http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27579
February 25,
2010
By Our Correspondent
HARARE - Lawyers representing
Roy Bennett in his ongoing terrorism trial
have accused state prosecutors of
trying to persecute the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) top
official.Bennett, treasurer general in the
mainstream MDC led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsangirai, faces charges of
seeking the overthrow of
President Robert Mugabe through alleged acts of
banditry and
terrorism.
"This is no longer prosecution but persecution," lead defence
counsel
Beatrice Mtetwa told the court Thursday.
This was after
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, who is prosecuting in the
high profile
trial, had advised the court that the state will bring yet
another expert in
Information Technology to come and testify against
Bennett.
The state
is intent on proving to the court that emails which were allegedly
downloaded from Peter Michael Hitchmann's computer during police
investigations constituted genuine communication between the firearms dealer
and Bennett.
Hitschmann, who was originally also a co-accused along
with Bennett, was in
2006 acquitted of the offence although he served two
years for a lesser
charge.
The state says the two exchanged
information via the internet to hatch a
plot to blow up a microwave link
station that links all four of the country's
telecommunications providers in
Manicaland.
One Perekai Mutsetse, an IT expert recruited by the state
Wednesday to prove
the genuineness of the emails, all but ridiculed the
state's case when he
turned out to know very little about
IT.
Mutsetse, was further proved to have lied to the court that he held
relevant
qualifications in the field.
Apparently unprepared to
stomach the increasing reality of a crumbling case
before them, the
prosecutors are now trying to bring in another IT expert
who should
hopefully plug the holes that were created by Mutsetse during his
testimony.
But Mtetwa vigorously objected to the move.
She
accused Tomana of trying to secure Bennett's conviction at all costs and
in
the process abandoning his duty to afford Bennett a fair
trial.
"Investigations that are done in order to supplement the State's
case as we
go along are clearly prejudicial," said Mtetwa.
Mtetwa
further said the trial will never end if the State were to be allowed
to
bring in new witnesses each time it finds it was not satisfied with
evidence
led by each one of its witnesses.
In his response, Tomana denied ever
trying to persecute Bennett.
"We have never intended to persecute the
accused person," said Tomana.
He was agitated at the accusations by
Mtetwa which he said were a serious
allegation against him.
He sought
an immediate retraction of the statement but presiding Judge
Chinembiri
Bhunu reserved his ruling for Monday next week, when the trial
resumes.
Earlier on, the defence had also vigorously objected to the
state calling on
a telecommunications expert, one Forgive Munyeki, who says
he has 20 years
experience in the field.
According to the state
summary, Munyeki will enlighten the court on the
consequences of the
destruction of a microwave link would have been had
Hitschmann and Bennett
succeeded in their alleged plot to bomb the station.
Munyeki will also
tell the court on the costs of the station's
"resuscitation" if it was
bombed.
The state says the repair costs would equal US$70 million and
more than six
months of its equipping to restore it to its full functional
condition.
The defence was adamant such evidence was speculative and was
irrelevant to
the trial at this stage.
But the defence says it was
prejudicial to the accused for the state to
simply infer that the two would
have destroyed the microwave link when it
was not known if at all they were
going to succeed in the plan, let alone
inflicting any damage on
it.
"The witness is supposed to come and give evidence on something we
know did
not happen," said Mtetwa.
"The court is being asked to hear
evidence of what the consequences of this
so-called destruction would have
been without any evidence as to which of
the weapons would have been
used.
"The court will not benefit from the obvious conjecture, surmise,
speculation and uncertain evidence of what this witness would say would have
happened.
"This evidence is irrelevant and must be
dismissed."
In his response, Tomana urged the court to dismiss the
objection saying the
fact that the microwave station was a key installation
in the area made it
vulnerable to attack by anyone plotting to overthrow a
sitting government.
"The witness will be able to enlighten the court on
what a microwave link is
and what is its purpose and what its destruction
will also mean," Tomana
said.
"The microwave link in the state's case
must qualify as an essential service
installation for it to qualify as an
object of sabotage which is part of the
state's case.
"It is now
quite clear that in the state's case, the accused and Hitschmann
conspired
to destabilize the country through among other things, bringing
down the
microwave link station.
"The emails speak to the conspiracy between the
two on destroying the link."
After hearing both submissions, Bhunu
reserved judgement for Monday next
week.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:30pm
GMT
* Donors waiting for green light from govt
* Govt
divided on debt cancellation
* AfDB says need for quick debt
decision
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Western
donors are ready to cancel Zimbabwe's $6
billion foreign debt, Finance
Minister Tendai Biti said on Thursday, adding
that the lenders were waiting
for Harare to put the process in motion.
The southern African country
last received balance of payment support in
1999 after which international
financial institutions froze out Zimbabwe due
to policy differences with
President Robert Mugabe.
But last year's formation of a unity government
between Mugabe and long-time
rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister,
led to the first economic
growth in a decade as the country embarked on
economic reforms.
