Zimbabwe's MDC and Zanu-PF in election timeline deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk

 

7 July 2011 Last updated at 14:31 GMT

 

President Mugabe (l) and Morgan Tsvangirai have been in a fractious coalition since 2009

Zimbabwe's coalition partners have agreed to a timeline for reforms to pave the way for fresh elections.

It includes a deal to reform electoral laws within 45 days, Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper reports.

The agreement is aimed at ensuring free and fair polls, but no deal has been reached on security reforms, it says.

The 2008 poll was marred by widespread violence, which ended after President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity government.

"We signed the election road map," said Energy Minister Elton Magnoma, a representative of Prime Minister Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at the talks with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

"We agreed on what needs to be done before elections can take place," he said.

'Regime change'

Meanwhile, Mr Tsvangirai and Vice-President Joyce Mujuru of Zanu-PF have appeared together in the capital, Harare, to launch an economic recovery plan.

About 80% of Zimbabwe's work force is unemployed, and the plan focuses on job creation in the tourism and manufacturing sectors.

Mr Tsvangirai said the power-sharing government had been racked by discord and had become dysfunctional in the past six months.

"Why don't we go back to a situation where we believed in ourselves, where we united the country, where there was political stability and policy predictability?" he said.

Mr Mugabe had insisted on polls this year, but Mr Tsvangirai argued for a 2012 election so that there was enough time to ensure they would be free and fair.

Opposition members were brutally attacked during the 2008 poll

The agreement suggests they are likely to take place next year, the AFP news agency reports.

Once a new electoral law is adopted, voter education will take place in the next 30 days, followed by preparations for a voters roll in 60 days.

Electoral watchdogs say Zimbabwe's voters roll is stuffed with ghost voters, including young children and voters over the age of 100.

The Herald reports that the two sides have still failed to agree on the composition of the electoral commission and on security reforms - key demands of Mr Tsvangirai who accuses the commission and the military of backing Zanu-PF.

Many of Zimbabwe's security chiefs fought with Mr Mugabe during the 1970s guerrilla war against white minority rule and remain fiercely loyal to him.

The army was said to have been involved in systematic attacks on Mr Tsvangirai's supporters after he won the first round of the 2008 election.

Mr Tsvangirai boycotted a run-off vote, claiming it was rigged in Mr Mugabe's favour.

Last month, a top army officer, Brig-Gen Douglas Nyikayaramba, denounced Mr Tsvangirai as a security threat who wanted "illegal regime change" in Zimbabwe.

Mr Tsvangirai urged military chiefs to remove their uniforms if they wanted to challenge him politically in the forthcoming polls.

Human rights activists fear an escalation of violence as the two sides gear up for fresh elections.

The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has been mediating, urging Zanu-PF and the MDC not to plunge Zimbabwe into conflict again.

 

 

 

 

Part 2 of the leaked CIO list

ZANU PF Minister threatens mass mine takeover

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
07 July 2011

ZANU PF’s Indiginisation Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, has threatened to
take over foreign owned mining operations in Zimbabwe, saying their
indigenisation plans “fall short” of government expectations.

Kasukuwere told the state owned ZBC that “what we are now doing as
government is basically to invoke the law and ensure that we, as government,
take over those assets.”

Foreign owned mining firms recently had to submit their proposals of how
they plan to indigenise their shareholding, under the new Indigenisation and
Empowerment Act. The controversial law, spearheaded by Kasukuwere and ZANU
PF, will see all foreign owned companies in Zimbabwe forced to cede 51% of
their shares to local Zimbabweans or government approved groups.

About 173 mining firms have since submitted their empowerment plans, which
appear to have been rejected. Kasukuwere has even said that the government
won’t discuss “so-called empowerment credits” with mining firms that have
invested in social projects like schools and hospitals.

Analysts have said that the Indigenisation plans are a serious threat to
Zimbabwe’s economic future, because they hold no attraction for potential
foreign investors. The country’s economy is still trying to recover from
years of mismanagement under ZANU PF rule, and foreign investment is
critical for rebuilding the country.

But ZANU PF’s plans will ensure that no foreigners can own businesses,
making Zimbabwe even more unattractive as an investment haven.

ZANU PF factional fighting delays drafting of new constitution

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
7 July 2011

The drafting of a new constitution has been postponed again, following
serious disagreements within ZANU PF over the methodology to use in
compiling data from public outreach meetings.

Following a month long stalemate the Constitutional Parliamentary Select
Committee (COPAC) resolved to refer the issue of the methodology to the
management committee, after reaching a deadlock on the matter.

ZANU PF had suggested that the thematic committees should use the
quantitative approach while the two MDC formations are supporting the
qualitative approach to analyse the data collected from the people during
the constitutional outreach process.

While the constitution making process had stalled for the past month due to
major disagreements among the main political parties, the current deadlock
is as a result of differences between factions in ZANU PF.

A highly placed source in COPAC told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the
management committee met last week and resolved the issue by agreeing to
marry both the qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the views.

This new methodology was agreed to by all parties and an agreement was
signed by COPAC to reflect this new order. COPAC also set down Wednesday 6th
July as the day for the resumption of the drafting process. But the process
did not take off as scheduled when ZANU PF backtracked at the last minute,
saying the party was not comfortable with it.

This decision to delay the process was communicated by Paul Mangwana the
ZANU PF COPAC co-chairman, to Douglas Mwonzora and Edward Mkhosi,
co-chairpersons from the MDC-T and MDC-N.

Simon Muchemwa our correspondent told us ZANU PF strongman and presidential
hopeful, Emmerson Mnangagwa, allegedly censured the new deal. He went on to
tell members from his faction to study the document first before proceeding
with the drafting process.

This delay came as a surprise to other parties in COPAC because ZANU PF were
given ample time to study the document, but only made their reservations
known hours before the process was due to resume.

Mwonzora, who doubles up as the MDC-T spokesman and COPAC co-chairman,
confirmed the latest deadlock and insisted it had nothing to do with COPAC
but with ‘problems’ in ZANU PF.

‘It is true we were informed by Mangwana of the latest development that
their party is not comfortable with the agreement to merge the qualitative
and quantitative methods to analsye the information we got from the outreach
program.

‘But that is their problem as we are adamant that we will stick to the
agreement that is in black and white. We will reject any changes they wish
to bring aboard because these people have been backtracking a lot and this
has cost us a lot of time and money,’ Mwonzora added.

The latest delay comes at a time when COPAC was about to bring in their
three legal practitioners to start drafting the new constitution. They are
former High Court Judge Moses Chinhengo, Harare lawyer Priscilla Madzonga
and former chief government draftsman in the Attorney General’s office,
Brian Crozier, who is earmarked to chair this three member panel.
COPAC had set September as the target for a referendum, but repeated delays
have cast serious doubt on the date. ZANU PF and Mugabe have insisted on
elections this year, but the roadmap agreed to by parties to the Global
Political Agreement points to an election being staged no earlier than the
latter part of 2012.

Earthquake rattles southern Africa

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

07-Jul-2011 | Sapa

Felt in Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe

An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale rocked the lower Save
Valley in Mozambique and was felt in eastern Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe’s Herald
Online reported on Thursday.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake  struck at
12.37pm on Wednesday in an area that has seen more than a  dozen quakes in
the last 20 years, including two very large ones in  2006 that were felt as
far as Harare.

