http://www.bloomberg.com/
By Brian Latham and
Fred Katerere - Dec 29, 2010 8:01 AM GMT+1000
Enos Chikwere spills nine
uncut diamonds from a bag at Restaurante Piscina
in Mozambique near the
Zimbabwe border and says they’re worth $75,000.
“I can supply all the
diamonds you need,” said Chikwere, explaining that he
sneaked them into
Mozambique after buying them from Zimbabwean soldiers.
Chikwere and
hundreds of other border smugglers are part of a chain whose
money flows
back into Zimbabwe, whose president for three decades, Robert
Mugabe, has
ruled over four violent and disputed elections since 2000.
Mugabe’s policies
of land seizure helped cause the economy, once the
second-biggest in
southern Africa, to shrink by 50 percent in eight years.
The gems from
Zimbabwe’s biggest diamond field in the Marange region are
helping enrich
the 86-year-old president’s party ahead of next year’s vote,
according to
Human Rights Watch, Partnership Africa Canada and the
Zimbabwean opposition
party, Movement for Democratic Change, which governs
in a forced coalition
with Mugabe’s party.
Annual income from the gems may reach $2 billion,
assuming the country is
able to export them freely, the state-owned Herald
newspaper cited Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu as saying in October. Mugabe is
trying to amass funds
for the election campaign, said Tom Porteous, the U.K.
director of New
York-based Human Rights Watch, which has lobbied against
abuses for the past
30 years.
“Revenue from the mines is serving to
prop up Mugabe and his cronies,”
Porteous said in a Dec. 8 response to
e-mailed questions. “There are real
concerns that diamond revenue will be
used to fund political violence and
intimidation of Mugabe’s
opponents.”
Soldiers and Diggers
Human Rights Watch cited
interviews with unidentified soldiers, diggers,
community leaders and
members of government and the parliamentary portfolio
committee on mines and
energy to support its allegations.
Partnership Africa Canada, an
Ottawa-based nonprofit organization, said in a
June report that Marange is
controlled by the military and proceeds from the
gems aren’t benefiting the
country. The group cited testimony in Zimbabwe’s
parliament, company
statements, and interviews with unidentified diplomats
and illegal miners
for its conclusions.
Illegal smuggling benefits Mugabe because it is
mostly carried out via the
military, according to the two nonprofits and
interviews with six smugglers
and two dealers in and around Vila de Manica,
where Chikwere, clad in Diesel
jeans and wearing two gold chains, was
displaying his wares.
Finance Ministry
The army reports to the
president. The Finance Ministry, by contrast, is
controlled by Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC,
and receives revenue
from legal diamond mining in the form of taxes.
Mugabe’s party, the
Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front, or
Zanu-PF, denies the
smuggling allegations.
“These are just inventions of the western
imperialists who are trying to
discredit Zanu-PF,” party spokesman Rugare
Gumbo said in a Dec. 6 interview
from Harare, the country’s capital. “There
is no corruption at Marange and
Zanu-PF is not using the
proceeds.”
Diamonds from Marange can’t be exported legally from Zimbabwe
because the
field hasn’t yet met an international certification standard
showing that
proceeds from sales aren’t used to finance
conflict.
Mining at Marange has been subject to allegations of military
abuses of
unauthorized miners and disputes over ownership of the deposit.
Human Rights
Watch said in June that 200 miners were killed in 2008 at the
site by the
military, and also reported that the army controls most of the
deposits and
is forcing local community members to mine the gems on its
behalf.
Kimberley Process
Soldiers are smuggling gems across the
border, according to Human Rights
Watch, which cited information it has
obtained and interviews with
unidentified people.
Mozambique isn’t a
member of the so-called Kimberley Process, an
organization that includes
governments and diamond industry companies and is
designed to reduce the
number of so- called conflict diamonds in the world.
The Jerusalem-based
group said it couldn’t decide on whether to allow
unfettered exports from
Marange at a meeting that ended on Nov. 4.
The Kimberley Process says it
has reduced the proportion of conflict
diamonds in the world trade to 1
percent from 15 percent. Signatories, which
include all major
diamond-producing and buying countries, have pledged that
they won’t deal in
uncertified gems.
While the Kimberley Process has allowed two “limited”
auctions of gems from
Marange this year, the state-owned Chronicle newspaper
said an August sale
earned the government $30 million. By contrast, Central
Bank Governor Gideon
Gono said in 2007 that smuggling from the Marange site
was costing the
country as much as $40 million a week.
Paying Civil
Servants
“We need the money to pay civil servants,” said Finance Minister
Tendai
Biti, a member of the MDC, in a Dec. 3 interview from Harare. “We
must rein
in the political elite who are prospering from the
stones.”
In the past decade, Mugabe has seized land from white farmers
and given it
to blacks, including government officials, and made proposals
that would
force foreign companies to sell 51 percent of their assets to
black
Zimbabweans.
The result has been a 50 percent decline in the
production of tobacco, the
country’s biggest export in 2000, while corn
production has fallen by more
than half, causing national famines. Gross
domestic product shrank by 50
percent between 2000 and 2008, and the country
scrapped its currency, the
Zimbabwe dollar, in 2009 as inflation
rose.
Attempts to attract aid to help the economy haven’t been
successful: The
country received $3 million from foreign donors in the first
quarter of
2010, 0.4 percent of its annual target, according to
Biti.
Contested Election
The MDC said in a Dec. 17 statement that
it holds the leadership of the
Zanu-PF party responsible “for years of
plunder and human rights abuses at
the mine fields.”
Mugabe’s party
narrowly won an election in 2000 against the MDC amid
complaints of attacks
and murders of opposition supporters. Tsvangirai came
back in 2008 and beat
Mugabe in a first-round presidential vote, though he
failed to get the 51
percent needed to avoid a runoff. He then boycotted the
runoff, citing
violence. Mugabe’s party was forced by neighboring states
into a coalition
with the MDC in February 2009.
Tsvangirai has twice been unsuccessfully
charged with treason and underwent
a brain scan in 2007 for a suspected
skull fracture after he was beaten by
police.
Mugabe said Dec. 17 at
an annual conference of his party in Mutare that the
coalition government
needs to come to an end. The MDC is “dragging their
feet on elections,” he
said, adding that general and presidential polls
should be held next
year.
