http://www.voanews.com
By
Ntungamili Nkomo & Blessing Zulu
Washington
21 August
2009
Cabinet ministers in Zimbabwe's unity government
were to gather Saturday in
the eastern town of Nyanga for a two-day retreat
to review their progress -
or lack of it - towards the fulfillment of the
100-day plan they drafted in
an April retreat in Victoria Falls.
The
ministers will also consider a report from the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee on the strengths and weaknesses of the unity
government formed in February, taking into account so-called outstanding
issues troubling the power-sharing scheme.
Finance Minister Tendai
Biti and Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma
were scheduled to brief
ministers on economic stabilization measures, and
look ahead to the 2010
budget.
A panel on healing and reconciliation was to present a report on
moves to
heal the wounds inflicted on Zimbabwean society by political
violence after
the 2008 elections.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Acting President Joyce Mujuru were to
attend.
Minister of State
Gorden Moyo, attached to the prime minister's office, told
reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the ministers
in
retreat will evaluate whether government policies have been effective or
not.
Formed in February by President Robert Mugabe's long-ruling
ZANU-PF and both
formations of the former opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, the
government launched a Short-Term Emergency Recovery Program in
March to
stabilize the economy.
Political analyst and former Harare
East member of parliament Margaret Dongo
told VOA reporter Blessing Zulu
that she considered the retreat a waste of
time and resources.
http://www.voanews.com
By Sandra Nyaira
Washington
21
August 2009
Health authorities in Zimbabwe have dismissed junior
doctors who have been
on strike at state hospitals in recent weeks over
compensation and working
conditions.
The move closely followed an
appeal by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for
the residents to resume
treating patients given the risk of a resurgence of
the 2008-2009 cholera
epidemic or an H1N1 or swine flu pandemic now that
five cases have been
confirmed in the country.
Tests confirmed five pupils at a school in
Mutare, in eastern Manicaland
Province, were hit by the H1N1 virus, Health
Minister Henry Madzorera said
this week.
The physicians strike began
three weeks with a walkout by Bulawayo doctors,
who were joined by their
colleagues in Harare a week later.
At Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare,
Clinical Director Sydney Makarau told
striking doctors that they had
unlawfully withdrawn their labor, putting the
lives of patients at
risk.
His letter told them they were barred from the hospital and its
residence
accommodations, and informed them that they will be removed from
the state
payroll.
Mr. Tsvangirai told the Zimbabwe Medical
Association's annual conference
that confirmation of swine flu cases demands
emergency preparedness in the
event a major outbreak occurs.
The
country cannot afford a repeat of last year's crisis during which
doctors
were out on strike through much of a major cholera outbreak, Mr.
Tsvangirai
said.
The situation "requires all our capacities to respond," said Mr.
Tsvangirai.
''We do not want a repeat of the cholera experience last
year."
He said the strike was regrettable, adding that annual walkouts by
doctors
must stop.
The prime minister promised to improve conditions
for doctors, however,
calling it a "travesty of justice" that physicians
must use public transport
to get to public hospitals while the government is
making loans to members
of parliament so they can buy vehicles.
"It
is unhealthy that we have can provide parliamentarians with a vehicle
scheme
yet we are not able to provide a vehicle scheme for our industrious
doctors," he said.
He urged the doctors to reconsider not their
demands and the achievements of
the Health Ministry in reviving the
prostrate health sector.
Mr. Tsvangirai also said the country's public
health system was far from
recovering after last year's collapse, adding
there, however, were signs of
improvement.
"Sadly it is a far cry
from the shining example that it was a few years
back. One might say it is
itself in intensive care," he said. "I'm glad that
the situation has since
improved but there is still a lot of work to be
done. This is one of my top
priorities as prime minister."
Hospital Doctors Association President
Brighton Chizhande told VOA reporter
Sandra Nyaira that the doctors are now
seeking Mr. Tsvangirai's intervention
in the crisis.
Earlier, the
Hospital Doctor's Association charged that senior doctors at
state hospitals
were threatening to dismiss junior doctors under their
supervision for
joining the strike.
Harare correspondent Sylvia Manika reported from
Harare.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Nokuthula Sibanda
Saturday 22 August 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's striking medical
doctors have rejected a "paltry
government" allowance offer of US$48 on top
of their monthly salaries, the
Hospital Doctors Association (HDA) said on
Friday.
The rejected offer by the doctors comes at time when the
industrial action
entered its second week and when Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has
appealed to the doctors to go back to work.
"We had a
meeting yesterday (Thursday) and Wednesday and nothing concrete
came out of
that meeting," HDA president Blessing Chizhande said.
"The allowances
they were offering us just added up to an extra US$48 on top
of the monthly
US$170 salary. We feel that US$48 allowance is not enough.
Other allowances
from aid organisations are also yet to come."
The doctors are demanding a
monthly salary of US$1 000 plus US$500 allowance
compared to the US$170 that
they earn now.
The strike by doctors at public hospitals is threatening
the recovery of the
country's health delivery system at a time when the
sector is struggling to
recover from last year's crisis
Addressing
the annual Zimbabwe Medical Association Congress at the Harare
International
Conference Centre, Tsvangirai said government was doing its
best to address
the strike.
"I will continue to do so (working hard), and ensure that the
benefits of
our slow but economic revival are felt and shared by everyone. I
also urge
those health professionals who have embarked on industrial action
to
recognise the efforts that the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and
Health Service Board have made, and are continuing to make even prior the
industrial action," said Tsvangirai.
"I am confident that as Zimbabwe
gets back on its feet we will benefit."
The industrial action has brought
back memories of last year when striking
doctors and nurses deserted
hospitals as a cholera epidemic ravaged
Zimbabwe, killing more than 4 000
people before it was brought under control
with help from international
relief agencies.
The power-sharing government between Tsvangirai and
President Robert Mugabe
has promised to rebuild Zimbabwe's economy and
restore basic services such
as health and education that had virtually
collapsed after years of
recession.
But the administration, which
says it needs US$10 billion to revive the
economy, could fail to deliver on
its promise unless it is able to unlock
financial support from Western
governments that have remained reluctant to
provide aid until they see
evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely
share power with Tsvangirai.
- ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Sebastian
Nyamhangambiri Saturday 22 August 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called on striking
doctors to return to
work saying an outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) or swine
flu was a national
emergency that required the nation to pull together to
avert loss of
life.
"The outbreak of the swine flu (is a) national emergency. We do not
want a
repeat of the cholera experience of last year," said Tsvangirai in an
address to the annual congress of the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) in
Harare on Friday.
Doctors at major hospitals in Harare and the second
largest city of Bulawayo
began boycotting work last week to press the
cash-strapped government for
more pay.
The strike that almost
coincided with the first reports of the first five
confirmed cases of swine
flu in Zimbabwe this week has raised fears of a
repeat of another health
crisis as happened last year when striking doctors
and nurses deserted
public hospitals as an unprecedented cholera epidemic
ravaged the
country.
The cholera epidemic killed more than 4 000 people out of more
than 90 000
infections before it was brought under control a few months ago
with help
from international relief agencies.
