The ZIMBABWE Situation
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ZANU
PF turn Mbare into a war zone
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
31 May 2011
Dozens
of rampaging ZANU PF youth militia invaded the Harare suburb of Mbare
over
the weekend, beating up and displacing suspected MDC-T supporters from
their
homes. The youths are reported to have declared Mbare a no go area,
leaving
many of their victims homeless. Perceived MDC-T supporters running
market
stalls are also having their goods looted and tables taken away.
Leading
the violence is a well known ZANU PF activist and council employee
known as
Chirwa, who works as a mortuary attendant. The gangsters are
evicting MDC
supporters and taking over their council houses and the houses
are then
given to ZANU PF supporters to use. In one incident reported by the
Daily
News, a man came back from work only to see his property chucked
outside and
“the door of his house ajar –and saw a strange woman coming out
of the
door.”
Local Senator Morgan Femai told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that
the violence
has not stopped and people are still being beaten up every day.
He told us
that people in the area are not only having their vending stalls
raided and
goods looted, but they are being forced to attend ZANU PF
meetings on a
daily basis. For example people were forced to close down
their market
stalls and attend a ZANU PF meeting at Mai Musodzi
Hall.
In February and March this year ZANU PF youths, bused in from rural
areas,
again created chaos in Mbare. Not only did they assault perceived MDC
supporters but they also invaded the Siyaso Market, looting goods from those
accused of supporting the party. Mugabe and Tsvangirai met to discuss the
disturbances and this was followed by the usual tongue-in-cheek condemnation
of the violence by Mugabe.
SW Radio Africa reported then how some of
the mobs of violent ZANU PF youths
causing the chaos in Mbare and other
urban centres, were being trained for
two months outside Harare, at the
Inkomo army barracks. Leaked confidential
documents showed that Mugabe’s
regime has since November 2010 been
recruiting impoverished youths from
rural areas and giving them military
training.
The regime was
planning on training up to 70 000 youths by the end of May,
under ‘Operation
Return to ZANU’. The youths are being deployed to terrorize
perceived
opposition supporters and recruitment is mainly being conducted in
Mashonaland West, East and Central provinces, traditionally viewed as ZANU
PF strongholds and home to some of the worst political violence over the
years.
Already some of the graduates have helped beat up MDC-T
activists at the
party’s offices in Mbare, destroyed the house of local
councillor Paul
Gorekore and disrupted council business at Harare’s Town. In
one incident
that took place in January, eye witnesses reported seeing over
70 youths
being trucked into Mbare from the Inkomo barracks, using a white
Nissan
vehicle, UD registration number AAM 7901.
Police
Arrest MDC-T Activists In Midnight Raids
http://www.radiovop.com/
11 hours 24 minutes
ago
Harare, May 31, 2011 - Police officers in Harare arrested 15
activists
belonging to the Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai for allegedly taking part in the political
violence that led to
the death of a police officer in Harare's high density
suburb of Glen View.
The suspects included the MDC-T official Last
Maengahama together with his
brothers. Sources said most of the alleged
suspects were picked up during
police raids in the early hours of
Monday.
“Three siblings were picked up at House Number 4517, 1st Circle
in Glen View
3 and these are Audious, Learmore and Precious Chitanda. These
were picked
up mainly because the mother is a very active member of the
MDC-T,” said one
source that declined to be named for fear of
victimisation.
The source added that the number of those picked up could
get to more than
20 but the exact figure could not be determined as other
MDC-T supporters
had gone into hiding.
An official in the MDC-T
information department said they were still trying
to account for some of
their supporters from the area following the police
raids on
Monday.
“We are yet to get the exact figure of the people who have been
arrested so
far. Right now we are busy working on that,” said the MDC-T
official.
Police spokesperson superintendent Andrew Phiri confirmed that
the police
had intensified their investigations over the incident but denied
that they
had arrested anyone. “We have not arrested anyone at the moment
but
investigations have intensified. In any investigation, the police will
pick
up people for questioning but that does not constitute an arrest. This
is an
event that involved a lot of people and not everyone was involved in
the
violence. It could be just 4-5 people,” said Phiri.
Violence
erupted in Glen View 3 on Sunday after police officers confronted
MDC-T
supporters accusing them of holding a political rally without police
clearance. The violence that ensued resulted in the death of a police
officer. The police officer was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead
upon arrival.
State
drops treason charges against Gwisai and fellow activists
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
31 May 2011
The state has dropped treason charges against
Munyaradzi Gwisai and five,
other activists who were arrested in February
while attending a video
screening about the people’s uprisings in Egypt and
Tunisia.
The six were part of a group of forty-five activists arrested on
19th
February when police raided an academic meeting in Harare at which the
video
was shown.
The other 39 activists were freed after a magistrate
in Harare dismissed the
charges against them in March. They had spent more
than two weeks in
custody.
However, Gwisai, Hopewell Gumbo, Antonater
Choto, Welcome Zimuto, Eddson
Chakuma and Tatenda Mombeyarara were still
facing treason charges until
Monday. The state alleged that this group was
either directly linked to the
‘illegal’ gathering or were speakers at the
meeting.
During the raid police confiscated computers and other equipment
and
arrested everyone there. After their initial arrest, some in the group,
including Gwisai and Gumbo were tortured in the cells and were kept in
solitary confinement at the Chikurubi maximum security prison in Harare for
weeks.
Conviction on a treason charge could have brought the death
penalty against
the six.
Hopewell Gumbo said although the treason
charge has been dropped the state
has altered the charge to that of
‘subverting a constitutional government’.
The trial opens on the 18th July
in Harare, before a regional magistrate. If
convicted this new charge would
carry a maximum of 20 years in jail without
an option of a
fine.
‘Without being prejudicial, we’ve always been convinced we did not
commit
treason or neither did we try to do so. We are eagerly waiting for
the trial
to start so that we can show the whole world that we are peace
loving
Zimbabweans using democratic means to fight for change and our
rights,”
Gumbo said.
The former student leader said the High court
also relaxed part of their
bail conditions when Judge Justice Kudya agreed
to alter their reporting
conditions. They will now be required to report to
the police once a month
instead of three days a week. The Judge however
refused to release their
passports.
‘It’s a great relief really
because the relaxation of the bail conditions
will give us more time to
concentrate on our work to bring about democracy
in Zimbabwe,’ Gumbo
added.
South Africa
has no intentions to meet Zimbabwe's security chiefs
http://bulawayo24.com
by Nare
Msupatsila
2011 May 31 10:55:40
THE South African facilitation team to
Zimbabwe's inter-party dialogue has
no intention to meet the country's
security chiefs because that is outside
its mandate, senior member of the
team Mr Charles Nqakula said yesterday.
In an interview after meeting
Jomic co-chairpersons in Harare, Mr Nqakula -
a political advisor to
President Jacob Zuma - said the Global Political
Agreement signed by Zanu-PF
and the two MDC formations did not provide for
such an
arrangement.
He said the facilitation team was focusing on the
implementation of issues
agreed in the GPA.
"There was nothing like
that (security sector reforms). We have no intention
to meet the security
chiefs in Zimbabwe.
"There is no arrangement like that in the GPA. We are
going through a
process of negotiations and we now have a draft roadmap on
elections, but we
are not talking about transformative issues," he
said.
Mr Nqakula's remarks came in the wake of reports in some sections
of the
private media claiming that President Zuma's facilitation team was
keen to
meet the country's security chiefs.
Mr Nqakula once served as
Minister of Defence as well as Safety and Security
Minister in the SA
government.
However, it is understood that MDC-T - through its
negotiators - is trying
to smuggle the issue of security sector reforms on
the agenda of the
election roadmap to weaken the country's security
forces.
MDC-T had proposed that Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces
General
Constantine Chiwenga and Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri be
retired before the next elections.
Zanu-PF, however,
dismissed the suggestions as nonsensical and tantamount to
weakening the
country's security forces.
Mr Nqakula said the facilitation team would
return to Zimbabwe on Thursday
to finalise the draft roadmap agreed to in
Cape Town early this month.
He said Zimbabwe was on the agenda of the
forthcoming Comesa-Sadc-EAC
Tripartite Meeting Summit to be held in South
Africa next month.
Turning to the Jomic meeting, Mr Nqakula said the
facilitation team attended
as observers.
Zanu-PF Jomic
co-chairperson, Nicholas Goche, said the meeting was a routine
one to
receive updates from sub committees set by the organ.
Goche also
confirmed that the facilitation team would return to Zimbabwe
later in the
week to meet negotiators.
Top on the agenda of the negotiators meeting is
the issue of the election
roadmap.
Mr Elton Mangoma of MDC-T added:
"The facilitation team agreed that there is
need for the negotiators to come
with a report which they all agreed to.
"It was a follow up meeting to
what we agreed on in Cape Town.
"We agreed that we should be looking at
the minutes on what we have agreed
on and so far things are going on
well."
MDC secretary-general Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga also
said
yesterday's meeting was productive.
SA
facilitators 'cave to Mugabe pressure'
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/
Eyewitness News | 3 Hour(s)
Ago
President Jacob Zuma’s team of facilitators to Zimbabwe appear to
have
backed down on their demand for security sector reforms ahead of
possible
elections in 2011.
Facilitator Charles Nqakula said the
three-member team will not be meeting
with the heads of Zimbabwe’s army,
police and secret services.
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF was opposed
to mediators meeting
Zimbabwe's security chiefs.
Security sector
reforms are a key demand by Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) officials.
The military was implicated in 2008 election violence.
State media in
Zimbabwe are now reporting that South Africa has caved in to
pressure from
Mugabe.
Nqakula said his team has no intention of meeting with the
chiefs.
He told the Herald security reforms are not included in the
power-sharing
deal.
The latest moves are likely to disappoint MDC
officials.
