Chinamasa told to resubmit court application

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has been told by the Principals to sit
down with Finance Minister Tendai Biti and MDC President Welshman Ncube to
craft a ‘document by consensus’, which will reflect the position of the
government in its inclusive nature. This will then be filed before the
Constitutional Court (ConCourt).

This latest development comes a day after Chinamasa unilaterally filed a
court application requesting an extension of the July 31st poll date,
without consulting the MDC parties in the coalition government.  The MDC-T
said the application that Chinamasa submitted was designed to fail, making
it easy for the court to reject it as ZANU PF are keen to have an early
election.

Biti wrote on his Facebook page, saying that the court needs to be persuaded
that there are good reasons for moving the date: “Chinamasa goes to the
ConCourt and pleads one basis for the application, namely, that he is only
making the application on the directive of a foreign body viz SADC.”

Biti added: “In the application Chinamasa in fact disowns any reference to
the logic of why Zimbabwe needs a postponement. In fact in paragraph 16 of
the affidavit he virtually makes an apology for bringing the application and
says he only does because a foreign body SADC has directed him to do so.”

Chinamasa said he was in a meeting when we contacted him for comment.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told SW Radio
Africa that President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Ncube agreed that the
new “application will replace whatever paper was written purportedly on
behalf of government, because this is an inclusive government.”

The coalition partners continued bickering among themselves on Wednesday
after the MDC formations accused Chinamasa of filing the application while
consultations on the way forward were under way.

During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting the parties had agreed that the Principals
should convene an urgent meeting on Wednesday to discuss the ConCourt appeal
and also to decide on whether or not to send to parliament the amendments to
the Electoral Bill, passed by the cabinet last week, including establishing
a clear election roadmap as a collective.

The MDCs say ZANU PF heavyweights had ‘boycotted’ the session in Cabinet
that discussed the need for a meeting on Wednesday.

The ZANU PF big wigs included Emerson Mnangangwa, Nicholas Goche, Sydney
Sekeremayi and Ignatius Chombo and they only attended Cabinet for an hour in
which they discussed the movement of grain in the country and the water
level in dams.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said ZANU PF did not give the MDCs any
indication that Chinamasa was going to file the court application.

“What Minister Chinamasa has done is to file an application that is destined
to fail. He has filed an application that is shoddy, that is incompetent and
that he knows no reasonable court may grant,” Mwonzora revealed.

The political parties agreed at the regional SADC grouping in Mozambique
last weekend to approach the court for a two week extension, so as to
prepare the necessary electoral process needed for a credible poll.

But Mwonzora said the SADC resolution does not give a date: “What the
resolution does is it gives the Zimbabwean authorities time to do the
reforms but it does not confine these reforms to the two weeks that
Chinamasa wants to put.”

Human rights lawyer Alan Deve said what is happening is probably the only
way to inculcate a democratic and constitutional adherence culture.  He
said: “I like the angle of getting the system right for posterity.”

Observers say it is clear that the politicians are now playing games with
this election process and what Zimbabweans are seeing is nothing more than
political gamesmanship.

Analysts say it would appear the coalition actors are constantly trying to
find ways in which they can outwit each other to win the election.

In the meantime the former ruling party is in high gear performing a
‘comprehensive primary election process,’ in preparation for their one day
internal polls on Monday.

Other observers believe that what is happening shows desperation from ZANU
PF, as the approach is combative and the party is making mistakes. Last week
Biti said there is a chaos faction in ZANU PF that is bent on putting up
barriers whenever there is progress.

This theory would imply that President Mugabe is not in control of this
‘chaos faction’ but that is an idea that many would find hard to believe as
the 89 year old leader is seen as a powerful head of the Politburo, the
Commander in Chief, a ruthless head of government and nothing of a political
nature happens in Zimbabwe unless it is ‘okayed’ by him.

AU poll observer team holds meeting with civil society groups

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

A 10-member African Union (AU) team arrived in Zimbabwe this week to assess
prevailing conditions ahead of the country’s elections.

Idrissa Kamara is leading the AU pre-observer mission whose members are
drawn from Zambia, South Africa, Lesotho, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the
Republic of South Sudan, according to state media reports.

Kondwane Chirambo of Zambia will be coordinating the team which is expected
to be joined by more members closer to the election date. Nine members of
the team are expected to remain in the country for the duration of the
election period.

Chirambo is familiar with Zimbabwean politics, having spent several years in
the country working for the Harare-based Southern African Research and
Documentation Centre.

The pre-observer team has already met with civil society groups, who raised
the issue of the need for objectivity by the team in assessing electoral
processes.

This is the first time that the AU team has arrived in the country  well
before the elections and some observers have said this could be an
indication of how serious the continental body is about ensuring that
Zimbabwe holds credible polls

Dr Solomon Zwana, chairperson of poll observer group the Zimbabwe Electoral
Support Network (ZESN), told SW Radio that civic groups were happy with the
presence of the AU team in the country.

“Of course we would have wanted a larger contingent but at the end of the
day it is not the number that matters but the quality of their observations.

“A lot will depend on the methodology that they will use to observe the
process, but we hope they will not be biased,” Zwana said.

Some of the concerns raised by civil society groups during the meeting with
the AU team Tuesday included outstanding media and security sector reforms,
the registration of civil society groups to enable them to participate in
the electoral processes, as well as the timing and date of the elections.

As part of their mission, the AU team is expected to assess the general
electoral environment, including the voter registration exercise, the
electoral laws, whether ZEC is ready and well-prepared for the elections,
and also whether the general environment is conducive for a free and
credible election.

Regional body, the Southern African Development Community, is yet to send an
observer mission into the country. SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomão
told SW Radio Africa Monday that the process of training the observers was
already under way, although he declined to say when they will be deployed.

It is still unclear when Zimbabweans will go to the ballot. President Mugabe’s
bid to impose a July 31st date was foiled by SADC leaders who asked the
unity government to seek an extension from the Constitutional Court which
had ordered that polls be held by that date.

Security sector under pressure to explain ‘illegal’ political plans

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

The security forces in Zimbabwe are under pressure to explain why some of
its members are planning to represent ZANU PF in the forthcoming elections,
despite the new Constitution explicitly barring this.

In a show of open allegiance to ZANU PF, some serving members of the
military, police and CIO are looking to contest in that party’s primary
elections, which will determine who represents the party at the national
poll.

This includes Assistant Commissioner Oliver Mandipaka and Senior Assistant
Commissioner Ronald Muderedzwa, who are both reportedly planning to contest
the Buhera West seat. CIO operative Francis Mukwangwariwa is reportedly
targeting Manyame, while his colleague Lesley Humbe is planning to represent
Masvingo South.

These plans contravene the new Constitution gazetted by party leader Robert
Mugabe in May. The charter states in Section 208 that active members of the
security sector cannot display any form of political bias, including
representing any party or being active members of that party.

“Neither the security services nor any of their members may, in the exercise
of their functions, act in a partisan manner, further the interests of a
political party or cause, prejudice the lawful interests of any political
party or cause,” the Constitution states.

“Members of the security services must not be active members or
office-bearers of any political party, or organisation. . . Serving members
of the security services must not be employed or engaged in civilian
institutions except in periods of public emergency.”

The issue has already caught the eye of regional facilitator Jacob Zuma, who
listed the Constitutional requirements of the security sector in a report to
SADC over the weekend. He suggested that these requirements be publicly
stated by Mugabe, as the President and Commander in Chief of the security
forces.

Meanwhile, according to a report by the NewsDay newspaper, national police
spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said Tuesday
that they would soon hold a press conference to clarify the situation.

Security chiefs ‘still in war’ mode: Mugabe

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

18/06/2013 00:00:00
     by Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe told SADC peers he was also the victim of media
abuse and urged them to treat the country’s security commanders with
“sensitivity”, explaining that most of them have not detached from the
revolutionary attitude adopted during the country’s independence, it has
emerged.