Tsvangirai, who
launched his political career in the trade union movement,
told the congress
of doctors, radiologists, pharmacists and other medical
professionals that
their and conditions of service were far inadequate.
But he pleaded with
the health workers to bear with the government as it
works to improve their
conditions and the health sector in general.
"I know that your conditions
of service still leave a lot to be desired. You
cannot have a better trade
unionist than myself to appreciate your
conditions," Tsvangirai
said.
"(But) I urge the doctors on industrial action to recognise the
efforts that
the ministry of health have made and are continuing to make,
even prior to
the industrial action," he added. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21532
August 21, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led
by Prime
Minister Tsvangirai yesterday said it wants investigations
conducted into
the death of scores of its supporters during last year's
violent
presidential elections.The party wrote to the Attorney General's
(AG) office
on Thursday urging it to deal with the cases. It says there are
180 cases of
MDC supporters who were murdered during the election campaign
which are yet
to be dealt with. The letter was copied to the Southern
African Development
Community (SADC), JOMIC, the Public Protector and
Ministers of National
Healing and Reconciliation.
The party accuses
Zanu-PF and state security agents of committing the
crimes.
"Reports
in some cases were made to the local ZRP stations but the report
references
were not given to the informants. The police have not gone back
to the
informants or relatives to inform them of the levels of achievements
in
their efforts to deal with the said matters in accordance with the law,"
said MDC security director, Chris Dhlamini, in a statement.
"There is
nothing to indicate that investigations ever took off. Some of the
deceased
were buried without having undergone post mortem examinations to
determine
the cause of their deaths. No death certificates are in place in
cases where
post mortem examinations were not carried out, a matter which
has created
problems for the relatives of some of the deceased's, especially
where the
deceased left behind children with no birth certificates and in
some cases
debts."
Dhlamini, who was one of the MDC activists abducted and severely
tortured
while in custody last year, said in terms of section 76(4a), the
Attorney
General had the power to order the Police Commissioner-General to
investigate and report to him on any matter which in his opinion relates to
any criminal offence or suspected criminal offence.
"The deaths
occurred in 2008, over a period of time extending from April
2008 to
December 2008. Total number so far verified as having lost their
lives is
183 people. We will forward to you any further reports from our
members as
they come. Information available suggests that the deceased were
murdered,
by, in some cases people who the deceased's relatives and
neighbors will be
able to identify or name," said Dlamini.
"Our party believes that anyone
found responsible for the politically
motivated murders be
prosecuted."
Dhlamini wrote that the MDC believed that a proper
investigation of the
matter would be useful in that it would shape the form
and content of
national healing and reconciliation which the government and
the MDC are
participating in.
Over 500 MDC supporters disappeared
last year. The remains of some of the
victims are still to be found up to
date.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Friday, 21 August 2009 14:15
Njabulo Ncube and
Wonai Masvingise, Staff Reporters
THREE Movement for Demo-cratic Change
(MDC-M) legislators, whose seats were
declared vacant following their
expulsion from the party for alleged
misconduct, have decided to join the
rival formation led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Abedinico Bhebhe
(Nkayi South), Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) and Norman
Mpofu (Bulilima
East) lost their parliamentary seats this week after being
sacked from the
MDC-M last month.
The Members of Parliament, who were formally fired from
the House of
Assembly on Tuesday, were accused of undermining the leadership
of the MDC-M
by drumming up support for the re-unification of the smaller
faction with
that of PM Tsvangirai.
Lovemore Moyo, the Speaker of
Parliament, has written to President Robert
Mugabe and the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission notifying them of the vacancies
that have arisen in the
Matabeleland region following the dismissal of the
three from the
MDC-M.
The MDC-M disciplinary committee, headed by Lyson Mlambo, found the
three
MPs guilty of indiscipline after they walked out of a hearing on
grounds
that the panel was biased.
The hearing was conducted after
accusations that the MPs addressed meetings
in their constituencies,
denouncing the party's leadership, especially its
president and Deputy PM,
Arthur Mutambara.
They were also accused of urging party members to join the
MDC-T.
In an interview yesterday, Mpofu said he will not appeal against the
decision to declare his seat vacant adding that he would ultimately join the
MDC-T.
"I have got nothing to do with (Deputy PM) Mutambara and
(Wel-shman) Ncube.
They are sitting on a borrowed throne. We are going to
leave them with their
junk. We will make sure that there is only one party
(MDC-T)," Mpofu said.
Ncube is the secretary-general of the MDC-M.
Mguni
also indicated yesterday that he will stand as an independent
candidate once
a by-election has been called for in his former constituency.
The former
MDC-M lawmaker also admitted working towards joining the MDC-T, a
move he
described as having been spearheaded by his constituency for some
time.
"They have not expelled me, but they have expelled the people of
Lupane East
whom I represent. I am the face of Lupane East. The people on
the ground are
clear on what they want. They want (PM) Morgan Tsvangirai
because he is the
only one capable of bringing meaningful change to
Zimbabwe. Welshman and
(Deputy PM) Mutambara are bitter because they lost to
Tsvangirai," charged
Mguni.
Although Bhebhe could not be reached for a
comment yesterday, his
association with the MDC-T was exposed early this
year when he was nominated
by the premier to be the water resources
minister.
The nomination was withdrawn after stiff opposition from the MDC-M
leadership leading to PM Tsvangirai replacing Bhebhe with Samuel Sipepa
Nkomo.
Bhebhe is also a personal friend of Deputy PM Thokozani Khupe of
the MDC-T.
Apart from the expelled three legislators, two other MDC-M
lawmakers -
Tsholotsho South and Gwanda North House of Assembly MPs Maxwell
Dube and
Thandeko Mnkandla, who were co-charged with the sacked MPs - were
cautioned.
Ncube, the MDC-M secretary-general, said the party would rather
lose the
three seats in Matabeleland than "accommodate its
enemies".
Article 42 of the Global Political Agreement prevents ZANU-PF and
the two
MDC formations from contesting against each other, but this clause
expires
on September 15.
In the event by-elections are called for,
campaigns to fill the vacant seats
may attract the revived ZAPU whose
officials have indicated willingness to
take part in the polls.
There is
a general consensus in the Zimbabwe body politic that bad blood
between the
MDC-M leadership and the rebel legislators stemmed from last
year's
elections in the House to choose the Speaker of Parliament. During
the
elections, the rebel MPs were suspected to have voted for Moyo, the
MDC-T
candidate, in defiance of their leadership.
The MDC-M and ZANU-PF were
backing MDC-M official, Paul Themba Nyathi, who
was trounced by the current
Speaker.
Independent Tsholotsho legislator Jonathan Moyo took the issue of
the
election of the Speaker to the High Court citing irregularities in the
manner the voting was conducted.
Judgment has been reserved on the
matter.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
21 August
2009
Lupane East MP Njabuliso Mguni, who was recently expelled by the
Mutambara
MDC, has told Newsreel police want to resurrect a 4 month old
incident and
charge him with 'causing alarm and despondency', amongst a host
of other
charges which might include treason. Police allege that Mguni was
invited to
address a Bulawayo Agenda meeting in Lupane in May, at which he
spoke out
against certain leaders in the unity government. He said there is
also a
further accusation that he advocated the 'elimination' of certain
individuals in government.
