Reuters
Sat Feb 24,
2007 10:29am ET
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
GWERU, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -
Celebrating his 83rd birthday on Saturday,
President Robert Mugabe accused
his main opposition rival of trying to oust
him with British help, but vowed
these efforts would fail.
Mugabe has ruled the southern African country
since independence from
Britain in 1980 and critics, who accuse the
president of human rights
violations, say his nationalist policies have
plunged the economy into deep
crisis.
Addressing thousands of
supporters from his ruling ZANU-PF party at a party
to mark his birthday,
Mugabe said his government was working hard to turn
around the
economy.
He said, however, his plans were being sabotaged by those trying
to
overthrow him, including Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC, those puppets of the
British, are trying to
organize to remove us from power to fulfil an agenda
given to them by the
British," he said.
"But their efforts will come
to nought because we have the support of the
people of the people and, even
if he denounces us from the top of a mountain
or appeals for foreign
intervention from there, we are not going to fall,"
he said at the party in
a stadium in the quiet central Zimbabwe city of
Gweru.
While ZANU-PF
laid on a feast for his birthday, the IMF expressed deep
concern over
Zimbabwe's deteriorating social and economic conditions.
The main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change has said the party is "in
bad
taste" given the state of the economy. Doctors, nurses and teachers have
staged wildcat strikes demanding higher wages to cushion against rampant
inflation.
IMF REAFFIRMS SANCTIONS
The International Monetary
Fund said on Friday it would maintain its
suspension of financial and
technical assistance to Zimbabwe. Harare had
failed to clear its debt
arrears and address the worsening economic and
social crisis, the IMF
said.
Mugabe, who turned 83 on Wednesday, routinely lambastes British
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush. On Saturday he said:
"Neither
Bush nor Blair can bring regime change here. We will never allow
that."
The government banned political rallies and protests in volatile
townships
and districts in the capital Harare on Wednesday, a move the
opposition
compared to a "state of emergency". On Friday the police canceled
an
opposition meeting in the country's second largest city of
Bulawayo.
The 3-month ban followed weekend clashes between riot squads and
opposition
supporters when the police fired teargas and water cannons to
stop a major
rally.
Mugabe co-led Zimbabwe's 1970s fight to end
minority white rule and rejects
charges he has run down the economy. He says
Britain has orchestrated a
Western sabotage campaign to punish him for the
seizure of white-owned farms
for blacks.
The leader will officially
end his term in March 2008, but ZANU-PF is
considering a change to electoral
laws which would give him two more years
in power.
Yahoo News
Sat Feb 24, 6:50 AM ET
GWERU, Zimbabwe (AFP) - Residents of the
host town for Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe's 83rd birthday party, went
about their usual business
Saturday as ruling party loyalists converged at a
stadium in the city for
the feast.
Mugabe turned 83 on Wednesday,
showered with praise and birthday wishes by
supporters but facing mounting
pressure to step down over economic recession
which has condemned the
majority in the former regional breadbasket to
grinding poverty.
In
Mkoba, a poor township in Gweru, 275 kilometres (170 miles) southwest of
the
capital, most residents stood by and watched as schoolchildren filed to
the
stadium and ruling party faithful arrived by the bus and truckload to
attend
Mugabe's traditional birthday party.
"It's no different from any day so I
will go ahead with my business," said
Elina Masumse, standing behind a
makeshift vegetable stall.
At least 10,000 people, many of them
schoolchildren, thronged the stadium
and were treated to entertainment by
traditional dancers, praise poets,
school choirs and a martial
band.
Held under the theme: "Youth empowerment for a prosperous and
peaceful
Zimbabwe," this year's celebrations came against a bleak backdrop
of
economic crisis characterised by inflation at nearly 1,600 percent,
massive
joblessness and shortages of foodstuffs such as cooking oil, sugar
and more
recently bread.
Mugabe is the oldest-serving leader in
Africa and the last of the 1960s
nationalists still in power in southern
Africa.
He has indicated he would step down at the expiry of his current
term in
2008 but his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
(ZANU-PF) last December passed a resolution to extend his term by another
two years.
The resolution has yet to be approved by the party's
central committee and
the opposition has vowed to fight the plan vehemently,
saying the country
cannot afford two more years with Mugabe at the
helm.
At the birthday venue Mugabe's supporters waved banners reading
"ZANU-PF
Youth League Says Mugabe for 2010," as well as "Success Politics
not Ouster
Politics please," and "Mugabe is Right."
By Violet
Gonda
24 February 2007
Robert Mugabe celebrated turning 83 on
Wednesday but for the ordinary people
in the country there is precious
little to cheer about. His birthday could
also not have come at a worse
time. Analysts say the country is on the brink
of collapse. Zimbabwe has the
world's highest inflation rate at 1600 percent
while unemployment is pegged
at 80 percent. Food, fuel, power and foreign
currency are in short supply.
Massive celebrations were planned by Zanu PF
for Saturday amidst accusations
the ruling party sought over US$1,2 million
to finance the bash.
Our
Correspondent Simon Muchemwa said on Saturday the ZBC failed to screen
live
coverage of Mugabe's party on television. This is the first time that
the
state broadcaster has failed to broadcast this event, since the ruling
party
began celebrating the octogenarian's 21st February movement, several
years
ago. Muchemwa said it appeared as if the ZBC experienced a technical
problem, as Mugabe was about to deliver his speech. It's not known if it was
a real technical problem or deliberate blackout.
This is the second
time this week that the ZBC has had problems with airing
the controversial
leader's speech. On Friday the Zimbabwe Independent
reported that the state
broadcaster had heavily censored Mugabe's remarks on
Zanu PF's explosive
power struggle. The paper said the editing of Mugabe's
birthday interview,
which was broadcast on Wednesday, resulted in the
removal of what would have
been a valuable insight into the president's
thinking.
We were not
able to get full details of what transpired in Gweru on
Saturday, where the
birthday party is being held, at the time of going to
press. But a source
close to the events told us one prominent banner at the
birthday bash read:
"Succession politics not ouster politics please".
Observers say this is very
telling of the infighting within ZANU PF. Two
factions allegedly led by
retired general Solomon Mujuru and another by
rural affairs minister Emerson
Mnangagwa are said to be fighting for control
of the party which will
determine who succeeds Mugabe. Plans by Mugabe to
extend his own term via
the harmonisation of the presidential election due
in 2008 with the
parliamentary one in 2010 have also met stiff resistance
within and outside
Zanu PF.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Zimbabwean
(24-02-07
COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE SPECIAL GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE ZIMBABWE
CONGRESS OF TRADE
UNIONS (ZCTU) HELD ON 24 FEBRUARY 2007 AT QUALITY
INTERNATIONAL HOTEL.
We, the general council members of
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU), meeting at the Quality
International Hotel in Harare today 24
February 2007 to, among other things,
discuss the ultimatum issued by the
General Council meeting of 27 January
2007 to the government that;
... Discussed and analysed the
economic outlook in Zimbabwe and its
effects on the general
workforce;
... Explored the nature and extent of the national
crisis facing the
economy;
... Shared experiences on
socio-economic development in the context of the
ongoing crisis;
and
... Deliberated on proposed National Health Scheme as informed
by our past
positions and the experiences with the National Social Security
Authority.
We therefore observe that;
... The government
neither responded to nor complied with the ZCTU
ultimatum that had the
following demands;
1.. That the Government should take steps to address
the economic
meltdown;
2.. That parties to the Tripartite Negotiating
Forum should as a matter
of urgency sign the Kadoma Declaration and the
Prices and Incomes
Stabilization Protocol;
3.. That Industry at
National Employment Council level should ensure
that parties go back to the
negotiating table and review current wages as
they are still fall far below
the PDL;
4.. That the Government should as a matter of urgency address
the
concerns of the striking doctors without victimizing them;
5..
That the Government must urgently address the contents of the
September 13
2006 ZCTU petition that led to the mass protests countrywide;
6.. That
the ZCTU totally rejects the implementation of the proposed
National Health
Scheme until and unless it has been agreed to by the
workers, the owners of
the money;
7.. That all these concerns be addressed by the 23rd February
2007
failure which the ZCTU General Council will meet on the 24th February
2007
and decide on the dates of the next industrial action.
...
The government has called for an urgent Technical Committee meeting of
the
TNF on Monday 26 February 2007;
b.. Government has not fully resolved the
Civil Servants' demands for a
PDL linked minimum wage;
Dear Family and Friends,
For the last hour a steady trickle of people
have walked past my home, in
pairs and small groups. Many women are in bright
red church uniforms, all
have scarves covering their heads, some have shawls
and blankets over their
shoulders. They are going to the nearby cemetery. A
small blue, dilapidated
pick-up truck goes past, a red flag hanging sodden
from a wing mirror. It
is the only vehicle and is laden with mourners perched
precariously on the
edges of the back, the coffin lying in the middle, at
their feet. It is
raining intermittently, the wind is gusting and we are
drawing breath from
the advance storm winds of Cyclone Favio. There are
leaves and branches
strewn on the roads and between the blasts of wind come
the sounds of the
funeral. Singing, clapping, drumming, ululating and blowing
of a horn. This
is a very familiar picture of life in Zimbabwe this February
2007. It is a
picture of real, ordinary people in the country with the
highest inflation
in the world and the lowest life expectancy.
