Martin Old lies dead on the
ground after 2 hour gun battle
By Alex Bell 2 April
2013
Concern is high that the
atrocities of the ZANU PF-led land grab campaign, including murders and rapes,
are being swept under the carpet, following the acquittal of two murder suspects
last week.
The two war vets, Albert
Ncube and Robert Nyathi, were arrested in 2001 in connection with the killing of
Nyamandlovu farmer Gloria Olds. Olds, who was 72 at the time of her death, was
shot in the early hours of the morning on her property by men wielding AK47
rifles. Forensic reports showed that she was shot in the legs, and while she
tried to crawl to safety, her three dogs were shot. The killers then opened fire
on the wounded woman, killing her.
Ncube and Nyathi were
arrested after being implicated by Olds’ farm worker, Foster Moyo, who they
allegedly kidnapped a day before the murder. The pair was bailed after their
arrest and the case against them has been pending since then.
The case has faced numerous
delays and there have been a number of prosecution failures, including the fact
that three different prosecutors dropped the case after quitting the Attorney
General’s office.
Last week they were acquitted
by Judge Maphios Cheda, who said there was not enough evidence to implicate the
two.
Charles Taffs, the President
of the Commercial Farmers Union, told SW Radio Africa that the latest
development “was a very sad day” for Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers, who he
described as “isolated both in and outside the country.”
“There is no justice for the
murder and the rapes committed. And until the rule of law has been re-enacted in
Zimbabwe, this country will never move on,” Taffs said.
He added: “It is troubling
that all the crimes of the land reform programme have been swept under the
carpet, and it means that justice is further denied.”
Olds was killed a year after
her son Martin Olds was murdered, following a two hour gun battle on his
property. The fight started after at least 70 farm invaders launched a dawn raid
on his home at Compensation Farm in Matabeleland. He was repeatedly wounded
during the gun fight, which also saw molotov cocktails being thrown at his
home.
He was the second farmer to
die in the land grab campaign launched by Robert Mugabe, in a thinly veiled
patronage based reward system. His mother would later become the 8th victim a
year later.
The political parties in the inclusive
government have started squabbling over provisions of the new constitution,
resulting in the COPAC management committee going back to the drawing board
to make some ‘transitional changes’, a few days after Zimbabweans voted
overwhelmingly for the new charter.
By law, changes to the new charter
should have the consent of the President and must go through parliament, but
MDC-T COPAC co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora said the management committee was
forced to make transitional provisions in order to clarify the next process
regarding the election date.
He insisted there are no changes of
substance, accept to clarify when elections must be held and who would
announce the dates. He said the committee agreed that the date of the
forthcoming elections will be made by consensus and not by President Robert
Mugabe alone.
Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that ZANU PF had been ‘using’
the provisions of the new constitution to say that the elections must be
held in June, the last month of the presidential term as stipulated by the
new charter.
But the MDC-T official said the timing of the next elections
has always been a Global Political Agreement issue, “because there are
certain things in terms of the constitution that cannot be done before the
29th June and so we have left the timing of this coming election to the
(Lancaster House) constitution that is there and as amended by the
GPA.”
The state controlled Herald newspaper described the changes as
‘scandalous’ and designed to pre-empt a High Court application made by
Mugabe seeking an extension of the 31 March by-election deadline to 29 June,
by which time harmonised elections should have been held. The application
was deferred to this week after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai filed an
application to be included in the court proceedings. The newspaper said
Tsvangirai’s application is seen as an attempt to buy time so that elections
can be held by October.
However Mwonzora said the latest changes to
the new constitution were made with ZANU PF’s consent, represented by party
heavyweights Emmerson Mnangagwa , Nicholas Goche and Paul Mangwana. The MDC
was represented by Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Edward Mkhosi and Moses
Mzila Ndlovu, while Mwonzora was joined by Tendai Biti and Eric
Matinenga.
“ZANU PF agreed to these changes so that we govern how the
next election is going to be dealt with. The rest of the provisions will
have to apply after the elections when we have a new president. Obviously we
did this so that we don’t upset the arrangements within the GPA. The GPA
arrangement is that the President and the Prime Minister must both agree on
the date of the next elections.”
While the political parties have
said the new constitution was a necessary reform ahead of any new election,
the ‘alterations’ appear to be ignoring some of the provisions of the new
charter.
For example, the COPAC management committee agreed that for
purposes of this election the existing constituency boundaries will be used,
although the new constitution stipulates that immediately before any
election the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should do a delimitation
exercise.
National Constitutional Assembly chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku
said this is a consequence of the way the constitution was created: “It will
never be right to have a constitution detected simply by
politicians.”
He said the referendum process requires the authorities to
stick to whatever document they put to the people “and any amendments must
be done in parliament,” which will be a legitimate way of dealing with the
draft.
But Mwonzora said they don’t have to go to the President or
parliament because the constitution is not a legal document yet, as it is
still with the parliamentary select committee.
“There is nothing
wrong in clarifying the law where there is evidence that it will be abused.
We had left it to common sense, but we then learnt that this provision was
going to be abused by those people who were now saying the provisions must
apply to this president – meaning this election must be in June.
“So
when we saw the provision was being abused we then sought to clarify this in
the transitional provision.”
The constitutional bill is expected to be
debated in parliament when the house resumes sitting in early May.
HARARE - The High
Court will tomorrow rule on legal challenges to a proposed June election
timetable, a vote seen as a test of democracy five years after an election
dispute triggered widespread bloodshed.
Judge President George Chiweshe —
who was the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson in the controversial
2008 vote — is presiding over the electoral dispute between President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe on March 22 filed
an urgent chamber application seeking to be excused from complying with a
court order that forces him to proclaim dates for three Matabeleland
by-elections by end of March, arguing it would be expensive for the
cash-strapped government to stage the three ballots three months ahead of a
general election which he told the court must be held by June 29.
But
Mugabe’s coalition partner and MDC candidate Tsvangirai says the June poll
date was not feasible. He filed an application in the High Court last
Thursday requesting that he be included in the matter as the fourth
respondent together with three former legislators Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso
Mguni and Norman Mpofu, who want their vacant constituencies filled through
by-elections in their constituencies.
The legal challenge by the PM
delayed the case to April 3.
Earlier last Thursday, deputy Attorney
General Prince Machaya — who represented President Mugabe — had sought to
have the matter stood down to Friday afternoon but agreed that the matter be
postponed to Wednesday after he was served with Tsvangirai’s legal
challenge.
Both politicians have promised to abide by the court’s final
word.
