Drafting of new constitution to resume Tuesday

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
2 January 2012

The drafting of a new constitution is expected to resume on Tuesday, with a
draft document expected to be complete by the first week of February, a
COPAC co-chairman has said.

Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T MP for Nyanga north and COPAC co-chairman, said
had it not been for ZANU PF machinations and the childishness of its
representatives, the drafters would have completed their work on 20th
January.

But he told SW Radio Africa on Monday that because of delays caused by ZANU
PF it is no longer possible to meet the January deadline. The MDC-T
spokesman also castigated ‘concerted efforts’ by ZANU PF to derail the
process.

‘If we do not get any further disturbances, we would be able to get a draft
of the new constitution in the first week of February. We want the drafters
not to be interfered with when they’re doing their work.

‘This is why as COPAC, we are sending the select and technical committees to
be based in Leopard Rock, Vumba for 10 days to allow the drafters to do
their work without any hindrances,’ Mwonzora said.

The MDC-T legislator strongly denounced ‘certain’ individuals in COPAC for
leaking fake documents to state controlled newspapers, purporting to be a
‘national report’ from COPAC.

‘No such document exists and we know certain individuals are working with
the CIO and the military junta to derail the constitution making process.
There are people who want to substitute people’s views with ZANU PF views.

‘All I can say now is….its not the fault of the MDC-T. It is the fault of
ZANU PF and the junta that we keep having these delays. People should not be
fooled to believe the MDC-T is delaying the process because they don’t want
an election. Just look at who has been causing all the problems and make
your own informed decision,’ Mwonzora added.

Police begin election preparations

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

01/01/2012 00:00:00
    by AFP

THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) say they have begun training programmes
for officers ahead of 2012 elections.

President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF is insisting on polls, despite reluctance
from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The police say the training programmes aim to ensure peace during the polls.

Zimbabwe is due to hold a referendum for a new constitution later in the
year.

However, Mugabe's party also insists elections must take place in 2012, to
end the three-year old power-sharing government.
Deputy Commissioner General Josephine Shambare told state media police would
not tolerate bad behaviour from the public.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC says the police are biased in favour
of Zanu-PF and wants security sector reforms before any poll.

Mugabe promotes notorious general ahead of election

Goche Halts Flights to London and Johannesburg

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, January 02, 2012- The Minister of Transport and Communications,
Nicholas Goche, has issued a circular to stop Air Zimbabwe management from
flying its aircraft to South Africa and the United Kingdom where one of its
long haul Boeing 767 aircraft was recently impounded over an outstanding
debt.

The circular was issued last week leaving the national airline virtually
grounded. The suspended routes are its cash cows.

Creditors in London and Johannesburg South Africa are waiting to impound Air
Zimbabwe planes to try and force it to honour its debts.

Sources at Air Zimbabwe told Radio VOP that the minister of Transport and
Communications took the drastic action last week after he got a tongue
lashing from President Robert Mugabe who nearly missed his annual holiday to
the Far East after the long haul plane that he normally uses to travel on
outside trips was impounded in London.

Mugabe had to use a commercial plane specially hired for him by Mbada
Diamonds where he is a shareholder.

“The circular was issued last week and it targets two destinations,
Johannesburg and London,” an Air Zimbabwe source said.

Air Zimbabwe Chief Executive Innocent Mavhunga could neither confirm nor
deny the issuance of the circular saying, “I am not aware of that,” but we
are still not able to fly to Johannesburg and London until we get the money
to pay for our debts. The circular will last until 15 January when the
government is expected to have released some funds to Air Zimbabwe for debt
payment purposes.

Air Zimbabwe is however still flying to Lubumbashi in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), the Far East, Lusaka, Zambia and locally to
Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

The troubled airline is reported to owe $500 000 for services rendered in
Johannesburg. A Johannesburg cargo handling company recently refused to
offer services to Air Zimbabwe forcing the airline to transport the over 100
passengers on board in a four-sedan vehicle from the plane to the OR Tambo
International Airport Terminal.

An Air Zimbabwe plane was recently impounded at London's Gatwick Airport
until a debt of $1.2 million was paid. The airline managed to fly back to
Zimbabwe on Christmas day.

Air Zimbabwe is said to be in debt running into millions of dollars, among
the debts are millions of dollars also owed to its restive workforce three
quarters of whom have since stopped coming to work.

The national airline used to be one of the best run airline companies in
Africa but it has suffered from years of mismanagement and political
interference.

Efforts by successive chief executive officers to revive the airline have
failed. Most of them have left the company  in a worse condition than they
found it.

Inside job suspected in Marange diamond robbery

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
02 January, 2012

It has been reported that a group of ten robbers got away with diamond ore
worth millions of dollars, after they robbed a company truck that ‘broke
down’ in the Marange diamond fields last week.

