Ministerial retreat kicks off in Victoria Falls

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
3 April 2009

Outstanding issues that should have been resolved at the formation of the
inclusive government, such as the swearing in of provincial governors and
the appointment of permanent secretaries and ambassadors, will be finalized
next week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Friday.

In his opening remarks at the start of a three day government retreat at the
resort town of Victoria Falls, Tsvangirai also told cabinet ministers, their
deputies and permanent secretaries that the appointments of Gideon Gono as
Governor of the Reserve Bank and Johannes Tomana as Attorney General, will
be revisited.

Robert Mugabe officially opened the conference. He said the success of the
economic recovery of Zimbabwe rests on the performance and delivery of the
inclusive government and it's commitment to the global political agreement,
signed among the country's three major political parties.

His statement was echoed by Tsvangirai who said as defined by both the GPA
and the constitution, the issues of governors and ambassadors must be
resolved by the leadership, which comprises the President, Vice Presidents,
the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers.

'This body will meet in the coming week to address the outstanding issues
which include, but are not limited to, the ongoing land disputes and
disruption of agricultural activities,' he added.

The issue of Gono has even been raised in Washington where, following a
meeting of the G20 group on March 20th, they issued a statement urging the
inclusive government to 'take additional steps to demonstrate its commitment
to reform such as . the establishment of a credible and transparent central
bank team.'

Tsvangirai also reminded his audience of this need when he told them the
priorities of the new government 'remain democratization, stabilization and
addressing the humanitarian crisis that afflicts our people.'

'Most importantly, this new political dispensation has delivered hope to a
country devoid of optimism and expectation. However, if we are to move
forward with the speed that the people demand and deserve, we must
acknowledge and address some of the elements that are obstructing the full
implementation of the GPA,' according to Tsvangirai.

Political analyst Isaac Dziya said as long as Tsvangirai's message could be
translated into action, the international community might take note and
change it's attitude towards the government. Prospective international
donors have insisted that a return to the rule of law and other key
requirements, must be fulfilled by the inclusive government if any aid is to
be injected into the country.

'There is pressure from all quarters for the government to reform. I think
it is clear to all those in government that aid will not be forthcoming as
long as there are no democratic reforms,' Dziya said.

Irene Petras, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights, told us on Wednesday that although there has been some movement in
trying to bring change, she couldn't say the same with the democratization
process.

'We still have a lot of concerns as far as the rule of law is concerned,
people still cannot gather as a group and the media hasn't been opened up
yet,' Petras said.

But Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office, told
a meeting of civic leaders that the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission will be in place before month-end.

This is part of the implementation of the GPA which also calls for the
formation of a new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and an Anti-Corruption
Commission. It is hoped the setting up of the ZMC would speed up the opening
of the media, to allow new and independent players to enter the industry,
that has been choked by repressive laws put in place by the ZANU-PF
government.

The ZMC is expected to lead the process of media reform, but most
importantly its job should be to register new media houses. NewsDay, a
proposed daily newspaper project by Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard
newspapers owner Trevor Ncube, is ready to register and is already in the
process of recruiting staff.

Full text of Tsvangirai address at retreat

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14599

April 3, 2009

(Address by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Morgan
Tsvangirai, to the Ministerial Retreat, Victoria Falls, April 3, 2009).

YOUR Excellency, President Mugabe, Vice President Mujuru, Deputy Prime
Minister Khupe, Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara, Ministers, Deputy
Ministers, Invited Guests;

There is no other group of people in Zimbabwe today upon whom the success of
the Global Political Agreement rests as heavily as it does on our shoulders.
We who are gathered here today, hold the future of our nation in our hands.
Our actions over the next months will dictate whether Zimbabwe grows and
prospers or resumes its economic and social decline.

This is why we have convened this gathering and I would like to thank you
all for taking the time to participate in this process. I would also like to
thank the World Bank for supporting this meeting and to our facilitators who
have embraced the exciting challenge ahead of them.

Finally, I would like to thank the staff of the World Bank and those
personnel my office and the President's office, who have worked tirelessly
on the logistics and agenda for the coming days.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, in signing the Global Political
Agreement we have committed ourselves to a framework within which we can
learn to work together for the betterment of our nation and the betterment
of our people. If we stand by the letter and spirit of this agreement we
cannot fail to take our nation forward to a more prosperous future.

Working together may not seem natural after so many years on opposite sides
of the political divide, but there can be no viable alternative as our paths
and our futures are now united by the GPA. To try and frustrate its
implementation or negate the benefits it can bring will plunge our nation
into another round of conflict, decay and despair.

Therefore, we must accept that we are now in a transformative stage with all
the pains and challenges it presents. This inclusive government can only
work if it is indeed inclusive. Thus, the Parties that are the signatories
to this agreement must work as a true coalition. Each must bring its own
positive attributes to this government and recognise and reject the negative
tendencies of old.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, it would be unrealistic to expect us
to enter this inclusive government without bringing with us some of that
negative baggage we carry from the past. We cannot hope to work together if
we do not learn to understand each other and if we do not create common
goals that we can strive towards. This is the primary focus of this weekend's
gathering.

I know that this administration is limited by both time and resources, but
we felt that it was essential that we use some of these this weekend to
create that common understanding which will serve as the foundation on which
we can build this inclusive government and build our service delivery to the
people.

On a practical level, our objective this weekend is to obtain a commonality
of interests amongst all Ministers and Heads of Ministries as to the key
issues on which we need to focus in order to successfully implement both the
GPA and the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme.

The majority of the commitments and objectives in both of these documents
require activities that cut across various ministries and thus we must
understand these relationships in order to successfully implement them.

In this, each ministry must understand fully their role in the
implementation of the GPA and STERP, such that each can play their part
positively in this team that we are building.

By the end of this weekend, as Government, we will have agreed on the common
objectives of this administration and we will have developed a concrete plan
for the coming 100 days to ensure timely and efficient implementation. These
objectives will be directed at creating the Zimbabwe that we want and that
the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Each Ministry will identify its own outputs in line with these objectives
and will present a clear understanding of the internal and external
resources available to it and those that are needed to be sourced externally
in the form of funding and technical skills. From the work of the individual
ministries, a composite document of action plans will be developed to guide
us in the implementation of the GPA and STERP.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, I know that you are all now familiar
with the specific content of the GPA and the commitments that we have signed
up to. Within that agreement are 55 actionable items.

That is, 55 defined steps that cut across ministries that we must take to
implement the GPA. These are neither optional nor negotiable, as they form
an integral part of the agreement to which we are all committed.

Similarly, the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme has also been analysed
in order to identify the specific action steps that must be taken by us in
order to rescue our economy and send us on the road to economic growth and
prosperity.

While the content and commitments contained in both the GPA and STERP may be
different, the success of one is linked to the other.

From your knowledge of the GPA you will see that much of it focuses on
building upon and promoting the people's freedoms, otherwise known as human
rights.

I realise that to some people, the term human rights may have foreign
connotations, so let us deal with this openly and transparently, for only if
we agree on the interpretation of the GPA can we hope to agree on its
implementation.

