Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:11
FOLLOWING the recent
appointment of lawyer, sportsperson and business
leader Muchadeyi Masunda
(MM) as mayor of Harare Standard reporter Bertha
Shoko (BS) last week
interviewed him on his new role and plans in office.
BS: Do you have any idea how your name came up as the councillors were
discussing who should be mayor of Harare and were you
consulted?
MM: I have no idea but it's obvious it must have
come from the
councillors belonging to the party that won the 45 wards. Out
of 46
councillors 45 are from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and
there
is only one Zanu PF councillor from Harare South.
I was
approached on Tuesday(1 July), less than two hours before the
swearing in
ceremony started and told that my name had come up for
consideration for
this position and asked if I would like to consider it. I
said why not
because it's a civic duty that has to be taken up.
BS: Why did
you not think twice about taking this huge responsibility?
MM:
We keep whingeing about things and there are not many people who
are ready
to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to sort out a
problem. I
have never been that sort of person to shy away from
responsibilities. I am
under no illusion about the monumental task that is
at hand but it has to be
done and I think it's important for some of us, who
have the good fortune of
benefiting from this country's educational system
and other things, to help
those that for whatever reason may not have the
capacity to do certain
things. So we have the obligation to help so that
they become aware of what
good governance is all about.
BS: Are you well-placed for this
position as Mayor?
MM: As fate would have it, I am well-placed
to galvanise and mobilise
the business houses because of the long
association I have had with many of
them either as their lawyer over the
years or as director and more recently
as chairman of many of these
companies. So I am well-placed and fortunately
I have a track record that
speaks for itself of things that I have done in
the past that are primarily
aimed at serving the people of Zimbabwe. I am
not driven by mercenary
considerations. You know I was involved in the
inaugural sports commission
which was established in 1991. I was
vice-chairperson of what is now the
Competition and Tariffs Commissions that
was established in 1996. I set up
the Commercial Arbitration Centre which is
not just the best in Africa but
possibly in the world, and there are many
other examples that I can give.
The things that drive me are service to the
people. I hate to see things
that don't work. One must not aspire for public
office to make a career,
which is sadly the case in Zimbabwe and much of the
developing
world.
BS: What do you think are the main problems facing
Harare as a city
and how do you propose to sort them out. What is your
strategy?
MM: I think everyone who lives in Harare knows what
the problems are.
The basic problem is simply that the infrastructure of the
city like other
cities in the whole of Zimbabwe was meant to serve a given
population. What
has not happened, even before Independence, was for the
infrastructure to be
expanded to cope with the growing population. Within
Greater Harare there
must be at least 4,5 million people and how many water
reservoirs have we
got? We still have the likes of Darwendale, Lake Manyame,
Chivero and Harava
Dam.
Are these reservoirs enough to cater
for the needs of the population
that is now close to five million? The
answer is no! There are also plans
that have been on the drawing board to
build this Kunzvi dam and nothing has
happened so that's just the first
example I can give. Then, of course, the
water reticulation system, the
sewerage and all those things. The reason why
we have these problems is that
the infrastructure is bursting because it can't
cope with the sheer numbers.
So those are some of the harder issues that
need urgent
attention.
BS: Any other issues that are
problematic?
MM: There are softer issues that need immediate
attention and these
have to do with keeping our city clean. This doesn't
require much effort. As
a lawyer, I can tell you that it's through the grace
of God that the City of
Harare has not been lumbered with huge claims for
damages because the
pavements are lifting and for you ladies your stiletto
heels can be stuck
and you can twist your ankle. You know there was a
plethora of case laws in
South Africa in the early days in the 1900s where
female plaintiffs used to
sue the local authorities big time because of
damages sustained in twisted
ankles and broken legs and what have you. So
now you look at some of the
things that need attention and they don't
require much effort.
BS: Where do you think funding for these
will come from?
MM: We can't go to the government to ask for
money and you can't
expect to get money from ratepayers to undertake all the
work. An easier way
of doing it is to take all the tenants of all these
buildings, the
owners-cum-tenants of all these buildings in the CBD to take
responsibility
and we are not asking for too much, we are just saying that
take control of
the immediate vicinity of where you do business, clean it
up. If that
happens the city of Harare will then be left with the bigger
issues to deal
with - water reticulation, sewerage, public lighting, the
roads and all
those things.
The areas that need urgent
attention are the high-density suburbs
because these are the people who have
borne the brunt of the socio-economic
meltdown in our country and we will
appeal to more able members of the
community, preferably business, to
subsidize the poorer suburbs. We are
looking at a tiered system of levying
rates and see if we can get more out
of property owners and improve services
in the high-density suburb.
BS: You were part of the Harare
Inner City Partnership Project (HICP),
an initiative by private sector to
clean up the city, will you be using some
of the strategies you used back
then to clean up Harare?
MM: Yes, in 1998 I was one of the
driving forces behind the
establishment of the HICP, which was a
private-sector and city of Harare
partnership to spruce up the Central
Business District and the most notable
example that we achieved was the
sprucing up of Africa Unity Square and you
know how we did it? We just got
hold of all the property owners or anchor
tenants of all those properties
that face Africa Unity Square and they took
it upon themselves to tone up
the place and make it look as good as it looks
now. When I stepped down in
2006 as founding chairman of the HICP we had
achieved quite a
lot.
BS: Given previous interference from government, the issue
of mayor
Elias Mudzuri for example, do you think your work as mayor will be
easy?
MM: As I said right at the beginning, I am under no
illusionabout the
matters that have to be achieved and attended to and it's
a question of all
of us constructively engaging each other towards one goal
and that is to
make our city work. I would like to reiterate something I
said in my
acceptance speech on Tuesday; that is we should not get bogged
down in party
political issues because they are peripheral issues and the
basic issues
that need to be attended to in the city, like the provision of
services be
it water and other public utility things for people to get their
money's
worth, that's all there is to it. It's unfortunate that civic duties
have
been unnecessarily politicised, even long before
Independence.
BS: On a closing note what other plans do you
have for Harare?
MM: There are not many cities in the world
that have as many
competitive advantages as Harare. Within a 30-km radius of
Greater Harare we
have 13 golf courses. There is an opportunity there for
the city in
conjunction with other cities to develop golf tourism and
generate
much-needed foreign currency. There is a huge potential for a
symbiotic
relationship to be nurtured between the City of Harare, golf
clubs, Air
Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. We have been plying
the
oriental routes so why can't we have plane-loads of golfers come here
because the Asians are very keen on their golf and they will pay a king's
ransom to play golf so they can come here where we have world-class golf
facilities.
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:09
An
environmental catastrophe is looming in most wildlife protected
areas in
Matabeleland North due to an upsurge in poaching activities by Zanu
PF
militias camped at bases throughout the province, it has been
learnt.
This has prompted warnings by a prominent
conservationist that cases
of poaching, which skyrocketed following the
chaotic land reform programme,
will result in most wildlife species becoming
extinct if left unchecked.
