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Wildlife group: politicians threaten animal haven

Associated Press

Aug 24, 2:18 PM EDT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- A new wave of land takeovers and hunting licenses
granted to loyalists of President Robert Mugabe is threatening a massive
wildlife preserve in southeastern Zimbabwe, a consortium of wildlife
ranchers charged Friday.

The Save Valley Conservancy group said the takeovers, labeled as black
empowerment, benefitted "a few greedy individuals who care only for what
they can take for themselves" with no interest in protecting an array of
endangered wildlife - including the rhinoceros

The conservancy of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) is
unsuitable for anything but wildlife tourism, the group said.

It said two thirds of its small-scale wildlife ranch operators are already
black Zimbabweans, but land and hunting concessions given to 25 `'connected
political individuals" are set to destabilize the region's whole ecosystem.

Save (pronounced Sa-veh) is named after the river running through it, is the
habitat with an abundance of elephant, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and eland,
as well as the nation's second largest population of black rhino and most
species African lowland animals and birds. The conservancy runs breeding
programs, internationally recognized research on rare mottled or "painted"
wild dogs and photographic and hunting trips.

The group said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that its own
commercial hunting licenses were cancelled, depriving them of much needed
income, while leading politicians of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in the southern
Masvingo province, who had no past relationship with conservancy members
were "miraculously" allocated land and hunting licenses last month.

They include Mugabe's minister of higher education Stan Mudenge, provincial
governor Titus Maluleke and a ZANU -PF militant and former lawmaker, Mrs.
Shuvai Mahofa. The conservancy said she is officially listed as having
received nine farms under the often violent seizures of white owned farms
that began in 2000 and has ignored two court orders to vacate a property she
has occupied illegally on the conservancy.

Witnesses said at Mudenge's recent remarriage, guests feasted largely on the
game meat of wild animals.

Maluleke, however, has accused white wildlife ranchers of resisting what is
termed a wildlife-based land reform program that calls on them to go into
partnership with blacks in wildlife and animal husbandry projects. No
further comment was immediately available from Mugabe's party.

Mugabe insists the land takeovers are to correct colonial era imbalances in
farm ownership that gave whites most prime land. But critics say many of the
best farms have gone to Mugabe cronies since 2000 and still lie idle.

The Save Conservancy was founded in 1991 and has drawn support from the
World Wildlife Fund and investors from Europe and United States who are
protected under bilateral investment agreements with the countries involved.

The group said Friday its breeding and conservation successes put it in a
position to help restock other nature preserves across the nation suffering
from poaching and a lack of finances in Zimbabwe's troubled economy.

It also set up a community trust to channel earnings from its operations
into five neighboring rural districts, supporting thousands of villagers and
employing at least 800 workers in the conservancy.

The group said the takeovers pose legal and diplomatic repercussions that go
well beyond stifling members' earnings and crippling the conservancy's
conservation efforts before the United Nations World Tourism Organization
summit to be held in Zimbabwe next year.

It alleged politicians and Mugabe loyalists were shielding behind racial
differences over black empowerment as a "cover for greed."

"Let's end the madness of a few. We cannot host a global tourism conference
and on the other hand destroy one of Zimbabwe's tourism jewels because a few
want to lay their hands on the treasure," said Willy Pabst, deputy head of
the conservancy consortium.


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ZPF politburo to meet over weekend as row over draft charter intensifies

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
24 August 2012

All eyes are focused on an extra-ordinary meeting of the ZANU PF politburo
taking place this weekend, to discuss the way forward following the
rejection of their amended draft constitution by the MDC formations.

According to the state controlled Herald newspaper, the politburo will also
tackle the issue of by-elections that are pending in over 38 constituencies,
where vacancies exist due to deaths or expulsion of legislators that have
occurred since 2008.

Robert Mugabe is faced with a deadline imposed by the Supreme Court last
month, in a ruling that focused on 3 constituencies and stipulated that he
must call for by-elections by next Friday. Former legislators in the 3
constituencies had approached the courts for recourse after losing positions
within their political parties.

Some observers have expressed concern that if Mugabe and the politburo call
for the by-elections next week, attention would shift away from the
constitutional process that should be completed before elections can be
held.

Law expert Madock Chivasa from the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
told SW Radio Africa the MDC formations will have a hard time refusing to
renegotiate ZANU PF’s amended draft charter, because the process guiding the
exercise is a parliamentary process which stipulates that they must
negotiate.

Chivasa said the MDC formations should instead use the opportunity to
correct the damage they inflicted on their political credibility, when they
compromised too far on crucial issues to get agreement from ZANU PF.

“Zimbabweans are now clear that parliamentarians negotiated and forgot what
the people wanted, like the Diaspora vote and a president without too much
power. This is a chance to negotiate these issues back into the charter,”
Chivasa explained.

Regarding the by-elections, Chivasa said Zimbabweans want to get the next
general election over with and move ahead with their lives. He added that
results from the by-elections would influence parliamentary voting for just
a few months until the general elections bring in a more permanent crop of
legislators.

The Herald quotes ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo as saying the country
might have to revert to the current constitution if the MDC formations
refuse to re-negotiate the draft charter.

“ZANU PF as a party is keen to have a new constitution for Zimbabwe. The
party is also keen to ensure that we hold the next general elections under
the new constitution. But if it is pushed to the corner, we may consider to
revert to the old constitution,” Gumbo reportedly said.


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ZANU PF terror bases resuscitated ahead of elections

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
24 August 2012

ZANU PF youth militia have resuscitated three terror bases in Mashonaland
West, where villagers are reportedly being harassed and intimidated if they
do not attend ZANU PF meetings.

According to a report by the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), the terror bases
are operational at Kazangarare Shopping Centre in Hurungwe East. The report
released this week said that ZANU PF militias are jogging every morning,
“intimidating villagers with liberation war songs and reminding them of the
2008 election violence.”

A ZPP monitor from the constituency reported that “the ZANU PF youths are
also assaulting people, who would have disembarked from buses at the centre,
for not attending their daily meetings.”

A local photographer and several other people were also reportedly injured
following attacks from the ZANU PF youths, who the ZPP said are led by Peter
Madamombe, a suspected soldier, and Samson Kapesa.

The ZPP also said that two other terror bases have been reportedly set-up at
Razor Shops and Kasora Business Centre. These bases are believed to be led
by Dickson Munyoro and Luke Zinyenye respectively.

Phillip Pasirayi from the Centre for Community Development told SW Radio
Africa on Friday that the terror bases form part of ZANU PF’s election
campaign, with by-elections and a critical presidential poll expected in the
near future.

He explained that similar reports are coming from across the country, with
ZANU PF groups leading an intensifying campaign of harassment against anyone
perceived to be loyal to the MDC.

This includes a campaign of “patriotic education” led by war vet leader
Jabulani Sibanda in Mashonaland province and ongoing harassment by the ZANU
PF aligned Chipangano gang in Harare.

The MDC-T recently said that Jabulani Sibanda was armed with a rifle and
‘moving around Masvingo province forcing villagers to attend his meetings
where he intimidates them into saying that they support Zanu PF and
threatening to skin them alive if they don’t comply.’

“They are doing this ahead of elections and they are riding on the memory of
2008 to intimidate villagers, by saying ‘if you still support MDC then you
know what will happen’,” Pasirayi explained.

He also warned that incidents like this are likely to increase closer to
elections, because ZANU PF has been allowed to act with total impunity.

“No one has been brought to book since the violence in 2008 so people are in
fear and ZANU PF is still instilling fear. They have been on the loose
across the country and nothing is being done,” Pasirayi said.


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War Vets Invade Farm Belonging To Tsvangirai's Senior Official

http://www.radiovop.com

Rusape, August 24, 2012 - A group of Zanu (PF) activists numbering about 200
on Thursday invaded a farm belonging to Norman Sachikonye, the principal
director in the Prime Minister’s Office and an aspiring MDC-T parliamentary
candidate for Makoni central.

The land invaders who were singing and dancing to Zanu (PF) and liberation
war songs and clad in Zanu (PF) regalia, descended onto the aspiring
legislator's Zimati Kop farm and started pegging and haphazardly allocating
stands among themselves.

The invaders were allegedly being led and encouraged by an official
identified as Rusape Town Council acting secretary Darlington Museka.

Sources who witnessed the invasion said police officers who were present did
not say or do anything to stop the invasion.

