http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Aug 29, 2010,
15:39 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe's bankrupt central bank is to retrench 85 per
cent of its
bloated staff complement to help it move back into the black and
function as
a reliable national bank, according to Finance Minister Tendai
Biti.
The layoffs will mark the end of what analysts say was the use of
the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to prop up President Robert Mugabe's
party
after years of misrule exhausted the country's finances and led to
economic
collapse in 2008.
'There are about 2,600 employees at the
bank but the board will reduce the
staff to around 400,' Biti was quoted as
saying in the state-run Sunday Mail
newspaper.
He said the slashing
of staff was the result of new legislation to restrict
the bank's operations
to managing monetary policy, monitoring the banking
industry and to act as
lender of last resort.
The changes at the bank are among the few major
agreements to have been
carried out under Zimbabwe's 18-month-old coalition
government between
Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
now prime minister.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
accuses Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party of stalling on other promised democratic
reforms.
Biti confirmed that the RBZ, under governor Gideon Gono, owed
1.1 billion US
dollars, for which it has been forced by creditors to sell
assets. The debt
rendered much its new mandate 'academic for the moment,' he
said.
Under Gono, the bank confiscated hundreds of millions of US dollars
from the
accounts of major companies and non-governmental organizations. The
money
used to pay for handouts to Zanu-PF party members, and to buy
vehicles,
tractors, fuel and other goods which were distributed to party
faithful
before elections.
To maintain the spending, Gono had money
printed as fast as the bank presses
could produce, resulting finally in
inflation of 500 billion per cent and
the abolition of the national currency
last year.
http://www.independent.co.uk
By Robert Verkaik, Home Affairs
Editor
Monday, 30 August 2010
Tony Blair secretly
courted Robert Mugabe in an effort to win lucrative
trade deals for Britain,
it has emerged in correspondence released to The
Independent under the
Freedom of Information Act. The documents show that
the relationship between
New Labour and the Zimbabwean President blossomed
soon after Tony Blair took
office in Downing Street.
Just weeks after the Government unveiled its
ethical foreign policy in May
1997, the British PM wrote a personal letter
to Mr Mugabe congratulating him
on his role in unifying Africa and helping
to improve relations between the
continent and Britain. The signed message,
which welcomed Mr Mugabe's
appointment as leader of the Organisation of
African Unity, paved the way
for an attempt to bring the two leaders
together in a face-to-face meeting
in Downing Street during the first weeks
of the New Labour administration.
Revelations about Labour's early links
with Mr Mugabe come as Mr Blair
prepares to publish his autobiography in
which he casts himself as a force
for good in world affairs.
But the
secret documents show how, despite international condemnation of Mr
Mugabe's
regime, Labour was secretly negotiating to establish close trading
and
political relations with Harare. At this time, Mr Mugabe was under
growing
pressure to accept responsibility for "crimes against humanity" in
which
thousands of Matabeleland civilians were killed by the Zimbabwe army's
Fifth
Brigade in 1983-87.
Proof of President Mugabe's intent came in October
that year when the two
leaders finally met at the Commonwealth summit in
Edinburgh. Mr Mugabe told
Mr Blair that he wanted Britain to fund his land
reforms in which half a
million hectares of white-owned farmland were to be
redistributed among
black farmers.
But, weeks earlier, a Foreign
Office briefing to Mr Blair argued the
advantages of meeting the African
President outweighed human rights
concerns.
In a letter dated 11 June
the Foreign Office urged the Prime Minister to
accede to Mr Mugabe's request
for an official visit to Downing Street. The
memo reads: "This may be a
useful opportunity for an exchange of views in
advance of CHOGM [the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]. After South
Africa, Zimbabwe is
the most important country in southern Africa to us both
commercially and
politically. Despite domestic criticism arriving from
recent financial
scandals, and his failure so far to respond to renewed
serious allegations
by Zimbabwean NGOs of his involvement in atrocities in
Matabeleland in the
early 1980s, Mr Mugabe remains a senior African and
Commonwealth figure with
whom there would be advantage in establishing early
close relations. We
recommend that the Prime Minister sees him if his
programme
permits."
No 10 wrote back to the Foreign Office saying that Mr Blair
could not make
the date suggested by Mr Mugabe. A second Foreign Office
letter later urges
Mr Blair to hold the meeting in September. But this time
Mr Blair's
commitments prevented the two leaders meeting.
In the
run-up to the Commonwealth conference, Mr Mugabe was optimistic about
forging closer ties with Britain. "I have great hopes of Tony Blair," he
said. "Mrs Thatcher described me as a terrorist but Tony Blair is
different."
How it all changed
Mugabe on Blair
2000:
Blair's administration is "the gay government of the gay United
Kingdom"
after Peter Tatchell attempted a citizen's arrest on him
October 2005:
"The voice of Mr Bush and the voice of Mr Blair can't decide
who shall rule
in Zimbabwe, who shall rule in Africa, who shall rule in
Asia, who shall
rule in Venezuela, who shall rule in Iran, who shall rule in
Iraq."
March 2010: "Conservatives are bold, Blair and Brown run away
when they see
me, but not these fools, they know how to relate to others. We
have a better
chance with David Cameron."
Blair on
Mugabe
2001: "True democracy, no more excuses for dictatorship, abuses of
human
rights; no tolerance of bad governance, from the endemic corruption of
some
states, to the activities of Mr Mugabe's henchmen in
Zimbabwe."
March 2002, on Mugabe's treason charges against Morgan
Tsvangirai: "I think
most people realise that these types of charges that
are being put up there
in the course of an election campaign are deeply,
deeply suspect and the
truth is that Mugabe is prepared to do virtually
anything in order to cling
on to power.
