The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
(Filed: 02/02/2006)
President Robert Mugabe has begun
confiscating and vandalising white-owned
property in Zimbabwe's cities,
after taking over most farms in the
countryside.
His police last
week evicted hundreds of people from their homes eight miles
from the centre
of Harare.
Ian Ross, 68, the owner of Gletwyn farm, incorporated into the
capital in
1996, could hardly control himself as he recalled how police
turfed his
workers out into the rain.
"They arrived to evict the
workers, which they did piece by piece, village
by village compound by
compound," said Mr Ross.
"The workers were dumped. They moved into sheds,
into chicken runs. They
were living like rabbits."
Mr Mugabe began
violently evicting and dispossessing some 4,000 white
farmers and hundreds
of thousands of their workers in 2000. The whites were
punished because the
president said they supported and funded the opposition
which almost beat
him in the election that year.
But the campaign against his people
escalated last winter when he sent
bulldozers to flatten hundreds of
thousands of small homes and markets in
opposition areas in
cities.
The United Nations said 2.4 million people were caught in Mr
Mugabe's "Clean
out the Filth" campaign. Now his cronies and the police are
wreaking havoc
on a daily basis on Gletwyn.
The police say homes will
be built homes there. This will benefit a property
company, Divine Homes,
whose chairman is the deputy finance minister, David
Chapfika.
Divine
Homes says it is selling state land, Gletwyn, in 600 plots without
title
deeds or planning permission. The "problem over title deeds will sort
itself
out when all this settles down", said Washington Jengaenga, a Divine
Homes
executive.
John Worsley-Worswick, of Justice for Agriculture, said the
takeovers were
inevitable.
"This is the first full wholesale attack
on a huge tract of land within the
city limits," he said. "This is not
anarchy by default. It has been well
designed. No property is safe. They
have nearly finished off the farms so
they have to move to towns and
cities."
Mr Ross was so disturbed by the latest attack on his workers
that this week
he won a court injunction restraining police. They were
ordered to leave the
workers alone and dismantle their barricades. But they
were still in place
three days later.
Divine Homes' earth-moving
equipment now pounds across Gletwyn's 1,800
acres, chewing up fields,
upending trees, destroying bore hole pumps, pipes
and reservoirs.
"If
I go, it will be in a box," Mr Ross said before driving off down a muddy
track.
VOA
By Blessing
Zulu
Washington
01 February 2006
President
George Bush in his State of the Union address Tuesday said
Zimbabwe was one
of several countries whose people do not enjoy democracy.
"At the start
of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in
democratic nations,
and we do not forget the other half, in places like
Syria and Burma,
Zimbabwe, North Korea and Iran, because the demands of
justice and the peace
of this world require their freedom as well," Mr. Bush
told a House chamber
packed with senators, congressmen, cabinet members,
diplomats and other
guests.
Zimbabwean State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa dismissed the
accusation
and in an interview with Internet news outlet ZimOnline said that
the U.S.
president was a "warmonger" and "bully" who could not be allowed to
"tarnish
the image of paragons of peace and democracy like President
(Robert)
Mugabe."
Zimbabwe might take on a higher profile now that
the United States has
assumed the revolving presidency of the U.N. Security
Council, political
analysts said.
International Crisis Group Africa
Program Director Suliman Baldo, a native
of Sudan, told VOA reporter
Blessing Zulu that the situation in Zimbabwe as
in Sudan's Darfur region,
reflects "the failure of our rulers that is making
of Africa across the
board the provider of the largest number of refugees
and the internally
displaced."
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 02 February 2006
Jonathan
Katzenellenbogen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International
Affairs Editor
TOP officials of President Robert Mugabe's government are
using their
positions to access antiretroviral drugs meant for the poor,
according to
Zimonline, an independent internet news site that focuses on
Zimbabwe.
Zimonline's sources in Zimbabwe say officials intercept the
drugs from
donors or those purchased by the government's National AIDS
Council before
they are distributed to state hospitals.
The website,
which operates from SA, said it had a list of some of the names
of the
government and Zanu (PF) officials involved in the drugs scam, but
for legal
reasons could not reveal them.
It said the list included cabinet
ministers, members of Zanu (PF)'s
politburo committee, police and military
officials as well as some close
relatives and friends of the politicians and
government officials.
"The (AIDS council) just hands over the drugs (to
top officials). It has
become so normal it is kind of semi-officialised,"
said one source, who
refused to be named for fear of reprisals.
The
source told Zimonline that of the few antiretrovirals that had been
received, most had been snapped up by powerful government and army officials
or by those who were connected to the ruling
elite.
Zimbabwean Health Minister David Parirenyatwa, under whose
portfolio the
National AIDS Council falls, insisted the scheme was run in a
transparent
manner.