Sachikonye, last week, publicly declared his interest to represent Makoni
Central on an MDC-T ticket.

Radio VOP spoke to Sachikonye who said the land, which is 1km from Rusape
Town Centre, was actually meant for the development of a residential area.

“The invaders are back today (Thursday 23 August, 2012) on the land and they
are continuing from where they left. After I reported the matter to the
police yesterday they wanted me to give them more information on how we
acquired the land. We actually have a certificate of no present interest
from the Ministry of Lands which we got in 2010,” said Sachikonye.

He said they were in the process of selling housing stands to individuals as
the 1 115 hectares piece of land is to be developed into a residential area.

“The police told me that they want a complete file of the circumstances on
how we acquired the land and that is what we are going to do now. I have
title deeds to the land and I am sure the documentation is going to be
helpful,” added Sachikonye.

He said a meeting between the police and the leaders of the invaders has
been set for today.

Farm invasions have continued in Zimbabwe more than ten years after the
government launched the chaotic land reform programme. In recent weeks,
there has been a renewed spat of farm invasions in the countryside as
political activists, disguised as war veterans, take advantage of the
increased talk of elections to seize farms.


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South African Facilitation Team Back in Zimbabwe Next Week

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

Blessing Zulu

24.08.2012
President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team is expected in Zimbabwe Tuesday on
a fresh mission to try and unlock the political logjam resulting from
failure by the three parties in the unity government to find common ground
on re-writing of the nation’s constitution.

In his report to the Troika meeting of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) organ on politics, defence and security in Mozambique last
week, Zuma had said it was impossible to “prescribe how to resolve parties’
differences over the draft".

But exasperated by the now three-year delay in writing the constitution,
SADC leaders resolved that Mr. Zuma must actively engage the parties.

The South African president also said in his report that the two Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) formations had proposed that the parliamentary
constitutional committee (COPAC) draft and the Zanu-PF draft be put before a
referendum if the ruling parties fail to break the deadlock.

The coalition government is supposed to craft a new constitution as part of
the roadmap to democratic elections, in accordance with the Global Political
Agreement of September 2008.

SADC says it wants the referendum to be conducted in October and general
elections by mid next year.

The dispute arose after the Zanu-PF politburo rejected the COPAC draft
though its negotiators had appended their signatures. The party came with
fresh proposals that have been rejected by the two MDC formations.

Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told the VOA his party will meet in a special
politburo session to discuss the crisis.


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ZANU-PF draft Zimbabwe constitution angers MDC

http://af.reuters.com

Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:03pm GMT

* Draft restores powers to president, worrying MDC

* ZANU-PF draft overturns one agreed by party negotiators last month

* Power sharing deal calls for elections by next year

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - ZANU-PF amendments to Zimbabwe's draft
constitution, restoring sweeping powers to the president and setting up a
mandatory youth service, have been rejected by its MDC coalition partners
and are likely to delay adoption of the landmark new document.

Earlier this month, regional leaders said work on the new constitution was
near completion, boding well for parliamentary elections required by next
year under a power sharing deal between ZANU-PF, the MDC and a smaller MDC
splinter group.

Approval of the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in parliament
and none of the parties have enough seats to railroad the document through
on their own.

Zimbabweans had hoped elections held under a new constitution agreed by all
parties would avoid the sort of violence that marred previous polls and led
to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to neighbouring South Africa.

A draft produced by an inter-party parliamentary committee and agreed by
ZANU-PF and MDC negotiators last month curbed presidential powers by
requiring lawmakers' approval for the dissolution of parliament, and for the
declaration of war and public emergencies.

It left the president with the authority to make senior appointments.

In the amended draft seen by Reuters on Friday, ZANU-PF, President Robert
Mugabe's party, restores to the president the power to declare war and
dissolve parliament, concentrates power in the central government and sets
up a mandatory youth service.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
which formed the coalition government with the rival ZANU-PF in 2009,
immediately rejected the changes. The draft was given to the MDC and an MDC
splinter group this week.

MDC leaders say the mandatory youth service for all school leavers that
ZANU-PF proposes is worrying because a similar scheme was in the past used
to produce pro-Mugabe "militias" used to intimidate and beat up the
opposition.

Mugabe, 88, has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and is under
international sanctions for suspected human rights abuses.

"Even at our most foolish, there is no way we could ever accept those
amendments. Anyone who does so would be committing political suicide,"
Welshman Ncube, leader of the MDC splinter group, posted on his Facebook
page.

Zimbabwe's struggling economy, crushed by hyperinflation about four years
ago, has been recovering slowly since the power-sharing deal brought greater
stability to the country.

Mineral-rich Zimbabwe once had one of the strongest economies in Africa, but
is now among the continent's poorest countries, the result of what analysts
say is years of economic mismanagement by Mugabe and ZANU-PF.

ZANU-PF, which has been calling for early elections this year, said there
would be an emergency meeting of its top committee on Saturday to discuss
how to proceed in light of the MDC rejection of its amendments.


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Police Moves To Shut The Gay and Lesbian Office

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, August 24, 2012 - Zimbabwean police on Thursday initiated a process
to shut down the offices of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) after
charging a representative of the organisation for running an “unregistered”
organisation.

Detectives at the Law and Order Section at the Harare Central Police Station
on Thursday charged GALZ, which was represented by Martha Tholanah, the
organisation’s co-chairperson with running an “unregistered” organisation in
contravention of Section 6 (iii) of the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO)
Act.

The police, who alleged that GALZ had commenced operations in Zimbabwe
without registering its operations under the PVO Act, released Tholanah, who
had since Tuesday been a regular guest at Harare Central Police Station in
the company of his lawyers Dzimbabwe Chimbga, Tonderai Bhatasara, Marufu
Mandevere and Jeremiah Bamu from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and
advised the GALZ co-chairperson that they would proceed by way of summons.

The move by the police is the latest attack on Non- Governmental
Organisations (NGO)’s by the coalition government, which in recent months
has been harassing human rights defenders and NGO’s ahead of a
constitutional referendum and planned general elections.

Last month, two police officers only identified as Sergeant Ndawana and
Detective Chipwanya summoned Abel Chikomo, the executive director of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, to stand trial at the Harare Magistrates
Court after charging him with running an “unregistered” organisation in
contravention of the PVO Act.

However, the trial did not commence after State prosecutor, Innocent
Chingarande, withdrew summons issued against Chikomo after he advised that
the State was not ready to proceed with the matter.

Meanwhile, it has since emerged that an unidentified member of the Zimbabwe
National Army on Tuesday raided the premises of the (GALZ), a day after more
than 20 police officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police swooped on the
organisation’s offices in Milton Park suburb, Harare.

A soldier, who was dressed in military attire and was in the company of two
plain clothed people visited the GALZ offices on Tuesday afternoon and
patrolled the organisation’s premises.

After the team failed to find anything of interest to them they went through
the caretaker's occurrence book and recorded details of people who had
visited the GALZ premises in the past few months. One of them inadvertently
left his mobile phone number, which was recorded by the caretaker.


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Econet backs down after disconnecting NetOne

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
24 August 2012

A decision by mobile operator Econet to cut off its interconnection services
with its state owned rival NetOne lasted less than 48 hours, after alleged
pressure from the courts.

The service was cut on Thursday over a US$20 million debt owed by NetOne,
which has failed to pay its fees for the last three years.

But Econet’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo said Friday that the group had agreed to
reconnect NetOne, pending the outcome of their court case that will be heard
on Monday.

Interconnection fees are charged by mobile operators to enable calls to be
transmitted from each other’s networks. The decision to cut this service
meant the calls between the two networks could not go through on Thursday.

Econet announced the termination of the service in a public notice,
revealing that NetOne’s debt has been building since 2009. The company said
Thursday that it is “obvious that NetOne was not prepared to honour its
obligations” even though NetOne has continued collecting the fees due to
Econet from subscribers as part of the interconnection deal.


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Concern grows for future of Howard Hospital

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
24 August 2012

Concern remains high about the future of Howard Hospital in Chiweshe, amid
speculation about the real reasons for the dismissal of a much loved doctor
there.

The Salvation Army run hospital has been running a severely limited service
since the resident chief doctor, Canadian born Dr. Paul Thistle, was
forcibly dismissed earlier this month. The official line from the Salvation
Army is that the doctor has been “reassigned” as part of the organisation’s
internal processes.