Parliament
To Discuss Controversial Chinese Military Academy
http://www.radiovop.com
11 hours 22 minutes
ago
Harare, May 31, 2011 - Parliament is on Tuesday expected to
discuss the
controversial military and defence college which is being built
on the
outskirts of Harare at a cost of US$ 75 million dollars, according to
a
source who told Radio VOP that the matter had been placed on the order
paper.
Parliament was hastily recalled by President Robert Mugabe
last week despite
adjournment of the House until June.
The military
and defence college, a project launched by Mugabe in 2007, is
situated at
Chitamba Farm in Mazowe Valley. It is being touted as an
intelligence
academy to train security experts in the country.
“The important role of
defending our country cannot be left to mediocre
officers incapable of
comprehending and analytically evaluating the
operational environment to
ensure that the sovereignty of our state is not
only preserved, but
enhanced,” Mugabe said at the launch.
Addressing parliament last year,
Minister of Defence Emmerson Mnangangwa
said the military facility will,
“serve as a premier defence education
centre in Zimbabwe especially training
in the field of national security.”
He also said it will also be used to
select the military and civilian
officers from the various segments of the
society to represent the country
in various capacities. In addition he said
it will also act as a think tank
for providing research, military, defence
and national security studies for
the national Security Council, ministry of
defence and other national
institutions.
Security experts have in the
past described it as “a techno-spy and
communication base” whose purpose
will be to spy on communications in and
outside the country.
China
Pledges to Rally Behind Nation's Diamonds
http://www.afriquejet.com
China has promised to
support Zimbabwe to ensure that the country's diamonds
are sold without any
conditions attached to them. Speaking at Anjin
Investments Private Limited's
Nechirasika Plant last week, Ambassador Xin
Shunkang, said he was impressed
with the level of co-operation between the
Chinese and local investors
working at Anjin Investments. He said he had
already communicated with the
relevant authorities in his country to ensure
that the Chinese delegation to
the next Kimberly Process Certification
Scheme stands by Zimbabwe. "Since a
Chinese company is involved in the
diamond mining here in Zimbabwe, we will
walk together because we want both
countries to benefit. As a government, we
are very excited with the
developments happening here as well as the
relocation exercise.
"We want to see a changed picture of this area when
we come again for a next
visit. As the Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, I
will continue working hard
to attract more investors to come and invest here
because Anjin has done a
lot in terms of social corporate
responsibility.
"When we face difficulties in some of our programmes, we
turn to them for
support and they have never let us down," said Ambassador
Shunkang.
The delegation, which toured the Anjin Plant included the
Minister of
Defence, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Minister of Mines and Mining
Development, Obert
Mpofu, the Attorney-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, Zimbabwe
Mining Development
Corporation chairman, Godwills Masimerembwa, the
Commander of the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces, General Constantine Chiwengwa,
Zimra Commissioner-General,
Gershem Pasi, Advocate Farai Mutamangira, senior
Government officials and
service chiefs.
Minister Mpofu said he was
impressed by Anjin's investment.
"Although I was not part of the
delegation that came here when President
Mugabe visited early this year, I
am very pleased with what I saw today.
"When Anjin Investments approached
us, we saw a giant coming to invest in
Zimbabwe and we convinced ourselves
that this project was worth recommending
to the President.
"All of us
are proud to see what has happened here within a short time. This
is a
success story for both Zimbabwe and China.
"Anjin Investments have
virtually improved the livelihood of our people
employed here and at the
relocation area in Odzi.
"This is a very good example of what investments
means," said Cde Mpofu.
He said he was impressed to note that Anjin
Investments had already
completed the construction of 400 five-roomed houses
at Arda-Transau.
"I am told that you have completed the construction of
400 houses, while
construction of primary and secondary schools as well as a
clinic is in
progress. The roads you have opened are better than those we
find in most
areas and this should be commended," he said.
"All
investors who come to invest here should emulate what the Chinese are
doing.
You have done us proud and I want to appeal to the Chinese Ambassador
to
help us in our KPCS fight," said Minister Mpofu.
Minister Mnangagwa also
hailed Anjin Investments' corporate social
responsibility programmes, saying
they were helping to change the face of
Manicaland province and Chiadzwa in
particular.
"There is no doubt that if companies emulate what you are
doing this will
surely change the face of Manicaland and Zimbabwe at large,"
said Minister
Mnangagwa.
Cletus Mushanawani
The
Herald/30/05/2011
President
hails China's military
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 30 May 2011 22:26
Herald
Reporter
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday met the visiting Chinese member of the
Senior
Military Commission Chief Air Marshal Xu Qiliang at State House in
Harare.
Cde Mugabe - who is the Head of State and Government and
Commander-in-Chief
of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces - paid tribute to China
for the support it
has rendered to Zimbabwe dating back to colonial
period.
Chief Air Marshal Xu is leading a military delegation which is in
the
country to share experience with their Zimbabwean
counterparts.
President Mugabe said China had stood behind Harare, despite
the imposition
of illegal sanctions by the United States and its Western
allies.
"China is a great friend of us in many ways. To us all, citizens of
China
are our great friends," he said.
Cde Mugabe hailed China's
military arm saying it has assisted Zimbabwe
secure its independence in
1980.
"They have assisted us, in our struggle to free ourselves from
colonialism,"
said President Mugabe, adding that it would have been
difficult to attain
freedom without Beijing's support.
In an interview
after the closed-door meeting, Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa said the
Chinese military supremo had come to cement bilateral
relations between
Harare and Beijing.
"He was conveying a message to His Excellency, the
President which he
carried from his President, Hu Jintao. His mission is to
promote and cement
the relationship between the two countries," said
Minister Mnangagwa.
Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Xin Shunkang said
the discussions centred
on how to share experiences in the context of the
long-standing
relationship.
He said construction of the Defence College
near Ma-zowe was at an advanced
stage.
"I am sure with the handwork
of people working on it, it can be finished
earlier. Initially it was three
years, but they can finish a year earlier."
ZDF Commander General Constantine
Chiwenga, Air Force Commander Air Marshal
Perrance Shiri and other senior
military officers also attended yesterday's
meeting.
Gen Chiwenga hosted
a dinner on Sunday for Chief Air Marshal Xu and his
delegation where he
hailed China for its support to Zimbabwe.
Gen Chiwenga thanked China for
the military assistance to the ZDF through
training and supply of military
hardware.
At the dinner, Chief Air Marshal Xu also commended the relationship
between
the two countries.
He said Zimbabwe was a renowned country with a
lot of history whose people
are hospitable adding that his visit sought to
enhance relations.
Zimbabwe and China enjoy cordial relations dating back
to the
pre-independence era when Beijing assisted Harare in its fight to
attain
independence.
SA
opens market for Zim diamonds
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Monday, 30 May 2011 12:13
Dumisani
Ndlela, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
SOUTH Africa has taken an unprecedented
decision to support Zimbabwe's
export of rough diamonds, despite
international pressure to proscribe the
gemstones from the Marange claims
from trading on the international market.
A communiqué from the South African
Diamond & Precious Metals Regulator
(SAD-PMR) to members said the
country was rallying behind its beleaguered
neighbour, a position that
appears to support the stance taken by diamond
producers from the African
continent.
"South Africa has taken a position in support of Zimbabwe
regarding exports
of rough diamonds. On th-at note, we will accept imports
of rough diamonds
from Zimbabwe.
"These are to be treated like any other
import of rough diamonds from any of
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
(KPCS) participants and therefore the
usual import and export processes and
procedures are to be followed," said a
statement to SADPMR members signed by
Dithuso Kgari in charge of KP
corporate communications.
The Kimberley
Process (KP) is a joint governments, industry and civil
society initiative
to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds
used by rebel
movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.
The trade in these
illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating
conflicts in countries
such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and
Sierra Leone.
KPCS imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable
them to certify
shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free'.
A KP
monitor appointed to ensure that the country meets the KP requirements
in
the mining of alluvial Marange rough diamonds certified that the country
had
fully become KP compliant but international non-governmental
organisations
as well as a few western countries, particularly Canada and
Australia, have
resisted the move to allow trade in Zimbabwe's rough
diamonds due to alleged
human rights violations.
The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) in
November slammed calls
for an extension of a year-long ban on Zimbabwe's
diamond exports,
describing the motives behind the attempts to block the
rough diamonds from
the international market as "sinister and driven by
selfish motives on the
part of those two countries (Canada and
Australia)".
"Zimbabwe cannot be held to ransom just because a minority of
countries
within the KP continue to block consensus deliberately," said ADPA
executive
secretary, Edgar de Carvalho, in a statement in November.
The
chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC) and ADPA, Andre
Jackson,
insisted that his association fully supported Zimbabwe.
"African diamond
producing countries have visibly acknowledged the wavering
position and
policies of the KP and several have come to the conclusion that
certification scheme fails to give confidence as well as attend to the
economic requirements of the ADC members.
"In addition, these policies
accompanied by the KP's lack of commitment are
fraudulently generated out of
convenience for the back-end of the industry,
while the front-end of the
African diamond industry is left to bear the most
profound burden," said
Jackson.
"It's apparent that KP does an excellent job exposing as well as
retaining
their internal problems and it's even more detrimental for
Africa's diamond
producers when the KP and the World Diamond Council sets
aside time to meet
a couple of times per year without providing adequate
solutions to serve the
industry as a whole."
He maintained that the ADC
would "advise and encourage Zimbabwe to trade
diamonds originating from
Marange area and we shall willingly maintain our
position to occupy the lead
role to facilitate every potential and
legitimate transaction from our
practical perspective".
"The ADC remains optimistic as we work to convince
the KP into becoming more
skilled at breaking each impasse down into
fragments and contending with one
infinitesimal issue at a time," said
Jackson.
Reserve
Bank Of Zimbabwe To Sell Seven Companies
http://www.radiovop.com
6 hours 53 minutes
ago
Harare, May 31, 2011 - The cash strapped Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
is
offloading its shares in seven companies at a time when creditors owed
millions of United States dollars are queuing to auction its
assets.