Biti said there was no going back on the reforms but
that the coalition
government was divided on his proposal to have Zimbabwe
declared a heavily
indebted country to qualify for debt forgiveness, thereby
allowing it to
qualify for new aid.
Arrears to the International
Monetary Fund, World Bank and African
Development Bank (AfDB) total $1.3
billion, which must be cleared before
Harare can get any help.
"I am
in constant touch with the donors and I have no doubt that they will
cancel
the debt and put in new money," Biti told reporters after meeting
senior
AfDB executives.
"But they have said they will only help us once there is
a green light from
the government," Biti, a member of Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic
Change, said.
That may take a while to come, with
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party firmly opposed to
declaring Zimbabwe heavily indebted
and poor, arguing that the former
British colony has sufficient resources to
rebuild the economy.
In a country where 85 percent of people live below
the poverty line, annual
per capita income is less than $400 and hospitals
and schools are
underfunded, Biti said he would need "to have my head
examined" if he paid
the debt.
He is working with the AfDB to craft a
debt cancellation plan but the
finance minister said this would need to be
backed by a good political and
economic track record.
Hassan Khedr,
an AfDB executive director, said the bank stood ready to help.
"That is
do-able only if the country is willing to have an arrears clearance
process
that will definitely help the country get access to resources that
will be
provided through the AfDB," he told reporters.
"Time is of the essence
and the sooner the better for your economic
recovery."
http://news.iafrica.com/sa/2255521.htm
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:14
SADC tribunal rulings
against the seizure of farmers land in Zimbabwe should
be registered,
recognised and enforceable by the South African government,
the High Court
in Pretoria ordered on Thursday.
Judge Garth Rabie ruled in favour of
white farmers - represented by
AfriForum - who have argued that the seizure
of their land without
compensation was a human rights abuse.
Speaking
outside the court, AfriForum's legal representative Willie Spies
said the
ruling was a "huge" coup for the farmers.
"It is a moral victory. The
court ruled that Zimbabwe should honour this
ruling. They, the farmers, are
desperate.
The two tribunal rulings - in 2008 and 2009 - also declared
that should
compensation not be forthcoming, South Africa, as Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) member could attach Zimbabwe's assets
as
compensation.
The Zimbabwean government did not recognise the SADC
order protecting
property rights of those still on their farms.
Ben
Freeth, who was in court on behalf of farmer Mike Campbell, said the
farm
had been set fire to and been robbed on numerous occasions.
"It's very,
very difficult, but today is a victory for justice. It's so
exciting," said
Freeth.
In January, the court granted the applicants leave to add the
Zimbabwean
government to the court proceedings.
On delivery of the
court papers, the government filed notice to withdraw,
rendering the court
application by AfriForum unopposed.
Sapa
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
25 February
2010
A landmark regional ruling declaring Robert Mugabe’s land ‘reform’
programme
unlawful will now be enforced in South Africa, after the High
Court in
Pretoria ruled that the ruling should be honoured.
Judge
Garth Rabie ruled in favour of the South African commercial farmers
who have
been victims of Mugabe’s land grab campaign in Zimbabwe. The
farmers had
approached civil rights initiative AfriForum to help them get
the 2008
ruling made by the human rights court of the Southern African
Development
Community (SADC) enforced. The same ruling, which said that land
‘reform’
was unlawful, has been openly ignored by the government, which by
law is
meant to adhere to the Tribunal as a SADC member state.
Justice Barack
Patel last month also dismissed the SADC Tribunal ruling,
refusing to
register it in Zimbabwe. Justice Patel said the regional
Tribunal’s ruling
would have no effect in Zimbabwe because of the political
upheaval reversing
10 years of land seizures would cause. He added that
enforcing the
Tribunal’s ruling would be against Zimbabwe’s domestic laws
and agrarian
policies, noting that ‘the greater public good must
prevail.’
Registration of the SADC ruling is critical for it to be
enforced and
Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers, many of whom are South African
citizens, have
had no choice but to have the ruling registered in South
Africa. AfriForum’s
legal representative Willie Spies told SW Radio Africa
on Thursday that the
Pretoria High Court’s ruling was a huge coup for the
farmers, calling it an
important ‘moral victory.’ He added that it is a
positive step for the
region as a whole, because it sets a precedent that
SADC Rulings cannot be
so easily dismissed.
Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) President Deon Theron also applauded the
Court’s decision, telling SW
Radio Africa that “it opens up the doors for
all kinds of possibilities.” He
explained that commercial farmers will try
seeking compensation for the land
they lost because of land ‘reform’’
compensation that can be sought from
Zimbabwean assets in South Africa.
“Honestly no one wants to see
Zimbabwe’s assets stripped in South Africa,
but when you have been abused
like we (commercial farmers) have, we have to
find some route to take to get
compensation,” Theron said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
25 February
2010
Hundreds of ZANU PF youths were bussed in from militia training
camps in
Mashonaland Central to demonstrate against targeted sanctions in
Harare
after being ‘drugged with mbanje (marijuana) and hot stuff’ a youth
group
has claimed. On Wednesday ZANU PF youths marched through the streets
of
Harare waving placards denouncing the targeted measures imposed on nearly
200 officials linked to the Mugabe regime and about 31 companies accused of
aiding and abetting the repression under the party.