Tsvangirai, who has bemoaned the slow pace in implementation of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) ahead of the poll owing to what he terms
“Zanu PF’s intransigence”, argues that Mugabe’s court action was tantamount
to unilaterally proclaiming election dates without consulting him as PM in
blatant contravention of the GPA.
“It came as a surprise for me that
the applicant (Mugabe) has neither conferred nor consulted me,” Tsvangirai’s
attorney Chris Mhike said in court papers.
“I verily believe that it
is my duty to illuminate the impossibility of the applicant’s proposed
timelines, which timeline he bases his application.
“In terms of the
current constitutional dispensation, the applicant (Mugabe), in the main
matter, has to consult me in my official capacity before he makes a
proclamation relating to the dissolution of Parliament.”
Mugabe had in
his urgent chamber application advised that he will dissolve Parliament and
call for harmonised elections on or before June 29, 2013.
Mugabe said
following the “Yes” vote in the March 16 constitutional referendum,
Parliament is expected to finish passing the new constitution by May 8 after
which a proclamation on general elections will be gazetted immediately
followed by a proclamation for harmonised elections.
“In terms of the
Constitution, the life of parliament terminates on the June 29, 2013 by
which date harmonised elections must be held in the country,” Mugabe
argues.
But Tsvangirai told the court that from his “understanding and
personal knowledge of the affairs” of the country, it is unlikely that
elections will be held on or before June 29, 2013.
The ruling is
expected to address a list of challenges to the poll timetable, but the
final ruling is expected come immediately.
The March 31 deadline was set
by Justice Chiweshe in October last year at the insistence of Mugabe, who
had said he would call for general elections by end of March.
But the
veteran ruler, 89, plagued by health problems and old age, wants elections
when he can still sustain a gruelling campaigning schedule, analysts
say.
The fact that the dispute is being played out by lawyers not
unilateral action by Mugabe, has already helped repair the image of southern
Africa’s recovering economy.
But tomorrow’s ruling will be the real
test of whether Zimbabweans trust their judiciary and whether supporters of
rival candidates accept the result quietly in a nation synonymous with
melodrama by politicians.
Meanwhile, Welshman Ncube, leader of the
smaller ruling MDC by legislative representation, has written to regional
bloc Sadc stating that the June poll timetable that Mugabe wants was not
feasible.
Many ordinary Zimbabweans insist they will not allow a repeat
of the violence that killed more than 200 people and displaced another 200
000 following a dispute over the last election in 2008, and want a peaceful
poll after fundamental reforms.
Western donors are closely watching
the unfolding electoral process in the wake of a relatively peaceful
referendum on March 16, in a resource-rich country they see as vital to
future engagement.
Neighbouring African states are also keeping a careful
eye on proceedings after they were hit by the knock-on effects when millions
of Zimbabweans fled in droves into exile as political and economic refugees
following violent and disputed elections in 2008.
Zimbabwe’s economy
has yet to recover fully from the pummeling it took after the vote violence
that capped a decade of economic meltdown.
In the High Court’s hearing
tomorrow, Justice Chiweshe had deferred the matter to enable the parties to
file responses and heads of arguments. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor
The court case brought against President Robert Mugabe, for
delaying by- elections in three Matabeleland constituencies, took a new
twist on Thursday when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai filed an application
to join the court proceedings.
The case was heard before Judge
President George Chiweshe, who postponed the hearing to next week Thursday.
There has been controversy as to when the next general election should take
place, with Mugabe and ZANU PF insisting it should be 29th June while the
two MDC formations prefer end of July or August.
On behalf of Mugabe
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa this week filed an urgent chamber
application seeking an extension of the March 31st by-election deadline to
June 29th, by which time harmonized elections should be held.
The
Supreme Court last year ordered Mugabe to set the by-election dates for
three constituencies–Nkayi South, Bulilima East and and Lupane East–by March
31st, after an application by Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman
Mpofu, all former MDC legislators for the constituencies in
question.
But Mugabe is seeking an extension of the Supreme Court order,
arguing that due to lack of funds the by-elections should be delayed and
held during the harmonized elections, which he wants at the end of
June.
A source told us Prime Minister Tsvangirai has now joined the fray
in opposing Mugabe’s intention to announce June 29th as the date for
harmonized elections, arguing that he was not consulted about this date,
which he should have been as one of the key principals in the GPA. The
Premier filed an application on Thursday to join the court
proceedings.
Meanwhile the MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti this week
said the exit polls conducted by his party’s polling agents suggest the
referendum figures were wrong, and that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
may have adjusted the figures up.
Media reports in Harare quote Biti
suggesting that far less than the 3.3 million votes announced by the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission were cast in the March 16th
referendum.
The referendum figures showed the highest voter turnout since
Independence in 1980. But speaking at a public discussion hosted by the
Sapes Trust in Harare, Biti cast doubts over the veracity of the figures
released by ZEC.
‘There is a 10 to 15 percent variance between ZEC’s
figures and those collated by our own team of agents who covered all the
polling stations nationally,’ said Biti.
He explained that his party
noted a disturbing trend, where some constituencies and districts recorded a
higher voter turnout than the population of the areas, according to the last
census statistics of 2012.
He gave as an example constituencies in
Midlands, Masvingo, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland South provinces as
having more numbers of people who voted in the referendum than the number of
people enumerated in last year’s census.
Blessing Vava, the National
Constitutional Assembly spokesman, told us the MDC-T must blame themselves
for not listening to concerns raised by many people.
‘They are
telling us now about the doctored figures when we told them before the
referendum that was going to happen to ensure a clear victory for the Yes
vote.
‘What they didn’t know was that ZANU PF used the vote as a dress
rehearsal to perfect their rigging mechanism come election time. It’s
unfortunate they used to be our partners but they no longer listen to
advise…that is going to be their downfall,’ Vava said.
MBERENGWA - Police
arrested six Mberengwa South district executive members of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC on Thursday on allegations of holding an illegal
meeting.
The six officials are Siyakwazi Moyo (district chairman),
Nkosilathi Gumbo (deputy district secretary), Hlupo Nkomo (secretary for
finance), Thomas Bernard (secretary for tourism), Godsave Zhou (secretary
for local government) and David Shoko (information and publicity
secretary).
Midlands South provincial secretary for defence, Trynos
Shava, said the six party officials were rounded up by 10 police officers in
riot gear whilst addressing a party meeting at Gwayi Business Centre under
Chief Chingoma.
“About 10 police officers in riot gear from Mataga Police
Station led by Sergeant Msipa stormed our party executive meeting at Gwayi
Business Centre before arresting seven district executive members accusing
them of holding an illegal meeting,” Shava said.
“They threw them
into a police truck and took them to Mataga Police Station where they are
detained.”