"I am aware that there are concerns that senior
government officials are
abusing our free antiretroviral programme, but the
allegations are wrong,"
he said.
Zim Daily
Thursday, February 02 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has expressed deep concern
about Zimbabwe's sharp decline in economic
activity and per capital income,
the rise in poverty and human suffering,
the acceleration of inflation and
the accumulation of domestic and external
payment arrears, all of which
gathered pace in 2005. In a report presented
to Finance minister Hebert
Murerwa, Economic Development minister Rugare
Gumbo and Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono at the end of an IMF fact
finding mission yesterday,
the IMF team said the deteriorating situation in
the country was the result
of inappropriate economic policies aggravated by
disruptions to productive
activity related to the government's fast-track
land reform programme.
"The team expressed concern that
Zimbabwe's economic and social
problems are having adverse spill over
effects on neighbouring countries,
which adds to the urgency of taking
decisive corrective action," sources
told Zimdaily yesterday. "They agreed
that significant changes in the
government's economic policies, together
with improvements in governance are
urgently needed to prevent a worsening
of the economic crisis." Sources said
the team stressed in particular that
the land reform programme should
minimise disruptions to the productive
sectors and to domestic food supply,
and urged the authorities to work
closely with the United Nations
Development Programme in formulating a
programme that would receive broad
domestic and international
support.
The IMF team said bringing the fiscal deficit under
control
would be crucial to restoring macro-economic stability, and
acknowledged the
limited progress achieved in 2005 to reduce the fiscal
deficit, but noted
that the targeted reduction in non-interest expenditure
had not been
achieved. They said most of the budgetary savings were
attributable to a
decline in interest outlays due to the forced
restructuring of the
government's domestic debt. "A loose monetary policy
has aggravated economic
imbalances and fuelled inflation, and has increased
the vulnerability of the
banking system," the team is said to have told the
fiscal and monetary
authorities. "They also said authorities should take
immediate corrective
measures to mop up excess liquidity, allow interest
rates to become positive
in real terms and dismantle the distortionary
subsidised credit facilities.
(There is) need to ensure the health of the
banking system by dealing
promptly with non-viable institutions, and to
fully enforce prudential
regulations and capital adequacy
requirements."
The IMF team further noted "with concern" that
the
over-valuation of the Zimbabwe dollar had seriously hampered the
country's
competitiveness, and had resulted in a shortage of foreign
exchange, the
exhaustion of usable foreign reserves, a large accumulation of
external
payment arrears, and a wide spread between the official and the
parallel
exchange rates. They however commended the inter-bank rate, which
is moving
to converge with the parallel market. "An adjustment in the
official
exchange rate to a more realistic level, supported by tight
monetary and
fiscal policies, is urgently needed to restore external
viability and reduce
the rent seeking associated with foreign exchange
rationing," the team said.
"While this adjustment could be achieved by a
substantial up-front further
devaluation, followed by a return to the
previous crawling peg arrangement,
the team considered that a unified
floating exchange rate should be the
ultimate objective." The team commended
Zimbabwe for making a commitment to
make payments on its overdue financial
obligations to the Fund. "Zimbabwe
should clear its arrears to the PRGF
Trust ," the IMF said, urging Harare to
promptly settle overdue financial
obligations to the Fund. The team said it
was up to the directors to make a
decision on Zimbabwe.
Zim Daily
Thursday, February 02 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
Hundreds of residents in the
Bindura high density suburb of
Chikanga had to be taken to hospital last
week after drinking water
contaminated with human faeces. Some of the
residents have now launched a
$50 billion lawsuit against Bindura Town
Council which they accuse of
negligence resulting in water from a burst
sewerage pipe seeping into the
drinking water supply of the Chikanga suburb.
Despite spirited denials by
Bindura Mayor Martin Dinha that the water was
safe for drinking, Zimdaily
heard that more than 30 000 residents in the
suburb might have drunk the
water that was contaminated with faeces because
a burst sewerage pipe
discharged faeces and used tissue paper into their
water system, it was
learnt this week.
Zimdaily
understands that scores of residents residents had been
treated for
diarrhoea, vomiting and abnormal pains at Bindura Hospital.
Zimdaily heard
that a specimen of the contaminated water had been taken to
the provincial
medical health directorate for tests. But Dinha said: "The
green material
they are talking about is vegetative matter that got swept
into our source
of drinking water because of the rains. The smell is
emanating from this but
the water is safe. Our water actually meet the World
Health Organisation
(WHO) and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ)
minimum
standards."