According to reports, thieves armed with an AK-47 rifle and slingshots
overpowered two security guards who had been left to protect the 400
kilograms of diamond ore, and ran off into the night.

The truck belonged to Marange Resources, one of four companies operating in
the Marange area and which is in partnership with the state-owned Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation. No arrests were made but a special police
unit is reportedly investigating the theft.

Farai Maguwu, director of the Centre for Research and Development in
Manicaland, which monitors diamond activity in the Marange area, told SW
Radio Africa that there are more questions than answers regarding the
“alleged robbery”.

Maguwu said it is not clear how the robbers managed to carry off 400
kilograms of diamond ore or how they happened to have a weapon used by the
military.

“The fact that there was an AK 47 used by the military clearly points to
some connivance by those people charged with securing the area and it is no
surprise,” Maguwu said. “This is a very high security area where you don’t
expect robbers to break in without approval,” he added.

But he explained that security staff are being paid meager wages and
expected to protect a resource that does not benefit them. This causes them
to get involved in all sorts of illegal, money-making schemes.

The deputy Minister of Mines, Gift Chimanikire, also cast suspicion on the
robbery, saying it had to be an “inside job.” Chimanikire told SW Radio
Africa that there is night time imaging that can identify even small animals
in the diamond fields where the truck broke down. He said the system would
have to be disabled by someone who works there.
Meanwhile a network of diamond dealers last month suspended one of their
members, who is believed to have listed diamond stones for sale from the
controversial Marange district.

Martin Rapaport, who heads the computer-trading network Rapnet, said their
members are going to take extreme efforts to make sure that the diamonds
they offer are not from Marange.

Addressing trade members during two conference calls on the sale of Marange
diamonds, Rapaport stressed that while the stones may be sold legally in
India, China and many other countries, their sale to Rapnet members in the
United States and European Union is illegal.

Rapaport explained that the network is considering plans to further restrict
the sale of Marange diamonds, including a ban on the sale of green-tinted
stones, because many diamonds from Marange are known to be that color.

He said plans to offer rewards to anyone who reports a member who violates
their rules are also being considered, since the sale of Marange diamonds
poses “moral and ethical” issues for the industry because they are linked to
human rights abuses by the Mugabe regime.

 

Local authorities in quandary

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Monday, 02 January 2012 10:52

HARARE - With 90 days left before a UN agency stops funding over 20 local
authorities with water purification chemicals, mayors and council
chairpersons say a big disaster is looming until something drastic is done
to rescue the situation.

The officials have described the situation as catastrophic because of the
precarious financial situation that most of the local authorities are in as
a result of unpaid rentals and huge wage bills.

None of the local authorities is prepared for what is to come.

Bulawayo Mayor Thaba Moyo is doubtful that his city would be able to go it
alone.

He said his council has begun budgeting for United Nations Children’s
Emergency Fund’s (Unicef) withdrawal but said the major challenge would be
ratepayers who are mostly reluctant to settle their bills on time.

“We would like to appreciate the assistance Unicef gave us, we hope that we
will be able to do it when they leave but the main problem is defaulters, as
council we will not sleep and watch people drink water for free,” said Moyo.

The situation is not anyway better for Kadoma city council as mayor Peter
Matambo, told the Daily News on Sunday that his local authority is still
battling to raise adequate funds to procure water purification chemicals.

“We hope that we are going to come up with a mechanism that would ensure all
local authorities are not put to risk, we hope that this is going to be
coordinated by our parent ministry and our association UCAZ,” said Matombo.

Unicef came to the rescue of local authorities in 2008 following an outbreak
of cholera that claimed over 4000 lives countrywide.

The assistance was supposed to have ended in June, but almost all local
authorities pleaded with the UN agency to stay put until they can look after
themselves.

But six months down the line, most local authorities still need hand holding
in service provision.

Their appeals resulted in Unicef extending the assistance to March this year
after which each local authority is expected to be independent.

Harare which has been battling for the past 12 months to provide water to
its residents said Unicef’s withdrawal would put the lives of over 4 million
people at risk.

Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda told the state media recently that his
council requires $3 million for water chemicals every month, a figure which
increased by a $1 million from the previous budget.

He said as long as people are not paying their bills, things will certainly
get worse when UN donors pull out.

“People must pay up so that we are able to do these things. We are not
getting any funding from government” said Masunda.

Harare City Council requires a production of over 1 400 mega litres per day
to provide for its growing population and surrounding towns such as
Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Norton.

Masunda said all the smaller towns getting water from Harare are not paying
anything to his council,  a development that could put the capital city back
on the international spotlight if the deadly cholera outbreak re-emerges.