"The charges are very vague,' Mguni said
referring us to his lawyer
Matshobana Ncube. Newsreel failed to get through
to Ncube whose phone went
unanswered the whole day. Our Bulawayo
correspondent Lionel Saungweme
however told us there is an attempt to charge
the MP with treason, alleging
that he advocated the 'killing' of Robert
Mugabe in order for the country to
move forward. Mguni in his defence says
he was invited by Bulawayo Agenda to
give an appraisal of the unity
government in his constituency. This he says
is what he focused
on.
Meanwhile there is mounting speculation that the three main political
parties, ZANU PF, Tsvangirai MDC and Mutambara MDC, are in talks to extend
an agreement barring them from contesting against each other in
by-elections. A total of 15 vacancies exist in both the lower and upper
house of parliament but no by-elections have been conducted so far owing to
a clause in the Global Political Agreement which expires on the 15th
September. But even after this date the parties are considering a 3 year
extension. The Mutambara MDC is even said to favour an extension of the life
of the unity government to 5 years, given their crumbling party
structures.
The weekly Zimbabwe Independent newspaper spoke to Gorden
Moyo, the Minister
of State in the Prime Minister's Office. He however told
the paper 'there
are no intentions to amend the GPA as we are implementing
it as it is. We do
not believe that the by-elections will be violent and we
are putting in
guarantees to ensure that any electoral competition will be
fair." ZANU PF
chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa said the parties could
extend the
agreement, depending on what they agreed to do. He said he did
not know if
the 3 main party principals had initiated discussions on the
matter.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Friday, 21 August 2009 16:10
Clemence
Manyukwe, Senior Political Reporter
INFIGHTING in ZANU-PF has forced the
party to abandon elections that were
meant to choose a provincial
chairperson for Harare and members of the
district co-ordinating committees
(DCCs).
The elections had been penciled for the past weekend following
the
cancellation of the results of the previous poll held on December 14
2008 by
the party's decision-making body, the Politburo, due to intra-party
violence
by feuding ZANU-PF factions.
Harare South House of Assembly
legislator, Hubert Nyanhongo, had defeated
previous ZANU-PF chairperson and
former mines minister, Amos Midzi, in a
fiercely fought contest that saw the
two main factions in the party
strategically positioning their charges to
gain control of the metropolitan
province.
ZANU-PF insiders said the
acrimony in the province dissuaded the party's
leadership from proceeding
with the elections "until the party's house was
in order".
The party is
trying by all means to avoid potentially divisive issues that
might spill
into the ZANU-PF congress to be held in December.
The only other issue that
has emerged to be a pain in the neck for ZANU-PF
ahead of the congress is
the unavoidable need to replace the late
Vice-President, Joseph Msika, who
died at the age of 86 on August 4.
Msika's death, due to hypertension, has
added a new dimension to the
political intrigues in ZANU-PF ahead of the
December congress with
heavyweights in Matabeleland, namely, John Nkomo,
Cain Mathema, Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu, Simon Khaya Moyo, Obert Mpofu, Naison
Khutswekhaya Ndlovu and Joshua
Malinga being touted as possible contenders
for the vice-president's throne.
ZANU-PF, which lost its majority in
Parliament to the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time
since independence in March 2008,
had sought to forestall internecine fights
within its rank and file by
endorsing all the top four posts in the
presidium, namely, President and
first secretary, the two vice-presidents
and second secretaries, and that of
national chairman.
But with Msika's
death, the party's leadership might have to be reconfigured
in a manner that
will not further divide it ahead of the next elections.
Nyanhongo told The
Financial Gazette yesterday that the polls to choose the
leadership for
Harare province had been postponed due to what he termed
"minor
problems".
"There were minor problems, but they have already been solved.
They were
just minor, minor in-house problems, but they have already been
solved," he
said.
New dates for the polls are yet to be
announced.
Efforts to get a comment from Midzi were fruitless.
Midzi lost
his ministerial post when the inclusive government was
consummated in
February as he had no parliamentary seat following his defeat
by the MDC-T's
Epworth Member of Parliament, Elias Jembere.
Nyanhongo is the sole ZANU-PF
legislator in the capital city after the party
surrendered Harare to the
MDC-T in 2000.
The party's secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa,
claimed yesterday
that he was not aware that ZANU-PF was supposed to have
held any polls in
the province over the weekend.
This is despite reports
in the State media last week quoting both Nyanhongo
and Midzi saying they
were ready for the provincial elections: DCC polls
that were due last
Saturday and provincial chairperson's election that was
to be held the
following day.
"I am not aware that there was supposed to be an election. Who
said there
would be elections? That is news to me," Mutasa
said.
Meanwhile, ZANU-PF has postponed the holding of the party's youth
conference
that was initially supposed to be held from Tuesday this week
until Saturday
due to the absence of President Robert Mugabe.
President
Mugabe was expected to address the conference, but left for
Namibia to
attend a SADC tourism meeting that seeks to identify ways of
marketing the
grouping's member states ahead of the 2010 World Cup to be
held in South
Africa in June next year.
The youth conference is expected to usher in a new
generation of youth
leaders in line with the party's new guidelines
stipulating that members of
the league should be below the age of
30.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Friday, 21 August 2009 13:59
Munyaradzi
Mugowo, Staff Reporter
THE City of Harare has adopted a resolution to
stop the dualisation of
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Expressway and recall its
employees from the project to
make way for full scale investigations into
the deal, which was awarded to a
Ukrainian investment company without going
to tender.
Investigations by The Financial Gazette established that a
caretaker council
hand-picked by Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo,
to run the city
in April last year after Zimbabwe's electoral dispute
delayed the assumption
of duty by a new council, approved the sordid
deal.
The interim council took charge of the city from April 1 to June
30.
The de facto commission was constituted of Alfred Tome, the acting
provincial administrator who works under the Harare Metropolitan Governor,
David Karimanzira, Hieronymo To-rongo, a member of the former Harare
Commission and Town Clerk, Tendai Mahachi.
In terms of the Urban Councils
Act, the Minister of Local Government, Urban
and Rural Development is the
ultimate authority who must approve council
contract projects. As part of
its resolutions adopted during its last
full-council meeting held on August
7, 2009, Council ordered Mahachi to
produce, in chronological order, a full
report of the procedures that were
followed to award the contract for the
design, construction and dualisation
of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Expressway to
Augur Inve-stments. It also requested
the Town Clerk to produce minutes of
the meeting where the caretaker council
passed a resolution to award the
contract and parcel out huge tracts of
prime land to Augur Investments as
payment for the project.
The investment company got land in Waterfalls around
the Boka Shopping Mall,
some 50 hectares in the Mukuvisi woodlands
stretching from Makro in Hillside
to Seke Road and part of the Warren Hills
Golf Course, where it is building
a hotel and upmarket residential
properties for sale. It is understood that
council is in the process of
setting up a special investigating committee to
probe the deals and the
personal association of the Town Clerk, Tendai
Mahachi, and the last
chairman of the disbanded Harare Commission, with the
companies appointed to
finance and manage the project.
