Zim Standard
BY WALTER MARWIZI
& NDAMU SANDU
INDEPENDENT Presidential candidate Simba Makoni
yesterday criticised
President Robert Mugabe's $3 trillion birthday bash
held in Beitbridge
yesterday, describing it as "an alien
concept".
Makoni said he was against the creation of personality
cults, shortly
after chairing a top-level meeting of his management
committee in Harare.
"I am not a cultist," he said. "If I am going
to celebrate my
birthday, I have to go to my family, my home. We don't have
to coerce the
whole nation to celebrate an individual's
birthday."
The committee charged with fund-raising for President
Mugabe's
birthday has sought $3 trillion for the occasion, held every year
under the
auspices of the North Korean-style 21st February
Movement.
Mugabe turned 84 on Thursday.
Makoni, who is
running for president in the 29 March harmonised
elections, said under his
government the community and the nation would be
more important than
individuals.
"We are talking about service. Therefore all those
concepts that are
alien to service are not part of our mission," Makoni
said.
Responding to criticism by Mugabe that he was a "political
prostitute"
Makoni said: "That is his view. I will not discuss the gravity
of the
Zimbabwe crisis at a personal level. I am not motivated by negatives.
Let
people judge for themselves."
Makoni revealed for the first
time what had motivated him to seek the
highest political office in the
land: it was after he had personally
experienced how Zimbabweans were
suffering.
He said his experiences were the same as those of 14
million people,
"minus a few" who did not experience the suffering of the
people.
He said he was among Zimbabweans who, having queued for
long hours,
failed to get fuel at service stations and goods at
supermarkets.
Makoni said that he preferred to appeal directly to
Zimbabweans for
support in the elections, rather than relying on alliances
with political
formations.
"I am an independent candidate. How
can you be an independent and have
an alliance at the same time? I don't
have to be in an alliance (with
political parties). I am with the people and
for the people.
"These people are trade unions, churches,
industries, ex-combatants,
women, men, the youth. I am in alliance with all
these people. I don't need
to be fenced, paddocked," he said.
Makoni was reported to have forged an alliance with the Arthur
Mutambara-led
faction of the MDC and was also said to be seeking to work
with Morgan
Tsvangirai's faction to launch a united front against Mugabe.
If
elected to power, Makoni said he would form a government of
national unity
which he preferred to call the "National Authority", which
would spearhead
national re-engagement.
"We will look in the legislature for the
best from the MDC, Zanu PF,
Independents and people from other smaller
parties to be in government."
Top on the priority list of the
National Authority would be solving
the food, energy and water crises facing
the country. Zimbabweans would be
encouraged to do things for themselves, he
said, as he attacked the Reserve
Bank-funded farm mechanisation
programme.
"Why do we mock our people by making them indigent and
hopeless, by
giving them zvikochikari nemagejo (scotchcarts and
ploughs)?"
On the land issue, Makoni said he would embark on an
agrarian reform
which would result in equitable and transparent distribution
of land. The
focus would be to ensure full utilisation of the land and the
improvement of
people working on the land.
Makoni emphasised
that "due process of the law" would be a guiding
principle in the
process.
"While the government has affirmed the one-
person-one-farm policy, we
know of individuals who have not two, but eight
farms. The government knows
them. The National Authority will correct all
these distortions."
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi
Sifile
ON Friday last week, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
was still
"working flat out" to finalise the list of candidates to contest
the 1 958
wards in next month's harmonised elections, a week after
nomination courts
sat across the country.
This, and the way a
few nomination courts failed to complete their
business on time, in some
instances continuing until the next morning, has
sparked speculation on the
commission's preparedness to run the harmonised
elections.
Observers and analysts last week said if the confusion at the
nomination
courts were to be taken as an example, then the ZEC has shown
"very little
by way of readiness" for the 29 March polls. Commentators noted
"it is still
legally possible to postpone the elections" as there are still
a number of
"fundamental issues requiring more time to correct".
Noel Kututwa,
the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network
(ZESN), said the
same problems encountered at nomination could spill into
the
elections.
"This was to be expected," Kututwa said. "I anticipate
the same
problem with the voting ... It would be undesirable for polling to
go on and
on beyond 7PM given the on-going power cuts and no electricity in
some rural
constituencies."
Last week, the Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace (CCJP) said
the situation was not ideal for elections
next month.
But ZEC officials insist they are ready, as they have
been "preparing
for over a year".
ZEC spokesperson, Shupikai
Mashereni, on Thursday acknowledged they
faced challenges putting together
results of the nomination court.
"We had nomination courts sitting
throughout the country," Mashereni
said. "Results were sent mostly by phone
or fax, but when we got them, some
of them were not very clear. Each ward
had an average of six contestants,
and we had to tabulate the information
ward by ward," he said.
Asked whether this was not an indication
that ZEC was not fully
prepared for such a massive election, Mashereni said:
"ZEC now has all the
logistics required for the elections...We did not start
preparing for the
elections this year. Remember, we are employed full-time
and our job is to
prepare for and run elections. So what do you think we
have been doing all
along?"
But Mashereni could not disclose
the exact figures of the various
logistical requirements, such as the
translucent ballot boxes, indelible
ink, motor vehicles, generators, fuel
and mobile phones, among others.
Early this month, Mashereni told
The Standard "ZEC has arranged for
air transport" to access areas rendered
inaccessible by the recent floods".
Among other things, it was
reported last week that the commission
would set up 11 000 polling stations
for the harmonised elections.
Kututwa said considering what had
happened in previous elections "11
000 polling stations may not be enough to
allow all voters to exercise their
right to vote within a reasonable time in
this election".
"These harmonised elections are the first time that
Zimbabwe will be
holding four elections at the same time," he said. "This
has never been done
before. I would have expected that the polling stations
would have been
doubled to take into account the fact that each voter will
be given four
ballot papers to cast. Just the time that it will take to go
through four
ballot papers will unduly lengthen the voting process and it
would have been
preferable to increase the number of polling
stations."
But others believe if the number of polling stations is
increased,
political parties and their candidates would face another
challenge:
spending a lot of money on polling agents.
Every
candidate needs at least one agent at each polling station.
Considering
there would be four elections running simultaneously at 11 000
polling
stations, each political party would need to field at least four
candidates
at each polling station. Parties fielding candidates in all
constituencies
would need 44 000 polling agents. They don't come cheap
either.
But Kututwa said "it is better for the election to be expensive for
parties
than to have voters' democratic rights to vote prejudiced by having
few
polling stations".
He proposed that the political "parties would
rather take the risk"
than let people fail to vote because there were fewer
polling stations than
could cater for all the voters.
He said
some candidates could also volunteer their services.
David Coltart
of the MDC Mutambara faction said this was not likely to
be a problem for
the "serious political parties".
"For example, in Bulawayo we
already have a surplus of people who want
to be polling agents," said
Coltart. "Maybe this could be a problem for the
smaller parties and
independents. But generally, we share the same concerns
with them. So we can
say they will be covered by other opposition party
agents."
In
the past, voters could vote anywhere in their constituency. This
year,
voting will be ward-based, but not much has been done to enlighten
voters on
the new arrangements.
"Very little voter education is being
conducted by the ZEC," Kututwa
said. "The solution is to change the whole
administrative set-up and ensure
that adequate human and financial resources
are in place to be able to carry
out these activities
properly."
