The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.zimdiaspora.com

Tuesday, 14 August 2012 11:33 Editor News

By Stefaans Brümmer, Craig McKune and Owen Gagare

INVESTIGATIONS have uncovered the American source of a controversial US$100
million loan that enabled President Robert Mugabe to steal the 2008
Zimbabwean presidential election run-off in which he faced almost certain
defeat.

The payment, which critics say helped the Zanu PF regime buy votes and
unleash a campaign of brutal repression, was made possible by a New
York-based institutional investor, the Och-Ziff Capital Management Group.

Mugabe’s government was bankrupt and teetering on the brink of collapse as
the rival MDC-T defeated Zanu PF in parliamentary polls and its leader
Morgan Tsvangirai won the first-round of the presidential election. Facing a
trouncing in the run-off poll against the surging Tsvangirai, Mugabe needed
money fast.

Investigations by South Africa’s Mail & Guardian, a sister paper of the
Zimbabwe Independent, have disclosed his government sold the family
silver –– or rather platinum concessions freshly squeezed from South Africa’s
Anglo American Platinum. The ultimate buyer was a mining company founded by
former English cricketer Phil Edmonds.

On top of the purchase price, Edmonds’ company threw in the US$100 million
lifeline.

That much is known. But Edmonds’ Central African Mining and Exploration
Company (Camec), then listed in the UK, did not have that kind of cash. So
it did what listed companies do –– issue and sell new shares.

Contrary to listing rules, the purchaser of the shares was not revealed,
which meant that the ultimate source of the money remained a mystery. That
source, it now turns out, was Och-Ziff.

Zimbabwe’s Political Parties (Finance) Act expressly prohibits foreign
funding to political parties.

Although it has some US$30 billion in assets under management, Och-Ziff has
kept a low profile.

In South Africa, it is best known for its joint venture with Mvelaphanda
Holdings, the private investment vehicle co-owned by Human Settlements
minister and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale.

Although the partnership, then cast as “exclusive”, had been announced only
months before, Mvelaphanda denies having participated in the Zimbabwe deal.
The M&G is not aware of evidence to the contrary.

That Och-Ziff was willing to finance the Zimbabwean loan in spite of the
likelihood that Mugabe, whom Western governments opposed implacably, would
use it to fuel repression, is surprising. Och-Ziff declined to comment.

Step 1: squeeze

Less than a week before Zimbabwe went to the first-round polls, its most
tightly contested yet, Mugabe bagged a prize asset. Anglo American Platinum,
the world’s top platinum producer, ceded more than a quarter of its platinum
concessions in that country to the government.

While this deal had elements of a “shake down” – Anglo was over a barrel,
not least because forex due to it had been frozen by the authorities – it
did not do so for free. In return, Anglo was granted empowerment credits and
forex indulgences that would allow it to develop a valuable remaining
concession.

Step 2: flip

Immediately Anglo had been relieved of its concessions, the government
awarded them to Todal Mining, a joint venture between the state-owned
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC 40%) and a private company,
Lefever Finance (60%).

Lefever in turn was owned by the opaque Meryweather Investments, registered
in the British Virgin Islands.

While Meryweather’s ownership remains a mystery, it has been associated with
Muller Conrad “Billy” Rautenbach, a close Mugabe ally who allegedly fronted
for Zanu-PF or its functionaries in business deals.

Rautenbach was placed under European and American sanctions later that year
for allegedly supporting Mugabe’s regime. At the time, he was also wanted on
criminal charges in South Africa. But in a 2009 plea bargain with South
African prosecuting authorities, Rautenbach pleaded guilty, on behalf of one
of his companies, to 326 fraud charges. He paid a R40 million fine.

Rautenbach did not respond to requests for comment.

Step 3: cash in

The parliamentary and first-round presidential elections were held on March
29 2008. Although the electoral commission initially withheld the results,
Mugabe was on the ropes and he knew it. Less than a fortnight after the
vote, the regime turned the platinum assets into instant cash. This is how
it was done:

On April 11, Camec, then chaired by Edmonds, bought Lefever for $5-milion
cash plus millions of newly issued Camec shares. That went to the owners of
Meryweather, whoever they were.

But in a stock exchange announcement Camec confirmed also that it had
“agreed to advance to Lefever [which it had just bought] an amount of
US$100-million by way of a loan to enable Lefever to comply with its
contractual obligations to the government of the republic of Zimbabwe”.

In a nutshell, Camec had acquired 60% of the platinum assets by buying out
the state-owned ZMDC’s joint-venture partner in the Todal Mining. For this
it paid largely by issuing new shares in itself — but it supplemented the
purchase price with the instant cash loan.

Unusually, though the ZMDC was to repay the $100-million, it went straight
to Zanu-PF government. ZMDC chair Godwills Masimirembwa told the M&G this
week: “It was a loan to the government, the money was used by the
government. We don’t know how it was used.”

He claimed there was “no anomaly” in the ZMDC having to repay it, as “we are
wholly owned by government”.

But Masimirembwa also revealed just how “soft” the terms were: No repayments
have been made to date as they were to come from dividends, of which there
had been none. And no interest was payable.

Step 4: buy victory

In the weeks to follow and pending the all-important presidential run-off
vote on June 27, Zanu-PF went on the offensive. Amid acute food shortages,
it directed government food aid to reward supporters. And in spite of
crippling fuel shortages, it deployed security forces and party thugs across
the country on a campaign of mass intimidation.

Mugabe won after Tsvangirai pulled out at the last moment, citing the
violence and Zanu-PF threats of war.

Roy Bennett, the MDC treasurer and a member of parliament, said this week:
“It was public fact that the Zanu-PF government had completely collapsed the
Zimbabwean economy. Hyperinflation was a fact; the army had been rioting in
public due to a lack of wages; civil servants had not been paid for months.

“The massive deployment to carry out a violent campaign needed funding. Is
it coincidental that the Zimbabwe government was loaned $100 million from
Camec … after extortion was applied to Anglo to release the platinum
deposits which Camec purchased? I would leave it to readers’ imagination
where that money was used.”

Camec was pummelled in the British press, but the company shrugged it off,
reportedly saying that major shareholders had been consulted and that it
believed “investing in Zimbabwe at this early stage is the best way to help
the people of Zimbabwe while also generating shareholder value”.

But who paid?

Och-Ziff’s role in providing the money that Camec used to extend the loan
remained hidden. However, it may be pieced together from Camec’s 2008 annual
report and reading between the lines of Camec announcements at the
Alternative Investment Market (AIM), where it was listed.

The annual report shows that at the end of March 2008 – that is 11 days
before the Zimbabwe deal – Camec had cash holdings of £17,9-million (then
about $36-million), not remotely enough.

However, it had another £37,5 million (about $75-million) in escrow –
prepayment by a new investor for new shares Camec would issue.

A Camec announcement earlier that March shows that the original purpose of
the new share issue was to raise cash to develop Camec assets in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.

But then on March 28 – five days after Anglo had relinquished the
concessions to the government and a day before the first-round elections –
Camec put out another announcement, saying that “following further
discussions with the placees [the new would-be investors] regarding the
multiple investment opportunities available to the company in Africa”, it
would enlarge the share issue to raise more money – a total of 200-million
shares for £100-million ($200-million).

On April 11, a further announcement made it clear that the “multiple
investment opportunities” really centered on the Zimbabwe acquisition that
day and which would be paid for among other things through the $100-million
loan.

The “placees” who had been consulted about this acquisition, the context
shows, were in fact mainly one new investor, who bought 150-million of the
200-million new Camec shares. The purchase consideration for the 150-million
shares was £75-million ($150-million) – enough for the Zimbabwe loan, and
some to spare.

AIM rules require the disclosure of substantial shareholdings – above 3% and
then each following 1%. Yet, though the 150-million shares at the time
equated to about 10% of Camec, the purchaser’s identify was not declared.

The missing piece of the puzzle came in another announcement months later,
at the end of July, in which a company called OZ Management announced that
another Camec share issue had diluted its holding — which it put at
150-million shares exactly.

OZ Management is a subsidiary of Och-Ziff. The firm did not deny that it was
the purchaser of the 150-million shares ahead of the Zimbabwe deal, but
declined comment. – M&G.

• The M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, a non-profit initiative to
develop investigative journalism in the public interest, produced this
story. See www.amabhungane.co.za for all their stories, activities and
sources of funding.

Bennett slams controversial foreign loan for securing 2008 ZPF election win

http://www.swradioafrica.com

MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett

By Alex Bell
14 August 2012

MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett has insisted that a controversial loan to the Robert Mugabe regime in 2008 secured the bloodstained election victory that year, also warning that a similar situation is very possible in future elections.

Bennett’s comments come as details continue to surface about the international investor behind the US$100 million dollar loan, which made headlines in 2008 after the internationally listed company behind it was accused of directly financing a dictatorship.

The story has now resurfaced after an investigation by the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa discovered that a US institutional investor financed the 2008 loan.

The alarm was raised in 2008 when Anglo American Platinum ceded about a quarter of its Zimbabwean concession to the ZANU PF government, after threats and intimidation by the CIO. According to Bennett, who spoke to SW Radio Africa on Tuesday, Anglo American capitulated to the demands instead of exposing the extortion they were facing.