A number of Zimbabwe National Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority
(NPWMA) officials speaking on condition of
anonymity raised alarm last week
saying the illegal hunting of game had gone
out of hand.
They said elephants and buffaloes at conservancies,
national parks and
Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous
Resources Programme
(CAMPFIRE) areas were the most affected.
"Each ward has a base of not less than 10 people who have been camped
there
since sometime in April and these people have been feeding on game
meat,"
said a senior ZNPWMA official. "In areas like Lupane, at least an
elephant
and a buffalo are killed every week and here we are not talking
about the
small game."
War veterans and Zanu PF youths set up bases soon
after President
Robert Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential
election to Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The ruling party militias have been accused of
extorting food from
hungry villagers. In some areas young girls were
reportedly recruited to
cook food extorted from companies at the
bases.
There are reports that the bases have not been dismantled
even after
President Mugabe won the 27 June one-man presidential election
run-off as
Tsvangirai pulled out citing mounting violence against his
supporters.
"There is a serious danger of over-hunting, especially
in the Gwayi
Conservancy, where new farmers are being forced to regularly
send game meat
to the bases," said another source.
"Although
the hunting season is on, the quantities of meat being
demanded by these
people are just too much to be sustained by the low number
of hunting quotas
that have been issued this season."
Some new farmers in the Gwayi
Conservancy complained that they were no
longer able to supply their workers
game meat, which they usually get from
trophy hunters during the hunting
season.
"If you fail to comply with their demands you become an
enemy of the
ruling party," complained a farmer who requested anonymity.
"This is forcing
some of our colleagues to over-hunt and it is not good for
the environment,
something needs to be done to stop this."
Johnny Rodrigues, a prominent environmentalist and chairman of the
Zimbabwe
Conservation Taskforce said recent research showed that the problem
was
country-wide, with elephants being the most hunted.
"If it goes on
like this within a year Zimbabwe will run out of
wildlife," he said.
"Poaching levels have actually doubled in the last few
months and we have
been to the ground to see for ourselves the extent of
these
problems."
NPWMA spokesman, Edward Mbewe, could not be reached for
comment on the
latest developments.
By Kholwani Nyathi
Zim Standard
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:06
GWERU Central Police
Station was turned into a retail shop on Monday
as hundreds of desperate
consumers besieged the station to buy basic
commodities.
Baton-wielding police beat up and
dispersed dozens of desperate people
who had besieged the police station to
buy scarce commodities that police
put up for sale after they had
confiscated them from retail shops that were
reportedly
overcharging.
Hundreds of consumers started gathering outside the
police station
around mid-morning after they heard that sugar and cooking
oil would be on
sale. The police initially sold a 2kg packet of sugar at
$600 million
dollars, then raised it to $25 billion.
Cooking
oil was selling at $2-billion for two litres. However, the
current price of
a 2kg packet of sugar is $30 billion, while that of a
two-litre bottle of
cooking oil is $150 billion. Consumers who spoke to The
Standard accused the
police of raising the prices after they had helped
themselves.
One of the consumers, who only identified himself as Banda told The
Standard: "They have raised the price of sugar to $25 billion for a 2kg but
most of the police officers bought the sugar at $600 million a
packet."
Some of the people who formed long and winding queues
outside the
police station were able to buy some of the commodities before
chaos broke
out around 4pm as some of the people started jostling for a
chance to buy.
The police beat up people in order to disperse them,
and then later
closed the station's gates. Some of the police officers,
speaking on
condition of anonymity confirmed to The Standard that while
consumers were
told that the commodities were sold out, several tonnes of
the confiscated
goods were still at the station, and some people did not
disperse, hoping
they would get a chance to buy some of the scarce
goods.
On Tuesday more people turned up at the station nicknaming
it "the
people's shop", again hoping to buy what had been left over from
Monday but
the gates remained closed with reports that there would no longer
be
anything for sale. Scores of people spent the whole day milling around
the
station desperately hoping to be among the first in the queues if
anything
came up. But they returned home empty-handed. However, The Standard
observed
that several Mahindra brand vehicles visited the station, with the
visitors
coming out with cartons of sugar.
Police in Gweru have
also forced bakeries and retail shops to sell
bread for $3 billion -
resulting in resurfacing of bread queues and
shortages of the commodity.
Most consumers complained that shop attendants
had started displaying
favouritism by selling bread to selected individuals
with the same bread
resurfacing on the parallel market where a loaf sells
for between $12
billion and $20 billion.
While some consumers expressed
satisfaction at the police's move to
enforce price controls on basic
commodities, others said this would worsen
the availability of the goods as
retailers would withhold them.
Others also said it was not clear
how the police would handle the
goods or the proceeds from the sale of
confiscated goods. They expressed
fears that the police were likely to abuse
their powers and convert the
goods to their own use. Police in Gweru
referred all queries to Police
General Headquarters in Harare.
With the continued shortage of basics and rising inflation, government
has
established the National Incomes and Pricing Commission to try and
control
the situation, but to no avail. Every time the government enforces
price
controls, devastating results of shops "selling shelves" have become a
common sight.
By Rutendo Mawere
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:03
Faced with
starvation after a dismal harvest, some small-scale farmers
in the Midlands
region are exchanging their cattle for maize, sparking fears
there will be a
crisis of draught power for the next farming season.
Farmer
Takudzwa Muringisi said that during a good season, he harvests
an average of
15 tonnes of maize at his farm, situated in Vungu in Lower
Gweru.
Muringisi, an award-winning farmer who has hosted
numerous field days
at his homestead said during this time of the year his
homestead should be
surrounded by stacks of maize stalks, to feed his
cattle. This year,
however, the fields are bare - testimony to the past
season's failure.
A distraught Muringisi says the incessant rains
in December and
January made it impossible to plant. When the downpours
eventually stopped
in February they went for good, resulting in the few
plants he had
withering.
Muringisi says he counts himself among
the lucky few who still have
maize surplus carried over from the previous
season. This is what his family
survives on.
However, he is
fretful as the supplies are running out fast. Muringisi
acknowledges he is
clueless about how he is going to provide for his family
until the next
farming season.
Although he has money with which to buy the grain
or maize-meal, which
is now being commonly referred to as "gold" or
"gunpowder" respectively in
the Midlands province, it's not readily
available. He is considering
swapping some of his cattle for the staple
grain, adding he has heard
certain individuals are eager "to do such a
deal".
In rural Shurugwi, desperate farmers have already exchanged
their
cattle for maize.
Taking advantage of the situation,
those who have maize are swapping
10 bags of maize (the equivalent of one
tonne) for a single beast. Those
compelled to enter into the deal say they
realise it is not a bargain, but
point out the alternative would be
starvation. At the moment, focus is on
the need to feed their
families.
Talkmore Mazhande from Nhema village in Shurugwi, who
only managed to
get one bucket of maize from his garden, said so far he has
exchanged two
beasts for 20 bags of maize and is likely to exchange
more.
