http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:05
BY
OUR STAFF
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday claimed that Zanu PF has
been rejuvenated
after its worst electoral defeat two years ago as he pushed
through a
resolution for the country to hold fresh polls next
year.
Mugabe was also endorsed at the party’s presidential candidate
at the 11th
national conference, which ended in Mutare yesterday.
The
86-year-old leader who lost the first round of the presidential election
to
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai before winning a bloody run-off unchallenged
said Zanu PF was ready to reclaim its political dominance.
Zanu
PF also lost its parliamentary majority to the MDC formations for the
first
time since independence in the harmonised elections. Mugabe wants the
unity
government he formed with the two MDC formations last year to be
dissolved
and at the conference stopped short of setting a timetable for
fresh
elections.
Zanu PF also resolved to grab foreign-owned companies in
retaliation against
sanctions by the West on the party’s leadership and some
state-owned
companies.
It also endorsed Mugabe’s call for
punitive laws against Zimbabweans who
call for sanctions against the
country.
The veteran ruler on Friday also threatened to kick out any
ambassadors who
meddled in “Zimbabwe’s internal political affairs.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 10:53
BY LEONARD MAKOMBE
AND KELVIN JAKACHIRA
MUTARE — Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo has
bounced back into the Zanu PF
politburo exactly six years after he was
kicked out of the party’s highest
decision-making body outside
congress.
Mugabe announced Moyo’s appointment at the end of
the party’s 11th national
conference in Mutare yesterday. The president also
announced that he would
never swear in Roy Bennett as deputy Minister of
Agriculture.
Moyo, fired from Zanu PF after he was accused of
orchestrating the 2004
Tsholotsho indaba which was construed to be an
attempt to usurp Mugabe’s
power, was appointed into the politburo together
with George Rutanhire, one
of the first freedom fighters.
But it
was the announcement of Moyo’s appointment which attracted the
wildest
cheers from the delegates attending the conference which was almost
a repeat
of what happened when the former Media, Information and Publicity
minister
was appointed to the central committee
“I don’t want to call him a prodigal
son,” Mugabe said in reference to Moyo.
“He is back as he was working
in the party, he has talent and I am sure we
will be satisfied with his
work.”
Moyo who stood twice and won the Tsholotsho seat as an
independent candidate
is understood to have been working with various other
strategists in Zanu PF
as it prepares for next year’s
election
Moyo rejoined Zanu PF in July last year and has been linked
to various
strategies adopted by the party, which six years ago accused him
of plotting
to topple the leadership after he allegedly organised the
Tsholotsho
meeting.
It was not immediately clear which posts Moyo
and Rutanhire would occupy in
the politburo.
In October The
Standard broke the story that Moyo would be reappointed into
the politburo
at the conference.
At that time he was tipped to land the deputy
political commissar’s post,
which was left vacant by the death of Ephraim
Masawi.
Rutanhire left Rhodesia as a priest in the early 1970s and is
part of the
group that took with them Vice-President Joice Mujuru for
training in
Mozambique.
At one time he was a deputy minister and
MP. He was involved in the training
of youths in the Border Gezi programme,
specifically on the political
content.
Mugabe told the delegates
that he was not going to swear in Bennett, who is
also MDC-T treasurer. He
was unhappy with the people who were clamouring for
the appointment of the
deputy agriculture minister designate.
“Others are shedding tears for
Bennett to be appointed,” Mugabe said.
“That will not happen.
“He
(Bennett) will never taste that seat.”
Mugabe reaffirmed that Zanu PF would
retaliate for the sanctions imposed on
his inner circle as well as the
companies linked to the government.
“We will be very very strict to the
extent of even refusing investments from
those countries,” Mugabe said. “We
are not fools; if you thought we were
fools, you are fooling
yourselves.
“Why should Rio Zimbabwe and Anglo America take minerals and make
money?
This is what should now stop.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:31
In what
appeared to be an admission that calls from his party to charge
Tsvangirai
were just hot air, Mugabe on Friday urged the Zanu PF Conference
to look at
crafting a law that would criminalise people calling for
sanctions against
the country.
“There should be a legal side to it. We need to
advocate for a law that
punishes among us those who call for sanctions, as
doing so makes it
treasonous,” Mugabe told delegates at the Zanu PF
Conference in Mutare.
“That is treason, to call on the enemy to
punish our people.”
Political analysts said calling for the
prosecution of Tsvangirai was the
highest form of hypocrisy by Zanu PF
because the same US cables also accused
several party officials of looting
diamonds from Marange.
They said Zanu PF could not choose to believe
one side of the WikiLeaks
dispatches and ignore the other disclosures
implicating its officials in
“diamond looting and
espionage”.
Since independence, several senior Zanu PF officials have
been linked to
corrupt deals but none of them has been investigated, even in
cases where
there is overwhelming incriminating
evidence.
Friction between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who are partners in
a fragile
coalition government formed in February last year following
disputed
presidential polls held in 2008, has been simmering in recent
months as
another round of elections approaches.
The two have
continuously argued over appointments of key officials and
direction of
government policy.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:10
By
Brian Mangwende/Leonard Makombe
ROWDY war veterans disrupted
proceedings at the 11th Zanu PF Conference on
Friday leading the
controversially newly elected party chairman, Simon Khaya
Moyo, to threaten
a premature end to the high-powered talk show.
The former freedom
fighters started shouting and jeering when Khaya Moyo
called Brigadier
General Richard Ruwodo to give a solidarity message on
behalf of the
ex-combatants who are divided along known factions in Zanu
PF.
Ruwodo, the director of the War Veterans Board, has increasingly
been viewed
as a compromise to the separate groups purporting to represent
the former
freedom fighters.
The schisms in the war veterans’
associations have grown throughout the year
with three factions emerging,
one led by current chairman Jabulani Si-banda,
another by self-styled
commander-in-chief of the farm invasions Joseph
Chinotimba and a splinter by
Basten Beta.