“We continue supplying services in good faith. As we speak, council is owed
$9 million by Chitungwiza municipality.

“They (Chitungwiza municipality) are supposed to collect money on our behalf
and remit it to us, but Alderman Philemon Chipiyo (Chitungwiza mayor) does
not know how the system works,” Masunda said.

Maize shortage looms as Malawi halts exports to boost grain reserves

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/

By George Omondi and Rex Chikoko

Posted  Monday, January 2  2012 at  16:27

Malawi has suspended maize exports to build national reserves in the face of
a looming shortage, marking a surprise twist for a country that has served
as Africa’s model for attaining food security.
The move taken by the country’s ministry in charge of Commerce and Industry
nullifies all export licences that allowed grain traders to ship maize out
of the country, locking out one of Kenya’s source markets for cereals.

“Malawi Revenue Authority and all licence holders are requested to take heed
of the suspension order,” reads the press release.

In the 2010/11 season, Malawi announced a bumper harvest of 3.2 million
tonnes of maize against a national consumption of 2.4 million tonnes. This
surplus came handy for South Sudan, Kenya and Zimbabwe, helping to plug a
drought–induced shortage that persisted during most of 2011.

Lately, however, Malawi estimates that 10 of its 28 districts are at risk of
maize shortage between last month and February.
In Kenya, where recent short season harvests can barely last up to the next
long rains crop expected in August, the news comes as a setback to private
millers who have been pushing for the renewal of duty free import window
that expired on New Year’s eve.

Malawi, Zambia and South Africa are the important source of white maize that
Kenya imports each year to manufacture flour and animal feed.

“Extending duty free facility will pile pressure on local farmers to release
the recent harvests that they are currently hoarding in the hope of pushing
up market prices,” says Diamond Lalji, the Cereals Millers Association
chairman.

Failure by farmers to release their November/December harvests have recently
forced the National Cereals and Produce Board to raise its producer price to
Sh3,000 per bag in what World Bank describes as among the highest in the
world.

This gesture has, however, failed to soften farmers’ stand with just a few
trickling back to the NCPB depots since it made the offer in late October.

The hoarding has denied the consumer the benefit of low market prices that
normally prevails at harvest time as flour prices remain at high between
Sh108 and Sh112.

Being Comesa countries, maize from Malawi and Zambia attracted just 25 per
cent duty compared to South Africa’s which is subject to EAC’s common
external tariff of 50 per cent.

This means that with the lapse of duty free incentive, local importers would
easily turn to Malawi or Zambia to boost national stock.

Seen as a model African state where state subsidy programme has helped
farmers to increase acreage under maize through improved access to modern
inputs, research and technology, the looming shortage is likely to send the
region’s policy makers back to the drawing board.

Recently, Malawi’s secretary in the Department of Relief and Disaster
Preparedness Jeffrey Kanyinji announced that the country has put aside 4,000
tonnes that are expected to be distributed to about 200,000 Malawians that
are, at the moment, affected by food shortage in the southern part of
Malawi.

A government corporation that controls the sale of maize in Malawi,
Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation, announced the increase of
maize prices by 50 per cent from $12 (Sh1,040) to $18 (Sh1,530) for a
50-kilogramme bag. This would be equivalent to Sh2,754 a 90-kilogramme bag
in Kenya.

Malawi’s Agriculture deputy minister Kingsley Namakhwa said the review would
save farmers from exploitation of parallel market traders.
omondi@ke.nationmedia.com

Chiyangwa cleared to run for provincial chair

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
2 January 2012

Controversial and flamboyant businessman Phillip Chiyangwa has been
reportedly cleared to contest the Mashonaland West provincial chairmanship,
triggering bitter factional infighting among party bigwigs.

The weekly Zimbabwe Standard reported that Chiyangwa will stand in elections
for the vacant post of provincial chairperson, slated for end of January.
But elections for the chairperson in Mashonaland West province have been
postponed on several occasions, due to the intensity of the infighting.

A source told SW Radio Africa that Chiyangwa’s candidature was splitting the
party right down the middle. He said even the politburo was divided over the
issue. However, there are reports that Chiyangwa is a hugely popular figure
among the poor from ZANU PF in the province.

He is well known for using money to buy power and influence and this
practice does not sit well with other party members, especially party leader
Robert Mugabe.

In November last year Mugabe personally blocked Chiyangwa’s bid to contest
the chairmanship, reminding members of the politburo that the businessman
was still considered a security threat because of the espionage case he
previously faced.

‘Chiyangwa uses money to buy influence and you have a lot of these politburo
members fighting in his corner. That should tell you something. But the
issue of elections in the province has created a lot of tension and this
could split the party right down the middle,’ our source said.

