The Kimberley process, set up to rid the world of blood diamonds, is on the brink of collapse

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

    Jonathan Clayton and Jan Raath
    From: The Times
    July 04, 2011 10:48AM

THE Kimberley Process, the mechanism set up to rid the world of "blood
diamonds" is on the brink of collapse because of moves to allow exports from
Zimbabwe's fabulously wealthy Marange diamond fields, campaigners have told
The Times.

President Mugabe's henchmen have earned millions from illegally mined gems
that are smuggled into Mozambique, but a decision to allow legal exports
could give the ruling Zanu(PF) party a lifeline and allow it to buy victory
in elections, expected later this year or early in 2012.

Mathieu Yamba, who is the chairman of the Kimberley Process and comes from
the Democratic Republic of Congo, has come under huge pressure from other
southern African states that recently declared Zimbabwe had met Kimberley
rules and could legally export diamonds from Marange, which could provide
income of up to $2 billion a year.

However, international human rights groups, supported by some Western
countries including the US, Canada and Israel, say that no consensus on the
status of Zimbabwe was reached at a meeting in Kinshasa on June 23.

Arvind Ganesan, the business and human rights director at Human Rights
Watch, said: "Governments and companies should ignore Mr Yamba's decision
unless they want to make blood diamonds available to consumers and ruin the
credibility of the Kimberley Process."

The process - named after the 19th-century diamond town in South Africa -
was created to stem the flow in the 1990s of diamonds that are mined in war
zones, often under harsh conditions, then sold by armed groups and rebels to
finance wars and coups in West Africa.

Legal exports from Marange have been suspended since June 2009 because of
police and military abuses in the minefields. These included killings,
beatings, forced labour and smuggling of gems in contravention of
Kimberley's rules.

In November 2009 Zimbabwe agreed to carry out a phased withdrawal of armed
forces from the diamond fields, and allow monitoring of diamond shipments.

Farai Maguwu, from the Centre for Research and Development in Mutare, near
the diamond fields, told The Times that nothing had changed: "The military
is still there, and their presence leads to the continuation of violence and
smuggling."

Confiscated Zimbabwe diamonds worth 160 million dollars up for sale

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

Jul 4, 2011, 11:26 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwean rough diamonds worth about 160 million dollars, which
had been confiscated in the United Arab Emirates, have been released for
sale, the minister for mines confirmed Monday.

The move has sparked concerns that the Kimberley Process - the international
group formed to clamp down on trade in diamonds used to fund conflicts -
might collapse.

Confirming a report in The Herald newspaper about the release of the
diamonds, Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said: 'We still have hurdles
to jump before it is a smooth sailing. We notice that it has not sunk (in)
to America that it lost its efforts to have our diamonds off the world
market.'

The diamonds were mined from the Marange fields, but confiscated in November
in Dubai. Last week, Mpofu said the Kimberley Process lifted the trade
embargo at a meeting in Kinshasa in spite of objections from the United
States, European Union, Israel and Canada.

Diamond exports from Marange have been suspended since June 2009 because of
alleged police and military abuses in the fields, including killings,
beatings, forced labour and smuggling. Zimbabwe promised a phased withdrawal
of armed forces and to allow a monitor to examine and certify all diamond
shipments from Marange.

But human rights groups say Zimbabwe failed to stop the abuses and has not
complied with process rules.

The US State Department said last week that, contrary to some reports, there
was no consensus reached at the Kinshasa meeting. It was referring to a
press release by Kimberly Process chairman Mathieu Yamba that the group had
unanimously agreed to lift Zimbabwe's diamond trade ban.

'We believe that work toward a solution must continue, and that until
consensus is reached, exports from Marange should not proceed,' said State
Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The Marange diamonds are said to be in India now, according to a report by
Idex, an online diamond exchange.

'Miners, retailers, and consumers have relied on the Kimberley Process to
stop blood diamonds from being sold, but, with Chairman Yamba's decision,
the KP has betrayed their trust,' said Arvind Ganesan, business and human
rights director at Human Rights Watch.

'Governments and companies should ignore his decision unless they want to
make blood diamonds available to consumers and ruin the credibility of the
Kimberly Process as well.'

SA facilitates blood diamond sale

http://www.businessday.co.za

South Africa’s government officials helped Zimbabwe export hundreds of
millions of rands of blood diamonds
SAPA
Published: 2011/07/04 02:47:46 PM

Zimbabwean rough diamonds worth about 160 million dollars, which had been
confiscated in the United Arab Emirates, have been released for sale, the
minister for mines confirmed Monday.

Last week, State Diamond Trader officials admitted in parliament that they
had helped Zimbabwe export diamonds from Marange, despite an international
ban on the trade.

The South African government says the Kimberley Process has now allowed
these diamonds to be exported - but human rights groups say that is not
true.

The move has sparked concerns that the Kimberley Process — the international
group formed to clamp down on trade in diamonds used to fund conflicts —
might collapse.

Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said: "We still have hurdles to jump
before it is a smooth sailing. We notice that it has not sunk (in) to
America that it lost its efforts to have our diamonds off the world market."
The diamonds were mined from the Marange fields, but confiscated in November
in Dubai. Last week, Mpofu said the Kimberley Process lifted the trade
embargo at a meeting in Kinshasa in spite of objections from the United
States, European Union, Israel and Canada.

Diamond exports from Marange have been suspended since June 2009 because of
alleged police and military abuses in the fields, including killings,
beatings, forced labour and smuggling. Zimbabwe promised a phased withdrawal
of armed forces and to allow a monitor to examine and certify all diamond
shipments from Marange.

But human rights groups say Zimbabwe failed to stop the abuses and has not
complied with process rules.

The US State Department said last week that, contrary to some reports, there
was no consensus reached at the Kinshasa meeting. It was referring to a
press release by Kimberly Process chairman Mathieu Yamba that the group had
unanimously agreed to lift Zimbabwe’s diamond trade ban.

"We believe that work toward a solution must continue, and that until
consensus is reached, exports from Marange should not proceed," said State
Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The Marange diamonds are said to be in India now, according to a report by
Idex, an online diamond exchange.

"Miners, retailers, and consumers have relied on the Kimberley Process to
stop blood diamonds from being sold, but, with Chairman Yamba’s decision,
the KP has betrayed their trust," said Arvind Ganesan, business and human
rights director at Human Rights Watch.

"Governments and companies should ignore his decision unless they want to
make blood diamonds available to consumers and ruin the credibility of the
Kimberly Process as well."

Prime Minister Tsvangirai ‘barred’ from Chiadzwa

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
04 July 2011

Suspicion was high on Monday following reports that Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai was barred from touring the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields
over the weekend.

The Prime Minister spent the weekend touring Manicaland Province. He
previously said he planned to meet with villagers from Chiadzwa, who have
been forcibly displaced by the diamond mining operations there.