All are fighting for the control of the combative former
fighters who over
the years have played a critical role in sustaining Zanu
PF’s grip on power,
but in the same breath courting the ire of dissenting
voices.
“Order, order, order, war veterans order. I can declare an
end to this
conference,” said a visibly annoyed Khaya Moyo. “I can do so
because the
president has already spoken.”
However, his demands
fell on stony ground as he was drowned in the shouting,
jeering and
whistling by the war veterans.
The party chairman then asked the
commissariat, headed by political
commissar, the flamboyant Webster Shamu,
to resolve the conflict as he
proceeded to call other associations to give
their solidarity messages.
The war veterans trooped out of the tent
where the conference was being
held, defying Khaya Moyo’s declaration that
it was only the three separate
leaders who were supposed to meet and discuss
with the national commissar.
Some of the war veterans could be heard
saying it was improper to ask Ruwodo
to speak on their behalf.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:33
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
A woman who has been part of the crowd for almost two hours
and constantly
complaining about hunger suddenly jumps to her feet on
hearing her husband’s
name being called out.
With renewed
strength, she pushes through the crowd to the man who just
called out the
name.
But when the man hands her the white receipt she submitted on
arrival at the
Registrar General’s Office about two hours earlier, she
relapses into
sadness and struggles to fight back tears.
“I have been
coming here everyday since last month”, teary eyed Pretty
Dhlamini
said.
“I do not know why they are doing this to me because someone at KG6
told me
that all applications which were submitted in October have been
processed
and the passports are ready for collection.”
Dhlamini said
her South Africa based husband applied for a passport in
October in response
to that country’s directive that Zimbabweans should
regularise their stay by
December or risk deportation.
More than three million Zimbabweans are
believed to be living and working in
South Africa, many having left the
country at the height of political and
economic crises in the past
decade.
Most of these people are suspected to be illegal immigrants,
residing and
working with neither passports nor work permits.
In
September, South Africa issued the directive for Zimbabweans to
regularise
their stay, resulting in long queues at immigration offices in
South Africa
and back in Zimbabwe as many returned to apply for travel
documents.
“My
husband’s passport expired so he is among those affected,” Dhlamini
said.
“It took us many days to obtain the application form at the
immigration
office in South Africa due to the many people who also want to
apply.
“We managed to submit the forms in October but we could not get
the passport
in two weeks as promised so I had to come and collect it from
here.”
On Friday, Dhlamini was told that she should return to South
Africa to
collect the passport from that country.
She was however
reluctant to take the advice after her husband told her the
passport had not
arrived in South Africa either.
“After paying 750 rand on submitting the
application, we least expected all
this trouble,” she said. “I have to call
my contacts inside (the RG’s) for
advice.”
Tatenda Murukai who had
come to collect his brother’s passport was having a
bad day
too.
Murukai’s South Africa based brother submitted his application last
month
and on being informed that it was faster to collect from Zimbabwe, he
sent
his receipt so his brother could collect the passport on his
behalf.
He too was given back the receipt instead of the anticipated
passport.
“They told me that the application has not yet arrived here in
Zimbabwe,” he
said. “I do not know how this happens because my brother
submitted his
papers early last month.”
An elderly woman who said she
had come all the way from Gwanda to collect
her daughter’s passport said she
could not attend to fields because she was
always at the RG’s
office.
“Others are working in the fields while I wake up daily coming
here,” she
said.
“I have been coming here since the beginning of the
week and I intend to go
back home after church tomorrow (yesterday) and
return later to try again.”
Those who applied from neighbouring countries
are better than most who are
trying to make an initial application
locally.
There are separate queues at the RG’s office, with one catering
for those
with external applications and a longer one for those wanting to
apply for
the first time.
“I came here last month with the intention
to apply for a passport and found
that some people were already sleeping
outside the gates with the same
intention,” Shorai Siziva said.
“I
can not sleep over here because of my bad health so I come in the morning
daily.”
Siziva made some progress last week as she obtained the passport
forms and
was hoping the passport will be out within two weeks.
But
others, like Tawanda Bvuma were happy to collect their passports after
the
long wait. Another lady who said she had travelled from South Africa to
apply for her own document two weeks ago also got hers.
“I have some
people I know inside,” she said.“ I just bought them a drink
and they sorted
it out for me.”
Some desperate people have resorted to sleeping at the
passport office to
beat the queues. Others said they were paying officials
as much as US$80 to
jump the queue.
There are fears that the majority
of the undocumented Zimbabweans in South
Africa will not meet the December
31 deadline to obtain passports and lodge
their applications for work
permits.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the South African minister of Home
Affairs said
Zimbabwe was only able to produce about 500 passports a day,
which fell far
short of the demand.
But she said the deadline would
not be extended. Deportations may resume at
least three months after the
deadline when all the applications had been
processed, officials
said.
An official with the RG’s office said there were no plans to
process
applications for passports on weekends and holidays to beat the
deadline.
“We are already doing enough,” she said. “We work hard during
designated
office hours and we will continue doing so even during the
holidays.
“But where we are entitled to rest, we will rest like everyone
else.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:30
UZ
political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure said any talk about
charging
Tsvangirai with treason was politically motivated. He warned Zanu
PF to be
“cautious to avoid an embarrassment as in the previous
case”.
“Political interest looms large here,” said
Masunungure. “They want to
achieve a political interest but they need to be
cautious to avoid an
embarrassment where actions of the state are defeated
again.”
In 2004, Tsvangirai was sensationally cleared by the High
Court of charges
of attempting to assassinate Mugabe in the run-up to the
2002 presidential
elections.
The prosecution was basing its case
on evidence from a grainy videotape of a
meeting between Tsvangirai and
Canadian political consultant Ari Ben
Menashe, who became the State’s key
witness.