Mugabe was responding to calls for media and security sector reforms during
last weekend’s SADC extraordinary summit in Maputo, Mozambique where MDC
leaders expressed concern over the country’s partisan security establishment
as well as biased reporting in the state media.

According to MDC secretary general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the Zanu
PF leader was surprised by the amount of detail in SADC facilitator and
South Africa President Jacob Zuma’s report to the summit.

Recounting what transpired during the summit at a public meeting organised
by the SAPES Trust in Harare on Tuesday Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who is also
regional integration minister said: “First Mugabe put in the argument that
‘I did not think that the issue about Zimbabwean crisis was about all these
issues that the facilitator was talking about. Yes they are important but l
still think that an election can go on if there is no violence’”.

She added: “As far as President Mugabe was concerned, the problem was the
issue of violence and not necessarily any of these things. He spoke about
the issue of the media reforms and he said l totally agree there major
problems with the media but please my friends look at me. l am also a
subject of that abuse.

“These papers also say a lot of nonsense about me. So l have now accepted
that media is a bad thing, they abuse people so l guess there is nothing we
can do about it. So in my opinion l think we can still have elections with
the problems of media reform.”

The Zanu PF leader also rose to the defence of partisan army commanders who
have said they would not serve under a leader who did not participate in the
liberation struggle in a veiled reference to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai
with some even hinting that he would not be allowed to take over power even
if he won elections.

Said Misihairabwi-Mushonga explained: “(Mugabe) then went to the issue of
rule of law and he said ‘l agree, there is something wrong with the
statements that the security forces are making. However, let me explain to
you why l think they make the statements that they make.

“These are people who were with us during the liberation struggle and they
have not disconnected themselves from the liberation struggle to today. As
far as they are concerned they are still in the mould of the liberation
struggle and we know we have to treat them with sensitivity but l agree
there is a problem.’”

Tsvangirai has made media and security sector reforms a condition for
participating in elections which Mugabe said would be held on July 31.

However, following representations by the MDC parties, the SADC summit asked
the Zanu PF leader to seek a two week delay to a Constitutional Court ruling
ordering the polls to be held before the end of next month.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga also blasted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
claiming he was behind Mugabe’s “unilateral decision” to proclaim the
election date and to avoid parliament when gazetting amendments to the
country’s electoral laws.

“I am very angry; I am angry with Chinamasa because l don’t think anyone
should do that to their own leader,” she said.
“What Chinamasa and whoever else persuaded them to advise President Mugabe
to do those things that he did really, really is treasonous and l don’t
think it should ever be allowed to happen.”

Zimbabwe mining taxes disappear

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Millions of dollars in royalties paid by diamond mining firms in eastern
Zimbabwe have disappeared, a parliamentary committee found, amid fears they
could be used to finance harassment in forthcoming elections.

By Aislinn Laing, Peta Thornycroft in Johannesburg1:54PM BST 19 Jun 2013

The cross–party mines and energy portfolio committee found that there were
"serious discrepancies" between what the diamond firms claimed to have paid
in local taxes, and what the government had received.

One firm, Mbada Mining, which works with the Zimbabwean government, said it
had paid $293million (£187million) in taxes over four years, but the
government said it had received just $82 million (£52million) in total from
Mbada for operations in 2011 and 2012.

Three other companies operating in the Marange fields, which are estimated
to hold around a quarter of the world's gem stocks, refused to disclose the
payments they made to the government, a coalition of Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC
party and Robert Mugabe's Zanu–PF.

The committee said that attempts to visit the diamond fields were repeatedly
thwarted by government mining officials and security agents.

“The diamond industry is operating without a clear legal framework and
administration to provide assurance that the people’s resources are being
protected,” the committee said.

Its concerns have been echoed by Tendai Biti, the Finance Minister and
member of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC which sits in uneasy coalition with Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF since disputed elections in 2008.

He has repeatedly complained about diamond revenues going missing, and been
forced to slash social spending for several years running, and seek election
funding from outside Zimbabwe as a result.

Last year, a report by diamond watchdog Partnership Canada Africa alleged
that the “theft” of diamonds and their revenue in the past four years was in
part financing renewed political and military support for Zanu PF.

Four companies operate in Marange – three are 50 per cent owned by the state
and one is entirely state-owned.

The parliamentary committee claimed that since the government took
part-ownership of the diamond fields, it was refused permission to visit. A
first attempt, in April 2010, was called off when their members were
“constantly mobbed by security agents”. It finally visited a second time, in
2012, after nearly two years of asking permission.

The committee said that large parts of Marange are still run by the
military, who were accused of killing 200 illegal miners in 2008. It was
refused permission to hold a public meeting with some of the estimated 4,000
people displaced the mining activities because of “security concerns”, it
said.

Witnesses called to give evidence to the committee were "either too
defensive or uncooperative or unwilling" to attend hearing sessions, despite
them being held in camera.

It had to get a court summons, delivered by police, to persuade officials
from Mbada and another firm to attend hearings, it revealed.

“There seemed to be a lot of influence by the Ministry of Mines in
discouraging these company officials from attending the hearings,” it added.

Alan Martin, director of research for Partnership Africa Canada, said the
missing diamond revenues on the eve of an election campaign, “does not bode
well for a free and fair election".

Detained for driving vehicle with voter awareness message

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

A youth activist was on Wednesday arrested by police in Bulawayo after they
saw him driving a vehicle emblazoned with messages promoting voter
awareness, ahead of crucial elections.

Liberty Bhebhe from the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) was detained
for two hours at the Bulawayo Airport where he had gone to transfer his name
from the Nkulumane to the Umguza constituency.

Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us that Bhebhe’s vehicle had a large
Mickey Mouse poster with the words ‘X Generation Voters’ and ‘First time
Voter’ printed on it.

Before his detention, Bhebhe had earlier received a call from the Law and
Order department asking him about his voter awareness campaigns. In the last
two months, several activists have been arrested by the police for promoting
voter awareness.

‘When Bhebhe’s lawyer got to the airport, he was told by the police that
they had not arrested him but had in fact stopped him from engaging in an
illegal activity,’ Saungweme said. Bhebhe was released without facing any
charge.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is responsible for controlling the entire
process of the conduct of elections. But the compilations of the voters’
roll and the awareness campaigns have largely remained under the control of
Tobaiwa Mudede, an alleged staunch supporter of ZANU PF.

He has been accused by Robert Mugabe’s opponents of manipulating figures in
previous elections to rig elections in favour of Mugabe.

Meanwhile two weeks into the 30-day voter registration process there are
serious concerns that the Registrar General’s Office is frustrating efforts
by some Zimbabweans to vote in the forthcoming poll. There have been near
riots in several cities after would-be voters have been barred or frustrated
from registering at their local mobile registration centres.

On Wednesday MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai summoned all his aspiring
council and parliamentary, as well as district and provincial leaders, to
impress upon them the need to rally their supporters to go and register
despite facing massive problems.

Tsvangirai told them to ensure that people are registered to vote in their
areas, even if they have to stand in long queues to register. He impressed
upon the party candidates not to let their supporters get frustrated, but to
make it their responsibility to physically involve themselves in shepherding
people in their constituencies to visit registration centres.

Defiant MDC-T MP Muchauraya finally granted bail

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

Posted by Nomalanga Moyo on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 in MDC-T | 0 comments

MDC-T MP for Makoni South, Pishai Muchauraya
By Nomalanga Moyo
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

The MDC-T legislator for Makoni South, Pishai Muchauraya, has finally been
released after spending more than a week in custody for allegedly
threatening to kill Amos Kutiya, his political rival Geoff Nyarota’s
campaign manager.

