http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21898
August 29, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - South African President Jacob Zuma flew back to
South Africa Friday
evening with little to suggest any progress had been
achieved in his efforts
to end Zimbabwe's political stalemate.Zuma however
said the three leaders
will attend the SADC summit next month for what could
be yet another attempt
by the regional block to unravel Zimbabwe's political
crisis.
President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
leaders,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara
are the signatories to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
Zuma, who met the three leaders separately on Thursday evening,
said the
former rivals were agreed on the urgency of resolving their
differences.
"I met the signatories to the agreement last night and also
this morning, in
my capacity as SADC chairperson and guarantor," Zuma said
when he officially
opened the Harare Agricultural Show Friday
afternoon.
"We discussed the critical issues relating to the
implementation. The
parties are in agreement on the need to speed up
implementation and to find
solutions to the current points of
disagreement.
"The important factor is that there is commitment amongst
all parties, which
will make the movement forward possible."
The
South African leader's visit, the first in his official capacity as
South
Africa's third elected post-apartheid leader, was met with high
expectations
he was going to use his influence as SADC chair to persuade
President Mugabe
to allow the full implementation of the September 15, 2008
GPA.
Key
among the issues was the revisiting of the unilateral appointment by
Mugabe,
of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono and Attorney
General
Johannes Tomana to their current terms.
The MDC also wants Mugabe to
swear in its officials to take up provincial
governorship posts currently
occupied by Zanu-PF loyalists, the swearing in
of its national treasurer Roy
Bennett as deputy Minister of Agriculture and
an end to fresh farm invasions
and the continued arrest of its officials on
petty charges.
Zanu-PF
is adamant it will not give in to any further demands by the MDC
before the
later effectively denounces western imposed sanctions it
allegedly invited
on Zimbabwe.
He continued, "We will go to SADC summit on 7-8 September in
the Democratic
Republic of Congo. The region stands united behind the people
of Zimbabwe,
and all seek solutions."
Zuma, who was scheduled to
brief journalists before departure later assigned
his Minister of
International Relations and Cooperation, Maite
Nkoana-Nashabane to brief
journalists.
On her part, Nkoana-Nashabane read word for word what turned
out to be the
same sentiments expressed by the South African leader when he
opened the
agricultural show earlier. She refused to take any
questions.
Zuma, who as South Africa's leader, is presiding over one of
Africa model
democracies, called on his peers to respect human rights in
their respective
countries.
"Africa cannot only be defined by
geography," he said, "We should also come
together around a set of values
that define our humanity.
"For this reason, the promotion of democracy,
the respect for human rights
and the improvement of governance are vital for
our success as a continent."
He called on western governments to remove
sanctions imposed on President
Mugabe government for abuse of human
rights.
"We are aware that some economic development partners and donor
countries
have put some benchmarks to be met before they can extend
financial
assistance, and currently only offer humanitarian
assistance.
"Since these relate to the implementation of the Global
Political Agreement,
to which signatories remain fully committed, meeting
these benchmarks should
be a priority in the work of the inclusive
government.
"We appeal to the international community to remove any
hindrances to
Zimbabwe's economic recovery.
"However, as South
Africa, we encourage donors to provide the development
and that is dearly
needed to ensure that the inclusive government is able to
discharge its
responsibilities of turning around the political and socio
economic
development situation in Zimbabwe.
"Of course the inclusive government
has a responsibility to fully implement
the Global Political Agreement and
thus create confidence in the process."
Zuma said he was encouraged by
the performance of the inclusive government.
He mentioned the formation
of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee, charged with the
policing of the GPA; consensus reached on the
national healing and
reconciliation process; the current constitutional
making process and the
stable economic environment brought about by the
multi currency system as
some of the notable achievements brought by the
inclusive government.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
29
August 2009
By The
Zimbabwean
The MDC applauds today's statement by the SADC chairman and
South African
President Jacob Zuma which made it clear that all parties
forming the
inclusive government should be committed to fulfilling the
letter and spirit
of the Global Political Agreement.
The statement by
the SADC chairman is refreshing. President Zuma has made an
unequivocal
statement that African nations should commit themselves to human
rights,
good governance and democracy if our continent is to extricate
itself from
the bad-boy image.
We in the MDC have always been consistent in our
commitment to fulfilling
the GPA, to which we all appended our signatures.
Our commitment as a
tripartite government to what we have agreed between
ourselves will have a
domino effect that will unlock the much needed foreign
aid and investment
that are necessary to kick-start our economy. This is
what all progressive
forces have been saying; that we must not renege on
agreed positions and
that we should abide by the dictates and the full
meaning of our signature
on the GPA. We must urgently resolve the
outstanding issues such as the
issue of provincial governors, permanent
secretaries, ambassadors, the issue
of Attorney General Johannes Tomana,
central bank governor Gideon Gono and
the swearing in of deputy minister
designate, Hon Roy Bennett.
We in the MDC agree with President Zuma that
our unbridled commitment to
good governance and democratic reforms will show
the world that we are ready
to move forward and that implementation of the
GPA is not a mirage but a
political reality that will give our nation a
chance to start afresh so that
we give hope and confidence to our people, to
Africa and the broader
international community. We agree with President Zuma
that implementing the
GPA is the panacea to the rest of the attendant
problems dogging the
inclusive government
The MDC is a party of
excellence. We believe in the truth; in forthright
statements that make it
imperative for our country to begin anew; to chart a
new way driven by basic
democratic tenets of respect for human rights, good
governance and simply
abiding by the dictates of documents and agreements we
have signed with
neither pressure nor coercion. We must all simply abide by
the GPA and agree
to resolve the outstanding issues so that the inclusive
government can begin
to bring full confidence, hope and prosperity to the
people of
Zimbabwe.
We hope that SADC and the AU will take it upon themselves to
make sure that
all the parties fully implement the GPA so that "African
solutions to
African problems" is not simply a slogan, but a value that we
all hold and
cherish. We also hope that the SADC review of the GPA in the
next few weeks
will reflect and correct some of the problems dogging the
full
implementation of the political agreement.
