http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by The Zimbabwean
Sunday, 16 January
2011 12:21
Kariba flood gates to be opened
JOHANNESBURG - As heavy
rains continue to pound parts of South Africa, the
meteorological bureau has
warned that there was a "high risk of floods" in
the central and
northeastern parts of the country over the next few days.
The government
announced that the army was on standby as the water levels
rose to dangerous
levels in South Africa's biggest river, the Orange. The
river rises in the
Drakensberg Mountains in the eastern part of the country
near Lesotho and
flows westwards across the country and along the border
with southern
Namibia before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean, covering a
distance of
2,200 km.
"We are expecting above-normal rains," said Cobus Olivier, a
scientist at
the South African Weather Services. Vuyelwa Qinga Vika,
spokeswoman for the
ministry of cooperative governance and traditional
affairs, said 36 people
had been killed in extensive flooding, particularly
in the eastern province
of KwaZulu-Natal, parts of which have been inundated
by a tributary of the
Orange River.
Across northwestern South Africa,
neighbouring Namibia has been on standby,
watching water levels steadily
rise in the Orange River, said Japhet Itenge,
the head of the country's
disaster management directorate. "We are
monitoring the situation and the
village councils have been informed.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA),
staffed jointly by officials from Zambia
and Zimbabwe, said it would open
the flood gates of the Kariba Dam, situated
between northwestern Zimbabwe
and southeastern Zambia, on 29 January. This
could cause flooding in the
region.
http://www.news24.com
2011-01-16 13:55
Harare - Zimbabwe's attorney general
has appointed a probe team to assess
whether any of the diplomatic cables in
custody of whistle blowing site
Wikileaks reveal breaches of the country's
security laws, which may lead to
prosecution of those cited, reports said on
Sunday.
"I am seeking a professional legal opinion from registered
lawyers to see
whether there is need to prosecute anyone following
revelations by the
Wikileaks website," Johannes Tomana, the attorney general
told the state-run
Sunday Mail.
"People should understand that this
is a serious matter...after their
recommendations, I will then decide
whether there is need to open a docket
against anyone.
"This is not a
commission of inquiry, but a panel of experts whose
recommendations will
inform whether to prosecute anyone or not."
The whistle-blower website is
expected to dump more than 250 000 cables onto
the internet and to select
media outlets, including more than 3 000 cables
concerning
Zimbabwe.
WikiLeaks has not said what will be contained in its upcoming
release on
Zimbabwe.
Last month, Tomana was slapped with sanctions
and an asset freeze by the
United States, making him the latest ally of
long-ruling President Robert
Mugabe to be black-listed by the US
government.
A series of US cables by its diplomats released by WikiLeaks
last month have
been embarrassing to 86-year-old Mugabe and his inner
circle.
One discussed the United Nations' efforts to get Mugabe to stand
down by
offering him a retirement package and an exile deal.
Another
contained accusations that Mugabe's wife, Grace, and Central Bank
Governor
Gideon Gono were earning huge profits from illegal diamonds.
Mugabe's
wife has filed a lawsuit claiming $15m in damages from a local
independent
weekly that reproduced a WikiLeaks report which said she had
been involved
in underhand sales of diamonds from the controversial Marange
mines.
- AFP
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
16/01/2011 00:00:00
by Lebo
Nkatazo
RELATED STORIES
ZIMBABWE’S embassies doted around the
globe are in arrears amounting to
US$24 million carried over from last year
for various services rendered,
according to a parliamentary
report.
In its report, the parliamentary portfolio committee on Foreign
Affairs said
the moneys owed should be paid to “restore the dignity of
diplomats as well
as the reputation of the country”.
The Foreign
Affairs Ministry has made a proposal for Treasury to release at
least US$2
million a month for the next eight months beginning this January
to pay off
some of the most pressing obligations.
But the treasury is yet to make a
commitment.
“By factoring in arrears from missions abroad of $24.350
million that have
accrued over the year the ministry will virtually have to
maneuver from a
net position.
“This is not a pleasing situation at
all and I hope the Finance Minister,
his officials together with the
Treasury will do something to address this
pertinent issue,” reads part of
the Foreign Affairs committee report.
Legislators also recommended that
the Foreign Affairs Ministry should
consider reducing its manpower to cut
costs.
Moving to the Ministry of Regional Integration and international
Co-operation, the committee said the former had been forced to cut its
vacancy size from 32 to 20 due to lack of funds.
The Ministry was
said to be operating with only two vehicles and had wished
to acquire more
in 2011, but their bid for US$145 000 to purchase the
vehicles was thrown
out by treasury.
Diaspora engagement meetings were also affected by the
cash squeeze.
“Diaspora engagement will also be slashed down from 7
countries to 3. (The
ministry) wanted to cover Australia, Botswana, Canada,
New Zealand, South
Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America, but
they only managed
to do Botswana, South Africa and United Kingdom,” said the
report.
http://www.universityworldnews.com
Kudzai Mashininga
16 January
2011
Issue: 0069
Three supporters of President Robert Mugabe have
moved to grab huge chunks
of land belonging to a state-run university in a
matter that has since
spilled into the courts. This comes a decade after the
African dictator
launched a ruinous agrarian reform exercise.
The
three Mugabe loyalists - Boas Urayayi (a soldier), Elikanah Mtshanga and
Munashe Gurumani - claim the government allocated them up to 950 hectares of
land belonging to Great Zimbabwe University.
The institution is
located in the country's oldest town, Masvingo, known as
Fort Victoria
before Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980. Each of
the three
claimants is demanding slightly more than 300 hectares of the
land.
But the institution of higher learning maintains that legally
the disputed
land belongs to it.
In an interview on Tuesday, Great
Zimbabwe University Vice-chancellor
Professor Obert Maravanyika told
University World News that its case with
Urayayi was the only one due in
court this week, but was cancelled when
government averted the take-over by
allocating the soldier alternative land.
"We went to court yesterday, but
Urayayi signed affidavits to withdraw the
claims after government allocated
him alternative land. This is a dynamic
situation. Some of the other people
who are coming to claim the land are
saying the land used to belong to them.
That is the challenge we have here,"
Maravanyika said.
In a separate
interview, Gurumani claimed he would do everything in his
power to take over
the land and described the university as an "illegal
settler" on his
property. The third claimant, Mtshanga, could not be reached
for
comment.
In 2000 Mugabe launched a populist and bloody campaign to take
over
white-owned farms in Zimbabwe, at a time when his now 31-year-old
uninterrupted rule faced its fiercest threat - the formation of the (then)
opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.
In the 2008 general elections, which saw Mugabe's agents
murdering hundreds
of opposition members, the ZANU-PF leader was defeated by
Tsvangirai but
declined to cede power, necessitating the formation of a
unity government in
which Mugabe remains a domineering president with
Tsvangirai as prime
minister.
The land grabs and state-sponsored
violence prompted sanctions from the
European Union, the US and Australia,
with Sydney going a step further by
deporting the children of those on its
sanctions list studying at its
universities. The most notable of these were
the children of Police
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, and the
Governor of the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono.
Mugabe's party
adopted new hardline resolutions at its conference last
December, with a
resolution for further land grabs, which may have
influenced a new wave of
attempts to take over properties, including the
university
property.
The party also resolved that the Zimbabwe government would take
counter-measures against foreign companies, institutions and entities whose
home countries maintain sanctions against Mugabe and his inner cabal - a
move that threatens the operations of international companies operating in
the country including BP, Total, Chevron, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered
Bank and platinum giant Zimplats.
The party said the government
should also expel envoys promoting the "West's
regime change agenda" and
interfering in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe,
and should deregister NGOs
allegedly acting as "conduits of regime change".
Last week Attorney
General Johannes Tomana - who has also been blacklisted
by the EU and US for
political persecution of dissenting voices through
prosecution on trumped-up
charges - announced the setting up of a six-member
commission of enquiry to
look into "suspected constitutional infringement
bordering on conspiracy by
several Zimbabweans arising from WikiLeaks
reports".
The state-run
Herald newspaper, a mouthpiece for Mugabe's party, reported
that the prime
minister is among the suspects.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
16/01/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PROFESSOR Welshman Ncube’s MDC party is said to be battling
serious
financial problems which have hampered efforts to hold rallies and
other
campaign activities across the country.
