http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
WHILE chaos continues to rock the voter registration exercise in
Zimbabwe’s
urban centres countrywide, it is a different story in rural areas
where the
process is proceeding relatively smoothly.
Faith
Zaba
In urban areas like Mabvuku-Tafara in Harare, riot police had to be
called
in this week to quell tempers as tensions boiled over at the snail’s
pace of
the process particularly in MDC-T strongholds, where potential
voters
claimed registration officers were deliberately serving people slowly
raising fears of a deliberate plot to disenfranchise some potential
voters.
The story in Mabvuku-Tafara is similar to happenings in many
other urban
centres where residents have failed to register over the three
days mobile
voter registration teams visited their areas.
They
accused the Registrar-General officials of being on “go-slow” by
employing
delaying tactics to frustrate potential voters, most of whom were
turned
away for various reasons.
The 30-day mandatory voter registration
exercise, which began on June 10 and
is expected to end on July 9, has been
engulfed in chaos despite desperate
efforts by cabinet to implement a raft
of measures to smoothen the process.
The Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (Zesn) said there were “varying levels
of interests with some
centres facing more numbers than could be managed in
the three allocated
days”.
“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,” Zesn said.
With 11 days left before the exercise ends, the
Zimbabwe Independent this
week visited rural registration centres in
Mashonaland Central where the
situation appeared relatively different to the
turmoil prevailing in urban
centres.
Mashonaland Central is a Zanu PF
stronghold where the MDC-T won only two of
the 18 House of Assembly seats in
the 2008 elections. Together with
Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East,
Mashonaland Central province has been
the buffer which protected President
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF from defeat
in the past
elections.
Conversely, the three Mashonaland provinces have prevented
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T from winning elections
previously.
Voter registration queues in Mashonaland Central were moving
fast and
smoothly compared to Harare and Chitungwiza where residents had to
brave the
chilly weather over the past two weeks, queuing as early as
5am.
Despite queuing that early, some Harare and Chitungwiza aspiring
voters
still failed to register when mobile centres closed at 7pm and some
even
found no joy when they returned the following day.
However, at
registration centres visited by the Independent in Mazowe,
Bindura, Mt
Darwin and Shamva, queues were moving fast and aspiring voters
spent a
maximum of about 15 minutes to register, from arrival at the station
and the
registration process itself. In Harare, people spent at least 30
minutes or
more to register after queuing for hours.
When the Independent crew
visited Belgownie Primary School, about 20km off
the Harare-Bindura road, a
handful of people were registering peacefully in
contrast to the chaotic
scenes at the centre where Zanu PF supporters were
waiting for ballot papers
to vote in the party’s primary elections to choose
councillors, House of
Assembly representatives, senators and seats reserved
for women.
One
villager, Peter Tembo, said: “We are registering smoothly and the queues
are
moving really fast. People are not spending more than 15 minutes in the
queue. Actually, I was shocked to hear that people in Harare are spending
hours in the queue.
“Voter registration is not a problem here. You
see, this area is surrounded
by large-scale farms and most of the people who
are registering at this
centre are of Malawian and Mozambican origin. So our
biggest problem is that
of birth certificates and national identity cards,
but that is being sorted
out. We also have a lot of makorokozas (gold
panners) in this area.”
Zimbabweans of Zambian, Malawian and Mozambican
origin — the so-called
aliens — are now being allowed to vote after the new
constitution and
cabinet resolutions opened the way for them to do so. It is
estimated that
there are about three million Zimbabweans with roots in
Zambian, Malawian
and Mozambique.
Short and fast-moving queues also
characterised other registration centres
at the district administrator’s
office in Bindura and in Mazowe at Foothill
and Jaji primary
schools.
All eligible voters in Fundiraivhu and Border Gezi villages in
Bindura South
managed to register.
“More than 700 villagers eligible
to vote in our two villages managed to
register without any hiccups. We
didn’t have to queue for long hours,” said
Mary Kanyemba.
Despite
chaos, voter registration process has been marred by lack of
funding,
inadequate publicity and little voter education, resulting in the
entire
process being described by other political parties as being messy.
The
Independent also noted that there are more centres allocated to rural
areas
than urban areas.
Bulawayo, with an official population of 655 675 —
although analysts say is
grossly under-stated for political reasons — has 35
centres, Harare and
Chitungwiza with 2,1 million has 48 centres,
Manicaland’s 1,76 million has
300 centres, Mashonaland Central with 1,13
million has 388 centres and
Mashonaland East with 1,33 million has 418
registration centres.
Based on population, observers say, Harare and
Chitungwiza should have been
allocated more registration centres as the most
populated centres in the
country, with the highest number of registered
voters which stood at 1,2
million as at May 2013.
Manicaland should
also have been allocated more than Mashonaland East and
Mashonaland Central
province as it is the second most populated province
after Harare with 807
300 registered voters.
Midlands, which is known to be the largest
province geographically, has 405
registration centres.
Zesn has
always maintained that there cannot be free and fair elections
without
proper verification that voters fulfill their legal requirements.
Voter
registration is recognised and acknowledged as important in the Sadc
Principles Governing the Conduct of Democratic Elections as well as in the
African Union Guidelines on Elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
THE military is
intensifying its campaigns for Zanu PF ahead of elections by
deploying
soldiers from the southern region of the country to operate in the
northern
provinces as the security forces escalate intimidation tactics in a
bid to
rescue President Robert Mugabe from possible defeat.
Staff
Writer
Security chiefs, under the banner of the Joint Operations Command
(Joc),
which brings together army, police and intelligence chiefs, are also
in the
process of deploying senior officers to the country’s 10 provinces to
co-ordinate election campaigns for Zanu PF, sources said this
week.
“There has been a plan to move people from provinces of their
origins to
spearhead Zanu PF campaigns in other provinces so as to
effectively carry
out orders,” said a senior army official.
“While
senior officers are being posted to their original provinces, the
rank and
file will be moved to other regions so that they carry out commands
without
fear or favour.”
Highly-placed sources said retired Air Vice-Marshal
Henry Muchena, who is
running the Zanu PF commissariat department with
former Central Intelligence
Organisation director internal Sydney Nyanhongo,
has been working with Joc
members to ensure a Zanu PF victory.
There
has been a surge in military deployments in villages around provinces
such
as Masvingo and Manicaland where Zanu PF is aiming for outright
victory.
The military has been organising clandestine meetings with
chiefs and other
traditional leaders to mobilise their subjects to support
Zanu PF in the
elections.
According to sources, senior military
commanders oversaw preparations for
Zanu PF primaries this week in a move
that indicates he has already begun
operations in the province.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) commanders have embarked on a
full-throttle
campaign for Zanu PF by ordering all officers in charge of
police stations
to ensure that all subordinates and their next of kin,
particularly those
residing in the camps, are registered to vote for the
party.
Report by Elias Mambo
A senior police officer told Zimbabwe
Independent that this directive is
designed to intimidate the cops and their
families about a month before what
could be one of the closely-contested
elections in the country’s history.
Those who “disobey” have been
threatened with dismissal from the force and
eviction from police
camps.
“All those residing in police camps have to show proof that they
voted for
Zanu PF by writing serial numbers on the ballot papers against
their
identification numbers on the station lists,” said the
officer.
Recently, commanders have been touring police stations
countrywide urging
officers, their spouses and everyone residing in police
camps to register
for elections and vote for Zanu PF in a move critics have
branded as efforts
to mislead, intimidate or pressure them ahead of the
elections.