Midlands provincial police spokesperson Emmanuel Mahoko’s
mobile numbers were unreachable but national police spokesperson Charity
Charamba said:”I am not in office.”
Meanwhile in an unrelated
incident, one of the MDC’s district chairpersons Dominic Shumba (27) died
from a severe headache in Bulawayo last week. He was buried in Langeni area
in Mberengwa during the Easter holiday.
“We have lost a true hero, a
young man who was dedicated to fight for the freedom of the people of
Zimbabwe,” Tabitha Khumalo, MDC Member of Parliament for Bulawayo East told
mourners during Shumba’s burial.
“At 27 he was already a district
chairman of our party in Bulawayo East District. He had great a future and
he loved his party so much, the party has been robbed of a real
cadre.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition director, McDonald Lewanika said:
“The struggle has lost a willing soldier; we have lost an able comrade.” -
Pindai Dube
HARARE – President, Robert Mugabe
is already on his way to a premeditated presidential poll victory, amid
disclosures that the country’s partisan soldiers openly loyal to Zanu PF
will be involved in the counting of votes, Nehanda Radio has been
told.
The army, according to high level diplomats and senior government
officials in Harare’s coalition administration, is not just plotting to run
the watershed plebiscite but is demanding for: “25 percent of elected seats
in the Senate and House of Assembly, to garner enough numeric influence in
electing Mugabe’s successor, if parliamnet sits as an Electoral College for
that purpose.”
Political tensions are high, as Mugabe has barred the
US and EU from sending in observer missions for the elections likely to be
held in July this year.
The veteran leader has blamed British premier,
David Cameron for leading the EU to extend targeted economic sanctions
against his senior party members implicated in human rights abuses and a
hand in political violence.
“Cameron has disappointed us,” Mugabe said in
February during a wide ranging interview to celebrate his 89th birthday. “He
was not open but when it came a time for him to make his position clear, he
is the one who pushed for the sanctions to stay.”
The EU, has since
suspended most of the sanctions citing a peaceful referendum for a new
constitution held recently. 81 Zanu PF officials, and 8 companies have been
suspended from the targeted list.
However 10 of the country’s most
powerful and influential people, still remain stuck on the Brussels ban.
Mugabe, his wife Grace alongside top security chiefs among others make up
the remaining list.
“The scheme is simple, only that it has been fine
tuned this time around,” said one minister who preferred not to be named
citing the Official Secrets Act, which makes it a crime for cabinet
ministers to leak classified information.
“Among an array of
political strategies, army officers and their superiors will be running an
electoral command center at the Central Intelligence Organisation
headquarters in Harare.
“The command centre, will collate all ballots
from across the country and is expected to make an announcement of the
election winner within 48 hours through the new Electoral Commission
Chairperson, Justice Rita Makarau, on national radio stations to quell and
pre-empt anticipated unrest.”
Makarau is also a Supreme Court Judge, and
is largely viewed as apolitical although critics say she is part of Mugabe’s
shadowy inner-circle.
Zanu PF has all but engaged militarymen to revive
it, and help it win power soon after being forced into sharing power with
Prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009, thus the seconding of retired air
vice marshal Henry Muchena and former intelligence chief operative, Sydney
Nyanungo to the party’s commissariat.
Further intelligence briefings,
indicate that Muchena and Nyanungo are working closely with defence
minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa with the aim of paving way for many retired
military men and women to enter into politics.
This is causing untold
political faults in Zanu PF, as less influential cadres will have to give up
their seats to the ex-soldiers.
US Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State,
Reuben Brigety and Karen Hanrahan, who were visiting the country last month
said Washington is concerned by resurgent trends of violence and
instability, and deplored the deployment of soldiers into rural areas to
pressure communities into voting for Zanu PF.
“The United States is
concerned by emerging trends that put the progress Zimbabwe has made at
risk. As we get closer to elections, some are attempting to push the country
back into the vicious cycle of intimidation, violence, and instability,”
said the envoys.
“Elements among the Zimbabwe Republic Police continue to
demonstrate a clear partisan bias in arrests, detentions, and investigations
– or the lack of such actions – depending on one’s political orientation.
Recent months – and, indeed, the past few days since our arrival – have seen
a clear pattern of harassment of civil society organizations through
spurious charges, extended detentions, and confiscation of materials that
impede their activities.
“Zimbabwe Defense Forces soldiers have been
deployed on ‘administrative support duty’ to rural areas country-wide to
pressure communities to support one political party. At the same time,
police officials are being sent for political indoctrination at Shamva
Battle Camp and police commissioners are visiting police camps around the
country to exhort officers and their family members to chant pro-ZANU-PF
slogans.”
Police boss, Augustine Chihuri is unfazed and has vowed that
attempts by NGOs and Western nations to “destabilise” African countries
“will never succeed”.
Although Mugabe and Tsvangirai are both
crusading for peaceful elections, the former’s supporters are on a warpath
of violence to force a victory for the ailing leader’s last shot at
power.
Soldiers ran amok on the streets of Harare in 2008, after banks
ran out of money for their November salaries and Christmas bonuses. A number
of stores were also vandalised, as mostly bitter junior officers helped
themselves to goods and clothing.
Defence minister, Mnangagwa has
been decrying that the military is under- funded, but Zanu PF now takes the
army as its preference when it comes to national budget allocations.
The
Easter holiday period which ended Monday saw the deaths of 45 people in
different traffic accidents, according to official figures.
Last year
police recorded 23 deaths but, according to police, a combination of factors
including speeding, fatigue and overtaking errors, contributed to the rise
in this year’s fatalities to almost double.
Police spokesman
Superintendent Paul Nyathi told the Herald newspaper that this year the
Midlands and Manicaland had the highest number of recorded deaths, at 10 and
9 respectively.
Mashonaland East recorded 7 deaths, Harare 5,
Matabeleland South 3, Masvingo and Mashonaland Central provinces recorded 4
deaths each, while Mashonaland West had 2 deaths and Matabeleland North had
1. There were no deaths recorded in Bulawayo.
Nyathi said that there
were 351 accidents and 166 injuries this Easter, compared to last year’s
figures of 206 accidents and 150 injuries.
Police also impounded 147
defective vehicles and issued 7,450 tickets for traffic
offences.
Although human error is largely to blame for road traffic
accidents in Zimbabwe, the lack of repair over the years has seen the roads
deteriorating into death traps for drivers.
Many of the country’s
roads are potholed and narrow, with the dualisation of many major highways
abandoned in the last 10 years.
HARARE – A High Court judge who
ordered the release of human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and also granted
a search warrant to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to search the
offices of three Zanu PF cabinet ministers continues to be victimised by the
Mugabe regime.