Musunungure said while the motivation to charge Tsvangirai
was political,
the grounds to arrest him depended on the existence of a
legal platform in
the country’s statutes.
MDC-T chief whip
Innocent Gonese said calls to charge Tsvangirai were a form
of harassment by
the desperate Zanu PF loyalists.
“What they want to do is nonsensical
because the so-called leaks are false,”
said Gonese, a lawyer by profession.
“They may proceed with the case knowing
well that they will not succeed.
They just want to harass him.”
Over the past decade, Gonese said,
Zanu PF has been using the security
apparatus to bring trumped up charges
against MDC-T MPs and activists in a
bid to decimate the party.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:28
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THERE is no legal basis for the prosecution of Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai over leaked United States documents linking him
to an alleged
plot to remove President Robert Mugabe from office, legal
experts said last
week.
They said a mere discussion of
national issues with a foreign national was
not unconstitutional or
treasonous as alleged by Zanu PF fanatics, who are
determined to see the
demise of their strongest rival in the inclusive
government.
For
the past two weeks, Zanu PF officials have been demanding that
Tsvangirai
resign from government or face prosecution on treason charges for
plotting
to oust Mugabe and urging Western countries to maintain sanctions
imposed on
the 86-year-old leader as well as his cronies.
Some of the
information leaked by WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website,
suggests that
Tsvangirai privately urged Western countries to maintain
sanctions against
Zimbabwe while publicly appearing to back their removal.
But legal experts
last week dismissed attempts by Zanu PF to have the MDC-T
leader prosecuted,
saying the allegations would not stand in any court of
law.
They
were however quick to point out that Zanu PF, known for its
vindictiveness
and abuse of the justice system in the country, can still
charge the premier
although fully aware that the allegations were
malicious.
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said Tsvangirai
did not commit
any offence by expressing an opinion with another person, who
happens to be
a foreigner.
He said the calls by Zanu PF
functionaries were “mere political statements”
which would not stand in a
court of law. “No crime was committed,” said
Madhuku, a University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) law lecturer. “Discussing something
with a foreigner is by no
means treason.”
Madhuku, who also chairs the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA), said
treason charges would only stick if there was empirical
evidence that
Tsvangirai was involved in the actual plotting to
unconstitutionally unseat
Mugabe, who has been ruling the country for the
past three decades.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:24
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
Mutambara livid
DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
(right) believes he is the key to
the continued survival of the unity
government.
According to cables leaked by arch-whistleblower, WikiLeaks,
Mutambara was
livid that he was left out of US meetings with President
Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister Tsvangirai in October last
year.
He reportedly told Louis Amorim, an official of the EU council
secretariat,
that he was very important in the GNU matrix.
Amorim
summarised Mutambara’s main message to the delegation as, “You have
to count
me in. If you do not include me, I can wreck this.”
He claimed he was “the
only one who can shut up Mugabe” and that everyone
else was afraid of him.
Mutambara could not be reached for comment.
Mugabe’s monologues
US
Ambassador to Zimbabwe says President Robert Mugabe embarks on
trance-like
monologues when meeting diplomats. In a cable to Washington,
Charles Ray
said Mugabe embarked on a 45 minute discussion (mostly
monologue) when he
presented his credentials to him on December 9 2009.
According to Ray, Mugabe
gave a customary “history lesson” beginning with
the revolutionary struggle
for one man, one vote and ending with sanctions
imposed by the
West.
Ray said he only managed to talk “during a pause in the
monologue.”
President is “hardliner”
DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara cautioned a European Union delegation
not to be fooled into
thinking that President Mugabe was being led by
hardliners.
“He
is the worst hardliner there is,” Mutambara is quoted as
saying.
Writing about the impressions on Mugabe, Murray said; “He
remains powerful
but is clearly surrounded by hardliners who are ‘dodgy’,
‘cold’ and lack
Mugabe’s intelligence.”
Mugabe is crazy
THE South
African Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane told US Ambassador to SA Donald Gips that Mugabe was a
“crazy old man” who was a stumbling block to progress.
Mashabane said her
government’s view was that Mugabe is getting desperate
and is trying to push
the country into elections.
Zanu PF to crack
ZANU PF is set to
disintegrate in the event of the death or retirement of
President Robert
Mugabe, according to US Ambassador Charles Ray.
“We need to start now to
identify the next generation of the country’s
leadership and begin the
process of influencing them,” said Ray who made the
comments after meeting
German Ambassador Albrecht Conze.
“Conze believes that Zanu PF in a
post-Mugabe world will be irrelevant and
will not exist in its current form,
although some Zanu PF members are likely
to continue to be involved in
Zimbabwe’s politics,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:20
By
Mugove Tafirenyika
Chitungwiza Municipal employees have said they
will go on strike on Monday
if their employer does not immediately effect
payment of their November
salaries and bonuses in honour of their
promise.
The national secretary for information and publicity
of the Zimbabwe Urban
and Rural District Council Workers’ Union (ZURDCWU),
an affiliate of the
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), Nyikadzino
Matsikidze, said the
workers had given management until Monday to effect the
payment of their
salaries and bonuses for November which they were promised
but have not
received anything, raising fears they may even go for the
Christmas holiday
without their December salaries.
“We were
promised by management that we would get our 13th cheque in
November but we
have not been paid even our normal salaries.
“They have resorted to divide
and rule tactics by paying just a handful of
workers to pacify us but almost
two thirds have not been paid.
“We met the management this afternoon
(Wednesday)and told them in no
uncertain terms that the we would withdraw
our labour if we do not get our
dues by Monday and that they must give us
our December salaries before
Christmas because there is no guarantee they
will be able to pay us for both
November and December.
“There is
no going back on this one because it’s Christmas and everyone
wants to bring
something home,” declared Matsikidze.