But according to The Standard newspaper, the visit was barred. The newspaper
cited unconfirmed reports that the Manicaland governor’s office had been
told by the Ministry of Mines to bar Tsvangirai’s tour because he had not
been granted permission. The newspaper also reported that ZANU PF supporters
had mobilised to disrupt the tour. A source who was part of the Prime
Minister’s delegation said: “We have cancelled the intended meeting with the
resettled people in Chiadzwa.”

“We are informed that ZANU PF has mobilised to disrupt the meetings…” the
source is quoted as saying. “To avoid confrontations, we found it fit not to
go there.”

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka has since said that the Prime
Minister had not intended to visit Chiadzwa anyway.

It is not the first time that a high level delegation has been prevented
from visiting the area, and last year a parliamentary committee tasked with
evaluating conditions there was repeatedly blocked from visiting. It's
understood that all visits to Chiadzwa are meant to be cleared by the army,
which keeps firm control of the area.

Political analyst Clifford Mashiri told SW Radio Africa on Monday that the
active barring of certain groups from visiting Chiadzwa raises suspicions
that all is still far from right at the diamond fields.

“It raises questions of transparency and we have to ask what is happening
there,” Mashiri said.

Mashiri also agreed that the situation shows that ZANU PF is fully in
control, not only at Chiadzwa, but also politically.

“ZANU PF has been treating the MDC like a junior partner and they continue
to do so. It is a very disappointing development,” Mashiri said.

Last month a meeting of the international diamond trade watchdog, the
Kimberley Process, ended in stalemate, with no consensus on Zimbabwe’s trade
future. However, the group’s chairman, said to be a ZANU PF ally, has
unilaterally announced that diamonds from Chiadzwa can be sold. This is
despite ongoing concerns of the human rights conditions at Chiadzwa and
reports of rampant smuggling.

Biti Confess Ignorance On Diamond Proceeds

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, July 04, 2011- Finance Minister, Tendai Biti has said that he has
not received any proceeds from diamond sales since January, statements
likely to further buttress calls for transparency in diamond mining to weed
out corruption.

Biti said Zanu-(PF)’s  statement that his Ministry was refusing to award
civil servants a pay increase despite receiving proceeds from diamond sales
were not true, saying Treasury last received diamond money in 2010.

"This MDC-T was formed on two pillars, the trade union movement and the
constitutional movement.

“Zanu-(PF) cannot today claim to be interested in workers issues by claiming
that the Finance Ministry is refusing to increase salaries because it has
received diamond money,” Biti said in an interview.

“I have not seen the diamond money. As the Finance Minister of this country,
I have not seen and I have not received fresh diamond money since January
2011. The diamond money that Zanu-(PF) is talking about is the money which
we received last year.”

Mines Minister, Obert Mpofu could not be reached for comment on the
revelations by Biti who has also demanded the enactment of a Diamond Act to
regulate the mining and sale of diamonds to weed out corruption.

Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has also called for transparency in the
mining and sale of the precious gems, stating that the diamonds are being
looted thereby depriving ordinary Zimbabweans an improved life.

Tsvangirai was quoted on Thursday at a book launch hosted by the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions saying “Where are all the proceeds going? Who is
pocketing the proceeds from our national resources which must benefit all
Zimbabweans in their diversity.

“This is the reason why some of us have voiced concern that there is no way
we can fail to pay civil servants and to resuscitate collapsed
infrastructure when every day sophisticated extractive machinery is opening
the country’s belly in Chiadzwa,” said Tsvangirai.

Economic analysts say Zimbabwe’s economic growth continues to be stalled by
corruption, a factor undermining the development of most African states.

Pay hikes for civil servants

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
4 July 2011

Robert Mugabe appears to have won his case, to award a minimum salary of
US$253 to civil servants, which has left unions representing workers deeply
divided over the issue.

The pay hike promised by Mugabe for some months has been described as’
inadequate’ by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who said it is still far
below the poverty datum line, estimated at US$502. Tsvangirai told the
Zimbabwe standard that government did not discuss the salary increment given
to civil servants and said he was shocked to read about it in the
newspapers.

The salary increase has seen unions going to war with the Zimbabwe Teachers’
Union, the Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe and Public Service Association
representatives, accepting the increment. But the Progressive Teachers’
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) blasted their counterparts for accepting the pay
hike, describing them as ‘sell outs.’

In the new salary structure the lowest paid civil servant will earn a basic
salary of $159, up from $128 per month. Housing allowance has been upped to
$50 from $30, with the transport allowance rising to $44 from $28.

PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe has said the pay hike was a
‘pretence and a cruel insult’.

Economist Luke Zunga told SW Radio Africa on Monday that government should
treat the issue of salaries with caution because it has the potential to
bankrupt state coffers and fuel inflation again.

‘It’s an open secret that there is no cash in the fiscus so government has
to look at ways to sustain that wage bill or else they will bring back chaos
in the economy,’ Zunga said.

He added: ‘At the moment the issue has been politicised and there are
politicians who are playing to the gallery to the detriment of the economy.
This government is visibly broke and struggling to turn back an
unprecedented economic slide. If the issue of salaries is not dealt with
properly it will destabilise the economic recovery.’

Over the last three months Mugabe has been proclaiming that civil servants
would get salary increases from cash generated through the sale of diamonds.
But money from the Chiadzwa diamonds is tightly controlled by ZANU PF and is
never sent to the treasury.

Mugabe has tried to use the issue of civil servant salaries to undermine the
MDC-T, who hold the finance portfolio in the inclusive government. The two
parties have been engaged in an open conflict over this issue and Mugabe has
used it to rally pro-ZANU PF workers to attack the MDC-T, for its refusal to
implement the disastrous pay hike scheme.

Some Zimbabwe Teachers Strike Over Pay, Daily News Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com

By Brian Latham - Jul 4, 2011 5:14 PM GMT+1000

Many teachers in Zimbabwe are on strike and may be joined by other state
employees after the government offered a “paltry” wage increase, the Daily
News said, citing Raymond Majongwe, the secretary general of the Progressive
Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe.

The wages of the lowest-paid government employees rose to $159 a month from
$128, or to $243 including allowances from $180, the Harare-based Daily News
said on its website.

The increase was negotiated by the Apex Council, which includes the
government and some unions representing state employees, though not the
Progressive Teachers’ Union, the Daily News said.

Army drills scare Gutu villagers

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

By Godfrey Mtimba
Monday, 04 July 2011 11:48

MASVINGO - Officers from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) 4-2 Infantry
battalion in Gutu have been accused of frightening villagers in the
surrounding areas by performing army drills and road runs while singing war
songs.

