The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Mugabe
announces constitution referendum date
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Sapa-AP | 16 February, 2013
09:53
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe issued an official
proclamation on Friday
setting March 16 as the date for the nation to vote
on a new constitution
ahead of national elections later this year.
A
government notice formally published on Friday leaves a calendar month for
distribution of the 160-page draft document and campaigning for a 'Yes' or
'No' vote. Independent advocacy groups say that is not long enough for a
free poll to reflect the wishes of electors.
Friday's notice said
polling stations will be opened for 12 hours
countrywide at 7 a.m. (0500
GMT) on March 16, which is a Saturday.
The draft constitution was
completed on Feb. 6 after three years of
disputes, bickering and constant
delays and funding shortages. Democratic
reforms to the constitution were a
key demand of regional mediators after
violent, disputed elections in
2008.
About 90 000 copies of the draft are being printed for distribution
starting
Monday.
Zimbabwe has nearly six million registered voters
out of a population of 13
million.
Mugabe's proclamation comes a day
after the independent head of the state
election commission resigned on
grounds of failing health. The commission is
in charge of overseeing all
voting. Several lengthy formalities are required
for its chairman, Judge
Simpson Mutambanengwe, to be replaced. His deputy
Joyce Kazembe, who has
been acting for the elderly judge in his recent
absences, is widely known as
a sympathizer of Mugabe's ZANU PF party.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's former opposition party, in a shaky
coalition with Mugabe, has
called for the suspension of sweeping security
laws in the run-up to vote on
the constitution. Under those laws, police
clearance is required for
political gatherings. Party leaders say they need
to explain the often
obtuse legal language of the draft constitution.
Suspension or repeal of
the draconian Public Order and Security Act, used to
entrench the arrest and
detention powers of loyalist police and military in
a decade of political
and economic turmoil, is opposed by Mugabe's
hardliners.
Mugabe's
announcement Friday did not take into account requests by
Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change party for the referendum poll to
be carried
over to a second day.
All the country's political leaders have called for
a referendum 'Yes' vote
to allow the constitution to be accepted and signed
into law by Mugabe
without any further changes.
An estimated $200
million has still to be found to pay for the referendum
and the
parliamentary and presidential elections, possibly three months
later, that
Mugabe, who turns 89 on February 21, is contesting as his
party's sole
presidential candidate.
Crisis in Zimbabwe, an alliance of rights and
democracy activists, said on
Thursday that March 16, as initially proposed,
left far too little time to
complete countrywide distribution of the new
constitution and permit voters
to become familiar with it, raising fears
over the credibility of a rushed
vote.
Amnesty International and
local human rights groups have also protested a
recent clampdown on rights
and democracy activists by police that included
tear gassing and baton
charging women peace marchers marking Valentine's Day
on Thursday.
Mugabe
Promises to Trounce Tsvangirai in Presidential Poll
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Obert
Pepukai
15.02.2013
MASVINGO — President Robert Mugabe on Friday told
hundreds of cheering
supporters that he will this year trounce Movement for
Democratic Change
leader, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and other
candidates in Zimbabwe’s
forthcoming presidential poll.
Officially
launching Masvingo Community Share Ownership scheme under the
country’s
controversial indigenization program, President Mugabe said people
should
vote for his party which rolled out the black economic empowerment
program
in 2011, widely criticized by his rivals in the unity government as
an
election gimmick.
He said Zimbabweans should start preparing for the
presidential,
parliamentary and council elections “in which I will beat,
hands down,
(MDC-T leader and Prime Minister) Tsvangirai and
others”.
The president, who also officially opened the Chiefs’ Council
Conference at
Masvingo Polytechnic College, said the elections will end what
he called “a
three-headed creature”.
He stressed that time has come
for the country to get rid of the unity
government which he said had largely
been characterised by disagreements.
Mr. Mugabe said now that unity
government leaders have agreed on the country’s
draft constitution, people
should go out in large numbers to vote for
leaders of their
choice.
The president said he had been particularly irked by his partners
in the
coalition government “who changed positions all the time even after
we
agreed on crucial issues.”
Mr. Mugabe called for a violent-free
election, adding that his party will
win the crucial polls.
Launching
the share ownership scheme, the president said the government
would continue
to target foreign-owned companies in the same way it took
productive land
from white commercial farmers to re-distribute to ordinary
black
Zimbabweans.
Masvingo becomes the sixth province in the country to
have such a scheme.
Some of the targeted mining companies in the region
include Murowa and
Bikita Minerals.
Reports say some top Zanu PF
officials have already forcibly grabbed Renco
Mine, one of the biggest
mining entities in Masvingo region.
Zimbabwe's indigenization laws
require foreign-owned companies to cede for
value 51 percent of their shares
to local blacks, in an attempt to reverse
inequalities caused by the
country's colonial past.
Zuma,
Khama to Push For Zimbabwe Political Reforms Ahead of Election
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Blessing
Zulu
15.02.2013
WASHINGTON — South African President Jacob Zuma and
his Botswana
counterpart, Ian Khama, have vowed to keep the spotlight on
Zimbabwe to
ensure that general elections tentatively expected to be called
in July this
year are peaceful.
In his state of the nation address in
South Africa on Thursday, Mr. Zuma,
who is also the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) appointed
mediator in Harare, said Pretoria
will continue to support Africa's peace
efforts on the continent, including
mediation, peace keeping, and by
providing material and financial
assistance.
He added that “in this regard, we look forward to the
conclusion of
political dialogues in Zimbabwe and Madagascar.”
Mr.
Khama was more pointed in his remarks in an interview with the Business
Day
newspaper.
He expressed reservations that Zimbabwe’s election could be
peaceful. He
said those responsible for the “brutality and intimidation” of
the bloody
2008 election were not brought to justice and might be unleashed
again.
Mr. Khama added that, "I think that they (Mr. Mugabe’s supporters)
are still
capable of trying to engage in intimidation, deploying the
security services
to bring that about, telling the people in the security
services how they
should vote.”
Mr. Khama said the potential for a
return to 2008 was still there.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was
forced to pull out of the presidential
election run-off citing deadly
political violence that clamed over 100 of
his supporters.
