alleged burial in
mass graves of 83 diamond panners."

It was not immediately clear whether the legislators who will pose questions
to Mpofu belonged to the two MDC formations or to President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU PF party.

However, the order paper makes it clear questions on the alleged Chiadzwa
burials would be raised during the  'Question With Notice' time when Cabinet
ministers are expected to give detailed and factual information on specific
matters raised by parliamentarians.

The Chiadzwa diamond fields near the eastern city of Mutare have been mired
in controversy since its discovery in 2006.

There have been reports of massive looting of the diamond fields by senior
government officials and illegal diamond dealers and miners while the army
and police send to guard the fields are said to have themselves turned to
illegal mining and selling of diamonds.

But human rights groups say soldiers and police only turned to illegal
mining of diamonds after first murdering scores of illegal miners and local
villagers in a bid to force them off the Chiadzwa fields.

Mpofu last week denied in Parliament that state security agents had killed
diamond panners at Chiadzwa saying the government was aware of only three
deaths of illegal miners resulting from fights among the diamond diggers who
often implemented the law of the jungle amongst themselves.

In response to question from legislators why it took the government so long
to secure the diamond fields, Mpofu said it had taken rather too long for
the state to realise that there were diamonds at Chiadzwa.

Mpofu also revealed to Parliament that the ZMDC was extracting up to 60 000
carats a week worth US$ 600 000 from Chiadzwa diamond fields.

Human rights groups and villagers near Chiadzwa claim that a joint police
and army crackdown codenamed 'Hakudzokwi' (You Won't Return) so more than
100 illegal diamond miners killed as the government sought to restore order
at the diamonds and pave way for commercial investors to come in and mining
the diamonds.

The mining of diamonds at Chiadzwa is currently at the centre of a probe by
an international team from the United Nation's world diamond regulatory
body, the Kimberley Process.

The UN is also investigating reports of mass murder at the diamond fields
and the international team, which monitors the trade in "blood diamonds",
which was in Zimbabwe two weeks ago will report back on the allegations of
killings at Chiadzwa. - ZimOnline.

No cash to process 'O' and 'A' examinations

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Andrew Moyo Thursday 02 April 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government said Wednesday that it had run
out of funds to complete marking of public school examinations written last
year and whose results should have been out several weeks ago.

Education Minister David Coltart told a meeting of the education sector in
Harare that results that should have been announced at the end of this month
had been postponed to a later date while the government scrounges for cash
to compete the marking of Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations.

"Marking of the papers is complete but there is no sufficient money to
continue the exercise," Coltart told delegates who also included
representatives of several international aid organisations.

The results are traditionally announced by the end of February.

Coltart said his ministry was looking for more funds from donors to complete
the marking to complement ongoing government efforts to source funds from
through the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The failure to process public school examinations highlights the rot in
Zimbabwe's once envied educations system after 10 years of under-funding and
mismanagement.

Classrooms have crumbled, textbooks are in short supply, while a severe
brain drain that has seen thousands of teachers and other professionals such
as bankers, lawyers, doctors and engineers fleeing Zimbabwe to go abroad
where remuneration and living conditions are better has left schools badly
understaffed.

Teachers agreed to return to work after months on strike and to start
marking the examinations only after the new power-sharing government between
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to pay
all civil servants allowances of US$100 each per month.

Markers are also being paid in hard cash. But with production at either
standstill or well below capacity across all sectors of the economy, the
government is fast running out of cash for allowances and for other key
functions.

A SADC summit on Monday agreed to help raise US$10 billion from the
international community to bankroll Zimbabwe's recovery.

But rich Western governments with capacity to fund the unity government have
refused to provide support until they see evidence Mugabe is committed to
genuine power sharing and to implementing comprehensive political and
economic reforms. - ZimOnline.

I've a good working relationship with Mugabe: Tsvangirai

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Tendai Maronga Thursday 02 April 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said he now has a
good working relationship with long time foe President Robert Mugabe as he
returned from his two-week long compassionate leave.

Tsvangirai said despite some disagreements on matters of principle with
Mugabe, they have had a "workable relationship".

"Of course we disagree from time to time but not in an antagonistic manner.
I find the relationship with Mugabe to be a workable one," said Tsvangirai
from his Munhumutapa offices a few hours after resuming work on Wednesday.

The MDC leader also took time to talk about how he now feels after losing
his wife in a tragic accident last month.