Human rights are neither culturally specific nor are they to be imposed upon
one society by another. As Zimbabweans and signatories to this agreement, it
is we who defined the rights that we must concentrate on in this
transitional phase. As part of this process, the people of Zimbabwe will
themselves have the opportunity, through

the constitutional development process, to define the rights they themselves
wish to be protected and bound by.

These political and civil rights serve not only as guarantees of the people's
freedoms but as the essential foundation of the nation's economic
development. Therefore, if we as leaders are committed to economic growth
and development, we must in turn be committed to entrenching and upholding
political and civil rights.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, our new government is now just over
six weeks old, allowing us the opportunity to reflect on progress and
impediments in order that we can accentuate the former and eliminate the
latter.

I continue to be encouraged by the spirit of cooperation that has grown
amongst the majority of our ministers. In fact, it is safe to say that the
vast majority of ministers, Members of Parliament and civil servants are
committed to seeing this agreement work. As both President Mugabe and I have
stated, this agreement is not perfect but it is workable.

Proof of this lies in our incremental achievements to date. Together, we
have overseen the opening of hospitals and schools, the taming of
hyperinflation, the lowering of prices of basic commodities and the
rationalisation of utility tariffs. We have started paying civil servants a
monthly allowance to allow the public sector to begin working again and to
provide an essential stimulus to the economy.

Most importantly, this new political dispensation has delivered hope to a
country devoid of optimism and expectation. However, if we are to move
forward with the speed that the people demand and deserve, we must
acknowledge and address some of the elements that are obstructing the full
implementation of the GPA.

There are still outstanding issues that should have been resolved at the
formation of this government. As defined by both the GPA and the
Constitution of Zimbabwe, these issues must be resolved by the Leadership of
Government, which comprises the President and Vice Presidents, the Prime
Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers.

This body will meet in the coming week to address the outstanding issues
which include, but are not limited to, the swearing in of the Provincial
Governors, the appointment of the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the
Attorney General, the appointment of Permanent Secretaries and Ambassadors
and the ongoing land disputes and disruption of agricultural activities.

The clarity of the GPA and the Constitution mean that if we abide by their
letter and spirit, these issues can be resolved immediately. In doing so, we
will prove to the international community that we are genuine and serious
about restoring Zimbabwe to its rightful place in the family of nations.

Once we embrace this need for mutual cooperation to drive our nation
forward, we can then concentrate on the business of Government, delivering
services to the people and driving the legislative agenda.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, this historic meeting will enable us
to reach consensus on our implementation agenda and will assist in removing
what barriers remain between us. In turn, this will enable us to move away
from a culture of competing efforts and towards a culture of complimentary
efforts for the benefit of our nation.

Only by doing this will we be able to deliver to the people. A government
that does not deliver has no legitimacy and a limited life-span. The urgency
around delivery is plain for all to see. Although we have had some positive
impact in the short life of this new inclusive government, this is only a
fraction of what needs to be achieved.

The priorities of this government remain democratisation, stabilisation and
addressing the humanitarian crisis that afflicts our people.

We still have a long way to go in rebuilding our health and education
systems which will require significant capital investment if we are to meet
our obligations to the people. Similarly, all our major utilities have been
operating below economic viability for too long and rehabilitating them will
be costly, as will be getting our agricultural sector productive once more.

Indeed the workload that faces each of us in restoring Zimbabwe to its
economic prime is daunting. Hence, the importance of this gathering to
provide us with the opportunity to meet, to discuss the problems we face, to
agree on solutions to those problems and to develop the plan through which
we can implement those solutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the enormous challenges we face in rebuilding and
developing our nation, combined with the fact that our revenue base is
exhausted, means that we need international support to achieve these goals.

We are grateful for the recent commitments by the donor community to
continue assisting the state in dealing with the ongoing humanitarian
crisis, but we also need them to engage with us on our economic recovery
programme.

This is a reality, as is the fact that the donor countries and multi-lateral
institutions are looking at the restoration of the rule of law as the key
benchmark that must be achieved before they will fully engage with this
inclusive government.

In addition, while this government understands the need for the removal of
restrictive measures that have been applied to individuals, success in this
area is also tied to the restoration of the rule of law.

This means that the police must be empowered to protect those protected by
the law, to enforce all court orders and that the courts must process cases
brought before them timeously and impartially. These are measures that can
and must be implemented immediately.

The other key benchmark that will inspire confidence, not just amongst
donors but amongst Zimbabweans as a whole, is evidence that all the Parties
are adhering to the GPA. This entails clear evidence that we are bound and
guided by the GPA and that there is no faction-driven, parallel process that
serves to perpetuate the culture of entitlement and impunity.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, in this, the GPA is very clear
regarding the hierarchical nature of the inclusive government and the
process that must be followed by all the parties. In this new Transitional
Inclusive Government, executive authority rests with the President, the
Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

We must acknowledge that the GPA and Constitution of Zimbabwe are now our
sole sources of legitimacy and we must act accordingly. The President cannot
run Government without the Prime Minister and vice versa - and neither can
operate without Cabinet.

Each one of us in government now derives legitimacy and responsibility from
the GPA and it is this document that must guide us regardless of party
politics or ideology.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, as I stated earlier, the GPA is
workable. It provides us with the framework within which we can work
together to understand each other, to understand the challenges that lie
before us and to develop solutions to those challenges.

In conclusion, let me acknowledge the benefits that I have derived from
engaging with members of our cabinet. In particular I would like to refer to
a conversation with Minister Muchena who acquainted me with the four stages
of coalition building, namely: storming, forming, performing and norming;
where cooperation and working together become the accepted practise of
government.

I would like to ask President Mugabe and everyone else here today at what
stage of the coalition process we are as individuals and I appeal to you
all, that by the end of this weekend we have resolved to be in the
performing stage - at the very least.

Thus, I call upon all of you here today, whether you are from Zanu PF, MDC-T
or MDC-M to put aside your political differences and to unite for the sake
of this Government and our nation.

We all stand to benefit from restoring Zimbabwe to its proud regional
position as a beacon for economic development, political tolerance and
social cohesion. We all stand to benefit from finding ways to work together
for the good of the nation. We all stand to benefit from striving to deliver
to all Zimbabweans the economy they need, the services they deserve and the
freedoms they demand.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask that you join with me in rising to the
challenges before us, in putting aside past differences, in fostering a
spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding, and in building a team to
lead Zimbabwe forward.

I thank you.

Farmers under siege as Didymus Mutasa implicated in ongoing attacks

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
03 April 2009

The renewed campaign against the country's remaining commercial farmers
continued unabated on Friday with a fresh farm attack.

On Friday afternoon, Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth and his family came under
siege by a group of roughly fifteen invaders, who arrived on their Mount
Carmel farm and announced that the family had five minutes to leave the
property. Freeth explained to SW Radio Africa that the head invader
eventually left the property "to get more men to come help him", leaving
about nine men to keep an eye on the family. Freeth explained that the head
invader said he'd been sent my Nathan Shamuyarira, the ZANU PF spokesman,
who has been intent on removing Freeth and his family off the farm. The
family, who has previously been forced to flee their property under constant
harassment, was left on Friday evening in a stand off with the remaining
invaders.