The villagers said they are living in fear of the over 200 military men who
perform drills every Wednesdays and Fridays around Gutu-Mupandawana Growth
Point and the surrounding areas.

“We are living in fear here because of these soldiers from the nearby camp.
They run singing political songs that back Zanu PF and the message in the
songs sort of warns us to support it or we will face consequences,” said
Monica Tavaguta Nerupiri village.

Mupandawana growth point residents say they do not understand why soldiers
do their drills in residential areas and villages other than for the purpose
of intimidating them.

“We are failing to see the logic of this, why would they come to do their
activities in the residential areas, more so singing intimidating songs.

This is no longer a normal military activity,” said Last Chin’ombe another
resident of Mupandawana growth point.

The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Masvingo provincial spokesperson, Warrant
Officer, Kingstone Chivave dismissed the claims saying the soldiers are mere
recruits from a satellite recruit training centre who will be going through
their training paces.

“It’s not true that soldiers are intimidating villagers here.  We have
recruits who are under training and they are not singing those songs.

We have our special routes we use when running and we have even marked them
and indicated ‘Recruits training’ and villagers should not be afraid of
these recruits,” said Chivave.

He added that the army has even informed the police about the activities of
the recruits.

But villagers insisted that the soldiers were intimidating them.

The MDC leadership here say the activities of the soldiers were a clear
indication that Zimbabwe was now a military state run by the country’s state
security apparatus.

The party said the use of soldiers was to intimidate rural folks ahead of
elections that Zanu PF wanted to force this year but failed.

“This shows that the country is now a military state and is being run by the
military as they have the power to do whatever they wish.

It’s a Zanu PF strategy to instil fear into villagers ahead of the elections
and it would use the soldiers to force the ordinary rural folks to vote for
them,” said Rensome Makumure MDC provincial vice-chairman.

Zanu PF is also accused of deploying soldiers in civilian clothes in the
province’s seven districts who are moving around in preparation of the
anticipated elections.

They Want To Kill Our Supporters: MDC-T

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, July 04, 2011-Zimbabwe Republic Police has declared war on Movement
for Democratic Change supporters for invading police stations.

Police accuse the MDC-T for invading their offices whenever their activists
are arrested.

“We have observed a worrisome trend amongst MDC activists that whenever we
arrest any MDC member/s for committing crimes, they mobilise themselves and
invade police stations harassing and threatening officers, thereby
disturbing and compromising security and smooth running of the station.

Should such conduct manifest itself again we will invoke the necessary
standing orders as they relate to security of police establishments and we
will use necessary force to ensure compliance, besides invoking the
applicable laws, “the police said in a statement it inserted in the state
controlled Sunday newspaper.

The police said MDC activists invaded Rhodesville and Matapi police stations
last month in search of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s senior aid
Jameson Timba who was arrested.

“It is unfortunate that the behaviour of invading police stations is
synonymous with the MDC.Thruogh admission in media reports the MDC have
invaded Rhodesville and Matapi police stations in the latest arrest of Mr
Jameson Timba. It is invasion like these that will not be tolerated  in
future and may everyone please take heed, “the police added.

Contacted for comment MDC-T spokesperson Daglous Mwonzora said “The police
want to use this as an excuse to maim and kill our supporters. There were no
such invasions and it’s untrue for the police to say that. When Minister
Timba was arrested our members visited a number of police stations trying to
locate him since thepolice did not want to tell us which police station they
had put him.

Our members wanted to give Minister Timba some food and warm clothing in the
process”.

MDC has been complaining about the selective application of law in the
country, especially the continued arrest of its members. The police recently
declared war against MDC when it accused the party supporters of killing one
of officers in Glenview.

New Zim-SA row?

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Thelma Chikwanha, Community Affairs Editor
Monday, 04 July 2011 15:51

HARARE - Zimbabwe and South Africa could be headed for another diplomatic
furore after Zanu PF strategist and serial political turncoat Jonathan Moyo
suggested that facilitator to the Zimbabwe political crisis, President Jacob
Zuma could be aiding the “regime change agenda” in the country.

But Zuma’s international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu immediately
dismissed Moyo’s astonishing claims, saying they will not be distracted from
continuing their facilitation role for the sake of Zimbabweans.

Political analysts also dismissed Moyo saying he was an ambitious individual
who was strangely creating more unnecessary problems between Zimbabwe and
South Africa.

The analysts said Moyo’s agenda was far deeper than “defending” Mugabe amid
reports that the man who sensationally said the 87-year-old leader was so
unelectable he could lose to a donkey, was destroying Zanu PF from within
after a dismal failure in the Tsholotsho “coup” of 2004.

Moyo, who has of late been at the forefront of Zanu PF propaganda even
though the official spokesperson Rugare Gumbo recently said he should not
speak on behalf of the party, questioned whether Zuma’s facilitation role
was similar to US ambassador, Charles Ray’s “regime change agenda.”

He wrote in the state media yesterday: “Ambassador Ray’s intervention last
week must be taken very seriously when seen not only against the background
of Tsvangirai’s demonisation of the security sector as a backbone
institution but also as seen against the very worrying archival fact that
the Facilitator’s Report of the ill-fated Sadc Troika summit held in
Livingstone on March 31 is astonishingly entitled “Zimbabwe Peace Process”.

“In God’s name, what peace process did the Facilitator have in his mind? Is
Zimbabwe at war? Indeed, has Zimbabwe been at war?  Which or who are the
warring armies? Is the Facilitator not aware that Zimbabwe has a GPA
government in place?

“The GPA stands for “Global Political Agreement” and not “Global Peace
Agreement”.

The GPA was signed after an inconclusive 2008 parliamentary election and not
after a war.  Quite clearly, the attempt to revise the 2008 GPA from a
political to a peace process smacks of a sinister and totally unacceptable
attempt to allege that our country has rabies of war when it clearly does
not.  Is the intention to justify Ambassador Ray’s regime change wish to
change the roots and foundation of our country?”

Moyo particularly dwelt on paragraph three of Zuma’s report at the Troika
summit in Livingstone which he said was dangerous for Zimbabwe. The
paragraph reads: “The developments in the Northern part of our continent
should impress upon all of us within the Sadc region, about the need and
importance of resolving the Zimbabwean impasse speedily and in a way that
will not just satisfy the Sadc region but also that would be acceptable to
the entire world”.

Moyo commented on Zuma’s paragraph and said: “God forbid! Did the
Facilitator really believe that we in Zimbabwe should conduct our national
politics in a way that would be acceptable to the entire world?  Which
entire world? Which country in Sadc conducts its national politics in that
way?

“It is such unacceptable sentiments, as captured under paragraph three of
the Facilitator’s Livingstone Report which is now consigned to the archives,
which dovetail with last week’s regime change call by US Ambassador Ray to
change not just the roof of our government but also the foundation or roots
of our governance as part of the Sadc election roadmap which prove the
current threat to our national security represented by Tsvangirai and his
MDC.