The
Botswana president, a longtime critic of President Mugabe, said he will
urge
fellow SADC leaders to send an election monitoring team well before the
polls to give Zimbabweans a sense of security.
International
relations expert Clifford Mashiri, a former Zimbabwe diplomat
in Ethiopia,
told VOA that the message from the two leaders is significant.
EU set
to ease Zimbabwe sanctions
http://www.eubusiness.com
15 February 2013, 22:52 CET
(BRUSSELS) - As
Zimbabwe prepares to vote on a new constitution, EU nations
are working on a
deal to reward Harare by lifting some of the bloc's
punishing sanctions
against members of the regime, diplomats said Friday.
A deal was due to
be announced Monday at talks between the bloc's 27 foreign
ministers, but
has been held up by a tiff between Britain and Belgium over
the latter's
demands for ZMDC, a major diamond and gold mining company, to
be struck off
the Zimbabwe sanctions list.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague and
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier
Reynders talked by telephone Thursday and
efforts were continuing to find a
solution to the row at European Union
headquarters on Friday, diplomats
said.
"Belgium wants to work
towards a solution," a Belgian official told AFP.
The problem is that the
EU's current sanctions against Zimbabwe -- targeting
112 individuals
including President Robert Mugabe and 11 companies --
expires Wednesday,
some 48 hours after the EU ministers meet.
Failing a deal by Wednesday,
the sanctions will simply lapse.
An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said there was general
agreement for some 20 Zimbabweans
sanctioned with an assets freeze and
travel ban to be removed from the
list.
"One entity is also to be de-listed," said the diplomat, who
refused to
provide names.
The diplomat, from one of the EU's leading
nations, said however that his
government "will not accept Belgium's demand
for the ZMDC to be de-listed."
The state-run Zimbabwe Diamonds Mining
Corporation, which operates five
diamond mines in the controversial Marange
fields, "is still channelling
money to the ZANU-PF," Mugabe's party, the
diplomat said.
A number of NGOs, including Global Witness, Human Rights
Watch and Avaaz,
have made similar claims.
Belgium however says the
company has been cleared of rights abuse fears and
that ending restrictive
measures against it would help revive Zimbabwe's
struggling economy while
bringing its diamonds to the open market.
The NGOs claim Belgium is
acting in the interests of its own diamond
business in Antwerp.
The
EU meanwhile has pledged to review sanctions against Zimbabwe if it made
progress on political reforms.
"The EU considers the holding of a
constitutional referendum to be an
important milestone in preparation of
democratic elections," said a
spokesman for EU foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton.
The EU "will take full account of previous and ongoing
developments in
Zimbabwe," he added.
But a final decision is not
expected until the ministers meet on Monday,
another diplomat told AFP.
EU calls for
reforms in Zimbabwe amid diamond tensions
http://euobserver.com
29.06.11 @ 18:30
BY
ANDREW WILLIS
BRUSSELS - The EU and international partners have called on
officials in
Zimbabwe to speed up the implementation of a power-sharing
agreement, also
underlining their concerns following last week's bust-up in
a Kimberley
Process meeting on diamonds.
Members of the Friends of
Zimbabwe Group met in Brussels on Tuesday (29
June), releasing a statement a
day later in which they welcomed some
progress towards a new constitution,
democratic reforms and credible
elections.
"However, serious concerns
remain. Continued violence, intimidation, and
ongoing arrests demonstrate
disregard for human rights," the group said in a
final
communique.
Last month, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
predicted elections
would take place in 2012, while President Robert Mugabe
has been pushing for
an earlier vote amid reports of increased political
harassment of his
opponents. The two men have been bound in an awkward
power-sharing agreement
following disputed elections in
2008.
Updated in February, EU sanctions against Zimbabwe target 200
people and 40
firms linked to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, accused of committing
rights abuses.
Tensions over Zimbabwe's Marange diamond mine erupted last
week following a
meeting between stakeholders in the Kimberley Process (KP),
a joint
initiative between governments, industry and civil society groups to
stem
the flow of conflict diamonds.
Despite civil society groups
rejecting a text enabling international sales
of diamonds from the
controversial mine, KP group chairman Mathieu Yamba
later said a consensus
had been reached, provoking uncertainty in the
industry and criticism from
the EU and US.
"The EU recalls that trade in Marange diamonds requires a
consensual
solution respecting KP decision-making rules," a spokesperson for
EU foreign
policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a
statement.
Watchdog group Human Rights Watch says Zimbabwean armed forces
are engaging
in the forced labour of children and adults at the mine, as
well as beatings
and killings.
But born of conflicts in countries
such as Angola, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone,
the Kimberley Process is designed to
tackle the illicit activities of rebel
groups, rather than government
activities.
"The Kimberly process was
created for a specific purpose ... it's a bit
futile to make it do something
that it wasn't originally created to do," US
ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles
Ray told EUobserver on Wednesday.
"If we miscalculate and Zimbabwe is
knocked out of the Kimberley Process,
that does not help solve the human
rights problems. In fact, that
exacerbates them."
MEPs who want the
EU to push ahead with US-style rules on conflict minerals
such as gold, tin,
tungsten, and tantalum are keenly aware of the
limitations of the current
agreement covering international diamond sales.
Following the signing of
the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the US securities and
exchange commission (SEC)
is expected to come forward with rules later this
year that will require
US-listed companies to check whether raw materials
used in their products
are coming from militarised mines in eastern DRC and
the surrounding
area.
The European Commission is currently considering the merits of
similar
legislation, with euro-deputies who support such a scheme keen for
it to
cover government as well as rebel group abuses.
Belgium and
UK clinch deal on Zimbabwe diamonds
http://euobserver.com/
15.02.13 @ 20:12
BY ANDREW
RETTMAN
BRUSSELS - Diamonds from Zimbabwe's notorious Marange fields are
to return
to EU markets following a deal between Belgium and the
UK.
EU diplomatic sources say Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders,
the main
sponsor of the idea, and Britain's William Hague, its main
opponent,
clinched the agreement during a phone call on Thursday (14
February).
Other EU countries are expected to follow suit at a meeting on
foreign
policy in Brussels on Monday.
