http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Sapa-AFP | 06 April,
2012 11:23
Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has died after a heart
attack, a
hospital source said Friday, but the government's official silence
has
created political suspense over his succession.
The
impoverished nation was plunged into a long night of intrigue after
Mutharika's heart attack in the capital Lilongwe. He was rushed to hospital,
but doctors were unable to save him, a source at the hospital
said.
"He died... after two hours of resuscitation", shortly after
midnight, the
hospital source said, speaking on condition of anonymity
because the
government has not yet made a formal
announcement.
Mutharika was reported by state radio to have been
airlifted to South Africa
in the early morning hours.
Reporters at
the airport in Lilongwe said they were chased from the terminal
during the
night departure.
Neither the South African government nor hospital
officials in Johannesburg
could comment on Mutharika, saying only Malawi's
government was authorised
to speak about the president.
The hospital
source in Lilongwe said that he was taken to South Africa to be
embalmed, in
a move widely seen as an attempt by the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party
to get its house in order over the succession issue.
Under the
constitution, Vice President Joyce Banda is next in line. But that
succession is politically fraught because Mutharika kicked her out of the
ruling party in 2010 as he chose to groom his brother as heir apparent
instead of her.
Her ouster angered many urban voters who saw the move
as an attempt by
Mutharika to concentrate his power.
Mutharika, a
former World Bank economist who first came to power in 2004,
was re-elected
with a sweeping majority in 2009 as president of the poor
southern African
country.
But he has increasingly come under fire for attempts to rein in
the media
and to shield the government from public criticism.
His
feuds with donors and lenders like the International Monetary Fund have
hamstrung the economy in an aid-dependent nation, which is suffering from
shortages of foreign currency that have left Malawi unable to import enough
fuel to meet its needs.
Public frustrations erupted into nationwide
street protests in July, when
police shot 19 people dead. Last month a broad
coalition of rights groups
called on Mutharika to resign.
Malawi
suffered for decades under the brutal dictatorship of Kamuzu Banda,
and is
proud of its hard-fought democratic freedoms ushered in with
multi-party
elections in 1994.
Any attempt to circumvent the constitution would
certainly meet with
resistance, analysts said.
"It's automatic that
she takes over the presidency. The reality on the
ground is that Joyce Banda
takes over until the remainder of the term in
2014, unless someone wants to
change the rules," lawyer Wapona Kita told
AFP.
Kita said the
constitution "clearly states that in the event of
incapacitation or death of
the president, the vice president takes over."
Banda formed her own
People's Party after being sacked from the ruling
party. Mutharika then
filed a case at the High Court seeking to force her
from office, arguing
that his running mate had become an opposition figure.
The official
silence has heightened anxieties in Malawi, with the Daily
Times writing
that Malawians are in "huge suspense" over the president.
"The nation's
suspense has been intensified after high-profile officials who
included
several cabinet ministers arrived at the hospital and went straight
to the
intensive care unit," it said. "After some time, they trooped out
with sad
faces and without a word."
The Nation, another independent newspaper,
criticised the government's
handling of Mutharika's
hospitalisation.
"It is time to do things well through provision of
timely information," the
paper said, adding that the government "could have
done better than the
sketchy statements broadcast on state radio -- as
almost everyone was left
guessing."
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/04/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
BUDGETARY constraints have forced the University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) to close
some departments, with Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura
conceding that the
institution has fallen “on hard times” and is in
desperate need of
assistance.
Speaking at the launch of a new
fund-raising initiative Thursday, Nyagura
said the “mother of all
universities” had fallen on hard times and needed to
help to fulfil its
mandate.
“We have suspended geology, metallurgy departments due to the
unavailability
of lecturers and the mining engineering department is limping
with no more
than three lecturers,” he said.
The university needs up
to US$70 million for various capital projects that
include the development
of geo-technology laboratories, establishment of a
technology resource
centre, refurbishment of medical and other laboratories
as well as the
construction of its Graduate School of Management.
Deputy Prime Minister,
Arthur Mutambara, a former student leader at the
institution said former
South Africa President Thabo Mbeki would attend a
fundraising dinner to be
held at the end of the month.
“The dinner is being organized by UZ
alumni, the University of Zimbabwe and
the Private Sector. While serving the
objective of raising funds to meet the
UZ’s current needs, this event is
also designed to nucleate the spirit of
giving among the UZ graduates and
Zimbabweans in general,” said Mutambara
who is also the patron of the
fundraising initiative.
“We aim to raise US$10 million at the dinner
event and US$20 million by the
end of 2012 through the ongoing activities of
the fundraising committee.
“These funds will go towards meeting part of
the UZ’s US$70 million
requirement for capital projects, which are outlined
in the UZ’s Fundraising
Handbook.”
Mutambara said various initiatives
would be launched to help raise more
funding adding UZ graduates were also
being encouraged to make a minimum
contribution of $100 to the
exercise.
“A bona fide and transparent mechanism for collecting and
managing these
contributions will be established. A committee comprising
prominent alumni
will oversee the operations of the account and supervise
the disbursement of
funds for use in the various projects,” he
said.
“Additionally, several alumni who are now resident abroad have been
identified to serve as ambassadors for the University in this fundraising
drive.