Meanwhile it has emerged that Former Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa, and two
of his relatives, are involved in the ongoing farm disruptions.
The allegations surfaced in a damning report by the Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) submitted to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week, which
highlights the fresh wave of farm attacks that has forced many farmers into
hiding. More than 100 farmers are also facing prosecution on trumped up
charges of occupying 'state land' illegally, while violent farm evictions
have also intensified in recent weeks.

The CFU report accuses Mutasa of leading a Land Inspectorate Commission,
which has been interfering with farming activities on targeted farms - the
only productive farms left in a country crippled by food shortages.

The report reads: "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
Inspectorate Commission, allegedly headed by the previous Minister of Lands
(etc), Minister (Didymus) Mutasa, and assisted by two of his relatives,
being the lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa and Temba Mliswa, who we believe holds the
position of Secretary of Lands for Mashonaland West in the ZANU PF party."

The report also details the known involvement of Attorney General Johannes
Tomana as well as a chief magistrate, senior police officials and officials
from the Lands Ministry, who in February instructed local police and
magistrates to 'fast track' the prosecution of the remaining farmers.

"It would appear that this is to make way for the 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," the CFU said in its report.

The CFU also urged the Prime Minister to issue a moratorium on the
prosecution of white farmers, and called for the "immediate cessation of the
violence in the productive farming sector."

Tsvangirai has since promised to deal with the farm disruptions, saying in a
Press Conference on Wednesday that the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee (JOMIC) had been tasked to deal with the issue. The pledge came
barely a week after he condemned perpetrators of "acts of theft" using
"fraudulent offer letters" to evict commercial farmers. He warned that those
engaged in these activities would be brought to justice.

But doubt has been cast over how the Prime Minister plans to keep his word,
as it is not the first time he has condemned the attacks - condemnation that
has not seen any action. At the same time, many police officials and
judicial members, who should be handing out justice over the land issue, are
themselves beneficiaries of the land grab, and will be unlikely to change
allegiance at the request of Tsvangirai.

Zimbabwe land invasion threaten last of white farmers with extinction

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Zimbabwean farmers have accused prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai's new unity
government of betraying its principles by failing to stop a fresh wave of
farm invasions.

By Damien McElroy in Chegutu, Zimbabwe
Last Updated: 7:03PM BST 03 Apr 2009

More than 70 white-owned farms have been invaded since Mr Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) established a coalition with Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF last month.

Affected farmers have been angered by the MDC's silence on the latest
invasions.

"No one from the unity government people has even mentioned us," said Brian
Bronkhorst, a dairy farmer who inherited his property from his grandfather
last year. "We're backed up against a wall and there's no one to intervene
to help us."

John Worsley-Warwick, who runs a hotline for targeted farmers, said there
has been a two-pronged assault on white farms. Magistrates have charged at
least 50 with illegal occupation and another 77 have reported some form of
invasion. A Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday endorsed the eviction orders,
destroying the last vestiges of hope of legal relief for scores of
landowners.

In a safehouse in Chegutu, once a prosperous market town named Hartley, Mr
Bronkhurst and group of fellow displaced farmers spend their days discussing
their losses and playing backyard cricket. The rolling fields around the
town are flush with crops but the farmers are forced to loiter in T-shirts
and shorts on a friend's veranda.

Peter Etheredge was forced off his farm by thugs in the pay of the president
of Zimbabwe's senate, Edna Madzongwe.

He said his 6,000 ton orange harvest was contracted for sale to the Middle
East. "I turn over at least $4 million (£2.74 million a year from that
business, selling to a good market that wasn't going to be affected by any
downturn," he said. "It was a good crop too, full of export grade oranges
and she'll sell it on the local market for nothing. It's a waste."

Intimidation tactics are widespread and the so-called war veterans leader,
Joseph Chinotimba, who spearheaded the most bloody land invasions since
2000, has re-emerged. "Chinotimba has brought down people to intimidate our
labour," said Mr Etheredge. "It's not pleasant when people you've known for
16 years turn on you and claim you haven't paid them.

"When I tried to get rid of his men, one turned on me and said 'we know you
and where you live, we will kill you."

Hours later Mr Etheridge and his brother James fled under the cover of
darkness.

Tapiwa Mashakada, the MDC's deputy secretary general, conceded the party had
been unable to use its position to stop a "last minute" rush by Zanu-PF to
seize more land. "These are out of sync with the reality," he said. "It will
take some time but I sure we can restore confidence."

Ousted farmers can't believe they have lost their land just as the country
is at a turning point. Rob Taylor has had to camp with a wardrobe and other
possessions in the car park of his 12-year old daughter's school before
threats forced them into hiding. He said: "I've got nothing, I'm bust. I was
26 when this started nine years ago, maybe I should have gone somewhere new
but I can't leave now, it's too close to the end.

"Agriculture is the engine of the Zimbabwean economy. The economy needs a
boost to get started but you can't kickstart it without the engine."

President Mugabe, the champion of land seizure has denounced the invaders as
"enemies" of Zimbabwe but his words had not been backed by action. The
85-year old made no effort to reign in the officials, judges, policemen and
family members.

With harvests looming in the southern hemisphere, farmers believe high
ranking Zanu-PF figures are grabbing lucrative assets before the new
government establishes its authority.

Mr Taylor's former employees face a bleak future. "Since the white man was
chased away we have never had a proper meal," Margaret Ngoma said.

Foreign officials said the government is "at war" over the invasions. The
status of farms is crucial to Zimbabwe's efforts to attract international
aid to revive its bankrupt government.

Western diplomats said the Zanu-PF Lands Minister Herbert Murerwa had
conceded for the first time that Zimbabwe would compensate dozens of farmers
who had lost property protected by bilateral investment treaties.

But the concession would not affect the claims of thousands of British,
Commonwealth and white Zimbabwean farmers who had forfeited property since
the land invasions began

Over 29 000 youth militia still being paid by the state

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
03 April 2009

Two months into a coalition government an estimated 29 000 youth militia
members loyal to ZANU PF are still on a government payroll and being listed
as civil servants. This week Youth Development Minister Savior Kasukuwere,
was quizzed by MDC parliamentarians on the use of the youths by government
during the widely condemned and violent June presidential election run-off
last year.

A new dimension to the issue erupted with revelations that up to 14 000
youths are still being listed under the Public Service Ministry, while
another 15 000 fall under the Women's Affairs Ministry. This brings the
total number on the payroll to an astonishing 29 000. Kasukuwere's answer in
parliament was dismissed as unconvincing, after he claimed they were Youth
Officers employed to work in different wards around the country.