The Marange region in western
Zimbabwe attracted notoriety in 2009 when the
New-York-based NGO, Human
Rights Watch, published evidence that President
Robert Mugabe's soldiers
were using murder and torture to force local
people, including children, to
dig for stones.
The NGO also said diamond money was being siphoned
off to Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party to help keep the autocratic leader in
power.
Under the Anglo-Belgian compromise, the Zimbabwe Mining
Development
Corporation (ZMDC), which runs the Marange mining operation, is
to be taken
off the EU blacklist later this month. But EU ministers will in
a statement
on Monday warn Mugabe that it will go back on if he rigs
elections, expected
in July.
The "vast majority" of the 112 people on
the blacklist are also to be taken
off, the diplomatic sources
noted.
Mugabe himself and most of the 10 other companies on the register
are to
stay in place for now.
For his part, a Belgian foreign
ministry spokesman, Joren Vandeweyer, told
EUobserver that Zimbabwe has
changed for the better in the past three years.
"The human rights
situation has improved. There's a government of national
unity and agreement
on a draft constitution. There will be a referendum on
the constitution in
the coming weeks and elections shortly after that …
Belgium thinks it's
important to encourage these democratic changes," he
said.
He noted
that EU sanctions have prompted ZMDC to sell diamonds on the black
market,
making it easier to siphon off money than if it operated under
normal
conditions.
He added that the cheap black market stones are also
undermining the
competitiveness of European diamond firms.
"These
black market diamonds have no control. No certification. No Kimberly
Process. Nothing. So the companies which invest money to comply with all the
regulations on transparency and so on are being punished," he said,
referring to an international process to keep so-called conflict diamonds
out of shops.
The Belgian city of Antwerp is home to one of the
world's largest diamond
exchanges, which provides work for 34,000 people and
generates sales of €35
billion a year.
But up and coming traders in
India and in the United Arab Emirates, which do
not have to comply with EU
sanctions, are gobbling up business.
Meanwhile, according to reports in
Zimbabwe state newspapers, ZMDC aims to
more than double its output of
diamonds from 8 million carats last year to
16.9 million in
2013.
Some rights groups have accused Belgium of
cynicism.
"Belgium is trying to convince EU countries to lift this ban in
order to
trade and make profits with these companies," the New-York-based
Avaaz group
said in a statement this week.
Others agree that Zimbabwe
is changing, but say that Britain, the former
colonial power in the country,
and the rest of the EU are moving too fast.
The London-based NGO Global
Witness says ZMDC is still channeling money to
pro-Mugabe security forces
amid fears he plans to use violence and
intimidation to get votes in
July.
The group's diamonds specialist, Emily Armistead, told this website
that
even if delisting the firm helps to clean up its accountancy
procedures, the
benefit will be felt in the long term, while the Mugabe
militias stand to
get rich quick on new EU sales in the next few
months.
"Let's wait and see if there are free and fair elections, and
then see what
the EU can do to help the transition process," she said.
Elderly Pastor and 3 others arrested from Church of Christ in
Chegutu
Three people, including a pastor, were arrested on Saturday, February
15, 2013 at a meeting organized by the Centre for Community Development in
Zimbabwe (CCDZ) at the Church of Christ in Chegutu, Mashonaland West Province.
The objective of the programme was to raise awareness of the need
for people to register to vote in the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential
elections – scheduled for July - and to update the community on the new
constitution.
At the end of the meeting, three plain-clothed police arrived and
took away Pastor Bere, human rights activist Gift Konjana and two members from
the CCDZ. They were detained at Chegutu police cells where they were held
overnight. Charges are still not yet clear and they remain in
custody.
ENDS
Background information
The Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) is a
grassroots-based non-profit organization aimed at helping the people of Zimbabwe
in their various communities to recognize their own power, work together and
transform their communities through claiming their freedoms and articulating
their right and entitlements to sustainable livelihoods.
The values of the CCDZ are: participation, non-discrimination,
transparency, the rule of law, accountability, education, commitment to human
rights, integrity and equality.
For
further information
Centre
for Community Development in Zimbabwe
220
Samora Machel Ave, Harare, Zimbabwe,
Email:
info@ccdz.org.zw or centrefordevelopment@gmail.com
Tel:
+263 (0) 4-776 038, +263 772 882 355, +263 –772 962 381
Chairperson - Mr Earnest Mudzengi
Vice
Chairperson- Dr Sunungurai D. Chingarande
http://www.ccdz.org.zw
US
envoy slams selective law enforcement
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
15/02/2013 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
UNITED States Ambassador Bruce Wharton has accused the
police of engaging
“in a clear pattern of harassment through arbitrary
detentions” but urged
rights groups to use “established means” to protest
instead of resorting to
“illegal activities.”
Writing on his Facebook
wall Friday, President Barack Obama’s man in Harare
warned that selective
policing and public defiance of laws seen as “unjust
and unfair” by sections
of the society could lead the country into a
“counterproductive cycle of
instability”.
“Since November, we have seen elements of the Zimbabwe
Republic Police
engage in a clear pattern of harassment through arbitrary
detentions,
politically-motivated searches, and arrests on spurious charges
against
individuals and entities that are operating within the law,” Wharton
said.
“At the same time, the distorted political environment of the past
decade
has created an environment in which sectors of society reject what
they see
as unjust and unfair laws and therefore act intentionally in
violation of
the law. Together, these two dynamics threaten to trap Zimbabwe
in a
counterproductive cycle of instability.”
Wharton’s remarks
followed allegations police had tear-gassed and
baton-charged scores of
women activists marching for peace in Bulawayo on
Friday.
Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) leader Jenni Williams said her group marched
to
government buildings in the city to peacefully voice concerns about
women's
rights in the proposed new constitution, which will be voted on in a
national referendum.
She said they were however, dispersed with
"indiscriminate use of force" by
the police adding that passers-by and
crying children had to flee the tear
gas fired by police.
Wharton
said he was concerned about the police response to the
demonstration.
“As
President Obama’s representative here, I am deeply concerned about the
pattern of harassment of civil society organizations and the use of violence
against civilians by elements of the Zimbabwe Republic Police – such as
occurred against protestors from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) yesterday in
Bulawayo,” he said.