On Tuesday the central bank invited bids for the companies as
well as
provision of financial advisory services for the disposal of the
assets.
Two of the companies that are being sold, the central bank have
100 percent
shareholding.
The companies were identified as Tractive
Power Holdings where the RBZ holds
58,7 percent shareholding, Tuli Coal (70
percent), Transload (Bio Diesel)
(50 percent) , Sirtech (Pvt) Ltd (65
percent), Homelink (100 percent) and
Carslone Enterprise (100
percent).
RBZ said participation in the acquisition of the assets was
“open to all
Zimbabwean citizens, locally registered companies as well as to
foreigners
and externally registered firms subject to the indeginisation
laws of the
country.”
“In the case of individuals and bodies
corporate wishing to acquire any of
the assets under disposal, proof must be
submitted relating but not limited
to nationality and residency of the
bidder as well as demonstration of
ability to pay for the assets being
acquired, the RBZ said in a statement.
As of July last year, the RBZ owed
various creditors over US$1.5 billion,
which accrued from its various quasi
fiscal activities before the formation
of the inclusive government.
A
number of creditors including suppliers of agriculture inputs have
attached
RBZ property, which they have auctioned in different parts of the
country.
The bank has also retrenched more than half of its staff to
stay afloat but
the governor Gideon Gono says the financial problems have
not eased.
Now
owned by Army Generals Lobels faces closure
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
31/05/2011 07:27:00 Staff
Reporter
HARARE - The once vibrant legendary bread-making firm,
Lobels Holding which
is now owned by retired army Generals is said to be on
the brink of collapse
as most of its confectionery equipment and vehicles
have been attached owing
to unspecified amounts of money owed to
creditors.
The bread-making firm, has been facing several challenges
leading to the
slump in production from 400 000 loaves per day in 2004 to
current levels of
less than 2 000 loaves per day.
Impeccable sources
say the company’s properties have been attached, owing to
the failure by the
firm to pay back loans amid allegations of
misappropriation of
funds.
Contacted for comment, Lobels Managing Director, Mr Cydwell
Chitehwe
described the attachment of the company’s property as a media talk
and
insisted that the company is fully operational.
Meanwhile, the
firm’s Resident Director, Retired Brigadier David Chiweza
chose to talk
about the temporary closure this Monday following the failure
of the
company’s boiler.
Sources close to the firm said production levels are
very low. The same
sources said the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe and
Metropolitan Bank are some
of the banks that are owed money.
They
company’s management is said to have arranged for a meeting this Monday
afternoon with a local commercial bank in a bid to unlock funding to
kick-start production.
The company has been engaging possible
partners towards recapitalisation
since last year.
Market analysts
believe the firm’s market value ranges between US$15 to 20
million.
Uncertainty
Over Pay Hike for Zimbabwe Public Sector Workers in June
http://www.voanews.com
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti has said his ministry will look at salaries
once transparency
has been established as to the revenue stream from the
Marange diamond
field, still controlled by the military
Gibbs Dube | Washington 30 May
2011
Economist Eric Bloch said public sector workers are likely to
receive only
small increases in due to the country's continuing economic
problems,
including poor revenues
A senior representative of
Zimbabwean civil servants said Monday that it's
unclear if they will see
salary increases in June as President Robert Mugabe
promised two months ago
as no deal has been tabled on the proposed hikes
with that month at
hand.
Tendai Chikowore, chairwoman of the Apex Council which negotiates
on behalf
of state employees, for that despite a series of meetings with
government
representatives, nothing tangible has been worked out with
respect to civil
servant wages.
Chikowore said the Apex Council will
hold a key meeting on Wednesday with
government officials to discuss pay
increases and possible pay-out dates.
Civil servants want salaries
increased to about US$500 from less than US$200
currently.
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti has said his ministry will look at salaries
once
transparency has been established as to the revenue stream from the
Marange
diamond field in the east of the country, which is tightly
controlled by the
Zimbabwean military.
Chikowore said the increases Mr. Mugabe promised are
still expected in June
or July. "We are expecting something in June but what
is important is for us
all to first agree on new salary packages and pay-out
dates,” Chikowore told
VOA reporter Gibbs Dube.
Economist Eric Bloch
said public sector workers are likely to receive only
small increases in due
to the country's continuing economic problems,
including poor
revenues.
“This will be an uphill task for [Biti] as he has to cancel
other
expenditures in order to set aside funds for salary increases for
public
sector employees,” Bloch said.
End
Near for Zimbabwe's Last White Farmers
http://www.voanews.com/
Peta Thornycroft | Harare May 30,
2011
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court heard a case on behalf of three farmers
who claimed
the constitution excluded confiscation of their land because
they bought
their properties after the colonial era ended with independence
in 1980.
The Supreme Court did not agree and quickly dismissed their
application.
One of the farmers, Colin Cloete, a former president of the
Commercial
Farmers’ Union at the height of often violent land invasions
seven years
ago, was one of the applicants.
He, like many of his
colleagues, has been arrested, harassed and appeared in
court many times, to
try to stay on his farm.
Like most surviving white farmers, the cost of
going to court to try to
fight his eviction has been
unaffordable.
Looking back over the long and difficult years, Cloete, now
58, said his
struggle to remain on his farm did not make economic
sense.
“Economically we should have moved off then, at the beginning, as
we would
have been 10 years younger and that much more energetic,” said
Cloete.
Cloete said he had begun looking looking for a house in Harare,
not least so
he could move his possessions to safety.
He said the
land invasions launched after Mr. Mugabe lost a referendum in
2000 had hurt
him and Zimbabwe’s economy, and no one had benefited from this
except the
elite in the ZANU-PF Party.
“We are treated like second-class citizens,
we are treated like we are still
just visitors to this place. My father was
born in this country, before Mr.
Mugabe, but I am still a visitor,” said
Cloete.
Farmer Ken Bartholomew, who was born on his farm, said if he had
known what
the future held in 2000, after land invasions began, he would
have quit
farming immediately.
“I would have moved off and done
something else, not what I have gone
through, with the stress and the amount
of finance we have used to fund
courts, lawyers. I would have left,”said
Bartholomew.
Commercial Farmers’ Union President Deon Theron said the
group has warned
farmers of their bleak prospects.
“The writing is
pretty much on the wall for us. We have been fighting for
how many years
now to try and continue to try and find a way of dialoguing
to resolve the
conflict in an amicable way, but all the doors have been
closed on us,”
Theron said.
Mr. Mugabe and his ZANU-PF Party changed the constitution in
2005 to make
all white farms named for acquisition in local newspapers,
state property.
Very few evicted white farmers have received compensation
for the loss of
their homes and businesses on the farms.
Most of
Zimbabwe’s top politicians and public servants, including judges,
among them
those presiding at the Supreme Court are beneficiaries of
white-owned
farms.
Most farmers say that without dramatic and urgent political
change, the only
white farmers who will survive in the short term are those
who have made
private arrangements with district political warlords loyal to
ZANU-PF.
The 27-month-old inclusive government, which includes the
majority party,
the Movement for Democratic Change, has failed to rescue any
white farmers
from eviction.
MDC-T
say policeman was killed by drinkers
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Irene Madongo
31 May
2011
A police inspector was killed after a fight broke out with drinkers
at a
shopping centre, the MDC-T claims, after police alleged that MDC
supporters
were responsible. The MDC-T also says it has eye-witnesses to
back up their
claim.
The police say Inspector Petros Mutedza was
killed by a mob of riotous MDC-T
supporters at an unauthorised meeting on
Sunday in Glen View, Harare.
Police spokesman Andrew Phiri said Mutedza
led a police contingent to the
scene, following a report that there was an
illegal gathering.
“They proceeded to the scene, and indeed there was a
large number of MDC-T
party activists who were donning party t-shirts. And
since the gathering was
illegal, the police tried to disperse them, and in
the process the crowd
began to be riotous. They started throwing stones and
other objects at the
police officers,” Phiri explained.
He said that
Mutedza, who was at the forefront, was hit by a stone and fell
down. The mob
surrounded him, trampling and kicking him until he was
unconscious. He was
taken to Harare Central Hospital and pronounced dead on
arrival.
Phiri also said that as further proof, the MDC-T had
previously stated they
wanted to have a meeting in that area.
But the
MDC-T has furiously denied the allegations. Obert Gutu, the MDC-T’s
Harare
Province Secretary for Information and Publicity, dismissed the
allegations
saying there was no MDC-T meeting held in Glen View on Sunday.
“Don’t see
this as an isolated incident. It’s well orchestrated, well
planned. The idea
is to build up a case to paint the MDC as a violent party
and obviously to
try to convince SADC, come June 11 in Joburg, that the MDC
is not to be
believed, that the MDC is the architect of violence,” Gutu
said.
On
Tuesday, MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora also dismissed the police
claims.
He said; “We have information that the police arrived at Glen View.
They had
an altercation with members of the public drinking at Glen View
Shopping
Centre.” He added that it was the police who started beating up
members of
the public and that is when the fight started. “We have people,
eye-witnesses, who can testify,” Mwonzora said.
The police are
reportedly calling for the death sentence for anyone
convicted of the
killing and the MDC-T say several of its members have been
arrested over the
police inspector’s death and concern is growing that they
may face the death
penalty for a crime they did not commit.
The party argues that the police
conduct is deeply flawed, and that their
members are not being treated
fairly by the authorities.
“Before the police could investigate the
matter, they rushed to the press
and announced that it was the MDC. It then
sought to arrest MDC members
later. So what we are saying is that the police
looked for someone to arrest
and blame first, then they had to justify
arrests,” Mwonzora said.
“There is a possibility that they will be
wrongly convicted,” he said. He
added that the arrests made were ridiculous
– in some cases up to three
family members of activists were arrested from
their homes and some from
outside Glenview. The party says on Monday, 15
activists were arrested, and
around 20 more on Tuesday.