Constitutional Wrangle
Mugabe’s party has frustrated
attempts to implement a new constitution,
according to the MDC, which is
demanding such steps as a condition for
elections.
Diamond fields in
eastern Zimbabwe were seized in December 2006 from
Maidstone, England-based
African Consolidated Resources Plc by the
Zimbabwean
government.
Since then, thousands of illegal miners have periodically
been evicted from
the deposits, according to Human Rights Watch. Mbada
Investments (Pvt) Ltd.,
in which Johannesburg-based scrap metal company New
Reclamation Group Ltd.
has a stake, runs a mining concession at part of the
site with the
state-owned Zimbabwe Mineral Development Corp.
Members
of Zimbabwe’s political elite ranging from Mugabe’s wife, Grace, to
military
leaders allegedly profited from illegal trading of diamonds,
according to a
November 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks.
In the cable,
former American ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee cited an
industry
official and a senior member of Mugabe’s party as his sources.
‘Where is
the Evidence?’
“The allegations made against the First Lady and others
regarding illegal
diamonds from Marange are scandalous and untrue,” George
Charamba, Mugabe’s
spokesman, said in a Dec. 22 interview from Harare.
“Where is the evidence?
There is no wrongdoing in Marange.”
The
soldiers are very open, said a Nigerian gem dealer in Chimoio, capital
of
Mozambique’s Manica province, who repeatedly said his name was Colonel
Rambo. They give their cut to their superior officers, who in turn surrender
a percentage to politicians in Zimbabwe, he said.
He displayed a
suitcase full of $100 bills that he said amounted to more
than $1 million.
Ministers are involved in this business on the other side
of the border, he
said.
David Kassel, New Reclamation’s chairman, declined to comment when
called on
Dec. 15. London-based Old Mutual Plc, which owns “less than 6
percent” of
New Reclamation, said in an e-mailed response to questions that
its actions
are guided by the Kimberley Process and Zimbabwean laws. No
allegations of
illegal action have been made against Old Mutual or New
Reclamation. New
Reclamation didn’t respond to a Dec. 17 e-mail.
No
Arrests
“We have not arrested anyone for dealing in diamonds because no
one has
reported to us violations of any law,” Belmar Mutadiwa, a police
spokesman
for Mozambique’s Manica province, said in a Dec. 6 interview.
“Most of the
dealers operating in the province have been licensed by the
government to
buy precious and semi-precious stones.”
A police
station in Vila de Manica is situated on a street where dealers
from Guinea,
Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Nigeria -- who all disclosed their
nationalities
in interviews -- trade on the porches of their houses.
Security guards sit
outside.
Mercedes, Humvee and Range Rover vehicles drive down the town’s
streets,
lined by freshly painted houses sprouting satellite television
dishes. By
contrast, the 750-mile drive to the region from Mozambique’s
capital,
Maputo, runs through small towns where ramshackle buildings are
side-by-side
with grass shacks known as baraccas.
Purchase
Point
Vila de Manica has “become one of the premier purchase and
departure points
for Marange’s illegal diamonds,” Partnership Africa Canada
said in a June
report on its website.
“Diamonds are being sold in
this district, after they’ve been smuggled from
Zimbabwe”, said Jose Tefula,
district administrator for Manica District, in
a Dec. 20 phone interview.
“Locally we don’t have any diamonds, so the
stones can only come from
Zimbabwe.”
Three messages left at the Manica branch of the Department of
Mineral
Resources weren’t returned.
A group of about 40 diamond
dealers surrounded the vehicle in which two
Bloomberg reporters were
travelling in Vila de Manica on Nov. 26. They
banged the side of the car
with their fists, blocked the escape route with
motor vehicles, seized and
damaged a camera and shouted “you’re dying
today.”
Two policemen
arrived and detained the reporters for almost an hour, saying
they should
have sought permission to enter the area. No action was taken
against the
dealers.
No Details
New Reclamation rebuffed a petition made by
Johannesburg’s Southern African
Litigation Centre in October through the
Access to Information Act for
details of its involvement in Zimbabwe’s
diamond industry, Nicole Fritz, the
group’s director, said on Dec. 15 from
her mobile phone. New Reclamation’s
Kassel declined to comment and put the
phone down when asked about Marange.
Marange’s deposits may contain 1,000
carats of gems per hundred tons of ore,
the official said in the cable
posted on WikiLeaks, citing a geologist’s
report prepared for De Beers, the
world’s biggest diamond company. That
compares with a grade of 120 carats at
Rio Tinto Plc’s Murowa mine in
Zimbabwe, the official said.
Tom
Tweedy, a spokesman for Johannesburg-based De Beers, declined to comment
on
Dec. 9.
More Than Botswana
Zimbabwe may mine 40 million carats of
diamonds annually within three years,
the state-controlled Herald reported
Oct. 18, citing Mpofu. Botswana, the
world’s biggest diamond producer by
value, expects gem production of 24
million carats this year.
Murowa
produced 97,000 carats of diamonds in 2009 while production at the
country’s
other diamond mine, River Ranch, isn’t disclosed. Total national
official
production in 2007 was 695,000 carats, worth $31 million, according
to the
Herald.
“We believe the new intransigence of Zanu-PF is down to its
finding of an
infinite source of wealth,” Fritz said. “There is this race to
elections.”
In Vila de Manica, smuggler Chikwere boasted that there was
no limit to the
amount of stones he could bring into
Mozambique.
“Don’t worry about me and the border,” he said. “I have my
systems.”
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/
29.12.10, 10:05 /
NGOs say that funds from Marange
diamonds are going to fund President Robert
Mugabe's party; Zanu-PF
spokesman calls reports "inventions of the western
imperialists"
The
revenue from smuggled stones mined in Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields
is
going to fund President Robert Mugabe's election campaign, a number of
human
rights NGOs have reported.
The UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW)
told Bloomberg that diamond
money is "serving to prop up Mugabe and his
cronies" and that there was real
reason to be concerned that money from
illicit trade in the country's
diamonds – currently under international
embargo – would go to fund
political violence against Mugabe's
opponents.