"It has been difficult but I think like any other person who has lost their
loved ones you have to manage to get over it," he said.

Tsvangirai's wife Susan died shortly after the car she and her husband were
travelling in was struck on the side by a truck that veered onto their lane
along the potholed Harare-Masvingo highway.

The car, a Toyota Landcruiser, reportedly rolled three times before landing
on its roof. Susan, Tsvangirai's wife of 31 years, was thrown out of the car
sustaining heavy injuries in the process.

She was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital and was buried at
Tsvangirai's rural home in Buhera.

Tsvangirai, who escaped from the horrific car crash with head injuries took
a two-week break to South Africa to rest with his family while he recovered.

It was business as usual for Tsvangirai on his return to work yesterday as
he received briefings from various ministers.

He said the country needed unity of purpose now than ever before as it was
facing a lot of challenges which go "beyond personal losses".

Responding to a group of 17 "like-minded" Western donor countries' demands
to "demonstrate its (inclusive government) commitment to reform", Tsvangirai
said no one should doubt the reforms that have been made so far.

"This country has embarked on a number of reforms - the constitutional
process, legislative reforms, economic reforms, media reforms . . . I do not
know what other reforms they are talking about. I see no reason why anyone
should doubt these reforms," he said.

At their meeting in Washington DC on March 20, Western countries agreed to
work with Zimbabwe's new unity government to achieve specific goals
identified in the global political agreement.

These included the restoration of rule of law, economic stabilisation and
growth, freedom of assembly, commitment to democratic processes and an end
to "farm invasions".

Tsvangirai also voiced concern over alleged fresh farm invasions, saying the
matter was being looked into by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee to address the issue.

He however, assured Zimbabweans that the country was on a recovery path. "To
Zimbabweans, your placing hope on this government is not false, it is real,"
he said.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a power sharing government in February to
rescue Zimbabwe's ruined economy and work to end a humanitarian crisis
manifested in deepening poverty and an outbreak of a deadly cholera
epidemic. - ZimOnline

Heavy Rains Provide Drinking Water, Mitigate Zimbabwe Cholera Epidemic

http://www.voanews.com

By Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Washington
01 April 2009

Fresh water provided to Zimbabweans by heavy rains is helping to slow the
cholera epidemic, medical sources in the country said, though they added
that there remains much to be done to establish sustainable sources of clean
drinking water across the country.

In Harare and other cities residents are collecting rainwater which is
relatively safer than the water available from local wells or even municipal
supplies drawn from the tap.

Sustained heavy rains this late in the rainy season have also washed away
disease-carrying contaminants that the initial rains carried into water
sources.

The World Health Organization updated figures on the epidemic Wednesday,
reporting that a total of 4,115 people have died since the epidemic started
last August, from a cumulative 94,013 cases. The update noted 76 new cases
and 3 new deaths.

Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo, chairman of the Zimbabwe Association Of Doctors For
Human Rights, told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye that it will take
sustained effort by public health and those restoring water infrastructure
to end the cholera epidemic.

Fears of New Cholera Outbreak As Western Suburbs Run Dry

http://www.herald.co.zw

1 April 2009

Harare - WESTERN suburbs have, once again, gone dry with some parts going
for more than two weeks without water supplies as residents raised fears of
a new cholera outbreak.

Long winding queues were the order of the day at boreholes in most parts of
Budiriro, Glen View while in Crowborough and Kuwadzana residents fetched
water from a pipeline after removing a manhole lid.

Residents in Kuwadzana 5 yesterday said water supplies were suddenly cut
without an explanation from the authorities.

"We have not received any communication from council and we have had to use
water from the only borehole behind the shopping centre," Mr Morgan Chatima
said.

Another resident, Ms Nothando Mlambo said while no official explanation has
been given to residents, there were reports council was failing to repair a
burst pipe at Kuwadzana 5 Primary School.

"There are a lot of stories going around but the fact is that we are
suffering -- just imagine, when you are going to work, you have to join a
long queue at the borehole," she said.

Volunteers from Medicins Sans Frontieres were treating water at a pipeline
that transports water to Marimba Reservoir. Residents had removed a manhole
lid and were fetching water and washing clothes near the pipeline.

"Since the takeover (of water management by council from Zinwa) we have
noticed a slight improvement of water supply but still a lot needs to be
done as we are not getting water constantly.

"We also urge the city fathers and Zinwa to drill more boreholes in our area
in case of pump breakdowns because we spent most of the day in the queue
trying to fetch water," said Mr Nelson Kupamhamha.