Muchauraya was sent to Rusape Remand Prison on June 7th after the State
invoked a section of the Criminal Law to overrule an earlier court decision
granting the MP bail.

The MP is out on $300 bail after his lawyers applied to the High Court. He
is accused of making threats against Nyarota’s campaign manager at a rally
in Makoni South, in March. Nyarota was also eyeing the Makoni South seat on
an MDC-T ticket.

Muchauraya denies the charges which he says are the work of his political
enemies who wanted to interfere with his confirmation as the party’s
parliamentary candidate during the MDC-T’s primary election process.

He was confirmed as the party’s candidate in the forthcoming election with a
resounding 447 votes, thus effectively putting paid to his rival and accuser
Nyarota’s political ambitions.

Responding to his confirmation Muchauraya, who was speaking while in police
custody, said he felt that the people of Makoni South had demonstrated their
confidence in him.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa after his release Wednesday Muchauraya said he
was happy to be out following the connivance of Nyarota and the prosecutor
to keep him out of the constituency during the primaries.

“They connived to keep me out of the constituency so that Nyarota would sail
through but luckily the people of Makoni saw Nyarota for what he is, a
sellout. And they went ahead and voted me to represent the party in the
national election even though I was in custody.

“Faced with a choice between a real cadre of the struggle and a sellout, the
people of Makoni South rejected a sellout who is being used by the very
regime that is responsible for the murders of many MDC supporters,” the
legislator said.

Muchauraya is expected back in court in Mutare on June 28th but meanwhile, a
warrant of arrest was issued against him in Harare after he missed a June
13th court appearance at Rotten Row Magistrates’ Court due to his
incarceration.

He told this station that the Harare hearing relates to another charge in
which he is accused of insulting and threatening to kill Nyarota, another
accusation Muchauraya denies.

See also:
http://www.swradioafrica.com/2013/04/17/muchauraya-charged-with-murder-of-john-nyamande/

ZCTU: Workers Need Special Days for Voter Registration

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

Irwin  Chifera
19.06.2013

HARARE — The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) wants the government
to designate special off days to allow workers time to register as voters in
time for this year’s elections.

The umbrella body of all labour unions in the country says the second phase
of the mobile voter registration exercise is too slow with people spending
up to five hours on queues before successfully registering or checking their
names on the voters’ roll.

ZCTU secretary general Japhet Moyo told a Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI)
meeting to discuss the voter registration exercise that workers are failing
to add their names to the voters’ roll because the process is taking too
long.

He said the ZCTU is worried that many workers may fail to register by the
time the exercise ends on July 9.

He said the umbrella union has written to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
highlighting the workers’ concerns.

Election Resource Centre director, Tawanda Chimhini, told the meeting that
while there has been some improvement in the on-going exercise, problems
associated with delays and uneven distribution of registration centres were
rife.

Director Wellington Zindove of the Youth Forum said the exercise has not
been adequately publicised as some people do not know when registration
teams would in their area.

Chimhini and Zindove said it was worrying that ZEC has barred civil society
organisations from participating in the exercise.

ZEC deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe told the media Monday that civil
society would not be allowed to take part in the current exercise but would
be considered for the voter roll’s inspection exercise.

She, however, said organisations which get foreign funding would be required
to surrender theirs funds to ZEC. But Zindove said that was impossible.

ZDI director Pedzisayi Ruhanya said it was not necessary for civil society
to divulge their source of funding to ZEC. He said civil society gets money
to facilitate the democratic process.

Participants at Wednesday’s meeting agreed that results of the forthcoming
elections will be contested if the voter registration exercise is not
conducted properly.

While Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede told parliament last week that his
department did not have adequate resources to conduct ward-based
registration for 30 days, Finance Minister Tendai Biti still insists that
enough money was released for the exercise.

Voter registration is currently being done at district level with four teams
spending at least four days in a ward during the 30-day period.

Ncube’s MDC rules out Tsvangirai pact

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

18/06/2013 00:00:00
     by Staff Reporter

THE MDC has said it is open to working with other parties in the forthcoming
elections but ruled out an alliance with the formation led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai recently said he would not averse to forming a pact with MDC
leader Welshman Ncube to fight President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party
at the next elections.

“Let’s unite to make sure that we achieve what we set (out to do) in 1999,”
Tsvangirai told a meeting with civic leaders in Harare.

“If it means Tsvangirai and Welshman are the impediments to that alliance or
that coalition then Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube should not be leaders of
political parties.”

The remarks were seen to be hinting at the possible healing of a rift that
has divided the two parties since a bitter parting of ways in 2005 after
bitter disputes over strategy and policy.

But a spokesman for Ncube’s MDC said an alliance with the Tsvangirai was out
of the question.

“We have no intention or dream to work with Tsvangirai,” MDC deputy
spokesman Kurauone Chihwayi, told the Herald.
“We do not need Tsvangirai to win elections. He is not a biblical Moses and
his face and attitude cannot be linked to Moses. The marriage with
Tsvangirai collapsed in 2005 and there are no plans to go into another risky
marriage with a risky partner.

“The MDC-T is destined for the dustbin. We are not directing energy towards
promoting Tsvangirai’s selfish interests. To us, Tsvangirai does not hold
keys for Zimbabwe’s future. We have no time or courage to resuscitate the
2005 ghost.”

Tsvangirai’s spokesman would not comment on recent media reports suggesting
the two formations were discussing a possible alliance.

“I am not talking about that,” Luke Tamborinyoka said.

“All we are concentrating on right now is to ensure implementation of the
SADC resolution.”
A meeting of the regional SADC groping in Mozambique last weekend asked the
government to appeal a Constitutional Court ruling ordering elections to be
held on July 31.

Zimbabwe is due to hold fresh polls which will replace the uneasy coalition
between Tsvangirai and Mugabe which came into office in 2009.

MDC-99 to boycott poll, says Sikhala

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

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 12:27
HARARE - MDC-99 leader Job Sikhala, has vowed to boycott the forthcoming
elections labelling the poll a “charade”.

The former University of Zimbabwe student leader told the Daily News that
his party’s National Executive Council (Nec) will not contest the
forthcoming vote.

“It is a well-known fact that Mugabe is a political bully who has no room
for defeat in his heart. We are not going to participate in this charade, we
are calling for a total boycott,” said Sikhala.

“...participating in the elections will not bring change to us,” Sikhala
told the Daily News.

“As MDC 99, if Mugabe wins elections we know that he will have rigged them
and we are going to take action after elections. We will plot a lot of mass
demonstrations fighting for a new Zimbabwe. We will confront Mugabe’s
dictatorship. There won’t be any foreign countries to help us, but we should
stand up for our own fate as Zimbabweans.”

Sikhala attacked the coalition government which he said had done nothing to
implement crucial reforms.

“The terms agreed upon when the inclusive government was formed were never
addressed only to try to squeeze them in now. We want a country where the
security sector is extricated from making political announcements.”

He claimed he had lined up candidates countrywide but they were no longer
going to contest following his Nec’s decision.

“We are Democratic Party and if any one among our party members feels he or
she is thirsty to participate in these elections, they are free to join
parties which are going for these charade elections,” he said.

“We don’t want to be associated with a smelling skunk.” - Bryn Gumbo

Harare risks running out of potable water

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

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 11:56
HARARE - Harare risks running out of drinking water if it fails to find a
lasting solution to perennial water shortages, a government official has
warned.

Killian Mpingo, secretary for Local Government yesterday told a
parliamentary portfolio committee overseeing operations of his ministry that
a lasting solution to never-ending water challenges should be found as soon
as possible to avert a crippling crisis.

Harare City Council has said it is producing a meagre 500 mega litres
per-day against a daily demand of 1 200 mega litres.

Mpingo said current water sources were unable to meet the growing demand and
new sources should be availed as a matter of urgency.