With monthly allowances for civil servants pegged at US$100 it means nearly
three million US dollars is being spent on paying youths whose only mandate
was to terrorize opposition activists. This issue will present a challenging
test for the new Minister of the Public Service, Professor Elphas
Mukonoweshuro, who is from the MDC. Whether he will be able to deal with the
matter will test the workability of the coalition government. Newsreel
understands the problem has already been forwarded to the Prime Minister's
office for a resolution.

Several years ago the ZANU PF regime set up the Border Gezi youth militia
camps to train groups of youths in violence. They were always deployed
towards election time to beat up opposition supporters. Wearing their
notorious green uniforms they essentially became a para-military force,
maiming and killing MDC activists while claiming to be a national youth
service promoting patriotism. Many were later absorbed into the current
police force.

Wellington Zindove from the Youth Forum told Newsreel that most of the
youths in the militia were promised jobs by ZANU PF as a reward for
enrolling into the camps. He said this explained how most of them were
eventually smuggled into the public service as civil servants and earning
money for doing nothing.

Several other ministers are being questioned in parliament about their work.
Joint Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa were quizzed on
the use of torture by security forces and the abduction of activists. Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu was grilled on the killing of miners in the Marange
diamond fields, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on prison conditions
while Information, Communication and Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa had
to explain the issues of high tariffs in the telecommunications sector.
The parliamentary order paper also listed Defence Minister Emerson Mnangagwa
as being lined up to explain the issuing of firearms to retired army
personnel and war veterans, in the period leading up to the presidential
election run-off last year.

Gono comes out guns blazing

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14580

April 3, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),
has dismissed outright suggestions that he was the de facto Prime Minister
of Zimbabwe prior to the establishment of the inclusive government.

He suggested instead that the sweeping powers he wielded were bestowed on
him under the provisions of the RBZ Act.

He also insisted that he was taking instructions from his principal,
President Robert Mugabe, as he implemented policies that have wrecked
Zimbabwe's dramatic economic ruin.

His explanation to parliamentarians Thursday, when he came out all guns
blazing, betrayed his determination to hold onto his job amid mounting
clamour for the removal of a man who in his heyday became more powerful than
government ministers.

As pressure for Gono's removal has mounted with the collapse of the economy,
he has in turn blamed sanctions, banks, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange,
black-market currency dealers as well as insurance companies for wreaking
havoc on the economy. As well as firing bankers, he has blacklisted more
than 20 investment companies and frozen their accounts.

On Thursday he told legislators in Harare that Section 6 (g) of the RBZ Act
empowered him to act as a banker, financial adviser and a fiscal agent of
the State.

It was an apparent feeble attempt to justify his rapacious minting of cash
to bankroll Mugabe and Zanu-PF's profligate spending. He also cited Section
6 (l), which empowers the Reserve Bank to exercise any functions conferred
or imposed upon it in terms of the enactment.

The embattled governor also sought refuge for some of his more questionable
policies in Section 8 (2) of the RBZ Act which states that "nothing in this
section shall prevent the State from carrying on transactions in such manner
as the State may require and, if so requested by the State, the Bank shall
make the necessary arrangements to this end".

He shifted blame to Mugabe and said he was working under instructions from
him as his principal. He claimed to have engaged in non-traditional roles of
a central bank because of declining capital flows, droughts, declining
capacity utilisation, limited fiscal resources, political polarisation,
sanctions and a failure to access balance of payments support.

"People forget what they legislated," Gono said. "You said to me, 'Ita zvese
zvese as long as takuti ita.' (Do whatever as long as we have instructed you
to do so). So that is what I have been doing. You don't shoot the
 messenger."

Gono is blamed by economists and the IMF for compounding Zimbabwe's crisis
through quasi-fiscal activities that have seen the RBZ pump millions into
financing newly resettled black farmers, most of them Zanu-PF supporters and
who have failed to produce enough food to feed the starving nation.

For example, Gono provided foreign currency to purchase combine harvesters,
tractors, motorcycles, generators and small farming implements that were
handed for free to resettled farmers by Mugabe just before elections last
March, in what analysts said was a clear attempt by the Zimbabwean leader,
working in cahoots with Gono to curry favour with a disgruntled electorate.

Mugabe and Zanu-PF still lost the election.

Gono told parliamentarians: "All that we did was, however, authorised,
transparently reported upon at different platforms and appreciated by all
beneficiaries, including by those who today hold different views in public."

Economists say Gono's sacking is a necessary prelude before any aid is
released, and major donor countries, including the G20 group of richest
countries and the US have recently said the central bank chief's removal was
one of the key indices of whether Zimbabwe was a fit recipient of aid.

A statement issued on March 20 after a meeting in Washington DC of the G20
bloc, which again met in London yesterday to consider Zimbabwe's US$8billion
rescue package request, urged the inclusive government to "take additional
steps to demonstrate its commitment to reform such as . the establishment of
a credible and transparent central bank team."

Britain's Africa minister Lord Malloch-Brown has also called for the
dismissal of Gono before the country could be eligible for budgetary
support. He said he did not trust the people who signed the cheques at the
central bank.

Gono has failed to account for US$7.3 million donated last year by the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to buy medicines for Zimbabweans
living with the HIV virus.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
have insisted that Gono must be fired, but Mugabe has refused to budge.
Analysts believe Gono, 49, has played a central role in the collapse of
Zimbabwe's economy.

Gono has played a key role in fundraising for Mugabe's Zanu-PF party by
minting cash. As recently as February 2, the central bank knocked 12 zeroes
off the local currency and introduced seven new notes.

Gono's policies have been one of the main drivers of the country's
hyperinflation, which for the first time in a decade started registering
deflation this month following dollarisation of the economy by the new
administration, whose Finance minister Tendai Biti has ring-fenced Gono to
his core business.

Gono - who started his working life as an office orderly but spectacularly
rose through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of Zimbabwe's banking sector -
was first appointed central bank governor in December 2003 as a turnaround
strategist after successfully salvaging the fortunes of the once struggling
bank, Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ).

The government, a shareholder in the bank was a catalyst in the much hyped
turn-around success story. University students' payouts as well as the
salaries of the police and military were disbursed through the Jewel Bank,
as it came to be known. Government officials obtained unsecured loans from
the bank, which some did not pay back. That became the foundation of Gono's
rise to power.

He was reappointed to a fresh five-year term in December last year amid
fierce resistance from the MDC leaders who insisted that his reappointment
by Mugabe without consultation with the other two principals was in
contemptuous violation of the power-sharing agreement.

Mutambara told business leaders at the Harare Chamber of Commerce's
post-budget breakfast meeting last week that discussions over replacing Gono
were still ongoing, despite President Mugabe's utterances that debate on
that matter was closed.

Hope that foreign aid would be released again to help the country recover
from its current economic chaos was one of the most powerful pressures that
forced Mugabe finally to agree to share power with Tsvangirai.

According to one diplomat, Gono has little credibilityand, while the
international community has offered billions in aid to a reforming Zimbabwe,
it is essential that the power-sharing agreement is seen to be working.

Western governments say openly that they see Gono's removal as one of the
conditions for resuming full financial support for Zimbabwe's power-sharing
government.

