http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
06 April,
2011
Chegutu farmer Mike Campbell, who led an historic legal battle
against
Robert Mugabe in the regional human rights Tribunal, has passed
away. In
2008 Campbell was abducted and seriously beaten in connection with
the legal
case, which made history when the Tribunal ruled that Mugabe’s
land grab
campaign was unlawful. He was once again leading another landmark
legal case
in the Tribunal this year, but passed away on Wednesday
afternoon.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Apr 6, 2011 10:44 AM | By
Sapa
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe distanced himself from his state
media's
blistering comments on South African President Jacob Zuma, in a bid
to end a
diplomatic spat between the neighbours.
Last week, the
government mouthpiece Sunday Mail published an editorial
calling Zuma
"erratic" and "disaster-prone", and criticised his tough stance
on Zimbabwe
and his support for the no-fly zone in Libya.
"A lot of dire reading has
been made out of this week's Sunday Mail
editorial comment and an opinion
piece it carried on the same matter,"
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba
said in full-page statement printed in
the state-run Herald
newspaper.
"The opinion of the Sunday Mail has been conflated with the
opinion of the
government of Zimbabwe," he said.
Charamba said his
statement reflected "views and concerns of the government
of Zimbabwe and
puts this needless conflation to rest".
Mugabe himself lashed out Friday
at the 15-nation Southern African
Development Community, after Zuma and
other leaders at a security summit
slapped him on the wrist over escalating
political violence ahead of
elections expected later this year.
"We
are a sovereign country. Even our neighbours cannot dictate to us. We
will
resist that," Mugabe said.
The Sunday Mail went further, with a personal
assault on Zuma. The paper
described him as a "liability, not only to South
Africa, but also to the
rest of the continent".
An accompanying
opinion piece said "President Zuma is now tainted beyond
recovery by the
Libyan situation" after South Africa voted on the UN
Security Council in
favour of imposing a no-fly zone.
Zuma's office issued a lengthy reply to
the criticism, saying if Zimbabwe
wanted to understand its position on Libya
they should contact the South
African government through the normal
channels.
http://www.businessday.co.za
Tense International Relations
Minister takes stern line on Zimbabwe unity
government
LOYISO
LANGENI
Published: 2011/04/06 06:40:13 AM
A TENSE and visibly
irritated International Relations Minister Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane took a
stern line with Zimbabwe’s unity government
yesterday.
"We will
refuse the temptation to respond in anger because we have a
responsibility
to focus on the mandate given (to us) by the Southern African
Development
Community (Sadc) as facilitators," she said at a briefing in
Pretoria. She
said SA remained resolute that it would enforce the conditions
of the Global
Political Agreement .
It was forged three years ago and culminated in the
formation of a coalition
government between Zimbabwe’s main political
parties .
Zanu (PF) and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
agreed to draft a new constitution before elections were held.
However,
President Robert Mugabe vowed to hold elections this year and
accused Sadc
leaders of interfering in the affairs of his country.
Ms
Nkoana-Mashabane said the inclusive government of Zimbabwe should
finalise
constitutional amendments and hold a referendum, which were
"necessary steps
for the holding of elections".
"Sadc remains the guarantor for the full
implementation of the Global
Political Agreement. So there’s no lowering of
the guard by Sadc on playing
that role," she said. "The status quo (the
agreement) remains because that’s
the mandate we got from the people of
Zimbabwe."
Ms Nkoana-Mashabane distanced the Zuma administration from
former president
Thabo Mbeki ’s "quiet diplomacy", insisting President Jacob
Zuma had a
different approach .
Mr Zuma was heavily criticised in
Zimbabwe’s state media last weekend.
"Bemused people have often asked: how
does the disaster- prone Zuma manage
to run Africa’s biggest economy?" a
Sunday Mail editorial asked. "The answer
is really simple: he does not run
anything, not even a tuck shop in Soweto.
"President Zuma and Sadc —
individually and collectively — have no legal or
moral authority to meddle
in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs."
Last week Mr Zuma took the unprecedented
step of inviting MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to his homestead in
KwaZulu-Natal to hear his grievances.
langenil@bdfm.co.za
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
April 6 2011
Zimbabwe: Mass grave
bodies must be exhumed by forensic experts
Hundreds of bodies found in a
mass grave in Zimbabwe may never be identified
unless professional forensic
experts carry out the exhumations, Amnesty
International warned
today.
Bodies recently discovered in the Mount Darwin area in northern
Zimbabwe,
have been shown on Zimbabwean television being bundled into
plastic bags and
old sacks to await re-burial increasing the risk that
evidence of serious
human violations could be lost.
“This is a crime
scene and exhumations require professional forensic
expertise to enable
adequate identification, determination of cause of death
and criminal
investigations,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s
deputy
director for Africa.
”Families of the victims expect the bodies to be
identified and to be given
decent burials in line with traditional and
religious practice. As such,
these bodies cannot simply be consigned to
history without proper forensic
tests to determine who they are and how and
why they died.”
In early March 2011, the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation
Television (ZBC-TV) reported the exhumations of hundreds of
bodies from a
site in Monkey William Mine/Chibondo Mine in Mt. Darwin
district.
ZBC-TV claimed the bodies are those of people killed by the
Rhodesian forces
in the 1970s during the country’s war of
independence.
Exhumations were initially carried out by members of the
Fallen Heroes
Trust, a group linked to President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party, before
government officials took over.
On 27 March, the
co-Minister of Home Affairs Mr Kembo Mohadi told ZBC-TV
that the government
was taking over the exhumations from the Fallen Heroes
Trust.
However, given the scale of human remains discovered so far
and the failings
of the government to immediately secure the site, Amnesty
International is
concerned that international best practice on exhumations
is not being
adhered to.
“The Zimbabwe government must ensure that
exhumations are professionally
conducted according to international
standards to properly establish cause
of death, ensure proper identification
and, where possible, to return
remains to family members,” said Michelle
Kagari.
”If the Zimbabwe government does not have the capacity to
undertake these
exhumations properly it must ask for international
co-operation and
assistance to ensure that forensic experts can undertake
the exhumations.”
Mishandling of these mass graves has serious
implications on potential
exhumations of other sites in Zimbabwe. Thousands
of civilians were also
killed in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces in the
mid 1980s and are
allegedly buried in mine shafts and mass graves in these
regions.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/04/2011 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
ZIPRA war heroes have gone to court to stop the on-going
exhumation of what
are claimed to be remains of the 1970s liberation war
combatants in a mine
shaft in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central.
A
Bulawayo judge on Wednesday reserved judgement in the application by the
Zimbabwe People’s Liberation Army Veterans Trust which says the exhumations
must follow a “legal process”.
The Fallen Heroes’ Trust, an
organisation aligned with independence war
veterans from the Zimbabwe
African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), began
exhuming skeletons from a
disused mine in Mt Darwin last month.
The Fallen Heroes Trust says it has
so far recovered over 600 skeletons,
thought to be victims of atrocities
committed by Rhodesian forces in the
1970s bush war, leading up to
Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.
But the exhumations have sparked
controversy, with pathologists suggesting
visual evidence may point to more
recent killings in a nation plagued by
election violence and politically
motivated murders.
The opposition ZAPU and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC
have demanded that the
exhumations be done by pathologists, with a view to
determining the
identities of the dead.
The ZIPRA Veterans Trust,
through its legal team headed by Advocate Lucas
Nkomo, filed a court
application last week saying it had concerns that some
of the skeletons may
belong to its members.
The ZIPRA veterans says some of its fighters based
at 2:1 Infantry Battalion
in Mount Darwin died or disappeared during the
ZIPRA-ZANLA clashes at the
time of demobilisation at
independence.
“This is the same area where the Fallen Heroes Trust and
George Rutanhire
are conducting the on-going exhumations of remains of
persons found in a
disused mineshaft,” ZIPRA Veterans Trust chairman Retired
Colonel Lazarus
Ncube said in an affidavit filed at the Bulawayo High
Court.
Ncube said his organisation has a direct interest and right to
take part in
or be consulted regarding any programme of exhumation of the
remains of
persons who died during the war of liberation or during the
post-independence military or political hostilities in Zimbabwe.
He
added: “During the period from about 1980 to 1988, there are ZIPRA
fighters
who died and others who disappeared during a military operation in
Matabeleland and Midlands provinces by the Fifth Brigade, commonly known as
Gukurahundi.
“The Fifth Brigade Gukurahundi operation not only
affected ZIPRA members but
over 20,000 civilians as documented by the Legal
Resources Foundation and
the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in
Zimbabwe in a report titled
‘Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace: A
Report on the Disturbances in
Matabeleland and Midlands, 1980 to 1988',
published in February 1997.
“The Fallen Heroes Trust and George Rutanhire
have not consulted all
stakeholders and interested parties before embarking
on the on-going
exhumations in Mt Darwin.
“The government does not
seem to be involved in the on-going exhumations,
yet the exhumation of the
remains of persons who died during the
pre-independence and
post-independence military and political hostilities is
of undoubted
national significance as it touches on many people countrywide
whose
relatives died during that time.”