“The new issues about security sector reform, media reform and the reform of
ZEC among others which Tsvangirai has tabled as part of the so-called Sadc
roadmap to Zimbabwe’s elections are not only outside the GPA as signed on
September 15, 2008 but they also constitute a threat to our national
security and should be vigorously resisted for that reason and that reason
alone.”

Contacted for comment on Moyo’s views, Zulu said Zuma did not want to be
involved in the “irrelevant” newspaper opinion but insisted that they will
continue with the mandate of solving the Zimbabwean crisis given to them by
Sadc.

“We do not want to be side lined from our mandate which is to assist in the
implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the drafting of a
roadmap which we have done and Sadc has accepted the reports made by
President Zuma,” Zulu said.

“We are not going to be side-lined from the process by people who are not
even part of the negotiating team.  We are trying to get Zimbabwe back to
normal therefore we will not comment on anything outside the formal process,’’
Zulu said.

Analysts canvassed by the Daily News called on Sadc to heed to Moyo’s
ramblings which they believe are a seriously undermining of the negotiated
government.

Political analyst Charles Mangongera said it was about time that sensible
people in Zanu PF stepped onto the scene and reign in Moyo who was now
destroying relations between Zanu PF and the world.

“His unmeasured language is not suitable for engagement. Zanu PF must put an
end to the nonsense. Moyo is a senior member of the party and what he says
is perceived to be the views of Zanu PF,” Mangongera said.

“Jonathan Moyo is just representing a small clique which includes some
members of the security establishment,” Mangongera added on.

“Moyo represents a small clique which includes some members of the security
establishment and I sense that he is trying to ingratiate himself with the
military so that he can strategically place himself. He sees them as the
king maker and he wants to put himself in a strategic position,” Mangongera
said.

Human Rights researcher Pedzisai Ruhanya said it was unfounded for Moyo to
dismiss Sadc intervention through the facilitator Zuma because Zimbabwe had
invited regional intervention because of the manner in which elections were
conducted.
“If Moyo is a real political scientist as he claims to be, he should know
that politics is about regime change and regime retention and there is
nothing unlawful about the two sides of politics. Moyo himself for the
better part of his political life has been calling for regime change,”
Ruhanya said.

“His book entitled Voting For Democracy published by the University of
Zimbabwe in 1992, is purely about regime change.

“The question is why should Zimbabwe and the rest of the world pander to
Moyo’s flip flopping at every stage of his political life?”

Ruhanya went on to describe Moyo as an epitome of political confusion which
any serious policy maker should not take heed of.  He warned the military
against taking Moyo’s advice.

“My warning to generals is that whereas Moyo uses the pen to incite hatred,
if they follow his advice, they will be sent to The Hague while he remains
safe. They need to be careful,” Ruhanya said.

He urged the military to stick to their constitutional mandate of protecting
the citizens saying that history would judge them for not operating within
the mandate of the Zimbabwe Defence Act.

ZANU PF officials ‘make overtures to MDC-T’

http://www.swradioafrica.com

by Irene Madongo
04 July 2011

Key ZANU PF officials have been approaching the MDC-T with the aim of
working closely together in the post-Mugabe era, the MDC-T has said.

Officials in ZANU PF are generally understood to be split into two factions,
one led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other by
Vice-President Joice Mujuru. Reports of infighting to take over the party
leadership from 87-year old Robert Mugabe are increasing, as his health
continues to deteriorate. The winner is unlikely to pose a challenge to the
MDC-T’s Tsvangirai, observers say, and key civilian officials are keen to
build bridges with the MDC-T leadership.

Those ZANU PF officials belonging to the military however, are continuing to
condemn Tsvangirai. Recently Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba said
Tsvangirai was a national security threat and the army will die to make sure
Mugabe stays in power. The military generals are understood to dread their
fate if Tsvangirai comes to power.

On Monday, following reports that ZANU PF insiders have admitted overtures
to the MDC, Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T spokesman, confirmed that top ZANU
PF officials from both the Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions have been speaking
to his party over the past few months.

“Quite a number of ZANU PF people at parliament, at government level, and so
on, have been making overtures to the MDC with an aim of working together
with the progressive forces,” Mwonzora said. “People come under the
realisation that President Robert Mugabe is not the hope for the future
anymore.”

“Most of the people are talking post-Mugabe and [have] come with the
acknowledgement that President Tsvangirai is the man for the future and they
want to work with him,” he explained.

“They look at a variety of factors. The attendance at rallies is a telling
sign that he commands unquestionably the [support of the] majority of
Zimbabweans. Secondly, Tsvangirai is younger than Mugabe, of course.
Tsvangirai is a man of the people, he is loved by the people, he is down to
earth, very practicable. Mugabe is aloof, sick and so on.”

Mwonzora said ZANU PF approaches to the MDC have been varied, with some
coming directly, while others were more cautious.

Efforts to reach ZANU PF for a comment were not successful.

Lambasting Chinese Companies Could Imperil African Workers, Analysts Say

http://www.ibtimes.com/

By Michael Martin | July 4, 2011 11:31 AM EDT

Beijing solidified a business partnership with Zimbabwe last week that
unionists say is responsible for abusive work environments across the
southern African nation.

In a diplomatic visit of Zimbabwean officials to Beijing, both nations'
ruling parties pledged to make good on a 2010 treaty, promising strengthened
Sino-Zimbabwean political and economic cooperations.

But some Zimbabweans say that ties are strong enough.

Late last year, the Zimbabwe Allied Trade Workers Union Secretary-General
Muchapiwa Mazarura reportedly said that strong ties between Beijing and
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's administration have enabled Chinese
companies in Zimbabwe to operate above the law.

Mazarura explained that when Zimbabwean authorities were alerted to numerous
accounts of the Chinese companies' physical abuse and underpayment, labor
laws were not enforced.

"We would like to warn the Chinese contractors who are operating in Zimbabwe
that if they do not follow the laid-down laws, the union is going to take
strong action against them," Mazarura told Newsday, a Zimbabwean newspaper.

Mazarura sent a letter to Zimbabwean labor authorities. In the past half
year, there has been no substantive response, and the nation's unions have
been engaged in countless similar battles to hold Chinese accompanies
accountable to local laws.

"The Chinese companies are exploiting us," said Douglas, a Zimbabwean
construction worker represented by Mazarura, in a phone interview from
Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. He asked to use his nickname in order to insure
job security.

A general laborer, Douglas says he makes .90 Zimbabwean Dollars, less than
one American cent, each hour. It takes him four and half hours, nearly half
an entire workday, to make enough money for just one two liter bottle of
cooking oil.

Although he says his salary is barely enough to support his wife and two
children, physical safety is Douglas' chief concern.

