The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.mineweb.com/

The empowerment minister said Thursday that all foreign mining companies
that did not comply with local ownership laws should note that 51% of their
shareholding now belongs to the state.
Author: By Nelson Banya
Posted: Thursday , 05 Apr 2012

HARARE (Reuters) -

Zimbabwe's government raised the stakes on Thursday in its drive to wrest
majority control of foreign mining companies, with a minister saying the
state now considered it owned 51 percent of firms that have not complied
with local ownership laws.

"All mining companies that have not complied ... should note that 51 percent
of their shareholding is now deemed to be owned by the state," empowerment
minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear which firms were being targeted, or whether
President Robert Mugabe's cash-strapped government planned to pay for the
shares. Kasukuwere did not respond to requests for clarification.

The demand for foreign companies, particularly miners, to transfer a 51
percent stake in local operations to black investors is widely seen as a
tactic by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to raise cash for elections that may come
this year.

Johannesburg-listed Impala Platinum, the world's second-biggest platinum
producer, bowed to pressure last month to surrender half its Zimplats unit,
although details of the transfer have not yet been worked out.

Analysts said this latest broadside from Kasukuwere might be more bluster
than fact.

"I would treat this with quite a degree of skepticism," said Nic Borain, an
independent political analyst based in Cape Town.

"I would want to wait to see the specifics of how those shares would be
transferred, how the assets would come to be in government hands, how
government would exercise any control over those assets."

The statement added that any profits accruing to the 51 percent stakes
"should be regarded as property of the state", and that other companies
transacting with mining firms should remember that they are dealing with the
government.

"Any attempt to defraud the state will result in prosecution," it said.

Kasukuwere has previously said most major firms have complied or are in the
process of complying, but he has not publicly endorsed plans relating to
leading gold producer Metallon Gold, an unlisted South African miner, and
Mwana Africa's Bindura Nickel corporation.

Harare says its "indigenisation" policy is needed to redress the racial
inequities of past colonial rule, but similar drives in other sectors have
been disasters, most notably the government's seizure of white-owned
farmland that decimated commercial agriculture and led to widespread food
shortages.

Businesses should ignore Kasukuwere’s notice

Thursday, 05 April 2012

The Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment today issued a notice announcing that all mining firms that had not complied with the indigenisation regulations by the September 2011 deadline should assume that 51 per cent of their shares and proceeds of their transactions now belongs to the Government with effect from that date.

The Prime Minister would like to inform the public that there is no such Government position. That issue has not been discussed and agreed upon by Government. The Prime Minister wishes to inform the public in general and mining firms in particular that the inclusive Government has not sanctioned the Minister’s actions that are a threat to investment in the industry.

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act does not empower the Minister to unilaterally nationalise private entities and there is no reason to create panic among investors by projecting the image of a voracious government keen to grab compulsorily people’s companies without compensation. It is not the policy of this Government to nationalise the mining businesses or any other business.

The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe has executive powers and the Constitution of Zimbabwe bestows him with the authority to oversee and supervise “policy formulation and implementation.” The Government forum that deals with implementation of Government policy is the Council of Ministers, which has not discussed or approved the purported Government position captured in the public notice.

The Prime Minister notes with concern that the Minister chose not to attend the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, an executive forum of Government, only to surreptitiously publish a notice with far reaching economic consequences without consensus.

The Prime Minister would like to inform mining entities that, should anyone or any institution be it private or public, attempt to enforce Minister Kasukuwere’s pronouncements, they would be doing so unlawfully and without the mandate of the Inclusive Government.

The Prime Minister takes a serious view of the Minister’s attempts to incite the public to act unlawfully against mining businesses. The Minister’s statement poses a real risk of creating anarchy in the industry and the PM will take corrective measures within the proper fora and channels of Government.

National economic interests of Zimbabwe demand a proper policy that creates jobs for the millions of unemployed people in the country. They want massive investment in the country and not a political campaign platform that will only benefit the elite at the expense of the majority of the people in the country.

Luke Tamborinyoka

Spokesperson

Office of the Prime Minister

--
MDC Information & Publicity Department

Zimbabwe push to control foreign miners hits confusion

http://af.reuters.com

Thu Apr 5, 2012 4:46pm GMT

* Tsvangirai says Minister has no powers to nationalise

* Finmin, CBank warn of instability over seizures

* Not clear where hammer will fall

By Nelson Banya

HARARE, April 5 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's bid to win majority control of
foreign-owned mines was locked in confusion on Thursday, as the prime
minister contradicted a fellow minister's declaration that the state owned
51 percent of firms that had not complied with local ownership laws.

"All mining companies that have not complied ... should note that 51 percent
of their shareholding is now deemed to be owned by the state," empowerment
minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in a statement.

Kasukuwere's declaration drew a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, who is sharing power with President Robert Mugabe in a fragile
coalition formed three years ago.

He said Kasukuwere had no power to do this and it was not government policy,
adding to the confusion over a drive that has often been carried out in an
ad-hoc manner.

It was not immediately clear which firms were being targeted, or whether
Mugabe's cash-strapped government planned to pay for the shares. Kasukuwere,
a key Mugabe ally, did not respond to requests for clarification.

Tsvangirai said in a statement: "the ... act does not empower the minister
to unilaterally nationalise private entities and there is no reason to
create panic among investors by projecting the image of a voracious
government keen to grab compulsorily people's companies without
compensation,"

"It is not the policy of this government to nationalise the mining
businesses or any other business. The Prime Minister takes a serious view of
the Minister's attempts to incite the public to act unlawfully against
mining businesses."

ELECTION PLOY

The demand for foreign companies, particularly miners, to transfer a 51
percent stake in local operations to black investors is widely seen as a
tactic by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to raise cash for elections that may come
this year.

Johannesburg-listed Impala Platinum, the world's second-biggest platinum
producer, bowed to pressure last month to surrender half its Zimplats unit,
although details of the transfer have not yet been worked out.

Analysts said the latest broadside from Kasukuwere might be more bluster
than fact.

"I would treat this with quite a degree of skepticism," said Nic Borain, an
independent political analyst based in Cape Town.

"I would want to wait to see the specifics of how those shares would be
transferred, how the assets would come to be in government hands, how
government would exercise any control over those assets."

Kasukuwere's statement added that any profits accruing to the 51 percent
stakes "should be regarded as property of the state", and that other
companies transacting with mining firms should remember that they are
dealing with the government.

"Any attempt to defraud the state will result in prosecution," it said.

Kasukuwere has previously said most major firms have complied or are in the
process of complying, but he has not publicly endorsed plans relating to
leading gold producer Metallon Gold, an unlisted South African miner, and
Mwana Africa's Bindura Nickel corporation.