Justice Nicholas Mathonsi said he would
rule on the matter on Thursday after
determining the ZIPRA veterans’ “locus
standi” on events happening in
Mashonaland.
The skeletons found in a
mine shaft of the remote Monkey William Mine, about
160km north-east of
Harare, have brought a macabre thrust to election
campaigning in Zimbabwe —
but the presence of some corpses still with skin,
hair and body fluids has
raised doubts over claims white colonial-era troops
committed the massacres
more than 30 years ago.
The Fallen Heroes of Zimbabwe Trust, a previously
little known group made up
of President Robert Mugabe's loyalists, last
month launched a programme to
exhume skeletons in the mine shaft saying the
country's former white rulers
were guilty of human rights violations that
far outweigh any accusations of
rights abuses levelled against Mugabe's
party and his police and military.
Zimbabwe's sole broadcaster, in news
bulletins and repeated interruptions to
regular programmes, has urged
ordinary citizens to visit the disused mine in
the Chibondo, near the
provincial centre of Mount Darwin, to witness the
horror of colonial
atrocities.
Reporters taken to the mine on a trip organised by the
Ministry of
Information said school children were bused there. Militants
sang
revolutionary songs, shouted slogans and denounced whites and Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's pro-Western party for its links with Britain,
the former
colonial power.
"Down with whites. Not even one white man
should remain in the country,"
villagers, evidently carefully choreographed,
proclaimed. They danced at the
site in what was said to be an ancient ritual
to appease the spirits of
those killed.
Villagers appeared to go into
trances and others wept and simulated firing
guns.
Exhumed skeletons,
bones and remains lay in random heaps, some covered by
sheets and blankets,
near a pile of coffins. Hair and clothes were clearly
visible; one corpse
wore black tennis shoes. The mine shaft emitted an
overwhelming
stench.
Journalists who descended a 40-meter shaft found a body with what
appeared
to be blood and fluids dripping onto the skulls below.
Jimmy
Motsi, a leader of the trust group, told reporters the remains of more
than
640 bodies have already been removed. Four other mine shafts in the
district
contain human remains, he said.
The Mount Darwin district saw some of the
fiercest fighting in the
seven-year bush war waged by ZIPRA and ZANLA
guerrillas that ended white
rule and swept President Mugabe to
power.
Former colonial soldiers say guerrilla dead were disposed of in mass
graves
often doused with gasoline or acid.
Forensic tests and DNA
analysis of the remains won't be carried out, said
Saviour Kasukuwere, a
cabinet minister. Instead, traditional African
religious figures will
perform rites to invoke spirits that will identify
the dead, he
said.
Kasukuwere said the Chibondo remains were discovered in 2008 by a
gold
panner who crawled into the shaft. But spirits of war dead had long
"possessed" villagers and children in the district, he said.
"The
spirits have refused to lie still. They want the world to see what
Smith did
to our people. These spirits will show the way it's to be done,"
he said,
referring to Ian Smith, the last white Prime Minister of the former
colony
of Rhodesia.
"This is the extent of atrocities committed by the Smith
regime. They loot
our resources and they close up the mine with our
bodies."
Zimbabwe's own pathology and autopsy facilities have been
crippled by the
country's economic meltdown under Mugabe's rule. No DNA
testing is available
locally.
Maryna Steyn, a forensic anthropologist
at the University of Pretoria in
South Africa, said human remains should not
retain a strong stench after 30
years.
"Usually, when we have remains
that are lying around for more than a few
years, the bones are no longer
odorous," she said.
Steve Naidoo, a pathologist at South Africa's
University of KwaZulu-Natal,
said it "seemed strange" that bodies from three
decades ago would still have
some skin.
"Bearing in mind that the
bodies are exposed to an open environment, albeit
in a mine shaft,
scavengers can access them quite easily. In 30 years, one
would expect
complete and advanced skeletonisation," he said.
But Shari Eppel, a
Zimbabwean activist of the Solidarity Peace Trust, said
in the group's
latest Zimbabwe bulletin that the presence of soft tissues
"is not
necessarily an indicator that these bones entered the grave more
recently,
although it could be."
A process of mummification can occur when bodies
are piled on top of each
other in large numbers and to all but the most
expert eye "mummified flesh
will look the same as rotting soft tissues from
a more recent era," Eppel
said.
Only expert forensic anthropologists
can establish ages, the sex and causes
and dates of death from a complete
set of skeletal remains of one individual
and therefore "return identity and
life experiences" to the dead.
The era of the manufacture of clothing, coins,
belt buckles and other items
would also be taken into account.
Eppel
said the human remains are being indiscriminately hauled from the
Chibondo
mine shaft without decency, respect or any regard for traditional
African
customary beliefs on reverence for the deceased.
"What is happening ...
is a travesty. Bones speak quietly and in a language
only an expert can
hear. Let's not silence them forever, but bring them the
help they need to
be heard," she said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
06 April, 2011
Armed riot police are reported to have
assaulted supporters of the MDC-T who
attended a memorial service on
Wednesday at Warren Park cemetery outside
Harare. Witnesses said teargas was
also used on the crowd, without any
provocation or warning. The incident
took place just after MDC President
Morgan Tsvangirai addressed the crowd at
the cemetery and food was about to
be served.
The memorial was to
honour five MDC activists who were murdered by ZANU PF
agents during the
violent 2008 election period. A religious service was
first held at the
Dutch Reformed Church in Mabvuku, where Tsvangirai
described the murdered
activists as the “true heroes of our time” who died
pursuing “genuine
democracy and freedom in Zimbabwe”.
The memorial then continued at Warren
Park cemetery, where some of the
victims are buried. SW Radio Africa spoke
to an MDC member who was caught up
in the attacks. She said the notorious
ZANU PF gang known as Chipangano
showed up at the cemetery and assaulted
people without any provocation. MDC
youth and security at the location
fought back and drove them away.
But according to the witness, truckloads
of riot police arrived not long
after and spread out through the crowd.
“People did not run away because it
appeared as though they were there to
protect us,” she said. But without
warning they started assaulting people
and throwing teargas into the crowd.
It is not clear whether any arrests
were made. Our witness said some people
were hospitalized.
The five
murdered activists that were honoured are Abigail Chiroto, Tonderai
Ndira,
Better Chokururama, Cain Nyevhe and Godfrey Kauzani. They were killed
by
ZANU PF agents during a brutal campaign against the MDC which followed
the
March 2008 elections. Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential runoff
against Robert Mugabe due to the violence. The MDC has said that over 500 of
their members were murdered during this period.
Abigail was the wife
of Harare’s deputy Mayor, Emmanuel Chiroto. She was
abducted by security
agents along with her young son, in front of whom she
was murdered. Her body
was later discovered at a nearby farm.
Tonderai Ndira was dragged out of
his home in Mabvuku at gunpoint on May
14th. His decomposed body was
discovered with gunshots in Goromonzi almost a
month later.
On the
same day Ndira was abducted, Chokururama, Kauzani and Nyevhe were
abducted
in Murehwa. Their bodies were also found later found in Goromonzi,
at
different locations.
In his memorial address, MDC President Tsvangirai
said it was important to
reflect on “the lives of the many gallant sons and
daughters who were
callously murdered for their belief in democratic change
in Zimbabwe”.
He urged police commissioner Augustine Chihuri to arrest
all perpetrators of
violence saying; “In the absence of arrests and
prosecution, history will
record that the police force in this country
folded its arms and closed its
eyes while the merchants of violence killed
and brutalised innocent
civilians.”
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
Ladies and gentlemen, We gather here
today in remembrance of the true heroes of our time; four gallant men who died
in pursuit of genuine democracy and freedom in Zimbabwe.
Today is an
important day in our unfolding journey towards full democracy as we take time to
reflect on the lives of the many gallant sons and daughters who were callously
murdered for their belief in democratic change in Zimbabwe. From the time of the
liberation struggle, ours has always been a story of a heroic people who have
always fought oppression and repression of whatever nature. Whether the
repression is white on black or black on black.
Ours is the unfolding
story of a brave people who are prepared to die for their beliefs; a committed
people of fighters prepared to pay the ultimate price so that we can all live in
an atmosphere of peace, freedom and prosperity. It is a story of courage; a tale
of selflessness in which thousands of patriotic Zimbabweans have lost their
lives so that our hopes and national aspirations can live again.
Yes,
dedicated Zimbabweans have lost their limbs so that the wishes and aspirations
of future generations can be realised. Today, we gather here to remember and
celebrate the lives of Tonderai Ndira, Better Chokururama, Cain Nyevhe and
Godfrey Kauzani.
These four were brutally murdered for their political
beliefs and the tearful memories of their lives and their painful death will
remain etched in the collective memory of this nation for a long time to come.
They fought for a just cause and they died in the course of national duty.
They were ordinary, unarmed citizens with an unstinting belief in
democracy and faith in bringing real change to Zimbabwe. They had families and
relatives, many of whom are gathered here today. But they had a higher calling
to serve the nation and its people, beyond the narrow and selfish interests of
serving their immediate families and relatives. To them, Zimbabwe mattered more
than their villages and their immediate families!