A statement from the Canadian branch of the faith based charity group said a
new Acting Hospital Administrator has been assigned and “is in place to
guide the facility through this transition.” According to the statement
“service will continue and be enhanced by significant, planned future
investment in the hospital.”

“A team under the direction of International Headquarters will be heading as
soon as possible to Howard Hospital to review and analyze this situation
further,” the statement read, adding: “As the home territory for Captain Dr.
Paul Thistle and Captain Pedrinah Thistle, the Salvation Army in Canada is
working to ensure the safe return of the Thistle family.”

Dr. Thistle, his Zimbabwean born wife Pedrinah, and their two young sons,
remain in Zimbabwe, despite a 48 hour ultimatum to leave the country that
was handed to him last week. The deadline, set by the Salvation Army’s
Zimbabwean chief of mission came in the aftermath of public protests last
week, which saw 12 people being arrested and eight Howard Mission nurses
being interrogated. Dr. Thistle refused to leave, because he was concerned
about his colleagues.

The chief of mission, Vinece Chigariro, then threatened the doctor with
excommunication from the church if he did not follow her orders. But this
has not forced him into leaving.

An old friend of Dr. Thistle’s, Canadian based Warren Viegas who has been in
regular contact with the doctor, told SW Radio Africa that the chief concern
is for the future of the hospital.

“The hospital for years has received financial support from various sources,
including thousands of dollars that Paul has sourced himself. Frankly the
support will stop because the friends of his here in Canada and his medical
peers feel that the Salvation Army has thrown him under the bus,” Viegas
said.

The doctor’s dismissal is understood to be related to concerns he raised
about the fate of donated cash meant for the Chiweshe mission. It’s
understood that thousands of dollars in cash and building materials has been
plundered.

There is also speculation that the doctor, who has been a respected and
loved member of the community for more than 16 years, is a victim of ZANU PF
infighting. Vice President Joice Mujuru is a senior Salvation Army captain
and it’s believed she is trying to control the hospital in order to control
the area, where her rival Emmerson Mnangagwa is said to have support.


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MDC-T youth assembly protests at Zim Embassy in Pretoria

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
24 August 2012

The MDC-T Youth Assembly in South Africa held a demonstration at the
Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria on Friday demanding, among other things, the
“immediate and unconditional” release of their National Youth Chairperson
Solomon Madzore and 28 others, accused of killing a Glen View cop.

Giyani Dube, chairman of the MDC-T South Africa Youth Assembly, described
the event as a “big success” and praised the youths who participated as
“brave and courageous” . He said they were surprised when the ambassador
himself came out to invite them in for a quick chat about their demands.

“We did not get into detailed discussions about our demands with the
ambassador because our mission was to picket the Zim authorities over
several issues. But we made a date with him to come back on September 21 for
a meeting,” Dube said.

The youths are also demanding that Zimbabweans outside the country be
allowed to vote, dismissing proposals in the new draft constitution that
deny the Diaspora the right to participate in elections.

“As Zimbabweans in South Africa we demand a Diaspora vote. SADC citizens in
other countries are able to vote, no matter where they live in the world. We
had expected this in the new constitution and are disappointed. We demand
that we participate in the referendum and the coming elections,” Dube
explained.

ZANU-PF’s insistence on renegotiating the draft charter produced by COPAC
also took centre stage at the demonstration. Dube said: “We are calling on
Robert Mugabe to stop these endless negotiations and let Zimbabweans decide
in a referendum.”

Dube reiterated the position of the MDC-T that ZANU PF had been fully
represented in the negotiations over the draft charter and there was no
reason to discard the version of the constitution that was agreed to by all
parties.

The youths are also demanding better quality of service from the embassy in
Pretoria. “The embassy has not been serving people with dignity. It has been
partisan in assisting those who belong to ZANU PF. Civil servants work for
the everyone, regardless of their political affiliation,” Dube said.

Madzore and 28 other MDC-T officials and activists are accused of killing
police officer Petros Mutedza in a Glen view pub last year. The police claim
the cop died after a brawl with MDC-T members who conducted an illegal
meeting at the pub.

But the MDC-T insists the charges were fabricated as part of a ZANU PF
campaign to destabilize their structures. They say most of the accused are
officials within the party, and many have documented evidence that proves
they were not at the scene when Mutedza was killed.

The trial has been suspended, pending the recovery of one of the accused who
is ill and receiving treatment at a private hospital. The MDC-T say this is
being used as an excuse to delay the release of their members.


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Lesotho PM: Targeted Sanctions Hurting Zimbabwe

http://www.voazimbabwe.com

Irwin Chifera

24.08.2012
Visiting Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane says the West should remove
sanctions imposed on President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF colleagues as
they are hurting ordinary Zimbabweans.

Officially opening the 102nd edition of the Harare Agricultural Show on
Friday, Mr. Thabane said the West and European Union punished President
Mugabe for embarking on the controversial land reform program.

He said Zimbabwean leaders have over the years been condemned by the West
for reclaiming land “stolen by the white settle regime”.

Meanwhile, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has restored interconnection services
between its mobile providers and the state-owned Netone after cutting it off
for failing to settle a $20.4 million debt.

In a statement, Econet’s attorneys said the company has agreed to restore
the services pending a court decision Monday.

The disruption of services affected thousands of subscribers in the country.

Econet said Thursday that Netone had not only failed to pay the debt which
has been accumulating since 2009, but claimed that the two companies did not
have any interconnection services agreement.


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Public Outcry as Bulawayo City Tightens Water Rationing

http://www.voazimbabwe.com

Ntungamili Nkomo

23.08.2012
The water crisis in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo has reached
precarious levels with the local council tightening its rationing measures
and depriving residents of the precious liquid for three days a week.

For the past several months residents have had to endure a weekly two-day
shedding routine, but the dwindling water levels have forced city engineers
to propose tighter limitations.

The engineers told the council’s General Purpose Committee in a meeting
Thursday that the situation in the city’s remaining three dams was getting
worse.

As a result, an urgent full council meeting has been called for Friday to
endorse the three-day rationing proposal.

Bulawayo lies in the heart of the semi-arid Matabeleland region.

A century-old ambitious plan to draw water from the Zambezi River to the
city has remained a pipe-dream, though officials say the project is now
underway.

Entumbane councilor Prince Dube told VOA while the local authority
sympathizes with residents, it has no option but to resort to drastic
action.

"If we don't do it," Dube said, "the city might run out of water before the
next rain season."

He added that councilors have scheduled a meeting Friday with Water
Resources Minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo to appeal for government assistance.

The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association expressed concern that
tightening the water shedding regime was a recipe for diseases like cholera.

"Already residents have been reeling from the two-day rationing. Imagine
what the situation will be like now that the council is increasing the days
to three," said association director Rodrick Fayayo.


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South Africa, EU diplomat discuss Iran and Zimbabwe

http://www.eubusiness.com

24 August 2012, 21:41 CET

(PRETORIA) - European Union diplomatic chief Catherine Ashton and South
African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane held talks here Friday on
sanctions that have been slapped against Iran and Zimbabwe.

The talks were part of preparations for an annual EU-South Africa summit set
for September 18 in Brussels, which President Jacob Zuma is scheduled to
attend.

Regarding Iranian oil sanctions, "we have agreed to send a South African ...
delegation to Brussels to discuss the impact of the application of EU
sanctions on Iran, on South Africa, and the rest of the southern African
region," Nkoana-Mashabane said.

The European Union and the United States have clamped sanctions on Tehran to
force Iran to abandon its contested nuclear programme, and nations which
import crude oil from Iran could run foul of the measures.

"It is just not possible to wake up one day and say we will no longer import
crude oil from Iran," the South African minister stated.

South Africa has nonetheless indicated it is looking at Nigeria and Angola
as alternative sources of crude oil.

On Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe and close aides are also the
target of EU sanctions, Ashton did not make any promises regarding a
proposal to lift the measures.

Zimbabwe, with the backing of other countries in southern Africa, want the
sanctions lifted unconditionally.

But Ashton replied: "The sanctions are the sanctions, and they exist."

EU ministers last month said they would lift sanctions against most of the
112 Zimbabweans still listed on a decade-old EU asset freeze and travel ban,
once the country held a "credible" vote on a new constitution.

"Our big, big push is to finish the work on the constitution, to get the
referendum done, and to move towards elections," said Ashton.

Zimbabwe's draft constitution was approved by both sides last month but
Mugabe put a damper on the process last weekend, saying more work was needed
on the long-delayed document.