To back up its position, HRW cited interviews conducted with
diamond miners,
soldiers, and community activists.
Another group,
Partnership Africa Canada, has also interviewed parliament
members,
diplomats, and diamond miners and reported in June of this year
that revenue
generated by Marange diamonds does not benefit the country.
Rugare Gumbo,
spokesman for Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF) responded to the NGOs' allegations by
dismissing them as
"inventions of the western imperialists." Gumbo
categorically denied that
there was any corruption at the Marange fields or
that Zanu-PF was
benefiting from illegal diamond money.
http://www.radiovop.com
29/12/2010 21:15:00
Masvingo, December 29,
2010 - Soldiers from the Zimbabwe National Army(ZNA)
have embarked on a door
to door terror campaign in Gutu threatening
villagers to vote for President
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party in
next year’s touted
elections.
The military men are allegedly moving from house to house
instructing the
rural folks to support Zanu (PF) or risk losing their lives
if they disobey
their orders promising a devastating war should the party
lose to long time
political rivals Movement for Democratic Change led by
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
A recent visit by Radio VOP to Gutu
during the Christmas break holiday
revealed that the soldiers deployed from
the district’s 4-2 infantry
battalion were moving in troops of over 10
sometimes clad in their military
fatigue and armed with AK-47 assault
rifles. They have re-established bases
that were used to torture opposition
activists during the violent 2008
presidential elections
run-off.
Villagers told Radio VOP that they were living in fear by
continued threats
and visits at their homesteads by the
soldiers.
“Our families are so scared and frightened by the soldiers who
have been
making frequent visits to our homes forcing us to support Zanu
(PF). This is
very bad and our children are now even afraid of moving freely
in the
villagers as they were told that soldiers were deployed everywhere
waiting
to kill villagers,” said Tavakotsa Chikunhuwe from Makonese village
in Gutu
east.
Another villager said the elections should not be held
next year as evidence
of political violence has already been shown by the
soldiers who are
threatening them and forcing them to tow the Zanu (PF)
line.
“I think these elections should not be held next year as some
symptoms of
political violence are beginning to show up, a good example is
that of these
marauding soldiers moving around our villagers promising a
blood bath if we
do not vote for Zanu (PF),” said Tichivnagni
Mutamba.
She added that the action by the former ruling party of
deploying the
military in the rural area ensures that the elections would
not be free and
fair so there was no point of holding them.
Although
ZNA provincial spokesperson, Kingston Chivave and Zanu (PF) party
chairmen
here could not be reached for a comment, MDC Gutu chairman, Lloyd
Mufudze
confirmed to Radio VOP that soldiers were terrorising villagers and
party
supporters in his district.
“It’s very true that they are moving door to
door harassing and intimidating
villagers especially those perceived to be
our supporters. We think that the
activities of the soldiers are in
violation of the GPA and be stopped forth
with,” said Mufudze.
He
added that at some instances they have received reports of villagers who
were assaulted by the soldiers for discussing political at different
business centre and blamed Zanu (PF) of abusing state security agents to
intimidate people and force them to support it ahead of election next year
in a bid to steal the polls.
Business and Civic community have called
for the postponement of elections
next year, saying the country was not yet
ready and urged the principals of
the inclusive government to concentrate in
rebuilding the economy and bring
back investor confidence.
Meanwhile
the Zimbabwe Chiefs Council President, Chief Fortune Charumbira on
Monday
ordered chiefs to whip people into voting Zanu (PF) party ahead of
elections
next year.
“I urge you chiefs to ensure that we do not have a repeat of
the 2008
scenario here in Masvingo where we only won one seat. No, No, No.
You should
mend the people and educate them so that we do not lose to the
MDC," said
the chief.
He was addressing hundreds of people and other
traditional leaders at his
farm in Mushandike irrigation scheme. Charumbira
said chiefs had to ensure
that Zanu (PF) PF will regain lost seats which
went to Prime Minister Morgan
Tsangirai’s larger MDC party. Zanu (PF) only
secured one seat in the
district.
Mugabe who visited the area last
week donated 60 tonnes of maize seed and 60
tonnes of fertiliser, to be
distributed by chiefs. Mugabe also donated 1 500
gum tree seedlings, 300
guavas and 200 Munyii trees to the traditional
leaders.
“The MDC
cannot boast of having control in a district where the President's
uncle is
chief and where he also hails from. We know people erred in last
elections,
but guide them this time so that they will not lose focus,” said
Charumbira.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
Treason charges threat was opening
salvo ahead of proposed elections next
year, analysts said.
HOPEWELL
RADEBE
Published: 2010/12/29 06:41:24 AM
THE Zimbabwean government’s
threat to investigate treason charges against
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai over his confidential talks with US
diplomats disclosed by
WikiLeaks was Zanu (PF)’s opening salvo ahead of
proposed elections next
year, analysts said yesterday.
The South African government yesterday
refused to speculate on how new
treason charges, if instituted against Mr
Tsvangirai, would affect President
Jacob Zuma ’s mediation
efforts.
Siphamandla Zondi, executive director at the Institute for
Global Dialogue,
said the WikiLeaks revelations would hurt Mr Tsvangirai’s
political stature,
and were likely to be exploited by President Robert
Mugabe to discredit him
and reinforce negative perceptions spread by Zanu
(PF) that the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) was "the political
surrogates and puppets" of
western powers.
The attorney-general,
Johannes Tomana, reportedly said he intended
appointing a commission of five
lawyers to examine whether recent
disclosures amounted to a breach of the
constitution.
A US embassy cable dated December 24 2009 suggested Mr
Tsvangirai privately
insisted sanctions "must be kept in place" but asked
for some "flexibility"
in sanctions.
The cable quotes Mr Tsvangirai
saying: "Zanu (PF) has implemented a strategy
of reciprocity in the
negotiations, using western sanctions as a cudgel
against MDC. He
(Tsvangirai) would like to see some quiet moves, provided
there are
acceptable benchmarks, to ‘give’ some modest reward for modest
progress."
Mr Tomana said the leaks "appear to show a treasonous
collusion" between
Zimbabweans and "the aggressive international world",
particularly the US.
High treason in Zimbabwe can result in the death
penalty.