Miss Tendai Kuwana echoed the same sentiments and urged council to address
the water problems because there was danger of recurrence a cholera
outbreak.
Harare director of public relations Mr Leslie Gwindi was not available for
comment as his mobile phone was not reachable while town clerk Dr Tendai
Mahachi was said to be out of town.

Water experts have urged the city to repair water infrastructure to minimise
losses, which are accounting for almost 50 percent of treated water.

Forex Breathes Life Into Medical Aid Societies

http://www.herald.co.zw/

Vimbai Komani and Diana Muringisi

2 April 2009

Harare - AS health sector standards in Zimbabwe deteriorated, ordinary
people bore the brunt with medical aid facilities suddenly becoming useless
over night.

The medical aid societies' cards were still active but by the last quarter
of 2008 most doctors were not accepting their services due to the severe
hyperinflationary environment that negatively impacted on the health sector
like all other sectors.

"It is wrong to say that the medical aid facility was not working because in
most -- if not all payslips the medical aid fee was deducted. The main
reason why the medical aid service seemed inactive was due to the fact that
most doctors were not accepting the currency and rates charged by the
medical aid facility," Dr Tawanda Moyo, a Harare medical practitioner, said.

For example, by the end of February this year, Cimas was still charging
their fees in the local currency and most of its clients could not access
medical help using their Cimas medical aid cards.

Due to such difficulties, most people ceased to have medical aid and
depended on paying their doctors in hard cash in the form of foreign
currency.

It is important to note that the purpose of the medical aid card is to help
in covering medical bills with the sort of illnesses that could easily
bankrupt an ordinary skilled worker.

The reasoning is that while most people fall ill sometime during a year and
need to see a doctor, far fewer need surgery, casualty treatment or special
treatment for cancers and the like.

So what was insured was the unlikely but expensive illness, rather than the
cheaper but more common illness.

It is a common enough phenomenon for medical aid systems to collapse in
times of high inflation.

This happened in Zambia during that country's time of hyperinflation and it
is only since some time last year that serious efforts are being made to
start medical aid again.

Some mines like Rio Tinto Zimbabwe took matters in their own hands and
decided to have a 100 percent full medical cover for their employees as the
medical aid facility seemed to be hopeless.

Dr Tinashe Munyaradzi, who is covering Rio Tinto workers health wise, said
that they have arranged a full medical cover in hard cash with the company
as an alternative to help their workers' medical needs.

"At the moment we are not accepting any of the medical aid cards although
some medical societies like CIMAS are advertising," he said.

The majority of those in formal employment who depended on medical aid
facilities were left high and dry when it came to paying medical bills.

This contributed to much suffering and even tragic deaths as few could not
afford the foreign currency demanded by doctors.

Ms Natsai Moyo of Murewa is a living testimony of this situation.

The 41-year-old mother was heartbroken when her 16-year-old son Thomas died
after an asthma following the refusal of use of a medical aid card by a
local surgery in Mutawatawa.

"My son was in need of his medication and since I had no other means of
getting foreign currency to pay for his medication, my son lost the battle
for his life.

"He died in hospital without any medical attention yet my hopes were laid on
the medical aid," said a tearful Mrs Moyo.

The most painful part of Mrs Moyo's tragedy is that the medical aid society
deducted some money from her monthly salary so she hoped to get help from
her insurance but she failed to get any and her only son died.

The shortage of medical staff in the country also worsened the already dire
situation as it ultimately led to professionals charging exorbitant and
unsustainable fees.

On another note, chronic illness patients were disadvantaged by the
inconvenience of the "deactivation" of the medical aid cards.

Most kidney patients for example constantly needed dialysis treatment were
in danger after the medical aid scheme reportedly stopped providing full
cover to members requiring specialist care.

Hospitals were not working under normal conditions and private doctors
demanded hard currency, which made it difficult for most people in the
country to afford medical bills, as they wanted their cash up front before
treatment.
In early March Cimas started an advertising campaign on local media to
advertise on the effectiveness of their services.

However, most doctors still prefer hard cash and it is still difficult for
people to use their medical aid and it is hoped that with time and the
increased availability of foreign currency health insurance will once again
become standard fare.

Jatropha for biodiesel not a miracle crop -D1 Oils

http://news.alibaba.com

MIDRAND, South Africa, April 1 - Jatropha, often hailed as rich source of
biodiesel that flourishes in semi-arid areas of Africa, is hard to grow and
often fails if farmers lack expertise, an executive of a company developing
the crop said.