July 2009: "I think whoever
has the possibility should topple Mugabe - the
man has destroyed his
country, many people have died unnecessarily because
of him."
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie Munyuki
Sunday, 29
August 2010 16:21
HARARE - Corruption watchdog, Transparency
Zimbabwe International (TZI) has
implored the inclusive government to
appoint a new Anti Corruption
Commission to see the conclusion of
corruption cases that have been
reported but are yet to be
prosecuted.
In its latest monthly report, TZI said the lapse of the
former commission
has left a gap which needs to be filled to expedite the
cases brought before
the previous commission.
"Abuse of employees by
the irresponsible companies and widespread bribery
and extortion could be
dealt with if punishment for corruption is a
sufficient deterrent and the
judiciary discharges its role with
impartiality.
"Consequently, TZI
advises the inclusive government to expedite the
appointment of a new Anti
Corruption Commission following the lapse of the
terms of current
commissioners so that the massive corruption cases reported
are
investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted accordingly," said
TZI.
The failure to appoint the new commission is a violation of the
Global
Political Agreement (GPA) which led to the formation of a unity
government
between President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minster Morgan Tsvangirai
and his
deputy, Arthur Mutambara.
After the formation of the
inclusive government on 13 February 2009, the
three parties to the GPA
agreed to institute media, human rights, electoral
and the anti corruption
reforms.
All the commissions dealing with the four key sectoral issues
have been
appointed but the Anti Corruption Commission is yet to be sworn
in, four
months after its appointment.
"In the same vein, it is
important for policy makers in government to note
that a weak economy
precipitates the spread of corruption and as such,
economic recovery and
massive capital injections coupled by transparent
systems are indispensable
to the eradication of corruption in Zimbabwe,"
noted TZI.
Mugabe
approved the severance packages of the outgoing commissioners in
April but
nothing has materialised to this date.
During its tenure, the Anti
Corruption Commission, kept its findings under
wraps and there was no high
profile cases involving senior Zanu PF officials
that were brought before
the courts.
Some of the commissioners have anonymously said their
colleagues with links
to Zanu PF have concealed damning evidence which
could be used in future
prosecutorial discharge.
Critics still argue
that there were many cases of corruption involving Zanu
PF bigwigs that were
recorded by the Anti Corruption Commissions but there
has not been any
political will to prosecute the cases.
Among the cases that are yet to be
dealt with finality are the looting of
assets and money at Ziscosteel, the
allegations and claims made by the
Harare City Council against flamboyant
businessman - Phillip Chiyangwa and
Local Government Minister Ignatius
Chombo - that are both alleged to have
fraudulently acquired vast tracts of
land belonging to the city fathers.
Both Chiyangwa and Chombo have denied
any wrong-doing in the transactions in
which Chiyangwa's company - Kilima
Investments - bought the land in Harare's
prime areas and nearby
farms.
Chiyangwa's case is yet to be prosecuted despite complaints by the
HCC who,
in a dramatic turn of events, has its councillors who probed him,
arraigned
before the courts for allegedly criminally defaming him.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
30 August, 2010 01:29:00 FELUNA
NLEYA/MOSES MATENGA
MDC-T has threatened a “No Vote” campaign if the
proposed constitution does
not reflect the will of the people.
The
party also blamed Sadc for not being tough on Zanu PF in addressing
outstanding issues in the implementation of the Global Political
Agreement.
Party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told hundreds of party
supporters at a
rally in Chitungwiza Sunday that MDC-T was not happy with
the ongoing
process, citing intimidation and violence against villagers in
most parts of
the country.
Chamisa said the Constitution Select
Committee (Copac)’s handling of
information dissemination and the state
media’s treatment of the
constitution-making process were a cause for
concern.
“We are not happy with Copac’s information dissemination and the
public
media’s blackout of this important process,” Chamisa
said.
“Elections have to come after the necessary reform processes that
include
the drafting of a new constitution. We are expecting a constitution,
but we
are not happy with the way things are being handled. If the new
constitution
does not reflect the will of the people, we will reject it. We
will only
accept constitutions that reflect the will of the
people.”
“There are things we agreed on with Zanu PF that are not being
implemented.
There are issues we are not in agreement with at all that
include Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes
Tomana. We are not
against them as individuals but how they were imposed on
those positions
without consultations in the inclusive government,” Chamisa
said.
“There is also the issue of the swearing-in of Roy Bennett as
Deputy
Minister of Agriculture and the continuation of unilateral decisions
by Zanu
PF in appointing public figures.”
Chamisa also took a swipe
at the state media for failing to carry out its
mandate of informing
Zimbabweans on the constitution-making process.
“There are no debates on
national television. We should be having such,
after the main news. We
should get into debates on the constitution and that
is what we want. The
youths should say what they want in the constitution,
women and men should
do the same, but there is no platform for that to
happen.
What we
only see are partisan jingles,” he said referring to the Zanu PF
jingles
being flighted on television.
He said people should freely express
themselves during the process and
should not be coached on what to
say.
Chamisa said the sole broadcaster (ZBC) was still behaving like a
Zanu PF
mouthpiece instead of being a voice of the people.
“They are
playing Zanu PF jingles every day. We have our own jingles and if
they want
to be fair they should play our jingles as well.”
The issue of provincial
governors, he said, remained of concern in the
inclusive government as Zanu
PF was shifting goalposts on the agreed
position.
“Their governors’
term expired on July 31 and we waited for that. Now they
say governors will
be sworn in simultaneously with the removal of sanctions.
We were not there
when they were doing things that made them get those
sanctions,” he said.
“We are trying to help them cleanse themselves,” he
said.