“Although the efforts are alumni driven, support is also
being sought from
non-alumni members of the private sector, civic society,
Diaspora and the
public sector.”
http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/04/07/191s691890.htm
2012-04-07 02:56:23 Xinhua
Zimbabwe
is to make efforts to advance the current friendly relationship
with China
to a new level, Acting President John Nkomo has said.
Nkomo said this
when meeting with the visiting Chinese Vice Premier Hui
Liangyu in Harare on
Thursday.
Nkomo likened the relationship between China and Zimbabwe to a
very long
bridge from Beijing to Harare. "A firm and strong bridge that can
sustain
our relationship," he said.
Zimbabweans will never forget the
firm support by the Chinese government and
its people during the nation's
struggle for independence and the struggle
against foreign interference,
Nkomo said.
Zimbabwe is to work hand-in-hand with China to play a role in
dealing with
the matters in the United Nations and other international
organizations, he
said, saying that the two countries should expand
exchanges in various
fields in a bid to push forward the friendly
relationship between the two
countries.
He said he hopes that the two
countries will make full use of the
complementary advantage of each other to
deepen the economic and trade
cooperation so that the cooperation can
benefit the peoples of China and
Zimbabwe.
Hui said the bilateral
relation between China and Zimbabwe has stood various
tests during the past
32 years since the establishment of the diplomatic
relations in
1980.
The two countries have supported each other in their economic and
social
constructions and have achieved great progress in the bilateral trade
and
investment over the past years, Hui said.
Hui said he is happy to
see Zimbabwe has enjoyed the social and political
stability in the past
years and China has always given the support to
Zimbabwe's righteous
struggle to maintain its state sovereignty, to uphold
the national dignity
and to fight against foreign interference.
http://english.cri.cn/6826/2012/04/07/191s691906.htm
2012-04-07 03:09:12
Xinhua
The Chinese government on Thursday signed with the Zimbabwean
government
several economic and technological cooperation agreements worth
1.141
billion RMB yuan (180 million U.S. dollars).
The agreements
were signed during a visit by Chinese Vice Premier Hui
Liangyu.
The
agreements signed are an 80 million RMB yuan (12.7 million U.S. dollars)
grant on economic and technical cooperation, a 31.5 million RMB yuan (5
million U.S. dollars) agreement for provision of an outside broadcasting van
for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, 4.5 million RMB yuan (about
715,000 U.S. dollars) for neonatal equipment and a loan agreement for
upgrading of Victoria Falls Airport worth 1.025 billion RMB yuan (164
million U.S. dollars).
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Chong Quan
signed the agreements on behalf
of his country while respective ministers
signed on behalf of Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the signing ceremony,
Zimbabwean Vice President Joice Mujuru
said Harare valued the support it
received from China. China had defended
Zimbabwe on the international fora
when other world powers wanted the
country slapped with United Nations
sanctions, she said.
"Zimbabwe-China friendship has been growing from the
days of the liberation
struggle to the present. Your support on the
international front has been
highly appreciated by the people of Zimbabwe
especially when you vetoed a
decision to put Zimbabwe under United Nations
sanctions," she said.
"The cooperation between Zimbabwe and China has
been seen in the
construction of the Victoria Falls Airport and runway that
we are going to
use next year when we host the United Nations World Tourism
Organization
General Assembly and the Agricultural Demonstration Center
launched today,"
she added.
Mujuru said trade between the two
countries had been growing over the past
years with figures growing every
year.
She said Zimbabwe adheres to the one-China policy and expected the
people of
China to work together for economic prosperity, hailing China's
stance on
conflict resolution in Africa.
She said China had
maintained a strong policy that conflict in any African
country should be
solved without external interference.
Chinese Vice Premier Hui said
Zimbabwe-China friendship enjoyed a solid
foundation laid during Zimbabwe's
struggle for political independence.
"Our friendship has a long history
and our two countries enjoy great
potential and bright prospects for further
cooperation in many spheres of
the economy," he said.
Hui commended
the social stability and economic growth in Zimbabwe over the
last three
years following the formation of an inclusive government by
President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the two MDC factions led by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman
Ncube.
He also
chronicled the history of China's rapid economic development since
opening
up in 1978.
The Chinese vice premier has also met with Zimbabwe's Acting
President John
Nkomo and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo, April 06, 2012 —Ignatius Chombo, the
Local Government and Urban
Development Minister is at it again, as he
suspends smaller MDC Gwanda mayor
Lionel De Necker.
De Necker’s
suspension by Chombo comes only few months after the Minister
fired Mutare
Mayor Brian James.
In a letter in possession of Radio VOP dated 4 April
and addressed to De
Necker Chombo suspended the mayor for defying his
orders especially his
refusal to appoint a Mrs P Nkala as Gwanda
Municipality’s chamber
secretary
“Following your deliberate defiance
of my directive of 30 November 2011
issued in terms of Section 314 of the
Urban Councils Act (Chapter29: 15),
directing council to appoint Mrs P Nkala
as the substantive Chamber
Secretary for Gwanda Municipality as approved by
the Local Government Board,
I hereby, in terms of Section 114 of the
afore-cited Act, suspend you from
being a councillor for Gwanda Municipality
with immediate effect,” said
Chombo in the letter to De
Necker.
Chombo added: “After you received my directive, you proceeded to
challenge
the activities of the Local Government Board appointed to carry
out its
responsibilities as specified in the Urban Councils Act.
Furthermore, you
even questioned the credibility of the Local Government
Board which was
setup in terms of the law thus undermining the powers of
both the Minister
and Board.