Lawyers were
still battling to gain access to the activists, who include
Last Maengahama,
an MDC-T national executive member and resident of Glen
View, and his three
brothers, Stanley, Edison and Lazarus Maengahama; plus
Odius, Lloyd and
Precious Chitanda, all related to Glen View North
chairperson of the party,
Mrs Chitanda.
Also picked up were Mavis Madzokere, the wife of Glen View
councilor
Tungamirai Madzokere, and Ollyn Madzokere, her sister-in-law. The
two were
picked up at their home. Stefan Takaedzwa was picked up outside the
MDC-T
headquarters, Harvest House.
Researchers call for firm stance on Zimbabwe
polls
Associated Press
(AP) – 4 hours ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A tougher stance
already taken by regional leaders
toward reforms on Zimbabwe can prevent a
repeat of bloody, disputed
elections, a pro-democracy research group said
Tuesday.
The Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe said
Southern
African leaders for the first time have the will and capacity to
ensure
credible, free elections in the country.
Former Southern
African Development Community secretary-general Prega
Ramsamy reported that
the regional bloc has made it clear it will no longer
tolerate rogue members
such as Zimbabwe that flaunt its guiding principles
on elections and
democracy.
He said SADC recently "put its foot down" to stop President
Robert Mugabe
calling early elections this year.
Mugabe, 87, who is
in a shaky coalition that was brokered by the regional
body after violent
elections in 2008, wants elections this year to end the
troubled power
sharing agreement with the former opposition of Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
But regional leaders at a summit in March ruled that the
nation was not
ready to go to the polls until work on rewriting the
constitution and
several other coalition disputes were resolved, along with
an end to
political violence.
"This is the first time SADC has
clearly put its foot down on Mugabe which
shows its determination to adapt
to global change," Ramsamy said.
The region's previous soft approach
toward Zimbabwe stemmed from old-guard
leaders alongside Mugabe who led the
fight against colonial rule.
"There are new political leaders ... looking
for economic development,
security and stability," he said.
Mugabe
described his stern rebuke by regional leaders in March as a
"bombshell"
from the regional grouping after — for the first time — they
accused his
party and loyalist police and the military of violence and
arbitrary arrests
of opponents and officials of Tsvangirai's party.
Earlier Tuesday, riot
police fanned out in impoverished townships in western
Harare for a second
day in an apparent crackdown on Tsvangirai supporters
after disturbances
Sunday left one police officer dead.
Police alleged Tsvangirai's
supporters started the disturbances. By late
Tuesday, 16 people had been
arrested.
Tsvangirai's party denied the allegations and in a statement
cited witnesses
saying the police inspector was killed when he was hit on
the head with a
chair as police intervened to stop a dispute in a township
bar on Sunday.
ZANU
PF torture agent not immune from prosecution in the UK
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
31
May 2011
A self confessed ZANU PF henchman, who has controversially
received asylum
in the UK, will not be immune from prosecution abroad for
the crimes he
allegedly committed.
The case of former CIO agent
Phillip Machemedze is causing a stir in the UK,
where his asylum has been
granted on the basis that he faces persecution if
he is deported back to
Zimbabwe.
Machemedze has admitted that he “enjoyed” torturing Mugabe's
political foes
while working for the notorious CIO. Part of his confessions
included
pulling teeth from MDC members, giving a white farmer electric
shocks, and
even whipping a woman and then pouring salt on her
wounds.
Despite this, a UK immigration court has granted Machemedze the
right to
remain in the country, saying that he himself could face torture if
he was
returned home, after turning his back on Robert Mugabe
regime.
The situation has sparked anger in the UK and over the weekend
dozens of
MDC-T activists demonstrated at Machemedze’s home in Bristol. On
Saturday
MDC-T UK and Ireland chairman, Tonderai Samanyanga, led a group of
party
members to protest outside Machemedze’s house. Some waved placards
written
“Arrest him Now” and others said “Human Rights Abuser, Hague
Waiting.”
Although Machemedze was not at home, Samanyanga said they met his
neighbours
and other people in the community to press home their
concerns.
UK citizens meanwhile are also up in arms, amid reports that
Machemedze was
working, legally, as a care worker in a high profile
hospital. Some readers
of the UK’s Sun newspaper, commenting on their
website, said that the
situation was “a big joke,” and questioned if the UK
is “becoming a doorway
for all those that commit atrocities throughout the
world.” The hospital has
since fired Machemedze, and British authorities
have revealed that they are
investigating whether he used false papers to
get the job.
Some observers have also expressed concern that Machemedze
will escape any
form of prosecution for his crimes, with the UK government
being criticised
for harbouring a self confessed human rights
abuser.
But a legal expert from a London based organisation, which helps
torture
survivors seek justice, said on Tuesday that Machemedze is not
immune from
prosecution. Kevin Laue from Redress, told SW Radio Africa that
Machemedze
“can and should,” be investigated and face prosecution,
regardless of his
asylum status.
Laue explained that the legal
situation, regarding Machemedze’s asylum
claim, is clear and in line with
international standards. He said that under
the United Nations (UN)
Convention against Torture, to which the UK is a
signatory, “they have an
obligation not to return anyone who faces being
tortured.”
“Torture
is prohibited no matter what. You cannot torture torturers,” Laue
said.
But he added: “If there is evidence to support what he has
admitted to
doing, then there is clear legislation in the UK which would
allow him to be
prosecuted for torture here.”
“If Zimbabweans want to
see this man investigated then they must come
forward with any
evidence.”
A legal precedent already stands for Machemedze’s prosecution
in the UK. In
2005 a ‘warlord’ who confessed to gross human rights
violations in
Afghanistan and then sought refuge in the UK, was found guilty
of torture in
a UK court and sentenced to jail.
Faryadi Sarwar Zardad
fled to Britain in 1998 on a fake passport to escape
the Taliban. He was
convicted in 2005 of carrying out a “cruel and
merciless” campaign of
torture and hostage-taking in his homeland. The
trial was the first of its
kind under the UN torture convention, because he
was prosecuted in Britain
even though, like Machemedze, he is not British
and the offences he
committed were carried out in Afghanistan.
Political commentator and
former MDC National Youth Coordinator, Sanderson
Makombe agreed that the
focus now should be on seeking Machemedze’s
prosecution.
“If indeed
he did what he has said to have done, then it would be a travesty
of justice
if he is not held to account for his crimes,” Makombe said.
Makombe
however expressed reservations about the truth of Machemedze’s
story,
calling it ‘incredible’, and possibly also a fabrication. The
political
commentator explained that for many weeks he has been in contact
with former
MDC colleagues and other individuals, none of whom know about
the incidents
that Machemedze has owned up to.
“I honestly don’t believe everything
this man has admitted to, because by
now someone would have come forward
with evidence,” Makombe said. “I feel
that this story was over dramatised
and not very authentic.”
Securities
body warns traders
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Thulani Munda Tuesday 31 May
2011
HARARE – The Securities Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe
(SECZ) has warned
investors handle with caution the shares of leading hotel
owner Rainbow
Tourism Group (RTG) and insurance giant Afre Corporation
because of
governance issues at the two firms that the commission said were
yet to be
addressed.
The SECZ that supervises the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange (ZSE) said RTG and Afre
have been readmitted to trade on the local
bourse without addressing
governance issues that led to their suspension a
few weeks ago.
Afre and RTG were suspended from trading after an
investigation into
Renaissance Merchant Bank revealed irregular banking
practices.
Renaissance bank, which was headed by Patterson Timba before
the probe, has
major interests in Afre and RTG.
In a statement, the
Securities Commission said Afre and RTG were yet to
satisfy certain
preconditions relating to corporate governance despite being
readmitted on
the ZSE.
Some of the preconditions that Afre and RTG are yet to fulfill
include full
disclosures on assets and liabilities and “remedial action to
be implemented
to address the noted shortcomings.”
“The SECZ notes
that none of the three prerequisites to the lifting of the
suspension had
been fulfilled or if they had, this was not made known to
SECZ,” it
said.
The SECZ said the decision to readmit Afre and RTG should have been
taken
after completion of an audit in the troubled firms.
“There is
need for clarity on the issue of investments which include cash
balances and
money market investments in Renaissance Merchant Bank and the
completion of
a forensic audit on Afre and its subsidiaries,” said SECZ.
Prior to the
investigation into Renaissance, three individuals held equity
amounting to
70 percent among them, which was against banking laws.
Under the
country’s banking laws, a single person cannot hold more than 10
percent
equity in a bank.
After the investigation, Finance Minister Tendai Biti
instructed the
National Social Security Authority (NSSA) to inject a
whooping US$17 million
into Renaissance to save the institution from
collapse.
The bailout plan by Biti has attracted intense criticism from
economists and
political analysts who have cited irregularities in
it.
But the Finance Minister says it is necessary to bail out Renaissance
to
prevent destabilisation of the banking and financial industry should the
firm collapse.
Zimbabwe’s banking sector is still struggling to shake
off the debilitating
effects of a decade of political strife and acute
recession that saw several
banks collapsing while the inflation ravaged
local dollar lost all value and
the country resorted to using the United
States dollar and the South African
rand as currency. -- ZimOnline
Gun
toting Saviour Kasukuwere and his violent past
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
31 May
2011
Every Tuesday SW Radio Africa looks at unresolved cases of political
violence, torture, murder and other forms of abuse by people in authority.
This week we look at the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenization and
Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, who is also the MP for Mt
Darwin.
According to a dossier compiled by the MDC-T, Kasukuwere led and
sponsored
most of the terror gangs that operated in Mashonaland Central. In
one
example, Kasukuwere, on the 5th May 2008, “organized and ferried a group
of
over 300 youths to Chaona, Mazowe where a lot of people were seriously
injured and six people were killed. The youths were wearing Kasukuwere's
campaign T- shirts.”