The earthquake was severe in Chipinge where panic-stricken residents
scurried for cover.

No deaths or injuries were recorded.

Zimbabwe’s Goetz Observatory in Bulawayo said it was still busy putting
together all readings.

“It [earthquake] measured 4,5 on the Richter scale, but we are still
gathering all the information from other regional stations in  Mozambique
and Madagascar,” senior seismologist at Goetz Observatory Brassnavy Manzunzu
said.

The quake originated some 25km underground in the same section of the
southern end of the East African Rift Valley that saw the two largest
earthquakes in decades in Southern Africa just five years ago.

Zim govt probes De Beers

http://www.iol.co.za

July 7 2011 at 07:34am

The Zimbabwean government is investigating the operations of diamond company
De Beers in Chiadzwa some years back amid fears the company could have
looted gems worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Zimbabwe's Herald Online
reported on Thursday.

De Beers spent eight years exploring diamonds at the fields, but later
claimed that it failed to get anything meaningful.

These are the same fields that Mbada, Marange Resources and Anjin Investment
are operating on viably today and extracting millions of carats, the report
said.

Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire on Wednesday
confirmed a probe was already underway.

“We have requested a full report on De Beers and their operations from our
officers,” Chimanikire said. - Sapa

Zim targets 7% growth in four-year plan

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

July 7 2011 at 05:27pm

Zimbabwe is targetting seven percent annual economic growth and seeking
investment for sinking state enterprises like the national airline, under a
four-year economic plan unveiled Thursday.

The $9.2 billion (6.4 billion euro) medium-term plan also calls for
single-digit annual inflation and six percent annnual employment creation,
economic planning minister Tapiwa Mashakada told guests at the launch in the
capital.

The plan will be financed through loans and foreign investment, particularly
for troubled state-owned firms like Air Zimbabwe, the state railway company
and the power utility ZESA, he said.

“It cannot be business as usual,” Mashakada said. “We need to recover the
lost decade.”

Zimbabwe's economy is slowly recovering from more than a decade of freefall,
characterised by hyperinflation which rose to 231

million percent before the government stopped counting.

Most Zimbabweans now live in poverty, with unemployment estimated at more
than 80 percent.

The economy has been on the mend since early 2009, when veteran President
Robert Mugabe and his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a
power-sharing government and dumped the local currency in favours of the US
dollar.

Inflation has been tamed, and the economy grew by nine percent last year,
although the International Monetary Fund predicts that will ease to 5.5
percent this year.

Tsvangirai urged parties in the unity government to put aside political
differences to focus on rebuilding the economy.

“In the last six months what has come out in the public is discord and
dysfunction,” he said.

“We must instil a sense of commitment. Inspite of our political variations,
we must commit ourselves to the principal objectives of the medium-term plan
come hell and thunder.”

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party shrugs off blame for the economic collapse, pointing
instead to sanctions imposed by western countries on Mugabe, members of his
inner circle and companies associated with his party. - Sapa-AFP

Misleading reports over Principals’ meeting

Thursday, 07 July 2011

There have been misleading reports in the press about what transpired at the meeting of the Principals held at Zimbabwe House on Wednesday, 6 July, 2011. The Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and the Permanent Secretary are not spokespersons of the Principals and cannot claim to speak on behalf of all the Principals of the inclusive government.

The two were invited to explain the lack of comprehensive media reforms in the broadcasting and print media in line with the GPA and the agreement of the Principals. They have instead chosen to abuse their presence at that platform on Wednesday to mislead the nation when in fact they were called in to explain the stalled media reforms in the country, particularly the reform of the ZBC and the public print media which have caused unnecessary national discord through biased reporting.

The Principals and the negotiators of the respective parties have agreed to a new board for the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, the ZBC and the Mass Media Trust in order to engender true and inclusive media reforms in line with the spirit of the GPA.

The Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity has sought to stand in the way of far-reaching media reforms, choosing instead to raise unnecessary technical arguments which stand in the way of the letter and spirit of the implementation matrix of the 24 agreed GPA issues, of which media reform is just but one of them.

The reconstitution of the BAZ board, the ZBC board and the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust is expected to instil public confidence, bring in new broadcasting players, deal with issues of hate speech and make the public media impartial during this delicate transition period.

There was no agreement to stop the setting up for the Mass Media Trust until the issue of its funding is settled, as claimed in today’s issue of The Herald.

The Principals agreed that the MMT should be set up as a matter of urgency to democratise the public print media and to bring back public confidence. The public print media (and the public broadcast media as well) have lost credibility due to unmitigated political interference and their incestuous relationship with some government officials who promote disunity, discord and hate speech against some State actors in the inclusive government.

There have been overt attempts by the ministry’s senior officials to stand in the way of comprehensive media reforms. Misleading reports about what transpired during the Principals’ meeting are deliberately meant to muddy the waters so that democratic reforms as enshrined in the GPA and as agreed by the Principals do not take place.

The issue of the Diaspora vote was not smuggled into the meeting of the Principals, as claimed by the so-called Herald’s “sources.” The Principals have a right to discuss any issue they feel is in the national interest. It was agreed by the Principals that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission be tasked with producing a report on the issue of the Diaspora vote.

Every Zimbabwean has a right to vote. The Herald story exhibits overt attempts to scuttle the Diaspora vote even before the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has produced the report as requested by the Principals.

All democratic reforms, particularly the democratisation of the media, are in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe. All democratic reforms should be encouraged, not scuttled through unnecessary and self-serving propaganda.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Spokesperson
Office of the Prime Minister


--
MDC Information & Publicity Department

Parly probes Kariba project

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Roadwin Chirara, Business Writer
Thursday, 07 July 2011 17:35

HARARE - Zimbabwe's parliamentary committee on mines and energy is planning
an investigation into the stalling of Kariba South’s $3 billion expansion.

The project is still to take off despite having secured funding from the
China Export-Import Bank (Eximbank).

Edward Chindori-Chininga, the committee’s chairman, said they were set to
travel to the northern border town to have a first-hand information and
understanding of the situation regarding the status of the project.

“The committee is set to visit Zambia Kariba Hydro Power expansion project
under construction by Sino Hydro to have a first have view of the work being
done,” the Guruve South legislator said, adding they were also working with
Elton Mangoma’s Energy ministry on the tour.

He said the parliamentary team’s interest and mission is to address various
stakeholders, including those from neighbouring Zambia. In particular, they
wanted to engage parties involved in the implementation of the mega-million
venture.

“Committee will meet Zambian (government) officials, Zesco (Zambian
electricity utility), Zambezi Water Authority and Sino Hydro Corporation,”
he added.

Zimbabwe signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with various Chinese
financial institutions for the expansion of Kariba South — to be handled by
the Asian contractor — Sino Hydro has already submitted requisite proposals
for the work, including conceptual designs as well as methodology for the
execution of the multi-billion dollar project.

On the other hand, Sino hydro is already expanding the northern power
station in Zambia, with support from Beijing’s Eximbank. Civil works for the
project are expected to be completed by October this year, people in the
know said.

The planned construction and expansion work, which will add 250 to 400
megawatts of power in capacity, comes at a time the Zesa Holdings continues
to struggle with supply issues.