“During the period of your suspension,
you shall not conduct any council
business within or outside council
premises, and you shall not be eligible
to receive any form of any
remuneration from the council.”
Chombo copied De Necker's suspension
letter to Matebeleland South Zanu PF
governor Angeline Masuku, Provincial
Administrator D. Mpofu and town clerk
G. Mlilo.
Early this year
Chombo fired Mutare mayor James on allegations of
misconduct. Chombo claimed
the suspension of James was in the interest of
ensuring sound local
governance for effective and efficient service delivery
in Mutare City.
http://www.radiovop.com/
HARARE, April 6,
2012 - THE US$150 million Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
Fund meant to
improve the country's liquidity crisis will not affect
interest rates in the
short term due to the strain already affecting the
financial sector, market
analysts have said.
The Fund was set up by the RBZ Governor, Dr Gideon
Gono, with the money
coming from local and institutional investors such as
African Development
Bank (AfDB) and the AfreximBank.
The Minister of
Finance, Tendai Biti, says government had already injected
US$30 million
into the fund meant to help improve the country's liquidity
crisis.
The rest is expected to come from international
financiers.
"There are proposals to establish a US$100 million Fund to be
funded by
international financial institutions and a regional financier for
the
rejuvenation of the central Bank; this should assist the Central bank to
resume its role as a lender of last resort, which could also improve
interbank trading," said leading stock market analysts Imara Edwards
Securities (Private) Limited.
"However, we do not expect this to have
any significant effect on interest
rates in the short term due to the
liquidity strain. That said, money market
returns are generally likely to
remain positive although investors should be
wary of the heightened risk of
bank failures."
There is a cash crisis in Zimbabwe at the moment and
people are having to
wait in long queues outside banks such as Kingdom Bank
Limited (Kingdom),
CBZ Bank Limited (CBZ), the People's Own Savings Bank
(POSB), and CABS, the
country's largest building society.
This has
caused stress in the country and the situation became worse as
individuals
tried to withdraw cash for the long Easter holiday which began
on
Thursday.
Some commercial banks are now reducing the amount an individual
can withdraw
while companies are no longer allowed to withdraw more than
US$10 000
monthly unless they have been given clearance by the
RBZ.
Minister Biti said he would try to mobilise support from the
international
community to get more funding for the RBZ Fund set up by
Governor Gono.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Writer
Friday, 06 April 2012
11:22
HARARE - Police commissioner general Augustine Chihuri is a
risk and
Zimbabweans can never feel safe as long as he remains at the helm
of the
police force, MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora has said.
“We
have experienced an upsurge of violence perpetrated by Zanu PF but there
has
been no meaningful reaction from the police,” said Mwonzora while
addressing
a press conference at the party’s headquarters at Harvest House
yesterday
adding that his party can no longer rely on the police force to
deal
effectively with politically-motivated violence in the country.
He said
his party was concerned about police reaction to numerous cases of
violence
perpetrated by the Zanu PF-aligned Mbare-based outfit Chipangano
which has
been persecuting MDC members.
Mwonzora told journalists that several
members of the infamous Chipangano
outfit have been attacking businesses
owned by people perceived to be
aligned to the mainstream MDC party but none
of the members of the vigilante
group had been arrested.
“In dealing
with issues of violence in Mbare we can never rely on the
police. We all
know that Chipangano is being funded by Zanu PF’s Tendai
Savanhu. He even
confessed that if he had his way, his group would murder
honourable (Ian)
Kay but the police never acted,” Mwonzora said adding: “We
do not find the
Zimbabwe Republic Police reliable. The people of Zimbabwe
will never be safe
as long as Chihuri is police chief.”
Efforts by the party which has since
its formation been on the receiving end
of state sponsored violence to seek
redress through the Joint Operation
Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic) have not yielded any
meaningful results.
Mwonzora reiterated
his party’s position that no elections should be held
before the necessary
reforms as prescribed by the GPA are put in place.
“Violence must be
addressed before we talk of elections. The roadmap must be
followed, there
must be an end to state-sponsored violence, there must be
security sector
reforms and a new constitution,” Mwonzora said.
http://www.ft.com
April 6, 2012 7:24
pm
By Tony Hawkins in
Harare
Morgan Tsvangerai, Zimbabwe’s prime minister, said that the state
did not
now own 51 per cent of all mining companies that have not yet
complied with
the country’s empowerment law, contradicting a statement by
Saviour
Kasukuwere, the country’s indigenisation minister.
Responding
to Mr Kasukuwere’s comments on Thursday, Mr Tsvangirai said that
any attempt
to implement the minister’s statement would be “unlawful” and
“without the
mandate of the state”.
The prime minister said the issue had not been
discussed or agreed by the
government. “The inclusive [coalition] government
has not sanctioned the
minister’s actions that are a threat to investment in
the industry.”
In 2007, the Zimbabwe parliament approved a law requiring
all foreign-owned
companies and those owned by racial minorities in Zimbabwe
to “indigenise”
by offering 51 per cent of their shares to indigenous
(black) Zimbabweans.
In regulations published a year ago the indigenisation
minister gave mining
companies six months to comply, but very few have yet
done so.