He also
told the gathering of the new party card MDC-T president Morgan
Tsvangirai
launched last week urging party members to secure the card as
MDC-T was in a
massive restructuring exercise.
MDC-T has joined other groups that have
threatened a “No Vote” campaign. The
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
and the Zimbabwe National Students
Union have already concluded that the
process was flawed and have threatened
to lead a “No Vote” campaign against
an outcome that does not reflect people’s
wishes.
NCA chairman
Lovemore Madhuku recently urged youths to reject the flawed
process as it
would not reflect the will of the people.
“When you see the Copac people
at your colleges, kick them out because it’s
your future at stake and you
have to defend it,” he said. Cases of
intimidation were rife in rural areas
with war veterans threatening
villagers who want to freely express
themselves.
This is the second major attempt by Zimbabwe to come up with
a new
constitution after the “No Vote” of 2000 stopped the
process.
The current constitution, which came into being in 1980, has
been amended 19
times. - News Day
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Sunday, 29 August
2010 12:58
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) says
Zimbabwe should
draw important lessons from Kenya's peaceful and orderly
constitution-making
process which culminated in this month's referendum that
passed the country's
new charter. (Pictured: Kenya's Prime Minister Raila
Odinga - Zimbabweans
urged to emulate the example set by the east African
nation on
constitutional reform)
ZESN said the Constitution Parliamentary
Committee (COPAC) and Zimbabwe's
leadership should emulate the Kenyan
experience in terms of administrative
arrangements and political commitment
to seeing a transparent and smooth
process leading to the drafting of the
new charter and the accompanying
referendum. "There was a strong political
will to follow the provisions of
the legal framework that had been put in
place for the review process.
ZESN noted that all stakeholders were consulted
in all processes," said the
group of Zimbabwean election observers which
sent a team to monitor Kenya's
August 4 referendum. It called for constant
dialogue and collaboration
between COPAC, civic society and the media to
ensure the process is open to
scrutiny. Citing the case of Kenya where civil
society groups set up
violence early warning systems, ZESN said cooperation
among all stakeholders
would significantly reduce incidents of violence and
intimidation
experienced during the ongoing exercise to gather public views
on the
proposed constitution.
Cases of politically motivated violence and
intimidation have escalated
since June when the country embarked on an
outreach programme to draft a new
"people-driven" constitution. The MDC-T
led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai says assaults on its officials and
supporters have intensified
across the country in the past two months. The
party accused President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) of activating the same
machinery used during past
elections to intimidate opposition officials and
supporters.
The machinery includes soldiers, Central Intelligence
Organisation
operatives, the police, traditional chiefs, the youth militia
and
local thugs who are paid for each assignment.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Saturday, 28 August 2010
13:54
HARARE - The appointment of serving and retired soldiers to various
committees to oversee implementation of Zimbabwe's controversial company
ownership law has once again exposed President Robert Mugabe's determination
to establish a de facto military state amid fears that the indigenisation
scheme is another facade to enrich Zanu (PF) cronies. (Pictured:
Mugabe)
Top military officials and other Mugabe allies dominated committees
recently
announced by Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere to help the
government set percentages of shareholding foreign-owned companies in
different sectors of the economy must transfer to locals. The decision to
set varying empowerment thresholds for each sector was adopted about two
months ago, in a major shift from an earlier requirement that foreign firms
cede 51 percent shareholding to local
blacks.
In a move that has
become all too familiar in Zimbabwe since 2000, Mugabe
appointed retired
army officers Gibson Mashingaidze and Mike Karakadzai to
sit on some of the
committees that will determine how much foreign
shareholders will be
required to transfer to locals. Other pro-Mugabe
supporters appointed to the
committees included the acerbic presidential
spokesman George Charamba,
Affirmative Action Group President Supa
Mandiwanzira and controversial
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority boss Karikoga
Kaseke.
Increasingly
paranoid
But it is the appointment of the retired army officers that raised
eyebrows.
Both men - together with another retired army officer
Brigadier-General
Douglas Nyikayaramba - appear to feature prominently in
Mugabe's
militarisation scheme.
Mashingaidze is the current head of the
Zimbabwe Sports and Recreation
Commission and sits on the board of the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
He allegedly participated in
violence-marred June 2008 presidential run-off
campaign together with Major
General Rugeje when they headed the Masvingo
provincial team that
masterminded attacks on Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's supporters.
Karakadzai is head of the struggling National
Railways of Zimbabwe. An
increasingly paranoid Mugabe has become reliant on
the military for
political survival over the past few years.
The veteran Zimbabwean leader has
over the past few years appointed serving
as well as retired members of the
armed forces to take charge of almost
every sector, including the running of
elections. For example, the immediate
past chairman of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission that runs polls, George
Chiweshe, was a former judge
advocate general in the army and was appointed
to the High Court in 2001
after Mugabe purged the bench of independent
judges. He took charge of the
commission in 2005 until the appointment of a
new body early this
year.
Other former military officers appointed to head key state firms and
institutions included former Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele who is an
ex-military intelligence officer and retired colonel Samuel Muvuti who
headed the state's Grain Marketing Board (GMB) until 2007.
Veto
power
The GMB is often accused by human rights groups of refusing food aid to
opposition supporters as punishment for not backing Mugabe. The army has
been in control of food distribution for several years now via control of
GMB sales depots, the only source of affordable maize in rural areas. Most
of the former military personnel participated in Zimbabwe's 1970s
war of
independence and have vowed unwavering loyalty to Mugabe, who at 86
years is
one of Africa's oldest leaders.
The appointments mean that the army is
effectively in charge of food
distribution, transport, industry and trade,
sport and finance.