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri recently told a
gathering of
police officers’ spouses that they should be “patriotic and
demonstrate
their love of the country by returning Zanu PF to
power”.
However, police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner
Charity Charamba
professed ignorance of the claims.
“I am not aware
of such an activity where officers are being forced to
register with their
households,” Charamba said.
“But are police officers not Zimbabweans and
where is it indicated that they
should not register to vote,” she
said.
The police and other security forces have frequently taken an
active role in
politics and have often been accused of aiding Zanu PF
through disrupting
rallies and political gatherings organised by the MDC
formations, as well as
arresting and intimidating political players, members
of civil society and
voters in general.
This escalation in deceptive
and intimidating tactics currently at play
around police camps and military
garrisons around the country come at a time
when the Registrar-General
(RG)’s Office has also been employing delaying
tactics designed to prevent
eligible voters from registering.
The RG’s Office has set fewer voter
registration centres in urban areas
deemed MDC as compared to rural Zanu PF
strongholds.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
WAR veterans
are up in arms with exiled businessman James Makamba and are
demanding
shares they believe he swindled from them in mobile operator
Telecel
Zimbabwe in 2000.
Report by Herbert Moyo
Documents seen by the
Zimbabwe Independent this week show that a war
veterans’ company Magamba
eChimurenga Housing Scheme is contemplating legal
action against Makamba for
allegedly fraudulently acquiring its shares in
Telecel Zimbabwe on behalf of
Telecel International.
Makamba is the former chairperson of Empowerment
Corporation (Pvt) Limited
which owns Telecel Zimbabwe in partnership with
Telecel International.
According to the documents, Telecel International
owns 60% of the local
mobile operator, while Empowerment Corporation has 40%
— which is not in
line with Zimbabwe’s controversial indigenisation law
which stipulates that
locals must own at least 51% of companies operating in
Zimbabwe.
The war veterans want, among other things, 20% of Empowerment
Corporation
which was acquired by Telecel International through Makamba and
a further
30% of Empowerment Corporation’s Telecel Zimbabwe shares which
Makamba
allegedly “gave himself without due process of business
law”.
“For any movement of shares to occur legally, it should be by way
of
resolution by the board of directors,” wrote Andrew Ndlovu of Magamba
eChimurenga in a letter to Makamba.
“It is illegal and fraudulent to
consider that Makamba could have used the
(Empowerment) Corporation to get
Telecel Zimbabwe licence and thereafter
dump all stakeholders thereby
robbing them of their shares and goodwill,”
said Ndlovu.
Magamba
eChimurenga was formed in 1998 by the late Chenjerai Hunzvi, who was
chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
(ZNLWA), along with Anna Paradza and Andrew Ndlovu. Of the three directors,
Ndlovu is the sole survivor and has since assumed the position of chief
executive officer.
Magamba eChimurenga is part of various groups that
came together under the
banner of the Empowerment Corporation, including
Indigenous Business Women
Organisation, led by Jane Mutasa, and Mines of
Zimbabwe Association led by
one Munyoro, as part of government initiatives
to uplift the indigenous
people.
Cellphone Investments also led by
Mutasa and Kestrel led by Makamba are
listed as the other members of the
Empowerment Corporation.
Ndlovu said his company has previously raised
its concerns with Makamba in
letters dated November 6 2000 and February 6
2000 after they discovered that
Makamba had manipulated his accountant
identified only as V Ndlovu to twist
systems and undervalue shares to favour
Makamba over other stakeholders.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
ZANU PF’s chaotic primary elections held this week have left the
party
deeply divided and in turmoil ahead of crucial polls slated for July
31,
raising fears of a repeat of the 2008 bhora musango strategy (internal
sabotage) by losers and disgruntled members.
Report by Faith
Zaba/Owen Gagare
Controversial disqualifications, re-admissions through
the backdoor and
impositions of candidates, poor logistics, lack of
information, shortage of
ballot papers, attempts to run-away with ballot
boxes, delayed announcement
of results and allegations of rigging were some
of the problems which
characterised Zanu PF’s primary elections on Tuesday
and Wednesday.
One of the biggest problems which the party now faces
before the general
elections is that, infighting and divisions are likely to
worsen as shown by
previous experiences.
The primaries left a trail
of divisions and bitterness, creating room for
internal sabotage in the
general elections.
A senior Zanu PF politburo official said yesterday
after muddling through
the primaries officials now have a challenging task
of managing the
acrimonious aftermath so that the resultant fallouts do not
undermine the
party’s prospects in the general elections.
“Primary
elections suck up and waste vast resources, including large sums of
money.
But they just don’t drain resources, they also exhaust the candidates
physically and emotionally, while leaving the losers licking their wounds
and winners limping before facing bigger opponents in the general
elections,” the official said.
“Beyond that, hotly contested
primaries intensify internal divisions and
infighting. Such intraparty
conflicts contribute to the loss of votes in the
general election, for
supporters of losing candidates will either vote for
MDC parties’ candidates
or abstain altogether.”
Another official said: “That is the problem when
primaries are not held
properly and well managed. They can be destructive
and in our case we didn’t
have time to hold them properly and allow a
healing period. Such was the
case in 2008. It may well be that our biggest
enemy may not be the MDC
parties, which are losing support anyway, but
ourselves.”
After Zanu PF lost the 2008 parliamentary elections for the
first time since
1980, President Robert Mugabe blamed internal divisions and
wrangling for
the defeat.
Mugabe was also affected as he became a
victim of bhora musango strategy.
Some Zanu PF candidates in the
parliamentary polls campaigned for themselves
alone, urging their supporters
to vote for whoever they wanted when it came
to the presidential
election.
The internal polls to choose party representatives for the
watershed polls
reignited deep-seated factionalism within the party,
particularly in
volatile Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Mashonaland West
and Matabeleland
provinces. The provinces have been dogged by bickering over
the years, which
led to the disbandment of district coordinating committees
last year.
The primary elections became a theatre for internal political
power
struggles as the main factions battled to seize control of the party
and
position themselves to produce a successor to Mugabe (89), now reeling
from
old age and reported ill-health.
Battle lines were drawn on a
factional basis between the two main rival
camps led by Vice-President Joice
Mujuru and Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
The polls, which were
characterised by violence, intimidation, voting
irregularities and ballot
rigging, also saw young turks and candidates with
security backgrounds
battling it out with the old guard.
However, most members of the old
guard won, ensuring Zanu PF failed its
internal test of renewal. This would
guarantee that the party remains
dominated by deadwood ahead of its elective
congress next year.
During the primaries this week, daggers were drawn as
the two factions
battled to outdo each other. There was some bloodbath in
some provinces as
heavyweights fell by the wayside.
Some of
Mnangagwa’s key allies who lost include Larry Mavhima, Paul
Mangwana, Shylet
Uyoyo (Masvingo women’s league chairperson) and Trainos
Huruba (Masvingo
political commissar). Key officials in Mujuru’s camp who
were defeated
include Rugare Gumbo, the faction’s stalwart in the Midlands,
Basil Nyabadza
and Lazarus Dokora.
Allegations of rigging were raised in Bindura North
where ballot papers were
distributed late Wednesday afternoon after one of
the candidates protested
and threatened to withdraw from the race. The
ballot papers were printed at
the winning candidate, Kenneth Musanhi’s
company and distribution was
haphazard amid allegations he first sent them
to areas where he was
stronger.
