http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
30 January 2013
Finance Minister Tendai Biti is extending
Zimbabwe’s begging bowl to the
international community, after dramatically
stating the government only had
a about two hundred dollars left in its
coffers.
Biti said on Tuesday that that the country only had US$217 left
in its
public account after paying civil servants last week.
“The
government finances are in a paralysis state at the present moment. We
are
failing to meet our targets,” Biti said.
The government has repeatedly
stated it does not have enough money to fund a
constitutional referendum or
the elections expected this year. Biti said
Tuesday that this left him no
choice but to ask donors for cash.
“We will be approaching the
international community,” he said.
Biti reportedly then said that about
US$30 million had been paid into the
government account the next day. He
told the UK’s BBC that he made the
revelation in order to emphasise that the
government was unable to finance
elections, not that it was insolvent. Biti
told the BBC’s Focus on Africa
radio programme that his statement had been
deliberately taken out of
context.
“You journalists are mischievous
and malicious – the point I was making was
that the Zimbabwean government
doesn’t have the funds to finance the
election, to finance the referendum,”
he said.
He added: “To dramatise the point, I simply made a passing
reference
metaphorically that when we paid civil servants last week on
Thursday we
were left with US$217… but even the following day we had US$30
million in
our account.”
There is scepticism about Biti needing to
beg for cash for elections when
the country appears to be doing very well in
the mining sector. A top mining
official told the AFP news service this week
that Zimbabwe sold almost
US$685 million worth of diamonds in 2012 and it
wants to more than double
its output this year. The Chamber of Mines has
also indicated that Zimbabwe’s
total mineral exports from 2012 are worth
US$1.8 billion.
The ZANU PF indigenisation drive has also secured US$2
billion that has been
channelled into an ‘Empowerment Fund’. This fund is
controlled by the ZANU
PF-led Empowerment Ministry, and is not being made
available to the MDC-T
run Finance Ministry.
Zimbabwean economist
John Robertson told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that
although the mining
sector is exporting, the profitability of the companies
is low. He said the
key issue is the lack of tax being paid by all sectors,
and it is tax the
government needs to shore up its account.
“The government income from
taxation is far less because the industrial
sector is far smaller, and
profitability has been badly damaged by years of
no investment,” Robertson
explained.
He said the economy is still suffering from years of
mismanagement, and “12
years of extremely bad polices that destroyed the
country productive
capacity.” He said the seizure of commercial farms under
the land grab
campaign saw the destruction of Zimbabwe’s production base,
while driving
unemployment to very high levels.
“When the
agricultural sector failed following the confiscation of land, a
great many
jobs were lost and when we moved into the hyperinflation period,
that
further limited possibilities of company profits and further reduced
employment. So all sources of tax very were badly damaged and this is what
we are facing,” Robertson explained.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Zimbabwe's finance
minister has announced that the country only has £138.34
left in the state
bank accounts.
By Dan Newling, Cape Town8:40AM GMT 30 Jan
2013
Tendai Biti made the announcement at press conference on Tuesday,
declaring:
"Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 in
government
coffers".
Mr Biti went on to tell the shocked news reporters
that they were
individually likely to have healthier bank balances than the
state's.
"The government finances are in paralysis state at the present
moment," Mr
Biti admitted.
The confession is the culmination of years
of ruinous economic policy by
Zimbabwe's despotic president, Robert Mugabe,
who has ruled the southern
African country since independence from Britain
in 1980.
A decade ago Mr Mugabe, now aged 88, launched his controversial
policy of
expropriating white-owned farmland and handing it to
blacks.
The policy, which saw 4,000 white farmers forcibly kicked off
their land,
was economically disastrous. It also demolished investor
confidence in the
country, paralysed production, and prompted international
sanctions.
As a result, Zimbabwe – which was once the fertile "bread
basket" of
southern Africa and possesses fantastic mineral wealth – is now
one of the
continent's poorest countries.
Three-quarters of the
population live on less than £1 a day and over half of
the work force is
unemployed.
In 2008, hyperinflation in the country reached the
astronomical figure of
230 million per cent – meaning that paper money
became worthless almost as
soon as it was printed. The former British colony
now uses US dollars.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Biti claimed that
the state's dire lack of
cash means it does not have enough money to
organise the constitutional
referendum and election that are planned for
later this year.
"We will be approaching the international community to
assist us in this
regard," Mr Biti said.
Following a disputed
election in 2008, Zimbabwe is now ruled by a coalition
of Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change.
However,
the arrangement is marred by political infighting and is widely
considered
to be ineffective.
Mr Mugabe is aged 88 and is reported to have
pancreatic cancer. He however
insists that he is the only person who can
rule the country effectively.
Rather than acknowledge his own role in the
country's economic collapse, Mr
Mugabe blames the West, which has imposed
economic sanctions in protest at
his autocratic rule.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
30
January 2013
The new constitution, that is set to be ‘adopted’ on
Thursday by the
parliamentary team responsible for it, is facing serious
criticism for
enshrining into law discrimination and illegal land
seizures.
The COPAC team, which spent years fighting over the document,
have indicated
they will on Thursday officially ‘adopt’ the new draft that
was finalised by
the government’s political leaders. The document has
already been formally
approved by all parties in the coalition government,
but still needs to be
given the nod by Parliament before it is put forward
for a public
referendum.
But while talk turns to potential dates for
a referendum and the election
that will ultimately follow, there is little
debate about the actual
contents of the new charter, which critics say is
fundamentally flawed.
Already, some quarters of Zimbabwean society are
campaigning for a ‘no’ vote
for the document, mainly because it is the
result of a negotiated political
process and not the will of the
people.
A key concern is the fact that discrimination has been enshrined
in the
draft, despite this being contrary to the basic human rights the
charter is
supposed to protect.
Chapter 56, section 5 states:
“Discrimination on any of the grounds listed
in subsection (3) is unfair
unless it is established that the discrimination
is fair, reasonable and
justifiable in a democratic society based on
openness, justice, human
dignity, equality and freedom.”
Ben Freeth, the former Chegutu farmer who
is now heads the pressure group
SADC Tribunal Rights Watch, said this week
that discrimination has been
written into law to support the government’s
ongoing campaign of land
seizures.