The names will be forwarded to Harare mayor,
Muchadeyi Masunda, by the end
of this month.
"My job as mayor of the City
of Harare is to consider the submissions that
will come out of the special
investigations committee and look at the
minutes of the caretaker council
that met to decide on the matter," Masunda
said. "If I am satisfied that
there were no irregularities on the matter, I'll
then see how we can go
about the project."
Michael Mahachi, an old associate of Chombo, wholly owns
Classique Project
Management - a project management consultancy appointed by
the caretaker
council, handpicked by the same minister to manage the
project. The former
commissioner of the City and the Town Clerk are linked
to both Augur
Investments and Sunshine Develo-pments, a property development
company
created by an Ukranian investor called Alexander Sheremeti, the main
shareholder of Augur Investments.
Investigations by this paper revealed
that Michael Mahachi and Tendai
Mahachi were introduced to Sheremeti in 2007
by a Russian businessman based
in Zimbabwe called Ken Sharpe, after they
visited Ukraine.
Sharpe, who is understood to have organised the trip to
Ukraine and asked
Sheremeti to fund the return trip, has since been
appointed Augur
Investments' representative in Zimbabwe.
There is also
suspicion that Augur Investments may have been set up
specifically for the
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Exp-ressway project as the company
is not known in both
Ukraine - where Sheremeti is based - and Estonia, where
the company is said
to have been incorporated.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
21
August 2009
Zimbabwe will not face suspension from the international
diamond regulatory
body, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS),
despite the ongoing
human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
The regulatory body's chairman, Namibian Mines Minister Bernhard
Esau, told
a press conference in Harare on Wednesday that calls by the
group's members
to suspend Zimbabwe over human rights abuses will not be
taken seriously.
Esau, who is in Zimbabwe until Saturday to conduct yet
another review of the
country's complicity with international diamond trade
standards, told
journalists that there had been recommendations made about
'voluntary
suspension', but no consensus had been reached on the
matter.
"Yes there are members of the Kimberly process trying to convince
other
members to suspend Zimbabwe but we will not entertain such (calls),"
said
Esau.
A recent KPCS delegation that was in Zimbabwe to
investigate widespread
reports of abuse and even killings in Chiadzwa,
recommended in an
unpublished, but leaked interim report, that the country
be suspended. The
team that was headed by Liberian deputy mines minister
Kpandel Faiya issued
the apparently damning report at the end of its visit
calling for a
temporary ban on trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe, until
effective security
and internal control measures and resources were in
place. The delegation
also urged the government to demilitarise the diamond
fields, a call that
has been wholly ignored.
Zimbabwe Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu instead told Wednesday's press
conference that the government is
ensuring total compliance with the
recommendations made by the Kimberly team
in its interim report.
In an apparent effort to convince the KPCS to
issue a fresh report,
absolving the country of any wrongdoings, the
regulatory body's head was
given a tour of the still militarized diamond
fields on Thursday. Esau and
his team also visited the home of Newman
Chiadzwa, whose homestead was
reportedly destroyed by soldiers who ransacked
his home some few weeks ago.
Newman, who was reportedly a key witness to
last month's KPCS team about
abuse at the diamond fields, has been in hiding
because of increased
harassment by police and the military. He has since
been arrested on charges
of diamond smuggling.
Deputy Mines Minister
Murisi Zwizwai, who has previously denied any killings
took place in
Chiadzwa, told ZimOnline news service on Thursday that the
Mines Ministry
has showed the KPCS delegation Newman's home and confiscated
property "to
clear the air in respect of his harassment."
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Charles
Tembo Saturday 22 August 2009
HARARE - President Robert
Mugabe this week commandeered an Air Zimbabwe
plane to Namibia, keeping it
overnight before grabbing another jet for a
private visit to Dubai, making
the airline lose critical income at a time
when it is battling to meet its
financial obligations.
Mugabe on Tuesday grabbed the national carrier's
Boeing 737 for a Southern
African Development Community (SADC) meeting, Air
Zimbabwe sources said.
Upon arriving at Harare International Airport from
the SADC meeting on
Wednesday, Mugabe drove his motorcade home reportedly
for a shower and
change of clothes before grabbing a Boeing 767 for a
private visit to Dubai.
Sources at Air Zimbabwe and from the President's
office said the Dubai visit
was mired in secrecy. They said Mugabe only took
18 people on the Dubai
trip. A Boeing 767 has a capacity of 250
passengers.
"Ten of the people were security guys and the other eight
close staff.
No-one really knows about the purpose of the visit but we think
it has to do
with a medical check up," said a source.
Mugabe's
spokesman George Charamba was not immediately available for comment
on the
matter.
However Air Zimbabwe chief executive Peter Chikumba defended
Mugabe, saying
it was a chartered flight, but he could not confirm whether
the President's
office had paid.
"I am not able to confirm that. You
can charter an airplane just like
anybody but I cannot comment on the
President (Mugabe)'s travels. We charge
the costs of operating chartered
flights. This is happening everywhere,"
Chikumba told ZimOnline on
Friday.
Although no figures were immediately available, sources at Air
Zimbabwe said
Mugabe's plane grab would cost the financially troubled
airline because
scheduled flights had to be cancelled.
This is not
the first time that Mugabe has diverted Air Zimbabwe planes from
scheduled
flights. He often does this whenever he wishes to fly outside the
country
and sometimes even when he is travelling on personal business - and
in the
process leaving passengers stranded.
Air Zimbabwe was one of the best
airlines in Africa at independence in 1980.
But years of mismanagement and
interference by the government have nearly
brought the airline to its
knees.
The airline's foreign debt - excluding the US$50 million the
airline owes
suppliers of Chinese made MA60 it acquired in 2005 - has soared
to US$28
million. The national flag carrier has just announced that it will
cut 500
jobs - a third of its workforce - because of cash-flow
problems.
In recent weeks Air Zimbabwe has cancelled scheduled regional
and
international flights due to shortage of funds to buy fuel.
Most
creditors are wary of doing business with Air Zimbabwe because of the
state-owned carrier's bad debt servicing record. This has forced Air
Zimbabwe to rely on government handouts to stay afloat.
In February,
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the airline was draining US$3
million per
week from the fiscus.
Starved of cash for re-tooling, Air Zimbabwe uses
mostly obsolete technology
and equipment while nearly all its planes are
between 18 and 22 years old.
In addition, the airline pilots and other
skilled staff have deserted the
airline to go abroad where salaries are
higher and working conditions
better. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Simplicious
Chirinda Saturday 22 August 2009
HARARE - A lawyer
representing four Zimbabwe National Students Union
(ZINASU) leaders who were
arrested early this month after leading a protest
against high tuition fees
at the country's institutions of higher learning,
yesterday made an
application for refusal of remand arguing that the
students did not commit
any crime.
Lawyer, Jeremiah Bamhu, told ZimOnline that he asked a Harare
Magistrate to
remove his clients from remand after they had appeared in
court for a
routine remand hearing.
"We have made an application for
refusal of remand because there is no
reasonable suspicion that a crime was
committed but the state has asked for
time two respond and were given up to
Tuesday when we will be back in
court," said Bamhu.