“They (management) tell us
there is no money yet residents are paying rates
every month and they even
buy themselves luxurious cars.
“Moreover it’s not believable that
professionals like them would remain
stuck to their jobs if they are also
not being paid like they claim. The
reason they do not quit is they are
feeding on our sweat,” he fumed.
Chitungwiza town clerk Godfrey
Tanyanyiwa could not be reached for comment
as he was said to be out and his
mobile phone was not reachable.
Meanwhile ZURDCWU reports that Chinhoyi
municipal workers have gone for 17
months without pay, Marondera with going
for 9 months,while Karoi and Norton
have also gone for several months
without paying their workers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:18
By Kelvin
Jakachira
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has for the first time publicly
admitted that he
lost the disputed March 2008
election.
The octogenarian told delegates attending the 11th
people’s conference in
Mutare on Friday that he lost to MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in the
presidential election because Zanu PF party activists
campaigned against
him.
Mugabe said he was saved by electoral
laws which allow for a run-off if the
winner does not garner more than 50
percent of the ballot.
“We heard others saying vote for this one and not
this one. I lost some
votes as a result of that,” he said.
He said the
party activists who were behind such machinations did not
realise that if he
had been dislodged from power, the entire party would
have been affected
also.
To avoid a repeat of that in the next year’s election, Mugabe
threatened
members of his inner circle and Zanu PF activists who dare
deviate from
resolutions made in Mutare.
In apparent reference to
reports that some of his lieutenants were against
holding elections next
year, Mugabe said he did not want anybody to oppose
what would have been
decided at the conference.
He issued the warning amid reports delegates
were being whipped into line to
endorse his stance on elections.
Mugabe
told delegates elections would be held next year because he was
unhappy with
the goings-on in the inclusive government.
“If we take a decision let’s
not hear anybody opposing that decision,” he
said. “You have to accept what
the majority of the people have decided.”
The issue of holding elections
next year has sharply divided Zanu PF’s
leadership with some arguing the
coalition should be allowed to continue
because it has brought political
stability as well as resuscitating the
economy.
There was tension
during a politburo meeting held on Monday at the Zanu PF
headquarters in
Harare as the political stalwarts disagreed on the issue.
President
Mugabe says he is no longer enthusiastic about the inclusive
government
arguing Tsvangirai was undermining his authority by allegedly
pandering to
the wishes of the West.
The 86-year former guerilla leader said the
government of national unity
should not be allowed to continue and
harmonised elections should be held.
“We must combine presidential,
parliamentary with local government
elections,” he said.
He said Zanu
PF agreed to work with Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara
under the Global Political Agreement as a compromise
because they wanted
peace and political stability in the country.
Mugabe said Western powers
wishing to effect regime change in Zimbabwe were
day-dreaming.
He
warned diplomats not to meddle in local politics saying he would not
hesitate to expel anyone found wanting.
“Any ambassador who does that
will be kicked out. We have been too good,” he
said.
On sanctions,
the President said laws should be enacted to deal with
individuals or groups
that advocated for sanctions or restrictive measures
against the
country.
He said such actions should be equated to treason. “It is
treasonous to call
enemies to punish our people,” he said. “Anybody who does
that must be
punished.”
Mugabe and his party blame Tsvangirai and the
MDC-T for urging the West to
impose sanctions on the country.The MDC-T
denies the accusations saying
President Mugabe and his party invited the
punitive measures because of
their alleged appalling human rights
record.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010
11:15
BY NDAMU SANDU
CRISIS in Zimbabwe Coalition, an
amalgamation of civil society organisations
has taken its offensive into the
region where it is briefing member
countries on conditions necessary for the
holding of democratic polls.
Zimbabwe goes to the polls next
year as principals in the inclusive
government are unanimous that the
power-sharing deal formed last year is not
working.
CZC team travels to
Zambia today for meetings with senior church leaders
under the auspices of
the Zambia Council of Churches.
Zambia chairs the Sadc troika on
peace and security, which will meet in
Lusaka early next year to try and
resolve Zimbabwe’s political logjam.
A delegation from the
organisation will also attend the African Union (AU)
summit in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia next month.
The regional offensive has seen the coalition
visiting Swaziland and Malawi.
Dewa Mavhinga, Crisis regional
information and advocacy coordinator told The
Standard the regional sojourn
“is to get the region to translate their lofty
democracy and human rights
ideals into practice and get the Sadc bloc to
implement and fulfill its
guidelines on the conduct of democratic elections.
He said the initiative was
also meant to ensure that the region was fully
briefed about the real
situation in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, speaking at the Zanu PF Annual
Conference in Mutare on Friday,
President Robert Mugabe warned NGOs against
meddling in the country's
political affairs saying he would not hesitate to
expel those defying this
ruling.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:13
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
THE red carpet has all but been rolled out for Welshman
Ncube, who is now
set to assume the presidency of the smaller faction of the
MDC without a
contest.
Incumbent leader, Arthur Mutambara
pulled out of the race after the Harare
province endorsed Ncube’s candidacy
amid revelations that 11 out of the 12
provinces were in favour of the
secretary general’s ascendancy.
Mutambara says he pulled out of the
presidential race to avoid divisions
within his party, but there are
revelations that the robotics professor saw
that the writing was on the wall
at a national council meeting nearly a
fortnight ago.
The MDC-M
leader is reported to even have failed to get an endorsement from
Manicaland, his home province, a development that irked Mutambara.
Before
Mutambara threw in the towel, calls had been made to have him to take
up the
vice-presidency, which has been vacant since the death of Gibson
Sibanda in
August.
“For the sake of unity and continuity, Mutambara had been
tipped to become
the vice-president,” the source continued.
It
was not immediately clear why he turned down the offer, instead electing
to
be “an ordinary member” of the party.
MDC-M has since banned all its
members from making pronouncements on its
congress, which will be held next
February.