“I think the lasting solution is developing new water sources as it has
become evident that the prevailing situation is not well. We will one day
wake up to find the entire Harare dry and it will be disastrous,” Mpingo
warned.

Tendai Mahachi, the Harare town clerk who was accompanying Mpingo, said in
the past weeks, the local authority was pumping less than 200 mega litres
due to mechanical faults at the main pump station, coupled by outdated pipes
that are constantly breaking down.

“Our water sources are not sufficient. We are also losing a lot of water
through leakages caused by old equipment,” Mahachi said. “We are losing
about 60 percent of treated water through that and as council we are trying
to replace these old pipes to curb this problem.”

The parliamentary committee, chaired by Lynnette Karenyi, summoned Mpingo
and Mahachi so that it could ascertain whether Harare residents are safe
from water borne diseases due to water shortages.

Mahachi told the committee, whose membership also includes former Harare
mayor Elias Mudzuri that his council was “working flat out to ensure that
every household in the capital gets water.

“We have a problem with other local authorities that get water from Harare,
they owe us quite a huge amount, and so is government. This is affecting our
water distribution,” Mahachi stated.

In a bid to improve the water situation in the capital which has over 500
000 households, Mahachi said council will soon introduce smart meters so
that those who are defaulting in their bills are blocked from receiving the
precious liquid.

Mahachi said the project, which now awaits council approval before being
taken to Cabinet, requires $2 million. - Xolisani Ncube

Political will standing in the way of Zuma recommendations

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
19 June 2013

A lack of political will has been described as the major stumbling block
preventing Zimbabwe’s coalition government from implementing political
recommendations by the regional facilitator, Jacob Zuma.

Zuma listed a number of key recommendations for Zimbabwe to implement, as
part of a roadmap towards free, fair and credible elections. These latest
recommendations were contained in Zuma’s report to the SADC summit on
Zimbabwe held in Mozambique over the weekend.

At the heart of the recommendations are the changes already promised by the
unity government when it signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) at the
end of 2008. This agreement has not been fully honoured, mainly because of
ZANU PF’s refusal to implement key reforms to the media and the security
sector.

Zuma’s latest recommendations bring these failures back into the spotlight,
and in his report to SADC he acknowledged that “most of the items that were
agreed upon by the parties (in Zimbabwe’s government)… have not been
adequately implemented.”

In his report the South African President suggested immediate measures be
undertaken “as a means to defuse the rising tensions and contestations, and
to make Zimbabweans have confidence in the forthcoming elections.”

These measures include creating an Inter-Ministerial Committee drawn from
all three parties in government to monitor Zimbabwe’s media, including
external media, “in order to curb hate speech and calls for regime change.”
Zuma stated that this Committee should also be mandated with intervening
with the state media “to ensure that they maintain an impartial stance.”

Zuma also suggested that, in an effort to curb the ongoing partisan display
of ZANU PF loyalty by the country’s security forces, there be a public
commitment to bring the sector in line. Zuma explained how, according to the
new constitution, members of the security sector are prohibited from acting
in a partisan manner or from being active members of any party.

The recommendation is that Robert Mugabe, as the Commander in Chief of the
security forces, “draws the attention of the heads of the security forces
their members, as well as the public of Zimbabwe that the new Constriction
henceforth governs their actions.”

“It is important that this is done publicly so that members of the security
forces as well as the public are made aware of these requirements,” Zuma
said.

He also listed some other measures to be taken before elections are held,
including the ‘realignment’ of repressive legislation like the Public Order
and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA). He said that, despite the life of the current
parliament coming to an end next week, “the suspension of certain clauses in
particular legislations could be effected before Parliament dissolves.”

The South African President’s suggestions are not unrealistic, according to
political analyst Clifford Mashiri. He told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday
that what Zuma has suggested could be easily implemented and put into
action, setting Zimbabwe on a path towards credible elections.

“The problem is that all these issues are issues that require political
will. The recommendations are still realistic, if the political will is
exercised to make it happen,” Mashiri said.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Director McDonald Lewanika echoed Mashiri’s
comments, stating that it is purely political will preventing the
recommendations being translated into real action.

“The biggest impediment to the SADC recommendations is political will. The
way these issues are being presented is that they are new issues, but that
is not the case. We have been seized of these issues for almost five years,”
Lewanika told SW Radio Africa.

But he also expressed hope that SADC will put the pressure on ZANU PF,
explaining that “the risk of not implementing what SADC has said is very
high and I think the government knows it.”

Mozambique ex-rebels vow sabotage

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

Sapa-AFP | 19 June, 2013 18:59

Mozambique's former rebels on Wednesday vowed to block the country's main
highway and a crucial rail link to coal fields, dramatically ramping up its
standoff with the government.

"Starting Thursday, June 20, 2013, actions will be taken to weaken the
logistics of those who make Mozambicans suffer," Renamo's information chief,
Jeronimo Malagueta told reporters in Maputo.

Until 1992, Renamo fought a bitter 16-year civil war with Frelimo, which now
forms the government.

Mozambique's new found energy and mineral wealth has rekindled animosity
between the two parties, with Renamo accusing their foes of hording wealth.

Renamo also accuses the government of amassing military personnel around the
bush-camp where its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, has been living since late last
year.

Malagueta said the opposition's actions would target infrastructure in an
offensive across the central Sofala province, Renamo's traditional
stronghold.

One of the targets of Thursday's promised offensive is the only railway line
transporting coal between Moatize and the coastal city of Beira.

"Renamo will... paralyse the movement of trains of the railway between
Beira-Moatize and Beira-Morromeu," Malagueta warned.

The group also said it intended to block traffic on the main EN1 road which
links northern and southern Mozambique.

"Renamo will position itself to stop the circulation of vehicles
transporting people and goods, because the government uses these vehicles to
transport arms and plain clothed soldiers."

"The government doesn't give us any other option. Renamo is encircled. We
are going to lose our leader," said Malagueta.

Renamo's declaration comes after Mozambique's government fingered the
ex-guerrillas for a raid on a munitions compound in the central Sofala
province in the early hours of Monday morning. At last five soldiers died in
the attack.

It is not clear how many weapons the attackers managed to make away with
during the raid.

"The attack on the depot of Savane has nothing to do with Renamo's forces of
defence and security," said Malagueta.

He suggested instead that "general discontent... might have driven other
Mozambicans to resort to arms to dislodge this government."

While it threatened a military offensive, Renamo said it still intends to
turn up to another round of political dialogue planned with the Frelimo-led
government next Monday.

Six previous rounds of talks have failed to yield a breakthrough on any of
the major issues on the table, including Renamo's threat to boycott upcoming
polls if the election law is not amended.

Foreign coal companies said they were monitoring the situation closely.

Brazil's Vale and Australia's Rio Tinto rely on the "Sena" rail line to
transport coal from the resource-rich northeastern Tete province to the
coastal town of Beira.

"Up until now we are monitoring. We have had no order to stop," said Vale
spokeswoman Acucena Paul.

"If we heard of people stopping trains, then it would make sense to take out
our people, but up until now there is nothing."

Rio Tinto said it was "aware of the situation".

"We are gathering information and monitoring events."

Meanwhile embassies in Maputo warned nationals to avoid using parts of the
EN1.

The French embassy advised against travel between the Save River and the
town of Muxungue "unless absolutely necessary".

Mother speaks of border kidnap horror

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

GRAEME HOSKEN | 19 June, 2013 00:25

Held for days in a tiny room in a house south of Johannesburg, a Zimbabwean
mother and her two-month-old infant watched helplessly as men and women were
relentlessly beaten.

Denied food and water, the woman - who asked to be called Jane - prayed for
help.

She was kidnapped at the Beit Bridge border crossing with Zimbabwe in April
along with 26 others and was to be held until her family payed a ransom of
R1000.