Mr Zuma is said to be exasperated by continued bickering in
Zimbabwe’s
power-sharing government, and his negotiating team has taken the
leading
role in drafting a road map to ensure free and fair elections next
year.
Mr Zuma had earlier indicated that Zimbabwe’s six interparty
negotiators
would draft the road map. However, Mr Zuma, facilitating the
Zimbabwean
dialogue on behalf of the Southern African Development Community
(Sadc),
will now do so instead.
Zanu (PF) and the factions of the MDC
led by Mr Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara have
confirmed the latest development.
Sources in Pretoria said the road map
would be modelled on the Sadc protocol
for democratic elections. The draft
road map is likely to be completed
before the meeting next month of the Sadc
troika, or committee on politics,
defence and security.
Prof Dirk
Kotzé of the University of SA’s political sciences department said
Zimbabwe
seemed to be looking for ways to get rid of the inclusive
government by
finding reasons to once again discredit Mr Tsvangirai.
"Mr Tsvangirai
could be charged just on the basis of the WikiLeaks documents
instead of
concrete evidence with witnesses … however, the charges are
unlikely to
stand up in court.
"But it would probably help Zanu (PF)’s electoral
campaign for next year."
He said the MDC would now have to explain why Mr
Tsvangirai’s call for
selective or partial lifting of sanctions to force Mr
Mugabe to give
something was an appropriate strategy.
The cable
quoted the MDC leader acknowledging that "his public statements
calling for
easing of sanctions versus his private conversations saying they
must be
kept have caused problems".
For Mr Tsvangirai, the elections are too
early as Zimbabwe is not ready.
Before elections are held, possibly late
next year, the MDC wants: the
constitutional reform process speeded up,
media freedom, national healing
and anticorruption efforts to be allowed to
work, a move to economic growth
and human rights violations to be dealt
with.
Zanu (PF) said last week that the government should draft a law
making it a
treasonable offence to call for sanctions.
Zimbabwean
officials have said a presidential election can be held only
after a
referendum on a new constitution. The referendum was likely to be
delayed at
least until October, said Douglas Mwonzora, joint chairman of the
parliamentary select committee drafting the new constitution. He blamed a
lack of funds and political infighting for the delay.
SA’s Department
of International Relations and Co-operation said it was not
policy to
comment on leaked documents .
radebeh@bdfm.co.za
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=25441
By Jack Jiri
Published:
December 29, 2010
Filabusi - The National Constitutional Assembly chair
Dr Lovemore Madhuku
(pic) on Wednesday was arrested and briefly detained by
the police for
conducting an unsanctioned ‘Take Charge’ meeting.
Take
Charge is an anti-Zimbabwe government driven constitution making
process
which is currently under way.
In a statement NCA says heavily Armed Anti
Riot Police with guns, dogs and
baton sticks today force marched and
dispersed close to 250 NCA members who
had gathered at Filabusi Town Centre
for an NCA Take Charge campaign meeting
and detained Dr Madhuku and National
Youth Chairperson Alois Dzvairo in the
process. NCA said the two were
detained for two hours before they were
released.
“The NCA condemns
the overzealous behavior and action by the police; such
actions are an
affront to freedoms of association and assembly. We reiterate
that no amount
of fear or intimidation will deter our conviction and
commitment in the
fight for a just and democratic society.
“We urge our membership and the
people of Zimbabwe to remain steadfast and
resolute in the struggle for a
genuine people driven and democratic
constitution for our country,” read the
statement.
Meanwhile COPAC has announced that the second phase of the
constitution
making process is going to commence on the 10th of January
following the
disbursement of funds by the government to finalise the
delayed process.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
29/12/2010 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE government will repossess farms that continue to lie idle
while farmers
failing to make improvements on their properties also risk
lose their land,
a cabinet minister has warned.
Agriculture Minister
Herbert Murerwa said some beneficiaries of the
government’s controversial
land reforms were undermining the programme by
failing to make productive
use of their farms.
"We are now going to take the farms back because they
are tarnishing our
image as Zanu PF,” Murerwa said in an
interview.
"If they are not utilising the farms, we will repossess
them."
Murerwa’s threat comes in the wake of reports that some new
farmers were
also leasing their properties to white farmers who were evicted
from the
same properties.
At least 120 evicted white farmers have
reportedly returned to their former
land through leasehold deals under which
the parties share profits.
The reports enraged President Robert Mugabe
who warned that the deals
threatened to reverse his party’s empowerment
programmes.
“It is grossly disturbing to learn of the extent to which
some of our people
have gone towards literally giving back the land to white
farmers, all for a
pittance of the farm profits at the end of the season,”
Mugabe told a recent
meeting of Zanu PF’s central committee.
The Zanu
PF leader added: “When will this slavish regard; slavish mentality
of hero
worshipping the white man, our coloniser just yesterday, end, in
order to
allow our people to exercise and realise their full potential? That
slavish
mentality should end.”
http://www.voanews.com/
Police say they have
launched an enforcement blitz targeting errant
motorists, in particular
transport operators who flout the rules of the
road, and impounding vehicles
determined to be unsafe
Ntungamili Nkomo & Jonga Kandemiiri |
Washington 28 December 2010
The number of people who have perished in
Zimbabwean road accidents since
the onset of the holiday season has risen to
68, authorities said Tuesday.
The toll climbed from 63 late Sunday to 68
Monday following a number of
accidents across the country. Last year the
holiday death toll exceeded 80.
In the worst accident this festive
season, seven people died Thursday in
Harare, the capital, when a commuter
omnibus ran head-on into a stationary
truck.
Police have launched an
enforcement blitz targeting transport operators who
flout road rules. They
are also impounding vehicles determined to be unsafe.
Bulawayo police
spokesman Mandlenkosi Moyo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo that
authorities are now pulling out all stops to minimize
casualties.
"In
Bulawayo we want to make sure we bring down the number of accidents and
casualties that occured here last year," Moyo said.
Elsewhere,
sources who traveled the country’s main roads said they were
surprised to
see military police manning roadblocks with the Zimbabwe
Republic Police.
They said they saw at least two armed soldiers at every
roadblock.
The Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai earlier this month condemned the recent
deployment of soldiers in
most parts of country saying they were being
deployed to instill fear among
villagers before elections.