Rights groups also condemned the police response
adding it cast doubt on the
country's ability to hold credible
constitutional referendum and fresh
elections.
"Zimbabwe is entering
a critical period in its democratization process and
these blatant attempts
to silence and intimidate critics must end," said
Amnesty's Southern Africa
director Noel Kututwa.
But Wharton said rights groups should consider
using “established means” to
change laws they are not happy with instead of
engaging in “illegal”
activities.
“When citizens disagree with the
laws of their communities, they should
first work to change them through
established means, not by engaging in
illegal actions to impose their own
way,” he said.
“Zimbabwe will be stronger when the full rights of
citizens to gather and
demonstrate peacefully are respected and protected,
and when citizens are
assured of and respect the responsibilities of a
professional, non-partisan
police force.”
Civil
servants disgruntled by 5.3% salary hike
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
16.02.13
by Edgar
Gweshe
There is disgruntlement over the recently announced 5.3 percent
inflation
related salary increment awarded to them by the government this
week.
The decision to award the increment was announced by Public
Service
Minister, Lucia Matibenga, saying it would be backdated to
January.
The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti during his 2013 budget
presentation
last year announced that civil servants would get an inflation
related
salary increment starting in January.
The Chairman of the
Apex Council, a body that brings together civil servants’
unions in salary
negotiations with the government, David Dzatsunga, said the
increment would
not adequately address their concerns.
He castigated government for
deciding on behalf of the civil servants.
"It’s clear that government
does not consult workers. This increment was
announced in the 2013 National
Budget presentation and those things were
done without consulting anyone
again. The increment is really nothing to
write home about. It signifies
nothing,” said Dzatsunga.
The President of the Progressive Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe, Takavafira
Zhou, blamed government for lacking the will to
effectively address the
plight of civil servants.
“This is not an
increment. It is a cost of living adjustment which tells us
that inflation
has risen by 5,3 percent. Also, it shows us that government
has not yet
started to look into the plight of civil servants seriously,”
said
Zhou.
However, Zimbabwe Teachers Association Chief Executive Officer,
Sifiso
Ndlovu, said the increment was acceptable given the fact that
currently,
civil servants do not have a negotiating body recognised by the
government.
The Apex Council has been rocked by leadership wrangles
following the
election of Dzatsunga in August last year. The Public Service
Association
which falls under the Apex Council has since written to the
Ministry Public
Service dismissing Dzatsunga’s leadership.
The move
has prompted Matibenga to write to the civil servants asking them
to put
their house in order first before they can engage with the government
over
salary negotiations.
Said Ndlovu: “I think in the absence of
negotiations, we will receive that
increment. We are hamstrung by our
capacity to negotiate and we will not
crucify Matibenga for that,” said
Ndlovu.
He however highlighted that government should ensure that civil
servants get
salaries that are in line with the Poverty Datum
Line.
The lowest government worker is earning $296 at a time the Poverty
Datum
Line is pegged at $600.
Chiefs
fronting for white farmers: Mugabe
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
15/02/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has threatened to take action
against chiefs and
senior government officials he accused of leasing their
lands to white
ex-farmers disposed under the country’s land
reforms.
Addressing a conference for the traditional leaders in Masvingo
Friday,
Mugabe said he was aware some chiefs were being used as fronts by
white
ex-farmers returning to the country.
“Please tibatsirei
machiefs and stop being fronts for former white farmers
nekuti kana tanzwa
kuti kuna chief anemurungu wake papurazi tinozouya
kwamuri toti tiudzei
mutupo wake,” the Zanu PF leader said.
“We do not want to end up repossessing
some of the farms that we gave you
under the land reform programme, but we
know a lot of things that are
happening on the farms.
“We know a lot
of things that some of you do not even know and it’s not
chiefs alone who
are fronting for the white men there are even some senior
Government
officials who are being used by whites. Beware!’’
Mugabe said the
country’s land reform programme – widely condemned as unjust
and racist by
the West – was part of a programme aimed at giving Zimbabweans
complete
control of the country.
“When we first took our land from the whites we
knew that we were on the
first stage of transferring wealth from whites to
blacks and mabhunu
celebrated kuti vari kutora mapurazi oga vanhu vatema asi
isu we have the
minerals and control the industries,” he said.
“We
knew exactly that we were on the first stage of taking our resources
after
we had educated our people from 1980 when we started building schools
in all
parts of the country.
“We now have many educated people and we should now
move to assume total
control of our natural resources. We can now stand on
our own. Tinokwanisa
kuzvitonga iye zvino chaizvo izvo,’’he said.
MDC-T
condemns selective voter registration exercise
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
16.02.13
by
Edgar Gweshe
Scores of soldiers and their spouses in Bulawayo are
registering to vote in
the forthcoming elections scheduled for this year in
suspicious
circumstances that point to a ploy by Zanu (PF) to rig the next
elections,
the MDC-T has said.
In a statement, the party
claimed that scores of people were being sent away
from registration centers
while police and army personnel were successfully
registering to
vote.
"The MDC condemns the selective registration process of people
which targets
security personnel and people aligned to Zanu (PF). The
exercise is flawed
and reminiscent of the rogue processes employed by the
drowning party
towards democratic elections," read the statement.
"A
visit to the Tredgold building (in Bulawayo) revealed that ordinary
people
are not being allowed to register to vote. This trend is now
widespread as
scores of people were arrested in Lupane while trying to
register to
vote.
"About 40 people were arrested in Lupane a fortnight ago while
trying to
exercise their right to vote in the coming local and national
elections,"
read the statement.
The party expressed concern over
harassment of civic society organisations
in Matabeleland ahead of
elections.
"As election fever grips the nation, police in Matebeleland
are harassing
civic organisations and people perceived to be aligned to the
MDC.
"Recently offices for Habbakuk Trust and the National Youth
Development
Trust were ransacked by security personnel looking for what they
called
subversive material," read the statement.
The party claimed
that the intimidation tactics and selective voter
registration processes
were part of Zanu (PF's) attempts to steal the next
election.