Experts recently said the utility was losing about $640 million per year due
to poor billing and other operational lapses. They said the utility was also
losing an estimated US$500 million due to load-shedding and another $100
million due to a shambolic billing system.

As it stands, the power utility owes regional suppliers over $100 million
and in bids to improve the parlous situation Mangoma’s department has also
submitted a list of 20 possible projects for consideration with the China
Export and Import Bank. These include Batoka Gorge, an ambitious and
long-visualised project.

According to Tendai Biti’s Finance ministry, the projects were necessary to
achieve the country’s macro-economic stability and growth during the short
run.

In the meantime, Kariba south’s development also comes at the back of the
signing of an MOU between Zesa and South Africa’s Hatch Africa Energy.

The agreement is in respect of consultancy services for the expansion of the
northern Zimbabwe and Hwange power plants.

Under the August 2010 pact, Zesa had invited major power consumers to take
up three of its small thermals in Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare for
upliftment of power output, and consumption under an agreement that would
also see surplus energy being fed onto the national grid and at agreed
tariffs.

The country has a total installed capacity of 1 680 MW, with 750 of it
coming from Kariba, 780 at Hwange and 150 MW from small thermals.

However,  only 940 MW of this is currently available against a peak demand
of 1 950 MW.

Botswana breaks with AU, supports international court’s warrant for Libyan leader Gadhafi

http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, July 8, 1:38 AM

GABORONE, Botswana — Botswana says it differs with the African Union’s
decision to disregard the international arrest warrant for Libya’s Moammar
Gadhafi.

Last week, the AU called on its members to disregard the warrant, saying it
“seriously complicates” its efforts to find a solution to the Libyan crisis.

Government spokesman Jeff Ramsay told The Associated Press on Thursday that
Botswana is concerned about human rights violations in Libya and supports
the warrant on Gadhafi “because as a member of the ICC we respect our treaty
obligations. It does not pass judgment but calls for prosecution.”

Botswana has previously shown unwillingness to stand with African dictators.
It has called for sanctions against Zimbabwe, criticizing a southern African
grouping’s mediation efforts.

Zimbabwe growth revival in spite of problems — Biti

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

07/07/2011 08:09:00    DUMISANI MULEYA

ZIMBABWEAN Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the country’s economy, almost
irretrievably buried under the rubble of a meltdown three years ago, has
finally turned the corner, although serious problems still remain.

Mr Biti’s remarks ahead of his midterm fiscal policy review later this month
show growing confidence in the economy in official circles despite a
plethora of challenges still buffeting the country.

In a rare show of self-assurance and buoyancy, he said yesterday in Harare
he was positive projected 9,3% gross domestic product (GDP) growth could be
reached by the end of the year.

"Economic growth remains on course, driven by robust performance of
agriculture and mining, riding on booming international commodity prices.

"Data from the 2010-11 Second Round Crop & Livestock Assessment Report
indicates improvements in tobacco output from the original projection of
150-million to 177,8-million kilogram s," the minister said .

"The above improvement in tobacco output, together with other slight
offsetting revisions of value added of other key sectors such as mining,
manufacturing, tourism and communication, indicates the GDP growth
projection of 9,3% can be achieved by the end of 2011."

Economic prospects were also bright as shown by the continued decline in
inflation, he said .

"Inflation continued slowing down from 3,5% in January to 3 % in February,
2,7% in March and April and further decelerated to 2,5% in May . Assuming
the trend continues, the country is set to achieve a lower average inflation
rate below the 4,5% projection," Mr Biti said.

Macroeconomic stabilisation, underpinned by the multicurrency regime from
2009, has laid a solid foundation for recovery. The economy had effectively
collapsed in 2008 when hyperinflation surged to 500-billion percent per
year.

The local currency, eventually liquidated by the meltdown, was at one point
trading at an exchange rate of Z$10-trillion/US$1.

Mr Biti said that while many problems still linger, stability and growth had
returned to a devastated economy which endured nearly a decade of
hyperinflation and a serious breakdown and malfunctioning in payment
systems.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) latest assessment
report, the main problems still dogging Zimbabwe’s economy include: a slow
recovery from a low base; structural rigidities; banking-sector
vulnerabilities; limited revenues and fiscal space; balance of payments
pressures; a huge current account deficit; policy contradictions and
inconsistencies especially around the controversial indigenisation programme
and diamond mining; and a debt crisis.

To attract private investment and boost growth, the IMF says, Zimbabwe needs
to fully restore the rule of law, ensure security of land tenure, improve
governance, particularly in the diamond sector, and bring greater
flexibility to the labour market.

But Mr Biti is waging a silent battle for stability against radical forces
in Zimbabwe’s government. Yesterday Saviour Kasukuwere, the Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Minister, told state television that Zimbabwe could
take over mines that fell short of laws requiring them to sell majority
stakes to locals by September. He said proposals already submitted fell
short of the empowerment regulations. "What we are now doing is to invoke
the law and … take over those assets." With Reuters

Malawians Angry At Zimbabwe Over Unpaid Debt

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, June 7, 2011 – Malawi central bank has written off the debt it is
owed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) after it has reportedly failed to
repay US$22 million. The Malawian central Bank says it has now lost hope
that it will recover the money.

The report has angered Malawians who are currently grappling with a long
running fuel crisis. One of the newspapers, the Daily Times said the money
given to Zimbabwe was enough for Malawi to buy fuel for three weeks.

Zimbabwe borrowed money from the Malawian government to buy maize in 2007.

RBZ owes several local and foreign creditors billions of US dollars.

The debts were accrued during the period when the central bank engaged in
quasi fiscal activities ostensibly to bust sanctions imposed on President
Robert Mugabe and his inner circle.

According to the Nyasa Times, the Malawian government underwrote the initial
US$100 million loan, which was issued by that country’s central bank.

“In June 2007, the government of Malawi through the Reserve Bank of Malawi
(RMB) agreed to lend the government of Zimbabwe through the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, 100 million United States dollars for the purpose of importing
maize from Malawi,” the paper quoted the RMB annual report for the year
ended December 2010.

“The Bank considered the recoverability of the loan as being doubtful owing
to a number of times RBZ has defaulted on the payment of the principal plus
interest, and subsequently impaired the loan as at year-end.”

Malawi’s external debt is also said to be worsening after it rose by 11
percent to US$846 million.

The RBZ had most of its assets auctioned by creditors who were owed money
for inputs supplied under its controversial farm mechanisation programme.
It is also in the process of selling its non core assets that include
companies to offset some of the debts.

Fresh GNU war

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetai Zvauya, Staff Writer
Thursday, 07 July 2011 15:15

HARARE - Zimbabwe's shaky inclusive government is headed for another major
showdown over civil servants’ salaries following revelations that Cabinet
was not consulted over the paltry $31 awarded to workers recently.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Finance Minister Tendai Biti on one
side and President Robert Mugabe are due for confrontation as information
emerges that the salary increments purportedly awarded to the civil servants
might not even exist.

This comes as Zanu PF’s fierce resistance to the issue of ghost workers has
resulted in a fresh audit being conducted at the Ministry of Public Service.

Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Public Service Minister Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro like his boss Tsvangirai, said he was shocked to read in
newspapers that there had been a salary increment.

Mukonoweshuro and Tsvangirai’s statements expose the major differences in
the inclusive government with Mugabe’s people insisting that the new
salaries have already been effected.