"We are working without safety clothes," he said, explaining that workers
are not provided with necessary protective gear.

Douglas also said physical abuse and arbitrary dismissals are a daily fear
for workers at his construction company.

"There were some workers who were beaten and fired at work without payment.
Once there was a truck of cement some guys were unloading. One bag fell off
the truck, and they were beaten and fired immediately," Douglas said.

Douglas' opinion of Chinese enterprise in Africa has been soured by his
experiences with his company.

"The Chinese are not helping Africa," he said, "They want us to work
[without any] power."

Another construction worker from another company who called himself Claudios
also has a very poor impression of Chinese people after his experiences with
Chinese companies.

"The Chinese are being very rude to us," he said, "Because they are a rude
society."

"They are taking us a slaves. They don't want to use local labor laws."

Claudios said he often faces underpayment and late wages. Like Douglas, he
also complained that he had not been given necessary protective gear.

Individual workers' accusations have translated into Mazarura's sweeping
attack on all Chinese enterprises in the country.

Asked for a list of companies acting in breach of Zimbabwean labor laws,
Mazarura said that no such list existed.

"This is true of all the Chinese companies," Mazarura said.

In interviews with the Zimbabwean press, Mazarura addressed "Chinese
companies," never leveling complaints against specific enterprises.

Some analysts say attacking Chinese enterprises as a collective unit may
worsen the situation of workers in Zimbabwe and across Africa.

"The unionists ought to look at [the] picture in broader way," said James
Shikwati, renowned African economist, on the phone from Nairobi.

"It's ok to speak to a specific problem, but you ought not demonize one
player [in African international business]. If they tell the Chinese to get
out, there's not going to be any competition. A monopoly would hurt the
workers, because now, if Chinese companies aren't doing well, the workers
can go work for [a] US company or they can go work for [an] Indian company."

Shikwati noted that while stories about exploitation and inhospitable work
environments at Chinese companies are popping up all over Africa, one must
still note that India, the US and South Africa have all had histories of
exploiting labor in the region.

Meanwhile workers like Douglas and Claudios remain with Chinese companies
that mistreat them because of crippling political economic instability.

"In a country where you have people trying to go to neighboring nations like
South Africa to work, people are happy just to have jobs, so if they are
abused by their employers, that isn't much of a factor in their
decision-making," said Melvin Ayogu, a fellow at the Brookings Institution's
Africa Growth Initiative.

The Economics Bureau of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations was
unavailable for comment at time of publication.

FIFA Boss Arrives In Zimbabwe

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, July 04, 2011-FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived in Zimbabwe on a
private jet Monday at the start of a two-day visit to meet administrators of
the southern African nation’s controversy-mired game.

State radio said he is expected to call on President Robert Mugabe and watch
a women’s international match against Malawi later  in the day. He will also
inspect training facilities that urgently need funding in
the troubled economy.

An advance party of four FIFA officials arrived Sunday, including two
match-fixing investigators.

Last year, Zimbabwe captain Method Mwanjali and four team mates admitted
taking money to lose matches on a 2009 tour to Thailand and Malaysia.
Zimbabwe lost 3-0 to Thailand and 6-0 to Syria and the
players said they were paid between $500 and $1,500.

Zimbabwe Sports Minister David Coltart said Monday he hopes the FIFA team,
which includes its head of security Chris Eaton, will recommend punishment
for those found guilty.

“Hopefully FIFA will stick by the (Zimbabwe) government’s determination to
deal with corruption,” Coltart told The Associated Press. “We expect them to
endorse that there has been criminality and
prosecution must follow.” Times Live

Councillors to engage Chombo over budget

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Monday, 04 July 2011 18:17

HARARE - Harare city councillors have rejected 2011 proposals for budgetary
cuts made by Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius
Chombo and now want to confront him on the matter.

They say the drastic measures taken by Chombo a month ago will have an
impact on service delivery.

The councillors resolved on Thursday last week, to engage Chombo so he can
justify the cuts. They believe Chombo effected the cuts to gain cheap
political mileage.

The councillors, “resolved to recommend that the Minister of Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development be engaged with the view of
expressing the council’s concern on budget amendment and the impact on
service delivery.”

The councillors claim that the budget cuts are not cost effective and will
leave the city in the red, a situation which will affect the city’s ability
to offer services to residents.

“The city treasurer submits a report on the impact of the proposed budget
amendment to overall service delivery,” the councillors resolved.

Using the Urban Councils Act Section 314(1), Chombo amended the $260 million
2011 council budget affecting areas such as health, water and rentals.

Section 314 (3) of the Urban Councils Act states that, “The council shall,
with the due expedition, comply with any direction given to it in terms of
subsection (1) by the minister.”

Residents lobby groups say the unilateral budget cuts proposed by the
minister, who in the past has fired elected local government officials on
flimsy grounds, have a capacity of exposing ratepayers to another deadly
cholera outbreak that claimed over 4 000 lives in 2008.

The groups are arguing that the cuts are mostly affecting the operations of
the city’s health facilities which cater for most poor residents.

The city health account was projected to realise a $11,9 million deficit
before the cut which now leaves it further in the red.

Combined Harare Resident Association (CHRA) chairperson Simbarashe Moyo last
week said the budget cut was an attempt to de-campaign MDC councillors.

He said Chombo was pretending to be protecting the interests of the
residents yet he is in actual fact fighting them.

“Why did he just slash the budget without clear reasons?” asked Moyo.

“Chombo has imposed himself as mayor-general who is in charge of affairs of
all the councils in the country.

We know that he is fighting MDC councils to make them appear as if they are
not doing anything.”

However, Harare Resident Trust (HRT) co-ordinator Precious Shumba welcomed
the cuts saying council should deal with the bloated workforce which they
claim was consuming more of the revenue generated.

Minister Makone criticized by mother of detainee

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
04 July 2011

Co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone has been criticized for her
perceived lack of effort in fighting the corner of 24 MDC-T members, charged
with allegedly killing a policeman in Glen View 2. Anna Manjoro, mother of
Cynthia Manjoro, a 26 year old IT specialist who is still behind bars, told
our Behind the Headlines programme of her frustration in trying to get an
audience with Makone.

On Friday High Court Judge Tendai Uchena heard the bail applications for the
group and it was expected Manjoro would be freed, seeing as it’s clearly
understood she was nowhere near the scene of the crime. However only 12 of
those who have been locked up for over a month were granted bail, while the
other 12, including Manjoro, were considered a ‘flight risk’ and denied
bail.

A desperate Mai Manjoro says she has been battling to get an audience with
senior MDC-T officials over her daughter’s plight. “I tried to speak to
comrade (Nelson) Chamisa. I was told that I would get back to you. I didn’t
get any feedback. I tried Mai Makone, she didn’t even talk to me. I tried
the Speaker of Parliament’s office, I didn’t get any joy. I just wanted to
find out what the situation is,” she said.