The alleged kidnappers are to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court
next week.

The kidnapping gang, whose 11 alleged members were all arrested, is being
investigated for abducting 29 Zimbabweans and Mozambicans, including several
young children, this month.

The 29 were freed by detectives last week during a raid on an Orange Farm
home.

Jane, describing the kidnappers as "smooth talkers", said she was snatched
just after she crossed the border.

"I went through the border legitimately. As I crossed I saw people standing
next to a taxi and asked them where I could find the taxi rank to go to
Johannesburg."

The people she spoke to were allegedly members of a human trafficking
syndicate.

Jane said she and her child arrived in Johannesburg late at night and she
became worried when the driver did not stop in the city. They were taken to
a house in Orange Farm.

"There were so many people there with small children . they were crammed
into three rooms.

"When we asked what was happening we were told we would never see our
families again unless we paid them."

The alleged kidnappers searched the victims and took money and cellphones,
sjambokking those who resisted.

Jane said mothers were told that their children would be beaten if they did
not hand over money.

She was forced to phone a relative and beg for the ransom to be paid.

"One of the men threatened to kill my baby if my family did not pay," she
said.

She was released two days later and fled to a police station to seek help.

"It just got worse," she said. "The police didn't want to help me. They said
I was lying . that I did not want to pay for my transport."

Police said Jane's statement would be taken and form part of the
investigation.

Rebuilding Zimbabwe’s Health System

http://www.ipsnews.net/

 

 

 

By Kristin Palitza

Anna Mungara (seated, short hair), a midwife in training, who attends the midwifery school at Masvingo Provincial Hospital, Zimbabwe treats a newborn baby in the neonatal ward. Courtesy: Jordi Matas/UNICEF

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe, Jun 19 2013 (IPS) - A newborn baby lets out a feeble cry as midwife Anna Mungara tends to a small wound on its head, at the provincial hospital in Masvingo, a town in southeast Zimbabwe.

With utmost care, Mungara cleans the cut, wraps the baby in two sets of warm blankets and makes cooing sounds to soothe him. When the infant calms down, she gently places him into an incubator.

Mungara, a trainee at the hospital’s midwifery school in Masvingo Province, is part of a new intake of nurses receiving additional skills to bring down skyrocketing maternal and infant mortality rates in this southern African nation.

Every day, eight women and 100 children die from pregnancy- and delivery-related complications in Zimbabwe, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Most of them die of easily preventable causes and illnesses.

Zimbabwe’s health sector, once among the best in sub-Saharan Africa, collapsed during the nation’s 2008 economic crisis, when hyperinflation of 231 million percent caused public hospitals to temporarily close down as they ran out of medicines, while skilled health workers left the country in droves to pursue better opportunities elsewhere.

The health system has been struggling to recover ever since, causing maternal mortality to shoot up to 790 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2012, from 390 deaths in 1990. Mortality of children under five increased from 78 deaths per 1,000 live births to 94 deaths per 1,000 in the same timeframe.

A 435-million-dollar Health Transition Fund (HTF), sponsored by several European Union members and managed by UNICEF, hopes to reverse these figures by 2015. The money goes towards a retention and training scheme for health workers. It also goes to the supply of essential drugs and vaccines, the training of community health workers, and the planning and financing of health policy.

“Donor funding is great, but we need our own financing as well to make programmes sustainable.” -- District medical officer Dr. Emmanuel Chagondah

UNICEF Zimbabwe’s chief of young child survival and development, Aboubacar Kampo, tells IPS that one of the fund’s goals is to have at least one midwife per 5,000 people and three doctors in each of Zimbabwe’s 62 districts. Another aim is to achieve a more equitable distribution of health professionals between urban and rural areas.

“When we started to roll out the fund, Zimbabwe had 76 doctors countrywide. Most of them were working in Harare and Bulawayo (the two main cities). Today, the number of doctors has increased to 116, with most of the new recruits working in rural areas,” says Kampo.

At Masvingo Provincial Hospital, senior tutor Catherine Sithole and her team train 60 new midwives per year. The midwifery school is one of several in the country, aimed at undoing the dramatic brain drain that the national health system suffered over the past years.

In 2001, about 80 percent of midwife posts were vacant, according to the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. Especially rural areas were drained of skilled staff.

A key component of the HTF is the payment of bonuses to health workers to encourage them to stay in the country and, most importantly, take up usually less sought-after positions in rural areas, which experience the most drastic shortfalls in service delivery.

Mungara knows from experience how tough it is to provide even the most basic health care in Zimbabwe’s rural areas. Before she joined the midwifery school, the 36-year-old was employed at a clinic in Zaka, a remote village 80 km south of Masvingo town.

“We have no resources to assist women during deliveries. It is difficult to get referrals for pregnant women with issues like hypertension, or even to get transport to the nearest hospital,” she tells IPS.

Since the HTF formed in 2011, the gap has been closing, but only slowly. Sithole tells IPS: “Having more trained midwives is really making a difference to the health of mothers and small children. The training enables them to make better decisions with regard to their patients.”

But external funding alone will not be enough to resolve Zimbabwe’s health crisis in the long run. The government will have to substantially increase its spending on health to help rebuild the health system and ensure sustainability beyond 2015. The current health budget of 380 million dollars will not be enough to achieve this, experts say.

“The government is only spending 26 dollars per person on health, less than half of what they should allocate,” says Kampo. “At the moment, the health system is 70 percent donor-funded.”

Given Zimbabwe’s dire economic situation – the cash-strapped country is 10.7 billion dollars in external debt – the health budget is unlikely to receive a substantial increase any time soon.

“We don’t have much money in the country and can’t get credit. Although long-term prospects of recovery are good, given the richness of natural resources, recovery hasn’t even started yet,” independent economist John Robertson, from Robertson Economic Information Services in Harare, tells IPS.

Health department officials admit that more needs to be done to give the national health system a sustainable boost. Dr. Robert Mudyiradima, the provincial medical director of Masvingo Province, tells IPS: “There is not enough budget support. Whatever finances come through the HTF have to fill a very big hole.

“There are still weaknesses in the general drug supply. Service delivery is not what it is supposed to be. Until the Zimbabwean government’s budget support for health services is adequate, the demand for services will be overwhelmed by the need,” Mudyiradima says.

A walk through the Chivi District Hospital, which services a population of 174,000 in Chivi, a small town in Masvingo province, illustrates Mudyiradima’s point. Most days there is no running water here, the hospital kitchen is out of order, washing machines and the incinerator are not operational, and power outages are frequent.

“We are often running out of basics, like surgical gloves,” district medical officer Dr. Emmanuel Chagondah tells IPS.

When Chagondah started working here 11 months ago, the facility had been without a doctor for more than four years. Due to the HTF retention scheme, two other doctors recently joined him, while numerous vacant nursing positions have been filled.

“The quality of services has improved a lot due to an increase in personnel, but drug supply and technical equipment remain big challenges,” the young doctor says.

He has set his hopes on the government keeping its promises to increase the national health budget.

“Donor funding is great, but we need our own financing as well to make programmes sustainable.”

AU on collision course with Sadc over Zimbabwe elections

http://www.theafricareport.com/

Posted on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 12:08

By Janet Shoko

The African Union has dispatched a nine member advance team of election
observers to Zimbabwe ahead of polls President Mugabe wants held by July 31.

Mugabe, through his Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa on Tuesday filed a
Constitutional Court application seeking a two week extension to the poll
date following advice from regional leaders at the weekend.

But indications are that the veteran ruler is not keen on a postponement and
will push for a July 31 poll date.

The AU announced the deployment of its nine observers through a letter to
the Zimbabwean government early this month.

Mugabe's opponents have called for an early deployment of observers to
monitor the campaign period and the conduct of parties during elections.