However some residents dismissed Dinha's
explanation. They said
the incident had most likely been an act of sabotage
by disgruntled council
employees unhappy with their paltry salaries. The
lawsuit against the
council is being spearheaded by Murozvi Zhangazha and
Peter Phiri, all
residents of Chikanga. They told Zimdaily that it was high
time that the
council was punished for some of its wrong doing. "The only
option we have
is to sue for $50 billion so that the infected and affected
residents can
benefit," said Zhangazha. Meanwhile the Combined Harare
Residents
Association (CHRA) says Harare water is contaminated and not fit
for human
consumption.
"The water is dirty and needs to
be properly treated," CHRA
spokesperson Precious Shumba told Zimdaily. "
CHRA does not take Zinwa's
statements seriously as they are misleading and
continue to contradict
expert information by the city's Health Department
that has categorically
condemned the quality of our water quality."
According to a council report
released in December 2005, the Department of
Health Services found that
Harare's water was unsafe for drinking because it
contained 'very low
concentration of chlorine and high levels of bacteria.
It was also found to
be acidic and had sedimentary impurities. The report
concluded that the
water failed to meet WHO and SAZ minimum safety
regulations.
Shumba said the city commission was criminally
negligent and
must be held to account, both for the deaths that have already
occurred and
those that are inevitable unless the water is purified to
international
standards. At least 14 children under the age of five have
died of diarrhoea
infections and dysentery and over 200 citizens have been
hospitalised after
drinking Harare's "contaminated water." Shumba urged
Harare residents to
exercise caution and "do whatever they can to protect
themselves by boiling
or filtering municipal water if they can or using the
solar treatment method
as a last resort. "
"The Sekesai
Makwavarara Commission proved itself to be an enemy
of residents during
their misguided Operation Murambatsvina," Shumba said.
"The current water
crisis shows that they are now prepared to poison us as
well. The illegal
Commission is a puppet of the regime and therefore we
cannot and will not
appeal to the agents of that regime to remove it from
office. Our only path
is to continue with our legal efforts to have it
ejected from town house and
the restoration of democratic government, both
at Town House and Munhumutapa
Building."
Zim Daily
Thursday, February 02 2006 @ 12:04 AM GMT
Contributed by:
correspondent
Joseph Chinotimba, the notorious opportunist
infamous for
leading farm invasions in Zimbabwe over six years ago has
spurned a
suspension order from his Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions on
allegations
of insubordination and attempting to link the Zanu PF aligned
trade union to
Jonathan Moyo's United People's Movement (UPM) political
party. Chinotimba,
a shining paragon of the workings of Zanu PF's cronysm,
yesterday said noone
in his ZFTU had the right to suspend him from an
organisation he helped
form.
In his suspension letter to
Chinotimba, ZFTU president Albert
Makwarimba wrote: "I write to advise you
that as from this date (January 31)
you are suspended. You have been
organising clandestine meetings in the name
of the ZFTU without authority
from the president. "You went to Chiredzi and
misinformed the Sugar Milling
Union that I had sent you to go and mediate
(over) problems being faced by
that affiliate when in fact I never discussed
anything to that effect with
you."
But Chinotimba, a former driver and guard for the
Harare City
Council, told Zimdaily yesterday: "Makwarimba cannot suspend me.
There is no
ZFTU without Chinotimba. I am the alpha and omega of ZFTU," he
said. This is
not the first time that Chinotimba has spurned a suspension
order. During
the reign of the MDC dominated Harare City Council, he had
fierce run-ins
with ousted Mayor Elias Mudzuri after refusing to be fired
for spending a
year AWOL disrupting farming operations across the country.
Chinotimba was
to later bounce back at the Town House at the behest of Local
Government
minister Ignatious Chombo's meddling of the affairs of Harare
City Council.
"This is just a temporary set back. It is
actually Makwarimba
who is insubordination (insurbodinate)," Chinotimba
said. The self styled
commander-in-chief of farm invasions, whose
credentials are suspect emerged
as the deputy chair of the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) in
unclear circumstances. ZFTU was created
by Zanu PF to rival the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which
birthed the MDC.
Makwarimba said the general council would
meet on February 8 to
endorse Chinotimba's suspension and make a final
decision on his future in
ZFTU. But Chinotimba said: "Makwarimba is the one
who must go not
Chinotimba. I am ZFTU and what does he want. I cannot leave
ZFTU and noone
can fire me. Just wait and see." Chinotimba also denied
allegations that he
was eager to align the trade union to the UPM political
party. "This is a
tactic to get me fired from Zanu PF and my ZFTU. It will
not work. I have
nothing to do with Jonathan Moyo. I am a war veteran," he
said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Feb-01
ROYAL Medical Aid
Society (RMAS), owned by soccer enthusiast Innocent
Gumbura, has closed shop
due to financial constraints.
Gumbura told The Daily Mirror yesterday that
RMAS shut its doors in November
last year because of financial problems, he
was not at liberty to disclose.