Eight days later the same mob, led by
Kasukuwere, is alleged to have been
responsible for the murder of Fischer
Chitese, Bright Mafuriro and Sairiro
Kamufuto. On the 19th May the group
struck again, killing MDC activist
Phanuel Mubaira. Kasukuwere, unlike most
ZANU PF chefs who simply direct the
violence, has the rare distinction of
actually being a willing participant
in the brutality.
On the 13th April
2000 a group of 300 MDC supporters tried to hold a rally
in Mt
Darwin.
Kasukuwere, then a parliamentary candidate in upcoming elections,
ordered
the police to mount roadblocks and turn back everyone attending. The
defiant
MDC supporters fought their way through the roadblock which was
mounted by
the police with help from hundreds of ZANU PF youths and war
vets.
Having gone through the first roadblock and the tear gas fired by
police,
the MDC supporters ran into a second ambush, this time mounted by
Kasukuwere
and a gang of CIO operatives. Four pick-up trucks and a maroon
Mercedes
belonging to Kasukuwere blocked the road. The CIO’s, including
Kusukuwere,
pulled out their pistols and began assaulting people while
police officers
present looked on.
A testimony from one activist
called Albert said; “Kasukuwere took an iron
bar and began hitting my
windscreen. He broke through the window and then
the bar hit me on the face
and when I got out of the car he hit me in the
eye. I have now lost an eye.
He then went to the next car and with the
others they were hitting them. The
windscreens and all the lights were
broken.”
Kasukuwere was said to
be determined to attack the MDC candidate for
Bindura, but an army
helicopter arrived at the scene. Some MDC supporters
ran into the hills but
not before one of them was assaulted with an axe and
later had stitches in
the head.
But sometimes even the best laid plans go wrong and ironically
the army
ordered everyone at the scene to lie down on the road, and that
included
Kasukuwere.
Despite protestations by Kasukuwere that he was
the ZANU PF candidate, the
soldiers disarmed him and beat him up. Some 80
MDC supporters were also
injured in the attack. According to the testimony
given, the soldiers
ordered Kasukuwere to be locked up at the police station
in Bindura, but he
was set free when his identity had been
verified.
Kasukuwere at the time was nicknamed ‘Paraquat’ for encouraging
party youths
to rub the poisonous herbicide onto the torture wounds of MDC
activists.
This meant that it was almost impossible for the wounds to ever
heal and
caused enormous suffering and a number of deaths. Assisting him in
planning
and executing the violence was his campaign manager, Terry Marodza.
Most of
the ZANU PF youths were housed in a building belonging to
Marodza.
Even with a coalition government in place we have reported how
Kasukuwere is
still directing ZANU PF violence. In February this year he was
fingered as
the man behind the mob that engulfed Harare in chaos. He hosted
a meeting at
his house where a plan was hatched to send party youths onto
the streets to
demand empowerment. With the help of a police escort they
went on the
rampage, looting and pillaging downtown Harare.
Cash transfers target vulnerable
children
One in four
children has lost one or both parents to HIV and other
causes
HARARE, 31 May 2011 (PlusNews) - Orphans and vulnerable
children in 10 of Zimbabwe's poorest districts will start benefiting from a
government scheme to help them go to school, have enough to eat and access
medical care.
There are about 100,000 child-headed households in
Zimbabwe and a quarter of all children in the country, about 1.6 million, have
lost one or both parents to HIV and other causes. HIV prevalence in
Zimbabwe is one of the world's highest, at 13 percent.
The government
has started rolling out a cash transfer programme with the UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), under the National Action Plan (NAP) for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children (2011-2015). The implementation of the plan is supported by the Child
Protection Fund, a multi-donor-pooled funding mechanism managed by UNICEF.
Under the cash transfer programme, extremely poor households will
receive an average of US$20 a month. The payout will vary depending on the size
of the family.
A pilot programme is under way in Goromonzi, about 100km
outside the capital Harare, where about 105 households are receiving payments.
This pilot programme is intended to assist the government in designing a
national scheme by December 2013.
Sydney Mhishi, director of social
services in the Ministry of Labour and Social Services, said the full roll-out
was expected to begin in July 2011 to an estimated 23,166 households in the
first year.
Mhishi said community committees would help to determine
which households qualified for financial support.
Beneficiaries are
selected after a census of all households followed by a poverty assessment by an
independent agency in consultation with child protection committees.
The
cash transfer scheme has been allocated $4 million in its first year, covering
10 poorest districts in each of the 10 provinces. In the second year, another 10
districts will be added using the same criteria, with the goal of reaching 30
districts by the third year of implementation.
A recent UNICEF report on the status of women and
children in Zimbabwe found that worrying levels of poverty and vulnerability
were limiting women’s and children’s access to education, medical care and
social protection. The report highlights that endemic poverty and HIV/AIDS are
the major contributors to high levels of vulnerability.
“We know that
many orphaned children in child-headed households are poor and struggle to even
access the most basic social services. As a result, they are sometimes forced to
work to meet their daily needs. In the process they miss out on school and fail
to access life-saving health services,” said UNICEF country representative Peter
Salama.
“We have introduced the cash transfer programme with
this in mind. Our intention is to reduce poverty and vulnerability levels in
these households and to ensure that these orphaned children are not
disadvantaged or end up engaging in risky behaviours to survive," he added.
Developing countries are increasingly relying on cash transfer
programmes to tackle childhood poverty. In 2009, Lesotho introduced a pilot
programme in three districts, while a similar project in Kenya has reached
orphans and vulnerable children in 90,000 households.
In
South Africa,
which has the largest cash transfer scheme on the continent, studies have shown
that children in poor households who received monthly child support grants were
more likely to be enrolled in school and have better access to food and
healthcare.
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
David Coltart on Question Time: Part
1
May 31, 2011 6:54 pm
Education
Minister, Senator David Coltart, joins SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma on
Question Time once again, to answer questions sent in by listeners using
facebook, twitter, skype, e-mail and text messages. What will he do about
children being sent home from school over non-payment of fees, war vets
intimidating teachers in the rural areas and the Cold Comfort school saga where
a private college has taken over the farm school?
Interview
broadcast 25 May 2011
Lance
Guma: Due to many requests,
Education minister, Senator David Coltart joins us again on Question Time.
Listeners sent in their questions in advance of the interview using FaceBook,
Twitter, Skype, email and text messages. Senator Coltart, a pleasure to have you
once again.
Education Minister David Coltart
David
Coltart: Well thank you for having
me Lance. Always a pleasure to be interviewed by you.
Guma:
Now last week the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association slammed the chasing away from school of
children who have failed to pay their fees. They said since Tuesday, numerous
schools in the city, I take it that Tuesday last week, have been sending
children home contrary to the announced government policy. They also reported
that headmasters are claiming they have not received this instruction in
writing. Your reaction to that Senator?
Coltart:
Well I find that hard to accept because for a start, headmasters know what the
law is. There is a statutory instrument, a law which was published way back in
1998 which makes it very clear that children cannot be turned away for
non-payment of levy. Let me stress levies not fees. The law says that in the
event of levies not being paid, school development committees, headmasters must
sue parents or guardians for payment of the amount due.
So this is a
long-standing law that has been in place and no-one’s got any excuse for
breaching that law. They tend to hide behind this issue of fees but of course
the way our financial system is structured, the fees are nominal. For example in
rural primary schools there are no fees payable at all and even in the high
density primary schools there’s a nominal fee payable per term of no more than
ten US dollars per term which even the poorest people generally can pay. So I
think it’s disingenuous to say that they don’t know about
this.
Guma:
From Roderick Fayayo who is with
the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, they’re saying there’s a clear
disconnect between your statements and the reality on the ground. Is it possible
that some headmasters are just flouting this government
policy?
Coltart: I
would agree with that. There’s a lot of lawlessness which has crept into the
education sector in the last decade. A lot of it has been caused by the
financial, by the economic collapse in the country and let me stress that I’m
very sympathetic towards teachers. Teachers are not paid a viable wage but what
has happened is that it’s got out of control.
But there is this
disconnect, there is the law that’s there, it’s not being complied with and the
trouble is that we have not been able to adequately police the system. Many of
the district education officers who are the people responsible within the
ministry don’t have transport and have not managed to get out and see what is
happening in these schools and that has contributed to this lawless
situation.
Guma:
So what can parents do who have
had their children sent back home because of non-payment? What sort of recourse
do they have?
Coltart:
Well let me stress that parents must pay the fees. This might sound a very
technical issue for you Lance but there’s a distinction between fees and levies.
As I explained just now, the fees are nominal amounts, they are equivalent to
admission fees and parents must ensure, guardians must ensure that these nominal
fees are paid.
Once they are
paid, and let me stress that government, these fees apply to government and
local council schools, they don’t apply to private schools, but once those fees
have been paid, no child can be turned away for non-payment of levies and if
that is happening then what I ask parents to do is to go to their local
provincial education director if they are able.
The story you got
came in from Bulawayo so it’s relatively easy for them to go in to see the
provincial education director in Bulawayo and report the case to them so that we
can then try and follow up and deal with it. But Lance let me tackle this from
another perspective as well. At the root of this problem is our inability to
adequately finance the education sector and this is the real dilemma that I find
myself in.
I’m very
sympathetic towards poor parents who cannot afford to pay these levies but the
other side of the coin is that because of the lack of money that we have in the
education system at present we are not putting sufficient money into schools to
adequately pay teachers, to adequately provide for text books, pens and chalk
and all the rest of the paraphernalia that we need to run a school properly and
unless parents and guardians dig deep, their children are going to get a
second-rate education and it’s the other side of the coin.
As hard as it is
to pay these levies, I urge parents to make education an absolute priority and
to do whatever they can to pay those levies. But if they simply can’t afford to,
if they are destitute then what they need to do is report this issue to the
provincial education director, but also to go and speak to the SDC and the
headmaster to explain their plight. Because I’ve said we must be compassionate
towards those people who simply cannot find the money to pay these
levies.