Through the notorious Joint Operations Command (JOC), the
army also controls
Zimbabwe's defence, state security, home affairs and
foreign affairs. The
military therefore controls the finances in one way or
the other and
dictates the country's foreign policy. That explains why a
number of
military men are on diplomatic missions. Retired Major General
Jevan Maseko
is Zimbabwe's ambassador to Cuba while retired
Brigadier-General Elisha
Muzonzini heads the mission in Kenya.
Hardline
Zimbabwean army generals have refused to publicly recognise the
inclusive
government's authority, especially former opposition leader - now
Prime
Minister - Tsvangirai's role. The hardline generals - who include
Zimbabwe
Defence Forces commander Constantine Chiwenga, police commission
general
Augustine Chihuri and Central Intelligence Organisation deputy
director
general Maynard Muzariri - are believed to hold a de facto veto
over the
transition process by taking advantage of their positions and
symbiotic
relationship with Mugabe.
The cabal of powerful generals, with the support of
elements in Zanu (PF),
still believes that Tsvangirai should not be
permitted to lead the country,
even if he wins an election.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Saturday, 28 August 2010
13:50
HARARE - Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo (Pictured) has
launched a
two-pronged attack on the MDC-T aimed at decimating town councils
controlled
by the party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai while also
silencing
Harare city fathers accusing him of corruption.
In a series of
events reminiscent of the April 2003 suspensi on by Chombo of
former Harare
executive mayor Elias Mudzuri, the combative minister last
Tuesday suspended
seven Harare MDC-T councillors on allegations of illegally
"evicting widows
and orphans from council houses with the intention of
converting them to
their own use".
This brought to 12 the number of MDC-T councillors suspended
by Chombo
inside two days after another five Rusape Town Council officials
were
ordered to vacate office by the minister last Monday on allegations of
mismanagement. Six other MDC-T councillors from Bindura are also either on
suspension or have been dismissed since last year on allegations of
corruption. The MDC-T last week accused Chombo of abusing provisions of the
Urban Councils Act which is administered by his ministry to cow its
councillors who are investigating the minister on allegations of
corruption.
"The latest suspensions are nothing but part of Chombo's grand
political
plot to stop Harare councillors from investigating him and Zanu
(PF)'s
Phillip Chiyangwa after they looted prime council land in Harare,"
the MDC-T
said in a statement.
The MDC-dominated Harare City Council
earlier this year launched a probe
into alleged underhand dealings involving
the acquisition of residential
land in the capital by Chombo and Chiyangwa -
both close relatives of
President Robert Mugabe.
The two politicians,
however, immediately ordered the police to arrest the
councillors behind a
damning report detailing the alleged corruption which
also sucked in some
senior council employees.
"The MDC calls for the immediate arrest of Chombo
and Chiyangwa for stealing
council land. Chombo has no right to suspend the
councillors who are
investigating him for his corrupt activities," said the
MDC-T. Chombo has
also allegedly blocked several investigations in Kwekwe,
Chinhoyi and
Chegutu that are being carried out by the councils on senior
Zanu (PF)
officials who corruptly acquired council land. Ironically the
minister has
apparently rewarded a group of former
MDC-T councillors from
Chitungwiza by protecting them from dismissal after
their party called for
their removal from office over corruption.
Tsvangirai's party also accused
Chombo of trying to reduce its dominance of
urban councils by firing elected
councillors and replacing them with
hand-picked commissioners or sneaking in
Zanu (PF) sympathisers under the
guise of "special interest" appointments.
"We strongly reject Chombo's
continued machinations to further the interests
of Zanu (PF), which was
overwhelmingly rejected by the voters in March
2008," it said.
Chombo succeeded in hounding former Harare mayor Mudzuri in
2003 after
manufacturing allegations of mismanagement by the then newly
appointed
MDC-led local authority. He immediately replaced Mudzuri with
former deputy
mayor Sekesai
Makwavarara who was herself later fired for
incompetency.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Corespondent Monday 30 August
2010
HARARE - Prominent Zimbabwean human rights defender Jestina
Mukoko wants the
High Court to unmask law enforcement agents behind her
sensational abduction
and torture in 2008 as she seeks to have her
kidnappers and torturers
brought to justice.
Mukoko, the director of
the Zimbabwe Peace Project, is suing four cabinet
ministers and top police
officers for the anguish she suffered as a result
of the abduction, wrongful
arrest and torture when she was forcibly removed
from her Norton home in
December 2008.
In an application filed with the Harare High Court, Mukoko
is claiming $200
000 damages from former State Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa, Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, co-Home Affairs Minister Kembo
Mohadi and
former co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa.
She is
also suing Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Chief
Superintendent Peter Magwenzi and Brigadier-General Asher Walter
Tapfumaneyi.
In addition to the damages, the former Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation
news anchor also wants the four ministers and top
police officers to reveal
the names of the law enforcement agents who
abducted her.
Her lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa wants the ministers and the
police bosses to
furnish her with the "full particulars of each law
enforcement agent
involved in the alleged arrest of the plaintiff (Mukoko),
including the
name, rank, address and organisation to which he/she is
attached."
The ministers' lawyers have challenged the torture
allegations, saying she
was lawfully arrested.
This has prompted
Mtetwa to demand that the defendants disclose the "lawful
holding facility"
where her client was taken to after her alleged arrest.
She also wants
the ministers and the senior police officers to disclose
"under whose
custody" the human rights campaigner was detained during the
period 3
December, 2008 to 22 December 2008.
Mukoko was abducted by state security
agents in December 2008 and held
incommunicado in secret detention centres
until the end of December when she
was produced at a police station and
subsequently in court.