Current indications are that Mugabe is unlikely to yield.

June 2009 exams could be dropped

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14566

April 3, 2009

By Raymond Maingire
HARARE - The government is under pressure to do away with this year's June
examinations following its continued failure to complete the marking of last
year's June and November public examinations due to a crippling strike by
teachers over salaries.

Education, Arts, Sports and Culture minister, David Coltart told
parliamentarians Wednesday that his ministry may consider jettisoning the
June examinations.

He said government was still struggling to source funds to finance the
staging of the examinations.

Coltart said his ministry had been inundated with calls from stakeholders
who felt the June exams should be dropped to allow government to deal with
those exams still outstanding.

He was responding to a question by Zaka Central legislator Harrison Mudzuri
who asked what government was planning to do with regard to the June 2009
examinations.

Coltart said his ministry was recently given US$867 000 by the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to finance the marking of the June and
November 2008 exams.

He said the marking of the outstanding examination papers was now 99 percent
complete.

"We have made substantial progress in that regard," said Coltart.

"We have almost completed marking every single paper except for geography.
Ninety nine percent of the papers are now complete."

The process, said Coltart, was being delayed by the collating, upgrading and
the capturing of the results into a database. He said the exam results could
be out by the end of the next schools holiday.

Coltart, who is the Senator for Khumalo Constituency said a total of up to
US$438 million was required within the next five months to restore stability
to the education sector, once among the best in Africa.

He said this year's budget allocation to the ministry was not sufficient to
restore stability to the embattled sector in the short term.

In the absence of viable salaries paid to Zimbabwean teachers, Coltart said,
his ministry was hamstrung in disciplining schools and teachers that
demanded payment from parents outside the official fee structure.

"We will continue experiencing these ad hoc payment systems for as long as
we are not able to pay viable salaries to teachers," he said.

"This is going to take quite some time to stop. We can only start employing
vigorous disciplinary measures against school heads and teachers once we
start paying viable salaries to teachers."

Minister Coltart was responding to a question by Muzarabani South
legislator, Edward Raradza who asked if government was aware some rural
schools were demanding goats, chicken and even cattle as supplementary
payment for teachers.

Like all civil servants in Zimbabwe, teachers are paid a monthly allowance
of US$100, which is not enough for their subsistence.

Coltart defended his ministry's decision to exempt rural pupils from paying
school fees saying part of the higher fees being charged on low density
schools in urban areas, including monies sourced from the treasury would be
channeled towards the upkeep of rural schools.

Coltart was also responding to concerns by the parliamentarians who felt the
decision to drop tuition fees for rural primary schools would, in the long
run, impact negatively on the development of primary schools in rural areas.

Civil Society says government not focused on change

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
3 April 2009

In late February key civic groups in Zimbabwe established an independent
Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism, which is looking into the implementation
of the Global Political Agreement. Next week the group will launch its first
monthly monitoring report, which will help the general public understand the
political process so far, in order for people to demand accountability in an
informed manner.
The National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (NANGO), a key
member of the group, says it appears there is no concrete vision by the
inclusive government on changing the situation in the country. NANGO
spokesperson Fambai Ngirande said the political process is focused too much
on getting international funding, as opposed to a national vision which all
Zimbabweans could rally behind.
Ngirande said there is no urgency in changing repressive legislation and
there is still massive food insecurity, endemic poverty, a disastrous brain
drain, a collapsed education system and a non existent health delivery
system.
He said: "The only movement being seen is an increase in donor support that
is coming into the country but its impact is yet to be seen."
Last week Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai opened a Stakeholders Summit in
Harare and civil society was invited to consult with the government. This
was ahead of a three day government retreat at the resort town of Victoria
Falls. But Ngirande said only a few ministers, and those were from the
Tsvangirai MDC, bothered to turn up, namely Eric Matinenga the Minister of
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and Gordon Moyo, the Minister of
State.
Ngirande went on to say: "The consultation seemed to be tokenistic. We were
supposed to engage with the ministers and inform them as they prepare for
this retreat but none of them turned up."
"So there is that concern as to whether they are really meaning it when they
say they want to consult and rally Zimbabwe towards a developmental agenda."
.
Participating organisations in the civil society monitoring group are:
Bulawayo Agenda
Christian Alliance
Counseling Services Unit
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union
Legal Resources Foundation
Media Institute of Southern Africa - Zimbabwe Chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe)
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations
Progressive Teachers Association of Zimbabwe
Research and Advocacy Unit
Save Zimbabwe Campaign
Veritas
Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development
Zimbabwe Election Support Network
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe National Students Union
Zimbabwe Young Women's Network for Peace Building

Staff of PM unpaid

http://www.africanews.com

Posted on Friday 3 April 2009 - 13:04

Bruce Sibanda, AfricaNews reporter in Harare

Ten staff including James Maridadi, the spokesperson of the Zimbabwe Prime
Minister, have not been paid for over two months. The Public Service
Commission has refused to confirm their appointment.

Their details were submitted two months ago to the Commission headed by ZANU
PF's Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwa to be on government payroll but no action has
since been taken.

A source at the MDC-T said that the public service was notified of the
appointments and confirmation is needed from the department so that the 10
are entered into the payroll.

When the Prime Minister's office sent the names, the Public service demanded
that the 10 need to have degrees as qualification. "Fortunately all the ten
had degrees and the public service said they now want CVs of the ten but up
to now nothing has been done," the source said.

This has been viewed as an attempt by ZANU PF hardliners who want to
frustrate the All Inclusive government for various grievances. "Most of them
felt left out and insignificant when the All Inclusive Government was formed
and they are still trying their all to reverse it," he added.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's office has refused to accept four 4X4
vehicles from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono. Gono reportedly
allocated the vehicles but the Prime Minister ordered that the vehicles be
returned because it is not Gono's job to allocate vehicles.

"The Prime Minister's argument was that there is a specific body responsible
for dispensing cars to members of government, which is the CMED, and it is
not Gono's job to distribute cars," said Tafara Chiroma a CMED vehicle
allocation official.

Gono is said to have been shocked to discover the cars parked at the Reserve
Bank headquarters after they were snubbed.

No $8bn bailout until Mugabe goes

Comment from The Financial Mail (SA), 3 April

The call by Southern African leaders, with SA in the forefront, for the
world to cough up US$8,5bn to rebuild Zimbabwe's economy is as ridiculous as
it is laughable. Even if the money (about R82bn) were available, all it
would achieve is the bailout of Robert Mugabe, the architect of Zimbabwe's
near destruction, and his continued stay in power. Mugabe must go before aid
can flow into the country. Nothing will change with Mugabe in power. Nothing
has changed. He's still pursuing the same policies that brought the country
to its knees - farms are still being invaded and confiscated; detainees have
not been released; torture continues ; and the media is still not allowed to
report freely from that country. Which is why US president Barack Obama, as
well as the European Union, have extended sanctions against Zimbabwe for
another year. It is another way of saying Mugabe is the problem and should
get out of the way before they will come to Zimbabwe's aid. Of course, China
could well step into the breach, but the US believes Zimbabwe's political
crisis is a threat to its interests and that the crisis remains unresolved.
This is despite SA's strong-arming MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai into forming
a so-called power-sharing government with Zanu PF. It is no such thing.
Tsvangirai has in effect been co-opted into a "settlement" that has only
muddied the waters and legitimised Mugabe's leadership. As prime minister,
Tsvangirai cannot stop the farm invasions or even release his own supporters
from detention. The billions that SADC now hopes to rustle up will in all
likelihood be swallowed by Mugabe and his cronies, in the same way that the
R300m SA funnelled their way recently has been. No money - not a cent -
should be given to Zimbabwe until Mugabe has been forced out.