We must equally
remember the many innocent Zimbabweans across the country that have been killed
in senseless political violence over the years.
We remember them.
We
salute them.
We treasure and celebrate their lives and the only worthy
gesture we can make is to create a peaceful and a violence-free Zimbabwe which
they cherished and for which they paid the ultimate price.
The
liberation struggle, the Gukurahundi massacres and our own struggle for
democracy have resulted in needless casualties of great magnitude; a magnitude
that must be shameful to ourselves as the leadership of this great country. We
have recently witnessed the exhumation of dead bodies in one corner of the
country for cheap political gain. We should accord those that died violent and
unnatural deaths the respect they deserve.
We should ensure that in
creating a final resting place for their earthly remains, we leave no stone
unturned in determining who killed them and why and ensuring that their
relatives achieve the disclosure they deserve. There are victims of violence all
over Zimbabwe, including the bodies of Ndira and others whom we are remembering
here today.
There are graves in Matabeleland the Midlands provinces ;
innocent victims of a senseless and systematic genocide and we all wonder
whether the current exhumations will spread to that corner of the country as
well. I know all of us here are angry and tormented; not least because those
who were close to us were violently killed by the merchants of death.
We
are angry because the perpetrators of these heinous acts are walking scot-free
and the police have not even bothered to make a single arrest.
Joseph Mwale,
the alleged murderer of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika in that gruesome
murder in April 2000, remains in the employ of the State and a free man despite
overwhelming evidence against him. He is a living example of the culture of
impunity that has afflicted this country; a true testimony of the failure of the
justice system in Zimbabwe.
We are angry because our parents, our
brothers, our husbands and our wives were killed in State-sponsored violence,
which is a cruel irony because it is the duty of the State to protect citizens
and not harm them. We are angry because the Commissioner-General, Augustine
Chihuri has chosen to engage in selective application of the law and to
personalise what should otherwise be a State-institution.
There has been
no single arrest of these murderers and all perpetrators of violence and this
has made the majority of our people to lose faith and confidence in the police
force as a people’s institution.
We urge Commissioner Chihuri to arrest
all perpetrators of violence without fear or favour and without the needless
selective application of the law. In the absence of arrests and prosecution,
history will record that the police force in this country folded its arms and
closed its eyes while the merchants of violence killed and brutalised innocent
civilians.
We are angry because once again, we are seeing the resurgence
of the same culture of impunity and State-sponsored violence and I know we are
all saying: “Not again.” We are however heartened that our brothers in SADC have
now realised that violence as orchestrated by partisan state institutions is the
single major threat to democracy in Zimbabwe and stability in the whole
region.
Today, we make a bold statement that no amount of violence will
stop an idea whose hour has come. We stand here to celebrate the triumph of
peace over violence, light over darkness and good over evil. We are all here as
survivors of a dark era which must not return again to this country because it
is dehumanising, unAfrican and an assault to the ideals of our liberation
struggle.
The theme of today’s event is “Blessed are the
peacemakers.” (Matthew 5 verse 9).
Indeed, we call for
peace in Zimbabwe. We call for a peaceful election in which the people’s rights
for free expression, movement, speech and assembly are respected. We call for a
roadmap to a violence-free election in Zimbabwe in which everyone is free to
choose their leaders and live in peace. That is the Zimbabwe which the gallant
sons and daughters of this country died for.
And that is the Zimbabwe for
which Tonderai Ndira, Cain Nyevhe, Godfrey Kauzani, Better Chokururama and many
others across the country paid the ultimate prize. We shall continue our
determined fight for such a peaceful Zimbabwe until we achieve full democracy in
our motherland. Only then can the souls of our departed loved ones rest in
eternal peace.
God bless you and God bless Zimbabwe.
I thank you
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/04/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has dismissed
claims by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party that the ZRP was
barring its rallies,
insisting that 94 percent of applications by the party
had been approved
this year.
The MDC-T accuses the police of
selective application of the law and turning
a blind eye to perpetrators of
political violence linked to President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF
party.
Tsvangirai repeated the allegations on Wednesday at a memorial
service for
youths the party claims were killed by suspected state agents in
2008.
“We are angry because the Commissioner-General, Augustine Chihuri
has chosen
to engage in selective application of the law and to personalise
what should
otherwise be a State-institution,” Tsvangirai
said.
“There has been no single arrest of these murderers. We urge
Commissioner
Chihuri to arrest all perpetrators of violence without fear or
favour and
without the needless selective application of the
law.”
However, in a report prepared for a cabinet committee following
complaints
by the MDC-T, 644 political gatherings were allowed to go ahead
by the
police out of 682 applications by the party. This represented a 94
percent
approval rate for MDC-T meetings.
The MDC led by Welshman
Ncube made 31 notifications and 29 (94 percent) were
sanctioned while Zanu
PF had 816 notifications with 788 (97 percent) being
approved.
Chihuri said in the instances applications were not
approved, the MDC-T had
deliberately organised their activities on the same
days as important
national events.
"Despite being in the inclusive
government, the MDC-T does not only ignore
national events but even has the
audacity to despise those events on the
national calendar like the Heroes
Day," he said.
The police commissioner said political parties could not
be allowed to do as
they please otherwise the police force -- which numbers
30,000 for a
population of 13 million people – would not be able to
cope.
"If each individual was allowed to do as he/she pleased, holding
parallel
events to national events, no doubt the ZRP will fail in its
mandate to
maintain peace in the land,” he said.
"The ZRP will not
brook any spurious, vexatious and cheap propaganda stunt
targeted at
portraying the organisation as partisan."
http://www.bulawayo24.com
by MDC Information Department
2011 April
06 20:04:02
MDC-T dismisses media claims made today by the Police
Commissioner - General
Augustine Chihuri that the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) has sanctioned 94
percent of the meetings and rallies.
The
statement is a clear negation of facts. The police chief has in the past
openly shown that he is a partisan public officer when he declared that he
was a supporter of Zanu PF.
The MDC stands by its position that the
police have been denying the party
to hold its meetings and rallies across
the country in clear defiance of the
Public Order and Security Act
(Posa).
According to Posa, the police needs only to be notified that a
political
party is holding a meeting and they have no right to deny
that.
Only two weeks ago, the MDC was at the courts appealing against a
police
decision in Harare to deny the party from holding a People's Peace
rally at
Zimbabwe Grounds and Glamis Arena. The peace rally has been
cancelled three
times consecutively.
It was claimed that Zanu PF had
booked the two venues. The Harare City
Council even wrote an affidavit
dismissing these claims.
Senior police officers have been quoted on
record declaring that the banning
of MDC rallies was because the country was
on some false high alert.
However, what the MDC finds amazing is that
another political party – the
unpopular Zanu PF has been granted and
escorted by the police to hold their
meetings. Most of the Zanu PF meetings
have turned violent as the rowdy
Zanu PF youths looted and assaulted
innocent people but no arrests were
made.
The MDC has evidence that
the party's internal congress meetings have been
disrupted across the
country especially in Bulawayo, Marondera, Masvingo,
Chinhoyi, Mudzi,
Victoria Falls, Hwange and Mutare.
MDC members have been arrested, some
beaten for attending internal party
meetings.
As a Party of
Excellence, the MDC feels that it has not been treated fairly
by the ZRP
when it comes to holding its peaceful meetings especially at a
time when the
party is preparing for its crucial 3rd Main National Congress
to be held in
Bulawayo.
For the record, below are just some of the various MDC meetings
that have
been disrupted by the police in recent weeks;
Bulawayo
Province notified the police of eight meetings. However, seven of
them
failed to take place because the police dispersed MDC members who had
gathered for the meetings.
In Chitungwiza province, of the eight
meetings scheduled this year, five
were disrupted by the police and three
were refused clearance.
In Mashonaland East province, two of the
scheduled meetings were refused
clearance and did not take place.
By
the time Midlands North province applied for their one intended rally in
Kadoma, the police had instituted a ban on MDC programmes
nationwide.
On 5 February 2011 – Collin Ndlovu and Alward Mhlanga are
arrested in Njube
Bulawayo at a ward meeting and are charged US$20 each for
holding an illegal
meeting.
On 8 February 2011 – Police in Mufakose,
Highfield and Budiriro bar MDC
members from holding ward Congress
meetings.
On 12 February 2011 – At least 51 MDC Harare province Youth
Assembly members
who are arrested by the police in Mabvuku for holding an
illegal meeting
they are released on 14 February after heavy interrogation
and harassment.
On 6 March 2011 - Lucia Matibenga, an MDC executive
member who had travelled
to Bulawayo to oversee the province's restructuring
exercise was told by the
police in riot gear to order party members gathered
at the provincial office
to disperse. Two of police officers,
Superintendent Fumai and another
Superintendent Moyo said they had been sent
by a Chief Superintendent Masina
to tell them to disperse because the
country was on high alert.
On 26 March 2011 – An MDC ward meeting is
disrupted at Beit Hall in
Bulawayo.