Mukoko was accused of recruiting persons to commit
terrorism and banditry,
including the recruitment of insurgents to train in
Botswana for an alleged
armed uprising against President Robert Mugabe's
previous government.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 28 August 2010 20:44
A STORM is
brewing between the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and
their studio
panel for the 2010 Fifa World Cup following failure to pay them
two months
after the global football jamboree. The country's sole
broadcaster had a
panel of over 15 people including anchors and analysts.
The panel was made
up of John Phiri, Wellington Mpandare, Charlie Jones,
Bheki Nyoni and
Tawanda Marime, Hope Chizuzu and Philimon Mhlanga.
Veteran
broadcasters Admire Taderera, Charles Mabika, Lovemore Banda, Mike
Madhodha,
Barry Manandi, Ian Zvoma, Howard Musonza were the anchors.
Free State
Stars defender James Matola also made one appearance on the set
during the
Netherlands and Japan group stage match.
One of the panellists told
Standardsport they were yet to receive their
allowances referred in
broadcasting as "author and artists" (AA).
The panelists were each promised
US$70 for each sitting, during the football
jamboree that ran from June 11
to July 11 in South Africa. The panellists
stood to rake an average US$700
each.
"Before the World Cup we entered a verbal agreement with
Wellington Nyoni
( SportNet executive producer) and they said they were
going give us $70 on
each sitting," the panellist said on condition of
anonymity.
"Since the World Cup ended we have been waiting patiently,
but nothing has
materialised and we keep on getting empty promises from
ZBC.
"We gave them some breathing space at the end of July thinking that they
were still sorting out their books.
"Now it is the end of August
they have not said anything. When you phone
them they will just tell you we
are sorting it out."
Asked why they entered into verbal contracts
with the corporation the
panellist said they have "mutual relations" with
the country's sole
broadcaster.
"Over the years we have been offering our
services for free, but this year
ZBC's coverage of the World Cup was being
sponsored by Econet," he said.
A source at Pockets Hill said the
station received a substantial amount from
Econet the country's biggest
cellular services provider. The live broadcast
was branded with Econet
flagship Buddie. The company also flighted
advertisements. The panellists
also donned branded shirts.
"ZBC got their money from sponsors a long
time ago and we are now wondering
why they are taking so long to pay
us.
"We were using our own resources and fuel going to Pockets Hill thinking
that we would recover that money once they pay us."
ZBC spokesman
Sivukile Simango was livid when contacted yesterday asking why
the
panellists had approached the media without exhausting all channels
within
the corporation.
"The Standard or the Zimbabwe Independent is not
going to pay them anything;
only ZBC is going to pay them," Simango
said.
"Complaining to newspapers will not do them any good they know where to
go.
"My comment is that those people who came to you must know where
to go if
they have a problem with ZBC.
"ZBC has got management for
television and radio services, it also has the
chief executive officer. They
can go to any of these people rather than to
go to
newspapers."
BY NIGEL MATONGORERE
In Summary
Background: One in every five people is a Chinese
The Chinese influence, in the form of its people, investment and business, is sweeping across the African continent like a wild fire.
Be it financing and executing massive infrastructure projects - roads, power plants and mineral extraction, or small time commercial ventures such as textile, electronic and other household goods, the Chinese are literally driving the African economies.
It is a phenomenon that has triggered a strong wave of reaction from the various African countries, including Kenyans, ranging from open-arm welcome to indifference, to even hostility bordering on Sino-phobia.
An expert in Sino-Africa relations, Dr Martyn Davies, warns that while China is a significant investor in Southeast Asia, one can hardly hear any criticism against the Chinese from that region.
"It (criticism) is coming from Africa, partly due to the vested western political interests in this (Africa) region," Dr Davies, the chief executive officer of Frontier Advisory (Pty) Ltd, a research and strategy consultancy firm on emerging market economies, said of the People's Republic of China, which established diplomatic relations with Kenya on December 14, 1963.
Fuelling interest
While this is subject to serious debate, the biggest question is; what is fuelling China's sudden interest in Africa, Kenya included? "When we changed our foreign policy from the West and looked East, we opened our doors to the Chinese and welcomed them with our arms open," said Dr Tabitha Kiriti-Nganga, a senior lecturer, School of Economics, University of Nairobi.
Immediately the Narc government came to power following the 2002 General election, the new regime started courting the Chinese by, among others, senior government officials including President Kibaki visiting Beijing while senior Chinese officials came calling in Nairobi such as Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan in February 2005.
Significantly, President Kibaki was among the African heads of state and government who flew into Beijing in 2006 at the invitation of the Chinese government for a trade conference. He returned with Sh6 billion worth of financial aid.
It is a diplomatic and economic relationship that has continued to blossom in his second term as seen by the Head of State's visit as well as other members of his government such as Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, with the latter visiting Beijing as late as last week.
While the ensuing bilateral agreements have resulted with total bilateral assistance of Sh42 billion, including the Sh1.2 billion grant announced during Kibaki's latest trip - the third in five years - to China in May this year, they have also seen Chinese firms snapping up lucrative infrastructure projects.
For instance, among others, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) upgraded the over 470 km highway between Mombasa and Nairobi. Shengli Engineering won the Sh1 billion tender to refurbish the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, which was built by the Chinese government for the All Africa Games in 1987 while the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is involved in the exploration for oil in northern Kenya.
China Wu Yi Company, Synohydro Corporation Ltd and Shengli Engineering Construction are building Thika Road, which is scheduled for completion in 2011 at a cost of Sh26 billion. Other projects that have gone to Chinese firms include the Kisumu Airport, Nairobi's southern and eastern bypasses, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport extensions, Kenyatta University library and the Sondu Miriu hydro project.