Activist
Sydney Chisi, president of the Youth Initiative for Democracy in
Zimbabwe,
confirmed seeing armed soldiers at a roadblock. But he told VOA
reporter
Jonga Jandemiiri that he was not sure whether the soldiers had been
assigned
to that duty for political reasons or simply to monitor police
accused of
demanding bribes.
http://www.voanews.com
Industry
Minister Welshman Ncube said President Mugabe's remarks at the
recent
conference of his ZANU-PF party expressed his own opinion and not the
policy
of the government of national unity
Gibbs Dube | Washington 28 December
2010
Zimbabwean Minister of Industry and Commerce Welshman Ncube on
Tuesday
dismissed a recent threat by President Robert Mugabe to seize
Zimbabwean
assets of US and British corporations if Western sanctions
against him and
his associates are not lifted.
Ncube said the
president’s remarks at the recent ZANU-PF conference
expressed his own
opinion and not that of the unity government in place
since 2009. Ncube said
indigenization and property rights policies say the
state cannot seize
foreign-owned firms.
Ncube added that Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF cannot start
grabbing foreign-owned
companies without consulting the other two ruling
parties. “Even if there
are consultations over this issue, I don’t see us
reaching a consensus,” he
said.
But political analyst George
Mkhwanazi said ZANU-PF is entirely capable of
moving to seize foreign-owned
firms without the permission of its governing
partners.
http://www.voanews.com
Police in
Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, barred the opposition Zimbabwe
African
People's Union from holding a rally at the Tsholotsho Business
Center,
citing a manpower shortage.
Sithandekile Mhlanga | Washington 28 December
2010
Police in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province on Tuesday
barred the
opposition Zimbabwe African People's Union or ZAPU from holding a
rally at
the Tsholotsho Business Center, saying they did not have sufficient
manpower
to ensure public safety.
But ZAPU spokesman Methuseli Moyo
charged that the police decision was a
deliberate ploy to prevent his party
from campaigning in northwestern
Tsholotsho.
Last week ZAPU was
barred from protesting commemorations of Unity Day, which
marks the 1987
signature of the merger of ZAPU and its liberation rival
ZANU, led by
then-Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, forming the long-ruling
ZANU-PF party.
That accord ended a-post liberation conflict that historians
say included
massacres across Matabeleland.
ZAPU President Dumiso Dabengwa told VOA
reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga that
his party is geared for elections though
the playing field is tilted in
favor of governing parties.
President
Mugabe has called for elections in 2011, though many are urging
that reforms
be instituted first, including the referendum approval of a
revised
constitution.
http://www.radiovop.com/
29/12/2010 21:09:00
Bulawayo.
December 29, 2010 - A new Zimbabwe opposition party Mthwakazi
Liberation
Front (MLF) which is aimed at separating Matabeleland from the
rest of
Zimbabwe, was launched here on Tuesday.
“We are different from other
political parties and our main objective is to
restore the Ndebele State
established by King Mzilikazi before the advent of
colonialism. Other
parties are calling for devolution of power but we are
calling for
dissolution of power, said David Magugala, MLF executive member.
“We want
Matabeleland to be reinstated to its position as a State as it was
before
1923 so that we can be free and rule ourselves. This is the time for
us to
stand up and claim self determination in order to enjoy our rights,”said
Magagula addressing about 300 people who had gathered at Stanley Square in
Makokoba high density.
MLF is led by one General Nandinandi based in
South Africa and its
chairperson is war veteran Max Mkandla who is also
Zimbabwe Liberators
Platform Initiative leader.
Magagula said the
party had been operating as a pressure group for the past
five years in
South Africa where most of its members are based.
Most Matabeleland
people are bitter with President Robert Mugabe who has
been at the helm of
the country since independence in 1980, for the
gukurahundi era which saw
thousands in the area and in the Midlands being
massacred by the North
Korean trained fifth Brigade. Mugabe has refused to
apologise or compensate
the victims of gukurahundi. People in Matabeleland
also feel that their area
is under developed compared to other regions in
the country.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
29/12/2010 00:00:00
by Lebo
Nkatazo
SOUTH Africa offered Zimbabwe a passport printing press
capable of printing
100,000 passports a day in early December but received
no reply, it has been
revealed.
The shock revelations came as South
Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma expressed her
exasperation at Zimbabwe’s inability to issue its
nationals passports by a
December 31 deadline before a two-year moratorium
on deportations is
lifted.
At least 150,000 Zimbabweans have applied to regularise their
stay in South
Africa, but thousands more have been held up by Zimbabwe’s
slow pace of
issuing passports which Dlamini-Zuma said currently stood at
500 passports a
day.
Confronted with the revelations, red-faced
Zimbabwean ministers admitted
receiving South Africa’s offer which would
have seen them clear the passport
applications received so far within 24
hours.
In a shocking admission, Zimbabwe’s two Home Affairs Minister
Kembo Mohadi
and Theresa Makone said they were yet to communicate the South
Africans’
offer to Cabinet before it went into recess over the Christmas
holidays.
Both Makone and Mohadi say they tasked Registrar General
Tobaiwa Mudede to
study the South Africans’ offer and submit a report to
ministers which
Mudede was yet to do.
The delays in taking up South
Africa’s offer has meant several days of
waiting in queues for desperate
Zimbabweans who have besieged Zimbabwe’s
consulate in Johannesburg to apply
for passports.
Recognising Zimbabwe’s inability to quicken the pace of
issuing passports,
Dlamini-Zuma says Zimbabweans who would have applied for
passports by
December 31, and can show proof, can go on and seek South
African work
permits.
"The solution we are proposing is that all
those who have applied for their
Zimbabwean passports must continue to
complete their application forms for
regularisation with a copy of the
receipt for their passport application
attached," she said.
South
Africa’s Home Affairs Director General Mkuseli Apleni predicted that
in the
two days before the deadline, the number of Zimbabweans applying at
Home
Affairs offices across the country will increase.