"We are no longer operating. We have since
advised our members to stop
subscribing to the society," Gumbura said in a
telephone interview. He
claimed his society had a membership of at least 8
000 subscribers
countrywide.
Asked how members would be compensated their
contributions since the
inception of RMAS, Gumbura said: "With medical aid
societies, you pay in
advance so that when you get sick your expenses will
be catered for. If you
do not get sick, that will be that."
He said RMAS
advised its members to stop contributing to the society well
before its
demise. Prior to the closure, the Harare city health department
had sent
circulars to its institutions advising them that RMAS card-carrying
members
must not be attended to because the society could not be located
from where
they were operating
from. RMAS was the principal sponsor of the 2003
footballer of year award
and it splashed a hefty $184 million. It also
sponsored the Zimbabwe
National Supporters Association. Sometime in 2004,
RMAS was involved in a
financial dispute with Zimpapers - a government run
media house - for
allegedly failing to pay advertisements flighted in The
Sunday Mail valued
at $20 million.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2006-Feb-01
THE City of Harare yesterday said it would implement its
proposed $32,5
trillion budget for this year despite receiving 39 petitions
and nine
submissions against it from ratepayers.
The budget was presented
last December and sought to increase rates and
service charges by over 500
percent in some cases.
Harare spokesperson, Madenyika Magwenjere, confirmed
that the council had
decided to stick with its estimates after a special
council meeting
yesterday.
He said the budget would be presented to local
government minister Ignatius
Chombo today for final determination.
"The
commission was considering objections to the 2006 budget. As you know
the
council's finance committee met yesterday (Monday) to consider the
objections. The budget has been in deposit for objections up to the 9th of
January. The finance committee decided to re-affirm the budget" he
said.
The objections raised mainly centred on council's poor service
delivery,
huge rate increments and the legality of the commission running
the affairs
of the city.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Takunda
Maodza
issue date :2006-Feb-01
ZESA Holdings has gone bankrupt
resulting in Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe paying
for some of the country's
electricity imports.
Corporate affairs manager Obert Nyatanga said the
central bank was paying
for imports from Mozambique and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC)
"Zesa does not have sufficient Zimbabwe dollars to
pay RBZ for the foreign
currency at the moment because of the current
sub-economic tariffs. We are
very grateful to the RBZ because they have
continued to pay for our imports
from Mozambique and DRC without us paying
them the Zimbabwe dollar
equivalent," Nyatanga said.
He said the
company's electricity import bill had escalated from US$4,5
million a month
to about US$9 million.
"Our electricity import bill has increased from US$4.5
million a month
denoted in Zimbabwe dollars to about Z$500 billion at the
inter bank
exchange rate. At the same time, the electricity tariff is still
at the old
exchange rate of US$1:Z$824," he added.
Nyatanga said it was
obvious that Zesa could not raise the required
Zimdollars at the new
exchange rate to pay for the imports given that the
company's total revenue
is a third of the electricity import bill alone.
He said the current power
cuts were not limited to Harare, Bulawayo and
Gweru alone.
"The power
cuts are not limited to Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru alone. It
should be noted
that these power cuts are not part of planned load shedding
by Zesa. With
planned load shedding we always advertise and advise our
valued customers of
the days, dates and times when it is in operation.
"The current power
shortages have been caused by forced outages that were
not anticipated nor
planned for," Nyatanga said.
Zesa also attributed the black outs to the
breakdown of a generator at
Eskom - the South African electricity
exporter.
"We lost all our imports from Eskom of up to 450MW due to a
generator
breakdown at Eskom generation stations. They are working
frantically to
restore the situation back to normal sometime this week," he
explained.
Zesa imports up to 450MW from Eskom.
Nyatanga also noted that
generators at Hwange needed refurbishment,
rehabilitation and overhauls to
contain frequent breakdowns caused by
critical shortages of
spares.
"These critical spares are paid for in foreign currency which we have
to
procure at the interbank exchange rate.
"Yes there is a shortage of
foreign currency to procure these spares but we
also need Zimbabwe dollars
to pay for the foreign currency at the central
bank. Zesa does not have
sufficient Zimbabwe dollars to pay RBZ for the
foreign currency at the
moment because of the current sub-economic tariffs,"
he added.
As a
result of the shortage of both the foreign currency and Zimdollar,
Nyatanga
said the generators at Hwange Power Station were constantly
breaking down
due to lack of spares and maintenance.
"Already two generators are out
(440MW) at Hwange due to forced outage at a
time there are no imports from
Eskom.
"It is now impossible to take out these generators for statutory
maintenance
as required by law resulting in the generators overrunning their
stipulated
hours after which they have to be taken out for maintenance," he
said.
Nyatanga also noted that the performances of generators at Hwange were
being
affected intermittently by shortages of coal.
"The price of coal
has been going up but the Zesa electricity tariff has
remained stagnant for
two and half years now. Zesa is obviously having
problems in paying for the
coal due to the sub-economic tariffs and is
heavily relying on the RBZ to
pay for its coal supplies," explained
Nyatanga.
He said this has affected
production at Hwange Colliery Company and
electricity generation.
"Two
more generators of 300MW are out at Kariba South Power Station, one on
statutory maintenance and the other on forced outage," added Nyatanga.
He
however noted that the two generators would have been repaired by
yesterday
(Tuesday).
Nyatanga said there were also other factors like vandalism with
Zesa losing
transformers, cables and other accessories that cause power
failures.
The power utility company has also lost its transformers to
lightning
especially in Harare and Manicaland.
"However, meanwhile, we
have secured temporary increase in power supplies
from HCB of Mozambique of
140MW. Zesa has also secured off-peak imports of
up to 150MW from ZESCO of
Zambia," Nyatanga said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Feb-01
THE
National Social Security Authority (NSSA)'s proposed national health
insurance scheme (NHIS) expected to help workers who can't afford medical
aid will be launched early next year.
Mooted in 1999, the scheme now
expected to take-off in January, was shelved
due to unavailability of
funds.
Among other benefits, the programme will help workers access health
services
through an affordable insurance scheme.
NSSA general management
assistant (finance and investments), James Matiza
told The Daily Mirror that
the scheme was last year expected to cost $1.9
trillion although there was
need for another actuarial valuation to
determine the current costs.
"The
government wanted to introduce the scheme in 1991 but failed due to the
unavailability of funds. NSSA was approached to come up with a different
method that would see workers in both private and public sectors access
affordable health insurance cover," he said.
"We have set up a committee
comprising officials from NSSA and the Ministry
of Health and Child Welfare
to come up with a design for the scheme," Matiza
added.
He said the
committee was currently meeting various stakeholders, including
employers
and employees representatives for suggestions to be considered in
the final
document to be presented to Parliament.
"We have set February as the month
for consultative meetings with
stakeholders. This will be before we present
our document to a parliamentary
committee and a Statutory Instrument is
published for the launch of the
scheme," said Matiza.
He said NSSA was
currently upgrading its computer system that had come under
heavy criticism
from various stakeholders for inefficiency.
Matiza explained that an
Information Technology (IT) company initially
contracted to improve the
system had downed tools due to non-payment for
services rendered.
"The
company contracted to upgrade the system abandoned the contract and we
had
to correct the contribution collection module manually,' he said.
"We have,
however, re-tendered the upgrading of the computer system to a
local company
working with a Canadian firm. We expect them to complete the
employer and
employee registration, contribution collection and benefits
payment modules
by August 31 this year," Matiza added.
He said after completion of the
modules, the company would then customise
the NHIS into the
system.
Matiza said the NHIS launch was targeted at all employees in private
and
public sectors needing affordable health care because of prohibitive
fees
charged by doctors.
"The insurance scheme is expected to provide
wider coverage for all
employees as private medical aid schemes currently
covers only about 10
percent of the majority of employees," he said. "The
insurance also provides
cover for the whole period. Even if an employee
changes jobs it will cover a
wider base of contributors making the scheme
cheaper to finance."
The NHIS was also launched on the basis that most
companies did not provide
medical aid facilities for their workers while
medical costs have
skyrocketed over the years.
The Health Ministry tasked
NSSA to implement the NHIS to bring health
services to the doorsteps of most
Zimbabweans. The noble idea was started in
the early 1990s following the
collapse of the local health delivery system.
Elsewhere in Africa, Nigeria
launched its health insurance scheme last year,
while the Ghanaians
introduced theirs in March 2004.
Accra's NHIS is administered by the National
Health Insurance Council
(NHIC).
NOTICE
THE PUBLIC NOTICE
FOR THE
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING
FOR
CHIPANGALI
WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE
WILL BE HELD
ON THE Of
25th
FEBRUARY AT 14H00
IN THE LADY DIANA
CONFERENCE CENTRE,
AT CHIPANGALI
WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE,
OFF THE GWANDA /
ALL
WELCOME.
New Zimbabwe
MASOLA WA DABUDABU HOPEWELL
Last updated: 02/02/2006
12:30:11
I WISH I could write this article in fluent and explicit
Mandarin.
This is a message for the leadership buffoons in China
who think that
extremism as espoused by Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's
Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and North Korea's Kim Jong-il is the next best thing to
winning
the new cold war.
China's continued backing of
dangerous extremists and warped
fundamentalists should be a concern to all
reasonable peoples of the world.
The way China opposes any censure of these
pariah states and the manner in
which they use their veto in the Security
Council in sympathy with these
states is out-right appalling.
My dream to write to the Chinese in a language they understand is
about to
be realised, thanks to Stan Mudenge's grand idea of introducing
Mandarin at
State Universities beginning this year. In all fairness, there
is nothing
wrong in acquiring a degree in Mandarin; provided it is not just
to fatten
one's educational portfolio.
Given a choice from Zezuru, Khalanga,
Ndau, Ndebele, Latin or Mandarin
for a degree course at Midlands State
University, would it not make sense to
go for Mandarin? After-all, out of
every five persons in the world, one
speaks Chinese. Conversely, in every
one thousand persons in the world, nine
hundred and ninety-nine do not speak
Zezuru, generously assuming there are
five million Zezurus in the whole wide
world.
My reason for apparently pooh-poohing the extensive teaching
of
Zimbabwean languages as well as Latin in favour of any Chinese dialect is
based on the notion that the learning and teaching of a business language at
school makes business sense. The teaching of a sub-Shona dialect as a mother
language should be left to the mother. Those who learn and teach Ndau at
degree level should consider their scholarly adventure as a bit
misguided.
Being Khalanga, I would not be proud to have a linguist
university
qualification in Khalanga. Ndau and Khalanga parents have the
onus to teach
the mother languages, so are the Ndebele and Zezuru parents.
As for Latin;
it remains a dead language and its resurrection is not
foreseen for a very
long time. Yours truly learnt Latin at Empandeni; yours
truly cannot
construct a comprehensive Latin sentence. Mudenge may have
learnt deep
Karanga at a university in Lesotho but he cannot conduct state
business with
the Chinese in Karanga! No particular inference
here!
The going trend is seeing China fast becoming a huge player
in the
international arena. Their economy is booming at an alarming rate,
God bless
them. One hopes that they will not be gifted with the destructive
power of
opium as they were once done by the sly Brits. God forbid; no-one
wishes for
another Opium War with or against China.
Chinese is
going to be the language of choice. Perhaps Mudenge has
realized its
potential as a business language; currently rating second
behind English. It
is my sincere hope that Mudenge realizes that to be able
to capture the vast
requirements of business opportunities presented by
China's emergence as an
economic power-house, it is necessary to know their
language so that a
country as poor and desperate as Zimbabwe does not fall
prey to the
machinations of unscrupulous Chinese businessmen. It has to be
stressed that
the equivalent of Zimbabwe's siya-so will take advantage of
Zimbabwe's
ailing economy as the new briefcase executives.
China would send
its worst engineers to help here and there; after-all
they need their cream
to improve China's own infrastructure. They will send
to Zimbabwe run-down
machinery because the top-of-the-range is certainly
needed to bolster
China's image at home. Zimbabwe will get the equivalent of
rejects from the
mass production lines of bras whilst the EU gets the top of
the range.
Knowing Chinese would be an advantage. It makes business sense
and postures
anyone who can say Zhing Zhong with fluency and passion at an
advantage.
Mudenge's plans to introduce Mandarin in state
universities should not
be driven by desperation due to the current
political impasse with Britain.
There is no reason to behave disparagingly
in solving Zimbabwe's lack of
credible friends in the west. Zimbabwe needs
to do the right thing. If
Zimbabwe would retrace its steps to the beginning,
the mistakes made on the
way would be seen and hopefully corrected. It is
not a proper way to correct
a mistake by changing the education curriculum
in a wholesome fashion like
Mudenge would want to have.
Zimbabwe lacks consistency and reliability. I remember when the
current
French president Mr Jacques Chirac was the EEC commissioner and a
bit
friendly to Zimbabwe, the idea of teaching French in Zimbabwean schools
was
top on the government's agenda. When Fidel Castro came, Spanish was
suddenly
the in thing. When problems with Britain started, Mudenge thought
Zimbabwe
was better off in the Luso-phone community (Portuguese-speaking).
Now we
have Chinese!
We have not forgotten Tiananmen Square! Besides the
brutality and the
repression brought by the Second Chinese Revolution of
1947, China also gave
us Tiananmen Square!
The 1989 Tiananmen
Square Protests were a series of student-led
demonstrations held in
Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the People's Republic of
China, between April
15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. The protest, denouncing
China's economic
instability and the Communist Party's political repression
and corruption
and influenced by the loose Chinese democracy movement, was
violently
suppressed by armed soldiers ordered into Beijing by the PRC
government.
We recall with indignation how the tanks fired at
student!
Alone I stand in the autumn cold
On the tip of
Orange Island,
The Xiang flowing northward;
I see a thousand
hills crimsoned through
By their serried woods deep-dyed,
And
a hundred barges vying
Over crystal blue waters.
Eagles cleave
the air,
Fish glide under the shallow water;
Under freezing
skies a million creatures contend in freedom.
Brooding over this
immensity,
I ask, on this bondless land
Who rules over human
destiny?
-----Mao Zedong (1925)
Masola wa Dabudabu is a
columnist for New Zimbabwe.com and was
previously a regular columnist with
the banned Daily News. He writes from
London. CONTACT MASOLA: hopemasola@hotmail.com
From: Sipho Nkala
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 1:16 PM
Subject:
Zimbabwe Agenda from the disporal perspective
Summary of resolutions
for the MDC UK District Meeting held on 22nd Jan as
per
agenda
Co-option of vacant positions
The meeting endorsed that
Washington Ali's meeting of 8 December 2005, held
in Birmingham was held
outside of the MDC Constitution and policies; hence
it cannot be considered
as MDC and all it's resolutions and structures are
not recognised by the
Party. It was agreed at the meeting that the meeting
the 22nd January was
done according to the constitution and all procedures
had been followed and
that it was a follow up to the meeting of 11th
December. The meeting agreed
that Ali was deemed to have excluded himself
from the district and therefore
could no longer be treated as the chair of
the district
Following the
cooption the new structure is as follows-
Mr. Silence Chihuri
-CHAIRMAN
Mr. Jeffrey Masango -VICE-CHAIRMAN
Ms Sipho
Nkala -SECRETARY
Mr. Njabulo Ngwenya -VICE.SECRETARY
Mr.
Chris Nkala -TREASURER
Mr. Givemore Chindawi -ORGANISING
SECRETARY
Mr. Artwell Ndlovu -VICE.OGRANISING.SECRETARY
Mr. Frank
Mamvura -INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY
Mrs. Sehlile Khumalo -WOMENS
CHAIRLADY
Mr. Hlekani Dube -YOUTH CHAIRMAN
Mr. Bhekimpilo
Ngwenya -YOUTH SECRETARY
Mr. Noble Sibanda - IT Coordinator
Mr.
Aaron Chisango - IT Coordinator
Definition of MDC
The meeting
defined MDC as per constitution, its aims values and objectives
as
stipulated in the constitution article 3 (see appendix 1)
MDC is a
political party which seeks to establish governance in Zimbabwe
through
democratic practices, through transparency and accountability, and
seeks to
promote prosperity and dignity of every Zimbabwean citizen
regardless of any
classification. The party does not only target practice of
these principles
by government but also by a society at large.
What is our vision for
Zimbabwe?
We envisage Zimbabwe whereby every citizen would enjoy their
right and
freedoms and be able to participate in the determination of their
destiny as
a people through democratic means.
Our vision is of a
prosperous Zimbabwe, with a strong economy, sustainable
development, good
governance, social cohesion, a multi cultural society with
equal
opportunities for all regardless of race tribe, social status,
religion,
gender, culture or any other status.
Our dream is of a Zimbabwe that
proudly occupies her rightful position in
the world in terms of good mutual
relations with the international
community.
· Can our vision be
achieved through MDC as defined above?
It was agreed that our
vision can be achieved through the MDC provided our
leaders are altruistic,
competent, and politically astute, remain in service
to the electorate and
abide by the principles enshrined in the MDC
constitution. The meeting
resolved that ownership of systems and processes
by the Zimbabweans is a
basic principle of democracy
· What impediments are there on the
ground to the attainment of our
vision?
Contravention of
the MDC constitution
The meeting noted with concern that the MDC
constitution has been
contravened by the leadership (Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai)
which has led to the
current regrettable divisions within the party.
His
refusal to participate in the senatorial elections was based on the
premise
that the electoral system in Zimbabwe was flawed, however, he went
on to
field candidates for local government elections, which are part of
the same
political system. In short, it was not unconstitutional to oppose
the
creation of the senate, but once it was introduced the MDC had a duty to
participate according to it's constitution.
Dictatorial
In
respect of the constitution, the meeting established that the then
President, Morgan Tsvangirai unilaterally violated the principles of
democracy as embodied in the constitution. 6 out of 12 provinces had voted
to participate, 2 undecided and 4 against - Mr. Tsvangirai refused to accept
these results. Out of 6 Executive members 5 voted for participation and 1
against, which Mr. Tsvangirai also refused to accept. The national council;
33 voted for participation, 31 against - the vote was again nullified by the
Mr. Tsvangirai
Misrepresentation
The meeting was deeply
disturbed that Mr. Tsvangirai initially
misrepresented the outcome of a
formal meeting when he informed the local
and international press that the
vote was a tie necessitating him to have a
casting vote.
Leadership
qualities
The meeting found Tsvangirai lacking in sufficient leadership
qualities, by
he failing to hold the party together and was preoccupied with
asserting his
perceived authority. The meeting stated that on numerous
occasions, Mr.
Tsvangirai, has failed to differentiate the roles of a
pressure group and a
political party.
Past achievements,
The
meeting stated that Mr. Tsvangiai should have stepped down after failing
to
win the elections on three occasions.
Regionalism,tribalism and
nepotism
Regionalsim, tribalism and nepotism were identified as long
standing
impediments to social solidarity not only to MDC but to the whole
Zimbabwean
society.
Corruption
Corruption was seen as one of the
greatest evils that has permeated the
Zimbabwean society. There was concern
that MDC lacks systems of transparency
and accountability.
Divide and
Rule
'Divide and rule' tactics of a small but very effective group of
Zimbabwean
white supremacists who seem overly concerned with maintaining
control over
Zimbabwe than encouraging stability and
autonomy.
What is the way forward to reinforce the achievement of
our vision?
The meeting endorsed Mr. Tsvangarai's expulsion from
the party and called
for him to step down.
The meeting recommended that
the constitution be made available to every
member and to the general public
and that everybody abides by it. Not to
entertain people who violate the
constitution. To emphasise that politics is
not about individuals.
The
meeting was made aware of a non procedural visit to the UK by members
claiming to be belonging to the Tsvangirai faction in early February and it
was unanimously agreed that the visit should not be recognized by the
district. The meeting was advised to acknowledge that there could not be two
MDCs as the party has only one constitution-those who are in breach of the
constitution cannot call themselves MDC.
The meeting recommended that
the District should head hunt Zimbabwean
advisors and to put in place
committees work on the identified problems
It was agreed that there was a
need of restructuring branches, identify
people who are prepared to work for
the party not individuals and who want
to be guided by the constitution. To
make MDC accessible to every post code.
The meeting was advised that the IT
team were working on a Website.
It was agreed that we should remain focus
in our struggle of a democratic
Zimbabwe
Next meeting will on the
26th February 2006
Time 12pm to 3 pm
Venue 5 Bridgemill
22a
Beswick Street
Manchester
M4 7HR
The place is 10 minutes walk from the
city centre and the buses one can take
are 216 and 76. It is near The City
of Manchester Football Stadium.
· Register
your contribution to the
Democratic struggle by donating
£5
· Be a member and buy a card (contacts
org.
sec Mr. Chindawi on 07733004766 or the deputy org.sec Mr. Ndlovu
07723066683)
For transparency and accountability, please make payments
into the following
account
Bank: Nat
West
Name of Account Holder: MDC Manchester Branch
Account
No.: 17428378
Sort Code:
01-05-11
No cash should be given to any official no matter how high
their ranking in
the party. Currently, membership confirmation can only be
processed through
the secretariat department, so please help us to help you
by following the
procedure. The department is not able to issue membership
confirmation for
cards obtained anywhere else.
The solution is in
your mind,
The determination in your heart, and the
Power is in your
hands.
You are the quotient in the Zimbabwe equation, we can not solve it
without
the X factor and that is you.
Minutes of the Zimbabwe Agenda
meeting will be circulated on Thursday 2nd of
February 2006.
For
further information, please contact the MDC UK Secretary at
mdcuksecretary@yahoo.co.uk
From: Frank Mamvura
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 10:03 AM
Subject:
MDC MEETINGS
dear all
Please be advised that all mdc
activities and meetings shall be announced through the proper
channel.Information is telephonically obtainable from Frank Mamvura on
07766592005:landline01902420153.
All objectively genuine and well focused
members should not attend meetings being
held by Isaac Matongo and his
colleagues.Isaka and Tsvangirai remains suspended until further hearings from
our democratically elected disciplinary committee in Harare
Zimbabwe.
We,Zimbabweans are God fearing and should discourage the
use of violence against people of different political opinions,THE DESSPICABLE
UTTERANCES OF DECEPTION PATTERNING SENATORIAL ELECTIONS,the rigging of elections
and corruption.Matongo and Tsvangirai the man that we all used to respect had
failed to
address those issues.
STOP FEEDING MATONGO WITH A GOLDEN
SPOONS AND SILVER FORKS.
I discourage Zimbabweans to contribute anything in
cash and kind to Matongo.They will use your effort towards the instigation of
fear, violence,tribalism,rigging elections and butchering people.
I am a
living evidence of Matongos political victimisation and
butchering.Briefly,Matongo rigged elections in my constituency where i was the
most popular and highly favoured candidate by politically pushing his cousin
Madzimure from Masvingo to become a member of parliament.
IN GOD WE
TRUST.
Frank Mamvura[SECRETARY FOR INFORMATION AND
PUBLICITY-MDCUK]
THEY WILL COME ONE WAY BUT SHALL RUN AWAY IN SEVEN WAYS.