There was drama in Midlands amid
allegations of rigging and flashes of
violence. For long periods it appeared
Gumbo would win by a huge margin but
results from Masase, Mberengwa, were
withheld as allegations of ballot
stuffing were raised.
In the end,
Mnangagwa’s ally, July Moyo won with more than 19 000 votes
against Gumbo’s
14 000. “People in Mberengwa, especially those from Gumbo’s
home area, Mbuya
Nehanda and Mataruse, are fuming. They feel he was
cheated,” a Gumbo
supporter said.
Another politburo member said: “It is unfortunate that
some candidates
manipulated the figures. This will definitely affect us at
the next
elections. I don’t know how we are going to handle these cases when
nomination court sits tomorrow (today).”
In Masvingo, Tafadzwa Shumba
of Mwenezi West also alleged ballot stuffing
and has since appealed against
the results which saw Lemson Matavire
winning. In Mashonaland West province,
local government Ignatius Chombo’s
re-election was controversial after his
ex-wife Marian was first
disqualified and then re-admitted following
demonstrations by her supporters
at the party headquarters in Harare but
later found her name missing from
the ballot papers.
In Bikiti West
where Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono’s former advisor
Munyaradzi Kereke
was said to have won, results were however withheld for
undisclosed reasons.
Kereke had initially been disqualified by the politburo
before he was
reinstated after frantic lobbying. A lot of appeals are
expected despite
nomination of candidates today
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe suffered a major embarrassment last Saturday when he
forgot to
launch the National Youth Policy after delivering his speech at
the Harare
International Conference Centre, raising questions about his
health and
capacity to withstand the rigours of a presidential election
campaign.
Report by Brian Chitemba
Mugabe, the oldest serving
president in Africa who, during his 89th
birthday, hinted memory lapses and
frailty were catching up with him, is
currently in Singapore “receiving
specialist eye treatment” although some
sources insist he is being treated
for prostate cancer which has
metastasised.
Events, mainly since last
year, indicate Mugabe is not well despite official
denials.
Before
his latest trip, he passed through Singapore three weeks ago coming
from
Japan after attending the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on
African
Development.
However, Mugabe, who has constantly denied he has serious
health problems,
save for the cataracts, left the country this week at a
time when Zanu PF
was conducting crucial primary elections, showing he has
serious health
issues to attend to.
Medical experts have dismissed
the notion that Mugabe could fly to the
far-flung Singapore so often and at
a huge cost just for an eye treatment
when Zimbabwe, and better still South
Africa next door, where anti-apartheid
hero Nelson Mandela is being treated,
have equally good medical facilities
for the problem.
This has given
clues Mugabe is suffering from a far more serious ailment
than the claimed
eye problem amid persistent reports his doctors have
advised him to retire.
Given his shuttles to Singapore and official secrecy
over the issue,
questions are being raised as to whether Mugabe would cope
with the rigorous
elections campaign in which he is expected to go on
countrywide trails
canvassing for votes.
Some say the reason Mugabe and the clique which
supports him wanted
elections since 2011 and short campaign periods is the
fear he might falter
in the middle of electoral battles.
Mugabe, who
was the guest of honour at the colourful ceremony attended by
over 5 000
youths, was supposed to officially announce that he had launched
the policy,
but disengaged after making the keynote address, forgetting why
he was there
in the first place.
Indigenisation permanent secretary George Magosvongwe
had to approach him to
remind him of the programme to launch the youth
policy.
“The president never misses critical points even when he is
making his
speech, but we were surprised to note he had to be reminded by
Magosvongwe
to launch the document because he had completely forgotten,
suggesting
memory lapses,” said a government official.
After the
launch Mugabe handed over the document to Indigenisation minister
Saviour
Kasukuwere.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and the top brass of the Joint
Operations Command
(Joc) have ordered private auctioning of the Chiadzwa
diamonds to raise
money for general elections after rejecting funding from
the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) which partly financed the
new constitution.
Report by Brian Chitemba/Owen Gagare
This comes
after Finance minister Tendai Biti has repeatedly warned that
despite the
chaotic haste by Mugabe and Zanu PF for elections, there is no
money to fund
the polls ahead of nomination of election candidates today.
Biti has said
US$132 million is needed for elections, although Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission chairperson Justice Rita Makarau says they want US$164
million.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba said in an
interview yesterday
Biti had proposed the initiative to raise money from
diamond companies,
although he abandoned the idea after the current row
sparked by Mugabe’s
proclamation of July 31 as the general elections date
and amendments to the
Electoral Act by decree.
Biti had proposed a
Bill to compel diamond companies to fund elections,
Charamba
said.
“It was proposed by the Finance minister (Biti) that the government
raise
funds from diamond companies. But Biti dropped the idea after the MDC
(parties) criticised the president for using the Presidential Powers
(Temporary Measures) Act to amend the Electoral Act,” said
Charamba.
Efforts to get comment from Biti were unsuccessful yesterday.
He also did
not reply to a short message service dispatch to
him.
Mugabe’s fellow principals and party political leaders, Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry and Commerce minister Welshman
Ncube, say the
unilateral proclamation and arbitrary amendments to the
Electoral Act are
unconstitutional, leaving the process fraught with
illegalities and
disputes.
Besides political problems, Treasury is
broke to fund elections. Government
struggled to fund the constitutional
referendum in March before it was
rescued by the National Social Security
Authority and Old Mutual who
contributed US$20 million each to the process
which cost over US$50 million.
The new constitution also cost over US$50
million and the UNDP and donors
contributed about US$22
million.
Diamond mining and telecommunications companies as well as other
big
corporates which had promised funds did not honour their pledges for
various
reasons. However, the Zimbabwe Independent understands there is a
new secret
bid to raise money for the elections after a few big local
companies pledged
over US$100 million so far.
Sources said security
service chiefs — believed to be the power behind
Mugabe — held a meeting in
Harare two weeks ago with executives from Mbada
Diamonds, Marange Resources
and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) where
the companies were
instructed to privately sell the gems. ZDI, which is
headed by Retired
Colonel Tshinga Dube, generates revenue from sale of
ammunition and Joc
believes the entity can play a major role in sourcing
funding for the
polls.
Government initially wrote to the UNDP seeking US$225 million
after it had
only budgeted for US$25 million to fund elections. However, the
initiative
fell through after Mugabe and Zanu PF ministers blocked a UNDP
electoral
assessment mission from coming to Zimbabwe to do its routine work
of meeting
stakeholders and checking on the political environment before
releasing the
money as it always does around the world.
After
rejecting the UNDP funding, government formed a cabinet committee
comprising
deputy premier Arthur Mutambara, Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa and Biti
to mobilise funds. They only got part of the money for
the
referendum.
Government is even struggling to raise about US$12 million to
fund the
United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly in
Victoria Falls
in August. It has failed to disburse the US$6,5 million it
had promised.
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi has now resorted to private
sector funding.
Sadc leaders have promised to help Zimbabwe with funding
as long as the
country follows the Global Political Agreement, the basis of
the current
coalition government, and the agreed elections
roadmap.
The initiative could also be stifled as Joc chiefs no longer
trust regional
leaders after they blocked Mugabe’s manoeuvres recently in
Maputo,
pressuring him to go back to the Constitutional Court to seek an
extension
to the elections date and to restore legality to the electoral
process.