On Thursday the
Youth Alliance for Democracy accused ZANU PF of having
deliberately drugged
the youths at a meeting point near Marlborough Police
Station on the
outskirts of Harare. With the youths high on the intoxicants
they were then
unleashed onto the streets ‘with only 4 police officers on
bicycles,’
something which put ‘peaceful citizens at risk from thuggish
behaviour.’ The
group said ZANU PF Youth Affairs Secretary Absolom Sikhosana
and Rugare
Gumbo addressed the youths to ‘sensitize’ them on what to say and
do during
the demonstration.
The Youth Alliance Communications Officer Thulani
Mswelanto said the
demonstration, ‘only shows the extent to which the
inclusive government is
polarised and dominated by mistrust and political
meddling.’ He said the
demonstration by the youths was ‘a deliberate ploy by
ZANU PF to divert the
people’s attention from the real issues bedeviling the
inclusive government.’
Mswelanto also accused Mugabe of continuing his
tradition of manipulating
youths to be the mouth piece of his political
rhetoric.
‘The use of abusive language, and rekindling the memories of
the June 27
‘election’ shows that these are people who are not prepared to
repent, that
ZANU PF youths including their leaders view murder, torture,
rape,
mutilation as highly normal and to them human rights, respect for the
rule
of law are non existent and unnecessary,’ a Youth Alliance for
Democracy
statement read.
The European Union recently ratified its
decision to extend targeted
sanctions by another year citing the lack of
progress in the unity
government. Only slight amendments were made to the
list as 9 companies were
de-listed and 6 names of mainly deceased people
removed. Opposition ZAPU
leader Dumiso Dabengwa who broke away from ZANU PF
was one of the officials
removed from the targeted sanctions
list.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
25 February 2010
South African President Jacob Zuma will use
his state visit to the UK next
week to plead with the British government to
remove targeted sanctions
against Robert Mugabe and his allies.
Speaking
in an interview with the UK Financial Times in Pretoria, Zuma
suggested he
would be happy even if conditions were set for the removal of
the sanctions.
He said he was baffled that the targeted sanctions have
remained despite
there being an inclusive government in place.
"If we were in the shoes of the
big countries, I would have said 'here is an
agreement, we are in support of
this agreement and lifting sanctions, even
conditionally, even for six
months to a year, give a chance for this
agreement," Zuma said.
A number
of demonstrations against Zuma's soft stance towards Robert Mugabe
have been
lined up by Zimbabwean groups during his visit. The South African
President
will be a guest at Buckingham Palace, the Queen's official
residence in
London.
Zuma said he believed the sanction against Mugabe and his ZANU PF
officials
made it more difficult to establish a 'viable coalition
government' in
Zimbabwe .
"ZANU PF says they're in a cabinet of a unity
government. But part of the
cabinet can go anywhere in the world for their
work and part (ZANU PF
members) can't go out of the country. This unity
government is being
suffocated. It is not being allowed to do its job by the
big countries," he
said.
Last week, the European Union extended their
targeted sanctions on Mugabe
and his henchmen to punish them for lack of
progress in implementing the
Global Political Agreement.
Political
analyst Clifford Mashiri told us he strongly deplored Zuma's plans
to use
his forthcoming state visit to the UK as an opportunity to campaign
for the
lifting of the EU and US targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner
circle.
"Ironically, the South African President who is expected to be a
neutral
facilitator on the stalled negotiations between MDC and ZANU PF has
taken
sides by behaving like Mugabe's election manager. Zuma should remain
neutral
and stick to his mandate as a facilitator or handover that role to
the
United Nations," Mashiri said.
Analysts point out that the inclusive
government has made no real progress
in implementing political reforms and
ending human rights abuses after a
year in office.
In addition, incessant
bickering between Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai over
how to equally share
executive power, the appointment of senior officials in
government like
Gideon Gono, Johannes Tomana and Roy Bennett threaten to
cripple the
operations of the government.
Commenting on Mugabe and Tsvangirai's long
drawn out battle to settle their
differences Reverend Lameck Mutete, an
exiled clergyman said he thought the
two leaders should first forgive each
other.
"In the bible there are many verses about forgiving one another. If
the two
leaders were to do the same, we will definitely see a different
approach to
how they handle these so called contentious issues," Reverend
Mutete said.
The Reverend said he believed it was ill-advised for Zuma to
seek the
removal of sanctions without first sorting out the dispute between
Mugabe
and Tsvangirai.
"In life you can't advance to step 2 without
solving issues in step 1. Zuma
is ignoring that basic rule. Why and how he's
ignoring to push the two sides
to resolve the outstanding issues remains a
mystery to many. He's wasting
his time trying to have sanctions removed when
there is no movement towards
the full implementation of the GPA," the
Reverend added.
http://news.radiovop.com
25/02/2010
06:59:00
Harare, February 25, 2010 - Zanu PF's Politburo has endorsed the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Regulations whose main objective is
to achieve 51 percent Zimbabwean shareholding in existing businesses, the
State Owned Herald has said.