Together to the end,
marching to a new Zimbabwe.
http://europa.eu
Grand Baie, 29 August
2009
The European Union has today signed an interim Economic
Partnership
Agreement (EPA) with countries from the Eastern and Southern
Africa regional
grouping (ESA). These countries are Mauritius, Seychelles,
Zambia and
Zimbabwe, Comoros and Madagascar . The agreement was signed
in Grand
Baie, Mauritius, by EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and
Swedish
deputy trade minister Gunnar Wieslander on behalf of the EU. The
deal offers
the ESA countries that signed the agreement immediate and full
access to EU
markets (with transition periods for rice and sugar), together
with improved
rules of origin. ESA countries will open their markets
gradually over the
next 15 years, with a number of important exceptions
reflecting their
development needs.
Commissioner Ashton said “We now
have the foundation to build a more
comprehensive trade partnership that
will support the ESA region’s work to
build diverse and sustainable
economies. This agreement brings a diverse
region together under a single
trade arrangement with the EU, tailored to
the specific needs of the region
and recognising its diversity."
Commissioner Ashton met with ministers
from a wider group of ESA states to
discuss elements of this comprehensive
trade partnership, which would cover
issues like services, investment,
agriculture, technical standards, trade
facilitation and trade-related
rules. Discussions covered key issues such as
protection for infant
industries and export duties and both sides agreed to
press forward with
negotiations without delay.
The trade and development
partnership
All imports from the countries that signed the interim EPA
have benefited
from duty and quota free access to the EU since 1 st January
2008 (with
short transition periods for rice and sugar). These countries
will now
liberalise their markets to EU imports over the next 15 years,
gradually
removing tariffs on between 80% and 98% of imports from the EU
depending on
the country. Among the products excluded from liberalisation
are sensitive
agricultural and manufactured products such as milk, meat,
vegetables,
textiles, footwear and clothing.
Other regional countries
like Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi and Sudan
are involved in ongoing
negotiations for the more comprehensive regional
agreement and may join the
agreement later. As Least Developed Countries
they have duty free access to
EU markets under the EU Everything But Arms
trade arrangement and do not
need to submit a market access offer to sign
the agreement and benefit from
its development cooperation and fisheries
provisions while negotiations
towards the more comprehensive deal continue.
Background: EU - ESA Trade
in Goods
In 2008 total EU imports from the ESA group were approximately
€3.2bn, or
0.20% of all EU imports, comprising mainly of textiles and
clothing, sugar,
fish products and copper. Last year, EU exports to the ESA
Group consisted
mostly of mechanical and electrical machinery and ve
http://www.radiovop.com
KAROI, August 29, 2009
- A suspected ring leader of poachers who was
nursing gun wounds at Karoi
hospital escaped under police guard before
getting in a gate-away car last
week in a matter that is now under
investigations.
According to both Karoi police and hospital sources, the suspect who
is
believed to be the chief suspect in the well planned poaching errands
within
Zambezi basin, is believed to have been whisked way in a gate away
car that
was behind the hospital fence after he scaled down the security
fence.
The case is the second in a month following a similar escape
of a
robber from a Harare hospital, suspected to have been part of the
robbers
that robbed and beat the husband of Regional Intergration and
International
Co-operation Minister Priscillar Misihairabwi-Mushonga at his
home in Mount
Pleasant. Dr Chrisopher Mushonga later died as a result of the
injuries he
sustained during the beatings. The robber had asked nurses to go
to the
toilet and that was the last they saw of him.
The suspected
poacher, who has a bullet that is yet to be removed from
his chest, asked
the nurses on duty that he wanted to go to the toilet but
he sneaked out of
the hospital through the toilet window. He scaled down the
security fence of
the hospital and there is suspicion that a gate away car
was waiting for
him.
He had been captured in Marinara game ranch after an exchange of
gunfire in the area two weeks ago and was still yet to appear in
court.
Sources said the incident occurred on Monday night when there
was no
electricity as the town was under the normal load shedding.
Although police officers from Karoi charge offices were alerted, the
search
failed to get any positive results.
''The nurses on duty as well as the
armed policeman have been quizzed
over the escape which was well planned and
the issue is sensitive to comment
about, '' a hospital source told Radio
Voice of the People.
Another source within National Parks authority
said there was a
shoot-out in Marongora area where eight elephants were shot
dead by the
organised crime of poachers in the last two weeks.
''There is now an intensified crack-unit of army, National Parks
rangers and
police in the Zambezi basin to curb rampage by poachers who are
on the loose
killing elephants, buffaloes, zebra among other animals. The
poachers are
Zambians working in cahoots with local villagers in the rural
areas, a
source within National Parks authority who could not be named for
professional reasons added.
He further said that Hurungwe rural
areas among them Chundu,
Kazangarare and Kariba rural in Marogolo fishing
camp as well as Chirundu
basin have been a hive of activity of poaching for
the past two years and
anti-poaching is still yet to curb the
rampage.
However the recent crackdown has stretched from Chirundu to
Nyaminyami
area where soldiers are patrolling Mologolo fishing camp among
other areas,
according to sources.
There was no immediate response
from responsible authorities among
them army, police and national parks at
the time of writing although senior
government ministers have been
implicated in the poaching of rhinos in
Midlands and Matebleland provinces
but no arrests have been made.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21920
August 29, 2009
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - A number of hungry lions out of a pride of at least 40
abandoned
after a farmer was evicted from a commercial farm on the outskirts
of
Masvingo city have escaped.
The animals, believed to be four in
number, escaped on Friday from their
cages at Swantoein Farm where they were
abandoned by Ronny Sparrow at the
time of his eviction by Zanu-PF supporters
two months ago.
The animals now pose a danger to livestock and people in
the adjacent
Chikwanda communal lands.
The lions which had been taken
over by the Department of Parks and Wildlife
escaped after their cages were
apparently tempered with.
Department officials confirmed the escape of
the animals saying they had
since engaged professional hunters to track them
down.
"We have engaged experienced hunters to track down the animals,"
said one
official, speaking on condition he was not identified.