Two weeks ago the state owned but Zanu PF controlled
Herald newspaper began a campaign to scandalise and vilify Justice Charles
Hungwe. Nehanda Radio understands the campaign is in retaliation for the two
rulings Hungwe made which had not been sanctioned by the
regime.
First was a story penned by Herald Deputy Editor Caesar Zvayi
claiming Justice Hungwe “has come under fire from the legal fraternity for
denying justice to a 55-year-old man he convicted in 2003 but has failed to
sentence over the past 10 years after losing his court records.”
On
Tuesday the paper published what it claimed was another scandal involving
Justice Hungwe claiming he “unprocedurally granted a notice of withdrawal in
a house wrangle pitting Old Mutual chief executive Jonas Mushosho and a man
who bought the latter’s property.”
Last month Justice Charles Hungwe
issued an order for arresting officers to immediately release detained human
rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa. The police however refused to obey the order
and bizarrely a lower Magistrates Court denied Mtetwa bail.
Also last
month Justice Hungwe granted the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC)
permission to search the offices of Mines minister Obert Mpofu,
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere, and Transport and
Infrastructural Development minister Nicholas Goche.
The commission
also pounced on the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board
(NIEEB) and Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) offices which
fall under Kasukuwere and Goche respectively.
It was only Justice George
Chiweshe who blocked the searches.
Chiweshe is a key Mugabe ally who as
past chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission withheld presidential
election results for weeks in March 2008, amid reports the period was used
to manipulate and massage the figures that denied Morgan Tsvangirai an
outright victory over a shocked Mugabe.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has been monitoring,
with increasing concern, recent reportage in the state-controlled and other
partisan media which, when read in its entirety, constitutes a professional
and personal attack on a well-respected judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe
(Justice Charles Hungwe), as well as a broader and more disturbing assault
on the independence and integrity of the judiciary and legal profession in
Zimbabwe.
It is common knowledge that judges are unable to comment on
cases that have been placed before them, except through their judgments. It
is also starkly clear that the state-controlled and other partisan media
outlets are abusing this position by reporting on such cases and attacking
the person and integrity of a judge in an entirely unethical, contemptuous,
and one-sided manner through which key facts of cases, the role of all court
officials involved in the justice delivery chain (criminal and civil), and
the rules and procedures of court have been completely misunderstood by
lay-people and/or maliciously concealed and excluded. This has been done to
mislead the public and incite unassuming spectators against the affected
judge himself, as well as the entire judiciary.
What is of the
greatest concern is that such hate speech and false reporting has not only
been tolerated, but has in fact been encouraged to continue with complete
impunity.
The principle of separation of powers is key in any democratic
society. The independence and integrity of the judiciary is essential as a
check on the vast powers of the executive and legislative arms of the state.
For this reason the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as well as key regional and
international instruments, protect this independence of the judiciary and
the right of judicial officers to operate impartially, and without fear or
favour.
Where judicial officers come under attack for performing
their constitutional functions, there is a serious erosion of the protection
that is offered by this independent arm and public confidence in the
judiciary to act without fear or favour is severely undermined. Further,
such blatant attacks on a judicial officer are calculated to – and will –
have an immediate and chilling effect on all other judicial officers who
feel that they will not be protected where they assert their independence
and deliver justice in a professional and fearless manner.
There is a
knock-on effect also in relation to the legal profession, as lawyers will
similarly become fearful of vigorously and lawfully pursuing their clients’
rights in situations where the media and other actors will maliciously skew
facts in order to incite unlawful action or retribution where the outcome of
a case does not suit a particular personal or political agenda. Thus, an
assault on a judicial officer affects not only the independence and
integrity of the judiciary, but also that of the legal
profession.
For such reasons, it is critical that the Chief Justice
of Zimbabwe, the Judge President of the High Court and the Judicial Service
Commission, together with the Law Society of Zimbabwe, must take urgent and
robust measures to end the persecution of Justice Charles Hungwe, which has
been seen through the defamatory assassination of his character, the
malicious and false reporting, and the inciteful hate speech in the
state-controlled media and other partisan outlets. This is not only a
measure to protect the judicial officer concerned, but also one that is
vital to reassure the entire bench at every level, as well as the legal
profession in the public and private sector, that they will be free to
undertake their professional and constitutional duties without fear or
favour and not be victimized as a result of non-legal concerns and
motives.
ZLHR is and will always remain committed to advocating for a
professional and independent judiciary and legal profession that respect and
comply with their constitutional obligations and rules of court so as to
ensure public confidence in the administration of justice. However, we
cannot remain silent when such a clear and sustained assault is launched to
undermine the very essence of justice delivery in Zimbabwe.
The 29 MDC-T supporters accused of murdering a police officer
two years ago will have to wait until 23rd April to appear in court,
following a postponement.
The matter had been scheduled to be heard
at the High Court on Tuesday, with the defence team expected to apply for a
discharge of the 29 activists after the state closed its case on March
11th.
However, lawyers for the accused said they have not had adequate
time to analyse the ‘voluminous’ transcript of court proceedings and asked
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu to postpone the hearing.
Defence lawyer Gift
Mtisi told SW Radio Africa that his team will make a written discharge
application on Friday and allow the prosecution, led by Edmore Nyazamba,
another week to file its response.
Mtisi said: “When we meet in court on
the 23rd April, we will be making oral submissions for the discharge of the
29 MDC-T supporters.
“The case has reached a critical stage and we asked
for this postponement to enable us to thoroughly analyse every piece of
evidence and ensure that those without a case to answer are acquitted and
set free,” Mtisi added.
Since it started the trial has been subject to
several deferments, with just the bail application for the 29 activists
postponed more than 7 times, mainly to allow the state to build its
case.
The 29 activists were arrested in May 2011 when a police detail,
responding to reports of political disturbances in Harare’s Glen View area,
was attacked resulting in the death of Inspector Petros Mutedza.
They
have been on remand since then, with five of the accused still held in
custody where they have been reportedly tortured and ill-treated.
The
five – Last Maengahama, Tungamirai Madzokere, Simon Mapanzure, Yvonne
Musarurwa and Rebecca Mafukeni – were deemed a flight risk and remanded in
custody when their colleagues were bailed last year. All the 29 maintain
their innocence, and accuse the state of holding them on trumped-up charges.
HARARE -
Political violence is escalating in Mashonaland West, after an activist
loyal to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC was viciously battered by
alleged Zanu PF youths on March 25.
Wilson Anderson, the MDC branch
chairperson in ward 35 in Zvimba East, sustained serious injuries after he
was assaulted at Somerby Estate allegedly by eight Zanu PF youths led by one
Moses Sanadi.