Last month, the country’s largest foreign investor, South
African mining
company Impala Platinum, said it had reached “agreement in
principle” to
sell 31 per cent of its shares to the Zimbabwe government,
while setting
aside 10 per cent of the share in its Zimbabwe subsidiary,
Zimplats, for
employees and a further 10 per cent for a community
trust.
However, Impala made it clear that the agreement was contingent on
the
Zimbabwe government paying fair compensation for the 31 per cent
shareholding estimated to be worth in excess of $500m.
Mr Kasukuwere
has since ruled out any cash payment to foreign mining
companies, saying
Zimbabwe will treat the mineral deposits held by mining,
but owned by the
state, as its equity contribution. The indigenisation
minister, a member of
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, does not
recognise the prime
minister’s authority and takes his orders from the
president. Indeed, this
week Zanu-PF ministers boycotted a cabinet meeting
chaired by Mr Tsvangirai,
who is also leader of the rival Movement for
Democratic Change, because Mr
Mugabe, who normally chairs cabinet meetings,
was out of the
country.
Mr Tsvangirai complained that Mr Kasukuwere had not attended the
meeting of
ministers on Tuesday but had subsequently “surreptitiously
published a
notice with far-reaching economic consequences without
consensus”.
The Indigenisation minister’s statement is seen as a mix of
bluster and
desperation. By demanding that Zimbabwe pay cash compensation
for its shares
in its 87 per cent-owned Zimbabwe subsidiary, Impala
effectively called the
minister’s bluff. Impala has the backing of the South
African authorities
who have said that they expect Zimbabwe to honour the
terms of the bilateral
investment protection agreement between the two
countries. The Zimbabwe
government does not have sufficient money to pay
civil service salaries, let
alone buy Impala’s shares.
Mining
industry executives say they are unperturbed by the minister’s
outburst,
which they attribute to mounting frustration on his part over his
inability
to enforce his threats.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
05/04/2012 00:00:00
by Lenox
Mhlanga
THE Easter holiday beckons and the statistics on the roads
will be scary. We
are not talking road fatalities here, but the number of
road blocks on the
highways. As Zimbabweans in the nearby Diaspora travel
home for the long
holiday, they do so in fear and trepidation, not of
carjacking or thugs, but
of the police.
They will be running the
gauntlet of an average of one roadblock for every
20 kilometers if what the
Minister of Finance Tendai Biti’s claims is
anything to go by. That is, 18
roadblocks between Harare and Bulawayo on a
normal day and nine between
Harare and Marondera, seven roadblocks in the
Highlands-Chisipite area
alone. How about Beitbridge to Bulawayo?
It is well understood that
towards the holidays it has become necessary for
the police to conduct
special operations as a way of reducing accidents and
save life and limb.
But the above statistics tell a different story. The
question has been
thrown around before as to whether Zimbabwe is indeed a
police
state.
This has been vociferously denied by the police themselves whose
chief is
always in his element telling people, particularly pesky
politicians, where
to get off. According to Commisioner General Augustine
Chihuri, the police
are not obliged to reveal to the public why, when, where
and how they
conduct their operations for obvious security-related
reasons.
Understood, but what really gets at motorists and their
passengers alike is
the ‘malicious overzealousness’ displayed by traffic
police. This is
particularly noticeable directly after an outcry or when
stung by criticism
during parliamentary debates, cabinet meetings or in the
media.
Even the verbose Deputy Prime Minister Professor A.G.O. Mutambara
had very
few kind words for what he said was a force that bred corruption
through the
use of roadblocks as ‘fundraising methods’. Minister Biti
weighed in by
saying that roadblocks had become the ATMs (Automated Teller
Machines) of
certain members of society.
What members of the public
argue is that there is no proof that high numbers
of roadblocks have led to
a corresponding decrease in accidents and crime.
Roadblocks by their very
nature are normally set up in times of crisis, an
unstable condition that is
temporary.
Roadblocks, economists will tell you, are the worst form of
crime prevention
in as far as the free flow of traffic, passengers and goods
are concerned.
Perhaps we need some research to determine the losses to the
economy through
the sometimes unnecessary delays at these barricades. I am
sure the money
lost to the fiscus would be phenomenal.
If
commuters travelling from Luveve or Chitungwiza to the city centres of
Bulawayo and Harare respectively were to be stopped at least five
roadblocks, how much of production time would be lost even if they were
vendors for argument’s sake? And to think that the police would be the first
to complain when their budget allocation is cut! It’s because they do not
see the link or they simply refuse to.
That being beside the point,
the main gripe with traffic police is why they
intensify operations so soon
after constructive criticism. If a very public
institution like the police
are above the oversight of parliament which
represents members of the
public, then who do they answer to, if we were to
ask a stupid
question?
The increase in the number of roadblocks has struck terror on
drivers of
foreign registered vehicles in particular in that they have
become sitting
ducks or moving targets for traffic cops. Is it because they
are so eager to
avoid the inconvenience of being delayed that they are wont
to quickly part
with all manner of bribes?
‘Money for a coke’ has
become the slogan. This should worry the Ministers of
Tourism and Foreign
Affairs because among the worst verdicts about
Zimbabwean hospitality
emanates from their maltreatment at roadblocks that,
for some sadistic
reason, are strategically located near tourist resorts.
An Australian
travel warning on Zimbabwe reads thus: ‘Roadblocks are very
common
throughout Zimbabwe and can appear with little warning.’