Although the same applies to many other African countries, including Zimbabwe where President Mugabe's frosty relationship with Western governments has sent him into the bosom of the Chinese, however, the biggest driver of the Chinese into Africa is not "African."
With a growing population, increasing unemployment, a vibrant manufacturing sector and fast improving life-styles, China's demand for natural resources, markets for its products and job opportunities is growing at astronomical rates. This has made it seek new sources of resources, markets and employment for its people and Africa fits the bill.
"Since they have no hung-ups such as not going to "funny" suburbs and their aggressiveness to secure markets and resources is making most people in Africa feel as if they are being invaded," said Dr Kiriti-Nganga, "and their cheap goods are driving out of the market the local entrepreneurs."
In its 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010), China's Ministry of Commerce is encouraging its leading companies to establish offshore operations in designated Chinese special economic zones (SEZs) in foreign countries, a "Going Global" kind of strategy.
"Although manufacturing remains a small part of China's outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) stock, it is rising as Chinese firms seek to guard against the likelihood of an appreciated Renminbi as well as to offset protectionist sentiment against Chinese products in the current global political economy," he said.
Set up along the Chinese coastal provinces in the mid-1980s and credited for
China's developmental success, Beijing is now trying the same strategy in Africa
by rolling out the economic zones in targeted African economies -Zambia,
Mauritius, Egypt and Nigeria.
Others are being mooted in Angola, Ethiopia,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.
The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFUND), a venture capital fund for Chinese firms to tap when investing in Africa, is spearheading the financing of Chinese companies looking to set up in these zones. "China's "state capitalism" seeks to project power internationally through its companies that are rapidly becoming emerging multinationals," says Dr Davis.
But the Chinese engagement with Africa is not a centrally steered process per se. While Chinese government-controlled institutions are the key players by laying the political and commercial groundwork, state-owned (local and regional) enterprises, large private companies and small-scale entrepreneurs are increasingly coming into play.
"All these do not necessarily pursue the same objectives and sometimes compete for contracts and market share," says the Kofi Annan-chaired Africa Progress Panel. The Panel was formed as a vehicle to maintain a focus on the commitments to Africa made by the international community in the wake of the Gleneagles G8 Summit and of the Commission for Africa Report in 2007.
And there are good reasons why China is succeeding in Africa, edging out the continent's traditional Western partners. Apart from their efficiency and speed of completing projects, its policy of not attaching any conditionality to its trade and aid to Africa has seen it literally run out of town the Westerners although this has been the source of its criticisms in the continent.
For instance, while the World Bank's insistence on due diligence on the contractors has delayed the construction of Nairobi's 30km Southern bypass, the city's 85 per cent Chinese funded Northern and Eastern bypasses - a total of 70 kilometres - are almost complete, save for delays caused by Kenyans who have encroached on its path.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/
29th
Aug 2010 23:50 GMT
By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa
ONCE again the Southern
African Development Community seems to be losing its
footing on Zimbabwe.
Its continued obsession with "sanctions" and clear
negation of issues
affecting the lives of Zimbabweans questions the
sincerity of SADC as a bloc
to solve the situation in Zimbabwe once and for
all.
The issues in
Zimbabwe do not start with "targeted sanctions" or "sanctions"
however one
would want to name them. Those measures are in themselves a
reaction, they
followed an event and it is that event that still remains
unsolved.
They followed the stolen Presidential Elections of 2002
which thanks to SADC's
inertia were repeated in 2008 this time with fatal
consequences.
The nation state in Zimbabwe paralysed itself first by
allowing a culture of
the commission of atrocities in post-independence
Zimbabwe and second by
allowing impunity over those crimes which have been
viewed as a reward for
the continued perpetration.
For SADC to turn a
blind eye and a deaf ear on this behaviour of ZANU PF in
particular and fail
to insist on an inquiry into those atrocities and then
try to blame it all
on sanctions does not read the mood in Zimbabwe
correctly. SADC does not
seem to see the movement towards the radicalisation
of some opposition
forces in Zimbabwe with others even calling for a
separate homeland in
Matabeleland and a slowly building consensus
particularly in the Diaspora
for a more engaging effort against ZANU PF.
SADC's failure to understand the
fact that ZANU PF is continuing to act as a
bully especially after they lost
the 2008 General Elections and went into a
bloody campaign again which SADC
has failed to question alienates
Zimbabweans with the fatal consequence of
allowing a new breed of radical
politics to emerge in Zimbabwe.
Our
fear is that ZANU PF may feel encouraged to continue on the same path
should
they lose any future elections and Zimbabweans, unconvinced that SADC
is
there for them may end up resorting to an armed campaign with disastrous
consequences for the region. It must be stated that SADC may have the
capacity to sit down and defend ZANU PF whenever and whatever but they may
not be able to contain the anger of Zimbabweans determined to put an end to
ZANU PF by whatever means. There is a good dividend for them to be seen to
be credible and we urge SADC to push the Government of Zimbabwe in the
following:
1. An inquiry into the post 2008 Elections violence and
the bringing of
perpetrators to justice.
2. A fresh inquiry into
Gukurahundi atrocities and the bringing of the
perpetrators to justice so as
to bring the issue to its final closure.
3. An inquiry into the
liberation war atrocities especially Nyadzonia,
Mkushi, Mulungushi, Tembwe
and Chimoyo and the bringing of the perpetrators
to justice and obtain a
final closure.
4. Urge an audit on the land reform and since the whole
programme was not
restitution as in essence it replaced white commercial
farmers with black
commercial farmers SADC must insist on a formula for the
compensation of the
previous farmers and the payment of redundant costs for
former farm
labourers by the new owners of the land.