Sanadi was subsequently arrested on Saturday, and the rest
are still on the run.
Mashonaland West police spokesperson Clemence
Mabweazara confirmed the arrest.
“I can confirm that there was
political violence in Zvimba East and arrests were made but Somerby is under
Norton which is the policing area of Harare province,” he said.
“You
can get more information from there.”
National police spokesperson
Charity Charamba was not immediately available for comment yesterday as her
mobile phone went unanswered.
Anderson, who is a previous arson victim
after his home was torched in the run-up to the 2002 presidential election,
was this time allegedly assaulted for attending the burial of Christpower
Maisiri who died in an inferno last month in Mashonaland East
Province.
He was treated at Norton Council Hospital where he received
eight stitches below his left eye.
MDC organising secretary for
Mashonaland West Wilson Makanyaire told the Daily News the party was
disturbed by the recent upsurge of political violence and called on
political leaders to rein in their supporters ahead of elections.
“As
the party leadership, we went to Zvimba East to verify the facts but as you
are aware I am a member of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic) so I cannot comment more.
“I refer you to the threesome Jomic
chairpersons of the province,” said Makanyaire.
MDC provincial
secretary Greenwich Ndanga — who ferried Anderson to hospital — said the
Zanu PF youths who attacked Anderson were accusing him of continuing to
participate in MDC activities as well as recruiting more
people.
“They were hiding in a maize field near his homestead and
attacked him when he was about to enter his kitchen,” Ndanga
said.
“They accused him of being a sell-out after they saw his picture in
the Daily News at the burial of Christpower.
“He went to mourn with
the Maisiri family because he is an arson victim himself after his two
children were disfigured in a similar incident allegedly at the hands of
suspected Zanu PF again in 2002.”
Political violence has reared its ugly
head in Mugabe’s home province since last year after Zanu PF declared it a
no-go area for the MDC.
Houses belonging to MDC activists were reportedly
burnt down by suspected Zanu PF functionaries and at one point party
secretary-general Tendai Biti was forced to address supporters in the bush
in Darwendale following skirmishes with Zanu PF supporters. - Staff Writer
THE board of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was on
Tuesday forced to deny persistent claims that historic gold coins had gone
missing.
The allegations, first made by Munyaradzi Kereke, the former
adviser to Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, were “misleading and
inaccurate”, board secretary Arthur Manase said.
An audit and
compliance report completed by an external audit firm, Ernst & Young,
dated March 26, 2013, also confirmed the existence of the 529 pieces of gold
coins minted between 1869 to 1984.
At today’s prices, the gold would be
worth US$637,000. The auditors said they had “compared the quantity we
counted to the client records and to the previous auditor’s results as at 31
December 2012”, adding: “The quantity of gold recorded per client records
tallied with our results of counts.”
And in a statement, the RBZ
board, through Manase, said: “There have been, over the last 12 months,
misleading and inaccurate reports suggesting that there is some missing gold
amounting to 403.5 grams in the form of ‘gold coins’.
“Some of those
false accusations have been made by a former staffer [Kereke] who has been
sued for criminal defamation and the matter remains subjudice because the
wheels of justice are still to turn.
“Other faceless personalities have
since joined the fray on social networks denigrating the governor Dr Gideon
Gono, and accusing him of misappropriating the gold coins.
“The above
accusations are false and the gold is there as the bank’s internal and
external audit reports confirm. The board is satisfied that the bank’s
assets, including gold coins, are under safe custody.”
The gold coins,
which were paraded to reporters during a press conference also attended by
Gono, comprise six classes – Kruger Rands, Rand gold coins, Edward,
Elizabeth, George and Victoria.
A nurse from the Salvation Army run Howard Hospital has been granted
bail, after being convicted in connection with a public protest against the
dismissal of the facility’s chief doctor.
Milton Zindoga was arrested
along with seven fellow nurses and 12 residents in the Chiweshe area last
August, after their protest outside the hospital turned violent. The
demonstration had been organised by residents to voice their anger over the
forced removal of Dr. Paul Thistle, who was dismissed from the hospital
after raising concerns about the misuse of funds by the Salvation Army in
Zimbabwe.
The arrested group endured a lengthy trial process, but Zindoga
was the only one convicted for allegedly ‘inciting violence’. He was
sentenced earlier this year to two years behind bars. But last week a High
Court granted him bail, after a residents association fought to file an
appeal against his sentence.
Dr. Thistle was hounded out of his
position last year and ordered to leave the country after questioning how
donor funding was being used by the Salvation Army leadership. He refused to
leave Zimbabwe, his home for over 16 years, and found himself being
dismissed from the church. The Salvation Army meanwhile has insisted his
dismissal was a standard ‘reassignment’ and have refused to make any further
comment about Dr. Thistle’s claims.
The Canadian born doctor has now
moved to the Evangelical Church of the Zimbabwe-run Karanda Mission
Hospital in Mt Darwin. The Howard Hospital meanwhile is facing collapse,
with no chief surgeon, patients being transferred to other facilities and
critical funding drying up.
By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer Tuesday,
02 April 2013 11:05
HARARE - Aiming to bolster its chances of winning the
forthcoming crunch polls, the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
has extended an olive branch to Lovemore Madhuku, the disgruntled leader of
the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA).
The move by the MDC comes
in the wake of a scathing attack on its leadership by Madhuku — a former
ally of Tsvangirai.
Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC spokesperson told the Daily
News that the MDC was keen to build bridges and urged Madhuku to bury the
hatchet after his crushing defeat in the referendum.
“The MDC is
calling for the unity of all progressive forces to dislodge the dictatorship
of Robert Mugabe and his government, these progressive forces include
political parties, civil society, progressive workers, intellectuals and the
student movement,” Mwonzora said.
Madhuku fell out with Tsvangirai after
the former trade unionist closed ranks with Mugabe to deny him an extension
of the campaign period ahead of the referendum. Madhuku was campaigning for
a “No” vote.
The law professor also says Tsvangirai subjected him to hate
speech when he described him and his movement as “nhinhi” and also suggested
he had “mamhepo” (evil spirits).
As a result, Madhuku, who in 2000
along with Tsvangirai successfully campaigned for a “No” vote against a Zanu
PF government-sponsored draft constitution, has broken ranks with his
erstwhile comrades.
The University of Zimbabwe lecturer has also attacked
the leadership qualities of Tsvangirai.
However, Mwonzora said “we
are perplexed by the incessant attacks by professor Madhuku on the
leadership of the MDC.
“The allegations which he makes that the MDC has
lost direction are without foundation,” Mwonzora said.