He told SW Radio Africa on
Wednesday that such “totalitarian control that
all animals are equal, but
some are more equal than others,” has already
been seen in Zimbabwe for many
years. But he questioned why it has now been
written into law. He said this
move makes sense when further into the
document you read a subsection on
Property Rights that states: “the
acquisition (of land) may not be
challenged on the ground that it was
discriminatory in contravention of
section 56.”
Chapter 72 in the constitution enshrines the right of the
state to seize
land, stating that all agricultural land, including forestry
land,
conservation land and horticultural land, among others, may be
“acquired” by
the State for “public purpose.” Section 2 states: “the land,
right or
interest may be acquired by the State by notice published in the
Gazette
identifying the land, right or interest, whereupon the land, right
or
interest vests in the State with full title with effect from the date of
publication of the notice.”
These takeovers will also be done without
compensation, according to the new
charter, and compensation issues cannot
be challenged in the courts.
The draft constitution also upholds the
standards of the old charter by
insisting that Britain is responsible for
compensation for the land seized
as part of the land grab. The draft states
that “the former colonial power
has an obligation to pay compensation for
agricultural land,” and if this
fails to happen “the Government of Zimbabwe
has no obligation.”
This provision flies in the face of international
rulings, including from
the SADC Tribunal and the International Centre for
Settlement of Investment
Disputes, which have both ordered Zimbabwe’s
government to pay compensation
for seized farms. Zimbabwe’s new charter
however makes the legal provision
for these rulings to be
ignored.
Freeth said these ‘bad’ and unfair laws that do not entrench
property rights
have serious consequences for Zimbabwe’s
future.
“When the government isn’t there to protect property rights, when
the
constitution isn’t protecting property rights and the law is stacked up
against us in terms of protecting our property, then there are huge
consequences. There will be an impact on the economy, on the wellbeing of
the people, on the future develop of the country and it is something very
serious.”
Freeth warned that without property rights, Zimbabwe cannot
grow, cannot
encourage investment and cannot progress. He said for these
reasons, “anyone
who does endorse it (the constitution) is actually
betraying the future
generation of children in Zimbabwe.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
10:36
HARARE - Instead of the joyful scenes that normally
characterise the summer
rains in Zimbabwe, the heavy downpour the country is
experiencing since
January 7 has brought misery to communities.
An
estimated 4 475 people across the country have been affected, with their
houses having either been submerged in water or destroyed.
The rains
have caused major damage to agricultural lands, destroying maize
crops (the
main staple), as well as disrupting public services such as road
transportation and education prompting organisations such as the Zimbabwe
Red Cross Society to respond.
The main provinces requiring assistance
are Matabeleland South, Matabeleland
North, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central,
Masvingo and Midlands, according to
humanitarian agencies.
Red Cross
marketing and public relations officer Takemore Mazuruse said the
organisation has activated its emergency and disaster response systems to
address the present needs, at the same time preparing for eventual disasters
and outbreaks like malaria, cholera and other water-borne
diseases.
“As a disaster relief organisation, we have a mandate to
complement
government efforts in alleviating human suffering wherever it is
found and
however, it is caused. We are a member of the Civil Protection
Unit (CPU)
and we are currently working with other stakeholders from
government in our
on-going disaster and emergency response activities around
Zimbabwe,” said
Mazuruse.
The floods have heavily affected families
and some of the stories make sad
reading.
Four people died in
Triangle when a dam wall gave in and the floods swept
through a residential
area while in Wedza, Biggy Hombarume 54, and his son,
a form three student
at Bonongwe Secondary School, drowned in a dam filled
to capacity during a
fishing expedition recently.
In Zaka East constituency, six people from
the Maturi family died after
being trapped in their collapsed houses while
in Chivi district’s ward 24,
five villages — Chikandigwa, Tsikisai, Jahwa,
Cheka and Zifunzi suffered
losses.
The Chivi storm disaster, which
occurred in the evening of January 15,
affected 11 households.
Urban
areas have not been spared from the disasters, with many losing their
household goods and basic supplies to the incessant rains and flooding and
the situation remains dire.
Reports and assessments by humanitarian
groups show that Masvingo Province
is the hardest hit.
Currently, Red
Cross interventions towards improving the water and
sanitation situation
include providing tents, blankets, shelter, buckets,
water purification
tablets and black polythene to construct temporary squat
holes, kitchen sets
as well as food baskets for the affected families.
Red Cross said its
field officers are working with CPU in assessing the
situation while other
volunteers are educating and preparing communities in
flood prone areas
about the impending disasters and how to monitor water
levels. Provincial
programmes manager for Masvingo Fungai Maregedze said
they had done the
necessary groundwork for a comprehensive response
particularly in Chivi,
Zaka, Bikita and Chiredzi districts.
“From the reports that we have
received from district administrators for the
affected areas and assessments
that we have carried out on our own, many
lives are in danger particularly
given that the rains are not going to stop
anytime soon,” said
Maregedze.
“In some cases, homes have been completely destroyed exposing
families to
the rains and other eventualities. So far we have responded in
Chivi, some
parts of Zaka and Bikita while other assessed areas like
Chikombedzi and
Chiredzi district will also be getting assistance,” said
Maregedze.
In Manicaland, the Red Cross has responded in Nyanga where
families are
staying in local schools following the destruction of their
homes.
Water sources like the borehole at Nyangombe have been destroyed
while
others have been contaminated.
Red Cross volunteers and field
officers are monitoring and assessing the
situation in Chipinge,
particularly around Checheche, Chibuwe and Kondo.
In Mutema district in
Chipinge, tarpaulins, blankets, water purification
tablets and black
polythene for temporary latrine structures have been
provided to affected
families.
Red Cross “Action Teams” in Matabeleland North are assessing
the situation
in Tsholotsho, at the same time providing the required support
to affected
families.
As the woes mount, many are now praying for the
rains to stop so that
normalcy can return. - Mugove Tafirenyika
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Obert
Pepukai
29.01.2013
At least 10,000 students in Chiredzi and Mwenezi
districts in Masvingo
Province are out of class as two weeks of heavy
rainfall have destroyed
schools.
Heavy rains pounding Masvingo may be
a blessing to farmers, but not for
students in the two districts where some
schools have been destroyed by the
downpour.