Zimbabwe yearns
for justice and SADC's seemingly conspiring inertia is not
helping but
fanning fires in a country seating on the edge of recovery or
boiling up.
COMMUNITIES POINT believes in "Justice before Reconciliation"
and as we are
indebted to no-one but Zimbabwe, we believe the starting point
is the
atrocities committed by UDI defenders against Zimbabweans during the
liberation struggle. We continue to urge the above not as a witch hunt but
as a way to bring all injustices a final closure and promote a fresh start.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/
30th
Aug 2010 00:12 GMT
By Chenjerai
Chitsaru
THE next time you see a young man give up his seat on the
commuter omnibus
to a senior citizen or a mother with a baby strapped on her
back, say a
silent prayer of thanksgiving. God has not yet given up in
Zimbabwe. He is
still in His heaven.
He must be praised - if you are
a Christian.
Even if you are not, that Great Someone to whom you pay homage
deserves a
gesture of thanks. Even a tip of your hat - most of these deities
don't
demand lavish, extravagant gestures of adulation. They are the soul of
humility.
The Great One continues to guide the young people of
Zimbabwe to do good
works - even if some of them seem to have sold their
souls to the Devil - in
exchange for something filthy.
The last
decade has seen a decline in morals, honesty and the good,
old-fashioned
respect for elders and women the country was so proud of. The
aged and the
so-called weaker sex have been victims of the decade-long
economic crisis.
This has spawned a disregard for them over which the
ancestral spirits
might, at some point in time, unleash revenge on the
young.
God
Himself might decide to intervene on behalf of the aged and the women.
Woe
be to those young people who still regard the aged as useless, worthless
creatures to be stamped underfoot mercilessly, to be thumped to a pulp, to
be deprived of all their dignity and possessions, for no other reason than
that they have been around long enough. They have had a fair wicket of it,
it is said, and must now be eased out, not necessarily with any gentleness,
but with even indecent, hasty dispatch.
The last decade has changed
Zimbabwe, almost beyond recognition. The crisis
was wrought by economic and
political ineptitude of a particularly
breathtaking magnitude - laced with
liberal doses of corruption.
The crisis has nearly destroyed the moral
fibre that held together this
nation since 1980. On the outside, the people
seem unchanged, to exude the
same good-naturedness they radiated after 1980.
But today, give them a
challenge to test their tolerance of others, or the
stoutness of their
resistance to temptation, and you will be
shocked.
An old man living alone in a high-density suburb of Harare tells
of a brutal
night attack by two young hoodlums - they qualify for that
sobriquet for
what they did to him.
"They said they knew I had
children in the Diaspora," he said. "They said
the kids sent me money almost
regularly. I was loaded, they said. They said
they wanted some of the money
because they didn't have any. They advised me
not to resist.
They had
recently killed another old man who had, as they said, 'give us lip'.
So, be
warned, they said."
By this time, his shirt stuck to his skin because of
the blood streaming
from his head, the target of a savage bashing with a
piece of firewood by
one of the men. He said he didn't beg for
mercy.
"I just looked at them with what I thought was a mixture of
loathing and
pity. I didn't say a word, until they were leaving. They had
come across
some money from my pockets. It wasn't much and none of it was
from the
Diaspora.
"And you are the so-called Born Free?" I
asked.
"The Born Free?" one of them asked. "What's that?"
"You were born
into independence.free."
"You call this free? Old man.Is this freedom, when
you have to kill old men
like you, to give our lives any meaning, to sustain
ourselves? Born free?
More like born cursed.Oh, here, Have your money back!
Who needs it from an
old man? We'll try someone younger, someone loaded with
loot.one of those
government people. They always have money from the sale of
gold diamonds
rhino horns, ivory other things."
So, he says, they
threw his crumpled US$10 notes at him. Then they were all
three silent, not
looking at each other in shame?.
"Who do you believe, of all our heroes,
should have lived like for ever?
Chaminuka, Nehanda, Kaguvi, Chitepo,
Nkomo?" he asked, out of the blue. The
two men stared, first at each other,
incomprehension turning their faces
into those of idiots. Then they turned
to him.
"Who are those dead people?" one of them asked.
He looked at
them curiously. "How far did you go.education-wise?"
"Ah.. A levels." one
of them said
"Assholes. I suppose," he said under his breath. "What I mean
is: If you
cannot remember who those people were, then what do you know
about our
history? The Chimurenga wars, Gukurahundi, the Unity Accord
Murambatsvina,
things like that?"
There was a dead silence. It was as if
the two young men, having sized up
the old man, had decided there was no
hope for the dialogue achieving much
that was beneficial to the three of
them, unless they set out the rules of
engagement.
"You live in the
past, Old Man," one of them said finally, with quiet
deadliness. "The past
is important, mind you. It can guide us to the
future."
"But we have
to be careful not to let it preoccupy us to the extent of
ignoring the
present or the future," said the other young men. "The present
is the
Internet, the future is Space not for us in Africa, perhaps, but we
will be
caught up in it too. Did you know they are trying to study how
people can
live longer - longer than they do right now? Live like forever?
Medical
science is probing how death can be eliminated. altogether from
life. Have
you heard of this?"
The old man says he looked at the two young men with
new respect. They were
not so dumb, after all.
"I suppose you have read
Brave New World?" he asked. "Aldous Huxley?" one of
them said. "Cover to
cover."
"But here you are trying to kill an old man - for what?" he
asked, sounding
appropriately incredulous.
Both young men laughed,
laconically. "That's how screwed up we are. And it's
all your fault, people
like you.