Guma:
You talk about lack of finance
affecting education, those who have heard reports of billions of dollars worth
of diamonds in Chiadzwa will find it very difficult to sympathise with your
statement.
Coltart:
Well I agree that is an issue that faces all Zimbabweans; we want to make sure
that our natural resources are being exploited for the benefit of Zimbabweans,
not a small clique, but the problem is and Minister Biti has said this time and
time again that we need to get the proceeds of the diamond sales into government
but the reality is there has been relatively limited inflows.
Minister Biti has
said even in the last couple of weeks that the projected inflows for 2011 have
not been according to what he had hoped and the amount that we are paying for
salaries for example, is a huge proportion of our monthly expenditure. And I’m
seeing it within the education ministry; we had this relatively good budget
announcement that four hundred and sixty nine million dollars to be allocated to
education but the harsh reality Lance is that we’ve got hardly any of that
money.
Teachers are being
paid and that is good but in terms of the balance of money that we need to paint
schools and pay electricity bills and buy text books, we’re getting minimal
receipt and this is the dilemma that we face in this transitional government.
Our country’s rich, should be rich, should have sufficient money to pay for
education but at present the money simply isn’t there.
Guma:
Now Nqabutho Nicholas Dube says
what is the government position on temporary teachers and why are we not going
back to ZJC? It’s difficult for students to write Grade Seven finals and then
‘O’ levels without them having written ZJC.
Coltart:
OK, there are two issues there; the one is the issue of temporary teachers – we
have allowed temporary teachers. During 2007 and 2008 we lost 20000 teachers out
of the teaching profession and we’re doing what we can to attract the qualified
teachers back; our goal is to have as many qualified teachers but in the
interim, we have to have temporary teachers. So the policy is that where there
is no teacher at all, temporary teachers should be allowed back, should be
allowed in the system.
Regarding the
second issue – the ZJC – my focus has been to stabilise ZIMSEC. When I took over
in February 2008, ZIMSEC was in an awful state, they hadn’t even marked the
public exams that had been written in November 2008, the computer systems were
antiquated. We have pretty much stabilised ZIMSEC; we’ve got the exams marked on
time now and I think that public confidence is growing in
ZIMSEC.
I didn’t want to
move towards expanding the examination system in any way until we had stabilised
and so that’s why our focus has been on ensuring that at the very least Grade
Seven, ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level exams are being properly set, then properly
marked. And I think within the next year or so we can conduct a review but it’s
too early to think of reintroducing another examination while the ZIMSEC is
still relatively fragile.
But if there’s a
need, if there’s an educational need to reintroduce that we’re very open to
that. Let me stress that Lance, that we’re in the process of starting a
comprehensive system of reviewing the curriculum which includes a review of the
examinations and that’s going to be started fairly soon, the next year or so and
I think at the conclusion of that process, we’ll have a much clearer idea of
what examinations we need to set to meet that new curriculum.
Guma:
Newsday is reporting that a
headmaster at Mapo Primary School in the Odzi area has reportedly fled from the
school after allegedly receiving death threats from suspected war veterans and
ZANU PF supporters because he had accepted a school donation from the area’s
MDC-T senator. Now I know in the past we’ve discussed this issue, in fact in the
first Question Time where you came, we discussed this issue of threats directed
towards teachers and headmasters by war veterans. I’m sure you’ve seen this
report, is there anything your ministry can do about things like
this?
Coltart:
It’s very hard to adequately deal with situations like this. These reports come
to me and in the past what I’ve done is I’ve responded by moving teachers out of
danger to try and protect them. I’ve made statements in Cabinet, I’ve spoken in
parliament about this issue and I’ll keep on making those statements. What I’ve
said to all parliamentarians is that ultimately children suffer; it’s not the
political parties, it’s not the parents or guardians but we’ve shown very
clearly that when there’s intimidation like this, qualified teachers want to
move away from those areas, they are replaced by temporary teachers and we can
see that the education standard drops immediately.
So ultimately it’s
the children who suffer and we’re trying to get that message through to all
political parties. I’m also working very closely with trade unions, all three
trade unions so that they know I’ve got an open-door policy, that I can get
reports of this nature and try and react to it but I think the main thing that
I’m doing at present to try and combat this is by re-looking at our education
legislation.
I’m in the process
of conducting a comprehensive review of all the statutory instruments relating
to education; I’ve consolidated the statutory instruments which have been
produced over the last 30 years, we’re going to be producing a single viable and
in the course of that process I’ve also looked at measures to reinforce this
policy that we have that schools should be politically neutral zones, they
should be peaceful sanctuaries where teachers and school children can focus on
education and for the first time we’re going to introduce some sanctions to
combat this.
At present all
I’ve been able to do is issue policy statements but if those policy statements
are disregarded, I can’t go to the police to report those responsible because
there’s no crime attached but I hope that if we can pass these new regulations
and make partisan political activity in schools illegal then we might give some
teeth to these policy statements.
Guma:
Chief Ruzani Adrian Tafadzwa wants to know what you are doing to help solve the
Cold Comfort School saga? Parents say they were not notified that Cold Comfort
School Junior, formerly a farm school had been taken over by Herentals College
and the new fees are too exorbitant for most parents who are low-income
earners.
LESSONS at Cold Comfort School in Dawnview Suburb,
formerly Cold Comfort Farm, in Harare were disrupted following a dispute over
the ownership of the premises housing the school.
Coltart: I
met with the chair, secretary and a member of the school development committee
regarding this matter last night and received a full briefing from them. They
confirm the story that this company has seemingly purchased the buildings where
the school premises are. The school fees at present are 50 US dollars per term
and this new company has announced that the school fees will be 40 US dollars
per month and the equivalent of about I think 160 US dollars per
term.
This is the only
school in this whole area and it’s a poor area so parents simply can’t afford to
pay these exorbitant fees which are a lot more expensive than equivalent
schools, in fact are almost as expensive as some private schools so it’s a very
unsatisfactory situation. The problem that I face at present is that the high
court issued an order last week in favour of this company.
The headmaster of
the school has filed a notice of appeal to the supreme court; the matter is now
sub judice, I called for the judgement so that I can see what the judgement
says, but what I’ve said to the school development committee and if I could say
to your listeners and to the particular listener who sent in this query, that
ultimately I will do all in my power to protect the interests of
children.
That is my primary
mandate. We do not want any child’s education to be disrupted and we certainly
don’t want it disrupted by some companies who may be seeking to speculate over
buildings but the short term problem that I face as I say, the matter is sub
judice; I need to see the judgement and understand it because clearly I can’t go
against any order of the high court but I just want to reinforce that I will do
all in my power to protect the interests of these children.
Guma:
Well Senator Coltart the reaction
or the response we got from our listeners to this interview is so immense.
There’s absolutely no way we’ll be able to finish all the questions this week so
I’ll have to end the interview here but hopefully we can get you again next
Wednesday so that we can finish off some of the questions that have been coming
from people. Some want to know whether you’ll introduce entrepreneurship as a
subject in schools, there are questions over IT and economic development in the
curricula, there are questions on extra lessons, teachers’ incentives and really
we hope we can get you again next week.
Coltart:
Well I’d certainly welcome that Lance. One of the strange quirks of this
transitional arrangement is that I’m very rarely asked for interviews by ZBC so
I have very limited opportunity to speak to the public, to speak to the parents,
to convey my thoughts and so I really welcome this interaction that you provide
through SW Radio Africa. You’re doing a great job, thank you.
Guma:
Well Zimbabwe that’s Education
minister Senator David Coltart joining us on Question Time. Senator thank you
for your time.
Coltart:
OK Lance, keep well.
To listen to the
programme: http://swradioafrica.streamuk.com/swradioafrica_archive/qt250511.wma
Feedback can be
sent to lance@swradioafrica.com http://twitter.com/lanceguma or http://www.facebook.com/lance.guma
SW Radio
Africa is Zimbabwe’s Independent Voice and broadcasts on Short Wave 4880 KHz in
the 60m band.
Raoul du Toit: Saving
Zimbabwe's black rhino
Matilda Lee
31st May, 2011
Despite increased poaching threats,
a difficult political situation, drought and climate change, Goldman Prize
Winner Raoul du Toit has pioneered a new approach in community stakeholding to
save the black rhino
Can you
describe the threats to rhinos?
When I first
became involved in rhino conversation in the late 80s early 90s, it was a pretty
simple cross-border poaching problem into Zimbabwe. There was a wave of poaching
coming down east Africa through Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As major
populations, like in Zambia, were wiped out the poachers moved on, like a vacuum
cleaner moving onto another population.
This decimated the
rhino population in the Zambezi valley, but 300 rhinos were saved and moved out;
some to national parks and some to conservancies on private land in
Zimbabwe.
By that stage,
those southern areas were cattle ranching areas. We had to transform them into
wildlife land in order to create a long-term enabling environment for rhino
conservations, to spread burden away from the state and encourage
tourism.
How do you transform cattle farms into wildlife
land?
They rhinos were
state property and at first the landowners were receiving them out of a
conservation spirit. But taking them didn't disrupt their cattle ranching; the
rhinos live side by side next to cattle. They are better behaved than most
people think.
The only way to
keep them there was to develop wildlife and create eco tourism. We had to get
ranchers to convert out of cattle production into wildlife production through
various incentives. Through a project initially supported by the British-based
Beit Trust in the late 1980s and undertaken through WWF, and more recently the
International Rhino Foundation we were able to provide economic incentives to
the cattle ranchers.
We created three
conservancies over 3,200 km2. The funding helped landowners with legal
strategies to draft constitutions. We required them to match that expenditure
with wildlife restocking. They brought in more rhinos, and it involved the first
major translocation of adult elephants.