On 12 March 2011 – All ward
Congress meetings are disrupted by the police in
Mberengwa East.
On
13 March 2011- 10 MDC youth activists from Chitungwiza are arrested
outside
Harvest House, the party's headquarters as they leave the offices
after
attending a Zengeza East Youth Assembly congress meeting.
Out of the 30
meetings that the MDC notified to the police, only one rally
took place in
20 February Mkoba. The MDC therefore finds that Chihuri's
claim that 94
percent of MDC meetings were approved is not only a gross
misrepresentation
but a miss on facts by a significant margin.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
6 April 2011
The South African facilitation team to the crisis
in Zimbabwe is in Harare,
to push for a speedy drafting and implementation
of a roadmap ahead of
elections now likely to be held early next
year.
Lindiwe Zulu, President Jacob Zuma’s international relations
advisor, told
SW Radio Africa the team was in Harare for talks with the
negotiators to the
Global Political Agreement.
‘Yes we are in Harare
and I can’t say much because I’m actually in a
meeting,’ Zulu said. Latest
talks on the roadmap started on Monday in Harare
following the SADC Troika
summit in Livingstone, Zambia that censured Robert
Mugabe for the slow pace
of implementing the GPA.
It has long been hoped that the full
implementation of the GPA would allow
at least minimum conditions for a free
and fair election. But Mugabe and his
ZANU PF party have delayed the process
in the hope of unilaterally calling
an election without any reforms in
place, including a new constitution.
A senior MDC-N official said the
outstanding points in the GPA must be
implemented if there is to be any hope
of a free and fair election.
‘We impressed upon our negotiators after the
Livingstone summit that we
should have a new constitution in place first
before anybody can talk about
elections. More importantly the roadmap should
guarantee the security of
Zimbabweans, an end to violence and the
introduction of a new voters' roll,’
the official said.
During the
Troika summit in Livingstone, SADC resolved to appoint a team of
officials
to join Zuma’s facilitation team on Zimbabwe, to ensure full
implementation
of the GPA.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that SADC wants this three
member team
to be permanently based in Zimbabwe, despite misgivings from
ZANU PF, which
has been at odds with resolutions adopted in
Livingstone.
A source in Harare told us Zuma’s team was in Zimbabwe to
work on expanding
the process and include civil society groups and other
stakeholders to work
on the roadmap.
‘As it is both the MDC’s have
already submitted their draft documents while
ZANU PF has not. I can only
assume that they will present theirs this week,
after which the facilitation
team will invite various stakeholders to work
with the three political
parties to combine the drafts and come up with one
document,’ the source
said.
http://www.diamondintelligence.com
06 April 2011
A
high-powered African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) delegation is in
Zimbabwe to get firsthand information on diamond mining in Marange in
preparation for an ADPA Heads of State Summit, which will reportedly tackle
the Zimbabwe issue, reports the state-run The Herald. Earlier this week, the
visitors met Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu in
Harare.
The ADPA is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to
strengthen the
level of influence African diamond-producing countries have
on the world
diamond market. Its delegation in Zimbabwe includes DRC
Minister of Mines
and Energy Martin Kabuelulu, South African Mineral
Resources Minister Susan
Shabangu, Namibian Mines and Energy Minister Isak
Katali and Guinea's Mines
and Geology Minister, Mohamed Lamine Fofana,
reports the news source. Sierra
Leone's Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral
Resources, Abdul Ignosi Koroma,
and senior government officials from Ghana
and Angola are also part of the
delegation that is also expected to visit
the Chiadzwa diamond fields.
The visit comes about a month after the ADPA
held an Extraordinary Council
of Ministers meeting in Cape Town, South
Africa.
"The ministers deemed it relevant to organise an ADPA Heads of
State Summit
which would principally deal with the Zimbabwe issue as an
initial step
before moving the matter to the African Union Heads of State,"
Minister
Mpofu said, as quoted by The Herald.
While meeting with the
delegation, Minister Mpofu reportedly expressed his
enthusiasm over the
recent Kimberley Process (KP) Chairman's decision to
allow the immediate
resumption of rough exports from Marange despite a lack
of consensus on the
matter by the participants of the KPCS.
"Our view is that the chair's
intervention must be supported for initiating
measures which restore the
fundamental principles of the KP with regard to
respect of equality, mutual
benefits and consensus," said Mpofu, as cited by
the news
source.
"Our anticipation is that ADPA is now well placed to spearhead an
African
agenda which would place Africa in a much stronger bargaining
position than
before," Minister Mpofu said, before adding that Zimbabwe
would continue to
"enhance its KP compliance, particularly with regard to
Marange," reports
The Herald.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Oscar Nkala
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
10:37
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe has been importing arms of war from
countries like
China, Ukraine, Russia and Libya, a new study by Stockholm
International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has revealed.
The
institute says by continuing to supply arms to Zimbabwe, even after the
controversial 2008 elections, the countries have weakened the impact of the
international arms embargo and exposed the inability of the EU and the US to
prevent its violation.
SIPRI blamed this on the lack of collective
universal action in enforcing
the embargo. According to the report, Zimbabwe
has been secretly importing
military equipment like automatic rifles. The
report says Zimbabwe has also
been buying military equipment from Bulgaria,
Slovakia and the Czech
Republic.
The study, which was released on
Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, was conducted
by SIPRI researcher Lukas Jeuck.
It reveals that while China has always been
among the main arms supplier to
Zimbabwe since independence, its role
expanded to that of chief arms
supplier throughout the turbulent decade of
2000 and 2009 when the security
forces were alleged to be at the forefront
of suppressing political
prularity.
“For the period 2000-2009, China remained the largest
supplier, accounting
for 39% of Zimbabwe’s imports of conventional weapons,
followed by Ukraine
at 35% and Libya at 27%. Bulgaria, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic have
exported small volumes of conventional arms to Zimbabwe
since 2000, while
the Czech Republic was a supplier in the early 1990s,” the
report says.
Despite well-established facts that China is the main arms
supplier,
confusion surrounds the nature of weapons delivered to
Zimbabwe.
“For example in 2004, it was reported that Zimbabwe was in the
process of
acquiring 12 Chinese FC-1 combat trainer aircraft and 100
Dongfeng military
vehicles in a deal worth US$200 million. While Zimbabwe
took delivery of the
Chinese-made armoured vehicles, assault rifles and
support material via the
Mozambican port of Beira in early 2005, the FC-1
deal was not completed.”
The report also documented Zimbabwe’s
acquisition of 12 Chinese K8 military
trainer aircraft in two batches in
which the first six were delivered in
mid-2005 while the second batch of six
was landed in 2006.
It also discussed the infamous incident in which an
international outcry
prevented a Chinese registered ship, the An Yue Jiang,
from docking and
unloading a Zimbabwean-bound weapons cargo that included
heavy artillery
pieces at sea ports in Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and
Angola just
before the controversial 2008 elections when repression by the
security
forces was at its worst height.
“It is unclear how Zimbabwe
is paying for its arms imports from China, but
some have speculated that
China is paid in land and mining rights,” the
report says of costs of the
arms trade.
The report notes that although Russia is not known to have
sold any arms to
Zimbabwe since the supply of MI-24 MP Hind combat
helicopters for use in the
army’s operations in the DRC in 1999, the state
arms trader Rosoboronexport
is actively cultivating Zimbabwe among its
high-potential Sub-Saharan arms
importer nations.
“Russia was also
said to have supplied 21 000 automatic rifles to Zimbabwe
before the
elections in 2000. Other East European countries have been active
in
exporting arms to Zimbabwe. Ukraine provided the engines for the 12 K8
trainer aircraft supplied by China. Zimbabwe also imported a small volume of
major conventional weapons from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia
between 2000 and 2001.”
The report also quotes the United Nations
Commodity Trade Statistics
Database as revealing a Brazilian export of
shotgun ammunition worth US$2.3
million in 2003 although it remains unclear
if these were destined for the
security forces, which were at that time busy
suppressing mass protests
which the then opposition MDC tried to use to ask
President Robert Mugabe to
step down.
“It is also difficult to
identify the purposes of other acquisitions, such
as the three MIG-23 MS
combat aircraft that were supplied by Libya in 2003
but which were never
used operationally by Zimbabwe.”
The report concludes that the various
regimes of US and EU arms embargoes on
Zimbabwe have had a mixed effect
because only a limited number of states
that enforce the embargo were ever
significant exporters to the Southern
African country.
The report
warns it is possible that Zimbabwe is also being armed by
non-state party
weapons exporters in the United States and the United
Kingdom.
“There
is anecdotal evidence that arms dealers based in the US and the UK
have been
willing to breach the arms embargo, which implies that Zimbabwe
could also
find Western (arms) suppliers.”
The study also found that South Africa,
until recently the country’s
principal arms supplier on the African
continent, has enforced the
anti-Zimbabwe embargo dutifully since 2009.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Tuesday, 05 April 2011
15:31
HARARE - The fight for control of town house between Local
Government
minister Ignatius Chombo and his deputy Sessel Zvidzai has
escalated with
Zvidzai insisting that the firing of three councillors and a
moyor by Chombo
is legal.