"Why?" he asked.
"You won't let go of the past, will
you? You make me sick. You did this and
that to free the country. Okay. But
now that it's free, what are doing for
it? Looting it? Oh, yes, you let us
pick up the crumbs, after you have
finished with the main course of fillet
mignon.You get the bigger share. We
should be thankful for that, should we?
Look at us." They pointed to their
clothes: not entirely threadbare, but not
new either.
"We did finish at A level. Why are we unemployed? You might
well ask. Where
are the jobs? Where is the foreign investment?
In the
newspapers, yes, they announce this and that country promised to pour
in
this or that amount into the country. But on the ground, it's a haze, a
mist, a mirage. Can you ask a mirage for a job? As a what? A mirage minder?
There are jobs like that?"
"Someone is getting that loot, not us,"
said the other young man. "We are
trying to get our share.somehow. It's
terrible that we have to knock a few
heads, including your white-haired
one.'
"It's humiliating, soul-destroying," said the other.
"You
feel humiliated when you knock down an old man because you believe he
has a
lot of cash, sent to him by his children in the Diaspora? It makes you
feel
embarrassed? Come on, give me a break! You just boasted of having
killed
someone.Is that something for which you feel sorry, apologetic
about?"
The room was still. It was the old man's bedroom, with a
genuine four-poster
bed, a rug with the motif of a raging bull and a faded
poster of the great
Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman classic,
Casablanca.
They laughed. The old man was aghast, before they dropped
themselves on the
bed. "That was just talk, talk and more talk.We never
killed anyone."
"Really?" gasped the old man. "You look as if you kill old
men for a
living."
"Like the politicians, we too can put on an act.
a great show. They put on
this act of doing everything for the country,
working their backsides off
for the sake of the country.
Meanwhile,
what are they really doing? Fleecing the country."
"But there are young
people who have done this for real. They've mugged and
murdered old men,
raped old women. That is the reality, surely?"
The old man said he was
feeling a little befuddled. What was the reality?
What was the real
situation in his beloved country? Were young people
turning into muggers and
murderers?
Who were the real muggers, the murderers?
When he turned to
look at the two young men, he saw they were nodding,
rather smugly. "You can
see what a complex situation we are in - right? Who
is the real villain
here?"
Halfway through the 30 day period
given by SADC to the interim government to resolve their differences there has
been no discernible movement and the Vigil doubts there will be. So we are
preparing to hold a demonstration on 18th September to mark the
failure of the latest SADC initiative and the second anniversary of the
misconceived agreement under which the MDC submitted to Mugabe.
Vigil members will wear black
armbands to mark the occasion in what we intend to be a rebuke to the MDC
leadership for their abject betrayal of their faithful supporters. Certainly, as
far as the
Vigil supporters have heard denials
of this but on the other hand we have always been puzzled why the MDC agreed two
years ago to sign up to the GPA which committed them to call for an end to
sanctions and broadcasts by
Further anxiety about the prospects
for democracy in
The Vigil responded to an invitation
to comment on the interview and here is what we said: “The Vigil is disappointed
by Ambassador Rylander’s wimpish remarks. Despite all the evidence of
unrelenting abuse of the GPA by Zanu PF, he says he is leaving on 'a note of
optimism', that Zimbabwe is 'on the right track', 'space is opening up', the
constitution-making process is 'going better than expected', the three parties
are 'coming together' and there is 'no stalemate'. Where has Rylander been for
the past few years? He is complacent about the stolen elections and blind to the
realities. Mr Rylander says elections next year would be too early. The Vigil's
view is that there will always be reasons to postpone elections if Zanu PF
abuses are not curbed. On this logic will there ever be elections again? He
calls for 'out of the box' thinking - our guess is that this is code for caving
into Mugabe. We fear that a similar delusional message has been coming from
the British Ambassador.”
It’s a pity My
Rylander hasn’t had a word with MDC Senator Mishek Marave who said recently:
"Since we joined the Inclusive Government, not a single day has gone by without
the police harassing, intimidating and persecuting MDC officials and supporters.
The same police force treat us with contempt, disrespect and scorn while showing
favouritism and granting special privileges to Zanu PF and its supporters. . .
They (Zanu PF) have a free pass to do as they please and are never held
accountable. They are simply untouchable."
What depressed Zimbabwe Vigil supporters is that Mr Rylander’s line is remarkably similar to one we have been getting from the British government: “things in Zimbabwe are not perfect but they are getting better, the opposition is part of the government, things are moving forward . . . In other words all you exiles should obey Mr Tsvangirai’s summons and go home and get out of our hair”. As one Vigil supporter said “Thinking outside the box means things are not working in the box”. So we can expect a favourable response to a new appeal by Mr Tsvangirai to lift targeted sanctions before they are renewed next February. But by then Mugabe will probably be in his own box and it will be a different ballgame . . .
Other
points
·
Vigil
Co-ordinator Dumi Tutani was on a panel at a screening of ‘Mugabe and the White
African’ in
·
We are
grateful to an unidentified passer-by who gave use £20 to support our work. He does this regularly and doesn’t wait for
thanks.
·
Despite
our apprehension about possible change in the British government’s policy on
returning failed asylum seekers to
·
We were
glad to be joined today by two long-term members of the Vigil, Gugu Tutani and
Agnes Zengeya, both of whom have babies due in October. We are opening a book on who’s
first.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page
of our website. For earlier ZimVigil TV
programmes check: http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline.
FOR THE RECORD: 153
signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
·
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
Ministering to the Diaspora: a case
study of Zimbabweans in
·
IOM Live Video Conference
with Returnees in
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts
·
Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil
·
Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact
the co-ordinator
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429