“The issue of increments was not discussed in Cabinet; there can only  be a
salary increment if it is approved by Cabinet. I know that Minister Biti has
been saying he has no money, so I do not know where these increments will
come from,’’ said Mukonoweshuro.

Speaking to Radio VOP in a separate interview, Mukonoweshuro said the
announcement last Friday by the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) that
salaries for the lowest paid workers would rise to $253 was “baseless,
irresponsible and intended to cause friction among parties in the inclusive
government.”

Mukonoweshuro said the JNC had no authority to make such announcements,
which he said are his responsibility as public service minister.

“As far as I am concerned negotiations are still underway and I am yet to
receive details of the proceedings of the last Apex Council meeting held in
Harare last week,” Mukonoweshuro told Radio VOP.

The issue of civil servants salaries caused a storm in January when Mugabe,
in what appeared to be politicking, promised “huge” pay increases to workers
claiming that the money would come from diamond sales.

But it later emerged no such funds had been promised with Finance Minister
Biti and Tsvangirai saying Treasury had never received the money.

Tsvangirai later told the Daily News that meaningful salary increments would
only be awarded once government managed to flush out about 75 000 “ghost”
workers, who are allegedly on the government payroll but working to prop up
Zanu PF.

Last week Tsvangirai attacked the new salary increments saying they were a
joke since they were well below the poverty line.

The issue of the civil servants salary has become a major political
battlefield for the MDC and Zanu PF with war veterans besieging Biti’s
office demanding his resignation if he failed to award increments to civil
servants.

The MDC feels that Mugabe is using the issue of civil servants salaries to
campaign for his party arguing that the whole government is aware that
treasury has no money to make any further increases.

The International Monetary Fund has also weighed into the debate and has
advised government not to award civil servants any increases saying they
cannot sustain it.

But Zanu PF argues that the IMF should not come to Zimbabwe to tell them how
to run their government saying such moves were tantamount to interfering in
the internal affairs of the country.

When the “salary increments” were announced last week, the militant
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) described the rise as an
insult. PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe said he would mobilise his
teachers to go on strike demanding “real” increases.

However, Tendai Chikowore of the Apex Council insisted that the increases
were better than nothing and attacked Majongwe for turning labour disputes
into political issues.

On the issue of ghost workers, Mukonoweshuro said government has started a
fresh audit to verify the actual numbers of workers employed by the Public
Service Commission in order to flush out the ghost workers.

Mukonoweshuro revealed that his ministry is undertaking a new civil exercise
to  verify the pilot audit carried out last year by international auditing
and accounting firm Ernest & Young from India.

“’We are doing another audit verification exercise of the civil servants.
It will give us the true figures of the workers and we are reacting to what
was published by the audit carried out last year. Cabinet asked me to verify
everything before we can debate it,” said Mukonoweshuro.

He said an inter-ministerial committee had been set up to look at the
authenticity of the audit report and it comprises of the ministries of
health, education and public service amongst others.

“Some of my cabinet colleagues are not accepting the audit done so as way of
responding to their objection we have to carry out our own audit and verify
everything. You must  know that  this is  a very sensitive issue and must be
handled carefully and be dealt properly  before we can start flushing out
the ghost workers,’’ said Mukonoweshuro.

“I don’t want to speculate on anything about the figures of the ghost
workers but I want them flushed out so that we can remain with genuine civil
servants who can earn decent wages. We want to clean up the public service
so that we can have a decent and effective salary wage bill,’’ said
Mukonoweshuro.

The audit report carried out by the Energy & Young unearthed lots of ghost
workers that are employed by the Public Service Commission and are on their
payroll.

The majority of ghost workers are reported to be youths that were employed
by Zanu PF during the 2008 elections.
Mukonoweshuro said he was not ready to comment about the members of the
national youth service who are on the payroll.

“They do not work under my ministry but under Minister Kasukuwere’s
portfolio so I do not know how many they and what they are doing,’’ he said.

He said his ministry employs 288 000 workers minus the uniformed forces who
do not fall under his portfolio.
He said the issue of the ghosts workers had to be dealt with in a
transparent manner as it was bringing the whole civil service into disarray.

“If we are going to be flushing them out it means we are going to flush
one-fifth of the civil servants, and it needs to be done in phases. We need
to identify our true civil servants from bogus ones.’’

He said his MDC was also very keen on seeing reform among the civil servants
to remunerate the bonafide workers.

"We are happy  that we have been  talking about the need for  reform in the
civil servants as we are also  talking about the security reforms. These are
matters that take time to be implemented  but I know that we shall be able
to achieve it,’’ said Mukonoweshuro.

Genuine civil servants are demanding that ghost workers be removed on the
payroll so that they can get decent wages.

ZBC attacks futile

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Bridget Mananavire, Staff Writer
Thursday, 07 July 2011 12:10

HARARE - The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe said attacks
by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) in connection with the just
ended elective congress are nothing but a futile attempt to try and soil the
organisation’s image.

ZBC on Monday described the weekend annual general meeting which elected a
new board for the organisation as a sham saying elections were rigged.

But in its response, MISA Zimbabwe described the report as a “blatant
fabrication.”

“In its news hour of 5 July, ZTV led with a blatant fabrication pertaining
to MISA-Zimbabwe’s AGM. With no shred of evidence provided, ZTV reporter
alleged that the AGM was “marred by serious vote buying and rigging…”

The report went on to quote some faceless MISA-Zimbabwe members alleging
that bouncers were hired to bar aspiring candidates from contesting, the
media lobby group said.

“The attack, which sadly came as MISA mourned the death of its member Joseph
Mandizvidza who died in a car accident on his way to the organisation’s
Annual General Meeting (AGM), further illustrates the extent to which
journalism standards have fallen at the broadcaster,” MISA said in a
statement.

Misa- Zimbabwe said the attacks on the transparent and accountable
leadership renewal processes of the organisation could only strengthen the
organisation’s calls for the transformation of ZBC.

MISA-Zimbabwe said it is such kind of unprofessional journalism which bears
testimony that ZBC is “currently chained to the whims of the Zanu PF arm of
government.”

In addition MISA-Zimbabwe said they, “will not be distracted from pursuing
the complete democratisation of the media space by such unashamed
propagandist schemes.”

“We can only hope the authorities would urgently process the broadcasting
licence applications so as to give Zimbabweans more choice of stations to
listen to and thereby liberate them from the poisonous daily propaganda they
are subjected to by ZBC,” the organisation said.

The media lobby group whose persistent fight for media freedom over the past
decade is starting to bear fruit in the licencing of several new newspapers,
said the attacks are part of state media’s conspiracy theories that civil
society organisations were appendages of a sinister western “regime change”
plot.

MISA- Zimbabwe said the AGM was highly successfully and a new board to lead
the organisation for the next three years was elected saying the journalist
who reported on the matter might have had his own ulterior motives.

“If the journalist’s intention was to factually report on the event he could
have easily been provided with such evidence or he could have sought
comments from MISA-Zimbabwe, which is a phone call away from ZBC studios,”
said MISA- Zimbabwe.

“As an organisation that firmly believes in media self-regulation,
MISA-Zimbabwe will lodge a complaint with the Voluntary Media Council of
Zimbabwe (VMCZ) in its efforts to get appropriate remedial action following
this scandalous attack.”