Vincent Volckaert, the Africa regional director for biofuels technology firm
D1 Oils, dismissed the idea jatropha can produce a good harvest in any
climatic conditions as is believed by many who invest in large scale
production of the crop in Africa.

"If you grow jatropha in marginal conditions, you can expect marginal
yields. Jatropha is not a miracle crop: it needs to be cultivated and farmed
well to produce a good harvest," he told a conference on Wednesday.

Jatropha is a non-food crop and its oil-rich seeds can be used to produce
biodiesel. Supporters argue it can be grown on semi-arid land and so poses
less of a threat to food output than other biofuel feedstocks such as grains
and vegetable oils.

The Biofuels Association of Zambia (BAZ) said on Tuesday that China had
asked the southern African country to plant 2 million hectares of jatropha.

D1 Oils has set up research centres to develop and test new varieties of the
crop, with a next generation of commercial jatropha plants to be launched in
2010.

Volckaert said that in many cases seeds are given out to farmers without any
instruction, plantings are done badly or at the wrong time of the year and
then not managed properly.

He cited a survey of 615 jatropha projects where 90 percent of the
plantations were in a bad condition.

"No fertiliser will help if the planting was done badly at the beginning,"
he said.

Volckaert said that while South Africa is not suited to grow the crop, there
were other promising examples on the continent.

Zimbabwe's National Oil Company said this week the country planned to use
jatropha to produce up to 10 percent of its fuel needs, or 100 million
litres of biodiesel per year, by 2017.

Mozambique has also drafted a strategy for the production of biofuels from
the drought-resistant crop.

Volckaert said that even with new technologies, it still takes up to 25
years to mature a jatropha crop, but yields can be doubled over 10 years.

The uncertain future of education in rural Zimbabwe

http://www.hararetribune.com

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 16:30 Our Correspondent
On a Tuesday, young boys, instead of being in school, frolic in the cool
pools below the main wall that spans across the Mushawe River to form a
small reservoir, now silted, downstream of Number 1 business center.

"There is no school, we were told to go home," the kids tell the Harare
Tribune. "We haven't gone to school at all this year."

Earlier this year, fuming parents threatened to expose themselves if schools
remained closed in cities across Zimbabwe.

Apparently, here in rural Zimbabwe, the issue of kids spending all day
playing is not a problem for the village ladies I find fetching water
downstream of the river, opposite to the river crossing to Dengenya Primary
School.

"Chii chatingaite," a lady, barefoot, balancing a twenty litre bucket of
water on her head, who introduced herself as MaSibanda, said. "Besides, the
schools have been closed for the large part of last year and the year before
that, so this is nothing new," she added, adjusting her Zambia. The other
women in her company agreed with her.

Such is the state of education in these parts that the closure of schools
has become the norm. Everywhere the Harare Tribune traveled here in Mwenezi
District, Masvingo Province, most schools, especially primary schools, were
partially open or entirely closed.

Even elite boarding schools in the province like Gokomere High School,
though open, were and are still struggling to keep operating where students
are now preparing their own meals in the dorms.

School headmasters at several schools told the Harare Tribune that it was
very unlikely that they would open schools this term. However,  they
expressed hope that the confusion in the education sector will have come to
an end by the beginning of next term, leaving them in a position to open
their schools.

THE SCHOOL

A few kilometers downstream of the Mushawe River from where the kids were
playing, the Dengenya Primary School compound was quite, the suffocating
silence only broken by leaves being dragged along the red, dusty earth by
the afternoon warm thermals.

As it was toward the end of the School Term, the school compound was
supposed to be a hive of activity, bustling with pupils in between classes.

But today, like many days before that, everything was quiet.

I found Dengenya Primary School Headmaster Moses Dube sitting in his office,
located at the end of one of the four classroom blocks that make up the
school.

"I have had no option you see," he said in a preamble to a long explanation
as to why the school was still closed when the new inclusive govt. Minister
of Education, Sport and Culture, David Coltart, assured all parents across
Zimbabwe that all schools will open for business by March 4th, 2009.

"I have had to keep the school closed because there are no teachers. How am
I supposed to teach the whole school by myself? " he defended himself,
shrugging his shoulders in a gesture of defeat.