Political
think tank the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) said in a report released
last week that the MDC needs to reach out to bodies like the NCA in order to
ensure an outright poll win.
“A perusal of the referendum voting numbers
and patterns across the nation suggests that if the MDC works extra-hard and
bans the use of violence and other electoral shenanigans by the Mugabe
regime, a Zanu PF defeat could be possible,” the ZDI report says.
“If
the MDC and its democratic partners regroup and unite against Zanu PF and
organise massive voter registration to make sure that people who
participated in the referendum are registered for the national election,
their chances of electoral victory are greatly increased.”
The report
said the MDC should be magnanimous and reach out to groups such as the NCA
which received a 5,5 percent of the vote in the referendum.
Madhuku
claims the MDC has lost direction and forgotten its founding
principles.
Mwonzora parried Madhuku’s allegations that the MDC has
lost touch with the ordinary persons since it joined the unity
government.
“The MDC has not removed its eye from the ball at all as
alleged by Madhuku,” Mwonzora said.
“We call upon Madhuku and the
NCA to put aside the disappointment with the referendum results and unite
with others to change the lives of the people of Zimbabwe.”
He said
the MDC joined the unity government with Mugabe in order to stop the
economic suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.
“We joined the
government to ameliorate the amount of State-sponsored violence and murder
that was the order of the day before the unity government.
“Although
the scale has been reduced, the MDC through its leadership in government, is
fighting hard to ensure total elimination of State-sponsored violence,” said
Mwonzora.
HARARE - Deputy minister of Information and Publicity Murisi
Zvizwai has said foreign journalists are welcome to cover political and
crucial events taking place in Zimbabwe unhindered, contradicting his
permanent secretary George Charamba.
The deputy minister said this
following an announcement by Charamba, who said Zimbabwe was considering
barring some foreign journalists bent on discrediting the country’s
electoral processes.
“As a ministry we are wondering whether it helps
this country to double accredit institutions that are already accredited
here thereby exposing ourselves to parachute journalism. They come with a
story already written in their heads.” Charamba was quoted.
Charamba
said his ministry was consulting with “leadership” on how to deal with
foreign journalists following an attack on two BBC journalists in Mbare
early last month who were covering preparations for a crucial
referendum.
The spin-doctor, who is also President Robert Mugabe’s
spokesperson, was quoted in the State-controlled media recently saying that
some foreign media organisations had an agenda to portray Zimbabwe as a
violent nation especially as the country prepares itself for watershed
polls.
But Zwizwai said Charamba’s statement does not reflect a
government position but “probably” his personal opinion.
The
statement could be a surface reflection of how frosty relations are in the
coalition government and the continued discord that has affected service
delivery throughout the entire coalition government formed by Zanu PF and
two MDC formations.
Although Zanu PF usually has a last say in the
fragile coalition government, the MDC deployee to Media, Information and
Publicity ministry, says external newsmen wishing to work in the country are
welcome.
“Government has no intention to block, muzzle or prohibit any
foreign journalist from visiting or reporting on events and activities
involving Zimbabweans as this infringes on the right to freedom of
expression and freedom of the media,” Zvizwai said.
According to the
deputy minister, “with a digital age that is here to stay, it is folly for
any government to slide backwards and contemplate introducing discredited
social engineering methods such as media controls.”
“The official
position is that our nation has nothing to hide as it was founded on
universal principles of an open society where ordinary people are allowed to
share their facts and opinions through the media as a market place,” he
said. - Xolisani Ncube
EnlargeZimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Finance minister Tendai Biti Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Finance minister Tendai Biti
ZANU PF hardliners have reportedly
launched a fresh onslaught against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Finance minister Tendai Biti and wants them arrested for corruption
following a failed bid by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to
nab three Zanu PF ministers over similar allegations.
The hardliners
— most of them linked to the ministers who escaped the anti-graft body’s net
last month — are reported to be pushing for the MDC-T leader’s arrest over
an alleged 2009 “double-dipping” scandal involving public funds meant to buy
his official residence in Highlands, Harare.
Tsvangirai has since denied
the charge.
The MDC-T leader is alleged to have made two separate claims
of $1,5 million apiece for the same house, while Biti is being accused of
clandestinely transferring $20 million from the International Monetary
Fund’s Special Drawing Rights into the troubled Interfin Bank’s coffers
before the money mysteriously vanished.
In 2011, the Joint Operations
Command (JOC) — which brings together the army, police and intelligence
chiefs — reportedly demanded for such an arrest, but the move was thwarted
by another section in the party who feared such an arrest would have grave
consequences on Zanu PF’s election bid.
A few weeks ago, Zacc hovered
over three Zanu PF ministers Saviour Kasukuwere (Indigenisation), Obert
Mpofu (Mines and Mining Development) and Nicholas Goche (Transport and and
Infrastructural Development), accusing them of corruption, but the trio
wriggled off the hook after obtaining a High Court order stopping searches
at their offices.
Zanu PF sources told NewsDay yesterday, party
hardliners now want the heat to be turned on Tsvangirai and Biti.
The
party functionaries are alleged to be pushing Zacc to pursue the matter with
the same zeal they had shown on Kasukuwere, Goche and Mpofu. However, Zacc
chairperson Denford Chirindo yesterday denied his commission was under
pressure from Zanu PF to lay corruption charges against Tsvangirai and
Biti.
“We are a law enforcement agency, not a scores-settling agency,”
Chirindo said.
“The commission does not operate under pressure from
anyone. The law does not allow us to get pressure from anyone. I am not
aware of any such pressure or discussions. These could be mere political
discussions and no one in the commission has been approached with that
instruction.”
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba
said they only acted when there was strong suspicion that a crime had been
committed.
“This is nonsense. Police do not get pressure from anyone.
Police only act when there is suspicion of an offence,” Charamba
said.
However, NewsDay has it on good authority that the hardliners are
burning the midnight candle to mobilise for the arrest of the MDC-T leader
and his party secretary-general over graft charges.
According to
insiders, the plot is also expected to rope in Reserve Bank governor Gideon
Gono as the State’s star witness in a horse-trading deal that will see the
latter’s charge of discrediting Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy
dropped.
A few weeks ago, Gono was at the receiving end of Zanu PF’s
vitriol attacks with Kasukuwere and former Information minister Jonathan
Moyo accusing him of leaking sensitive and misleading information to the
media to discredit Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy.
“The grand plan
is for Gono to agree to be a State witness against Tsvangirai and Biti and
then the attack on his person will immediately cease,” a source
said.
In one of his many opinion pieces published in the State media two
weeks ago, Moyo also lashed out at Zacc officials, accusing them of
clandestinely receiving funding from Gono to blackmail Zanu PF ministers and
the party ahead of the forthcoming polls.