The party’s Harare provincial executive council met on
Friday and nominated
leaders for positions, with Ncube being nominated for
the presidency.
Party spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa was nominated for
the vice- presidency
while Goodrich Chimbaira was nominated to be the
chairman.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was nominated to be the
secretary general
with Moses Mzila being her deputy.
Paul Themba
Nyathi was nominated to take the treasurer general’s position
with Theresa
Marimazhira being his deputy.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
minister David Coltart, who is the
faction’s secretary for legal affairs,
does not feature on the nomination
list.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:07
By NQOBANI
NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — The Lupane Rural District Council (LRDC) has
cancelled a
timber-logging contract for a company allegedly linked to a
cabinet minister
over failure to pay royalties amounting to about US$120 000
dating back from
last year.
Information gleaned from various
sources also show that the council
cancelled the timber-logging contract for
Platinum Timbers for failure to
honour its contractual
obligations.
The company won the tender to harvest timber sometime in
2006 after Minister
of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development,
Ignatious Chombo,
allegedly ordered the Lupane Rural District Council (RDC)
to grant it a
timber concession.
In an interview with The
Standard at the time Chombo denied ever ordering
the RDC to grant them a
concession, saying all he had done was to refer the
company to
Lupane.
Chombo, who said he had no interest in the company, said he
intervened after
noting that the council was not benefiting from some
companies logging
timber in Lupane. He promised that Platinum Timbers would
ensure a win-win
arrangement with the RDC.
But Keyani Mpofu, the
LRDC Finance Committee chairperson said council was
not getting anything
from Platinum Timbers and has since stopped it from
logging
timber.
“Council does not get any money from the budget and only
survives on
royalties.
“But there are companies like Platinum
Timbers that owe the council a lot of
money as they are not paying any
royalties for logging timber in Lupane.
Mpofu said the company owed the
council over US$100 000 in royalties.
Platinum Timbers, which started
logging at Lupane’s Malunku and Phuphu areas
in August 2006, was stopped
from logging in the two timber-rich concessions
areas on November 17 2010
during a full council meeting.
Platinum Timbers moved into the two
areas in August 2006 after forcing off
Full Investment, a company that had
initially won the tender in July 2006 to
harvest
timber.
Information obtained by The Standard shows that Platinum
Timbers owes the
local authority a total of US$119 000 dating back to last
year after the
country started using a basket of multiple foreign
currencies.
As of July 2009, the company owed council US$81
000.
Only about US$10 000 was paid by Platinum Timbers to the LRDC in
June 2010,
leaving a remainder of US$71 000.
A further US$48 000 was
accumulated by the company in unpaid royalties from
June this year, bringing
the current outstanding debt to US$119 000.
Part of the contractual
obligations that have been reportedly breached by
the company include
failure to meet its social responsibility duties.
The company was
also transporting unprocessed timber in violation of its
contract.
According to a contract signed between the council and
Platinum Timbers in
2006, the latter was supposed to allocate 30% of its
proceeds to development
projects to areas it was operating
from.
But since 2006, no development projects were initiated by the
company. A
letter dated August 14, 2009 addressed to the Forestry Commission
and
written by the council CEO, Mhlaseli Mpofu confirms Platinum Timbers’
failure to meet its contractual obligations.
“We would like you
to note that council is owed US$81 000 (up to July 2009)
by Platinum Timbers
and it is against this background that we find it odd
that your company
should recommend an extension to this concession.
“At the conclusion
and subsequent submission of this report, council had
long been inundated
with grumblings from the Malunku Community who felt that
there was little in
terms of returns Platinum Timbers was ploughing back to
them since they are
failing to pay council royalties to them,” Mpofu noted
in the letter titled
Timber Logging – Audit Report for Malunku Ward.
The CEO also
confirmed that the license had been cancelled saying relations
between
council and the company were soured by the failure honour its
obligations.
According to a contract signed between council and
Platinum Timbers, the
latter was also supposed to set up a sawmill to
process timber in a bid to
create jobs for the jobless youths in the
Matabeleland North capital.
“Since 2006, the company has failed to
establish a sawmill in violation of
the contract.
The company
continues to transport unprocessed timber also in violation of
its
contract.
“At the end of the day, villagers are crying foul because they
are not
benefiting in any way. The council and villagers are the losers,” a
council
official said.
Platinum Timbers could not be reached for
comment. Chombo was also not
answering his mobile phone yesterday.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010
11:12
BY OUR STAFF
THE Arthur Mutambara-led MDC says police
yesterday disrupted its provincial
meeting in Mutare and arrested its
provincial chairperson Sondon
Mugaradziko.
MDC-M spokesperson Edwin
Mushoriwa said 30 people, including women, men and
youths were attending a
provincial council meeting in the border town when
the police pounced on
them.
“They were holding a meeting in a private hall when the
police arrived at
the venue using Posa (the Public Order and Security Act)
as an excuse,” he
said.
“This is barbaric considering that while our
party’s programme was being
disrupted, another party was allowed to go ahead
with its own gathering.
“It is in violation of the Global Political
Agreement and the rule of law.”
The MDC-M provincial treasurer Davis
Mundirwira said he was among other
people who were forced to leave the
meeting when Mugaradziko was arrested
yesterday afternoon.
“We
were discussing internal party business,” Mundirwira said.“They are
detaining the chairperson and we do not know what is happening there as we
were ordered to disperse.”
Mushoriwa said the meeting comprising
provincial executives was expected to
come up with nominations for the
party’s seven top positions in preparation
for the party’s congress next
month.
Police spokesman Andrew Phiri asked for time to verify the
information but
did not answer several calls made to his mobile phone
afterwards.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 18 December 2010
18:25
BY INDIANA CHIRARA
ZIMABWE has been urged to use its diamond
wealth to revive the country’s
health sector so that it can effectively deal
with the Aids scourge.