Last year Makone hit the headlines just a week after being sworn in as
co-Home Affairs Minister after she and Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus
Mutasa went to Mbare, Matapi and Stodart police stations in Harare, to
demand the release of Mutasa’s son Martin. The 47 year old Martin Mutasa,
notorious ZANU PF activist Themba Mliswa and George Marere had been arrested
after trying to seize shareholdings worth US$1 million from a company owned
by a white businessman.

But it would appear no such enthusiasm is being shown by Makone to take an
interest in the case involving Cynthia Manjoro and the other 23 MDC-T
supporters. There were reports Makone had pledged to meet Mai Manjoro over
her daughter’s plight, but this has still not happened.

Mai Manjoro said she read about the incident involving Makone and Minister
Mutasa’s son and, “I saw some comments which were really nasty and
castigating her actions. It’s like we are in an animal farm where other
animals are more equal than others. That’s how I would put the situation.”
She said all she wanted was ‘someone to say we are doing ABC to help. The
top guys should be seen to be concerned.”

SW Radio Africa has information that even Police Deputy Commissioner-General
(Operations), Innocent Matibiri, has confessed to members of the Manjoro
family that he knows Cynthia is innocent. He however claimed Manjoro’s
alleged boyfriend Darlington Madzonga drove her car, which was seen near
scene of the crime. Matibiri confirmed Manjoro was being used as bait to get
Madzonga.

It is this admission from the police which is infuriating Cynthia’s mother.
“If they really wanted Darlington Madzonga, they should have taken one of
his close relatives. In this case he does not care because he has many
girlfriends I suppose. If he had been committed to marrying Cynthia, at
least it would make sense but in this case I don’t even know him. Last time
I spoke to Darlington Madzonga he said he would go with his lawyers to the
police.”

British MP wants to see a regime change in Zimbabwe

http://bulawayo24.com

by Moyo Roy
2011July04 12:28:12

British Member of Parliament Denis MacShane who says he has been committed
to regime change for much of his political life recently said he would like
to see regime change in Zimbabwe.

Speaking recently in the House of Commons during the debate about
humanitarian aid to Libya, MacShane, who claims to have campaigned for the
collapse of apartheid rule in South Africa said he would want to see regime
change in Zimbabwe and in Burma.

He is the same MP who urged Zimbabwean asylum seekers to accept Mr
Tsvangirai’s appeal to return home – saying there was no longer any reason
for them to be able to "jump the queue", following Morgan's speech saying
there was peace and stability in Zimbabwe.

He is the same MP who urged businesses to disinvest from Zimbabwe. This is
not the first time he has said that, he once told the House of Commons that
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights and taxpayer’s aid to Zimbabwe
should be suspended until the Mugabe regime has been replaced. He added that
Tory MPs who invested in firms propping up Mugabe should be required to
disinvest along similar lines that helped bring an end to the apartheid
regime. MacShane singled out Robert Goodwill, the Tory MP for Scarborough
and Whitby who has refused to sell his shares in a company involved with
Zimbabwe on the grounds that "this is not a good time to sell shares."

MacShane said that BA amd Virgin Atlantic made stopovers in Harare and these
should now be cut. He also revealed that Lufthansa and KLM flew directly to
Harare and described these flight as a 'life-line for the Zimbabwe regime'
which the EU should sever.

Britain is a quandary about what to do about Zimbabwe especially since the
disputed 2008 elections. It tried to bring in the United Nations Security
Council to pass a resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe or allow
military intervention but these were vetoed by China and Russia.

President Robert Mugabe's government has has always accused the British
government and Western nations for its woes, especially the labour
government of Tony Blair. Mugabe and his supporters have always said
Tsvangirai is a foreign invention.

Cattle thief jailed for 189 years

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

04/07/2011 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

A CATTLE thief has been sentenced to 189 years in jail for stock theft –
dwarfing the previous record sentence of 47 years for the crime.

Fabion Nyamayedenga, 40, from Murehwa, raided farms and kraals in
Mashonaland East province between October 2009 and December 2010.
He was arrested earlier this year in Buhera.

Nyamayedenga was charged with 22 counts of stock theft and was convicted of
all but one by Buhera magistrate Henry Sande last week.
Murehwa businessman, Searchmore Muvirimi, who had been charged alongside
Nyamayedenga, was acquitted.

The magistrate conditionally suspended 90 years of Nyamayedenga’s sentence,
meaning he would be eligible for release after 99 years.

The harsh punishment is in line with tough new sentencing guidelines in
stock theft cases after law makers moved to change the law in response to
rising cases of cattle rustling.
Magistrates must impose a mandatory nine-year minimum sentence.

In July 2009, Masvingo man Zakaria Chigome was jailed for 47 years for
stealing 21 cows, 11 of which had calves.

The sentence was at the time said to be the longest imposed in a stock theft
case.

End of South Africa's quiet diplomacy

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

South African is bringing a quiet feud with Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe into
the open, urging Zimbabwe's people to follow an election plan that has been
drafted by the regional body SADC and negotiators of the three parties in
the GNU.
04.07.1106:21am
Chief Reporter

Diplomats said South Africa was beginning to acknowledge that ordinary
people in Zimbabwe need help to depose their leader. Amid grinding poverty,
political and military rulers in Zimbabwe have enriched themselves at the
expense of their countrymen. And this cabal is threatening to disrespect the
wishes of the people if any other leader other than Mugabe is elected. Those
who have tried to fight for liberation have been beaten up or detained.

In recent weeks, analysts say, the JOC has effectively vetoed government
initiatives, including agreement to implement the outstanding 24 issues in
the global political agreement that gave birth to the GNU, ordering arrests
of senior MDC officials and banning MDC meetings in apparent breach of
Cabinet directives.

They point to the arrest of minister of State in the PM's office Jameson
Timba and threats made on the person of Finance minister Tendai Biti by war
veterans, who barricaded him his office threatening to manhandle him over
payouts and for defying Mugabe.

It is alleged that the JOC has also shown open disdain for the MDC factions
in the coalition. A military brigadier general has said the PM was a present
danger to national security and cannot be allowed to take over power.

Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba wrote in a weekly column in the local
daily Herald, that "brigadier general Douglas Nyikayaramba was a general
with an army," suggesting he had full backing of securocrats and that he
spoke on behalf of the JOC. This “fifth column,” according to political
analyst Ibbo Mandaza is hell-bent on frustrating the MDC factions into
quitting the GNU.

“To put it simply, there is a fifth column within the Zimbabwean state,
purporting both to represent the ‘securocrats’ who are opposed to the MDC
and its involvement in the GNU and reflect the mainstream Zanu PF thinking,”
Mandaza said.