Paul Themba Nyathi, also from the Mutambara faction,
said the
distribution of polling stations "should be based on the
mathematical factor
that there are four entities being voted for
simultaneously. It is not
something one can just do from the
air."
Political analyst, Felix Mafa, the spokesperson for the MDC
Tsvangirai
faction in Bulawayo, said with the current number of polling
stations, the
"voting process will definitely need more time for each voter
to cast four
votes".
"If each voter takes about 10 minutes
inside the polling station in
order to cast his/her votes, there are many
votes that will be lost, as many
eligible voters might not afford to spend
the whole day in a queue to cast
their votes," he said.
Some
candidates - especially those from newly established political
parties -
appear not conversant with the new regulations relating to the
election,
which could result in their papers being rejected as not being in
order.
Others, like perennial loser Egypt Dzinemunhenzwa, went
to the court
without enough money to file the papers.
Others,
like Moreprecision Muzadzi of the obscure Vox Populi, were not
aware that
presidential candidates, for example, have to be over 40 years
old. The
Christian Democratic Party (CDP) says it would have fielded eight
candidates
"but many fell by the wayside for various reasons".
The party ended
up fielding only two.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
MUTARE - MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday avoided
the
contentious Simba Makoni issue during the launch of his party's 2008
election campaign at Sakubva Stadium in Mutare.
In the
sweltering mid-afternoon heat in front of over 25 000 people,
Tsvangirai
unveiled his party's manifesto and announced the elections were a
referendum
on President Robert Mugabe's misrule.
"The election is about
dealing with generational and political
transitional challenges. We have to
understand that this election is a
referendum on Mugabe's misrule over the
past 30 years," Tsvangirai said.
The MDC leader is expected to hold
talks with Ibbo Mandaza, a
representative of Makoni, today, to discuss the
prospects of an electoral
deal between the two.
Makoni himself
has indicated he is not keen on any alliances.
MDC spokesperson
Nelson Chamisa yesterday said Tsvangirai did not
speak on Makoni because
this was not an issue.
Unveiling the party's manifesto, Tsvangirai
said the MDC put the issue
of the constitution at the centre of the people's
struggle against the
tyranny of President Mugabe, who had destroyed the
country's economy.
He said the MDC would craft a people-driven
constitution that would
engender trust and confidence among the
people.
He said the MDC's economic revival policy would be centred
on the
participation of all stakeholders through the Zimbabwe Economic
Development
Council.
The MDC leader promised to fight against
inflation, ensure exchange
control stability as a prerequisite to stimulate
economic growth.
On the contentious land issue, Tsvangirai said his
land policy would
recognise the country's brutal colonial history of
plunder, deal with the
injustices and carry out an independent audit of land
to establish the
status of current holdings.
In its manifesto,
the MDC promises just and equitable compensation to
all farmers whose land
was acquired since the 2000 land invasions by war
veterans.
The
manifesto concedes that the country's economy does not have the
capacity to
offer enough compensation. "In this regard, the MDC will
internationalise
the issue of compensation so that multilateral institutions
and countries
inextricably connected to the Zimbabwe crisis will bring in
their resources
to adequately compensate the erstwhile land owners."
Tsvangirai
also promised to compensate the victims of Gukurahundi in
which more than 20
000 people were butchered by Mugabe's North
Korean-trained 5 Brigade in the
1980s.
"We cannot restore the life that was lost during
Gukurahundi. But we
can rebuild the devastated communities. We can build
roads and schools and
give loans to people to establish income-generating
projects," he said.
Upbeat about winning the 29 March elections,
the MDC leader also
promised free primary education and to address housing,
transport problems,
empower women and youths as well as deal with the HIV
and Aids pandemic.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
BULAWAYO - The forthcoming harmonised elections have drawn
unprecedented interest from aspiring candidates, all promising to work to
improve the lot of Zimbabweans.
But a look at the list of
aspiring candidates, including those from
Zanu PF, reveals that a number of
them have skeletons in their cabinets
which might cause the electorate to be
wary.
Some of them were convicted of crimes involving dishonesty,
while
others have allegations of serious offences, such as rape, hanging
over
them.
But one candidate whose record might leave Zanu PF
leaders, including
President Robert Mugabe, with egg on their faces, is Bill
Tshuma who is
seeking to represent the ruling party in the Gwabalanda
Senatorial seat.
On 27 January 2004, Tshuma was convicted of
attempted sodomy. Court
records show he tried his luck on a 23-year-old
Harare man he had lured from
a local supermarket with the promise of a
job.
Tshuma tricked the desperate man to accompany him to Aisbley
Farm,
owned by the city council, which he claimed was his.
On
arrival at the farm, he told the man that he was "handsome and
gorgeous".
He also told the terrified man to fondle him in
order to arouse his
feelings. He proceeded to kiss the man, according to the
court records.
After a short trial the magistrate found Tshuma, who
could become a
Zanu PF senator, guilty of trying to sodomise his victim and
fined him $20
000 or 30 days in prison.
Mugabe describes
homosexuals as "worse than pigs and dogs". He also
accuses his enemies in
the West of being "gay gangsters" bent on effecting
legal regime change in
Zimbabwe.
Constitutional expert, Lovemore Madhuku said Zimbabwean
law does not
bar anyone with a criminal conviction from standing for
political office.
But he added it was up to political parties, as
private organisations,
to set specific parameters on the type of candidates
they wanted to send to
Parliament.
"Perhaps it is his opponents
who could use the conviction against him
to say, 'Don't vote for that man
because he was convicted of this and that',"
Madhuku said.
Zanu
PF spokesman Effort Nkomo was not available for comment last
week.
In 2002, Mugabe made political capital out of an incident
in which the
late MDC spokesman, Learnmore Jongwe, killed his wife before
subsequently
committing suicide in prison.
He said Zimbabweans
could not entrust their future into the hands of
violent leaders.
Zim Standard
BY SANDRA
MANDIZVIDZA
TINASHE Mangunda's dream was to become a medical
doctor. Her parents
even struggled to raise money to pay a private tutor for
her during school
holidays.
But Tinashe's dream has been
shattered.
She returned to her missionary boarding school in
Mashonaland East to
complete her Ordinary Levels, to be welcomed by the sad
news that she could
no longer pursue science subjects, her only door to the
world of
Hippocrates.
The reason: biology, chemistry and
physics teachers had left the
school, like many other members of their
previously hallowed fraternity, in
search of greener pastures.
Now Tinashe is studying Integrated Science.
It looks like the
country has been robbed of another aspiring doctor.
Tinashe said:
"I did science subjects the whole of last year, but when
we came back to
school this term we were told that our chemistry, physics
and biology
teachers had left. So we had to drop the subjects. I was really
hurt."
Tinashe, at just 16 years, has become another victim of
the brain
drain of teachers who continue to flee low pay and appalling
working
conditions in this country because of the never-ending economic
crisis.
Zimbabwean teachers have been migrating to neighbouring
Botswana,
Mozambique and South Africa with some of them even taking up
menial jobs to
earn enough money to send back home to their
families.
Reports say rural areas are the most
affected.
Most teachers believed to be leaving the country are
science teachers
who are in great demand in other countries.
Peter Mabande, the chief executive officer of Zimbabwe Teachers'
Association
(ZTA) told The Standard there was a general shortage of teachers
for
Mathematics, Sciences and technical subjects.
"The situation is
being made worse by the massive brain drain of
teachers, who are going down
South. Our teachers are also in demand there
because they are considered to
be very good," he said.
The ZTA recently held talks with officials
from the Ministry of
Education, Sport and Culture to address the issue but
nothing positive
emerged, Mabande said.
The Secretary for
Education, Stephen Mahere, could not be reached for
comment as his secretary
said he was busy attending important meetings.
But it is believed
that many schools all over the country, with the
exception of private
schools, are facing shortages of teachers.
Mabande said they could
not possibly know the exact number of teachers
who had left because some of
them just left out of frustration, without
telling anyone or
resigning.
But according to Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ), at
least 25 000 teachers left the profession in 2007.
Mabande said some parents had resorted to buying groceries for
teachers so
that they could be persuaded to stay.
One school affected by the
teachers' exodus is Hanke Adventist High
School in Shurungwi, which
advertised in the national newspaper for
chemistry, physics and accounts
teachers.
They were offering successful applicants incentives,
including
groceries, transport allowances and salary
complement.
Last week, some teachers were brutally beaten up by
Zanu PF youths in
Harare when they were seen tossing flyers to the public,
explaining why
teachers were on strike.
Among those who were
arrested is the secretary-general of PTUZ Raymond
Majongwe.
He
and eight others were attacked viciously by Zanu PF youths when
they went
around the city centre, explaining why teachers were on strike.
"Mugabe is giving salary hikes to soldiers and the police and
neglecting the
teachers because we are labelled anti-Zanu PF," said a
furious Majongwe.
"Teachers are running away from rural areas because they
are being tortured
there."
They have been on strike since 24 January, demanding a
basic monthly
salary of Z$1.7 billion and about $600 million in housing and
transport
allowances.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
WITH just four weeks to go to the harmonised elections,
Zimbabweans
will be bombarded with promises of a better future, with the
four
presidential aspirants pledging what they will do once in
power.
They will sing every line in their manifestos until their
voices
become hoarse, to convince the electorate to vote for them on 29
March.
Eighty-four-year-old President Robert Mugabe, in the saddle
for nearly
three decades, will be warding off challenges from Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Zanu PF "reformist" Simba
Makoni, and
little-known Langton Tawungana.
Tsvangirai
officially launched his campaign yesterday in Mutare while
Mugabe used his
84th birthday celebrations in Beitbridge to start the ball
rolling for his
bid for another term.
Political analysts say the largely
poverty-stricken electorate would
not be concerned much about the parties'
manifestos - as the issues are
almost similar.
Instead, voters
will be preoccupied with the quality and personality
of the presidential
aspirants.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, John
Makumbe, said
the presidential candidates' campaigns all centred on obvious
issues:
"bringing from the near-dead" the economy, reducing staggering
poverty
levels and a genuinely equitable redistribution of the land - not
the
aftermath of the 2000 land grab which created a new Zimbabwean "landed
gentry".
"It's going to be about parties and personalities.
They will be saying
almost the same things. But they will differ on the
methodologies of
resolving the problems affecting the country," said
Makumbe.
Analysts predict Mugabe, facing possibly the stiffest
opposition
challenge since 1980, would promise to dish out more land,
tractors, combine
harvesters, seed and fertiliser to lure thousands of rural
voters,
undoubtedly his strongest supporters.
He will also
remind Zimbabweans of the liberation credentials of the
ruling party and how
he still has a vision to revive the economy.
In his manifesto
Mugabe's former Finance Minister, Makoni, promised to
revive the country's
social, political and economic status.
He promised national
re-engagement and dialogue among the people of
Zimbabwe to ensure economic,
social and political revival. He says he would
revive the country's
productive capacity through a transparent and equitable
land redistribution
process.
Makoni has promised to restore the rule of law and
normalcy in the
financial sector as well as ensuring that Zimbabweans get
decent education,
health, housing and other social services.
He
says his mission is to "restore people's independence, dignity and
confidence, increase respect for our institutions and values, project
national interests before personal interests, and restore Zimbabwe's
standing within the international community."
But Makumbe
believes Makoni and Mugabe are no different: "If you look
at the synopsis of
Makoni's manifesto it's not different from Zanu PF,"
Makumbe
said.
However, University of Zimbabwe political scientist, Eldred
Masunungure said Makoni differs from Mugabe in that the ex-finance minister
talks about re-engaging the West and the Bretton Woods Institutions - the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Makoni's
candidature lies in between the MDC and Zanu PF regarding
re-engagement with
the West, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. You won't have
that from Zanu
PF which has decided to look East," said Masunungure.
"Nothing much
will come from the East."
He said Makoni would
steal most of his votes from disgruntled members
of both Zanu PF and the
MDC.
"Makoni is viewed as a reformer in Zanu PF and he would
capture some
votes mostly from his former political home. Note also that
many of those
who stood as independents are aligning themselves with
Makoni," Masunungure
said.
Another political analyst, who
requested anonymity, said MDC could
lose more voters because there will be
less protest votes in next month's
polls than in previous
elections.
"People have another choice and some MDC supporters will
definitely
vote for Makoni because they see Tsvangirai as having failed to
remove
Mugabe. They will put their vote on a promising Makoni," he said.
"Look at
the number of people who registered as voters when Makoni announced
his
candidature."
Ibbo Mandaza, Makoni's election co-ordinator,
last week claimed that
voter registration increased by at least 45% soon
after Makoni announced his
presidential bid. Makoni also claimed credit for
the increase in the number
of people who visited registration centres across
the country after he
announced he would run for President.
"For
us this is a huge sign and a positive development. This shows us
that Makoni
has given hope back to the people of Zimbabwe," Mandaza said.
But
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said his party would prevail in
next month's
polls because they are fighting "a weaker, confused and divided
Zanu
PF".
"We will prevail. The division in Zanu PF is God-given and
divine. We
will take good advantage of that to defeat Zanu PF once and for
all,"
Chamisa said, adding that the MDC now knows Zanu PF's rigging
strategies
from previous polls.
Chamisa believes that the MDC
has matured in strategy, experience and
has grown in numbers since its
formation in 1999.
But Makumbe warned Chamisa of such complacency.
He said if Mugabe was
cornered, he would fall back on his rigging machinery.
In previous polls
Zanu PF has used war veterans and youth militia to
intimidate and beat the
electorate into submission.
"Everyone
knows when Mugabe fears defeat, he unleashes violence and
employs all sorts
of tricks to ensure he is declared the winner," Makumbe
said.
Zanu PF spokesperson Nathan Shamuyarira could not be reached for
comment.
Whoever the winner will be, Zimbabweans need a
President who respects
human rights, the rule of law, promotes democracy,
fosters economic growth
and delivers them from the poverty they are
currently wallowing in.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
VARICHEM Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Limited has donated over 200 units of
the
life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to the Zimbabwe HIV/Aids
Activists Union (ZHAAU) for distribution to its members.
The
drugs include stavudine, indinavir capsules, varicomb tablets as
well as
zidovudine tablets and would last for one month if distributed to
226 people
living with HIV/Aids.
ZHAAU president Bernard Nyathi said the
donation would go a long way
in assisting HIV positive people who cannot
afford to buy the drugs from
private pharmacies.
"We are
appealing to other people out there who cannot afford buying
ARVs from
pharmacies to come forward and save their lives," said Nyathi.
He
urged other companies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to
help
people living with HIV/Aids.
Among the drugs is indinavir, a second
line drug which is prescribed
to HIV-positive people who would have
developed resistance to first-line
drugs.
Nyathi said in
private pharmacies, the drug costs about $2 billion for
a month's supply,
out of the reach for most Zimbabweans.
ZHAAU, established in 2006,
has a membership of 1 500.
Varichem Pharmaceuticals national sales
and marketing manager, Joe
Simango, said the donation was part of the
company's social responsibility.
"We hope this small contribution
will strengthen our partnership,"
said Simango.
It is estimated
that about 3 500 people die of HIV/Aids-related
illnesses every week in
Zimbabwe.
Nationally, between 300 000 and 500 000 people living
with HIV/Aids
are in urgent need of ARVs.
But official
government statistics indicate that only about 80 000
people are receiving
ARVs under the government-funded programme.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - A local pressure group has injected excitement
into the
forthcoming harmonised election campaign by introducing a
"meet-the-candidates" debate series that promises fireworks in hotly
contested constituencies.
Bulawayo Agenda says the meetings are
designed to offer candidates an
opportunity to present their manifestos and
election platforms to the
electorate.
Matabeleland has some of
the most interesting pairings in the
parliamentary (House of Assembly and
Senate) elections after the two
factions of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) failed to reunite.
Such constituencies include the
battle in the Makokoba parliamentary
seat, featuring MDC-Tsvangirai
vice-president Thoko Khupe and MDC-Mutambara's
secretary general, Welshman
Ncube.
The third candidate is Zimbabwe Defence Industries boss,
Tshinga Dube,
who has established a presence in the constituency with his
philanthropic
work.
There is also the Nkulumane parliamentary
seat where MDC-Mutambara
vice-president Gibson Sibanda faces the rival
faction's youth chairman,
Thamsanqa Mahlangu.
The meetings
kicked off yesterday, where in some of the most
interesting duels, former
minister of state for Information and Publicity,
Jonathan Moyo, an
independent candidate, was expected to face off with his
MDC and Zanu PF
challengers in rural Tsholotsho.
Speaking at the launch of the
series on Thursday, Bulawayo Agenda
director, Gorden Moyo, said they were
trying to promote tolerance in the
run-up to the elections.
"When politicians are in such functions they exhibit maturity and you
tend
to wonder why they want to kill each when they are out campaigning," he
said.
The launch was attended by several aspiring candidates
from across the
political divide.
Meanwhile, a glut of
independent candidates is threatening to undo the
divided MDC's chances of
maintaining its stranglehold on the city.
The independents claim to
be aligned to former finance minister, Simba
Makoni who is standing as an
independent presidential candidate.
Bulawayo province has a
staggering 15 independent candidates in the 16
parliamentary
seats.
One of the aspiring candidates, Kidwell Mujuru is eyeing the
Luveve
parliamentary seat. He said the independents stood a chance of
winning
because they were not "tainted by Zanu PF or MDC"
politics.
"People are tired of Zanu PF, which has not delivered for
the past 27
years," he said. "The MDC has also disappointed a lot of its
supporters
because it could not re-unite to fight the common
enemy.
"Besides, some of us grew up in these constituencies and the
people
know us."
Mujuru will have to contend with long-serving
legislator, Essaph
Mdlongwa of the MDC-Mutambara faction, Getrude Moyo (Zanu
PF), Reggie Moyo
(MDC- Tsvangirai) and Simba Phiri of the Federal Democratic
Union.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Obert Mpofu, the Minister of Industry and
International
Trade has ordered the immediate eviction of a senior Zanu PF
official
leasing a beer garden in his constituency for allegedly backing a
political
rival.
Mpofu, the outgoing MP for Bubi-Umguza
constituency is facing a
potentially bruising challenge from Bulawayo based
businessman, Mark
Mbayiwa, a ZIPRA ex-combatant and a popular figure among
war veterans in the
constituency.
Mbayiwa, who has been linked
to Zanu PF heavyweights backing former
Finance Minister Simba Makoni's
presidential bid, chose to stand as an
independent candidate after Zanu PF
ignored a provisional High Court order
barring it from declaring Mpofu the
sole candidate for the constituency
until a dispute on his endorsement was
settled.
While officially launching his campaign in Nyamandlovu,
Mpofu issued
thinly veiled threats to some members of the Zanu PF
Matabeleland provincial
executive claiming they were supporting
Mbayiwa.
An angry Mpofu then ordered that Zanu PF Matabeleland
North security
chief, Naison Ndlovu be evicted from an Umguza rural district
council beer
garden. Mpofu charged that Ndlovu, who has been leasing the
Nyamandlovu bar
for four years, had nominated Mbayiwa to stand in the
elections.
"As we speak right now, there are people who are using
party resources
campaigning for independent candidates," Mpofu told the
meeting.
"One of them is a provincial member who is amongst us
here. Naison
Ndlovu is busy campaigning for Mark Mbayiwa and you begin to
wonder what his
interest is and he is actually one of the people who
nominated him."
He warned that those who poke their nose in his
constituency "should
be wary of the consequences".
Mpofu added:
"I am actually interested in the heavyweights that are
said to have sent
him."
But on Wednesday, Ndlovu had still not been evicted from the
beer
garden, which is lying idle because council has not been able to secure
a
liquor licence.
Mbayiwa said the threats betrayed Mpofu's
fears that he was no longer
wanted by even Zanu PF supporters in the
constituency.
"The kind of language that he was using is shocking
for a Minister,"
he said. "But I am not surprised because he has been trying
to block me from
standing in the constituency since the delimitation
exercise started.
"He was also claiming that I am not a member of
Zanu PF but as far as
I know I have been in the party longer than him as a
member of PF Zapu.
Unless he means that he was the first to join Zanu when
he deserted Zapu
before the Unity Accord."
He claimed that
Mpofu had become so unpopular in the constituency to
the extent that he
"will not win a free and fair election".
The constituency is likely
to have the most exciting contest after
five candidates entered the race.
Other candidates are from the MDC factions
and United People's Party.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Scores of villagers are spending up to three
weeks queuing
for maize-meal in Lupane, because the miller contracted by the
Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) is struggling to meet spiralling demand amid
worsening
food shortages.
Several parts of Matabeleland have
been facing a severe shortage of
maize-meal since November last year, with
the GMB citing transport problems.
But government officials and aid
agencies warned last week the
situation had worsened dramatically following
heavy rains that rendered most
parts of the province
inaccessible.
The most affected areas are Binga, some parts of
Hwange and
Tsholotsho, hit by floods towards the end of
January.
Binga district administrator, Christopher Mutale, said a
number of
areas had not received maize for the two months because bridges
had been
washed away.
"Due to heavy rains, boulders were washed
down the mountains right
into the roads," Mutale said.
That
forced desperate villagers to camp at the provincial capital,
where the
miller is based but the GMB has reportedly not been able to
satisfy
demand.
The villagers sleep in the open every night.
"The situation has become so bad that people can even spend a month
waiting
for maize-meal," said Carswell Moyo, a non-governmental organisation
worker
in Lupane.
"When it is available they can only buy 10kg, not enough
to sustain a
normal rural household for a few days."
Zimbabwe
is struggling to import maize to meet a huge deficit recorded
during the
2006/7 agriculture season due to an acute shortage of foreign
currency.
But the GMB says it imports adequate maize from
Malawi, Zambia and
Tanzania to meet local demand.
The
maize-meal has also disappeared from the formal market in Bulawayo
as
millers allegedly prefer trading the limited quantities on the black
market,
where it fetches more.
According to the National Incomes and
Pricing Commission (NIPC), 10kg
of maize must be sold for $5 million but it
fetches over $20 million on the
parallel market.
Last week GMB
spokesperson, Joseph Katete, claimed it was false that
the parastatal was
failing to deliver enough maize and blamed the shortages
on millers he
accused of hoarding.
"The media must do something about the plight
of these people. Maybe
the authorities will be forced to act," said a civil
servant based in
Lupane, who requested anonymity.
He said he
had been touched by the plight of a blind couple, who spent
"several days"
queuing for maize-meal.
In Tsholotsho, the Civil Protection Unit
(CPU) appealed for urgent
donations for villagers affected by the
floods.
Zim Standard
By our
staff
BEITBRIDGE - President Robert Mugabe yesterday admitted Zanu
PF faces
a tough fight from "renegades" challenging its candidates in the 29
March
elections.
Speaking at his lavish 84th birthday bash,
Mugabe said the polls would
be the biggest test of the party's claims of
being a mass party.
Mugabe himself faces what is probably his
greatest electoral challenge
from former Zanu PF politburo member, Simba
Makoni and MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Snubbed by a number of
his lieutenants, all linked to Makoni,
including politburo members Solomon
Mujuru and Dumiso Dabengwa, Mugabe said
the defections threatened to rock
Zanu PF to its foundations.
A number of senior party leaders from
the region were conspicuous by
their absence at the communist-style event
whose organisers claimed they
spent $3 trillion on food and
drinks.
"Are we still the party that went to the war being
supported by the
masses and by the communities . . . when it was just us?"
Mugabe asked the
sizeable crowd of mostly school children. "Are we still
together?"
He said Makoni's decision to challenge him was a "big
provocation".
But he said he was ready for the fight and called on his
supporters not to
concede defeat yet.
"We must never accept
defeat as something coming our way," he said.
"Let's tell the people the
truth about the economic hardships and what the
government can do and can't
do about them."
Mugabe, who called Makoni "a political prostitute"
in a televised
interview marking his birthday on Thursday, said those who
had predicted his
inner circle would desert him had been proved
wrong.
He claimed Makoni's campaign was being bankrolled by
Australia and
Britain who were sponsoring him through non-governmental
organisations, but
offered no proof.
"I am ready for the
fight," he said. "It doesn't matter what (British
prime minister) Gordon
Brown or (US president) George W Bush say about us."
Mugabe, who
made an overnight stopover in Bulawayo on his way to
Beitbridge, only
arrived at lunchtime after sun-scorched youths bused in
from all the
country's provinces had waited for him since 9AM.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
ABOUT 70% of tobacco and wheat farmers might not plant
this season
because the government has not paid them for last year's
deliveries, The
Standard has been told.
The Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) promised to pay tobacco farmers 20%
of their receipts in
foreign currency under a programme the bank put in
place last year to boost
crop production.
Presenting his mid-year monetary policy statement
late last year, the
governor, Gideon Gono promised to settle outstanding
Foreign Currency
Accounts payments to tobacco farmers by the end of October
last year.
Last week, the farmers said they had still not been
paid.
Farmers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said non-payment
from the
RBZ and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the unviable prices of
commodities
and the shortage of farming inputs were eroding their confidence
in farming.
They predicted Zimbabwe would experience another poor
harvest this
season if farmers were not paid in time.
Zimbabwe
Commercial Farmers' Union (ZCFU) president Wilson Nyabonda
confirmed the
majority of tobacco and wheat farmers had not been paid.
He said
they were in a quandary over the non-payment and appealed to
the RBZ and the
GMB to pay them soon the inflation-adjusted prices for their
produce.
"Farmers can't prepare for the next season because
they cannot buy
fertiliser, seed or chemicals. They will soon be unable to
pay their
workers," he said.
Nyabonda said it was no longer
sustainable to get the $42 million a
tonne of wheat that the government
agreed with farmers last year because it
had been eroded by
hyperinflation.
"With that figure a farmer needs to sell over 200
tonnes of wheat to
buy a 200 litre drum of oil (lubricant) which, in short,
means we need
supplementary payment," he said.
Apart from that,
Nyabonda said farm workers, paid $3 million a month
last October, were now
earning 20 times that amount.
Last week the farmers held an
all-stakeholders' meeting in Harare
where they resolved to send emissaries
to the RBZ and GMB to press for
payment.
Nyabonda urged the
government to adopt a market-driven pricing policy
to address the
agriculture sector's problems.
"The answer to our problems is to
have an open market policy at farmer
level," he said.
The GMB's
public relations officer, Joseph Katete, had not responded
to questions
e-mailed to him while RBZ spokesperson Kumbirai Nhongo said he
was in a
meeting and would call back.
Questions sent to Nhongo's office were
not responded to by the time of
going to press.
Reports of
non-payment by the RBZ and the GMB would worsen the food
shortages,
especially in the wake of estimates that Zimbabwe would only
produce 30% of
its national maize requirements this year.
Already, about 3,5
million people are surviving on food aid, according
to UN
estimates.
Agriculture experts blame the food crisis on poor
agricultural
planning by government, and the excessive rains which fell
especially in
December last year.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU
SANDU
ZIMBABWE'S annual inflation, having breezed past the 100 000%
mark in
January, will continue to break new ground as government policies
continue
to fuel price increases of goods and services, analysts warned last
week.
Figures from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) showed
annual
inflation had risen to 100 580.2% in January, from December's 66
212.3%.
The figures from the government's own statistical agency
did not
surprise analysts, who say they reflect the economic meltdown is far
from
being subdued.
Analysts say inflation has excluded the
poor from the economy, eroding
their incomes.
"This is the
total collapse of the society and the only people who
remain in the economy
are those with liquid assets. The ordinary workers are
living outside the
economy," said Dr Daniel Ndlela, an independent economic
consultant.
Although month-on-month inflation slowed down to
119.3% points to
120.8% from the December figure of 240.1%, this is the
seventh month that
the country is in hyper-inflationary mode, breaking new
ground.
"It's unheard of," said Ndlela. "The average lifespan of
hyperinflation before the government collapses is six months." Ndlela
said.
"The wheels are off on that front," said David Mupamhadzi,
group
economist at the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group.
He said
the figures were not surprising, typical of the
hyper-inflationary
environment and would rise further if the government did
not "use
extraordinary measures to deal with the problem".
"We need a
cocktail of measures . . . we need to go back to the social
contract and
have all stakeholders together to resolve the problem,"
Mupamhadzi
said.
"You can't use one instrument alone. All stakeholders -
government,
labour and business - have to sit down and map out the way
forward."
But Callisto Jokonya, Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI)
president believes the nation does not need a social
contract but needs to
deal with the issue realistically. Business is not to
blame for the
ballooning inflation dragon, he said.
"The basic
definition of inflation is too much money chasing too few
goods. You cut the
money and you have cut inflation," he said.
In June business,
government, the Apex Council and the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions
signed two other protocols: Protocol on
Restoration of Production Viability
and Mobilisation, Pricing and Management
of Foreign Currency while the ZCTU
said it would inform its constituency.
The protocols aimed to
achieve a 25% inflation rate by the end of this
year while the government
budget deficit would come down to 10% of the Gross
Domestic
Product.
No sooner had the ink dried than the government scored an
own goal:
Statutory Instrument 159A of 2007 [Presidential Powers (Temporary
Measures)
(Amendment of National Incomes and Pricing Commission Act and
Education Act)
Regulations 2007] was promulgated.
The
instrument decreed a salary increment freeze as well as a freeze
on service
charges for a period of six months, undermining the spirit of
smart
partnership.
Analysts note that inflation drivers were in super
gear as the
exchange rate is deteriorating and the printing press is busy
with civil
servants' salaries and election campaign material.
Ndlela says only a government adhering to the rule of law and with
international community support to benchmark the foreign exchange to the
level of the parallel market rate will neutralize rising
inflation.
Jokonya says business does not need price controls but
foreign
currency to procure raw materials and boost production.
Zim Standard
Comment
THERE is so much at stake for the ruling party in this
year's
harmonised elections that it would be impossible for it not to resort
to
violence.
In previous elections where Zanu PF appeared to
command support,
violence was always part of its winning strategy and this
year it is
difficult to see how it can all of a sudden abandon recourse to
coercion
when it is under unprecedented pressure, and is keenly aware that
it cannot
claim to have the majority of voters behind it.
President Robert Mugabe has been silent ever since Dr Simba Makoni
announced
his intention to run for the presidency. In his reaction last week
in an
interview on the occasion of his 84th birthday, Mugabe attacked
Makoni,
describing him as a "political prostitute".
Violence is not just
physical. It assumes diverse forms and it could
be argued the language
Mugabe used is violent and engenders hostility
towards Makoni.
Mugabe has previously boasted of his party having "degrees in
violence", of
threatening to "drive fear into their hearts (white community
in this
country)" and giving the law enforcement agents the green light to
"bash"
opposition figures and their supporters. Criticism of Makoni by
Mugabe could
just be a prelude to opening the floodgates of violence. After
all it is
Zanu PF which risks losing this election.
Instead of disparaging
other contestants Mugabe and his party should
tell voters what it is they
think they can offer after 28 years in power.
Under the amended
Constitution, only elected MPs can be appointed
government ministers. The
desperation on the part of the ruling party
politicians to ensure they are
victorious at the polls and therefore
eligible for a Cabinet position is
going to be enormous. Given the on-going
fuel shortages, power and water
cuts, the shortage of basic commodities,
soaring school fees and bus fares,
a collapsing health and education sector,
as well as the highest inflation
and unemployment rate in the world, it is
increasingly difficult to find
anything positive they can offer voters.
Zanu PF is probably at its
most vulnerable since 2000 when the MDC
mounted a serious challenge that
nearly dislodged the ruling party from
power. But the difference between
2000 and March 2008 is that in 2000 the
government and the ruling party did
not fully appreciate the extent of the
opposition's support. Right now they
know how little their own support is
and that this is a common phenomenon
even among those who claim publicly to
be "solidly behind
Gushungo".
They make these declarations while secretly making
overtures to the
opposition. They know their days are numbered and this can
only heighten
their desperation. The protests, which gave rise to multiple
Zanu PF
candidates in some constituencies, signal levels of disgruntlement
which
point to a potentially violent election.
Calls by the law
enforcement agents for zero tolerance to violence
should be viewed with
scepticism. These are the same forces that cheered on
when Zanu PF was
staging its so-called "million men march" but were quick to
thwart similar
attempts by the opposition soon after the ruling party's own
display.
Last week police were accused of intimidating
opposition workers who
were discussing election campaign strategy in
Bulawayo, while earlier in
Harare two opposition candidates ended up
approaching the High Court after
they were impeded from inspecting the
voters' roll.
The absence of foreign observers a month before the
harmonised
elections, suggests that this is being done so the ruling party
can conduct
its dastardly acts in order to cow and condition voters ahead of
the arrival
of selected foreign observers.
The Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission needs to get tough: Any candidate
found encouraging
violence against others must be kicked out of the
elections.
Zim Standard
BY Bill
Saidi
NOBODY is born a vote rigger. I doubt that being a vote rigger can
be thrust
upon someone by Fate, like greatness, fame or sainthood. Vote
rigging cannot
grow on you either, as a beautiful tune might, or as someone
beautiful
might.
Sigmund Freud, my favourite psychoanalyst, is not
quoted on the psyche of
the vote rigger, which is a great pity. He probably
would have done an
illuminating job of it, if he examined one of Zimbabwe's
notorious vote
riggers.
In Zimbabwe, elections have been rigged since
independence, perhaps not
right, left and centre. But they have been rigged.
After the 2000
parliamentary elections 30-something results were nullified
by the courts.
What that amounted to was this: the victorious candidates
had not won freely
and fairly. Someone had effectively "rigged" their
election - how that had
been achieved smacked of "high crime"
chicanery.
Previously, Tobaiwa Mudede, probably one of the
longest-serving
registrar-generals in the world, told us it was impossible
to rig an
election in this country. Our elections, he seemed to be saying,
were
"rig-proof".
Incidentally, I have not heard him make that
ultra-confident statement
recently. Perhaps he has seen the light.
A
dastardlier act of rigging was committed in the 1990 parliamentary
elections
in Gweru. Many in Zanu PF would probably be outraged at this
suggestion, but
let us all maintain a calm demeanour, be objective,
difficult as this may
be.
Someone almost killed Patrick Kombayi in that election. He was not a
criminal. His opponent was Simon Muzenda of Zanu PF. Kombayi,
once-upon-a-time a big noise in the party, was standing for the Zimbabwe
Unity Movement (ZUM).
Kombayi lost that election and almost his life
as well, and is now crippled
for life. Muzenda won but is now deceased. It's
important to revisit that
bloody incident. It's part of our blood-spattered
electoral history. Most
people in Zanu PF hate to be reminded of another
incident, the double murder
of Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya in the
2000 parliamentary election
campaign.
The contest in Buhera was
between the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai and Zanu PF's
Kenneth Manyonda, who won.
Subsequently, a court decided there was something
rotten and declared the
election null and void.
It may be far-fetched to conclude that the double
murder constituted
rigging, but if there hadn't been this cold-blooded
incineration of the two,
who knows who might have won?
The real vote
rigger is someone driven by fanaticism - excessive, mistaken
belief in
something. Psychologists have hesitated to describe the mental
state of
suicide-bombers as being driven by fanaticism.
In Zimbabwe, the typical
vote rigger must be a person fanatically convinced
of the righteousness of
their party. Much evidence exists that such people
are to be found in Zanu
PF.
The people accused, charged, convicted, but then pardoned by the
President,
for the attempt on Kombayi's life, worked for a government
agency, our
version of the "licensed to kill" brigade.
Similarly, the
people accused - but so far not convicted - of the Buhera
atrocity, worked
for the government. They are roaming the land unchallenged.
I checked a
recent rumour that one of them was standing for election on a
Zanu PF
ticket. It is not true, thank God.
Advocate Pansy Tlakula, a South
African who has dealt with elections for a
long time, both in Africa and
elsewhere, told a startled audience in Harare
last month people - from Tokyo
to Timbuktu - will rig elections. There was
precious little you could do to
prevent it.
I remember concluding that election rigging was, like death
and taxes, here
to stay. But Advocate Tlakula told us of a silver lining.
With safeguards in
the law, rigging could be curbed, she said. Yet the real
challenge is,
again, with people who run the elections and who lead
political parties.
In Zimbabwe this time around, the elections could be
rigged by-you-know-who
as sure as inflation is going to soar
tomorrow.
I have always maintained the inevitability of rigging should
not lead us to
give up voting altogether, for that would be giving up on
democracy, and if
there is one country in the world that needs democracy
like oxygen it is
Zimbabwe.
We go into an election in which - so the
pundits tell us - the front-runner
is an 84-year-old self-confessed
Marxist-Leninist with "many degrees in
violence".
Some people will
vote for this geriatric politician, knowing that Fidel
Castro of Cuba,
slightly younger than Robert Mugabe and ailing, has at last
given up the
job.
They know Pervez Musharaff, the dictator of Pakistan, has lost an
election,
but seems determined to hang on.
All these are omens for
Mugabe. His time is up. Even the vote rigger who
confesses "I did it for my
party and my president" might not change things
at all. The die is
cast.
* saidib@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
"Have you not heard that Makoni is actually being put forward by
Mugabe in order
to divide the opposition vote? My sekuru, you know, my
mother's elder
brother who works at the Reserve Bank? Yes, that old man. He
heard it from
one of the very top guys. Zanu PF is just pretending that
Makoni is now an
enemy!"
The speaker may even check his mobile
phonebook to prove that he
really has an influential sekuru, as if that is
enough to authenticate his
story. Friends at the bar listen attentively to
this "revelation".
From the pub, the story can take any number of
new lives. The story
may soon find new form on emails sent to all friends
and associates in the
address book.
Within hours there is an
avalanche of information, none of it based on
fact. By the end of the week,
there may be so many theories doing the rounds
the ordinary reader simply
struggles to make sense of it all.
This is what happens in a
society where conspiracy theorising becomes
the norm. It is hardly
surprising that any significant political development
in Zimbabwe is often
met with scepticism and conspiracy theorising.
This is the fate
that has befallen Simba Makoni's bid for the
presidency. What most citizens
may not realise, is that conspiracy
theorising can be part of a regime's
architecture for maintaining its grip
on power.
It works in at
least three ways:
First, the regime is adept at creating its own
conspiracy theories for
at least two purposes: to denigrate a potential
opponent and also to
exonerate itself from responsibility for obvious
failure. Conspiracies help
to apportion blame.
Second, because
of limited sources of information and mistrust built
over time, citizens
become overly sceptical of otherwise normal events.
Whilst healthy
scepticism is essential in any society, it becomes
counterproductive when
citizens can longer see anything outside the mist of
conspiracy.
This leads to the third problem, whereby ordinary
citizens feel
disempowered by the apparent multiplicity of conspiracies. It
can reach
dangerous proportions when citizens cannot even trust their own
shadows.
In Zimbabwe all this works in favour of Mugabe and Zanu
PF. In fact,
some of the conspiracy theories against Makoni and members of
the opposition
may be encouraged or even created by the regime. Ironically,
the Internet,
with the cover of anonymity that it offers, has provided
boundless
opportunities for the regime and citizens to peddle all types of
conspiracy
theories.
In Makoni's case, whilst secretly
acknowledging the usefulness of
theorising which positions Makoni as a Zanu
PF agent (and therefore reducing
his likeability factor among the pro-MDC
supporters), the regime is also
promoting a contradictory conspiracy theory,
which posits that Makoni is
(like the MDC) a Western agent and therefore
part of a grand neo-colonialist
conspiracy to unseat Mugabe and undo the
gains of the "revolution". The
latter is intended to reduce Makoni's
likeability factor among Zanu PF
supporters for whom the term mutengesi
always bears ominous messages.
To illustrate the emptiness of this
approach, it is necessary to go
back in time and far away to the west coast
of Africa for a regime that used
similar notions of conspiracy in order to
perpetuate an unsavoury
dictatorship. In doing so, I rely shamelessly on the
work of veteran writer,
Martin Meredith whose book The State of Africa makes
both interesting and
sad reading on the plight of a whole continent since
independence.
In the 1960s, the West African country of Guinea was
ruled by a man
called Ahmed Sekou Toure. According to Meredith, Toure
"inhabited a world of
conspiracies" and often referred to what he termed a
"permanent conspiracy"
to unseat his regime. The culprits were Western
powers and all others that
he called the enemies of the "revolution". Whilst
Meredith admits that there
were some real plots against Toure, it appears
most were either "contrived"
or "fictitious". These plots provided the
pretext under which opponents were
purged, often without getting
opportunities to defend themselves in the
courts of law.
What
emerges from this is how these conspiracies and plots became
instruments of
control and marginalisation of the opposition. When teachers
went on strike,
Toure referred to it as the teachers' plot against the
revolution.
Similarly, when there were shortages of medicines,
Toure claimed that
it was the doctors' plot to denigrate the "revolution".
It got so absurd
that even news of a cholera epidemic was interpreted as a
"counter-revolutionary plot". It is said that Guinea national football
team's
loss in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1976 was also
interpreted
as a conspiracy.
In fact, Toure saw enemies
everywhere, including the ordinary market
traders so that by 1977 the
informal markets were closed and substituted by
huge state enterprises. When
the traders demonstrated against the closures,
the soldiers were ordered to
shoot on sight.
Poor planning and bad management meant that the
state enterprises
largely failed and the result was that whereas Guinea had
been
self-sufficient at independence, it became a net importer of food
hardly 20
years later.
Now, when one observes the agricultural
decline, suffocating state
intervention in industry, Operation
Murambatsvina, allegations of opposition
plots to bomb Harare and trains,
general economic decline in Zimbabwe, etc
the Guinea account bears several
similarities in terms of tactics and
trends. Even the late veteran
nationalist Ndabaningi Sithole was put on
trial on the basis of an alleged
plot to assassinate Mugabe.
The problem is that ordinary citizens
have become victims of the
notion of conspiracy, giving rise to a more
subtle form of conspiracy
theorising among them. The trouble with the
conspiracy theory culture is
that ordinary citizens begin to withdraw -
through a process of
self-exclusion - from participation in the affairs of
the state, in the
belief they do not have control over the mystic forces.
They retreat because
they feel powerless in the face of seemingly omnipotent
and shadowy forces
over which they have no levers. This may also explain
high levels of the
apathy. This conspiracy theory culture among the public
is a form of mental
torture that is just as disempowering as physical
violence.
The challenge for Makoni and his opposition counterparts
is to
neutralise and overcome these conspiracies by providing clear and
decisive
information. A more informed public is unlikely to resort to
conspiracy
theorising.
But above all, they need to form a clear
front that demonstrates to
the public that they are serious about effecting
change. The public itself
needs to be careful. By wilfully peddling these
theories, they have become
willing tools for their own
disempowerment.
They, too, may soon start running away from their
own shadows,
thinking they are products of a conspiracy.
*
Dr Magaisa is based at The University of Kent Law School and can be
contacted at a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk or wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Zim Standard
THE media are an essential part of the
election process.
We are the main channel for getting information to voters
on their right to
vote, reporting what the various parties stand for and
what the main issues
in the campaign are.
Below we publish a
summary of key standards produced by the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network,
drawn from material used by the International
Federation of Journalists and
media watchdog Article 19, to which The
Standard and our sister paper the
Zimbabwe Independent are happy to
subscribe. We have made changes where we
think necessary to update the
material but essentially it remains a timeless
statement of elementary
principles.
If you think we have
departed from these principles in any way please
do not hesitate to contact
me on 773930/8 or at idenw@zimind.co.zw.
The first
duty of a journalist is to:
*report accurately and without
bias;
*report only in accordance with facts whose origin are known
and not
suppress essential information;
*observe professional
secrecy regarding the source of information
obtained in
confidence;
*report in a balanced manner. (If a candidate makes an
allegation
against another candidate, the journalist should seek comment
from both
sides wherever possible);
*do his/her utmost to
correct any inaccurate published information
that is found to be prejudicial
to a candidate;
*report as far as possible the views of candidates
and political
parties directly and in their own words, rather than as they
are described
by others;
*avoid using language or expressing
sentiments that may promote
discrimination or violence on any grounds,
including race, gender, sexual
orientation, language, or
religion;
*do his/her utmost when reporting the opinions of those
who do
advocate discrimination or violence to put such views in a clear
context and
to report the opinions of those against whom such sentiments are
directed;
*not accept any inducement from a politician or
candidate;
*not make any promise to a politician about the content
of a news
report;
*take care in reporting the findings of
opinion polls.
Any opinion poll report should wherever possible
include the following
information:
*who commissioned and
carried out the poll and when;
*how many people were interviewed,
where and how they were interviewed
and the margin of error;
*the exact wording of the questions.
A journalist shall regard the
following as grave professional
offences:
*plagiarism
*malicious misrepresentation;
*acceptance
of a bribe or favours in any form in consideration of
either publication or
suppression of views.
There should be a clear separation between
fact and comment. News
reporting should reflect the facts as honestly
perceived by journalists.
Comment may reflect the editorial line of our
publications but should be
clearly flagged as such.
Our
journalists reporting an election campaign have a number of duties
which
include:
*Reporting what the candidates say, and;
*Digging beneath the surface to uncover hidden campaign issues.
Our
reporters will report what they see and hear without exaggeration.
Over the years, we have witnessed the increased use of hate speech and
inflammatory language during the campaign period. The campaigns have also
been marred by violence and damage to property. Politicians have inflamed
this through violent language. It is not our job to censor what they say but
to report accurately what they say. But when reporting inflammatory
language, we will balance it by reporting the view of those who are being
attacked.
It is not the job of a reporter to criticise what a
politician says.
That can be done on the editorial pages. But it is
also imperative
that we point out where they are not being consistent or
where they are
applying double standards.
Is a candidate saying
the same thing this week as he was last week? Is
he saying the same as other
candidates from the same party on the same
issue?
We will be
guided by these basic journalistic tenets in our coverage
of the polls and
sincerely hope that parties will understand that the role
of the media is to
report events even if the reportage turns out to be
unpalatable to
them.
Above all we hope that by applying the standards above we can
help
produce an electorate capable of making informed choices.
Who would Jesus vote for?
THE above question would elicit a multitude
of responses immediately,
even from those who claim to be
neutral.
With crucial elections just around the corner, our nation
has been
torn once again with the distinct atmosphere of hatred and
intolerance
polluting our people's minds. Some religious figures have come
out in
support of certain candidates and even respected newspapers, their
columnists and publisher, have been openly campaigning for one of the
candidates in the forthcoming presidential election of 29
March.
Such is the level of desperation in our country. This is not
surprising as almost everyone in our country and outside considers the cause
of our crisis as a nation to be purely political. I have deliberately
focused on the presidential election as it has generated the most
excitement.
All candidates in the upcoming presidential
election would want to
claim the religious vote and all the candidates may
have at some point
sought to portray themselves as religious people. The
question then is,
shall we vote for Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe, Simba
Makoni or Langton
Towungana?
In trying to decide on a
candidate, should Christians simply try to
find the more religious of the
contestants? Or should we perhaps look at a
list of issues to find out which
candidate best articulates our concerns on
all these issues? For many of us
the major issues could be the economy,
human rights, a new constitution,
land, sovereignty, health and education or
other issues that we may consider
most important.
For true Christians there is only one yardstick by
which we may decide
how we shall vote. This measure is God's viewpoint on
the elections. All
Christians have an obligation to follow Christ and to
adopt His view on
issues affecting their lives (Colossians 3:2). In the
minds of many people
elections are built around modern issues, hence it may
seem difficult to
determine how issues that affect us today are relevant to
Jesus Christ, who
lived on earth over 2 000 years ago. For us to know who
would get Jesus'
vote we need to understand these issues and to have a mind
similar to that
which was in Christ (Philippians 2:5). Let us take a look at
these issues.
In Genesis 1:1 the Bible tells us that God created
the heavens and the
earth, thus establishing God as the sole authority on
earth. God also
created angels, among who was Lucifer, a perfect angel on
whom God bestowed
the authority to rule over the earth (Ezekiel 28: 12-15).
Lucifer, the great
archangel rebelled against God, deceiving one third of
the angels and sought
to overthrow God Himself (Isaiah 14:12-15). This same
Lucifer is known today
in Christendom as Satan the Devil. Satan was cast
down from heaven to earth,
together with his angels, by God after his
rebellion. Those angels who
rebelled with Satan are today known as
demons.
Even after the 29 March elections, Satan will still be the
ruler of
this world! This knowledge is very important in deciding how to
cast your
vote because it reveals the true nature and origin of our modern
world as we
know it.
There are no Christian governments
anywhere in the world, just as God's
principles cannot be seen in modern
governments. No matter who holds office,
we will always see untold evils. No
man-made government has been able or
will be able to bring about universal
benefits for all humanity.
Some politicians may appear more pious
than others but they can never
run their governments by the law of God. In
fact, they make strenuous
efforts to keep the church and state
separate.
Some Christians may feel that it is their duty to "do
their part" to
make this world a better place to live in by voting or taking
part in active
politics. If Christ were to appear on ZTV, He would urge all
His followers
to "come out of her my people, that ye may not be partakers"
in the sins of
the world (Revelation 18:4). He would reiterate His message
of the imminent
Kingdom of God. Christ would never run for office, and He
would certainly
not vote for a candidate who is working to further a system
that will soon
be completely destroyed and replaced by the perfect
government of God with
Him as its head.
The Kingdom of God will
"crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an
end, but will itself endure
forever." (Daniel 2:44). In the perfect Kingdom
of God there will not be any
candidates to vote for. The duty of all
Christians today is not to try to
reform human government, but to give the
desperate people of this nation and
this world hope by showing them the
perfect future God has in store for all
who follow Him.
Michael Chifamba
Bradfield
Bulawayo
---------------
Makoni a
refreshing candidate
ALLOW me, through your paper, to express my
observations on the forthcoming presidential elections.
I have
always believed that a national leader should personify the
character,
aspirations and fabric of the nation they wish to lead.
It is
therefore refreshing to note the utterances from Simba Makoni
that avoid
vitriol and enmity against other presidential candidates.
"No
person is worth killing for or dying for, neither Mr Mugabe nor
Simba
Makoni.
"I am not challenging President Mugabe, but I am offering
myself to be
the president instead of President Mugabe."
Simba
Makoni consistently asserts that he is not "fighting or against"
Tsvangirai
or Mutambara or Mugabe. How refreshing! There is no hate or
antagonistic
language here. Zimbabweans are a polite, respectful and
peace-loving people.
These are virtues, not weaknesses, as some would have
us believe. They do
not wish to attain "degrees in violence" but degrees and
doctorates in
self-development and that of their country.
So far, journalists
have been unable to corner Makoni into verbal
sparring sessions with the
other presidential candidates. I am not ashamed
to be in Makoni's
corner!
Remember, his election manifesto stipulates the need for
national
healing and reconciliation. The man hates divisions and senseless
'isms'.
Petros Ruwocha
Harare