“The security chiefs are not comfortable with Sadc money because
they argue
that seeking foreign funding is tantamount to inviting foreign
interference
in running the affairs of the country,” one source said this
week. “The
military believes some of the Sadc governments may be pushing for
regime
change, especially Botswana, which is believed to have strong links
with the
United States.”
As a result, Joc bosses are said to have
joined the official scrounging for
money to fund elections targeting diamond
companies.
“There have been a series of private meetings between the
military top brass
and executives from Mbada, Marange Resources and ZDI to
discuss how to raise
funds for elections,” said another source. “Joc said it
was crucial to
source funds from within the country because they view
elections as a matter
of national security. ZDI was also involved because it
generates a lot of
money from selling ammunition.”
Government
struggled to finance the referendum through an increase of petrol
and diesel
prices by US$0,05 to US$1,57 and US$1,40 respectively. Biti says
even if
they increase fuel prices again, the inclusive government can only
raise
US$50 million by December.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
LEADERS of the MDC formations spent the last two weeks engaged
in
self-praise and congratulating their principals Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai as well as Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube for
thwarting President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF’s bid to force elections on
July 31.
Report by Herbert Moyo
MDC legal secretary David
Coltart, a long-time advocate of unity between the
MDC formations, said it
was “absolutely wonderful to see my colleagues and
friends Ncube, Tsvangirai
and (MDC-T secretary-general) Tendai Biti working
together so well in the
interests of our nation” at the Maputo summit.
“You have all done us
proud. Thanks as well to Elton Mangoma (MDC-T),
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Moses Mzila Ndlovu (both MDC), the other
negotiators who have all done such a sterling job,” said Coltart, adding,
“this gives me so much hope for the future.”
Coltart’s suggestion of
further co-operation in a grand election coalition
was taken up by outgoing
MDC-T Masvingo Central legislator Jeffreyson
Chitando who took to social
media and wrote of an imaginary rally organised
by Qhubani Moyo (MDC) and
Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T) and addressed by both Ncube
and Tsvangirai.
It
is a fact that the Maputo triumph was built on the strong bedrock of
co-operation between the MDC parties and other forces in the civil society,
and the co-operation raised optimism in many quarters that the parties may
well build on that to forge a united front to mount the strongest possible
challenge against Mugabe and Zanu PF’s in the next general
elections.
Prior to that, Tsvangirai had appeared at a press conference
with leaders of
the MDC represented by Edwin Mushoriwa, Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn
(Simba Makoni),
Zapu (Dumiso Dabengwa) and Zanu-Ndonga (Reketai Semwayo),
although Ncube did
not attend after Mugabe had unilaterally proclaimed July
31 as the date of
general elections. The same parties also met after the
Maputo summit.
However, unfolding events and remarks by officials of the
respective parties
cast doubt on whether the Maputo victory will be the
launch pad for a grand
coalition.
It is increasingly appearing too
late in the day for the formation of a
coalition to challenge Zanu PF, given
the obstacles that have to be
surmounted, including personality clashes and
contentious allocation of
posts, as well as principles and values,
particularly the issue of respect
of democratic fundamentals and political
violence.
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisayi Ruhanya however
said it was
still possible for Tsvangirai and Ncube to forge an electoral
pact because
the MDC parties are only separated by personality rather than
ideological
differences which can be overcome. He said their differences
were not really
fundamental but mainly personal and operational.
“It
is still possible for them to come together as the constitutional court
has
not even ruled on the elections date after postponing the case,” said
Ruhanya. “Some individuals will have to be side-lined in the allocation of
positions to make the pact possible.”
Ruhanya said demoting and
side-lining some officials and abandoning rigid
positions are some of the
“hard decisions the parties have to make in the
interests of democratising
Zimbabwe”.
But the parties themselves seem to be still poles apart. The
MDC this week
told the Zimbabwe Independent that while it welcomes the idea
of a grand
coalition, “there has been a lot of grandstanding and public
posturing over
the issue but there was no real commitment by other parties,
including the
MDC-T, to make it happen”.
“We opened up the
communication channels for any party to engage us but thus
far nobody has
come along,” said MDC spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube.
Dube said his party has
appointed Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Paul Themba
Nyathi as the coordinators
for such negotiations. Senior MDC officials say
other than gestures of
intent, the MDC-T has not made any formal proposals
on the issue. Insiders
say the MDC expects a concrete proposal, with
formulas and details, on a
coalition arrangement with the MDC-T before any
talks could start. So far
nothing of the sort has been presented, one
official said this
week.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora acknowledged that his party had
not
engaged anyone in formal talks about a coalition. “While we (MDC-T) are
very
clear on the need for all progressive forces to unite against Zanu PF,
the
fact is that there is nothing formal that has been discussed on the
issue,”
Mwonzora said.
None of the parties have tabled a document of
the talking points which
should include proposals on who should lead the
grand coalition as well as
which candidates should be fielded in the general
and local government
elections.
MDC-T members believe a coalition
should be led by Tsvangirai by virtue of
his winning the first round of the
presidential vote in March 2008 before
withdrawing from the bloody June
re-run against Mugabe.
The mudslinging and personality clashes between
the parties’ leaders, which
some analysts believe are retrogressive, have
increased ever since the
Maputo summit instead of concrete discussions on a
coalition by the parties.
Tellingly, these polemics are taking place
among leaders of the parties with
MDC-T vice-president Thokozani Khupe
dismissing suggestions that she make
way for Ncube in an election
pact.
“There is no justification (for stepping aside) because I have been
winning
elections compared to the MDC leader (Ncube),” said Khupe. “It does
not work
like that. People should use common sense.”
Ncube responded
in kind, describing Khupe as delusional and insisted he will
be contesting
the presidency. “I don’t deal with hypothetical issues,” he
said on the
side-lines of a rally at Cross-Dete in Matabeleland North. “I am
running for
the office of the president”.
Ncube’s position in response to Khupe’s
remarks showed how far apart the
parties still are despite their cooperation
in Maputo.
The old adage that “time waits for no man” rings ever true as
the
Constitutional Court, which postponed the case of election dates
extension,
can rule any time from now on the issue which has the potential
to decide
whether the country will make the transition to democracy or
remain in the
rut of the repression and regression that has been the
defining feature of
Zanu PF rule since independence in 1980.
Analysts
say so much depends on the ability of the MDC formations and other
political
forces to look at the bigger picture and form a grand coalition to
wrest
power from Zanu PF. The watershed elections will certainly be a
defining
moment for Zimbabwe as well as a possible Waterloo for the careers
of many,
including Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Ncube.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News,
Politics
PARLIAMENT’S chances of amending the Electoral At to reverse
President
Robert Mugabe’s unilateral changes to the law have all but
evaporated as the
parliament’s five-year term expires at midnight
today.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
The Maputo Sadc summit communiqué had
highly raised expectations of the MDC
formations that Mugabe’s amendments
made through a statutory instrument
under the controversial Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) Act would
be reversed in
parliament.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa was last week on Tuesday
expected to
table before parliament the changes for formal adoption before
the expiry of
its term. The MDC parties are complaining Mugabe’s use of the
Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to effect the Electoral Law
amendments was
unconstitutional and illegal since parliament was still in
session.
They said the powers of decree could not be used to make
substantive changes
to legislation as they deal with regulations, besides
that they could not be
made when parliament was still active.