Chombo fired two Movement for
Democratic Change, MDC, councillors Warship
Dumba and Casper Takura in
Harare, Clever Manhombo, a Zanu PF councillor in
Seke and Bindura mayor,
Tinashe Madamombe on allegations of corruption and
dishonest
conduct.
Yesterday, Zvidzai an MDC official, wrote a stinging letter to
Zanu PF’s
Chombo saying he was not consulted on the firing of the councilors
and mayor
and insisted that he also had the same powers as his
boss.
Zvidzai’s letter comes after Harare mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda barred
Dumba
and Takura from entering town house.
The two councillors, at
the centre of investigating Chombo for corruption
had returned to Town House
at the instigation of Zvidzai.
Wrote Zvidzai: “As Minister and Deputy, we
are part of the Executive as
provided in Article 20.1.6 of the GPA, the
effort is that whilst the Urban
Councils Act (29:15) contains peremptory
provisions vesting authority in the
minister, such has been varied by the
formation of the inclusive government
as adopted in terms of Act 1/2009,”
read part of the letter written by
Zvidzai to Chombo.
Zvidzai said
most of the fired councillors are from the MDC led by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai as some of the councillors who were fired were
part of a probe
team that implicated Chombo in corruption.
“Councillors Dumba and Takura
of Harare sat in an Audit Committee which
compiled an audit report in which
you are alleged to have acquired several
pieces of land in Harare
improperly,” Zvidzai said.
“The same councillors reported their findings
to the police on your alleged
unlawful acquisition and subsequent illegal
sale of subdivision of Nthaba of
Glen Lorne as police report ER-09/2011
among other reports filed of record.”
Zvidzai said Chombo again fired
Bindura Mayor after he had instigated a
corruption probe on some councillors
in Bindura who were accused of
unlawfully acquiring stands.
“Mayor
Madamombe of Bindura Town council has initiated a probe against
Bindura
councillors over allegations of unlawful acquisition of stands, the
same
councillors who later petitioned your office for an order to dismiss
him
from office and you upheld their petition knowing fully well that the
mayor
had levelled allegations against the councillors,” Zvidzai said.
Schedule
eight of section (115(2) and (3) states that “in the exercises of
executive,
the President, Vice President, the Prime Minister, the deputy
Prime
Minister, ministers and deputy minister must have regard to the
principles
and spirit underlying the formation of the inclusive government
and
accordingly act in a manner that seeks to promote cohesion both inside
and
outside government.”
The deputy minister argued Chombo’s actions were
illegal and that the
minister was acting outside the constitution of
Zimbabwe.
“The provisions of Act 1/2009 (Amendment No.19) place an
obligation on you
to consult your deputy minister who is duly vested with
executive authority.
“As such any unilateral actions in the exercise of
the said authority can be
interpreted as being ultra-vires the
constitution,” he said.
Chombo is on record saying Zvidzai cannot reverse
his decisions.
When Masunda barred Dumba and Takura, he said: “I don’t
want to be caught
taking side between the minister and his deputy on this
matter. The bottom
line of the issue is that they must approach the High
Court and challenge
the decision made by the minister.”
“They will
not be taken back into the council until they do that, we are not
expressing
our views but we are saying let the law take its course.”
http://www.iol.co.za
April 6 2011 at 07:06pm
Passports of
Zimbabweans who have applied for the documents are ready for
collection, the
Zimbabwe consulate in South Africa said. Photo: Independent
Newspapers
Passports of Zimbabweans who have applied for the
documents are ready for
collection, the Zimbabwe consulate in South Africa
said on Wednesday.
“We are currently dealing with applications from
Gauteng and will go to
other areas in the country at a later stage,”
spokesman Chris Mapanga said.
However, if people who have applied for the
passports in areas outside
Gauteng needed the documents urgently they could
collect them from the
consulate's office in Meadowdale,
Johannesburg.
Mapanga was responding to a statement earlier issued by
Passop that the
consulate would allegedly not deliver passports to
applicants outside
Gauteng and that there was a deadline for people to pick
them up only at its
Johannesburg office by Friday, April 8
- despite
some people having applied in various provinces across the
country.
“Passop remains extremely concerned about the Zimbabwean
government's
failure to deliver passports to its citizens in South
Africa.
“The many thousands of people who applied and paid for passports
in Cape
Town and other parts of South Africa should be able to collect their
passports where they applied,” spokesman Langton Miriyoga said in a
statement.
“The Zimbabwean consulate cannot withhold passports from
its citizens who
paid for these passports, and it has an obligation to
deliver passports in
line with the promises it has made,” he
said.
Mapanga said people who had applied for passports outside Gauteng
were a
small number and the consulate would go to their areas at a later
stage to
deliver the passports.
He said people should visit the
consulate's website on
www.zimbabweconsulate.co.za to
check if their passports were available for
collection.
Mapanga said
the consulate put up a deadline date for people in Gauteng to
collect their
documents because some had not been fetching them. He said the
passports
would still be available for collection after Friday's deadline.
The
deadline was set to encourage people to collect their documents,
especially
because the consulate was also planning to relocate its office
later in
April to another area in Johannesburg.
Details of the move would be
posted on its website soon, Mapanga said. -
Sapa
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
06
April 2011
The Zimbabwean consulate’s announcement that all available
passports must be
collected from its Johannesburg office by Friday, has been
dismissed as an
empty threat by a South African refugee rights
group.
The Cape Town based PASSOP group said on Wednesday that a deadline
announced
by the consulate for the collection of passports was no reason to
panic.
PASSOP’s Braam Hanekom explained that a notice was placed on the
consulate’s
website, saying all passports must be collected from
Johannesburg by Friday,
regardless of where in South Africa applications
were made for the
documents. That noticed has since been
removed.
Hanekom told SW Radio Africa that traveling to Johannesburg to
collect
passports was out of the question for most Zimbabweans in Cape Town
and
other cities. The documents cost more than R700, a princely sum for the
many
Zimbabweans scraping together a basic living in South Africa. Hanekom
said
the additionally prohibitive cost of travel means that the Zim
authorities
have an obligation to deliver the passports to where the
applications were
originally made.
Hanekom said the Zimbabwean
Consulate “appears to be trying to manipulate
both the South African
government and to intimidate Zimbabwean citizens.”
“The Zim government
has been manipulating the authorities in South Africa
using the Zimbabwean
passport applicants as leverage for their own political
means,” Hanekom
said.
This suspected ‘manipulation’ is related to the Zim government’s
ongoing
failure to produce enough passports for the thousands of Zimbabweans
who
have applied to regularise their stay in South Africa. The passports are
necessary to finalise the permit applications, which the South African
authorities are trying to do before August. But a deadline for the Zim
authorities to produce the documents has been extended twice, and only a
token effort appears to have been made to get passports rolled
out.
South Africa has also extended its moratorium on Zimbabwean
deportations
until August, in an effort to make sure that all the permit
applications are
processed. But it is widely believe that officials within
the Zim government
are deliberately trying to stall the delivery of
passports, to ensure that
citizens in the Diaspora cannot vote in upcoming
elections.
“We remain highly suspicious that the problems surrounding the
delivery of
passports might be part of broader motivations by the Zimbabwean
government
to obstruct this documentation project,” Hanekom
said.
Meanwhile, some observers have commented that the Zim consulate’s
efforts to
frustrate the documentation process could also be related to the
region’s
apparent change of stance towards the Zim crisis. South Africa’s
Jacob Zuma
has been blasted by the ZANU PF regime after he, together with
other leaders
in the region, harshly criticised the violence and political
deadlock in
Zimbabwe.
The criticisms came during a summit of the
regional SADC’s security organ in
Zambia, where SADC leaders apparently had
strong words for Robert Mugabe
during closed door sessions. Mugabe left the
Troika summit visibly angry and
South Africa’s Zuma has since been accused
of ‘betrayal’. Some commentators
have said that the Zim authorities’ refusal
to honour its commitments in
South Africa is a reaction to the fallout with
Mugabe.
http://www.voanews.com/
Attached Air
Zimbabwe property includes some 16 motor vehicles, 100
computers, 10 lathes
and five milling machines
Gibbs Dube | Washington 05 April
2011
A High Court judge has authorized some Air Zimbabwe workers to
dispose of
attached airline property to recover US$400,000 in unpaid
salaries and
allowances.
Attorney Selby Hwacha, representing Air
Zimbabwe, said Justice Andrew Mutema
dismissed with costs his urgent
application for a stay of execution and
instructed the deputy sheriff to
sell Air Zimbabwe property attached in
November last year.
The
property includes some 16 motor vehicles, 100 computers, 10 lathes and
five
milling machines. The salaries and allowances concerned are for 2009
and
2010 work.
The strike by Air Zimbabwe pilots, engineers and cabin crew is
in its third
week.
Hwacha said he is exploring several options in
order to save the airline
property from being sold by the deputy sherrif.
But Bulawayo lawyer
Matshobana Ncube said the only option left for the
national airline is to
pay its workers all outstanding wages.