In all parts of Zimbabwe, thousands of teachers left their profession in the
past ten years, preferring to go and make a life in exile. However, most
experts agree that the highest number of teachers who threw in the towel
were drawn from the bucolic rural areas of Zimbabwe.

In previous years, teachers who dared to teach in rural areas faced a
multiplicity of problems, from  lack of accommodation, clean water,  slave
wages and transport to travel to and from the nearby towns

The shortage of teachers is very acute in remote areas like Mwenezi District
where the ZANU-PF government, even in its days of success, failed to attract
teachers to come and teach.

"The district school officials in Neshuro say they will send us teachers,
"Headmaster Dube claimed. "But so far I have seen none." Several schools
around the district are in the same position as Dengenya Primary School.

At the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture head office at Neshuro
Business Center, officials washed their hands of the blame that they were
the reason why many schools in the district were still closed.

"We can only give as much as we get," one ministry official told the Harare
Tribune. "If they are no teachers looking for work, what can we do?"

The Provincial Education Director (PED) Clara Dube said her office was still
working with school heads across the province to make sure that the issue of
the shortage of teachers was addressed as soon a possible.

NEW BREED OF TEACHERS

Some of the reforms that the former Minister of Education, Sport and
Culture, Aeneas Chigwedere, now a headman in Nyanga, introduced was giving
school principals the power to hire new teachers. However, even that has
failed to address the shortage of teachers in schools across the district.

With the advent of Zimbabwe's economic ruin, and the subsequent flight of
qualified teachers, other unskilled personnel have stepped forward to fill
in the employment gap.

As in other parts of country, the ZANU-PF government had since 2000
recruited graduates of the ZANU-PF youth militia camps into the teaching
profession.

Though he refused to admit it, Dengenya Primary School Headmaster Dube holds
two C's at A'level as his highest qualification. Other headmasters,
especially in the resettlement areas, hold similar or less qualifications.

"Very few people are willing to come and teach here," Headmaster Dube
complained. "Despite the new wages of US$100 offered by the ministry, many
qualified teachers refuse to come and work. Instead, the people who have
expressed an interest in teaching are are those holding less than five o'levels,
or worse, members of ZANU-PF militia units."

Members of the ZANU-PF militia units in the district etched their place into
infamy by not only harassing teachers since 2000, but by leading a campaign
of political violence that left many people dead across Mwenezi District.

In other parts of the district, especially in the areas with new schools
that have emerged following the farm invasions of 2000, members of the
ZANU-PF militia are the only teachers.

The recent admission by Minister David Coltart that the inclusive government
had no money to pay teachers sent shock waves across the province and is
only likely to execerbate the acute lack of personnel, the Harare Tribune
heard.

"Our entreaties (for money) to donors have failed. Money has not flown into
our coffers yet," had told teachers across the country. "While we are very
concerned with the genuine demands of the teachers, right now I can not
promise anything in terms of salaries."

Experts agree that if the issue of teachers' salaries is not address soon,
efforts by the inclusive government to revive the education sector will come
to naught as few people would be willing to step forward and be teachers.

LITERACY

Statistics have been bandied about of how the ZANU-PF government, in the
years following independence in 1980 changed education in Zimbabwe. Of how
Zimbabweans became the most educated people in Southern Africa, indeed the
whole of Africa with literacy rates upwards of 90%.

Lost in all those statistics was the staggering magnitude of illiteracy in
Zimbabwe's never lands. In these outlying rural areas like Binga District,
parts of Chiredzi District, parts of Matabeleland and here in Mwenezi
District, illiteracy rates were and are still very high.

Ministry of Education officials at Neshuro Business Center admitted as much
to the Harare Tribune.

"I would say before 2000, the number of children who passed their Grade 7
examinations was below 65%," an official in the ministry of education office
at Neshuro told the Harare Tribune. "The 65% went on to O'level, but very
few finished school and those that wrote their final exams, very few got
five C's or better," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was
not authorized to speak to the media.

Adjacent to the the border with South Africa, the past years as Mugabe
embarked on economic ruin of Zimbabwe, thousands of young men left southern
Zimbabwe for South Africa, further dwindling the number of students in
schools.

"Baba vakati ndinoenda kuSouth Africa next year when I'm thirteen," one of
the kids I saw swimming in the Mushawe River had boasted to the Harare
Tribune.

The Harare Tribune heard that if the government was serious about bringing
about free education to rural Zimbabwe, concrete steps had to be taken so
that students would be less tempted to leave the country for South Africa.