One tourist even
wrote on his blog about how the highlight of his long
planned trip to
Zimbabwe were the numerous roadblocks he encountered where
the reception
ranged from disarmingly polite to downright rude. In fact, so
polite was one
officer that after fleecing the bemused visitor of $20 for
missing
reflectors and detaining him for the best of 30 minutes was told to
‘have a
pleasant stay.’
Granted, as police spokesman James Sabau says, police are
not violating the
civil rights of members of the public because ‘the law
allows them to do so’,
but doesn’t it follow then that the chief of police
should give due respect
to the mandate of MPs to change a patently bad law
and so debate it openly
without being called all sorts of names?
A
point of contention has always been the police insisting that motorists
pay
fines on the spot. This lends credence to stories of officers going on
fishing expeditions around the car looking for an offence to charge the
driver for. Many a driver has spoken of a police officer’s ‘Aha!’ moment
when he or she would have eventually discovered something amiss.
Take
the frequent cases of foreign vehicles without front white reflectors
that
seem to be mandatory in Zimbabwe alone and not in other SADC countries.
Instead of being given a warning and a chance to purchase the said
reflectors, they are ordered to pay a fine on the spot. We eagerly await the
standardisation of traffic rules in the region.
As if to emolliate
the bad publicity those roadblocks have generated for the
force, we have
encountered officers who are so professional as to be
insidious in their
efficiency. Like when one is instructed, albeit very
politely, to ‘pull your
car off the road and await an officer who will DEAL
with you.’ That
expression alone has so many connotations and none of them
are
positive.
Psychologically this is intended to reduce the driver to the
level of an
insect from which you painstakingly work yourself from with a
mixture of
pampering (as in saluting ‘makadini chef?’) through to downright
bribery. I
agree that it takes two for corruption to take place but the way
one is
manoeuvred into bribing an officer leaves one without any doubt
whatsoever.
Have you noticed that when the police react to accusations of
over-handedness on the roads they seem to equate the behaviour of every
driver to that of commuter taxi drivers? That is where part of the problem
lies. Those people are a breed of their own and if you ask me they deserve
everything that is coming to them.
We all know that commuter taxi
drivers are a law unto themselves. Their
malcontent behaviour is legendary.
No one in his right senses should have
any sympathy for a driver who treats
his passengers the same way as he would
a load of pumpkins. Police should
desist painting every driver with the same
brush.
The tact of
distinguishing between two distinctly divergent types of drivers
will reduce
the agony a lot of them will have to endure. It’s like the
incident of a
high court judge who was roundly humiliated by a traffic cop
still wet
behind the ears who said, rather unflatteringly, ‘Kana urimu-Benz
unofunga
kuti unoshamisira?’ (Do you think you are great just because you
are driving
a Mercedes Benz?).
It took the alertness of a nearby senior officer and
profuse grovelling on
the part of the said constable to rescue an
embarrassing situation.
While we are constantly reminded by police
spokespersons that those who
observed the law had nothing to fear and
defective vehicles are cleared off
the roads, then why should reasonably
sound vehicles endure the phalanx of
roadblocks still? Is this not an
indication that roadblocks are not an
effective deterrent?
As
Minister Biti correctly pointed out, the positioning of some of these
check
points defied logic. We can only speculate that the areas with the
highest
concentration of roadblocks are those that have drivers rich enough
to
shower cops with monetary confetti.
If it is reducing impunity on the
roads that the police are in intent on
doing then why not take their fight
to the commuter bus ranks where the real
purveyors of the traffic jungle
prowl? It makes sense doesn’t it?
Another thing, can the officers
‘soliciting and collecting bribes’ please do
it more discreetly. You never
know who is watching or taking pictures in
these days of tabloid and yellow
journalism. There now is a website that
identifies places where bribes are
taken by density and such spots are then
geo-tagged and labelled according
to the government department affected. The
novel idea is called ‘Bribespot’
and anyone with an android mobile phone for
now can send information to the
site via an application or app.
As a parting shot there is a joke that
used to do the rounds that goes
something like: Question: What is the
difference between a spot fine and a
bribe? Answer: You get an ‘admission of
guilt’ for one and ‘guilt of
commission’ for the other!
HUNGER STRIKER – DAVID T. HWANGWA
VENUE – AFRICA UNITY SQAURE
DATES 11 MARCH 2012 (In solidarity with the victims
of 11 March 2007 Save Zimbabwe Prayers) TILL THE PRINCIPALS CONSIDER THE
PETITIONS
REASONS FOR THE
HUNGER STRIKE
Hunger Strike –
Strike for Peace, Justice and Freedom #HUMANRIGHTSFORALL2012, on the 11th of March 2012 at the
Africa Unity Square Gardens in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Hunger Strike will go
indefinitely until the principals in the Zimbabwe Global Political Agreement
(GPA) attend to the petitions mentioned below.
Petitions for the Hunger strike
The main reason I wish
to go on the hunger strike is to address, among other things, the following
factors:
·
An end to Human Rights
abuses
·
An end to political
violence
·
Prosecution of perpetrators of
violence
·
Peaceful hosting of political
rallies by political parties, giving each and every party an equal chance to
conduct their rallies without the use of intimidation or bias by the law
enforcement agents
·
A stop to the use of youths to
act as perpetrators for violence on behalf of the political
parties
·
The disbanding of the
Chipangano group
·
Violent invasion of the
remaining farms still owned by the white farmers and the intimidation henceforth
to the members of the Commercial Farmers Union
·
An end to violation of women’s
rights
·
A free and fair election that
guarantees the respect of people’s freedom and fundamental
rights
·
A recognition of minority
rights
·
The release of Solomon
Madzore
This date has been
earmarked as it will be the day the government suppressed the Save Zimbabwe
Peace Prayers at Zimbabwe grounds in Highfields, Harare in 2007 where an
opposition party activist was shot point blank by the police. Opposition
activists were arrested and until today, we have not received any answers. It
will be in solidarity with the heroes of 11 March 2007.