Pick
n Pay’s Zim partner in pickle over Zanu-PF donation
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
Tawanda
Karombo|
16 February 2013 11:07
HARARE – Meikles, the Zimbabwe-listed
parent company of Pick n Pay’s joint
venture operation, TM Supermarkets, is
in a pickle over its reported backing
of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF
party, with analysts saying this could
taint Pick n Pay’s image.
Pick
n Pay controls 49% in TM Supermarkets, the Zimbabwean retailer which
has an
extensive network of stores. Two of these stores have now been
re-branded
into Pick n Pay under a refurbishment exercise that TM has
embarked upon,
following a $13m investment by Pick n Pay.
Meikles owns the majority of
the shares in TM Supermarkets and also runs
city and resort hotels in the
country, tea estates and departmental stores.
There are concerns that the
reported material support that Meikles, through
its chairman, John Moxon,
advanced to Mugabe’s party, may attract
unnecessary attention which may lead
to sanctions or restrictions that
officials and companies that Western
countries and the European Union have
been slapped with.
Moxon
conceded that a donation in the form of vehicles had been given,
although
through a company with links to Meikles.
“A company with whom we have a
connection donated a small number of
vehicles, but I’m not sure exactly whom
they were donated to,” Moxon said.
Speculation that Meikles is propping
up Mugabe’s party has also been raised
following the company’s foray into
diamond mining amid claims that it will
partner a state-owned diamond mining
company.
Pick n Pay officials declined to comment on the issue, with a
spokesperson
saying on Thursday: “This is a story about Meikles so we can’t
comment.” TM
Supermarkets officials also declined to
comment.
However, Meikles said in a statement this week that its policy
was firmly
hinged on non-participation in political matters. Sources however
said the
company was trying to limit the damage from the reported material
support
its chairman gave to Zanu-PF through the donation of vehicles widely
believed to be meant for use in the campaign for elections expected later
this year.
"Stakeholders are assured that Mr Moxon considers himself
as being
apolitical and does not give preference to any political party. A
policy of
not participating in political matters is also the Group policy,"
Meikles
said in a statement.
Voting in Zimbabwe is expected to take
place in July following the
confirmation of March 16 as the date for a
referendum on the country’s new
constitution, which experts say curbs powers
of the head of state. Moxon is
said to have donated top of the range
off-road vehicles.
A Zimbabwean economic analyst, Johannes Kwangwari told
Moneyweb on Thursday
that the controversy regarding the alleged donation of
vehicles to Zanu-PF
by Moxon could lead to wrong perceptions about Pick n
Pay.
“This attracts negativity around Pick n Pay’s venture in Zimbabwe, a
crucial
market whose retail sector is expected to boom given the expected
economic
recovery. The SA retailer must make it clear that they have no
direct or
indirect association with political parties in
Zimbabwe.”
Pick n Pay has been criticised by Zimbabwean government
officials who have
ramped up the pressure to have the company pick its stock
from local
producers. Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa has criticised
Pick n Pay’s
Zimbabwe stores of stocking up with mostly imported
goods.
“The coming into the country (for instance of) Pick ’n’ Pay… is
not the kind
of foreign direct investment that would be in the interest of
the country.”
He said if “you visit any Pick ’n’ Pay outlet, you will find
out that 99% of
the stock” was being imported from South
Africa.”
Experts say SA retail operators are looking to expand into the
rest of
Africa, including Zimbabwe, as competition back at home
intensifies.
In Zimbabwe, Pick n Pay competes with ZSE-listed OK Zimbabwe
and Spar
franchise operators. OK Zimbabwe has been boosted by a $5m
convertible loan
facility from Investec Africa Frontier Private Equity Fund,
with the company
recording a 24.6% jump in interim revenues which have now
climbed to
$231.2m.
*Tawanda Karombo is a Zimbabwean business and
economic journalist
No Place Quite Like Bulawayo
February 15, 2013
It’s been four years
since I last lived in Zimbabwe, four long years during which I strolled
along the Mediterranean beaches in Algiers, ate Middle Eastern food, danced to
Rai music and, like the rest of the world, observed the country of my birth from
the other side of the looking glass. We are a country not exactly famous for
positive headlines and I admit that I too have been sucked into negativity.
Perhaps that explains the little pang of regret I feel as the bus crosses the
Limpopo river and approaches the Beitbridge border post.
The differences are
almost immediate when you enter Zimbabwean territory. The lights, for one, seem
dimmer this side, the buildings older, the flag that stands at the entrance of
the border post seems to be reminding itself of better days when its edges were
less tattered. For a moment I wonder why I am going back when it seems so many
are ignoring crocodiles, electric fences and the oh-so-insignificant fact that
they don’t have passports to go in the opposite direction. But it is time: the
bus stops and we descend to begin the appeasement of the bureaucratic god that
lies in wait at every border post.
It hits me almost as
soon as I step out into the crisp morning air. Perhaps it’s the freshness of the
air, the excited buzz of passengers as they contemplate that their journey is
almost at its end. I don’t know what it is but almost at once I feel glad to
have arrived back home. It’s an amazing feeling to walk into a passport office
and have the crest on your passport match the one on the Ministry of Home
Affairs logo, to not have to explain where you are going and how long you are
going to stay there. It’s an even greater feeling to hear the hawkers selling
Buddie airtime, their voices insistent, belying the fact that they’ve probably
been up all night.
The bureaucratic god is
appeased with a cursory glance at my passport. He bangs a stamp on it and we
board the bus again, waiting to depart. After a five-hour delay at customs,
which I am assured is not that bad a wait, we are on our way. The people around
me have become livelier. The relative calm is punctuated by occasional snoring.
Some men behind me are talking about a man in Makokoba who has taken his mother
for his lover. The woman next to me shows me photos of her children. She is
working so that she can buy a house for her family. She likes living in South
Africa, she says, but she misses home terribly. She asks me what I do. I lie
and say I am a student at Wits. I have discovered that is the best way to avoid
barrages of questions about the Middle East, Islam and why on earth I would go
and study there in the first place. (When I was offered a scholarship to study
French and computer science there four years ago, my main thought back then had
been that the journey would involve a plane.)