"We welcome the government's decision to reintroduce free primary
 education," a village head VaBonda told the Harare Tribune. "But the
government has to ensure that those who do go to school have jobs after
finishing schools, otherwise it makes no sense for one to go to school
without a prospect for a job."

Coltart instituted a new school fee regime structure that will see primary
school students in rural Zimbabwe pay nothing to attend school, while those
in Form 1 to 4 and Form 5 to 6 will be expected to pay US$50 and US$80 per
term respectively.

MORIBUND SCHOOLS

The ZANU-PF government did a sterling job expanding the number of schools
across the country. As a result, many children had access to education for
the first time in a lifetime.

When the same government turned its back on the education sector in the last
ten years, schools suddenly found themselves without capital funding, not
only to build new school buildings but also to maintain and repair those
they already had.

"Our schools are derelict and the schools have been vandalised," Coltart
admitted as much to journalists in Harare last week. That the schools are in
a state of disrepair is an understatement.

When parents at the former "all-white" school Blackstone Primary School in
the Avenues area in Harare are being asked to provide chairs for their
children, what is the state of affairs in schools in rural Zimbabwe, away
from the media glare?

A visitor to Dengenya Primary School is greeted with flower beds overgrown
with weeds, a tattered flag of Zimbabwe at the school's assembly point, and
a fence, with it's wooden poles rotten, that enclose the school compound
that was meant to keep the rambunctious goats out.

However those are mere signs of deeper  and  far reaching problems not only
at Dengenya Primary School but at schools across the district and rural
Zimbabwe.

"These are the teachers' quarters," Headmaster Dube said, pointing to huts
adjacent to his somewhat palatial house with a tremulous finger. "We used to
have decent teachers' houses, the situation has been tough for the school."

The school has received no capital funding from the government, Headmaster
Dube said. As result, if the school was open, the pupils would have to sit
on the floor to take their classes as all thy desks and chairs are now just
skeletons that some teachers in the past used as firewood.

While sitting on the floor, with no books, the school pupils would have to
learn while exposed to the elements as some of the classrooms, with roofs
and windowpanes damaged during the 2000 Cycloe Eline, are still to be
repaired.

The moribund state of former productive schools is expected to remain as
recent moves by the new inclusive government Minister of Education mean that
primary schools pupils will attend school for free, curtailing the last
source of money for many schools, school heads told the Harare Tribune.

THE FUTURE

"The minister of education, if he truly wants to restore the education to
its former glory, he has to institute reforms that go beyond merely
addressing teacher salaries," Principal Dube said.

He said some of the issues that the inclusive government has to deal is the
shortage of teachers and the best was not through asking exiled to come
back. Rather, "the ministry should provide opportunities for those in the
profession to get more qualifications in addition to training a new army of
teachers."

An education lecturer at Great Zimbavbwe University, Simukai Chauke, told
the Harare Tribune that it was unlikely the inclusive government would be
able to "restore sanity" to the education sector.

"The reluctance by the international community to provide the inclusive
government with money will derail all efforts by Coltart to reform the
education sector," Chauke said. "The state of the education sector will
remain in limbo, at least in the short term. A complete overhaul would only
be possible after a credible government with a people's mandate takes office
in 18 months from now. Until such a time, Coltart's efforts, however
sincere, will remain cosmetic."

It took more than two decades for the ZANU-PF government to bring world
class education to Zimbabwe. It took less half the time to raze it to the
ground. For the Zimbabwe education sector to rise up to where in was say in
1992, it will probably take another two decades.

Nene not shy to market Zimbabwe as a miracle

http://www.busrep.co.za

April 2, 2009

Former president Thabo Mbeki's view that it is important for South Africa to
help Zimbabwe is considered by many commentators as one of the failures of
his administration.

Usually comments made on this subject tend to suggest that Mbeki was forcing
everyone in his government to agree to lend Harare a hand against their
will.

But after listening to Nhlanhla Nene, the Deputy Finance Minister, making a
few comments about Zimbabwe, it's clear it was not just Mbeki who was
convinced that it was appropriate for South Africa to intervene in
Zimbabwe's affairs.

Nene addressed accountants in Durban on Tuesday night. For a good five to 10
minutes, he turned into a spin doctor for our northern neighbour.

Nene narrated a story about an article in one of Zimbabwe's newspapers, in
which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai defended President Robert Mugabe.