This
picture is a world away from the live coverage of President Mugabe's
83rd
birthday celebrations being shown on television as I write. The live
coverage
was prominently advertised but something went badly wrong. This
was "live"
coverage Zimbabwe Television style: it began an hour later than
advertised
without excuse or apology; lasted for an hour without an
appearance of the
President and then stopped without excuse or apology -
altogether! In the
hour that there was coverage I saw a massive white tent
on a stadium sports
field. Chairs covered in white, decorated with gold
sashes. Hundreds of
people wearing red sashes around their necks - an
interesting choice of
colour: the same as the church women at the funeral,
the same as the colour
of the opposition MDC! Two young teenagers were
commentating - children who
were not born or even thought about when
President Mugabe came to power 27
years ago. Children who have never known
any other leader, never seen any
other political party in power in their
lives. Around the stadium grounds
were printed banners which read: "Youth
league says Mugabe for 2010" and
"Succession politics not ouster politics
please." There wasn't much else to
see at that stage and no chance to see
anything more as the 'live' coverage
never came back. At the time of
writing we can only assume that it was a
cyclone that disrupted the
broadcast.
Cyclones are a rare event in
Zimbabwe and they seem to bring winds of
change. Just a few months after
Cyclone Eline in 1999 Zimbabwe's land
invasions began and political and
economic turmoil took hold. That was
seven years ago and perhaps now Cyclone
Favio may blow in new winds of
change. Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy. Copyright cathy
buckle 24 February 2007 http://africantears.netfirms.com
New Zealand Herald
Email this storyPrint this story 11:00AM Saturday February 24,
2007
By Steve Bloomfield
At least four people and died and scores have
been injured after a cyclone
ripped through central Mozambique
yesterday.
Winds reached 170mph as Cyclone Favio powered its way through
homes and
hotels in the tourist town of Vilanculos.
Authorities in
Zimbabwe were last night warning residents that the cyclone,
now downgraded
to a tropical storm, would hit low lying areas in the east of
the country
over the weekend.
The cyclone destroyed thousands of homes in Mozambique,
also hitting
hospitals and schools.
Electricity pylons were ripped
up, trees uprooted and fields full of crops
such as cassava and maize were
washed away.
In Vilanculos, 600 prisoners escaped when the local jail was
destroyed.
The town's mayor, Selmane Amugy, said the cyclone had hit the
coast during
the night while most people were still sleeping.
"There
are no words to describe the drama, I haven't seen such a thing in my
life,"
he told Reuters news agency.
A resident, 35-year-old Mario Muaca said his
house had been destroyed.
"I think this is a catastrophe," he
said.
The worst may yet be to come.
Mozambqiue has already been hit by
severe flooding over the past few weeks
which has made more than 120,000
people homeless.
Continuing rainfall in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi is
likely to put more
pressure on the Zambezi river, causing more flooding
downstream in
Mozambique.
Cyclone Favio hit the same area affected by
the flooding - it ploughed
through Caia where the government's disaster
relief operation is based.
A second storm, Cyclone Gamede, was just north
of Madagascar yesterday with
forecasters in the region predicting it could
hit the same area of
Mozambique on Sunday.
The Red Cross appealed for
more aid yesterday as they warned that the number
of diarrhoea cases among
the displaced was rising, increasing the risk of a
cholera
epidemic.
"After the floods there has been a slow water decline," said
Oxfam's
Caroline Hooper-Box, "but it is possible that the cyclone brings
heavy rain
which will raise the water level again. We are very worried about
the threat
of a health emergency. There is not enough water and
sanitation."
Press Release No. 07/30
February 23, 2007
The Executive Board of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) met today to
consider issues related to
Zimbabwe's outstanding arrears to the Poverty
Reduction and Growth
Facility-Exogenous Shocks Facility (PRGF-ESF) Trust.1
The Board also
considered the sanctions, including the suspension of voting
and related
rights, that had been imposed on Zimbabwe with respect to its
arrears to the
IMF's General Resources Account (GRA),2 which were settled in
full in
February 2006 (see Press Releases No. 06/33 and No. 06/45).
With regard to
Zimbabwe's outstanding arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust, the
Board expressed
deep concern over the deteriorating economic and social
conditions and
regretted that the authorities have not undertaken the
policies recommended
by the IMF. The Board also noted that Zimbabwe's
payments towards settlement
of its PRGF-ESF arrears have been minimal and
that its arrears to the Trust
have further increased. The Board urged the
authorities to decisively
address the ongoing economic crisis by immediately
implementing a
comprehensive stabilization package comprising several
mutually reinforcing
actions centered on fiscal tightening (including
transferring the
quasi-fiscal activities carried out by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe to the
budget) and price and exchange regime liberalization. The
Board also called
for fundamental structural reforms, including public
enterprise and civil
service reforms, strengthened property rights and
improvements in
governance.
In light of Zimbabwe's deteriorating policy performance and
payments to the
IMF, the Board kept in place the decisions previously taken
to address
Zimbabwe's arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust-the declaration of
noncooperation,
the suspension of technical assistance, and the removal of
Zimbabwe from the
list of PRGF-ESF-eligible countries. The Board urged
Zimbabwe to resolve its
remaining arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust promptly,
and agreed that it will
again consider Zimbabwe's arrears to the Trust in
six months.
Zimbabwe has been in continuous arrears to the IMF since February
2001 and
is the only case of protracted arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust, which
currently amount to SDR 86 million (about US$129 million).
With respect
to the suspension of Zimbabwe's voting and related rights, the
Board made no
decision and agreed to return to the issue at a later date.
1 http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/prgf.htm
2
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/pam/pam45/pdf/PAM45.pdf
IMF
EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Public Affairs Media
Relations
Phone:202-623-7300Phone:202-623-7100
Fax:202-623-6278Fax:202-623-6772
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2007/pr0730.htm
I understand that the government has formed an "Economic Recovery
Council"
and that it has as its membership 24 Ministers and 9 Permanent
Secretaries
and 5 representatives of the private sector.
It has held its
first meeting and decided among other things that price
control issues will
be dealt with in 48 hours!
I am led to understand that the new body will
be responsible for price
control and for guiding wage policy in the belief
that this will help
stabilise the economy and curb the present run away
inflation.
If it is true that the teacher unions won their case on
Thursday and the new
teacher salaries are what was being demanded then this
opens the door to
huge salary rises in all government departments. This can
only be funded by
printing money and this in turn will maintain the
inflationary pressures in
the economy.
This new initiative suggests
that the proposed total wage and price freeze
scheduled for the 1st March is
no longer an option. Even the regime has
realised that this would be
suicidal. However if what I hear they are trying
to do with this unwieldy new
body is true then it is going to be a circus. I
understand they are going to
try and fix prices for the majority of key
consumer items. With hundreds of
manufacturers, thousands of retailers and
many thousand of products this is
an impossible task. These are the last
ditch measures of a desperate
regime.
The dollar - a simple and honest commentator on the situation
says it all -
today I heard of one fuel station selling fuel at Z$7 000 per
litre. The
dollar is not far behind. There is no faith in the future, no
trust of
government, no change in the fundamentals - there can be no
economic
recovery under such circumstances, it is just
impossible.
There is only one way out of this mess - for Zanu PF it is
the dip tank
where it can clean off all the ticks on its skin. For the rest
of us it is
negotiations for a transitional government that will draft a
new
constitution and hold fresh elections and while that is going on get
the
international community back on board and helping us stabilise and
turn
around a broken economy and society.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo,
24th February 2007
From Business Day (SA), 24 February
President Robert Mugabe's government bought some relief with a
state workers'
pay deal but Zimbabwe's economic woes could spur more job
boycotts and
unrest, analysts said on Friday. A deepening economic crisis
has stoked
political tension in Zimbabwe, where workers are wrestling with
the world's
highest inflation rate at 1600%. Political analysts say rising
worker
anger - more than opposition threats of protest - was the most
immediate
threat to Mugabe's 27-year rule. The largest teachers' union and
government
on Thursday agreed to a new wage package that would apply to all
public
servants and teachers called off their strike, which authorities had
feared
would gain momentum and spill onto the streets. Political analysts
said by
bowing to the demands of the largest workers' grouping, the
government had
bought itself time and prevented, for now, confrontation with
government
employees. "This is a huge political relief for Mugabe. He has
managed to
remove the sting from the bees for now," Eldred Masunungure, a
political
commentator said.
But Mugabe, who has in the past
outwitted opponents, faced mounting pressure
from a sliding economy seen in
acute shortages of foreign currency, food and
fuel and rising unemployment.
The International Monetary Fund sees inflation
hitting 4000% by the end of
the year. That and opposition calls for a
defiance campaign against the
economic crisis and Mugabe's plans to hang
onto power under a plan to merge
presidential and parliamentary elections in
2010, would increase pressure on
Mugabe. Mugabe's government on Wednesday
imposed a three-month ban on
political rallies and protests in Harare's
volatile townships which analysts
saw as a pre-emptive move against the
opposition, whose supporters clashed
with riot squads last weekend. The
veteran leader, who turned 83 this week,
also faced growing dissent within
his ruling Zanu PF party over the election
plan and has accused some
colleagues of seeking his early exit. "For now
Mugabe will breathe a huge
sigh of relief but the wider economic crisis will
haunt him," says
Masunungure. "There is more trouble ahead."