"From
our investigations it appears only four animals have escaped but we
are yet
to ascertain the figure.
"We are urging villagers in the nearby communal
lands to be on the lookout
since the animals are dangerous. It looks like
the cages were tempered with,
resulting in the animals
escaping".
Ronny Sparrow, the former owner of the property was evicted
two months ago
leaving at least 40 lions which have endured months of
neglect.
A former worker at the farm told The Zimbabwe Times that the
lions were on
the verge of dying as they were not receiving adequate
care.
"We were left here by Mr Sparrow", said Richard Sibanda a former
worker at
the property. "But those who came to occupy this farm said they
did not have
to look after the lions.
"We have been giving them the
food which was left by the former owner but
the food reserves have since run
dry".
Sparrow was one of the leading farmers and conservationists in
Masvingo.
Zanu-PF officials here had taken a decision that he should not be
evicted
from his property.
However following a wave of fresh farm
invasions which hit the country early
this year the property was invaded,
leaving the lions and other wildlife
abandoned.
Zanu-PF Politburo
member Celina Pote said the party's leadership in Masvingo
had agreed that
Sparrow be spared from eviction as he was a productive
farmer.
"We
are really surprised that some people decided to take over his property",
Pote said.
Sparrow and several other commercial farmers fled the
country after it
emerged that the government planned to prosecute them for
refusing to vacate
their properties.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21913
August 29, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Self-styled war veteran leader, Joseph Chinotimba
on Thursday
stunned a Harare's magistrate's court when he claimed Youth and
Indigenisation Deputy Minister, Thamsanqa Mahlangu stole his cell phone to
fix him for being Zanu-PF.
Chinotimba was giving evidence before a
packed court at the Harare
Magistrate's courts during the second day of
Mahlangu's trial.
He had been requested by Mahlangu's lawyer, Charles
Kwaramba, during cross
examination to demonstrate cause why Mahlangu, a
cabinet minister would put
his political career at risk by stealing a cell
phone valued at a mere
US$40.
"The accused person is a minister who
has a house, four cell phones and a
(Toyota) Prado," said Kwaramba, "Why do
you think he would steal your cell
phone?"
Chinotimba, who was
speaking in Shona, answered, "If he could go to such
lengths to steal my
phone, he obviously hates me. Munhu waminister. (He is a
minister.)
Kwaramba than asked Chinotimba whether there was bad blood
between them
before the theft of the phone.
"Politically, yes,"
Chinotimba responded, "If the MDC issues adverse remarks
against Zanu-PF and
war veterans, I become offended because I belong to
Zanu-PF.
"Similarly, if Zanu-PF makes adverse remarks against the
MDC, he is also
offended because he is MDC. So a grudge exists because we
both want power.
"When I look at him, I view him as a bad person because
his party has called
for sanctions against Zimbabwe. Saka hetireji iripoka
apa (So, yes, there is
bad blood).
Chinotimba, who was wearing a
cream suit that appeared to be new, reduced
presiding magistrate Kudakwashe
Jarabini and the rest of the court to
stitches of laughter each time he
answered a question directed at him.
With hands thrust deep in his
trousers' pockets, Chinotimba occasionally
broke burst into uncontrolled
laughter, while shaking his head in amusement.
Chinotimba insisted he was
convinced Mahlangu connived to steal his cell
phone, a Nokia 2310. The
deputy minister is charged jointly with his aid,
Malvern Chadamoyo, and two
alleged women accomplices, Geraldine Alvina Phiri
(21) and Patience Nyoni
(27).
The four, along with Chinotimba, attended a conference called by
Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara to discuss Zimbabwe's Vision 2040
document
on July 17, 2009.
Chinotimba says he lost his phone and
suspected it had been stolen by
Mahlangu whom he shared a table with for
lunch.
Although the phone was later found in his custody, Mahlangu says
he had no
intention of permanently depriving Chinotimba of his
phone.
In his defence outline, Mahlangu, who is yet to testify, says
Chinotimba's
phone was picked by mistake together with the rest of his own
valuables by
his aid as they left the conference venue at the end of the
day.
The aid, Chadamoyo, thought the phone belonged to his
boss.
The accused says he did not notice that he had the phone in his
possession
until he arrived home in Bulawayo where he drove later that same
day.
He said his intention was to surrender the phone later but his
explanation
did not convince his accusers who insist his motive was to steal
it.
Two other witnesses testified on Thursday.
They are Paul
Mavhima, principal director in Mutambara's office and Cecilia
Revai
Chimbiri, an information officer in the same office.
The two were asked
to tell the court what they remembered about an
announcement which was made
by the master of ceremony during the day in
question, notifying the
delegates of Chinotimba's missing phone.
Chinotimba claims the theft of
his cell phone was announced twice by the
master of ceremony in the presence
of Mahlangu, who denies ever hearing such
announcement.
Mahlangu
further says he had left the venue when the announcement was
made.
Meanwhile, Phiri and Nyoni have denied the authenticity of the
warned and
cautioned statements which they gave to the police upon their
arrest.
They claim they were forced to give the statements under duress
with one of
them claiming she was Mahlangu's girlfriend.
The two are
alleged to have been found with the sim card to Chinotimba's
cell phone.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
Nelson Chenga
27 August 2009
Harare -
Once touted as the country's major financier of agriculture, the
Agriculture
Bank of Zimbabwe Limited (Agribank) is itself in need of a heavy
financial
injection.
A predecessor of the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC),
the bank is
teetering on the brink of collapse due to poor capitalisation
and the
effects of hyperinflation, which left the entire financial sector
skating on
thin ice.
The bank's poor performance was worsened by
the systematic looting of its
resources by mainly politicians who defaulted
on their loan repayments.
As a result, Agribank is hopelessly failing to
do what it was created for --
lending money to farmers.
Formerly
AFC, which in turn was a transformation of the Land Bank that had
been
established in 1925, the bank was converted into a commercial bank in
1999.
The bank was again transformed into an agricultural development
bank in
2003, earmarked to provide finance to farmers in line with the
government's
controversial land acquisition strategy.