ABOUT THE HUNGER
STRIKER
David T Hwangwa, aged
24, a Human Rights activist. A Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa)
graduate in Law and Politics. I am a young activist who has seen the
escalating violence in our country getting out of hand and thus would like to
take a stance, raise a global awareness on the state of events in
Zimbabwe.
The aim is for these
leaders to acknowledge that the levels of violence and human rights abuses are
getting out of hand and this can force them to consider changing their policies
towards the use of both their illegitimate and legitimate use of violence. As we
approach elections, which are inevitable in the coming future, a repeat of the
2008 elections is a possibility. Hundreds of people died, countless more were
injured or exiled due to the political violence. There is thus a need to tackle
this issue urgently by using all the available means we as the masses can
use.
The main political
parties have both used violence in their approaches to get their message clear
and in some instances one group provokes the other resulting in a fully fledged
fight and because of this, the innocent members of the society are caught up in
this and become victims of political violence. There is a need for the leaders
of the government to take up a united front in tackling this issue of violence
and make a united front in condemning the use of violence by the members of
their political party.
WHAT INFLUENCED THE
HUNGER STRIKE
I was a victim of
abduction by the infamous Central Intelligence Organization (CIO). This has just
made me stronger for the cause. There are no records of such abductions or
detentions by the police and it is a matter of great concern because who knows
of how many people vanish forever as a result of this. I aim to seek a stance
against the government to take action and protect our people because as we
approach the volatile election period, such cases and reports will become more
common.
More often than not the
principals in government have been criticizing the ongoing violence but sooner
rather than later there is violence occurring in the streets with the innocent
civilians being the scapegoats in this struggle for relevance by the political
parties. What is more worrying is that the political parties are using the
current state of the economy where most youths are unemployed and lure them to
march in the streets and terrorize or coerce people to attend rallies,
effectively violating their freedom rights. This is only a fraction of the human
rights abuses people are subjected to everyday in Zimbabwe.
The main intention is to
challenge the government to address all issues of human rights abuses, political
violence and a free and fair election so that everyone can practise his/her
right to vote peacefully and under no coercion. I am a diplomat for peace and I
believe in achieving my cause through a peaceful sacrifice following on the
footsteps of Mahtma Ghandi.
For the strike to
achieve its purpose, publicity is the main tool to get the message across. The
media helps in bringing the subject in question to the fore because the strike
cannot achieve its purpose without sufficient media publicity. The role of the
media brings it out to the whole world and it will be on the two parties
involved to take their part, with the hunger striker going through with his act
whilst the world will be waiting to see what the other party, the state does in
relation to the striker. I had a keen interest in the events that were happening
in India as Indian activist, Ana Hazare, successfully went ahead with his hunger
strike, despite being imprisoned initially against going on a hunger strike,
effectively challenging the Indian government to revise their policies on
corruption.
The people of Zimbabwe
have suffered and we have lost so many people due to the violent nature of the
state. The biggest reason why I am going to endure this Hunger Strike is
because, as according to Mahatma Ghandi, “If we want freedom, we shall not
gain it by killing or injuring others, but by dying or submitting ourselves to
suffering.”
Whilst the task at hand
is hard by all means, considering that the police and government will be against
this, I nevertheless will continue and I shall be heard as I challenge this
inclusive government to have respect for the fundamental rights of the people.
Everyone deserves his/her Human Rights. Let’s make a difference
today.
I will be working with
those with an interest in human rights and political violence. The task is by
all means hard and the government will use all the resources available to them
to try and frustrate the effort but I will continue to show solidarity with the
victims of political violence as well as those of human rights victims. If that
will be prison or wherever, I will do it because I believe in the cause above
everything else. A lot of people have suffered and lost their lives at the hands
of the government forces and its high time someone take a stance and I as David
T Hwangwa will sacrifice myself, my time and all I have for the victims of
political violence and human rights abuses.
Contact David Hwangwa - +263 777 378
221
http://www.cathybuckle.com
April 5, 2012, 10:28 am
Not for the
first time the war veterans have claimed that they are living in
abject
poverty and they demand that the Government of National Unity comes
to their
aid. It does seem extraordinary that thirty two years after the end
of the
Liberation War these veterans have still not managed to achieve any
kind of
financial security – or so they claim. They want money to set up
projects
and the government must arrange loan facilities for them, something
which
they say they are entitled to under the 1997 War Veterans Act.
Zimbabweans
well remember how the veterans, led at the time by the late
Chengerai
Hunzvi, cornered the President and managed to extract from him a
payout of
$50.000 each plus a monthly pension and allowances for wives and
children.
That day was known as Black Friday and the unbudgeted payout to
the war
veterans led to the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. And now
fifteen
years later, the war veterans are still unable to make ends meet –
or so
they say.