"While I know and believe that cattle are assets worth much
more, I
have been forced into the arrangement because I have no maize to
feed my
family with and I cannot watch them dying of hunger," Mazhande bared
his
heart.
"Those that have the grain do not want to sell for
money. But who can
blame them considering our useless currency? They would
rather have cattle
than the ever deteriorating dollar."
Mazhande, who has a small herd of cattle, is worried the prolonged
food
shortages may force many like him to dispose of most of their cattle.
But
this would mean they will have no draught power when the next farming
season
begins.
Maize shortages are also forcing residents of districts
including
Chirumhanzu and Chiundura to travel long distances, mostly on
foot, in
search of grain.
In Chirumhanzu, the situation is
worse. Even during good seasons, many
residents record poor harvests because
of the area's poor soils.
As a result, Chirumhanzu villagers have
often relied on supplementary
relief food from humanitarian organisations.
This is why groups like CARE
and Oxfam have consistently implemented relief
efforts in the areas.
But government has now pulled the plug on
their programmes by banning
all field operations, leaving locals in dire
straits.
Sources said the situation has become so extreme, with
villagers
eating roots, fruits and leaves in an attempt to survive. Most
villagers in
most parts of the Midlands region have resorted to a wild fruit
known as,
chakata/hacha . Some of the villagers from Shurugwi told this
reporter that
besides eating the fruit they also pound it to produce a
powder which is
then used to make sadza (pap) while some of the more
innovative ones are
actually using the powder from the fruit for
baking.
The United Nations Country Team recently announced that
about four
million Zimbabweans need food aid. It also called on Harare to
immediately
lift the ban, in order to enable NGOs to assist those in
need.
By Rutendo Mawere
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:14
MOST journalists live in
fear after their stories are published, but
our ever alert police last week
brought in a totally new dimension: you can
now get into trouble for not
publishing a story.
Sergeant Mudenda from Plumtree police's
Law and Order section last
week called The Standard journalist, Kholwani
Nyathi at the Bulawayo bureau,
inviting him to the border town - 100km
south-west of the country's second
largest city.
Nyathi
immediately called the head office in Harare to say he had been
summoned to
Plumtree.
Davison Maruziva the Editor of The Standard contacted
Mudenda to
establish what the problem was. Mudenda said Nyathi had been to
the area
sometime before the 27 June presidential election run-off
investigating a
story. The people who were interviewed wondered what had
happened because
the story had not been published, he said.
Mudenda then said there was concern among the community, whose members
were
interviewed that the journalist could have misrepresented himself.
Maruziva confirmed that Nyathi worked for The Standard and was
accredited
with the Media and Information Commission. Details of Nyathi's
accreditation
and when it expires were given to Mudenda, including all the
Harare
telephone numbers of the Commission in case Plumtree police were
interested
in independently verifying the information.
Mudenda then said they
wanted to see Nyathi's ID, but Maruziva
suggested that given the ever
escalating cost of travel, Nyathi could show
these details to Law and Order
section in Bulawayo, which in turn could
confirm these to Plumtree. The
phone went dead.
The details were nevertheless texted to Mudenda,
but by Friday the
request had become a threat with Mudenda's boss, Detective
Assistant
Inspector Sifelani demanding Nyathi present himself at Plumtree
police.
Plumtree has led a campaign against journalists, with two
journalists
from neighbouring Botswana being arrested early this year for
operating in
Zimbabwe without accreditation. The Editor of The Worker, a
newspaper
published by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was also
arrested by
Plumtree police.
Maruziva said the actions by
Plumtree police amounted to downright
harassment and intimidation of
journalists going about their lawful work.
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:23
MEMBERS of the public view the much touted
power-sharing deal that
could result in a government of national unity (GNU)
between Zanu PF and the
MDC with a mixture of hope, suspicion and in some
instances, disappointment,
The Standard can report.
Some believe the only way out of the current crisis lies in a
power-sharing
agreement between the two parties, but others think the
arrangement will
only benefit Zanu PF.
Although agreeing in principle that there is
need for dialogue, both
Zanu PF and the MDC also appear to differ on some
issues regarding the GNU.
Before and after the widely disputed 27
June presidential election
run-off, which had President Robert Mugabe as the
only candidate following
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal,
Southern African leaders
and the international community called for a
GNU.
Speaking at his inauguration, Mugabe invited the opposition to
negotiations to end the country's crisis. He repeated the call on Friday on
his return from the 11th
session of the African Union summit in
Egypt, saying the opposition
should "disabuse" themselves of their claim to
power and invited them to
dialogue instead.
At the summit,
African leaders supported a Kenya-style deal between
Zanu PF and the MDC,
saying this would promote "peace, stability, democracy
and the
reconciliation of the Zimbabwean people . "
But in random
interviews, residents of Harare said a GNU would not
solve the current
economic and political crisis. They feared this could see
representatives of
the different political formations pushing the agendas of
their parties, or
individuals positioning themselves, which could worsen the
political
impasse. What the country needs, some said, is a transitional
arrangement
with a limited lifespan.
Some said they feared Mugabe would cow the
opposition into silence,
allowing him to continue presiding over the ongoing
political and economic
crisis.
"People have not forgotten how
Mugabe cheated (the late Vice-President
Joshua) Nkomo under the guise of a
Unity Accord," said Bryant Mdhara of
Dzivaresekwa high-density suburb.
"Although people choose not to talk about
it, they are aware that Mugabe
assumed total control of the country after
rendering Nkomo powerless through
that pact. Nothing can stop him doing to
the MDC what he did to PF
Zapu."
There have also been calls for fresh polls, under a new
constitution.
"We cannot be talking of a GNU after that
controversial run-off," said
Oripa Mwaita from Warren Park. "Most people
would agree that we need fresh
polls which will be free and fair, and then
we can start charting the
way-forward."
This call has been
supported by civil society organisations.
Others urged Tsvangirai
to continue fighting saying the only way out
is a complete change of
government.
Petros Chaumba also of Warren Park said: "Mugabe has
failed the
country and should just give way to new minds. Tsvangirai should
disregard
this talk about unity and continue lobbying the international
community for
help so we can conduct fresh polls. This would allow us to
freely decide the
fate of our country, rather than have a few individuals
making some costly
compromises."
The deputy secretary general
in the MDC Mutambara faction, Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, said dialogue
would be the best solution to the
current impasse.
"Dialogue is
the only solution to the country's problems," she said.
"We need a
national solution that is acceptable to all parties and the
generality of
the people of Zimbabwe. Whether that solution would be a
government of
national unity or whatever arrangements are issues of
dialogue. We want to
seek a national solution."
She would however not be drawn into
indicating whether her party,
which boycotted Mugabe's inauguration last
Sunday, would take up any offers
of positions in government.
On
Wednesday, Tsvangirai - who has agreed to negotiate with Zanu PF if
certain
conditions are met - said "a GNU does not address the problems of
Zimbabwe
or acknowledge the will of the Zimbabwean people". He called for
negotiations that will lead to a "transitional agreement".
"Our
commitment to a negotiated settlement is not about power sharing
or power
deals but democracy, freedom and justice," Tsvangirai said. "The
principle
is a transition, but it must be a transition that is going to
soft-land this
crisis leading to elections . for us it's very simple, either
they engage in
negotiation or there is no engagement. They have elected
themselves, they
have inaugurated themselves, and they can as well run the
country."
But constitutional lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku said
there was no way
Tsvangirai could say he is rejecting a GNU but call for a
transitional
government.
"Any transitional government can also
be a government of national
unity. What makes it transitional is the purpose
and lifespan. It is
transitional because it has to lead us into something
else within a given
period, in this case the writing of a new constitution,
by the people,"
Madhuku said.
He said once established, the
transitional arrangement should guide
the writing of a new constitution
leading to a referendum and fresh
elections.
"That can be done
perfectly under the current constitution. Whatever
format they take, they
should not abandon the principle that the
constitution has to be written by
the people," Madhuku said.
Before the 29 March elections, Madhuku
encouraged the MDC to take part
in the elections on condition that they
would support the campaign for a
new, people-driven constitution that would
lead to "fresh elections before
the end of this year".
There
are however some who felt the two parties should reconcile their
differences
for the sake of ordinary Zimbabweans.
"Whatever happens, talk of
sanctions or a continuation of the
prevailing economic and political
hardships, affects us the ordinary people
and not them," Tariro Gomo said.
"They should work together for our
sake...Tsvangirai has to compromise and
enter the pact, Mugabe may be
cheating him but he has to do it for us...If
he pulled out of the run-off to
save the people's lives, why not agree to a
fake marriage to save the same
people?"
Before he was fired
from his position as a spokesperson of the MDC
Mutambara, Gabriel Chaibva
told The Standard "dialogue is the only way out".
"The way forward
is to be realistic and face the facts as they are.
There is no way out of
dialogue. The MDC should realize their point of
weakness, which is that the
seat of government is now owned by Zanu PF,"
said Chaibva, who performed
dismally in his last two bids for a seat in the
House of
Assembly.
"It is impossible for Zanu PF to continue governing this
country
without the opposition," he said.
"The way forward is:
we have to talk. The people of Zimbabwe are
suffering. It is time for the
opposition to show leadership than to depend
on international goodwill.
There is no alternative to dialogue."
By Vusumuzi Sifile
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:18
FEW women would ever
imagine the prospect of sharing underwear with
friends, let alone
strangers.
But the astounding reality, Jenni Williams, a
pro-democracy and women's
activist, found recently, is that there are many
women who are desperate to
lay their hands on used panties.
Williams, the leader of a pressure group that has been a thorn in
government's side, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) returned from Chikurubi
maximum prison on Thursday to tell a shocking story about how jailed women
were living in Zimbabwe's prisons.
For 37 days, Williams, who
has courted the wrath of the police after
leading countless street protests,
remained in the filthy and crowded jail,
as the state fiercely opposed
granting her bail.
But what she saw inside the high walls of
Chikurubi made her realise
how bad the prison conditions had become for
women.
"There are women living in terrible conditions," she said, a
day after
Human Rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo secured her release. "Jailed
women face
serious challenges when it comes to hygienic issues. They
struggle to lead
normal lives."
For example, she met several
women who had not put on panties for a
long time. One of the women she met
in Chikurubi last wore a pair two years
ago.
And when Williams
and other women were leaving the prison on Thursday,
they left behind their
used clothing after a request from remaining inmates.
"It's not
easy to give your used underwear to someone else, but when
you stay in
Chikurubi, you realise this is the right thing to do," she said.
And turning to sanitary ware, Williams said prison officials were
providing
inmates with "stuff made from fluffy old fashioned blankets".
While
this was helpful considering supplies of proper sanitary ware
had dried up,
Williams said the main problem was lack of soap which made it
impossible for
women to maintain required hygienic standards.
"Without any
detergent, you can't wash these kind of materials, you
can only dry them and
then re-use them again," she said.
Without soap, it was impossible
for the women to take proper baths,
she said.
Williams said the
inmates were facing starvation. "For breakfast, we
were served with porridge
without salt or sugar. A proper meal is two
teaspoons of cabbage or rape,
and half a glass of water and sadza. This food
was hardly enough for the
inmates," she said.
Williams said she witnessed guards beating up a
seven-month pregnant
woman who had complained that she had been given less
sadza than every one
else.
"They beat her under the feet. It
was bad," she said.
Under international law, beating one's soles is
classified as a form
of torture.
But that was not the only
human rights violations she came across.
"There are several people
who are failing to access justice," she
said. "I saw someone who has been at
Chikurubi since 2004. They just sit
there wearing green uniforms, they are
not taken to court."
And many more women involved in opposition
political activities can
expect to end up exposed to those conditions after
government announced an
amnesty to create space for political
prisoners.
Williams, who plans to take a TB test after suffering
from persistent
flu, landed herself in prison after she led women during a
street protest in
Harare. The members of WOZA petitioned the United Nations
and SADC asking
for an end to violence. Before they reached the Zambian
embassy, police
pounced on the women, arresting 400 of them.
Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, who was also released on Thursday,
were
denied bail after the court accepted that she could organise "violent
Kenya-style demonstrations" if released before the presidential election
run-off.
By Walter Marwizi
Zim Standard
Business
Saturday, 05 July 2008 18:00
ZIMBABWE began counting
the costs of the sham one-man presidential
election run-off as the world
reacted by imposing sanctions in a move
analysts say will force Zanu PF to
the negotiating table with the
opposition.
Tesco, the
world's third largest supermarket announced on Tuesday it
will stop sourcing
fresh produce worth £1 million a year from Zimbabwe due
to international
concern over the current political climate.
Tesco's pull-out
follows a call by Lord Mark Malloch Brown, Britain's
junior Foreign Office
minister warning firms with interests in Zimbabwe that
their activities
could become more difficult as economic and other sanctions
tighten.
In another development, a German firm, Giesecke &
Devrient, which had
regularly supplied Zimbabwe with bank note paper for 40
years, announced on
Tuesday that it was stopping deliveries to the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ).
"Our decision is a reaction to the
political tension in Zimbabwe,
which is mounting significantly rather than
easing as expected, and takes
account of the critical evaluation by the
international community, German
government and general public," said Dr.
Karsten Ottenberg, Chairman of the
Management Board and CEO of Giesecke
& Devrient.
Analysts say moves by the German firm and Tesco,
signal the first
signs of economic sanctions, an indication that pressure is
piling up to
force Zanu PF to a negotiated settlement with the
opposition.
"Sanctions are meant to work towards a negotiated
settlement and are
an incentive for policy change," said Dr Daniel Ndlela,
an independent
economist.