The decade-long
economic recession has, however, left Agribank gasping for
lifelines.
One of the clearest signs that all is not well at the bank
is Agribank's
failure to pay its 800 employees countrywide. Half of the
bank's workers are
now on unpaid leave as Agribank battles to contain
costs.
Recently, 37 executives from the bank opted for voluntary
retrenchment after
realising that the ship was sinking. This was when
Agribank closed almost
all its 52 branches.
The employees told The
Financial Gazette this week that they were offered
paltry severance packages
and were ordered to surrender their company cars.
An attempt by the bank
dispose some of its assets in order to raise funds
for recapitalisation and
retrenchment packages hit the brick wall as this
would have severely eroded
its already thin balance sheet at a time when the
bank is frantically
looking for new investors.
The bank, which is 100 percent-owned by the
government, is now desperately
trying to court foreign investors to help
salvage it from the doldrums.
But stalling the negotiations with
potential investors has been the fact
that possible suitors are holding back
their funds because the inclusive
government of President Robert Mugabe,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara's policy on the bank is still
unclear.
While the inclusive
government has indicated its willingness to privatise
some of its assets,
not much progress has been made.
To make matters worse, the principals to
the power-sharing agreement are
still haggling over a catalogue of
outstanding issues that include the
appointments of central bank governor,
Gideon Gono, and Attorney-General,
Johannes Tomana.
Analysts said
potential investors are wary of the State's continued
involvement in the
bank fearing a repeat of past mistakes when the previous
government forced
Agribank to charge unviable interest rates while loans
were also issued to
farmers for political expediency.
Some of the investors are reportedly
demanding a complete overhaul of the
bank's board and management as a
precondition to their investment.
"The major problem was that the
government allowed politicians to meddle
with operations of the institution
whereby the interest rate on loans was
determined by Cabinet," said one
analyst. "For a long time, the bank was
charging a 20 percent interest on
loans at a time when the country's
inflation was over 300 percent. This was
simply ridiculous."
Chief executive officer, Sam Malaba, said the bank,
which is now planning
trim its branch network, was in desperate need of
lines of credit and fresh
capital.
While Malaba said Agribank was
still advancing short-term loans after being
thrown a US$10 million lifeline
from the PTA Bank recently, he could not
readily indicate how much the bank
has lent out so far.
Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, said government is
seriously considering
whittling down its stake in the troubled bank to
rescue it from collapse.
"Government has no business owning a bank. The
100 percent shareholding in
the bank is simply not sustainable for the
government," said Biti, who added
that the government would also issue
Treasury bills to improve Agribank's
fortunes.
Also known as a
T-bill, a Treasury bill is a short-term obligation that is
not interest
bearing (it is purchased at a discount) and can be traded on a
discount
basis.
Analysts said reviving Zimbabwe's agriculture, the backbone of the
country's
comatose economy, would be a daunting task unless Agribank and
other players
in the banking sector fully recovers.
According to the
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Zimbabwe's maize
production this
year is estimated at 1,14 million tonnes, an increase of 130
percent on 2008
with the overall total domestic cereal availability for
2009/10 estimated to
be 1,39 million tonnes.
The organisation forecasts a winter-season wheat
of about 12 000 tonnes, the
lowest ever and dramatically down from 242 000
tonnes in 2006.
"With the total utilisation of cereals at about 2,07
million tonnes
including 1,74 million tonnes for direct human consumption
for the revised
projected population of 11 million, the resulting cereal
import requirement
is estimated at 680 000 tonnes, of which the maize
deficit accounts for
about 70 percent.
"Wheat farming is plagued
with the high cost of production relative to
returns (especially non-payment
for last year's crop), the shortage of
financial liquidity, and the
uncertainty of electricity supply for
irrigation," says FAO in its June 2009
special report on Zimbabwe.
And as the summer season beckons with both
the small subsistence and large
commercial farmers looking nervously to the
skies, the absence of government
handouts may spell doom for the 2009/10
cropping season as many farmers
neither have the inputs nor the funds to
bankroll farming operations.
Last season's paltry crop sales did not
raise enough cash for the farmers to
support continued operations while
loans being offered by the banking sector
are on short-term basis, which is
not good enough to sustain agricultural
production.
"We are worst
prepared (for the coming season) in the history of this
country. We have no
finance. We have no lines of credit . . . Without the
lines of credit, there
will be no agriculture," said Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) vice-president,
Charles Taffs.
"Under the current circumstances, Zimbabwe will never be
able to feed itself
as the past five or six years have already proved. If
there is good policy,
return to rule of law, return to property rights, we
can easily become the
breadbasket of Africa."
CFU contends that the
whole business cycle whereby land holders borrow from
banks to produce
crops, which they then sell to the manufacturing sector and
channel the
finances back into the financial system, was destroyed by the
previous
government's attempts to equitably redistribute its land resource.
"If
you take out the land the cycle is broken and that is why there is no
money
in this country because there is no cashflow," said Taffs.
The union said
President Mugabe's previous administration trampled on
property rights as it
sought to redistribute land in 2000 which also
undermined the country's
credibility among the community of nations.
"What we need is good policy, in
which all people who want to farm
regardless of their race, creed, religion,
colour can do so on a commercial
basis. And the way to do that is to sort
out the tenure issue on the land
because without tenure, no one can access
finance and without finance no one
can go into production.
"The old
tenure system has to be bought and paid for and once that is done,
the
conflict is removed and the country can now move forward.
"Agriculture
should be based on sound economics where people who have the
land have to
produce and if they don't produce, they should automatically
lose their land
for not adding value to the economy," said Taffs.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
27 August 2009
Harare - Victoria Muringayi, Staff
Reporter
JOSEPH Chinotimba has been taken to court by the Harare City
Council for
illegally occupying a council property long after the war
veterans leader's
employment contract had expired and his lease agreement
terminated.
Chinotimba's lease agreement for property number 56 Cardiff
Avenue,
Belvedere was cancelled by council in September last year, more than
six
years after he was fired in May 2002 for being absent from work without
official leave.
But the patron of the Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade Unions had continued
occupying the premises.
Part of the
summons sent to Chinotimba on June 25 read: "You are hereby
summoned that
you do within seven days after the service of this summons
upon you, enter
or cause to be entered with me and also the plaintiff or his
legal
practitioner at the address specified herein on appearance to answer
the
claim of City of Harare for eviction."
Chinotimba's lawyer, Simbarashe
Machiridza, was reluctant to comment on the
matter.
"I am not
commenting on that case because it's before the Harare
Magistrates' Court,"
he said.
In court documents seen by The Financial Gazette the
self-styled
commander-in-chief of the 2000 farm occupations is arguing that
he was
entitled to purchase the property in dispute because he was a long
serving
employee of the city.
He further contends that since the
cancellation of his lease agreement, by
virtue of continued occupation, he
was now a statutory tenant.
"The plaintiff (City of Harare) cannot seek
an order for his (Chinotimba)
ejection from the Rent Board in terms of rent
regulations," Chinotimba's
lawyers argued.
The defence lawyers said
the City of Harare did not take any action against
Chinotimba after the
alleged cancellation of the lease agreement in
September 2008, but continued
accepting rentals for the house every month.
The same documents say
Chinotimba moved into the council house in 2002 when
he was employed as a
security guard before being promoted the same year to
become a municipal
driver.
Chinotimba was later fired in 2002 after he went AWOL ostensibly
to
concentrate on invading farms.
He had joined council in 1982 as a
patrolman with a Form One qualification.
Information obtained by The
Financial Gazette shows that at least 302 people
are illegally occupying
council houses.
Council owns 2 081 houses in the capital mostly occupied
by its employees.
Investigations into the alleged illegal occupation of
council houses also
revealed that Glen Norah has the highest number of
illegal tenants.
Of the 153 council houses in Glen Norah, 80 are being
illegally occupied by
people outside the council's payroll.
Council
charges high density tenants between US$30-US$40 per month and low
density
tenants US$60-US$70 per month in rentals.
http://www.radiovop.com
CHIREDZI-
August 29, 2009- The business community in Masvingo is
urging Government to
move fast in the expansion and sprucing up of the two
airports, Buffalo
Range International Airport in the Lowveld and Masvingo
Airport in-order to
take advantage of the tourism boom anticipated during
next year's FiFa World
Cup Soccer finals to be hosted by neighbouring South
Africa.
The airports are also the gateway to the Great
Limpopo Transfrontier
Park which will join Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National
Park, South Africa's
Kruger and Mozambique's Limpopo National parks when
completed.
There are fears are that the wildlife rich Lowveld could
lose out on
the massive tourism opportunities if key infrastructure such as
airports and
roads were not up-graded to international
standards.
Several accidents happen on the Masvingo Highway and
this has been
often attributed to the poor state of the narrow-potholed
road.
Chiredzi North legislator Ronald Ndava bemoaned the slow pace
in
completing the expansion of the airport.
"We are saying that
now that the economy has stabilised with the
formation of the inclusive
government there should be emphasis on resource
allocation to projects such
as the expansion of Buffalo Range International
Airport. Government should
indeed move with speed and make sure that the
expansion of the airport is
completed as it has been stalled for the past
six years due to
underfunding," said Ndava.
The Masvingo 2010 World Cup provincial
organising committee chairman
Frederick Kasese also echoed Ndava's
sentiments saying the expansion of
Buffalo Range International Airport and
the facelift of Masvingo Airport
were critical for Masvingo's tourism
fortunes.
Expansion of Buffalo Range International Airport started
in 2003.
http://www.radiovop.com
Karoi, August 29, 2009 - Karoi Court has ordered Chief
Trymore Manyepa
Dandawa to return three beasts he ''grabbed'' as fine from a
bus driver whom
he had accused of showing "lack of respect to him'' last
year.
Magistrate Archibold Dingane ruled that Chief Dandawa
had no authority
to be the presiding officer in a traditional court where he
was the
complainant resulting in ''miscarriage of justice for a fair
trial''
Chief Dandawa accused Rodgers Mundowa of '' undermining the
Chief's
authority and insulting him'' at Chidamoyo business centre on 14 May
last
year.
Mundowa who is a bus driver with Roadstar bus company,
said he had
called his workmate a bus conductor, Boas Maketa, who was
talking to the
Chief in the beer hall at the business centre. Maketa who was
in
conversation with the Chief excused himself from the chief who was not
happy
with the way Mundowa had called his workmate.
Chief Dandawa
then ordered Mundowa to buy him beer for ''lack of
respect to the chief'' as
admission of guilty.
However, a month later, Mundowa was summoned to a
traditional court
where Chief Dandawa ruled that he should pay a beast on
his admission of
guilty when he ''undermined the authority of the
chief''.
Mundowa was shocked that his three beasts, that he had kept
for
safe-keeping in the same village, were ''taken by Chief Dandawa as his
admission of guilty fine''
In a bid to have justice done, Mundowa
reported the case at Karoi
court through civil division claiming that he had
an ''unfair trial by
traditional court where Chief Dandawa had grabbed three
beasts.
Magistrate Dingane ruled that: ''Chief Dandawa had no right to
take
any beast from the applicant and has no authority to preside over such
cases
especially when he was the complainant. How can justice be done when
the
same complainant is the same court judging the accused? It's a
miscarriage
of justice and the applicant must through the order of this
judgment get his
beasts forthwith.''
Traditional chiefs have been
accused of usurping powers to rule their
subjects and President Robert
Mugabe's government is accused of abusing them
to campaign for his Zanu PF
party in the last elections.
The chiefs have been showered with cars,
farming equipment and had
electricity at their rural homesteads as
''payback'' for their allegiance.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
Victoria Muringayi
27 August
2009
Harare - Eight government ministries responsible for the
country's various
infrastructural developments have reported poor progress
in meeting the
goals set out in the inclusive government's first 100 Day
Plan.
The Ministries of Public Works; Science and Technology Development;
National
Housing and Social Amenities; Information Communication Technology;
Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Develo-pment, Water Resources,
Development and Management, Public Service; and Energy and Power Development
that form the infrastructure cluster, reported between two and five percent
progress towards fulfilling their 100-day targets citing lack of
funding.
George Mlilo, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Public
Works, said
the repair and rehabilitation of government buildings would take
time but
there was marked improvement in the general cleanliness of public
institutions.
"Work on almost all construction projects is at stand
still due to the
absence of funding. It should, however, be noted that
government
institutions will reach optimum levels when the required and
necessary
repairs and redecorations is applied on a five-year cycle basis,"
said
Mlilo.
Mlilo said repairs for sanitary facilities in government
offices would be
completed once funds are made availed by the Ministry of
Finance.
The ministry has also failed to acquire vehicles, computers and
consumables
and some building materials during the period under
review.
Presenting his budget review last month Finance Minister, Tendai
Biti, said
the country requires US$8,4 billion for the implementation of
Short Term
Emergency Recovery Programme of which US$1 billion is required
for budgetary
support and US$1 billion for supporting the private sector
through
liquidating lines of credit.
The inclusive government set up
its 100 day plan starting April 28 to August
6, 2009 in a bid to revive the
country's battered economy.
The government is soon expected to release a
full report for the 100 Day
Plan and an assessment on the progress on a
sector by sector basis.
http://news.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-29
10:12:02
YANGON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has established
diplomatic
ties with Zimbabwe at ambassadorial level, bringing the total
number of
countries in the world with which Myanmar has such links up to 98
since it
regained independence in 1948, state-run newspaper the New Light of
Myanmar
reported Saturday.
An agreement on the
establishment of diplomatic ties was signed by
the ambassadors of Myanmar
and Zimbabwe to India in New Delhi Thursday, the
report
said.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Myanmar has so far set
up
embassies in 30 countries and two permanent missions in New York and
Geneva,
and three consulates-general in China's Hong Kong and Kunming and
India's
Calcutta, respectively.
Meanwhile, 28 countries
have their embassies in Myanmar. In
addition, China and India have
respectively set up consulates-general in
Myanmar's Mandalay, the second
largest city, while Switzerland in Yangon and
Bangladesh in
Sittway.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
29
August 2009
By The
Zimbabwean
The 29th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government and the
Obligation to
Make Public the South African Generals Report on Post-Election
Violence in
Zimbabwe Executive Summary: In May 2008, then President Thabo
Mbeki
commissioned six retired South African Generals to report on
allegations of
violence committed in the aftermath of the first round of
Zimbabwe's
elections of March 2008.
That report has never
been made public and the Presidency now maintains that
a written report was
never compiled.
The report was commissioned under the auspices of Mbeki's
SADC-appointed
role as facilitator of political dialogue in Zimbabwe. The
existence, or
non-existence of the report, has implications for the
obligations owed by
former President Mbeki and the current South African
government to SADC, and
for the obligations of SADC itself. Those
obligations are specified below.
The communiqué of the 2007 Extra-ordinary
SADC Summit of Heads of State and
Government 28 -29 March 2007, (the
communiqué) stated that:
The Extra-Ordinary Summit mandated H.E President
Thabo Mbeki to continue to
facilitate dialogue between the opposition and
the Government and report
back to the Troika on the progress. The
Extra-Ordinary Summit also
encouraged enhanced diplomatic contacts which
will assist with the
resolution of the situation in Zimbabwe.
1. It
was in this capacity, as facilitator of political dialogue in
Zimbabwe, that
then President Mbeki, in May 2008, commissioned six retired
South African
Generals, led by Lt-General Romano, to assess the allegations
of
post-election violence committed in Zimbabwe and to present a report to
him
on such findings.
That report has never been publicly released. In response
to a request made
earlier this year by a consortium of non-governmental
organizations - the
Southern African Centre for the Survivors of Torture,
the South African
History Archive and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre
- for the release
of the report, in terms of South Africa's Promotion
of
1 Communique of the 2007 Extra-ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and
Government 28-29 March 2007.
Access to Information Act (PAIA), the
Presidency maintained that no written
report had ever been produced, nor had
any terms of reference been given the
generals.
Below is only a small
sample of the documentation that makes it hard to
credit the Presidency's
response:
On 14 May 2008 the Department of Foreign Affairs had an
International
Relations Police and Security Cluster media briefing. The
notes from the
briefing provide that:
President Thabo Mbeki as the
facilitator has dispatched six retired South
African National Defence Force
(SANDF) Generals, led by Lt-Gen. Romano to
Zimbabwe to assess the
allegations of violence and present a report to
President Mbeki.
This
report should be presented in the near future and we hope that this
will
serve as the basis through which to address this matter.2 The then
Deputy
Minister of the Department of Home Affairs Aziz Pahad was asked the
following question at that briefing: Will the report by the Generals be
presented to President Mbeki or has it been presented to President
Mbeki?
In answer to the question, the Deputy Minister stated that: A report
is
expected to be finalised this week. We will be informed as soon as the
report has been completed.3
2 Department of Foreign Affairs, "Notes
following International Relations
Police and Security (IRPS) Cluster media
briefing" (May 14, 2008). Available
at http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/speeches/2008/paha0515.html.
Furthermore,
the former Deputy Minister is reported as saying the following
when
questioned about the investigations conducted by the retired Generals
sent
by Mbeki to investigate the violence:
This team was deployed on May 4 and is
expected to complete its factfinding
mission by May 20, following which it
will present its report to the
President.
4. The Implications of
Non-Disclosure or Non-Existence of the Report The NGO's
involved in the
initial request have followed up by availing themselves of
the internal
appeal procedure allowed under PAIA. They have also submitted a
second
request - for the minutes of the meetings at which the generals
allegedly
made their verbal reports. Furthermore, litigation on this issue
is being
considered.
However, the non-disclosure of the Generals' report - and, even
accepting
the Presidency's contention that no written report was ever
produced - not
only has implications for the South African executive's
constitutional
obligations in respect of accountability for expenditure of
state resources
and the public's right 3 Ibid.
4. Independent Online,
"Pahad Rubbishes Zim Information" (May 20, 2008)
available at
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20080520164010279C212118.
of
access to information, it also has implications for the obligations of
accountability and colleagiality owed by members of SADC in respect of one
another.
Although then-president Mbeki was appointed to facilitate
political dialogue
between protagonists in Zimbabwe, it is clear, even from
the abridged noting
of this appointment in the communiqué emanating from the
2007 Extra-ordinary
Summit, that this was not a function in which he would
have unlimited
discretion. The communiqué makes plain that this process of
mediation would
be supervised by the Troika, and that the mediator was to
report back to the
Troika on his progress.
Indeed, it is the Troika that
is mandated by the SADC Treaty to function as
the "steering committee of the
institution [the Summit] and shall, in
between the meetings of the
institution, be responsible for:
a) decision-making
b) facilitating the
implementation of decisions; and
c) providing policy-directives."5
In the
absence of any written report compiled by the Generals or any written
terms
of reference for such report, it is hard to imagine how the mediator
might
have discharged, in good faith, his duty in respect of the Troika
specifically and the Summit of Heads of State and Government, more
generally.
5. Article 9A(6) of the SADC Treaty
The value in sending
such high-level retired Generals to conduct an
investigation would have been
severally undermined had they only been
required to provide an oral report
as opposed to a properly documented
report - consistent with the highest
standards of military efficiency - that
dealt systematically and
comprehensively with the very complex and important
matters they were tasked
with investigating.
More pertinently, however, given that the purpose of the
mission was to
inform the actions, both diplomatically and otherwise, of
SADC, it is
difficult to understand how such a report could have been
anything other
than in writing, so that proper consideration of it could be
undertaken by a
broader spectrum of persons who may not have been able to
consult directly
with President Mbeki and the Generals.
Only by producing
a written report could the obligations owed to SADC
members be properly
discharged.
In light of the above, we call upon:
. Former President Mbeki
to fulfill his SADC appointed mandate and produce
the Generals report or, in
the alternative, to clarify how the obligation
owed to SADC member states to
afford them the opportunity to properly
consider and to determine
appropriate response to the Zimbabwe situation
could be discharged in the
absence of a record of the crucial assessment
undertaken by the
Generals.
. South African President Zuma to fulfill South Africa's
obligations of
colleagiality to SADC member states by producing the Generals
report and
associated documentation, if such documentation is in possession
of the
South African government.
. The 29th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads
of State and Government, in line
with SADC's commitment to the right of
access to information as set out in
its Protocol on Culture, Information and
Sport, to produce the Generals
report, if in possession of the Summit, the
Troika, or any SADC institution,
or, in the alternative, to clarify how it
may discharge, in good faith, its
several obligations in promoting peace and
security when it has not
considered so important a report on developments in
Zimbabwe.
http://www.mg.co.za
JASON MOYO - Aug 29 2009 06:00
'Mugabe is dead".
That's a headline many long to see in their lifetime -- so
much so that,
once in a while, we write it anyway.
A report on Wednesday that Robert
Mugabe was in hospital quickly morphed
into the tale that he had actually
croaked.
So, distressed at missing the scoop, and having made a few calls
to Zanu-PF
types who laughed at me, I do what any self-respecting journo
would do --
hit Google. I log on to website deadoraliveinfo.com and, punch
in Robert
Mugabe on search.
Up pops a bright yellow smiley, with the
search result: "Alive," it says.
"President of Zimbabwe, currently in the
process of driving his country into
bankruptcy, anarchy and
starvation."
So, no change there. Just to be sure, since Mugabe has
recently added a few
new prefixes to his name, I try again: "Robert Mugabe,
Supreme Leader", I
write this time. "Alive," says the
site.
"President of Zimbabwe, currently in the process of driving his
country into
bankruptcy, anarchy and starvation." Bummer! He's still at it!
Mugabe dies
every year.
Then reappears. One minute he's wheezing up
the old ghost in some Far East
hospital, the next he's running up the stairs
like some kid, on to the plane
and off to visit a fellow Supreme
Leader.
Just as he will do soon when he visits Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez, who
sent an emissary to Mugabe on Wednesday afternoon -- as the
rumours raged --
inviting him to Venezuela.
The web search
continues.There's a 2004 article, "Mugabe death watch", on a
website called
"Damnation", speculating on Mugabe's demise after he failed
to attend a
state funeral.
It links to a site called "The Daily Wanker".
That
figures. There's a 2005 report quoting The Herald saying Mugabe had
"scoffed
at rumours doing rounds in Harare that he died last week following
heart
failure".
Another, from 2006, quotes George Charamba, Mugabe's press
secretary, saying
he had to check with Mugabe about reports that he'd died
of heart failure.
"He [Mugabe] said: 'When did I die and where?"'
The
good news is that wiki-News isn't leaving anything to chance. It has a
"prepared story": "Robert Mugabe, dictator and president of Zimbabwe has
died today at the age of AGE.
The cause of death was announced as
CAUSEOFDEATH."
The story, says wiki, "describes an event that is
scheduled or expected, but
has not yet occurred". And so we wait.
Dear Family and Friends,
"The house is
burning down" is how someone described the situation in
Zimbabwe this week.
They weren't referring to the swirling rumours that 85 year old
Mr
Mugabe was apparently very ill and in Dubai for medical
treatment.
They weren't talking about the continuing jostling for
positions in
the higher levels of Zanu PF since the recent death of Vice
President
Joseph Msika. The burning house didn't refer to the shocking
reports
in the State run press that AIDS levies deducted from
salaries
nationwide were being abused. Or that of the 1.7 million US
dollars
collected in AIDS levies this year, only 20 thousand had been
spent
on anti-retroviral.
The burning house reference wasn't connected
to the visit by South
African President and SADC chairman Jacob Zuma to
Zimbabwe. It had
nothing to do with the behind closed doors talks Mr Zuma had
with Mr
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara about unresolved issues in the
unity
government's political agreement which have been outstanding for
over
6 months.
The house is burning down is a literal description of
Zimbabwe in the
last week of August 2009. Fires are burning everywhere. In
residential
areas smoke rises as household garbage is burnt by residents
desperate
to try and keep down rats, snakes, mosquitoes and disease. Its a
very
sore point that six months after new town councils took office
they
still aren't even collecting garbage. They say they have no fuel
but
their officials, whose salaries we pay, are busy travelling
to
"workshops and seminars" in other parts of the country. In
residential
areas smoke rises during the increasing number of power
cuts and from the
houses of people who cannot afford the electricity
charges. Smoke is also
rising from roadsides, along railway lines,
under electricity pylons and even
on the corner of intersections as
everyone prepares little patches of ground
where they can grow a few
mealies. On the outskirts of residential areas
smoke can be seen at
any time in any direction as fires burn unchecked. At
night, any
night, an orange glow lights the sky as the flames gobble
up
unproductive, unprotected farms, plots and wetlands.
Every evening
as dusk falls the sun is crimson as it drops into the
horizon through the
haze of dust, ash and smoke. Every dawn, if you
are lucky and can find a view
without smoke, the Msasa trees are
glorious, their leaves red as they
announce a new season. Zimbabwe
waits, holding its breath to see if something
sensible is going to
happen on farming land in the next month as we get into
planting
time. Until next week, from the burning house, thanks for
reading,
love cathyCopyright cathy buckle 29 August 2009.
www.cathybuckle.com
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21947
August 29, 2009
By Eddie
Cross
MORE than ever we are learning that good government is not an
optional
extra - it's central to the task of administering the world in
which we
live. Bad government is bad for everyone except a small minority
who may
stand to benefit from the concentration of power and
patronage.
As Churchill said once, democracy may not be perfect, but in a
fragile,
decadent world, it is the best option available to us. One might
say the
same about markets - never perfect, but always better than the
alternatives.
The Bible got it right - money is usually the root of all
evil!
These factors together make for a very lethal mix, so lethal that
it can
kill almost any country if we do not manage them and get the various
controls and counter measures in place. Zimbabwe is a prime example of a
country whose economy has been destroyed by bad government and money and
power.
How do we stop this ever happening again? I guess it starts
with the
Constitution. The American founding fathers got it right when they
sat down
and worked out a constitution for the United States. I think they
managed to
create a sound constitution because they had set themselves clear
guiding
principles.
They recognised the depravity and fallen
character of man, while accepting
mankind has great potential. They
determined to spread political and
administrative power equally among the
three branches of the Federal
Government. They accepted the supremacy of the
law over the players in the
Federal Government and ensured the executive
would be accountable to an
elected House of Representatives and Senate. They
provided for a powerful,
directly elected President who would be head of
Government but accountable
to the Elected Assembly.
We are about to
go through the same process as a country with the raw wounds
of bad
government still smarting. It is important we get it right this time
even if
we have to adjust matters later on in the light of on going
experience.
I have been giving this matter some considerable thought
in recent weeks,
spurred perhaps by the fact that we, the people, are about
to be consulted
on this vital issue. I am going to take a risk and lay out
here what I think
are the key issues for us as a nation going into this
debate.
Firstly I think that the principle of a clear separation of power
is a vital
ingredient in this mix. At present we have no such separation -
the
judiciary is too reliant and subservient to the executive and there is
no
separation between the executive and Parliament. We need to secure both
principles in our new Constitutional dispensation. What I would go for is
the American system where we would have a strong directly elected President.
But I would get him or her to appoint a small (maximum 20) Cabinet, drawn
from our whole society.
I would then provide for a single chamber
House of Assembly (I think the
Senate is a waste of money and time and adds
little to the process of
government), with perhaps 200 elected Members of
Parliament. These I would
select on a Party list, proportional
representation basis so that we can
ensure 50/50 gender balance at all
times. If any MP is selected to go into
the Cabinet, then the party holding
that post would replace them maintaining
the electoral and gender balance.
Each province would contribute 20 per cent
of its national lists to ensure
national coverage.
I would divide the country up into 5 Provinces with
new boundaries and
designed to hold 20 per cent of the population each. Each
Province would
have its own House of elected representatives comprising all
elected
officials in both local and central government drawn from the
province. This
Provincial House of Assembly would elect an executive
committee reflecting
the composition of the Cabinet and designed to allow
the Provincial
Executive Committees to monitor and guide national policy and
priorities.
In respect to the need to entrench the rule of law, I would
strengthen the
independence of the judiciary, allow judicial salaries and
conditions of
employment to be determined independently and paid direct from
the
Exchequer. I would give the judiciary the responsibility of enforcing
the
Constitution in all respects and for ensuring that the fundamentals of
the
law are applied to all who live and work in Zimbabwe without preference.
I
would ensure that contract law and basic rights over property are fully
enforced and respected.
In my view, local government is very
important in terms of the delivery of
basic services and ensuring quality of
life for all. I would therefore
entrench local government in the
constitution and thereby protect its
elected representatives from
interference from central government. I happen
to believe that people should
be responsible for managing the social
institutions that deliver services to
the people who pay for them. Local
authorities should be made responsible
for this with central government
proving a policy framework, guidance and
funding.
Eventually we are going to have to establish our own currency
and when we
do, we will need a strong, independent Reserve Bank to manage
the currency
and our banking system. Because the temptation will always
exist for
government to interfere with this essential function, perhaps this
should
also be made a constitutional issue.
Many friends are asking
me about the issue of faith and the making of a new
Constitution. In my own
view there is no such thing as a "Christian Nation"
or even a "Nation under
God". Faith is a personal issue and I think it
should be left to each
individual to seek their own way in this area of
life. But that said, I
would like to see the supremacy of God reflected in
the preamble as all
politicians need to know that one day, no matter who
they are, they will
face God and be judged for what they did while they were
in positions of
responsibility.
Jacob Zuma is in town, judging from the body language I
have seen so far,
Mugabe has had quite a tough time - I hope that is true as
we have been let
down by regional leaders so often in the past and there is
little belief
that this time round will be any different.