Daily cholera update and alerts, 01 Apr 2009

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 179.5 Kbytes)

* Please note that daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the numbers. Any change will then be explained.

** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may occasionally result

A. Highlights of the day:

- 259 Cases and 7 deaths added today (in comparison with 76 cases and 3 deaths yesterday)

- 45.0 % of the districts affected have reported today 27 out of 60 affected districts)

- 96.8 % of districts reported to be affected (60 districts out of 62)

- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7%

- Daily Institutional CFR = 0.8 %.

- Denotification of 4 Cases in Chiredzi

Daily cholera update and alerts, 02 Apr 2009

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 191.9 Kbytes)

* Please note that daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the numbers. Any change will then be explained.

** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may occasionally result

A. Highlights of the day:

- 166 Cases and 10 deaths added today (in comparison with 259 cases and 7 deaths yesterday)

- 51.7 % of the districts affected have reported today 31 out of 60 affected districts)

- 96.8 % of districts reported to be affected (60 districts out of 62)

- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7%

- Daily Institutional CFR = 2.5 %.

Resurrecting a collapsed infrastructure

Photo: IRIN

Fixing cholera

HARARE, 3 April 2009 (IRIN) - Repairing Zimbabwe's infrastructure is recognized as a key strategy in tackling the cholera epidemic that by 1 April had claimed 4,127 lives; the only problem is, no one knows how bad it is.

Parts of the capital, Harare, have not had running water for the past two weeks, raising fears that the waterborne disease causing 94,277 recorded cases since August 2008, might return with a vengeance after the caseload has dropped.

The practice of digging shallow wells to draw water remains part of life in the city’s high-density suburbs and is widely recognized as the flashpoint for the disease, because the collapse of sanitation systems coincided with the breakdown of the piped water system.

Sam Sipepa Nkomo, the minister responsible for water resources and management in the unity government, told IRIN an audit of the state of water and sanitation infrastructure was being undertaken.

Nkomo said a summit was held recently in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, which was attended by stakeholders in water management, treatment and distribution, as well as representatives of the sewage treatment and disposal sector.

"A group of experts from that meeting was tasked with coming up with how much money is needed to revive the water and sanitation situation throughout the country."

Initial estimates were that it would take US$28 million annually to buy water treatment chemicals. "If anybody or organisations can provide me with that amount of money, then we can supply chemicals for one year,” he said.

"But that would not solve the situation because there are issues of reviving the collapsed infrastructure like water pipes, water treatment plants, and being able to pump water to businesses and homes."

At the moment it was a moot point as there was no money. "We are surviving from hand to mouth," Nkomo said.

The immediate plan of action was to break down the response into three tiers, should money become available: emergency response, short-term, and a long-term plan for the provision of water and sanitation.

Barnabas Mangodza, chief executive officer of the Combined Harare Residents Association, told IRIN that attempts to put a price tag on the cost of repairs to infrastructure had come to nothing.

"We have since realized that the figure keeps rising by the day, and therefore a complete audit of the state of infrastructure in Harare needs to be done before we can come up with a figure," he said. 

A collapsed system  

"Initially, we had estimated that it would be around US$500 million, but every day we establish that most of the infrastructure might need to be totally replaced. The system is really a shell and has all but collapsed."

Initially, we had estimated that it would be around US$500 million, but every day we establish that most of the infrastructure might need to be totally replaced. The system is really a shell and has all but collapsed

Former Harare mayor and engineer by profession Elias Mudzuri told IRIN that the decision by President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF in 2005 to transfer responsibility for providing water and sanitation from local to central government was the genesis of the cholera crisis.

"In the case of Harare, the government fired elected representatives and imposed clueless commissioners to run the affairs of the city," he said.

The current mayor of Harare, Muchadei Masunda, said his administration was in the final stages of returning the responsibility for water and sanitation management to the municipality.

"Sometime back in 2005 the responsibility of providing potable water to Harare was taken away from the city and given to ZINWA [Zimbabwe National Water Authority], which is a parastatal, and that was one of the most regrettable things to happen in this country," he said. 

Supporting The People Of Zimbabwe

http://www.voanews.com

The Following is an Editorial Reflecting the Views of the US Government

     
      03 April 2009

As the leaders of the transitional government in Zimbabwe work to restore
the rule of law and fulfill the will of the people in their troubled land,
they are turning to their neighbors and the international community for aid
in restoring Zimbabwe's troubled economy.

The request for billions of dollars to restore social services and meet
other needs comes amid the worst global economic downturn in more than 70
years, and many nations will be hard pressed to comply. Nevertheless, at a
recent meeting in Washington a group of major donor nations, including the
United States, said they are committed to supporting the Zimbabwean people
to bring democracy, stability and prosperity back to their country.

Zimbabwe needs significant foreign support to help rebuild its decimated
farm and business sectors, its paralyzed health care system, and its
crumbling infrastructure. President Robert Mugabe's mismanagement and
dictatorial rule turned what was once the breadbasket of Africa into an
economic basket-case.

Furthermore, Zimbabwe is hundreds of millions of dollars behind in payments
on its debts to the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank
and other lenders. Not a pretty picture.

With the entry of opposition leaders into a transitional government in
February, however, the picture got a little brighter. The United States and
others in the international community commend the efforts of the new
government to achieve goals set out in the September 2008 Global Political
Agreement negotiated with the help of the Southern African Development
Community. These goals include restoration of the rule of law, economic
stability, political freedoms and protection of human rights.

Much work still needs to be done, however.

Additional steps must be taken to affirm a commitment to reform, such as the
immediate release or formal filing of charges against all political
prisoners, an end to farm seizures, the establishment of credible leadership
at the central bank authority, and a commitment to fair and credible
elections in a timely manner.

Provided that Zimbabwe makes positive progress in these critical areas, the
U.S. and other donors are ready to support Zimbabwe's rebuilding with
targeted assistance. Meanwhile, significant humanitarian needs will be met
with continued support for feeding, health services, water sanitation,
HIV/AIDS, cholera and other important programs.