The veteran ruler's Zanu PF party has refused to allow Western countries to
monitor the polls claiming they were plotting their leader's downfall.

Meanwhile, a local pressure group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network
(ZESN) on Tuesday appealed to both the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) and the AU to send election monitors immediately.

′′"Given the short period to elections we therefore appeal to the Southern
Africa Development Community and the African Union to urgently deploy both
long and short term observers to promote a human rights environment
conducive for credible, free and fair elections" ZESN said.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has indicated that it is forging ahead
with plans for July 31 elections.

′′However, Finance minister Tendai Biti has insisted that there is no money
for elections.

"There is no poll funding at the moment," he said.′′

"When Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) says it is ready, my understanding
of that statement is they are ready to execute a constitutional mandate if
they are asked to hold elections on a particular date.′′"

"(SADC secretary-general Tomaz) Salomao will be going into the region soon
talking to heads of state on election funding and I am willing to accompany
him on the trip.

"The region, however, will not fund a flawed process."

Zimbabwe says it needs about $130 million to hold the elections.

Demonstration Demanding Free and Fair Elections in Zimbabwe

Police refuse to sanction PTUZ march

PRESS STATEMENT
DATE: 19 JUNE 2013

NON-SANCTION OF THE PLANNED MARCH TO MINISTER COLTART’S OFFICE

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has refused to sanction the Wednesday,
19th of June 2013 march to Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture,
Honourable Senator David Coltart’s office by members of the Progressive
Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) to present a petition following the
ongoing arbitrary transfer of teachers in the Harare Metropolitan Province
since the beginning of this second school term.

PTUZ had formally informed both the Minister and his permanent secretary,
Mrs Constance Chigwamba in writing on 13 June 2013 about the planned march.
A notification letter was also written to the police on 12 June 2013 in
terms of the requirements of the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter
11:17].

This refusal by the police came as a shock to PTUZ as the Minister had
written on 13 June 2013 agreeing to receive the petition. “I hereby
acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 13th June 2013 informing me about
your member’s plans to present a petition to the Ministry. I will make
myself available to receive the petition. In this regard, I hereby advise
you to liaise with my office closely so that I know what time you will be
coming to avoid double-booking myself,” reads Minister Coltart’s response to
PTUZ. It was for this reason that plans for the march were made.

It was only this morning that the PTUZ Information, Education and Research
Officer, Fannuel Mabhugu was called by the police to report to the Harare
Central Police Station to collect the response from the police. He was
informed that the police could not grant the PTUZ its request because of a
critical shortage of “human and material resources” to monitor the march
since President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had
functions at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) and the
Jubilee Centre respectively. We are shocked that the police are saying this
when they have always told the nation that the force is more than ready to
deal with an eventuality. It is also disappointing that the police continues
to invoke the draconian legislation to prevent workers and citizens from
exercising their democratic right to assemble and protest.

We are, therefore, left with no option but to file a High Court interdict
against the police so that the law courts may be the final arbiter to the
impasse. Right there is a truck-load of police officers in riot gear at
Africa Unity Square ready to deal with the situation should we choose to
defy the order. This is contrary to their argument that they are
under-staffed. We cannot just sit and watch our members being victimized by
overzealous and corrupt officials in the Ministry of Education.

RAYMOND MAJONGWE, SECRETARY GENERAL

MDC response to Grand coalition meeting claims in NewsDay

MDC Statement in response to ‘grand coalition’ Newsday article

19 June 2013

The MDC wishes to put it on record that the story which appears in the
Newsday of 19 June 2013 entitled ‘Grand Coalition leaders meet’ written by
one Dumisani Sibanda in which he alleges that the meeting held by political
party leaders in Harare yesterday was meant to discuss a grand coalition is
false.
The MDC will always abide by principle, respect for the values of honesty
and transparency in all its activities. To this end we wish to state
equivocally that the meeting which is being purported to have been a meeting
of grand coalition leaders and meant to discuss a coalition for the upcoming
election was in fact convened for the sole purpose of briefing the other
political leaders of the events and outcome of the recent SADC Summit in
Maputo.

In that meeting, MDC President, Prof Welshman Ncube and MDC-T President, Mr
Morgan Tsvangirai gave a detailed briefing to Dr Simba Makoni, President of
Mavambo Kusile Dawn, Mrs Emilia Mukarakati, the Vice President of Zapu and
Mr Reketai Sengwayo, Chairperson of Zanu Ndonga.

The attempted mass national deception that the said meeting had an agenda
other than giving a brief to the other political parties who were not
represented in Maputo is regrettable.

It is a matter of public record that the MDC stated after its National
Standing Committee last week and in very clear terms its attitude towards
coalition. It has also publicly stated who among its leaders should be
approached with regards to conversations for political cooperation of any
nature. The MDC wishes to assure Zimbabweans that all decisions of public
significance and importance which are taken by the party will always be
communicated without equivocation, deception or grandstanding.

Nhlanhla Dube
MDC National Spokesperson

ZESN’S findings on voter registration

ZESN’S PRELIMINARY FINDINGS ON THE ONGOING MOBILE VOTER REGISTRATION
EXERCISE

Harare- 19 June 2013 – In almost all countries, voters must be registered in
order to be eligible to participate in an election. Voter registration is
intended to ensure that everyone entitled to vote can do so, to prevent
ineligible persons from voting, and to guard against multiple voting by the
same individual. This process is recognized and acknowledged as important in
the SADC Principles Governing the Conduct of Democratic Elections as well as
in the African Union Guidelines on Elections.

It is against this framework that the Zimbabwe Election Support Network
(ZESN) considers the ongoing Mobile Voter Registration as an important
process in the electoral processes of Zimbabwe. The previous process was
widely condemned by CSOs including ZESN and even the ZEC Chairperson.

ZESN notes that this time the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has made efforts
to publicize the process and engage various stakeholders to find ways of
mitigating the previous challenges.

ZESN sent teams in all the provinces to observe this important process, to
ensure processes allow for free participation, to increase citizens’
confidence in the process and detect any challenges and problems in order to
proffer recommendations.

Our preliminary findings show varying levels of interests with some centres
facing more numbers than can be managed in three days allocated. This means
some centres will fail to register the numbers of people wishing to do so
within the three days allocated to a particular centre. For example, in
Zvimba South at Trelawney Training Centre, on the second day ZESN observed
an estimate of 500 people who were in the queue seeking various
documentation including registering to vote. In Mutoko District, ZESN teams
visited Chisambiro, Chidye, Kamwazva and Ushamba Primary Schools where long
queues were also observed. The teams reported that the process was very slow
and noted that most of the youths wanted to be issued with birth
certificates and identity cards before they could register. Women with
babies were also seen attempting to take birth certificates for their
children.

In Harare, long queues were also observed at Huruyadzo Shopping Centre in St
Marys and Mai Musodzi Hall in Mbare, potential registrants continued to
lament the slowness of the pace at which people were being processed in
these centres. There was a problem between the allocations of the ZEC
personnel to the potential registration such as Cranborne with 10 personnel
yet the demand was not as high as areas stated above. ZEC urges ZEC to
deploy more personnel in high density areas and certain rural areas with
higher population.

Most of the people who spoke to ZESN stated that the process was very
frustrating; with some claiming that they have been standing in the queue
for more than seven hours. Some also said they had travelled long distances
to come to the centre. With regards to the issue of aliens, ZESN noted that
potential registrants were referred back to the RG’s office in their
districts in order for them to address certain issues such as long birth
certificates with no ID numbers and in some instances they were asked to
surrender their original id cards and re-join the queue to get new ids, then
wait to collect new ones and then re-join a queue to register to vote. ZESN
notes with concern that the process so far is not fully decentralized to
allow them to deal with all enquiries. While in other areas short queues
were observed for example in Bubi at Lortandale Primary.