In 1992, there was
a big drought that was the final nail in the coffin for livestock production in
this area. People were seeing that the long-term effects of cattle production
were accumulating in terms of soil erosion, loss of grass cover, reduced water
infiltration, and drying up of the rivers. All these problems had come through
long-term mono-species production and these ranchers were able to see what they
were doing essentially was creating a desert. The profitability of cattle
ranching was declining because of global market chains and so on, and also
because there had subsidies for cattle production that applied during that era,
which were falling away.
What was
the role of local communities?
That was the next
big thing, to bring the community involvement into the whole scheme. We did that
as the restocking took place, some of the restocking was conditional upon
developing community participation, and we started developing concepts to create
community stakeholding in the wildlife conservancies.
To put it very
simply, if one had supported the restocking of wildlife, that's like bringing in
business assets. The wildlife is what you need for your tourist operations, so
you can quantify those business assets and you can create shareholdings for your
community trust. The community will get a dividend proportionate to their
shareholdings in the operation. That was the simple concept that we started off
with.
Unfortunately in
2000 we had major political upheaval in Zimbabwe. At that time all these
community projects came to grinding halt and things become very
difficult.
People would just
move in to large areas, so we had a lot of unplanned settlement in areas there
were more suitable to wildlife production. You can imagine that if these areas
weren't any good for cattle production they certainly weren't any good for dry
land cropping. Only in good rainfall years would you get good harvest. You often
have three years in a row where there's no chance of growing any crops because
rainfall in those years is too low.
That's again when
our rhino poaching started. Early on it was essentially snaring. People set wire
snares to catch bush meat, buffalo, giraffe, animals like that, but were
catching rhinos as well even though they weren't specifically intending to.
Having found some dead rhinos, they then pick up the horns and initially didn't
really know what to do with them. But slowly found ways to trade them and that
started off a demand. Poaching is very much like a bush fire, it starts and soon
blows up out of control. As the trade and smuggling networks get established,
the middlemen make themselves known, and buyers come out.
How do the
poaching rings work?
Syndicates
operating from South Africa perpetrate a lot of our poaching. They've got heavy
weaponry and are highly mobile, they are just like bank robbers, are really
aggressive, generally young men. They have good cars and cell phones, and come
right across to Zimbabwe from South Africa.
These poachers are
very professional in what they do, the engage in quick hit and run attacks, are
extremely aggressive and generally fire first. We have very competent trackers
to track our rhinos, and our guys often have to do the follow-up on poaching
incursions. If a gang is detected coming into an area they are then tracked down
by a law enforcement team, but our trackers are unarmed and they've been fired
on increasingly to the point that we've had equip them with flack
jackets.
But it has to be
understood very clearly that this poaching is not done by local people from
communities. Having a local community that is positively inclined towards rhino
conservation will make a huge difference. The poachers have to come in through
local communities, and the locals see strangers and have been reporting to us
which we want to encourage further.
The loss of
tourism in Zimbabwe has hit these areas hard. What rhinos were bringing in in
terms of tourist dollars was covering their protection costs. That's all changed
now, none of these areas are making money, and there are no
tourists.
What about
law enforcement?
We are getting
strong cooperation from some law enforcement arms in Zimbabwe. There are
elements in the police that are trying to do a good job; there are other very
corrupt elements. The Courts have demonstrated a lot of leniency towards rhino
poachers, some of that's due to ignorance of the plight of rhinos and the
general need for maintaining wildlife resources as part of Zimbabwe's economic
recovery. Its been estimated that of the various sectors of Zimbabwe's economy,
tourism could spring back quickest and quickly build up to 10 per cent of our
GDP. A lot of this isn't understood by the courts, they see rhinos as a nuisance
and haven't taken it seriously. There's a lot a lot of corruption and bribery in
the courts, so we've struggled with that.
We've been running
to sensitise the courts more about the seriousness of rhino crimes in economic
and conservation terms. We've seen this year a major increase in the penalties
for poachers, so things are changing a little bit.
How do you
create a community shareholding arrangement to prevent poaching?
We want to give rhinos to schools. In an area
around these conservancies we've got a number of impoverished schools, a few
secondary schools but mainly primary schools. What we want to do is bring in
white rhinos from a few overstocked areas, which creates a revenue flow back for
them to invest in their protection effort. At the moment none of these places
are making money, all the operations are in the red in the moment, which makes
it very difficult for them to invest in their increased protection for
rhinos.
We want to create
a live sale market by buying rhinos from some areas, and bring them into an area
that's in need of animals. We bring in two rhinos and then choose a school
through a competition that's environmentally related, and we'll give them the
rhinos. As younger rhinos are born they will be bought and turned out to the
scheme, and that money will come back to support the school in the form of
school materials and other benefits. The schools have to show that they are
doing something in their community to spread the message about
rhinos.
It's really
straightforward: if these animals breed, there are calves that you can sell, and
you benefit. If the animals get poached, then they won't get the benefit because
the animals won't be there to breed anymore. At the same time we think it will
help politically as local members of parliament will see that their communities
are getting some benefit, and they will in turn impose pressure on the courts to
be stricter with poachers.
It will also help
catalyze an approach, which I believe is the most appropriate approach to
wildlife -based land reform, which is to create shareholdings to wildlife in
these areas for local participants.
Wildlife on its
own is not going to solve all the poverty problems. But if you have wildlife
combined with a diversified approach to advancing and creating livelihoods you
can lift people up. A bit of landscape planning can harmonise the landscape to
everybody's benefit.
Did Zimbabwean Women have anything to celebrate on Africa
Day 2011?
May
31st, 2011
The Zimbabwe
government continues to pay mere lip service to its commitment to domesticate
and implement the SADC protocol on Gender and
Development. An event held on the eve of Africa Day held in Harare
was organised by MISA, and Tsitsi Mhlanga from Women in Politics Support Unit
(WIPSU) said they were doubtful that the country was going to meet the 2015
deadline of the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender and
Development.
Mhlanga pointed
out that there was a glaring lack of representation by women on the thematic
committees who are currently compiling views of the people gathered by the
Constitution making outreach teams. The unequal number of women involved is a
clear sign from government that they are lacking in the commitment needed to
politically and economically empower women.
Government’s
reluctance to domesticate the regional treaty means that women’s voices remain
stifled and unheard. This also means that women will continue to be portrayed
negatively by the local media, thereby making women’s issues and rights almost
non existent.
Zimbabwe is among
the six countries which signed the 2008 SADC Protocol on Gender and Development
which seeks to give equal representation of women in all decision making
positions. The country is also a signatory to the 1979 Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1995 Beijing
Platform for Action and the AU Protocol on African Women’s Rights. With the
SADC Protocol on Gender and Development calling for proportional representation
of women and men in politics by 2015, and considering that officially women make
up 52% of the population, the country has a major challenge on its
hands.
Given that
politicians are calling for elections anytime soon, without domesticating this
regional treaty, we are likely to see less women being given a chance to contest
for top political positions and this should be not go
unchallenged.
Currently in
Zimbabwe’s Lower House there is 16% female representation, while in the Upper
House there is 24% representation. With the two houses combined there is 15%.
The country has 18% (7) female cabinet ministers, while there is no single
mayor. The statistics are a signal that there is much to be done in Zimbabwe to
satisfy the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development as well as
the United Nations Millenium Development
Goal on gender equality.
Women in Cabinet |
|
Vice President |
Joyce MUJURU ZPF |
Deputy Prime Minister |
Thokozani KHUPE MDC-T |
Minister of Home Affairs (shared) |
Theresa MAKONE MDC-T |
Minister of Labor |
Paurina GWANYANYA-MPARIWA ZPF |
Min. of Regional Integration &
International Cooperation |
Priscila MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA
MDC |
Min. of Small & Medium
Enterprises |
Sithembiso NYONI ZPF |
Min. of Women’s Affairs, Gender, &
Community Development |
Olivia MUCHENA
ZPF |
This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Tuesday, May 31st,
2011 at 7:22 am
Peter Godwin on Zimbabwe, South Africa,
crimes (against humanity) and a stuffed Mugabe
http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/
31
May 2011, 21:56:55 (South Africa)
In his latest book
“The Fear”, Peter Godwin describes torture, violence and
crimes in the name
of power in the country that was once a prototype of the
“rainbow nation”.
Why did the paradigm never happen? Where did Zimbabwe go?
Godwin spoke to
Daily Maverick's EMILY GAMBADE.
“I get these emails from people saying:
‘We feel so ashamed that this was
happening on our doorstep and we didn’t do
anything. And yet it was right
there. We are the next-door neighbours, we
are the most important country
affected by it and we didn’t do
anything.’
“At one session at the Franschhoek Literary Festival (13-15
May 2011), I was
asked by a white South African, and it was quite a poignant
question: ‘Here
we are, a minority now in a black-ruled country… Can you
tell us, given what’s
happened in Zimbabwe, and what happened to white
people, can you tell us
what you think you did wrong, and what we should be
doing down here to
safeguard our own future, to be able to live and for our
children to be able
to live in this country?’’ Peter Godwin shrugs his
shoulders.
A former foreign and war correspondent who now writes for
Vanity Fair and
the National Geographic, the author of five non-fiction
books, he is no
politician and has no ready answers to questions such as
that one. But ask
him about his views on Zimbabwe and the parallels it has
with South Africa,
and he will make you listen carefully.
‘I think… I
sort of know what we did wrong, but the awful truth is, was
there anything
we could have done differently as a community that might have
safeguarded
us? Or are we just a footnote to something that would have
happened
anyway?