High Court judge Justice
Charles Hungwe, who authorised the search for documents at the three Zanu PF
ministers’ offices, was not spared the attack.
In that same article,
Moyo challenged Zacc to arrest Tsvangirai and Biti, accusing the commission
of ulterior motives to destroy Zanu PF ahead of elections. -
NewsDay
ZIMBABWE has sought the
help of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on how to absorb the
economic shocks caused by the use of multi-currencies.
BY NDAMU
SANDU
Some of the shocks caused by the use of a multi-currency regime
include an acute liquidity crunch and loss of monetary policy as an
instrument to steer the economy.
Economic Planning and Investments
Promotion minister Tapiwa Mashakada held talks with the United Nations
under-secretary and executive secretary for ECA, Carlos Lopes in Abidjan on
Tuesday on the sidelines of the joint ECA-Africa Union annual meetings for
ministers of Finance, Economic Planning and Development.
“The meeting
with the minister was about the possibility of us helping Zimbabwe on the
currency issues”.
“Zimbabwe has now dollarised the economy and it’s
possible that as it is a dollarised economy it is a very complex
matter. “The minister was inquiring about the possibility of ECA helping
Zimbabwe.
“This was the main subject of the discussion,” Lopes told
Standardbusiness.
Mashakada would not be drawn into revealing the details
of the meeting.
Zimbabwe adopted a basket of multi-currencies which
consist of the United States dollar, Botswana Pula, British pound and South
African rand to stem hyperinflation that had made the local unit
worthless.
The use of multi-currencies was also in response to
Zimbabweans who had rejected the local unit in favour of foreign
currency.
The multi-currency regime is credited for stabilising the
economy which is set to achieve a fourth consecutive growth this year after
a decade of recession.
However, the move has eroded the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) powers to intervene in the economy through monetary
policy interventions, effectively confining its role only to
regulation. Central banks in Europe have been able to intervene in the Euro
crisis by using or adjusting their monetary policies, through introducing
austerity measures as and when needed.
An austerity measure is an
official action taken by governments through central banks in order to
reduce the amount of money that it spends or the amount that people
spend.
This ultimately has an effect on the liquidity position of a
country’s financial markets.
Without the ability to control a
country’s monetary policy and implement it, the central bank is ineffective
in introducing austerity measures when needed.
In a dollarised
environment, RBZ is incapable of doing its job because it has lost its
ability to print money. This means that it cannot influence money
supply.
ECA was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and
Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states
(the nations of the African continent) following a recommendation of the
United Nations General Assembly.
Even 33 years after Zimbabwean independence, President
Mugabe remains a harsh critic of the white colonial government’s system. But
through the latest radio ban, he is imposing the same oppressive tactics that he
himself once fought against to liberate his people.
By Nkosana Dlamini, Harare
As I write, Zimbabwe’s statutes are still being
starched with the state oppression that Mugabe himself once fought against. A
case in point is the state’slatest banof small wind-up radios with a short-wave
dial.
To understand better, let’s first rewind a few
decades…
Chiefs and Commandos Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, gained independence in
1980 after a protracted guerrilla war. At its peak, in the 1970s, the two main
fighting movements, ZIPRA and ZANLA, established exiled radio stations in
Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania, countries where their fighters received
training. Via shortwave and medium-wave bands, these stations broadcasted into
Zimbabwe. It was their way to communicate with the local villagers who supported
the war by sharing intelligence and foodstuffs.
But in a bid to thwart enemy operations, Ian Smith, the
last white Rhodesian ruler – whose 15-year reign, until 1979, witnessed the most
severe and widespread abuses of native blacks – developed strategies that forced
radios to be fitted with frequency modulation (FM), as opposed to short
wave.
Manufactured by local Zimbabwean firms, such as
Supersonic and WRS, Smith’s FM radio sets were branded with the name ‘Chief’.
The name was apt since they were given to traditional Zimbabwean chiefs who
lived in rural areas and who, Smith hoped, would sway their subjects to turn
against the guerrillas (whom he referred to as ‘terrorists’).
Other radios were manufactured under the name
‘Commando’ and distributed to soldiers in the bush. The government’s intention
here was to keep spirits up. Those at battle were given radio programmes through
which they could request favourite songs and relay messages about their welfare
to loved ones.
Mugabe’s heavy hand In some ways, Smith triumphed. Thanks to its
clearer signal and lively programming, FM listening became a pleasure. Everyday
people could easily buy the receivers, which were readily available in most
retail shops selling electronics. But, it should be noted, FM’s transmission is
restricted to a country’s boundaries.
Both Smith and Mugabe claimed to be shielding people
from pirate stations, which they claimed broadcast hate speech and lies about
the country. In both eras, locals have been instilled with fear. They have had
to resort to listening to exiled stations from under the blankets and in the
granaries, all the while anxious that their neighbours might see them using
forbidden radios.
But while Smith may have used more underhanded methods
to ban short-wave radios, Mugabe has been heavy-handed. Even under Zimbabwe's
stringent laws today, it is not a crime to own a radio receiver. But, by day,
Mugabe’s state agents confiscate the radios and harass citizens found in
possession of them – a practice that gets revved up each time a Zimbabwean
election looms. By night, the same agents return home to tune into exiled
stations via the radios they’ve confiscated. In some instances, they distribute
them among their relatives.
The type of
short-wave radio being banned in Zimbabwe
The state says it is grabbing the receivers from poor
villagers because they are being brought into the country by NGOs without paying
a customs fee. In some instances, the state is open enough to say it is trying
to prevent ordinary citizens from accessing exiled Zimbabwean radio stations
through the shortwave band, a unique feature in these radios.
In other ways, too, Mugabe has proven worse than his
predecessor. He has made repeated attempts to scramble these stations’ signals.
He is also allegedly responsible for the 2002 bombing of exiled station Radio
Voice of the People and the 2000 and 2001 bombings of the newspaper The Daily
News, which is privately owned.
Today’s listener But Mugabe may be fighting a losing battle.
Technological advancement is no longer so slow. Today’s listener is not only
more stubborn, but also more privileged to access – if not own – alternative
media sources, like the internet and digital satellite TV.
Nowadays, most of the banned radio sets are imported
from Asia and are being distributed to ordinary Zimbabweans by
NGOs.
Radio is also accessible via cell phone and computer.
Most Zimbabweans now own cheap Asian-import cars fitted with radios that can
access Studio 7, Mugabe’s most despised exiled station with coverage even wider
than that of the FM state broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC).
Radio Voice of the People and Short Wave Radio Africa are two other exiled
stations that attract a generous listenership.