"Even at this late
hour, we reiterate our appeal to all Zimbabwean nationals
who have not
applied for their regularisation or those with fraudulently
acquired South
African documents to apply or submit such documents now and
not wait for the
deadline," he said.
http://www.voanews.com
A crowd estimated at 15,000 became restless after waiting
for hours at the
Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg without being served,
resulting in a
surge that led security guards to fire teargas
canisters
Benedict Nhlapho & Ntungamili Nkomo |
Johannesburg/Washington 28 December
2010
South African security
guards fired teargas canisters Tuesday at a temporary
passport application
office of the Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg to
halt a disturbance
among Zimbabweans seeking to file applications for the
new passports they
need to apply for a four-year residency permit issued by
South African
authorities.
Zimbabweans working, studying or running businesses in South
Africa are
trying to beat the clock with a deadline looming on December 31
by which
time they must regularize their stay or at least file preliminary
paperwork
to avoid being subject to deportation.
An estimated 15,000
Zimbabweans had lined up at the Zimbabwean Consulate.
The crowd became
restless after hours without visible progress, witnesses
said. Tempers
flared and people charged towards the gate to the passport
offices, leading
the security guards to panic and fire teargas cannisters to
repel the
crowd.
Chaos followed as people ran in all directions. Teargas victim
Teresa
Nzvombe accused security guards of frustrating those in line by
demanding
bribes to allow them entry. She said authorities added to the
misery of
those standing in line by putting those making an initial
application and
those in the final stages of application in the same
line.
Austine Moyo, head of the South African branch of the Movement for
Democratic Change formation of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
urged all Zimbabweans who have not applied for passports to use Zimbabwean
identity and other documents to file residency permit applications before
the deadline, seeking the passport later on.
Earlier this week Home
Affairs Department spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa issued a
plea urging Zimbabweans
to use the time remaining to put in whatever
paperwork they can manage. He
again stated that the December 31 deadline
will not be
extended.
Father Mike Nyamarebvu of the Stakeholders Forum comprising
officials of the
South African Home Affairs Department and Zimbabwean civic
groups and
political parties told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo
that he is
happy with the strong turnout by Zimbabweans trying to beat the
deadline and
legalize their status.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
KARL GERNETSKY
Published:
2010/12/29 04:29:23 PM
Thousands of Zimbabweans in a queue which had
grown to 2.5km outside the
Buela Park Home Affairs office in Edenvale are
uncertain whether all will
receive their passports before the 31st of
December deadline.
Business Day interviewed many in the queue who say
they’ve been waiting for
up to four days - some sleeping in the queue
overnight.
Security guard Thulani Dlovu told Business day that going on
the numbers
outside the office, the queue is moving too slowly in order to
meet the
deadline for Zimbabweans to receive new South African
papers.
Zimbabweans need to receive their passports from their consulate,
then take
these to the South African home affairs offices in order to
receive papers
allowing them to remain in SA legally.
The problem at
the Edenvale office has been compounded by officials which
have forced
people into a single queue for both registration and delivery of
passports.
Home Affairs personnel spent the day handing out and
collecting forms for
permits in an attempt to speed up the
process.
Despite the fact that many in the queue would not receive their
passports on
time, Deputy Director General of Home Affairs in charge of
immigration,
Jackson McKay told Business Day the deadline would not be
changed.
"This is a Zimbabwean operation, but we are doing everything we
can to make
this a one-stop-shop and we are collecting these applications,"
he said.
McKay emphasised that co-operation between Home Affairs and
their Zimbabwean
counterparts had been good.
Home Affairs Minister
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said recently at a meeting with
the Zimbabwean Stake
Holder Forum that the main problem they were facing
with regards to the
issuing of permits was that the Zimbabweans were only
able to produce 500
passports a day, and worked five days a week instead of
six.
"The
solution we are proposing is that all those who have applied for their
Zimbabwean passports must continue to complete their application forms for
regularisation with a copy of the receipt for their passport application
attached," she said.
Dlamini-Zuma has repeatedly emphasised that
deportations will only resume
once all applications have been processed, and
not on the 1st of January.
Director General Mkuseli Apleni predicted that
in the two days before the
deadline the number of Zimbabweans applying at
Home Affairs offices across
the country will increase.
"Even at this
late hour, we reiterate our appeal to all Zimbabwean nationals
who have not
applied for their regularisation or those with fraudulently
acquired South
African documents to apply or submit such documents now and
not wait for the
deadline," he said.
http://www.radiovop.com
29/12/2010 21:13:00
Harare,
December 29, 2010 - The Harare City Council (HCC) stands accused of
corruptly awarding a vehicle parking business to a South African company
ahead of local businesses that have already been doing the work including
providing parking space at the Harare International
Airport.
Officials at Town House are questioning the manner in which Easi
Park, a
South African-based Company, was awarded a contract to operate a
parking
business in the busy Harare Central Business District where it
charges a
minimum of US$ 1 to park a vehicle. This is despite the fact that
the city
already runs a pre-paid parking business.
Holders of the HCC
parking discs are not allowed to park in the South
African company’s
territory.
According to city officials the contract was awarded under the
pretext that
there were no locals companies interested in the
business.
“Local companies were invited to take up the business and they
responded but
none of them was given the green light to start the business,”
said a Town
House Source who can not be named to protect his
identity.
“If there was no technology would the company operating at the
Harare
International Airport be in business?” asked the source.
The
city fathers have argued that the system was introduced to decongest the
city.
City councillors have welcomed the deal but have said it is
skewed in favour
of the South African company, which has a controlling stake
of 60 percent
against the 40 percent that the city is entitled
to.
The arrangement is also replicated in the distribution of profits
from the
business.
A black empowerment pressure group has also
questioned the deal.
“There is nothing special in this whole thing.
Street parking has nothing
spectacular. If you go to South Africa no such
business will be given to a
foreign company. It is a simple business which
should be confined to
indigenous businesses,” said Supa Mandiwanzira the
President of the
Affirmative Action Group (AAG).
“There are several
local companies that wanted to do that business, they
even signed agreements
but nothing happened thereafter. To say there are no
local companies
interested is absolute nonsense.”
Asked if there are any local companies
with the appropriate technology to
run electronic street parking business
such as the one operated by Easi
Park, Mandiwanzira said, “That technology
can be found at flea markets in
China.”