The ZANU PF ¬government then awarded the platinum concessions to a group called Todal Mining, a joint venture between the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a private company called Lefever Finance. This company in turn was owned by a shadowy group based in the British Virgin Islands and linked to controversial businessman and ZANU PF functionary Billy Rautenbach.

This all happened a week before the first round of presidential elections in 2008 in Zimbabwe, and it now appears this was part of a strategic game plan to secure ZANU PF’s hold on power. Bennett explained that the party was “up against a wall, the country was falling apart, and they did not have the money to ensure a victory.”

The elections went ahead but the results were withheld amid widespread reports that the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won the crucial poll. ZANU PF however was busy implementing its plan and, less than two weeks after the vote, Lefever Finance was bought out by a shady outfit called the Central African Mining and Exploration Company (Camec), for about five million dollars. Camec, whose founder was reportedly allied to Rautenbach, also threw in the US$100 million dollar loan that became Mugabe’s lifeline.

The Mail &Guardian has since revealed that Camec did not actually have the money to buy out Lefever and instead issued and sold new shares. This side of the deal, which essentially financed the Mugabe regime, was kept hidden. But the Mail & Guardian has discovered that the shares were bought by the New York-based Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, founded by billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Daniel Och,

The loan payment meanwhile coincided with the controversial docking of a Chinese ship filled with arms, which docked in South Africa with its deadly shipment bound for Zimbabwe. An international campaign to bar the ships progress then followed, and Camec found itself embroiled in allegations that it was involved in arms deals.

What followed in Zimbabwe was an exercise in systematic murder, torture, brutality, intimidation and harassment by ZANU PF, ahead of an election run off, which eventually went ahead with Mugabe as the single participant after Tsvangirai had no choice but to pull out of the vote.

Bennett said on Tuesday that without the loan things would have turned out very differently in Zimbabwe, saying ZANU PF did not have the finances to unleash its brutal campaign.

“You would never have been able to get the military and the militias to do what they did without money. You would never have been able to even start the ZANU PF election machinery without that money. All the heartache, pain, violence, intimidation, repression in 2008 is directly linked to that 100 million,” Bennett said.

Bennett meanwhile also warned that unless Zimbabweans “stand up and seize change,” the same scenario was likely to play out in the coming elections.

“I guarantee you the same thing is happening now. There are deals going on to fund the next elections in the same manner with same people being extorted through indigenisation. ZANU PF are masters at extorting people in a legitimate manner,” Bennett said.

Hear the full interview with Roy Bennett on Diaspora Diaries: Click here

Zuma heading to Harare to mediate political crisis

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
14 August 2012

Regional efforts to mediate an end to the long drawn out crisis in Zimbabwe
are set to intensify on Wednesday, with the arrival in Harare of the South
African President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma is the SADC appointed mediator to the crisis and will be making his
first trip to Harare this year. He will mediate talks between political
rivals Robert Mugabe and the MDC’s President Morgan Tsvangirai.

The talks, also expected to be attended by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara and Welshman Ncube, representing the other MDC formation, are yet
another attempt to craft a solution for the country’s political future.

A highly placed source in the MDC-T told SW Radio Africa that GPA
negotiators met in Harare on Tuesday to work on the agenda and progress
report to be presented to Zuma and the principals.

‘Zuma’s mission to Harare is basically to check on whether the parties
adhered to a SADC communiqué issued on 1 June, 2012 at the end of an
Extraordinary Summit in Luanda, Angola,’ the source said.

After the Luanda summit, parties to the GPA were urged to finalize the
constitution-making process and then subject it to a referendum.

‘The Summit also urged the parties to the GPA to develop an implementation
mechanism and to set out time frames for the full implementation of the
Roadmap to Elections,’ the communiqué said.

An election roadmap is meant to pave the way for free and fair elections, in
a bid to resolve the country’s protracted political stalemate.

But there has been fallout between the political parties after ZANU PF began
pushing for amendments to the draft constitution that was agreed to and
signed off by all parties in the GPA on 18th July.

The latest stalemate is likely to be discussed at this week’s SADC summit in
Maputo, Mozambique on Friday, where President Zuma is expected to present a
report on Zimbabwe.

Zuma to Report to Regional Leaders On Zimbabwe

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208140987.html

14 August 2012

Washington, DC — Excerpt from a media briefing by the South African Deputy
Minister of International Relations and Coooperation, Ebrahim Ebrahim, on
August 14, 2012:

It appears that there is noticeable progress in the implementation of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) in Zimbabwe as evidenced by a near complete
constitution-making process and legislative reforms that are required in
terms of the GPA.

The Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) has reported that
the final draft of the new constitution has been completed and has been
signed off by all the party negotiators to the GPA, as well as members of
COPAC's Management Committee.

The draft constitution has now been circulated to the political Principals
namely President Mugabe, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Mutambara, as well as Parliament's Presiding Officers, the Speaker of the
House of Assembly and the Senate President.

The next step will be an All Stakeholders' Conference to be organised and
convened by COPAC to give the ordinary Zimbabwean citizens an opportunity to
look at the draft new constitution before it is tabled in Parliament and
thereafter subjected to a referendum.

We have taken note of this development and on the whole we are satisfied
with the progress in the implementation of the GPA.

The SADC Facilitator (President Zuma) remains seized with the process in
assisting the Parties to fully implement the GPA, as well as an election
roadmap which should assist the country to create a conducive environment
for the holding of a credible and peaceful referendum and elections.

To this end, President Jacob Zuma is scheduled to undertake a working visit
to Harare, Zimbabwe on Wednesday, 15 August 2012. President Zuma undertakes
this visit in his capacity as the SADC mandated Facilitator to the Zimbabwe
political dialogue.

In fulfilling his mandate, President Zuma is, from time to time, expected to
interact with the parties' signatory to the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
essentially to assess progress in the implementation of the GPA.

During the visit, President Zuma will meet with the political principals to
the GPA namely, His Excellency, President Mugabe, Honourable Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Honourable Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Following the visit, President Zuma will be expected to report to the SADC
Summit to be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 16 to 17 August 2012.

Zanu PF politburo rewrites draft constitution

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

By The Independent on August 14, 2012 in News, Politics

Faith Zaba

THE Zanu PF politburo is now virtually rewriting the controversial Copac
draft constitution in its own image by overhauling chapters and clauses
which it objects to, mainly in a bid to restore curtailed sweeping
presidential powers President Robert Mugabe currently enjoys ahead of
elections.
The politburo met again on Wednesday for the fourth time in three weeks,
bringing the time it has now spent on the draft to about 42 hours, showing
the draft is virtually being re-written.
The Wednesday meeting started at 1:30pm and ended at dawn, around 4:30am on
Thursday, but the taxing scrutiny of the draft failed to conclude the
matter. Zanu PF is expected to meet again over the issue. Mugabe attended
the 15-hour meeting which started on Wednesday and ended at dawn on
Thursday.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said on Thursday the politburo was likely
to meet again next week on Thursday after the Heroes and Defence Forces
holidays to fine-tune amendments it wants to make to the draft.
“We had a good meeting. It was very robust and we have now incorporated
people’s views that were not captured that should be reflected in the
draft,” he said.
Asked which sections Zanu PF was unilaterally amending, Gumbo said: “We
looked from the preamble through founding principles to the end. We are
happy now. We have more or less finished our draft; it only needs to be
cleaned. We will meet next week around Thursday to finalise and we will give
you copies of our draft when we are done and I am sure everyone will be
happy with it.”
Zanu PF politburo members have been gagged over the issue to safeguard the
process which is certain to cause a political storm in weeks and months
ahead.
Senior politburo members have a different interpretation of the politburo
effort. Some see it as a genuine attempt to improve the draft constitution
which they feel was personalised by those trying to oust Mugabe, while
others say it is simply a campaign to restore presidential powers whittled
down in the draft to avoid defeat in the next elections.
After the draft was released on July 18, Zanu PF initially met on July 25
for four hours where the draft was tabled. The party followed that with a
politburo meeting on Friday July 27 which lasted from 1pm to 2:30am on
Saturday, July 28. Another meeting was held on August 1 for about 12 hours.
It started on Wednesday afternoon and ended in the early hours of Thursday
last week.
The meeting on Wednesday lasted for almost 15 hours, from 1:30pm to about
4:30am early on Thursday morning.

Another Battle Looms Over Constitution

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208140981.html

By Gwinyayi Dzinesa, 14 August 2012

Following ZANU-PF's marathon politburo meeting on Wednesday 8 August to
audit the draft constitution, the party has maintained that it cannot accept
the document without the revision of several clauses in order to include
people's views gathered during the outreach phase of the constitution-making
process.

ZANU-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo announced last week that the 'party is
expecting the amendments to be factored in by Wednesday next week [15
August], when the politburo meets to finalize its position on the draft
constitution'.

In what was seen as a major breakthrough in July, the Constitution Select
Committee of Parliament (COPAC) comprising the three coalition ruling
parties in Zimbabwe had finally agreed on a draft constitution after nearly
four years of acrimonious debate.

Following the disputed 2008 elections, ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations
had to enter the Global Political Agreement (GPA) mediated by the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) to avoid plunging the country deeper
into conflict over the electoral results. The adoption of a new constitution
before conducting elections again is a key requirement of the power-sharing
agreement.