A letter from the diaspora

http://www.cathybuckle.com

3rd April 2009

Dear Friends.
"Don't make us pay for working with Mugabe"- that was the heading given to
an article Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote in The Times on April 1st.
The article was presumably aimed at the world leaders as they gathered in
London for the G20 Summit. Despite all the razzamatazz, with leaders jetting
in from all over the world, the chances of the Summit succeeding were not
reckoned to be high. By Thursday, however, when the Summit ended there was
an agreement of sorts with the world leaders agreeing to a one trillion
dollar package to rescue the world's economies. Will any of that money come
Africa's way and perhaps there is some hope in the fact that the World Bank
and the IMF will directly benefit from the one trillion dollar package.
There was also the provision of Special Drawing Rights of 250 billion which
would make loans available to lowest-income countries depending on their
contributions to the IMF (and we all know Zimbabwe has not done too well in
that area). There was a good deal of rhetoric about the necessity of
avoiding protectionism in trade but it remains to be seen whether developed
countries battling the recession will be either willing or able to encourage
the free trade which is the lifeblood of capitalism.

None of this offers much comfort to Africa and the developing world.
In truth, it could not be a worse time for an appeal to the G20 to help
Zimbabwe, bearing in mind the fact that Zimbabwe's troubles are
self-inflicted: the result of gross mismanagement by Robert Mugabe and his
Zanu PF party. In Prime Minister Tsvangirai's article he set out the
principles that underpinned his participation in the Inclusive Government:
"To create a country where.we are united by our respect for the rights and
dignity of our fellow citizens.Our success on this journey will depend on
this new transitional Government, our people and the international partners
who will work with us to realise this vision for our country."

Noble sentiments, but the truth is, that however noble and sincere the
sentiments expressed by Morgan Tsvangirai, the distrust of Robert Mugabe,
his partner in the Inclusive Government, is deep rooted. Gone are the days
when Mugabe was 'the blue eyed boy' of the west. They see very clearly what
he has done to his country and why we are now in such a desperate state.
Zimbabweans themselves who have been the victims of Mugabe's ruthless abuse
of power share the distrust and while they may welcome the easing of the
everyday miseries of life, the more perceptive among them recognise very
clearly that the leopard has not changed its spots.

Even as world leaders were gathering, perhaps with Morgan Tsvangirai's words
ringing in their ears, the Zimbabwean police continued their violent abuse
of human rights. The Zimbabwean Human Rights Forum, issued a report showing
that "The formation of the Inclusive Government did not bring an end to
civic repression". On the contrary, there were 435 incidents of political
discrimination and repression reported in February compared with just 78 in
January. Until the MDC 'partners' in this government can stop the blatant
partisanship of the police and restore the rule of law in the country, I can
see little hope that Morgan Tsvangirai will get the financial assistance
Zimbabwe so desperately needs; even SADC, which pushed, some say forced,
through the so-called Global Agreement cannot raise the money to help the
new Inclusive Government.

} Meanwhile, little changes in our poor, benighted country. Hidden behind
high prison walls there is unbearable suffering and degradation with as many
as twenty prisoners a day dying from a combination of starvation and
disease. SABC sent a secret camera team in to film the horror over a
three-month period in three different prisons. I watched extracts from the
film on Channel Four last night and can only agree with Roy Bennett - and he
should know having experienced prison life at first hand - the resulting
images resembled nothing less than the nightmarish images of victims of the
holocaust. And what was the response of our esteemed Minister of Justice?
Patrick Chinamasa totally denied that the film shown on South African
television last week, was an accurate portrayal of reality. His lame
explanation is that the film was shot in some other part of Africa! It could
not have been Zimbabwe says Chinamsa because "cameras are not allowed inside
Zimbabwean prisons"! Chinamasa's ridiculous excuse typifies the kind of Zanu
PF logic we have all become used to. He and many of his colleagues in the
once all-powerful ruling party simply cannot accept the truth even when it
stares them in the face. Paradzai Zimondi the man in charge of the prisons
joined in the chorus of denial, this despite the fact that both men had
earlier admitted that the prisons were in a dire state. Zimbabwean
commentators refer to this Zanu PF habit of denying the truth as 'being in
denial' but I prefer to call it what it is: just plain lying. Too many
innocent Zimbabweans have suffered incarceration in these hellholes to be
deceived by Chinamasa's lies. While Zanu PF ministers lie and steal, Robert
Mugabe himself is the picture of smiling reconciliation these days. He
leaves it to his ministers to tell the lies, denying the brutality of the
police or the violence of the ongoing land invasions. They seem unaware that
in this age of mass communication anyone can see what is really happening in
Zimbabwe. Watch the You Tube video of one particular farm invasion in
Chegutu and you see the horror being experienced on a daily basis by the
remaining white farmers. It is no good Morgan Tsvangirai saying that he will
stop these invasions when we all know that he is powerless to prevent the
downright theft that is going on. While he and his party may be absolutely
sincere in their desire to restore the rule of law, his partners in
government are content to go along with business as usual. Police brutality
was demonstrated again only yesterday when HIV and AIDS patients were
attacked with batons for daring to demonstrate against excessive hospital
fees. The words of one demonstrator sum up for me the precise reason why
Morgan Tsvangirai's appeal to the west may fail, "We did not imagine such
kind of behaviour from them( the police) in this new political setup."
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

They say I phoned London in September 2009

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14587

April 3, 2009

By Sibangani Sibanda

WE in Zimbabwe have not had a telephone service that works efficiently in a
very long time. Even in the "good old days" (as they now seem to be) of
white rule, telephones were not easily accessible, nor were they efficient.
Of course, at independence, the new government was going to make everything
(including telephones) accessible and affordable to all by some year or
other.

That, I am afraid, still remains a slogan.

Enter the mobile telephone era. Our government, bent on control as they
were, took a very long time to decide if it was a good idea to allow us,
"their" people, to have such easily available communication at our
fingertips, as it were. Even when they did allow it, the licensing of it was
such that it took a man of great courage and tenacity to ensure that this
very important means of communications did not stay a government monopoly.

For a very brief moment (even briefer than an earlier "moment of madness"),
it seemed that our telephone problems were "a thing of the past", to quote a
much used state media cliché.

Having caught the imagination of just about every Zimbabwean (a visitor from
overseas commented on the fact that most Zimbabweans seem to walk around
holding their cell phones out in front of them as if they fear that putting
them away in their pockets or bags might be the last time they see them),
the service providers were unable to put in place the necessary
infrastructure for an efficient service - thanks largely to the crazy
economic and monetary policies of the post independence era.

Soon, we were back to congested lines, lines that cut one off at crucial
moments or lines that just did not connect at all. The cell phone, instead
of being an important tool for business, became a largely symbolic gadget
valued mostly for the status it apparently conferred on those who owned it.
The national pastime of swearing at one's telephone was back in vogue - and
this time, it was mostly in public!

The coming of e-mail and the internet was thus a God-send for the much
abused Zimbabwean communicators. At last here was a means of communication
that actually worked and worked well. We all climbed in and if one could not
telephone, there was always e-mail and (for a few), skype. Internet Service
Providers and Internet Cafes did brisk business connecting us to the rest of
the world and we felt that, even though Zanu-PF had done its best to take us
back several centuries, we were still up there with the rest of the world.