Zanu-PF Plans To Hijack Mupfurutsa's Projects

http://www.radiovop.com

Magunje, January 02, 2012 – Zanu-PF’s Mashonaland West leadership is
planning to hijack developmental projects initiated by late music icon
Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa as a springboard for their campaigns ahead of
possible elections this year.

Zanu-PF acting provincial chairman Reuben Marumahoko had no kind words to a
Salvation Army Major Mubaiwa who requested for limited time for those paying
last respect saying “It is our time and church leaders must not be here to
preach during funerals”.

Marumahoko saw Mupfurutsa’s burial as an opportune time for campaigns
saying, "Cde Beremauro (Hurungwe Central MP) you must finish off Mupfurutsa
projects here".

Not to be outdone, Webster Shamu said Zanu-PF leadership must accord the
late musician a status for his role in bringing development to Hurungwe.

"Zanu-PF recognised the roles of musicians such as late Simon Chimbetu and
Mupfurutsa " he said.

Wilson Makanyaire of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) laughed off the
campaign by Zanu-PF big wigs saying it is unfortunate that desperate to win
votes Zanu-PF grabbed the burial of an apolitical artist.

"We are surprised that Zanu-PF hijacked the funeral and removed all those
not aligned to the former ruling party from speakers list. Mupfurutsa was
apolitical and we cherished his developmental plans for the area regardless
of political persuasion.

“It is unfortunate that Zanu-PF leaders want to cheat villagers here. He was
neither Zanu PF nor MDC”.

“Mupfurutsa's body must be turning in the grave especially after Shamu’s
comments alleging that Mupfurutsa fought hard against sanctions,” added
Makanyaire.

Mupfurutsa who started working as an unqualified teacher in 1976 before
joining Hurungwe and Zvimba rural district councils as secretary had
development at heart.

When he went to Harare venturing into insurance companies where he formed
companies he assisted in sourcing furniture for most schools in education
starved Hurungwe district.

He sponsored drilling of a borehole within his village and graded a gravel
road linking to his homestead yet to be completed.

At the time of his death he had plans of assisting his community build
health facility.

Harare cautiously, slowly rolls into 2012

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Tonderai Kwenda, Deputy News Editor
Monday, 02 January 2012 10:54

HARARE - December 31 is always treated as a sacred day by many people around
the world.

It is such an important day because it heralds the arrival of a new year. On
this day a lot of people tend to be extra cautious and that is exactly what
they did yesterday.

I took a drive around Harare where I met a number of people who were looking
forward to 2012 with much anticipation.

The excitement was quite measured as most people sought to avoid being among
those who “almost” made it into 2012.
At Rhodesville Shopping Centre in Greendale, I met a couple doing their New
Year ’s Eve shopping.

“We will be spending the day at home waiting for the New Year and we won’t
be going out,” said Tafara Chikwara of Chaplin Road in Greendale.

Just nearby at Red Fox nightspot, workers at the joint were busy making
preparations for yesterday evening’s festivities which featured the visiting
dancehall reggae star Red Rat.

Along Samora Machel Avenue brothers Tichaona and Tafadzwa Muzerengi, who are
roadside-roasted maize vendors, saw nothing extraordinary in the day.

“Christmas we were here and New Year we will also be here. There is nothing
special these days all we want is to make a living from what we do. Let
those who see something special celebrate,” they said.

At several Chinese restaurants which have become a favourite of many
Harareans, it was business as usual. Wing Wah International Hotel located
along Glenara Avenue had its doors closed when I walked in.

They were making preparations for the New Year’s Eve although they had
nothing out of the extraordinary on their menu.

“We are operating as normal and we will be closing at 9pm like we do every
day. We don’t have any special New Year treats but we are open to our
customers who might want something organised for them,” said a waiter at the
double storey restaurant.

Wing Wah International Hotel serves traditional Chinese food and charcoal
barbecue.

At Shangri- La restaurant along Enterprise Road business was also low with
no indications of any spectacular New Year’s Eve festivities.

“We don’t have any special treats for the New Year’s Eve. We are operating
as normal and we will be closing at 10pm,” said an official at the famous
Chinese restaurant which is a favourite of some look-east policy believers.

Meanwhile, many drivers I met on the roads where uncharacteristically
cautious. Even the numerous malfunctioning robots did not dampen their
spirit of care as they rolled over into 2012.

Sam Levy’s Village was abuzz with New Year’s eve shoppers picking up items
such as champagnes, wines, beers and meat to help lift up the 2012 cheer.

Millers Restaurant at the Sam Levy’s Village was a hive of activity with
people of all races enjoying the festive treat.

A waiter at the restaurant said they were planning to open for 24 hours but
were not yet certain if they were going to get enough business to do so.

Police spokesperson Andrew Phiri said his team was keeping eyes on and off
the road for mischief-makers.
Overally, it was a slow roll over into 2012.

Mugabe's election nightmare

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Monday, 02 January 2012 12:00

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe, who is clamouring for an early poll to
beat advanced age and reported ill health, is faced with a similar situation
that led to his defeat to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the March 2008
presidential elections.

Mugabe only managed to return to government after Tsvangirai boycotted a
violent run-off, forcing the formation of a coalition of the bitter rivals
with the former trade unionist coming in as Prime Minister.

The two men are set to fight it out again in elections most likely in 2013,
although Mugabe is pressing for a 2012 poll.

The Daily News on Sunday can reveal today that MPs that revolted against
Mugabe in 2008 under an operation code named “bhora musango (kick the ball
off the field)” are at it again.

Under the 2008 operation, his MPs called for people to vote for them alone
and not Mugabe.

Angered by the former guerrilla leader’s refusal to leave power to the
younger generation despite declining public support, MPs are grouping to
resist Mugabe’s early election poll.

They also want to push for the scrapping of internal  primary elections for
sitting MPs, arguing that an early election would have prejudiced them since
their terms, which were supposed to end next year, would have been cut
short.

This would be the second time that the MPs’ terms will be cut after Mugabe
called an early election in 2008 when MPs’ terms were supposed to end in
2010.

Party sources, including several MPs, said the plot is code-named “Operation
gara pauri ipapo (stay where you are)”.

The plot, according to sources, is still muted but gathering momentum.

Under the operation, MPs and ministers are vowing to stay put “the way
Mugabe did” and intent to launch an offensive against the party’s procedure
of conducting primaries ahead of general polls.

Observers note that it will be an uphill task for the MPs to pull off the
plot given the history of senior party members who plot against Mugabe only
to chicken at the octogenarian’s word.

The plot, which also involves current Zanu PF ministers, exposes how Zanu PF
stalwarts are against an early election. They feel the elections could mark
the end of their political careers if handled in a rush since the party lost
its parliamentary majority in 2008 for the first time since independence.

The MDC also ended Zanu PF’s dominance of rural councils in 2008.

“If Mugabe remains President, then we all should remain MPs and no primaries
should be conducted in constituencies. If Mugabe is unchallenged, the same
should happen to legislators,” said one MP.

According to the MPs, most Zanu PF officials on the ground in their
constituencies were uncomfortable to challenge the MDC in the next elections
with Mugabe as the man in charge.

Most Zanu PF heavies, including serial flip-flopper, Jonathan Moyo confided
to American diplomats that Mugabe was out of favour with most party
officials and was of ill health.

“The truth is we (Zanu PF) do not want elections now,” said another MP.

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo confessed ignorance of the secret plot.

“President Mugabe was endorsed at the congress (last month) and I do not
know the mechanism the MPs will use to represent the party in their
constituencies without going through primary elections.

“As a party, we live by the conference decision and we are ready for the
polls,” said Gumbo.

In 2008, Mugabe suffered defeat to Tsvangirai under similar circumstances
when his legislators called for voters to vote for them only and not Mugabe.

Churches, rights groups and election observer groups later accused the
military, whose leaders are fiercely loyal to Mugabe, of driving a violent
run-off campaign that Tsvangirai says left at least 200 of his supporters
dead.

Thousands others were forced to seek refuge as their houses were bombed and
burnt  as known MDC activists came under intense attack.

Mugabe and his close lieutenants are already sensing danger.

Late last year, Mugabe used an inter-party anti-violence indaba to warn Zanu
PF members against repeating the sabotage that resulted in his March 2008
humiliation.

He took a swipe at his MPs for betraying him during the 2008 poll under the
operation bhora musango.

“Kwedu takamboita bhora rainzi rovera bhora musango rekuti mumwe atadza
kusarudzwa asi anoenda achiti ini ndinavo vangu vanondisupporter havambofa
vakakuvhotera iwewe. Ibhora re rudzwai, ghedi racho riripi? (In our party,
we once had people undermining each other because they claimed to have more
support than other party cadres),” Mugabe said then.

His party’s political commissar, Webster Shamu, known as a staunch backer of
prolonged Mugabe rule, has also fired warning shots, realising that the 2008
ghost will come back to haunt the party.

He recently warned party members against challenging or undermining Mugabe
in the next elections.

2011 year Mugabe would like to forget

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Monday, 02 January 2012 10:59

HARARE - Several people were arrested last year for insulting him, some
allegedly called him a homosexual, impotent and an idiot among a host of
insults hardly suitable for an ageing 87-year-old liberation war veteran.

But such has been President Robert Mugabe’s decline that the year 2011 is
likely to go down as a bad one for the former school teacher and guerrilla
war leader who has turned from hero to villain in just over three decades
since independence from Britain in 1980.

From a failed anti-sanctions petition and 2011 election drive to alleged
failing health and waning public support, the 87-year-old leader is
theoretically living in hell on earth.

Information leaked during the year showed his close confidantes spoke
glowingly of him in public but rubbished his leadership credentials in
private discussions with American diplomats.

Members of the public also had their share of venting their anger and
frustrations on the ageing leader and one of the leaders of the liberation
struggle — Mugabe.

From MDC cabinet ministers, members of Parliament, to ordinary people on the
streets, Mugabe has been a target for insults and this has landed several of
them in hot soup.

Over a dozen of people have been locked up on allegations of either
undermining the office of the President or insulting the office and the
person of the President.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s close aide, Jameson Timba led the team of
Mugabe’s insult charge victims in 2011.

He was arrested in June on allegations of labelling Mugabe a liar after the
Sandton South Africa Sadc Summit where Mugabe reportedly twisted the outcome
of the meeting to suit his political party’s drive and push for early
elections.

Timba was charged with undermining the authority of the President.

Vendors on the streets also tasted Mugabe’s wrath with one Johan Ndhlovu
from Esigodini Township near Gwanda being arrested for calling on Mugabe to
step down.

Ndlovu allegedly said “the old man must resign” in what was interpreted as
meaning Mugabe is old and should step down.

Still in Bulawayo, a white farmer, Van Royen, was in July “arrested” by Zanu
PF youths on allegations that he had insulted Mugabe.

His lawyer Tawanda Mashayamombe told the Daily News on Sunday then that
Royen was facing charges of insulting Mugabe.

“He is facing charges of insulting the President” said Mashayamombe.

The charges against Royen emanated from a discussion he held with Bulawayo
Zanu PF youth chairperson Joel Tshuma over his farm.

In the east of the country, three Penhalonga residents were arrested in
February this year for allegedly singing an altered version of Mbare
Chimurenga Choir’s pro-Mugabe “Nyatsoterera” song.

The charges against the three are that on February 3, 2011 at Tsvingwe
cemetery, Penhalonga, Patrick Chikoti, Faith Mudiwa and Phillip Dowera or
one or more of them engaged in disorderly and riotous (sic) conduct and
threatening words “Nyatsoterera unzwe kupenga muhofisi mune mboko
nyatsoterera unzwe kupenga (Listen carefully and hear the madness. In the
office there is a mad man. Listen carefully how mad he is)”.

They also allegedly chanted: “Ngatishandei nesimba takabatana tibvise
kamudhara aka muoffice mupinde president wenyika Morgan Tsvangirai (Let us
work hard to remove this old man from the office so that our dear leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai might enter office).”

Zebedia Mpofu, a 52-year-old Harare man, was in July summoned to appear in
court to answer to charges of insulting Mugabe’s person after he allegedly
told a workmate who supports Zanu PF that Mugabe’s supporters were only
beginning to enjoy a relatively good life because of Tsvangirai’s entry into
government.

Mpofu allegedly charged that his workmate Gilbert Mataruse, was having a
good lunch thanks to Tsvangirai’s entrance into government.

The accused then shouted to Gilbert through the window, saying that the
biscuits and the Cascade he was having were brought courtesy of Tsvangirai.

MDC Chiredzi West, MP Moses Mare was in August fined $20 for assaulting a
15-year-old school boy who was singing “Nyatsoterera”, a song that exalts
Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.

Even convicts had no kind words for the former liberator as evidenced by
Daniel Mutema, who was convicted of robbery last month and sentenced to 12
years in prison.

Mutema claimed that Mugabe was “impotent”. “Even if you sentence me to 70
years in prison, I don’t care because Mugabe will be dead by then and
Tsvangirai will be in power and I will still come and deal with you,” he
told the prosecutor who led the case on the State’s behalf.

The wrath against those critical of Mugabe did not end there, as a Bindura
lawyer Ernest Jena was two weeks ago arraigned before the courts facing
charges of undermining the authority of the president.

State prosecutor Emmanuel Muchenga alleged that Jena insulted Mugabe on
December 9, 2011 while enjoying some refreshments at Kimberley Reef Hotel in
Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province.

Muchenga allegedly said: “Mugabe mudenga, Mugabe mudenga, muroverei pasi”
which the State translated to mean, “Lift Mugabe up in the air and then
crush him against the ground.”

Chimanimani West MP Lynette Karenyi spent Christmas period in custody on
allegations that he labelled Mugabe gay.
According to state papers, Karenyi is alleged to have said Mugabe was
practising homosexuality with serial flip-flopper Jonathan Moyo.

What went wrong in Zimbabwe?

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

02/01/2012 00:00:00
    by Professor Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni

THE New Year is a time to reflect on the past with a view to transcending
the murky present and then forecast on the mysterious future.

For Zimbabwe, the past, the present, and the future, are so inextricably
intertwined to the extent that some political forces are even trying to stop
the wheel of history itself from turning so as to immortalize a particular
historical moment as the ‘end of history.’ Simply put, to try and stop the
wheel of history from motion is a futile exercise.

What needs to occupy our minds is to clearly understand what went wrong in
Zimbabwe. Politicians, civil society organizations, and intellectuals as
well as all concerned citizens must strive to come up with a ‘scientific’
and ‘objective’ analysis of the causes and nature of the Zimbabwe problem.
Only from this basis can its resolutions be found consisting of effective
therapies and durable peace settlements.

One of the main weaknesses of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) as a form
of resolution of the Zimbabwe problem is that it suffered from the ‘crisis
of presentism,’ which translates to the common human habit of seeking to
deal with what immediately appeared on the surface of life as reality. In
short, the GPA became informed, framed and driven by the urge to deal with
symptoms rather than causes of the Zimbabwe problem.

The land issue, sanctions, human rights abuses, poor governance, violence,
lack of rule of law, ethnocracy, racism, and other problems that appear on
the surface of the political landscape of Zimbabwe are mere symptoms of
deep-rooted, structural and hidden issues, that require critical minds to
unearth.

Unless a clear diagnosis of the causes and nature of the Zimbabwe problem is
made, we will live with a catalogue of minimalist resolutions such as the
3rd March Agreement of 1978 that failed to stop the liberation struggle or
to resolve the Rhodesia problem; only producing the anomaly called
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government that became complicity in the bombings of
liberation movements’ rear bases in Zambia and Mozambique.

Following that we had the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979 where the
sacrifices of the sons and the daughters of the soil who perished in
Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, and inside Rhodesia theatres of war fighting
for freedom were short-changed and sold out by their petit-nationalist
bourgeois leaders, who succumbed and capitulated to the demands of global
and local white capital to produce a neo-colony of Zimbabwe, where land and
other factors of production remained in the hands of the white minority
citizens.

And then there was the Unity Accord of 22 December 1987, that became nothing
but nationalist elite accommodation of each other after exposing 20 000
innocent peoples of Matebeleland and the Midlands regions to death, before
finding each other.

Then there was tThe GPA of 15 September 2008, that simply allowed a losing
political formation to continue being politically relevant and to spoil the
democratic political trajectory of the country.  We as a people are poised
for more of these flawed conflict resolution mechanism as long as a clear
diagnosis of the Zimbabwe problem does not form the basis of negotiations
and formulation of effective therapies and durable resolutions.

What went wrong in Zimbabwe? I am not the first one to be pre-occupied with
this pertinent question. Intellectuals like Brian Raftopoulos, Jonathan
Moyo, John Makumbe, Ibbo Mandaza and others have worked towards explaining
the problem. The emerging consensus in the various attempts is that the
problem is historical and structural. It is multi-layered and multi-faceted.
What I will try to do is to try unpacking the layers and revealing the
historical and structural nature of the problem in very simple terms.
Colonial Layer

Zimbabwe is a colonial and nationalist invention of the 20th century. It’s
making involved violence and conquest of the various people inhabiting the
lands lying between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, who otherwise had
different identities.

No black person consented to be part of Rhodesia as a colonial state.
Rhodesian authorities were content in creating a state but were not eager to
create the nation of whites and blacks as equal and consenting citizens.
Divide and rule was the key style of governance. Black people became tribes
and subjects and whites became citizens and masters.

Strategic resources were allocated to citizens while subjects provided the
needed cheap labour in this colonial matrix of power. However, this
colonially created citizen-subject and settler-native relationship was
unsustainable except through violence and imprisonment.

But violence itself has never been sustainable and successful as a lever of
maintaining asymmetrical power relations and tyrannical governance.
Inevitably Rhodesia imploded into conflict called the liberation struggle in
the 1960s and 1970s. Roots of violence and authoritarianism are traceable to
the colonial layer. Colonial violence begot nationalist violence.  This
scenario of conflict takes us to the next layer.
Nationalist Layer

Nationalism confronted colonialism with a view to creating a postcolonial
state led by the black petit-nationalist bourgeois who had imbibed
coloniality and liberal modernity in churches, mission schools and overseas
universities. What became the liberation struggle emerged as a clash between
the established white colonial bourgeois and emerging black bourgeois over
power.

The struggle began when the white colonial states could not accommodate the
colonially educated black bourgeois into its structures of power and
privilege. Black peasants, workers, and other social groups were mobilized
to fight on behalf of the petit-nationalist bourgeois who were struggling
for power. This class struggle was marketed as a liberation war and a
struggle for freedom.

It is not surprising that this struggle culminated only in mere juridical
freedom marked by the ascendency of petit-black bourgeois into political
power that was left by the colonial government and this shift of faces at
state house from white to black, was celebrated as independence for everyone
including peasants and workers.

Because the black bourgeois had attained what they wanted, they were quick
to accommodate the erstwhile white bourgeois through policies of
reconciliation and forgiveness. Besides regular elections marked by
violence, the style of governance continued in the same manner as under
colonial rule with use of emergency powers against opposition, with violence
being celebrated, and democratic spaces being closely monitored and closed.

The petit-black nationalist leadership now in charge of the post-colonial
(neocolonial) state arrogated to itself pedagogical powers and skills to
teach workers and peasants what liberation meant and the meaning of being
patriotic. This arrogance bred the idea of nationalists and war veterans to
claim to have died for all of us and on the basis of this claim to assume
the psychology of being the alpha and omega leadership of Zimbabwe.
The Neo-Colonial Layer

Zimbabwe was born in April 1980 as a typical neo-colony, whereby at the top
political level, were black individuals who called themselves our new
leaders, revolutionaries, comrades, and liberators and at the economic
level, the former white Rhodesians still dominated. Even the land issue
which was one of the main causes of the liberation war remained unsolved and
the so-called revolutionary leaders were not ashamed of this open betrayal
of the core ideal of the liberation struggle.

This scenario portended future conflicts and continuation of violence as a
variable in resolution of conflicts. Zimbabwe, typical of all neo-colonies,
when the time came for it to flex its little muscles, it targeted an
internal black minority (the Ndebele) and its overseas handlers (America,
Britain, and others, together with it collaborators in the continent and the
region) looked aside, as this manufactured conflict rooted in intra-black
bourgeois competition for power mediated by regionalism and ethnicity that
unfolded in 1963 consumed lives of innocent people, because it diverted
energies of those in political control of the state from taking
decolonization to its logical conclusion.

In Matebeleland and Midlands regions any black peasant hungry for land who
trespassed into a white farm was reported as a dissident and a legitimate
target of the Fifth Brigade that enjoyed a close working relationship with
white farmers in the region throughout the 1980s.

Therefore, the resolution of the land question in Zimbabwe was delayed not
only by the clauses of the Lancaster House Constitution but also by
intra-nationalist bourgeois conflicts pitting Zanu PF against PF Zapu. As
this conflict raged on, corruption, clientilism, patronage, nepotism and
kleptocracy reigned supreme exemplified by the Willovalle Car Scandal; while
at the same time the little that had remained of democracy fell into what
the veteran Edgar Tekere termed intensive care unit.
Our Current Situation

We are now back to a similar situation whereby intra-and inter-elite
competition for power is weighing heavily on the Zimbabwe body politic
consuming lives of innocent people and opening the gates for foreign
intervention including sanctions. The energy that Zanu PF and MDC formations
spend opposing each other rather than working together for the good of the
nation is just enormous.

While this is happening, ethnocracy and racism have been normalized as
virtues rather than aberrations that only announce the level of sickness of
our society and the depth of issues that remain unresolved.

What is even surprising is that since 2009, the political leaders of the
dominant political formations, with all the space of meeting every Monday,
have failed to work together amicably. Zimbabwe has since 2009 been run
through SADC communiqués. Real nationalists would be ashamed of this
situation. We need internal consensus in Zimbabwe rather than direction from
SADC.

What is seriously lacking in Zimbabwe is a positive nationalist spirit that
unites the people and the leaders as well as informing the behavior of those
claiming leadership across political divides. There is a serious nationalist
deficit in Zimbabwe. Nationalism is now abused as a regime security
guarantor rather than unifier of the people. Nationalism is now a private
ideology of particular political actors, rather than a broad sentiment of
patriotism.

All this indicates that there are no real nationalists but lip-service ones,
who only use nationalism for regime security purposes.  Pursuit of power for
power’s sake is detrimental to the nation. Vision is the DNA of leadership
not lust for power.

What we need is positive nationalism as a unifying ideology capable of
forming a new basis for re-articulation, re-imagining and re-constructing of
the idea of Zimbabwe in line with the present context. Zimbabwe needs to be
freed from the Chimurenga ideology of the 1960sand 1970s together with
Gukurahundi as its policing agent. We need a new idea of Zimbabwe that is
accommodative of diverse identities and civic spaces where all people will
enjoy equal rights irrespective of gender, region, tribe, race, religion and
generation.

Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni is a Professor in the Department of Development
Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He can be contacted at:
sjndlovugatsheni@gmail.com