State ‘hostility’ towards civil society threatens credible Zim poll

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

 

 

Amnesty International

By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

An international human rights group has warned that the state’s ongoing hostility towards Zimbabwe’s civil society sector could threaten the credibility of the upcoming elections.

According to a new report by Amnesty International, the past eight months have seen an intensified campaign of intimidation and arrests of Zimbabwe’s human rights defenders and civil society leaders.

The report, ‘Walk the Talk’ details how the police have conducted systematic raids on different groups’ offices, arbitrarily arrested human rights defenders and seized equipment to intimidate and disrupt the work of the organisations.

“The clampdown on the work of human rights defenders is a worrying indicator that government agencies remain actively hostile to civil society,” said Noel Kututwa, Amnesty International’s Africa Deputy Programme Director.

Kututwa told SW Radio Africa that the groups being targeted have been carrying out election related human rights work, and with just over two weeks until the election, this trend threatens the credibility of the poll.

“The history of Zimbabwe is such that each time there is an election we see a huge spike in human rights violations. There is a close link between human rights violations and elections. And the sense we get from this is that the state wants to limit the work of human rights defenders so they do not monitor all the violations taking place and so they do not to put pressure on the state to do something about it,” Kututwa said.

Since November 2012, at least five police raids of civil society offices have been conducted and dozens of human rights defenders have been unlawfully detained. Many are still caught up in legal processes and appearing in the courts on trumped-up charges that are widely considered to be politically motivated.

This includes the arrest of human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa earlier this year. She was charged with ‘obstructing the course of justice’, but it is widely believed she was deliberately targeted to silence her ahead of the elections.

“If such a high profile lawyer can be arrested it sends a message to others who aren’t so well known, that their lives are at even greater danger. And it has the effect of just silencing them,” Kututwa said.

He added: “The trend of targeting human rights defenders, arbitrarily arresting them and putting them in detention, has the effect of sending the chilling message to say that you are in danger. “

Amnesty International has called on the regional SADC bloc and the African Union to take all measures necessary to ensure the state-sponsored violence seen during the 2008 election period, is not repeated this year. This includes sending election observers to meticulously document human rights violations, in particular those committed by government agencies, and by making a clear public statement that human rights violations will not be tolerated.

“The stakes are high in this election and the run up to it cannot simply be treated as business as usual, either by stakeholders in Zimbabwe or by the international community,” said Kututwa.

Read Amnesty report

• Zimbabwe: Alarming clampdown on basic freedoms ahead of elections

 

 

Police block Tsvangirai meetings

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

While both Presidential hopefuls, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, have
affirmed that this time the country is on track for fair and peaceful
elections, indications from the ground suggest otherwise.

The harsh reality is that ZANU PF has unleashed its tried and tested
violence machinery, controlled by senior members of the country’s armed
forces. Since Tsvangirai launched his party’s manifesto in Marondera last
week, the MDC-T has been on the receiving end of pre-election disturbances.

On Thursday, despite assurances by the police that they will not tolerate
any violence, it was the same police who blocked Tsvangirai from conducting
walkabouts in Zvimba, Mugabe’s home district and Chinhoyi, the capital of
Mashonaland West province.

Herbert Paradzai Munangatire, the MDC-T parliamentary candidate for Zvimba
West, told SW Radio Africa that despite giving notice to the police about
Tsvangirai’s visit on Thursday, they were shocked to be informed at the last
minute that the event had been cancelled.

‘This is the reason why we wanted reforms and to align certain old laws to
the new constitution to prevent such things. Generally if you block your
opponent from addressing meetings or rallies, it sends out a clear message
that you are afraid, nothing else,’ Munangatire said.

Despite the setback, Munangatire said he was encouraged by messages of hope
coming from the MDC-T family in Zvimba, not to relent in their pursuit to
boot Mugabe and ZANU PF out, in the elections that are now less than three
weeks away.

Elsewhere, there have been many reports of campaign posters for MDC-T
candidates being ripped apart or defaced countrywide. There has also been a
rise in violence in some areas, with soldiers assaulting three MDC-T
supporters in Mutasa South in Manicaland province.

As election day approaches the regional, continental and international
community will be watching with concern. Zimbabwe is an important regional
partner whose continued instability would have serious security and economic
implications for its neighbours.

Two million people unregistered

ZESN claims 750,000 voters missing from voters roll

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

A scrutiny of the country’s voters’ roll by election watchdog, the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN), has unearthed a disturbing
under-registration of voters in mostly urban areas.

With less than three weeks to go before the election this will buttress the
MDC-T’s recent claims that an Israeli based company with offices in Harare
was allegedly contracted by ZANU PF to manipulate the voters roll.

ZESN said it noted serious irregularities in the voters’ roll purchased by
the organisation from the office of the Registrar General on 19th June.
Voting patterns from previous elections show that urban areas are naturally
strongholds of the MDC-T.

‘We have noted that the biggest irregularity in the roll is the
under-registration of voters especially in the urban wards. For instance
ZESN has found that there are about 750 000 missing urban voters from the
voters’ roll,’ ZESN said in a statement on Friday.

The watchdog said it conducted a demographic analysis of the voters’ roll on
all 5,890,169 names from all 1,964 wards and 210 constituencies, compared to
the official 2012 Census data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.

Another report issued last week by the Harare based Research and Advocacy
Unit, also revealed discrepancies between the number of potential voters on
the latest voters’ roll and the population census conducted last year.

In its analysis entitled ‘key statistics from the June 2013 voters’ roll’
RAU found that only 8% of the 2012 population of 18-19 year olds was
registered to vote.

Around 45,000 youth were found on the roll, versus the over 500,000 found in
the census. In groups from the ages of 20-29 the unit also reported a
difference of nearly 630,000 between potential voters and the census
population.

Ages 25-29 had a population census total of 1,063, 852 with the voters roll
recording 549,946 people.

On Tuesday, the MDC-T’ secretary-general Tendai Biti claimed that at least
300,000 prospective voters in Harare alone had been denied the right to
participate in the forthcoming general elections.

Biti told journalists that millions of Zimbabweans were indirectly blocked
from registering as voters during the registration exercise that closed on
Tuesday.

Officials from the Registrar General’s Office were accused of employing
delaying tactics to frustrate prospective voters in urban centres during the
30-day exercise.

Names of all PTUZ members as polling officers’ deleted

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has accused the Electoral
Commission of bias after it emerged that all PTUZ members who had been
originally listed as polling officers have had their names deleted.

PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said the development, less than
three weeks before elections, is disturbing, discriminatory and prejudicial.

In an open letter to ZEC, Majongwe said: “We are so concerned that our
members are being punished because of their trade union affiliation in stark
violation of their freedom of association and inalienable labour rights
enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe. We are also disappointed that
this is not the first time that this has happened to our members and we
wonder why state workers should be treated like this by government and
quasi-government departments in a free country. In the March 16, 2013
referendum, our members received the same treatment from ZEC.”

The outspoken group say their members were also removed from the final list
of census enumerators last year, despite having received training, and that
they have also been excluded from marking national examinations by the
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC), although teachers from other
unions were hired.

“We are sick and tired of being treated as if we are an illegal
organisation, yet we are a bona fide trade union, which is duly registered
in terms of the laws of our country. We are neither ZANU PF nor MDC, but a
labour organisation,” Majongwe said.

The group is demanding an explanation from the ZEC Chairperson, Justice Rita
Makarau.

We could not get a comment from ZEC officials.

Irate Aliens Stage Protests, Demand Voters' Roll Inclusion

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

Thomas Chiripasi
12.07.2013

HARARE — A group comprising so-called aliens or people whose parents came
from countries like Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, and by law are now
allowed to take Zimbabwean citizenship, on Friday protested outside the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) headquarters demanding their right to
vote in the July 31 elections.

More than 100 aliens staged the peaceful demonstration outside the ZEC
offices demanding a special exercise to have their names added onto the
voters’ roll.

They claimed that officers from the Registrar General’s Office made it
difficult for them to register in time for the July 31 vote. They charge
there’s still time if ZEC is willing to accommodate them.

The protesters carried placards some of which read: “Everyone must be
allowed in a credible election”.

One of the demonstrators, Kimberley Nyatsanga, said he is disappointed that
he will not be able to vote in the forthcoming polls.

Nyatsanga added that they could not meet the ZEC commissioners after
security details locked all the gates.

He said that during the mobile voter registration exercise that ended
Tuesday, many of them were ordered by the Registrar General’s department to
renounce their foreign citizenship but the process took so long that they
could not register to vote in this year’s crucial elections.

Another demonstrator, Clemence Phiri, who is of Malawian descent, said he is
disappointed that he will not be able to vote this year. He said his failure
to vote will affect his future.

Studio 7 failed to get a comment from ZEC chairperson Rita Makarau who said
she was in a meeting.

Aliens now enjoy all the rights enjoyed by ordinary Zimbabweans following
the adoption of the new constitution.

EU to lift Zimbabwe sanctions if vote fair: ambassador

http://www.eubusiness.com/

12 July 2013, 18:57 CET

(JOHANNESBURG) - The European Union will lift sanctions against Zimbabwe if
regional observers declare July 31 polls to be free and fair, the bloc's
ambassador to South Africa said Friday.

"If the process goes well we will go suspend (sanctions) and I am sure they
will be removed," diplomat Roeland van de Geer said.

"We don't have the right to continue with that if the elections are
acceptable," he added.

The EU earlier this year retained an asset freeze and travel ban on
President Robert Mugabe but eased most of its decade-old restrictions on
Zimbabwe.

"We have suspended them, we haven't cancelled them, and we have done that
with conviction because we see positive steps," said Van de Geer.

While some steps have been encouraging, the bloc wants greater reforms in
the media and army.

Blocked by Mugabe, the EU will not have its own observers on the ground but
will rely on the Southern African Development Community which mediated
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government after chaotic 2008 polls.

"If the outcome of the elections is clear, is accepted, who are we, all
Europeans, to say... we continue with our sanctions, but it has to be clear,
that's true," he said.

Only 10 individuals and two companies are now blacklisted -- whittled down
from a list of 112 people and 11 firms or entities earlier this year.

A team of African Union observers will also monitor the vote to replace the
compromise government set up between Mugabe and his arch rival Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The EU's targeted sanctions were first imposed in 2002, with the grouping
citing political violence, human rights abuses and the failure to hold free
and fair elections.

Zimbabwean leaders trade insults as election campaign hots up

Mugabe spies feeding me: Tsvangirai

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

FUNGI KWARAMBA  •  12 JULY 2013 11:54AM

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says President Robert Mugabe’s
rigging machinations have been revealed to him by members of the State
security apparatus including secret service agents.

He told party supporters in Mhondoro-Ngezi yesterday that senior police
officers, soldiers and members of the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) have told him several dark secrets about how Mugabe’s Zanu PF plans to
smartly rig the forthcoming elections.

Two weeks ago, Tsvangirai made sensational allegations that the office of
the Registrar General (RG) was clandestinely working with Israeli company,
Nikuv International to tamper with the voters’ roll in order to give the
ex-majority party an edge in the make-or-break polls due on July 31.

Even though the RG’s office has denied the allegations, senior MDC officials
maintain that Nikuv International, was working with five different voters’
rolls.

Tsvangirai told hundreds that while Zanu PF relied on violence in the 2008
elections, “this time they are trying to be smart.”

“Zanu PF is saying let’s have peaceful but rigged elections...but I don’t
see people voting for them, what may happen is Zanu PF will try to vote on
behalf of the people. But this time takavamaka sebhora (we are closely
watching them) they will not succeed.

“Everyone needs change, people who are being asked to do this or that are
coming with information telling me what Zanu PF is planning to do, (these)
include CIOs, police officers and soldiers. I can even tell what Mugabe
eats,” said the MDC leader.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s office — which is contesting the 69 000
figure of police officers who have applied for special voting on Sunday and
Monday — alleged that deputy police commissioner general Godwin Matanga had
instructed police officers to vote for Zanu PF.

“The gates (at Morris Depot) were all closed and nobody was allowed to leave
the area. All police and civilians employed at Morris Depot had to attend.
Deputy commissioner Matanga told everyone present that they had to vote for
Zanu PF in the elections,” said Jameson Timba, minister of State in the
Prime Minister’s office.

“This follows on from the Zanu PF rally held at Morris Depot yesterday where
police and civilian employees were addressed by aspiring Zanu PF
 candidates.”

Charity Charamba, the police spokesperson, has said the police numbers have
been boosted by the Police Constabulary Unit, which she said was empowered
under the Police Act to perform any duties carried out by regular members of
the force.

“What people who are querying the special voting numbers forget is that the
police will not only be performing election-related duties as the overall
security of the nation is the responsibility of the ZRP,” she was quoted in
the State-controlled media yesterday.

Tsvangirai, 61, is in a shaky coalition government with his long-time rival
Mugabe, a union that was formed at the behest of Sadc in 2008 after
inconclusive polls, which were derailed by violence that resulted in loss of
life.

“The GNU was created for Mugabe not for Tsvangirai,” the MDC leader said.

“Sadc leaders asked how they could save a senior statesman like Mugabe after
losing polls, so they urged us to form a unity government.”

The MDC leader says he was shocked by Mugabe’s open defiance of the 15
nation bloc to implement electoral
reforms saying the grouping of southern African countries was working in the
interests of the 89-year-old strongman.

Turning to policies, the former trade unionist said an MDC government would
shred indigenisation — Zanu PF’s trump-card going into polls — saying the
policy does not cascade to the bottom tiers of the economy.

“We have a plan to govern. We are not just seeking change for power’s sake.
We will introduce free primary education and also transform rural areas,”
said Tsvangirai.

The former opposition leader said his political opponents; “with 33 years of
looting and corruption” have nothing new to offer to voters as he promised
to open up Zimbabwe to investment to create jobs for millions who are
currently unemployed.

He said an MDC government would among other things transform rural
communities by building decent houses and introducing drip irrigation.

MDC’s Ncube launches election bid with call for principled leadership

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

The MDC led by Welshman Ncube kick-started its election campaign in the
Mashonaland East Province of Chikomba on Friday.

The event was mainly aimed at introducing MDC candidates for the forthcoming
July 31st election, with the party’s manifesto expected to be launched
separately on 20th July in Binga, Matebeleland North.

The party said Chikomba was the launch-pad for its campaign because it was
one of its strongholds, “contrary to perceptions that we only exist in
Matebeleland”.

Explaining the reasoning behind the decision, the deputy spokesman for the
MDC, Kurauone Chihwayi, said: “We are launching the campaign and the
manifesto separately because we are represented in all provinces.”

Addressing the gathering in Chikomba, president Ncube said the party had
managed to field 203 candidates to contest the 210 House of Assembly seats.
He revealed that seven of the hopefuls had been disqualified by the
Electoral Commission.

Turning to the party’s candidates, Ncube said they had a responsibility to
lead by example: “The MDC is a party of integrity, and your integrity in
your communities must be beyond question.

“We are a principled party, and your conduct should reflect the values and
principles of the party, which are non-negotiable,” Ncube said.

Ncube outlined these values as; service to the people, accountability,
competent and reliable leadership that is accessible and open to criticism,
committed to equality and a just and fair Zimbabwe, as well as tolerance and
diversity of opinion.

He said: We are not ‘Chefs’(Bosses), we are servants. What went wrong in
Zimbabwe is that instead of creating servants we created Chefs who went on
to become thieves and murderers.

“This election is about new beginnings and a new Zimbabwe. That is why we
can’t go into coalitions of convenience. Our job isn’t just to get rid of
(Robert) Mugabe but to ensure that once we have removed him we replace him
with leaders that have a different DNA from that of ZANU PF,” he added.

Ncube also denounced violence, and urged Zimbabweans to vote for leaders
whose commitment to democracy is unquestionable: “We want a leadership that
does not tolerate violence and corruption.”

The MDC’s manifesto and policy document launch in Binga is widely expected
to centre on the party’s overarching message of devolution, as revealed over
the past months.

Earlier this week, Chihwayi told the media: “Devolution is our new
revolution. Our manifesto is anchored on democratic decision making
processes where consensus, full participation and representation are the
pillars.”

Friday’s campaign event was attended by Dumiso Dabengwa, leader of the MDC’s
coalition partner ZAPU, whose policy declaration was launched in Bulawayo on
July 6th, with Ncube giving the key speech.

President Mugabe launched his re-election campaign in Harare’s Highfields
suburb on July 5th, where he used the platform to attack everyone from the
MDC-T, the West, and South Africa’s Lindiwe Zulu, whom he called an ‘idiotic
street woman.’

The MDC-T led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai launched their campaign
and manifesto at Marondera’s Rudhaka stadium, in  Mashonaland East, on July
7th.

Zim elections: Welshman Ncube is sitting pretty

http://mg.co.za/

12 JUL 2013 00:00TAKUDZWA MUNYAKA, FARAI SHOKO

If the polls go to a run-off, the MDC leader may be called on by Robert
Mugabe or Morgan Tsvangirai for help.

The July 31 poll will be a tight contest between President Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in what many consider to be a two-horse
race.

But political analysts are predicting that MDC leader Welshman Ncube will
emerge as a kingmaker.

Analysts say while Mugabe and Tsvangirai may be forced into a runoff,
whoever has Ncube's backing at that run-off will emerge the winner.

A close result is also being predicted between Zanu-PF and the MDC-T in the
parliamentary and, local government elections, and again, Ncube's seats may
prove to be the deciding factor for a majority in the House of Assembly.

Although several opinion polls have indicated that Zanu-PF may win the
polls, analysts believe it is an open race as all parties have weaknesses.

Ncube's MDC party has been busy on the campaign trail for longer than the
other parties, especially in its strongholds in Matabeleland. It has also
formed an alliance with Zapu, a party with roots in Matabeleland,
consolidating votes in that region.

MDC campaign
The MDC has hinged its campaign on devolution of power, which seems to
resonate well in Matabeleland where government stands accused of promoting
under­development of that region through neglect.

"The party's major weakness, however, whether real or perceived, is that it
is viewed as a regional or tribal party. It lacks a national appeal and they
have to address that," said political analyst Dumisani Nkomo.

"The quality of some of its candidates is also worrying and the party may
have lost ground under the leadership of [Arthur] Mutambara, when a number
of senior people defected to MDC-T. The departure of people like [Abednico]
Bhebhe and other senior party officials would have weakened the party."

Dr Charity Manyeruke, a politics lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe,
believes Mugabe's "people-centred" policies, such as the land reform and the
indigenisation programmes coupled with his history as a liberator, give him
an advantage compared with his rivals.

But Nkomo believes Zanu-PF has been in power for too long, which may work
against it scoring the majority — leaving it in need of a coalition.

"The party also has serious problems, including having been in power for 33
years, in which they have largely failed. The electorate will be wondering
if the party has anything new to offer," said Nkomo.

MDC-T needs Ncube
Yet analysts believe the protest vote could once again drive support for the
MDC-T, but this time diluted by Tsvangirai's performance during the tenure
of the unity government.

"A significant number of people are just tired of Mugabe and Zanu-PF and
want change," said Nkomo.

But the MDC-T also needs Ncube.

"The sex scandals had an effect on Morgan Tsvangirai's brand. His indecision
and lack of strategic thinking have also cost him. For example, he made a
blunder by conniving with Mugabe to back Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara instead of backing Ncube," said Nkomo.

Indications are that Tsvangirai and Ncube may fail to unite before the
polls. Political analyst Dr Ibbo Mandaza believes Ncube has the capacity to
win enough votes to ensure the presidential election goes to a run-off.

"He [Ncube] has the capacity to win between 10 and 20 seats, which will make
him hold the balance of power in Parliament. We are likely going to have a
hung Parliament with almost equal numbers between Zanu-PF and MDC-T," he
said.

University of Zimbabwe lecturer Professor Eldred Masunungure also believes
the next parliament will be hung and that Ncube's entry into the
presidential race would force a runoff between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

Calls for a coalition
Pressure is mounting in diplomatic circles for Welshman Ncube and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to forge a coalition.

But Ncube's camp this week vehemently denied any electorate pact with
Tsvangirai, insisting it was a creation of the media.

Western diplomats in Harare this week told the Mail & Guardian that there is
a general consensus within the diplomatic community that they should merge.

"The only logical thing to do at this moment is for Ncube to play ball with
Tsvangirai," said a Western diplomat, who asked not to be named. "It is now
or never. We are tired of the Zimbabwe crisis," he said.

Tsvangirai this week forged an electoral pact with former Zanu-PF politburo
member Simba Makoni of Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn and Seketai Sengwayo of Zanu
Ndonga.

The MDC-T leader on Tuesday got an endorsement from businessman Mutumwa
Mawere.

Pact
Last week, Ncube also signed a pact with former Zanu-PF politburo member
Dumiso Dabengwa of Zapu.

Makoni, who spoke on behalf of the Tsvangirai coalition, told journalists on
Monday that there had been talks about roping Ncube into the grand
coalition.

But in a hard-hitting response, Ncube's secretary general, Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, denied that her party was in talks with Tsvangirai.

"We want to place it on record that MDC has never been involved in any
five-party talks.

"We therefore dismiss with the contempt it deserves the deliberate
falsification … by Simba Makoni," she said, adding that the lies are some of
the reasons why Ncube does not want to be associated with "political leaders
who have mastered the art of politics of deception".

Obasanjo to lead AU observer team

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

12/07/2013 00:00:00
     by AFP

FORMER Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo will lead a team of 60 African
Union monitors to Zimbabwe for the July 31 election, the organisation said
Friday.

Obasanjo will arrive in Zimbabwe 10 days before the vote, which has already
been overshadowed by allegations of political intimidation and electoral
rolls packed with "ghost voters".

In a statement, the AU said the monitors - drawn from African NGOs and
member countries - will work with nine observers already on the ground.

Obasanjo has twice ruled Nigeria.
A former soldier, he headed a military government between 1976 and 1979 and
served an eight-year term as an elected president between May 1999 and May
2007.

President Robert Mugabe has opposed the entry of non-African observers to
monitor the election, which will see the long-term leader try to extend his
33-year term.

Rights groups have expressed concern that the vote will see a repeat of vote
rigging and violence that has marred previous polls.

Amnesty International on Friday called on regional bodies to "meticulously
document human rights violations, in particular those committed by
government agencies".

Security forces, controlled by President Robert Mugabe, 89, have in the past
been accused of rights abuses and intimidating political opponents.

At least 200 people were killed in the run-up to the June 2008 presidential
run-off between Mugabe and his arch rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai will again be Mugabe's main opponent on July 31.

Diaspora urged to participate in electoral process

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
12 July 2013

Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are being urged to do what they can to
participate in the electoral process back home, because the July 31st poll
could decide their futures.

According to the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, which is hosting the meetings, the
Zimbabwean Diaspora voters’ lack of political information about the country’s
imminent election “already raises important concerns about the poll’s
fairness and credibility.”

The group is hosting a series of workshops in the Diaspora to tackle this
disenfranchisement of exiled Zimbabweans, for whom the vote means much more
than just a change in government.

The latest workshop is happening in Durban, South Africa on Saturday.

“For millions of Zimbabweans living in South Africa, voting can mean either
their continued stay outside their country or the ushering in of a new
dispensation of freedom and economic development that allows them to return
home. The latter can only happen if the five million Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora are guaranteed ways to participate in the elections on 31 July
2013,” the Exiles Forum said.

The group’s Diana Zimbudzana said that the Diaspora has been denied a chance
to participate properly by the refusal of the government to make allowances
for the Diaspora vote. This is despite an international court order to do
so, an order Zimbabwe’s government has completely ignored.

“The main purpose of the workshops is to find out from the people themselves
what they want and what they hope from the elections. We are also trying to
conscientise people about the Diaspora vote case, and educate them about
what the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum can do for them,” Zimbudzana told SW Radio
Africa.

She added: “We realise that the Zimbabwe government has refused and has not
commented about it (the case) and what is more disappointing is that all the
political parties have not said anything about the Diaspora vote. And we
have resigned ourselves to this. But we have said we can just sit and let
things be. So we are encouraging people, who can afford to, to go to
Zimbabwe end cast their votes.”

The workshops are not just a discussion point, but also a way to unite the
Diaspora to share information and support each other during the elections.

“People are really tired of living in a country that is not their homeland,
but then want to go back to a Zimbabwe where they can live freely and
participate in the issues affecting Zimbabwe freely,” Zimbudzana said.

The Saturday workshop is happening at the UNISA Durban campus, and will
begin at 8:30 am.

Zim house to go under hammer for farmers

http://www.iol.co.za/

July 12 2013 at 01:17pm
By Xolani Koyana

Cape Town - A Zimbabwean government-owned property in the city will finally
go under the hammer to compensate farmers whose land was seized, five years
after it was attached by a court.

The property in Salisbury Road in Kenilworth was bought by the Zimbabwean
government in 1994 and was used by the Zimbabwe Consulate in Cape Town.

In 2011, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the
property could be auctioned off but the Zimbabwean government blocked the
sale when it went to the Supreme Court of Appeal. It finally went to the
Constitutional Court, which upheld the previous judgments and dismissed the
case last month.

Willie Spies, a lawyer representing the farmers, said they wanted the
auction to be held immediately. “There has been nothing arranged yet. But
the sale will go ahead within the next four to six weeks,” he said.

Spies said that property could fetch anything between R1 million and R3m,
which would be proportionally paid out to the three farmers and a German
bank. He said the property had been occupied by a Cape Town family since
2002, but they had vacated it because of the court action.

The farmers are Louis Fick, Michael Campbell and Richard Etheredge, whose
farms were among about 4 000 seized during the violent land occupation that
took place in Zimbabwe.

German banking group KFW Bank Gruppe and AfriForum, which has supported and
represented the farmers, had initially attached two other properties in
Zonnebloem and Wynberg. KFW Bank Gruppe had been owed more than e40 million
by Zimbabwe.

All three properties were to go on auction in 2011, but this was halted by
court action by the Zimbabwean government.

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the properties in
Wynberg and Zonnebloem enjoyed diplomatic protection.

The Kenilworth property could be auctioned off because it was being rented
out to a third party, which showed that it was being used commercially, and
so no longer enjoyed diplomatic protection.

AfriForum said the property was attached by the Southern African Development
Community Tribunal against the Zimbabwe government in 2008.

“The dismissal of the appeal by the Zimbabwean government means that, for
the first time in international legal history, it will be possible to
proceed with the legal sale of a property belonging to a state found guilty
of gross human rights violations,” the organisation said.

Robert Mugabe plotted Jacob Zuma assassination, document claims

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Zimbabwe's political rivals clash over secret paper that alleges president
planned to hire Lebanese murder squad

David Smith in Johannesburg
The Guardian, Saturday 13 July 2013 05.01 AEST

Zimbabwe's political rivals have clashed over an apparently secret document
said to be from intelligence sources that alleges an outlandish plot by
President Robert Mugabe to hire a Lebanese murder squad to assassinate his
South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, and a top diplomat.

The typed two-page report – persuasively detailed but at times written in
excitable language strewn with grammatical and spelling errors – has been
dismissed by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party as "hogwash" and a "typical setup". The
rival Movement for Democratic Change said the assassination threats should
be taken seriously.

They come amid souring relations between neighbours Zimbabwe and South
Africa. Last week Mugabe branded Zuma's chief mediator, Lindiwe Zulu, "some
stupid, idiotic woman" and a "little street woman" after her failed attempt
to force a postponement of elections.

The purportedly leaked document, dated 2 July and of unknown authorship,
contains a paragraph headed: "Lebonese assasins" (sic). It states: "On
Monday this week Mugabe hired six Lebanese nationals to try and assassinate
Lindiwe Zulu, who is Zuma's advisor. The six met clandestinely with Mugabe
yesterday to be briefed by him on the details of their mission … The six
were told they must not concentrate on Zulu only, but should also pay
attention to Zuma himself, and if they get a chance to do so they must
assassinate him as well – but everything must appear as an accident."

It adds: "Mugabe promised the six Lebonese [sic] an undisclosed fortune in
cash if they succeed in getting rid of the two who [sic] South Africa senior
officials who are giving him a lot of trouble. Names of the six could not be
established, but they entered into the country via Zambia in the last few
days, where they had previously held a close meeting with [president]
Michael Sata before travelling into Zimbabwe."

The document also claims that Mugabe summoned and castigated security
officers over a leak to the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, regarding the
involvement of an Israeli company in managing the country's electoral role.
Mugabe ordered that "the culprits who leaked the information are made to
suffer and die a painful death", it says. Tsvangirai has spoken publicly
about his concern over the role of the Israeli company Nikuv.

The Guardian has seen a copy of the two-page document but has not been able
to verify it as being genuine. The possibility that it is a hoax designed to
embarrass the opposition cannot be ruled out.

Rugare Gumbo, spokesman for Zanu-PF, insisted: "To be frank with you, it's
all rubbish and hogwash to think a head of state like president Mugabe would
set up something like that. We have a disagreement with Lindiwe Zulu but it
would not go to that extent."

Asked about the alleged threat to Zuma, he replied: "You should not take it
seriously. It's a typical setup in Zimbabwe to try and cause some confusion
before the election because we are going ahead with our election according
to our laws whether they like it or not."

But this is not the first time allegations have surfaced of Zimbabwean
government agents carrying out clandestine operations in South Africa. Nor
are rumours of assassinations so unusual: South Africa's Mail & Guardian
newspaper recently compiled a list of nine Zimbabwean politicians who have
died in mysterious car crashes, including the one last month involving
Edward Chindori-Chininga, the outspoken chairperson of a parliamentary
committee that had just released a highly critical report on the diamond
industry.

Fierce factional infighting within Zanu-PF and the security sector has
resulted in a number of damaging intelligence leaks, notably on the Facebook
page of a mole known as Baba Jukwa.

Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC's spokesperson, said of the document: "We have had
sight of the intelligence information but we are unable to confirm its
authenticity. For the MDC, the international community must take these
assassination allegations seriously."

But Roy Bennett, the MDC treasurer-general, in exile, was more certain. "We
know the report to be credible; it comes from reliable and trustworthy
sources within the heart of the CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation]," he
said. "It is a stark reminder of the full horrific extent that Robert Mugabe
is prepared to go in order to hang on to power and avenge his critics."

The MDC and civil society groups in Zimbabwe have applauded Zuma for taking
a tougher stand against Mugabe than the previous South African president,
Thabo Mbeki.

Zimbabwe hospital charges women $5 for each scream during childbirth

http://www.independent.co.uk/

HANNAH DEWHIRST   FRIDAY 12 JULY 2013

A local hospital in Zimbabwe has been exposed as charging women $5 (£3.30)
every time they scream while giving birth, a report reveals.

The practice was catalogued in an extensive new report from Transparency
International, an anti-corruption organization. The hospital screaming fee
was allegedly a charge for “raising a false alarm” but patients have claimed
it is intended to make money out of suffering mothers-to-be.

This fee accompanies a flat $50 delivery cost that all Zimbabwean hospitals
charge. Meaning that in one of Africa’s poorest countries, where average
annual income per head is around $150, a mother who uttering only a few
cries of distress might owe half her annual income as a result of giving
birth.

According to a follow-up report by Transparency International, women who can’t
afford these payments are sometimes detained by the hospitals and charged
interest until their families pay up.

As a result, many Zimbabwean mothers after forced into giving birth at home
because they can’t afford the high charges. The United Nations estimates an
average of eight mothers die during childbirth each day in Zimbabwe.

The Washington Post revealed that Transparency International’s Zimbabwean
branch contacted the national health ministry over the issue and sent a
formal letter. The health ministry admitted to receiving the letter but then
continued to do nothing. When the organization pursued the matter an
official said they’d lost the letter.

A member of Transparency International finally met with Zimbabwe’s deputy
Prime Minister, who promised to look into the problem. Since then, the NGO
says, it’s heard no more complaints about the screaming fee, the $50
delivery charge however, still persists.

Aspiring Legislator Remains Incarcerated

Election Alert 2 of 2013
11 July 2013

Aspiring Legislator Remains Incarcerated As Magistrate Sets Free Human
Rights Campaigners
MDC-T Budiriro aspiring legislator Costa Machingauta on Thursday 11 July
2013 remained in police custody at Harare Central Police Station after he
was arrested on Wednesday 10 July 2013 and charged with contravening Section
89 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. Machingauta is likely
to appear in court on Friday 12 July 2013.
In Chivhu, the State was asked to conduct further investigations in a case
in which the police arrested an MDC-T member, Simbarashe Zindove, on Tuesday
9 July 2013 and charged him with contravening Section 89 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly assaulting a person who had been
found removing Prime Minister and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s posters
at a Business Centre in Chivhu and disposing them in a nearby pit latrine
nearby. Zindove appeared at Chivhu Magistrate Court where the prosecutor was
advised to proceed by way of summons once its house is in order.
Meanwhile, Mutare Magistrate Noah Gwatidzo on Monday 8 July 2013 freed four
human rights campaigners namely Sydney Chisi, Masimba Nyamanhindi, Tichafa
Musana and Taziva Machiwana who were arrested on Saturday 6 July 2013 and
charged with contravening Section 40 (c) of the Electoral Act for allegedly
conducting voter education at a concert that was held in Mutare without
clearance from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
The four were brought to court on Monday after enduring two nights in police
detention. The Magistrate asked the four campaigners to deposit $50 each
with the Clerk of the Mutare Magistrates Court after their lawyers Blessing
Nyamaropa, Jeremiah Mutongi Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
and Passmore Nyakureba of Maunga Maanda and Associates Legal Practitioners,
a ZLHR member.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

MyZimVote Continues to Help Voters Verify Registration

MDC assured of victory – President Tsvangirai

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Chegutu – President Tsvangirai today continued with his well-attended star
rallies and was at Neuso Business Centre in Mhondoro, Chegutu West,
Mashonaland West province.
Addressing thousands of party supporters, the President said the MDC was
assured victory in the coming elections and its agenda will be to restore
good governance and the rule of law.
“The incoming MDC government will deal with the culture of impunity,” he
said.
“The people should be given freedom of association and choice. Although the
MDC is assured of victory it was against a peaceful but a rigged election,”
said President Tsvangirai.
This was in reference to evidence showing that Zanu PF is trying to rig the
next elections through an Israeli spy company, Nikuv and inflating figures
of eligible special and postal voting voters.
“Everyone at the moment is craving for change and the time is now,” he said.
He assured the people that the next MDC government key issues that are
vibrant and through the promotion of direct foreign investment will change
the people lives for the better.
“The MDC government will not repossess land but we will encourage maximum
utilisation that will see the creation of more jobs in the country,” said
President Tsvangirai.
Turning to the welfare of the people in rural areas, the President said as
the next President of Zimbabwe he intended transform them by introducing
viable economic agriculture like drip irrigation. Drip irrigation, which was
introduced to Zimbabwe by President Tsvangirai last year, has turned to be a
success in dry communities such as Buhera, Masvingo and Matabeleland region.
“The MDC has a national housing programme that will see all those in rural
communities, mines, farms and even urban areas having better shelter,” said
the President.
“There is need to expand on infrastructure development in areas such as more
electricity generation and other infrastructure such as roads and the
railway network, which I said will create more employment,” said the
President.
He pledged that funding for these projects will come from the country’s
natural resources such as diamonds, which are currently being looted by a
few individuals in Zanu PF.
On social service, the President said the MDC will revitalise the social
welfare department that will cater for the elderly and the disabled while
the on education the MDC will introduce free education for all in primary
school and on health there will be free access to health for the terminal
ill while at rural clinics patients including pregnant women will receive
free medical treatment.
President Tsvangirai’s message dovetails with the MDC 2013 elections
manifesto, which among other issues has a vision for creating a modern,
health, happy, functional, democratic, fair and prosperous society that
takes pride in leaving no one behind.
He said through these policies, Zimbabwe will once again be part of the
international community after years of isolation as it will promote regional
and international integration.
On corruption, the President said the next MDC government will not tolerate
any form of corruption unlike the deep rooted corruption in Zanu PF which
has resulted in the suffering of many Zimbabweans as proceeds from the
country resources was benefitting only a few individuals in Zanu PF.
Turning back to elections, President Tsvangirai said Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe’s
age was now an election issue and his insincerity in not implementing agreed
key reforms had shown how dishonest he was.
“However, when we joined the inclusive government in 2008, it was because we
wanted to people’s lives after Zanu PF had mismanaged ruined the economy,”
he said.
President at the rally was the MDC Secretary General, Minister Tendai Biti
who said he was privileged to accompany President Tsvangirai to Chegutu East
on his last journey to victory and on his way to becoming the next President
of Zimbabwe.
“The MDC has an envisaged plan of action in place to improve the lives of
the people of Zimbabwe. The MDC through its tenure in the inclusive
government has shown that it has policies with the people at heart,” he
said.
Castigating Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy as elitist and only meant to
benefit a few, Minister Biti urged the people to vote for the MDC-T and said
this assured the people of Zimbabwe that the period of 2007/8 when over 4
000 people died of cholera due to the collapse of the economy characterised
by the breakdown of social services, should never be repeated.
Tomorrow President Tsvangirai will continue with the MDC victory rallies and
will be in Kariba, Karoi before addressing thousands of party supporters at
Chinhoyi Stadium.
Yes, together we can complete the change!!!

Zanu PF in defeat imminent: presses panic button

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Zanu PF in defeat imminent: presses panic button
Like the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, the writing is bold and clear on the
Zimbabwean political wall that the demise of Zanu PF is nigh.
This true and stubborn fact cannot be denied even by the most ardent
admirer. The people of Zimbabwe have had enough of unfulfilled promises,
torture, rape, violence and flagrant human rights abuses.
They have had enough of poverty, deprivation and economic segregation. They
have had enough of watching and playing lip-service while their hopes and
aspirations continue to be trampled upon by a party that has no clue of what
people want and above all has no vision to take Zimbabwe forward.
Zimbabwe has been in an election mode since 2000 and the people have had no
break of abuse from Zanu PF.
However, realising that come July 31 2013 Zanu PF will be relegated to the
confines of opposition politics in Zimbabwe, the party has entered into its
natural default setting on violence, intimidation and more violence.
We saw this in 2008 following 29 March defeat where upon staring defeat in
the eye, Zanu PF resorted to violence, murdering people such as Tonderai
Ndira, Better Chokururama and hundreds of others.
It is a fact that Zanu PF has employed violence as a tool of political
arbitration since its formation in 1963. It has used violence against its
own members and has also unleashed state orchestrated violence such as
Gukurahundi and other post independence heinous atrocities.
As the political temperatures rise and the demise more imminent, the MDC is
concerned with reports of resurgence of violence particularly in the
Mashonaland areas of Shamva, Mutoko and Murewa. True to their nature, some
aspiring Zanu PF MPs such as Edgar Chidavanenzi, who has a three year
conviction for stock theft, has set-up bases in Mazowe North.
On Wednesday 10 July the MDC-T aspiring MP for Mbare, Gift Chimanikire and
nine supporters were attacked by the Zanu PF aligned Chipangano group while
pasting posters in Mbare. On the same day, the MDC-T aspiring MP for
Budiriro, Costa Machingauta was arrested while he had gone to report a case
of assault where MDC activists pasting posters were also attacked. The MDC
also finds the duplicity of the police in all these cases is also appalling.
It is apparent that Zanu PF is not capable of winning free and fair
elections and has resorted to archaic political manoeuvres of violence and
intimidation. The resurgence of violence is clear that the statements by the
Zanu PF secretary Robert Mugabe calling for a peaceful election were empty
rhetoric meant to hoodwink the electorate into believing that the party had
rid its old ways but alas it has not.
The resurgence of violence justifies the MDC and SADC’s calls for reforms to
create a conducive election for a credible, legitimate and free election.
The MDC has since its formation called for media, security sector, electoral
and legal reforms to ensure that an election is unfettered.
We call upon all stakeholders to ensure that these acts of violence and
nipped in the bud to enable the people to Zimbabwe to exercise their
democratic right of voting Zanu PF out on the 31st of July 2013. We call on
observers and JOMIC to visit these places to for them to get an appreciation
of why the MDC has been calling for reforms before elections.
With or without violence, come rain come thunder, the people of Zimbabwe are
more than determined to vote and take this country forward. They are
determined to vote for a party that has sound policies that will uplift
their lives from the abyss of poverty and uncertainty. They are determined
to vote for a government that guarantees them dignity, jobs, social service
delivery and a transformation of their lives. Come July 31, the people of
Zimbabwe will vote for change.
Yes, together we can complete the change!!!

Old rooster Mugabe rallies one more time

http://mg.co.za/

12 JUL 2013 10:05JASON MOYO

Robert Mugabe returns to the scene of his great victory but the mood and the
times have changed.

'We are here to correct the grave political mistake of 2008. We failed, we
failed."

With that rueful tone, Zimbab­wean President Robert Mugabe begins his
campaign last Friday for five more years in power, which he says is "the
fight of our lives".

The up-tempo radio adverts that played endlessly that morning, with Right
Said Fred's Stand Up for the Champions as a backing track, had promised a
lively rally and promised there would be a "full bar and catering".

This is the same venue where, 33 years ago, a raucous crowd of more than
100000 welcomed Mugabe to his first rally after the war.

This time there are fights at one gate over free T-shirts, a stampede for
free food and only token cheers for his speech.

This is Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, a township Mugabe describes at the
rally as a "politically sacred place". This is the township where Zanu-PF
was formed, and where his party, as in most urban areas, has lost all
elections since 2000.

Synonymous with Mugabe
Earlier, a group of musicians presented Mugabe with three carvings of
roosters, the party symbol synonymous with Mugabe. The singers had performed
with a large poster depicting a younger-looking Mugabe behind them.

There are models, too. The leggy finalists of the "Miss Zimbabwe Global"
beauty pageant are lined up near the stage, nervy smiles under green "Vote
Zanu-PF" caps.

On the podium, Mugabe drones on. Once in a while, the old, plucky Mugabe
emerges. "Gays," he roars at one point. The crowd stirs with anticipation,
waiting to hear what new witty barb Mugabe has for gays this time. "You want
to marry? Okay. I challenge you: Go ahead and marry, but if you don't make a
baby in a year, I may have to arrest you." Roars of laughter all the way to
the trees at the back, near where crowds are still fighting for Zanu-PF
T-shirts and caps.

He knows he is once again leading a divided party into elections and pleads
with his supporters to campaign for his victory.

He knows many did not campaigned for him in 2008, he says. "A loss for me,
is a loss for you. This is the fight of our lives, a battle for survival,"
he says, pounding the podium, but only gently.

There is the inevitable dig at his rival Morgan Tsvangirai's scandals.
"These people are only about chasing after different women; that's all they
do."

Murmurs

Then there is the business about the Zim dollar, that one issue that makes
every Zimbabwean wake up in a cold sweat, and one that every candidate
should really avoid.

We cannot use the US dollar forever, he begins. We will have to look at ways
of bringing back our currency, sometime in the future.

There are uncomfortable murmurs. Mugabe appears to be thinking out loud.

"Should we, should we not?" he asks himself.

"What if we back our currency with all our gold? Wouldn't it be strong
enough? Maybe not now, of course, but sometime in the future. Maybe we will
talk to [Gideon] Gono, the Reserve Bank governor."

More murmurs.

Just as Mugabe is tapering off into his final words, pleading with
supporters to campaign peacefully, a muscular Zanu-PF militant is swinging a
stick at people trying to leave.

"The president has not finished talking yet. Go back."

Mugabe finishes off: "Peace begins with you, it begins with me, it begins
with all of us."

His muscular supporter at the gate keeps on swinging.

'Do or die' for glum Mugabe

http://mg.co.za/

12 JUL 2013 00:00JASON MOYO, TAKUDZWA MUNYAKA

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe gives a curiously downbeat speech as he
prepares for the fight of his life at the next general elections.

'We are here to correct the grave political mistake of 2008. We failed; we
failed."

And in that rueful tone, last Friday Robert Mugabe began his campaign for
five more years in power. For a campaign he says is "the fight of our
lives", he has launched it on a drab note and will need to rediscover the
old fire-in-the-belly Mugabe to energise his divided party.

The up-tempo radio adverts that played endlessly that morning, with Right
Said Fred's Stand up for the Champions as backing track, had promised a
lively rally. They even said there would be "full bar and catering".

But at the same venue where 33 years ago a raucous crowd of over 100 000 had
welcomed Mugabe to his first rally after the country's guerrilla war, there
were fights at one gate over free T-shirts, a stampede for free food and
only token cheers for his speech.

This was the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, a township Mugabe described at
the rally as a "politically sacred place". This was the township where
Zanu-PF was formed but where his party, as has been the case in most urban
areas, has lost in every election since 2000.

On the podium Mugabe droned on, showing some stamina by standing there for
an hour and a half. But he is going to need more than that to reignite his
campaign, which he describes as "do or die".

Gifts for Mugabe
A group of musicians gave him gifts of three carvings of roosters, the party
symbol synonymous with Mugabe. Earlier, the singers had performed with a
large poster depicting a younger-looking Mugabe behind them.

There were models there too. The leggy finalists of the Miss Zimbabwe Global
beauty pageant were lined up near the stage, wearing nervy smiles under
green "Vote Zanu-PF" caps.

Well-designed pamphlets were handed out, showing the party's campaign theme:
"Indigenise, empower, develop."

The young people pictured on the pamphlet declare: "I am an African, not an
African't."

Back on the podium, once in a while the plucky Mugabe of old popped up.

"Gays," he roared at one point. The crowd stirred with anticipation, waiting
to hear what witty new barb Mugabe had about homosexuals this time. "You
want to marry? OK. I challenge you: go ahead and marry, but if you don't
make a baby in a year, I may have to arrest you."

Roars of laughter spread all the way to the trees at the back, near where
crowds were still fighting over Zanu-PF T-shirts and caps.

On Tsvangirai and the economy
Aware that he is once again leading a divided party into elections, he
pleaded with his supporters to campaign for his victory. He knew many had
not campaigned for him in 2008, he said, adding: "A loss for me is a loss
for you."

There is a lot of rallying of troops needed, and Mugabe is doing his best.
"This is the fight of our lives, a battle for survival," he said, pounding
the podium, but only gently.

There was the inevitable dig at rival Morgan Tsvangirai's scandals. "These
people are only about chasing after different women; that's all they do."

Then there is the business about the Zim dollar, the one issue that makes
every Zimbabwean wake up in a cold sweat and one that every candidate should
really avoid.

"We cannot use the US dollar forever," he began. "We will have to look at
ways of bringing back our currency sometime in the future."

There were uncomfortable murmurs. Mugabe appeared to be thinking out loud.

Should we; should we not? What if we backed our currency with all our gold,
he asked; wouldn't it be strong enough? Maybe not now, of course, but
sometime in the future. Maybe we will talk to [Gideon] Gono, the Reserve
Bank governor, he said. More murmurs.

Just as Mugabe was tapering off into his final words, pleading with
supporters to campaign peacefully, a muscular Zanu-PF militant started
swinging a stick at people trying to leave. "The president has not finished
talking yet. Go back."

Mugabe was finishing off: "Peace begins with you; it begins with me; it
begins with all of us." And his muscular supporter at the gate just kept on
swinging.

Indigenisation campaign
It is no secret what Zanu-PF's campaign is about: in the 108 pages of the
party's election manifesto, the word "indigenisation" appears at least 156
times.

Zanu-PF is not coy about this, declaring: "Only the indigenisation and
people's empowerment reform programme can meet the goals of the people.
There is no other alternative."

The party has already been widely criticised for its empowerment exercise,
but it plans an expanded and even more radical approach to the crusade.
Under its plan, 1 138 companies across 12 different sectors would be
targeted over the next five years. The party believes the takeovers would
realise $7.3‑billion in assets for the government.

The value of these assets will be used as security against borrowings,
which, Zanu-PF believes, will ultimately create total value of
$29.2‑billion. The money will be used to rebuild the country's
infrastructure, support agriculture, and fund education and health.

By Zanu-PF's reckoning, its indigenisation programme will solve virtually
all the country's problems. It will fund everything from agriculture and
youth projects to housing and roads, and will even create an "entertainment
industry with international quality".

For a party that has long traded in stale struggle slogans, parts of the
manifesto are surreal. There is a promise to set up the "IndigeNex", a stock
market where locals can trade shares in "100% indigenous companies" via an
automated platform that uses mobile applications.

Sanctions on Zimbabwe
In another section, Zanu-PF for the first time puts a figure to the economic
impact of Western sanctions on Zimbabwe.

That figure is $42‑billion, the party claims, comprising lost donor support
and foreign investment, loan withdrawals and the higher premiums on
commercial loans that Zimbabwean businesses had to pay due to the country's
high risk profile.

But the real Zanu-PF inevitably bubbles to the surface as the manifesto
wanders back into more familiar territory.

It reminds voters of "the enduring and unforgettable fact that it is Zanu-PF
which liberated Zimbabwe" and is "a solemn call from the wailing bones that
lie in many places known and others yet to be discovered".

Even land, long a centrepiece of the party's campaigns, is now also wrapped
in the new indigenisation mantra.

The party has "indigenised" 12.1‑million hectares of land previously held by
"3 500 beneficiaries of colonialism and illegal and racist Rhodesian rule".

In their place, the party claims to have resettled 276 600 families and
created over a million jobs.

"Today land is the most indigenised resource in Zimbabwe, with 91% now owned
by the indigenous population," it says.

Call to urban voters
There is a direct call to urban voters to back the party: "Urban voters –
especially those on the growing housing waiting lists – have a clear and
urgent reason to vote for Zanu-PF to ensure that they benefit from the
indigenisation of land from peri-urban farms that have been earmarked for
massive housing development."

Even more familiar territory is the long list of scapegoats. For instance,
Zimbabwe's foreign debt of $10‑billion is all Ian Smith's fault.

"[The debt's] unjust origins date to a $700‑million debt incurred by Ian
Smith's illegal Rhodesian regime, ironically from some Western countries …
to enable Smith and his racist cabal to fund their brutality and atrocities
during the liberation struggle."

Debt must be cancelled "to redress [its] unjust origins". Without a hint of
irony, Zanu-PF says it introduced the US dollar to defend the country
against imperialism.

"On 29 January 2009, Zanu-PF introduced the multicurrency system to protect
the people from the runaway hyperinflation that had become uncontrollable
and the effects of the collapse of the Zim dollar that had been precipitated
by the runaway hyperinflation, which had become a potent tool for illegal
regime change."

The "collapse of the Zim dollar was a shameful development not worthy of
celebration," Zanu-PF concedes, but it was "poetic justice, given that the
same US dollar had been used to kill the Zim dollar by merchants of regime
change".

The Zimbabwe dollar would only be reintroduced "at an appropriate time when
the economy has reasonably recovered and stabilised", the party said.

Exhausted, improperly dressed Mugabe
As soon as President Robert Mugabe alighted from his black bulletproof
Mercedes-Benz limou­sine at Zimbabwe Grounds in the old township of
Highfield in Harare last Friday, it became evident that age is finally
catching up with him.

Mugabe (89) held on to the door of his car for balance, while his chief of
protocol, Munyaradzi Kajese, walked very close to him, occasionally lending
him support when he appeared to be losing balance.

After struggling to get on to the stage, Mugabe, who was flanked by his wife
Grace and Vice-President Joice Mujuru, appeared to be uninterested in the
event, spending much time with his eyes shut and his head resting in his
right hand.

When it was finally his moment to address the huge crowd, which had turned
out to witness the Zanu-PF campaign and manifesto launch, a clearly
exhausted Mugabe resorted to leaning on the podium for balance.

Embarrassingly, he began his address wearing his cap the wrong way round,
unsettling ­ministry of information and protocol officers. The launch was
being beamed live on national television and there were hordes of foreign
journalists and photographers covering the event.

After caucusing for a few minutes, a director in the ministry of
information, Regis Chikowore, went on to the stage and told Mugabe's
aide-de-camp that the president was improperly dressed.

The aide-de-camp hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward and
telling the president: "Shefu, hanzi gadzirisai cap yenyu iri paside, saka
hamusi kubuda mushe muTV, (Sir, please fix your cap, you are not appearing
nicely on television)."

Although he was whispering, his words were heard by many people nearby.

A series of blunders
Mugabe promptly fixed his cap, but his speech was incoherent and slurred – a
far cry from the sharp, eloquent man Zimbabwe has known over the years.

Rather uncharacteristically, he also made several mistakes as he ventured
into his usual lessons about the liberation struggle, among them that the
National Democratic Party was formed in 1977.

He noticed his error and said the year was 1967 before finally recalling it
was actually formed on January 1 1960.

After a series of blunders, Mugabe signed off with yet another when he
mistook a pamphlet that he was holding for his party's 108-page manifesto,
waving it in his hands to indicate he had officially launched the manifesto.

Mujuru and his wife quickly corrected him.

Some in the crowd saw the funny side of Mugabe's blunders, but for others
these were enough signs that Zanu-PF's number one candidate is not the fiery
leader he once was.

Dear SA, Save us - we need SABC channels

http://mg.co.za/

12 JUL 2013 00:00JASON MOYO

Jason Moyo has written an open letter to South Africans explaining what it's
like to watch Zimbabwe's national broadcaster, ZTV.

Dear South Africans,

What is this we hear about some of you wondering why we, your neighbours up
north, are angry that the SABC has switched us off?

We hear you mock and despise the SABC channels, and that it's fashionable in
your country to go about claiming you don't watch your national broadcaster.

And so you are scratching your heads in wonder at news that loads of people
in Zimbabwe are suicidal after Sentech, the company that was so graciously
carrying SABC signals for the benefit of millions across Southern Africa,
has been told to stop.

Now, even we agree that the SABC is not the best viewing on the planet. But
you think you have it bad? You don't. Sit down, and let me explain.

You remember last Saturday night, during prime time TV, while you were
watching Top Gear on SABC3?

Do you know what we were watching on Zimbabwe Television (ZTV)? Let me
answer that by asking a question: Do you know there are so many different
breeds of sheep in Zimbabwe, the more popular ones being the Dorper, Sabi
and Merino breeds?

Crossbreeding goat and sheep
And do you know that the goat and sheep population in Zimbabwe was estimated
at some three million, which, according to the presenter, is only a fraction
of the "small ruminant livestock" population they have in Botswana?

And it's not recommended to try to crossbreed a goat and a sheep, in case
you were wondering. It won't work, apparently. Riveting stuff.

We know all this very useful information thanks to our sole broadcaster. You
see, we have one television channel. Yes, one: a monopoly that safely
belongs to the government.

You people haven't a clue. You think SABC's talk shows are poor? Well, you
don't have to watch ZTV's African Pride or Zvavanhu (Matters of the People)
or National Ethos.

Let me try and to you understand. You see, these are three different shows,
shown on different days, but with the same panel of elderly professors. Yes,
the same.

These profs never ever disagree. OK, maybe they do, but disagreement goes
like this: the moderator, Dr Chivaura — they always refer to each other by
their titles — asked on a recent episode how it was possible that a person
in their right mind would vote for sellouts.

Sellouts "made people hungry"
Dr Mupepereki, who, by the way, also runs his own TV show on farming on the
same channel, replied that people voted that way because the sellouts made
them hungry.

Dr Mahoso, whose day job is to head the country's media commission,
dis-agreed. It was just plain old treachery, he opined.

Don't judge our love for SABC until you have watched the Iranian
documentaries on Wednesday night, or if you haven't got to episode 19 of
Sungkyunkwan Scandal, the North Korean series about a girl who dresses as a
boy to go to a boys-only school.

Or that other Korean show that is actually called Sad Love Story.

Do you now see why Generations, Muvhango and Zone 14 are probably more
popular here than they are in South Africa?

And don't even get us started on the news bulletins. It is an angry hour, in
which one subject can be "castigated" and "slammed" by a procession of
analysts and "people from all walks of life", with little or no reference to
why that person is being "castigated" in the first place.

Election season
However flawed it is, SABC news would have been an alternative news source
this election season. But now we have to brace for what's coming to us. By
the end of campaigning season, I can assure you, we will know Zanu-PF's
manifesto by heart.

And election season always brings the best out of ZTV. This is when we get
to see all those Zanu-PF campaign "jingles" — music videos of mostly large
women in Zanu-PF regalia shaking their rumps to fast-paced sungura tunes and
praising the Dear Leader.

At first you hate the songs, but the battering is so relentless, so unending
that, before you know it, you are tapping your feet and humming the tunes in
the shower.

Do you now see why more than three million of us preferred to own the
decoders that enabled us to watch SABC's channels?

So, please, understand when your neighbours mourn over the loss of SABC.
Yes, we know SABC can be a bore.

What, Generations's Dineo is having man trouble? Again? Yawn.

You could flip to ZBC, but African Pride is on, and Dr Mahoso is, yet again,
indulging in his weird obsession with Henry Kissinger.

So let us mourn over the loss of your boring SABC. Yes, we know, gazing at
those colourful outfits on Muvhango can be tedious, but we'll take it.

Anything to keep us away from bitter old professors, Korean romance capers,
and the gyrations of the Mbare Chimurenga Choir.

Your neighbour,
Jason Moyo

MDC-T: We're on the road to yet another disputed poll

http://mg.co.za/

12 JUL 2013 00:00WONGAI ZHANGAZHA

The decision to go ahead with elections in Zimbabwe is "unfortunate",
according to an opposition party, the MDC-T.

The MDC-T has described as "unfortunate" the decision to press ahead with
parliamentary and presidential elections on July 31 following last week's
Constitutional Court ruling, and has warned that the polls will produce
another disputed result.

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora was reacting to a report by the Research
Advocacy Unit (RAU) in Harare that revealed the chaotic state of the June
2013 voter's roll. Last week, the Mail & Guardian was the first media outlet
to report the RAU's findings.

The unit found that the roll lists a million Zimbabweans who are either dead
or have left the country; 116 000 people over the age of 100, a figure it
describes as "unlikely"; and 78 constituencies with more registered voters
than adult residents.

The report also notes that close to two million Zimbabweans below the age of
30 are unregistered.

Mwonzora said it is because of the RAU findings that his party wanted a
period in which the voter's roll could be inspected.

"It is clear that the voter's roll is in a shambles. It is being manipulated
by the registrar general's office and the CIO [Central Intelligence
Organisation] as a way to rig the election," he said. "At most registration
stations in Harare, for example, fewer than 20 people are registered each
day. That has made voter registration impossible."

Harare
Harare is considered one of the MDC-T's strongholds. In the 2008
parliamentary election, the party won 23 of the 24 constituencies in
Zimbabwe's capital city.

Mwonzora added: "When mobile voter registration started, there were more
centres in Zanu-PF areas than in the MDC areas. For example, there were 98
polling stations in Mashonaland Central [province], compared to 49 in the
whole of Manicaland [province]. Manicaland is presumed to be a MDC
stronghold."

He added: "We did try to raise these issues with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC),

but nothing has been done. The ZEC is very weak and manipulated by the
[registrar general's] office, which is in turn manipulated by the CIO. The
elections are going to happen, unfortunately, and will produce another
disputed result."

Mwonzora was also reported as saying that last week's ruling by the
Constitutional Court was "predictable" and that "it was clear it was going
to make a political decision rather than a legal decision".

"This application was destined to fail anyway, because it was poorly written
by the minister of justice, who wanted this particular outcome. The court
did not want to displease the emperor," he said.

SADC official unaware
​Southern African Development Community (SADC) executive secretary Tomaz
Salomão said he was not aware of the RAU report, but urged Zimbabweans to
prepare for elections and abide by the court ruling.

Salomão said: "We have our observers on the ground and they send information
to our centres on a daily basis — they will advise us. I am going to
Zimbabwe on Sunday; I can't assess things from a distance.

"The point is that there is a ruling of the court and we have to abide by
it. There's no debate about it."

Lindiwe Zulu, who is South African President Jacob Zuma's international
adviser and one of his SADC facilitators in Zimbabwe, said she had seen the
RAU findings but could not comment on them, as she was working on a report
for Zuma.

"Issues arising from the elections must be dealt with by Zimbabweans through
the elections commission. But SADC cannot exclude itself," Zulu said.

"Our report for the principal focuses on the decision taken by the heads of
state at the SADC summit. It will cover what has been done since then and
what we think should be done."

The SADC summit urged Harare to apply to the courts for an extension of the
election date but said that it would respect any decision of the courts.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai, why do you even bother?

http://www.africareview.com/

By LEE MWITI | Friday, July 12  2013 at  18:06

Nobody believes even for a minute that Zimbabwe’s upcoming election will be
free and fair. The July 31 poll pits trade unionist-turned politician Morgan
Tsvangirai against his nemesis and coalition partner, 89-year-old Robert
Gabriel Mugabe.

The pair have since 2009 been entangled in a messy coalition government, but
now Mugabe is irrevocably fed up and wants complete control. It is the only
thing driving him into the election.

The hastily-arranged polls were supposed to have been held 18 months after
the crafting of their coalition government in 2009. But Mugabe’s Zanu-PF
ruling party, smarting from a 2008 first-round loss to Tsvangirai, employed
all kinds of political posturing and subterfuge to ensure that reforms
prerequisite for any new polling and a condition by the international
community never took form.

Zimbabwe’s nearly 14 million citizens thus go into the election with
precious little having changed since the charged 2008 polls that nearly saw
Tsvangirai ascend to power before Mugabe's party pulled itself out of the
fire with a campaign of violence that left no doubt that it was going
nowhere.

It is thus a wonder that Tsvangirai has even agreed to participate this time
round: the odds arrayed against him are formidable. The key state
institutions of the army and the police remain firmly in Mugabe’s corner.
The state media trill Mugabe’s praises all day long, while the election
commission is stuffed to the rafters with Mugabe’s cronies.

The voters’ roll is in shambles, while tough regulations that many say are
deliberately designed to prevent voter registration have disenfranchised
hundreds of thousands.

The Southern African Development Bloc (SADC), the one institution that has
tried to level the playing field, has tacitly thrown in the towel, failing
to pressure Mugabe enough to agree to push back the under-funded election.

Indeed Tsvangirai at the launch of his campaign this week could only say
that he was going into the election with "a heavy heart". Mugabe, buoyed by
his utter control of the system, has asked his supporters to treat the duel
as a “do-or-die” contest, raising fears of the all-out deployment of
underhand tactics that are known too well.

Appetite for change

With so much seemingly against him, does Tsvangirai even stand a chance?
Even more pertinently, does he still have the fire in his belly or has the
realisation that he cannot change the system either from within or without
worn him down?

Zimbabwe has long had the ripe conditions for a new liberation, but has
lacked a talismanic figure at the rudder to channel this energy into a
vortex. Many have accused Tsvangirai of instead gorging on the scraps of
power handed to him by Mugabe’s side, and of lacking the fight for a
good-old-fashioned scrap in the murky alley that is the country’s election
politics. His colourful love-life has not helped much either.

But conditions on the ground may yet give him a new lease. Tsvangirai has
forged a partnership with former Mugabe allies that, while unlikely to swell
his existing numbers significantly, will give him the sort of headwind that
he so desperately needs going into this ballot.

But more importantly, the atmosphere of violence that existed in 2008
appears to have been toned down, heading off concern about apathy from
voters resigned to decades of an enforced status quo and which was further
fuelled by the low turnout in a recent referendum that passed a new
constitution. Talk on the streets is that Mugabe will instead resort to
rigging, a more peaceful way of doing things.

The game changer could, however, be the seeming appetite for change in the
country, definitely in the urban areas, but even in the rural areas which
have been traditionally Mugabe’s bastions. The basic question being asked
around is, what new thing can Mugabe do that he hasn't done in over three
decades in power?

It remains to be seen if Tsvangirai can tap into this anti-establishment
energy which seems aligned his way. But many bets are that the juggernaut
that is Mugabe’s intimidating campaign machinery will yet eat up all in its
way, even if it has recently developed chinks in its armour.

Standing Idle As A Bully Disintegrates SADC

http://www.namibian.com.na/

2013-07-12
Editorial
WHY is it that every time President Robert Mugabe rants, SADC [Southern
African Development Community] leaders bend over like primary school pupils
used to do to receive a lashing, even when the teacher was wrong?

It really is difficult to see Mugabe’s relationship with his SADC
counterparts as anything other than him being the bully who no one else is
able to stand up to? The alternative is a cynical view that the other heads
of state are kow-towing to him because they expect the same leniency when
they too veer off track.

Barely a week had passed since a SADC summit reportedly pressed Mugabe to
postpone the country’s national elections because conditions long-agreed
upon were not in place for voting to take place on 31 July – the date that
he deliberately proclaimed just before the meeting – and Mugabe responded by
threatening and insulting his fellow leaders.

“Let it be known that we are in SADC voluntarily. If SADC decides to do
stupid things, let it be known that we can withdraw from SADC,” he told a
rally to launch the campaign of Zanu-PF in apparent defiance of SADC’s
request that time was needed for proper reforms and cleaning up of the
voters’ roll before elections took place.

“An ordinary woman says ‘no you can’t have elections on July 31?’,” Mugabe
lashed out when referring to Lindiwe Zulu, an envoy of South African
President Jacob Zuma [who is the lead SADC broker for the Zimbabwean peace
process], and a member of SADC’s facilitation team for the elections.
“Really, did such a person think we as a country would take heed of this
street woman’s stupid utterances?” he continued bashing Zuma and SADC.

Clearly the 89-year-old Mugabe has gone way too far in aiming his
chutzpah-filled rude tongue at the same people who have saved him and
Zimbabwe countless times over the past 15 years, often at the expense of
their own citizens. But nary a word of rebuke has come from the SADC
leaders.

Sadly, they all appear to treat the fact that Zimbabwe is on fire as an
internal matter for Mugabe, his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai and the people of
that country to sort out. If so, what is regional integration all about?

Mugabe, Zimbabwe and all other of the 14 member states of SADC should not be
allowed to disregard the rules they set for regional integration. Their
silence is proof of duplicity – they talk of basic rules that each country
must abide by in order to be part of SADC, but balk every time a bully like
Mugabe rants.

They squirmed a couple of years ago when Mugabe disregarded the rulings of
the Windhoek-based SADC Tribunal and forced them into disbanding the
regional court, making it subservient to national ones and thus sacrificing
common regional interests. At this back-peddling rate, forget about economic
empowerment for the masses and development ambitions like Vision 2030.

The irony, as happened before, when Mugabe goes to SADC asking for help,
whether it is to get money to prop up the Zimbabwean economy that he
willfully destroyed or to attack the West that he loves to use as the
red-herring for his shenanigans, the regional leaders will bend whichever
way the Zanu PF leader tells them to.

Mugabe has time and again showed he is a selfish man willing to ruin
everything unless he gets what he wants. He has taken his country down with
him and now he is threatening to take SADC down too.

If anyone needed evidence that our leaders did not have the will to iron out
obstacles such as cross-border tariffs, harmonised border-posts and
passports for their citizens to interact and trade with ease, Mugabe has
made it abundantly clear that the problem does not lie with technicalities.

Mugabe and his ilk have been allowed too long to cook and mix that simmering
potion for regional disintegration. SADC leaders could save us the energy of
swimming against the tides and concentrate instead on matters that will help
individual nations develop rather than continue their duplicitous ways and
selling us false hope.

Zimbabwe and Madagascar are their latest tests and they have flunked them
hopelessly.

Speech by Senator David Coltart at 3rd Ministers Youth World Forum 11th July 2013

I am honoured as Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
to attend, for the first time, the Ministers Youth World Forum. I understand
that the theme of the forum is “Contemplating the Path of the Heart” and
that it is aimed at empowering the youth of the world to reflect and think
more deeply so that they can play a role in devising solutions to the
problems that they face.

On behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe I would like to thank the
International Youth Fellowship for the kind invitation extended to me and in
particular Pastor Lee of the International Youth Fellowship Zimbabwe Chapter
for his assistance in arranging my attendance.

As you may have heard Zimbabwe goes to a general election on 31st July and
strictly speaking I should not be here in Korea but should be back home
campaigning to be re-elected. However when I realised that this forum would
clash with the election campaign I decided to go ahead with my plans to
attend because I believe in its importance. Although we have a separate
Ministry of Youth in Zimbabwe, as the Minister responsible for primary and
secondary Education for the last 4 1/2 years I have become increasingly
aware of the many challenges that nearly all young people face in Zimbabwe.

As many of my African colleagues have already pointed out the number of
young people in Africa is growing dramatically and Zimbabwe is no exception.
Our schools in Zimbabwe graduate well over 200,000 students every year and
our formal sector can only absorb a small number of those students leaving
the vast majority of school graduates with a major crisis of expectations.

Even the word “Youth” in Zimbabwe is controversial in some quarters. It is
sometimes used as a pejorative term because in the past so-called youth
brigades have been associated with political violence. The youth of
Zimbabwe, for several decades, have had to overcome a variety of
obstacles. Zimbabwe like Korea was colonised; and just as Koreans suffered
oppression under colonialism so did Zimbabwean people. Black Zimbabweans had
to overcome racial discrimination and oppression. In addition like Korea
our recent past Zimbabwe endured a vicious serious war in the 1970s. That
was followed by very serious internal strife in the 1980s, ironically
exacerbated by the involvement of North Korean soldiers who were complicit
in crimes against humanity against Zimbabwean people, and very serious
political violence in the last decade. This has resulted in a culture of
violence which has permeated our society and of course affected young people
more than any others. As so often is the case it has been young people who
have been called to arms during these times of strife by older people; it is
young people who have been encouraged to use violence to attain political
objectives in the last decade.

So aside from the educational and economic challenges that our Youth face,
which are so prevalent in Africa, they also have to cope with these negative
practices which are so deeply ingrained in our political culture.

Bearing in mind that background I would identify the following as the major
challenges currently facing Zimbabwean Youth today:

1. Despite Zimbabwe’s massive economic potential our unemployment rate
in the formal sector is very high and most children who graduate from school
cannot hope to go onto tertiary education or to obtain employment in the
formal sector.
2. Compounding the situation are serious deficiencies in our education
system. Although Zimbabwe has one of the best education systems in Africa,
funding of the sector by government in real terms has dropped dramatically
in the last two decades and tens of thousands of orphans and vulnerable
children are forced to drop out of school every year. A further deficiency
in the education system is that it is almost exclusively academically
orientated with very little vocational subjects offered. As a result many
young people graduate from high school with subjects which do not give them
practical skills so that they can easily become self employed.
3. Zimbabwe along with many African countries school has an unacceptably
high prevalence HIV/Aids and many Youth either have the disease themselves
or have to look after family members who do have the disease. Youths are
often provided with very poor examples of sexual morality by their elders
which compounds this problem. In Zimbabwe many men have what are called
euphemistically “small houses”, namely mistresses with second families.
Many young woman fall prey to so-called “sugar daddies”, older men, who use
their money and status in society to subvert these young women. In addition
the advent of the internet, whilst welcome in almost every other respect,
has caused an increase in the availability and spread of pornography, which
in turn has lead to increase in promiscuity.
4. Zimbabwe has become a very corrupt nation in the last two decades.
During this period there has been a growing gulf between the super rich
political and military elite and the general population. The recent
discovery of diamonds has exacerbated this problem and increasingly young
people in Zimbabwe are afflicted by what I term the “get rich quick
syndrome”. Very poor role models are provided by senior political and even
church leaders who exploit their positions often to become obscenely
wealthy. The accumulation of wealth becomes the be all and end all and
provides a very unhealthy template for young people.
5. Sadly because of our violent past, as I have mentioned above,
violence is now deeply ingrained in our political culture. Whilst by and
large Zimbabwe has good ethnic and racial relations, ethnic and racial
differences are sometimes exploited by politicians for political ends and
our Youth have been subjected to a diet of hate speech and racial and
ethnic intolerance.
6. The use of partisan youth brigades and propaganda has in the past
resulted in partisanship taking precedence over national pride. This has
sometimes resulted in Youth having a twisted notion of what it means to be
patriotic with more attention being paid to preserving the political elite
than serving the interests of the Zimbabwean people as a whole.

In my view if we are to address these challenges the following policies
need to be implemented:

1. Zimbabwe has a very fine education system but it is very poorly
funded by government and accordingly the funding of education has to become
a national priority again. A good education is the basis of hope and that
can only be achieved if government invests heavily in education. For this to
happen it is inevitable that dramatic cut backs in government spending in
other sectors such as defence will have to be made. In addition the Zimbabwe
curriculum needs to be dramatically revised to be made more skill and
vocationally orientated than it is at present.
2. We will need to overhaul our concept of leadership if we are going to
inspire our Youth in future. Zimbabwe is desperately in need of developing a
culture of servant leadership. Public service needs to be seen as just
that - service - not an opportunity to plunder national resources for the
purpose of self-enrichment.
3. We urgently need to honour and teach the concept of faithfulness. The
Youth of today have been taught by our current generation of adults that
unfaithfulness is acceptable and that has to change. The Youth of today need
to be taught that a strong nation can only be built, and strong leaders can
only be raised, if young men and women are faithful to their families, to
their spouses, to their communities and ultimately to their nation. This
entails putting families, spouses and national interests ahead of personal
interests or partisan interests.
4. If the scourge of corruption is to be tackled when we need to teach
the concepts of integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability to our
young people. The rapid accumulation of wealth by illegal means needs to be
viewed with disdain and disgust rather than envy. We need to teach our Youth
that it takes hard work, time, diligence and determination to succeed
properly; that whilst the accumulation of wealth is is not per se bad it is
far more beneficial if it is achieved through struggle and innovation rather
than off the backs of innocent people. Tied to this is the need to train
Youth to work through problems rather than to work around them. In short we
need to breed in our young people a zero tolerance towards corruption in our
society.
5. Zimbabwe has a desperate need to teach the principles of nonviolence
to our young people. They have been given such a poor example by the
previous generation who have resorted to violence immediately, persistently
and consistently to address political problems. The role models of society
need to be the Mahatma Gandhi’s and the Martin Luther King’s and Jesus
Christ himself rather than the Che Guevara’s. If we do not tackle the
scourge of violence the cycle of violence which afflicts our nation still to
this day will continue.
6. Finally we need to give our Youth a new vision of what our nation and
indeed Africa as a whole is capable of. Africa has so much potential and
Zimbabwe is no exception. Zimbabwe is a country with enormous assets; it has
some of the most literate people on the continent; it is richly endowed with
mineral resources, rich agricultural land and a plentiful supply of water;
as is the case with so many African countries it is stunningly beautiful
with a superb climate and some of the best tourist attractions in the world.
In other words we have a desperate need to give our young people a more
positive outlook on life; we need to encourage them to realise that if we
inculcate all the qualities I have just mentioned in the coming generation
the great potential of our Nation we will be unlocked.
7. Another crucial part of achieving this vision will be the need to
encourage innovation amongst our young people. We need them to tackle
problems from a different perspective; to think out of the box if you like.
We need to encourage them to recognise that simply because particular
problems have always been approached in a certain way in the past that is
not necessarily the best way. We need to teach them about new technologies
which can radically and quickly transform our Nation For example in our
agricultural sector we need to completely rethink the way in which we have
conducted agriculture in the past. We need to move more towards using
conservation agriculture, zero tillage practices combined with the use of
drip irrigation and solar energy. If implemented these practices have the
potential to dramatically increase Zimbabwe’s agricultural productivity and
the same applies to virtually all sectors of our economy.

It will be apparent from what I have said that the bulk of the needs I have
identified deal with the state of mind of young people rather than their
practical or physical circumstances. It is in this regard that your theme
this year of “Contemplating the Path of the Heart” is so relevant to
Zimbabwe. As a Nation we have often thought that the solution to our
problems lies primarily in massive foreign investment and aid. Whilst there
is no doubt that foreign investment and aid will greatly boost Zimbabwe’s
economy I am not convinced that that is our primary need. Most of the great
nations of the world have been built on the foundations of hard work,
honesty and innovation.

As I see it the greatest challenge in Zimbabwe is to convince our young
people that if they change from the unproductive, corrupt and deceitful
ways of the current adult generation, Zimbabwe can be transformed into a
wealthy and vibrant state in which all their aspirations are met. However
for this to happen we need to get our young people to understand why our
nation has not reached its full potential; we need to get young people to
understand, for example, that corruption bleeds the lifeblood out of any
nation; we need to teach young people that the strongest nations are those
built on the foundation of strong families. This can only happen if the
current generation is prepared to accept the errors that have made and to
enter into an honest dialogue with the young people of today regarding the
root cause of many of our national problems. As Pastor Park said last night
when we as individuals can admit our mistakes and accept that we are not
always right we can stop compounding our errors. The same applies to
nations and to entire generations. Nations which accept the errors of the
past, which objectively and transparently teach history truthfully, are more
likely to succeed than those which bury and obscure mistakes which have
been made in the past.

Accordingly we need to move from paying mere lip service to the notion of
involving young people in the formulation of policy. There is a need for a
“national contemplation” involving both young people and the current adult
generation so that they can together identify the wayward paths of the
heart of the Nation in the past, so that we can jointly chart new productive
paths which will serve the best interests of all our citizens, but
especially our Youth.

Senator David Coltart
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
Zimbabwe

Busan
Korea
11th July 2013

Court Watch 9/2013 of 10th July [Glen View 29 Murder Trial - Part II - Update and Review of Struggle for Bail]

COURT WATCH 9/2013

[9th July 2013]

Update on Glen View 29 Murder Trial – Part II

Part I – Court Watch 6/2013 of 30th May – brought the story of this trial to the point where the defence had filed written arguments in support of their application for the discharge of all accused at the close of the State case.  The filing of the State’s replying arguments and a hearing date for oral arguments were awaited. 

Part II now follows.  This bulletin refers to developments since 30th May, and outlines the defence campaign to secure bail for the accused after they were committed for trial on 1st March last year.  At the time of writing 24 of the 29 accused are out on bail, and 5 are still in prison, denied bail because they are deemed flight risks – Last Maengahama, Tungamirai Madzokere, Rebecca Mafikeni, Yvonne Musarurwa and Simon Mapanzure.

Note: in Part I covering this trial we said the deceased Mutedza had died “as a result of injuries received in a scrimmage with members of the public at Glen View 3 shopping centre”.  Given the differing versions of events put forward by State witnesses at the trial, we should have said he died ”as a result of injuries sustained at Glen View 3 shopping centre”.  According to the police, these were inflicted by MDC-T members, but according to some State witnesses were sustained when he fell from a departing police vehicle.”

Current Status: Waiting for Trial Judge’s Decision on Application for Discharge

On 12th June the High Court heard oral submissions from both defence and State, on the defence application for discharge of all the accused in terms of section 198(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act: “If at the close of the case for the prosecution the court considers that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence charged ... or any other offence of which he might be convicted thereon, it shall return a verdict of not guilty”. The State opposed  the application.  Justice Bhunu reserved judgment.  His decision is awaited. 

If the application is successful, the accused will be acquitted.  If it fails, the accused will be put on their defence, and will have the opportunity to call witnesses and to give evidence themselves.

While the outcome of this extraordinarily long-drawn out and much interrupted case is being awaited, we provide a resume of the struggle the lawyers had to get bail for them once they had been committed for trial on 1st March 2012 – and all committed to prison to await trial, even those who had previously been out on bail.  [note ythe stgulle for bail after they had been arrested was covered in detail in Court Watch.........

This situation did not begin to change until October.  Our outline of the campaign for bail is preceded by a brief introductory summary of the law on bail in murder cases featuring a police victim. 

Law on Bail in a Murder Case with a Police Victim

In most cases an accused person is entitled to be released on bail “unless the court finds that it is in the interests of justice that he or she be remanded in custody”; this means the prosecution must satisfy the court that bail should not be granted 

But where the charge is murder of a police officer carrying out his or her duties, the law is different, because this is one of the relatively few offences listed in Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the CPE Act.  For such offences the law is that bail cannot be granted unless the accused “adduces evidence which satisfies the judge that exceptional circumstances exist which in the interests of justice permit his or her release”.  [CPE Act, section 117(1) and (6).]  This means that a heavy burden lies on the accused person to prove to the court that in his or her case there are ”extraordinary factors that are outside common human experience”. 

If bail is refused, there can be an appeal to the Supreme Court – or if an appeal fails or is not pursued, a fresh application may be made to a judge at a later date if, and only if, the accused can demonstrate to the judge that circumstances have changed since the previous refusal. 

Bail Applications

Various bail applications were made to the court in the months following the first appearance in the High Court on 12th March 2012, the date initially set for the start of the trial.

·      Bail application after committal for trial  On 12th March, the accused through their lawyers made an application to be released on bail for the duration of the trial [the accused had been committed for trial on 1st March].  The application was dismissed by Justice Bhunu. 

·      Bail application after filing of defence outline  The accused made another bail application in the High Court after the written outline of their defence to the charge had been filed.  After hearing submissions from both prosecution and defence Justice Bhunu reserved judgment.  On 19th June he handed down a judgment dismissing the application on the basis that the filing of the defence outline did not amount to ”adducing of evidence” as required by CPE Act section 117(6) [see above].  The statement outlining the defence case, said the judge, was not evidence.  Justice Bhunu also observed that under section 117(6) “the odds are heavily stacked against the accused”. 

·      First release on bail since committal for trial on 1st March  On 17th October 2012 Cynthia Manjoro was released on bail. She was the first of the 29 accused persons to be released on bail since the accused were indicted for trial on 1st March.  Ms Manjoro’s vehicle was identified by the police as the car that had been used as the ‘getaway vehicle’ the day that Inspector Mutedza died.  Ms Manjoro was not driving the vehicle on that day.  A State witness had testified in court that the police had told him Ms Manjoro was only arrested and held in order to induce the person who had been driving the vehicle that day, her friend Darlington Madzonga, to come out of hiding.  Justice Kudya ruled there had been a change of circumstances and granted bail.  The State did not oppose the bail application. 

·      Madzore and Magaya granted bail  On 13th November 2012, Solomon Madzore and Lovemore Magaya were granted bail and released from custody.  During cross-examination, it had become clear that Chief Inspector Clever Ntini, the investigating officer in the case, had withheld important information from the court about their alibis, and that Inspector Ntini’s affidavit contradicted his evidence in court that they had been positively identified by undercover police who were in Glen View on the day Inspector Mutedza died.  Inspector Ntini admitted misrepresenting the facts and confessed that Madzore and Magaya had not been positively identified.  Justice Bhunu considered this to be a change of circumstances and granted bail.

·      21 more accused persons released on bail  On 17th December 2012, 21 of the accused still in custody were granted bail by Justice Bhunu, who sat during the court vacation as he considered the matter to be urgent.  The 21 bailed were Oddrey Chirombe, Augustine Tengenyike, Lloyd Chitanda, Tendai Chinyama, Jefias Moyo. Albina Rutsito, Gabriel Shumba, Stephen Takaedzwa, Linda Madyamhanje, Tafadzwa Billiard, Simon Mudimu, Dube Zwelibanzi, Simon Mudimu, Augustine Tengenyika, Paul Rukunda, Lazarus Maengahama, Standford Maengahama, Kerina Dewa, Memory Ncube, Phineas Nhatarikwa and Stanford Mangwiro.  All were considered to have now established a case for bail.  But bail applications by five accused, Last Maengahama, Tungamirai Madzokere, Rebecca Mafikeni, Yvonne Musarurwa and Simon Mapanzure, were dismissed because Justice Bhunu considered them to be flight risks. 

·      Latest bail application for last 5 in custody turned down  A fresh application for bail was made at the beginning of the 2013 legal year.  On 20th February Justice Bhunu dismissed the application ruling that the accused were still a flight risk.  At the date of this bulletin, they remain in custody, awaiting the judge’s decision on the defence application for discharge at the close of the State case.

Further Arrests on Accusations of Involvement in Mutedza Death

Three more persons have been arrested on murder charges for alleged involvement in the death of Inspector Mutedza: 

·      October 2012  Tarisai Kusotera and Jackson Mabota are the MDC-T Youth Assembly chairperson and deputy chairperson, respectively, for Glen View South.  They were released on bail on 7th November 2012, and are awaiting developments.

·      April 2013  Paul Gorekore, an MDC-T youth leader and former councillor, was arrested on 2nd April, taken to court two days later, and remanded in custody.  A bail application has been lodged in the High Court but not yet heard. 

A Side-Effect of the Case

UZ rejects Madzore’s application to resume studies after release

When arrested on 5th October 2011, Solomon Madzore was a final year social work student at the University of Zimbabwe.  He was forced to defer his studies during his 13 months in custody. When he was eventually released on bail in mid-November 2012 he made an application to the University to resume his studies and complete his final semester when the University reopened in February 2013.  In January, Mr Madzore was informed that his application to continue his studies at UZ was rejected because he has a criminal case pending. 

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