Times have changed, though, and it is doubtful that the war
veterans wield
the same power today that they once did over the President.
He has other
more urgent matters to concern him these days, including all
those
contenders for his office yapping at his heels and waiting for him to
leave
office. In effect, they are waiting for him to die: Chiwenga,
Mnangagwa,
Joice Mujuru and any other contenders waiting in the wings. Add
the war
veterans to this mix of heirs apparent and the whole situation takes
on the
air of a Shakespearian tragedy. It is not surprising that people are
worried
about what happens when Mugabe leaves the stage; he is in Singapore
at the
moment, ‘on a private visit’ we are told, ‘arranging his daughter’s
post-graduate studies.’ Though it’s hard to see why a twenty year old woman
cannot arrange her own studies, it’s not exactly a complicated process!
Perhaps her fees will be paid in diamonds! The country is awash with diamond
wealth; apparently, up-market luxury homes are going for between 2.5 and 7.5
million dollars in the classier suburbs of Harare. If the report is
accurate, these are cash sales and it’s all diamond money. Zimbabwean
legislators went on a tour of the diamond fields last week and some of the
MPs are demanding a probe into Chiadzwa. Not likely that will happen when so
many ‘big men’ are doing so well out of Zimbabwe’s diamond wealth and that
includes non-Zimbabweans such as Israelis, Chinese and Nigerians. It’s an
Israeli man who is suing the police for theft after he claims they stole his
diamonds! Ironically, it is lack of funding that has halted Bulawayo’s water
campaign and in Chinhoyi water and sewage problems threaten a disease
outbreak in the town. There is a report this week that typhoid is surging
across central and southern Africa and that includes Zambia, Zimbabwe and
the DRC. It is always the lowest level of society that suffers and dies from
such diseases, so the diamond-rich have nothing to worry about. Meanwhile,
Zimbabwe’s power woes continue. The outages worsen for householders and
businesses while the government negotiates with Mozmbique about how to
settle their debts. The Zimbabwean government says it needs to raise $40
million dollars by month end and, coincidentally, Rio Tinto announces that
its diamond output has shot up. The contradictions are obvious for all to
see; the diamond revenue, if properly utilised, could solve the country’s
many problems at one stroke but it is just not happening. Zimbabwe’s
enormous reserves of mineral wealth are not being used to improve the lives
of ordinary people.
As they travel home to the rural areas for the
holiday weekend in crowded
country buses, people will probably drive past
the mine turnoffs and see for
themselves the source of much of the country’s
wealth. They will know that
the nickel, gold, asbestos, and platinum mines
they drive past have provided
jobs for hundreds of Zimbabweans. As for the
huge profits from these mining
enterprises, have they been used to build new
schools and hospitals or have
they made the rich even richer?
Yours
in the (continuing) struggle PH.
BILL WATCH 16/2012
[5th April 2012]
The Prime Minister has released a statement rejecting a public notice
by the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Indigenisation and Empowerment to
“non-compliant” mining companies
The
Minister’s Public Notice
The
“public notice”, headed by the Zimbabwe coat of arms, appeared in newspapers on
5th April as an advertisement over the signature of the Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment. It reads as follows:
PUBLIC
NOTICE TO ALL MINING BUSINESSES WHICH ARE NOT COMPLIANT
WITH
THE PROVISIONS OF GENERAL NOTICE 114 OF 2011
1.
Government published the General Notice 114 of 2011 on the 25th of March 2011,
which represents the legal framework for the indigenisation of the mining
sector.
2. The Notice defined the minimum indigenisation
and empowerment quota as 51%. The Notice
required that disposal of the required equity must be to defined “designated
entities”, which are as follows:
·
The
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund.
·
The
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
·
A
Statutory Sovereign Wealth Fund/the National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Fund
·
Employee
share ownership scheme and Management share ownership schemes or Community share
ownership schemes or trust.
3. The notice applied to all mining businesses
in which 51% equity or controlling is not held by indigenous Zimbabweans and
whose net asset value is at least $1, i.e., all non-indigenously owned mining
businesses had to comply with the provisions of this notice by 25th September
2011.
4. All mining companies that have not complied
with this notice should note that 51% of their shareholding is now deemed to be
owned by the State and any business transacted in respect of this 51% shall have
been transacted on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe with effect from the
deadline stipulated in the said General Notice 114 of 2011, which deadline for
the avoidance of doubt was 25th September 2011.
5. Any profits accruing to this 51%
should be regarded as property of the State and any losses incurred will be
charged against the company's assets, less the 51% indigenised portion, for any
company that transacts without Government involvement with effect from 25th
September 2011.
6. Companies are hereby advised that they are
now dealing with assets of the State in respect to the 51% indigenised portion
and any attempt to defraud the State will result in
prosecution.
7. The Government of Zimbabwe, through the
Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, enjoins
all Zimbabwean citizens, top management, middle management, technical support
staff and the general workforce of the companies involved that they are now
expected to defend the Zimbabwean 51% equity stake and also to uphold and
execute the national interest in respect of the administration, trade and any
other business transactions so as to ensure total indigenous economic
empowerment.
[signed]
S.
Kasukuwere
Honourable S.