There remains concern that the constant need to bargain and compromise in
order to accommodate numerous divergent political party interests may have
resulted in a draft constitution that does not mirror popular views.

The proposed constitution provides for an overhaul of executive authority
and the devolution of power. Although an executive president will still rule
the country, he/she will be constrained by checks and balances. Any
decisions made in relation to key issues such as the declaration of war,
state of public emergency and senior public appointments within state
institutions will not be taken unilaterally by the president but in
consultation with parliament.

The president and parliament will have fixed terms, with elections every
five years. The draft also limits the terms of senior public officials and
the chiefs of the security services. It clarifies the terms of succession in
case of the sudden death, resignation or incapacitation of the president by
providing for the vice president to assume the office of the president for
the remainder of the term.

This raises the electoral stakes of selecting a vice-presidential running
mate perceived to be capable of assuming office upon the incumbent's
departure. Set against the backdrop of the security sector's partisan
involvement in political processes in order to influence the outcome of
elections, the draft constitution requires the security services to
discharge their duties on neutral and non-partisan grounds. An Act of
Parliament should provide for an effective and independent mechanism for
receiving, investigating and remedying complaints from members of the public
about misconduct by Zimbabwean security personnel.

One of the significant proposed changes is the devolution of governmental
powers and responsibilities to provincial and metropolitan councils and
local authorities in order to improve government efficiency and
effectiveness while enhancing people's participation in governance. An Act
of Parliament will provide for the demarcation of the boundaries of the
country's ten provinces. Provincial governors will chair the provincial
councils, which will also include parliamentarians whose constituencies fall
within the provinces concerned, chiefs, ten persons elected by a system of
proportional representation and extra staff. However, the new arrangement
does not entail a fully-fledged federal system.

The draft constitution provides the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission with a
broader role in which the commission supervises the entire election process
and environment in which elections takes place. There will be equal
representation of women in all elected institutions and commissions. The
draft charter provides for an Independent National Prosecuting Authority,
while the attorney general currently handles both legal advice to the
government and prosecutes on behalf of the state. The document does not
provide for compensation for land compulsorily acquired for resettlement
under the agrarian reforms of 2000, except for improvements effected on it
before its acquisition.

Some of these provisions risk being undercut by the resistance from ZANU-PF.
According to media reports the party stated its objections to certain
clauses, including those that temper the imperial presidency, such as
parliament and not the presidency approving the deployment of troops both
inside and outside the country; the party with the majority of parliamentary
seats in a province appointing provincial governors, previously the
prerogative of the presidency; and the dilution of the authority of
traditional leaders, who have been strong supporters of ZANU-PF. This can be
viewed as ZANU-PF seeing some of the provisions as an assault on President
Robert Mugabe's current authority rather than safeguarding the threats to
long-term democratic consolidation posed by the continued imperial
presidency.

Both MDC formations have endorsed the draft constitution and say they will
not countenance its renegotiation. They argue that COPAC, which included
ZANU-PF members, has already endorsed the document, which has been referred
to by MDC-N leader Welshman Ncube as a negotiated 'compromise' that was
crafted under the 'give-and-take' framework of the GPA.

The compromise nature of the draft constitution has, however, meant that the
three political parties have attempted to get as much as possible from the
other parties, hence ZANU-PF's scrutiny of the document and calls for
amendments. Indeed, according to The Herald newspaper Gumbo said that
ZANU-PF members ' overlooked some of the critical issues, which Politburo
felt needed to be re-emphasised to reflect the views of the people'. ZANU-PF
has previously threatened that President Mugabe can still call for elections
due by June next year under the current constitution that benefits his party
if a constitutional deadlock persists.

It remains to be seen how SADC will react to the latest obstacle in the
unpredictable path to Zimbabwe's new constitution. The regional body's
extraordinary summit held in Luanda, Angola, in June 2012, had urged the
Zimbabwean parties to the GPA 'to finalise the constitution-making process
and subject it to a referendum thereafter assisted by the Facilitator [South
African President Jacob Zuma], to develop an implementation mechanism and to
set out time frames for the full implementation of the Roadmap to
Elections'.

Tellingly, soon after the Luanda Summit the three parties delayed President
Zuma's planned visit to Harare to help them to resolve sticking points in
order to fully implement the GPA, including finalising the
constitution-making process, stating that they felt it would only be
sensible to invite President Zuma after the completion of the constitution
drafting process.

The annual SADC Summit scheduled for 17 and 18 August in Maputo will most
likely be held without the parties having agreed on the draft constitution.
Notwithstanding the grandstanding by the two MDCs and ZANU-PF's dissension,
it is critical that SADC sticks to its guns that the parties agree on a
draft constitution, which is a key GPA deliverable.

If the three parties agree on the draft constitution a second
all-stakeholders conference needs to be held before the draft is tabled in
parliament for debate and validation. It will then be voted on by
referendum. Perhaps the parties, instead of their continued haggling, should
submit the draft through these processes to allow Zimbabweans to decide
whether the draft reflects their views.

Gwinyayi Dzinesa is Senior Researcher in the Conflict Prevention and Risk
Analysis Division of the ISS.

Mugabe Says Constitutional Referendum Only After Bottlenecks Are Cleared

MDC-T rubbishes Mugabe's Heroes call for constitutional consensus

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Mugabe's call for constitutional consensus misplaced--Mwonzora Thabani Dube
HARARE President Robert Mugabe, in his speech to commemorate Heroes' Day in
Harare on Monday, urged consensus around the draft constitution that has
just been concluded, but MDC-T has rubbished his call as misguided.
14.08.1208:00am
by The Zimbabwean Harare

Mugabe said there was need for the political parties-Zanu (PF), MDC-T and
MDC-N- that have been negotiating the draft, to reach a consensus before it
is taken to a referendum, which would precede general elections.

The two MDC formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube have
already endorsed the draft, but Zanu (PF) says it is unhappy with three
percent of the document and wants it to be taken back for further
negotiations.

Speaking at the National Heroes Acre at which Tsvangirai and Deputy prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara were present, Mugabe said it was heartening that
the constitution making process was nearing consummation.

"We are, therefore, delighted that at long last, the curtain is coming down
on the constitution-making process whose proposed draft is currently under
consideration by our various parties. Our constitution should unashamedly
reflect Zimbabwean values, no less, no more.

"If I may go on a bit longer, once there is consensus, the draft will be
subject to a referendum. During the referendum, people will be afforded the
opportunity to vote for the adoption or rejection of the proposed
constitution. It is our expectation that elections will follow soon after
the referendum," said Mugabe.

Observers and politicians however interpreted his call for consensus to mean
a need to succumb to Zanu (PF)'s demand for a renegotiation of the draft
charter.

In an interview after Mugabe's speech, Douglas Mwonzora, MDC-T Spokesperson
and Co-chairperson of Copac, the Parliamentary Select Committee that is
steering the constitution-making process, dismissed any prospects of more
negotiations.

He said, instead, the people should be given the chance to decide if they
liked the new constitution or not, through the Second All Stakeholders
Conference that should bring together all interest groups to give their
views on the final draft, before a referendum is conducted.

"Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement states that it is now for the
people to approve or reject the draft constitution.

"The political parties in the GPA were involved from the start of the
outreach programme, during the negotiating process and also the compilation
of the draft. At every stage, we were explaining to our principals, so it is
in breach of Article 6 of GPA if any political party wants to renegotiate
what we all agreed on.

"This (draft constitution) is not an MDC product but it is what we agreed
and adopted as negotiators and for Zanu Pf to say that they do not agree
with its contents proves that the Zanu (PF) negotiating team of Patrick
Chinamasa, Paul Mangwana and Nicholas Goche did not understand the whole
process or they did so in bad faith," said Mwonzora.

Mugabe Warns Against Foreign Forces

http://www.voanews.com

Sebastian Mhofu

August 14, 2012
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has told security
forces that they must be on the watch for what he called foreigners who want
to loot the country's resources.

The 88-year-old Zimbabwean leader was speaking in Harare at Zimbabwe’s
Defense Forces Day. He urged all security forces and “progressive
Zimbabweans" to remain "focused, loyal and patriotic” to defend the country’s
resources.

“We should join hands to resist the unjustified pander of our resources by
undeserving foreign forces that come to us like friends in the name of
democracy and globalization, yet they have sinister ulterior motives,” said
Mugabe.

Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe’s leader since the country won independence in
1980, is not new to scoffing at the concept of democracy. In the past he has
referred to democracy as a foreign concept to Africans. On several occasions
he has said the West cannot preach democracy to him since he fought British
colonial rule in Zimbabwe.

He has said he would be justifying sanctions imposed on him by the West in
2002 following reports of human rights abuses and election-rigging.

Admonishment against violence

Mugabe also called on the people of Zimbabwe to respect each other's
opinions and to not resort to violence in coming months, when the nation is
supposed to hold a constitutional referendum and national elections.

The last elections in 2008 were deeply marred by violence, most of it by
Mugabe supporters against the opposition, and led to the current
power-sharing government in Zimbabwe.

Under Zimbabwe's power-sharing coalition between Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democracy and Change, the
new proposed constitution must be put to a referendum before fresh elections
can be held.

Mugabe also thanked security forces for protecting Zimbabwe's Marange
diamond fields. Human rights organizations accused security forces of
abusing civilians in the diamond mines. A police officer was sentenced last
month to 19 years for murdering a civilian he suspected of illegally mining
diamonds.

Mugabe makes 'don't spill blood' election plea

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

13/08/2012 00:00:00
by Angus Shaw I AP

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe marked Heroes' Day on Monday with a call for an end
to violence and hostility as Zimbabwe moves toward a constitutional
referendum and elections.

In an hour-long address at the Heroes Acre outside Harare, Mugabe said he
wanted all parties and activist groups to show tolerance for each other in
the coming months.

"If people have a difference of opinion and want to defect from one party to
another, it must be respected and expressed in elections. We don't want any
more violence or blood spilt," Mugabe said, speaking mostly in Shona.

The last disputed elections in 2008 were marred by violence blamed mainly on
Mugabe's Zanu PF party and led to a power sharing coalition with the former
opposition brokered by regional leaders.

As the leader clenched his fist and raised it into the air, the symbol for
his Zanu PF party, he reassured Zimbabweans that the image of the fist is
not a gesture of violence despite its past use and forceful nature when
placed alongside the open hand symbol of Movement for Democratic party.
"It was not for violence against our own kind," he said of the party's fist
symbol.

Amid violence in recent years, Mugabe has often raised his fist in the air
as a warning to political opponents. The raised fist, Mugabe said, was used
to fight colonial-era white rule and was "the punch that knocked them down."
He used it on Monday to salute guerrillas who died in the bush war that
ended white rule in 1980.

Mugabe has made previous calls for a peaceful transition to a new
constitution and polls to end a shaky four-year coalition. But independent
rights groups say political violence and intimidation has continued with
proposed elections looming.

Mugabe said on Monday he was "delighted the curtain is coming down" on a new
constitution after three years of bitter negotiations within the coalition
after nationwide canvassing for voters' views on reformed constitutional
law.

His party has proposed amendments to the 150-page draft that affect a
proposed reduction of presidential powers and, it says, the absence in the
draft of contributions it claims were made by its supporters and ordinary
electors.
"The constitution should unashamedly reflect Zimbabwe's values and
principles. No more, no less," Mugabe said.

Under Zimbabwe's power-sharing coalition brokered by regional leaders, the
proposed constitution must be put to a referendum before fresh elections can
be held.

Mugabe’s coalition partners Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T
and Welshman Ncube of the MDC have urged their parties to support the draft
with a "yes" vote in a referendum planned before the end of this year.

Tsvangirai and Ncube have expressed fears that if the reforms are abandoned,
there could be a repeat of the violent and disputed elections. They accused
Mugabe loyalists of trying to sabotage negotiations on the new draft that
Zanu PF representatives took part in creating over three years of delays and
bickering.

Zanu PF’s politburo, the top policy body for his party, is scheduled to meet
on Wednesday to agree on the amendments it demands should be included. The
former opposition insists Zanu PF negotiators helped complete the final
draft and there's no place for drastic amendments.

"Once there is consensus, we will go for a referendum. It is our expectation
elections will fall soon after," Mugabe said on Monday.
Mugabe has threatened to call elections without a new constitution if
disputes over the reforms are not resolved.

Regional mediators have proposed mid-2013 as a reasonable timetable for
parliamentary and presidential polls.

Zimbabwe will be on the agenda of a SADC summit which begins in Maputo,
Mozambique, on Friday. Ahead of the summit, the organ’s appointed media in
Zimbabwe President Jacob Zuma of South Africa is flying to Harare on
Wednesday for talks.

Soldiers Rewarded As Tsvangirai Urges Them To Stay Off Politics

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, August 14, 2012 - President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday promised
soldiers and military personnel salary hikes while Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said security officers should stay out of politics.

Both leaders were giving messages to commemorate Defence Forces Day.

Mugabe said although resources were not yet available, soldiers' salary and
allowances hikes had already been approved.

Tsvangirai, who has in the past told by security forces heads that they
would never salute him because he did not have war credentials, said
soldiers must leave political leaders to address the challenges facing the
country.

Most of Zimbabwe's civil service earns about $250 a month.

"Conditions of service for the Zimbabwe Defence Forces remain an important
and critical aspect that continues to be reviewed as and when resources are
available," said Mugabe at the National Sports Stadium.

Soldiers have been named by rights groups as one of the sources of political
violence in the country that has resulted in the death of MDC supporters and
ordinary people.

"The imposition of illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe by Britain, the
European Union and their American allies is one such move that has sought to
compromise the living standards of the people of Zimbabwe and subsequently
destabilize the country," said the 88 year old leader.

"These sinister manoeuvres were successfully resisted thanks to the combined
effort, grit and resilience of the people of Zimbabwe, the defence forces,
other law enforcement agencies and the country's political leadership."

“I have no doubt that the majority of our soldiers are professionals who
respect and are sworn to upholding the country’s constitution,” said the
MDC-T leader. “They are aware that politics leads the gun and not vice
versa.”

The MDC-T leader also called for the broadening of the definition of
national heroes to recognise Zimbabweans excelling in other areas outside
politics.

Zim to train 30,000 census takers 'by Wednesday'

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

13/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE would have trained 30,000 census takers by the Wednesday deadline –
two days before the 2012 national count gets underway, a minister said on
Monday.

The census preparations were thrown into disarray by protests over the
recruitment of soldiers and police officers for the door-to-door count.

But training resumed on Monday after ministers agreed members of the
security services were ineligible to enlist as enumerators.

Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo said the training of the census takers
would run throughout the Heroes and Defence Forces holidays to meet a
Wednesday deadline.

“We are happy with the progress that we have made so far despite the
disruptions that were there in the last two weeks. All sticky issues that
have been stalling progress have been ironed out and we are moving forward
at a satisfactory pace,” Moyo said.

A requirement for prospective enumerators is that they must be government
employees, have five Ordinary Level subjects and a tertiary education
qualification.
The counting will begin at midnight on 17 August and will continue up to the
28th.

This year’s census is Zimbabwe’s fourth since independence in 1980. In the
2002 census, Zimbabwe’s population was 11,6 million people.

Shamu rants against so-called “pirate” radio stations

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
14 August 2012

A tour of one of the new radio stations, controversially licensed by the
discredited Media Commission last year, provided an opportunity for the
Media, Information and Publicity Minister, Webster Shamu, to rant against
independent radio stations on Monday.

The ZANU PF mouthpiece Herald newspaper reported that Shamu toured AB
Communications’ ZiFM radio station in Harare, after which he blasted
so-called “pirate stations” that broadcast from outside Zimbabwe.

Shamu was quoted as saying: “They will never win the war against
Zimbabweans. We advise all those employed by them, wherever they are, to
come back home in a proper channel than to continue peddling foreign
policies, which will never succeed.”

He also claimed these stations are operated by enemies of the state who are
being used to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle.

Writer and journalist Geoff Hill dismissed Shamu as a “propagandist” who
should not be in charge of media and his rantings would not be taken
seriously by the majority of Zimbabweans.

He pointed to the fact that both ZANU and ZAPU had radio stations
broadcasting from outside Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle and South
Africa’s ANC party had a station in Zambia in the days of apartheid.

“It may very well be that Shamu had drawn up a speech that he wanted to give
and needed a venue to do it and Supa provided him with that platform. It was
clearly well thought out,” Hill explained.

AB Communications’ is run by Supa Mandiwanzira, a ZANU PF loyalist who once
headed the party’s Affirmative Action Group (AAG), which many observers say
does nothing more than encourage looting under the guise of black
empowerment.

Last year the Media Commision granted the country’s first commercial radio
licenses to AB Communications’ and to Zimpapers talk radio, owners of the
Herald newspaper.

The composition of the Media Commission was challenged by the MDC formations
and declared unconstitutional by the courts, on the basis that the board
members were appointed unilaterally by ZANU PF, without any consultation.

AAG Vice President on the run for $250k theft

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
14 August 2012

The Vice President of the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) is reported to be
on the run over allegations that she stole $250,000 worth of maize seed from
the government run Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda).

Two years ago Elizabeth Nyathi struck an agreement with Arda to be their
sales agent in Mutare. Under the terms of the deal she was meant to sell
maize seed on behalf of the authority and then remit proceeds within 14
days.

As the director of Laksem (Pvt) Ltd she sold seeds worth more than $327,500
but never paid Arda a cent. Arda officials then went to her company in
Mutare but only managed to recover 30 tonnes of seed valued at $49,040.

The matter has been before the courts and last week Nyathi decided not to
show up. Harare regional magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni responded by issuing an
arrest warrant. Apparently it’s not the first time Nyathi has absconded. In
May this year she was fined $50 by the same court for absconding.

Meanwhile the ZANU PF controlled Sunday Mail newspaper reports that an
engineer working for a company controlled by journalist turned businessman
Supa Mandiwanzira, fleeced fellow businessman Phillip Chiyangwa of $3
million.

It’s alleged the consulting engineer “misrepresented the cost of building
materials and services for various construction projects.” Chiyangwa is
quoted as saying he was shocked by the theft. “These people have been
stealing my money for the past four years, inflating bills of quantities
and, at times, payment figures,” he said.

Chiyangwa’s company, Pinnacle Holdings, engaged a construction company known
as Tarcon to develop his properties. Mandiwanzira is the board chairman of
the firm. The paper says “the engineer (name withheld) connived with some
Tarcon employees to inflate the bills of items required at the properties.”

Chiyangwa is the founding president of the AAG and Mandiwanzira briefly led
the organisation, before Chiyangwa took back control. Both the Nyathi story
and the Tarcon case are likely to dent the credentials of those claiming to
be driving the empowerment crusade.

Concern for kombi passengers detained at army barracks

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
14 August 2012

MDC-T officials in Manicaland say they remain concerned about the
whereabouts of passengers in a kombi which was forced to drive into the 3
Brigade army base in Mutare last week because they criticised the army
involvement in the census.

Last Wednesday SW Radio Africa reported how the kombi was travelling from
Rusape to Mutare when one of the passengers, a soldier, became incensed when
other passengers started discussing the census that had been turned into
such a fiasco by security forces trying to hijack the process.

When the Kombi got to Mutare, the soldier identified himself and told the
driver to go to the 3 Brigade Headquarters in the city. A number of the
passengers were senior MDC-T officials from Makoni district who immediately
sent out text messages to the party of their predicament.

On Tuesday MDC-T MP for Makoni South Pishai Muchauraya told SW Radio Africa
they were worried because they still had not heard from their members, six
days on. He said they were trying their phone numbers which remain
unreachable.

Asked if it was possible the activists had been freed and had not made
contact, Muchauraya said that would be out of the ordinary. “The first thing
they would have done is to come to the party offices and tell us what
happened,” he said.

Muchauraya said it was also difficult for them as party officials to ‘walk
into an army base and demand the release of our members.” He said the party
will continue trying to locate their members.

Zimbabwe Lawmaker Says Diamonds Being Looted

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il

14.08.12, 11:33 / World

A Zimbabwe Member of Parliament says that new figures released by the
government are evidence of widespread corruption in the country's diamond
industry, All Africa reports.

Highfield East Representative Pearson Mungofa, also a diamond cutter by
trade, claims that the report delivered in Parliament by Mines and Mining
Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire exposes government graft.
Chimanikire's report stated that between January and March 2012, the
Treasury earned $30 million from the sale of three million carats of
diamonds. Mungofa says that if the average price of diamonds of
approximately $100 per carat, the Treasury should have earned ten times that
amount, or $300 million.

Mungofa criticized the government for not providing local jobs in the
diamond cutting sector, claiming that "a million" are employed in this work
in the Suraj region of India, thanks to Zimbabwe's diamonds. Mungofa also
complained that because he is a member of the opposition political party
Movement for Democratic Chance (MDC-T), his political rivals have conspired
to keep diamond cutting business from reaching him.

‘Extreme’ cruelty to horses exposed at UZ

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
14 August 2012

Cruelty described as ‘extreme’ and ‘unnecessary’ has been exposed at the
veterinary department of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), after the shocking
killing of three horses under the department’s care this month.

The horses were given to the department more than six months ago after being
abandoned on a farm. The animals were in a terrible condition, but this
condition did not improve, despite being under the care of the UZ
department.

The Veterinarians for Animal Welfare (VAWZ) group was called in by concerned
members of the public, because the horses were visibly not improving. This
started a drawn out process with VAWZ trying to force the department to
improve the condition of the animals.

VAWZ inspector Meryl Harrison told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that she faced
“unnecessary aggression and hostility,” and after months of almost no
change, she contacted the department to state VAWZ’s intentions to remove
the animals.

She described how she eventually reached the Acting Dean of the department,
who shouted at her, insisting the animals were going to be destroyed
“because they were no longer of use.” Harrison then rushed to secure the
animals’ transport out of the facility, “because there was no reason for
them to be destroyed.”

A brief stalemate was reached and during that time VAWZ inspectors tried to
see the University’s Vice Chancellor to raise his attention to the
situation, but they were unable to meet him. The inspectors were then
blocked from seeing the animals for two days, and Harrison said she feared
the worst.

The Acting Dean then got back in contact with Harrison and announced the
animals had been euthanised, saying: “I did it because I was pissed off that
you tried to meet with the Vice Chancellor.”

Harrison explained that she had a hunch that the animals were not destroyed
according to procedure, and it turned out the animals were transported live,
with bags around their heads to the Lion and Cheetah park, where they faced
a cruel death.

“Staff at the park gave us statements and said the horses were dragged out
and shot with a humane killer which was placed on the wrong part of their
heads. This didn’t penetrate the brain and one of the horses then stood up
and staggered several metres before crashing into the side of a trailer. He
was then finally killed by being hit on the head with the back of an axe and
the other two horses killed in the same manner.”

Harrison said this treatment was “shocking” and clear animal abuse, but the
police have refused to prosecute the UZ staff “because it is a state
institution.” There has been no comment from the UZ department.

Zimbabwean youths lose faith in ballots and leaders

http://www.rnw.nl/

Published on : 14 August 2012 - 10:51am | By RNW Africa Desk

Zimbabwean school-leavers and young university graduates seem to be
struggling more than ever in a country where the unemployment rate stands at
90 percent, with most unemployed being young people. And they don’t believe
that any of the present leaders or politicians can fix their situation.
Elections are expected sometime this year, but these desperate youths seem
to have lost faith in the ballot.

By Nkosana Dlamini, Harare

“I have never voted before and I do not see myself voting anytime soon,”
says Kudzai Moyo, a catering student at a Harare tertiary institution. She
says that in Zimbabwe, even if you decide to cast your vote, it will never
count. “[President] Robert Mugabe still has a way of rigging the elections
in his favour even if you all vote against him.”

Notwithstanding the fact that, since the year 2000, the country has had a
big opposition party in the form of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
of the current Prime Minister Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe has still
been winning elections, be it by narrow margins.

No choice
Although people want Mugabe out, some say they see no alternative among the
presidential hopefuls. Even Tsvangirai, a partner in the Mugabe-led
coalition, does not seem to cut it anymore among Zimbabwe’s youths. They
believe he campaigned for the imposition of western sanctions on the
country.

“There is no one to vote for,” says Tafadzwa Maunganidze, a 26-year-old bank
teller. “Tsvangirai is not the solution either because I do not trust his
closeness to western countries.”

Mugabe's propagandists have repeatedly blamed the country's economic woes on
the embargo. America and Europe imposed sanctions on his regime a decade ago
for alleged poll theft and rights abuses.

Songs of praise
According to demographic studies, the youth below 35 constitute over half of
the population, which means that the party that wins the support of that
part of the nation has a big chance of winning the next polls.
Not surprisingly, President Mugabe has taken the lead in this department.
His party, ZANU-PF, has been splashing thousands of US dollars on
contracting American and Jamaican music stars to perform in Zimbabwe, in a
move to lure the youths. He has also called in the services of local artists
Born Free Crew. The young members of the band have to produce songs of
praise to Mugabe.

The leader is apparently frustrated that Zimbabwe’s young population, born
after the country’s independence in 1980, is not keen on identifying itself
with the values of the painful struggle for liberation.

Eulogy to Mugabe
“Get connected pa network yamdara Gushungo,” are words from one of the Born
Free Crew songs that enjoy widespread airplay on the country’s
state-controlled television and radio stations. It literally means “Get
connected to Mugabe’s network.”

The song is a eulogy to Mugabe and a call on Zimbabwean youths to be part of
the veteran leader’s empowerment crusade that involves the forceful
repossession of foreign-owned companies.

But his government was already busy at it since 1999, when it introduced the
unpopular National Youth Service programme. Designed for Zimbabweans between
the age of 10 and 30, its stated purpose is to "transform and empower youths
for nation building through life skills training and leadership
development.”

The programme has been condemned in the West as well as in Africa for gross
human rights violations on behalf of the ZANU-PF party.

Not alone
But Mugabe is not alone in this bid to win the hearts and minds of the
young. MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube has opened a Facebook account
where he engages in open discussions with Zimbabweans youths.

Tawanda Chimhini, director of the Election Resource Centre, is on a
countrywide campaign dubbed 'First Time Voter Generation', which seeks to
sensitize youths about the importance of voting. The campaign makes use of
road shows with young local talents.

“Our biggest challenge is to convince the youths that their being
unemployed, and their failure to access to clean water and medical services,
could be a result of their failure to use their opportunity to choose their
leaders during elections,” Chimhini says.

Frustrating
He says youths told him they are frustrated, for example by the requirements
to register as a voter. Besides an identity card, you are obliged by
Zimbabwe’s electoral laws to produce a proof of residence, usually in the
form of your name on a utility bill.

“It is impossible for me to show a utility bill in my name because I am not
a property owner,” says Maneta Mbiswa, a 25-year-old unemployed woman. “How
do we hope to vote when the system is clearly designed to frustrate us?”

Praise for efforts of Zim Olympic athletes

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
14 August 2012

Zimbabwe’s Olympic athletes have received much praise from officials and
supporters who recognized their determination and accomplishment considering
the little support they received and the difficult circumstances they would
have trained under.

Although the 2012 team won no medals, our marathoners finished 7th and 15th
in the last event of the London games on Sunday. And there was some good
news for “golden girl” swimmer Kirsty Coventry, who was elected to the
International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The popular swimmer will serve an eight-year term on the IOC’s Athletes’
Commission. But her fans also hope for a longer relationship with boyfriend
Tyrone Seward, following her announcement last Friday that they are now
engaged to be married.

Zimbabwe’s 2012 Olympic team included swimmer Kirsty Coventry, rowers Jamie
Fraser McKenzie and Micheene Thorncroft, triathlete Chris Felgate and
marathon runners Wirimayi Zhuwao, Sharon Tawengwa and Cuthbert Nyasango.
Rower Thorncroft placed fourth in the quarter finals last Tuesday but did
not qualify for the semi-finals. Nyasango finished in 7th place followed by
Zhuwao in 15th in a gruelling marathon that was won by Steven Kiprotich of
Uganda.
A two-time Gold Medalist, Coventry failed to defend her title in the
200-meter backstroke finals. She finished sixth but won praise for her
efforts after overcoming pneumonia and recovering from a dislocated knee
just before the games.
Education and Sports Minister David Coltart praised the 2012 Olympic team
while acknowledging that government needs to do much more to support
aspiring athletes and to nurture them from an early age.

“We tend to focus on medals but our athletes performed well among some of
the very best in the world. Their spirit was also commendable,” Coltart told
SW Radio Africa on Tuesday.

The minister said government needs to intervene in the early stages to
identify talent and nurture those who want to pursue athletics. Private
investment in sports is also necessary. One report said Kirsty Coventry had
received financial support from businessman Strive Masiyiwa and an other
individual.

According to the Minister, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee does have a plan
of action but it is often frustrated by a lack of financial support from
government and from private investors.

“We need an indaba, a gathering of all those interested in sports so that we
can work out a strategy and reach agreement on how to proceed in a cohesive
manner,” Coltart explained.

Transcript: Simba Makoni on Question Time

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

Former Finance Minister Dr Simba Makoni

Former Finance Minister Dr Simba Makoni, who now leads the Mavambo opposition political party, joins SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma on Question Time.

Responding to listeners questions Makoni traces the history behind the imposition of targeted sanctions on members of the Mugabe regime, why he opposes the current indigenisation drive and comments on suggestions that he acted as a spoiler in the 2008 presidential election?

Interview broadcast 01 August 2012

Lance Guma: Good evening Zimbabwe and thank you for joining me on Question Time. Over the weekend, former Finance Minister and Mavambo president Dr Simba Makoni ignited debate when he was quoted by the Sunday Mail newspaper arguing that sanctions imposed by western countries on Zimbabwe were targeted at members of the Mugabe regime and did not affect ordinary people.

We have invited Dr Makoni to the programme and hopefully allow you the listener the chance to ask him questions on the controversial issues surrounding sanctions, indigenization and other topics affecting you. Dr Makoni thank you for your time.

Simba Makoni: It’s my pleasure. Good afternoon listeners.

Guma: Okay you became Finance Minister in July of 2000 so you would be best qualified to tell our listeners the history behind the imposition of these measures by the west.

Makoni: Well first of all I don’t know if I am best qualified; I’m sure there are other people including those who imposed the measures who are better qualified than I but I do have some knowledge.

The perception of the world was that the 2000 general elections and the 2002 presidential elections had been held under conditions that did not support free and fair outcomes firstly;

Secondly that there was a growing abuse of human rights and denial of human rights, victimization of individuals perceived to be opposing Zanu PF and its government at that time.

And so my understanding is the first measures were imposed against those individuals and institutions that were believed to participate in the abuse of human rights and that’s when the terminology of ‘smart’ or ‘targeted’ sanctions which comprised at that time mainly a travel ban and a seizure of assets belonging to those individuals were imposed in March of 2002.

Guma: Now the Zanu PF theme song is that these sanctions are affecting ordinary people and must be removed. Why don’t you buy into that argument?

Makoni: Well I think we need to understand or establish the facts. These measures are targeted at individuals and organizations, mainly public companies and public institutions believed to be participating in the denial or abuse of citizens’ rights.

Now if Simba Makoni as a member of the Zanu PF politburo as I was at that time and Minister of Finance, was barred from travelling to UK and France and if he had a bank account overseas, that bank account was frozen, how does that affect ordinary Zimbabweans?

I would concede that to the extent that some businesses are unable to conduct normal businesses for reasons unrelated to targeted travel ban against Simba Makoni or Robert Mugabe, that people in those businesses and those who use the services or products of those businesses obviously would endure difficulties but the question at issue is – are the measures intended to harm and designed to harm ordinary Zimbabweans or to penalize those perceived to be abusing human rights?

Guma: Okay so let’s separate this: you have the travel restrictions and the freeze on assets of individuals and companies linked to the regime but many in Zanu PF use the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, ZIDERA, alleging it is too broad in its effects.

Makoni: No I think we also need to understand what the objective or the target is. Zimbabwe defaulted on its obligations to multilateral and bilateral lenders by the middle of 1999, and those who were owed money who did not see prospects of being re-paid took measures to limit their risk or their exposure.

And one of those was a decision by executive directors and governors of multilateral institutions not to extend further facilities to a non-paying debt. That is the origin of ZIDERA and that is the target of ZIDERA, as I understand it.

Guma: Benson Brown sent us an email saying you mentioned in a previous interview a number of Zimbabwean products which are allowed to be exported abroad to try and debunk this sanctions myth perpetrated by Zanu PF, his question is and I quote: “what about our diamonds which are being blocked from being sold abroad? They contribute a great deal to our economy.”

Makoni: Absolutely but Benson needs to explain why our diamonds are being blocked from being sold because there are issues of transparency and accountability, there are issues of the contact of the people who are mining and their relationship with the community in the diamond mining areas.

So Tendai Biti tells us and I don’t believe he is not telling the truth that he is not receiving proceeds from diamonds but he’s receiving proceeds from platinum and ferrochrome and gold which are not being blocked and there are reasons. We must address the causes, not the symptoms of the problem.

Guma: Now writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Scott Baldauf argues and I quote: if most of the country’s assets are indeed owned by the leadership under sanctions, then it would make sense the country would suffer. Your take on that?

Makoni: Well first we must interrogate the assertion that most of the country’s assets are owned by the leaders – I don’t believe that is fact. Most of the country’s assets are owned by enterprises but some of the leaders do own substantial assets. How they acquired them is the subject of another discussion but they would not be the ones who provide the wherewithal and the survival of the largest majority of Zimbabweans.

Guma: But the fact that they have a presence in these companies would also roll on to affect the companies that they are involved in, would it not?

Makoni: It would indeed but let me just share with you about this list of products traded overseas; the Herald newspaper today carries a headline which says : Zimbabwe’s trade with the EU grew 46% in the last year.

That wouldn’t happen under sanctions, but coming to your question, yes indeed those people who are employed in businesses that are the subject of targeted sanctions quite clearly would have less remuneration, less revenue for those businesses than if they were not targeted.

Guma: Okay let me switch the arguments a bit; academic Dr Alex Magaisa recently wrote an article saying “I was never sufficiently persuaded by the effectiveness of the smart sanctions and instead thought they actually had a boomerang effect.”

He argues the targeted sanctions were in fact missing the targets and giving Zanu PF a convenient excuse to block full implementation of the power sharing deal. What’s your take on that?

Makoni: Well there are two missing aspects; Alex in that discussion or the quotation you are making does not then conclude with what would have been the alternative. I am quite sure that the virulence with which president Mugabe and his colleagues in Zanu PF argue for the removal of these sanctions shows that they are having an effect.

But I also will not deny that Zanu PF has put in a propaganda spin to use the existence of the targeted sanctions as a reason for not implementing their commitments and obligations to the GPA but is that a justifiable argument? I would say no.

Guma: The EU is putting forward the proposition that if Zimbabwe holds a successful free and fair constitutional referendum, they’ll consider easing targeted sanctions. Is that a wise move?

Makoni: Well I think the EU and many other friends of Zimbabwe who would like to see progress are advancing a strategy which says for every positive move, you get a reward. In that context I would agree that there’s justification for rewarding some progress when it is realized.

But I also understand the EU position is not to remove all the measures just after the referendum, is to remove some. You continue to reduce as the incremental progress is realized. I think that is a rational approach.

Guma: Some in Zanu PF will be bitter at what they perceive as you singing a different tune now that you are in opposition to the tune you were singing when you were finance minister. How would you respond to them?

Makoni: Well this is a very interesting proposition Lance because Munyaradzi Huni put a line to that effect. What is missing is what tune was I singing when I was in Zanu PF? Nobody is saying that. I don’t remember ever saying anything contrary to what I am saying now when I was in Zanu PF.

Guma: Perhaps you were guilty of being silent on the issues and not coming out publicly.

Makoni: Well does the absence of knowledge suggest there is nothing? If you are not in this room where I am right now and you don’t know what is here does it suggest that there is nothing here? So yes, I did not vocalize the position in the manner I am doing now.

There are circumstances and explanations for that but it does not also justify a conclusion which says because I didn’t say so it doesn’t mean I didn’t believe it or I didn’t know it.

I said it differently in recognition of the discipline I was under at that time but I don’t think you ever heard me or anybody can accuse me of ever standing on a high mountain and urging for the removal of the sanctions at that time.

I did not engage in that discussion at all because I understood and accepted the reasons why I was on the sanctions list at that time by association.

Guma: Okay before we go to the new draft constitution, just a quick comment from you on the current indigenization drive. What do you think are the problems with it?

Makoni: Well there are a lot of problems with it starting with the definition of indigenous.

Secondly with the lack of transparency in the criteria and parameters for determining who partners who including the fact that the minister arrogates to himself the role of matchmaking.

Lance shall have a partnership with Simba, John shall have a partnership with Susan – what gives him that right? Business partnerships are like human relations, you go to like-minded people. There are also issues around the ethicacy of a strategy that concentrates on parceling out the little that there is without creating the more that is needed.

Guma: What would your ideal model be for indigenization, just quickly?

Makoni: First of all I would not use the term indigenization Lance because I think in the 21^st century in a small global village where human mobility is so high, the concept of indigenous is very, very nebulous.

I used these words in the Sunday Mail interview and I simulated three scenarios of people who are now residents or citizens of Zimbabwe with different origins but they are discriminated against in terms of race. That is a very serious shortcoming in the formulation of national policy.

Secondly we are advancing in my party the concept of citizen empowerment. All citizens need to be empowered and our policy and strategy would be to remove the impediments that disable people as individuals, as families and Zimbabwe as a nation to improve and increase its welfare and material assets.

Guma: Coming to that, I think it links neatly to my next question – Justice Gasa via email says – Lance can you ask Dr Makoni what his take is on the new constitution?

Are MKD going to support it should it come to a referendum? What in his view are the weak points that need redress in this draft and what does he see as the best way forward for Zimbabwe?

Makoni: Lance we are studying the constitution; I am sorry to say we only received a copy of this document yesterday. They circulated it among the so-called principals of the GPA, parties in parliament and copies are not yet available to the public.

But we are going to do, like the other parties have done, convene a meeting of our national management committee, hopefully in the very near future, analyse it and we will then address ourselves to it after studying it.

But I can say on the basis of the process of developing it we have serious concerns about what Welshman (Ncube) rightly described in May as a negotiated constitution between the three GPA partners. This constitution was not produced according to the design of a people driven constitution.

Guma: Lameck Mahachi sent an email asking and I quote from his email: “it is known that prior to the harmonized elections in 2008, it was reported that you had a closed door meeting with Robert Mugabe and that what transpired at that meeting was never made public. Since he was also a presidential hopeful, why was he having a secret meeting with someone he was going to stand against in that presidential election?” close quote.

Makoni: I make two comments very quickly Lance. The first one is I hope we can bury the ghost of the past. I have answered this question I don’t know how many times. I met Robert Mugabe on January 21 2008; I was still a member of Zanu PF and I announced I was leaving the party and standing as a presidential candidate on February 5 2008, two and a half weeks after I had met Robert Mugabe. Part of my conversation with him was what led to my leaving the party on February 5. But there is no contradiction, there is no unclarity there. The sequence is quite clear.

Guma: Did you at any point ask him to step down as suggested by other reports?

Makoni: In that Sunday Mail interview I repeated what I have said – I have been part of the people advocating for change going back to the mid-90s. Part of that change included change of direction, change of policy and change of people including the top leadership of the party. I was involved in that process.

Guma: And what answer did you get to that suggestion?

Makoni: The public secret that everybody knows, hakuna chete chete chete, ndivo vega (no ways no ways, I’m the only candidate).

Guma: Okay J Mataire says please could you ask Dr Makoni if he thought he was going to win the 2008 vote or he was a spoiler to ensure there was no outright winner of the vote? Did he really imagine a lot of Zanu PF bigwigs abandoning Mugabe and joining him?

Makoni: Well first of all he needs to realize that Zanu PF bigwigs will not win or lose a candidate in elections, they are too few. We were addressing ourselves to the electorate of Zimbabwe, the numbers that we did at that time suggested that it was feasible to win that election and I set out to win that election.

Guma: Nqabutho Dhlamini on Twitter says please ask Dr Makoni his views on secession of Matabeleland.

Makoni: Zimbabwe is a unitary country and I will work with all those citizens who would like to see equitable and balanced development of a unitary country.

Guma: Do you not think though that people in the region have not had, in terms of development, what’s rightfully theirs and some other system needs to be considered?

Makoni: Lance, there is a perception that some parts of the country have been marginalized, they have been disadvantaged, they’ve been left behind. When I was Minister of Finance in that short two years, I criss-crossed this country, there is not an area where I didn’t meet an unhappy people who felt that they were left behind all the others.

The state of underdevelopment of Zimbabwe is widespread. There may be very minimal differences between Checheche and Uzumba, Tsholotsho and Filabusi, overall the Zimbabwean territory and its citizens are underdeveloped and I don’t believe that any Balkanisation will solve the problem of underdevelopment.

Guma: Last question for you Dr Makoni – James Zimba on Twitter he says: could you please ask Dr Makoni what he thinks he will leave as a legacy – his past in Zanu PF or the Mavambo that is yet to start?

Makoni: I think it is too early to talk about leaving a legacy. I am in the struggle with others to change our country for the better, to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life. When that process is finished, either by the end of my life or by my taking on new assignments, others can then measure my legacy.

At the moment I am persuading Zimbabweans to join us in making change that we need and when we have made that change people can then measure my legacy.

Guma: Well Zimbabwe, that’s former Finance Minister and now Mavambo president Dr Simba Makoni joining us on Question Time and I hope some of your questions have been answered. Dr Makoni thank you so much for your time.

Makoni: It’s my pleasure, thank you very much.

To listen to the programme:

http://www.swradioafrica.2bctnd.net/08_12/qt010812.mp3

Feedback can be sent to lance@swradioafrica.com http://twitter.com/lanceguma or http://www.facebook.com/lance.guma

Youth Agenda Trust Statement on Heroes and Defence Forces days

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/8007

August 14th, 2012

Press Release: Youth Agenda Trust would like to take the momentous occasion
of the commemoration of Heroes and Defence forces days to salute the gallant
sons and daughters of Zimbabwe who sacrificed their lives for the liberation
of this country from colonial rule.

As the youth, we take a cue from the heroics of these true patriots, some of
whom perished during the struggle, others who perished after Independence
and a few others who still remain with us.

We also recognize that these heroes gave their souls for the total
liberation of our motherland, that is socio-political and economic
emancipation. They fought for one man one vote and for a society that
respects the rights, freedoms, dignity of fellow countrymen and sanctity of
human life.

We are however disturbed by developments that have been taking place in our
country where some true heroes of the struggle have formed an unholy
alliance with bogus war veterans who feel that by virtue of having
fraudulently received the 1999 payouts, they have become real war veterans
overnight.

We castigate in the strongest terms the involvement of these people in
national processes particularly in elections where they have (true war
veterans) tormented the same villagers who received them with joy and
celebration at Independence in 1980.

We urge these “War Vets” to cease forthwith the militarization of a peaceful
country such as ours and the recruitment of innocent youth to become a
para-military wing of a certain political party but instead enjoy their
pensions in a civil manner and engage in national development initiatives.

Lastly, we also want to urge our defence forces not to involve themselves in
political party politics where most of the times they have been found
sympathizing with one political party at the expense of the image of this
country but instead concentrate on reinforcing national security and
stability.

Long live Zimbabwe

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 at 12:40
pm.

Archbishop Tutu pledges support for the “Save the SADC Tribunal” campaign

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 August 2012

Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has added his highly respected
voice to an international campaign to reinstate the regional court of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal, a vital institution
for legal redress.

The campaign is spearheaded in the SADC region by the Southern Africa
Litigation Centre, the International Commission of Jurists and the SADC
Lawyers’ Association, supported by leading legal and human rights
organisations.

On August 17 and 18, the SADC Heads of State will meet at a summit in
Maputo, Mozambique, at which the Tribunal’s future role, notably its human
rights jurisdiction, will be decided.

A 10-minute video narrated by Archbishop Tutu and available for viewing
on You-Tube, outlines the history of the Tribunal and explains its vital
role when governments fail to deliver justice and are not held to account.

Without it, Tutu says, the region will lose a vital ally of its
citizens, investors and future development, and victims of state-sponsored
human rights abuses – notably in Zimbabwe - will have nowhere to turn.

A three-minute version of the film, created for general distribution and
the social media, can also be viewed on You-Tube.

The Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) has
set up a “Save the SADC Tribunal” petition which was launched today on the
Change.org website, a leading platform for social change.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, formerly of Uganda, who
experienced human rights abuses at the hands of the late dictator, Idi Amin,
has pledged his support for the campaign.

“It is now time for all communities and organisations within the
southern African region to stand together as one to petition their Heads of
State to reinstate and strengthen the mandate of the SADC Tribunal regional
court,” he said.

“The SADC states stood together successfully to defeat apartheid in
South Africa. They must now stand together to stop human rights abuses and
bring an end to government-sponsored violence within member states which has
led to deaths, shocking injuries and mass scale displacements,” the
Archbishop stressed.

The SADC Tribunal was set up as an independent legal body to ensure that
every country within SADC respected and conformed to the principles and
objectives enshrined in the SADC Treaty of 1992, notably:

 Peace, security and solidarity
 Human rights
 Democracy
 The Rule of Law
 Equality
 The peaceful settlement of disputes

The Tribunal had exclusive jurisdiction where member states had disputes
with SADC or its institutions.

It also provided SADC citizens with a platform to seek justice and hold
their governments to account when their human rights had been infringed upon
and local legal remedies had been exhausted.

From 2007, the Tribunal ruled on 20 cases that included disputes between
citizens and their governments, as well as cases between companies and
governments. The majority involved Zimbabwean citizens taking the Zimbabwe
government to court.

In December 2010, in their judgment on the Gondo case, the Tribunal ordered
the Zimbabwe government to pay US$17 million compensation to nine victims of
organised violence and torture perpetrated by the army and police.
The victims had suffered bullet wounds, beatings and even paralysis as a
result of the physical violence at the hands of the police and soldiers.
Two years earlier, in November 2008, the Tribunal had ruled that President
Mugabe’s land reform programme was both illegal and racist.

Following intensive lobbying by the Zimbabwe government, the SADC heads of
state suspended the Tribunal in August 2011 and there is widespread concern
that they will decide at the Maputo summit to remove the Court’s human
rights jurisdiction.

The proposal to remove the Tribunal’s human rights mandate is contained in a
draft amendment to the SADC Protocol, which was adopted by SADC Ministers of
Justice in Angola during June.

However, pressure is growing on the heads of state to not only retain the
original mandate of the Tribunal, but also to strengthen it.

As Archbishop Tutu pointed out during an interview in the film, “If you are
a law-abiding head of state, why are you scared that people might want to go
through another adjudicator, unless it is that you fear you are likely to
fall foul of the law?

“What happened in Zimbabwe could happen elsewhere in the SADC region,” he
cautioned.

Film links:

• 10-minute film: http://youtu.be/jXQjqqBv4tE
• 3-minute film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm2BgeKSMZo&feature=youtu.be

The link to the petition is
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/save-the-sadc-tribunal

ENDS
Submitted by / For further information:

Ben Freeth
SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
Zimbabwe
Cell: +263 773 929 138
E-mail: freeth@bsatt.com

Zimbabwe, looting big time while attention is on constitution

By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri 14th August 2012

The recent issuing of hunting permits and 25-year land leases to top Zanu-pf
officials without regard for merit principle is arguably part of the ongoing
looting and plunder that is taking place in Zimbabwe while attention is on
the controversial draft constitution.

Zimbabweans are appalled by Zanu-pf’s scorched earth policy of “smash and
grab” being rolled out under the noses of the coalition government in the
name of the so-called indigenisation policy.

The hunting permits which have been branded by those in the industry as
“illegal” have arguably been issued by the regime to reward cronyism ahead
of elections in which Robert Mugabe risks humiliation if the Diaspora Vote
is restored.

The fact that even Parliament issued a damming report on some of the
beneficiaries for inclusion of conservancy land in the land grab campaign
shows that Zanu-pf has a low opinion of the legislature let alone the rule
of law.

More disappointing is the fact that the allocation of the hunting permits is
being done with no commitment to safeguarding wildlife from which the
country earns vital foreign currency and scarce employment in the tourism
sector.

The anarchy prevailing in the conservancies has shocked even the Zanu-pf
Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi who reportedly fears it will dent the country’s
tourism credentials as Zimbabwe lays out ambitious plans to host the UNWTO
next year.

It is sad that as the country’s attention is focused on the constitution
crisis, the regime is fomenting a new one in the environmental sector by
ignoring pleas to save the Save Valley Conservancy.

Endangered animals are facing a major threat to their lives because of out
of control hunting systems and that should be stopped. The regime is acting
as if the world is coming to end with Mugabe’s exit.

Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com

Zambezi Society Special Bulletin - Mining in Mana Aug 2012

SPECIAL BULLETIN

Newsletter of THE ZAMBEZI SOCIETY http://www.zamsoc.org

The Zambezi Society is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation.

We promote and conserve the wildlife and wild places of the Zambezi River for the benefit of wilderness, wildlife and people

If you have not already made a 2012 Supporting donation to the Zambezi Society, please do so.

See this link: SUPPORT THE ZAMBEZI SOCIETY

AUGUST 2012

ZAMBEZI SOCIETY PUBLIC STATEMENT:

“NO MINING IN MANA POOLS WORLD HERITAGE SITE”

The Zambezi Society wishes to publicly express its deep concern regarding the threat of mining exploration for Heavy Mineral Sands Deposits (and possibly other minerals) in major tributaries of the Zambezi River in the Mana Pools/Sapi/Chewore area of Northern Zimbabwe.

The Mana Pools/Sapi/Chewore region not only encompasses one of Zimbabwe’s largest National Parks and two Safari Areas, but is also internationally recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with “Outstanding Universal Value”, a Biosphere Reserve, an international Important Bird Area (IBA), and a vital component of a proposed Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA).

We believe that there should be NO MINING (prospecting or exploration included) in this area because of potential impacts on its biodiversity, wildlife and sensitive eco-systems, which are globally important, and on its wilderness areas which are valuable to international tourism.

Furthermore, World Heritage status is not awarded lightly. There are less than 200 sites worldwide on UNESCO’s ‘natural sites’ listing; and in the Society’s view, Zimbabwe’s national interests will be best served by maintaining the integrity of the area, and prohibiting activities such as mining that will result in its degradation and possible loss of its World Heritage status.

A media statement in early July 2012 issued by a Zimbabwe-based mining company, Habbard Investments (affiliated to Geo Associates) announced its intention to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for prospecting for Heavy Mineral Sand Deposits (HMSD) in the Ruckomechi and Chewore Rivers in northern Zimbabwe. It called for comments to be sent to an EIA consultancy company IMPACO by a deadline of 17th July 2012.

The Ruckomechi River lies within the Mana Pools National Park and the Chewore River forms the boundary between the Sapi & Chewore Safari Areas. Both rivers are within the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Biosphere Reserve and the Important Bird Area (IBA)boundaries (see BACKGROUND NOTES 2, 3 & 4 attached to this statement).

Prior to submitting an objection by the required date, The Zambezi Society met with Mr Paul Chimbodza, CEO of Geo Associates, the proponent of the project, who explained that in September 2011 his company had been issued two licences to undertake exploration activities for HMSDs in these rivers, covering an area from the escarpment to the Zambezi River (45km for Ruckomechi and 65km for Chewore). The licences are due to expire in September 2012, but are renewable (see BACKGROUND NOTE 5 attached to this statement).

The HMSDs covered in the prospecting licence include copper, lead, zinc, manganese, tungsten, magnetite, tantalum, and titanium group minerals. If exploration was successful, the subsequent mining methods to extract these minerals from the riverbeds would include dredging and earth moving on a large scale, with sands being transported away in heavy machinery for processing at a nearby urban centre. The Zambezi Society questions why such heavy impact operations need to target ecologically-sensitive protected areas like the Zambezi Valley when there are alternative sources elsewhere, in less vulnerable areas.
The Zambezi Society’s investigations in July 2012 showed that the company, IMPACO , was not listed by Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Agency as an “approved” consultancy to conduct EIAs.

The Zambezi Society has drawn the attention of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to this issue. This Committee has the power to list a World Heritage property as being “In Danger” if it is considered to be threatened by any of the following criteria: depletion of wildlife resources through poaching, deterioration of natural beauty through mining impacts, threats to its integrity through increased human encroachment, lack of an adequate or implemented management plan. In the opinion of The Zambezi Society, all of these apply. (For a more detailed list of the “World Heritage In Danger” criteria, see BACKGROUND NOTE 6 attached to this statement).

The Society has also expressed its concern about this situation to its international contacts. Media reports and petitions against the threat are appearing in the local and international media. The international tourism industry is issuing statements of alarm. These could well impact upon next year’s meeting of the UNWTO being hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia in Victoria Falls in August 2013.

A social media Facebook community page called SAVE MANA POOLS has been launched to campaign against the mining threat at http://www.facebook.com/SaveMana It is fast gaining momentum.

If you are on Facebook, please go to the page and "Like" it.

The message is clear for Mana Pools/Sapi/Chewore:
NO COMPROMISE. NO MINING IN A WORLD HERITAGE SITE!

BACKGROUND NOTES: (Please see the attached PDF file)
1. THE ZAMBEZI SOCIETY
2. WORLD HERITAGE SITE
3. BIOSPHERE RESERVE
4. IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS
5. PROSPECTING LICENCE FOR RUKOMECHI RIVER – Sept 2011
6. WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS:-

Please forward this e-mail to anyone who might be interested in becoming a supporter of The Zambezi Society and helping us to Keep the Zambezi Wild!

The Zambezi Society
Conserving the valuable wildlife and wilderness resources of the Zambezi River and its basin
Harare Office: Mukuvisi Woodlands, Msasa, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel: + 263 (0)4 747004
E-mail: zambezi@iwayafrica.co.zw
Web: http://www.zamsoc.org
Facebook: The Zambezi Society

$100 million foreign fund for Mugabe's 2008 election exposed