Harare says its "indigenisation" policy is needed to redress the racial
inequities of past colonial rule, but similar drives in other sectors have
been disasters, most notably the government's seizure of white-owned
farmland that decimated commercial agriculture and led to widespread food
shortages.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who is from Tsvangirai's party,
and central bank governor Gideon Gono, another Mugabe ally, both warned that
the empowerment drive would destabilise the economy if extended to the
banking sector.

"If you tamper with the banking sector, you can't have capital. Capital is
fungible and fluid and it will move (away)," Biti said.

Mugabe health speculation goes into overdrive

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
05 April 2012

Speculation on the health of the 88 year old ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe
mounted today, after his party was forced to cancel its emergency politburo
meeting on Wednesday.

Mugabe flew to Singapore on Saturday, accompanied by his wife Grace. The
state media described the visit as private, saying he was there to prepare
for his daughter Bona to start her graduate studies.

Mugabe’s failure to return home in time for the politburo meeting has
heightened reports of his failing health, because he rarely fails to turn up
for crucial ZANU PF meetings. After last Wednesday’s politburo meeting ZANU
PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo told the media that his party’s top decision
making body would be meeting the following week to decide the future of the
constitution making process.

‘The politburo is meeting on Wednesday (April 5) to decide once and for all
on the constitution. Chief negotiators (Patrick) Chinamasa and (Nicholas)
Goche were given until (last) Friday to clear the parked issues on the new
constitution,’ Gumbo said.

However the politburo meeting did not happen and Mugabe has not returned
home.

Mugabe’s health has been the subject of much speculation, especially since
WikiLeaks, the whistleblower site, last year released a 2008 US diplomatic
cable saying that Zimbabwe’s central bank chief, Gideon Gono, had told
then-US ambassador James McGee, that Mugabe had prostate cancer and had less
than five years to live.

His failing health has been cited as one reason that he appear to be in a
rush for new elections. But the ZANU Pf strongman denies he has cancer.

In February he declared himself ‘fit as a fiddle’ adding that ‘the day will
come when I will become sick.’

MDC-T worried about upsurge in violence countrywide

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
05 April 2012

The MDC-T said on Thursday there is an upsurge in violence countrywide and
very little reaction from the police.

Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told a press conference in Harare that most
of those being targeted are the urban poor, mainly residing in high density
surburbs.

‘In Harare for example, market vendors in Mbare and Highfields are being
targeted by Chipangano. This group led by Hubert Nyanhongo, (ZANU PF MP,
Harare South) has confirmed that it is behind most of the violence in
Harare,’ Mwonzora said. The Nyanga North MP said his party will appeal to
the inclusive government to deal with the issue of violence before they
start talking about elections.

‘The issue of violence must be addressed before elections. Still on the
issue of elections, we will not allow Mugabe to make unilateral
pronouncements on elections.

‘The President must agree with the prime Minister on a date following the
completion of the constitution making process and a roadmap leading to free
and fair elections,’ Mwonzora said. He added that Copac was still to revise
five chapters out of 17 in the new constitution.

‘What we are left with is less work and should be done by next week
Wednesday. After that we hope to hand over the final draft to the management
committee.’

On Wednesday Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that MDC formations and ZANU PF
had brought their positions closer over a new constitution following
differences on some contentious issues. The legislator said partners in the
constitutional making process had reached a breakthrough in negotiations to
resolve the impasse on dual citizenship, devolution and the death sentence.

Drafters have targeted September for a referendum on the charter. Public
consultations began in 2009 after the unity government was sworn in, but he
process has been repeatedly disrupted by bickering between the political
parties.

Malawi president unconscious after heart attack

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

Sapa-AFP | 05 April, 2012 17:09

"He had a cardiac arrest, he is still unconscious since 9:00 am," a senior
official at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe said on condition of
anonymity.

According to the source, Mutharika collapsed at his official residence and
was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. He is currently being treated at an
intensive care unit and his condition has been described as critical.

He has been visited by senior politicians from his cabinet, including his
wife and children.

"Those who visited the president in the intensive care unit included his
brother Peter Mutharika, the First Lady Callista, his daughter Duwa and the
chief secretary to the president, Bright Msaka," the source said.

Energy and Environmental Minister Goodall Gondwe also visited the president.

Mutharika, a former World Bank economist, was re-elected with a sweeping
majority in 2009 as president of the poor southern African country.

But his second term has been marred by anti-government protests, with
activists accusing him of mismanaging the economy and trampling on
democratic freedoms.

Two weeks ago he vowed to govern until his term ends in 2014 after a leading
rights group threatened unrest if he did not resign or call a referendum on
his leadership.

"I would like to say that Bingu doesn't run away from work, Bingu doesn't
desert responsibility even if the going gets tough," he told a rally.

Last month, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), made up of religious groups,
rights activists and the opposition, demanded that Mutharika quit office or
call the referendum within three months.

The group accused him of mismanaging the economy and trampling on democratic
freedoms, saying the country was bordering on a failed state.

Critics have lambasted new laws to restrain the media, limit protests, and
restrict lawsuits against the government.

Political tensions erupted into rioting in July, when police shot 19 people
dead.

Ahead of the riots, alarmed by his restrictions on political freedoms,
donors had already begun suspending aid, with former colonial power Britain
slashing its financial support.

The leader presided over steady economic growth but has struggled to manage
foreign currency reserves, which have also been hit by a drop in earnings
from the country's main export tobacco.

His refusal to listen to criticism, whether from civil society or the
International Monetary Fund, has earned him the moniker 'Mr. Know-it-All'.

Five student leaders suspended over photo of Vice Chancellor

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
05 April 2012

Five student leaders and activists at the University of Zimbabwe were
suspended indefinitely on Wednesday, after a picture of them with the Vice
Chancellor appeared in a newsletter published by unknown activists.

Tinashe Chisaira and Kokerai Murombo of the Student Representative Council
(SRC) and activists James Katso, Zecharia Mushawatu and Gilbert Sibanda were
charged with defamation of character and immediately escorted off campus.

Darlington Madzonga from the Students Solidarity Trust (SST) said the
students took a picture with U.Z. Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura last week,
while campaigning for the student executive council.

Innocently, they posted the photograph on Facebook, where other students
copied and published it, along with a story claiming that Nyagura held a
meeting with the students and agreed to some key reforms at the
institution..

Madzonga said the Chancellor should have investigated the incident to
establish who published the false story, before suspending the students in
the photograph.

“Last month was tough for students around the country. We recorded a high
number of arrests and illegal detentions of students. This is probably
linked to all this talk of elections,” Madzonga told SW Radio Africa.

He said it appears that University authorities are playing the role of
government officials and pushing a political agenda that does not promote
the interests of the students.