And the stricter Mugabe gets about the ban’s
imposition, the more ravenous the appetite of Zimbabwean citizens grows. They
want to hear precisely what the state broadcaster cannot – or will not – put to
their domain.
When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the
sun is about to set.” This quote by Lin Yutang, the Chinese writer and
inventor, could not capture our situation in Zimbabwe
better.
It must now be evident to all that the years of plunder,
patronage and dictatorship are surely about to end as we move towards
elections. Even small men have begun to cast big shadows as they campaign to
be re elected and continue to defend the indefensible.
Despite the
disappointing turnout we saw during the recent referendum, I think we must
not under estimate the anxiety of ordinary Zimbabweans to see the demise of
ZANU (PF) and the end of its selfish philosophies that have seen a majority
of Zimbabweans becoming poorer and living sub standard lives.
I
learnt with utter disgust, that the ministry of finance had to issue a 365
day bond at 7% annual interest in order to finance the referendum. The USD20
million bonds were apparently taken up by Old Mutual and the National Social
Security Agency (NSSA).
In the mean time, the Minister of Finance,
Tendai Biti, has estimated that the country has earned about USD800 million
to date from diamond exports, of which treasury has received a paltry USD45
million. The remainder is of course, a mystery or is it?
So in
effect, the country had to borrow from the poor in order to finance its
political transformation.
Pensioners in Zimbabwe receive a paltry USD 60
a month, and it is these people from whom the country has borrowed the USD20
million. Those who are benefitting from the thieving of our minerals did not
even have the conscience to help the country move forward.
We have
also recently witnessed unbelievable action by the police, some of it which
has been directed at the Prime Minister’s Office. It is becoming quite
obvious to most of us that things are going to get a little worse before
they get better, but I remain positive that change is coming.
Our
political landscape has been characterized by theft, dishonesty, corruption
and little regard for the well being of our citizens and this cannot go on.
I remain amazed at the audacity of ZANU (PF) and their sheer disregard for
the rights of ordinary Zimbabweans in their pursuit of political
relevance.
It is shocking how the police continue to be used as an
instrument of suppression and yet the little pay they get, is from taxes
paid by hard working honest citizens who pay their taxes to be protected by
our police and not to be harassed.
As I ponder on the future, I am
convinced that there is no other solution than the emergence of a totally
new brand of politics in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole. It is incumbent
upon our generation to do everything we can to create that future.
At
times I do not think that most of us are aware that, unless we do something,
the deterioration is bound to continue and with it comes continued mass
poverty and the continued suffering of all Zimbabweans.
It continues to
be a terrible experience to live in Zimbabwe today and at times, I doubt
whether those outside our borders can comprehend the desperate situation
that millions of our citizens find themselves in today. Our situation will
certainly not get better until we have a new government in
power.
Zimbabwe remains a failed police state and this is convenient for
those who continue to plunder our resources. Our rights continue to be
abused and disregarded by our politicians while intimidation by the police
is a common daily occurrence.
Our only hope it to decisively turn out
and vote. I think of the thousands that risked their lives in order to
participate in our armed struggle and I call upon the same emotions that led
them there to lead us now to the voting booths.
This for me is not
the responsibility the MDC or opposition parties, but the responsibility of
every sane Zimbabwean who wishes to see a better future for coming
generations. For those in the Diaspora this is not the time to philosophize
and dither but to come home, register and vote.
In addition I implore the
SADC to realize that fair play does not exist in ZANU (PF)’s vocabulary and
it is better that we delay the elections until Zimbabweans are free to
express themselves without fear.
Critical is the regularization of the
voter’s roll, the freeing of the media space the restraint on the use of our
police force as a ZANU (PF) agent including the non participation of state
agents in the voting process. If there is any time that Africans must come
to the party it is now.
Zimbabwe desperately needs your presence and
assistance but we Zimbabweans must do our part. We stand at the cusp of
reshaping our political landscape for the good of the common citizen and all
of us must now shed all fear and reservation. It will not be easy.
I
pray and hope that God will, during these times, hear our fervent prayers
for change.
Vince Musewe is an economic analyst based in Harare. You
may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com
It is now very clear that
things did not go as expected by Zanu-pf at the re-engagement talks held
last week here in London.
First, hopes about the possible lifting of a
travel ban and assets free on the Head of State and Commander in Chief, his
spouse and a few close associates ahead of the much-talked- about elections
before any credible reforms are effected, failed to
materialise.
Secondly, at the end of the talks, possibly trying to earn
lost ground, Zanu-pf negotiator Patrick Chinamasa issued a parallel
“communiqué”, the implications of which could fill a whole book on ‘How Not
to Make A Diplomatic Blunder’.
Despite travelling to London as a
single supposedly united Zimbabwe GNU delegation, the unprecedented move by
Mr Chinamasa (of issuing an arbitrary counter communiqué that does not
represent the 3 parties to the talks) vindicated widely-held beliefs of
Zanu-pf dominance and tendency to dictate every step amid accusations of
operating a parallel regime.
The most bizarre part of the
‘counter-communiqué ‘ issued by Mr Chinamasa relates to where he says that
he complained about forced removals and deportations of Zimbabweans from the
UK..blah blah blah. Really? Of all people, Patrick Chinamasa of Zanu-pf
speaking on behalf of the Diaspora whom he paradoxically disenfranchised for
exercising their right to reject the draft constitution in
2000?
Thirdly, despite recent online denials that the Zanu-pf delegate to
the London talks, Mr Patrick Chinamasa charged towards British MP, Kate
Hoey and had to be restrained, the Zimbabwe Standard ,“Chinamasa in a near
fist fight with British MP”, 31st March 2013 confirms receiving written
responses from the UK parliamentarian.
Kate Hoey said she was “not
surprised by his attitude entirely in keeping with what I would expect from
Zanu-pf”.
So will the politburo launch a top-level investigation into
that incident?
Finally, and interestingly, one of the ZimVigil founders,
Patson Muzuwa reportedly managed to smuggle himself into the Zimbabwe
Embassy for a meeting attended by the three-member delegation and when the
unsuspecting Chinamasa asked whether people had been ill-treated by Zanu-pf,
Patson dismayed everyone by standing up and saying ‘Yes, I have been
tortured’ (See https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr1_2013.html#Z11)
[accessed 02/04/13].
As for the MDC formations, they performed relatively
well, save for Mrs Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga’s rather awkward pleas
for sanctions on Mr Mugabe to be lifted before security sector and media
reforms ahead of credible, peaceful free and fair harmonised elections. The
MDC formations should rotate the negotiators rather than risk’ group think’
from the same people for five years.
It looks like Zanu-pf actually
shot itself in the foot in London.