"What we have achieved there is like our 1994 miracle," said Nene, referring
to the negotiations that led to the formation of a coalition government, in
which the two main political parties, Zanu-PF and the Movement for
Democratic Change, have agreed to work together to rehabilitate the
country's economy.

"I went to Harare when there were stories about fuel shortages and I
wondered if I would be taken to a hotel by a donkey," said Nene. "But when I
got there, a limousine was waiting for me . there was champagne and it was
one of the best treatments I have received."

It is true that if the economy of Zimbabwe recovers, the burden of
accommodating the estimated 3.2 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa
would be reduced. Incidents similar to the recent outbreak of cholera would
be prevented.

President Kgalema Motlanthe's government is lobbying for local businesses to
invest in Zimbabwe; for the International Monetary Fund to write off
Harare's debts; and for the Southern African Development Community and
Western donors to raise money to plough into the country. It sounds like
much more than Mbeki ever said or did for Zimbabwe.

Load-Shedding Must Not Be Disruptive

http://www.herald.co.zw/

1 April 2009

editorial

Harare - YESTERDAY Zesa warned consumers to brace for more load-shedding for
the next two months as Kariba Power Station is due for maintenance work,
much of it overdue, we suspect.

The fall in generation will be significant, but hardly catastrophic. Kariba
South has six 125 megawatt generators and Zesa plans to pull one down at a
time, leaving the other five running.

But so tight is generating capacity in Zimbabwe that this will mean more
power cuts, especially at peak hours.

It would have been useful if Zesa had postponed the maintenance until more
units at the large Hwange Thermal Power Station have been recommissioned.
That station has four 110MW generators and two of 210MW, but more than half
this impressive set of six are down at the moment although work is now in
progress to bring more back on line.
The industrial slump as the Zimbabwe dollar died masked many of the power
problems but now that industry is rapidly expanding production obviously we
need every kilowatt Zesa can generate.

The extreme tightness of output can be ameliorated if all consumers, from
the person with a hot-plate in a cottage to the large industries, thinks
seriously about increasing efficiency of electricity use and so decreasing
demand.

The high cost of electrical energy, an average of more than 7c a kilowatt
hour, means that such efforts not only help the nation but help the consumer
where it counts - in the pocket.

Up to 20 percent of energy consumed in Zimbabwe is wasted, and this can be
expected when energy is cheap, or almost free as it was until February.

Most industrial users already know how to keep their maximum power demand at
a minimum, because that is what they pay for. They have been less fussy
about reducing energy consumption, because that is not a factor, or at least
a major factor, in their costs.

They would now be good neighbours if they could reduce that as well.

Householders are far less efficient users of electricity and can make
significant cuts if they follow time-worn advice, such as heating water when
they need it rather than all the time, switching off power in empty rooms.
And using energy-saving bulbs.

Zesa needs to do what almost every other utility in the world does and run
proper schedules of power cuts, clearly stating which areas will be cut at
what times and on what days, which areas may be cut and which areas will get
power regardless.

Zesa must, immediately, issue this schedule of days and times when each area
may be cut off. If a consumer knows, for example, that he will have power up
to 6.30am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays he or she can plan the family
breakfast much earlier.

This allows consumers to plan. There is nothing more painful turning on the
stove to prepare a meal and all of a sudden power is cut off. And, most
crucially, Zesa Holdings has to take its consumers seriously, put itself in
its customers' shoes and try to explain and plan in a way that is least
disruptive.

If all consumers know that available supplies are being fairly rationed,
that the rationing scheme is designed to cause minimum disruption, and that
steps are being taken to stop some consumers using more than their fair
share, many will try to co-operate and cut their own consumption.
But for this to happen, Zesa have to play their part, treat customers as
responsible people and as partners instead of just cutting off power without
warning.

Lions Terrorise Villagers

http://www.herald.co.zw/

2 April 2009

Beitbridge - A pride of lions believed to have strayed from the Kruger
National Park in South Africa are on the prowl in Beitbridge east where they
are terrorising villagers and killing livestock.

Most villagers from areas around Chituripasi and Chikwalakwala are appealing
to authorities to deal with the lions.

The villagers have lost several livestock since the lions were spotted in
the area two weeks ago.

"I have lost four beasts, a donkey and two goats to these marauding lions.
We are now living in fear for our lives and our livestock. We are appealing
to officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to
act on the matter promptly," said Mr Thinyiko Mukabela of Chikwalakwala.