However Wellington Chikomba a
councillor in Harare in charge of a committee
which looks into the business
interests of the city defended the deal
saying, “proper shareholders
agreements exist and the deal was done above
board and the city is getting
its dues. Everything is in order and the city
is getting about US$ 97 000 a
month from the parking business.”
Mayor of Harare Muchadeyi Masunda would
not comment on the matter saying he
didn’t have enough information while
Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi was not
reachable.
The City Treasurer
Misheck Mubvumbi who should be privy to how money from
such businesses is
handled also appeared to have been in the dark about the
deal.
“I
don’t have much information on the deal you have to ask the Town Clerk or
Mayor,” said Mubvumbi when asked to shed light on the parking business.
I think everyone in Zimbabwe
will agree that 2010 has been a very tough year
for all of us. Money has
been tight, business conditions very difficult and
the political scene has
never been so complex or confused. Despite this it
is essential to look back
on the year and to try and ascertain if we made
progress and if so in which
direction? No point in doing that if you do not
look forward at the same
time and try to see what lies in store for us in
2011.
Firstly the economy; nothing works if you get the
economics wrong. Although
our basic economic recovery has been slow, an
astonishing feature has been
how the informal sector has come out from the
closet and economic activities
that were going on suddenly materialized from
nowhere. All the pundits
reported growth rates of about 7 per cent, but when
the IMF came to measure
economic activity they were astonished to find us
approaching a GDP of $8
billion compared to $4,2 billion in 2008. That
suggests growth of 40 per
cent or more in 2010.
When all of
this is said and done, Zimbabwe will be a fascinating study for
future
generations of economists who will be able to analyze how we managed
to
wreck an economy that had survived 15 years of sanctions and 18 years of
war
in just 10 years after the international community had lent us $6
billion in
soft loans and given us $5 billion in grant aid in the previous
20 years.
This will show how we, in the face of the targets set for 2015
managed to
reduce national incomes by 70 per cent, raise all social indices
to the
level where we were clearly a society in crisis and drive a third of
our
population out of the country as destitute refugees and another quarter
to
an early death from a myriad of causes.
How we broke an education
system that had given us the highest literacy rate
in Africa so badly that
in the last few years two thirds of all girl
children were not in school at
all and those that were, came out illiterate
and innumerate. How we wrecked
an advanced health system that had doubled
life expectancy in 30 years and
succeeded in wiping out all those gains in a
short decade. It will also be a
study in human perseverance and grit as
people whose lives were being
destroyed struggled to stay alive and keep
business afloat. The new
estimates of GDP are not fiction, the Ministry of
Finance is collecting $250
million a month – divide that by our traditional
estimate of tax from GDP of
30 per cent and you get a GDP of $10 billion.
This huge leap in
real GDP is not due to recovery or new investment, it’s
simply Zimbabweans
coming out of their fox holes in no mans land after the
cease fire and
starting to go about their lives again. It’s the product of
the determined
free market strategies of the new government and the
abolishment of all
controls over economic activity and exchange control. The
use of the dollar
as the main means of exchange has helped. So have
remittances and the
persistent role of the Fishmonger Group who continue to
make resources
available for key needs.
Politically, we have gone backwards.
There has been no major reform in 2010,
no major move towards the rule of
law and respect for basic human and
political rights. The partners in the
GPA have been unable to agree on just
about anything, resulting in stalemate
and confusion. Who is in charge?
Really in charge? No one can tell you and
every day brings contradictions.
Just take the past fortnight for
example – On Monday the three principals
failed to meet. On Tuesday the
Cabinet met and made substantive decisions
regarding the implementation of
the outstanding issues in the GPA, on
Thursday Mr. Mugabe stood up at the
Zanu PF Conference and slammed the major
western powers and threatened to
nationalize all British and American
companies. He ranted against the GPA
saying it had run its course and he
wants out. Let’s finish this thing and
go to an early election.
Then on the Monday following, he meets
with the other principals and they
hold a joint press conference where Mr.
Mugabe praises the GPA and says that
elections will follow the full
implementation of the reforms in the GPA –
confused? You should
be.
In a sense we are still frozen just where we were after the
GPA was signed
in Harare in front of African leaders in September 2008. We
are no nearer
getting the essential conditions in place for a free and fair
election and
no fundamental changes have taken place except for the forced
macro economic
reforms that followed the absolute collapse in 2008. We have
played about
the edges – but nothing substantive since then. In fact much of
the progress
has been stultified by the rapacious activities of a minority
of powerful
figures in the administration and Zanu PF who insist on pursuing
their
activities even if it paralyses investment and economic
recovery.
But it has not been altogether negative, Zanu PF, which
has had the power
field to itself for 30 years, has been forced to share
power in a Cabinet
where they are in a minority and in a Parliament where
they cannot force a
vote. They have also discovered that at last Africa has
a voice and that
African leadership is standing up to its bullies and
tyrants and saying
enough, behave yourself. Events in the Ivory Coast
substantiate this shift
as does to new consensus evident in the SADC
Leadership on issues affecting
Zimbabwe.
While progress seems
slow and inconsistent, Mr. Mugabe and his more radical
colleagues are
discovering that there are limits to the patience of other
African leaders.
He was the only Head of State in Africa to congratulate the
outgoing
President of the Ivory Coast for his “victory”. In recent meetings,
the
President of South Africa has made it abundantly clear that Africa
supports
the GPA and wants it implemented and then an election that will
pass muster
in the international community. That is a death knell to Zanu
and they
simply do not know what to do about it.
It is this that will
determine what 2011 will hold for those of us who call
Zimbabwe home and
want to see it back on its feet and playing its rightful
role in the
community of nations. In the meantime, it’s a slow walk back to
sanity from
the insanity of the front line and those nasty little foxholes
we used to
survive the battle in 2008.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 29th
December 2010
http://news.yahoo.com
Capetown, South
Africa Author Publishes New Book with RoseDog Books
PRWeb
This
book depicts the period of time when Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe, and the
people shake off the yoke that enslaves them.
Capetown, South Africa
(Vocus/PRWEB) December 29, 2010
Raging Fury, a new book by Daniel Lucas,
has been released by RoseDog Books.
Kasoka Bento is an adolescent growing
up on a farm in Rhodesia in the 1970s.