The constitution would rein in presidential powers, bolster those of
parliament and set a 10-year presidential term limit.


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Zanu PF regroups after draft changes rejected

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

23/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZANU PF has warned that the country may have to make do with the Lancaster
House Independence constitution after its amendments to the draft new
charter were rejected by the MDC parties.

The party came up with an amended version of the draft following meetings
over four consecutive weeks which President Robert Mugabe handed to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, deputy premier Arthur Mutambara and MDC leader
Professor Welshman Ncube after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

But the MDC parties – which have since endorsed to draft in its original
form - told Mugabe Wednesday that Zanu PF’s amendments were not acceptable
and insisted the draft should now be taken to the Second All-stakeholders
Conference as it is.

Zanu PF had removed devolution, dual citizenship from the draft constitution
and gave the presidency executive powers to dissolve parliament, declare
war, appoint judges without interview and enjoy complete presidential
immunity.

Education Minister and senior MDC official, David Coltart, said Zanu PF was
attempting to "subvert the entire process of peaceful reform in Zimbabwe".

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora added: "The time for negotiations is over.
We're not going to accept any changes because there is one draft and it was
agreed to by all political parties."

Ncube said earlier this week that his party would not "betray the people's
struggle for a democratic constitution".

He added: "It's not going to happen. It's time to let the dice roll the way
it will. If an election without a new constitution is the only way to move
forward, then let it be."

Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said the politburo would meet over the
weekend to map the way forward.

“We are having a Politburo meeting on Saturday and that is when we are
likely to come up with a position. I understand that the process is now at
consultation stage with Principals,” Gumbo told The Herald.

“Zanu PF as a party is keen to have a new Constitution for Zimbabwe. The
party is also keen to ensure that we hold the next general elections under
the new Constitution.

“But if it (Zanu PF) is pushed to the corner, we may consider reverting to
the old (current) Constitution. If that is their position (MDC formations),
it is fine we are going to take a position on Saturday.”

National Coonstitutional Assembly chairman, Lovemore Madhuku said it was
unlikely the country would get a new constitution.

"What is clear is that we won't produce a new constitution," he said. "What
Zanu PF is pushing for is that we get a Zanu PF document or we get none.
They should abandon this process because it is flawed."

Gumbo insisted the parties need to find a solution to the stalemate over the
draft but maintained that Zanu PF would not give ground over issues such as
devolution, a key demand for the MDC parties.

“We need to have elections one way or the other. My understanding is that
some of the issues that the MDC formations are advocating are very minor,
such as the issue of devolution,” he said.

“As Zanu PF, we are saying we cannot have devolution because we are a
unitary state. They are sticking to issues that do not help.”

Zimbabwe is writing a new constitution as part of a raft of political
reforms that will culminate in new elections to replace the coalition
government which has been in office since 2009.

The regional SADC grouping has since urged the parties to speed up the
implementation of the reforms so that elections can be held early next year.


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Zanu PF’s outrageous demands for the new constitution

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/8030

August 24th, 2012

According to media sources yesterday, this is a summary, by Professor Welshman Ncube, of the outrageous demands being made by Zanu PF for the proposed new constitution. I find this a very useful summary of the kind of party Zanu PF is, and I hope other Zimbabweans will also read this as their’election manifesto’. Surely no sane or reasonable person can fail to see how incredibly self-serving this is for Zanu PF heavyweights, and how horrendous it will be for Zimbabwean citizens. These demands must be a humiliation to all Zanu PF supporters.

  1. They have removed devolution entirely from the draft and deleted all references to devolution.
  2. They have removed the Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
  3. They have removed all indigenous languages from being official languages.
  4. They have introduced mandatory national youth service.
  5. They have removed the open, transparent and public interview process for the appointment of judges and replaced it with a Presidential appointment system.
  6. They have done away with a separate Constitutional Court and replaced it with the status quo in terms of which the Supreme Court doubles up as a Constitutional Court.
  7. They have banned dual citizenship for those who are Zimbabwean citizens by descent or registration.
  8. They have mutilated the Bill of rights in many places including by deleting all references to democratic society.
  9. They have redefined agricultural land to include any land used for poultry so that they would be able to take any building used to rear chickens.
  10. They have taken out the Presidential running mate provisions and replaced them with the current system with the new provision that in the event of the office becoming vacant the replacement will be chosen by the party to which the President belonged.
  11. They have reposed all executive authority in the President by deleting the provision which vested it in the President and Cabinet.
  12. They have reconstituted the imperial Presidency by restoring virtually all the current Presidential powers and even added the new provision that Cabinet can only exercise authority under the direction of the President.
  13. They have restored the current Presidential immunity provisions.
  14. They have restored the Presidential power to declare war without any restraint or constraint
  15. They have made all state institutions subject to the obligation to promote and defend the values of the liberation struggle.
  16. They have stripped the Speaker of the National Assembly of all administrative powers and vested these in the Clerk of Parliament.
  17. They have increased the composition of Senate by four.
  18. They have re introduced unfettered Powers of the President to dissolve Parliament at his or her whim.
  19. They have put one Chief into the Judicial Service Commission.
  20. They have removed provisions limiting Permanent Secretaries to two five year terms.
  21. They have taken out the provisions requiring a law regulate the CIO and requiring the CIO to be non partisan, professional and national in character.
  22. They have inserted provisions which require independent commissions and the judiciary as well to promote and to be guided by the ideals and values of the liberation struggle.
  23. They have re introduced the useless and failed office of Public Protector.
  24. They have removed the democratic provisions for the appointment of the anti corruption commission.
  25. They have deleted the provisions establishing an independent prosecuting authority and re established the present political office of attorney general.


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Reforms a ‘conspiracy’ against Zanu PF rule

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

August 24, 2012 in Opinion

OF all the daft remarks made about the draft constitution, and there have
been many, those by Goodson Nguni in the Herald last week should take an
award.

By MuckRaker

“It is obvious there is a link between the illegal, immoral, undemocratic
regime-change and the draft constitution,” he declared.
“Zimbabweans are wondering how a constitution which was authored for three
years was suddenly available at the end of July just as the European Union
was meeting.”
Why does Nguni see a plot in all this? It has long been the EU’s position
that funds would be made available to Zimbabwe if it conducted a transparent
and democratic referendum. There’s nothing “illegal, immoral or
undemocratic” about that.
The EU would like Zanu PF to commit suicide, Nguni fatuously claims, by
accepting a “return to Rhodesia” through the draft.

This silly remark derives from the fact that the draft protects property
rights. But Nguni doesn’t stop there. He denounces judicial reform, a
ceremonial president who shares power with his appointees in cabinet, and a
politicised attorney-general “whose main function would be to prosecute all
beneficiaries of the land reform programme”.
He also takes exception to a president deprived of powers to dissolve
parliament…a parliament with powers to amend presidential powers and make
new regulations, a parliament that will advise and control the president,
and lastly a parliament which will have a final say in the timing of
elections.
These are of course all progressive measures that can be found in
constitutions around the world. But Nguni is aggrieved. The Western-backed
parties don’t care what the people said in the outreach programme, he
claims.

Zanu PF has been churning out this mantra since the drafting started. They
expect the public to buy their spurious claims.
In fact it is Nguni and his ilk who don’t care what the people said. We know
perfectly well what they said in 2008. And Zanu PF certainly didn’t care
then. Why do they suddenly care now? In particular Nguni abhors those
elements of the draft that provide basic rights to the people.
Rights such as a reformed Judicial Service Commission, an independent
judiciary, a clear separation of powers, and a parliament with powers to
amend and initiate legislation.
All these things are fundamental in any modern and enlightened constitution.
But according to Nguni they are a “conspiracy against Zanu PF”.
“Even more controversial is that the draft constitution allows for dual
citizenship and the children and grandchildren of white Rhodesians will be
allowed to come to Zimbabwe and participate in elections obviously voting
for the MDC formations. The draft constitution is a fraud.”
What is fraudulent here is the myth that Zanu PF can bring about meaningful
change when it has not been able to do so over a 30-year period. And they
feel a compelling need to disenfranchise minorities. They are appalled that
minorities might actually exercise their right to vote.