Five long hours later
the bus finally arrives in the former capital of the Ndebele Kingdom, a city
built by a king fleeing the murderous wrath of another king and named after the
slaughter that occurred there so many decades before I was an idea in God’s
mind. None of that is evident as I look out the window. All I see are scenes
that had once been part of my every day, scenes I had taken for granted as I
went on my way to school or to church. The tree-lined avenues of Bulawayo that
will come October burst into a purple glory matched by few other cities; the
vendors selling airtime at the robots; the kombis dodging through traffic,
filled almost to bursting point with people on their way to work. Life had
continued while I was away but for the most part the city is the same as it was
when I left it.
Street life in Bulawayo. (Flickr/Julien
Lagarde)
And it seems the
headlines have not touched Bulawayo’s heart; forget them all. There is nothing
like being where you know you will always belong. There is nothing like being
able to speak in your mother tongue without having to resort to English-accented
French or stuttering Arabic. Even my English can return to its default setting –
here a traffic light is a robot, any soft drink is Coca-Cola, all toothpastes
are Colgate and names like Priority are as commonplace as Matthew and Jacob.
Here I can walk down the street with absolutely no fear of being stopped to show
my ID, a practice that annoyed me in Algeria as much as it did in South Africa.
And even when the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority demonstrates its loose
definition of the word ‘supply’, it can be a calming thing to sit in the candle
light and talk about anything and everything under the sun.
And some things never
change. The windis
(kombi conductors) still hang half their bodies out of their vehicles; they
stand at taxi ranks screaming at the top of their lungs for passengers. The old
ladies still sit in the flea markets waiting to convince customers that their
vegetables are the freshest and the cheapest. Youth still loiter on the streets
during the day, dressed to the nines in the latest offerings of the Jo’burg and
New York fashion world.
I come to realise that
people have lived out their lives through a water supply crisis, an infamous
economic collapse and a notorious Government of National Unity. The sun has
risen and set on the townships and suburbs of Bulawayo all these years and
people have gone about their days with smiles still reaching the sides of their
faces, enduring the harsh, dark realities with bittersweet
stoicism.
From afar the news
headlines may have been accurate but they never told the full story. I realise
that you can never be right whilst standing on the other side of the looking
glass; you have to step through as I did and realise, as I did, that there is no
place like home.
This article
originally appeared on Voices of
Africa.
Mugabe
regime still failing the test, so why are we handing it a prize?
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Zimbabwe
is arguably run largely for its leaders’ benefit
JIM ARMITAGE SATURDAY
16 FEBRUARY 2013
Rewards for the punished are only meant to be for good
behaviour. So why are
we about to give a glittering prize to the unpleasant
government dominated
by Robert Mugabe? On Monday, in Brussels, the European
Union's Foreign
Affairs Council will lift certain targeted sanctions on the
country. William
Hague will sign up to the moves, which are being championed
by the high
representative, Labour's Baroness Ashton.
It's not clear
yet exactly which barriers will be removed, but I'm reliably
informed they
will include the lifting of travel restrictions on certain
members of the
Mugabe regime, plus the unfreezing of some of their assets.
Many of Mr
Mugabe's top officials have become spectacularly rich from his
decades in
power. Perhaps we should applaud as his newly liberated big guns
come to
Sloane Street to splash out in Rolex and Louis Vuitton – our economy
needs
all the help it can get. But I'm not entirely sure that boosting
London's
luxury goods industry is what the EU Foreign Affairs Council should
be all
about.
Zimbabwe remains a deeply troubled state, arguably run largely for
the
benefit of its leaders. Its diamond industry, as I wrote here some weeks
ago, is deeply flawed and open to corruption. Large amounts of money from
its diamond mines flow into the coffers of Zanu-PF, Human Rights Watch
suggests, while its highly partisan police force continues to harass and
arrest opposition activists.
So why are we about to give Mr Mugabe a
big pat on the back?
Mr Hague, Lady Ashton and Co argue the sanctions
should be lifted to
recognise the fact that the government has said it will
hold a referendum in
March on a draft constitution. General elections should
follow later in the
year.
But, setting aside all the other
allegations of ongoing corruption and human
rights abuses, why would we want
to be rewarding the regime for something it
hasn't even done yet?
The
Zimbabwean sanctions should remain in force until free and fair
elections
have been held – and note that expression: "free and fair".
Luxury in
Piccadilly, big risks in Zimbabwe
At a cost of £500 to £900 per ticket,
the dozens of businessmen attending
the ZimInvest London 2012 Forum last
November will have been hoping for more
than just a few egg-and-cress
sandwiches. They will not have been
disappointed. The five-star Le Meridien
Piccadilly, not known for skimping
on the catering, laid it on in luxurious
style.
More importantly, the suits who assembled – fund managers and
others looking
to invest in Zimbabwe –met senior honchos from the country in
what the
event's marketing blurb described as "an excellent high-level
networking
platform".
The lifting of sanctions on Monday will be used
by said honchos as a major
recruiting tool in future conversations, we can
have no doubt.
Attendees included the London Stock Exchange's Richard
Webster-Smith, Old
Mutual's Patrick Bowes and Standard Bank's London-based
Matthew Pearson, all
talking about the everyday realities of doing business
in Zimbabwe.
Not present were the 11 British and Dutch folk who bought
farmland in the
country in the 1980s, when Mr Mugabe was encouraging inward
investment.
They were evicted in 2002 and, despite winning a World Bank
arbitration
hearing awarding them £22m compensation, are still waiting for
their money.
Only last week, the Zimbabwe government confiscated thousands
of hectares of
mining land from Zimplats while Standard Chartered, Barclays
and other firms
this week were said to face being forced to sell majority
stakes of their
Zimbabwean businesses to "indigenous
Zimbabweans".
Hopefully the well-fed ZimInvest guests were warned:
investing in Mr
Mugabe's Zimbabwe is still a risky business.
Zimbabwe’s education system: A
hostage of the economy
February 16, 2013
While Zimbabwean adults have a literacy rate of
90% - among the highest on the continent – the rate is constantly sinking with
every generation.
Zimbabwe has made
poor progress in developing their education. While the pass rate among basic
school leavers has improved by four percent from 2009 to 2012, only 18% of
students leave the ordinary level with a relevant certificate. Since the
country’s economic meltdown in 2000, the education system has been in free fall,
until economic reforms in 2009 provided at least a minimum financial
security.