So dire is the
financial crisis that some delegates had to pay for their
accommodation and
other expenses during the party’s recent congress where
Ncube took over as
party leader.
“We have no money in the party coffers. It’s not a secret
that we were
operating on a shoestring budget during our two-day congress,”
deputy
president, Edwin Mushoriwa said.
“You should understand that
unlike other political parties which get money
from the West and donors, we
do not have vast amounts.”
Provincial officials said rentals for offices
had gone unpaid for months
while campaign efforts were being undermined by
the lack of transport.
The party is said to have only four vehicles for
its 12 administrative
provinces.
“Information at hand indicates that
the party has only four vehicles — one
in Manicaland, another in Masvingo
and two in the Matabeleland provinces,”
Masvingo chairman, Robson Mashiri
said.
“As we speak, we have not paid rentals for our offices, yet the
rent is only
US$200 per month. To further highlight the problem, my province
only
received US$4 to cover the expenses it incurred during the
congress.
Former national chairman Joubert Mudzumwe said the party did
not have any
assets at all.
“Since 2006, as the party national
chairperson, I have never known of any
assets belonging to the MDC or even
any offices in the 12 provinces.
“The same applies to motor vehicles. The
only motor vehicles I am aware of
are a written off Mazda,” he
said.
Foreign funding of political parties is banned by law in
Zimbabwe.
The government provides an annual grant based on the parties’
representation
in parliament under the Political Parties Finance
Act.
However, the paities say the grant is woefully inadequate.
http://www.radiovop.com
16/01/2011 18:18:00
BULAWAYO, January
16, 2011-Deputy Prime Minister and MDC-T Vice-President
Thokozani Khuphe on
Saturday took a swipe at the new leader of the smaller
faction of the MDC,
Welshman Ncube saying his election will not have any
impact in Zimbabwean
political circles.
Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo on Saturday, Khupe
said Ncube should not
be fooled into thinking that by being elected as the
MDC-M president he will
win any national elections.
“I beat him in
Makokoba in 2008 elections and I can beat him any time if
elections are
called.He will never win any national elections and his party
is now in a
worse position than when Mutambara was leader, " said Khuphe
whose attack on
Ncube revealed the bad blood between the two Matabeleland
politicians.
Khupe said MDC-M can hold several congresses and change
leaders but it will
remain the same and won’t pose a threat to
MDC-T.
"The change of leadership in that party will make them even weaker
than they
were in 2008, " said Khuphe
Responding to Khupe’s scathing
attack on Ncube MDC-N Bulawayo Province
spokesperson, Edwin Ndlovu said
Khupe should not be taken seriously as she
was just a useless figure trying
to seek attention.
“She is just a village idiot singing wedding songs at
a funeral. People
should not take her seriously because she is just a
toothless and a useless
figure trying to seek attention.Our advise to her is
that she should not
waste time commenting about our party.She should be
dealing with divisions
within the MDC-T which is failing to hold a
congress,” said Ndlovu.
http://www.radiovop.com/
16/01/2011 18:19:00
MASVINGO,
January 16, 2011 – Members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA)
from 4:2
Infantry Battalion in Gutu have banned vendors from selling The
Mirror, an
independent newspaper based in the town.
Mirror newspaper agency in Gutu
had to run to chief Gutu for protection when
soldiers at Mukute Inn
threatened to beat him up on Saturday.
The Mirror editor Golden Maunganidze
said volumes of newspapers which were
supposed to be sold in Gutu were
returned to Masvingo as vendors there said
they were afraid to be seen
selling the paper.
“We have received the newspapers which we had sent to
Gutu. Vendors in the
area including agencies there said they were afraid to
be seen with copies
of the paper.The soldiers have accused the paper of
tarnishing the image of
the army in a number of articles written by the
paper early this year,” said
Maunganidze.
In its recent edition The
Mirror published an article headlined ‘ Soldiers
Run Amok at Mpandawana ’
where soldiers beat up people on December 24 and on
Christmas day.They also
beat up a police officer and the incident was
confirmed by both the police
and the army itself.
One of the soldiers has been sentenced to one year in
prison.
“We are shocked with this kind of operation especially at a time
when the
government should be seen introducing more newspapers in the media
industry,” added Maunganidze.Army provincial spokesperson Kingstone Chivave
could not be reached for comment as his mobile was not reachable.Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe, Masvingo provincial chairman
Energy Bara said the actions of the army were highly embarrassing.
“We
condemn the actions by overzealous members of ZNA in the strongest
possible
terms. What worries us is that the story was not cooked up, as it
was based
on research and facts. If the army feels defamed by the story in
question,
they should have taken appropriate action rather than banning
sales of
newspapers ,” said Bara.
Meanwhile, Zanu (PF) secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa shocked
villagers at Mutimurefu Prison grounds
on Saturday afternoon when he openly
admitted that soldiers were the ones
keeping the party intact.
“Those who say soldiers and war veterans should not
meddle in politics are
wrong, such people are our enemies. Soldiers are the
ones helping to keep
our party intact,” said Mutasa.He was addressing
villagers at a tree
planting ceremony.
http://www.radiovop.com/
16/01/2011 10:38:00
BULAWAYO,
January 15, 2011- The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
formation led by
Welshman Ncube has denied claims by disgruntled former
national chairman,
Joubert Mudzumwe that his wife and children were
assaulted by party drivers
who were sent to collect two vehicles from his
house in Runyararo West
township on Friday.
Bulawayo Province MDC-N spokesman Edwin Ndlovu told
Radio Vop that Mudzumwe
was lying about his family being attacked by the
drivers who collected the
vehicles from his house.
“ Yes its true
that we sent our drivers to Masvingo to collect the two
vehicles from
Mudzumwe because he is no longer with us.But he is lying that
our drivers
assaulted members of his family, ” Ndlovu told Radio Vop from
Bulawayo.
Ndlovu said Mudzumwe was still bitter that Ncube took over the
party
leadership last week after Arthur Mutambara stepped down and did not
seek
re-election at the congress in Harare.He said Mudzumwe was allocated
two
vehicles to use in Masvingo when he was still national chairman of the
party.
“ Why should he use our cars when he is no longer chairman of
the party.He
is just a bitter man who is trying to tarnish Ncube,s name and
the new
leadership, ” said Ndlovu.
Ndlovu told Radio Vop that
Mudzumwe was first allocated a mazda 323 to use
for official party
business.He was later given a pick-up after he
complained that the first one
needed to be sent for service.Mudzumwe on
Friday told our correspondent in
Masvingo that the drivers whom he described
as thugs, beat up his wife and
children before driving off with the two
vehicles.
He claimed that the
two vehicles were his personal property and would be
approaching his lawyers
to recover them.
“ He is free to go to his lawyers but he is wasting his
time because he
knows those cars belong to the party, ” said Ndlovu who
accussed Mudzumwe of
playing a tribal card.According to Ndlovu, the Masvingo
delegates were
disappointed by Mutambara because they expected the former
University of
Zimbabwe student leader to go along with their plans to derail
the congress.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
As Zimbabweans struggle to cope with
food shortages and rising prices, Peta
Thornycroft meets one woman trying to
help the ever-growing ranks of
suffering citizens.
By Peta
Thornycroft, Bulawayo 7:00AM GMT 16 Jan 2011
As the great great
granddaughter of one of imperial Britain's greatest
African foes, the irony
cannot be lost on Sandra Gumede.
Lobengula, her illustrious ancestor,
spent much of the late 19th century
trying to fend off colonial encroachment
in his Matabeleland kingdom in what
is now western
Zimbabwe.
Ultimately he failed, his tribal warriors cut down by British
Maxim guns
during a war that provided Rhodesia's Rorke's Drift moment - when
Maj Allan
Wilson and 31 British volunteers were cut down by a vast Matebele
force
after a valiant stand by the Shangani River.
But today Mrs
Gumede works with the British, or at least with a British
charity in the
form of Zane, set up in 2002 by former MP Tom Benyon to help
the
ever-swelling ranks of destitute Zimbabweans, black and white.
At another
moment of great crisis in her people's history, it seems only
right - like
her ancestor before her - to rally to their need.
So, at 3am, Mrs
Gumede is up and cooking maize meal in a council hall in
Pelindaba, an
overcrowded suburb of Bulawayo, the "City of Kings" that was
once
Lobengula's capital.