Meanwhile five Masvingo student activists appeared before a magistrate on
Thursday for continuation of their trial. Brighton Ramusi, Prosper
Tiringindi, Zivanai Muzorodzi, Godfrey Kurauone and Brian Chimwayi were
facing charges of public violence, later changed to assault, after they
demanded money back for a course that had been cancelled by the school.

Four of the students were acquitted, but the case continues for Prosper
Tiringindi, who is due back in court April 11th for judgment.

Mudenge fingered in conservancy destruction

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

04/04/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

HIGHER Education Minister, Stan Mudenge and several top military and
political figures have been blamed for the destruction of Save Valley
Conservancy, once one of the largest private wildlife sanctuaries in the
world.

A report by the Parliamentary portfolio committee on natural resources and
tourism says forced seizure of the conservancy by top political and military
figures with “no interest (or) experience in wildlife conservation” had
resulted in massive destruction of the conservancy.

According to the committee’s report, “Save Valley conservancy had ceased to
exist in its original form: there is extensive habitat destruction, large
scale fence destruction and rampant poaching of animals, especially the
rhino whose numbers were said to be fast dwindling.”

The committee said under the country’s land reforms, conservancies were
supposed to be restricted to indigenous investors with demonstrable
“interest and experience in Wildlife conservation (as well as the) capacity
for business development and ability to contribute to the asset base.”

However, the seizure of Save Conservancy contradicted these principles, the
committee found, as those who benefitted “perceive the value of the wildlife
industry as coming from meat and not from the exportable trophies and
photographic safaris.”
In addition the beneficiaries “believe(d) that they would be given
shareholding at the animal sanctuary without investment.”

“It is the committee’s finding that the allocation of indigenous
beneficiaries that include General Engelbert Rugeje, Hon. Sithole, Hon.
Senator Hungwe, Mr. Ndava, Hon. Minister S. Mudenge, Hon. Governor T.
Maluleke, Mr. Cladman Chibemene, Rtd. Lt. Col. D. Moyo, Mrs Mahofa and Mr.
A. Baloyi according to the list submitted to the committee was not based on
business principles,” the committee said.

“These beneficiaries were merely imposed to conservators despite assurances
from the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment that
there was a transparent system in place to identify indigenous partners
through the Zimbabwe Investors Authority’s Independent Board using the
databases for both foreign and local investors.”

Established in 1984, Save Valley Conservancy combined 24 adjacent farm
properties totaling 3,200 square kilometers to create one of the largest
private conservancies in the world.

Several lodges were established throughout the conservancy, which offered
wildlife tourism and photographic safaris.

Meanwhile the committee also said the destruction of Save Conservancy
mirrored the devastation at plantations and forests in Manicaland province.

Illegal settlers were found to be causing extensive damage to plantations
near Mutare through forest fires. Erin Forest alone had lost over 80
hectares of land to fire caused by arsonists.

“At Erin Forest, a total planting area of 589 hectares has been occupied by
these settlers, at Gwendingwe 700 hectares have been consumed while at
Chisengu an illegal settler took 150 hectares to himself,” the committee
said.
“The Committee learnt that the Forestry industry contributes about 5 percent
to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“Its market stretches from Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, United Kingdom
and United States. As a result of these challenges, the quality of timber is
gradually diminishing.”

Chief Justice Decries Judiciary Corruption, Poor Salaries

http://www.voanews.com

05 April 2012

The insufficient funding has also resulted in large measure to corruption,
especially at the lower levels of the judiciary with some officials,
including the police taking bribes, Chidyausiku added

Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington DC

Corruption has become endemic in the Zimbabwe justice system, caused partly
by poor salaries for judiciary employees, says Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku, calling on government to review their salaries.

Launching a reformed Code of Ethics for judges on Wednesday, Justice
Chidyausiku said the underfunding of the judiciary had compromised its
capacity to deliver justice.

The insufficient funding has also resulted in large measure to corruption,
especially at the lower levels of the judiciary with some officials,
including the police taking bribes, Chidyausiku added.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa also said corruption had become “a
cancerous cell eating away the fabric of our justice delivery system.”

The Judiciary Service Commission-revised ethics code compels judges to
deliver reserved judgments within 90 days. Some judges were accused of
reserving judgments for as much as 6 years.

Some lawyers, including Matshobana Ncube, are not convinced a salary review
is the solution to the judiciary corruption. He told VOA that judiciary
reforms are the panacea.

Mugabe Will Not Get VIP Treatment Over ZESA Bill: Mangoma

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, April 5, 2012 - Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma
says President Robert Mugabe would not be given VIP treatment during the
current efforts by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to
recover long outstanding payments owed to the defaulting clients.

In an exclusive interview with Radio VOP Wednesday, Mangoma said all ZESA
defaulters would be treated with the same attitude insisting they were
primarily ZESA clients before they assumed their stations in life.

“He is a consumer of ZESA and I am sure within ZESA, appropriate action has
been taken or would be taken just like any other consumer,” Mangoma said.

“He is consuming that electricity in his private capacity. I do not see any
reason why he should not be switched off. But if he makes a down payment of
25 percent as is the case with every other ZESA client, why should he be
switched off?”

President Mugabe, a large scale farmer who operates a dairy concern with
massive cash inflows, was last month exposed by a local daily to be owing
the struggling power utility in excess of US$350 000.

Together with his powerful lieutenants linked to Zanu PF, they owe ZESA over
US$1, 5 million.

Mugabe’s apparent unwillingness to honour his bills despite continuously
claiming western imposed sanctions were the major cause of the collapse of
the economy was met with outrage by ordinary Zimbabweans who have endured
endless power cuts for the past decade.

Mangoma, an MDC-T ministerial appointee, said every ZESA client who was
indebted to the parastatal had been asked to pay 25 percent down payment as
a compromise arrangement.

But he said he was not yet aware if Mugabe has met his own end of the
bargain.

Meanwhile, Mangoma said ZESA had started switching off other top government
ZESA bills defaulters.

“If you can say that there is a person that you definitely know owes ZESA
and has not been switched off, I would like to know that information because
as far as I know, I have been told that defaulters are being switched off,"
he said.

"I am aware that there are some government ministers who have been switched
off."

ZESA has gone on a blitz to switch off non paying clients in a bid to
recover an estimated US$400 million it was owed by local consumers.

Education Officials Accused of Abusing School Development Funds

http://www.voanews.com

04 April 2012

Association president Claudio Mutasa is quoted in the state controlled
Herald newspaper as saying the headmasters and school committee members work
closely with suppliers who give them kickbacks after schools have made their
payments

Gibbs Dube & Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye | Washington

The Zimbabwe Schools Development Association says some school committees and
headmasters are looting levy funds by inflating prices of goods and learning
materials.

Association president Claudio Mutasa is quoted in the state controlled
Herald newspaper as saying the headmasters and school committee members work
closely with suppliers who give them kickbacks after schools have made their
payments.