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE AND
VALENTINE MAPONGA
POLICE have imposed an illegal curfew in
Harare's high-density areas
as State-sponsored repression mounts in the face
of public outrage at the
denial of democratic space to voices opposed to the
government, The Standard's
investigations have confirmed.
The
curfew comes as it emerged last week that the three-month police
ban on
political rallies and demonstrations was illegal as it exceeds the
one-month
limit prescribed by the draconian Public Order and Security Act
(Posa).
The police last week banned all political rallies and
demonstrations
in Harare and Chitungwiza on the pretext they could
degenerate into
violence.
Last week, the police forcibly
dispersed an MDC rally, resulting in
scores of people being
injured.
On Friday, police again barred Morgan Tsvangirai, the
president of the
anti-Senate Movement for Democratic Change faction, from
holding a rally in
Bulawayo.
Tsvangirai intended to launch his
2008 Presidential election campaign.
Heavily armed police, wielding
guns, batons, shields, teargas
canisters, on foot and in armoured trucks,
supported by Israeli- imported
anti-riot water cannons, barricaded the venue
and barred Tsvangirai from
entering the venue.
The police
action affected the operations of the Bulawayo City Council
as workers were
forced to knock off earlier than usual after police denied
residents
entrance to the council premises.
Tsvangirai said in future his
faction would not seek police clearance
for their rallies. He echoed the
position taken the National Constitutional
Assembly and the Zimbabwe
National Students Union who vowed to ignore the
ban.
Yesterday,
the police told the opposition United People's Party (UPP)
their
inter-district meeting in Bulawayo had been cancelled. UPP had
obtained
police clearance for their meeting set for today.
UPP president
Daniel Shumba confirmed the ban but vowed they would go
ahead with their
meeting. But the police are not restricting their
operations to opposition
parties.
A snap survey by The Standard revealed that the police had
imposed an
illegal curfew in Harare's political flashpoints.
There have been arbitrary beatings of people in Epworth, Highfield,
Kambuzuma, Kuwadzana, Mufakose, Glen View and Glen Norah, under the cover of
darkness.
One police victim, Ndaba Maphosa of Highfield,
covered in bruises all
over his body, said he was beaten up by the police on
Wednesday around 11:00
PM while on his way home from Speedy Sport Bar in the
Southerton area, where
he had gone to watch a soccer match on
television.
"They beat us up indiscriminately, accusing us of being
MDC
supporters. It was a terrible moment," Maphosa said.
Another victim, Warren Sibanda (36) of Kambuzuma Section 3 said he was
severely assaulted by a group of police officers while on his way home from
a nearby bar.
"It's so unreasonable. It's as if we are back in
the colonial days
when Ian Smith's forces could do anything with impunity,"
he said.
Even night club owners are now complaining of plunging
sales as a
direct result of the police action.
Virginia Munyama
of Fiyo Bar at Machipisa shopping centre said her
sales had dropped
significantly since the police action started. She said
the police ordered
them to close the sports bar around 8PM every day
although their licence
allows them to open until late.
Both the imposition of a curfew and
the ban on political rallies and
demonstrations are illegal under the
Constitution, The Standard established
yesterday.
Under Posa
police can only impose a ban on political rallies and
demonstrations for a
period of one month.
Reads a section of POSA: " . . . he (police
officer) may issue an
order prohibiting, for a specified period not
exceeding oane month, the
holding of all public demonstrations or any class
of public demonstrations
in the area or part thereof
concerned."
Acting director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,
Irene Petras
said a three-month ban was illegal.
"In terms of
section 27 of Posa, the police are only entitled to
impose of a ban that
does not exceed one month. What they are doing is
ridiculous," Petras
said.
She said before the police could impose a ban, they were
required
under the law to advise the people affected and all interested
parties so
that they could make their representations.
The
International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute said the
ban breached
the right to freedom of assembly protected by international law
and the
country's constitution.
Questioned about the legality of the ban,
police spokesperson,
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday said
he was uncertain on
the issue. "I will have to check on that. In any case,
if the one month
expires the police can still renew the ban, if there is
still need," he
said.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
THE
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the largest labour
grouping in the
country, has called for a two-day stayaway in April, citing
the failure by
the government to act on their ultimatum.
On 27 January, the ZCTU
gave the government a four-week ultimatum
demanding, among other things,
that "the government should take steps to
address the economic meltdown . .
. should, as a matter of urgency, address
the concerns of striking doctors
without victimising them".
At a special general council meeting
held in Harare yesterday, the
ZCTU resolved that: " . . . all workers be
mobilised between now and March
31 2007 to stay away from work from 3 to 4
April 2007".
In addition, "national actions will be called for
after every three
months and they will be incremental until the situation
improves".
The meeting rejected the implementation of the national
Health
Insurance Scheme, which is being spearheaded by the government
through the
National Social Security Authority (NSSA), saying this would not
be possible
"until and unless it has been agreed by the workers, the owners
of the
money".
But the labour body said its representatives
would continue to attend
the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF)
meetings.
The ZCTU had also demanded that the parties to the TNF
"should as a
matter of urgency sign the Kadoma Declaration and the Prices
and Incomes
Stabilisation Protocol".
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
GWERU - Vice-President Joice Mujuru yesterday snubbed
President Robert
Mugabe's 83rd birthday celebrations where several Zanu PF
supporters and
schoolchildren went back home on empty stomachs.
But it was Mujuru's absence at the 21st February movement celebrations
held
at Mkoba Stadium that raised eyebrows, coming a few days after Mugabe
spoke
disparagingly of her political ambitions in a ZBC interview.
Her
husband, Solomon Mujuru turned up alone at the stadium, about 30
minutes
after Mugabe's arrival.
The president reportedly said the Mujuru
faction was using former Zanu
PF secretary-general Edgar Tekere to damage
him politically, but his
comments were edited out.
Mugabe
suggested Mujuru's ambitions to succeed him were ruined by her
association
with people out to denigrate him.
He spoke against politburo
members teaming up with white-owned
companies to exploit diamonds. Many
people believed that he was referring to
Solomon Mujuru, a director of one
of the companies.
Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, said Joice
Mujuru could not
attend the celebrations because she was preparing "for her
examinations".
She is studying with the Women's University in
Africa.
"She was invited but could not come because she is
preparing for her
examinations," Charamba said.
Addressing the
crowd of mostly school children, Mugabe did not dwell
on the succession race
or corruption, which threaten to tear his party to
pieces.
This
was despite an emotional plea from Zanu PF secretary for youth,
Absolom
Sikhosana, who had earlier begged Mugabe to deal with corruption,
which he
said was "endemic at the top leadership".
Sikhosana said civil
servants had become a "laughing stock" because of
their paltry pay,
repeating a joke about baboons cartooned as they laughed
wildly at a
soldier's payslip.
Mugabe lashed out at homosexuals as "worse that
pigs and dogs", the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change and the
British government for
calling for regime change in Zimbabwe.
He attacked Progressive Teachers' Union secretary-general, Raymond
Majongwe,
whom he warned that his government "cannot be knocked down by his
punches".
Zim Standard
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
MUTARE - Ozius Kapariki, a one-time rank marshal
at a local bus
terminus is now driving around in a spanking, new Mercedes
Benz, not a
Brabus or an S600, but a Mercedes, nevertheless.
It
screeches to a halt at the city's bus terminus where he used to
yell until
his voice was hoarse, calling out for urban dwellers to board
commuter buses
to their homes after a hard day's work.
All that is in the past now
for Ozius. He is now the centre of
attraction, the envy of many at the rank,
as he plays loud music from the
car radio, obviously showing off his new
acquisition.
This is a common scene in Mutare today, where the
rags-to-riches
legend is being played out every day, where most once
lowly-regarded people
have become millionaires overnight, thanks to the
recent discovery of
diamonds in the Chiadzwa area of Marange, about 80km
south-west of Mutare.
Many people are now the proud owners of
top-of-the range motor
vehicles, while others have bought houses, among
other properties, after
picking up the diamonds from the dry area of
Marange.
The new crop of millionaires is set to confront the
police, who say
they are more than keen to investigate the origin of this
new wealth from
the Zimbabwe version of a new Klondike.
Former
Anti-Corruption Minister, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, had
promised his
ministry would descend on those who cannot fully and accurately
account for
their "sudden bonanza".
"Touts who used to push carts in Mutare are
now driving brand-new
cars, including the latest Mercedes Benz," said
Mangwana, with undisguised
astonishment.
All who cannot account
for their newly-acquired properties will face
the wrath of the law, he said
just before he was moved to head the Ministry
of
Indigenisation.
This would be under "Operation Mari Wakaiwanepi?
(Where did you get
all that money from?)" yet to be formally
launched.
He said some of the people could have amassed their
wealth by
illegally dealing in diamonds and other precious stones such as
emeralds and
gold.
The police have also backed the imminent
operation, saying they were
only waiting for the formal launch of the
operation, before impounding the
vehicles, whose owners fail to provide
satisfactory answers.
Manicaland police spokesperson, Brian
Makomeke, confirmed they would
soon launch an all-out campaign to check on
the origins of newly-purchased
vehicles from November 2006 to
date.
But there will be resistance: the people of Mutare say they
will
resist such a move.
"We cannot allow that to happen,"
fumed Rosemary Mutandiro of Sakubva,
in Mutare, who recently bought a Toyota
Camry from South Africa, "since it
would be like saying someone has to
remain poor. Have they (officials) been
asked about the origins of their
wealth?"
She said if there was any action to be taken, then it had
to start
from the top, with government officials, who she says have been in
the
forefront of siphoning diamonds from Marange.
Rodrick
Chishanyi of Zimunya, outside Mutare, says the exercise should
be conducted
countrywide and not just in Mutare alone, as some illegal
diamond dealers
came from areas as far afield as Gweru, Bulawayo and
Shurugwi.
As the clampdown on illegal diamond dealing continues, Zimbabwe's
roads have
become a nightmare for motorists, with police road-blocks and
check-points
after every 50km along the highways
According to the police, at
least 60 000 people have been arrested for
dealing in precious materials,
since last October; while about 10 000 were
arrested and tried in
Manicaland.
They were arrested under Operation Chikorokoza Chapera.
- Have your
say: editor@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
BY GODFREY
MUTIMBA
"TIKO lifambile navanyai (Our land has been taken by
the Karangas)."
This is how traditional chiefs in Chiredzi South
summed up the recent
by-election, won by Zanu PF's Killian Kallisto
Gwanetsa.
The phrase was coined by angry Shangani chiefs, declaring
they had
lost their land to the Karanga people, after the Zanu PF leadership
in
Masvingo imposed Gwanetsa, a party loyalist, on them.
Most
of them said they would have preferred Ben Baloyi, who lost in
the party
primaries to Gwanetsa, the eventual winner of the Chiredzi south
seat.
The leaders, at the forefront of denouncing Gwanetsa,
said the
Shangani-land was "gone for ever".
The Shangani people
have said they have vowed not to work with the new
legislator, regardless of
his victory on behalf of the party.
They say they went to the polls
because they were threatened several
times by senior Zanu PF officials
during the election campaign. They cited
the case of a prominent Masvingo
chief who openly warned them food aid to
their areas would be cut if they
voted for the opposition.
They claimed another senior Zanu PF
official told villagers the armed
forces would be unleashed on them if they
failed to back Gwanetsa, a senior
army official.
Chief Freddy
Masivamele told The Standard at Masivamele polling
station that despite
voting for Gwanetsa, he and his people would not work
with him because they
were "dragged" to the polls, against their will.
"Although we were
forced to vote we will not work with him, actually
we don't recognise him.
We were forced to vote for a Karanga and we just
went to the polls because
we were afraid of being beaten if we had
resisted," he said.
The chief said he felt it was not fair for them to be represented by
an
"alien" when they were the first people to settle in Chiredzi South, long
before the country was even colonised by the British.
"We were
the first people to come here after our great ancestor;
Soshangane fled
Chaka the Zulu from present-day South Africa hundreds of
years ago. We have
our cultural practices which we need to preserve but now
if the leadership,
politically and traditionally, continues to go to the
Karangas, the Shangani
tribe will die out," he said.
Chief Chilonga was labelled "an MDC
chief" by the Zanu PF provincial
leadership, after telling them his people
would not accept Gwanetsa, soon
after the primaries.
After the
elections, he said: "The elections are over now but the
situation is bad.
It's like being ruled by a son-in-law. We will not accept
that in our land.
We wanted our son to represent us in Parliament but
because our leaders have
no respect at all for our tribe, they imposed on us
a Karanga and he has
won."
Chiredzi South youths stayed away from the polls in protest
against
the imposition of Gwanetsa as their candidate. Only 29% of the 53
000
registered voters cast their ballots, less than 15 000. Opposition
supporters were also confused by the two factions' candidates.
Local observers noted that intimidation and threats from parties
during the
pre-election resulted in voter apathy.
Zimbabwe Elections Support
Network (ZESN) director, Rindai Chipfunde,
said the elections were peaceful
but her organisation was concerned at the
threats issued at
rallies.
"While the polling was generally peaceful, ZESN notes with
concern
that the pre-election period was fraught with tension as traditional
leaders
and other Zanu PF officials were accused of vote-buying and
threatening to
withdraw food relief if the residents of the constituency
voted for the
opposition," she said.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
ECONET Wireless subscribers will experience disruptions to service
tomorrow
(26th February) from 10PM as the company implements the new
10-digit
numbering plan, the mobile service provider warned yesterday.
A
spokesperson said in a statement the disruption, which is expected
to last
seven hours, was "unavoidable" as engineers fine-tune the
change-over
process.
While the company has made adequate plans for a smooth
transition, the
spokesperson said, customers could experience
disruptions.
He said: "However, although all customers would be
able to receive
calls during this period, they will not be able to make
outgoing calls and
send SMS during this period. Because we are technically
detaching customers
from the network during the change over phase to allow
for the new numbering
system to work, customers might need to switch off
their cell phones and be
back on again on the morning of 27 February in
order to ensure the
changeover has registered on their phones.
"If you phone from any other number during this process, there will be
a
voice prompt informing the caller to remember next time to add an
additional
digit to the dialled. However, the prompt won't be there if you
call using
the correct number."
The bulk of the work, said the spokesperson,
had already been
completed but engineers however need to make sure that once
the numbering
plan has been effected, customers can make and receive calls,
not only on
our network but to other local and foreign networks as
well.
The numbering plan will affect both contract and pre-paid
customers.
"We have however decided to effect the change-over late
at night
because we have fewer people making calls during this time. We are
confident
everything will be normal from 27 February 2007," said the
spokesman.
Econet, the nation's fastest growing mobile operator
commanding a
market share of 60%, is introducing a 10-digit number which
will enable the
company to accommodate more customers on the
network.
The new numbering plan entails adding the number "2" after
the "091"
prefix to make it "0912". The last six digits will remain the
same.
"The new numbers will operate concurrently with the old
numbers for
two weeks. After the two weeks, calls to the old number (without
2 after the
prefix) will not go through."
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
MEDIA
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) chairman, Thomas Deve,
resigned last
week after discovering the organisation's board of trustees
had decided to
suspend him over allegations he was closely linked to the
government's
security agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
In
his letter dated 10 February, Deve offered to resign after he
discovered
some board members were investigating his alleged links to the
CIO.
His letter was addressed to the chairperson of the board
of trustees,
Tim Nyahunzvi. Allegations of Deve's links to the CIO were
published on a
website last year.
Deve wrote: "I acknowledge
that we discussed the two sets of
allegations over lunch on Tuesday 6
February and gave you my reaction. I
offer to resign. My personal matters
should not be allowed to stall progress
for MISA, an organisation that I
cherish so much.
"I do not doubt that you are acting in the best
interest of the
organisation and that my resignation from NGC (National
Governing Council)
will go a long way in allowing everyone to focus on what
MISA stands for."
Last week, Nyahunzvi confirmed Deve had resigned,
having admitted he
was a close friend of President Robert Mugabe's press
secretary, George
Charamba,Nyahunzvi confirmed that the allegations in a
news website,
NewZimbabwe.com last year claiming that Deve was an
intelligence operative,
had prompted the board to suspend him.
NewZimbabwe.com also alleged that Deve "is very close" to Charamba, a
relationship said to have begun when they were at the University of
Zimbabwe.
"As a board we wrote a letter to him, giving him an
opportunity to
respond to those allegations. His response then came last
week when he
offered to resign," Nyahunzvi said.
However a
statement issued 11 days ago by Loughty Dube, MISA's deputy
chairperson
bears no mention of the complaints raised in Deve's resignation
letter. Dube
said adding Deve was resigning due to his work commitments.
"Mr
Thomas Deve," Dube said in a three-paragraph statement, "is
heavily involved
in the World Social Forum activities, regionally and
internationally and had
to spend a month in Kenya, in January 2007, on
official duty.
"Thomas says he remains a committed member of Misa-Zimbabwe and will
be
available for duty in the near future. Thomas is one of the longest
serving
members of the Misa-Zimbabwe National Governing Council, having
served in
the capacity of Treasurer and his current term would have been his
second
and last as Misa-Zimbabwe chairperson. He is one of the few remaining
senior
journalists in Zimbabwe having worked for SAPES, The Zimbabwe Mirror
as well
as the banned Daily News before moving into the NGO sector.
"On
behalf of the Misa-Zimbabwe Trustees, members, National Governing
Council
and Secretariat, I extend my gratitude to Thomas for his leadership
of
Misa-Zimbabwe in the past three years and wish him well in his future
endeavours."
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Fake Messengers of Court are on the prowl in
Bulawayo, the
city council has warned.
According to a council
notice, fraudsters have forced a number of
residents to give up their
property "to pay for overdue city council rates",
which turn out to be
imaginary or fictitious
The council last year resolved to hand over
defaulting residents to
debt collectors, as ratepayers' arrears ballooned,
presenting an opportunity
to the fake "messengers of courts".
The council says residents should be on the look-out for the
fraudsters who
claim to be acting on behalf of the council using forged
court documents to
"attach" their property.
The Town Clerk, Moffat Ndlovu, said the
council recently handled a
case in which fake court documents were used to
grab property from a
resident by people claiming to be Messengers of
Court.
"Residents should keep their eyes open for fraudsters who
are
purporting to be Messengers of Court," Ndlovu said. "They move in large
numbers and tend to be aggressive. Residents should report any suspicious
individuals to the police."
Ndlovu said some of the documents
being used to grab property from
residents do not have the Provincial
Magistrate's date stamp and others are
handwritten - all council
correspondence is typed.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
THOUSANDS of people are likely to face starvation in
Matabeleland
following widespread crop failure in the drought-prone
provinces.
Government officials have told The Standard that due to
the severity
of the problem, the two provinces have been forced to revive
drought relief
committees.
The committees are charged with
working out strategies to ensure that
villagers get enough food relief to
avoid starvation.
Last week, there were indications that most
villagers were already
running out of grain and there were no prospects of a
meaningful harvest in
most parts this season.
The Standard has
it on good authority that Agricultural Research and
Extension Services
(AREX) officers from both provinces were recently
summoned to Harare to
update the newly-appointed Minister of Agriculture,
Rugare Gumbo, on the
situation.
They were however told not to release information on the
crop
situation until a full assessment was made. Gumbo could not be reached
for
comment yesterday but a senior Arex official confirmed attending the
meeting.
"As I speak, we have just met the new minister and
updated him on the
situation," he said. "That is now a very sensitive area
and we have been
told not to release information until a comprehensive
assessment is carried
out."
A survey conducted by The Standard
in Bulawayo, Umguza and Lupane
districts last week revealed that the maize
crop was a write-off in most
areas.
Journalists from The
Standard saw first-hand evidence of a disastrous
cropping
season.
Few farmers were still optimistic of harvesting anything
this season.
"The situation is really bad," said Bernard Mbambo,
whose maize crop
wilted at the tasselling stage. "The rains looked promising
at the beginning
of the season but now it seems we were toiling for nothing.
This is going to
be one of the worst droughts."
In Lupane, a
district drought committee meeting was held two weeks ago
but its chairman
Christopher Chuma, the district administrator, refused to
comment, saying
they had been told to release information on the crop
situation through AREX
provincial head, Dumisani Nyoni.
Nyoni could not be reached for
comment as he was said to be in Harare.
"If it does not rain this
week then we might as well forget about
harvesting anything," said Collen
Sibanda of Lupaka village in Lupane.
Even in Bulawayo, which faces
an unprecedented water crisis this year,
residents with small plots will not
harvest anything after their maize crops
wilted under the sweltering
temperatures.
Matabeleland South governor, Angeline Masuku, a
fortnight ago told a
drought committee meeting in Plumtree that she was
worried that mitigation
measures had been left until late when it was
apparent that most households
were now on the brink of starvation in the
province.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network
(FEWSNET) 1.4
million rural households in Zimbabwe already need food aid and
the situation
is expected to get worse following an erratic rainfall
season.
FEWSNET said: "The forecast for the remaining second half
of the
rainfall season is not very positive; it points towards increased
chances of
below normal rainfall for almost the whole country. An El Nino
was detected
in September 2006 and is likely to continue until at least
early 2007."
Zim Standard
By
Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - The government has suspended
operations at the Guyu
national youth service training camp in Matabeleland
South amid reports the
centre faces perennial food shortages.
Other training camps in the region, criticised by human rights groups
and
opposition parties as Zanu PF indoctrination centres, are said to face
imminent closure due to food shortages.
The graduates have
often been used as Zanu PF's militia, to terrorise
the
opposition.
The so-called Green Bombers have at other times been
engaged by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to carry out police duties during
the central bank's
operations.
Matabeleland has been hit by an
acute shortage of maize, which has
been partly blamed on the Grain Marketing
Board's failure to transport grain
from areas that had a maize surplus last
season.
There are three national youth training camps in the
southern region -
Dadaya in the Midlands, Kamativi in Matabeleland North and
Guyu.
But indications are that youths in Matabeleland South are no
longer
keen on the gruelling military training exercises on empty
stomachs.
The Standard discovered that the Guyu camp was deserted
on Tuesday and
villagers said no new recruits had arrived to replace a group
that graduated
at the end of last year.
Sources said the number
of youths enrolling at the centre had declined
since last year, until they
went down dramatically at the beginning of the
year, forcing the authorities
to suspend operations until the food situation
improved.
Villagers living near the Guyu camp at Mawane, Garanyemba and
Senkezane
areas claimed before its closure, the Green Bombers had started
raiding
their homes at night in search of food.
Zanu PF Matabeleland South
provincial chairman, Rido Mpofu, said he
was unaware of the food shortages
and the suspension of training programmes.
Youths enrolling for the
service are registered at Zanu PF offices.
Efforts to obtain a
comment from the Minister of Youth, Gender and
Employment Creation, Ambrose
Mutinhiri, were fruitless as he was constantly
said to be out of his office
and was unreachable on his mobile phone.
His deputy, Saviour
Kasukuwere, referred questions to the minister.
About 10 000 youths
have graduated from the camps established in the
run-up to the hotly
contested 2000 parliamentary elections.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
BAKERS said last week they were considering court action
against the
government over the controlled price of bread, which they
claimed was
driving them out of business, with 30 000 jobs on the
line.
They told The Standard they were "sick and tired" of
government price
controls which have forced a number of bakeries to stop
production, causing
shortages of bread in the past few weeks.
The government, fearing the prospect of food riots, has kept the
gazetted
wholesale price bread at $722, although bakers say input costs
continue to
soar.
The bakers proposed $1 500 for a loaf in submissions made to
the
Ministry of Industry and International Trade earlier this
year.
But shocked by the ever-rising input costs, they again
revised their
submissions last week and asked for $2 200 for a standard
loaf. What
prompted many bakers into contemplating court action against the
government
was its alleged failure to act on their submissions in time for
them to
remain viable.
National Bakers' Association acting
chairperson Vincent Mangoma
admitted the association was under "extreme
pressure" from its members to
take the government to court. But he called
for restraint.
"We believe at this stage we have to give dialogue a
chance," he said.
"We are calling on our members to exercise restraint and
to be patient."
Obert Mpofu, the Minister of Industry and
International Trade, could
not be reached for a comment yesterday. Have your
say: editor@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
TWO police officers from Chegutu are in trouble after they
stole a
tonne of gold ore left behind by a dead illegal gold miner who was
trapped
to death while mining.
Constables Stanley Siampongo
(30) and Musarurwa Besa (25) face charges
of contravening Sections of the
Prevention of Corruption Act for stealing
gold from the late illegal gold
miner, Trymore Jaunda.
It is the State case that some time in May
last year, Siampongo was
assigned to retrieve the body of Jaunda, who had
been trapped in a mineshaft
at Grange Mine in Chegutu.
Jaunda,
according to court papers, had dug one tonne of gold ore,
which was
discovered by Siampongo when he was at the scene.
Siampongo later
hat-ched a plan to mill the ore and to sell the gold
on the parallel
market.
"He (Siampongo) then dumped the body of the deceased at
Grange bottle
store and went to Butterfly Mine, which is a kilometre
away.
He hired a tractor and loaded the deceased's ore and milled
it at
Butterfly Mine," read the court papers.
Siampongo,
together with Besa, later sold the gold to Julius Matibvu
of Butterfly Mine
for $4,2 million (old currency).The gold was however
recovered when Chegutu
police started to investigate the matter.
The State intends to call
witnesses who were hired to carry the ore as
well as those who milled it to
testify when the trial opens on 27 March.
Cases of underpaid
policemen converting exhibits to their own use are
on the
increase.
Several police officers have, in recent months. been
arrested in
Mutare for stealing diamonds recovered from illegal
dealers.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
MASVINGO - A group of soldiers, apparently annoyed by
suggestions that
they are underpaid, savagely attacked a man who mocked them
with the taunt:
"Your salaries can't pay electricity bills."
They went on to smash car windows at the parking bay, before
destroying
police patrol bicycles at a popular night club in Masvingo.
Isheanesu Chimuti is in the Intensive Care Unit at Masvingo General
Hospital
where his condition is said to be deteriorating.
He was rushed
there after a severe beating by the rowdy junior
soldiers at The
Ritz.
Ten soldiers based at 4.1 Infantry Battalion have since been
arrested
while an unknown number of their colleagues are on the run, amid
reports
they might have skipped the country.
The soldiers aged
between 21 and 26 languished for four days in police
custody at Masvingo
Central Police Station while the police hunted in vain
for their
accomplices.
They have since appeared before a Masvingo magistrate,
Caution
Nyamukomba, who remanded them to 12 March this year on
bail.
Prosecutor Takunda Chikwati told the court that on 16
February, the
soldiers, drinking beer after getting paid, beat up Chimuti
after one
soldier had a misunderstanding with him over their poor
pay.
After a heated argument, the soldiers teamed up and started to
beat up
Chimuti all over his body with booted feet and clenched fists. Club
officials called the police and bicycle patrol unit officers came and
arrested two soldiers.
The 10 are Dereck Mahanzva (26), Norman
Bikwani (21), Nikita Nyoni
(23), Tafadzwa Chigariro (23), Bernad Sibalo
(23), Thandolwe Nkosi Ndebele
(22), Zipho Herald Ngwenya (23), Bongani
Ndlovu (21), Mpofu Mehluli (21)and
Norman Gumbo (21), all based at 4.1
Infantry Battalion.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
RECENT media reports alleging diamonds were being
smuggled into South
Africa in breach of the Kimberley Process are part of a
concerted campaign
that seeks to tarnish the image of the country, River
Ranch Diamond Mine has
said.
In accusing the principal
shareholders of Bubye Minerals, who dispute
that River Ranch is the rightful
holder of Special Grant 1278, River Ranch
said the objective of the media
campaign is to create the impression that
"they are the major shareholders
of River Ranch and have a legal right to
the Special Grant".
River Ranch, in refuting allegations of smuggling, said while the mine
has
been working since 20 June 2006, all its diamonds have been
recovered.
In a rebuttal, it said: "All stones recovered are
recorded and a
monthly return is submitted to the Mining Commissioner,
Masvingo. Fully
automated state-of-the-art surveillance equipment is in
operation 24 hours a
day at the mine. All operations are
recorded.
"The complex is fully compliant with Kimberley Process
Requirements.
No diamonds can be removed from the mine without such removal
being
authorised and recorded. River Ranch has not sold or attempted to sell
any
diamonds so far recovered. All sales will be conducted through the
Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe.
"It is strongly
denied that any diamonds from the Mine have been taken
to RSA. The diamonds
produced by River Ranch are from a duly registered
claim which it lawfully
owns and, when sold, will be accompanied by a
Certificate of Origin as
required by the Kimberley Certification Scheme."
River Ranch said
the contents of the two affidavits were false. For
example, Lloyd Dass, the
security manager at the mine, drove a car
(registration AAQ9041) to South
Africa; it was stolen in Johannesburg on 26
October 2006 and not on 10
November.
"Dass could not have been driving it on 10 November as
alleged," River
Ranch said. "Furthermore Mr Munashe Shava, the mine manager
went to RSA on
13 November, not 10 November. He did not travel in convoy
with Mr Dass.
Clearly the intention is to tarnish the image of River Ranch
and its
management and of Zimbabwe by alleging that diamonds are being
smuggled out
of the country and that the Kimberley Process Certification is
being
flouted."
The mining company said it would welcome a
visit by members of the
Kimberley Process Certification Committee so that
they could see the
measures taken at the mine to ensure proper records are
kept and
certification of every diamond that is recovered.
River Ranch said the continued reference to Retired General Solomon
Mujuru
as the owner of the mine was an attempt to establish that although
the law
was on their side (the principal shareholders of Bubye Minerals, the
Farquhars); political clout is preventing them from enjoying their
rights.
On the shareholding of the mine, River Ranch said the
shareholders
were two external companies, Cornerstone and
Sedna.
"Mr A Aujan, through his nominees, now owns the shares of
Cornerstone
and Sedna. In 1999, when River Ranch was in voluntary
liquidation, the
Farquhars approached his representative in Harare and asked
if he would buy
the shares of Cornerstone and Sedna.
"They said
that when they acquired the money, they would repay him
and, in return he
would be given 25% of the shares in each of the two
companies and 25% of the
shares in Bubye Minerals (Pvt) Ltd. Mr Aujan agreed
and he purchased the
shares of the two companies."
River Ranch said instead of repaying
Mr Aujan what he had paid for the
shares: "The Farquhars then approached him
on seven occasions seeking loans.
Their borrowings totalled approximately
US$1.5million. As a result of the
loans, his stake in the three companies
was to be increased to 30%.
"By 2004 the Farquhars had not offered
to repay Mr Aujan what he had
paid for the shares and they had defaulted in
the agreements they had
entered into with regard to the money they had
borrowed from his companies."
River Ranch said at that point Aujan
realised that the Farquhars were
not going to repay him. He then injected
about US$2,5 million, arguing the
only way he could recover his investment
was for the mine to be resuscitated
so that diamonds could be mined. He then
terminated their management
agreement in 2004 and River Ranch resumed
occupation of the mine.
Twenty percent of the shares in River Ranch
have been acquired by
Kupikile Resources, the local indigenous investor with
Mujuru and Tirivanhu
Mudariki as the shareholders.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
CHAOS at the
troubled parastatal Ziscosteel escalated last week amid
revelations the
company may fail to pay February salaries as it has not
produced anything
for sale this month because it had no coal.
Alois Gowo, the acting
chief executive officer, told a parliamentary
portfolio committee on Foreign
Affairs, Industry and International Trade
that over the past five months,
the parastatal sold semi-finished products
whose stock has now run
out.
" . . . However because we now have zero sales we now have to
struggle
from February onwards," Gowo said.
Zisco board member
Ndaba Dube told the committee on Tuesday of the
engineers employed by the
parastatal, none had the requisite qualifications,
hence the company's
head-hunting for top staff members.
He was responding to questions
from Mutare-Mutasa Senator Mandy
Chimene on why the company was flighting
adverts in the media for top
officials when it had no money to retain the
staff available.
Gowo told the committee the company was saddled
with a $62 billion
local and foreign debt.
When asked by Buhera
North legislator William Mutomba whether the
Hwange Colliery Company was not
supplying them with enough coal because they
could not pay for it, Gowo
disagreed.
He said for the entire 2006, Hwange supplied coal that
was only
sufficient to warm the furnaces but their prices were continuously
going up.
He said the National Railways of Zimbabwe required that
for them to
deliver coal, a client has to book a minimum of 20 wagons. The
coal supplied
to Zisco by Hwange used five wagons but Zisco had to pay for
20 wagons.
Zisco board chairman David Murangari told the committee
there was zero
production at the plant this month as the company had
received 4 860 tonnes
of coal from Hwange Colliery Company Limited out of
the 15 000 tonnes
required to keep the furnace warm.
Murangari
said steel production at the plant had declined to its
lowest since
1980.
He attributed the decline to low coal receipts "due to Hwange
Colliery
Company failing to supply adequate coking coal of good quality
throughout
2006 as they were undertaking their rehabilitation
programme".
He said that the unavailability of coal had affected
the blast
furnace.
"No. 4 blast furnace developed a chilled
hearth in September 2006 and
December 2006 as a result of inadequate coal
supplies and poor coking
quality. The furnace is still under a recovery
programme," Murangari said.
He said the company urgently required
US$4.7 million to start ordering
refractory lining material for No. 4 blast
furnace which is now scheduled
for a three-month reline programme beginning
January next year.
Murangari told the committee the board was
looking for a partner but
their efforts would be futile unless the coal
supplies situation was
addressed.
"Whatever we do, if we don't
address the issue of coal we will not
produce. If we don't have the coal we
can't fire the furnace. That is the
problem that has resulted in the
freezing of the furnace," he said.
Zim Standard
Comment
POLITICS is not a game in which real love plays a
crucial role. For a
politician to pronounce his love for his country would
be taken as shameless
hypocrisy.
This is not to say that all
politicians love only the loot they can
extract from the game, and not the
country.
When John F Kennedy said words to the effect that people
ought to
"think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do
for your
country", he probably had politicians in mind.
For the
love of their country, some politicians have given up
well-paying jobs in
the Cabinet, either because they had committed an
infraction against the
dignity of their office, or had decided they had
failed in their
duties.
Julius Nyerere loved his country, which was why he resigned
from the
presidency in 1985, rather than continue in office when he knew he
had
failed.
In Zimbabwe, a man facing the same dilemma is
President Robert Mugabe.
At 83, he is sprightly, so full of energy; there
must be only a few young
people who don't wish they had his
vigour.
Unfortunately, he is leading a country whose life
expectancy is now
down to 34 years, from a peak of 60 or so a few years
ago.
This decline has occurred during Mugabe's "watch". While some
people
would not hold him solely responsible for this tragedy, others might
ask the
very pertinent question: what if someone else had been on the
watch?
The fact is that while Mugabe has enjoyed good health and
longevity,
the average Zimbabwean has not. During the 27 years of
independence, there
has been such a decline in living standards among
Zimbabweans, millions of
them have left their country to seek better health,
if not better fortunes
elsewhere, including the land of the former colonial
masters, now Mugabe's
mortal enemies.
All this has a lot to do
with politics, for at the end of the day,
politics is about good or bad
governance and governance, ultimately, is
about people.
Collective responsibility in government requires that everyone take
their
share of the blame for misgovernance.
Zim Standard
sunday opinion
by Bill Saidi
THE first Ghanaian I met after 1957 was Cameron
Doudou, the author and
journalist. We met for a drink at the Ridgeway Hotel
in Lusaka in the early
1960s.
Doudou had just published his
novel, The Gab Boys which, it was
assumed by my editors at The Central
African Mail, I had read, but actually
hadn't. I couldn't afford
it.
We talked of the novel, in very general terms. I admired Doudou
then
and still do to this day, as an incisi-ve, insightful commentator,
mostly on
African affairs.
I eventually did read the book and
laughed and laughed reading it.
Doudou must be a Ghanaian to whom
their 50 years of independence,
being celebrated this year, must have a
special poignancy.
He knows at first hand how, in 1957, his country
became independent
from the British, the first African country south of the
Sahara to achieve
what became celebrated as "Uhuru" in every African
language.
Doudou's book never achieved the fame of Chinua Achebe's
Things Fall
Apart, No Longer At Ease, A Man of the People.
Yet
in Ghana, it was an obvious bestseller.
Ghana holds a special place
in the hearts of all Africans born during
colonialism who then survived the
spectacular period during which that yoke
of serfdom was removed from our
necks and replaced by - albeit for a short
period, in many instances,
including Zimbabwe's - the great laurels of
freedom we all wore right into
South Africa's freedom from apartheid in
1994.
Kwame
Nkrumah, whatever his faults, cannot be deprived of the heroic
example he
set for the continent as the first leader to pilot his new nation
to what
was seen as a glorious and prosperous future.
In 1964, Nkrumah made
what, for many Africans, was a momentous
decision whose reverberations can
be felt to this day - even in Zimbabwe.
A referendum giving him
dictatorial powers virtually turned him into a
life president. Two years
later, he was overthrown in a police-army coup,
the precursor of a
succession of military coups, including two by
Flight-Lieutenant Jerry
Rawlings.
Nkrumah's Convention People's Party set the pace for
future one-party
systems on the continent.
There will be
ceaseless arguments for and against the one-party
political system, as there
will be over the real cause of the coup against
Nkrumah: was it solely
because of the Cold War? Was it the US Central
Intelligence Agency,
Britain's MI5, MI6, or all three working in cahoots?
After the
coup, all foreigners from socialist or communist countries
were ordered out,
which spoke volumes about the identity of the coup
instigators.
Only this month, in a long interview with the BBC, Kenneth Kaunda, who
ran
Zambia almost into bankruptcy in 27 years of one-party rule, claims he
decided that only with such despotism would he prevent potentially fatal
political ructions which might disturb his catalyst role in the liberation
struggle in southern Africa.
Others thought he was a closet
Nkrumah-ist.
There are political similarities between Kaunda,
Hastings Kamuzu Banda
and President Robert Mugabe, related to
Nkrumah.
All were in Ghana at the peak of Nkrumah's power. Banda
worked there,
before being sent for by the nationalists in Nyasaland to lead
the struggle
against Chitaganya, the federation.
Mugabe worked
in Ghana, where he met his future wife, Sally. Kaunda
went there for the
Pan-African movement, of which Nkrumah was one architect.
Joshua
Nkomo attended the meeting as well. At a rally in Harare
township, he spoke
proudly, in hallowed tones: "When I was in Ghan....."
Some said he sounded
as if he had been to heaven.
Nkrumah's influence is probably
immeasurable. How each "disciple"
interpreted his doctrine must have
determined the shape of democracy on the
continent.
For Kaunda,
Banda, Nkomo and Mugabe, there was and is a fascination,
if not an
obsession, with the one-party system.
Nkomo died before he could
lead a country.
Kaunda fought the good fight during the southern
Africa liberation
wars, but his country went through hell, not all of it
related to the
struggle.
Kamuzu's long reign of Malawi was
truly blood-spattered. As for
Mugabe, at 83 years of age, what are the
chances of him embracing true
democracy, ever?
Anyone listening
to his birthday spiel last week must have realised
the painful truth that
democracy was the last thing on his mind, as he
approaches the twilight of
his life.
Yet, as with everything else, the buck has to stop
somewhere - and in
our case, it stops at the desk of the
President.
There is, to some extent, sympathy for the President on
this front. He
has himself spoken in highly emotional and derogatory
language about the
performance in office of some of his Cabinet and
politburo colleagues,
openly accusing some of them of
corruption.
As a canny politician, Mugabe must know that, as long
as he hesitates
to act against the miscreants, then his own reputation
suffers along with
theirs. In fact, his failure to remove the rotten eggs is
considered one of
his greatest weaknesses.
It would not be
wrong to ascribe this serious weakness to the parlous
state, not only of our
economy, but of our international standing as well.
Decisions have been
taken, seemingly on the spur of the moment, which took
little or no account
at all of their probable consequences on the well-being
of the ordinary
people, on whose behalf - it must be assumed - thousands
died during the war
of liberation.
Mugabe has spoken of how hurt he has been by the
activities of some of
his colleagues in the struggle to succeed him as
president. It would be
appropriate to react to his gripe with: You asked for
it.
But there is a far bigger picture here. Does Mugabe show love
for this
country when he insists he should continue in office until 2010,
when the
life expectancy continues to decline?
There is very
little chance that anything he does now or after 2010
could make one iota of
a difference. The patriotic, loyal and loving thing
for him to do is to
leave now, before our life expectancy drops even
further.
Zim Standard
Sundayview by
Diana Mitchell
WHEN President Robert Mugabe was reported, on the
eve of his 83rd
birthday, to have written a speech for the occasion, the
government spin
doctors were alarmed. The speech must be carefully edited.
Why? Was Mugabe
upstaging Nkala, his former ally in the liberation
struggle?
Enos Nkala had recently promised to "spill the beans" -
presumably
about his former comrades' dreadful histories? Was Mugabe, in his
dotage,
going to start "spilling the beans" himself?
What could
he tell about the internecine struggles within the ruling
Zanu PF? This
could be a very dangerous development. If Edgar Tekere, his
former right
hand man, his Secretary-General in the days of the guerilla war
now claimed
in his book that he, Tekere, and not Mugabe had insisted on
fighting for
total victory against the settler whites in former Rhodesia,
what other
"secrets" in a possible riposte from the cunning old liberation
leader would
come out?
True or false, the revelations could prove very damaging
to his
colleagues and those of his cronies who would prefer they were kept
locked
up in Mugabe's memory until his death.
Two other
important participants in - and witnesses to the personal
differences of
individuals within the nationalist ranks, James Chikerema,
and Enoch
Dumbutshena were already safely dead. Chikerema was a close
relative and had
known Mugabe since childhood. He had always opposed him in
politics and
taken his opportunity to denounce him in the columns of The
Daily News -
more than twenty years after the country's 1980 Independence.
That
paper had been quickly silenced. Dumbutshena, an ex-Chief
Justice, the first
black Zimbabwean to hold such a post, was Mugabe's "home
boy" - meaning they
came from the same area in Zvimba, a rural homeland of
the Shona-speaking
people.
Dumbutshena was a man of extraordinary integrity who had
supported the
rise of Mugabe's party until; in the 1990s it became clear
that its leader
and his policies promised nothing but ruin to Zimbabwe.
After his retirement
from the bench, the judge led a political party that
opposed Mugabe. Other
formerly powerful rivals who had once been "on sides"
with Mugabe and then
later had good reasons to oppose him were Joshua Nkomo
and Ndabaningi
Sithole - and they, by February 2007, were also long gone and
many of their
secrets were buried with them.
Who was left who
was young enough to emulate and succeed the ageing
Mugabe as a former
militant liberation leader? Emerson Mnangagwa, a front
runner in the
succession race was such a man, and Mugabe was believed to
favour him
against one of his Vice-Presidents, Joice Mujuru, a former
guerrilla and
wife of Mugabe's one-time top military commander, Solomon
Mujuru, aka Rex
Nhongo.
History will tire of these details of the infighting that
exploded in
Zanu PF as Mugabe's age made it clear that he could not last
much longer.
But if the man himself chose to make his testimony to history
before he died
and before his spin doctors, including his official
biographer, Nathan
Shamuyarira, could finish the sanitised story, what
damage might that do to
his cronies? How many of them would, in fact, be
undone?
I break off here to relate a story, told me by Mnangagwa in
the
mid-eighties when I interviewed him for a follow-up to my earlier,
biographies of leading Zimbabwean nationalists. He was in a state of high
excitement because he had just relinquished the difficult and dangerous post
of Minister for National Security and taken on the more tranquil portfolio
of Minister of Justice.
We sat in his new office, high above
the traffic that coursed through
Samora Machel Avenue (formerly Jameson
Avenue). He pointed out of the window
at an electricity installation on the
pavement opposite. "You see that metal
box there?" he said, "The Rhodesians
had placed a bomb in it to kill Mugabe
as he rode in victory down this main
street after he arrived home from his
battle headquarters in
Mozambique.
"I had good intelligence and had the bomb removed. That
was my job.
But at the time, Mugabe could trust nobody. It seemed that
everybody in
defeated Rhodesia wanted to kill him and I made sure that his
enemies failed
with several other bomb plots. Mugabe could not even trust me
at that time.
In fact, in those frightening days before he built up his
cadre of official
protective guards, I had to put on a chauffeur's cap and
pose as the driver
of his Ministerial car. That was to ensure that I would
not be involved in
any plot to bomb him as he moved around the country".
Mnangagwa slapped his
sides, laughing at the memory.
But it was
Rex Nhongo who was Mugabe's favourite once. A former
guerrilla, General
Nhongo was a force to be reckoned with in holding up
Mugabe's premiership in
the earliest days of Independence through to his
long-lasting Presidency. He
was known as "The Kingmaker" who had helped
defeat many who would try to
usurp Zanu PF's former Supreme Commander of the
ZANLA forces now turned
Prime Minister and then President of independent
Zimbabwe.
With
Mugabe beginning to babble in his last years about his former
comrades, what
secrets could he reveal to tip the balance between the wife
of Nhongo (now
reverted to his real name Mujuru) and Mnangagwa, in the
fierce competition
for the prize of absolute power in Zimbabwe?
RBZ has given small-scale miners raw deal NOW that the so-called
Environmental Management Agency has achieved its long time dream of closing
down people's mines, what next is it going to close down?
But
why not close all the factories that are discharging toxic waste
into our
rivers? Talk of the environment damage which mining activity does -
is
anyone aware of the huge craters that were left at Kamativi, which are a
marvel to the environment; maybe a tour to some of the big mines will reveal
a pleasing site where huge swathes of virgin land have been cleared and in
their place lie large craters.
Go to Hwange, Selous, Ngezi,
Shabanie, to name a few places and see
the damage to the environment. Where
is the Agency? Do they know that
farming is also not friendly to the
environment? Are we going to see the
closure of farms so that they obtain
the certificates first before they can
farm?
The small-scale
mines were closed so that they have assessment
certificates and it is argued
that this is tailored to curb the resurfacing
of illegal mining and plug
loopholes that have caused severe environment
degradation and leakages of
minerals. How true is this? Talk of leakages:
who is deliberately allowing
minerals to leak? Is it the small-scale miner?
Or deliberately pegging the
price at ridiculously low rates for the whole
year only to adjust it when it
suits the Reserve Bank?
On the other hand, the RBZ's officers will
be busy visiting mining
sites offering miners the hard-to-resist prices. Now
they have formed a
company Carlsone that is at the forefront of conducting
deals. Why did the
Reserve Bank form the company in the first place? How
much has been spent to
date?
Remember who authorised panning in
the first place, even allowed them
to sell directly to Fidelity without
proper papers and no questions being
asked - have we all forgotten? It's the
Governor. Today the same Governor is
quick to print billions of dollars to
finance the so-called Operation
Chikorokoza Chapera. How much was spent
harassing peace-loving Zimbabweans,
with some killed in the process? Why not
use that money to increase the
price of gold instead of turning small-scale
mines into police camps and the
police into security guards. What has gone
wrong? The measures that the RBZ
has taken to increase the supply of gold to
Fidelity are cruel and inhuman.
They lack the social contract preached about
every day.
Putting locks on concentrators, having the police guard
the mines in
order to plug leakages of minerals is something I find absurd,
stupid,
primitive and retrogressive. The only lock the Governor needs in
this case
is the price. The Governor claims not to be happy with the
supplies to
Fidelity? I am also not happy with the price Fidelity is
offering for my
precious metal.
The RBZ is quick to point out
pricing distortions at Grain Marketing
Board, ZESA and other parastatals.
How then does the RBZ expect production
to increase when it is not paying a
good price for people's gold?
Miners need money to channel back to
their business so that they grow
and increase their production. How will
they grow if the RBZ is taking their
gold for free? The price you are
offering cannot buy a shovel. You need at
least 5 grammes to start talking
of a shovel.
The RBZ has been on a war path shutting down
businesses that belong to
Zimbabweans instead of helping them. The RBZ has
been quick to finance the
so-called operations that breed animosity among
citizens than financing
businesses.
We all want to live a
comfortable life. Ministers have a right to own
mines and businesses as long
as they abide by the country's laws. They have
families that have to survive
when the breadwinners are gone.
J B Straar
Bulawayo.
-----------
Chitungwiza in deplorable
state
EVERY tributary that runs through Chitungwiza carries
effluent
from blocked/burst sewers.
I visited the town
recently and was struck by just how much
filth residents of this town are
subjected to. I was saddened that the said
residents find this state of
affairs normal.
It is evil to expose scores of tens of
thousands of residents
and their young children to such conditions. What is
the Commission that is
supposed to be running Chitungwiza doing and how can
it justify its role
when there is no improvement from the administration of
Mayor Misheck Shoko,
who was deposed on allegations of failing to run the
town properly?
The government and the ruling party take
people for granted and
then when people reject them they punish them. It is
possible the neglect of
Chitungwiza is part of the punishment for voting for
the opposition.
The MDC MPs have a responsibility of
representing the people who
defied all odds in order to vote for them. These
legislators should organise
demonstrations against the illegal commission
running Chitungwiza until it
starts providing services to the
residents.
Organisations such as the Combined Harare
Residents' Association
should take some time to go to Chitungwiza so that it
can help the residents
form a formidable pressure group that demands service
delivery on behalf of
the people.
K
Zvakwana
Mufakose.
--------------
Degenerating into another Somalia SOMETIME back I
read something
about Zimbabweans being consumed by the succession debate at
the expense of
all other debates. I agree, to a certain extent. The fact
though is that on
the succession rests everything else. Were President
Robert Mugabe to go
today everything would change, be it for the better or
for worse.
But whoever comes after Mugabe, be it a member of
the ruling
party or the opposition, has his or her job cut out for them.
Whatever
politics they pursue, food on the table must top the agenda. And
that is
what at the moment the current regime fails to understand. People
don't give
a damn what kind of animal is in State House as long as they are
happy in
their lives.
Think: Mahathir Mohammed was a
Malaysian dictator. Who gave a
damn as long as the nation had bread on the
table? The same thing in Taiwan,
South Korea, Singapore and various other
countries. It's when the leaders
fail to perform in terms of the economy
that people start revolting. And
normally they go and changes, though at the
beginning they are painful, in
the long run they pay off. They are paying
off in Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania
and Zambia. They should pay off in
Zimbabwe.
What is really dangerous about the Zimbabwean
situation is the
possibility of our country degenerating into another
Somalia. Too strong a
suggestion? Consider this: Somalia, Sierra Leone,
Liberia, and Cote d'Ivoire
degenerated into armed chaos because a few people
who had the means created
for themselves private armies. The warlords are
sprouting in Zimbabwe today,
starting with the Green Bombers for
hire.
These kids, brainwashed and drugged now by money, are
the
beginnings of private armies. They used to be loyal to those who
recruited
them. But the left, right, left, marches only provided them with a
uniform,
a free meal and sex in the camps. Someone has found use for them
recently,
given them a lot of money, put them on permanent pay and let them
loose in
the streets. These boys and girls are no longer answerable to their
party,
or to the police or the army but to themselves.
This is the beginning of a personal army and the creation of a
war
lord.
When the first black governor of the RBZ approved an
absolutely
silly design of the bank's headquarters that had the most modern
shooting
range in its bowels he did not see anything wrong with it. Today,
with a
former Commissioner of Police and a whole raft of former senior
police
officers and CIO agents running the biggest and most elaborate
security
system outside that of government itself, the Reserve Bank's
direction
should be a source of great worry to ordinary
Zimbabweans.
President Mugabe has placed his total trust in
the Reserve Bank
Governor. And rightly so. What about the ordinary
Zimbabwean, Sir? We should
be very, very worried.
J
Makuwire
United Kingdom.
-----------------
A law unto themselves POLICE have
announced a ban on political
rallies for three months in Harare South
Districts and Mbare. The said
authority of the ban, Tsitsi Sadzamari, a
Superintendent and Chief
Superintendent Thomsen Jangara went on to tell us
the sections of POSA which
allow them to effect this condemned piece of
legislation.
Section 27 of POSA reads: "If a regulating
authority for
any area believes on reasonable grounds that the powers
conferred by
sections 25 and 26 will not be sufficient to prevent public
disorder being
occasioned by the holding of public demonstrations or any
class thereof in
the area or any part thereof, he may issue an order
prohibiting, for a
specified period not exceeding one month, the holding of
all public
demonstrations or any class of public demonstrations in the area
or part
thereof concerned."
Now to show how
illiterate the said authority of this
disgraced regulation are, they said
the period of this ban is three months
but they quote the said section
mentioning categorically "not exceeding one
month". So where did they get
these powers to extend this ban to three
months?
It
shows the police and whoever is behind them are a law
unto themselves. Not
even the present or future government has the power to
amend country laws -
only the Parliament of the day.
Livison
Kahondo
Canberra
Australia.
---------------
Unjustifiable exit package WE the residents of Kadoma,
write to sound our
anger and dissatisfaction at the hefty exit package
proposed by the council
in December 2006 for our Town Clerk.
Kadoma City
Council does not have management houses.
It is renting expensive houses for
its directors and we do not even have a
house for our executive mayor yet
the council proposes to give the Town
Clerk our new
house.
Council has old cars for administration
but they
proposed giving the out-going Town Clerk the only new truck at
council. When
the budget consultations were conducted, there was no
provision for this
golden handshake, so where is the council going to get
the money it proposes
to give him on top of his
pension?
Chairman
Kadoma
Residents'
Association
Kadoma.