It is an early start but she has little choice in
the matter; Zimbabwe's
daily power cuts mean that a lie-in is all but
impossible.
Soon the corridors are thronged with playing children who
have come to the
council hall with their grandparents, penniless pensioners
for whom Mrs
Gumede is the only hope of a hot meal. The children are mainly
orphans,
their parents mostly carried off by the Aids epidemic that has
swept
Zimbabwe, where as many as one in six of the adult population are
infected
with the HIV virus.
Maize meal, known in Zimbabwe as sadza
when it is cooked, is the staple food
of Zimbabwe. But after years of
hyper-inflation and misrule that has
consigned a country once prosperous by
African standards to mass
impoverishment, it has almost become a luxury for
many in Matabeleland.
As one element of its work in Zimbabwe, Zane
provides maize meal and soya so
that many of those who suffer the most --
the old and the young -- again
have the opportunity to eat.
One of
the beneficiaries of the feeding scheme is Thabani, a former teacher
who
lived in rural Matabeleland until 1985 when he was forced to flee
President
Robert Mugabe's brutal suppression of Matabele dissidents and
their
suspected sympathisers.
It was the height of what became known as the
Gukurahundi, and in nearby
villages the dreaded, North Korean trained Fifth
Brigade was carrying out
mass executions, forcing villagers to dig their own
graves before mowing
them down with machine gun fire.
For Thabani,
who thinks he is 69, Mrs Gumede's sadza is, like for so many
others, quite
possibly the difference between life and death.
"I would die without this
food, which I collect every day of the week," he
said. "It is cooked. I have
no money for electricity even when it is on. At
weekends, it is a problem to
get food. Often I am very hungry on Monday."
Thabani does not believe
there is any immediate prospect for an improvement
in the lives of ordinary
Zimbabweans, not while the present government
remains in power, making the
role that Zane plays in his life even more
important.
"We know what
has happened in Zimbabwe," he said. "We know why we are
hungry. No one here
will support Mugabe in any elections now."
He continued: "I don't know
this British organisation who send money for the
food for us, but please
thank them. We would die without it, so would those
children over
there."
The children continue playing happily as the food is handed out
to the
pensioners as they queue patiently for their food.
Having one
hot meal a day gives them a future, and some hope - a precious
commodity in
Zimbabwe.
Others in Zimbabwe, however, do not want to consider what the
next few
years, even months, might bring.
Lorna Webb is one of
Zimbabwe's white victims. She hasn't been oppressed
politically or singled
out for violence. But, like countless others in
modern Zimbabwe, she is
penniless.
A distinguished Zimbabwean - her father was Sir Thomas Page, a
one-time
pioneering farmer - she lived her life with characteristic
prudence. After
her husband died, she sold the family house as a way of
supporting herself
into old age.
Instead, she was reduced to penury
as her savings were wiped out after Mr
Mugabe's policies of seizing
white-owned farms contributed to inflation so
runaway that prices were
doubling every day.
It is hardly surprising that Mrs Webb is not
relishing the prospect of
turning 100 later this year. In fact, she just
wants to die.
"I am 99 now and my body is worn out," she said, speaking
from her bed in
the frail-care section of a Harare old age home. "I have
lived too long, and
I want to move on to the Lord now."
For Mrs Webb,
Zane has been a source of precious comfort since she was taken
under its
wing last June when she broke an arm and a leg.
Until then, despite her
age, she had lived an active life, walking every day
and enjoying
considerable independence at her old people's home.
Being confined to a
bed is difficult for a woman who has seen so much. Her
father, whose story
she tells in her book Chintali ("tall man" in the
Chinyanja language), was
once speaker of the Legislative Council in Zambia,
or Northern Rhodesia as
it was known then. Knighted in 1956, he arrived on
the African coast at the
age of 19 and walked across the bush for nine weeks
to reach
Nyasaland.
In many ways, her life has been just as adventure-filled. Born
in then
Northern Rhodesia, she and her sister had long and difficult
journeys to
school in Southern Rhodesia and were parted from their parents
for a year at
a time, suffering regular bouts of homesickness for their bush
home.
Mrs Webb trained as a nursing sister in Southern Rhodesia before
spending
the early years of her working life in the forests of eastern
Zimbabwe,
where she worked more as a doctor than a nurse, often having to
perform
operations when the missionary doctor was away.
She also
nursed in Johannesburg, South Africa, for 15 years, and retired as
deputy
matron but returned to Zimbabwe to nurse her dying sister.
"I can't hear
you, and I can't see you, but I have had a full and wonderful
life and I
just want to go, so thank you, but there is no point in living
like this,"
she said.
As she prepares to make her final journey, Mrs Webb has no
family around
her. She has a much loved stepson, but he lives in Cape Town
and does not
have the money to see her often.
Zane fills that gap,
its carers and volunteers providing attention and
companionship for a dying
woman.
In a clear voice, Mrs Webb reaches out her hand, searching for the
Zane
carer next to her. "Thank you for coming to see me," she said.
‘Tunisian President forced from
power after 23 years’ was the news at the Vigil. It was a tail-between-the-legs
exit for Mafia boss Ben Ali after an eruption of street anger over oppression
and corruption. The sudden collapse of another African dictatorship cannot be
good news for the Mugabe Mafia. If
The Vigil believes there is a thirst
for democracy in
A Times reader replied ‘so young
Chinese do not comprehend democracy – well, they have never experienced it’. The
writer (David Hope-Robertson) continued ‘The
war against human rights abuses, the degradation of women and the oppression of
citizens by totalitarian regimes is one of attrition, waged by exposing the
injustices over and over, by measured reason and sometimes by ridicule. It will
never entirely be won, yet to concede the fight is to empower the abusers. It
may sometimes feel that we are waging a pointless battle, that no progress is
being made against those who believe they have a right to control their fellows
but change can come, and suddenly. Who could imagine how swiftly Ceausescu would
fold or the Argentinean generals be stripped of their power?’ Or Ben Ali for
that matter . . . .
On
another gloomy day with a biting wind, we were out again in support of human
rights. Does Matthew Parris suggest we should stop? This is not the message we
get from Zimbabwean victims of human rights abuses, some of whom join us on
Saturdays.
We at
the Vigil are not remote from the struggle and this week had to call for police
help for only the second time in our eight years outside the Embassy. This time
it was a demented pro-Mugabe Caribbean shouting abuse. We have tolerated him for years but he is now
becoming a serious nuisance. The last time we had to call for police help was
when Tsvangirai’s uncle Hebson Makuvise, now Ambassador to Germany, tried to
hijack the Vigil.
Other
points:
· Glad
to have with us Ben Semwayo who has written an article ‘Zimbabwean Opposition
Unite’ which has been published on Zimbabwean media sites. If you haven’t read
it check this link: http://changezimbabwe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3304&Itemid=2.
·
We
were also glad to see Caroline Witts, a long-standing supporter, who comes
regularly all the way from Exeter in Devon to help out on the front table
explaining the Zimbabwe situation to the passing public.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
FOR THE RECORD: 79
signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR Ashford general
meeting. Saturday
5th February, Venue: the Star Pub, Ashford, Kent TN24 8PA opposite
Liquid Night Club off Hythe Road, 5 mins walk from Ashford International
Station. ROHR executive members present. Contact Danmore Munyuki 07535213801,
Munyaradzi Badze 07709317869, Egbert Mtengwa 07985592931 or P Mapfumo
07915926323/07932216070.
·
ROHR
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith
Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.
To receive a copy by post in the
UK please email confirmation of your order and postal address to
ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and 0send
a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners
Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust
which provides bursaries to needy A Level students in
·
Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429
Click here to read Pastoral Letter of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference 2011
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:51
BY
TATENDA CHITAGU
MASVINGO — Zanu PF secretary for administration,
Didymus Mutasa has said
soldiers are keeping the party intact, in a tacit
admission that the
security forces are propping up President Robert Mugabe’s
rule.
Speaking at a belated tree planting day at Mutimurefu Prison
where he was
the guest of honour, Mutasa said there was nothing wrong with
soldiers’
involvement with Zanu PF.
“Soldiers are just
like war veterans. Our war vets are former soldiers.
“Those who say
soldiers and war vets should not meddle in politics are
wrong,” he
said.
“Such people are the enemies of our party. They are the ones
helping to keep
our party intact.”
MDC has accused soldiers of
spearheading the 2008 poll violence that killed
hundreds of its supporters
and displaced thousands.