That was until about a week or so ago. Suddenly, my in box that always had
something in it every day (even if it was junk mail) is receiving nothing.
People that are normally prompt at responding appear to be dragging their
feet at giving answers to sometimes very important questions. Has the rest
of the world started to impose, in their individual capacities, sanctions on
Zimbabweans, by any chance?

The rumour doing the rounds now is that Tel One, our one and only fixed
telephone service provider, is having trouble settling some of its debts
with their international partners and have thus been cut off. They are the
weak link in our attempt to embrace newer, more efficient technology,
because our government refuses to let go of sectors that thy believe are of
"National Importance" - which means that losing control of such sectors is
seen as pausing some imaginary threat to Zanu-PF.

This, at least helps to explain the incredible bills that Net One have been
sending out for their laughable service. They need money to settle their
bills. They need to cover up for years of inefficiency and mismanagement.

I have tried to get a print out from Tel One to see why my bills are so
high. They gave me an incomplete print out because apparently, their
 "system" is only picking up international and cell phone calls. It cannot
pick up local fixed line calls! Is that why they are not sending out bills?
Or are their motives more sinister? If they cannot give you a bill or a
complete print out, they can just stick a figure on a piece of paper and ask
you to pay whatever they believe they need you to pay!

At least my print out revealed an interesting fact. I am supposed to have
made a call from a number that is not working because they did not transfer
it to my new premises (because they have no manpower, they say). More
interestingly, this call was made - or rather, is to be made - on
06/09/2009 - nearly six months from today! The call was made - is to be
made - to London!

I wonder if they are any pigeons around. Surely, they must have been more
efficient!

“Mugabe and the White African”

Mission Doctor: 'Time to come back and continue our work'

 

 

Friday, April 3, 2009

Dick Stoughton and wife Loretta return to troubled Zimbabwe for a second tour at a bush hospital.
By R.W. Dellinger
The first time Dr. Dick Stoughton, his wife Loretta and their seven children left the south African nation then known as Rhodesia was in 1975. The Ian Smith minority white-ruled government, which was waging a bloody civil war with freedom-fighting rebels, wanted him to serve in the Rhodesian Army. When the young Catholic physician from Wisconsin - who had been volunteering as a Mission Doctor at St. Theresa's Hospital for nearly five years - refused, he was flatly told, "Then we will put you in jail." So the Stoughtons packed up and headed back home to the Midwest. Thirty-three years later the retired family practice doctor and his wife left now-Zimbabwe again, after serving at the same bush hospital in the Chirumazu district of Midlands province since 2001. With escalating violence between followers of longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai spreading throughout the country, the Stoughtons decided to leave early for their annual trip visiting their growing family stateside. Watching the nightly news about Zimbabwe's downfall with the world's highest inflation, 90 percent unemployment, shortages of basic goods, a failed election - along with a cholera epidemic infecting tens of thousands of people - was painful and depressing for Dick and Loretta. So the couple decided to return to their mission outpost. "We had a commitment here, projects to finish and we were pretty sure we were coming back; we just didn't know for sure when," Dr. Stoughton explained during a recent phone interview from Africa. "And we don't have a home in the states. We've been here for 7 1/2 years. We were back there for four months, and we knew at that point it was time to come back and continue our work. And we really had a tremendous welcome." 'Horrendous' economy It's only been weeks since Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a so-called "Unity" government under pressure from South Africa President Thabo Mbeki and other African leaders. But to date most on-the-scene news organizations have reported that the political experiment is a disaster. A March headline from chicagotribune.com declared: "Zimbabwe: 'Unity' government in name only." An ABC foreign correspondent who snuck into the beleaguered country last month went even further. "It is how I image a post-apocalyptic world would be: a world undone by neglect and madness," he observed. Dr. Stoughton agreed that the economy is "absolutely horrendous." But he added that health workers and teachers are now getting at least some pay in U.S. dollars, and that the new finance minister wants to bring the country back into some degree of "financial sense," living within the means of collected taxes. He also said food supplies are more available, although goods are still expensive because everything has to be imported from South Africa. He acknowledged being concerned about violence last year, but, thankfully, there was very little in the hospital's Midlands province. Again, the local area has been fortunate about the country's cholera epidemic, the physician pointed out. In the past, the hospital has treated cholera patients, but not a single case for about a month. Yet he reported that cholera is still occurring in other parts of the country, with more than 90,000 cases and 4,000 deaths so far. What Zimbabwe needs at the moment, he said, is a lot of international aid, which most industrial countries, including the United States, have refused to provide as long as 85-year-old President Mugabe remains in power. AIDS stigma gone "We're here as guests of the country, and we're not here for political reasons," Dr. Stoughton stressed. "Our main work is dealing with sick people and trying to get people who have AIDS on proper medication. When we came back in 2001, 80 percent of the sick people in the hospital were HIV positive and we weren't able to treat them at that time. "But now we've been treating people nearly 4 1/2 years," he said. "Right now we have more than 300 people who we've treated for more than 2 1/2 years and more than 1,000 who are coming back on a regular basis for their anti-retroviral drugs. They're doing exceptionally well. "And the stigma against testing for HIV and AIDS has essentially gone away in our area. We had a meeting yesterday here with people living with AIDS. There were 250 standing up and talking about their disease in public in front of their families." This July the Stoughtons are coming home to "really retire" in Florida near some of their children and their families. Loretta will give up her prayer group meetings, which have spread to some 2,000 women, and Dick will leave his two African physician colleagues. But he'll continue to visit St. Theresa's once a year, spending a month at the bush hospital. He will also keep on raising money for the Mission Doctors Association. "It's difficult these days for young doctors to do it because they come out of school with such high debt," he noted. "But we have more and more doctors who are retiring and still have many, many good useful years of work left in them. And I think it's a tremendously rewarding work to do when somebody gets towards retirement age. They can spend two years or three years or five years - or even one or two months in the short-term Mission Doctors Association program - in giving something back for all that God has given to us." The veteran family practitioner said the work was extremely rewarding, stretching his knowledge and skills as a physician, while constantly reminding him of why he became a doctor in the first place. This morning, for example, he made rounds in the women's ward, where there were 30 patients. Five were severely ill with tuberculosis; three had AIDS with cryptococcal meningitis, which is practically unheard of in the United States; a couple were recovering from strokes; and an elderly woman had a broken wrist, a younger one a femur fracture. Tomorrow there would be more patients at the 180-bed hospital with diarrheal diseases, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, tropical infections, cuts and burns and, of course, HIV/AIDS, plus plenty of babies to be born. "There's such a wide range of things to do because there's essentially no referral place, except for surgical cases, to send them," Dr. Stoughton said. "It's a full course of just anything and everything. So you take care of it as well as you can. And that can be frustrating at times, but it also is very satisfying." For more information about the Mission Doctors Association or to make a donation to the work of Dr. Dick Stoughton at St. Theresa's Hospital in Zimbabwe, go to http://www.MissionDoctors.org or contact Elise Frederick, executive director, at missiondrs@earthlink.net or (213) 368-1875.