The four student
leaders - Clever Bere, Archford Mudzengi, Kudakwashe
Chakabva and Brian
Rundogo - are facing charges of organising a protest
during the opening of
the University of Zimbabwe.
They are being charged under Section 37 of
the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act for "participating in a
gathering with intent to promote
public violence, breach of peace or
bigotry".
They are currently out on a US$30 bail. As part of their bail
conditions the
students report once a week at Harare Central's police
station's Criminal
Investigation Department and were ordered to reside at
their given addresses
and not interfere with investigations.
The
students were arrested by campus security during a meeting to discuss
various issues affecting the returning students.
The university
re-opened early this month after a year-long break forced by
the collapsed
water and sewer infrastructure at the institution and the
political
instability in the country.
But despite the opening a majority of its
students are not attending
lectures as they are failing to raise the
required tuition fees. - ZimOnline
http://www.inthenews.co.uk
Saturday, 22 Aug 2009 00:10
The
European Commission has allocated €9 million for food aid to Zimbabwe
two
days after the United Nations (UN) said donors remain reluctant to give
financial support to fight hunger in the southern African
nation.
Karel De Gucht, commissioner for development and humanitarian
aid, said the
humanitarian and food situation in Zimbabwe remains
precarious.
"Though the food security situation has started to improve
slightly,
Zimbabwe continues to face a protracted emergency," Mr De Gucht
said, noting
that the money will be channelled through the commission's
humanitarian aid
department.
"Urban populations are particularly
vulnerable due to lack of access to
land. It is therefore crucial in this
period that ongoing food security
interventions are reinforced and
consolidated in order to reach the
populations in need."
On
Wednesday, the UN said the world body had received less than half of the
US$718 million required to fight hunger and other killer diseases at a time
when "humanitarian threats such as food shortages" pose a serious
threat.
"Although Zimbabwe is not facing armed conflict, humanitarian
threats such
as food shortages and outbreak of diseases such as cholera pose
a
significant challenge," UN humanitarian coordinator in Zimbabwe, Agostinho
Zacarias, said at a ceremony in Harare to mark World Humanitarian
Day.
"Sadly, only 44 percent of Zimbabwe's appeal of US$718 million had
been
raised by the end of July."
According to food monitoring and aid
organisations, about three million
people of the country's population are
faced with hunger.
Zimbabwe has survived on food handouts since the turn
of the millennium due
to successive years of food shortages blamed on
President Robert Mugabe’s
ill planned agricultural reform programme since
2000.
President Mugabe supported landless war veterans without
agricultural
expertise to grab prime farming land from white commercial
farmers – a
development that saw agricultural production output plummeting
unabated
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Friday, 21 August 2009 12:05 Munyaradzi Mugowo, Staff
Reporter
Munyaradzi Mugowo, Staff Reporter
NET*ONE, the country's
largest mobile phone operator by network coverage and
second largest by
subscriber base, may list on the local bourse if its
shareholder, the
government, approves a financing model, which is one of
the two options
currently on the table.
Information Communic-ations Technology
Minister, Nelson Chamisa, says the
government plans to recapitalise Net*One
through an initial public offer
(IPO) or through a technical partnership
arrangement.
Either option would see the government rolling back by up to 60
percent and
attracting a substantial equity capital infusion to sustain
current
operations and finance the company's huge expansion
plans.
"Net*One is one of the four parastatals that the government is
planning to
recapitalise as soon as possible. We are looking at a number of
recapitalisation models," Chamisa said.
"For Net*One, we are looking at
either public listing or technical
partnership. The more efficient of the
two is what we will go for."
Net*One plans to expand its network capacity
throughout the country and
diversify its operations to data services after
applying for an Internet
Access Provider licence last year.
This requires
large-scale investments in communications technology.
The 2009 budget has
made no provision for shareholder payouts to public
institutions, especially
those involved in profitable operations.
Though it looks the cheapest source
of huge capital for growth, an IPO,
however, presents a pricing dilemma that
may run up against the government's
goal of recapitalising its mobile phone
operator as share prices are
currently too undervalued to support a
meaningful cash offer per share.
Under the option, the government will have
to appoint an underwriter to
decide on the number of shares to issue, the
type of share to issue, the
offering price and when to bring the deal to the
market.
The money raised constitutes the issued share capital of the
company.
Should this option falter, a partnership deal with leading
telecommunications corporations with vast operations in Africa looks set to
sail through.
MTN Group, South Africa's largest mobile phone operator,
and the United
Kingdom's Vodacom are among those that have an interest in
buying into the
country's three-player oligopolistic mobile phone industry
with one of
Africa's lowest teledensity.
Fixed telephones included,
Zimbabwe's teledensity is estimated at 10
percent, implying that only 10 out
of a 100 people have access to a
telephone.
It therefore promises to be
the fastest growing mobile phone market in
Africa in the next five to 10
years.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21525
August 21, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
has bemoaned the
"poverty wages" and poor working conditions of Zimbabwean
journalists.
Visiting IFJ president, Jim Boumelha on Thursday described
local journalists'
salaries as scandalous.
"What we have been
concerned about for many years were the working
conditions of journalists
here," Boumelha told journalists during a press
briefing in Harare Thursday
evening.
"It's some kind of a scandal that professional journalists live
in abject
conditions with poverty wages."
Boumelha, the first ever
IFJ president to visit Zimbabwe, is accompanied by
Michelle Stanistreet,
deputy general secretary of the National Union of
Journalists (NUJ), a
British journalists' trade union.
They have come to conduct workshops and
also support the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists' (ZUJ)
activities.
Boumelha, also an executive member of NUJ, said their visit
was to express
solidarity with Zimbabwean journalists.
Due to a
stranglehold on the local media by President Robert Mugabe's
government,
journalists have found themselves operating under one of the
most repressive
media environments in the world.
He said he was concerned Zimbabwean
journalists were left susceptible to
engaging in corruption in order to
supplement their salaries.
Apart from government, he said, media houses
also needed to play their part
in attending to the plight of local
journalists.
"There can be no press freedom for as long as journalists
are poor and are
kept in a situation of being intimidated. The status of
journalists has got
to be elevated," he said.
During his brief visit,
Boumelha met Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara,
Information and
Publicity Minister Webster Shamu, Information Communication
Technology (ICT)
Minister Nelson Chamisa, among other government officials,
who assured his
organisation Zimbabwe was in the process of implementing
media
reforms.
"There has been some kind of announcements," he said, "the issue
is to what
extent those announcements are really going to lead to a
change.
"We have been calling for years, and obviously there is no change
to that,
for a credible form of self regulation. We have been calling for a
new
radical framework that encourages the free flow of
information.
"We have been calling to help the next kind of media
landscape that would
transform the profession and elevate its
status.
"All the politicians that I have spoken to have echoed the
sentiments and
obviously the challenge is on whether that is gong to be the
reality.
"My view is that the jury is out. The announcements have been
made and in
the next few months, we would be watching intently to see what
is going to
come out of that process."
Zimbabwean journalists have
had to contend with a dual employment system
where they engaged in petty
deals and in some cases risking dismissal from
their current jobs by
moonlighting for other publications prepared to pay
them a better
salary.