At Mpopoma Community Hall in Bulawayo, ZESN also received reports of some
people who voted in the 2008 elections but could not find their names on the
voters’ roll. These people were allowed to register again.

ZESN teams saw isolated flyers and posters in the various wards they
visited. This could be attributed to the ZEC’s two voter educators who were
deployed in each ward to mobilise and educate the communities. The teams
also noted that some of the voter educators were also assisting potential
voters to register at some of the centres.

ZESN urges ZEC to find ways of expediting the processing of aspiring
registrants. In addition ZEC also find ways of ensuring quick resolution on
challenges by people labeled ‘aliens’ so that they are not disenfranchised.
We also urge ZEC to seriously note and consider other concerns that are
being raised by various CSOs and other stakeholders and ensure that the
process is credible.

ZESN remains committed to credible elections and to observing all the
electoral processes leading to the 2013 Harmonized Elections in a
non-partisan manner. End//
PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

U.S. Demands Credible Zimbabwe Elections, Smooth Transition

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

U.S. Senators heard Tuesday that the Obama administration will “look at
every issue and every option” as it monitors pre-election events in Zim.

18.06.2013

WASHINGTON DC — The United States says it will “look at every issue and
every option” as it monitors political developments in Zimbabwe, as
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
Movement for Democratic change party bicker over the scheduling of this year’s
national elections.

Speaking at a U.S. Senate hearing in Washington Tuesday, Acting Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs, Donald Yamamoto, said that the U.S.
government wants Harare to conduct a credible election and uphold the rule
of law, particularly in the area of property rights. This, he said, would
likely improve relations between the two countries.

But when asked by committee chairman Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) what
the United States would do if Zimbabwe fails to hold a free and fair
election, Mr. Yamamoto said the Obama administration would look at a number
of options, though stressed that currently the U.S. is focused on supporting
steps taken by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional
body, to push for democratic reforms and a credible election.

“Nothing is off the table.  We’ll look at every issue and every option that’s
before us, but right now we’re so focused just on what SADC has done to try
to move these elections to a much more freer and fairer opportunities for
all sides, but also to kind of continue the good things that are happening,”
Yamamoto said.

Among the "good things that are happening," Yamamoto noted, is Finance
Minister Tendai Biti’s recent acceptance of financial terms from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) that should make the nation’s financial
systems more “open and transparent,” but warned that the “electoral process”
was the “main area” the U.S. would be watching, as it would determine
Zimbabwe’s future.

Also testifying was a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, Dewa
Mavhinga, who told the senators that a lack of security sector reforms
remains a real threat to true democracy in the country.

“There is a slim chance that Zimbabwe will have free, fair, and credible
elections, particularly given the shortcomings of security sector reforms
and reforms in other sectors,” Mr. Mavhinga said.  “On June 13, President
Robert Mugabe used a presidential decree to set July 31 as the election date
for harmonized elections.  It is critically important that these elections
be held under conditions where Zimbabweans can freely vote for the
leadership of their choice.”

Mavhinga added that many Zimbabweans worry that this year’s elections may
bring violence on a scale seen following the 2008 election that left scores
of people dead.

Also discussed were priorities for the United States’ ongoing development
assistance to Zimbabwe, in order to help the economy recover and grow.  Earl
Gast, assistant administrator for Africa in the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), told the Senate committee that he
believed help for small farmers would have the greatest impact on Zimbabwe’s
economy.

“Obviously institution building would be needed, putting in good systems of
accountable governance, to include economic governance, but one area that
could make a big difference in Zimbabwe is in the agriculture sector.  And
doing more in supporting small landholders, getting people employed in the
agriculture sector, and starting with that,” Mr. Gast said.

“The industries that have languished over the years will take years and
years of investment before they come back on line, but to make an immediate
impact, we feel that on the economic side, the focus should be on
agriculture and linking small farmholders, landholders, with larger markets
and buyers in the region.”

A strong recovery of Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector would improve the country’s
food security.  According to the USAID website on Zimbabwe, since 2009, the
United States has provided almost US$350 million in food assistance to
Zimbabwe.

SADC leaders asked Mr. Mugabe at a regional summit last Saturday to request
the Constitutional Court to reverse its order for polls to be held by July
31, and push them back so broad political and democratic reforms can be put
in place.

Mr. Mugabe obliged on Tuesday. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa filed an
application to the same court seeking an "extension of the elections to the
14th of August 2013.”

Zimbabwe's military chiefs are on record vowing to resist a transfer of
power to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the event that he defeated Mr.
Mugabe, who has ruled the country for over three decades.

Opening Statement of Senator Chris Coons: SFRC subcommittee hearing on Zimbabwe

http://www.coons.senate.gov/

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

As Prepared for Delivery on June 18, 2013

Good morning. Today, the African Affairs Subcommittee will focus its
attention on Zimbabwe, a country with abundant natural resources, fertile
land, and a capable, enterprising population.  Zimbabwe should be driving
growth and prosperity in southern Africa. Instead, in the 33 years since its
independence, Zimbabweans’ prospects have become increasing bleak, reaching
a low point in 2008 when the annual inflation rate spiraled to 489 billion
percent and the economy had shrunk in half. That’s not an error — the
inflation rate actually was 489 billion percent.

It is no coincidence that the economic collapse came in lockstep with
decreasing respect for democratic principles and harsh crackdowns on free
expression, civil society, and the news media. Zimbabweans will go to the
polls later this year for the first elections under their new constitution,
and the preparation and conduct of those elections will be an important
indicator of whether Zimbabwe can and will realize its great economic
promise and democratic potential.

I would like to welcome my partner on the subcommittee, Ranking Member
Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona. Senator Flake brings with him considerable
personal expertise on Zimbabwe from his time in the country during the
eighties, and I look forward to continuing to work with him to advance our
shared interests in good governance, economic growth, and security
throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

I would also like to welcome other members of the Committee, as well as our
distinguished witnesses: Don Yamamoto, the Acting Assistant Secretary of
State for Africa; Earl Gast, the Assistant Administrator for Africa at
USAID; Dewa Mahvinga, a Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch; Mark
Schneider, the Senior Vice President at the International Crisis Group; and
Todd Moss, the Vice President for Programs and Senior Fellow at the Center
for Global Development.  I look forward to hearing your insights and thank
you all for being here.

Relations between the U.S. and Zimbabwe are guided by our shared aspiration
for democratic and humanitarian values. The United States has been forced to
place targeted travel and financial sanctions against individuals and
businesses in Zimbabwe who are undermining democratic institutions, but we
have remained a steadfast and committed partner to the people of Zimbabwe.
We have provided some $1.5 billion in support since 2001, most of which has
addressed the health and humanitarian needs of millions of regular
Zimbabweans who have faced dire circumstances through no fault of their own.
Although providing this aid has been the right thing to do, better
governance and more respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe would open the
door to a stronger and different kind of partnership — a partnership that
leverages our resources and expertise more strategically to expand trade and
investment, and to cooperatively approach regional challenges. Zimbabweans
need not be destined for prolonged dependence on foreign aid.

The upcoming elections offer Zimbabwe a critical chance to show commitment
to its new constitution — which limits executive power and protects civil
rights — and to build on the stabilization of the economy ushered in under
the coalition government. SADC members have a critical and challenging role
to play in supporting the elections and holding Zimbabwe accountable to the
standards it set for itself in the constitution.

I am concerned by recent reports that the Zimbabwean government is not
working in good faith with SADC and other international partners to ensure
these elections will be free and fair, especially considering the lengths to
which President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF loyalists went to preserve power in
2008.

I am also alarmed by the uptick in targeted harassment and intimidation of
the civil society leaders and human rights defenders who are seeking to
ensure a just contest. Activists such as human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa
have been harassed and arrested. Leaders of the security forces are openly
partisan and using their positions to suppress democratic expression, and
there are reports that diamond revenues are being diverted to the security
forces for political purposes.