Speaking with VOA Studio
7 by phone, Masvingo Education Director Ms. Clara
Dube called the situation
"catastrophic" and said the Ministry of Education,
Sport, and Culture is now
seeking help.
Ms. Dube said perhaps 30 schools were destroyed or so badly
damaged that
they are unusable. The worst affected are satellite schools
built in
resettlement areas to cater for those who got plots under the land
reform
program.
Limpopo valley in Chikombedzi was the worst affected
area. Some of the
schools destroyed there include Davata, Mabalauta, Ruware,
and Judia primary
schools.
Mwenezi was hit, as well, losing schools
such as Rutenga, Mwenezi Boarding
School, Mazetese, and Maranda, according
to the provincial education
director.
Speaking with VOA Studio 7,
several parents said they blame the government
for not building proper
schools in the resettlement areas.
Parent Tongai Muzhanyi and Silas
Muchindo of Mwenenzi called the situation a
disaster.
Not only
were school structures ruined, but materials - such as books - were
badly
damaged. Some of the schools had computers donated by President Robert
Mugabe. Those are almost certainly destroyed and at least 20 blair toilets
donated to the schools by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were also
reportedly washed away.
Parents said the land reform program did not
provide adequate infrastructure
to resettled people. Most of the schools,
they said, were constructed of mud
and thatched grass.
The provincial
education director said it is unclear how long affected
students will be out
of school, as the government is ill-prepared to handle
a disaster of this
magnitude.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 10:36
HARARE -
Police have expressed alarm over the proliferation of explosives in
the
hands of civilians and warned members of the public to exercise
caution.
Last week, a deadly blast resulted in the death of six people in
Chitungwiza.
National police spokesperson, Charity Charamba,
yesterday said cases
involving explosives are increasing around the country
with the Chitungwiza
case being the latest such incident.
“People are
getting excited and they are buying explosives on the belief
that they
contain mercury, that belief is very mistaken. Those devices are
designed to
explode and cause damage, injury or death,” said Charamba.
Since the
explosion that razed three houses to the ground and left several
families
homeless nine days ago, law enforcement agents have been mum on the
matter
but Charamba said: “Preliminary investigations suggest that an
explosive
material could have caused the blast."
“We are appealing to all of you to
take heed that explosives are designed to
explode, possession of explosives
is illegal and they are highly dangerous
and fatal,” said
Charamba.
The Daily News was the first to report that an explosive,
possibly a bomb,
caused the horror blast in Chitungwiza.
Charamba
said in less than a month, police have recorded three cases
involving
explosives and five people have been arrested so far.
The police
confirmation that an explosive caused the Chitungwiza comes amid
revelations
that the five people died while fetching mercury which is
contained in bombs
for resell to gold miners.
Although the use of mercury in gold processing
is illegal because of its
toxic nature to both humans and the environment,
it remains a popular
product among gold dealers.
However, police said
they are on high alert to curb the rush for dangerous
explosives.
“Please report to the nearest police station once you
have information about
people selling explosives,” she said.
Earlier
this month, police arrested three people after a grenade exploded at
their
house in Waterfalls injuring one person.
A week later, Charamba said
police in Manicaland arrested two people who
were trying to sell a mortar
bomb to members of the public claiming that it
contained
mercury.
“Those selling were alleging that the mortar bomb contained
mercury which
people believe fetches a lot of money on the black market and
it can make
them millionaires overnight. There is nothing like being a
millionaire but
death,” warned Charamba.
“We all need to be very
cautions; members of the public should be wary of
people who come to them
selling explosives,” said Charamba.
Last week, the entire nation was left
shell- shocked after a traditional
healer Speakmore Mandere, a businessman,
an infant and two others died
instantly in the explosion.
A week
later, another man died and the family claimed it was due to the
after
effects of the bomb.
The presence of a traditional healer fuelled
speculation that the blast was
traceable to black magic.
Police say
experts from the army bomb disposal and forensic department are
still
examining evidence collected from the scene to get to the root cause
of the
explosion that shocked the entire nation. - Xolisani Ncube
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
30 January
2013
The MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is in favour of
holding
harmonized elections in July this year, the first time the party has
categorically put a timeframe for the poll.
After debating the issue
of elections at its weekend retreat in Nyanga, the
party’s national
executive said its preference is to have July elections.
The party’s
secretary-general, Tendai Biti, said they thought this month was
ideal as it
was one month before the United Nations World Tourism General
Assembly. This
event in Victoria Falls in August will be jointly hosted by
Zimbabwe and
Zambia.
‘We think that in all fairness it will be very important for the
country to
have the reforms and have the elections before the UNWTO, so as
far as we
are concerned as a party, July will be a good month to have this
election,’
Biti said in Harare on Tuesday.
Biti however stressed that
the leaders of the three parties in government
would make the final decision
on when the polls would be held. If principals
from ZANU PF and the MDC led
by Welshman Ncube agree to this suggestion, it
means the country has less
than six months to prepare for this crucial poll.
It will be the first
general election since the 2008 disputed poll that
claimed the lives of more
than 500 mainly MDC-T supporters, and displaced
tens of thousands
more.
But it’s the level of preparedness that has many, including
politicians and
analysts, questioning whether the country is actually ready
for the vote,
with some suggesting a postponement to after the UN general
assembly event.
Dewa Mavhinga, a UK based senior researcher with Human
Rights Watch’s Africa
Division ( Zimbabwe and Southern Africa), said the
level of preparedness has
become the subject of local and international
debate and, if there’s one
thing Zimbabwe must avoid, it’s a repeat of the
deadly 2008 violence.
‘A new constitution is not a magic wand; partisan
officials who brazenly
support ZANU-PF will not turn over a new leaf over
night. There is much more
to be done to prepare Zimbabwe for genuinely free
and fair elections that
are without violence.
‘This includes a full
restoration of the rule of law and respect for the
constitution. Police must
begin to show absolute zero-tolerance to political
violence through
arresting all perpetrators of abuses and holding them
accountable, otherwise
the new constitution will just be a beautiful
document paving the way to
hell,’ Mavhinga said.