Diplomatic sources say President Jacob Zuma's facilitation team has
apparently been instructed to depart from diplomatic parlance and secrecy to
level the unusual broadside on Mugabe and the JOC's escalating repression.

In the process, Zuma has placed himself at odds with his predecessor,
President Thabo Mbeki, who pathetically publicly embraced Mugabe in a futile
effort to end a wave of violence in advance of the 2008 elections.

Our source said South Africa was committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve
the crisis, in which supporters of Mugabe have beaten and intimidated
opposition-party supporters.

But he also said ordinary people were not bound by the diplomacy of South
Africa and other nations.

Zanu PF spindoctor Prof Jonathan Moyo has complained that President Zuma was
taking sides with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party. Analysts say
Zuma has been even handed and handled the mediation without bias, but with a
firm hand that threatens Mugabe's hold on power. It is the endgame for Zanu
PF, analysts say.

"We respect President Zuma's mediation, however, we have also said we take
strong exception to the behaviour of at least one member of his facilitation
team Lindiwe Zulu on the basis of comments she is making publicly, which
comments show exceeding bias such that even partisan people will have
problems with some of these comments," Moyo said.

Zulu has opened up about the delicate mediation in Zimbabwe, and pointed out
that Zanu PF was refusing to share power. She has insisted on security
sector reforms that have shaken Zanu PF to the core. And that includes a
plan to retire the partisan chief of police and the head of the army.
Tsvangirai has said the securocrats should take off their uniforms and
square off with him in the political arena.

And a recent rally in Gweru, Tsvangirai told his supporters that the people
will have to end this. He said the people had the power and capacity to end
the tyranny that has oppressed them for years.

He said it was a lesson of history that people power can topple tyrants "and
I am confident that you have the capacity to do so," Tsvangirai said.

Asked whether the remarks were directed at Mugabe, he replied: "Everybody
knows who I am talking about."

Zuma's insistence on full implementation of the GPA and the election roadmap
and by implication Mugabe's ouster has been rejected by his allies in SADC,
who have urged a softer approach to the crisis and solidarity among
Zimbabwe's neighbors in southern Africa.

Zulu has defiantly told Zanu PF that President Zuma is not bothered with
statements made outside the mediation process and will not be bothered by
the ranting of Zanu PF officials. Zulu has said the mediation team will be
guided by the position taken at the talks.

A Southern African diplomat said: "Lindiwe Zulu is no doubt espousing
President Zuma's view. Mr. Zuma has explained his position that he wants the
GPA fully implemented and the roadmap followed. He doesn't want to see
another 2008," he said of the internationally condemned 2008 disputed
president election that saw Mugabe the election loser remain in office.

"President Zuma's mediation is clearly in contrast with the pronouncements
and show of friendship toward the Zimbabwean leader by Mr. Mbeki," the
diplomat said.

Asked how he viewed Zuma's robustness in handling Zimbabwe's convoluted
mediation, the diplomat said, "Mr. Zuma has always been his own man and at
times a bit of a loose cannon."

Reports of a feud between Zuma and Mugabe -two of the continent's best-known
leaders of liberation movements against white domination -have long been
whispered.

An aide of PM Tsvangirai who has sat through a recent meeting between Zuma
and Tsvangirai at his rural home in KwaZulu Natal said for Zuma, Mugabe
represents a type of African independence leader who fought successfully for
independence, then drifted toward tyranny by clinging to power.

"He (Zuma) thinks Mugabe now despises the very people who put him in power,
and he think it is his privilege to be there for eternity," said the PM's
aide.

After the recent meeting between Tsvangirai and Zuma, the senior aide
suggested that Zulu was speaking with Zuma's blessing.

"She is free to say what everybody feels. She is President Zuma's foreign
policy advisor. Do not underestimate how tough Zuma is in private talks with
Mugabe," the official told The Zimbabwean

The Impossible Search for a Hangman

http://www.ipsnews.net/

By Tariro Madzongwe

HARARE, Jul. 4, 2011 (IPS) - For over four years now, Tendai Dzingirai * has
lived each day afraid that it may be his last. Dzingirai is one of almost 60
inmates on death row in Zimbabwe’s prisons. But like the other prisoners,
Dzingirai does not know when he will finally meet his fate – especially
since the country has not had an executioner for the last six years.

Since 2005, when the country’s last hangman retired, there has been a
moratorium on executions as the country is still searching for a
replacement.

"For this matter we are waiting for a proper directive from cabinet. There
is currently a moratorium on the death penalty since the matter is before
cabinet," said the country’s deputy minister of justice Obert Gutu.

And it may be a long time before one is found as Zimbabweans shun the job
because of superstition and cultural reasons.

According to Gutu, Zimbabweans mostly look down on the hangman’s job since
it entails the "murdering" of people, which most locals believe brings "evil
spirits" to the hangman and his family.

"In the African culture, a job that entails the killing of another human
being is not considered a job at all. It is looked at with contempt and
superstition, mostly because as Africans we believe that if one kills
another human being the spirit of that person will return to torment its
killer and his family."

He added that a majority of Zimbabweans, like himself, did not believe in
the death penalty.

"To the best of my knowledge I am not sure when (a hangman) will be engaged.
I don’t know whether the process is in motion, but I know there is currently
no hangman. Ordinary Zimbabweans are not comfortable with the death
penalty."

Gutu castigated the death penalty describing it as a primitive and inhumane
form of punishment that should not be on the statute books of any civilised
and progressive country.

"My own suggestion is that all people on death row should have their
sentences immediately commuted to life imprisonment. It is psychologically
traumatic and inhumane to keep people on death row perpetually," Gutu said.

Gutu said his ministry has been advertising the job since 2005 and not many
people have expressed an interest in applying.

Like any other civil service job, the monthly salary is pegged at around a
paltry 300 dollars. The job is reserved for men only and the identity of the
person will remain a closely guarded secret.

In one of the advertisements by the ministry of justice, requirements for
the job include dexterity in tying a knot and a cold-hearted person. Anyone
prone to mercy or hesitation is instructed not to apply.

The hangman will be stationed at the Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare and
is warned that his work will have no routine. On any given day he could be
required to execute between two to four prisoners. But months and even a
year could pass before another hanging.

"It’s not a job one can openly talk about, it’s a gory job only those deemed
evil and cursed can ever want to do. Culturally, people shun the spilling of
human blood, whether the victim is guilty or innocent," Gutu said.

Pedzisai Ruhanya, a human rights academic and programs manager for Crisis
Coalition in Zimbabwe, said the country had to do away with the death
penalty.

"If the state does not allow citizens to kill each other so what right does
the state have to kill its people? The death penalty is out dated…"

Ruhanya paid tribute to Zimbabweans for shunning the hangman's job adding
that it was a deplorable job no man should do.