The call was made by Network of African People
Living with Aids (Napsar)
executive director Jefter Mxotshwa at the Zimbabwe
National Network of
People Living with Aids (ZNNP+) annual general meeting
held in Mazowe last
week.
“The government of Zimbabwe can take a step
further in supporting the health
sector through the allocation of one
diamond mine,” Mxotshwa said.
“This will definitely revamp the face of
the health sector.
“Zimbabwe is different from other African countries as
it has a lot of
mineral resources and if one of these mines is to be
allocated to the health
sector, the sector can be sustained without any
difficulties.”
The South African based Mxotshwa said instead of relying
on aid, Zimbabwe
must take advantage of the recently discovered Marange
diamonds.
Tendai Kateketa Westerhof, a prominent Aids activist also
echoed Mxotshwa’s
advice saying it was time government prioritised health in
its budgets.
Activists say the diamonds benefit a few elite connected to
President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.
In the past civil servants
have also campaigned unsuccessfully for a slice
of the diamond
revenues.
Meanwhile, Mxotshwa has called on organisations dealing with
HIV and Aids to
employ qualified people regardless of their status if they
were to meet best
practices.
“When building our structures what comes
first is qualification not status
of a person,” he said.
“If we don’t
have educated management it becomes difficult to deal with the
international
world.
“The merits of having qualified people are that it enables the
smooth flow
of business as proper decisions will be made and an organisation
will be
able to network with other regional organisations.”
Tabona
Shoko, the ZNNP+ director said they had revamped the organisation’s
constitution and hoped the new board that was inaugurated at the AGM will
utilise it to enhance service delivery.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010
11:50
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
THREE African regional blocks are set
to convene in the early weeks of
January 2011 to deliberate on trade related
issues as well as increased
integration and
co-operation.
Southern African Development Community (Sadc), Common
Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (Comesa) and Economic Community of
West African States
(Ecowas) will meet in a bid to discuss ways of improving
and enhancing trade
relations between the regional blocs.
"A
tripartite summit will be held within the first few weeks of January
incorporating Sadc, Comesa and Ecowas.
“The deliberations will focus on
the free trade area and customs union
issues among others," said the
Minister of Regional Integration and
International Co-operation, Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
The Sadc region is currently working towards a
common Sadc Customs Union
that should provide substantial benefits to member
states in terms of trade
regulations and common
tariffs.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said Zimbabwe will soon be gaining
significantly from
the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) bank and is
contributing towards working
on the modalities of a regional insurance
project.
South Africa has in the past been fingered as being reluctant to
expedite
the regional integration process because of the trade benefits that
it is
gaining as a regional powerhouse.
South Africa's Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) is four times larger than that
of its southern African
neighbours and comprises around 25% of Africa's
GDP.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said in “any setting a country, which has a
big
economy in a particular region is bound to benefit”.
“The
benefits will be short term and South Africa is aware of this and that
is
why more member states are pushing for integration."
Misihairabwi-
Mushonga dismissed assertions that Zimbabwe's political
problems were the
cause of its failure to fully benefit from regional trade
initiatives.
Several African countries are benefiting from the United
States' Africa
Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) while Zimbabwe is distinctly
excluded owing to
the latter's governance issues that the US does not agree
with.
AGOA is a United States Trade Act that significantly enhances US
market
access for a host of Sub-Saharan African countries with the current
co-ordinator being Zambia.
"We are a product of regional integration.
Zimbabwe is a case study of
regional political and economic integration,"
she said.
Zimbabwe's economic challenges, Misihairabwi-Mushonga said,
were having a
profound impact on the direction of deliberations at most Sadc
meetings.
"The US sanctions have made it very difficult for Zimbabwe to
engage on many
levels.
“Most of these meetings are resulting in lost
valuable time such that
instead of deliberating on the important trade
related issues, the sanctions
issue is being discussed.
“This affects
Zimbabwe and the region's relationship with the rest of the
world," she
said.
However, Keith Rockwell, director of Information and external
relations
division at the World Trade Organization said that structural
arrangements
within African regional institutions were the major setbacks to
smooth trade
flows between member states.
"In Africa, the trading
infrastructure is organised in such a way that it is
often easier to trade
with Europe or North America than with neighbouring
countries," he
said.
"The barriers between African countries hinder development and
better
international relations."
Rockwell fired a broadside at
regionalism saying that it was fraught with
shortcomings and encouraged more
African countries to be more pro-active in
multilateral
arrangements.
"Regional or bilateral deals do not address important
issues like farm
subsidies, global services networks, anti-dumping or trade
facilitation in
nearly the same in-depth manner as do the WTO's
negotiations," Rockwell
said.
Trade research indicates that there are
more regional organisations in
Africa than in any other continent with a
number of African countries
engaged in more than one regional
agreement.
Zimbabwe for instance is a member of Sadc and Comesa while
Swaziland is
signatory to Comesa and Southern Africa Customs Union
(Sacu).
Overlapping membership has been criticised as a major factor
leading to
trade disputes and tariff confusion as each country seeks to
pursue its own
economic interests.
"There will always be bilateral
and regional efforts to establish better
trading linkages but they will
never supersede the multilateral arena in
terms of coverage or
effectiveness," said Rockwell.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:47
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
HWANGE Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) has embarked on
an expansive coal
distribution project with rural district councils (RDC)
who will act as
merchants with proceeds from sales deployed into the
communities.
HCCL has licenced various RDCs as the project is being
implemented in
partnership with the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board,
National Railways of
Zimbabwe, the Rural Electrification Authority and Road
Motor Services.
HCCL Corporate Affairs Advisor Burzil Dube confirmed the
development and
said that the project will address social and commercial
strategic
objectives simultaneously.
"There have been no hurdles in
the project as RDCs have been acting as coal
merchants and efficiently
distributing the coal stocks," said Dube.