Mutasa said his association is handling a lot of corruption cases relating
to the looting of levies by school authorities and committees.

Education Minister David Coltart recently said his ministry recorded 30
cases of what he called massive corruption in some schools in the past three
months.

Agent Moyo, a senior school teacher in the country, told VOA the looting of
levies through fake invoices is common in most schools.

A parent, who can only be identified as Mukanya, said schools are losing
millions of dollars in shady deals involving headmasters and school
committees.

Former headmaster Paul Ngwenya said schools should introduce tight measures
to stop the massive looting of levies.

Abducted and assaulted MDC-T official arrested

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
04 April 2012

An MDC- T official from Zaka West in Masvingo province was abducted,
severely assaulted and then turned over to the police last Saturday, by
known ZANU PF thugs.

According to the MDC-T Rhinos Musareva, secretary for Defence and Security
in Zaka West, was handcuffed by ZANU PF supporters and war vets from
neighbouring Chiredzi North Constituency, led by Dunanga Bwazvo and
Mupangani Chekero.

Musareva was taken to the home of a ZANU PF activist named Tsvana, where he
was severely assaulted with sticks and dragged around the yard. The thugs
then took him to the Chiredzi North home of a prophet named Hardlife
Kuzonyei, who was accused of praying for Musareva and MDC-T supporters last
month, and assaulted them both.

The next stop was the Wasara area in Chiredzi North Resettlements, where the
thugs forced a woman to accompany them to the police base at Oscro Farm,
having devised the story that Musareva and Kuzonyei robbed the woman. The
two victims were turned over to a Constable Moyo.

Zaka West MP Festus Dumbu and MDC-T party youths who were informed of the
abductions searched the area and found the two at Chiredzi Police Station.
According to a statement from the MDC-T, MP Dumbu was “shocked to see the
horrific injuries” that Musareva had sustained.

Dumbu offered to take the injured Musareva to a hospital but the police
insisted they would take on the responsibility. But according to the MDC-T
the Zaka official never received medical treatment.

The incident occurred in the same area where ZANU PF supporters on Wednesday
force marched villagers from Zaka Central to a meeting and threatened them
with severe assaults if they vote for the MDC-T.

Police to set up more roadblocks over Easter

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
05 April 2012

Zimbabweans travelling over the Easter holiday will encounter more
roadblocks and traffic police, the national traffic spokesperson Inspector
Tigere Chigome has announced. The operation has been code named “Safe Easter
Holiday” to try and reduce road accidents during the holiday.

In a report carried by the ZANU PF controlled broadcaster ZBC, Inspector
Chigome said: “Only public transporters will be allowed to ferry commuters”
and road users were urged to “abide by traffic regulations”. Police officers
at the roadblocks will be “carrying out inspections on all public
transporters.”

Road users however will take the announcement with a pinch of salt given the
notorious reputation of corrupt police officers. In February this year we
reported how police were raising funds to buy new luxury cars, by soliciting
bribes from innocent civilians at roadblocks and imposing illegal fines on
minibuses.

The problem is so widespread that some mini bus drivers are using alternate
routes to avoid paying bribes of up to $100 per day, which they say are
driving them out of business. A trip from Harare to Bulawayo could have as
many as 15 roadblocks with officers issuing tickets for ‘obscure’
violations, a journalist told us.

It was no surprise in February when commuter omnibus drivers on the
Harare-Norton route went on strike against what they termed harassment and
extortion on the route. A similar strike in Epworth saw commuters being left
stranded.

Operators said each bus was being made to part with an average of $50 a day
in bribes. So blatant is the soliciting of bribes that one operator said:
“They don’t even come to us and search our vehicles. They just ask for money
and if we don’t comply, they write a ticket for $20 which is unfair to us.”

More roadblocks over the Easter holiday will only mean more of this and more
frustration for motorists.

Zim Government to Review Mining Fees: Mpofu

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, April 05, 2012 –Zimbabwe government will review the exorbitant
mining application fees they hiked in the last months following concerns
from stakeholders, Mining Minister Obert Mpofu has said.

The country had hiked mining claims fees for platinum and diamond mines
applications between $US2 million to$US5 million. But the move was
castigated by analysts who said this will discourage investment at a time
when it is desperately needed.

"The fees were promulgated in order to discourage holding of exploration and
mining ground for speculative purposes and to enable the release of ground
for exploration and development by serious players,” Mpofu said at a mining
meeting in Harare.

“The ministry is presently reviewing the impact of these fees on the mining
sector in line with targeted objectives.”

Zimbabwe is mineral rich in different minerals that include gold, platinum,
coal and diamonds among many minerals. The hiking of mining claims
application fee came at a time government is demanding majority share
ownership be given to it and indigenise people in all mining companies that
are owned by foreigners.

Major foreign mining company Zimbabwe Platinum Mines submitted its
indigenisation plan to government and said it expects the locals as well as
the government to pay for the shares that are going to be takenover.

2012 declaration on Zim community radio

We, community radio initiatives, civic society organisations and the community of Bulawayo, gathered at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo on the 21st of March 2012,

A) Make provisions for the creation of policies, legislation and resources to support community radio in Zimbabwe,

B) License community radio stations in Zimbabwe within 3months, before the 5^th of July,

C) Facilitate dialogue among government, international and regional intergovernmental organisations, civil society and development agencies in Zimbabwe to promote community radio development in alleviating poverty,promoting democracy and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).

Adopted By: Radio Dialogue, Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations, Bulawayo Agenda, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, Bulawayo Residents Association, Habbakuk Trust, National Youth Development Trust, National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, Media Insitute of Southern Africa – Zimbabwe, Musasa, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Christian Legal Society, Mhlahlowesizwe,Bhetshulikazulu, National Cultural Association, Intsha.com, Victory Siyanqoba, Rural Communities Empowerment Trust, Women’s Institute for Leadership Development, Wild Trust, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development.

Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Watch – Issue 37

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/7477

April 5th, 2012

% cumulative breaches Monitors of the convoluted, drawn-out Zimbabwean crisis will be forgiven for thinking that little has changed, despite the fact that the South African-brokered Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed in September 2008 and initiated in February 2009 remains in place.

The month of February was effectively a repeat of the last six months, with the GPA said to be in tatters as Zanu-PF systematically sabotages the foundations of the agreement. President Mugabe’s unilateral insistence that Police Chief Augustine Chihuri continues remains in his powerful position was described by exiled journalist Tanonoka Joseph Whande as a “betrayal” of the Zimbabwean people.

Given the scale of human rights abuses, notably the horrifying cases of torture perpetrated by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) during the past 12 years, the word “betrayal” is no exaggeration. Whande pointed out that the situation shows how little power the Movement for Democratic Change wields in the coalition government.

MDC youths and supporters continued their struggle to protect themselves and their families from rampant Zanu-PF thugs in an environment where there is no rule of law and in which they can expect no help from the partisan police.