JOMIC urged to assist in Chombo corruption case

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 July, 2011

The Elected Councillors’ Association of Zimbabwe (ECAZ) have urged officials
in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) to assist in
securing the arrest and prosecution of the Local Government Minister,
Ignatius Chombo, who is accused of “illegally acquiring property” around the
country.

In a letter dated July 5th, the Councillors accuse the police and the
attorney general of “selective application of the law”, saying they have
failed to deal with Chombo despite overwhelming evidence from several cases,
but have arrested MDC officials and supporters “even in cases without an
official complaint”.

The letter reads in part: “As elected Councillors, we are of the view that
the police’s reluctance to arrest a ZANU PF minister, despite being provided
with documentary evidence of his wrongdoing, constitutes a violation of
Article XII (b) of the GPA”.

As a GPA violation the matter therefore falls to JOMIC to ensure that Chombo
and other corrupt ZANU PF officials are arrested and prosecuted for
corruption.

Councillor Worship Dumba, who headed the committee that investigated Chombo
and was suspended, explained that JOMIC was “established to play a mediating
role” when there are disagreements between parties and institutions in the
country. In that capacity they should assist ECAZ and put pressure on the
police to enforce the rule of law.

Dumba said he was shocked to learn last month that Chombo had continued to
acquire even more land in Harare while the allegations against him were
still being pursued and there was a focus on his financial dealings.
“Vanoziva kuti havasungwi,” Dumba said, meaning “he knows that he will not
be arrested”.
Dumba said JOMIC members had not yet responded to their letter as it was
only delivered on Wednesday.

The Councillors conducted an audit into the city’s land dealings and found
that Chombo and Harare businessman Phillip Chiyangwa were involved in the
illegal acquisition of numerous council owned properties. But the police
refused to arrest Chombo, who then, illegally, fired six councillors from
that committee.

Casper Takura, one of the Councillors suspended by the Minister, said they
wrote to JOMIC as a last resort because all avenues involving the police and
Attorney General had failed.
“We reported the matter to the assistant commissioner of the police and the
serious fraud squad in Harare. And the deputy mayor himself once reported
the case to Harare Central Police without any success. We finally wrote to
JOMIC and are hoping that they might at least assist us,” Takura explained.

Meanwhile, NewsDay newspaper reported that JOMIC members are split over how
to handle the Councillors’ request. The report said Thabitha Khumalo from
the MDC-T and ZANU PF’s Oppah Muchinguri took the view that JOMIC has no
jurisdiction over corruption cases.

And Frank Chamunorwa of the MDC-N reportedly said JOMIC would seek a meeting
with the Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, to establish “why
the Councillors believed there was selective application of the law in
dealing with the Chombo issue.

Chamunorwa is quoted as saying: “JOMIC was founded for the purpose of being
a receptor of grievances from the three political parties in the GNU and any
other members of the public as long as the issues are to do with
 governance.”

Prime Minister Tsvangirai Questions Quality of Senate Debate

http://www.voanews.com/

06 July 2011

Attending the Senate for the first time since the unity government was
formed in February 2009, Mr. Tsvangirai said he was surprised several
motions were adjourned as there was much to debate

Jonga Kandemiiri & Sithandekile Mhlanga | Washington

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has expressed concern over the quality of
debate in the Senate following the adjournment without debate on seven of
eight motions awaiting action.

Attending the Senate for the first time since the unity government was
formed in February 2009, Mr. Tsvangirai said he was surprised the motions
were adjourned as there was much to debate. He said issues should be debated
thoroughly before adjournment.

Chisipite Senator and Deputy Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Obert Gutu
told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri he agreed with Mr. Tsvangirai, saying that
the current crop of senators lacks enthusiasm to engage in substantive
debate in the upper chamber.

But Believe Gaule, Tsholotsho senator for the Movement for Democratic Change
wing led by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube, told Sithandekile Mhlanga that
the prime minister was mistaken because senators had already debated the
motions in question.

The creation of the Zimbabwean Senate in 2005 contributed to the breakup of
the MDC into two main rival formations, the larger one led by Mr.
Tsvangirai. He was adamantly opposed to MDC participation in the November
2005 election of the new Senate.

Central Bank Board Members Miffed at Slight by Governor Gono

http://www.voanews.com

06 July 2011

RBZ board members charged that Arthur Manase, secretary of the board, heard
from parliament about the hearing a month ahead of time, but did not invite
board members to allow Gono to dominate the proceedings

Gibbs Dube | Washington

Some members of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe board have castigated Governor
Gideon Gono for failing to inform them on a timely basis of a parliamentary
budget committee hearing on the central bank and financial sector liquidity.

RBZ board members speaking on condition of anonymity charged that Arthur
Manase, secretary of the board, heard from parliament about the hearing a
month ahead of time, but did not invite board members to allow Gono to
dominate the proceedings.

Gono showed up with board member George Smith, a retired judge, adviser
Munyaradzi Kereke and Manase. Board members said the parliamentary committee
was right to send Gono away until a more representative sampling of the
board could be present.

Budget Committee Chairman Paddington Zhanda said Gono has been summoned with
his nine board members to testify on the budget in the next two weeks.

"We have told him that we want to finalize the matter and therefore we
expect him to come back to us within the stipulated time to deliberate on
RBZ matters and other issues," Zhanda told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube.

The Reserve Bank's board has had a greater say in the management of the
central bank since the reorganization of the financially ailing institution
over the past two years.

Political analyst Nkululeko Sibanda said Gono does not want parliament to
dig into his record which includes printing money to fund projects advanced
by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party such as a failed agricultural
mechanization project.

Masunda, councillors clash

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Thursday, 07 July 2011 16:03

HARARE - A war has erupted between Harare city councillors and mayor
Muchadeyi Masunda over the reshuffling of council standing committees in
defiance of an MDC party directive.

The MDC controls Harare City Council as it has the majority of councillors.

Councillors say they are “bitter” because Masunda and his deputy Emmanuel
Chiroto proceeded with the changes without consultation.

So deep is the acrimony that the MDC leadership has intervened to ensure
service delivery does not become a casualty of the feud, in which some
councillors are accusing Masunda and Chiroto of being used by Zanu PF
functionaries.

Councillors say Masunda and Chiroto reshuffled the committees last Friday
despite an earlier MDC caucus agreement to halt the move.

Council standing committees are crucial because they are the first port of
call for debate on council policies and operations.

The committees then recommend action to full council.

Panganai Charumbira, speaking on behalf of disgruntled councillors, said he
suspected the move was secretly influenced by Zanu PF to silence councillors
from investigating “abnormal” salaries being earned by top council employees
as well as a controversial parking deal with South African firm Easihold.

Council’s human resources and business committees had been probing the huge
salaries earned by top officials and the parking deal before the
reshuffling, said Charumbira.

“There is no continuity and certain deployments were made without looking at
the damage it will cause to council,” said Charumbira.

“People were just being deployed without considering their strength and
expertise.

This is sabotage to ensure that we fail to deliver and a de-campaign
mechanism against MDC councillors,” said Charumbira.

Masunda was unavailable for comment as he was said to be out of the country.

Chiroto confirmed the fall-out. He told the Daily News that councillors and
the party leadership had earlier agreed to withhold committee changes.

Passing the buck, Chiroto said it was Masunda who unilaterally effected the
changes.