While RBZ put a brave face last week
insisting that move by the German
firm will not affect the transacting
public including companies and ordinary
Zimbabweans, analysts warned of a
severe cash crisis. Last week queues were
evident at most banks as
Zimbabweans grapple to get their hard-earned
salaries.
RBZ
governor Gideon Gono said on Wednesday the central bank would
continue to
innovate and try to plough around all obstacles placed in its
way.
Information gathered by Standardbusiness showed that the RBZ had two
options: either recycle old bearer notes or sanction unofficial
dollarisation in the likely event that they fail to find an alternative
supplier.
Dr Ndlela says while cash shortages were a deterrent
to price
increases, they had brought in unofficial
dollarisation.
"People are charging in foreign currency because the
local currency is
not there," he said.
He says charging in
foreign currency is the only way out of the cash
crisis. Told that the
foreign currency is not adequate without lines of
credit from multilateral
financial institutions, Ndlela said curtly: "The
nation was promised 100%
empowerment."
In the run up to 27 June presidential election
run-off President
Robert Mugabe's campaign message promised Zimbabweans 100%
empowerment if
they re-elected him.
Analysts draw parallel of
the sanctions to those that prevailed after
the late Ian Douglas Smith's
Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965.
While Smith's government
prevailed due to unfettered support from apartheid
South Africa, analysts
say Zimbabwe's southern neighbour will not
wholeheartedly support the
country.
"South Africa does not have the impunity they had in 1965.
While South
African government can support Mugabe, Zuma (Jacob) and Cosatu
will not
support Mugabe," an analyst said on Friday. As if to prove this,
COSATU last
week threatened to blockade the Beitbridge Border Post which has
acted as a
vital link in the importation of goods from South Africa to
Zimbabwe.
Observers say Zimbabwe will not weather the storm from
the sanctions
as it has become an importer of virtually everything. While a
decade ago,
the import list was only confined to drugs and fuel, the list
has been
extended to include maize and wheat imports following the
disastrous
agricultural seasons since the 2000 land reform
programme.
With world record inflation of over 9 million percent
and unemployment
of 80%, President Mugabe faces an invidious position to
skirt around the
problem, analysts say.
"The economic
environment obtaining in the country and the new wave of
sanctions will be
the last straw to break President Mugabe's government," a
bank economist
said on Friday.
By Ndamu Sandu
Zim Standard
Business
Saturday, 05 July 2008 17:59
CRISIS-HIT Zimbabweans are the unhappiest
people in the world, a new
survey by the National Economic Foundation
shows.
According to the World Values Survey, Zimbabwe is
the lowest ranked of
the 97 countries surveyed with a mean of -1.92 followed
by Armenia and
Moldova with -1.80 and -1.74 respectively.
The
World Values Survey is the work of a global network of social
scientists who
perform periodic surveys addressing a number of issues.
Researchers said
that wealth is important for happiness.
"Not surprisingly, three of
the world's poorer countries with long
histories of repressive governments -
Moldova, Armenia and Zimbabwe - are at
the bottom of the happiness list.
Virtually all of the lowest ranking
nations struggle with legacies of
authoritarian rule and widespread
poverty," the survey said. Zimbabwe's
neighbours South Africa and Zambia
fared better and were ranked 59 and 71
respectively.
Analysts say the latest ranking is reflective of what
is obtaining on
the ground as Zimbabweans grapple with a man-made economic
crisis. With
unemployment of over 80% and world beating inflation, the
situation in
Zimbabwe is unprecedented in a country outside a war
zone.
Researchers from the University of Michigan's Institute for
Social
Research (ISR) in Ann Arbor, say the overall rise in reported
happiness "is
due to greater economic growth, democratization and social
tolerance".
Denmark tops the list of surveyed nations, along with
Puerto Rico and
Colombia.
Researchers measured happiness by
simply asking people how happy they
were, and how satisfied they were with
their lives as a whole. Ninety-seven
percent of respondents gave answers
that strongly correlated with how
satisfied they were with various aspects
of life such as gender equality and
tolerance of minorities.
"The relative importance of economic prosperity to happiness changes
as
societies get richer," says Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at
the
university who directed the study.
"In low-income countries, one's
economic situation has a huge impact
on happiness. But among more prosperous
countries, political freedom and
social tolerance play a greater role in
determining how happy people are."
Inglehart argues that improving
economic conditions and rising
political and social freedom can improve
satisfaction within whole
societies, long term.
The World
Values Survey has measured happiness since 1981. Its
researchers have
interviewed more than 350 000 people.
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 05 July 2008 16:47
THERE was
a certain irony in the headline of the state-owned Herald
newspaper, on
Monday 30 June 2008.
'It's a landslide!' bellowed the
headline. A landslide, indeed, is
what had just engulfed Zimbabwe in the
aftermath of Robert Mugabe's
one-horse race for the presidential office
after MDC'S Morgan Tsvangirai had
withdrawn.
Some communities
live in constant fear of landslides; when Nature
shows the unkind side of
her character. In Zimbabwe, people live in constant
fear of a man-made
landslide that comes regularly through the medium of an
election. So regular
has this phenomenon become, it has a uniquely
Zimbabwean character, it must,
surely, be given a distinctly Zimbabwean
name: 'It's a Zanuslide!' might
have been a more apt headline.
The instalment of Mugabe as
President was short, sharp and swift as
predicted in these pages in the
weeks leading to the 27 June one-man race.
The collective effect of the
reports of the observer missions is that the
elections were neither free nor
fair and failed, therefore, to reflect the
will of the people. The
credibility of that race was dealt a further blow
when the African Union
issued a resolution calling for the establishment of
a Government of
National Unity (GNU).
Mugabe and Zanu PF have appeared receptive to
this idea. That is
hardly surprising as it was always part of the plan. A
day before the
election Mugabe had himself stated that the doors were open
for talks with
the opposition. They were never serious about the election
and even they
recognise the paucity of legitimacy. The election was designed
to confer one
important thing: leverage in negotiations. Having lost in the
March
election, Zanu PF was keen to regain its legal leverage in terms of a
foothold on state power.
The AU has not helped matters a great
deal. It has simply bought into
the Zanu PF plan because a GNU was always on
its cards, contrary to public
posturing. Indeed, GNU model is a tried and
tested model of dealing with
political opponents, using a combination of
coercion and baits - the bait
being an invitation to join the gravy train
after a demonstration of the
violent impact of force. That indeed is the
path travelled by PF Zapu, until
it was swallowed by Zanu PF.
In considering the path of negotiation, the MDC may wish to take heed
of the
old saying, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts". This of course derives
from
the story of the most famous of Greek gifts, the Trojan Horse.
It
is said that during the Trojan Wars, the Greeks had laid siege on
the city
of Troy for a decade. When they decided to leave, they built a very
large
wooden horse as a sign of peace and an offering to the gods. As they
retreated, they left the large wooden horse at the gates of Troy. When the
citizens of Troy opened their gates for the first time since the siege, they
received the gift, which appeared harmless. But when it was brought inside
the city, Greek soldiers who were hidden within the wooden structure came
out and destroyed the city of Troy. The Trojans had been warned against
accepting the gift.
Likewise, the MDC has been under siege from
Zanu PF. Suddenly, Zanu PF
has changed and is talking peace and unity. The
MDC has reason to fear that
this may be no more than Zanu PF's Trojan Horse;
that once it comes in,
gains a foothold and re-organises, it could well
carry out destruction of
the dream from within.
There can be no
doubt that Zanu PF is in dire need of negotiations.
They have the power but
not much to use it for given the paucity of
legitimacy and increasing
disquiet across Africa. So what should the MDC do
in these
circumstances?
The MDC is right to be sceptical, first about the
genuineness of its
rival and second about the intended outcome of those
talks and the effect of
any governmental structure that will emerge. Is Zanu
PF serious about the
talks or is it simply trying to buy the legitimacy that
it sorely lacks? And
more importantly, what would be the effect on the
broader democratic
movement of any unity government that is likely to arise?
Will it, for
instance, derail the greater struggle to rid the country of a
hostile,
corrupt, anti-democratic culture that has flourished under Zanu PF
rule?
Zimbabwe's problems will not simply be solved by a GNU - at
least, the
lessons of 1987 Unity Accord are clear. The country faces both
immediately
visible and deep-rooted problems. Zanu PF's approach may be to
regain some
legitimacy, proceed on a business-as-usual basis and hope that
the economic
challenges can be easily rectified. This approach overlooks the
deep-seated
deficiencies in the system of government, which is affected by a
culture of
corruption, greed, intolerance and above all, the supremacy of
fist over the
hand of the law. It is arguable, therefore, that a simple GNU
will not work
to the desired effect.
hat is more plausible,
however, is a temporary transitional
arrangement on the basis that this can
stabilise the social, political and
economic conditions in the country in
the short term, ushering a reformed
order in which a more permanent
electoral solution can be constructed.
It is arguable that entering
into any arrangement with Zanu PF,
however temporary, would be tantamount to
giving in and sacrificing the MDC's
democratic principles. There is a risk
that once they have joined the
proverbial gravy train, Zimbabwe's greatest
hope of achieving a democratic
environment will be jettisoned.
Yet, one must also consider that the MDC's Achilles Heel has been its
inability to influence matters within government structures or more
pointedly, its lack of power otherwise derived from control of institutions
of the state. That is because it has not had a foothold in the structures of
power. Zanu PF has for long been able to use its monopoly of state power to
the detriment of its opponents. The MDC might therefore wish to consider
whether this could, therefore, be an occasion for drawing power from Zanu
PF's
traditional sources?
One can see that remaining outside
the strictures of the state will
deprive Mugabe of the much needed
legitimacy but it will not necessarily
bring him down in the short-term.
Instead, he and his comrades are likely to
dig in, retaining their comforts
despite the sanctions, whilst the general
citizens continue to bear the
brunt of the economic collapse. The question
that arises therefore is,
whether, in this likely long-drawn process towards
democratisation, it can
create some space for itself and gain a foothold
that would enable it to
have some measure of influence in those structures
where power is held, for
example the security structure that includes the
military.
At
the end of the day, whether under Zanu PF or the MDC, the key for
Zimbabwe's
political governance is to create a new environment in which a
more credible
election can be held. This means that a big priority of the
transitional
authority will be to create a new democratic Constitution. That
could be the
principal product of any transitional arrangement, which will
then pave the
way for new and proper elections. Meanwhile, by then, through
the
transitional arrangement Mugabe will, surely have found a way out.
Tsvangirai is right when he says that the struggle is not simply for
power
but about democracy. But as we have seen, that environment cannot be
achieved without power. Those who are in control of state power are the
primary determinants of the political and economic environment. In the case
of Zanu PF, this has been a disaster; a man-made Zanuslide that has engulfed
the whole nation. If the MDC is to create a democratic environment it has to
gain power; therefore power is, indeed, what they are fighting for. It is
achieving this power that has proved to be a very difficult problem. That
way will probably be opened through some form of transitional arrangement.
But in negotiating, the MDC does need to "beware of Zanu PF bearing gifts".
Because, one still has to fear Zanu PF, even when it is offering
gifts.
*Alex T. Magaisa is based at Kent Law School, The University
of Kent
at Canterbury and can be contacted at a.t.magaisa@yahoo.ca.uk or wamagaisa
@yahoo.co.uk
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 05 July 2008 16:45
There
are two things that characterise President Robert Mugabe's
legacy; these are
poverty and violence. This is the double tragedy is what I
will call the
urgency of now.
When he took over in 1980, the average life
expectancy was 65 years.
Now it is 34 years for women and 37 for men. As I
write I am only two years
away!
Our economy can become
functional again in a relatively short space of
time. We all know what needs
to be done on the farms. Our nine-year-old
disaster on the farms is proof
enough that farming is a specialized
activity.
Our industrial
infrastructure is still there, and with repairs and
refurbishments it will
become functional in a much shorter period. Add to
that fiscal discipline,
foreign capital injection and recalling
professionals who are economic
refugees all over the world then we will be
on the path to
recovery.
The most difficult task is dismantling institutionalized
violence and
impunity that have destroyed the social fabric of our people.
In Mugabe's
time politics is war, and what makes the situation worse is that
everything
has been politicized. To get food aid one needsto produce Zanu PF
party
card. To travel to one's rural home one needs a Zanu PF party
card.
It is important to note that there are many very poor
countries in
Africa and the world. In fact, most countries in Africa are
poor, but they
are relatively peaceful in terms of direct violence. I can
give examples of
Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Tanzania. They are not at war
with themselves.
Our communities have become war zones, with Mugabe's youth
militia not only
going as far as spying on their parents and relatives, but
perpetrating
preposterous violence against anyone suspected to be a member
of the
opposition.
Homes have been burnt down, women have been
raped, people have been
beaten up and tortured, and scores are dying in the
name of protecting the
leader. What makes the situation unbearable is the
fact that the national
security forces not only condone these dastardly
acts, but they directly
participate in the violence. We have many cases in
which the victims went to
report to the police, only to find themselves
being arrested for provoking
"peace-loving Zimbabweans" defending the gains
of our revolution. We have in
our communities people who get angry on behalf
of Mugabe. As a result,
thousands have been internally
displaced.
As we enter the period of transition, we have many
people who bear the
scars of Mugabe's madness. And the greatest danger of
our time is that many
people will seek revenge. Many believe with a new
government it will be
their turn. This is very real because we have many
people who took their
personal differences with relatives and neighbours and
branded them in the
violent political realm which Mugabe's government not
only created and
supported, but would pardon anyone arrested for heinous
crime as long as he
or she mentioned his name.
Add to this the
prevalence of youth militia and war veterans' bases
scattered in the rural
areas then you have the best ingredients for a civil
war.