On the streets, the ZRP demonstrated ingenuity in the selective application and interpretation of the law. Their total disregard both for the law and for human rights was again apparent in their suppression of peaceful demonstrations and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party meetings, irrespective of prior authorisation.

Food insecurity continues to be of significant concern. The Ministry of Agriculture has admitted that 500,000 of the 1,689,000 hectares of maize (corn) planted is a write-off, which will result in severe hunger among the poor. This is due not only of drought in the south, but also to the failure to use irrigation infrastructure, the theft or sale of irrigation equipment, late inputs, lawlessness and the investor-hostile environment. This will be to Zanu-PF’s advantage as it has relied increasingly on the selective distribution of food aid to force the reluctant electorate to vote for the party. In January, UNICEF warned that at least 3.5 million vulnerable children faced starvation.

Further destroying investor confidence, Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere threatened to nationalize 30 foreign-owned mines that have not complied with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act which requires a 51 percent ownership stake to be held by black Zimbabweans.

Ironically, his threats were issued while the Ministry of Trade and Commerce was in the final stages of promoting a two-day Zimbabwe Trade and Investment Conference due to be held in Johannesburg from 1-2 March.

In a letter to potential delegates, signed by Mrs C. Zhanje, the Deputy Director (Bilateral Trade Relations), who is a member of the MDC, potential investors were assured that all investments made by South African nationals were protected by the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection (BIPPA) signed by both countries in 2010. Mrs Zhanje went on to claim “Our legal system is also good in terms of being applied and implemented in various issues. There is respect and protection for all private property in the country.”

Nervous of the level of voluntary support for President Mugbe’s 88th birthday party, Zanu-PF officials frog-marched school children to the sumptuous event in Mutare, believed to have cost more than 1 million US dollars (around £650,000).

On 14 February, Global Witness published a report raising concerns that diamond purchases might help fund the Zimbabwean military. The report, Diamonds: A Good Deal for Zimbabwe?, revealed that several directors of one of the largest mining companies operating in the controversial Marange diamond fields, Anjin Investments, are drawn from the Zimbabwean military and police.

ZIGwatch graph

During February, a total of 65 media articles were recorded for ZIG Watch, each article representing a unique breach of the terms of the GPA. Categorising these articles by the nature of the breach allows the generation of representative statistics.

The greatest number of violations this month involved cases of violence, intimidation, hate speech, threats, abductions and brutality. This was followed by cases of legal harassment of perceived opposition politicians and supporters. Next came cases of denial of the right to freedom of speech, or abuse of freedom of speech, while the fourth-highest involved cases of deliberate or consequential economic destabilisation. Zanu-PF was either responsible for, or involved in, all breaches recorded.

We have compiled ten articles at the end of this report to represent the month’s media coverage of events in relation to the GPA. This list is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive because of the sheer volume of articles. We invite our readers to review the list of summarised articles, original articles (links provided) and previously captured articles, on the webpage http://www.sokwanele.com/zigwatch and ask you to share this information with your colleagues and other interested parties.

The first article in the category of violence, intimidation, hate speech, threats, abductions and brutality involves the gruesome murder of an MDC activist.

On 7 February in Zaka East, Masvingo province, the entire community was shocked when Sharukai Mukwena was brutally murdered by Zanu-PF thugs at his home. According to MDC-T provincial

spokesperson Hon. Harrison Mudzuri, Mukwena woke up to discover that his granary had been set ablaze. In trying to investigate, he was confronted by Zanu-PF youths who attacked him and chopped off his hands before killing him. Mudzuri said the escalating incidences of political violence against MDC members by Zanu-PF supporters in the province was cause for serious concern.

The Zanu-PF-sponsored Chipangano gang has instilled fear into residents of the high-density suburb Mbare, outside Harare, rendering them political and physical hostages. Resistance to the gang’s orders invites severe beatings, banishment from the suburb or even death. Victims who dare resist are often dragged off to torture bases such as Carter House – a council property forcibly seized. Attempts by the council to evict the gang have met with violent resistance, and the partisan police force refuses to intervene.

Also on 7 February, members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), a social justice movement, gathered outside the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) offices in Bulawayo where their leaders were meeting to commemorate their 10th anniversary.

Predictably, Jenni Williams and her colleague, Magodonga Mahlangu – both founders of the movement and recipients of international human rights awards – were arrested by the police as they emerged from the meeting during which they had complained to JOMIC about police abuse.

JOMIC – which has been widely described as “toothless” – expressed reluctance to take up their case without concrete proof. This was immediately provided when the riot police arrived. They beat WOZA members with batons and arrested seven other WOZA members, as well as six bystanders.

The final article in the violence and intimidation category reflects Zanu-PF’s thinly-disguised and widespread abuse and intimidation of children. To create an illusion of the ongoing popularity of President Mugabe, all school children in Mutare were forced to attend his 88th birthday party.

In the set of articles illustrating breaches in the legal harassment category, the first example provides an update on the outrageous and deliberately drawn-out court case involving a group of activists who were arrested last February for watching footage of the people’s revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.

The six accused, including former MDC-T MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, were among more than 40 people arrested. They were originally charged with treason but eventually 39 were released and treason charges were changed to ‘conspiracy to commit public violence’, among other minor charges. The magistrate dismissed their application for discharge at the close of the State’s case and the trial was set to continue on 5 March.

In another example of legal harassment, the State abused Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) by denying bail to 13 officials belonging to the MDC-T. They were arrested on 25 February on allegations of contravening the controversial Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Section 121 is regularly used by State prosecutors to “punish” individuals by delaying their release on bail. The police claimed they were holding a public gathering without ZRP authorisation, but they were in fact attending an internal party meeting for which no clearance was required.

Articles on the abuse of the legal process also included the case of a former lowveld farmer, 74 year-old Peter Hingeston, who retired to his house and plot of land in the Vumba district. A Mutare police commissioner who wants the property for himself, has charged Hingeston with refusing to vacate ‘State’ land. After failing to attend court for justifiable medical reasons, Hingeston was arrested for ‘contempt’ and held until 27 February, with repeated delays to block his bail hearing. He was finally released on US$50 bail and the case continues next month.

This month, the number of cases of deliberate or consequential economic destabilisation was high enough to warrant mention. According to an article in the Zimbabwe Mail dated 15 February, questions are increasingly being asked about the proceeds from diamonds sales and where they are disappearing.

Indian traders have revealed an international selling spree involving Zimbabwean diamonds being sold at prices of 50% less than those from other sources. Industry commentators said that the amount of diamonds being sold amounted to unprecedented looting being carried out by Mugabe’s criminal cabal. As a result, diamond prices have crashed by 25% in the markets of Mumbai and Surat since November 2011. International investigations show unspecified amounts of diamond earnings are being hidden in tax-free havens.

Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere continues in his attempts to bully 30 foreign-owned mines into complying with the Indigenisation Empowerment Act. The Act requires firms to put a 51 percent ownership stake in the hands of black Zimbabweans.

Kasukuwere told a parliamentary development committee that he was giving the mining companies two weeks to comply, and threatened to nationalise them if they did not. This is despite the fact that, according to Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire (MDC-T), the indigenisation law has no provision for nationalisation.

Our final selection covers cases of denial of the right to freedom of speech. In an article dated 29 February, the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) is reported to have intensified its onslaught against the Sunday Times and the Zimbabwean newspaper, both printed in South Africa. ZMC chairperson Godfrey Majonga accused them – and other foreign newspapers – of carrying out newsgathering in the country without registration and licensing, in contravention of media laws.

The reconstitution of the ZMC in 2010 was supposed to be a step to liberalizing the long-repressed sector.

MDC activist murdered by Zanu-PF thugs in Zaka
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 10/02/2012

Sharukai Mukwena, an MDC activist of Ward 22, Zaka East in Masvingo was on Tuesday murdered by Zanu-PF thugs at his home. MDC-T provincial spokesperson, Hon. Harrison Mudzuri said the party activist was murdered by Zanu-PF supporters on Tuesday night, leaving the entire community shocked. “Mukwena woke up to discover that his granary had been set ablaze and in trying to investigate, he was confronted by Zanu-PF youths who attacked him,” said Hon. Mudzuri. “They chopped off Mukwena’s hands and it was a truly gruesome murder incident,” said Hon. Mudzuri. He said the escalating incidents of political violence against MDC members by Zanu-PF supporters in the province was a cause for concern.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE X : FREE POLITICAL ACTIVITY
ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

Political thuggery enslaves Mbare
Zimbabwe Standard, The (ZW): 18/02/2012

The Zanu-PF-sponsored thugs, Chipangano, have instilled fear into residents of Mbare, rendering them political hostages in their own backyard. Resistance to Chipangano’s orders invites severe beatings, banishment from the suburb or even death. If victims resists, they are dragged off to their bases and tortured. One such base is Carter House – a council property forcibly seized. Attempts by the council to evict them have been met with violent resistance. Last week, market vendors were being forced to contribute to a “funeral fund”. “We are being told to contribute a US$1 each,” said one resident. “… I think it’s a way of raising money for their operations.”

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE X : FREE POLITICAL ACTIVITY
ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

GPA monitors witness brutal police assault on WOZA members
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 08/02/2012

Riot police in Bulawayo assaulted members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) on Tuesday, and arrested coordinator Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu as they emerged from a meeting with the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC). Seven other WOZA women and six bystanders were arrested while behaving peacefully outside the JOMIC offices, where the group had gathered to commemorate their 10th anniversary. A pregnant woman and a minor were among those arrested. In the meeting, WOZA had appealed to JOMIC to forward their complaints about police abuse to the principal leaders in the coalition government. The JOMIC team said they needed concrete proof and moments later, police used baton sticks to bash WOZA members just outside.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE X : FREE POLITICAL ACTIVITY
ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

School kids forced to attend Mugabe birthday bash – MDC-T
ZimEye: 28/02/2012

(Mutare) School children were forced to attend President Robert Mugabe’s birthday bash, according to MDC-T’s “The Real Change Times” paper. Residents of high density suburbs planning to go to work were surprised when they found out that they were all being dropped at one bus-stop, Sakubva Stadium and ultimately forced to enter into the arena by soldiers, police officers and Zanu-PF youths manning the gates. Meanwhile, all school children were forced to attend the event without fail, with each school being led by its school head and each class by its class teacher. Members were forced to wear party shirts with Mugabe’s portrait emblazoned on the front and back while others wore t-shirts with his signature.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS

Court dismisses acquittal application by ‘video watching’ activists
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 15/02/2012

A Harare court on Wednesday dismissed an acquittal application by a group of activists arrested a year ago for watching footage of the people’s revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. The six, including former MDC-T MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, were among more than 40 people arrested last February after watching the video. The whole group was originally charged with treason but eventually 39 were released and treason charges were dropped. The group is now being charged with ‘conspiracy to commit public violence’, amongst other minor charges. A magistrate dismissed an application for acquittal on Wednesday, and the trial will continue. It was postponed until February 27.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS

State Blocks Release of Arrested 13 MDC T Officials
RadioVOP: 28/02/2012

The State has invoked section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to deny bail to 13 officials belonging to the MDC- T arrested on Saturday on allegations of contravening the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). The group was arrested for supposedly holding a public gathering without police authorisation. Magistrate Auxillia Chiumburu had granted $50 bail each and ordered the accused to reside at their given addresses but State counsel immediately invoked Section 121 to retain the group custody. In opposing bail the State argued that the offence the accused had allegedly committed was politically motivated and the accused risked being attacked by Zanu-PF supporters if released on bail.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE X : FREE POLITICAL ACTIVITY
ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS

Detained farmer released after third weekend in custody
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 28/02/2012

74 year old former Lowveld sugar cane farmer Peter Hingeston was arrested after failing to attend court for medical reasons. He has fought for four years to keep his Vumba home. Hingeston lost his farm in the mid 2000s and ‘retired’ to a house and plot of land in Vumba. But a Mutare police commissioner wants the property and, to get rid of Hingeston, charged the farmer with refusing to vacate ‘State’ land. When Hingeston missed his court appointment almost three weeks ago, he was arrested immediately for ‘contempt’ and held until Monday afternoon, with repeated delays stopping his bail hearing. On Monday he was released on US$50 bail. His case for allegedly occupying ‘State’ land illegally continues next month.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE V: LAND QUESTION
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS

Busted – Mugabe’s criminal cabal selling diamonds at half price in looting spree
Zimbabwe Mail, The (ZW): 15/02/2012

As questions mount over proceeds from Zimbabwean diamonds sales, Indian traders have revealed a looting spree whereby Zimbabwean diamonds are being sold at knocked-down prices of 50% cheaper than those from other sources in a looting spree industry sources said amount to unprecedented looting carried out by Robert Mugabe’s criminal cabal. “Diamonds from Zimbabwe have brought stiff competition to the international market, causing prices to fall sharply,” said Santosh Desai, a diamond trader at Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar. “An immediate consequence of their arrival was that diamond prices have crashed by 25% in the markets of Mumbai and Surat since November 2011,” he added. Zimbabwe diamonds are available at $40 per carat, compared a normal $100 per carat.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE VIII : RESPECT FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND EVENTS

Zimbabwe Indigenisation Minister Threatens to Nationalize 30 Mining Firms

VOANews (USA): 24/02/2012

Zimbabwean Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has threatened to nationalize 30 foreign-owned mines that have not complied with the Indigenisation Empowerment Act requiring a majority stake be held by a black Zimbabwean. Kasukuwere told a parliamentary development committee this week that he is giving the 30 private mining companies two weeks to comply with the law. He said 200 mining companies have submitted indigenisation plans but that only 54 of those proposals met the requirements as spelled out in regulations. Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire of MDC-T said the indigenisation law has no provision for nationalization. “This will be disastrous taking into account the Zimbabwe economy is recovering fast,” Beebe declared.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

ZMC Sets Police Against Foreign Newspapers
RadioVOP: 29/02/2012

The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has intensified its onslaught against the Sunday Times by setting the police on the weekly newspaper. ZMC chairperson Godfrey Majonga reported the Sunday Times and The Zimbabwean newspaper to the Zimbabwe Republic Police to bar the newspapers from entering and circulating in the country because they were not registered with the media regulatory body. In an affidavit, Majonga accused the Sunday Times and other foreign newspapers of carrying out newsgathering in the country without registration and licensing in contravention of the country’s media laws.

ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
ARTICLE XIX : FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND COMMUNICATION

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 12:37 am.

Zimbabwe Land Series: Introduction

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/7450

April 5th, 2012

Introduction

In September 2008, the parties to the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
committed themselves to conducting a comprehensive, transparent and
non-partisan land audit, and ensure that all Zimbabweans shall be considered
for allocation of land irrespective of race, gender or political
affiliation. They also agreed to ensure security of land tenure, to work
towards restoring full agricultural productivity, and to secure compensation
for the former land owners.

We believe that discussion on these and other key land policy issues should
now begin. The intention is to open space for dialogue by encouraging
Zimbabweans from all walks of like, including the Diaspora, to engage in an
informed and vibrant online debate. Sokwanele has therefore invited two
specialists on land in Zimbabwe, Prof. Mandi Rukuni and Dr. Dale Doré, to
present a series of discussion papers on our website. They have each agreed
to write a series of articles over a year on key historical, legal, social
and economic issues that have come to define land policy in Zimbabwe. The
hope is that Zimbabweans will comment on their ideas through the internet in
what should prove to be a lively debate.

The two invited contributors have each prepared a framework paper which
introduces and outlines their series of articles. Mandi Rukuni takes an
organic and holistic approach towards building a free, fair, just and caring
society. His approach is founded on the belief that Zimbabweans should
create a new history to become a model African society, whose foundation is
not only truly African, but also an effective member and contributor to
common global welfare. Dale Doré examines how the nationalist narrative of
land has driven land policies that have undermined property rights, the
agricultural economy, and the rule of law. His approach is founded on the
need to treat land as an economic resource within the context of
international law. In particular, he argues that secure property rights form
the basis for commercialising smallholder agriculture and the structural
transformation of the economy.

Mandi Rukuni is a distinguished scholar, having published 12 academic
books and more than 100 research articles. He was Professor of Agricultural
Economics for 20 years and served as Dean of Agriculture at the University
of Zimbabwe. During his tenure he was invited to Chair the Commission of
Inquiry into Land Tenure Systems in Zimbabwe in 1993. In 1998 he was
appointed as Director of the Africa Program for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation
where he worked before being asked by the World Bank in 2009 to facilitate
Cabinet retreats to support Zimbabwe’s newly formed Inclusive Government. He
is currently the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Mandi Rukuni Seminar
Group which includes IBS Consulting and the Wisdom Afrika Leadership Academy
(WALA). He is also the Founder and Trustee of the Barefoot Education Trust
for Afrika (BEAT).

Dale Doré is a former Oxford scholar and agricultural economist with a
special interest in the economics of land tenure systems and the structural
transformation of the economy. He has consulted widely on land, rural
livelihoods and environmental issues within communal areas of Southern
Africa. From 1997 to 2000 he was the regional research co-ordinator of a
community-based natural resource management programme in 5 SADC countries.
He is currently a Trustee and Director of Shanduko (Centre for Agrarian and
Environmental Research), which seeks to promote economically viable
livelihoods that are socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable
within the context of human rights, democracy and good governance. He was
recently invited by UNDP to join a group of eminent economists to prepare a
Comprehensive Economic Recovery Strategy for Zimbabwe.

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 8:16 pm

Why the land issue continues to define Zimbabwe’s past present and future

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/7457

April 5th, 2012

Maize

[Part of the Zimbabwe Land Series]

By Mandivamba Rukuni¹

Introduction

This is the first of 12 articles I am going to write on Zimbabwe’s land issue. The land issue singularly continues to define Zimbabwe’s past, present and future. The way in which the nation has handled the land issue in the past and present also defines the social, political and economic character of the nation. My articles will therefore take a fairly organic and holistic approach in discussing the issue because I believe that lasting solutions to the issue require an understanding of the issue from all these different angles. I will argue that time has come to put emotional and partial analysis aside, and to work for lasting solutions that help build a free, fair, just and caring society. It is obvious to me that we cannot and should not try to change a 100 years of history. Rather we should put most of our best brains and efforts into creating a new history for Zimbabwe. If the land issue is resolved and handled well moving forward, then it can be argued that Zimbabwe has potential to be a model African society, whose foundation is not only truly African, but also an effective member and contributor to the common global welfare.

The paper series

The 12 papers are divided into four categories as follows:

Introduction

1. Why the land issue continues to define Zimbabwe’s past present and future (this article).

Past

2. Lost opportunities to de-racialise the land issue.

Present

3. Update on preparations for a national land audit.

4. Current law as a basis of land compensation and rehabilitation: experience to date.

5. Land rights, tenure, and what is needed to convert the 99 Year Lease to bankability?

6. How the 1994 Land Tenure Commission can inform the Constitutional making on land.

7. A critique of the Wildlife and Forestry Based Land Reform Programmes.

8. Has the MTP provided sufficient guidance for future priority and investment into the land sector?

Future

9. A framework for a comprehensive land and agrarian reform programme.

10. Modernising the traditional land rights system for sustainable development.

11. Prospects for social and racial integration in Zimbabwe’s agriculture.

12. My vision of Zimbabwe’s land issue 10, 20, 30 years on.

Background

In the next article I will discuss the land issue in its broader historical context. In the present article, however, I would like to offer a general framework for addressing the land issue and will therefore discuss the more recent historical context. At independence in 1980, the Government of Zimbabwe operating under the Lancaster House Constitution, established a land reform program, which saw the government acquire about 3 million hectares of land under a willing-seller-willing-buyer basis and settle almost 80,000 families between over the next five years. During this period, the British Government contributed to land purchase on a dollar for dollar basis. But in 1985, land resettlement took a back seat as the government dissolved the Ministry of Lands and incorporated it into the agriculture ministry. The government also reduced its budgetary commitment to land purchases considerably and the British Government correspondingly reduced its funding. The country then went through a phase from 1985 to 1998 when all key players started behaving as if the land issue was resolved.

The Rukuni (1994) Commission summed up the fallacy of a ‘start/stop’ approach to land reform and the need for a consistent and progressive approach by all concerned. By 1998, two developments, in my opinion, brought the land issue back to centre stage. First was the growing political opposition to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), which eventually saw the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on the back of the labour movement, disgruntled communities in Matabeleland, white farmers and other opposition groups. The second trigger was the refusal by the British Government under Tony Blair to take any more responsibility for land purchase (the famous Clare Short letter infers). The rest – as they say – is history.

The period 2000 to 2008 saw the Fast Track Land Reform Programme take place. By 1997, only 20 percent of the large scale commercial farm land had been redistributed. The speedier Fast Track programme led to mass land expropriation based on compulsory acquisition, which was stimulated and accompanied by land occupations led by war veterans and supported by the state, but mobilising various social classes. The government promulgated constitutional reforms and new legislation that legalised compulsory land acquisition with compensation for improvements but not for the land. The intensity, pace and ferocity of land reform precipitated a political and economic crisis.

The land issue: a framework for national development

The issue of land and its impact on agricultural development and the economy is still centre stage as agriculture forms the backbone of the Zimbabwe economy. Zimbabwe is an agrarian society with more than 70% of its population still dependent on land and agriculture. In order to place the role of land and agriculture in the transformation of the Zimbabwean society, I am offering three aspects that form a conceptual framework for national development: a) an economic framework; b) political framework; and c) governance framework.

Economic framework

The economic conceptual framework focuses on the transformation of an agrarian economy to an urban-industrial economy through four stages of development.

In the first stage, the population is involved in primary production, after a period of capital formation the surplus money generated by agriculture goes into other investments. Agriculture has been adequately nurtured and starts growing and creating new wealth at a rate that allows direct and indirect taxation and this feeds into other major public assets and infrastructure. Because the majority of the population is rural (70+ %), it follows that economic growth is greater by emphasising ‘economies of scale’ (meaning many small family farms, traders and businesses form larger industries). In Zimbabwe over 70% of the population are directly dependent on the land for their livelihood; this contrasts with around 3% in developed economies of industrialised nations.
In the second stage, agriculture develops strong links with industry as the market economy develops. Agriculture remains the backbone of the economy as agricultural growth becomes a direct contributor to overall economic growth through greater links with industry, improving efficiency of product and factor markets, and the continued mobilisation of rural resources.
In the third stage, most of the population is urban based (80+ %) as agriculture is fully integrated into the market economy. Prices of food and the share of food in urban budgets continue to decline.
In the fourth stage agriculture is part of an industrial economy and 90+% of population is urban. Because less that 10% of population is rural ‘economies of size’ kick in due to shortage of labour; farms get bigger to be viable. Productivity and efficiency of agriculture is a major issue, and environmental and other concerns assume greater significance.

Political Framework

The political framework concerning land is both important and controversial, particularly when the vast majority of the population is land dependent; it becomes a crucial part in the dynamics of power, and access to it determines both social and economic status. The dynamics of land reform in Asia and South America are essentially different in that the former relates mostly to change from feudal or traditional systems whilst the latter to post colonial redistribution. Africa has both traditional and post colonial models to deal with. In Zimbabwe the process has been inherently political as the process moved from willing- buyer /willing-seller, to compulsory acquisition.

The key elements of the political framework relevant for Zimbabwe are:

Colonial legacy dictates that political freedom will be converted to economic freedom by the previously disadvantaged groups;
Land reform is mostly a political process and one means of transferring power from the one social group to another;
Land is power, both economic and social; land denotes prestige and social status;
Gaining resource rights is the basis of building local economic institutions that link with the main economy;
Where land is a contentious issue it is difficult to progress from Stages 1 and 2 of economic transformation. The concentration of land in fewer hands with one social group having overall political power results in conflicts and delays broad based economic participation at early stages of development.
Asia resolved most of its land issues earlier after colonisation; Asia was also able to complete land reforms quicker than South America and Africa because feudal land ownership systems are easier to reform than colonial and plantation type systems.

Elements of governance framework

Land rights and tenure: Policies that determine who owns what and is allowed to do what on the land becomes more and more important as economy moves into higher stages of development, as this determines links with main economy;

Land administration: that facilitates registration and transfer in an accountable way. In Zimbabwe the provincial and district committee structures installed for land distribution now need reform as the government endeavours to develop professional systems of land administration;

Compensation for acquired land (according to current law, dispossessed farmers have to be compensated for improvements only. This forms the basis for quittance before the same land can be issued a legal ownership through say a 99 year lease.

A dispute resolution system and access to the Administrative Court and other courts. In an agrarian society the judicial system is out of reach for most rural inhabitants due to their location and also the dual legal system that exists in the country. The administrative court that deals with land is only found in Harare and makes it difficult for access.

Land use and development planning and access to capital and the need for the provision of guidance from government.

Land taxation generally aimed at limiting the number and size of holdings and or generating revenue mainly for local development.

Environment’s protection and the need to promote sustainable development.

Conclusions

The frameworks above form the key concepts for subsequent articles. The next article will be the only deeply historical. In the next article, I will discuss the how the issue of ‘race’ has been poorly handled over the last 100 years and how this continues to be unresolved. This alone is in my opinion the source of great sensitivity and emotional energy that has delayed resolution and rehabilitation. In the same article I will provide some fresh insights into the real politik aspects of land in Zimbabwe. I have decided to invest 6 out of 12 of the articles on the present, and there articles will deal with the various elements of land governance as indicated in the framework. I then turn to the last 4 articles on the future, and these articles will address the economic elements of my framework. In concluding this introductory article, therefore, I would like to remind the reader to take a broad and holistic view that encompasses politics, economics and governance. The social aspects are also crucial as will be dealt with in the next article where I argue that the failures in racial integration in Zimbabwe will continue to hound the nation into the immediate future. This unfortunate legacy has to be overcome if Zimbabwe is not only going to overcome historical baggage, but more importantly if Zimbabwe has to harness its true potential and transform into the dynamic and leading nation on the African continent and globally.

References

Rukuni, M (Chairman). 1994. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Appropriate Agricultural Land Tenure Systems. Vol. I. Main Report; Vol. II. Technical Reports; Vol. III. Methods, Procedures, Itinerary and Appendices. Harare. Government Printers

GoZ 2000. Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment, Government Printers, Harare

GoZ, 2001. Fast Track Land Reform Programme. Government Printers. GoZ, Fast Track Plan draft.

¹ Founder and Director of the Mandi Rukuni Seminar, incorporating the Wisdom Afrika Leadership Academy

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 8:16 pm.

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