Speaking about the elections Hopewell Gumbo, a
social and economic justice
activist, said: ‘But there are technical
challenges like finance which are
not guaranteed, the voters role which is a
source of contention is in
shambles and time is too little to have adequate
preparations if elections
are to be conducted around the proposed
dates.
‘Added to that is the implication of the violence residue and
actual
reported of incidents where people like Jabulani Sibanda (war vets
leader)
are threatening people. That in itself is not conducive for an
election,’
Gumbo added.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
30/01/2013 00:00:00
by
Reuters
THE new constitution which paves the way for an election
this year curbs
presidential powers and strengthens cabinet and parliament,
which have been
weakened under veteran President Robert Mugabe's
rule.
According to a final copy of the draft charter obtained by Reuters
on
Tuesday, the president will be required to exercise power in consultation
with the cabinet, with decrees requiring its majority backing.
The
current constitution allows the president to issue decrees alone that
can
have the force of law for up to six months.
The new document also limits the
president to two, five-year terms, starting
from the next election. However
this will not be applied retrospectively, so
Mugabe - who has been in power
for 32 years - could technically rule for
another two terms.
Last
week, the country's two most powerful parties - Mugabe's Zanu PF and
the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of rival Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai - said they supported the draft, virtually ensuring its passage
through parliament as early as next week.
If passed by parliament, it
will be put up for a national referendum between
March and April, a crucial
step before elections required for this year
under the power-sharing deal
struck between Mugabe and Tsvangirai after
disputed 2008
polls.
Presidential powers to declare public emergencies and dissolve
parliament
have been diluted in the draft by requiring two-thirds of
lawmakers to back
any such measure in a vote.
Parliament can also be
dissolved only for "unreasonably" failing to approve
the national
budget.
Although the current constitution requires parliamentary approval in
the
declaration of emergencies, it requires only a simple majority. The
president can currently dissolve parliament without parliamentary
approval.
Some civil rights have also been expanded in the new document,
with clauses
on freedom of the press, access to information, political
choice and
activity as well as prisoners' rights.
Death
Penalty
The draft retains the ban on same-sex marriage in the conservative
southern
African state. It also keeps the death penalty, but only for
"murder
committed in aggravating circumstances" and makes exceptions for
women and
people aged below 21 years or those above 70 years old.
The
current constitution allows execution of anyone above 18 for murder.
Mugabe,
88, has ruled the country with mostly a free hand since its
independence in
1980 from Britain and has been accused of hanging on to
power through
vote-rigging. He says he will contest the next election
despite questions
over his advanced age and concerns over his health.
The president forced
the deferment by at least 10 years of a clause in the
new charter requiring
candidates to nominate running mates who would
automatically succeed them
should they be unable to continue in office.
Until that clause comes into
effect, the party holding the presidency can
name a successor at the time
that a incumbent is unable to continue.
Some in Zanu PF want Mugabe to
hand over the reins to a younger leader, but
he has steadfastly refused to
discuss succession, an issue that has stoked
factional disputes within the
party.
The charter had looked in doubt last year when Zanu PF tried to
oppose curbs
on presidential powers and a strengthening of
parliament.
Funding problems and constant bickering between the coalition
parties have
delayed the adoption of a new constitution, initially scheduled
to be
completed in 2010.
Mugabe, who had previously threatened to
call a vote before a new
constitution had been agreed, has been held back by
regional leaders eager
to avoid a repeat of the violent and disputed 2008
poll that was condemned
by much of the world.
The veteran ruler and
his Zanu PF face a stiff challenge from the MDC, which
says it will breathe
fresh life into an economy that shrank by an estimated
40 percent from 2000
to 2010 due largely to Mugabe's seizure of white-owned
commercial farms and
what critics say has been economic mismanagement.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Sandra Nyaira, Sithandekile
Mhlanga, Tatenda Gumbo
29.01.2013
WASHINGTON — Zimbabwean women are
praising the new draft constitution,
calling it the most progressive
document the country has ever produced since
attaining independence in
1980.
Complaining that they are often mere political pawns used by male
colleagues, these activists hope women will now have a bigger say in the way
the country is run, as the charter reserves at least 60 seats in the House
of Assembly for women.
Women’s groups that campaigned for equal
representation in parliament said
they did not get everything they wanted in
the draft, but are pleased that
most of what they advocated for has been
included.
For example, Chapter 6 (Part 4) of the draft constitution
stipulates that
210 members will be elected by secret ballot into the house
and an
additional 60 women members will be brought into parliament by the
political
parties.
COPAC Co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora said Zimbabwean
women should take
advantage of the provisions being ushered in by the new
constitution, which
appears likely to be approved in an upcoming referendum
as the main
political parties say they will urge their members to vote
‘yes.’
Commenting, Maureen Kademaunga of the Zimbabwe Young Women's
Network said
women’s groups will do all in their power to ensure that the
draft is
adopted since it is strongly in their favour.
Meanwhile,
the parliamentary select committee tasked with writing the new
constitution
on Tuesday started revising changes that were effected in the
draft charter
by the principals, in preparation for tabling a motion on the
document in
parliament on February 5.
Believe Gaule, deputy select committee
co-chairman of the MDC formation of
Industry Minister Welshman Ncube told
VOA the process will be completed on
Thursday, the day his committee is
expected to adopt the document.
However, not everyone is so pleased
with the new draft constitution. The
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
will meet this weekend to launch its
‘NO’ vote campaign, hoping to defeat
the draft in the upcoming referendum.
The NCA leadership will meet
Saturday and then convene a full conference
next week, after the leadership
reviews the final document in detail, said
NCA spokesman Madock
Chivasa.
NCA maintain they will push for a ‘NO’ vote regardless of the
contents of
the final draft because the COPAC process was - in their words -
“illegitimate, undemocratic and not people driven”.
The
organization said it would like to see people and democratic
organizations
continue to push for what it calls a truly democratic
constitution drafted
by the grassroots.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
30 January 2013
Giles Mutsekwa, the MDC-T’s national Housing
Minister, is one of many
cabinet ministers in the inclusive government who
is facing an acid test in
the party primaries.
Mutsekwa, the current
MP for Chikanga-Dangamvura in Mutare, wants to stand
again for parliament.
But he’s one of three party heavyweights in the
eastern border city vying
for the same seat in the primaries.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed
that Mutsekwa is being challenged by
Brian James, the suspended Mayor of the
city, and former footballer and
popular lawyer Arnold Tsunga.
The
three are among a thousand party officials who have submitted their
applications as prospective candidates for the 2013 harmonized general
elections. Some of the applications are from party cadres based in the
diaspora, like the UK based duo of popular radio disc jockeys Ezra ‘Tshisa’
Sibanda and Eric ‘the general’ Knight.
Others from the UK are Taurayi
Chamboko, a police officer with the
Bedfordshire Constabulary, Rodwell
Mupungu, eyeing the Ruwa seat, and
Herbert Munangatire Jnr who is contesting
one of the seats in Robert Mugabe’s
home district of Zvimba.
MDC-T
spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said his party would conduct primary
elections
in February, adding that the deadline for receiving applications
from
prospective candidates countrywide was Thursday.
An insider at Harvest
House disclosed that there’s going to be an intriguing
fight to represent
the party during the primaries. No date has been set yet
but officials
believe the exercise may be held towards the end of February.
‘Everything
will be clearer on Friday when we get all the applications and
see who is
being challenged and who is not. It’s safe to say most of the
sitting
parliamentarians are facing competition from other members in
party.
‘There are reports that other MP’s have decided to switch
constituencies
perhaps fearing they won’t get the two thirds majority
confirmation to
retain their seats. It’s going to be very intriguing and I
personally see
some big guns losing in the primaries,’ a party insider said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet
Gonda
30 January 2013
Two senior MDC-T officials, Tendai Biti and
Nelson Chamisa, have been
criticized by the Voluntary Media Council of
Zimbabwe (VMCZ) for allegedly
making threats to sue the Zimbabwe
Independent, over a story it published
claiming the two were involved in a
serious ‘bust-up’ last week.
The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper claimed
Biti, who is the party’s
secretary-general, ‘fiercely clashed’ with Chamisa,
the organizing
secretary, at a standing committee meeting over primary
election application
forms. MPs Tabitha Khumalo and Albert Mhlanga also
reportedly exchanged
blows as intra-party fighting rages on.
The
paper claimed: “The ministers’ fight” was seen as part of a wider MDC-T
factional and succession battle, as Biti and Chamisa are allegedly ensconced
in two warring camps.”
But the MDC-T denied the report as false
saying it was “clearly written with
the evil intentions of causing mayhem,
discontent, and despondency within
the MDC family,” ahead of
elections.
Biti and Chamisa also put up a united front at a press
conference in Harare
on Tuesday, dismissing the newspaper’s story as
‘hurtful and ‘fiction’.
Chamisa is quoted as saying the party had
instructed its lawyers to take
measures against the journalist who wrote the
story and the publication
itself.
VMCZ chairman Alec Muchadehama
said: “While it remains the legal right of
these two leaders of the MDC-T to
do so, it is unfortunate that they have
joined the undemocratic tendency by
politicians and influential people in
Zimbabwean society to issue veiled
threats against the media.
“It is a tendency that has in general led to
the arrests of many media
professionals for merely doing their work in the
public interest. It is also
a habit that has regrettably led to an
unfortunate and repressive but broad
culture of criminalizing freedom of
expression and media freedom in
Zimbabwe.”
Chamisa disagreed with the
VMCZ statement saying there had to be a
retraction of a ‘false story’ that
was attributed to ‘unknown sources’.
He told SW Radio Africa: “What we
want is a retraction, given the same
prominence, and if that fails we also
have rights in as much as we respect
the rights of those people who wrote
those malicious statements. So we
should not look at rights from one
side.”
Chamisa denied threatening the media, saying they merely made a
‘polite
request’.
The minister said his party was also fighting for
democracy and balanced
unbiased reporting: “A certain wrong was committed
against us and we feel
that as people who fight for democracy justice is
supposed to be on both
sides.
“In as much as we respect the
individual rights of anybody to write about
anybody they should not write
fiction,” Chamisa added.
The Zimbabwe Independent editor-in-chief,
Vincent Kahiya, refused to comment
saying: “I will only comment if I see a
formal letter from the MDC wanting
us to either retract or suing
us.”
When asked if the paper still stands by its story, Kahiya responded
by
reiterating that his paper will wait for an official document from the
MDC
indicating their intention to sue “and when we see those papers we will
make
an appropriate reaction.”
Journalists at the Zimbabwe
Independent, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said both Biti and Chamisa
had called the newspaper and
threatened to sue if there was no retraction.
The journalists said they
stood by their story.
Muchadehama deplored
threats against the media and said there are mechanisms
through which policy
makers or public figures can seek fair redress from
media houses, if they
feel aggrieved by a story, such as seeking a right of
reply from the media
organization and also pursuing the matter with the
Media Complaints
Committee of the VMCZ . He said the latter would be at “no
legal cost to
themselves nor with the threat of the arrest or cumbersome
lawsuits of media
professionals.”
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe dropped 16 places to number 133 out
of 179 countries on
the World Press Freedom Index report released by the
France-based Reporters
Without Borders. Zimbabwe, Angola, Democratic
Republic of Congo and
Swaziland are the only countries from Southern Africa
who are below 130.
Activist Mike Davies said: “The press freedom index
does not take into
account the quality of reporting. We need a ‘freedom from
bad journalism
index’, for that and I am sure Zimbabwe would be in the lower
third there as
well.”
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Gibbs
Dube
29.01.2013
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency puts the
country’s unemployment rate
at only 10.7 percent, but outside experts say
the real figure is closer to
75 percent or higher.
Thousands of
Zimbabweans have lost their jobs since last year as firms
across the country
close their doors or scale down operations. While the
impact from these
business actions affects many in their communities,
retrenched workers are
often the hardest hit.
Forty-seven year-old textile machinist, Thomas
Moyo, has been out of work
for more than nine months. He says he is
surviving thanks only to the grace
of God and good Samaritans.
Mr.
Moyo says he never believed that he would one day lose his job, but that’s
just what happened last year when managers at Archer Clothing (Pvt) Limited
told him and 700 other workers to go home.
The clothing firm, which
had operated in the city of Bulawayo for more than
four decades, retained
only a few workers as it was placed under judicial
management to address
operational problems.
Now Moyo, father of five, is living from hand to
mouth. He says he struggles
just to buy food and send some of his children
to school.
“As we speak right now I don’t have any food for my family. We
are suffering
because we now depend on neighbours at times do not have extra
food for us,”
he says.
Moyo is not alone. Sixty-seven year-old Martin
Cooper was of an age when
many men retire. But Cooper says retiring was not
an option as poverty has
kept him tied to his job.
Two weeks ago,
Zeco (Pvt) Ltd - citing what it called operational
challenges - retrenched
Cooper and 17 other workers. Cooper claims that he
was let go with the
company owing him $9,000 in unpaid wages.
He says he has now been reduced
to a beggar and doubts he will be able to
find a new job because of his
age.
Labour unions fear the labor situation in Zimbabwe will only worsen
as more
workers are expected to lose their jobs in 2013.
The
secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Japhet Moyo,
says at least 4,600 workers in Zimbabwe lost their jobs last year, and that
figure only accounts for those working in the modest formal
sector.
Mr. Moyo blames the government for failing to craft and implement
policies
that encourage job growth.
Labour expert Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
is convinced that the job market will
shrink further because the nation is
not attracting foreign direct
investment or accessing cheap loans
abroad"
Kezilina Ndlovu, general secretary of the National Union
of the Clothing
Industry, agrees, saying the import of cheaper Chinese
fabrics have
devastated Zimbabwe’s textile industry, forcing companies to
retrench
thousands of workers.
Businessman Bulisani Ncube says job
losses have been worsened by the
government’s failure to implement a $40
million cheap loan scheme created in
2011 to save distressed Zimbabwean
industries.
Labour expert Davies Ndumiso Sibanda is convinced that the
job market will
shrink further because the nation is not attracting foreign
direct
investment or accessing cheap loans abroad.
Some of the
companies that have retrenched workers during the past year or
so include
Bascode and Tashas supermarkets, Cairns Foods (PVT) Ltd, National
Blankets,
Ascot and Archer Clothing, Zeco and Kango Products.
Joining the queue
is Hunyani Printopack, which is set to shut down its plant
in Bulawayo
within the next two weeks and relocate to Harare. This will send
250 workers
home.
These workers will swell the ever-increasing numbers of jobless
people in
the country. In Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, the
future looks
particularly bleak as the unemployed fight for the few
remaining openings.
According to the Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce, more than 20,000
workers have lost their jobs in the city since
2009.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
30 January
2013
Thousands of people travelled to Buhera West in Manicaland province
Wednesday for the burial of University of Zimbabwe political science
lecturer Professor John Makumbe, who died at the weekend.
The 63 year
fearless human rights campaigner and a prominent figure in
Zimbabwe’s civil
society, died of a heart attack on Sunday. He was buried at
his rural home
in Marenga on Wednesday.
The outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe
and his ZANU PF party was
set to contest in the parliamentary race on an
MDC-T ticket.
MDC-T national organizing secretary, Nelson Chamisa, said
more than 5,000
people from all over the country attended the burial. Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai gave a speech and there were solidarity messages
from the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president George Nkiwane and
Bishop
Magaya, representing the Christian Alliance.
There were also
speeches from representatives of some of the organizations
the civic leader
worked with, such as the University of Zimbabwe and the
anti-corruption
organization – Transparency International Zimbabwe.
Family and friends
described Makumbe as an outstanding individual who found
humour in the most
trying circumstances. They said he was a courageous man
who was honest and
spoke the truth as he saw it.
“It was indeed a good atmosphere. The
church was there in a big way because
he was a born again Christian and that
really was a good indication of the
man that he was,” Chamisa
said.
He added: “People were saying he was very humble and had helped
virtually
every sector of our society.”
They said Makumbe’s dream was
to see real change and real transformation in
Zimbabwe and that his spirit
and desire for a new Zimbabwe would live on.
The professor leaves behind his
wife Virginia and three children.
http://www.espncricinfo.com
ESPNcricinfo staff
January 30, 2013
Peter
Chingoka, the long-standing chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, has claimed
that
racism remains a major problem in the sport and has in certain areas
actually grown worse in recent years.
In a statement issued last
week, Chingoka said that at the ICC Under-19
World Cup in Australia last
August white batsmen alleged that blacks were
bowling bouncers at them in
the nets and black bowlers countered that white
fielders where reluctant to
cut off runs made off their deliveries.
Chingoka has called a
stakeholders' conference to discuss the situation
straight after the tour of
the Caribbean.
"There have been reports of black and white players using
separate buses on
senior team tours," he said. "Our domestic leagues have
not been spared
either, as there has been a marked increase in the number of
disciplinary
hearings initiated by allegations of racism.
"In view of
the unfolding media debate and the unacceptable incidents
referred to above,
it would appear that there is still some progress to be
made in addressing
the imbalances of the past and re-integrating the sport
to accommodate all
Zimbabweans, regardless of colour, social background or
gender.
"Cricket is a game for all and we have no reservations in
saying that
discrimination, where it is proved to exist, and whether brought
about
intentionally or as a result of other factors, should not be tolerated
in
any way or form."
In recent weeks there has also been a stand-off
between ZC and the Sports
and Recreation Committee over who should be
eligible to be a national
selector.
http://www.fm.co.za/
Tony Hawkins | 30 January 2013
Now that the
three political parties making up Zimbabwe's unwieldy coalition
government
have settled their differences over the country's new
constitution, the
stage is set for elections probably in the second half of
2013. The
constitutional draft goes to parliament in the next fortnight with
officials
promising a national referendum by the end of March.
Because the three
parties - President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC-T and the small MDC splinter group led by
industry minister
Welshman Ncube - support the draft, the referendum is
likely to be a
nonevent. Some civil society groups may campaign against its
adoption, but
the probable outcome is voter apathy and a low turnout,
meaning that the
constitution will be approved, though only by a minority of
the
electorate.
The draft vividly illustrates the chasm between Zimbabwe's
political classes
and the real world. Here is a low-income country, in which
two-thirds to
three-quarters of the population live below the poverty line,
preparing to
adopt a constitution that will increase the number of
parliamentarians by a
fifth to 350 people for a population of 12,9m. It has
an external debt of
US$12,6bn - 116% of GDP - more than half of which is in
arrears. In his 2013
budget, finance minister Tendai Biti complained that
two-thirds of the
budget was spent on 230000 civil servants, leaving
one-third for 12,7m
people.
The increased number of MPs is mirrored
by the creation of provincial
assemblies and a plethora of commissions and
authorities in a country that
already spends more of its GDP (17%) on
public-service salaries than any
other country in Africa bar one (Lesotho)
and more than double the regional
average (7,3%). While the politicians and
constitutional lawyers are
planning to spend money that the country does not
and will not have,
ministers are appealing to donors to foot the bill for
both the referendum
and elections.
Though the draft is an improvement
on the status quo, the cost of government
is set to rise steeply and those
focus ed on raising living standards and
national welfare worry that such
trappings of constitutionalism are no
guarantee of enhanced delivery on the
part of the increased number of
politicians, bureaucrats and official
agencies.
Adoption of the new constitution will pave the way for
presidential and
parliamentary elections. In a country with few - and
infrequent - opinion
polls, political analysts are reluctant to predict the
outcome, especially
as much could happen over the next six months to
influence voter
perceptions.
On the face of it, Tsvangirai's MDC is
the front runner, notwithstanding the
prime minister's inept performance
since his appointment four years ago. For
Mugabe, who turns 89 this month,
it will be a last chance to rescue his
reputation and rehabilitate himself
in the eyes of erstwhile supporters in
the international community. To
achieve this, he needs elections that are
seen to be free and fair. His
dilemma is that if voters really do have a
free choice, they are unlikely to
back his party, which was responsible for
the economic misery of the lost
decade between 1998 and 2008.
Whatever the outcome at the polls, 2013 is
set to be a difficult year for
business. The empowerment lobby within
Mugabe's party sees indigenisation -
local, black ownership of 51% of all
foreign businesses - as a vote-winner.
It is being helped by some of the
target businesses that have signed
indigenisation "agreements" with
empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere,
enabling him to claim that his
National Indigenisation & Economic
Empowerment Board now owns $4bn of
mining company assets.
It doesn't, of course, since the agreements
involve "vendor financing". In
the case of the recently announced Zimplats
agreement, the vendor - Implats,
which owns 87% of the Zimbabwe platinum
group - is to "lend" $971m at 10%
over an unspecified period to three
indigenisation entities, Kasukuwere's
board (31%), a community trust (10%)
and employees (10%). The loan is to be
repaid from future dividends earned
by Zimplats, which at present is not
paying dividends at all.
The
numbers don't make sense. It is simply not possible for one government
ministry to contract billions of dollars in offshore loans without full
cabinet approval and especially the agreement of the ministry of finance. If
the deal were to be approved politically, it would put paid to Zimbabwe's
chances of securing a debt-restructuring agreement with its foreign
creditors, to whom it is in arrears of almost $7bn. Despite this, mining
companies prefer to go along with the charade, which, aside from assisting
Mugabe's party at the polls, raises all sorts of questions about corporate
governance. Are the shareholders whose shares are being sold being told the
full story? It seems unlikely.
But until the polls are held, such
political theatre will dominate the
business headlines, especially now that
Kasukuwere has set his sights on the
foreign banks, Barclays, Standard
Chartered and Stanbic. This year will be
an uncomfortable one for businesses
longing for an end to years of political
and policy uncertainty.
OPEN LETTER FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SADC
Tribunal Rights Watch
30 January 2013
We have all waited long
for Zimbabwe’s new constitution. I wish to focus on
a fundamental and
principle part of this long and wordy document which, at
164 pages,
stretches to the length of a short novel. Before doing so, it
is perhaps
pertinent to quote James Madison, one of the American founding
fathers, who
wrote: “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws
are made by
men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they
cannot be
read, or so incoherent if they cannot be understood…”
The part that I
wish to focus on is the issue of discrimination and
property rights. Law is
essentially about fairness - and discrimination is
about unfairness. So it
is important that when we vote for the new
constitution, we consider the
issue of “fairness” very carefully.
Thomas Jefferson, the principal
author of the American Declaration of
Independence, wrote: “All too will
bear in mind this sacred principle, that
though the will of the majority is
in all cases to prevail, that will to be
rightful must be reasonable; that
the minority possess their equal rights,
which equal laws must protect, and
to violate would be oppression.”
While Jefferson stresses that the
minority must have equal rights, we
need to be aware that property rights
are something that affect us all.
The word “property” comes from the
same root as the word “proper” and
so has a moral root to it. The
agricultural economist Symond Fiske points
out that “wherever communities
are poor, it is always because people and
their governments have been trying
to take a short cut to wealth and
affluence. Instead of formulating and
heeding codes that respect ownership,
they harass, raid and discourage folk
who do…. In reality the only
difference between theft and redistributive
taxation is the size of the
gang.”
In Zimbabwe, the “gang” that
is stopping property rights from being
protected - or enhanced and made
sacrosanct - has been operating for some
time.
James Madison
stated that “Government is instituted to protect property
of every sort…
This being the end of government, that alone is not a just
government,… nor
is property secure under it, where the property which a man
has in his own
personal safety and personal liberty is violated by arbitrary
seizures of
one class of citizens for the service of the rest.”
We all know that
such seizures have characterized the whole of the
twenty-first century in
Zimbabwe. My children have never known anything
different. In Zimbabwe’s
case, the systematic seizure of land from
commercial farmers has not in most
cases been “for the service of the rest”
since a significant number of the
beneficiaries have been the ZANU PF elite
and many farms have been
conveniently parcelled out as part of President
Mugabe’s patronage
system.
The new constitution - which our political leaders have
negotiated and
endorsed – includes the preposterous, quintessentially
Orwellian law in
section 56 [5] that “discrimination… is unfair unless it
is established that
it is fair…”
Thus it leaves the door wide
open for not only the taking of
agricultural enterprises, but also for the
taking of businesses, mines,
tourist facilities, banks and even
homes….
Furthermore, section 72 [3][a] and [c] of the constitution
reads as
follows: “When agricultural land, or any right or interest in such
land is
compulsorily acquired …..[c] the acquisition may not be challenged
on the
ground that it was discriminatory…”
There is no
constitution that legalizes discrimination and the seizure
of property in
this way anywhere in the world. It goes against all human
rights
conventions ever signed.
There is ongoing speculation as to whether
some of the members of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - which
apparently endorses this
constitution - have now, unwittingly, been
incorporated into the “gang” that
Symond Fiske talks of.
I wish
to go back in history to look at a success story. Like Zimbabwe,
the United
States was a British colony. Like Zimbabwe, it attained
independence – and
it wrote a constitution which created the enabling
environment for that
country to become the most prosperous in the world.
Within just over a
century, the USA had the largest economy in the world and
to this day it is
by far the biggest exporter of agricultural produce in the
world, accounting
for nearly half of the world’s food exports. It is
important that we learn
the reasons for this achievement.
John Locke , one of the greatest
and most influential philosophers of
all time, was part of the glorious
revolution in England that spurred on the
agricultural revolution and the
consequent industrial revolution. Locke,
who is widely believed to have
been one of the most significant influences
behind the American
Constitution, wrote: “…that being all equal and
independent, no one ought
to harm another in his life, health, liberty or
possessions….”
“The Supreme power cannot take from any man, any part of his property
without his own consent. For the preservation of property being the end of
government, and that for which men enter into society, it necessarily
supposes and requires that the people should have property…” John Locke,
Second Essay Concerning Civil Government.
In Zimbabwe, virtually
all commercial farmers who happen to have a
“white” skin have been deprived
of their property – and in most cases,
nearly a decade later, none have
received a cent of compensation.
Furthermore, they are not able to practice
their profession on any property
because their properties are now, under
Zimbabwe law, vested in the
President.
The problem in Zimbabwe is
not only the issue of discriminatory
protection of property rights. The
problem is actually that none of us have
property rights. The people in the
communal lands have never had property
rights and as a result of Amendment
17, which was added to Zimbabwe’s
constitution on September 14, 2005, the
government has sweeping powers to
take away homes and livelihoods at the
stroke of a pen, without any
challenge in any court being permitted. All
they have to do is publish a
notice in the newspaper and allocate the
property to anyone they chose –
which, as has been the case since 2000 -
includes themselves. The new
constitution, in glaring defiance of the SADC
Tribunal and the SADC Treaty,
endorses the contents of Amendment
17.
History has demonstrated that the State has always been
spectacularly
unsuccessful in making the land productive. Not only did
Amendment 17
result in the complete abolition of property rights, it also
criminalised
all white farmers and their farm workers if they stayed on
their land. The
loss of the skills of former farm workers has also had a
major impact on
agricultural sector – and the persecution of such people
continues through
these laws, with farm workers being evicted by the new
“chefs” all the
time.
John Adams, another of the 18th century
founding fathers of America, had
this to say: “The moment the idea is
admitted into society that property is
not as sacred as the laws of God, and
that there is not a force of law and
public justice to protect it, anarchy
and tyranny commence. Property must
be secured or liberty cannot
exist.”
That moment in Zimbabwe has been with us for some time – and
the new
constitution will perpetuate “the moment” indefinitely. When title
deeds
are cancelled, we enter the pre-agricultural revolution feudal age.
Under
feudalism, whether under a king, a chief, or a dictator, the
individual’s
property has never been safe. Consequently, agriculture has
never
flourished and throughout the history of feudalism, millions of people
have
starved to death.
Fredrick Bastiat , a renowned French
economist, statesman and author,
while trying to stop “legalized plunder” by
the State in France, wrote in
his book entitled, “The Law”: “We hold from
God the gift which includes all
others. This gift is life – physical,
intellectual and moral.
“But life cannot sustain itself alone. The
creator of life has
entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving,
developing, and
perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has
provided us
with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in
the midst of
a variety of natural resources. By the application of our
faculties to
these natural resources we convert them into products, and use
them. The
process is necessary in order that life may run its
course.
“Life, faculties, production – in other words, individuality,
liberty,
property – this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful
political
leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation,
and are
superior to it.
“Life, liberty and property do not exist
because men have made laws. On
the contrary it was the fact that life,
liberty and property existed
beforehand that caused men to make laws [for
the protection of them] in the
first place.”
Zimbabwe is going
against this fundamental principle – and though I am
no prophet, history
confirms without exception that it will be to the
detriment of the people of
Zimbabwe.
In April 2006, in a paper on Zimbabwe titled “Learning from
Failure:
Property Rights, Land Reforms, and the Hidden Architecture of
Capitalism”,
Professor Craig Richardson of Winston-Salem University in the
United
States, an expert in property rights with a keen interest in
Zimbabwe,
wrote:
“Property rights are analogous to the concrete
foundation of a building:
critical for supporting
the frame and the roof,
yet virtually invisible to its inhabitants. In fact,
there are three
distinct
economic pillars that rest on the foundation of secure property
rights,
creating a largely hidden
substructure for the entire
marketplace.
They are:
• Trust on the part of foreign and
domestic investors that their
investments are safe from
potential
expropriation;
• Land equity, which allows wealth in property to be
transformed into
other assets; and
• Incentives, which vastly
improve economic productivity, both in the
short and long term,
by
allowing individuals to fully capture the fruit of their labors.”
Justice George Sutherland of the US Supreme Court told the New York
State
Bar Association in 1921 at their annual address that “the individual -
the
man - has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary
interference:
the right to his life, the right to his liberty and the right
to his
property… The three rights are so bound together as to essentially be
one
right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from
him
all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take
from
him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to
still
leave him a slave,” [p.18].
In Zimbabwe, the “gang,” is clearly bent
on perpetuating the slavery of
the people through discriminatory laws and
through its constitutional
“right” to take property from its citizens in an
arbitrary way, and to vest
the land in the State. This has proved to be a
very valuable mechanism of
control.
I cannot, and will not
endorse a constitution that will subject the
people of Zimbabwe to continued
hunger and slavery. If it were measured
against God’s blue print and all
international law, it would never even be
put to the people in its present
form. Anyone who endorses the draft
constitution as it stands is, in my
view, a traitor to the next generation
of young Zimbabweans.
BEN
FREETH
Spokesperson – SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
Executive Director
The
Mike Campbell Foundation
Cell: +263 773 929 138
E-mail: freeth@bsatt.com