“They
still have a chance to avoid the auctioning of the property through
raising
the needed cash and paying directly to the deputy sheriff together
with some
legal costs incurred by the messenger of court,” Ncube said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Jane Makoni
Wednesday, 06 April
2011 14:27
HARARE - In anticipation of elections later this year the Zanu
(PF) element
in government has ‘retired’ a number of army officers and moved
them
permanently to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Some of the
soldiers have been responsible for running elections in Zimbabwe
for the
past eight years, and many helped President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
(PF) to
rig the landmark 2008 elections.
A highly place ZEC source revealed that
these Mugabe loyalists have been
‘retired’ from the army to become full time
employees of the elections
monitoring body, which was re-constituted last
year under the terms of the
GPA.
“The partisan soldiers were
permanently transferred to ZEC under the
pretence that they had terminated
their services with the army. The truth of
the matter is that it was a
desperate Zanu (PF) strategy to hoodwink the
world and maintain its
influence on the outcome of the elections. Once a
partisan soldier, always a
partisan soldier,” said the source.
But there seems to be a revolving
door between the Zimbabwe National Army
(ZNA) and ZEC. Brigadier Douglas
Nyikayaramba, who was said to have retired
from the army to run ZEC before
the 2008 elections, is now back in the army.
He is commanding 3 Brigade in
Manicaland and spearheading Zanu (PF)’s
election campaign in the
province.
ZEC Director for Information, Shupikai Mashereni, was one of
the former
soldiers, all reportedly die-hard Mugabe sympathisers, who was
‘retired’
from the army to protect Zanu (PF) interests within
ZEC.
“Mashereni is a former public relations officer with the Army Public
Relations Directorate based at KG6 Barracks in Harare. He and others were
seconded to ZEC some eight years ago. Over the years other pro-Mugabe
soldiers, police officers, prison officials and war veterans have been moved
over to ZEC to manipulate the outcome of past elections,” said the
source.
He added that, if ever Zimbabwe was to achieve free and fair
elections,
there was an urgent need for a complete overhaul and recruitment
of new
personnel at the country’s electoral supervisory commission.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Radio VOP
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
08:33
HARARE - A Chinese company has snapped up prime properties in some
of Harare’s
affluent locations in deals worth millions of
dollars.
The properties were acquired through a Chinese cement company,
SINO-Zimbabwe
Development Private Limited last year in October, but the
Chinese only took
over management of the properties this
year.
SINO-Zimbabwe is a joint venture company between a Chinese company
and the
Zimbabwe government through the Infrastructural Development
Corporation
(IDC).
The properties are in the exquisite suburbs of
Borrowdale and Glen Lorne
which are highly sought after prime property
areas.
Highly sought after
The Chinese bought Gecko Gardens
located at number 306 Sunninghill Close in
Glen Lorne. The gardens are made
up of a restaurant, conference and
accommodation facilities. Another
property is the Highlands Park conference
and functions venue located at
number 1 Worpleston in Glen Lorne. The
property, currently under
renovations, is being used by the Chinese company
to accommodate its Chinese
workers.
The Chinese also snapped up a jackpot in the famous Imba Matombo
private
hotel which is located at 3 Albert Glen Close in Glen
Lorne.
The other property now in the expanding Chinese property portfolio
in
Zimbabwe is Pangolin Lodge which is at number 54 Carrick Creagh Road in
Borrowdale. The four properties which are worth millions of dollars,
according to estimates from several estate agents are prime leisure
locations in the capital.
During a visit to all the four properties
by Radio VOP, workers at these
prime locations confirmed that the Chinese
company had taken over. Several
cars with SINO-Zimbabwe inscriptions could
be seen parked at Highlands Park
during the visit.
A consortium of
white businessman used to own the highly sought after
properties in
Harare.
No problem – AAG
The Affirmative Action Group (AAG), a
Zimbabwean black empowerment group
said there was nothing wrong with the
Chinese buying property as long as the
move was not used for speculative
purposes.
But after being told the number of properties that
SINO-Zimbabwe had bought,
Mandiwanzira said, “It will be a problem if they
are now in the business of
buying a string of properties. We then need to
understand why they are
buying so many of them because that pushes out
locals in the property
market.”
Meanwhile the Parliament of Zimbabwe
is planning an investigation into the
operations of Chinese mining companies
operating in north of the country in
areas that are designated for wild life
conservancy and safari.
The companies, San He Mining Company Private
Limited Zimbabwe and Lebbenon
Investments are mining in pristine land set
aside for wild life conservancy.
The chairperson of the Parliamentary
portfolio committee on Mines and
Energy, Chindori Chininga told Parliament
his committee was keen to visit
the area.
The companies are said to
be operating without Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIA) certificates.
http://www.radiovop.com/
06/04/2011 17:03:00
Chiredzi, April
06, 2011 - Officials from Ministry of Health are battling to
control a
serious Cholera outbreak which has hit Chiredzi district where
five deaths
have been recorded since last week.
Sangwe and Chilonga areas are the
most affected with official figures
indicating that Sangwe alone recorded
150 cases while Chilonga had 36.
Chiredzi district medical officer Dr
Paul Ngere confirmed that his district
was under serious cholera outbreak
but refused to give detailed information
to the press as he preferred to
direct all the questions to the Provincial
Medical Director (PMD) Dr Robert
Mudyiradima.
“We are currently battling to fight cholera here,
however, I am not the best
person to give details to the press,” said Dr
Ngere.
However, Dr Mudyiradima downplayed by neither denying nor
accepting the
disease outbreak in the lowveld.
Nonetheless, Dr
Mudyiradima accepted that he has since dispatched a team to
Chiredzi where
they are expected to come out with what is ‘exactly taking
place on the
ground’.
“Our officers who went to Chiredzi are not yet back. Once
they come, we will
be able to give you exact information on what is exactly
taking place on the
ground,” said Mudyiradima.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Chief Reporter
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
14:12
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe travelled with a 65-strong crew
to the
SADC Troika summit last Thursday, prompting observers to blast the
needless
duplication of the security effort that cost the nation lots of
scarce
dollars.
The Zimbabwean president was seen taking off from the
Livingstone
International Airport with 59 hangers-on at 9pm on Thursday,
including at
least six medical personnel.
Also on the Air Zimbabwe plane
– which only took off from Harare after
assuring striking Air Zimbabwe
pilots they would get their allowances - was
Finance minister Tendai
Biti.
In Livingstone, Mugabe made use of a golf cart to traverse the
ubiquitous
Zambezi Sun Hotel during the duration of the Troika summit,
underlining the
87-year-old President's waning health.
He struggles to
walk now and sources say he could soon need a walking stick.
A senior
government source said in the entourage included Munhumutapa
Building
political aides, national security personnel and specialists from
other
government departments.
Zim1, as he is known in Secret Service circles,
had at least two dozen
agents in Livingstone, according to a mid-level
intelligence source. His
wife Grace did not attend.
Dhewa Mavhinga,
the Regional Information and Advocacy Coordinator for
pressure group Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition, who was lobbying for political
reforms in Zimbabwe on
the sidelines of the Troika meeting in Livingstone,
said Mugabe's security
paranoia had gone overboard.
"I was taken aback when I saw President Mugabe
leave for Harare immediately
after the summit ended at 9pm, with his
entourage of 59 people, including at
least six medical personnel," Mavhinga
said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Ngoni Chanakira
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
13:35
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s infant mortality rate has almost tripled from
285 per
100 000 to 725 to-date, the Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey
(MIMS) has
revealed.
The MIMS said that the maternal mortality rate
was 725 per 100 000 live
births - almost triple the 1990 rate of 285 per 100
000 live births.
Likewise, it said, the under five mortality rate has shot
up by 22 per cent
from the 1990 baseline.
"This deterioration has
been attributed to the unavailability of essential
maternity and Emergency
Obstetric and Neo-Natal Care equipment and
commodities and the shortage of
trained human resources," MIMS said in its
latest report.
The
Government of Japan recently gave Zimbabwe US$9,9 million to be
disbursed
through four United Nations (UN) Agencies and the Red Cross.
"This
project, therefore, seeks to redress this declining trend," the MIMS
statement said.
Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Morita said he hoped
this humanitarian
gesture from his government would contribute to the
improved standards of
living to the more vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe.
http://www.radiovop.com
06/04/2011
17:01:00
Bulawayo, April 06, 2011- The Mthwakazi Liberation Front
which is calling
for the secession of Matebeleland region from the whole of
Zimbabwe is now
dragging President Robert Mugabe and his government to the
African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) over arrests and
harassments
of its members.
Three MLF senior executive members Paul
Siwela, John Gazi and Charles Thomas
are currently facing treason charges
following their arrest last month in
Bulawayo for distributing party flyers
calling Matebeleland secession. Gazi
and Thomas were released on US$ 2000
bail this week but Siwela is still in
remand prison facing another charge of
Public Order Security Act (POSA).
Speaking to Radio VOP from his
Johannesburg base, MLF secretary for Legal
Affairs, Sabelo Ngwenya confirmed
they had made contacts with ACHPR over the
continuous arrest and harassment
of their leaders by the Zimbabwe
authorities.
“Yes I can confirm that
we have decided to take Zimbabwe government to
ACHPR over the continuous
arrests and harassments of our leaders, and
also over Mugabe’s refusal
to hold a referendum regarding the separation
of Matebeleland region,”
said Ngwenya.
Ngwenya said “the arrest and harassment of their leaders in
Bulawayo has not
dented their sprits and will continue fighting for the
separation of
Matebeleland.”
The militant and radical MLF was
launched in January this year and is
advocating for the independence of the
Matabeleland region located in the
southern part of Zimbabwe saying the
Ndebele speaking people of have been
marginalised by the government for too
long and also face discrimination
every day at work places and tertiary
institutions.
The call for Matabeleland secession from Zimbabwe appeared
to have been
encouraged by events in South Sudan where people there voted
overwhelmingly
to break away from mainland Sudan in a referendum.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Wednesday, 06 April 2011
09:48
HARARE - Sensational and little known details that police
commissioner
general Augustine Chihuri was once convicted of corruption in
1993 by a
lower court, and sentenced to a fine of $600 or six weeks
imprisonment with
labour, have set tounges waging among Zimbabwe's
chattering classes.
Although Chihuri’s conviction by Justice Tendai
Uchena – then a regional
magistrate – was later quashed by the Supreme
Court, it has triggered huge
debates around his suitability to be the
country’s top cop.
The Daily News could not establish at the time of
going to press last night
whether Chihuri had served time before his
sentence was quashed by the
Supreme Court where the case was presided over
by justices Nicholas McNally,
Ahmed Ebrahim and Simbarashe
Muchechetere.
Legal experts said last night it was possible for people to
appeal straight
to the Supreme Court from the regional magistrates’
court.
In the 1993 case, Chihuri – then the acting police commissioner
waiting to
be confirmed – was charged along with a senior assistant
commissioner with
two counts of corruption under section 4 (a) of the
Prevention of Corruption
Act, 34 of 1985.
At the time, it was
generally believed that Chihuri was being set up by
fellow senior police
officers and politicians who did not want to see him
land the powerful
post.
According to the state case then, Chihuri and the other senior
assistant
commissioner were charged with ordering the unlawful release of
two vehicles
held by the Southerton police station Car Theft section in
March 1990.
There were allegations at the time that one of the cars had
been stolen.
The lower court trial was long, with 30 witnesses giving
evidence. The
record had 1853 pages, while documentary exhibits covered 150
pages and the
judgment ‘extended’ to 89 pages.
Canvassed by the Daily
News, some police officers who had been oblivious of
the case expressed
surprise that Chihuri had been allowed to continue
operating as police
officer let alone being appointed to the top job.
This was
notwithstanding his later acquittal.
“What we know is that if a police
officer commits any minor crime, he is
fired and it is worse if there is a
conviction in a criminal court. Maybe
the laws were different then because
what we know is that you are fired on
the spot,” said a junior police
officer who refused to be named.
Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena
said if a police officer was convicted
of corruption by the courts, he or
she would be dismissed.
He said besides the criminal courts, the police
also charged the public
officer in the administrative courts under the
Police Act.
“If a police officer is convicted of corruption by the courts
they are
discharged of their duties, and they will be dismissed. It depends
with each
particular case but where there is clear corruption, then the
person is
fired,” Bvudzijena said.
When asked about the 1993 Chihuri
case and whether police took action
against him, Bvudzijena said he did not
have the details of the case.
Prominent Harare lawyer Alec Muchadehama
said if a police officer was
convicted by the courts the police could set up
a ‘suitability board’ to
determine whether the public officer was still
capable of continuing his
duties as a public officer.
Muchadehama
also said police could decide to wait until the case had been
completed by
the court of appeal to set up the suitability board. “If a
police officer is
convicted by the courts, the police can set their
suitability board to
determine whether that person in the police force is
still suitable to carry
his duties as a public officer.”
“Sometimes they wait until the case is
completed in the courts to set up
that suitability board. If that person is
found not guilty by the courts
that means from the beginning he was
innocent. He would have been cleared by
the courts,” Muchadehama said.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Edward Jones Wednesday 06 April
2011
HARARE – President Jacob Zuma is losing patience over
Zimbabwe’s Robert
Mugabe’s refusal to fully implement terms of the 2008
political pact he
signed with his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai but
he may struggle
to rally other regional leaders to take tougher action
against the
octogenarian leader, analysts said.
Mugabe was last week
rattled by the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) troika summit
in Zambia, which for the first time adopted a hard
stance when it criticized
the 87-year-old’s recent crackdown on opponents.
The criticism by the
troika, which consists of Mozambique, South Africa and
Zambia, came at a
time of deteriorating relations between coalition partners
Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over the 87-year-old’s refusal
to appoint
provincial governors from Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
and to reform the security sector.
Pretoria Shift
Tensions between
the two rivals have escalated in the last month over a
crackdown on the MDC,
including the arrest, twice, of Energy and Power
Development Minister Elton
Mangoma and the banning of the former opposition’s
rallies by security
forces who publicly support Mugabe.
“We can say with a fair degree of
certainty after events in Zambia last week
that there is a clear shift in
attitude in Pretoria,” an African diplomat
based in Harare told
ZimOnline.
“I believe the question consuming the South African leadership
at the moment
is ‘how can Zimbabwe have a credible and acceptable election
when the
parties cannot even fulfill what they agreed in the global
political
agreement’.”
Leaders of the SADC troika have demanded an
immediate end to violence,
intimidation, hate speech, harassment and want
elections to be held after a
referendum on a new constitution.
Mugabe
responded by saying he would not brook any interference from a
regional body
that forced him into the coalition after disputed elections in
2008.
The official weekly government mouthpiece Sunday Mail attacked
Zuma as
“erratic” while questioning his role as Zimbabwe mediator and said
he was
now a liability to Africans.
Protocol blip
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai were last week told to leave the meeting to allow the
troika
leaders to freely discuss Zimbabwe, something the ageing leader has
resisted
in the past, when he has reminded regional leaders that his
position as head
of state allowed him to attend such meetings.
This had particularly
angered the MDC, which accused SADC leaders of
treating Mugabe with kid
gloves.
“The old man is very bitter with his treatment as an elderly
statesman. Yes
he is disappointed with the outcome of the meeting but to be
treated as an
equal to Tsvangirai and (deputy prime minister Arthur)
Mutambara was an
ultimate humiliation and you can then understand his
anger,” a senior
government official who attended the meeting
said.
Officials from Mugabe’s camp who attended the Livingstone summit
said Mugabe
was further irritated when he arrived early for the summit last
Thursday
only to be informed that the meeting was seven hours
away.
The officials said Zambian President Rupiah Banda had on Monday
send an
envoy to explain what the officials said was a “protocol blip”
during the
summit but Banda remained unapologetic on the decision taken by
the troika.
Political analysts said Zuma had had enough of Mugabe’s
blatant refusal to
fully implement the political accord in a bid to maintain
his tight grip on
power and could not stomach Zimbabwe calling another
election without the
parties first implementing the global political
agreement.
But Zuma faces a harder challenge to an already divided SADC
to bring full
pressure to bear on Mugabe.
Mugabe’s allies
“The
biggest challenge for President Zuma is to win over Mugabe’s allies in
SADC
because without them he cannot rein in Mugabe in the same way Nigeria
has
managed to rally ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)
against
Laurent Gbagbo (of Ivory Coast),” leading political commentator
Eldred
Masunungure said.
“So this leaves Mugabe with some room to maneuver but
it is clear pressure
is building from SADC but only time will tell whether
it is enough to
change political events in this country.”
Mugabe, one
of the oldest and longest serving leaders in Africa, still
towers above
other regional leaders and has the full support of Angola,
Namibia and
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which are in one camp.
Another
African diplomat said Mozambique’s Guebuza wanted a dignified exit
for
Mugabe but preferred a ZANU-PF stalwart to succeed him while Namibia and
DRC
believe the veteran leader still has a role to play in regional
politics.
Botswana, which has been the most vocal against Mugabe’s
rule, South Africa,
Tanzania and Zambia all want Mugabe to retire and
sympathise with
Tsvangirai, whom they see as a victim of Mugabe’s
dictatorship and are not
opposed to him ascending to
power.
Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Swaziland are seen as
political
lightweight and can support any of the two main camps although
they are
likely to lean on South Africa for economic
reasons.
Analysts said Mugabe’s attack on the regional group was
political posturing,
adding that he would not attempt to pull out from bloc,
which has shielded
him from Western countries who accuse him of human rights
abuses and
election rigging.
“It has to be understood that Mugabe has
managed to withstand a barrage of
international pressure before because SADC
has absorbed most of that
pressure in solidarity with one of its own,”
Masunungure said.
“I have no doubt that without the insulation provided
by the region, Mugabe’s
powerbase would be severely diminished.” --
ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by John Makumbe
Tuesday, 05 April 2011
08:40
Good old Bob had the surprise of his life when after several
serious threats
to his usually loyal “wives” in Parliament at least two of
them went ahead
and voted for Lovemore Moyo and not for S. K. Moyo as
Speaker of the august
house. This is the kind of disloyalty that normally
costs a party member
their seat if not their life. Even now, a serious witch
hunt is in progress
to identify the “sell-out” and deal with them in the
Zanu way. There is
strong suspicion that the culprits might be from the
Mnangagwa faction as it
is generally believed that SK is more aligned to the
Mujuru faction.
Lovemore Moyo’s win has therefore left both factions with
heaps of egg on
their faces.
But that was not the only surprise that
Mugabe had to face last week. The
SADC Troika, meeting in Livingstone,
Zambia had an even worse surprise for
the geriatric. Contrary to the usual
toothless bulldog approach typical of
the 14-member regional body, the
Troika meeting was opened by President
Banda with a scathing attack on the
regional dictator, Mugabe, who was
warned in very clear terms that if he did
not speedily ensure the resolution
of the Zimbabwe crisis what was happening
in North Africa could easily also
happen in his country as well as spill
over in to the other southern African
countries.
The Troika had all of a
sudden developed teeth, thanks to Egypt, Tunisia and
now Libya. It went on
to make several firm resolutions essentially
instructing Mugabe and his
colleagues in the inclusive government to get on
with the job of
implementing the global political agreement (GPA) as had
been agreed.
In
more than three decades at the helm of this damaged nation Mugabe had
never
been instructed by anyone on how to run this country. When the
Commonwealth
came too close to doing that, Bob dragged his country out of
the Club. The
question is will he do the same with the SADC? Is Mugabe going
to defy the
Troika and threaten to pull his country out of the regional
body? Is he
going to stop the political violence that is occurring in
various parts of
this country? Is he going to stop arresting MDC Members of
Parliament and
supporters?
We wait to see what he will do in the next few weeks. My guess is
that the
old man will do only some of the things that the Troika directed
that they
be done. His attitude after arriving home was quite telling. He
basically
told the Troika to go to hell, after it effectively read him the
riot act;
he would not spend the following night in Livingstone, but flew
back home
straight after the meeting.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai must be
commended for the good work of lobbying
the relevant SADC leaders well in
advance of the Livingstone meeting. He
briefed the leaders fully on what was
happening in the country, highlighting
the real danger of an uprising should
they fail to rein in the old man and
his securocrats. A situation where Zanu
(PF) is allowed to hold all and any
meetings it wishes to hold while the MDC
formations are refused permission
to hold their meetings is totally
unacceptable.
The arrest of MDC MPs failed to enable SK to win the vote to
become the
Speaker of Parliament. Most, if not all, current cases before the
courts,
where MDC members are alleged to have broken the law will also come
to
nought. Try as it may, Zanu (PF) is clearly on its way out of power. Chii
chati go mugomo?
By
Sanderson N Makombe
Whoever within the ZANU PF machinery that decided to
naively haul Hon Elton
Mangoma, the Minister of Energy and Enterprise to
court must be commended,
though in hindsight, he must be cursing himself. If
at all he is pleased
with the progress of the trial, then probably he
belongs to that brigade in
ZANU PF that is playing ‘bhora mudondo’, the same
brigade that played ‘bhora
mudondo’ as regards the election of the Speaker
of parliament.
In their overzealousness to embarrass MDC-T ministers, and
prove to the
endearing public that MDC-T government officials are corrupt,
inept and
mediocre, ZANU PF has shot itself in the foot in spectacular
fashion. In
addition to the shenanigans, drama, controversy and
jurisprudence associated
with the courtroom, their role as a public platform
for interrogation of
public issues, remain heralded. We get to know what in
normal circumstances
we are not supposed to know through court proceedings.
Proceedings are
public, available and therefore undisputed. The watching
public are afforded
a fair chance to understand operations that are covert
and make informed
decisions and judge who best in their opinion is right. In
addition defence
lawyers love their day in the court: the opportunity to
cross examine so
called ‘star state witnesses
Now it is not Hon
Mangoma who is the subject of discussion, but how US$35
million disappears
under NOCZIM, cash strapped public body, and no one is
taken to account for
the disappearing of such a vast sum of money. This can
only happen in
Zimbabwe. The permanent secretary is quoted telling the court
that ‘those
responsible are known’ through a forensic investigation done by
the
Comptroller Auditor General. The same permanent secretary Justin
Mupamhanga
objected to the Hon Minister referring the alleged looters to the
AG or
police for prosecution, asking to ‘come up with a better way forward’.
Apparently the better way forward was to allow the alleged looters to be
retrenched with very high packages, packages the Hon Minister refused as it
was tantamount to ‘rewarding criminals’.
Justice Samuel Kudya, in
granting Hon Mangoma in the High Court bail had
noted ‘it seems to me that
in the absence of evidence that the applicant
personally benefited from the
deal, his actions were prompted by national
interest’.
Is this the
criminal that ZANU PF want us to believe? Contrary, the true
profile
emerging is that Hon Mangoma is a minister of repute, high integrity
who is
hard working and honest, thriving to nurture a culture of
accountability and
responsibility in the corridors of power. The generality
like this kind of
Minister, the kind that know criminals must be prosecuted
and not rewarded
with high packages.
Unintended Consequence
The blind muppets
prosecuting Hon Mangoma did not anticipate this
unconscious marketing of the
MDC-T brand. These emerging details from the
court are the sort that defence
attorneys in such cases love to dance on. I
am reminded of one Ari Ben
Menashe, the ‘star witness’ in President
Tsvangirai’s treason trial in
2002.He arrived from Canada thinking he would
have a field day in court
embarrassing Tsvangirai. When the good counsel led
by George Bizoo started
cross examination, the case degenerated into a
circus that left even the Hon
Judge displeased. Menashe ended up complaining
for the time it was taking to
complete the case as he wanted out of the
country soonest.ZANU PF was left
with eggs on their faces.
Then in 2000 Kenneth Manyonda took to the witness
box during the petition
challenging the results of Bindura North
parliamentary elections result.
Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya had been
torched to death by known ZANU
PF functionaries led by Joseph Mwale in the
same constituency. Manyonda was
the ZANU PF candidate at the time, as well
as Manicaland Province Resident
Governor. The car used for the atrocity was
under Manyonda’s control. He had
actually given the car keys to his driver
that night the murders were
committed.
Manyonda sought to deny any
knowledge and complicity to the murders. Enter
Advocate Erick
Matinenga.
In front of cameras, journalists and the public, Manyonda was
taken to task
meticulously. The case exposed the sanctioning of election
violence from the
highest offices of the state. Not only was the resident
Governor aware of
the murders, he had supplied the truck used for
commissioning the crime. In
addition, he had received the truck back the
following morning knowing fully
well what had happened the prior night but
never raised an eyebrow. We lost
count how many times Manyonda asked the
Judge to go to the toilet as he kept
seeping water every four seconds. To
conclude he was made to look stupid is
an under
statement.
Theftocracy
If senior management in government parastatal
can make US$35 million
disappear without facing arrest, what more about
deals done by senior
politicians and securocrats presiding over Zimbabwe?
Either the money was
looted under strict orders from powers above, powers
that are protecting
these individuals from arrest, or simply US$35 million
is loose change to
warrant any attention. But then, we recently heard how
ZANU PF led by the
egg headed professor strenuously refused Hon Biti’ demand
for an audit of
the diamond proceeds. Very ironic that the minister of
finance is not
allowed to account for state money. What are they afraid
of?
More revealing was the presence of two procurement boards in
NOCZIM.Government tenders run into millions and were there is conniving
between awarders and service providers, the ‘cutback’ from these deals
potentially manufacture overnight millionaires without breaking sweat. If a
forensic audit is made of all tenders awarded during the tenure of the ZANU
PF government, surely the amounts embezzled runs into trillions. That’s the
reason why Mangoma had to be stopped.
Gains of the liberation war or
Spoils of War?
It is not difficult to discern who has benefited from the war
of liberation.
When the mandarins in ZANU PF talk of ‘gains of the
liberation war’, what
they actually mean is ‘spoils of war’. It is akin to
the medieval times when
the conquering army would loot everything that the
conquered owned and
appropriate to themselves. Zimbabwe and its resources
are the spoils for
ZANU PF.The systematic looting of state resources is
evidenced in NOCZIM, in
the billions that Gono printed and never accounted
for, in Chiadzwa, the VIP
housing scandal, Willowgate, the collapse of Boka
Empire, the looting of the
War victims compensation fund, and many more. The
sick joke is epitomised by
Chombo’s vast wealth as disclosed during his
divorce case, were a minister
owns land nearly in every town in
Zimbabwe.
Thanks to Hon Mangoma, we get to know on record how money is
siphoned in
Zimbabwe. To those of us in MDC-T, Hon Mangoma represents what
exactly we
mean by being a party of excellence. Well done Hon Mangoma for
not
compromising your principles. Zimbabweans know who the criminals are and
will speak with their vote come election time.
The writer can be
contacted at smakombe@btinternet.com
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