At one time, the Southern African
nation of Zimbabwe was the continent’s role model nation of educational
development. In 1980, when the country gained independence from Britain, school
education was declared a basic human right, to which everyone, regardless the
race, must have access. But the destiny of the country’s education system has
always been inextricably linked to the economy. While Zimbabwe’s first
independent years were accompanied by tremendous economic growth, the tide
turned in the late nineties. However, as far back as 1988, the government
established tuition fees for schools to lower the financial pressure on the
government.
When the country was experiencing
economic difficulties, the education system had to suffer. For that reason, the
literacy rate is seen to decline with the economy of the country. While
Zimbabwean adults have a literacy rate of 90% – among the highest on the
continent – the rate is constantly sinking with every generation. In the
mid-1990s, 72 percent of students passed the ordinary level.
In the late nineties, the country’s
economy suffered severely from an enormous payout for war veterans (almost 3% of
GDP), followed by a war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a drought
which prevented economic recovery. In the following years, the situation
escalated. Long-time ruler Mugabe kept the low-income class onboard with his
populist seizure and expulsion campaign against white farmers, finally driving
away all potential foreign investors. Between 2003 and 2009, hyperinflation made
the country’s currency valueless, and finally led to its abolishment.
Humanitarian organisation UNICEF estimates that until 2009, about 94% of rural
schools, which represent the main school form in Zimbabwe, had been closed.
Teacher salaries, school books, and other necessary material became
unaffordable.
In 2009, the newly established national
unity government abolished the Zimbabwean Dollar, and changed to a foreign
currency system. Since then, the economy has been recovering, which is reflected
in the slight improvement in the education system. The past has shown that
success in the education system is related to the available funding. To find a
solution for the country’s schooling problem is to find a solution for
Zimbabwe’s economy. As long as a small political elite is reaping the benefits
of the country’s wealth, it is not foreseeable that Zimbabwe’s economy will
accelerate its growth. In general, it is an achievement that the country’s
economy has grown over the last few years at all, considering the harsh
political circumstances. Perhaps this year’s presidential elections will lead to
the political change necessary to bring Zimbabwe back on
track.
In the short-term, it would be most
beneficial to solicit foreign aid for the devastated education system, so that
school books would not need to be shared by fifteen or more people, as is
commonly the case.
Fabian
Scherer
f.scherer@politicalanalysis.co.za
Love
and tear gas
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
February 16, 2013, 7:29 am
Dear Family and
Friends,
The day before Valentine’s Day in Zimbabwe love was in the air
but so was
tear gas. While flower sellers wrapped individual roses and
street vendors
peddled teddy bears, hearts and fluffy cushions adorned with
red ribbons,
hundreds of women headed towards parliament building in
Harare. Five
hundred WOZA members came from two different directions in two
groups. They
were unarmed and peaceful, distributing fliers against the
draft
constitution saying it had been written to suit the interests of the
present
politicians and not future generations. The WOZA protest was their
11th
annual Valentine’s Day march and as in all previous years, the police
were
waiting for them when they got to their destination. Outside parliament
five canisters of tear gas were fired, WOZA members and bystanders ran for
cover and eight women, including leaders Jenni Williams and Magadonga
Mhlangu were arrested and beaten while they waited to be transported to a
police station. Twenty five WOZA members had to seek medical attention
after their treatment at the hands of police. One woman had to have three
teeth removed after having been struck on the face.
It wasn’t only
tear gas that lay heavy in the humid air of central Harare
the afternoon
before Valentine’s day, the atmosphere was also full of irony.
While women
and children were running from teargas and others were being
beaten by
police, it was being announced that a date had been set for the
referendum
on the draft constitution. The 16th of March is to be Referendum
Day we were
told, but in typically Zimbabwean style, the adjective
‘tentative’ was
tagged on to the date so we are not completely and
absolutely sure of the
exact date. It’s a characteristic of Zimbabwe’s
politicians to keep people
guessing about some part of the overall picture
when it comes to elections.
The irony of tear gas and baton sticks being
used against peaceful
protesters was dramatic when glancing at the very
first page of the new
draft constitution which was literally hot off the
press. Thirteen lines
down in Chapter One it states that Zimbabwe is founded
on the principle of
respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms. That
principle leads you
to explore clause 53 which allows freedom from torture
or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. And then to clause
59 which gives every
person the right to demonstrate and present petitions
as long as it is done
peacefully.
On Valentine’s Day WOZA members again tried to protest, this
time in
Bulawayo. They said they were demonstrating on a day of love to
demand a
response from police to their complaints of police brutality at a
previous
protest. In a number of separate protest groups , eight hundred
women
converged on Police Headquarters. WOZA said that when the women
arrived
police swooped on them and began beating their members. Despite
everyone
then sitting down on the ground, a hundred and eighty women were
arrested
along with six men who were not WOZA members but just bystanders
taking
photographs. One of those men was later made to remove his trousers
and
shoes and was beaten under the soles of his feet.
As we head to
the polls in less than a month’s time a little ray of light
illuminated our
national dread of elections. Constitutional Affairs Minister
Eric Matinega
said that voting in the Referendum would not be based on the
existing flawed
voters role but would be open to every Zimbabwean on
production of their ID
card only. It’s hard to believe that multiple
thousands of people
disenfranchised in recent years will be allowed to again
have a say in the
future of the country. Do we dare to hope? Until next
time, thanks for
reading, love cathy.
"Something
rotten in the state of Denmark"
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
February 15, 2013, 1:42
pm
“Something rotten in the state of Denmark” the quotation from
Shakespeare’s
Hamlet seems particularly apt with regard to the state of
Zimbabwe. It was
Zanu PF itself which suspended its Manicaland Chairman,
Mike Madiro and four
others on allegations of fraud and corruption involving
some $700.000 from
diamond mining which they claimed was intended for Zanu
PF party funds.
Confirming the suspensions, the party’s secretary for
administration,
Didymus Mutasa said, “leaders should be cadres of good
repute and no party
member would want to be led by a corrupt leader.”