"Only the devil himself can do that job – not a normal human being. After
all the hangman is paid peanuts like the rest of civil servants. Is 300
dollars (a month) enough for one to kill people for? Never. Zimbabweans
should refuse to take up this job."

Zimbabwe’s last hangman is said to be struggling with his conscience and
claims to have regretted his job.

Many Zimbabweans interviewed by IPS said they could not image doing the job.

Petros Kamujarira, who earns a living repairing people’s shoes, said he
preferred to die poor rather than be employed as an executioner.

"In my family from my ancestors they was never a murderer so why should I be
the first one to bring evil spirits into the family? Never will I ever do
it. It’s against the Lord and our spirit mediums even if you have the
blessings of the country’s laws. It’s still wrong and it will bring bad luck
through evil spirits into the family," he told IPS.

"I am not so sure if I want to have such a job which only entails killing
people. What would my wife, children and relatives think of me knowing that
when I leave home daily for work I will be going to kill someone else’s
mother, father, brother or sister?" said John Mapapu who earns a living as a
vegetable vendor in one of Harare’s high density suburbs.

Reverend Julius Zimbudzana from the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe said
Zimbabweans were holy people and that is why the position was still vacant.

*Name has been changed.   (END)

Rate of male circumcision speeds up

http://www.irinnews.org

 

Photo: Resource for HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health

"I did not feel a thing"

HARARE, 4 July 2011 (PlusNews) - Zimbabwe has set a goal of circumcising 1.2 million men by 2015 - a bold target for a country that has been slow to get its circumcision programme off the ground but is now rapidly making up for lost time.

When the national circumcision policy was launched two years ago there was widespread scepticism as to whether the country had the capacity to provide mass male circumcision, in view of a health system that had been starved of resources, drugs and equipment for years.

Tinashe Damba, 29, is one of almost 30,000 men who have taken advantage of the free circumcision scheme offered by the ministry of health in conjunction with Population Services International (PSI), an NGO, and other partners.

"I thought the circumcision procedure was going to be very painful but I did not feel a thing," said a relieved Damba after leaving the operating room at a clinic in the capital, Harare. The only pain he felt was when his penis was injected with the anaesthetic that made it numb during the procedure.

"I heard that if you get circumcised you have a better chance of not contracting the deadly HIV. It's not 100 percent prevention, but you reduce the chances of contracting that disease."

A large study in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda in 2006 found that the procedure could reduce a man's risk of contracting HIV through vaginal intercourse by as much as 60 percent.

Before Zimbabwe launched its campaign, male circumcision had only been available at private health institutions and mostly for reasons other than as an HIV intervention measure.

"Blessing in disguise"

Zimbabwe is not the only country that has been slow to introduce free male circumcision in state facilities. In neighbouring Malawi, the government has yet to implement mass male circumcision, while South Africa has been criticized for moving too slowly in developing a national circumcision strategy.

"I do not think we were too far behind other countries," said Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr Henry Madzorera, "but then we were going through a rough patch politically and economically, and the public health system was close to collapse."

A health worker strike that began in November 2008 shut down public health services for several months. The loss of qualified nurses and doctors who left to work in other countries made it even more difficult to deliver the service.

The delay was, according to PSI circumcision programme manager Roy Dhlamini, a blessing in disguise. "Only very small pockets of the Zimbabwean population practice circumcision [as a cultural rite]. People needed to be educated on the benefits, so a nationwide campaign to sell male circumcision was launched."

The findings of research in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, published in the May issue of the Tropical Medicine & International Health journal, show that 52 percent of the men surveyed were prepared to undergo the procedure.

Dhlamini said Zimbabwe was also benefiting from the success and challenges of those who had started earlier, resulting in the lowest rate of "complications" - less than 1 percent - compared to a regional average of more than 3 percent.

Two years ago, the programme had the capacity to circumcise only eight people per day at its flagship facility, the Spilhaus Family Planning Centre in Harare. From the time a client walked into the centre included up to two hours of mandatory counselling and an HIV test, with another half hour for the procedure, to when he walked out without his foreskin.

Staff shortages were another major problem. "We only had eight doctors and 18 nurses, now we have 40 doctors and 160 nurses and training is ongoing," Dhlamini said. The ideal is to have at least a doctor and eight nurses at a health centre in each of Zimbabwe's 62 districts.

The programme currently has five stationary and two mobile centres. "People have been travelling from as far as 500 kilometres to the few centres available. We want to make it more accessible for them by establishing the district centres and taking the service to them, using the mobile centres."

The process also had to be speeded up. "We devised the Model of Optimising Volumes and Efficiency (MOVE), whereby doctors now work in teams of three - one anaesthetizes, the other carries out the procedure, and the third one bandages the penis," Dhlamini said.

This has reduced the operation to fifteen minutes and counselling now takes one and a half hours.

More on Male Circumcision

Infant male circumcision for HIV prevention "promising"

Finally ready for male circumcision

"It's a thing that we needed to discuss"

Tracking the male circumcision rollout

Male circumcision does not reduce partner's HIV risk

The cutting edge (multimedia)

The campaign was largely financed by external donors but the cash-strapped government has also contributed. "This programme is part of the health delivery system. It is carried out primarily in already established government health facilities, and we provide the staff," Health Minister Madzorera said. The government will also pay allowances to those involved in field work.

Earlier in 2011, PSI and the ministry of education targeted adolescents older than 13 during school holidays, resulting in a 200 percent jump in the number of circumcisions. "We plan to repeat the exercise in the next school holidays," PSI’s Dhlamini said.

Nevertheless, some are still sceptical about whether circumcision will bring down the incidence of HIV. Mary Sandasi, Executive Director of the Women's AIDS Support Network (WASN), feels that male circumcision does not protect women and may lead some men, especially younger ones, to believe it is the silver bullet against HIV.

"Thirty years after the first AIDS case was identified we are still getting infections, even in countries where men are circumcised as infants, so this may not be the answer," she said, adding that the only solution for sexually active people is the correct and consistent use of condoms. "They need to remind men after the operation."

Health minister Madzorera said Sandasi's concerns would be valid in the absence of pre-circumcision counselling, which makes it clear that the procedure has to be used with other HIV prevention interventions.

"The message is repeated during the obligatory visits to a medical centre after the procedure. After these visits we keep on reminding those circumcised through multi-media campaigns, so there is no let-up."

Madzorera is confident the target can be reached. "The success to date of this programme is due to the fact that Zimbabweans are quick to adapt to new ideas. We have rural chiefs encouraging their people to get circumcised - that is a good sign."

 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Zimbabwe 'We Can' News Release

Constitution Watch Content Series 6/2011 - 1st July 2011 - The Nature of a Constitution