Another villager Mr Lutendo Chauke said he lost four cattle and a donkey
last week. He said villagers feared for the lives of their children who foot
distances of between five and seven kilometres to get to school.

"Most of us now live in fear especially for our children who go to faraway
schools using bushy paths that they might be attacked. We always experience
this problem year in year out and we urge relevant authorities to act
swiftly on this matter," he said.
Ward one councillor Mr Enock Ndou said a local safari operator had been
requested to assist the villagers while they await help from the National
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

"Stray lions and elephants have become a perennial problem for villagers in
this area," he said.

Author brings Harare to London

 

Thursday, 2 April 2009 07:57 UK

By Nikki Jecks BBC World Service The challenge of making a fresh start in Britain is the subject of a darkly comic and fast-paced new novel, Harare North, by Zimbabwean writer Brian Chikwava. FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE More from BBC World Service The novel is set in Brixton in south London, and it offers a view of London as seen through the eyes of its migrant population, particularly Africa's dispossessed. Hence, Harare North, the title and ironic name the book's unnamed hero gives to London. He arrives in London as an illegal immigrant hoping to make enough money to pay off his debts and bribe his way out of a series of charges he is facing back in Zimbabwe. He plans to stay just long enough to achieve this, hoping to return quickly to Zimbabwe - the land made great, he believes, by his idol Robert Mugabe. While he is in London, the Zimbabwean dollar begins its perilous descent, and his unflinching support of Robert Mugabe begins to cause problems among his new found friends. But the author says the novel is not about Zimbabwean politics and British immigration policy. Instead, he says it is about the people his narrator meets on the streets of Brixton and in the illegal squat that eventually becomes his home. "What I was trying to bring out is almost a different class of urban people who exist...this kind of underclass of people living in very squalid conditions and trying to make ends [meet] under very difficult circumstances," says Chikwava. "They are hidden from view, this is what I find interesting." Anti-hero The narrator of the story is a surprisingly unsympathetic character - a crooked, ex-militia member, and strong supporter of Robert Mugabe. I wasn't really trying to get people to feel sorry for them or eliciting any sympathy, but just as a way of saying, here is a different life Brian Chikwava He is an unexpected and unlikely hero for Zimbabwe's displaced and sometimes forgotten Diaspora - perhaps more anti-hero than hero. "He really is not a nice person, the way he looks at the world is sometimes completely screwed. It can be hilarious and you end up empathising from that point of view," says Chikwava. But he says creating such an unlikely hero and narrator enabled him to explore people and communities that often get overlooked. "I wasn't really trying to get people to feel sorry for them or eliciting any sympathy, but just as a way of saying, here is a different life," he says. "Sometimes you see people walking past or through the streets, especially here [in London] and sometimes you've got no idea how this person lives or how they survive." Brixton, he says, was the perfect place to situate the novel because of its eclectic mix of people and communities. "The crowd has changed over the years, but when I first started going there, it was really such a mixed crowd of people, homeless people, asylum seekers and people from all over the world." Fresh start Chikwava was born in Bulawayo and spent his later years in Harare, before moving to London about five years ago. He himself knows what it's like to land in a foreign country with few friends and hoping for a fresh start. "Sometimes it is hard, especially in a land where people don't really know how things work. They just have to survive one way or the other." "This is the case with a lot of Zimbabweans who have left the country for economic reasons, they just come and want to find a job and survive...they just try to make ends meet in whichever way they can." Chikwava left Zimbabwe because he says it didn't provide him with the opportunities to work creatively and experiment. Brian Chikwava takes us on a tour of Brixton The introduction of legislation which prevented gatherings of groups of 12 people of more also made it difficult for Harare's literary community to share experiences and ideas. Despite this, Chikwava says Zimbabwe remains a stimulating place. "Just being there, you sometimes get a sense of being overwhelmed by watching things just go badly and it's very hard to balance observing things going badly and your own personal feelings, and even a bit of anger at seeing things fall apart." That anger has paid dividends. He won the annual Caine Prize for African writing in 2004 for his book Seventh Street Alchemy about a prostitute living in Harare. In awarding him first prize, the judges described it as: "A very strong narrative in which Brian Chikwava of Zimbabwe claims the English language as his own, and English with African characteristics." This time round he is not really sure what his new novel is about, but he is sure of the voice. "If there is a message, I've yet to work it out myself," he laughs. "It was really a story I decided to write, because the moment I found the voice, I thought I would just follow it through, because I found it interesting, and see where it takes me."