He has the potential to rise above
his circumstances, but he has a vicious
spark of anger in him.
Raging
Fury is the story of his ruthless rise to power and the killing spree
he
initiates. Colonialism produces an all-consuming anger in Kasoka. This
book
depicts the period of time when Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe, and the
people
shake off the yoke that enslaves them.
Bruce Anderson, a white
ex-combatant, has high hopes for this new country,
and though he fights on
the wrong side, he embraces the future and wants to
build a better
nation.
Sheila Mushonga, a young black girl and one of Kasoka’s victims,
shares this
hope. The three main characters illustrate how the country is
plunged into
an economic abyss, out of which emerges a new “ruling elite,”
who profit
from it in the most ruthless and avaricious way. They are a true
reflection
of the new country, a mixture of races and cultures, feeding on
the wealth
of the nation, with no consideration for the poor.
Daniel
Lucas is a Zimbabwean ex-farmer who ancestors came to Africa in 1693.
He was
conscripted into the Rhodesian Military in the mid 1970s and served
in a
Special Forces unit and has first-hand knowledge of the atrocities
committed
by both sides. This developed a revulsion in him for the cruelty
and hatred
he was exposed to.
From demobilization he went onto the family farm and
watched in horror as
the newly independent state’s economy was plundered by
the “ruling elite.”
In August 2001 the farm was violently taken by the
government-sponsored
thugs in a supposed “land reform” exercise. Many events
in this book were
personal experiences, some incidents were historically
well known and many
documented.
Raging Fury is a 152-page paperback
with a retail price of $16.00. The ISBN
is 978-1-4349-9989-4. It was
published by RoseDog Books of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. For more information
or to request a review copy, please visit
our virtual pressroom at http://www.rosedog.com/pressroom or
our online
bookstore at http://www.rosedogbookstore.com.
|
The following is part of a series of Shona lessons provided by
www.learnshona.com. The audio versions and the full courses are available at
learnshona.com. We welcome your feedback and hope that you find this
useful. http://www.learnshona.com Greetings Greetings are very important in the Shona culture. They vary according to how long ago people last saw each other, as greetings are customary whenever you meet someone, even on the same day as your previous encounter. This holds especially for meeting elders or in formal relationships. Remember that adults must also greet elders in a formal way in Shona - there are no exemptions from this rule regardless of your age. If someone is older than your peer group, or is in a position that commands respect, then the formal greetings must be used. This section will cover first encounters, greetings between people who know each other but have not seen each for more than a day as well as morning,afternoon and evening greetings. Extended greetings will also be looked at. In the Shona culture the way young people greet each other is different from the way they greet adults and this will be clearly illustrated. Commonly used words Hello - mhoro (informal) Hello - mhoroi (respect) If - kana Also - wo You - wa- /iwe(singular, informal) You ma- (plural and respect) If you - kana iwe/wa Yourself - zvako (informal) Yourself - zvenyu (respect) Yourselves - zvenyu (plural) I - nda (past tense) We - ta(past tense) Myself - zvangu Itself - zvacho Himself - zvake (informal);zvavo (plural or formal) Herself - zvake (informal);zvavo (plural or formal) Ourselves – zvedu I - ndi We - ti Good morning - mangwanani Good afternoon - masikati Good evening - manheru Spend the day - swera How - sei How are you - urisei/wakadii (informal), murisei/makadii (plural or formal) I am - ndiri You are - uri (informal) , muri(plural or formal) He/She is - ari (informal), vari (plural or formal) It is - chiri,iri You are - muri(formal or plural) They are - vari Fine - po I am fine thanks - ndiripo, ndatenda Sleep - rara To sleep - kurara Well - zvakanaka Did you sleep well? - warara zvakanaka here? I slept - Ndarara You slept - warara(informal), marara (plural or formal) She/He slept - arara (informal), varara (plural or formal) We slept - tarara They slept - varara Wake up - muka First encounter greetings Greetings are normally accompanied with a handshake. Greetings will vary according to the seniority of the people. This is similar to informal/formal divisions in other languages such as Spanish and Italian, with the key difference being that in Shona, there is no informal address from youth to adults. In Spanish and Italian, for example, the informal can be used with familiar people including parents and older people. In Shona, this would be considered discourteous. Greetings between two children A: Hello - Mhoro B: Hello. How are you? - Mhoro. Wakadii zvako? A: I am fine and you? - Ndiripo kana wakadiiiwo? B: I am fine - Ndiripo zvangu Greetings between an adult and a child Note: Culturally the child is expected to greet the adult first Child: Hello - Mhoroi Adult: Hello. How are you? - Mhoro. Wakadii zvako? Child: I am fine and you? - Ndiripo kana makadii The i after mhoro signifies respect. The wa signifies informal. The ma signifies respect.Adult strangers respect each other. ‘zvako’ is informal , ‘zvenyu’ is respect. Names are added after hello if people had met before. In Shona respect and plural are shown in the same way. Greetings between two children Chipo: Good morning Allen (no handshake) - Mangwanani Allen Allen :Good morning Chipo. How are you? - Mangwanani Chipo. Warara/Wamuka sei? Chipo: I slept well/woke well - Ndarara/Ndamuka kana wamukawo Afternoon and evening greetings These are said in exactly the same way as the morning greetings, except the words ‘masikati’ (good afternoon) and ‘manheru’ (good evening) are used in place of ‘mangwanani’ (good morning). The verb ‘swera’ is used in place of ‘rara’. Otherwise the rest is the same. Extended Greetings These are greetings extended to other members of the family after every greeting Things - zvinhu Things are - Zvinhu zviri How are things? - Zvinhu zviri sei? To go (to progress) - Kuenda /Kufamba Going - Kuenda How are things going? - Zvinhu zviri kufamba sei? Well - Zvakanaka Are things going well? - Zvinhu zviri kufamba zvakanaka here? The day has been good.We have spent it well - Zuva ranga rakanaka.Tariswera zvakanaka. A: How did Mum sleep? - Amai varara sei? B: She slept well - Varara zvavo /zvakanaka A:How did Chipo spend the day? - Chipo aswera sei? B:She spent it well - Aswera zvake A: How are the children? - Vana vakadii/varisei? B: They are fine - Varipo zvavo |