“I was not involved in the changes of those committees and I have no hand in
that,” said Chiroto.

“We had agreed at our caucus meeting held at Harvest House to defer the
changes but I was surprised also to hear about the changes,” said Chiroto.

Masunda, though chosen by the MDC to his post, is not a party member and did
not attend the caucus.

MDC provincial secretary Willas Madzimure told the Daily News that the party
leadership had advised councillors against the reshuffle to ensure
continuity.

He said council should first  study the capacities of each councillor before
the reshuffle.

“We had advised councillors and the deputy mayor to hold on the reshuffling
exercise so that they consider important issues which will ensure service
delivery is not jeopardised.

It is actually surprising to hear that they were done without considering
our view,” said Madzimure.

He said the party was seized with the matter.

Rusape council forced to award pay hikes

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

By Thelma Chikwanha, Community Affairs Editor
Thursday, 07 July 2011 15:24

HARARE - Rusape Town Council was last month forced to award its workers a
salary increment after an independent labour arbitrator passed a
determination that the lowest paid employee should get a basic salary of
$245 plus allowances.

The cash strapped council accepted the arbitration result but insisted that
it would be unable to effect it due to lack of funds.

In his ruling on June 24 the arbitrator, George Nasho Wilson, ordered that:
“The lowest paid employee shall get an increment from $150 to $250 per month
as salary, the allowances receivable by the employees from grade 1 to 9
shall remain unchanged. The effective date of the increments shall be from 1
July 2011.”

Council employees will, however, have to wait a little longer before the
cash strapped local authority can pay up.

Town Clerk Darlington Museka told the Daily News that he was unaware when
the local authority would be in a position to pay the recommended salaries.

“The increment will not be paid out now because we do not have the money
right now. All that we are getting from the community will be swallowed by
the salaries,” Museka said.

He said it would take some time for the local authority to work out a
mutually beneficial resolution to solve the problem.

The dispute between the employees arose after council failed to honour a
collective bargaining agreement to award salary increments in line with the
poverty datum line.

Workers had argued that the lowest paid employee should get $600 up from
$150 monthly.

Council said the 400 percent salary increase demand was unrealistic because
it would breach the ministerial directive to channel 70 percent of its
earnings towards service delivery and 30 percent towards salaries.

It would also have seen council spending 63 percent of its revenue on
salaries.

Defiant state invokes section 121 of the CPEA to veto Bindura man’s bail order

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) condemns the spiteful and
groundless actions of the State in vetoing a bail order granted in favour of
Bindura resident Oliver Mukombwe, who is accused of undermining police
authority.
07.07.1106:27am
ZLHR

Mukombwe, the Movement for Democratic Change treasurer for Bindura district,
who is accused of contravening Section 177 (a) (1) of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 was granted $20 bail by Bindura
Magistrate Charles Murove when he appeared in court on Wednesday 6 July
2011.

But Clement Kuwanda, a police prosecutor, invoked the notorious Section 121
of the Criminal Evidence and Procedure Act (CPEA) to suspend the bail order
which had been granted to Mukombwe.

Kuwanda alleged that Mukombwe undermined the authority of the police when he
made a statement in a public place on 2 July 2011 along Church road in
Chipadze Township, Bindura, Mashonaland Central province directed at Nemiah
Caleb Muzinda, a police constable stating that; “Makajaidzwa naMugabe.
Munofunga kuti chipurisa chinoshamisa here? Zvenyu zvokupinda nechiZANU PF
hazvina basa saka ini ndinoda kukuuraya”, which the prosecutor translated to
mean “You have been spoiled by Mugabe. You think the police work is special?
Your joining of the force through ZANU PF partisanship is useless, so I want
to kill you.”

Alternatively, the State is also charging Mukombwe, who is represented by
Belinda Chinowawa of ZLHR with contravening Section 89 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

The intransigent invocation of Section 121 of the CPEA suspends the bail
order for seven days pending the filing of an appeal by the State in the
High Court.

ZLHR is perturbed by the malicious and obdurate actions of the State in
continuing to unnecessarily infringe upon the fundamental right to liberty
of accused persons by bringing up Section 121 of the CPEA. This is despite
the fact that the constitutionality of Section 121 of the CPEA is being
challenged in numerous cases which are yet to be heard by the Supreme Court
of Zimbabwe.

ZLHR is concerned at the frequent abuse of this draconian piece of
legislation, which is used to the prejudice of suspects as prosecutors are
clearly usurping the powers of the judiciary who in this case had
safeguarded the fundamental right to liberty of Mukombwe.

We remain concerned about the increased number of cases in which Section 121
of the CPEA has been arbitrarily and unjustifiably invoked, particularly
against members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other
genuine human rights defenders in Zimbabwe.

Disconnection of services concerns residents

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Disconnection of water and electricity by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC)
and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) respectively for
residents with arrears has appalled residents, who feel that the
institutions are being insensitive. Since the beginning of the year, ZESA
and BCC personnel have been going around residential areas in Bulawayo
disconnecting defaulting residents in a bid to recover debts.

07.07.1109:58am
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bulawayo residents feel that the service providers are being insensitive as
it is common knowledge that most Zimbabweans are either unemployed or
earning salaries below the poverty datum line, hence most families are
having problems meeting their obligations. BPRA has recommended that the two
service providers meet with residents so that payment plans are made and
disconnections avoided.

Residents call for improvement of city’s roads

Bulawayo residents have castigated the Zimbabwe National Road Authority
(ZINARA) for its failure to maintain roads in the city despite the fact the
body is getting funds from tollgates. ZINARA has also been accused of skewed
allocation of funds for road maintenance. According to residents, the
dilapidated state of the city’s roads could be a cause for accidents while
motorists are negatively affected as the poor state of roads could damage
their vehicles.

Residents also expressed that they feel that the authorities have not done
much in terms of patching up potholes this year, with major routes
especially in the townships full of potholes. They said the situation would
spiral out of control if the next rainy season begins and nothing has been
done to deal with potholes.

Bulawayo residents have previously argued that there is a need for a
complete overhaul of roads in the city as they are in an advanced state of
disrepair. As it stands, patching of potholes has become a repetitive
seasonal exercise that has cost rate payers lots of money but failed to deal
with the problem. The authorities thus need to come up with a viable plan to
deal with the problem of Bulawayo’s poor roads once and for all.

Residents’ arguments on ZBC licences

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) on Sunday 3 July 2011 held
two public meetings in Cowdray Park and Emakhandeni. Among the issues for
discussion was Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television licences.

This came at a time when ZBC personnel have been going around urban areas
notifying residents that they should pay their television licences – which
are pegged at $50 – and an additional $20 which is a fine for late payment,
bringing the total to $70. At the meetings, residents described ZBC licences
as tantamount to robbery, forwarding the following arguments:

- - Residents said ZBC programming was of very poor quality, characterised
by repetition of programmes and political propaganda hence it was
unreasonable to charge Zimbabwean as much as $50 in licence fees.

- - Most residents have resorted to satellite television due to poor
programming by ZBC hence they cannot pay for a service they are not
accessing.

- - Residents also argued that the licence fees were steep in light of the
fact that most Zimbabweans are unemployed while those who are employed earn
salaries averaging $200, which is barely enough to meet necessities such as
food, transport, electricity, water, school fees and emergencies such as
medical costs.