The practice has resulted in a flight of the best news stories
from the
conventional media to web based publications that are not readily
accessible
to the majority of the population.
Due to political
hostilities that made their profession increasingly
dangerous, dozens of
Zimbabwean journalists have left the country in the
past decade, to seek
alternative forms of employment abroad.
Most of them have found
themselves working on menial jobs that have nothing
to do with their
training.
Stanistreet, on her part, decried the working conditions of
freelance
journalists. She said they who she said were still finding it
difficult to
obtain money to visit public internet facilities to undertake
thorough
research on news stories being worked on because of high internet
costs.
She said she was also concerned journalists even found it
difficult to file
their stories in public places where they could easily be
victimised by
forces opposed to media freedom.
The IFJ has been
calling for the scrapping of some laws that inhibit press
freedom in
Zimbabwe.
The last time an IFJ mission visited was in September last
year.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21539
August 21, 2009
(SW Radio
Africa Behind the Headlines Interview - broadcast August 13, 2009)
LANCE
Guma: Hello Zimbabwe and welcome to Behind the Headlines. My guest
this week
is the spokesperson for ZAPU, Mr Methuseli Moyo. Now you will be
aware ZAPU
recently broke away from Zanu-PF. Now the reason why we've
decided to get Mr
Moyo is because of the swirling speculation that
(President) Robert Mugabe
has offered their party president Dumiso Dabengwa
the vice presidency
following the death of (Vice President) Joseph Msika. So
of course we got
the ball rolling by asking Mr. Moyo about this speculation.
Methuseli
Moyo: Well as far as that is concerned there is no truth in it, we've
just
seen the media reports but when we checked the source of the story it's
coming from someone who is neither from the president's office nor from
ZAPU. So clearly if you analyse the source of the story, it's a bit
misplaced and in fact I don't think anyone will really believe such a
story.
Guma: What has Mr Dabengwa himself said regarding the
story?
Moyo: Mr. Dabengwa has denied everything about the story. He says
he hasn't
met President Mugabe or anyone from Zanu-PF. In any case why would
Dabengwa
leave his own party to join another party where he's going to be a
Vice
President, when he's the leader of ZAPU?
Guma: Do you think
maybe what's happening is there's a lot of in-fighting
within Zanu-PF and
they can't find someone senior enough within their ZAPU
ranks who maybe can
fill in Joseph Msika's boots?
Moyo: Yah, I think it's more to do with the
dilemma in Zanu-PF, the problem
in Zanu-PF. When Dabengwa and others pulled
out of Zanu PF clearly they left
a very big void in Zanu-PF. When you speak
to Zanu-PF members, particularly
from Matabeleland they are saying none of
the people in Zanu-PF right now
deserve to take over from Msika and there is
some kind of a wish that
perhaps if Dabengwa was still in Zanu-PF he could
provide that leadership
but unfortunately he is ZAPU right now.
Guma:
What happens if these stories that are swirling around actually turn
out to
be true and Zanu-PF is actually making moves towards getting Dabengwa
as
vice president, what would be the reaction of your party?
Moyo: It would
be unbelievable to start with. We don't believe right now
that there's
anyone who is in ZAPU who would want to go back to Zanu. You
know Zanu had
20 years during the Unity Accord and they failed to convince
people to stay
in Zanu-PF and I don't think there is a miracle which they
can perform now
to correct all the bad things that made us leave Zanu-PF.
You know they
failed over a period of 20 years so what would happen now that
Msika has
died which can make anyone believe that Zanu-PF is reformed.
Guma: When
you broke away one of your major complaints was that you were
being
marginalised, would having Dabengwa as Vice President go some way
towards
appeasing you?
Moyo: Not really. Remember (Joshua) Nkomo, politically
Nkomo was a towering
figure, he was a giant but he failed to convince Robert
Mugabe to be fair
with his colleagues from ZAPU. Msika came but he failed so
we don't believe
that any other person, you know the same applies to
Dabengwa, would convince
Mugabe or Zanu-PF to reform. Now they have the
danger of being left alone
and they would want to convince us now that they
have changed. But you know
they always keep making promises that they don't
deliver.
Guma: I suppose Mugabe finds himself in a unique position or
rather the
unique problem that he faces is that we are told before Msika
died, he had
insisted that Dabengwa should succeed him, so there's that view
that it
would be a way of honouring Msika's wish.
Moyo: Yah, it is
unfortunate because now Msika's gone and people are coming
up with all sorts
of stories. There are people who claim that Msika actually
said Dabengwa
must remain in ZAPU and revive ZAPU, others are claiming that
he told Mugabe
that Dabengwa must be brought back to Zanu-PF.
So it's really difficult
to know the truth but clearly it would appear
Mugabe is desperate to have
some kind of a strong politician from the
western region of the country and
that can only be Dumiso Dabengwa right
now, but unfortunately I think all of
us in ZAPU, if for sure the story was
true would do everything in our powers
to make sure that Dabengwa doesn't go
back to Zanu-PF.
Guma: Could
there be a possibility that Mugabe has had a private chat with
Dabengwa
without the party knowing?
Moyo: Oh you can never rule out that
possibility but I think, and this is my
own thinking, that if perhaps I was
in Mugabe's situation right now it may
be better to try and invite Dabengwa
to the inclusive government but not
necessarily to Zanu-PF. I think that's
my own personal interpretation, but
perhaps even if they were approached you
know I wouldn't imagine Dabengwa
leaving ZAPU to go and join Zanu-PF but if
he was approached to come and
join the inclusive government, that's a
different issue now.
Guma: OK let's look at the issue of replacing Msika.
This is happening
because of the 1987 Unity Accord between Zanu-PF and ZAPU,
now you guys have
pulled out so what's your attitude towards Zanu-PF still
looking for someone
within the ZAPU ranks to be vice president?
Moyo:
Well our position on that is very clear. We pulled out of Zanu-PF, we
have
nothing to do with Zanu-PF anymore and they are free to nominate
whomsoever
that they want to succeed Msika, not necessarily anyone from ZAPU
or any
part of the country. You know they should be free but there are
people who
were in ZAPU who remained in Zanu-PF because of the prospect of
going up the
ladder at Zanu-PF and they always try and use the name of ZAPU
and even
Matabeleland for instance to try and advance their selfish
interests within
Zanu-PF. In ZAPU we are out of Zanu-PF,those people who
remained there they
are there on their own, they should work to succeed
Msika as individuals, as
individual leaders in Zanu-PF without you know.they
should be stopped from
trying to intimidate others by using the name of ZAPU
or
Matabeleland.
Guma: I know I may be asking you to speculate Mr Moyo but
why do you think
this story about Mugabe offering Dabengwa the vice
presidency, why do you
think it's out there if it's not true?
Moyo:
Well I think there could be other motives. There are people who are
anxious
they are trying to imagine that if things were like this how would
people
react, you'd imagine that someone is trying to test the waters, but
so far
from our side there's been no excitement at all.
Guma: There was an
accusation I saw in one story some people in Zanu-PF are
accusing ZAPU of
systematically tearing down their structures in rural
Matabeleland and
forming ZAPU structures. Is this true?
Moyo: It is true people are
leaving Zanu-PF en masse and coming to ZAPU
although it's more to do with
pull and push factors, people choose a party
of their choice but what is
true really is that there are no Zanu-PF
structures, even starting from the
highest level of Zanu-PF going down, you
can see clearly that some of the
people who are still in Zanu-PF now at
least so they say, some of them are
in ZAPU, you know they are in ZAPU, some
of them have actually joined, some
haven't joined, but they keep coming to
our offices and phoning us and
saying please go ahead we'll join you later.
Guma: You have the situation
where there are some former ZAPU members or
members who are still within
Zanu-PF who were formally ZAPU, the likes of
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and others,
what's your attitude towards them? Are you
trying to encourage them to join
you, do you have an open doorway if they do
decide to defect they can join?
What's the attitude towards them?
Moyo: Yes our attitude really is that
people are free to join ZAPU from any
other party, Zanu-PF or any other
party they are free. In connection with
those leaders that you have
mentioned, they are always free, we acknowledge
that they were ZAPU, we
believe why they remained in Zanu-PF, they've made
individual choices to
remain there and they are free to remain in Zanu-PF
and they are also free
to come back to ZAPU if they so wish but they have to
make up their minds
quickly, we are going to our congress next year, there'll
be a ZAPU congress
where we will be coming up with our substantive
leadership after which
there'll be no positions anymore. So it's between now
and early next year,
after that if they join us after that they'll have to
come back as ordinary
members of the party.
Guma: Talking about your structures, we understand
you had a very good
turnout at your inaugural meetings in the United
Kingdom, the ZAPU
structures in the United Kingdom, are you very encouraged
by that?
Moyo: Yes we are, not only the United Kingdom, you should go to
South
Africa, Botswana, basically all the countries people are very, they
seem to
be very excited about ZAPU, we get messages, telephone calls from
everywhere, people wanting to join. From that angle it is quite
encouraging.
Guma: But I suppose ZAPU will always be dogged by the
stigmatization that it
is a very regional party, are you doing anything to
demystify this?
Moyo: Yes actually that was a myth that was created by
Zanu-PF towards the
elections in 1980. If you know the history of the
liberation of Zimbabwe,
ZAPU was the authentic liberation movement, it's
well documented, the rest
were splinters so in a way these were people who
were trying to defeat ZAPU,
it worked in 1980 to say that ZAPU was a tribal
party but right now we have
structures everywhere in the country, all the
provinces, actually our best
province is Mash West the majority of our
members that's where we have, our
membership cards actually sold more in
Mashonaland West than anywhere else
and Mashonaland West is not in
Matabeleland.
Guma: Any particular reason why Mash West has been such a
good hunting
ground for yourself, any particular factors?
Moyo: Yes I
think the reason being that if you look at where Mashonaland
West is, it
formed part of the front during the war for ZIPRA and ZAPU so
most of the
people there, they're almost like it was ZAPU and ZIPRA who
fought the war
mainly from that side so generally they connect better with
ZAPU than any
other party.
Guma: OK, now one other issue that I want to raise, the
issue of upcoming
by-elections, we know there have been a couple of vacant
constituencies that
need to be filled up, I know you did issue a statement
that you were going
to be contesting them, how do you think you are going to
perform in some of
those areas?
Moyo: Our expectations differ from
area to area, depending, we are being
realistic, there are areas where we
know or where we have are certain we
have tangible structures on the ground,
particularly in Nkayi South,
Bulilima East and Lupane East certainly we are
certain of winning. But when
it comes to the other constituencies where we
still trying to come up with
credible candidates who we think would carry
the day for us but like I said
in my previous statement, we were going into
this by-election with the aim
of winning. Even if we don't win we want to
announce our revival that we are
now getting fully fit and that we mean to
contest every election.
Guma: Do you see yourself fighting for influence
with the Mutambara MDC
because a lot of people feel that is going to be your
first obstacle to
overcome?
Moyo: Yah I'm sure Mutambara MDC like I
said they have done a lot of damage
to themselves right now to an extent
that in our view they no longer qualify
to be called, to be classified as a
party. And again, if you look at most of
their MPs came from one area, they
were losing in all the other areas so
that should show you certainly that
perhaps why they were winning in that
particular area it would appear that
there is no party that is strong in
that particular area. So as far as we're
concerned, we don't even for a
moment imagine that MDC Mutambara would be a
competitor to ZAPU.
Guma: It's been a pleasure having you on the
programme Mr Methuseli Moyo but
before I go I really have to slot in this
question because just the same way
I asked it, a lot of people would want
clarification, before the Unity
Accord it was PF-ZAPU, now you've split from
Zanu it's ZAPU, so that
clarification - PF-ZAPU, ZAPU, how did it
work?
Moyo: Yes, PF-ZAPU if you remember just before the elections in
1980, there
was an attempt to unite ZANU and ZAPU to contest the elections
under one,
under the banner of the Patriotic Front. As ZAPU we committed
ourselves to
that, we were going to come home and contest the elections as
the Patriotic
Front but unfortunately ZANU pulled out but still retained the
Patriotic
Front element but the party really was ZAPU.
Guma: OK. That
was the ZAPU spokesperson Methuseli Moyo speaking to us on
Behind the
Headlines. Mr. Moyo thank you so much for your time.
Moyo: My pleasure
Lance.
http://news.scotsman.com
Published Date: 22
August 2009
By Jane Fields in Mutare, Zimbabwe
PARENTS in a remote part of
eastern Zimbabwe are keeping their children at
home for fear one of them will
be abducted and killed as a human sacrifice.
The case has opened up
debate on ritual killings and witchcraft in this
still deeply divided
southern African country.
Despite denials from local officials, some
villagers in Makoni district
claim ritual killers have been moving around
looking for a victim who
will be buried alongside the late tribal chief of
the area,
Naboth Gandanzara Makoni.
"Someone has to be sacrificed and
serve as his pillow," sources told the
state-controlled Manica Post
newspaper. Worryingly, police are not saying a
thing.
Burial practices
for the reclusive Makoni clan are normally shrouded in
secrecy. But delays in
burying the mummified chief - who is believed to have
died more than 11
months ago - and fights over who will succeed him appear
to have led
villagers to speak openly for the first time.
Pupils at St Luke's Primary
School have been told to move about in groups
for their own safety, the
Manica Post has reported. The school is near to
where the chief's body is
being embalmed.
A Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) official said
claims a child would be
killed were not true. "There is nothing like that,"
the official, who is
from Makoni, told The Scotsman. "But in our culture we
do not say when the
chief died." The official said the chief would most
likely be buried next
month.
Still, locals are worried. "Please stop
these traditional killers," one
reader wrote to the Manica Post. Another
parent wrote in to say that his
14-year-old daughter had disappeared, though
from the central Gweru area and
not from Makoni.
In the past, Makoni
families from whom a child was taken for such sacrifice
would be rewarded
with land, or one of the chief's daughters would be handed
over in marriage
to a relative of the murdered child, by way of recompense.
With a strong
tradition of mission schools, Zimbabwe has a population that
is more than 80
per cent Christian. But many also believe in spirits,
particularly in the
countryside.
Witches and goblins make headline news, even in the
stuffy,
propaganda-riddled official Herald daily.
Zimbabwe was kept
agog in June by the tale of 21-year-old Regina Sveto, who
claimed she had
flown naked in a winnowing basket for 75 miles on a
supernatural mission to
kill her brother-in-law. A Harare magistrate handed
her a one-year suspended
jail sentence and ordered her to get help to escape
a "spell" that had been
cast on her. The brother-in-law got away.
Witch-hunters are also doing a
roaring business, taking cattle and goats as
payment from often impoverished
villagers as they identify witches in rural
communities. A 19-year-old girl
from Goromonzi was raped by a so-called
witch-hunter. The respected
Traditional Medicines Practitioners' Council
says the tsikamutandas have to
register before they can practise.
Last week, stallholders at a flea
market in Bulawayo beat up a man they said
was having mubobobo or
"supernatural sex" with female shoppers.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
21st August 2009
Dear Friends.
To the
surprise of many Africa watchers, Frederick Chiluba, the former
President of
Zambia was found 'Not Guilty' by a Zambian court this week on a
charge of
embezzling public funds. He was the first African leader to be
prosecuted in
his own country. Earlier in his six-year long battle to clear
his name,
Chiluba had lost a civil case in a London court which had clearly
revealed
some very shady arms deals involving millions of dollars. The trial
in
Zambia was a criminal trial and had he been found guilty Chiluba could
have
been sent to gaol. That did not happen but it was surely not for lack
of
evidence. The offices for Zambia's Anti-Corruption Taskforce are now home
to
Chiluba's collection of 100 pairs of hand-made shoes, monogrammed shirts,
tailor-made suits with matching silk ties and handkerchiefs, all stored in
metal trunks. The UK's Independent run a piece by Ian Birrell titled 'Big
men, bankers and the stench of corruption' which gave some fascinating
insights into Chiluba's lifestyle. While the vast majority of the Zambian
population was living on less than a dollar a day, and Chiluba himself was
earning £52.000 a year as President, he would think nothing of jetting off
to Switzerland and spending as much as £300.000 in his favourite clothes
store.
Unlike much of the British coverage of Africa and its
dictators however,
Birrell's purpose was not to show that Africa is by
nature corrupt and
unable to govern itself. Rather, Birrell's intention was
to show that
African corruption cannot succeed without the direct connivance
of western
companies and banks. Birrell claims that African dictators and
despots would
not be able to make away with their ill-gotten gains were it
not for the
greed of foreign banks and governments which cheerfully accept
vast sums of
money from African leaders, no questions asked. As examples of
this, Birrell
gives several cases where foreign banks and governments have
failed to
co-operate when attempts are made to refund monies after the
dictators have
fallen from power. It was the British government who hindered
the return of
Abacha's looted wealth in Nigeria. The Swiss went even further
and refused
to return the money despite a Court ruling that the money should
be
repatriated. Kenya too has suffered from Britain's reluctance to return
stolen funds. In short, Birrell maintains that Africa's looted millions
reveal the hypocrisy of the west which preaches the doctrine of fighting
poverty in Africa while at the same time positively assisting Africa's Big
Men to salt away their ill-gotten gains in foreign banks. Bankers lawyers
and accountants in Europ and America are effectively living off immoral
earnings, Birrell claims.
Of course, Birrell's otherwise excellent
piece makes no mention of Zimbabwe
which has become almost a non-country in
discussions about Africa. It is as
if Zimbabwe has somehow ceased to exist
as an African entity. Even the
Kenyan Nobel prize winner Wangari Mathaai,
whose book The Challenge for
Africa I have just read, makes almost no
mention of Zimbabwe preferring to
concentrate instead on the evils of
colonialism and the terrible legacy it
has left behind. Robert Mugabe's
claim that Britain is intent on
re-colonising Zimbabwe has no basis in
reality as he should know if he
understood the myriad problems facing the UK
government. What Mugabe and his
cronies want is for sanctions to be lifted
so that they can access their
funds stashed away in foreign banks. So while
NGO's spend millions fighting
hunger and disease in Africa as a whole and
Zimbabwe in particular, foreign
banks are making huge profits at the African
people's expense.
The sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe are directed at
specific individuals
in Zanu PF. They were not instigated at the behest of
the MDC and for Mugabe
to claim as he does, that it is the responsibility of
the MDC in terms of
the GPA to have sanctions lifted is nothing less than
political chicanery.
For once the MDC, too often seen as doing little more
than placating
Mugabe's inflated ego, hit right back with Nelson Chamisa
saying at last
weekend's rally in Mutare, "Sanctions are a matter between
Zanu PF and those
who imposed them. Zanu PF should be grateful that they are
in power despite
the fact that they were rejected by the people in March
last year." Zimbabwe
needs more hard-hitting speeches like Chamisa's. It is
one thing to join
Zanu PF in a so-called Unity Government but the MDC and
all its officials
should be speaking with one voice in reminding Mugabe and
the former ruling
party that they are not there through the democratic
choice of the people
and that it is Zanu PF's misgovernance and downright
corruption, not
sanctions, that has brought the country to its knees. In a
significant
comment by an unnamed Zanu PF official this week we get a strong
clue to the
real electoral intentions of Mugabe and his cronies "I wish we
could
continue for the next ten years with this inclusive government" he
said, "to
get the country out of the mess it is in." Ten more years of
incompetence
and corruption, ten more years for the Zanu PF fat cats and
others who have
joined the gravy train to salt away their illegal diamonds
and assorted
plunder gained from shady deals; it does not bear thinking
of!
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.
BILL WATCH
SPECIAL
[21st August
2009]
Public
Hearing on the
on
Saturday 22nd August at 10 am
The House of Assembly
Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology is
holding a public hearing on the state of the public media this
Saturday at 10
am
Venue: Government Caucus
Room,
Interested members of
the public – individuals and organisations – are invited to attend and express
their views.
Both written and oral
submissions are welcome. If you are making a written submission it is advisable
to take as many copies as possible for circulation at the meeting. If you are
able to take a copy to Parliament before the meeting and give it to the
Committee clerk [see below] she will duplicate copies for the members of the
Committee.
This is a good
opportunity to air views on the process of setting up the Zimbabwe Media
Commission whose functions include “to uphold and develop freedom of the press;
and to promote and enforce good practice and ethics in the press, print and
electronic media and broadcasting”.
Chairperson
of this Portfolio Committee Gift Chimanikire [MDC-T]
Members of the Committee Fungai
Chaderopa [ZANU-PF], Peter Chanetsa [ZANU-PF], Makhosini Hlongwane [ZANU-PF],
Noel Mandebvu [ZANU-PF], Bright Matonga [ZANU-PF], Eliah Jembere [MDC-T], Pishai
Muchauraya [MDC-T], Simbaneuta Mudarikwa [ZANU-PF], Shuah Mudiwa [MDC-T], Edward
Musumbu [MDC-T], Jani Varandeni [MDC-T]
Committee
clerk Mrs
Nyawo
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.