In
light of this, I propose several points as a strategy that will
lead to the
re-construction of Zimbabwe's social fabric.
*We must start by
dismantling torture centres established shortly
after the announcement that
Mugabe lost the first round of elections on 29
March 2008 to MDC's Morgan
Tsvangirai.
*Immediate steps must be taken to disband the youth
militia. There
should therefore be a re-integration process for these youths
so that they
return to proper civilian life.
*The tens of
thousands of displaced and severely traumatized people
need to be put
through a process of rehabilitation and healing before they
are assisted to
go back to their homes. A package of resources, financial
and otherwise,
should be made available to help them re-start their lives.
*It is
also important the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), the Zimbabwe
Republic
Police (ZRP), the Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) and the Central
Intelligence Office (CIO) are made more professional with most of the senior
officers retired. The "war veterans" who have now become Mugabe's terror
machine, should be re-organised into a civilian organization.
*
Finally, there is need to demilitarize economic and public
institutions.
Most parastatals and public institutions/companies are led by
retired senior
army or police officers.
This was done to ensure smooth looting of
resources. Professionalism
has been abandoned and more often than not, the
people heading these vital
institutions are incompetent.
.
Establishing a justice, truth and reconciliation process. This is
probably
the bedrock on which the Zimbabwe we want is going to be built
upon. We are
a society that has never known peace. All those that led us to
where we are
today, directly and indirectly, should be called to account for
their
actions.
A truth and reconciliation commission along the lines of
what happened
in South Africa a decade ago, with the necessary improvements,
would be
ideal. This can be led by eminent citizens, the Churches,
traditional
leaders and civil society, and should be as broad as can be
possible, with
the capacity to influence policy and building of a peaceful
society. It
should also build into the education curriculum and other key
state
institutions.
These ideas are not at all exhaustive. But
they could provide a
starting point as we get to battle to find our soul
again. Unless this
transitional period is supported by the international
community, especially
fellow African governments, we are at the brink of
another failed
opportunity. Here is arguably our best chance to move from
the Zimbabwe we
don't want to the Zimbabwe we want.
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 05 July 2008 16:43
THERE was no doubt that Zimbabwe's
ambassador to Sudan, the late Lloyd
Gundu, who died in Harare 10 days ago,
deserved burial at the national
shrine.
The speed and
process with which the decision was arrived at should be
standard
practice.
Gundu was a member of the first group of seven freedom
fighters to
receive training in guerrilla tactics in China between 1962 and
1963,
alongside Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Rural Housing and Social
Amenities.
It was Mnangagwa and Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of
State for
National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, who
announced
conferment of Hero status on Gundu's family.
Similarly, when Retired Lieutenant-General Amoth Nobert Chingombe died
early
in June, those who had worked with him and had witnessed him
overseeing the
integration of Zanla, Zipra and the Rhodesian Forces, were
able to vouch for
his record.
Clearly Mnangagwa, who had trained with Gundu, was able
to inform the
Zanu PF hierarchy about the heroic exploits of Gundu and thus
persuade them
to honour him with burial at the national shrine.
But several cases involving freedom fighters who belonged to PF Zapu
and
whose exclusion from Heroes' Acre have been questionable suggest either
a
deliberate de-emphasis of the role played by these cadres during the
struggle for Independence or that those of their surviving colleagues are
betraying them by not speaking up for them.
For example, the
late Isaac Nyathi, who died in December last year was
only granted hero
status minutes before his burial at Lady Stanley Cemetery
and not at Heroes'
Acre in Harare. Nyathi had been a senior PF Zapu leader
during his
time.
At Lady Stanley Cemetery, Nyathi joined other PF Zapu
luminaries from
the liberation struggle, among them the late Zipra commander
Lookout Masuku
and Masala Sibanda. Sibanda was declared a national hero long
after burial.
Masuku, Nyathi and Sibanda have one thing in common
with former Home
Affairs minister, Dumiso Dabengwa: they were arrested after
the alleged
discovery of arms caches on properties owned by former Zipra
combatants
during the early 1980s. It was the beginning of a government
purge of the
leadership and cadres of PF Zapu. Perhaps they have never been
forgiven,
hence the fear among surviving colleagues to come out openly
arguing their
case for burial at Heroes' Acre.
In one of the
cases, the country was told that the delays in
recognising the contribution
of these former PF Zapu leaders was due to
telephone network problems. No
one in their right mind would accept such
inane explanations.
Unfortunately such actions do nothing to deflect charges of Zanu PF
selective application of the criteria in conferring hero's status on those
who made an invaluable contribution before and after
Independence.
Those who were in PF Zapu but are still alive
shoulder the blame for
the shoddy treatment of their colleagues who are
being overlooked for the
liberation war honours. Ironically, by not speaking
out for their
colleagues, surviving former PF Zapu members could find
themselves being
ignored and their records during the struggle being
trivialised.
The one significant lesson from these regrettable
cases is that it's
time we had a proper record of who did what during the
struggle. PF Zapu and
the old Zanu PF need to come up with such a list
because memories are fading
and those who know much about the struggle
period are dying. Valuable
knowledge is being lost.
Few
individuals, Dabengwa, Enos Nkala and Nathan Shamuyarira have
promised to
write definitive works about the struggle. It's time they put
pen to paper
so that we see an end to these shocking double standards.
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 05 July 2008 16:40
AT the oldest English
university, Oxford, a group of Zimbabweans -
some in exile, others formerly
citizens and others still, legally resident
in the country - gathered to
discuss researching and reporting on their
country.
For
me, it was a crowning achievement: in the 1970s, I had been to
Cambridge.
Now, I was a confirmed "Oxbridge" person.
Just a slight detail: at
neither of the universities was I studying.
At Cambridge, I had gone to see
David Bonavia, a Reuters correspondent
studying Chinese in preparation for
his new assignment in Hong Kong.
We had worked together in Zambia,
where I was the Reuters stringer and
he the resident
correspondent.
We had become close and on my visit to the UK, he
invited me to visit
him at his "digs" at Cambridge, where we chewed the fat
and compared notes
on the state of the world.
David died young
of complications from diabetes a few years later. At
Oxford, I was reunited
with another old acquaintance, Terence Ranger. We
first met in 1960 or
thereabouts at the Harare community centre in what is
now
Mbare.
He was a lecturer at the University of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland and I
was a reporter on The African Daily News. In 1963, he was
deported from
Southern Rhodesia. He did return after
independence.
Incidentally, in 1964, I was declared a
prohibited immigrant from
Malawi, but returned a free man after Kamuzu Banda
lost an election. The
professor and I had a lot to talk about at
Oxford.
But one thing struck me about our lively discussions on the
state of
Zimbabwe.
A number of speakers suggested our "crisis"
was being blown out of
proportion. There were far more serious upheavals in
the world, deserving
far more attention than our "little domestic tiff" in
which the West was
butting in, selfishly, needlessly.
But the
piece de resistance for me had to be this: Robert Mugabe did
not deserve
this incessant demonisation. He had clung resolutely to his
position on the
land reform programme and for that he was being punished.
What
about the killings of unarmed civilians? Well, there were African
leaders
who had killed more people.
There were attacks on the Western
media, focusing on their
"inordinately excessive" coverage of the Zimbabwe
situation. There were far
more explosive political and economic stories in
the world than the Zimbabwe
one, it was argued.
Later, as we
watched coverage of the African Union summit in Sharm
el-Sheikh, we saw both
the president and George Charamba robustly
reinforcing the "leave us alone"
tone we had heard at Oxford.
That this demonstrates the
government's state of denial is most
eloquently illustrated by the
intemperate response to any questions relating
to free and fair elections
and the murder of unarmed civilians.
All this cannot be justified
with any bombastic rhetoric laced with
the customary conspiracy accusations
against the Western media.
There may indeed be a regime change
agenda, but it was never hatched
in the West.
The clearest
indication of how close it came to fruition was the
outcome of the
harmonised elections last March. If the "first past the post"
formula had
been adopted for the presidential poll, Mugabe would no longer
be
president.
The reason for the murderous campaign before the run-off
presidential
poll was clearly to ensure voters were reminded how they ought
to vote to
avoid being killed or maimed.
It was such a callous
reminder of Zanu PF's capacity for brutality not
many outsiders would have
hesitated to defend even the local media's
extensive coverage of the
violence against civilians.
And what about the reports that a "hit
list" of journalists had been
prepared by someone, either in Zanu PF or the
war veterans? With the murder
of Edward Chikomba to back them up, why would
journalists not conclude that
such a list did exist and that the chances of
it being carried out were
plausible?
The world could keep its
hands off Zimbabwe's affairs if there was any
tangible evidence that
Zimbabweans themselves were in a conciliatory mood,
that there were as
anxious as the rest of the world, to end the carnage
which has led some
commentators to compare Mugabe with Idi Amin.
And what are even his
supporters to make of his declaration that "only
God can remove me" from
office? Yes, this could be an example of electoral
rhetoric, but those aware
of Mugabe's past excesses are not persuaded: they
believe he means every
word.
What leaves many Zimbabweans with only a faint hope of
salvation from
the political catastrophe to which we seem inexorably
destined is Mugabe's
and Zanu PF's incapacity to treat the opposition with
even a semblance of
respect.
One day, it may dawn on the
opposition to win the argument by adopting
Zanu PF's methods.
saidib@standard.co.zw
100% Freedom To Go Hungry
Letters
Saturday, 05 July 2008 17:04
IT seems to Robert
Mugabe, any criticism of the excesses of his
wayward government is
interference in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe.
His idea
of 100% freedom is for the world to stand aloof while he
starves and
brutalizes his own people. What a shame!
'Starved
'
Harare
-----------
Let's Boycott Chinese
Shops Over Mugabe Support
Letters
Saturday, 05 July 2008
17:02
CHINA and Russia are among the United Nations Security Council
members
that have steadfastly supported Zimbabwe and blocked any action by
the world
body against those, who have caused so much suffering to the
majority of
Zimbabweans.
Since the world body is
hamstrung, the burden is on the suffering
people of this country to do
something to show their displeasure. The one
powerful weapon that those who
suffer have against those who support their
oppressors is withdrawal of
their custom.
In this particular case, Zimbabweans who have
suffered because of
Chinese support for the regime can make a very powerful
point by organising
and implementing a nation-wide boycott of Chinese-owned
shops and Chinese
products.
When Chinese nationals feel the
impact of the boycott, they can talk
to their government and maybe Beijing
will take us seriously.
Civil society organisations and the labour
movement can mobilise
people into action. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions will take part
because the influx of Chinese goods has cost us
thousands and thousands of
jobs in Zimbabwean factories and impacted
negatively on sectors such as the
textiles and the capacity of the country
to produce for export markets and
consequently foreign currency revenue
generation.
China was prepared to ship arms to Zimbabwe - it is in
our interests
to show them that we disprove of such conduct that perpetuates
the
suppression of lawful protest.
But we also have very short
memories. During the 1980s, I recall a
Chinese xenophobic campaign against
African students who had been sent to
that country by their
governments.
Do we forget so soon when it comes to the
ill-treatment of our people
by those from the East, but when it is the West
we have long memories of how
our people were mistreated?
Tirivanhu Mhofu
Emerald Hill
Harare
---------------
After Poll Win, Can Zanu PF Now
Resolve Economic Crisis?
Letters
Saturday, 05 July 2008
16:56
ZANU PF may have "won" the 27 June presidential election run-off,
but
now the challenge is to show us what they are capable of
delivering.
They put up beautiful expressions of intent
about what they were going
to do for this country but what I am seeing
within the first week of their
"return to power" suggests a frightening
picture.
First were the bank queues for money. They grew even
longer. But
scarier is that upon entering supermarkets in particular, the
empty shelves
have become more pronounced. It is impossible to justify why
the shops
should continue to operate when all they have in stock are soya
mince,
kapenta, a few snacks occupying less than 20% of the floor space in
any
given shop.
As I write this letter to the Editor, I am told
that commuter fares
here in Bulawayo have gone up to $15 billion a
trip.
If the shops are empty, the next thing we are going to hear -
as has
happened to this city over the past decade - is that factories will
begin to
wind down and the government has not been able to do anything about
it.
An indication is that not even their own companies are
supplying the
shops. If the supermarkets are empty, what is happening to the
diversified
range of products from the Grain Marketing Board? At least we
should be
seeing those in the shops, but can anyone?
Can the
government tell us what State-run companies are producing and
why their
goods are not seen and available for the public?
Equally, what has
happened to the products from the Agricultural and
Rural Development
Authority? Where is the grain that is being imported from
neighbouring
countries, which was promised before the 29 March harmonised
elections?
Now that they have 100% total empowerment and
independence, how do
they translate that into meeting the basic needs of our
people? Can the
government tell us its programme for the next month and what
difference it
is going to make within the next 100 days in
office?
The truth as Zanu PF knows is that it had no plan beyond
ensuring that
its candidate got into power by any means
necessary.
I was stunned to hear the Ministry of Energy and Power
Development
announcing a proposal for ethanol as if production had started,
when this is
merely about what they intend to do. This is the ruse they sold
us about the
winter maize crop project, where is it now - abandoned and
forgotten just as
they did the Lowveld ethanol project they now seek to
resuscitate.
What stunned me was that this announcement was being
made without
reference to the Jatropha project, which the government
promised would see
the construction of refinery plants in each of the
country's provinces.
The government's failures continue to be
unmasked, but this time
around it is on a scale none of them had ever
anticipated. The longer it
delays in owning up and resolving the political
crisis in the country the
worse the situation is going to get.
The rhetoric and threats are now over, where is the real 100%
empowerment
and total independence?
Sizakunya
Lobengula
Bulawayo