"For instance Chinhoyi has been
receiving coal supplies from Zvimba Rural
District council as a result of
the project.
“Interestingly, the revenue generated goes to the
community," he said.
Dube said the project will reduce deforestation in
communities.
The partnership between HCCL and the concerned institutions
is in place
owing to diversified interests such as improving service
delivery,
increasing revenue generation, infrastructure development as well
as
environmental protection.
The Association of Rural District
Councils of Zimbabwe is co-administering
the project with the assistance of
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Dube was
not in a position to comment on the
role of the RBZ in the project.
One of the stated objectives of the
project is to protect the environment
from further deforestation by
providing an alternative energy source in the
form of coal to tobacco
farmers and other users for the 2011 season.
The project is anticipated
to extend to various RDCs in Murehwa, Pfura,
Chaminuka, Guruve and
Hurungwe.
Meanwhile Dube said that HCCL was pursuing plans to join
Coaltrans, a
regional consortium of coal exporting companies although
everything was
still at the preliminary stages.
"The issue is still
at its infancy but this will benefit HCCL in terms of
cutting down on costs
and increasing market penetration," said Dube
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010 11:43
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
A walk around the streets of Harare will reveal a hive
of activity as people
hurriedly move from one street corner to another
oblivious of the unfriendly
weather or lurking municipal
policemen.
"I'm on my way to the Gulf complex where I will buy two
bags of socks and
napkins from the Nigerians then sell them to the Indians
and Chinese
downtown," says a young woman with a baby strapped on her
back.
She claims that on a good day she can make up to US$20, enough to
feed
herself and her children while saving capital to buy more goods for
resale.
More people are resorting to informal business, which has become
the biggest
employer in Zimbabwe.
Ranging from buying and selling
various commodities, innumerable
barbershops, salons, backyard carpentry,
unregistered vehicle mechanics and
communal farming, the informal sector
constitutes individuals and
organisations that are not paying
tax.
Most of Harare's streets and buildings have slowly been turned into
tuckshops as foreigners with sufficient capital and business acumen have
snapped up opportunities to rent small spaces and open shops.
Yet the
majority of financial transactions remain in the informal as opposed
to the
formal sector.
Some people commute into Harare from as far as Bindura,
Shamva and Chinhoyi
among others in order to buy various products for resale
back in their
towns.
Products that have become popular in small towns
include electrical
accessories, clothing and footwear which can be
obtained at cheap prices
in the competitive Central Business
District.
Such minuscule transactions are the order of the day, not only
in Harare but
several cities and towns throughout Zimbabwe.
Experts
contend that substantial financial transactions are occurring on a
daily
basis in the informal sector as the rate of unemployment hovers above
90%.
Informal traders are not too keen either on depositing their
hard earned
monies in banks as the ravaging effects of lost confidence in
the financial
sector owing to the pre-2009 hyper inflationary era still
lingers in their
memories.
Economist John Robertson argues that there
is a lot of motivation for most
people to remain in the informal
sector.
"Most of Zimbabwe's informal sector activity is in buying and
selling which
does not add much to the gross domestic product because it is
a service
industry," said Robertson.
The credit system was once
supported by a vibrant and productive farming
sector as farmers could lodge
their title deeds with banks in anticipation
of the cropping season
according to Robertson.
The demise of this organised system of managing
the formal sector based on
productivity has contributed to the growth of the
informal sector.
"The growth of this sector is the effect of the lack of
options.
“Communal farmers as opposed to erstwhile large scale commercial
farmers
will continue to engage in small scale farming for subsistence
purposes but
the country's productivity remains low with little or no tax
remittances,"
Robertson said.
Experts told a business indaba in
October that the large informal sector
constituting up to 60% of the
country’s economic activity is a reflection of
the low levels of economic
development.
“The informal sector is an opaque world of business
transactions.
“Zimbabwe tops the world list of economies with informal
sector activity and
from our observations across many countries in the
world, a large informal
sector inhibits economic growth,” said Greg Lebedev,
chairman of the Centre
for International Private Enterprise.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010
12:21
The dye is cast; we are heading for harmonised elections next year.
The
elections, however seem to be desired by only one man.It is common cause
that many, if not all, the seating Zanu PF parliamentarians and senators
fear the election and have expressed this sentiment in hashed tones in
public. Their fear is based on the reality on the ground. Zanu PF, once
popular in the 1980s has now lost its base even in the rural areas. The
cities rejected completely at the turn of the millennium and the communal
areas have followed suit.
The reason why the former ruling party
has lost support in its traditional
strongholds is that it has lost touch
with people who see how all
development since 1980 has only helped to enrich
those close to the
corridors of power.
What is interesting about holding
elections next year is that President
Mugabe is bubbling with confidence; he
avers he will win the poll when only
a short two years ago he lost to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. To his
admission he only survived due to the law
that said the winner of the
presidential poll should garner at 50% plus one
vote. The subsequent run-off
was a bloodbath which the international
community refused to recognise hence
the negotiations that led to the
government of national unity (GNU).
It will take a rocket scientist to
explain to an incredulous populace why
people will overwhelmingly vote for
him this time around.
He now says the GNU is unworkable and has to be
ended when facts on the
ground indicate that he, personal, has been
intransigent in his refusal to
fully implement the clauses of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
Why the nation should be dragged kicking and
screaming into an election they
dread and loath is an act of sadism. The
people dread the violence that
invariably accompanies these elections. Zanu
PF has been known to employ all
tactics, especially violence, to remain in
power. It will certainly use the
same tactic next year.
The elections
are loathed because they will not change anything. If Mugabe
and Zanu PF
lose they will not transfer power; everyone knows that. So why
be dragged
into a poll whose result everybody knows?
The call for elections has had
an immediate impact on business in the
country. Many companies which had
begun to see some light at the end of the
tunnel are holding back projects
they were about to launch in order to grow
their businesses. Those which had
been lurking at our borders in readiness
to come in and invest on the hope
of a more stable country have cancelled
their project
proposals.