Legal
analysts say the new constitution provides that an Act of Parliament
must
make provision for the conduct of all elections provided for by the new
constitution.
A substantial part of the law under which it is
proposed to conduct the
elections is not contained in any Act of Parliament
and has not been passed
by parliament but has been brought into ‘effect’ by
way of regulations under
the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measurers) Act.
Analysts say this is
unconstitutional and illegal.
Professor Welshman
Ncube, a lawyer, said in his presentation in Maputo it is
a violation of the
constitution to enact regulations to govern the conduct
of elections when
the constitution says that they must be done under an Act
of Parliament as
opposed to presidential regulations.
He said the validity of the
regulations are also in doubt due to the fact
that the Presidential Powers
(Temporary Measures) Act itself prohibits the
making of regulations under it
in any matter that the constitution requires
to be regulated by an Act of
Parliament.
Furthermore, that Act says regulations under it can only be
made in
circumstances where it is ‘inexpedient’ to have the proposed law
made by
parliament.
Although parliament was in session, Mugabe
unilaterally proceeded to amend
the law by decree.
Analysts also say
more importantly, the foundation of the Constitutional
Court (Concourt)
judgement which ordered that elections be held no later
than July 31 was the
acceptance by the court of the principle that rule by
decree in the absence
of parliament was abhorrent and should be avoided at
all costs.
“The
supreme irony of all this is that in attempting to comply with a
judgement
which rejects rule by decree, the president was advised to issue a
presidential decree during a period while parliament was sitting and ready
to pass the required law,” Ncube said. “I have no doubt that the
Constitutional Court judges would be appalled that rule by decree has been
resorted to in order to implement or enforce a judgement founded on a
rejection of the creation of conditions/circumstances which might allow rule
by decree.”
Analysts say a further matter which adds more confusion
to the legal muddle
created is that the election proclamation was issued as
statutory instrument
No. 68 of 2013.
The new constitution says that
once an election proclamation has been issued
no further electoral laws and
regulations can be made which have an effect
on that election. Yet after the
election proclamation the president made
three statutory instruments
intended to govern the 2013 elections.
There is SI 87 of 2013; SI 88 of
2013 and SI 89 of 2013. These deal with
various matters ranging from the
nomination of candidates and nomination
forms through procedures and rules
governing the registration or
accreditation of election observers to the
methods and processes for the
collation of election results.
All
these regulations are potentially invalid for the purposes of the 2013
elections, analysts say. Finance minister Tendai Biti, who is also a lawyer,
told the National Assembly last week that the coalition government became
dysfunctional soon after Mugabe unilaterally proclaimed poll
dates.
“We have since stopped operating as a united government, and since
that
proclamation things are not working well,” Biti said.
However,
Biti and Energy minister Elton Mangoma also took the opportunity in
parliament to move their outstanding bills on the order paper. They
successfully steered through, without debate, the following bills: Money
Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Bill, Income Tax Amendment Bill and the
Electricity Amendment Bill.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
THE
Zanu PF national elections directorate’s crunch meeting last week was
rocked
by fierce clashes with party bigwigs — secretary for administration
Didymus
Mutasa and women’s league secretary Oppah Muchinguri — reportedly
confronting each other over the primary elections candidates
list.
Brian Chitemba
Party insiders said the tense meeting held at
the Zanu PF headquarters was
almost disrupted after Mutasa dismissed
Muchinguri’s contribution, saying he
was the most senior official from
Manicaland and fully understood what was
good for the party.
Mutasa
is believed to belong to the camp led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru,
while
Muchinguri is aligned to Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa in the
race to
succeed President Robert Mugabe.
Muchinguri, who also clashed with Mutasa
last month during a politburo
meeting, hit back at Mutasa insisting she was
also a senior politician from
Manicaland and could not be
bullied.
The two engaged in a heated exchange in the presence of Zanu PF
national
chairperson Simon Khaya Moyo, who also doubles as the elections
directorate
chairperson.
Moyo subsequently intervened and called for
peace.
“It was an embarrassing moment as Mutasa and Muchinguri traded
insults in
the meeting considering that they once clashed in May,” said a
senior party
official. “It was clear that factional battles were at play
when the
heavyweights were engaged in combat. It’s all about the succession
issue.”
Mutasa stands accused of elbowing out former Zanu PF Manicaland
chairperson
Mike Madiro who is said to be in Mnangagwa’s camp. Mutasa has
publicly
accused senior Zanu PF officials in Manicaland of belonging to the
Mnangagwa
faction and decampaigning him.
Tensions reached fever-pitch
when Mashonaland East provincial chairperson
Ray Kaukonde attacked the
politburo for trying to impose candidates arguing
that he was better-placed
to discuss the calibre of aspiring MPs from his
province because he was
constantly in touch with the electorate.
Kaukonde, who is said to be
aligned to the Mujuru camp, came out guns
blazing after Moyo reportedly
questioned some of the names on the
Mashonaland East candidates’
list.
“Of all the provincial chairpersons who presented a list of
candidates,
Kaukonde stood his ground and refused to be intimidated by the
party
heavyweights,” said a party official.
At a recent politburo
meeting, Mugabe made a passionate plea for unity ahead
of elections, but the
long-running factionalism and infighting are likely to
deal a heavy blow to
the party’s performance in the impending polls.
Zanu PF blamed its dismal
performance in the 2008 elections on wrangling
where disgruntled party
members sabotaged Mugabe in an operation code-named
Bhora Musango.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
ZANU PF
secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa has been lobbying the
party’s
provinces to support him for the contentious chairmanship position
likely to
be vacated by the incumbent Simon Khaya Moyo who is heavily tipped
to take
over as Vice-President following the death of John Nkomo in
January.
Herbert Moyo/Elias Mambo
Party insiders say Mutasa, who
was part of a four-member team that was set
up by the politburo to
investigate factional fights in the provinces, took
advantage of the
meetings with the provincial and district leadership to
lobby for the
chairmanship.
“Mutasa took advantage of the probe team’s visits to the
provinces and
lobbied for the chairmanship post,” a senior Zanu PF official
from Masvingo
said this week.
When contacted for a comment, Moyo
said: “I think it is better for you to
contact him (Mutasa). I am sure he
will be able to talk to you.”
Since the unity accord was signed in 1987,
the Zanu PF chairmanship has been
held by former Zapu members — the late
vice-presidents Joseph Msika and
Nkomo and now by Moyo.
Mutasa told
the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday that there has been a
misconception on
the chairmanship position.
“Due to the fact that the post has been going
to the former Zapu officials,
everyone thinks it is reserved for those from
Matabeleland,” Mutasa said.
“The next chairperson will be decided by the
people. The only post reserved
for the former Zapu people is the
vice-presidency. The national chairperson
is chosen by all the provinces,”
he said without divulging his interest,
preferring to say “if it comes to
Manicaland, it will be the people’s
choice”.
This is not the first
time that Mutasa has expressed interest in the
chairmanship.
Moyo,
who was Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa, won the 2009
nominations, but
Manicaland province accused the party of having a
“misconception” that the
national chairperson should come from the
Matabeleland region.
The
Zanu PF Manicaland provincial chairperson at that time, Basil Nyabadza,
resigned in protest claiming there was no provision in the Unity Accord,
which stipulates that the chairperson should be from Matabeleland.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Business
Zimbabwe’s trade
deficit will worsen to over US$3 billion by the end of this
year after the
balance of trade in the four months to April widened to
US$1,6 billion as
the country’s reliance on imported goods and services
grows, latest
statistics show.
Staff Writer
According to the figures released by
the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency
(Zimstat) this week, total imports
recorded between January and April 2013
were US$2,6 billion against exports
of US$1 billion giving rise to a
cumulative trade deficit of US$1,6
billion.
The latest Zimstats figures show that imports are heavily
weighted towards
motor vehicles and foodstuffs.
According to the
World Bank’s Interim Strategic Note (ISN) released this
week, Zimbabwe’s
imports will rise to 63% of GDP in 2013 from 55% in 2009,
while import cover
is now down to 20% of a month or roughly six days.
Exports are only
expected to be 46% of GDP, an overestimate by local
economists’ standards
who assert that Zimbabwe’s burgeoning trade deficit,
which they repeatedly
warn is a ticking time bomb, will widen further to
over US$3 billion by the
end of this year.
Recently Finance minister Tendai Biti, who has been
accused of paying lip
service to the deficit, rang the alarm bells, saying
the massive grain
imports anticipated this year will be adding further
strain on the already
depleted liquidity in the market.
Analysts say
it is unsound for the authorities to continue to failing to act
to plug
unnecessary consumptive imports, which represent a major drain on
domestic
liquidity.
For instance, out of the total US$1,3 billion in imports for
the first two
months of this year, US$980 million were consumptive imports
comprising
US$494 million in manufactured goods for distribution and retail
sectors,
US$383 million in services and US$103 million in imports by
individuals.
This represented a deterioration of over 71% from statistics
recorded in the
same period last year.
Economists say the magnitude
of the balance of trade problem goes beyond the
burden of negative financial
flows it imposes on the financial system but
potentially opens up the
economy for other abuses.
As the authorities worry about the size of the
hole being dug, attention
should also be directed to finding out exactly how
the deficit is being
funded.
Last year Biti raised fears that the
deficit was potentially being funded by
loans from the banking sector, a
scenario not too far-fetched, but which
also highlights the fact that the
country’s imports are being funded largely
from unknown
sources.
Prominent economist, Tony Hawkins last week raised the red flag,
saying the
ballooning import bill was in large part due to the fact that the
country
was over-consuming, generating excess demand that was being met by
imports.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Business
Many,
including the government, recognise that the micro, small and
medium-sized
enterprises (MSMEs) constitute a key element of the economy.
Column by
Eric Bloch
This was recently evidenced by a survey undertaken by the
Finmark Trust,
aided by the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and
Cooperative
Development, supported by the World Bank and the Zimbabwe Multi
Donor Trust
Fund.
In substance, the methodology of the survey was a
tried and proven one, like
others previously conducted in Zambia, South
Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.
Such a survey is also currently being conducted
in Mozambique.
In Zimbabwe it focused on individual entrepreneurs,
identifying the number
of such enterprises, the size of population owning
and employed therein, the
volumes of their business, the nature of the
operations, constraints
impacting on them, and their development and
financial needs.
Those sponsoring and conducting the MSMEs survey
interacted with the
Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) for statistical
monitoring and quality
control, a research service provider, Research
Continental–Fonkom) and a
local project coordinator, Africa Corporate
Advisors.
They were guided by a comprehensive steering committee which
included five
of Zimbabwe’s governmental ministries, the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe and six
sectorial organisations.
The survey concluded
that:
Zimbabwe has 3,5 million MSMEs, with an estimated turnover in 2012 of
US$7,4
billion;
Owning those MSMEs are 2,8 million Zimbabweans,
providing employment
(exclusive of the owners) for 2,9 million people, which
results in 5,7
million (owners and employees) attaining livelihood from the
MSME
operations;
Although as many as 2,9 million are engaged in MSME
employment, only 29% of
the MSMEs are providing that employment, the other
71% being wholly operated
by their owners;
53% of the MSME owners are
female;
60% of the MSMEs are primarily operational in rural
areas;
40% of the MSMEs earn less than $200 per month, and only 22% of
the
employees receive a regular, full-time, wage;
85% of the MSMEs
are not lawfully registered or licenced operations, and
only 2% are
registered with the Zimbabwean Revenue Authority (Zimra), and
hence 98% are
not paying any direct taxes;
The sources of the MSMEs gross revenues were
US$3,3 billion from retail
operations, US$1,9 billion from agricultural
activities, US$564 million from
manufacturing, US$539 million from the
provision of services, US$234 million
from mining, and US$811 million from
other activities;
Only 3% of the MSMEs utilise banking services
identified with the
enterprises, while a further 11% indirectly use such
services (generally
through personal accounts of proprietors or related
parties).
When, 10 days ago, President Robert Mugabe launched the survey
report, he
said that he derived much joy from the growth of the MSME sector.
However,
he also voiced concern at the minimal extent to which the sector
banks its
revenues, or avails itself of funding from the banking
sector.
He attributed the insignificant recourse to the banks to fears of
the
entrepreneurs of losing their funds, amplifying thereon by condemning
“rogue
banks” for contributing to the waning confidence of MSMEs in the
security of
the banking sector, and also that the allegedly unreasonable
charges of
local banks were a deterrent to MSMEs.
In reality, the key
reason for the informal sector’s reticence to banking
services is their fear
of taxation consequences. In order to establish a
banking account, the
enterprise has to lodge with the bank an Income Tax
Clearance Certificate
(ITF263), which is only available to those who are
registered with Zimra and
in complete compliance with all taxation
obligations.
Thus, only 2%
of the surveyed MSMEs would legitimately be able to interact
with the banks,
although incomprehensibly an additional 1% appear to have
done so. Clearly,
the key reason for failure to use the bank is naught but
tax evasion.
However, there are numerous other concerns which demotivate
MSMEs from using
the banks. These include that:
The majority of MSMEs generate such
limited revenues that they need to use
them almost immediately following
receipt, and hence they see little purpose
or benefit in routing their
incomes and expenditures through banking
accounts;
Many of those who
would contemplate operating bank accounts are afraid
Zimbabwe will suddenly
abandon the multi-currency system and revert to the
usage of a domestic
currency which a majority of the populace anticipate
would be as worthless
as it was in 2008;
Many banks are often short of ready cash, precluding
account holders from
being able to access funds as timeously and
expeditiously as they need to;
Many MSMEs operatives are using mobile
telephone cash transfer systems,
which operate very promptly and at much
lesser cost than applicable to
equivalent banking services;
A
considerable number of MSMEs (and especially the small ones) find that
they
have to pay bribes in order to operate their enterprises, and such
payments
have to be effected in cash. Such bribes include payments, by
unlawful
commuter bus operators and taxi services, to traffic police,
payments to
municipal authorities, and the like;
With several banks having collapsed
in the last five years, creating losses
for account holders, and several
banks still being under curatorship or in
liquidation, many fear further
collapses may follow.
If there were no MSMEs in Zimbabwe, poverty and
hardship would be worse.
Government should therefore smoothen operations in
this sector and
incentivise the entrepreneurs to formalise the same to
benefit the fiscus
and the economy.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in
Business
Zimbabwe’s elections, slated for end of next month, could help
spur an
accelerated economic growth in the next two years, a World Bank
report said.
Chris Muronzi/Fidelity Mhlanga
In an interim strategy
note for FY13-15, the WB sees the economy growing 6%
this year.
“For
2013-15, baseline projections are that the economy will grow at 6% in
2013,
5% in 2014 and 15% in 2015, as investment may continue to remain below
potential,” the bank says.
“Given anticipated elections and the new
constitution, it is possible that
in the next 12 to 24 months the post-2009
economic rebound could be
accelerated and progress made in rebuilding the
state.”
The bank also says the decision to proceed with arrears clearance
operation
would require Zimbabwe to consent to, and launch a medium–term
growth-oriented reform programme it endorsed, generate satisfactory economic
performance, undertake a stabilisation programme approved by the IMF and
agree to a financing plan that fully clears arrears to the bank and ensures
that debt service will be sustainable.
However, the bank warns that
even after arrears are cleared, Zimbabwe would
still face a substantial debt
service to the bank.
Zimbabwe’s total external debt is US$10,7 billion, a
figure representing
113% of its GDP.
The World Bank was owed
US$976,45 million as at January 13 2013.
“Arrears to the bank would need to
be cleared within a coordinated general
effort to clear arrears to other
creditors. Clearing arrears to multilateral
institutions, or having a plan
to do so, is a condition for reaching the
Highly Indebted Poor Country
(HIPC) decision point,” the report says.
“Just as the IMF will ask
Zimbabwe to demonstrate a track record of payments
to it, during the ISN
period Zimbabwe would need to establish a track record
of payments to the
World Bank, in line with principle of pari passu
treatment with other
creditors. Given the amount of arrears to International
Bank of
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development
Association (IDA) (US$977,45 million), quarterly payments of payment
capacity improves.”
The bank notes the introduction of cash
management budget has imposed
discipline in spending, and in both 2010 and
2011, small cash surpluses were
generated.
It says Zimbabwe’s
economic recovery depended on having an environment
conducive to private
sector activity.
The bank adds, Zimbabwe in the short-term needed to resolve
uncertainties
created by its empowerment and indigenisation laws.
The
country’s indigenisation laws which compel foreigners to dispose of
controlling stakes in their businesses to indginous Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe
was recently ranked 172 out of 185 countries in
the doing business rankings,
down from 170 last year out of 183 countries.
While the enterprise survey for
Zimbabwe captures the experiences of
businesses currently in the country,
the bank felt the outlook was
encouraging,
helped by several
indicators that performed above regional average.
The bank also notes the
need to deepen international trade amid indications
the country’s exports
were more resource intensive than labour-intensive.
“Future growth
prospects would substantially improve with a strategy of
openness and
overcoming structural constraints to export diversification and
sustained
growth, by improving Zimbabwe’s trade facilitation agenda,
reducing
nontariff barriers, improving the business environment supportive
institutions, and opening up access to and reducing the cost of trade
finance,” the report adds.
The bank also says it would support
government efforts to improve the
business climate and prospects for
employment creation.
The bank says it would use analytical and advisory
activities designed to
identify ways to reduce barriers to investment,
strengthen economic
management, ease infrastructure bottlenecks and make
agriculture more
productive.
According to the report, priority would
be given to areas that can
facilitate quick wins such as improving liquidity
and enhancing public
sector management in the next budget cycle.
“It
would provide on time advice on strengthening and rebuilding the public
investment management system. Building on the framework laid out in the
Medium Term Plan the bank would respond if the government requests
assistance in drafting an interim poverty reduction strategy by analysing
updated poverty data and sharing the experience with other countries,” read
part of the report.
The report notes this was in line with World
Development Report 2013 on jobs
showing the strong correlation between
private sector led growth and job
creation in order to reduce
poverty.
The report was drafted in consultation with government partners,
the private
sector and civil society, to ensure the bank’s readiness for
eventual re-
engagement.
The bank proposes to use the Multi Donor
Trust Fund, bank budget and other
resources to increase credit to the
private sector and improve job creation
and increase country competiveness
and better investment allocations.
The bank says it intend to foster
private sector growth through the
improvement of the business environment,
especially financial markets,
infrastructure development, especially water
and sanitation, and energy, as
well as support support a comprehensive
agrarian reform programme.
Zimbabwe has established macro-economic
stability but has challenges in the
business environment, rebuilding human
capital, reestablishing the rule of
law and implementing cluster-based
development strategy to stimulate private
sector development.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Politics
EVER
since Zimbabwe’s transitional inclusive government (IG)’s constitution
was
finally agreed in the middle of March, the country’s political discourse
has
been in overdrive.
Opinion by David Moore
Primarily it has been
debating the date of the election that could end two
eras — the first being
the tension-ridden IG, in existence since February
2009, and the second
being the possibility of an end to President Robert
Mugabe and his party’s
rule over Zimbabwe.
Just about 90 days later, the suspense of that moment
looked like it was
over — bar a surprise or two from the effective ruling
party (and it is
quite good at surprises).
A once-deferred special
Sadc meeting in Maputo announced that August 14
would be the best date for
elections. To be sure, this depended on the Zanu
PF Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa approaching the Constitutional Court
(Concourt) to rethink its
ruling granting a Zanu PF-sponsored man his
“right” to a July 31 election.
The Concourt on Wednesday postponed the
case.
All sorts of legal
shenanigans could ensue, but on June 15 all except 66
Zanu PF folks enjoying
Maputo’s seaside for the weekend, were pleased. Even
the 67th Zanu PF
delegate, Mugabe, said this was a “happy outcome”.
Democracy could get
kick-started again: elections are meant to do that; the
excitement and
adrenaline therein aroused is a good part of their
legitimasing effect.
“Governments of national unity” don’t quite pull it
off.
The few
weeks between mid-March, when everybody seemed so happy that so many
people
had voted, but as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network wrote, (the
numbers
only seemed high because they only reflected registered voters, but
registration was not needed for the referendum and the results of the 2012
census were not in, thus making it impossible to justify a count of more
than 46% turnout), and favourably, so any delay to the next rush — the
election — seemed an eternity.
Zanu PF especially had been announcing
an election or two every few months
since 2010. Waiting for an election date
seemed like Waiting for Godot, and
during purgatory, people don’t want to
believe that what is down the road
might be anti-climactic: the pitch is
high.
It struck this similarly intoxicated observer that this “moment”
could mark
the closure of a lengthy conjuncture and the beginning of a new
era.
This might be the end of an interregnum, consisting of a compromised
pact
mediating the end of an era of one party’s near monopoly of political
power
and access to state-assisted means of accumulation, and the beginning
of
another epoch wherein there would be slightly more variegated access to
the
tools of governance.
If real, free and fair elections could come
to pass it was possible that a
form of “democracy-lite” might be on the way,
instead a continuation of what
Phillan Zamchiya calls competitive electoral
authoritarianism. And that,
given Zimbabwe’s history of violent and stolen
elections, could be akin to a
revolution as far-reaching as that about
land.
Such a momentous historical occurrence could bear analysis-paying
homage to
the epigrammatic notations of one of social science’s more notable
founding
fathers.
One could construct a number of theses that could
capture the essence of
Zimbabwean politics as it teetered on the edge of a
new precipice — as it
had, one hastens to add, many times before since the
prospect of the ruling
party’s electoral defeat in
2000.
Coincidentally, a review by one of the more prolific of the many
scholars
describing what they see to be the success of Zimbabwe’s agrarian
revolution
(no scare quotes needed: any radical alteration of a country’s
rural
socio-economic structure is revolutionary regardless of its success or
if it
is generally liked) misnamed the author of a magical realist book from
which
Rory Pilossof’s The Unbearable Whiteness of Being borrowed its
title.