Today’s hearing will look at the tools the United States could effectively
deploy to support the upcoming elections as well as post-electoral reforms,
increased respect for human rights and the rule of law, and mutually
beneficial relations between our two countries.

I look forward to continuing my own engagement with SADC members and the
Administration to promote democratic reforms in Zimbabwe, and will make
recommendations based on the advice we hear today.

With that, I turn it over to Senator Flake for his opening statement.

Zimbabwe: Why the Opposition Shouldn't be Distracted by the Election Date

http://thinkafricapress.com/

The MDC has been joined by SADC in calling for the election to be delayed
slightly, but is this really a victory for the opposition?
ARTICLE | 18 JUNE 2013 - 1:29PM | BY SIMUKAI TINHU

On 15 June, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) held an
extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe in Mozambique’s capital of Maputo. The main
issue discussed was the Zimbabwean elections, currently scheduled for the 31
July. The 31 July date was set by President Robert Mugabe under the pretext
of complying with the Constitutional Court’s ruling that elections must be
within four weeks of the dissolution of Parliament on 29 June.

However, this date is believed by many, including the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), to be too soon to register voters and enact the
changes in the media and security services that they believe would be
necessary to ensure a free and fair election. This sentiment was echoed in
the SADC official communiqué, released at the end of the summit. SADC
declared that the summit acknowledged the Constitutional Court’s election
deadline, but “agreed on the need for the Government of Zimbabwe to engage
the Constitutional Court to seek more time beyond 31 July 2013 deadline for
holding the Harmonized Elections.”

Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the main opposition party, MDC–Tsvangirai
(MDC-T), had summarised the summit deliberations via his Facebook page
before the official release of the communiqué. In his summation, Biti wrote
of SADC’s conclusions, that the Zimbabwean government would be “ordered and
directed to make an application to the constitutional court following
consultations by all political parties, seeking to move the date of the
election from the 30th July 2013”.

The wording and substance of Biti’s summation is both stronger and more
forceful than SADC’s actual communiqué, adding the words “ordered” and
“directed”. Indeed, the communiqué made a recommendation rather than a
directive, and if President Mugabe argues that he is not convinced by the
arguments to seek an extension, SADC has no mechanism or legal mandate to
coerce him. Biti’s embellishments of SADC’s conclusions can be understood,
given that it was directed at party followers. But while the upside of his
declaration was that it gave supporters something to celebrate, the downside
is that that sense of celebration could be misplaced.

Something to celebrate?
Firstly, it is uncertain if the courts will necessarily be approached.

Speaking in Maputo just after the summit, Mugabe told reporters “it is a
happy outcome for Zimbabwe”, adding that “our Ministry of Justice is going
to... appeal to the court and the decision of the court then will be binding
on us”. However, as pointed out above, SADC doesn’t have the ability to
force Mugabe to follow its recommendation and, as SADC acknowledged, Mugabe
was not acting unconstitutionally.

To complicate matters a little, Lovemore Madhuku, head of the National
Constitutional Assembly, has argued that the government in fact has no legal
basis or “jurisprudence in approaching the Constitutional Court seeking an
extension”. However, this may not be the case in practice, and Mugabe has
previously successfully sought delays on local election on three previous
occasions.

Secondly, even if Mugabe does seek an extension, it is not a foregone
conclusion that the court will grant one.

Many of the judges who might be asked to review the ruling have previously
been derided by the opposition and may not look upon the case favourably.
Terence Hussein, a Zimbabwean legal expert, also makes the point that while
Mugabe might genuinely apply for an extension, the Constitutional Court
could be sceptical of a government seeking to change an order with which it
previously happily complied. And Patrick Chinamasa, whose ministry is tasked
with making the application, has emphasised publicly that there is no
guarantee the courts will allow for a delay, making some question the level
of sincerity and determination with which he would approach the courts.

Time for reform?
Thirdly, presuming Mugabe does approach the courts and an extension is
granted, it is worth remembering that the timeframe for the extension being
discussed is barely significant.

SADC’s recommendation was for the sate to seek an extension beyond the 31
July by at least two weeks. It’s unlikely Mugabe would therefore ask for any
longer, and in fact said to reporters, “if the Court says okay go beyond
July 31 by a week or two, I hope it will satisfy the others who want a
little more time” [emphasis added].

It seems inconceivable that reforms that could not be made in four years
could be carried out in one or two weeks, especially given ZANU-PF’s extreme
reluctance. Chinamasa, for example, hasstated that he would only implement
what the parties have agreed on, explaining that “If we do not agree then
there is nothing to implement; until we agree on a particular reform then
there is nothing to reform”. He added that, “As ZANU–PF, we are contesting
the idea that there is any need for reforms”.

A final concern that makes the opposition’s celebration of the SADC summit
seem misguided centres on the fact that a later election date means a longer
period in which there is no parliament. After 29 June, the legislature will
be temporarily dissolved, leaving just two branches of government: the
judiciary – which the opposition has heavily criticised – and the executive
led by Mugabe. Extending this period and giving Mugabe the chance to rule by
decree might be something that the opposition lives to regret.

For the moment, the outcome of the recent events around the election date
remains uncertain. But in the meantime, ZANU-PF is regrouping and
strategising. However, while the ruling party is preparing for events such
as the World Tourism Summit that it hopes to co-host with Zambia in August,
the opposition is celebrating a seemingly meaningless victory. Instead, the
opposition should be campaigning, encouraging its supporters to register as
voters and attempting to forge an alliance. ZANU-PF is no doubt busy mapping
out how it can achieve electoral victory; the opposition ought to be
expending all its energy doing the same.

A repeat of 2008 is looming in Zimbabwe

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

EDITORIAL:
JUNE 19 2013, 05:55

THAT President Robert Mugabe stage-managed a Constitutional Court ruling
forcing him to hold elections is obvious. How else do you explain that what
appeared to be a loss actually turns out to be a win for the wily but ailing
president?

His unilateral decision to declare July 31 the election date was clearly a
move to try to outfox his rivals and the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) ahead of its emergency summit last weekend.

By declaring an early election date, Mr Mugabe hoped to be able to back the
Sadc leaders into a corner so that they would have little choice but to
endorse his timetable.

If they had agreed to his election date, it would have made a win at the
polls a greater certainty.

It would have also ensured that the much-needed security, media and
electoral reforms, which are being demanded to secure a level playing field
for his opponents, would not have been able to take place.

But his plan initially looked like it was going to backfire when the Sadc
heads of state refused to agree to Mr Mugabe’s proposal. Instead, they told
him to seek a mandate from the Constitutional Court for a two-week
extension. This placed Mugabe in a difficult position.

If he acceded to their demands that he ask the Constitutional Court for a
postponement, he would have looked like a weak leader, no longer in control
of his country’s destiny. Yet he could not dismiss their demands either, as
he is reliant on the Sadc for economic and political support, and to finance
the election. If the Constitutional Court was asked and agreed, as the Sadc
wanted, to an extension of the deadline, it could have placed Zimbabwe in a
constitutional crisis.

Besides which, Mr Mugabe has been arguing that he is just obeying the law.

Now the African Union (AU) has waded in, calling on all Zimbabweans to obey
the rule of law. It is just the sort of lifeline Mr Mugabe will seize with
both hands. He can use the AU’s call as a way out of the Sadc’s demands — a
chance to negotiate a better deal for himself. This might entail a delay in
the election date as long as electoral reforms that are being demanded are
watered down.

Either way, this year’s Zimbabwean election is increasingly looking to be a
repeat of the violent and ultimately doomed affair of 2008.

Bill Watch 25/2013 of 19th June [Parliament Meets in Wake of SADC Summit]