In the past the army has vehemently denied
that it is heavily involved in
Zanu PF politics.
Mutasa, who
started his address with the slogan, “Pamberi naPresident, pasi
naPrime
Minister”, (Forward with the President, down with the Prime
Minister) also
emphasised that elections would go ahead despite internal and
external
resistance.
He said the party would sign a petition calling on
Western countries to lift
sanctions imposed against Mugabe and his inner
circle when the polls draw
closer.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:49
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
SOME filthy rich Zanu PF legislators are lobbying
their colleagues in the
party to desist from declaring their assets to
parliament fearing that
poverty-stricken Zimbabweans would question how they
acquired their vast
wealth, The Standard has been
told.
Authoritative sources in the former liberation war
party said there were
some senior MPs trying to influence, and in some cases
threatening others,
not to declare their assets.
Several senior
Zanu PF officials accumulated “obscene” wealth in the past
decade amid
widespread suspicions that they were using their positions to
acquire the
riches.
“They are lobbying others not to declare their assets because
they fear that
they would be exposed,” said one source. “Others are
registering their
assets in family trusts and in relatives’ names because
they are not sure
how this crusade against corruption will
end.”
Some known Zanu PF ministers have properties, ranging from
multiple
residential to industrial stands, in almost every urban centre in
the
country, including growth points.
Others have over five
farms, which they violently grabbed from white
commercial farmers although
millions of ordinary Zimbabweans remain landless
despite leading the land
invasions.
Another source said the issue of asset declaration is
slowly dividing Zanu
PF with those with clean hands supporting the
idea.
However, those with skeletons in their closets, who constitute
the majority,
are resistant to the move and determined to put spanners in
the works of the
anti-corruption project.
The only senior and
notable Zanu PF official who declared his assets is
Mwenezi East MP
Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, who is in the party’s politburo.
Sources said
there were also legislators in the MDC-T who are against the
idea of
declaring their assets because they cannot explain how they got
their riches
when, a decade ago, they were just paupers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:45
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
THE Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Mildred Chisi
is instigating
investigations into alleged irregularities in the award of a
tender for the
production of new vehicle number plates amid revelations that
the price for
the plates is inflated.
Motorists, forced
to pay US$160 to change to the new number plates, are
complaining that they
are being fleeced by the government.
Police have also started
impounding vehicles with old number plates after
the government said those
that failed to meet the changeover deadline should
park their vehicles until
they comply with the directive.
Defiant motorists can be fined and
their vehicles impounded.
The interest by CAG in the matter is likely
to re-ignite debate on the way
the issue of new number plates was handled
and expose cases of corruption in
the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructural Development, a document
obtained by The Standard has
revealed.
Chisi confirmed last week that she had received reports
alleging some
officials in the Ministry of Transport had a hand in ensuring
that Southern
Region Trading Company, reportedly run by a South African,
received the
tender for producing the number plates.
“I cannot
confirm off-hand what is happening, but I received a letter
detailing
corruption regarding number plates,” she said, before referring
further
questions to the Transport ministry.
Efforts to get a comment from
either Nicholas Goche, the Transport minister
or Partson Mbiriri, the
permanent secretary, were in vain last week.
However, Mbiriri wrote an
article in the state media defending government’s
heavy-handed way of
dealing with motorists who missed the deadline but did
not respond to
complaints that the number plates were overpriced.
The Standard has
it on record that the CAG and the Anti-Corruption
Commission visited the
Transport ministry investigating a number of alleged
corruption cases
including abuse of funds.
It is alleged that two ministry officials
facilitated that Southern Region
Trading Company receive the tender for
processing the new number plates.
“The Jewish businessman (Southern Region
Trading Company proprietor)
clinched the tender to supply number plates with
the help of two ministry
officials,” employees at the ministry said, on the
basis of anonymity.
The workers challenged their bosses to reveal how
they arrived at US$160 as
the price for the set of new number plates.
An
official at Southern Region Trading Company confirmed that they were
processing the new number plates, but immediately cut short the interview
when pressed to reveal more about the tender.
“Yes we are making
the new number plates, but where did you get my number,”
she said, abruptly
terminating the conversation.
It has since emerged that the company
is at the centre of an alleged
corruption scam involving the supply of cars
to the same ministry.
According to a dossier that has been sent to
the Auditor General’s Office,
Southern Region Trading was in 2007 reportedly
awarded a tender to supply 22
Nissan trucks to the Vehicle Inspection
Department (VID) and was paid US$500
000.
Chisi could not confirm
that it was the same document in the possession of
The
Standard.
It is alleged that the company is yet to supply these
vehicles.
Officials at the ministry are alleged to have stalled the
delivery of the
vehicles and shared the money.
As a token of
appreciation, the South African businessman is said to have
employed one of
the officials’ daughters at one of his companies in the
neighbouring
country.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:37
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
COLLETA Moyo arrives at Hellenic School in Borrowdale
with high hopes.
Her son Ishmael is due for Grade One next year and
like any clever parent,
she is already hunting for a place for
him.
An information officer by profession, Moyo and her
lecturer husband hope
their salaries together with the money they make from
running an electrics
shop in Harare will give them enough money to send
their son to the elite
school and also cover other daily
expenses.
Moyo’s day is however spoilt by a notice pasted on the wall
at the reception
area — “Except for current siblings, places are full until
2014”.
“I thought I had missed a big chance until I enquired and they
told me that
tuition fees for Grades One to Seven costs
US$1 600 per term
above an acceptance fee of US$15 000,” Moyo said.
“Even if they had a
million vacancies, where on earth were we going to get
that money
from?”
A snap survey done by The Standard showed that education in
Zimbabwe could
soon be a preserve for a few, judging from the high amounts
of money being
charged by many schools.
Information from the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) indicates
that most mission
boarding schools are charging between US$350 and US$400
per term while day
schools are charging between US$50 and US$150 depending
on
location.
Parents with children attending schools in high-density
suburbs said
education was getting too expensive even for them. Some
government secondary
schools in the area hiked fees from US$44 last term to
US$96 this term.
While efforts to get a comment from the Zimbabwe
Trust Schools Association
were fruitless, unionists blamed School
Development Associations (SDCs) for
exorbitant fees at schools, saying they
were pushing the poor out of the
education system.
“There is no
central point where fees are regulated,” Oswald Madziva, the
PTUZ national
coordinator said.
“SDCs used to serve on a voluntary basis but now
many of them want
allowances for sitting and they get these from the
fees.
“We also have information that some of these SDCs refuse
monthly and sitting
allowances and are actually on the schools’
payroll.”
Madziva also implicated sch-ool heads, saying some of them
were working in
cahoots with SDCs and getting “something”, thus completely
eliminating
checks and balances in the fee structuring system.
He
called for far-reaching reforms in the education sector to tame “the
madness.”
Sifiso Ndlovu, the Zimbabwe Teachers Association CEO
said most schools
including public institutions were now being run like
profit-making
businesses.
“They want the schools to be exclusive and thus
hide behind standards making
it difficult for the poor to access education,”
he said.
Ndlovu said government should take up its role of
controlling and funding
schools to take away the burden from SDCs
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:36
BY SILAS
NKALA
BULAWAYO — The two-year-old dispute between the Zimbabwe
National Water
Authority (Zinwa) and Gwanda council has finally ended with
the parastatal
restoring its main water meters.
Gwanda
was refusing to pay Zinwa bills based on estimates since only two out
of the
authority’s six main meters were functional.
Lionel DeNecker,
the Gwanda mayor said the Zinwa meters broke down before he
even assumed
office in 2008.
Last year, his council refused to settle the bills
saying they were
unreasonable.
But it seems the two bodies have
reached a compromise after Zinwa started
repairing the
meters.
“The issue of water meters is now in the past because Zinwa
is currently
doing something on the machines,” DeNecker told The Standard
last week.
Zinwa’s Umzingwane Catchment Council manager, Tony Rosen said the
restoration of the meters showed that their bills were not
unreasonable.
“The council complained that we were over-charging them
through estimates,
but it has been a surprise to learn that we were even
under-charging them,”
Rosen said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:35
BY SILAS
NKALA
BULAWAYO – A traffic police officer who converted fines
from three motorists
amounting to US$50 was last week hauled before the
courts facing fraud
charges.
Petro Shoko (36) who is based at ZRP
Kezi in Matabeleland South allegedly
committed the offences in November last
year while still stationed in
Lupane, the Matabeleland North
capital.
He appeared before Lupane magistrate Richard Ramaboa
facing three counts of
fraud.
Ramaboa granted him US$100 bail and
remanded him to February 10 for
continuation of the
trial.
Prosecutor Tawanda Tsatsa told the court that Shoko arrested
Joel Moyo, Luku
Muchirawondo and Brighton Moyo between November 14 and 28
last year for
speeding along the Bulawayo – Victoria Falls high
way.
He made them pay fines of between US$10 and US$20 and used a
fake receipt
book. The state would seek to prove that he pocketed the
fines.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011
19:33
SIMBARASHE MANHANGO AND CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THERE are
reports of massive diamond smuggling in Chiadzwa after the
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) dumped a company that used to
provide
security in favour of a less experienced firm, creating a serious
security
glitch at the multi-billion dollar gem fields.
Authoritative sources
said after ZMDC took over mining operations from
Canadile in October last
year, it subsequently absorbed Allfix Investments
to form an independent
security company known as National Eye, which has
seen the appointment of
inexperienced personnel to undertake security
duties.
Those absorbed from Allfix Security have since
been rendered redundant after
they were relieved of their duties by the new
employer.
Allfix comprised former soldiers and police officers who
were employed to
provide security services at Canadile’s claims.
The
sources at the controversial diamond field said the change in the
security
set-up has enabled diamond dealers to take advantage of the lax
security to
loot the precious gems.
The sources said some senior officials were
bulldozing their way into the
fields without going through the normal
security checks.
Before the change of the security set-up, they said,
it was mandatory that
everyone coming out of the fields would go thorough
security checks.
“I can confirm that some of the people now employed
with National Eye were
taken from the streets at the passport office, some
are ex-money changers
and relatives of top officials who never received
security training,” said a
security guard, who has worked at the fields for
more than two years.
“A lot of things are happening, security
instructions are being tempered
with, no cars are allowed in the washing
plant but you find cars of
officials parked inside, supposedly for
transportation of diamonds and
security cameras at the sorting house and
washing plant are repeatedly
frozen necessitating untraceable smuggling of
diamonds.”
Reports say that diamonds worth as much as US$1 billion
could have been
illegally mined at the Marange fields between 2006 and
2008.
The new guards, most of whom have no security background, are now being
touted as “Ice Cream Men” by diamond smugglers because of their
inexperience.
“They don’t even know where to search,” said one
source. “And, those who
smuggle the diamonds are taking advantage of this
security loophole.”
But ZMDC chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa claimed the
leaks at the diamond
fields had been reduced after Allfix’s contract was
terminated as shown by
the increase in output.
“I can confirm
that right now the gem quality production has improved with
an effective 12%
since we took over,” he said.
“Statistics are showing that the gem
quality is now at 20% opposed to the 8%
that was being obtained before
National Eye took over.
“This shows that the gems were being stolen
and this explains the security
crisis that was there, reports of diamond
looting are merely a conspiracy of
some of the disgruntled guards who were
affected by other issues if ever
they are the ones who gave you that
information.
“There will always be loopholes linked to operations of
a security company
but losses made before National Eye took over were huge.
Meanwhile we are
satisfied and there is a development.”
Farai
Maguwu, Centre for Research and Development (CRD) director said
although his
organisation had not carried out field visits in the past two
months,
information reaching him indicated that looting was continuing in
Marange.
“Smuggling of diamonds is continuing because we have not
seen a significant
decline in diamond dealings in Mutare and Mozambique,”
Maguwu said.
Research conducted by Human Rights Watch two years ago suggested
that the
police and military have benefited greatly from access to Marange’s
mineral
wealth.
Meanwhile, a labour dispute has also erupted
after the 243 guards employed
by Allfix who were absorbed by National Eye
were dumped by the new employer
under unclear circumstances.
They
were not paid their November and December salaries.
Through their
lawyers, Machinga & Partners, the dumped guards have since
taken their
case to the Labour Court for arbitration.
In the letter dated January
3 2011, the lawyers want the Labour Court to
conciliate on their unlawful
termination of contracts, non-payment of
salaries and benefits as well as
unfair labour practices.
“Management from Marange Resources (ZMC
subsidiary) proceeded to advise our
clients orally that they should submit
applications for the jobs they held
when they were still with Allfix which
is rather unusual in a takeover of a
business in such circumstances,” the
lawyers said.
The guards were later told to leave the fields without
their November and
December salaries as well as terminal benefits.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011
19:29
BY KHOLWANI NYATHI
A quiet revolution is sweeping through
Zimbabwe’s political landscape and
Matabeleland is once again at the centre
of the potentially seismic shift.
If developments over the past year
are anything to go by, there is every
reason to expect the region to play a
leading role in influencing the
political direction in
Zimbabwe.
Within a year, the region has witnessed the revival of Zapu
under the
leadership of former Zanu PF politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa and
last month’s
launch of the militant Mthwakazi Liberation Front
(MLF).
MLF is made up of Zimbabwean exiles who for years have been waging
their
struggle on cyberspace and are not making it a secret that it’s their
mission to push for the secession of Matabeleland and Midlands from the
country.
The ascendancy of Welshman Ncube to the presidency of the
smaller faction of
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has seen some
quarters claiming
that the party is now a regional project.
The
question among most voters now is whether the new political formations
and
the re-branded MDC will make an impact in future national politics,
given
the history of Zimbabweans voting on regional lines since 1980.
Paul
Siwela, who in 2002 unsuccessfully challenged President Robert Mugabe
and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential elections, says the
new
parties and MDC would never get any seat in the provinces outside
Matabeleland and Midlands.
“They are not going to get anything in
Mashonaland, the people there would
not vote for them because they are
identified with Matabeleland,” Siwela
said.
“In fact the vitriol that
is being directed at Welshman Ncube in the media
after he took over from
Arthur Mutambara shows that Zimbabwe is a divided
country.
“It is a
colonial legacy that should be addressed.”
Siwela who ran on a federalist
programme and gained 4% of the vote said
there was nothing wrong for the new
parties to be confined to the region as
Matabeleland politics were
unique.
Since independence the region has complained about perceived
marginalisation
and the grievances were multiplied by Mugabe’s decision to
deploy the North
Korean trained 5 Brigade, which human rights groups say
murdered 20 000
civilians for their political affiliation.
PF Zapu
led by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, which has Matabeleland
and
Midlands as its strongholds, was forced to merge with Zanu PF in 1987 to
end
the bloodshed.
Dabengwa and his group complained that the Unity Accord
did little to change
Matabeleland’s fortunes forcing them to break away from
Zanu PF.
“The problem is that the new parties that we have seen coming up
except MLF
still talk about taking Matabeleland to Zimbabwe yet people on
the ground
are now talking a different language,” Siwela said in apparent
reference to
MLF’s secession rhetoric.
Brilliant Mhlanga, a UK-based
Zimbabwean media scholar said Ncube’s
elevation and the rise of radical
movements in Matabeleland were an
indication of significant changes in the
country’s political landscape.
“It is a pointer that Matabeleland has
been reawakened,” Mhlanga said.
“Ncube’s election should save as both a
warning and safety device.
“Warning in the sense that people have to know
that now is the time to
accept the people of Matabeleland as citizens worth
considering for any
office in the land including the
presidency.
“Failure to do so will further embolden, radicalise and spur
the people of
Matabeleland into asking for any reasonable answer why they
continue being
part of Zimbabwe when they have nothing to benefit from
it.”
A number of organisations have copied the Zanu PF strategy of
dealing with
the Matabeleland question by preserving posts below the
presidency for
representatives from the region.
Even in MDC-T it is
an unwritten rule that the position of deputy president
and either the
chairman or secretary general are reserved for a
representative from
Matabeleland regardless of their popularity.
This could explain the
scepticism surrounding Ncube’s ascendancy and the
assumption that MDC is now
a regional party.
Mhlanga believes tribal bigotry has become entrenched
in Zimbabwean society
and would take a lot of work for Ncube to change the
perceptions.
“What we are seeing so far is that people are now in search
of a common
character,” he said. “This explains why Ncube has decided to
offer himself
as a candidate even in future for the highest office in the
land.
“That should be celebrated but you will note that those who are
supposed to
help the society appreciate itself of having come of age are at
the
forefront of demonising such a positive development.
“It is now
clear that Zimbabwe is a state fully embroiled in an identity
crisis.
“The major source of our problems is rooted in our fear of
unity.”
The new MDC leaders also appear to be aware of the challenges
that come with
Ncube’s presidency with its secretary general Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga writing saying the attack on the party after its
congress “puts a spotlight on the unresolved ethnic issues, the one party
state ideology and the adherence to peaceful and democratic transfer of
power.”
“Interestingly, the fact that the MDC-T and Zanu PF have
Shona leaders makes
them national,” she said. “Is the verdict, therefore,
that a Ndebele cannot
as a matter of fact be considered for president of
Zimbabwe?”
Political leaders can only ignore the current agitation in
Matabeleland at
their own peril, especially given that it’s taking place at
a time when
South Sudan citizens appear to have successfully campaigned for
the
secession of their country from North Sudan.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:27
BY
INDIANA CHIRARA
OWNING a house is one of the most elusive dreams even for
Zimbabweans who
are considered well-off.
But a group of Harare
domestic workers are proving that dreams can come
true -- they have built at
least 53 houses in one of Harare’s middle income
suburbs and another 163 are
in the pipeline – from their measly income.
Malbereign Housing
Cooperative, which has a membership of 200 people who are
mostly domestic
workers has helped Dorcas Mvundura (56) punch above her
weight by building a
house with her meagre salary.
Domestic workers are some of the least paid
professionals in the country.
The highest paid gets less than US$100 a
month and some are given as little
as US$30 by contemptuous
employers.
Mavundura, who joined the cooperative in 1998, three years after
it was
founded by Israel Magwenzi, a former Malbereign councillor, says she
had
never dreamt of owning a house.
“This cooperative has completely
changed my life,” she said. “I never dreamt
of having my own house because
of the little income I get from my employer.
“I have four children and I
faced a lot of challenges whenever I tried
looking for
accommodation.
“The landlords would say my children are too many and this
house has given
me some relief.”
Unlike other cooperatives where
members are often left counting their losses
after leaders had made off with
their contributions, Mvundura said theirs
had been a success because they
hold regular meetings and closely monitor
how their money is
spent.
Seventy four year-old Farai Chikuso who has been a domestic worker
since
1980 says completing her house with the assistance of the cooperative
was a
culmination of a tortuous journey.
Chikuso, a divorcee
remembers times when she would move her children from
one house to another
as relatives were reluctant to accommodate them.
She often rented a
single room for her family and the rentals would gobble
her entire
salary.
“Life can be very tough. At times I would hide some of my children in
the
ware house and some of them in the garage,” Chikuso said.
“I
would make sure that my boss does not see them because that was going to
be
the end of my career.
She joined the cooperative in 1995 and would
sacrifice Z$2 in monthly
contributions from her Z$20 salary.
In 2001
she was allocated a house in the cooperative’s Mabelreign phase one
project.
“Although l got the house some 10 years ago at times I have
a feeling that
someone might come and kick me out of the house any time,”
she said with a
chuckle.
“It’s too good to be true.”
Zivanai
Mapeno, the chairperson of the cooperative says although they faced
challenges, the commitment of members had seen them through.
“Every
month each of our 215 members pays a total of $20 and that’s the
money we
use to purchase building materials as well as to pay our builders,”
Mupeno
said.
“At times we face problems that some our members fail to pay the
monthly
contributions and the prices of some of the building materials keep
going
up.
“For example the price of cement recently went up from
$US9, 50 to US$11 for
a 50kg bag and this goes against our
budget.”
To ensure transparency, the cooperative audits its books twice a
year.
“Ever since we started our operations in 1995 our books of accounts
have
been audited,” he said.
“We will continue this because we have
seen its effectiveness as we are able
to identify loopholes and it also
benefits in the sense that it shows how
money is being
used.
“Auditing of books is quite expensive but it’s worth it because for
a
cooperative to effectively function there is need for
transparency.”
The cooperative has just finished clearing a road and is
currently
negotiating with the council to finance the construction of the
road.
Phase one the project has 52 complete houses and 163 more would be
completed
under phase two.
Harare’s housing backlog stands at a
staggering 500 000 and most of the
people without houses are young
professionals who for the past 10 years
could not access any mortgages
because of the economic collapse.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:24
BY
WALTER MARWIZI
CHARENGENO — Temperatures were soaring yet community
leaders did not
hesitate to walk long distances to Charengeno school, deep
in Zaka West
constituency.
If you looked at the top table, you
could see the crème de la crème of the
local
leadership.
There was Solomon Muzenda, the reigning headman
Vanyoro who led a team of
grey-haired traditional leaders. Festus Dumbu, the
Zaka West Member of
Parliament was present and so was Misheck Marava, the
Senator for Zaka
district.
For a largely forgotten communal area,
such high-powered representation
showed the seriousness attached to the
occasion.
It was mid-afternoon on January 5 and the reason for the
morale here was a
drill rig, mounted on a heavy truck, which was on its way
to the rural
enclave to sink seven boreholes.
The rig, designed
to drill into the underground and tap into reservoirs
where clean and safe
water is located, carried the hopes of an entire
community in the drought
ravaged Zaka West.
The boreholes were financed under the Constituency
Development Fund (CDF), a
facility designed to meet the development needs of
constituencies reeling
under lack of funding.
While donors have
in the past been active in rural areas providing water and
sanitation
facilities, a decade-long political crisis scared them away
leaving many
development projects in limbo.
In Zaka West, where communal leaders
were gathered under a tree at a primary
school, the need for clean water had
always been a major cause for headaches
considering that villagers were
sharing water with wild animals in Mutirikwi
river.
And nobody
here cherished carrying a bucket to the river, especially during
this season
when the water is uninvitingly dark, as a result of the dirt
deposited by
streams and tributaries connected to Mutirikwi.
“Once the rig
arrives, we will witness the drilling of boreholes,” said a
proud MP Dumbu,
much to the appreciation of the villagers.
Dumbu said the lack of
clean water was a major problem for people living in
this part of Zaka and
the arrival of the rig was a cause for celebration.
Though villagers had
clamoured for boreholes for years under successive Zanu
PF MPs, their pleas
fell on deaf ears.
But the disbursement of US$50 000 to
constituencies under the CDF is set to
change their lives for good if the
boreholes are properly maintained.
Dumbu announced that the community had
decided the best way to utilise the
funds was to sink boreholes in those
villages worst-hit by water shortages.
He admitted the boreholes were a
“drop in the ocean” and more were needed in
the constituency. The need for
more water sources was evident as villagers
openly argued over the location
of the boreholes and others that could be
sunk in future.
“We
cannot continue to have a situation where people share water from
Mutirikwi
with animals. It’s unacceptable,” the MP said to loud cheers.
Because Zaka is
a dry area, Dumbu said they had agreed that the boreholes
had to be drilled
up to 50 metres deep.
“Nothing short of that is acceptable. We want
to see an end to the perennial
problem of water shortages,” he said.
Lack
of safe water has spawned many problems in Zaka.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:22
BY JENNIFE
DUBE
SOON after the two ladies left The Standard offices, a guard
observed that
they looked very smart, “monied” and
businesslike.
Had they heard this, members of the Doors of Hope
Development Trust would
have been flattered.
Building
confidence among members and helping them to stand up and be
counted among
other achievers are some of the aims of the organisation.
Formed in
December 2009 to bring together victims of politically motivated
rape, the
Doors of Hope Development Trust has 50 members drawn from various
parts of
the country including Bikita, Zaka, Chivhu, Harare, Epworth and
Headlands.
They are among hundreds of MDC-T supporters violated by
marauding Zanu PF
supporters and war veterans who were part of the mean
machinery that was
deployed to secure President Robert Mugabe’ s re-election
in the June 2008
presidential run-off election.
Mugabe who had
trailed Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round
of the polls in
March went on to run unopposed after his opponent withdrew
citing the deadly
violence against his supporters.
The majority of the victims of the
dehumanising violence are still crying
out for justice two years after a
unity government was formed to end the
mayhem.
“We were not like
this,” Margaret Mazvarira says of their polished
appearance.
“There
was a time when we neglected ourselves, feeling useless and thinking
the
world had ended for us.
“But through interaction and counselling, we learnt
of the importance of
doing all we can to look as good as any other person
and that is what we are
encouraging all new members to do.
“There are
some who are still failing to get out of their sorrow but we are
doing our
best to encourage them.”
The organisation, in partnership with the Research
and Advocacy Unit has
also come up with a nine minute film to encourage
other rape survivors
countrywide to join the organisation or just share
their sad experiences.
In the film titled “How About Us”, Mazvarira tells
of how two men drove into
her compound in Murambinda just after the burial
of her son Talent Mabika
who was petrol-bombed at an MDC rally in the
area.
Pretending to be MDC officials, the two lured her into their car
saying they
wanted to take her to the party’s Harare offices to discuss her
son’s death,
only to turn against her at a farm before reaching the
highway.
She tells of how one of the assailants held her hands together
while his
colleague raped her before they sped off leaving her humiliated
and ashamed
of herself.
Another victim, Rutendo Munengami tells of
how uniformed soldiers broke into
her house in Glenview at midnight during
the MDC’s 2003 Final Push campaign.
Apart from the group beating her up
and battering her with hard objects on
her genitalia, one of the men raped
her.
Intense physical abuse left her with fractured arms and another group
prevented her from getting urgent treatment at Parirenyatwa and Avenues
Clinic.
Another victims tells of how 10 men took turns to rape
her.
All the women were told that they were being punished for supporting
and
“dishing their bodies” to sell-outs. Zanu PF often accuses MDC leaders
of
being sellouts.
In the film, they demand assistance, pointing out
that politicians have
shared benefits of their struggle leaving them to
suffer.
“We are also trying to dymystify the belief that rape victims
love men,”
Munengami said.
“The attitudes we have seen in some
offices where we have sought help and
also in the community show that there
are some people who think that those
who get raped love men too
much.
“I also saw this in the community and within the family, with
someone even
having the guts to come by night and push a little letter under
our door
asking my husband what he will do with a wife who has slept with
Zanu PF
thugs.
“Sometimes I looked at what some family members were
doing, forgetting that
I became unfortunate while trying to protect my
husband whom they were now
trying to separate me from.”
The
organisation also facilitates counselling and treatment for members.
“But
lack of funds is limiting our activities because we would like to reach
out
to all rape survivors, including those who were raped outside political
spheres,” Munengami said.
“We also want to start a self-help skills
training programme for members
because many of them are unemployed and you
find that some of these were
infected with HIV or impregnated when they were
raped.
“They help so that they can cope with their circumstances.”
Two
of the survivors who give testimonies in the film disclose that they
were
infected with HIV and are now on anti retroviral therapy.
Membership for
the organisation cuts across ages, with some victims as old
as 70
years.
It also includes young men who were forced by political thugs to sleep
with
women, some of them far much older than them.
Munengami said
they were also open to all girls and women who were abused at
Zanu PF
vigils.
But the women make one thing clear – justice has to prevail, all
perpetrators should be brought to book.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011
19:18
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
WHEN Barack Obama waltzed his way to the
American presidency a little more
than two years ago, it was regarded as a
victory for internet social
networks, where he had been quite
prominent.
Minus the oratory, Obama made extensive use of social
networking sites such
as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to get his message
across.
At one time, his groundbreaking speech, “A more perfect union”,
where he
addressed racial differences in America, was one of the most viewed
videos
on video-sharing site YouTube.
Probably taking a cue, but on a
lesser scale, a number of Zimbabwean
politicians have taken to social
networking in the hope of gaining an extra
edge over their
rivals.
With the growth of internet penetration and the advent of mobile
internet
access in Zimbabwe, observers maintain that social networking may
one day
define the next Zimbabwean leader.
As with the American
situation, it is argued that there is a growth in the
number of young voters
who have regular access to social networking sites.
The country’s sole
mobile service provider, Econet claims to have at least
400 000 subscribers
on its broadband platform, while internet penetration,
rated at more than
14% is said to be among the highest in Africa.
MDC politicians like David
Coltart, Nelson Chamisa, Obert Gutu, Gorden Moyo,
Welshman Ncube, Tendai
Biti and Jameson Timba are among a host of
politicians with Facebook pages,
while Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has
a fan page.
From Zanu PF,
Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi and
Youth
Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister Saviour
Kasukuwere are the only ones who maintain regular presence on the world’s
largest social networking site.
Ncube and Coltart are the only
politicians who regularly post comments on
Twitter, while a number of videos
have been posted on YouTube.
Renowned Zimbabwean blogger, Chris Kabwato
reckons that social networking is
a great avenue for politicians,
considering the number of people who have
access to the
internet.
“They are an educated lower to middle class urban population,”
he said of
the demographics of people who have access to the
internet.
“This is a group who influence the main ideas in
society.”
While acknowledging the power of social networks, Kabwato
advised that an
online strategy could not supplant the strategy of
mobilising people through
rallies and other media.
“You need to use a
strategy that uses all forms of media from word-of-mouth
to print,” he
said.
But Thamu Dube, a social media trends analyst, begged to differ,
arguing
that despite the popularity of social networking sites their worth
as an
electoral strategy was still distant.
“The level of internet
penetration is not just the issue, there is also the
issue of slow user
adoption as most people do not see the benefits of the
use of social
networks,” he argued.
“So the dual effect of the lack of a reliable
internet infrastructure and a
small user footprint on the greater social
networking landscape by
Zimbabweans impacts greatly on the effectiveness of
the politicians'
presence on their chosen platform.”
Amanda Atwood,
who runs popular website Kubatana concurred, saying any
internet-using
communication tactic in Zimbabwe had to be measured within
the context of
Zimbabweans' limited internet access.
“It is essential that you look at a
communications strategy holistically, so
if you are talking about how
Zimbabwean politicians use social networking
tools, you also have to ask how
they are using other ICTs, and also
traditional media, to communicate with
their constituents,” she said.
On the other hand the analysts observed
that the presence of Zimbabweans on
Facebook, for example, may be deceptive
in the sense that most of them were
in the Diaspora and when it came to
elections might not have a say in the
final result.
But Dube was
optimistic, saying that it was not a lost cause and advised
ambitious
politicians to continue using the platforms, as this strategy
would bear
fruit in the future.
“Used as a part of a well planned strategy of
engagement, politicians can
for instance use a social network site like
Facebook as a point of contact
by publicising it through traditional methods
of information,” he said.
Dube noted that Diaspora was a severely
fragmented environment whose
interests were not homogenous, whereas the
local population of internet
users could easily be targeted.
Kabwato
said Zimbabwe’s internet infrastructure was growing and with people
now
being able to access Twitter and Facebook on their mobile phones, social
networking will prove to have a priceless contribution in Zimbabwean
politics.
“So social networking by any politician is not in vain as
long as that
person has a clear communication strategy,” he
said.
Atwood added that it was important for Zimbabwean politicians to
recognise
the importance of communication, with the internet audience being
a key
constituency, as it was well resourced.
“Politicians could take
advantage of these more resourced constituents and
leverage them to be
volunteers, influence shapers or opinion makers in their
campaigns,” she
said.
“But to do so they first have to stop seeing Zimbabweans as voters
and start
seeing them as the people who employ them.
“They need to
start valuing individual opinions, energy, contributions,
feedback and
time.”
Ever so optimistic about the intrinsic value of the social
networking in
Zimbabwe, Dube said the work done by the government and the
private sector
in creating a robust telecommunications infrastructure will
be telling for
future generations.
“Political strategists will become
aware of the need to shift emphasis to
energising and engaging an
increasingly younger electorate through these
technologies,” he
said.
The social media analyst advised that the secret of the success of
social
networking, however, lies in understanding its place in people’s
lives and
applying discretion in its use, especially for politicians where
they might
run the risk of appearing to ‘try too hard’.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:12
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
ECONOMIC Planning and Investment Promotion minister
Tapiwa Mashakada
believes foreign direct investment will flourish this year
although some
elements in the inclusive government are determined to
frustrate efforts to
rehabilitate the economy.
Mashakada said
rhetoric from some ministers pushing for ultra-nationalist
black economic
empowerment had emerged as the biggest threat to efforts to
attract
investment into the country.
Zanu PF says this year it would
push for policies enabling locals to take
over foreign-owned companies
despite opposition from its partners in the
inclusive
government.
The controversial empowerment laws are set to anchor Zanu
PF’s campaign
strategy ahead of elections that might be held this
year.
In an interview with Standardbusiness, Masha-kada said there
was an urgent
need to reign in some ministers whose utterances threaten to
reverse the
economic growth path that Zimbabwe has been pursuing since
2009.
“There is a need to contain radical elements that are
partisan,” Mashakada
said.
“They are always pronouncing
ultra-nationalist sentiments and
pseudo-socialist
lines.
“Moreover, their rhetoric is based on hate speech and
empowerment which is
not government policy.
“The year 2011 is a
game changer, we have to work harder to improve our
country’s image and
sovereign risk rankings,” he said.
Lately, Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment minister, Saviour
Kasukuwere has made
headlines advocating for the take-over of foreign
businesses that do not
incorporate locals in their shareholding structures.
He recently
opposed Canadian firm Whitestone Minerals’ planned listing on
the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange saying it does not comply with the empowerment
laws that
stipulate that foreign-owned companies must cede 51% of their
shareholding
to locals.
Mashakada said although the law was noble, it was now
being abused by
individuals for “self-aggrandisement.”
Zimbabwe’s
economy has registered positive growth since the formation of the
unity
government two years ago.
But the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and World Bank have warned that
the growth can only be sustainable if there
were far-reaching political
reforms.
The economy grew by 5,7% in
2009 and 8,1% last year. Finance minister
Tendai Biti says he expects the
economy to grow by another 9,2 % this year.
Mashakada said to help
sustain the growth his ministry was working on an
investor-friendly bill and
other private sector initiatives to boost
industry’s productivity
levels.
“The programmes, which we are formulating, are aimed at
improving and
providing lines of credit to the private sector as well as an
industrial
policy that protects their interests in the face of an influx of
foreign
commodities’ on the local market,” the minister added.
He
said his ministry would work closely with Elton Mangoma’s Energy and
Power
Development portfolio to ensure that the country had enough
electricity to
power its industries.
“Last year a number of energy sector investors
were identified, have been
approved and will be embarking on private-public
partnerships,” Mashakada
said.
Industry players say the country’s
frequent power cuts are crippling their
efforts to increase capacity
utilisation.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:11
BY NDAMU
SANDU
THE Department of Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies (DAA) is
investigating
SMM Holdings, a company wrestled from businessman Mutumwa
Mawere by the
government in 2004.
But this has drawn the
ire of Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa who says he
should have been
informed of the investigations, which he feels are
unnecessary.
Standardbusiness heard that DAA met SMM
administrator, Arafas Gwaradzimba in
November and questioned him on his
appointment and past relationship with
SMM, his conduct during which he did
not engage the department and the
ownership of SMM.
DAA concluded
that SMM and or Mawere had not externalised funds and alleged
that the
administrator had not called in members of SMM to the meeting of
creditors
and members, as required by law.
In an angry letter to Jacob Gonese
of the DAA, Chinamasa accused the DAA of
unnecessarily interfering with the
SMM reconstruction process and “playing
the Mawere politics.
He
said: “By touching on issues of externalisation and the SMM’s borrowings
from the State, the DAA is interfering with matters before the courts, which
is prejudicial.
“I cannot see why and how the DAA could still be
investigating Mr Mawere
after its conclusions that have led to Mr Mawere’s
despecification and
cancellation of his warrant of arrest.
“To
say the least, this is totally unacceptable behavior, particularly
coming
from a senior government official,” Chinamasa wrote.
Gonese’s
investigations on SMM was mandated by the chief secretary to the
president
and cabinet, Misheck Sibanda who in turn wanted to urgently brief
President
Robert Mugabe on the state of affairs at the company.
Gonese was
unavailable for comment last week.
The SMM saga has drawn interest,
moreso as the closure of the mines has left
the future of hundreds of miners
at stake.
The Parliamentary Portfolio on Mines and Energy has taken a
keen interest on
the SMM case and on Monday summoned Chinamasa to give an
update.
Chinamasa told the committee that Mawere had violated section 58 of
the
Companies’ Act Chapter 190 by using export proceeds to finance the
purchase
of shares in SMM and THZ Holdings.
He also told the
committee that government now owns SMM after converting its
debt into equity
and buying the remaining stake from SMM Holdings (UK) for
US$2
million.
He said Mawere’s Africa Resources Limited (ARL) had
defaulted on its debts
and government through AMG Global Nominees which had
bought the shares in
SMM Holdings (UK) and THZ Holdings (UK), the parent
companies of the local
entities.
Investigations by
Standardbusiness show that whereas section 58 of the
Companies Act prohibits
such assistance, section 73 of the same Act does not
prohibit that as long
as such assistance is given in accordance with a
special resolution of the
company.
That special resolution was passed at SMM’s extraordinary
general meeting of
March 15, 1996.
After paying US$2 million, AMG
took the matter to the UK court to be
registered as the shareholders. The
High Court threw away the case.
An appeal was made at the Supreme Court and
in a landmark judgment it was
ruled that ARL alone has title to the bearer
share warrants relating to SMM
Holdings Limited and THZ Holdings
Limited.
It also ruled the ARL was not in default at the time of the
conclusion of
the AMG agreement.
It also ruled that AMG did not,
pursuant to the Share Sale Agreement dated
November 5, 2004, obtain any good
title to the bearer share warrants.
Edward Chindori Chininga, the chairperson
of the committee told
Standardbusiness on Friday that they will comb through
the reports and if
there is plain misinformation “then there is a problem
and it will be
contempt of parliament.”
Chindori Chininga said what
was worrying from the SMM saga is that it has
become a personality instead
of being a national issue.
“It’s now Mawere versus Chinamasa and the
grass they are fighting on is
Zimbabwe,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 15 January 2011
19:05
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
THE newly-launched Commodities
Exchange in Zimbabwe (Comez) is set to
regularise trading of commodities in
line with market fundamentals and
increase financing availability for the
agricultural sector, observers said
last week.
The
development is anticipated to benefit small-scale farmers in the
country.
Comez is an organised market place where trade, with or
without the physical
commodities, is funnelled through a single mechanism
thereby allowing
effective competition among buyers and
sellers.
Speaking at the launch of the commodities exchange on
Friday, Commercial
Bank of Zimbabwe economist, Ngonidzaishe Murota said the
exchange would
provide a measure of confidence within the country’s banking
sector for more
funds to be loaned to farmers.
“The use of
inventory as collateral should lead to ease of access to finance
and this
also lowers financing costs,” Murota said.
Murota said the banking
sector had in the past been reluctant to provide
long- term loans to farmers
not only because of their lack of collateral
security but also due to the
country’s liquidity crunch.
“A well functioning financial sector will
remain an integral component in
the operations of the commodity exchange,”
he said adding that banks will
most likely be inclined to accept warehouse
receipts as collateral because
they were negotiable and
transferable.
In the case of agricultural commodities, trading will
be on the basis of
warehouse receipts issued by the exchange operated or
approved warehouses
which guarantee quality and quantity of
products.
The use of the warehouse receipt system as the physical
storage and delivery
mechanism is in line with global trends, also involving
the use of an
electronic trading system.
Murota said that besides
financing the exchange system, banks would play the
roles of executing
inter-broker settlements, ensuring that strict settlement
time-lines are
adhered to as well as marketing and information
dissemination.
National chairman of the Grain Millers Association
of Zimbabwe, Tafadzwa
Musarara welcomed the introduction of Comez but urged
authorities to address
the debilitation of the industry’s operating
environment.
“Imports have severely affected the milling industry.
From 310 players we
now have only 25 who are still functional plus they are
operating at 5%
capacity utilisation,” Musarara said.
He said the
influx of South African imported maize meal was choking local
players out of
the market as the imports can be sold at cost-recovery prices
owing to South
Africa’s recurrent surpluses.
A Zimbabwe Farmers Union
representative, Prince Kuipa reiterated the need
for policy consistency in
terms of market liberalisation adding that
controls would ‘kill’ the
system.
“There is also a need for the adoption of a legal and
institutional
environment that is supportive of such a market,” Kuipa
said.
The commodities market has come at a time when Zimbabwe expects
to gain
economic leverage through the sale of tobacco this coming
season.
Comez enables depositors to sell their grain when market conditions
and
prices are favourable while eliminating the large number of
intermediaries
between the farmer and the market, which had become common
practice in
Zimbabwe.