Jingoistic talk of indigenisation has heightened potential
investors’ fear
to come on board. There will again be a huge flight of
capital as businesses
take their money to more stable economies. In the end
the greatest loser
will be the people of Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai and the
MDC-T have a point in insisting that only presidential
election should be
held; it is the only poll that is disputed!
Even then many issues still
remain unresolved before a credible poll is
held.
But what are the
real issues?
The crux of the matter is that when the GNU was formed, to
the majority of
Zimbabweans it was tasked with three major deliverables: to
write a new
constitution, hold internationally observed elections and to put
in place a
government of the people’s choice.
The constitution-making
process is unlikely to be completed by midyear next
year; there is no money
for it and even if there was, writing a constitution
is a laborious process
that takes many months. When is it complete it has to
be sold to the people
through civic education; again this takes months. Then
there will be the
referendum. All this, done properly, will take whole year.
Mugabe has
hinted that he is prepared to go to election without a new
constitution;
this is against the roadmap agreed in the GPA.
Zanu PF’s readiness to use
violence and intimidation will again ensure that
the elections will not be
free and fair and they will not be recognised by
many countries across the
globe.
But the third deliverable is the most worrying. In case Zanu PF
loses the
elections, as they did in 2008, will they be willing to transfer
power?
In 2008 Zanu PF was unwilling to transfer power to the MDC-T which
had just
won the elections. It took five weeks for the Zimbabwe Election
Commission
to announce the results and when they did they were irrelevant.
The period
between that election in March and the presidential runoff in
June became
singularly the most violent period in Zimbabwean history outside
the
gukurahundi!
This unwillingness to transfer power should be the
critical reason why Sadc
and the AU should stamp their authority on Mugabe,
if they have any.
Commentators say it is now clear that the MDC made a
suicidal mistake in
entering the GNU without addressing the crucial issue of
power transfer.
It has become very clear that the people who call the
shots in Zanu PF are
the hawks who surround Mugabe. These include the
generals. The role of the
generals in the running of the politics in
Zimbabwe is becoming increasingly
clear.
Zimbabwe is being run by a
military junta; to refuse this fact is to be
foolish.
The military
junta’s stranglehold on Zimbabwe has been tightened by the
discovery of
diamonds in Chiadzwa. With the shadowy way in which the
diamonds are mined
and sold, the junta must be floating like a cork in
money.
This money
will be used to block a clean transfer of power should Zanu PF
lose next
year.
This is why the transfer of power is the most important outstanding
issue in
the GPA; all the others are simply vexatious issues.
If Sadc
and the AU are to fulfil their mandate as guarantors of the GPA,
they must
ensure a clear roadmap is in place and they must supervise it.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 19 December 2010
12:19
BY Mso Ndlovu
Unconfirmed reports suggest that 70% of
Zimbabwe’s voting population is made
up of youths, or people who are 30
years and below. It is difficult to
ascertain what percentage of that have
fled the country to the Diaspora in
search of a better life, but a good
number of them are very far away from
their homeland, forced out by an acute
failure of leadership.
But recent events by the custodians of the title deeds
of a land called
Zimbabwe seem to confirm two things. First, the youths
constitute a large
chunk of the voting population and; second the party that
earns the trust
and respect of this age-group is almost guaranteed to win
next year’s
elections. As a result, a stampede of unprecedented levels for
the youth
vote is raging throughout the country. The battlefield comes in
different
shapes and sizes. While many progressive political leaders have
chosen the
social network forum, Facebook, as their preferred battleground,
the one
that takes my top price is the use of slang or street lingo by a
Head of
State and government of a once great country. As if that is not
enough, this
leader, who is nearly ninety years old, is even trying his luck
in rap and
hip-hop singing. All in an effort to woo the youths to join his
dying party.
This is a disgrace of the highest order. For his advisers to
drag an
octogenarian, kicking and screaming, to a recording studio to churn
out
lyrics like Zviri Sei Sei, Mondisiya Ndoga all in an effort to get votes
for
a party that is clueless is an unacceptable abuse of the elderly in our
society.
Zanu PF has no story to tell, and they can’t even sell anyone a
donkey. It
all began with the President appearing in some videos juggling a
foot ball
like Lionel Messi, but they still lost the election.
We
strongly feel that there are some in Zanu PF who are enjoying the
humiliation of a once revered freedom fighter by reducing him to an
unwilling and uncooperative mascot in a game they know is unwinnable. The
sooner someone tells him that there might still be something left in his
legacy to salvage, and therefore necessary and in his best interests, to
step down, take a deserved rest while perfecting the art of story-telling,
instead of a career in hip-hop, the better for him and everyone. Those
around him are a danger to themselves and to him and the sooner he is
rescued from their patronising tentacles the better for everyone. Unless, of
course, we are failing to understand the scriptures, for, in the Holy Book
of Leviticus, Chapter 19 verse 35, it says “Do not use dishonest standards
when measuring length, weight or volume. Your scales and weights must be
accurate. Your containers of measuring dry materials or liquids must be
accurate” Therefore anyone who thinks that Zimbabwean youths are worth a few
lines of slang in an LP record is mistaken and runs a risk of a crushing
humiliation in the next elections. And the winners will pay them a
compliment of asking, “Zviri Sei Sei?”
Zimbabwean youths want a good
education, not one with examination papers
that leak. They want jobs in
completion of their education. They want a
corruption-free society not one
raining obedient sons born out of the
Chiadzwa wedlock. They want a society
where the sanctity of human life is
paramount. Above all, they want elders
who respect themselves first, before
demanding our respect, and elders who
understand that their roles in
building a prosperous Zimbabwe is by spending
more time tilling the land
instead of spending time in a music studio
recording some
not-so-entertaining songs.