“I found myself saying that what happened in Zimbabwe, was that
there was an
implicit social contract once Mugabe came in, which was namely
that white
people could stay. They could enjoy their nice houses because
they were a
privileged elite, that wouldn’t be taken away, their farms
wouldn’t be
nationalised. They would become technocrats. Mugabe specifically
made that
appeal; we were the prototype of the ‘rainbow nation’, we were
going to show
that we could do this; and the whites were invited to stay and
contribute,
and they did, or so they thought. But the implicit social
contract was: We
could do all that, but we shouldn’t involve ourselves in
politics now
because we had had our turn and there were historical
injustices and
imbalances that needed to be figured out. It’s one’s luck
that you come
along in a cycle of history where your group, for whatever
reason, has had
some kind of privileges. Now if you lost them tough, you
know, bugger off.
“So whites, by and large, became expats. They withdrew
into their houses and
behind their TVs and their sport clubs and stopped
being citizens in the
full sense, where you play a very active, full role on
every level of the
society. Democracy is not something that only happens
when you go (and) vote
and that’s it. It has to be guarded with jealousy all
the time and it is
guarded by people participating in it and by being
well-informed and by
reading about it and by holding politicians
accountable. (Democracy) has to
be policed by citizens. And if you stop, if
citizens withdraw, the danger is
that you become an isolated ethnic
minority, better off than the average
person. When there is an economic
downturn, the politics envy can kick in
and you become very
vulnerable.”
In the South African post-election era, where democracy was
the big winner,
one has to remember that merely voting means nothing if one
completely
withdraws from the civic scene.
“South Africa is facing
serious challenges. This transition is not over,
this country could go in
any number of directions - and I’m not saying it’s
going to become like
Zimbabwe. There are many differences between South
Africa and Zimbabwe, but
there are dangers and there are many parallels,”
explains Godwin, pointing
out how the two neighbouring countries have to
build a democracy out of what
he calls “liberation” governments.
“What essentially happens in these
countries, these liberation countries, is
a revolution. It’s not just a
change of government, it’s a revolution. And
in any revolution, the power
that comes in has that enormous authority,
credibility and legitimacy. It
tends to seem messianic, to feel it should
enjoy a kind of monopoly on power
because they were the people who
sacrificed themselves to free the country,
and they tend to feel that other
parties are not even legitimate ones. So
they need the checks and balances
in place in society, whether it’s the
media or the courts or opposition
parties, to say ‘hold on a
minute’.”
Godwin's words, while describing the Zimbabwean experience, are
getting ever
more relevant with the Protection of Information Bill looming
and an
apparent call made by ANC’s Nceba Faku to burn down a
newspaper.
“You only really know if you live in a democracy when a
government loses its
power, loses an election and leaves office; until that
point you can vote,
and only (when) democracy wants to take power away from
you, then we see
whether you are really interested in democracy or whether
you are interested
exclusively in power. And when it stops delivering that,
you’ll hear ‘We don’t
believe in democracy anymore, we want a different
system.’ Then there is
danger. In Zimbabwe, we had a de facto one-party
state for 15 years and all
those checks and balances, those other
independent institutions that should
check the power of the government, they
wilted away, until there was just
nothing left. Only despair.
“But
the good news of why South Africa is different is that you are already
into
your fourth presidential term. We never got beyond our first one. The
power
in Zimbabwe became very concentrated in the figure of one person. Also
you
had a relatively extraordinary thing which was Thabo Mbeki being
rejected by
his own party while he was still a president. Well that’s
extraordinary,
there’s clearly some democracy within the ANC, maybe rough
and ready, but
ZanuPF is not a democratic institution even internally.”
Godwin goes on,
“I also think that you at least, made an attempt after the
end of apartheid,
to speak about what happened. You had the Truth and
Reconciliation
Commission where people could stand up and look at themselves
in the mirror
as a nation. The TRC was based on the idea of the Catholic
confession, but
whether you agree with it or not, there was an attempt to
have a sustained
national self-reflection… In Zimbabwe, we never did that.
Each time we moved
on, from the Rhodesian war, the terrible crimes committed
by both sides
against civilians, we didn’t even talk about it; the 1983-1984
Gukurahundi
where 20,000 Matabele citizens were killed. No one has been
arrested, we are
not even allowed to report on it, nothing. Then there was
Operation
Murambatsvina in 2005 when they did the so-called slums clearance,
but they
just threw hundreds of thousands of people out of the cities and
many of
them died. They did it in the middle of winter with no
accommodation. Nobody
talked about it. And then the terrible violence and
torture campaigns in
2008 - nobody arrested, nothing. So what you get is a
culture of impunity
developing where it becomes part of the national culture
that you can get
away with political violence. Nothing ever happens to the
perpetrators; so
you absorb, you internalise that kind of thing and it
becomes part of a
culture of political violence which is what we have now.
ZanuPF’s default
reaction to political opposition is a violent one. That’s
what they do,
that’s what they’ve always done.”
After years of violence and
indifference, it remains impossible to know
where the country is headed.
Godwin adds, “In many ways, ‘The Fear’ is my
invitation to the International
Criminal Court to check it out. Please,
check it out, do something. This is
what you are there for.”
On the future of the country: “There are two
things going on: There is the
fact that the MDC wants the power, that ZanuPF
doesn’t want to give up, and
that South Africa, which is supposed to be a
kind of honest broker in the
process, hasn’t actually played that role. It
has protected Mugabe in many
respects from the international community by
saying ‘Oh, we’ll fix Zimbabwe,’
and what they are actually trying to do is
tinker with ZanuPF so that it’s
kind of reformed and it can carry on like
this for a while. They don’t want
the opposition to take over. But the other
thing that’s playing out at the
same time is the transition of power within
Zan PF. Who takes over from
Mugabe? It’s quite a complicated thing to
predict. And they are cocking up
the transition. I was joking in Franschhoek
saying I think that when Mugabe
dies they are going to send him to a
taxidermist and stuff him and put him
on a throne with glass eyes so they
can keep on saying ‘Mugabe said this and
Mugabe said that.’
“Mugabe
won’t nominate a successor. And mostly I think it’s because
dictators have
that thing that they don’t want to confront their own
mortality. But also
because there are now two factions fighting for
succession; and there isn’t
an ethical factor that if you choose one over
the other, the other will
split the party and that’s the more rational
reason why they haven’t
nominated a successor yet. On a bad day, I feel like
ZanuPF will never ever
give up power. On a good day I think perhaps, with a
soft landing they may
be phased out. But my worry now is, because of the
discovery of this huge
mine of diamonds in the east of the country, in
Chiadzwa, which is
controlled by ZanuPF and Mugabe and the money is going
into their coffers,
that’s revived the party. And it’s a glittering prize
that they don’t want
to lose.”
The glittering sheen of diamonds may bring more darkness to the
country.
There is no certainty about the upcoming presidential elections,
scheduled
for sometime in 2011 or 2012, depending on who you're talking to.
Zimbabwe
is a country in quick sand. And this is, as Godwin sums it up, a
cold
reminder that democracy is a fragile paradigm that needs constant
checks and
balances. Failing to do so is way too high a price to pay for a
whole
nation. DM
Three years for murdering MDC –T activist, 65 yrs for stocktheft
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 31/05/11
In Zimbabwe, cattle are better-off
than their owner because, if they get
stolen, the thief will get 65 years in
jail but if their owner is murdered,
the accused will get only three years.
The sentences are based on two recent
court cases hopefully, they are not
representative of the entire justice
system in the Southern African
country.
In the first case, three men were last year sentenced to 20
years each after
being convicted of stealing cattle from a farm in
Marondera, according to
the State-owned Herald published on 26 April 2010.
On hearing the sentence,
one of the convicts reportedly collapsed in shock.
The total number of
cattle stolen is not clear in the press report however,
the number delivered
on one occasion to a buyer was given as 18.
The
paper said, provincial magistrate Ms Sithuthuke Sibanda sentenced former
policeman Knowledge Zaranyika (28) and Frank Masiye (19) to 25 years in jail
apiece after convicting them on nine counts of stock theft. She however,
suspended five years of the sentence on condition of good
behaviour.
The third accused, Steven Masiyazi (age not given) was
sentenced to an
effective nine years in prison. The three had denied the
charges when they
first appeared in court. Their co-accused, farmer and
businessman Collins
Boka of March Farm, was already serving time for stock
theft. Boka had
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 65 years in prison with
20 yrs
conditionally suspended.
The second case is that of a gang of
5 Zanu-pf ‘hitmen’ who ‘have been
jailed’ according to Zimdiaspora on 31st
May 2011 (no date given for the
sentencing) for three years each for the
murder of an MDC-T activist.
Tawanda Takai (28), Nhamo Phiri (42),
Givemore Mwandila (26), Cleto Marezva
(24) and Wellington Masola (28) were
‘thrown into prison’after being
convicted by Gweru magistrate, Josph Mabeza
for murdering Charles Sibanda.
The gang killed Sibanda on March 1, 2002
in Zhombe at the height of the 2002
presidential elections in which Robert
Mugabe of Zanu-pf narrowly beat
Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC.
The
Zanu-pf ‘hitmen’abducted Sibanda from his homestead before
force-marching
him to their base where they severely assaulted him with
sticks, whips and
other blunt objects. Sibanda died the following morning
and a postmorten
confirmed that he succumbed to injuries sustained during
the
assault.
The Magistrate, ‘slapped the gang with a combined 15 years jail
term of
which each will save an effective three year period’ (Zimdiaspora,
31/05/11).
The disparity in sentencing is shocking that you are left
wondering whether
one of the sentences is a political statement or it was
just some people’s
lucky day in court. Making sense of Zimbabwean justice
system is no easy
task. Is this how the regime has resolved to address
impunity?
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Bill Watch 21/2011 of 31st May [Both Houses of Parliament to meet Today]
BILL WATCH
21/2011
[31st May
2011]
The House of Assembly
and the Senate will meet this afternoon
Although both Houses had adjourned to later
dates – 14th June for the House of Assembly and 5th July for the Senate – they
have been recalled early by the Speaker and the President of the Senate in terms
of Standing Orders which permit the presiding officers, at the request of the
State President, to order a recall if they are satisfied that the public
interest so requires.
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information supplied