Whether Madiro’s
suspension was a genuine case of misappropriation of funds
or something more
political remains to be seen. In the faction wars that are
rocking Zanu PF;
Madiro is apparently a supporter of the Mnangagwa faction
and the suspension
has raised fears that other Zanu PF bigwigs may also face
investigation.
Many of these top chefs have acquired a great deal of wealth
in their rise
to the top of the greasy pole which is Zanu PF politics. The
danger for
other big names is that as their comrades are picked off they
will ‘name
names’ and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down.
Robert Mugabe
is apparently keen to have the party cleaned up in time for
the election now
scheduled for July. What the president wants his party to
be is “Whiter that
white” you could say - but that would hardly be
appropriate in Mugabe’s
Zimbabwe where only the other day we heard a top
Mapostori proclaiming that
members should never trust a white man. The
Mapostori were being told at the
time they would get free stands if they
voted Zanu PF so it’s not clear who
we can trust there!
To
re-enforce the importance of this apparent clean-up, Mutasa told The
Standard newspaper, “All of us in the party must be straightforward in our
dealings…All those implicated in corruption, no matter what rank they hold,
be it cabinet minister, will be investigated.” It is not only in the former
ruling party that there has been corruption and dishonest practices. The rot
has spread to all levels of society; this week we hear of a Headman in Mash
East who is imposing his own fines on the people for evading cattle tax. So
now, the people have to pay not only the police tax of $10.0 but also the
Headman’s fine of $5.0; while the police issue receipts for their taxes, the
Headman simple takes his $5.0 a head with no acknowledgement of payment for
the impoverished villagers. In further evidence that greed and corruption
appear to be increasing, two Immigration officials were gaoled for five
years this week for theft of cash and property worth $40.000.
It’s not only money that is involved in these dishonest practices;
corruption takes many forms. In Bikita, a sub-chief is misusing his
authority to divert food aid so that it only benefits Zanu PF supporters.
But it is crime on a much bigger scale when it comes to the Chipangano gang
who operate with impunity in Mbare where the police are clearly aware of the
gang’s existence but have so far done nothing to curtail their criminal
activities. The Mayor vows he will ‘tackle’ the gang who have their greedy
eyes on a $5 million project being funded by the Gates Foundation to
refurbish the 58 blocks of flats to house ordinary working people. Work
started but was then halted by the violent intervention of a bunch of
Chipangano thugs who succeeded in disrupting the project. However, “All’s
well that ends well” and this very worthwhile project is now under way
again. Incidentally, Chipangano is pro Zanu PF which perhaps explains why
the police do nothing to bring them to justice?
Yours in the
(continuing) struggle, Pauline Henson.
Bill Watch - Parliamentary Committees Series 4/2013 of 15th February [Committee Meetings 18 to 22 February]
BILL
WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEES SERIES 4/2013
[15th February 2013]
Reminder:
Members of the public, including Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, can at any time
send written submissions to Parliamentary committees by email addressed to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Committee Meetings
Open to the Public 18th to 22nd February
The meetings listed below will be open
to members of the public, but as observers only, not as participants, i.e.
members of the public can listen but not speak.
They will be at Parliament in Harare.
If attending, please use the entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Ave between 2nd
and 3rd Streets and note that IDs must be produced.
This
bulletin is based on the latest information from Parliament. But, as there are
sometimes last-minute changes to the schedule, persons wishing to attend should
avoid disappointment by checking with the committee clerk that the meeting is
still on and open to the public. Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare
700181 and 252941.
Monday
18th February at 10 am
Portfolio
Committee: Transport and Infrastructure Development
Oral
evidence from ZINARA on road toll fees and progress
made on construction of toll plazas
Committee
Room No 1
Chairperson: Hon
Chebundo Clerk: Ms
Macheza
Portfolio
Committee: Defence and Home Affairs
Oral
evidence from War Veterans Association on welfare of war
veterans
Committee
Room No 2
Chairperson:
Hon Madzore Clerk: Mr
Daniel
Monday
18th February at 2 pm
Thematic
Committee: Gender and Development
Oral
briefing from Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network [ZWRCN] on progress made to date towards achievement of
gender equality in Zimbabwe
Committee
Room No 3
Chairperson:
Hon A. Sibanda Clerk: Ms
Masara
Thematic
Committee: HIV/AIDS
Oral
evidence from Ministry of Health and Child Welfare on HIV/AIDS related
programmes and policies
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon D. Khumalo Clerk: Mrs
Khumalo
Tuesday
19th February at 10 am
Thematic
Committee: MDGs
Oral
evidence from Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare on domestic, regional and
international instruments relating to physically challenged
persons
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon Chief Mtshane Clerk: Mrs
Nyawo
Portfolio
Committee: Health and Child Welfare
Oral
evidence from City
of Harare on water supply situation in Harare
Committee
Room No 1
Chairperson:
Hon Parirenyatwa Clerk: Mrs
Khumalo
Portfolio
Committee: State Enterprise and Parastatals
Oral
briefing from ZESA on current developments in its operations and service
delivery to the nation
Committee
Room No 2
Chairperson:
Hon Mavima Clerk: Ms
Chikuvire
Portfolio
Committee: Local Government, Rural and Urban
Development
Oral
evidence from Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development on 4th
Quarter budget performance
Committee
Room No 413
Chairperson: Hon
Karenyi Clerk: Mr
Daniel
Wednesday
20th February at 9 am
Thematic
Committee: Peace and Security
Oral
evidence from Civil Protection Department on the effects of the recent floods
and how the department reacted
Committee
Room No 4
Chairperson:
Hon Mumvuri Clerk:
Miss Zenda
Thursday
21st February at 10 am
Portfolio
Committee: Women, Youth, Gender and Community Development
Oral
evidence from CBZ and CABS on the Women and Youth Empowerment
Funds
Committee
Room No 3
Chairperson:
Hon Matienga Clerk: Mr
Kunzwa
Public
Accounts Committee
Oral
evidence from Ministry of Regional
Integration and International Trade
on 2009 and 2010 Comptroller and Auditor-General Annual
Reports
Committee
Room No 4
Chairperson:
Hon Chinyadza Clerk: Mrs
Nyawo
Friday
22nd February at 10 am
No
meetings – committees do not usually meet on Fridays
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied