http://www.mg.co.za
ALEXANDRA LESIEUR | WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA - Aug 17 2010
14:30
Zimbabwe's refusal to obey rulings by a regional court, which
rejected
President Robert Mugabe's land reforms in favour of a group of
white
farmers, looks set to win a pass as a summit wraps up
Tuesday.
The tribunal of the Southern African Development Community,
whose leaders
are meeting in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, ruled in 2008
that a group of
78 white farmers could keep their land, saying they had been
unfairly
targeted because of their race.
Zimbabwe has refused to
respect the ruling, even though Harare has signed
the treaty creating the
court, which has no power to enforce its decisions
except through decisions
of a summit.
"There is no possibility of punitive measures like
sanctions," said Dirk
Kotze, a political analyst from the University of
South Africa.
"Expressing their disappointment is the furthest they can
go," he said.
"Anything further would be punitive and it has to be weighed
against other
political considerations such as maintaining unity in the
government."
Mugabe, who at 86 is Africa's oldest leader with three
decades in power,
formed a unity government last year with former opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, now the prime minister.
About 4 000 white
farmers have been forced off their land in a violent and
politically charged
campaign launched by Mugabe in 2000.
About 400 white farmers remain in
Zimbabwe, and the chaotic resettlement
process slashed food production,
making the nation chronically dependent on
foreign handouts.
Zimbabwe
insists that the SADC tribunal treaty was never ratified. Critics
contend
that the signature on the protocol was enough. The leaders are
expected to
simply punt the issue to their next summit in 2011.
"To find a solution,
SADC asked its justice ministers to make a report, but
it wasn't completed.
Any decision will simply be postponed indefinitely,"
said one official at
the summit, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They may just ask the
justice ministers to finish their report," another
official said as the
leaders began meeting.
Contentious issue
The report was meant to be
presented at the summit, but regional leaders
fear the contentious issue
could split the bloc, which has struggled to act
with a united voice on
Zimbabwe, even at the height of electoral violence in
2008.
"The rule
of law in the SADC countries depends on this," said Kallie Kriel
of the
South African rights group AfriForum, a mainly white organisation.
"If
the rulings of SADC institutions are not adhered to, the credibility of
SADC
itself is at risk."
South Africa's courts have registered the judgement,
leading to the seizure
of Zimbabwe government properties for auction to help
cover the farmers'
legal costs.
In the summit's final declaration,
expected late on Tuesday, the leaders
will likely congratulate the progress
made by the unity government in
stabilising its economy while pushing Harare
to end its bickering over key
appointments.
The political feud has
delayed progress on electoral reforms.
The power-sharing pact had called
for a referendum on a new constitution for
last month, but the process has
barely gotten off the ground.
SADC has been much tougher on Madagascar,
which was suspended from the bloc
over the army-backed ouster of president
Marc Ravalomanana by the former
mayor of the capital, Andry Rajoelina, in
March 2009.
The leaders were also expected to be briefed on a new
agreement signed last
week. -- Sapa-AFP
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
17
August 2010
Leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
have put off
confronting Robert Mugabe over his refusal to abide by rulings
of the
regional human rights courts, in a move that threatens the
credibility of
the Tribunal.
SADC leaders have been meeting in
Namibia this week for a heads of state
Summit which came to an end on
Tuesday. It was widely hoped that the Summit
would bow to pressure to take
action against Zimbabwe for openly snubbing
the authority of the Tribunal,
which ruled that Mugabe's land grab campaign
was unlawful.
But SADC
has instead decided to wait until the completion of a report on
Zimbabwe's
refusal to honour the Tribunal, apparently meant to be undertaken
by the
region's different justice ministers. That report has not been
completed and
the issue has been shelved until the next summit in 2011.
The Tribunal in
2008 ordered the Zimbabwean government to compensate owners
for the farms
that were seized and to protect the farmers' rights to their
land. Those
orders have all been ignored in Zimbabwe and the Tribunal has
since ruled
the government as being in contempt - three times.
In Zimbabwe the
Tribunal has been openly snubbed by the government, with
Robert Mugabe and
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa declaring that the
Tribunal's rulings
were 'null and void'. A shock High Court decision then
followed this year
with Justice Bharat Patel ruling that the Tribunal's
orders on land reform
have no authority in Zimbabwe.
The government's refusal to honour the
ruling has also left a number of
South African farmers fighting to protect
their properties in Zimbabwe. They've
appealed to their government in South
Africa to intervene, to no avail.
South African President Jacob Zuma, the
SADC appointed mediator in the
Zimbabwe crisis, didn't even bother
mentioning the situation while
addressing the Summit in Windhoek this week.
He instead gave a "glowing"
report on the unity government's
progress.
Athol Trollip, the parliamentary leader for South Africa's main
political
opposition the Democratic Alliance (DA), expressed his anger on
Tuesday,
saying that President Zuma's muted approach to Zimbabwe's brazen
contempt
for the Tribunal's ruling has further undermined the legitimacy of
the
highly-respected SADC Tribunal - and that of SADC itself.
"The
South African government's silence on this matter is as concerning as
the
Zimbabwean government's clear disregard for the rule of law. That the
Tribunal's ruling impacts the rights of the many South Africans who live,
work and invest in the Zimbabwean farming community, and the economy in
general, raises further questions about the ANC government's decision not to
comment publicly on this matter," Trollip said.
The DA official told
SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that Zuma's government "has
placed its political
affiliations above the rights of its own citizens." He
accused Zuma of
allowing "Mugabe's despotic tendencies to flourish and the
rights of South
African citizens in Zimbabwe to be repeatedly and
systematically
abused."
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
17
August 2010
A new wave of violence erupted in Chimanimani district on
Sunday when some
ZANU PF militias armed with machetes, sticks and stones
attacked MDC
activists at Bvumbura village.
Gun shots were also heard
in the area but reports suggest there were warning
shots fired into the air
by the militias to frighten some of the villagers
from confronting
them.
Eyewitnesses say that violence began when a militia, accompanied by
known
ZANU PF activists, attacked homes belonging to several MDC
activists.
MDC spokesman for Manicaland province, Pishai Muchauraya, told
us the
militias destroyed property worth thousands of dollars. Some of the
property
destroyed included satellite dishes and solar
panels.
However, when the home-owners tried to drive the militias away
from the area
shots were allegedly fired into the air to scare them. But
this decision by
the home owners to try and confront the militias led to the
feared CIO
visiting the village Monday, where they led away some MDC
activists at gun
point.
'The CIO's were in the company of ZANU PF
provincial member Janet Knight
when they force marched our activists into
their vehicles. They were first
taken to an isolated location where they
beaten up badly with logs before
they were dumped at the Cashel Valley
police station,' Muchauraya said.
Muchauraya identified their supporters
being held behind bars as Joseph and
Tinashe Chikware, Stanley, David and
Wilson Kuretu. The other two are John
Jiyamwa and Matibiri
Nyando.
Access to the group has been denied by the police who say they
have nothing
to do with the 'prisoners' because they did not arrest
them.
'There've been attempts by our people to visit the group but access
has been
denied possibly from instructions from the CIO. We've also failed
to deliver
food to them, so it's a worry really that victims of a political
crime are
being treated like criminals,' Muchauraya said.
It is
believed the seven were targeted for being too vocal at a
constitution-making outreach meeting held in the area last week and the MDC
have fingered several senior ZANU PF members for sponsoring violence in the
restive province.
Politburo member and Minister, Didymus Mutasa, is
reportedly spearheading
the violence campaign in Makoni district, while
Central Committee member,
Enock Porusingazi, is causing mayhem in Chipinge
south.
Hubert Nyanhongo, ZANU PF MP for Harare south, who is reportedly
eyeing the
Nyanga seat, is leading a team of war vets on a path of
destruction in the
eastern highlands district.
A woman police
inspector, identified as Florence Marume, is making life
difficult for MDC
supporters in Mutare, while Major Svosve of the army is
running riot in
Buhera.
'What surprises us is that we've seen some arms of war in the
hands of war
veterans and militias. These are the same weapons that were
used during the
2008 violence and its clear they've been brought back for
the same purpose,'
said the Makoni South MP.
Tuesday 17 August
2010
MASVINGO-MDC Member of Parliament for Masvingo West, Hon. Tachiona
Mharadza has been detained by police in Masvingo on trumped up charges of waving
a gun and disrupting a Zanu PF meeting at ward 14 Zano in Masvingo North. Hon
Mharadza was today picked up at his home in Masvingo at around 3pm and is still
detained by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of
Masvingo.
According to the police, Hon Mharadza disrupted a Zanu PF
meeting after waving a gun towards the gathering. Masvingo provincial chairman,
Wilsatff Sitemere has however denied the charges against Hon. Mharadza.
According to Stemere, there was an MDC meeting held at Zano yesterday
when Zanu PF youths converged at the meeting making noise and claiming that the
gathering was a Zanu PF gathering leading to a scuffle between them and MDC
youths.
Zanu PF youths however were quick to report on the case leading
to the arrest of Hon. Mharadza who was nowhere near the district.
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
Harvest House
44 Nelson
Mandela Ave
Harare
Zimbabwe
Tel: 00263 4 793 250
http://news.radiovop.com
17/08/2010 12:06:00
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Harare, August 17, 2010 - The Attorney
General (AG)'s Office has appealed
against the acquittal of prominent human
rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama,
eight months after his
discharge.
Roderick Tokwe, a law officer in the AG's Office, filed a
chamber
application last Friday seeking leave to appeal against the
acquittal of
Muchadehama, a partner at Mbidzo, Muchadehama and Makoni Legal
Practitioners
and a dedicated senior member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for human
Rights (ZLHR).
In his Notice of Appeal and the Grounds of Appeal Tokwe
argued that
Magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni erred and misdirected herself in
acquitting
Muchadehama and Constance Gambara, the clerk of High Court Judge
Justice
Chinembiri Bhunu, whom he was jointly charged with at the close of
the State
case last December.
Tokwe claimed that Muchadehama and
Gambara brought the administration of
justice into contempt by allegedly
disobeying Justice Bhunu's order granting
the AG leave to appeal against
bail awarded to three victims of State
sponsored abduction namely Gandhi
Mudzingwa, Kisimusi Dhlamini and Andrison
Manyere, who were represented by
the human rights lawyer.
In his application the law officer wants the
human rights lawyer and Justice
Bhunu's clerk to be placed before the trial
court for a continuation of the
trial.
In an attempt to recommence
with the trial of Muchadehama, Austin Muziwi,
the Principal Law Officer in
the AG's Office states in an affidavit that the
late filing of the chamber
application for review though regretted was as a
result of problems
encountered by the Chief Transcriber in preparing the
transcript.
Muziwi claims that there is no time limit laid down
within which as the
trial prosecutor he could file the application for leave
to appeal and thus
he is seeking a condonation of the High
Court.
Muchadehama, a crusading human rights lawyer, who had been on
trial for
contempt of court was acquitted on Thursday 10 December 2009
together with
Gambara at the close of the State case as the prosecutors
failed to prove
the essential elements of the crime.
The two had been
on trial since June 2009 for allegedly facilitating the
illegal release from
Chikurubi Maximum Prison of two Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
officials Mudzingwa and Dhlamini and Manyere, a freelance
photo-journalist,
who had been granted bail by High Court Judge Justice
Charles
Hungwe.
Magistrate Mthombeni ruled that there was no prima facie case
warranting to
put the two on their defence.
The attempt to once again
put Muchadehama on trial has drawn of ire of ZLHR
which "expressed shock and
outrage at the malicious actions of the Attorney
General (AG) in appealing
against the acquittal of prominent human rights
lawyer.
"At the very
least, a reasonable perception has been created by these
unprocedural
actions that this is an act of blatant malice by an office led
by partisan
AG, Johannes Tomana, whose outstanding issue status has yet to
be fully
dealt with by the three principals to the Interparty Political
Agreement. It
is solely calculated to distract Muchadehama from his core
business in
representing human rights defenders and hamper his ability to
deal with
other cases as he will be forced to spend time and energy
defending himself
against continuing frivolous charges," ZLHR said in a
statement released on
Tuesday.
"Persecuting lawyers for simply carrying out their lawful duties
and
ensuring the fundamental right to legal representation for countless
repressed human rights defenders in Zimbabwe is a cowardly and evil act
calculated to harass and intimidate an independent legal profession and
break the existing legal safety net for human rights defenders. Such actions
cannot be tolerated or condoned in a democratic society. They only validate
charges that the AG is out to fulfill the political agenda of certain
parties and individuals against perceived opponents through convictions at
all costs," ZLHR said.
The rights group said it was saddening and
shocking that the persecution and
harassment of Muchadehama is going on
right under the nose of an Inclusive
Government that claims to be making
much progress in resolving the country's
political crisis, and at a time
when SADC Heads of States and Government are
meeting at a Summit in Namibia
to review developments in Zimbabwe.
"ZLHR is of the strong belief that
progressive elements from the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) within
the Inclusive Government are not doing
enough to resolve the outstanding
issue of a partisan Attorney General and a
clique of law officers who are
intent on fighting political battles rather
than ensuring the swift and
effective prosecution of perpetrators of murder
and violence to fight the
pervasive culture of impunity within our society.
As the greatest current
threat to the restoration of the Rule of Law in
Zimbabwe, action is needed
to resolve this outstanding issue, and it is
needed now," ZLHR
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By
Tichaona Sibanda
17 August 2010
The suspension of the Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation's chief
executive officer and three other top
managers, allegedly for
misappropriation of US$40 million in proceeds from
gold and diamond sales,
is being linked to vicious infighting in ZANU PF
circles.
Chief Executive Dominic Mubayiwa, Finance Director Robert
Karemba, Group
Technical Manager Albert Chitambo and Corporate Secretary
Tichaona Muhonde,
were recently placed on forced leave at the instigation of
Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu.
Mpofu last month brought in Goodwills
Masimirembwa to become ZMDC chairman
after going on record as saying 'times
of protection and connections' will
soon come to an end. A source told us on
Tuesday the remarks were 'obviously'
aimed at Mubayiwa, who was reported to
be always at loggerheads with Mpofu
over the handling of the diamonds
cash.
It has taken government almost two years to act on Mubayiwa who was
fingered
in a Reserve Bank report that claimed the ZMDC could not account
for almost
$20 million from diamond sales.
But the former ZMDC board,
stashed with loyalist from the Solomon Mujuru
faction, failed to take any
action or carry out investigations into the
allegations.
SW Radio Africa
is reliably informed that matters came to a head when
Mubayiwa reportedly
gave out information of the full corporate breakdown of
the companies
involved in the Chiadzwa diamonds.
The information that Mubayiwa,
released was deemed too sensitive to the ZANU
PF establishment, especially
those linked to the Emmerson Mnangagwa faction.
Mpofu is reportedly linked
to that camp and according to Mubayiwa some Mbada
board members are
allegedly close relatives to the minister. The suspended
ZMDC boss
identified Sithengisiso Mpofu as one those on the board of Mbada,
one of the
companies government is 'allowing' to mine the controversial
diamonds at
Chiadzwa, Marange. The board chairman is Robert Mhlanga, a
former
Presidential helicopter pilot to Robert Mugabe.
Following these
revelations, Mpofu moved quickly to replace the old ZMDC
board with a new
one that he filled with loyalists.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
by Irene
Madongo
17 August 2010
Plans by the Home Office to deport Zimbabwean
failed asylum seekers will be
met with resistance, according to rights
groups in the UK.
The groups were reacting to news that the UK government
has sent an
immigration team to Zimbabwe to see if it is safe to send back
failed asylum
applicants.
On Tuesday a Home Office spokesman in
London said: "I can confirm that a
joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and
UK Border Agency fact-finding team
is in Zimbabwe to obtain up-to-date
information about the situation on the
ground for use in determining the
risk on return of Zimbabwean asylum
claimants."
Paradzai Mapfumo of
the UK-based Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe, said
any plans to remove
asylum seekers was wrong, because of the on-going
politically motivated
violence: "We will definitely protest because it is
not in the interest of
our members. I know of asylum seekers who went home
and were
harassed."
"I don't see it as a good move because the violence is on its
high in
Zimbabwe. When they send the [fact finding] team, they will be led
to 'safer'
parts of Harare and Bulawayo, but they will not be taken to the
rural areas
where it is really serious," he added.
There has been
widespread violence in the country, more recently with ZANU
PF militia and
war vets terrorising locals during the constitutional
outreach
exercise.
Over the years, thousands of Zimbabweans have sought asylum in
the UK, Home
Office figures show that 24,085 asylum applications were
received from
Zimbabweans between 1999 and 2008.
In September 2006
the UK Home Office announced that it would be halting
enforced returns to
Zimbabwe, and it is still not enforcing the return of
Zimbabwean
nationals.
Rose Benton of the Zimbabwe Vigil, a UK-based organisation
that campaigns
against human rights abuses, said: "We will certainly
campaign. Zimbabwe is
not secure to send people back."
"Recently one
of our activists went back to Zimbabwe. He was picked up just
for being
there, taken into custody and beaten up. If it wasn't our big
fight to get
him out through getting legal help for him, he would still be
there. It is a
very, very unsafe time for Zimbabweans to go back," she
explained.
The Zimbabwe Vigil has successfully helped fight-off Home
Office orders to
deport another of its members.
"Whenever someone
needs our protection we will grant it. But where they are
found not to need
protection, we will expect them to return home," the UK
Home Office
spokesman said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
16:53
In a move that could further possibilities of greater citizen
participation
in the constitution making process, the Constitution Select
Committee
(COPAC) today, 17 August 2010 launched its long awaited website
www.copac.org.zw at the Jameson Hotel,
Harare.
The website was officially launched by the Minister of Constitutional
and
Parliamentary Affairs, Honorable Eric Matinenga who encouraged all
Zimbabweans to visit the site and participate in the process. According to
Hon. Matinenga, the website provides a platform for Zimbabweans including
those living abroad to contribute to the constitution making process and
actively interact with COPAC.
According to Honorable Jessie Majome, the
COPAC Information and Publicity
Chairperson, "the idea of a website was
conceived in April 2009 with the
formation of COPAC and was informed by
Article VI of the GPA which states
that it is "the duty of the Zimbabweans
to make a constitution by themselves
and for themselves".
The website,
according to COPAC, provides all information related to the
constitution
making process and furnishes users with Talking points,
Thematic Briefs and
statistics on the ground COPAC has covered so far.
COPAC has indicated that
it will embark on a public awareness exercise and
rigorous advertising in
local and international newspapers to ensure that
the estimated 1.2 million
Zimbabweans living abroad participate in the
process through the site. It
was further highlighted that through the
website, different organizations
and interest groups will be able to submit
their views on both the process
and content of the constitution.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition commends
COPAC's decision to finally launch the
website and encourages all
Zimbabweans regardless of their geographical
location, political affiliation
or gender to participate in the constitution
making process through the
website.
http://www.irinnews.org
HARARE, 17 August 2010 (IRIN) -
The parliamentary committee in charge of
reviewing Zimbabwe's constitution
is actively inviting feedback and
recommendations from the millions of
Zimbabweans living abroad.
"Our resources could not permit us to travel
all over the world to solicit
the views of Zimbabweans on the contents of
the draft constitution; this
meant that we could only conduct outreach
programmes in Zimbabwe," a
co-chair of the Select Committee of Parliament on
the New Constitution,
Edward Mkhosi, told IRIN.
"The launching of a
website is a wonderful opportunity for Zimbabweans all
over the world to
contribute on how they want their country to be governed,"
said Mkhosi, who
represents a smaller formation of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
led by Arthur Mutambara.
The other co-chair, Douglas Mwonzora,
representing the main MDC faction led
by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
told IRIN that some 4.2 million
Zimbabweans, of a total 13 million, were
living abroad.
"That is quite a significant part of the population which
would need to be
consulted, as they may have issues that are relevant to
them - some of the
issues that could be peculiar to them may have to do with
dual citizenship
and the right to vote," he said.
Under existing
Zimbabwean laws dual citizenship is not allowed, and only
diplomatic staff
and armed forces stationed abroad are allowed to
participate in national
elections while they are out of the country.
A new constitution is one of
the requirements stipulated by the Global
Political Agreement, signed in
September 2008 between Zimbabwe's three main
political parties.
The
outreach programmes to find out what people would like to see included
in a
proposed new constitution have covered urban and rural areas throughout
Zimbabwe, but millions of others living abroad have not yet been given a
chance to participate in the consultative process.
Paul Mangwana,
representing President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party,
commented that "the
website was designed primarily for Zimbabweans in the
diaspora ... they
should be able to say what kind of country they want to
come back
to."
Estimates of the number of Zimbabweans living abroad range between 3
million
and 5 million, and their remittances are widely credited for
softening the
impact of the country's economic collapse.
Admore
Tshuma, a Zimbabwean journalist based in the United Kingdom, welcomed
the
decision to include expatriates "because it is the same diaspora who,
during
the height of near economic collapse of Zimbabwe, chipped in and
re-oiled
the wheels of Zimbabwe's economy".
Interested Zimbabweans around the
world can join the discussion here:
www.copac.org.zw
[ENDS]
[This
report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
http://news.radiovop.com
17/08/2010 06:13:00
Norton,
August 17, 2010 - Protais Mpiranya, a Rwandan wanted genocide
fugitive with
a US$25 million bounty on his head is believed to be staying
in Zimbabwe's
fishing town of Norton, on the fringes of Harare, security
sources have
said.
Mpiranya, a former top soldier in the Rwandan government accused of
organising the mass killings of Rwandans from the Tutsi minority ethnic
group, is the third most wanted man in connection with the 1994 Rwandan
genocide.
Sources in Harare told Radio VOP Mpiranya has been staying
in Norton since
the end of the Congo war in the 2001.
Mpiranya was
the commander of the Presidential Guard during the 1994
genocide that mainly
claimed close to a million lives of Rwandans from the
minority Tutsis in
Rwanda.
"The guy is in Norton," said a security source. "He has been
staying there
since 2001 and he is very safe and sound. Just that he keeps a
low profile."
Mpriranya was instrumental during the Congo war after he
worked side by side
with Allied forces, which included Zimbabwe, Angola and
Namibia. The Allied
forces were fighting armies of Rwanda and Uganda which
was backing several
rebel groups seeking to topple to Kinshasa
regime.
Mpriranya commanded a Rwandan rebel force that was fighting Paul
Kagame's
Rwandan Patriotic Army since 1994.
He helped with
intelligence about the Rwandan military which was crucial to
the Allied
forces. The sources said the former commander also mobilized and
trained
Rwandans in refugee camps in eastern DRC as part of the Allied
Forces's
strategy to defeat Kagame's army.
Rwanda and Uganda and the rebels they
backed failed to topple the Kinshasa
regime and were forced to
withdraw.
The sources said Mpiranya befriended several top commanders in
the
Zimbabwean army who were grateful for his assistance during the Congo
campaign.
"After the Congo War he simply came to Zimbabwe with the
blessings of top
army officers," said the source.
News about
Mpiranya's presence in Zimbabwe come amid reports secret agents
from Rwanda
sneaked into the country early this year to hunt down two
genocide suspects,
Mpiranya and Charles Bandora apparently without the
knowledge of Zimbabwean
authorities.
The other most wanted men Felicien Kabuga and Augustin
Bizimana also have
US$25 million each on the respective heads.
http://af.reuters.com/
Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:06am
GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe produced 4.03 tonnes of gold in the
first half
of the year and is on course to double last year's output despite
regular
disruptions to electricity supplies, the country's mining chamber
said on
Tuesday.
Gold production plunged to a record low of 3 tonnes
in 2008, as mines choked
from inflation of 500 billion percent as well as
acute foreign currency and
electricity shortages. Last year saw a marginal
improvement to 4.9 tonnes.
A power-sharing government set up by bitter
rivals President Robert Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last
year dumped a worthless local
currency for multiple foreign currencies,
taming hyperinflation and
stabilising the economy.
Most mothballed
mines have come back into production and the chamber of
mines says gold
output for 2010 could be higher than the initially projected
7
tonnes.
It did not provide figures for first-half output in
2009.
"The country produced 4.03 tonnes between January and June. Based
on six
months' production, current projection for the year is 8.047 tonnes,"
the
chamber said in a statement.
At its peak, Zimbabwe produced 27
tonnes of gold in 1999.
The mining chamber has set a production target of
20 tonnes over the next
five years, but says this could be held back by
frequent power cuts and the
government's empowerment laws which seek to
transfer control of
foreign-owned firms to local blacks.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Aug 17, 2010 12:08 AM | By Moses Mudzwiti
A
father who watched four of his children die of measles while he prayed for
their recovery has been sent to jail for 18 months, a Zimbabwe daily
newspaper reported yesterday.
The newspaper said that Karoi
magistrate Elisha Singano found Elvis Tapiwa
Mugusa, of Magunje village,
guilty of breaching the Children's Protection
and Adoption
Act.
Singano slapped the Johanne Marange Apostolic sect member with a
two-year
jail term, but he provisionally set aside six months for "good
behaviour".
The court was told that Mugusa ignored neighbours' pleas to
have the
suffering children treated.
The children were all below the
age of 15.
The devout Mugusa said taking his children to a hospital for
treatment would
be against his religious convictions.
His church
prescribes prayer and the use of ''holy water" to treat any
ailment.
After the children died, the police were called and were
able to save three
of Mugusa's remaining children.
In the past year,
measles has killed more than 100 un-vaccinated children in
Zimbabwe.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tobias Manyuchi Tuesday 17 August 2010
HARARE
-- US fast food giant McDonald's has said it will “take steps” to
open its
popular restaurants in Zimbabwe, more than a decade after it
initially
indicated its willingness to set up shop be in the southern
African
country.
The takeaway giant said no dates have been set as to when its
first outlets
will open in Zimbabwe.
"We have not set a firm date for
the development of McDonald's restaurants
in Zimbabwe …. eventually we will
take steps to open McDonald's restaurants
in Zimbabwe," McDonald’s
international franchising unit said in a statement
posted on its
website.
In 1999, McDonald indicated that it was willing to set up a
franchise in the
country, but shelved the plans as Zimbabwe plunged into an
unprecedented
economic crisis that began with the crash of the local dollar
in November
1997 after President Robert Mugabe authorised payments to about
than 50 000
former fighters of the country’s 1970s liberation
war.
The payouts were not budgeted and the economy responded with a bang,
resulting in the infamous “Black Friday” crash of 14 November 1997 when the
Zimbabwe dollar plunged on a single day from $14 against the United States
greenback to $26 to the US unit.
The secondary contagion effect was a
sharp 40 percent crash of the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange. The stock market lost
46 percent of the value of shares as
investors scrambled to dump the
Zimbabwe dollar.
Withdrawal of balance of balance of payments support by
the International
Monetary Fund in 1999 and the farm invasions that began
the following send
Zimbabwe’s economy plunging into the mire, forcing many
investors to close
shop and flee the collapsing economy while those like
McDonald’s that were
planning to come quietly abandoned such
plans.
But there is renewed interest in Zimbabwe since formation of a
unity
government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai that has stabilised the economy. -- ZimOnline.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Corespondent Monday 16 August
2010
HARARE -An umbrella body of human rights groups has called on
Zimbabwe's
ruling parties to publicly denounce the continuing lawlessness
and violence
in the key farming sector and push for a credible land reform
programme that
guarantees the rights of every citizen.
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights Forum said in a report at the weekend that the
parties to the
global political agreement (GPA) should strive to restore the
rule of law as
one of the conditions to restoring the viability of a
commercial agriculture
sector battered by a decade of state-sponsored farm
seizures and
violence.
It noted that restoring the rule of law would enable the
government to come
up with a credible land reform programme that addresses
the historical
imbalances and the injustices of the 2000 fast track land
reform process.
"All parties to the GPA should publicly denounce the
continued land
invasions as this undermines the determination shown by the
parties to
reform the human rights culture. The continued violation of
property rights
has negative impact on economic recovery," said the forum, a
coalition of 19
human rights groups that assist victims of organized
violence.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has previously ordered the
arrest and
prosecution of illegal farm occupiers but his word has largely
been ignored,
with targeted white farmers reporting continuing invasions of
their
properties and disruption of farming activities.
President
Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai's partner in a fragile coalition
government formed
by the arch-rivals in February 2009, has openly incited
his ZANU PF
supporters to grab the remaining farms owned by white farmers
whom he
accuses of working with the West to plot his ouster from power.
The
Commercial Farmers Union says invaders have raided at least 200 of the
about
300 remaining white-owned commercial farms since the formation of the
coalition regime last year.
The Human Rights Forum warned that the
land reform programme would further
hurt the economy and other unintended
targets such as farm workers if it
continued under the present format
characterised by lawlessness and
disruptions of production.
The UN
estimates that up to one million Zimbabweans were internally
displaced
between 2000 and 2008.
A significant number of the internally displaced
persons are former farm
workers while others are families displaced by a
2005 slum destruction
programme and by political violence two years
ago.
It is feared that the number may have increased since the formation
of the
coalition government when hordes of Mugabe's ZANU PF supporters,
so-called
war veterans and members of the army and police stepped up farm
invasions.
http://www1.voanews.com
Zimbabwean Health Minister Henry Madzorera was in Washington
this week at
the invitation of ZimHealth-USA, an association of Zimbabwean
health
professionals who want to assist the revival of the sector back
home
Sandra Nyaira | Washington 16 August 2010
Zimbabwe's
health delivery system has improved greatly since the
installation of the
national unity government in 2009, but there remain
shortages of critical
staff such as doctors and midwives, Health Minister
Henry Madzorera
said.
In an interview during a U.S. visit, Dr. Madzorera said that while
the
country no longer has a shortage of nurses, health officials are
appealing
to experienced workers abroad to come home on sabbatical and help
as and
when they can.
Dr. Madzorera was in Washington this week at
the invitation of
ZimHealth-USA, an association of Zimbabwean health
professionals who want to
assist the revival of the sector back
home.
Addressing the Zimbabwean medical diaspora at the weekend, the
minister
appealed for support on initiatives to reduce the maternal
mortality rate
and deaths from HIV/Aids in particular.
Dr. Madzorera
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira that he is touched by
the desire of
Zimbabweans living in the diaspora to contribute to the
rebuilding of the
country's once-thriving health sector.
ZimHealth member Norbert Mugwagwa,
an operations adviser at the World Bank,
said the group aims to mobilize the
diaspora and friends of Zimbabwe to see
how best they can help improve
health services delivery.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
16/08/2010 00:00:00
by Nkanyiso
Moyo
ZIMBABWEAN football was thrown into turmoil last night after
the Zimbabwe
Football Association admitted the national team "played a fixed
match under
the auspices of a Malaysian betting syndicate" in December last
year.
Zimbabwe, playing a second string team, lost to Malaysia 3-0 on
December 28,
2009.
Suspended ZIFA CEO Henrietta Rushwaya has been
summoned to a disciplinary
hearing on Tuesday morning after a probe
committee led by ZIFA deputy
president Ndumiso Gumede accused her of
corruption, financial mismanagement
and match fixing in a damning
report.
In its findings, Gumede's committee said Rushwaya "facilitated
(and) or
allowed the Zimbabwe national soccer team to travel to Malaysia on
a trip
that had not been approved by either the ZIFA board or the Sport and
Recreation Commission."
Rushwaya will be asked to respond to charges
that she "arranged a trip by
the national team to Malaysia where the team
played a fixed match under the
auspices of a Malaysian betting
syndicate."
The charge sheet adds: "The team was paid to lose the match,
to the previous
prejudice to the reputation of Zimbabwe as a soccer playing
nation and to
the FIFA ranking of the national team."
Rushwaya is
also accused of facilitating another trip by Premier League club
Monomotapa
to Malaysia in July 2009 where they passed themselves off as the
national
team. They played two friendlies losing 4-0 and 1-0. Gumede's probe
team
believes the match was also organised by a Malaysian betting
syndicate.
After New Zimbabwe.com blew the lead on the deception, the
Malaysian FA
accused ZIFA of "disgraceful conduct". Malaysian FA general
secretary Datuk
Azzudin showed reporters a letter from Rushwaya which said
Monomotapa -- who
played in the national colours -- were the national soccer
team.
Further, Rushwaya is accused of applying for a loan of US$103,000
from the
Sport and Recreation Commission on ZIFA's behalf "without the
authority of
the board".
"... to date, you have not accounted for the
same money, neither have you
repaid it. The SRC has demanded this money from
ZIFA," ZIFA says in a letter
to Rushwaya, detailing the charges against
her.
ZIFA also accused Rushwaya of prejudicing it of large amounts of
money after
signing a contract with a Swiss-based sports marketing agency,
Kentaro,
giving it rights to all the proceeds from Zimbabwe's match against
Brazil on
June 2 this year.
Zimbabwe lost the match played at the
National Sports Stadium 3-0, and
Kentaro - who manage Brazil's international
television rights - have now
demanded US$650,000 from ZIFA. The association
says the money is NOT in its
coffers.
The ZIFA charge sheet says: "On
or about May 26, 2010, you on behalf of
ZIFA, signed a contract with Kentaro
A.G in terms of which ZIFA literally
gave everything away including rights
as defined by Article 45 of the ZIFA
constitution and got nothing out of a
soccer match that was eventually
played between the Zimbabwe national team
and the Brazilian national team at
the National Sports Stadium.
"As a
result of your action in binding the national association to this
one-sided
agreement, Kentaro A.G is demanding from ZIFA, payment equivalent
to all the
gate takings realised from the said match, money which the
national
association did not receive in the first place."
Rushwaya has denied
wrongdoing even as Malawian sports consultant Felix
Sapao claimed that she
had attempted to engineer a meeting between him and
Wilson Raj Perumal, who
works for a Singapore sports agency, to help fix
matches involving Malawi.
Perumal has previously served a jail term for
match fixing.
http://www.csmonitor.com
One day after the Rapaport
Diamond Trading Network announced a ban on some
Zimbabwe diamonds,
Zimbabwe's Minister of Mines, Obert Mpofu told the
Monitor that the country
will just sell the diamonds in Asia.
By Savious Kwinika,
Correspondent / August 17, 2010
Johannesburg, South Africa
Zimbabwe
says it will continue selling its diamonds across the world despite
renewed
calls to ban the country's precious stones from the global market.
The
latest such call comes from US-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network -
an
international network of more than 10,000 diamond buyers and suppliers -
which vowed Monday to expel any member who knowingly trades gems from two
Zimbabwe mines where laborers have been killed and children
enslaved.
"Rapaport Diamond Trading Network is a lunatic organisation
which people and
global market players should not take seriously,"
Zimbabwe's Minister of
Mines, Obert Mpofu, told the Monitor today. "We have
been cleared by the
Kimberley Process (KP) to sell about 900,000 carats of
diamonds, but the
lunatic and bogus US organization utters rubbish. You
might be aware that
America, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have
made every effort
to make Zimbabwe fail."
Zimbabwe can easily take
its business elsewhere, says Mr. Mpofu.
Zimbabwe can 'look east'
"If
they mobilize other nations to ban our gems, then we will be left with
no
other options other than embarking on the Look East Policy, which over
the
past 10 years kept the country moving despie illegal sanctions," says
Mpofu.
"We will sell our stones to countries where they are welcome. We have
countries like China, Malaysia, Russia, India, and other Asian countries
where we can market our diamonds," said Mpofu.
He said the idea to
sully the reputation of Zimbabwe's diamonds was part of
an economic war
being initiated by the West in response to the land taken
from white
Zimbabweans during the country's controversial land reform
program.
"Let me put this on record: Zimbabwe's land program has been
concluded. Any
lunatic who thinks the land issue will be reversible is
mentally sick," says
Mpofu.
Gems to reduce poverty?
He said the
government would responsibly use the diamonds to uplift people's
lives both
locally and regionally.
"We are going to deal with our resources
responsibly. This is part of our
strategy as Zimbabwe, the [southern
African] region, and Africa to use our
resources to eradicate poverty among
our people," says Mpofu.
The Rapaport group, which reportedly connects
thousands of some of the
biggest diamond suppliers and buyers around the
world, has claimed that
Zimbabwe diamonds are not clean, alleging gross
human rights violations as
well as the killing of innocent people in the
diamond mining area of
Marange.
However, Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines
accuses human rights groups of
"peddling falsehoods" about alleged human
rights abuses at Marange.
http://www.usatoday.com
By Enock Muchinjo, Associated
Press Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Former Cameroon and Togo boss Otto
Pfister has applied to
become Zimbabwe's new coach.
"We are really
delighted to have someone of his caliber showing interest in
the job,"
Benedict Moyo, the Zimbabwe Football Association board member
responsible
for national teams, said on Tuesday.
The 72-year-old Pfister is vastly
experienced in African football, having
also managed the national teams of
Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal, plus
Egyptian club side Zamalek.
He
led Ghana to the final of the African Cup of Nations in 2002 and repeated
the feat with Cameroon two years ago. In between, the German coach took
charge of Togo in its first World Cup at Germany 2006.
Moyo said the
new Zimbabwe coach will be announced by the end of next week,
but the
successful candidate will not be in charge when Zimbabwe opens its
2012 Cup
of Nations qualifying campaign away to Liberia on Sept. 4.
The Zimbabwe
coaching post was left vacant after former captain Sunday
Chidzambwa quit in
protest. He is suing ZIFA for unpaid salaries of $60,000,
although president
Cuthbert Dube said on Tuesday that it now had the
resources to hire a
high-profile coach.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Athol Trollip MP
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
12:07
Summary:
. President Zuma fails to publically address either
the remaining
sticking points of the Global Political Agreement, or comment
on the
Zimbabwean government's flouting of a SADC Tribunal ruling (Pictured:
Athol
Trollip MP)
. Evasive approach has weakened negotiations process
by implicitly
condoning Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's disdain for
rule of law
. DA writes to President Zuma to request an explanation for
the ANC
government's implicit support for President Mugabe's contemptuous
conduct
I have today written to President Jacob Zuma to request an
explanation for
the ANC government's silence on the Zimbabwean government's
flouting of a
2008 SADC Tribunal ruling, which declared that country's
disastrous policy
of land reform as unlawful.
President Zuma's
glowing report on the Zimbabwean negotiations process,
presented yesterday
to the SADC Summit in Windhoek, failed to address the
considerable obstacles
blocking the path to the establishment of a
democratic dispensation in that
country. Most notably, the President's muted
approach to Zimbabwe's brazen
contempt for the Tribunal's ruling has further
undermined the legitimacy of
the highly-respected SADC Tribunal -- and that
of SADC itself.
The
South African government's silence on this matter is as concerning as
the
Zimbabwean government's clear disregard for the rule of law. That the
Tribunal's ruling impacts the rights of the many South Africans who live,
work and invest in the Zimbabwean farming community- and the economy in
general- raises further questions about the ANC government's decision not to
comment publically on this matter.
The Zuma administration's evasive
approach to the Zimbabwean political
situation continues to raise serious
concerns about its political
motivations for implicitly condoning President
Robert Mugabe's continually
undemocratic behaviour. In refusing to condemn
the Mugabe administration's
contempt for the rights of those South Africans
in Zimbabwe affected by the
Tribunal's ruling - rights which should also be
protected by the newly
ratified South Africa-Zimbabwe Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA)- the ANC government has placed
its political affiliations
above the rights of its own citizens.
That
the ANC administration has resorted to court action to keep the
contents of
various reports into the Zimbabwean political situation out of
the public
domain is a powerful indicator of the government's determination
to keep
South Africans in the dark about the scale of Zimbabwe's plight. The
report
compiled by Judges Dikgang Moseneke and Sisi Khampepe detailing their
conclusions about the fairness of Zimbabwe's 2002 presidential election, and
the infamous Generals' Report commissioned by former President Mbeki, are
two such examples.
President Zuma's "smoke and mirrors" approach to
Zimbabwe has allowed
President Mugabe's despotic tendencies to flourish and
the rights of South
African citizens in Zimbabwe to be repeatedly and
systematically abused.
This deserves a full explanation.
Media
Enquiries:
Athol Trollip MP
DA Parliamentary Leader
Craig
Kesson
Senior Media Officer
Athol Trollip MP is the DA's Parliamentary
Leader, and Shadow Minister of
the Presidency. He was elected to the
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
in 1999, became the DA Provincial Leader
in 2000 and in 2007 became leader
of the opposition in the legislature. Mr.
Trollip also previously served as
Democratic Party Councilor on the Amathole
district council between 1995 and
1999.
Democratic Alliance
National
Head Office
P.O. Box 1475
Cape Town
8000