Kasukuwere (MP)
MINISTER OF YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT, INDIGENISATION AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Prime Minister’s
Rejection of the Minister’s Notice:
Within hours of the
appearance of the Minister’s notice, the Prime Minister’s Office released an
official statement rejecting the Minister’s publication of the notice as
surreptitious and unauthorised and categorically stating that the notice does
not state Government policy. For
affected mining businesses and members of the public the Prime
Minister
had this to say:
Businesses
should ignore Kasukuwere’s notice
Underling
by Veritas
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
No Legal Basis for Minister’s Notice
The Prime Minister’s use of the word “unlawfully” is absolutely
correct. The Minister’s pronouncements
are ultra vires the law on indigenisation and devoid of legal
effect.
The Government cannot take over mining businesses without proper
legal authority and there is no such legal authority – either in the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act or in any other Act of Parliament,
or in the Indigenisation Regulations or in General Notice 114 of 2011. General Notice 114, it will be remembered,
was the subject of an adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee for
its inconsistency with the Constitution [see Bill Watch 31/2011 of 6th August 2011].
The text of the report
follows:
ADVERSE REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL
COMMITTEE
ON GENERAL NOTICE 114 OF 2011
Bold type in the original
In pursuit of its
constitutional mandate as provided for in section 40B of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, The Parliamentary Legal Committee met on the 15th of June
2011 at 1010hrs to consider General Notice 114 of 2011. After deliberations, the
Committee unanimously resolved that an adverse report be issued in
respect of the General Notice due to the following
considerations:
The provisions of
General Notice 114 of 2011 violate the Declaration of Rights in the Constitution
of Zimbabwe, namely sections 16 and 21. Section 21 of the Constitution provides
as follows:
Except
with his own consent or by way of parental discipline, no person
shall be hindered in his freedom of assembly and association, that is to say,
his right to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular
to form or belong to political parties or trade unions or other associations for
the protection of his interests.
(2)
The freedom referred to in subsection (1) shall include the right not to be
compelled to belong to an association
In the Notice, the
Minister has directed that non-indigenous mining businesses must sell their
shares to designated entities in order to achieve 51% Indigenization. Section
3(1) of the General Notice states that:
Every non-indigenous
mining business shall achieve the minimum Indigenisation and empowerment quota
by the disposal …of its shares or interests to designated agents not latter …
The designated
entities are:
·
The National
Indigenization and Economic Empowerment fund;
·
The Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation established in terms of the Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation Act (Chapter 21:08); or
·
And company or other
entity incorporated by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation or the fund
for the purposes of this notice; or
·
A statutory sovereign
wealth fund that may be created by law; or
·
An employee share
ownership scheme or trust, management share ownership scheme or trust or
community share ownership scheme or trust that complies with section 14, 14A or
14B of the Regulations.
The net effect of
this directive is that in order to achieve the prescribed indigenisation quota,
a mining business must sell its shares to designated entities. In other words,
mining business entities cannot achieve the prescribed quota by selling their
shares to partners of their choice. The Minister has already found partners for
them without their consent. They have been compelled to belong to certain
organizations, that it designated entities. This is clearly a flagrant violation
of section 21 of the Constitution quoted above, which is the freedom of
association provision.
Secondly, the General
Notice violates section 16 of the Constitution. Section 16 provides that
no
property of any description or interest or right therein shall be compulsorily
acquired . In the case of May &Ors v Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 1985 (2) ZLR
358 at page 358, the Supreme Court defines shares in company as property. The
effect of this judgment is that shares in mining business are property duly
protected by section 16 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.
The entities
designated are, in the main, state corporations. The notice by the Minister,
therefore, provides for compulsory acquisition of property by the state. In so
doing the Minister has clearly violated section 16 of the Constitution, which
provides for the protection from deprivation of property.
The third point that
caused the Committee to pass an adverse report is that the Notice is purported
to have been passed in terms of section 5 (4) as read with section 5A of the
Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Regulations. Section 5(4) only allows
the Minister to prescribe by notice 3 issues only:
1.
With respect to each
sector, what lesser share than 51% shall be lesser share that indigenous
Zimbabweans may hold in business operating in the relevant
sector.
2.
The maximum period
that the sector may continue to operate in that way, and
3.
The weighting to be
assigned to any socially and economically desirable
objective.
In the Notice, the
Minister is obliged by law to dwell on these three issues only. Instead, the
Minister dealt with issues that he is not empowered to deal with by the enabling statutory
instrument.
The other glaring
contravention of the enabling statutory instrument by the Minister is on the
matter of asset value. Whereas the statutory instrument provides that only
business with a net asset value of US$500 000, or more, must submit a
provisional Indigenisation form, the General Notice reduces this to a single
United States Dollar. Again, this is a matter that the Minister is not empowered
by section 5 of the regulation to deal with. Matters that the MINISTER is
prescribed to deal with by the regulation have been enumerated above. In this
respect, the General Notice has gone beyond matters that are allowed by law to
be dealt with through General Notices.
Therefore, from the
foregoing, the learned opinion of the Parliamentary Legal Committee is that
General Notice 114 of 2011 should be repealed because it is not good law. It is
bad law because it violates sections 16 and 21 of the Constitution, it is bad
law because it is ultra vires the provision of the enabling statutory
instrument, which is the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Regulation
2010.
Hon S.L.
Mushonga
Chairperson,
Parliamentary Legal Committee
Documents Available
The following are available from veritas@mango.zw
j
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act
Indigenisation Regulations updated to include all amendments [SI
21/2010]
GN 114/2011 – Indigenisation of mining sector
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied