SA, Zim set to sign trade pact

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nokuthula Sibanda Tuesday 14 July 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe and South Africa are set to sign a long delayed bilateral
investment protection agreement by end of next month, Zimbabwe's Economic
Planning Minister Elton Mangoma has said.

Signing of the agreement between the countries that are each other's biggest
trading partner on the continent in addition to being strong political
allies was postponed on the eleventh hour last March, apparently after
Harare objected to a clause in the accord referring to land and investments
on land.

Mangoma did not disclose further details on the trade pact but said it could
have been signed months ago had it not been of elections in South Africa
last April that saw new personnel taking over at government ministries and
departments involved in negotiating the agreement.

"We are going to sign the BIPA agreement before the end of August," Mangoma
said

"This could have been done earlier but as you know there were elections in
South Africa, which resulted in changes at various ministries. This is an
issue we believe could have been addressed some time ago."

President Robert Mugabe's chaotic and often violent programme to seize
white-owned farm land for redistribution to landless blacks also saw several
farms owned by foreigners and protected under bilateral trade agreements
between Zimbabwe and other countries seized without compensation.

The seizure of private land has raised questions about Zimbabwe's commitment
to uphold property rights as well as agreements entered with other

MDC-M MPs challenge disciplinary hearing

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nqobizitha Khumalo Tuesday 14 July 2009

BULAWAYO - Three legislators   from Zimbabwean Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara's
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-M) formation have filed papers with the
High Court in Bulawayo seeking an order setting aside the outcome of their
disciplinary hearing, their lawyer said at the weekend.

The legislators - Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi South), Norman Mpofu (Bullima East)
and Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) - walked out of an MDC-M party
disciplinary hearing last week, saying the hearing was unprocedural.

Their lawyer, Thamsanqa Khumalo, said the three legislators are arguing that
the charges that they are facing are vague and want the disciplinary
committee to furnish them with specific charges before the hearing could
proceed.

"We have filed papers to the High Court to challenge the unprocedural manner
the MDC disciplinary committee wanted to conduct things and my clients
walked out because we could not participate in the hearing when we did not
have specific charges and dates and venues of when the crimes were committed
and we were not furnished with names and statements from witnesses," Khumalo
said.

He said that they wanted the courts to set aside the disciplinary hearing
proceedings and order the disciplinary committee to provide them with full
details of the charges against the legislators before the disciplinary
hearing is re-scheduled to another date.

The three Members of Parliament (MPs) are part of a group of eight officials
that was suspended by the MDC-M over two months ago and are charged with
urging party supporters to shift their allegiance to the main MDC faction
led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T).

The other five party members are national youth chairman Gift Nyandoro, an
official Alex Goosen and former legislator Job Sikhala, while two other
legislators - Thandeko Mnkandla (Gwanda North) and Maxwell Dube (Tsholotsho
South) - are also set to appear before the disciplinary committee to face
misconduct charges.

The chairperson of the party's disciplinary committee Lyson Mlambo last
Friday said the committee had already made a decision on the outcome of the
disciplinary hearing and said the party would announce the verdict soon.

"The Members of Parliament chose not to participate in the hearings after
making certain demands which we felt were unreasonable and we went ahead
with the hearing without them and certain decisions were taken without them
and the decisions will be made public soon," Mlambo said.

He said the three MPs who were charged together with Goosen, were employing
delaying tactics on the matter.

"You do not need written statements in a civil matter and the witnesses were
present and the legislators had the latitude to cross examine them but they
did not utilise the opportunity, they feared facing the witnesses and by
walking out they are using delaying tactics," Mlambo said.

Khumalo on his part said the charges levelled against his clients were
ridiculous and general.

"The charges levelled against my clients are ridiculous. An example is the
case of Mpofu who is accused of campaigning for Tsvangirai between June 2008
and March 2009 and we are saying the charge is vague because we need
specific dates and the exact location where he is said to have campaigned
for Tsvangirai.

"The period cited by the party as the time Mpofu allegedly started
campaigning for Tsvangirai is June 2008 and the party at that time made a
national decision to campaign for Tsvangirai and that decision was not
rescinded officially so the charges are vague when you look at such
instances," Khumalo said.

Last month the MDC-M suffered a body blow when the party's entire Nkayi
district leadership and all 23 councillors crossed the floor to join the
MDC-T, in protest against the suspension of Bhebhe.

Mutambara, a brilliant robotics professor, became the president of the
smaller wing of Zimbabwe's MDC party after it split in 2005 into two rival
factions with the larger group led by Tsvangirai. - ZimOnline

'Rusike: Towering icon in fight for vibrant media'

http://www.zimonline.co.za

Tuesday 14 July 2009

STATEMENT: Zimbabweans and their journalism profession are all the
poorer today with the untimely passing of Elias Rusike, an unwavering
champion of media freedom and democracy in the troubled African country.

Rusike, as owner of Zimbabwe's first independent newspaper, The
Financial Gazette, was a towering figure in the fight for a truly free and
vibrant media in the country, often clashing with a regime whose policies
and practices are steeped in anti-democratic values and norms, an
intolerable situation which, sadly, still continues today.

He fought the good fight and ensured that his newspaper, when I and my
many colleagues worked there for years up to the early 2000s, became the
beacon for a new and campaigning journalism for Zimbabweans' real justice,
freedom and democracy.

The Financial Gazette became a symbol of hope in a sea of madness and
desperation for many Zimbabweans who suddenly awakened to their collapsing
lives and future.

As editor-in-chief of the Financial Gazette from 1997 to 2002, Rusike
gave me and my senior editors such as Nqobile Nyathi, Abel Mutsakani, Sydney
Masamvu and others virtual carte blanche in how we ran the newspaper at a
time of crisis and great political and economic turbulence.

"He was an astute media owner who totally respected the independence
of his editors when I was at the helm and ensured that commercialism and
political imperatives did not cloud the news agenda, firmly leaving his
editorial team to thrive only for high quality journalism, excellence and
relevance to steer the newspaper forward."

Issued on 13 July 2009

Editor's note: Mr Mdlongwa issued this statement in his personal
capacity. - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe Teachers March Over Wages, Intimidation by ZANU-PF Militia

http://www.voanews.com/



By Patience Rusere
Washington
13 July 2009

About 200 members of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe marched to
the offices of the Public Service Commission in Harare on Monday to protest
low salaries and what they allege is harassment youth militia of President
Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that the teachers, who boycotted classes on Friday, decided
to demonstrate as well to pressure the government to respond to their wage
and other demands.

The union is asking for a minimum salary of US$454 a month.

The teachers union said ZANU-PF youth militia, deeply implicated in
post-election violence in 2008, have set up bases in schools around the
country and are intimidating teachers.

Education Minister David Coltart said the government does not have the money
to meet the union's salary demands - but told VOA his ministry would look
into militia activity.

ROHR Zimbabwe pass litmus test

http://www.zimdiaspora.com

Monday, 13 July 2009 18:43

From Zim Diaspora correspondent in Harare

THIS week, Harare-based Zim Diaspora's undercover reporter set out to
unravel the activities and authenticity of a United Kingdom based human
rights organisation, Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR).

During a weeklong investigations, our reporter found out how Zimbabwe has
been besieged by different sort of evil forces - all at play in a country
where arbitrary arrests, repression, political persecution, violations of
human rights have become a way of life.

In such an environment, a haven of bogus humanitarian organisations now
exists intentions of taking advantage of a screwed-up situation. Such is a
day in life in Zimbabwe.

Our reporter picked up ROHR for validation in an attempt to protect the
beleaguered masses of Zimbabwe who have more often been victims of fake
organisation. There are many such organisations which have looted money from
unsuspecting citizens.

I set out early in a Harare morning and my first port of call was the
National Association of Non Governmental Organization (NANGO), an umbrella
body of all Non Governmental Organization operating in Zimbabwe. In there,
access to information was not problematic, I was allowed to access the
organisation's register as a means of establishing the authentic existence
of ROHR, which I was after.

From NANGO's registration book, ROHR Zimbabwe was formed in 2007 and is
registered as a human right non-profit making organisation. ROHR is also
listed as a member of Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe.

As a journalist, there is a saying which goes "good news is good". However,
I was convinced this was a worthwhile assignment in light of the recent
controversy surrounding ROHR.

Armed with this information, I left the NANGO offices partly satified that
the organisation I was investigating has passed the litmus test, let alone
the first step of my investigation.

Now, my next step was to try and establish ROHR's physical location in
Harare as a means of confirming the real existence of this organisation.
This was paramount to prove that ROHR was not one of those organisations
administered from backyards. I also needed to find out what exactly was ROHR
doing and what have they achieved so far.

I drove around Harare for about one and half hours without any luck at all.
I reckon that is always the case with Third World countries where Navigators
are still 50 years away, that is, if Google map ever bothered to add
Zimbabwe in it.

ROHR Zimbabwe offices are located in the serene and plush suburb of
Alexandra Park at number 5 Normandy Street. The offices are professionally
manned by individuals who are undoutedly well polished in terms of
presentation and greeting strangers like myself.

What attracted my attention as soon as I entered the ROHR Harare offices was
a soft-spoken man called Mr Tichanzi Gandanga whom I was later told was
Zimbabwe's leader of the organisation.

After speaking to him for a few minutes I learnt a lot about ROHR from this
eloquent and handsome man. Mr Gandanga is a veteran human rights activist
who has suffered a lot at the hands of Zimbabwe's security agents. He has
been arrested, abducted, tortured and detained innumerable times.

It was after talking to him at length that I discovered that ROHR Zimbabwe
was formed by exiled Zimbabweans, victims of human rights abuse. These are
individuals who suffered at the hands of government sponsored evil forces of
repression in Zimbabwe. It was through talking to Mr Gandanga that I had a
full picture on how Mr Ephraim Tapa now ROHR Zimbabwe's CEO also suffered in
the hands of President Mugabe's notorious CIOs. I also got to know that
former abductees such as Gandanga, Stanley Zvorwadza and Edgar Chikuvise had
joined ROHR not as a means of making money, but as a calling to highlight
gross human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. This explained to me why ROHR
Zimbabwe's membership was growing everyday. Zimbabweans know these people
championing the human rights cause, hence atrcating membership is not a huge
problem.

"ROHR Zimbabwe's founding vision is to see Zimbabwe become a peaceful, just
and free nation that is conscious of and respect human rights. This is to be
achieved through various strategies that encompass radicalism, active
participation, awareness campaigns, capacity building in rural communities
and wholesale mobilization of Zimbabwean masses. ROHR Zimbabwe, because of
its strong belief in action, it is the power behind many powerful
demonstration that have rocked Zimbabwe to the core in recent years," said
Mr Gandanga.

"On the ground ROHR Zimbabwe is scoring many goals. This is as a result of
its radical approach, responsiveness and sheer bravery. The organization
first cut its teeth with investigation and exposure of the Mumbengegwi issue
in which Zanu pf Minister Mumbengegwi's wife was accused of murdering one of
her employees at her farm and claiming farm workers were like dogs. Since
then, the firebrand organization has stood shoulder and chest higher than
many of the docile but well funded human rights organizations operating here
in Zimbabwe," he said.

"The organization's funding comes mainly from its many overseas based and
local well wishers who desire to see a human right engendered Zimbabwe. Also
unique in their funding structure is membership fees paid by thousands
across the world. The structure is only peculiar to them and this adds
impetus to their activities as well as guards against funds abuse and
docility. To their credit ROHR Zimbabwe is finally becoming the face of
human awareness campaigns and a knight of rural communities' mobilization,"
he added.

Mr Gandanga said ROHR Zimbabwe' physical presence in the country's ten
provinces makes it the most important human right organsation in Zimbabwe.

"We are pleased with our capable leadership in England and in South Africa
which assist in resource mobilisation thereby making us more effective in
executing our work. I can now tell you that ROHR Zimbabwe is now known right
in every corner of Zimbabwe. We have started off programmes in grass root
level of training people about their right to have rights," he said.

Mr Gandanga highlighted that a lot needed to be done in Zimbabwe as far as
human rights issues are concerned.

"Of particular concern are the continuing arbitrary arrests, abductions and
detention of opposition forces and human rights activists. ROHR Zimbabwe has
also noted with concern and has highlighted to the government the need to
move away from pretending that victims of violence have forgiven the
perpetrators because they set up the National Healing Commission. We are
currently moving around the country to educate people to avoid retribution.
We agreed to do this after realising that many people in Zimbabwe are
extremely bitter with ZANU-PF did to them," he said.

Mr Gandanga added that: "We would like the Unity government to work but as
of now it looks like nothing but a symbol of Mugabe's intransigency of
relinquishing power. To us Mugabe remains an icon of repression and we would
like him to leave office for the good of Zimbabweans".

ROHR's director of Information, Mr. Edgar Chikuvise said there was a need
for Mr Mugabe to dismantle his evil machinations that has caused a lot of
suffering in the country since he took office in 1980.

On constitutional matters, ROHR Zimbabwe, he said, it was a sacred right for
every Zimbabwean to participate in such a process of governance to the
realisation of rights and other freedoms. As such, he said ROHR Zimbabwe is
strongly opposed to the imposition of the Kariba draft upon the people of
Zimbabwe. The organisation believes that the Kariba draft should only be
used as a soft landing spot or as reference only, said Mr Chikuvise.

ROHR Zimbabwe is currently lobbying the government to include human rights
in the schools curriculum.

Much of their activities and source of funds could not be drawn due to their
policy of not sharing much of their private information.

From the interviews, the evidence seen and past experiences ROHR Zimbabwe
thrust, vision and objectives remains the dream of every Zimbabwean. Its
idea of lobbying the government to include a curriculum on human rights in
every stage of education is as good as it comes.

Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 29

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/

July 14th, 2009

The week proved to be another one of frustration although pressure is
building on the Transitional Government to confront the real issues impeding
the much mooted economic revival. Mistrust at the top level, continues to
interfere with day to day cooperation and this, in turn, is holding up the
implementation of policy.

However, much is being done in ministries where the former opposition
parties have control and legislation is being prepared to deal with a number
of long outstanding matters of concern. The budget is expected next week and
this has, to some extent, resulted in caution as exemplified by the stock
exchange where activity is flat as investors trade cautiously.

Property and Consumer/retail are the best performing sectors as opposed to
those that struggle to take advantage of a growing market due to lack of
funding. To compound this, local product remains expensive or provides
retailers less margin. This is due to high cost electricity, rent and raw
materials (high interest rates).

Fuel shortages exasperate an already difficult situation but it is believed
that a new energy policy will address this by liberalising the industry to
allow market forces to determine conditions. Despite short term political
uncertainty, Zimbabwe is now proving to be an attractive investment
destination.

Western Recipient Governments Cling to Dirty Money

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

14 July 2009

By Hilaire Avril

PARIS - In 2007, the French corruption watchdog Catholic Committee against
Hunger and for Development (known by its French acronym CCFD) issued a first
report on the colossal sums stolen by corrupt heads of states and hidden in
mostly Western secret bank accounts. Figures are hard to come by, given the
secrecy that shrouds such looting of public funds.

But CCFD's research came up with assets worth between an estimated 105 to
180 billion dollars, stolen by 30 corrupt regimes.

CCFD recently published a second report, signalling a massive discrepancy
between ambitious recovery targets and embezzled sums effectively retrieved
to date. Despite numerous legal proceedings, less than five percent of
assets stolen have so far been recovered.

"Dirty money doesn't acknowledge borders, whereas justice systems still
function according to strict geographic boundaries," says Jean Merckaert,
CCFD's lead campaigner in France. The report says 4,4 billion dollars has
been recovered, and a further 2,7 billion dollars frozen.

"In some cases, Western governments are in no hurry to divulge
misappropriated assets located on their territory. They would rather not
disclose their support to some of these corrupt leaders, even after their
deaths," Merkaert explains.

The sums diverted are so considerable that it has a direct negative impact
on many countries' development. The World Bank and the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime, which launched the stolen assets recovery initiative
(STaR) in 2007, say corruption is draining between 20 and 40 billion dollars
a year from developing countries. Such amounts dwarf development assistance.

Beyond the depletion of precious public funds, such looting of the public
treasury often generates mounting public debt. Mobutu Sese Seko, former
leader of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), not only diverted an
estimated six billion dollars from his state's coffers, he left the country
with international debt of 13 billion dollars.

In comparison, the country's total health budget for 2009 amounts to 41
million dollars, states CCFD.

The publication of the initial report in 2007 helped a number of civil
society groups to launch legal proceedings in France's courts to recover
some of these assets located on French soil. Complaints were lodged against
specific leaders, among who are Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo and the late
president of Gabon, Omar Bongo.

"It was astonishingly easy to track some of these ill-acquired properties.
Several of these names are listed openly in the French phone book,"
according to Merkaert. "Some of these corrupt leaders are so used to utter
impunity they do not bother with discretion."

A large part of diverted public funds is never properly accounted for in
their country of origin in the first place. Some are undeclared proceeds
from mining and oil concessions, a practice the multilateral Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative is currently struggling to limit.

According to CCFD, Sassou-Nguesso's regime "forgot" to account for billions
of dollars worth of oil revenue between 2003 and 2005.

Once abroad, funds are hard to trace. Most sums end up in tax havens and
countries which allow opaque legal practices, such as trusts or foundations
never compelled to reveal their true owners. Many recovery procedures have
bumped into banking confidentiality, with local authorities turning down
victims' requests to assist them in identifying accounts where the assets
have been hidden.

Some assets are also laundered and "recycled". The Bongo family is said to
own a mansion on avenue Foch, one of central Paris's most expensive
addresses, among other prime items of real estate.

The 2007 legal proceedings have not yet yielded results. Despite confirming
the existence of the suspicious assets and even adding new ones to the list,
French courts have declared the plaintiffs had "insufficient cause".

"We are now waiting for the Court of Appeals to decide on Sept 17, 2009 if
it is qualified to hear these cases," says Merkaert. Such delays have
sometimes allowed the culprits or their descendants to move the funds to
other accounts and countries. The partial restitution of the Marcos funds to
the Philippines happened after a 17-year campaign.

Jean-Marc Bikoko, from Cameroon, has been trying to tackle the problem from
the other end, in Yaoundé. The public sector union leader campaigns to
recover funds looted by former Cameroonian ministers -- an uphill battle.
"All civil society can do is investigate and urge the administration to take
action," he explains.

"But the Cameroonian National Commission against Corruption has consistently
been staffed with tainted characters, themselves accused of corruption, and
the president reserves the right to approve its reports," he laments.

"Campaigning for the recovery of stolen funds exposes you to endless
harassment. As a civil servant, you are systematically vilified, often sued
and sometimes jailed," he adds.

But raising awareness of the cost of corruption has led some international
organisations to pay more attention to embezzlement by corrupt politicians.
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, signed in 2003, built on
that momentum.

"Although not every country has signed the convention, this is a major step:
five years ago, we had no legal avenues to retrieve stolen assets. Now,
their recovery by the country of origin is a recognized principle in
international law," indicates Merkaert.

But only national governments can enforce such principles. "Many of Mobutu's
assets (including one of Belgian colonialist king Leopold's castles near
Brussels) have been located but the current Congolese administration does
not seem keen to recover them. Is that because one of Mobutu's sons sits in
the current government?" Merkaert asks.

"The recent commitment against tax havens taken at the London G20 summit is
a good sign but we increasingly face the problem of 'legal havens',
countries which make recovery proceedings exceedingly hard," says Merkaert.

"In the past, France has turned down a request by Nigeria for legal
assistance in retrieving funds stolen by former president Sani Abacha,
stashed in French bank accounts, on the grounds that the official request
was written in English, not French."

Inter Press Service (IPS)

Special Commonwealth programme for Zimbabwe

ZANU PF accused of hypocrisy over national hero Ackim Ndlovu

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
14 July 2009

Founding Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) commander Ackim Ndlovu
was declared a national hero last week, despite living the life of a pauper
after being neglected by government. Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme told
us he met the 77 year old Ndlovu in Mpopoma in 2003 and he was battling high
medical bills after losing his leg to cancer. His colleagues in ZAPU, which
recently broke away from ZANU PF, have slammed the hypocrisy of Mugabe's
party in acknowledging Ndlovu's contribution, but only when he had died.
ZAPU also say they felt insulted the ZANU PF politburo only consulted
amongst themselves to decide on his hero status. There was a delay in making
the decision leading his family to make a decision to bury him at Lady
Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo. At the last minute ZANU PF buckled to pressure
and declared him a national hero. 'Ackim Ndlovu is a hero of heroes who does
not deserve to suffer the indignity of having to be "vetted" by people, some
of whom were not even born when he started the armed struggle,' a ZAPU
statement read.
The partisan nature of conferring hero status has remained controversial to
this day. Only last month veteran politician and MDC Chirumanzu Senator
Patrick Kombayi, was over-looked for hero status, despite what his party
felt was a huge contribution to the liberation war. ZAPU has also had the
likes of its commander Lookout Masuku, Swazini Ndlovu, Masala Sibanda and
Wilford Lizzat Sibanda, buried in Bulawayo instead of the national shrine.
Even those accorded hero status like Clemence Muchachi, a top six member of
ZAPU, suffered neglect just like Ndlovu. Muchachi for example was ferried to
hospital in a scotch cart when he was ill.
But as is often the case, any liberation fighter who went against ZANU PF
after independence automatically got over-looked for hero status. The most
shocking decision to date was the refusal to acknowledge ZANU founder
Ndabaningi Sithole as a national hero, after he later went into opposition
politics. ZANU PF hid behind cooked up accusations that he had planned the
assassination of Mugabe using landmines on a Harare road. He was sentenced
to two years in prison, but died before serving any time in jail.
The MDC have since February this year been calling for the unity government
to make all decisions on hero status instead of ZANU PF's politburo. 'Hero
status must be conferred by an all-stakeholders' body with no single
subjective interest in the conferment of such national status on any
individual,' the party said in a statement.

Zimbabwe prepare to host Afghanistan

http://www.cricinfo.com

Cricinfo staff

July 14, 2009

Afghanistan's first foray into the world of international cricket following
the ICC World Cup Qualifiers could happen as soon as the end of July.

Zimbabwe Cricket has confirmed that it is looking at possibly staging its
opening four-day match in the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup at home to
Afghanistan on July 30.

Zimbabwe, who will be fielding an A team in the competition, albeit not
under that name, will then host a match against Kenya at the start of
October.