"(The) Politburo has endorsed the
Empowerment Regulations," Zanu-PF
secretary for information Rugare Gumbo
said after the 230th Ordinary Session
of the Politburo.
Gumbo said
the regulations were not a new phenomenon in Sadc as other
countries in the
region had embarked on similar empowerment drives.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has opposed the regulations, saying the
law's regulations were
not cleared by cabinet.
The regulations require that all existing
businesses with a threshold of
US$500 000 should within 45 days -from March
1, 2010 - declare their
shareholding status to the Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Minister
through a prescribed form. New businesses will
be required to comply within
60 days.
Businesses that do not meet the
51 percent indigenisation requirement will
be expected to submit a plan on
how they intend to meet the requirements
within 45 days from March 1. Those
with acceptable reasons will be afforded
an extension not exceeding 30 days
to furnish the authorities with their
indigenisation implementation
plans.
http://www.earthtimes.org
Blood
Diamonds Being Certified as Conflict-Free - Industry Leaders Speak Out
Against Failed International Process; Point to New Solutions
Posted :
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:01:20 GMT
Author : PRWeb
While the diamond
industry has convinced the public that the Kimberley
Process (KP)
certification scheme is keeping conflict diamonds off the
market, recent
events in Zimbabwe illustrate how the KP has failed to
concern itself with
the violent conditions under which many of the world's
diamonds are
produced. Brilliant Earth, the leading ethical origin fine
jeweler, calls
for other jewelers to condemn Zimbabwean diamonds and
emphasizes the need
for ethical jewelry practices that go beyond the flawed
KP.
San
Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 25, 2010 -- Visionary leaders in the
diamond
industry are reacting to recent events in Zimbabwe that illustrate
failures
of the Kimberley Process (KP), which the industry relies on to
prevent
diamond sales from funding conflict.
In recent weeks, it has become clear
that blood diamonds funding murder,
forced labor, rape, and political
oppression in Zimbabwe are reaching global
consumer markets labeled as
"conflict-free." (See blood diamond fact sheet
for more
details).
Resigning from his position at the World Diamond Council,
highly influential
industry expert Martin Rapaport protested the industry's
inaction: "Tens of
thousands of carats of blood diamonds are now in dealers'
inventories and
jewelers' showcases - and are being actively sold to
consumers. . . Instead
of eliminating blood diamonds, the KP has become a
process for the
systematic legalization and legitimization of blood
diamonds." Rapaport was
a principal architect of the KP, along with Ian
Smillie, who has also
criticized it as a failure.
"Consumers are
being misled by the 'conflict-free' diamond label. With a
broken system,
it's not enough to accept a diamond's Kimberley Process
certification, you
have to know the practices of the mine it came from,"
said Beth Gerstein,
co-founder of Brilliant Earth, a national online jeweler
that created a new
business model in response to the KP's failures.
"There are other
certification and mining guarantees that a retailer can use
in place of the
flawed Kimberley Process. Unfortunately it requires a
proactive and ethical
jeweler to now make sure blood diamonds aren't in
showcases, and very few
are willing to put in the effort to do so. We have
shown it's possible to
sell jewelry consumers feel good about, and hope
other retailers join us in
reform of a notoriously harmful industry," said
Gerstein.
Beth
Gerstein is available for interviews about diamond industry reform and
socially conscious jewelry through the above media contact.
http://www.apanews.net/
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) A Zimbabwean parliamentary committee has unearthed
rampant abuse
of public funds, including the existence of thousands of ghost
workers, in
the public service, according to a report published here
Thursday.
The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts' report
revealed the
irregular appointment of more than 10,000 ghost workers who are
crippling
government's capacity to pay civil servants.
According to
the report, there was a clear lack of transparency in the
recruitment of
more than 10,000 youths belonging to President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU PF party
as ward youth officers by the Ministry of Youth Development,
Indigenisation
and Empowerment.
The youths were illegally incorporated on the government
payroll in 2008,
the audit said, adding that the process was a total
disregard of treasury
regulations governing recruitment of Youth Ministry
officials.
The treasury regulations prescribe that no officer can be
appointed unless
an appropriate vacancy exists.
The regulations also
stipulates that no candidate shall be appointed to the
Public Service unless
he or she has been examined by a medical practitioner
and certified to the
satisfaction of the Secretary for Health, attained the
age of 18 years and
completed a declaration prohibiting unauthorised
disclosure of information
connected with his or her duties.
The Registrar-General's department was
also found to be still paying 22
employees salaries after they had long
ceased rendering service to the
department.
JN/nm/APA
2010-02-25
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27575
February 25, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) could
plunge into a fresh
power wrangle following a decision by the outgoing
leadership to proceed
with a rerun of the disputed December 2009 elections
with little having been
done to address the source of the
dispute.
But ZUJ secretary general Foster Dongozi is adamant his
executive has
complied with the dictates of a draft court order in which
four Harare based
freelance journalists challenged the outcome of the
December election,
citing gross irregularities.
"We are going ahead
with the rerun," Dongozi told The Zimbabwe Times
Thursday.
Fresh ZUJ
elections will be held on February 27 at the Royal Hotel in
Bulawayo on
Saturday.
Dongozi said his executive had invited various organisations to
come and
monitor the elections in order to come out with an incontestable
result.
The elections would be monitored by observers from the
International
Federation of Journalists, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions,
Zimbabwe
Election Support Network, Crisis Coalition and Solidarity Centre,
which
represents 14 million American federation workers.
"There would
also be translucent ballot boxes," he added.
"This is all done to ensure
transparency in the process. This is on the
realisation that in the last
election that we held, we gave a lot of space
to our detractors to peddle
lies about the process.
"That is why we are bringing in credible
observers who will produce reports
at the end of the elections".
Days
ahead of Saturday's election, there were negotiations between the
current
executive and some Harare journalists who sought a possible
formation of a
transitional executive that was going to preside over the
rewriting of the
ZUJ constitution ahead of fresh elections.
The group was adamant not much
has changed on the ground to produce an
incontestable
result.
According to Dongozi, the talks collapsed on Wednesday evening
after the
group refused to withdraw their court appeal as one of the terms
of the
envisaged pact.
"We have a problem with people who want to be
installed into office through
a process of negotiation," said
Dongozi.
"That does not happen with trade unionism. These are people
within our ranks
who think they should be at the helm of the union at all
costs. These are
people who are afraid of elections.
"That is an
unhealthy and dirty culture in trade union development. Leaders
should get
their mandate from their members.
"We cannot make such an agreement in
Harare and expect the rest of our
membership throughout the country to
accept that."
Zimbabwe's biggest trade union plunged into a leadership
crisis last
December when the outgoing leadership organised an elective
congress outside
Bulawayo without publicising the venue.
Some
aspiring candidates claimed they were not afforded an equal opportunity
as
the winning candidates to contest for positions in the ZUJ executive.
The
executive was taken to court by freelance journalists Godwin Mangudya,
Conrad Mwanawashe, Frank Chikowore and Guthrie Munyuki who sought a rerun of
the process.
The ZUJ executive did not oppose the application,
instead choosing to rerun
the election this Saturday.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27568
February 25, 2010
Minister Stan
Mudenge locks horns with war veterans over seized land
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge is
embroiled
in a farm ownership wrangle with war veterans, amid reports that
he has now
resorted to the hire of Zanu -PF youths to forcibly evict the
former freedom
fighters from Chikore Farm.Mudenge grabbed Chikore Farm from
a commercial
farmer identified only as a Mr Buchan at the height of farm
invasions with
the assistance of the war veterans.
After a decade of
co-existence with the former freedom fighters on the
property, the minister
now seeks to have them immediately evicted from the
farm.
Situated
about 20 kilometres south of Masvingo city Chikore Farm used to
produce
flowers for export.
The horticultural project featuring green houses has
since been abandoned
and Mudenge now struggles to produce mainly tomatoes
and cabbages on the
once thriving property.
It emerged yesterday that
after failing to evict the war veterans through
the courts the minister has
now recruited Zanu-PF youths to evict nearly 200
families settled on the
property.
"We were surprised to see our youths from the party (Zanu-PF)
coming to
terrorise us and ordering all the occupants to vacate the
property", said
Willias Mutumba, a war veteran who lives on the
farm.
"We are having sleepless nights over this issue and we are soon
going to
declare a fully blown war with these youths who are being used by
Minister
Mudenge.
Tension was very high on the farm Thursday as the
Zanu-PF youths monitored
activity on the property.
The youths said
they had been sent by Minister Mudenge to evict anyone
living on the farm
and to make sure that no one else moves onto the
property.
The war
veterans claimed that they had withdrawn a lawsuit against Mudenge
after he
harvested their tomato crop.
"We withdrew the case in which we were
demanding compensation from the
minister on the understanding that we are
all sons of Zanu-PF ", said one of
the war veterans who refused to be
named.
"We will soon resuscitate the case because it appears the minister
is not
conciliatory".
Mudenge who is also Masvingo North legislator
maintained on Thursday that
the farm belongs to him.
"Anyone on that
farm is there illegally because I own Chikore Farm ", he
said.
http://www.nation.co.ke/
By KITSEPILE NYATHI,
NATION CorrespondentPosted Thursday, February 25 2010
at
20:55
HARARE, Thursday
Zimbabwe is taking legal action to recover
US$3 million owed by Zambia for
maize delivered a decade ago.
The
general manager of the state owned Grain Marketing Board (GMB), Mr
Albert
Mandizha told a parliamentary committee that the debt, which was
US$1, 8
million before interest was being discussed by the Attorneys General
from
the two neighbours.
He said Zambia had paid part of the debt and the
issue was now before the
courts. "The issue has also been delayed after the
Zambian Attorney General's
term of office expired with a new person coming
in but discussions are still
continuing," Mr Mandizha said.
The GMB
boss also attributed the dispute over payments for the maize to the
change
of leadership in Zambia. Zimbabwe used to be a major exporter of
maize in
the region before the collapse of the agriculture sector a decade
ago
following President Robert Mugabe's controversial agrarian reforms.
Last
year, Zambian president, Mr Rupiah Banda donated maize to the
Zimbabwean
government to ease massive food shortages. This year the United
Nations
estimates that 2.4 million Zimbabweans will need emergency food.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com/
Thursday, 25 February 2010 17:34
Editor News
Harare - The cash-strapped Zanu PF party is charging
Nigerian and Asian
owned businesses thousands of dollars in 'protection
fees' in order to
'safeguard' their operations in Zimbabwe, Zimdiaspora can
reveal.
Over the past few years businesses owned by Nigerians and Asians,
particularly of Chinese, Pakistan and Lebanese origin have mushroomed in
downtown areas of most major cities and towns in Zimbabwe.
A member
of the Nigerian Business Community in Zimbabwe told the Zimdiaspora
that
they are made to pay Zanu Pf an annual protection fees amounting to
not
less than $500 per business in addition to making other contributions
to
the former ruling party's functions andevents."
They are fleecing us," he
complained. "Last time they made us contribute for
the holding of the Zanu
PF congress last December and now they are demanding
that we make
contributions to President Robert Mugabe's birthday
celebrations which will
be held in Bulawayo over the weekend."
He said once the foreign owned
businesses pay the so called protection fees
to Zanu PF, their dubious
deals and operations will not be subjected to
scrutiny especially with
regards to following labour, customs, health and
safety
regulations.
"Once we pay the required amount, we can actually get
assistance from the
party in smuggling goods into the country without paying
customs. We will
also be protected for underpaying our employees," said a
Chinese Shop owner
operating in downtown Harare.
Nigerian, Chinese,
Pakistan and Lebanese nationals have transformed,
sometimes illegally, most
offices, businesses and factories in downtown
areas into shopping bazaars
selling cheap and poor quality clothing,
electricals, cosmetics and
foodstuffs.
Some of the products pose a serious health hazard and are
banned in
Zimbabwe, but find their way into the country through
smuggling.
Another member of the Nigerian Business community in Zimbabwe
said they also
recently hosted controversial Attorney-General and Zanu PF
apologist,
Johannes Tomana who promised them further protection of their
businesses.
However, a Chinese diplomat in Harare told Zimdiaspora that
China is
opposed to its nationals who set up illegal backyard businesses
andshopping
bazaars selling cheap products.
"Our official policy is
that we want serious Chinese investors to come to
Zimbabwe and invest in
setting up manufacturing plants and other big
businesses," he
said.
Zanu PF is now technically insolvent following the introduction of
the
multi-currency system in January last year. The party used to rely on
the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which printed money to fund the party's
operations
and terror campaigns.
The intimidation of foreign owned
businesses through the charging of so
called protection fees is one of the
ways devised by the now opposition Zanu
PF to raise funds for its
operations.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/02/2010 00:00:00
POLICE in
Bulawayo say they are investigating a double homicide after the
bodies of
Richard Amyot, a former deputy director of the Commercial Farmers'
Union,
and that of his wife were discovered at their home in the quiet
neighbourhood of Burnside.
A spokesman for Bulawayo police said they
were not looking for anyone in
connection with the double killing last
Saturday.
"The couple had a long-standing dispute and all evidence points
to that they
killed each other," Bulawayo police spokesman, Inspector
Mandlenkosi Moyo,
said without elaborating.
Inspector Moyo referred
further questions to national police spokesman
Superintendent Oliver
Mandipaka, whose mobile phone went unanswered.
A spokesman for the
Commercial Farmers' Union in Harare said the incident
was a "sensitive
matter".
He added: "Police have asked us not to comment until their
investigation is
complete. I can tell you, however, that Amyot's death is
not
politically-motivated."
A brief statement issued by the CFU said:
"It is with great sadness that we
hear of the sudden passing of Richard
Amyot who has previously worked at the
CFU as Deputy Director (Commodities)
before entering the private sector.
"The President, Director and staff of
the Union send their sincere
condolences to his family and may the dear Lord
be with them all during this
difficult time. May his dear soul rest in
peace."
The name of Amyot's wife was not released, but sources told New
Zimbabwe.com
he divorced his first wife and entered into a "trans-cultural
marriage".
And Conor Walsh, a friend of Amyot's, told New Zimbabwe.com
from London he
was "deeply saddened to hear of this
tragedy".
"Richard was a well respected man of principle who was devoted
to his
country. He made a great contribution on various fronts and one
wishes he
could have lived on to play his part in facing future challenges.
One's
thoughts go out to all family members," who went to Milton High School
with
Amyot, and later the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester,
England.
Highfield- SHAKEN by the decline in public support in
his ward 25,
Councillor Silas Machetu has resorted to bullying members of
the Highfield
Residents' Trust, threatening them with beatings and
marginalisation in
community programmes.
Councillor Machetu's action
follows his humiliation by residents at a public
meeting held at CJ
Community Hall in Highfield on Saturday 13 February 2010.
At the said
meeting councillor Machetu was unable to provide satisfactory
responses to
residents' enquiries on his involvement in alleged corruption
involving
council houses, his alleged incompetence and failure to represent
them at
council.
The leadership of the Highfield Residents' Trust has been
receiving threats
from identified officials, including from Councillor
Machetu who accuse the
residents' leadership of exposing the councillor to
public ridicule. The
councillor feels that he can only address residents
from his own political
party, a decision the HRT rejects and denounces in
the strongest terms.
Elected officials represent all people once they assume
public office.
The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) is concerned at this
intolerant behaviour
by an elected councillor, who should be glad to be
given an opportunity to
meet residents in his constituency, something he has
failed to do since his
election in March 2008.
What Councillor
Machetu has managed to do is to attend to his weekly party
district
meetings, at which he is pampered and allowed to lie without being
asked to
account for his growing wealth, in comparison to his average US$150
councillor's allowance.
The HRT is preparing a protest letter to the
Mayor of Harare, decrying the
incompetence and intolerant attitude of
Councillor Machetu. If nothing is
done to address these legitimate concerns
of residents, the MDC-T as a party
will continue to be shamed by such
malcontents and local governance will be
the loser.
The Inclusive
Government is built on the desire to strengthen Zimbabwe's
democracy and
good governance. Unaccountable elected leaders should be
rejected in future
elections.
Water Disconnections:
The City of Harare continues to
disconnect water from residents who have
failed to pay up their dues. While
it is appreciated that the City needs
money to operate, their action is
insensitive and deprives residents of
their right to adequate and clean
water for survival and hygiene. The
alternative is for the City of Harare to
reduce the flow of water to
defaulting households. This is additional work
but it can be achieved.
According to reports coming to the HRT, there are
nearly 5 000 households
across Harare that have been disconnected, creating
a potential health
hazard. The impact on school going children, women and
the general health
situation is frightening.
We urge the authorities
engage in dialogue with the citizens and reach an
understanding that
benefits both parties. It is unhelpful to be
confrontational and using all
sorts of threats. A cornered citizenry can
react in an unexpected
manner.
Ends//
In a recent article posted on the chronicle, the self appointed policy
analyst and well known academic and financial fraudster, Qhubani Moyo,
alleges that there ‘are sanctions’ and scoffs the MDC for calling them
restrictive measures. While it would be doing the academic world a
disservice to call such statements by him intellectual dishonesty, I am
sure it is some form of dishonesty if not ignorance. In fact, by any
standards, his article lacks both academic eloquence and intellectual
logic.
Maybe others are wondering why I call Qhubani an intellectual
fraudster. He
is the only guy I have met who completed in Four years a three
year BA
General degree focusing on Ndebele, Afrikaans and English. Despite
having
attained a Third class pass he corruptly managed to gain his
admission to a
Master of Master of science in Tourism and Hospitality
Management. Given the
huge distance that existed between his qualifications
and the entry
requirements for the masters programme, it is clear that he
paid a fortune
for it. This was nothing to Qhubani since he had just
defrauded Radio
Dialogue of thousands of United States dollars resulting in
him being sacked
by that organisation. This explains why he stands as an
advocate of the
other criminals who have defrauded the state treasury. In a
country with a
rule of law, he should be rehabilitating in prison.
The
issue of how he has robbed the donor community of thousands of dollars
and
used his CIO and ZANU PF connections to evade persecution will be left
for
another day.
Through his not so well thought out article, not that we expect
much from
him, he points out that the MDC must stop referring to restrictive
measures
by their name and start calling them Sanctions as his colleagues in
ZANU PF
would prefer them to be called. It is common knowledge that the EU
document
that acts as a birth certificate to these restrictive measures
calls them
restrictive measures and not sanctions. It does not matter
whether your
friends call you “Mabhensane” during your social outings but if
your birth
certificate does not formally recognise you as such then you
shall be called
Qhubani Moyo officially.
Surely it can only be the prayer
of an ignoramus to hope to solve the issue
of the restrictive measures
outside their historical context. The article
by the chronicle appointed
and self certified policy analyst, Qhubani Moyo,
is either an attempt at
exposing absolute ignorance or just political
imbecility. Thinking that
shouting at the top of one’s voice will sweep away
the existing conditions
that necessitated the imposition of the restrictive
measures is excessive
parroting of the ZANU PF agenda
The need for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe
was inspired by several factors.
It is only a certain level of progress in
dealing with these causal factors
that will culminate in the relaxation or
total removal of these restrictive
measures. It is common knowledge that,
since 1997 a combination of complex
factors such as the large unbudgeted
expenditures to war veterans (which
resulted in that Black Friday in which
the Zimbabwean dollar fell by 72% to
the US$ to mark the beginning of a
serious down turn in the economy), an
unbudgeted for involvement in the DRC
war in which it was estimated that the
Zimbabwean government was using at
least US$1 million dollars a day,
differences over the handling of the land
question, defaulting in debt
servicing, disputed election results,
deteriorating human rights record, and
questions over the rule of law,
constitutionalism, and mode of governance,
provoked some sections of the
international community to impose various
restrictive measures against ZANU
PF.
There is no record of trade sanctions on Zimbabwe anywhere. That is
why you
see that Australian companies continue to trade with Zimbabwe
despite
Australia’s position on Zimbabwe. For example, the Department of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry continued to import snow peas and cut
flowers (mainly roses) from Zimbabwe. Cut-flower imports totalled $33, 000
in 2007-2008 while fresh vegetable imports totalled $20, 000-$25, 000. A
spokeswoman for Australian Foreign Ministry, Stephen Smith said that
‘imports from Zimbabwe are not covered’ by the restrictive
measures.
It is cheap ZANU PF politics to allege that the poor in
Zimbabwe are in such
a position because of these restrictive measures. The
truth is that Zimbabwe
under ZANU PF has suffered from crony-state
capitalism – an economic system
that is terribly hostile to the country’s
poor and working people and that
empowers and enriches political elites and
their clients. Right through the
days of ESAP, ZANU PF adopted what analysts
have termed ‘party-capitalism’
that resented accumulation outside party
networks and that authorised
looting by political elites and their clients.
ZANU PF elites have continued
to pursue this zero sum extractive form of
politics as is evidenced by their
involvement in the Chiadzwa diamond fields
while the nation remains
bankrupt.
In a classical case of an idiot
shooting himself on the foot and attempting
to run, Qhubani Moyo admits that
those conditions that caused the EU to
impose restrictive measures are still
in existence in Zimbabwe. In his
article he states that, “Evidence on the
ground points to little change in
the political landscape ............ The
same laws that existed before are
still in place and the state security
apparatus has not changed its attitude
towards Tsvangirai....” In a clear
case of showing his inability to apply
his mind logically to anything, he
then accuses the MDC of failing to cause
the removal of Sanctions. Is
Qhubani Moyo insane or what?.
I think many like me who were wondering why he
is so much in defence of ZANU
PF must now understand that it is payback
time. They defended him against
prosecution and he must now pay them back by
publishing such embarrassing
articles in the state run chronicle
newspaper.
The only precondition for the removal of Sanctions is
implementation of the
GPA regarding human rights, security, economic policy,
and a return to rule
of law in all aspects of national governance. The full
implementation of the
GPA is the most important aspect in this endeavour
towards ending Zimbabwe’s
decade long international isolation.
By
David Mpiyezwe Nyathi
David Mpiyezwe Nyathi is a Zimbabwean Law student at
the University of
Witswatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa and can be
contacted on
davidmpiyezwe@gmail.com.
145 Robert Mugabe Road,
Exploration House, Third Floor; Website: www.chra.co.zw
Contacts: Mobile: 0913 042 981,
011 862 012, 0733 368 107 or email info@chra.co.zw, admin@chra.co.zw, ceo@chra.co.zw
Residents convene a public
meeting ...Amidst chaos in service
delivery
25 February
2010
Residents of Arcadia, Braeside and St Martins convened a
public meeting in conjunction with the Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA), on the 22nd of February 2010, amidst serious complaints by
many from the locality on the state of service delivery which is in shambles.
The meeting was attended by more than 150 residents from the above mentioned
three areas which constitute Ward 2.
The
residents expressed their disappointment with the way the City of Harare is
demanding money from residents and yet there are no services. One of the
residents fumed saying “…the council expects us to pay our rates in full and
on time, but we have never seen any consistent collection of refuse…” Indeed
the council has been charging residents for services which have not been
rendered. CHRA has been receiving numerous complaints from residents over the
outrageous bills that Council is sending to residents. Furthermore, Council has
continued to issue “letters of final demand” to residents with outstanding
bills, threatening them with legal action. Residents who attended the meeting
professed ignorance of any refuse collection being done in the area saying
“we have forgotten the last time we saw a council truck collecting
refuse”.
Mrs. Jampees, one of the residents who assisted in
coordinating the meeting said that residents will not pay for non-existent
services. Residents also raised concern over Council’s tendency to be
extravagant when service delivery is in a sorry state. One of the issues that
were raised in connection to these concerns is the purchasing of expensive
vehicles by the City Council. Other issues that were raised include the
inconsistent billing by the City of Harare, high levels of corruption within the
Council as well as non-consultation of residents by Council in decision making
processes.
CHRA maintains its position that residents should not
pay for non-existent services. The Association urges all residents who have been
victims of Council’s chaotic billing to contact the CHRA offices for assistance.
CHRA remains committed to advocating for good, transparent and accountable local
governance as well as lobbying for quality and affordable municipal
services.