Nguni is president of the Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations, we
are told.
Anybody heard of that outfit? What we do know about it is its rejection of
every single progressive measure in the new draft. It wants to maintain a
powerful president who should not be constrained by parliament or an
independent judiciary. Amendment No 7 has returned to haunt us. The imperial
presidency remains unalloyed. The very fact that Zanu PF prefers the
Lancaster House document tells us all we need to know about its attitude to
reform. It prefers colonial institutions to local ones.
At least with people like Nguni advertising his antediluvian views the
public will get a good view of the sort of society Zanu PF wants to build.
Of course Zimbabweans want regime change. Most people do. And they have the
right to vote for it.

The recent killing by the police of striking mine workers at Lonmin mine in
South Africa has provided fodder for Zanu PF mandarins who milked the
disaster for all its worth.
Crying louder than the bereaved South Africans, the analysts were up in arms
last week over the supposedly “mischievous” failure by Western media to give
“full” coverage of the shootings.
“A clear demonstration of double standards on the part of the imperialists,”
we were told.
It is strange how these analysts find their voices in pointing out the
excesses of other regimes except their own.
Our own ZRP are no angels either with Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe
recently chastising them for brutality after allegedly hitting a vendor with
a brick while in police custody and breaking his leg.
ZBC also took the opportunity to take the moral high ground wagging a finger
at Western media outlets for selective coverage in their reportage.
“Thursday’s shootings in Rustenburg, South Africa, now dubbed as the
Marikana Massacre, where police fired automatic weapons against advancing
strikers, has shocked many but surprisingly the Western media has remained
silent,” ZBC mused last Sunday.
Wonders never cease, it seems, and there was more where this drivel came
from.

ZBC “analyst” Chris Mutsvangwa said while Zimbabwe sympathises with South
Africa, people in the region should be wary about the “mischief” and
selective coverage by Western media in protecting their interests.
Nguni also pitched in, urging the African continent to be careful of the
divide and rule approach by the West, saying it could have been a different
story had such shootings taken place in Zimbabwe.
Adding to the vainglorious chorus was the Herald on Tuesday in its editorial
comment which read: “Despite the gruesome death toll of 44, when the eight
mine workers and two police officers who died earlier in the week are
factored in, Western media coverage has been largely indifferent at worst
and muted at best.”
Would the response have been the same had those 34 miners been shot and
killed at any of the four mines operating in Chiadzwa, the Herald wanted to
know?
Unsurprisingly the fact that President Jacob Zuma had cut short his trip to
Mozambique where he was attending the Sadc summit and had already set up a
taskforce to probe the killings was omitted. Facts, it would seem, are an
inconvenience best avoided.
Without batting the proverbial eyelid, the Herald lectured on: “As the
media, we all need to have a sense of perspective and reflect on the value
judgments that underpin our reactions to issues, and what they mean in our
scheme of things. Such a responsible approach will, no doubt, help us
understand not only our role as watchdogs but also our obligations to the
society that entrusts us with the pen.”
We are not sure which Western media they are referring to because the major
television networks were awash with the story.
Funny how such mendacious claims are coming from a publication which claims
to be taking a “responsible approach” to journalism.

Meanwhile Foreign Affairs secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha has been
misleading the Herald on the status of our Lesotho visitor, Mr Tom Motsoahae
Thabane, who is in Harare to open the Agricultural Show.
“He is coming tomorrow on a three-day state visit and will officially open
the agricultural Show on Friday,” Bimha said. “Several” heads of state have
opened the Show since Independence, we are told. The Herald’s list of
presidents includes the “president” of Swaziland.
Muckraker is open to correction here, but the last time we looked Swaziland
was ruled by a king. And so is Lesotho.
In fact only heads of state can make state visits. We understand the need to
boost Zimbabwe’s standing in the region, but that should not include helping
the Herald to get things wrong!

South Africa-based Zimbabwean businessman, Mutumwa Mawere, has formed a
party called United Movement for Democracy (UMDP) and thrown his hat into
the presidential ring, reports The Zimbabwean.
UMDP, The Zimbabwean reports, is predominantly made up of MDC99 members with
former MDC99 spokesperson Aaron Muzungu and vice-president Biviana Musimi
being among the fledgling party’s officials.
Muzungu, who again has taken the position of party’s spokesperson said:
“After falling out with MDC99 leader, Job Sikhala, on matters of strategy,
we realised that to achieve our objective of democratically changing the
political dispensation in the country, we had to break away and form a new
political party under the leadership of Mutumwa Mawere.”
Muzungu gained infamy after he was arrested and charged for stealing a Ford
Ranger T6 which was being displayed at a car show by Croco Motors.
According to the Herald, Muzungu “gatecrashed the event, sat in the cab,
noticed the keys were in the ignition and fuel was in the tank. So he
started the engine, drove out of the display area, and out of the sports
club and out of sight”.
Over the next eight days, Croco Motors offered a US$5 000 reward for
information leading to the recovery of the vehicle which had done just 17
km.
Detectives from the CID Vehicle Theft Squad finally traced the vehicle to
Muzungu, who told the investigators he had “bought” the truck at the car
show. Its new mileage was 1 317km.
Let’s hope Muzungu will drive his new party to success. Pun intended!

We could only agree with President Zuma that given the delicacy of the
situation at Marikana Mine, restraint should be exercised by all. Zuma has
appointed a commission of inquiry into the tragedy.
“With tensions running as high as they were at Marikana and in surrounding
communities at the (last)weekend, it is only the criminally irresponsible
and cynically opportunistic who would wade in and stoke the fires of
inter-union and party-political conflict any further,” Business Day
commented.
“But sure enough, former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was in there,
gumboots and all, stoking away. His speech to the striking miners was
chilling in its disregard for the potential to provoke further violence and
death, and breathtaking in its self-serving exploitation of raw emotion for
political ends.”
Let us remind ourselves at this juncture that Malema is a friend of Zanu PF
who omits to mention that when he says President Zuma is protecting British
business interests at Lonmin, he doesn’t mean those interests he went to
London to meet just a week earlier! Some of the miners at Rustenburg
listening to Malema had been convinced by a sangoma a few days earlier that
if they let him smear some black powder into cuts on their foreheads they
would become invincible, we are told.

Finally another demagogue who needs to be unmasked is Julian Assange who has
been appearing on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he
is holed up. Assange has obviously been studying film footage of Mussolini
addressing his followers from the balcony overlooking the Piazza Venezia in
Rome. Assange forgot to mention that he faces rape charges in Sweden and
that Ecuador’s equally populist president Correa has an appalling record of
repression of the media.
Strange isn’t it how these details get left out!


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Draft impasse opportunity for consensus

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

August 24, 2012 in Opinion

THE next six months will be crucial for Zimbabwe. The outcome of the
controversial constitution-making process — particularly the fate of the
flawed Copac draft — will give us an indication of where the country is
heading and how the current transition is likely to pan out.

Report by Dumisani Muleya
Zimbabwe could go through to democratic change or experience regression,
with a precarious sliding back to violence and economic turmoil. By February
next year or end of the first quarter, it would be clearer where the country
is going. At the moment the situation remains touch-and-go, particularly in
view of the dispute over the new draft constitution.

After stabilising the political and economic situation following a decade of
a calamitous meltdown and signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
leading to the current coalition government, President Robert Mugabe and his
fellow principals are now at a cross-roads over the draft constitution and
the associated roadmap, critical building blocks to credible, free and fair
elections.

Sadc leaders have of late been pulling out all the stops to keep the GPA and
the reform agenda on track. Only last weekend, regional leaders meeting in
Maputo told Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry and Trade
minister Welshman Ncube, who lead three parties in the unity government, to
move fast to conclude the constitution-making process and prepare for free
and fair elections.

The international community is also taking a renewed interest in the country
as the mandate of the fragile and dysfunctional coalition government rapidly
runs out. The African Union is in the picture, as a guarantor of the GPA,
together with Sadc.

No doubt the United Nations, which almost put Zimbabwe on the UN Security
Council agenda following the blood-spattered presidential election run-off
in June 2008, is watching the situation. The UN human rights high
commissioner Navi Pillay was in Harare recently and underlined the
importance of credible polls.

This confluence of events and factors presents the best chance in years for
a lasting restoration of peace and stability in Zimbabwe, an explosive
trouble spot at the heart of the region for more than a decade now.

Zimbabwe is key to regional stability and in geopolitical terms. Even if it
is a relatively small country of 12 million people, the southern African
region where it is situated — with a market of about 200 million people,
growing oil production mainly in Angola, vast mineral deposits across the
sub-continent, discoveries of gas in Mozambique and other resources, the
most stable region in Africa now despite instability in DRC and Madagascar,
and a location along key shipping lanes on the Indian and Atlantic oceans —
is by contrast of great strategic, commercial and political importance.

It is important Mugabe and his party realise they can’t continue to eschew
or stymie the tide of reform and change. A well-led and managed Zimbabwe,
which has vast diamonds, platinum and gold deposits, among other minerals,
could be an engine of growth for the region, providing new mining
opportunities and key links to regional communication, transport and
electricity grids.

Combine this with abundant mineral resources, hydro-electric power and
potential gas reserves to complement existing coal-fired energy and a
generally educated and productive labour force, the case for a strong
rebound and integration becomes compelling and even more urgent.

Before the disastrous land reform programme and now the discredited
indigenisation, Zimbabwe was widely considered a potential breadbasket for
the region. But current instability in the country has been profoundly
destabilising to its neighbours, hence Sadc leaders’ anxiety.

An estimated three million Zimbabweans fleeing the recent economic meltdown
and political repression flooded across borders, overwhelming the job
markets, social services and goodwill of South Africa, Botswana and other
neighbours. Some Zimbabweans went overseas.

So Zimbabwe needs to grab the current opportunity to resolve this
decade-long stalemate and move on. To achieve that, however, requires local,
regional and wider international unity of purpose and consensus on the key
issue — holding free and fair elections. Otherwise Zanu PF hardliners and
other spoilers could undermine efforts to restore democracy, development and
progress in the country.

Most importantly, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Ncube (including Arthur Mutambara)
must show maturity and leadership over the draft constitution issue by
coming up with a compromise to allow the country to choose a new legitimate
government and start focusing on rebuilding the struggling economy and
people’s ruined lives.

So far the signs are worrying. Already the GPA implementation and reform
agenda are seemingly heading to another dead end, as the environment becomes
politically-charged with tensions rising again. But the battle over the
draft constitution, vicious as it may be, provides an opportunity for
consensus, reform and change via credible elections even though the Copac
draft is defective.


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Zanu PF: Change or face extinction

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

August 24, 2012 in Opinion

AFTER holding drawn out day and night politburo meetings, Zanu PF has
finally come up with its much-awaited proposed amendments to the draft
constitution produced by Copac and handed them over to the principals and
party leaders on Tuesday.
Zanu PF recommendations are a product of the party’s militant wing and hawks
fighting in Mugabe’s corner. The sabre-rattlers are battling to preserve the
status quo and protect Mugabe ahead of crucial elections by June or so next
year.

It must be appreciated this is the same combative group which wanted
elections last year or this year — with or without a new constitution — but
was stopped in its tracks by defiant Zimbabweans and Sadc leaders who want
to ensure free and fair polls with a credible outcome.

There was another faction in Zanu PF which wanted the current Copac draft
constitution as it looked beyond Mugabe and plotted to lay the ground for it
to take over using the constitution-making process. This group was thwarted
by Mugabe’s diehards who often pretend to be nationalists and flag-wavers
when their interests are transparently about the pursuit of power and
personal aggrandisement.

And then there was a group of neutrals who were not interested in the issue
or did not care whatever the outcome. Of course, this being an organisation
which is not monolithic, there were other cross-cutting individuals and
cliques with overlapping interests.

However, after Mugabe’s adherents angrily protested against the Copac
draft — admittedly very flawed and shoddy — the politburo took over and
rewrote the document, winding back the clock of reform.

Although there were some genuine individuals who wanted to come up with a
good constitution for the nation and posterity, their good objectives became
conflated with narrow party political agendas, reducing the whole exercise
to Mugabe’s battle for political survival.

Predictably, Zanu PF’s suggested changes (although some were good and
progressive) overall amounted to nothing but a bid to restore the
constitutional status quo. As widely feared, the recommendations were simply
about restoring Mugabe’s sweeping executive powers whittled down in the
current draft. The amendments largely underline regression in political
terms and a slide back to authoritarianism.

The only difference between the current constitution and the Copac draft if
amended along the lines of Zanu PF’s proposals, would be the pretentious
liberation struggle ethos added to the document which taken as a whole would
be one of the most retrogressive draft constitutions produced locally yet.

Instead of reworking the draft while leaving its basic structure and
underlying philosophy intact, Zanu PF went further to change it by capturing
its populist posturing on the liberation struggle, indigenisation and youth
empowerment that now permeate the entire document at a time when Mugabe is
struggling to solidly identify himself and his party with the past.

If Mugabe and his party have their way, the Copac draft would be worse than
the current Lancaster House constitution in many respects. The draft is
already bad enough on its own and everyone agrees. So amending the draft
through hidebound pitches and suggestions would make it even more sloppy and
incompatible with a modern, civilised and democratic society.

As noted by Welshman Ncube, the Zanu PF amendments restore Mugabe’s sweeping
executive powers and eradicate devolution entirely from the draft by
deleting all references to dispersal of executive authority.

The changes expunge the presidential running mate provisions and replace
them with the current system with the new provision that in the event of the
office of president becoming vacant, the replacement will be chosen by the
party to which the president belongs and reposes all executive authority in
the president by scrapping the provision which vests it in the president and
cabinet. They effectively reconstitute the imperial presidency by restoring
virtually all the current presidential powers and even add a new provision
that cabinet can only exercise authority under the direction of the
president. They also restore the current presidential immunity provisions.

Add to this restoration of the president’s powers of appointment and the
removal of provisions requiring a law to regulate the Central Intelligence
Organisation to ensure it is non-partisan, professional and national in
character, it becomes even more clearer this was about resisting change to
preserve the status quo and Mugabe’s toxic leadership. Zanu PF must either
adjust or die.


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Diaspora Diaries with John Makumbe – Transcript

http://www.swradioafrica.com/
John Makumbe

Alex Bell talks to Professor John Makumbe in Diaspora Diaries

Transcript of the latest edition of Diaspora Diaries with SW Radio Africa presenter Alex Bell and guest Political Analyst Professor John Makumbe.

21 August 2012

Alex Bell: Hello and welcome to Diaspora Diaries on SW Radio Africa, Zimbabwe’s independent voice. I’m Alex Bell and on tonight’s show I carry on unpacking the details of a multi-million dollar loan that kept Robert Mugabe afloat in 2008 and tonight I’ll be looking at the key companies and the individuals involved. Last week we looked at some of the details of the loan and looked at how this cash injection saw the Mugabe regime cling to power through a campaign of violence and murder.

An investigation by the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa uncovered that an American institutional investor named Och-Ziff financed that loan which in turn was the result of a controversial business arrangement with some shady business people.

So let’s take a closer look at what happened:

As we know, the deal started with ZANU PF pressuring Anglo American Platinum to hand over about a quarter of its platinum shares. Now these were handed over to a group called Todal Mining, a joint venture between the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a private company called Lefever Finance. This Lefever group was in turn owned by a group called Meryweather Investments based in the British Virgin Islands which is linked to controversial businessman and ZANU PF functionary, Billy Rautenbach. Lefever Finance was then bought out by CAMEC, the Central African Mining and Exploration Company, for about five million dollars and as we know, the company threw in a hundred million dollar loan which it said was going to be used by Lefever to comply with its contractual obligations in Zimbabwe. The money however went straight to ZANU PF and effectively kept the Mugabe regime afloat.

So – who is CAMEC? Well at the time CAMEC was chaired by a former British cricket player called Phil Edmunds whose closest business ally was Rautenbach. And of course we know that Rautenbach has made a fortune through illicit dealings with both the Mugabe regime and the government in the DRC. At one time Rautenbach was also reportedly a 17% shareholder in CAMEC in about 2006. Another key shareholder in the company is an infamous Israeli businessman called Dan Gertler known best for his dealings in the DRC copper industry. He also has strong Zimbabwe links and in 2006 bought half ownership of a copper mine in the DRC from Zim businessman John Bredenkamp. The other half of those shares was held by a group called Boss Mining, in turn 80% owned by CAMEC and formerly owned once again by Billy Rautenbach.

Now the Mail & Guardian in a new report has said that Dan Gertler is synonymous with grabbing and flipping and allegedly used his relationship with politicians to secure mineral concessions in the DRC only to sell them only to sell them on at a great profit. He most controversially flipped the multi-billion dollar Kolwezi project which had been stripped from Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to a London listed miner. That deal made news headlines.

But as the Mail & Guardian has since revealed this sort of arrangement was not unusual and two years earlier, top South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale had a 150 million dollar investment with Gertler in a similar scenario. That money was also put forward as a loan to Gertler through an affiliate of African Management Limited which is a joint venture between Sexwale’s investment group Mvelaphanda Holdings, its associate company Palladino Holdings and once again the Och-Ziff Capital Management Group which is the hedge fund which financed the 100 million dollar loan that was given eventually to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

This is a complex network of business arrangements and people whose inter-connected dealings have kept the Robert Mugabe regime afloat and could potentially keep the regime afloat in future elections. Well my guest tonight is political analyst Professor John Makumbe to talk to me about what this means for the future as we head towards next elections next year. Well Professor thank you, as always it’s such a pleasure to have you joining us. This of course is an incredibly complex story but it does seem to indicate this very complex network of people who for one thing have very little moral feeling or moral understanding, especially when it comes to dealing with groups like the Robert Mugabe regime. What do you make of their dealings in Zimbabwe?

John Makumbe: Well I think it is part of a very huge story about how ZANU PF has been supported by multi-national corporations particularly those from the UK which have been bootlicking Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF as a way of protecting their own interests in Zimbabwe. You and I know that there are more than 400 British companies in Zimbabwe and this money you are talking about, the funding which was made available to ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe is part and parcel of the bribery if you like, it is part and parcel of the inducement, it’s part and parcel of the (inaudible) that has been going on between ZANU PF and these companies, including such big companies. But they don’t need to do that but they are doing it as a way of appeasing ZANU PF and Mugabe and as a way as I say of protecting their interests in Zimbabwe.

AB: We have some very key individuals: Billy Rautenbach’s name of course is always going to stand out because he is a known functionary of ZANU PF.

JM: Well he has been part of ZANU PF at least financially for many years and it is also because of ZANU PF’s facilitation that he has been able to do a lot of business in Zimbabwe in the mining sector but also in the agricultural sector and also linked to the Development Trust of Zimbabwe as well as more asset grabbing in the DRC, again in the mining sector and elsewhere. He will make sure that ZANU PF doesn’t run out of money. You and I know that some of that money never really went to ZANU PF; it went into individual pockets. I know for certain that one of the sins that may have been committed by one of the ministers, if not two of the ministers in Mugabe’s government before the Government of National Unity was that they had pocketed the money that had been given to them for ZANU PF just before the 1995 elections as well as before the 2000 elections and they were punished. But this funding by these companies really complicates the situation in Zimbabwe in the sense that they are propping up a demagogue of a political party, they are propping up a political party which is a violator of human rights, which is corrupt, which is dictatorial and which has wrecked the economy of this country.

AB: What always strikes me as so interesting is how these companies are able to get away with it. Many of them are companies that are listed overseas, listed in Britain and yet, despite the Mugabe regime being so strictly bound by international restrictive measures and sanctions, these sorts of things are still happening. It must be because clearly when there’s business interests involved, people are turning a blind eye. What else could it be?

JM: No that is correct. The assessment in these very countries that have imposed restrictive measures and sanctions against Zimbabwe, when they come across this information that they do on a daily basis, they look the other way. It is possible that they may actually do that in the interest of their own nation. They argue for example that if we stop this funding by these private companies and Mugabe turns around and nationalises the 400 British companies, who will lose the most? And it is the British who will lose most. So eventually they simply say that it’s better to let it go, let’s turn a blind eye to it; after all the people who are really on the receiving end of Mugabe’s dictatorial rulership are not really our people, they are really his own people.

AB: That’s scary then because it seems to me that part of ZANU PF’s strength over the years has grown because these sorts of dealings.

JM: That is a very strong possibility; one of the reasons for that is that some of the support, some of the financial support that has been given to ZANU PF has actually ended up being frozen in European countries, not just the UK but even on mainland Europe in the accounts that had been identified by the officials responsible for the restrictive measures imposed by the European Union. So some of that money is locked up, some of that money has been diverted into private bank accounts, offshore accounts I might add – not in Zimbabwe, not even in the UK and to trace all these monies will be quite clearly tough Alex.

AB: The worry of course is that we are now heading towards another election period; we can see very clearly the results of the 2008 election that ZANU PF was able to secure with this hundred million dollar ‘loan’ as it’s been called. If we have these sorts of business transactions still happening in the background, can we be worried that another multimillion dollar loan could be secured by the regime to once again cling to power in the next elections?

JM: There’s a possibility of that but from where I stand it is not even going to be necessary for ZANU PF to secure that kind of money, all they need to do now is to divert some of the money from the Marange diamonds which I believe they are doing on a daily basis and they will use that money to create a war chest, they will use that money to do massive vote buying. They will buy people tractors, generators, they will buy them all kinds of things in order for the people to vote for them. My own reading of the Zimbabwean situation is that is that people will receive these things, people will receive this funding, and the maize seed and the fertilizer and still not vote for Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF. The real fear we have Alex is that those funds from overseas might be used to create a war chest which will be used to prop up the securocrats, the security forces in Zimbabwe, the army, the police, the CIO, the air force, to actually do violence against people who do not support Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF. If that happens I think there’s going to be mayhem in the country, in fact we may be thrown straight back to June 2008.

AB: That’s a scary prospect. We know that in 2008 there was that arms shipment in that Chinese ship that had docked in South Africa at the same time that the 100 million dollar loan happened. We are realistic then that also, with ZANU PF’s very close ties to the Chinese that once again this is a possibility?

JM: Oh that’s a very strong possibility and now, except that the prime minister’s visit to China may have resulted in China softening its dependence on ZANU PF as the gateway into Zimbabwe, the only gateway into Zimbabwe. It is also very possible also that as a result of the Government of National Unity, China may actually find it reasonable to say ‘no shipment of arms, no funding of the military or by way of weaponry should be sent to Zimbabwe until the Government of National Unity has been concluded and straightforward government is in power’. They have been approached, the Chinese have been approached on that and they have said they are not taking any sides but they are not going to break their relations with the government of Zimbabwe but as I talk to you now, the MDC is making major inroads in talking to the Chinese, in talking to the Japanese and in talking to other eastern countries, south east Asian countries and trying to reduce the support that ZANU PF has received or is going to receive from the east.

AB: Well that was political analyst Professor John Makumbe. That brings us to the end of tonight’s show, join me at the same time next week, I’ll be hosting Part Three of the series. I’ll be looking at the on-going multinational corporate cooperation with the Robert Mugabe regime despite international sanctions and the dismal human rights record of the ZANU PF leadership. That’s all coming up on Diaspora Diaries next week for now though it’s time for me to say good night. Don’t forget you can email me at alex@swradioafrica.com at any time or just contact me on Twitter @abell88 .For now though, it’s time for me to say goodbye, join me at the same time next week.


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Constitution Watch of 24th July 2012 [Second Draft of New Constitution Available]

CONSTITUTION WATCH 2012

[24th August 2012]

Draft Constitution Incorporating Approved ZANU-PF Amendments

Veritas has had permission to distribute it

Veritas has sent out the COPAC Draft Constitution and is now sending it out with the amendments that ZANU-PF want to include.

The constitution is of such general interest and has been so long awaited, that we are making an exception to our general policy of not sending out attachments with our bulletins.

We are sending it out zipped as the unzipped version is over 558 KB – if anyone needs it in an unzipped version please request from veritas@mango.zw

Download the zipped version here

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied


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COURT WATCH 15/2012 OF 24th August [Supreme Court Cases Waiting]

COURT WATCH 15/2012

[24th August 2012]

Supreme Court on Vacation - Cases Pending

The Supreme Court is on its mid-term vacation which will come to an end on 2nd September. It is hoped that when it resumes it will be able to clear the backlog of cases waiting to be heard. This bulletin lists cases of particular interest that are waiting to go before the Supreme Court. Only one case has been given a hearing date. The other cases are still to be given dates.

State v Mwonzora et al on 4th October

This case is set down hearing before five judges on Thursday 4th October. It is the case in which Douglas Mwonzora and twenty-one of his Nyanga constituents have challenged the constitutionality of their prosecution on charges of public violence. After an MDC-T rally in Nyanga, Mr Mwonzora and his co-accused were arrested and detained in February 2011, on allegations of public violence. Their release on bail was delayed until 12th March 2011 by the State’s use of section 121(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and the subsequent unsuccessful State appeal. At a later remand hearing the magistrate granted a defence request to refer constitutional issues to the Supreme Court: inhuman and degrading treatment, violation of constitutional rights to liberty and protection of the law, and the unconstitutionality of section 121(3) of the CPE Act. [For more details see Court Watch 3/2011 and Court Watch 9/2012]

Provincial Governors Case: President Persists in Attempt to Appeal

Reminder: The Prime Minister brought a case against the President in the High Court for unilaterally appointing provincial governors in 2010 in breach of the Constitution’s provision requiring the Prime Minister’s agreement to such appointments. The President tried to block the case with a technical objection that the Prime Minister should have obtained, but did not, the leave of the High Court before launching a case against the President. Justice Chiweshe, citing a previous Supreme Court case, dismissed this argument and on 24th July refused leave to appeal against his decision.

As expected [see Court Watch 14/2012 of 28th July] the President, as permitted by law, made a second application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. This application, made on 3rd August, will be decided by a Supreme Court judge. The Prime Minister has filed papers opposing the granting of leave to appeal, and a ruling is now awaited.

If leave to appeal is granted, the President’s technical objection will go before the Supreme Court for hearing. If that happens and if the President’s technical objection is then upheld by the Supreme Court itself, the Prime Minister would have to start all over again by applying to the High Court for leave to initiate the case against the President. As the case dates from 2010 and has taken so long to reach this stage, it would, perhaps, be fruitless to try starting all over again – the GPA will have ended before finalisation could be hoped for.

If the Supreme Court judge refuses leave to appeal, Justice Chiweshe’s decision dismissing the technical objection stands, and the High Court will be able to get on with hearing the Prime Minister’s case against the President. If this happens, there may be some hope the case will finish before the end of the GPA. A point may then be made, but it will still be too late to be of much practical relevance.

Mutambara v Ncube – MDC Leadership Dispute

Two High Court judges have ruled that Welshman Ncube, not Arthur Mutambara, is the lawful President of the MDC – Justice Kamocha on 15th December 2011 and Justice Patel on 12th June 2012. Both judges rejected the Mutambara camp’s attack on the validity of Professor Ncube's election at the party’s congress in January 2011. Both decisions have been temporarily neutralised by the noting of appeals to the Supreme Court by Professor Mutambara and his supporters. A hearing is awaited.

Long Standing Constitutional Cases Awaiting Dates for Hearing

The following cases, referred to the Supreme Court for judgements on constitutional challenges arising from cases in lower court, are still awaiting hearing dates. These cases have been outlined in previous Court Watch bulletins indicated below [back copies of Court Watches available from veritas@mango.zw]

Freedom of expression cases

These are criminal cases where the accused have questioned the constitutionality of provisions of the Criminal Law Code – section 31 [spreading falsehoods]; section 33 [undermining the authority of or insulting the President] ; and section 96 [criminal defamation]. These provisions have been frequently invoked to prosecute journalists, civil rights activists and artistic protest. In one case the police also used section 42 – causing offence to persons of a particular race, tribe, colour, creed, etc. In another [the MMPZ case], the defence lawyer said that section 33 “infringes the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and protection of the law, being couched in such wide and vague terms that it has a chilling effect on freedom of expression because it is not clear to people what they can and cannot say without courting arrest and prosecution.” This is true of all the sections cited above.

· The Chronicle editor and a journalist [Brezhnev Malaba, now former editor, and Nduduzo Tshuma]. In this case the State prosecuted on a criminal defamation charge based on a story alleging corrupt conduct by senior police officers. [Court Watch 2/2011]

· Owen Maseko This case raised the constitutionality of prosecuting Mr Maseko for his murals depicting the Gukurahundi at the Bulawayo Art Gallery. The charge was insulting the President. He was also charged for causing offense to persons of a particular tribe. [Court Watch 2/2011]

· The Standard editor and journalist [Nevanji Madanhire, editor, and Patience Nyangove] This was another criminal defamation charge. [Court Watch 4/2011]

· The Standard editor and journalist State v Nevanji Madanhire, editor ,and Nqaba Ntshazi] Criminal defamation again. [Court Watch 6/2012]

· Media Monitoring Project staff members [Gilbert Mabuza, Fadzai December and Molly Chimhanda. The arrests were made during a training workshop – several charges were brought – an illegal gathering under POSA; participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence or breaches of the peace under Criminal Law Code section 37; but these were dropped, leaving only the charge of undermining of the President. [Court Watch 6/2012]

· MDC-T MP, Pishai Muchauraya. A case alleging undermining/insulting the President by colourful references to his advanced age and state of health. [Court Watch 6/2012]

· MDC-T MP, Lynette Karenyi. Another case alleging undermining/insulting the President. [Court Watch 2/2012]

Cases Challenging State Blocking Bail

Section 121(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act enables a prosecutor to delay the release of an accused person who has been granted bail by a court, simply by telling the court that the State wishes to appeal against the grant of bail. Repeated misuse of this power by prosecutors has been criticised by the High Court, the legal profession and civil society. [See Court Watch 8/2012 and Court Watch 9/2012]. It has also led to MDC-T Chief Whip, Innocent Gonese MP, tabling in Parliament of a Private Member’s Bill, currently stalled, to repeal the section.

MDC-T Director General Toendepi Shonhe This case, raising the constitutionality of section 121(3) was referred to the Supreme Court in 2009. It has still not been heard, nether has a date been set. [The same point has also been raised more recently, in conjunction with separate constitutional issues, in two other pending cases already mentioned above: State v Douglas Mwonzora et al [to be heard on 4th October] and State v Lynette Karenyi. Despite being granted bail by a magistrate, MP Mwonzora was detained for another 24 days, and MP Karenyi spent Christmas 2011 behind bars after her arrest for allegedly insulting the President in a speech at a party rally.

Case Challenging State’s Unfair Revival of an Old Criminal Charge

MDC-T Deputy Minister Tongai Matutu challenged the constitutionality of the State’s 2011 revival of a 2005 case against him for insulting the President in circumstances in which he alleges revival is unjustified. [Court Watch 6/2012]

Case claiming compensation for torture: Jaure v Minister of Defence

A former soldier seeks $1.5 million compensation for alleged unjust imprisonment and torture during 277 days of confinement in army detention barracks in 2008-2009. Unusually, the plaintiff has gone direct to the Supreme Court instead of bringing a claim for damages in the High Court [Court Watch 6/2012].

More Recent Constitutional Cases Awaiting Hearing Dates

[not previously mentioned in Court Watch]

Transmission of HIV Three cases are pending before the court involving persons charged with contravening section 79 of the Criminal Law Code. The section is headed “deliberate transmission of HIV”; it penalises not only transmission of HIV by someone who knows that he or he is infected, but also by someone who knows there is a real risk or possibility that he or she is infected. The defence contention is that section 79 is unconstitutional and invalid, because it is too wide, vague and generally worded; discriminates against HIV positive people in a manner not acceptable in a democratic society; and criminalises sexual encounters to which the complainants have consented. These cases have, at defence request, been referred to the Supreme Court by magistrates in terms of section 24 of the Constitution.

Criminal nuisance – another WOZA case On 7th February 2012, members of WOZA were charged with criminal nuisance contrary to section 46 of the Criminal Law Code, specifically with conduct likely materially to interfere with the ordinary comfort, convenience, peace or quiet of the public or likely to create a nuisance or obstruction”. The prosecution says that ten WOZA members, while displaying placards and distributing fliers in Bulawayo streets, disturbed the free flow of both pedestrian and vehicle traffic. On 20th June 2012 a Bulawayo magistrate, at the request of WOZA lawyers, referred to the Supreme Court the question whether or not their constitutional right to freedom of assembly had been violated. Their argument was that the Constitution permits derogation from this constitutional right only in terms of a “law” meeting certain requirements [Constitution, section 21]. The defence contends that the Code’s provision cited is so wide, general and uncertain in scope that it is not a law.

ZBC listener’s licence fees In the midst of ZBC’s current blitz against unlicensed listeners, Harare magistrates, at the accuseds’ request, have referred to the Supreme Court two prosecutions of unlicensed possessors of TV sets. The question for the court’s decision is whether constitutional rights are infringed by the Broadcasting Services Act’s provision compelling everyone who possesses a radio or television receiver to buy an annual licence from ZBC, whether or not the receiver is used to receive ZBC broadcasts. The accused persons allege violation of various constitutional rights: freedom of expression, freedom of association and protection from discrimination.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied

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