Residents therefore argued that unless there is improvement in programming
by ZBC, they will continue to resist paying licences.

Marange Diamonds Still Tarnished

http://www.voanews.com

Editorial

07-05-2011

Governments, NGOs and leaders of the diamond industry met to keep "conflict
diamonds" from entering the market.

An illegal diamond dealer from Zimbabwe displays diamonds for sale in
Manica, near the border with Zimbabwe.
Photo: REUTERS
An illegal diamond dealer from Zimbabwe displays diamonds for sale in
Manica, near the border with Zimbabwe. (file)

The Kimberley Process can only work when producing and consuming countries
collaborate.

Governments, NGOs and leaders of the diamond industry met recently in
Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of the Kimberley Process, a
group tasked with keeping "conflict diamonds" from entering the market. At
the top of the agenda was the need to review the situation in the troubled
Marange fields in Eastern Zimbabwe.

Human rights abuses have taken place against artisinal miners there,
smuggling is said to be widespread and profits are not accruing to the
national treasury. Because of these problems, the Kimberley Process
continues to struggle with the question of authorizing exports of Marange
stones, which have largely been restricted for a year and a half.

The DRC currently heads the Kimberley Process. At the conclusion of the
meeting in Kinshasa, the DRC issued a notice stating that exports from
Marange could resume with some monitoring. The United States is deeply
disappointed with the decision, which was not achieved with the full
consensus of the group.

The Kimberley Process can only work when producing and consuming countries
collaborate. Toward this end, the U.S. will continue its efforts with other
members to reach consensus on the way forward. Despite the continued
challenges surrounding Marange, we welcome the work being done on effective
diamond sector governance by a number of producing countries, such as the
Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea and Liberia. Important contributions
are also being made by USAID and the US Geological Survey as we work to
improve internal controls and overall development outcomes in the artisanal
diamond sector.

Zanu (PF) a threat to national security

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Nathan Mangwanani sees the world in diametrically opposite terms to Zanu
(PF). It is his firm belief that whatever they say, the opposite is
generally the case.

07.07.1106:16am

In order to appreciate this unimpeachable conclusion whose evidence is now
well-documented beyond rational disputation, it is necessary to make clear
upfront the internationally agreed and therefore reasonable definition of
national security.

While points of emphasis and nuances may differ from scholar to scholar in
international relations and strategic studies, the generally shared view of
national security is that it is about the imperatives of ensuring the
survival of a nation given its territorial boundaries, heritage, ethos,
values and interests as systematically pursued through the use of cultural,
intellectual, media, economic, military, political and diplomatic power.

As such, it is now common cause that threats to national security around the
world are no longer posed only by other nations but are equally if not more
so posed by quasi Military Junta and criminal cartels like ZANUPF.

These non-state actors, like the ZANUPF Militia thugs and loose cannon
generals always not only target innocent people or human rights activists
but they mainly target in a systematic way the foundational values,
institutional backbone and cultural pillars of the country under attack
using rape, torture and murder, with impunity.

In view of this well-established understanding of national security which is
applicable to all nations including Zimbabwe, and given the application of
the German saying that if you want to kill a dog you must allege that it has
rabies, just witness the current frenzy whose objective is not to allege
that Zimbabwe has rabies coming from ZANUPF and their allies in North Korea
but also their African puppets and state media mouthpieces, let alone Mugabe
and his treacherous ZANUPF.

Here are some of the benchmarks of this frenzy gleaned from the military
dictatorship against Zimbabwe’s national security interests.

If, for example, you reflect on the publications of the so-called state
media all their issues — day in and day out, week in and week out — are
always pro-Zanu-PF in ways that are not only oppositional to the liberation
party but are tellingly oppositional to the legacy of the liberation
struggle itself and are therefore against the foundational values and
aspirations of a free Zimbabwe.

The same is true of the work of some military generals, partisans, who now
constitute a destabilizing colony in Zimbabwe by their sheer staggeringly
outrageous partisan interference of the peoples' mandate and all of them
founded and funded by ZANUPF's stranglehold on blood diamonds.

Although the ZANUPF military dictatorship claims to support peaceful
demonstrations, they continue to arrest and torture peaceful democrats
whilst the so-called state media labels them as “thugs” and not
demonstrators.

When Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai describes the last extraordinary Sadc
summit held in Sandton, South Africa as a “success” and refers to the report
of the Sadc Organ Troika summit held on March 31 in Livingstone, Zambia as
“accepted” he is demonised as a “liar” in a manner designed to undermine not
only in the person or office of the Prime Minister of the government but
also the State of Zimbabwe itself and this by the same so-called state media
which routinely labels WOZA and MDC-T activists as thugs in order to
undermine the legacy of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle against terrorist
dictatorship.

And Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba is promoted by the same so-called
state media as a “exercising freedom of speech” when he is blatantly
threatening the people of this country to say the obvious that he is a
serious national security threat, which he clearly is in his indisputable
role as the engine of hostile ZANUPF interests in Zimbabwe.

Yet, if there’s one thing that stands out about Brigadier Nyikayaramba’s
much-talked-about, deliberately and clearly unpatriotic statement proves
that he himself and ZANUPF have become a national security threat far beyond
normal politics. It is not the rather inane point that he should have made
the statement as a professional soldier when it is crystal clear that he
should not be making such treacherously dangerous staements and should be
fired forthwith. In addition, parliament should take immediate steps to
impeach Mugabe given the large body of evidence proving massive human rights
abuses and trashing of Zimbabweans' constitutional rights.

When something is wrong, it is wrong regardless of who says it, let alone
how or when it is said.

However, the point to underscore here which Zimbabweans and the progressive
world should note is that the so-called state media in Zimbabwe which view
any and all criticism against it as a “hate campaign” routinely demonise our
freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for our country’s heroic
struggle for democracy as “thugs” and who in the same vein and for the same
diabolic reasons patronise the country’s military leadership which has taken
full advantage in ZANUPF's looting sprees, not only in Zimbabwe but also the
Congo. It is these “Generals” that are ZANUPF thugs ad should step down and
seek exile in North Korea or stand in the dock at the Hague for their
crimes.

These “Generals” by definition are thugs propping up a dictatorship which
"hijacked" Zimbabwe. As for our compatriots in the so-called state media,
the stubborn truth is that there’s not even one cat which is still in the
bag.

For ZANUPF, the game is over.

We all know what has been happening since 2 000 and we now have more than 10
000 hours of real evidence. ZANUPF journalists who have taken brown
envelopes before and those who continue to take such envelopes are known as
are the sources of these dirty envelopes, some of which are local. The
bottom line is that the peoples' movement will not allow our country to be
sacrificed under the altar of brown envelopes. Never ever!

Some well-known ZANUPF media recipients of dirty brown envelopes like me are
now shamelessly trying to justify our 30 pieces of silver by foolishly
claiming that there’s a fifth column in our country which is allegedly
taking advantage of an alleged power vacuum in Zimbabwe and which is said to
be determined to prevent the MDC formations from taking over power. Well,
anybody who thinks there’s a power vacuum in MDC-T or Zimbabwe is a joker
who probably failed high school or dropped out therefrom.

But if things come to a head, then names will have to be named and the chips
will fall where they should. There’s just too much at stake to allow some
riff raff misfits in the corrupt so-called state media to get away with
political murder when there’s a lot of empirical dirty stuff known about
each and all of them.

In the meantime, what is clear is that the routine demonization of democrats
as “thugs” and by our partisan military leadership whose firm roots are
certainly not in the legacy of our heroic national liberation struggle as
“Generals” are in fact a classic translation of the German saying that if
you want to kill a dog, you simply allege that it has rabies. These
"Generals" are guilty of rabid behaviour

It is also now clear that the regime change intention of this translation is
not only to change the government of the day in our country by removing
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from power but to also change the system of
our governance from that based on the legacy of corruption, violence, lies,
and meaningless propaganda which we have corrupted and looted for ourselves
and destroyed everything decent as a result.

The so-called state media, which is undoubtedly driven by brown envelopes,
is being used to falsely allege that Zimbabwe has sanctions in order to
justify the killing of our nation wherein the target is not Zanu-PF, or the
government or President Mugabe but Zimbabwe itself. This explains why we
have a very serious, clear and present threat to our national security
personified and represented by Mugabe and organised around his treacherous
ZANUPF Generals.

If you doubt this submission, then consider what the US Ambassador Charles
Ray said about the matter last week when addressing journalists in Bulawayo
and ask yourself what the implications of what he said are on our country’s
national security and what the roles of Mugabe and his ZANUPF are in those
implications.

Otherwise, and in very poignant and thus unambiguous language, America’s
representative in Harare made it clear that Washington has no intention of
changing the Zimbabwean house by only changing its roof.

Ambassador Ray told the journalists, who included some zanupf brown envelope
seekers, that “There is no way you can build a house from the roof. You have
to start from the foundation going to the top. So I don’t think removing
Mugabe will change anything.

“What is needed is to change the system of governance. . .Sadc is working on
the issue of Zimbabwean elections and I don’t see any reason why some
political party is pushing for elections this year. Elections should be held
at a time when every Zimbabwean is free to participate.”

This positive statement, which puts paid to the current ZANUPF election
roadmap for elections this year, is not difficult to unpack.

The import of Ambassador Ray’s statement is that it is a reminder to the
junta known as the ZANUPF regime that, because it is morally the equivalent
to enslavement and tyranny which have been scandalously justified on the
basis of lies and propaganda - which is unjustified on the universal values
of human rights, democracy, good governance and the rule of.

This makes the ZANUPF in power forever, at all costs, agenda a triple threat
to national security in that it seeks to perpetuate(1) not just the leader
of the dictatorship, and (2) not just Junta (3) the roots of their system of
terror and therefore the pariah State itself.

Now, if this is not a direct and very serious threat to our national
security then nothing is. All the noise that Mugabe and his boot licker
generals have been making against the people is about this fact.

What is worrying against this backdrop and what explains why General
Nyikayaramba is wrong, is that the personification and representation of
Ambassador Ray’s prudent statement that Zimbabwe must change not only its
roof but also its foundation is none other than the peoples' mandate -
Tsvangirai. The fact is Mugabe and ZANUPF are a very serious and on-going
threat to Zimbabwe’s national security.

While people are free to say what they want, the inescapable truth that
obtains in any and all constitutional democracies such as ours is that a
threat to national security must be dealt with in terms of national security
without any fear or favour. Given the widely held definition of national
security proffered above, it should not matter whether the threat is coming
from foreign governments, multinational corporations, political parties,
politicians, NGOs, churches, media organisations, journalists, academics and
criminal cartels.

Given Ambassador Ray’s statement that the objective of the US government’s
support of the people of Zimbabwe is not only to change the roof by removing
the unmandated "President" Mugabe and Zanu-PF from power but also to assist
Zimbabweans change the country’s foundation so as to have an entirely new
house as it were, it is clear therefore that the US and its UK, EU and white
Commonwealth allies are very concerned about the so-called roadmap to
Zimbabwe’s elections as some gullible and treacherous zanupf elements in our
midst would have us not believe.

If the much-talked-about Sadc roadmap is about elections, then surely its
electoral objective should be about confirming or changing only the roof of
our government by enabling the election of a leader and a political party to
superintend over our government for a five year period. In this case, the
whole matter would be purely a political facelift.

But if the issue is to change not only the roof but also the foundation of
the house of Zimbabwe as clearly stated by Ambassador Ray only last week in
Bulawayo, then we have a positive situation on our hands. Nobody should be
allowed to allege that our country has rabies or that MDC has rabies or that
some MDC leaders have rabies as a dictatorship perpetuation strategy of not
changing the foundational roots of our country.

Ambassador Ray’s intervention last week must be taken very seriously when
seen not only against the background of Mugabe's destruction of the nation
as a corrupt institution but also as seen against the very positive archival
fact that the Facilitator’s Report of the Sadc Troika summit held in
Livingstone on March 31 is correctly entitled “Zimbabwe Peace Process”.

In God’s name, this peace process that the Facilitator has in his mind is a
great step forward because Zimbabwe is at war. Indeed, Zimbabwe been at war
since 2000 when Mugabe declared a chimurenga against the people of this
country. ZANUPF and their warring armies have been using the state to fight
the people. The Facilitator is aware that Zimbabwe has a GPA government in
place which is not working because ZANUPF refuse to comply with the GPA.

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

The GPA was signed after an illegal unilateral militarised terror campaign
mounted in June 2008 by ZANUPF calling for a "parliamentary" sham election
with only one contender and after a war against the people. Quite clearly,
the attempt to not implement the 2008 GPA by ZANUPF from a political
disaster to a peace process smacks of a sinister plot and clearly shows that
our country has rabies of war. That justifies Ambassador Ray’s wish to say
that a change is needed in the roots and foundation of our country.

Zimbabwe has been at war since 1980 and no peace was ever restored after the
Lancaster constitutional process following our national independence in
1980. It continued during the Gukurahundi period from 1981 to 1987 when
Nkomo was forced into a "Unity Accord" or ZANUPF genocide would continue .
Since then, Zimbabwe has been a war zone and that explains why Zimbabwe is
destitute today. Money that should have been spent on peacetime projects
like health and education was either looted by ZANUPF chefs or spent on
military operations against Zimbabwe citizens.

As a natural reaction to ZANUPF inspired terrorism, good men and women of
Zimbabwe came together to form a grass roots, people-driven movement, the
MDC-T, under Tsvangirai. This movement grows daily from strength to strength
and has the peoples' mandate to govern. The MDC-T are now the majority party
in government

Historians who peruse through the Facilitator’s Livingstone Report from the
archives will also notice that its third paragraph has the following
statement which should wake up the peoples' movement and make us vigilant
going forward, “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”.

A real eye-opener! It was timely for the Facilitator to warn ZANUPF that
they should stop their shenanigans and start conducting themselves in a way
that is civilised and humane and stop using the military to beat and torture
citizens. Sadc has changed and it is high time for ZANUPF to civilise its
national politics and move away from its barbarian savagery to date.

It is the very acceptable sentiments, as captured under paragraph three of
the Facilitator’s Livingstone Report which is now set in concrete, which
dovetail with last week’s 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 Mugabe and his ZANUPF.

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 very acceptably and in line with the GPA
as signed on September 15, 2008 but they also constitute an important
ingredient to our national security and should be vigorously supported for
that reason and that reason alone.