In their book on land reform, the same author and his team did not
remember
when the MDC was formed: it was on a 9/11 two years after they
thought, two
years before the one in New York, and 26 years after the same
date in Chile,
when Salvador Allende met his untimely fate.
Firstly,
one may, with care, utilise the insights of magical realism to
assess the
political discourse of the moment (and possibly much more). If
Doctorow is
right and magical realism expresses the “exhaustion of
meaningful choice”,
we all know deep down that Zanu PF will not allow a loss
of
power.
Secondly, it will take a long time and an epistemological shift
for the
twain between the agrarian patriot-scholars who spend their time
adding up
the pluses of their revolution and the political scientists who
pass their
hours minding the electoral processes and juridical freedoms to
meet.
Zimbabwean politicians are not averse to hyperbole. “Historic,
amazing and
dramatic” is what Tendai Biti, MDC-T secretary-general and
Minister of
Finance, proclaimed on the Maputo result. But really: what
difference will
two weeks make for media freedom, decent voters’ rolls, an
electoral
commission not stripped of its military minions, and most of all,
security
reform?
Could Biti really have meant what he said? As one
more sober-minded MDC
activist put it, “the decision by Sadc is just
diplomatic stance to nurse
the MDC wounds and massage their ego. It endorses
the decision by the Mugabe
courts: the extension depends on how Zanu PF sees
what is strategic. There
is no difference between July 31 and August 14. All
this is a decoy by Zanu
PF and Mugabe”.
Of course, the most famed for
linguistic acrobatics, poisoned at that, is
Professor Jonathan Moyo, who may
go down in history as Zimbabwe’s Goebbels.
The most recent and consistent
recipient of his vitriolic rhetoric has been
South Africa, at least since
Lindiwe Zulu, a more enthusiastic democrat than
those on the Thabo Mbeki
facilitation team.
Relatedly, on another thesis, Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni
may be partially
correct to assert that “Mugabeism” is a specific ideology.
It may not have a
defined philosophical frame — Mugabe is more of an
opportunist than an
ideologist, as one of Britain’s spies who, during the
liberation struggle
helped Tony Blair’s nemesis a lot, was fond of
repeating.
Perhaps, however, it is a clearly distinguished rhetorical
style: read the
ponderous pontifications of Tafataona Mahoso, George
Charamba, and many
young pretenders, to see.
Nevertheless, it is, as
Ndlovu-Gatsheni says in his Do ‘Zimbabweans’ Exist?
Trajectories of
Nationalism, National Identity Formation and Crisis in a
Postcolonial State,
“an inherent product of the ‘schizophrenic’ nature of
the postcolonial
state” in its Zimbabwean guise (see also Moore in Hany
Beseda’s edited
Zimbabwe: Picking up the Pieces).
Literary, ideological manifestations of
chemical-sociological imbalances in
the collective political brain lead to
magical realism — and they can have
brutal material effect.
Returning
to South Africa’s place in Zimbabwe’s discursive directions, a
further
thesis contends that as the reluctant regional hegemon and “the
West” moved
closer regarding democracy in the hinterland (and Blair has
left politics
for consulting), Africa’s economic powerhouse has taken up the
role of “most
hated Zimbabwean enemy”.
The South African team has been shunned openly
as they trooped up to
Zimbabwe (Mbeki, too, was sometimes left cooling his
heels for hours on end
as he importuned his northern elder, but that was
never publicised).
South African President Jacob Zuma, however, may have
reversed the trend by
appearing to pull off a masterful diplomatic coup at
Maputo while actually
letting Zanu PF off the hook. Getting Zimbabwe on
track seems an easier
foreign policy trick than has been pulled in the
Central African Republic
and over “Guptagate”.
Remarkably, the
dangling carrot of loaning over US$100 million to run the
election (the
UNDP, no longer at Zanu PF’s beck and call, insisted on
following its rules
about clean elections before loosening its largesse, so
was not invited),
was not discussed and seems to have been taken off the
Sadc
agenda.
As in magical realism’s tropes, nothing is what it seems — except
Mugabe’s
happiness. One is led to wonder if two ingratiating “documentaries”
of the
Mugabe family, hosted by Oliver Tambo’s son Dali, and aired recently
by
South Africa’s national television broadcaster were approved by the ANC
in a
bid to restore an aura of saintliness to an obviously aged leader — the
president appeared to fall asleep as Dali’s last questions rolled on —
historical throwback.
No matter age or drowsiness, reports are that
during cabinet meetings, the
president outwits them all. As long as he does
so, it is extremely unlikely
Mugabe and his assorted colleagues will
willingly give up power through
elections alone.
The depletion of
real alternatives, of which Doctorow spoke, derives from
this point. As
Brian Raftopoulos put it at a recent meeting at the
University of Cape Town
regarding Zimbabwe’s readiness for elections,
Zimbabwe’s “military-economic
élite — a new capitalist class at an early
stage” — will not be removed
“just with elections”, so some sort of
‘partnership to prevent militaristic
moves’ is needed.
At the same meeting a Zanu PF representative appeared
in place of the
advertised Moyo. The poor clone’s declarations that his
party — the “truest
democrats ever” — would not waver from a June 29
election date exemplified
an extreme manifestation of magical realism to
guffaws and boos from an
audience fully aware of his fidelity and
commitment: thus leading to hopes
that many Zimbabweans are not taken in by
the ersatz brand of magical
realism coming out of Zanu PF — will bear
fruit.
However, the conflict in Zanu PF primaries seems to be explosive,
this being
one reason aside from Mugabe’s failing health for elections to
make haste:
nothing unites the party like an electoral contest.
In
the meantime, the question is: how will the ruling party win again?
Recent
polls have indicated MDC slippage — being in the IG, getting caught
up in
municipal corruption, and its leader’s well-exposed private life have
not
helped. The election could be close to a tie, although when push comes
to
shove in the polling booths nearly three and a half decades of
disappointment may turn that pen away from history. Thus one must consider
Raftopoulos’ notion of a “partnership” carefully.
As pundits
considered Zimbabwe’s political future at 2013’s beginnings, one
careful
observer suggested a “militarised” democracy: no wonder there was
screaming
in the police commissioner’s office, and arrests, when the
Zimbabwe
Independent reported meetings between the MDC secretary for defence
Giles
Mutsekwa and top security forces members. Rumours abound of
“moderates”
within Zanu PF and various players in the MDC making a deal.
The MDC may be
worried enough about lost support to attract it to this path,
and perhaps
some elements of Zanu PF would seek alliances outside their
traditional
bounds.
However, the promise of power through elections is beguiling
(another
element of magical realism). There is no real alternative to
elections —
unless extreme violence forces Sadc to call for another IG (an
option
undoubtedly appealing to some). Yet deals may be conceived beforehand
and
delivered very quickly afterwards: all parties could agree to fudge the
elections. Zanu PF is not known for keeping promises, though: this adds
another layer of make-believe to the realism.
Even with a free and
fair contest, the result will be close so premonitions
and preparations for
a coalition government after the fact must be on many
tables. Another
“unity” could conjoin all the opposition parties: a jointly
signed
declaration that all the major opposition parties would oppose the
July 31
election date raised faint hopes of unity among the two MDCs, Zapu
and Simba
Makoni’s Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn.
This is, however, unlikely: Welshman Ncube
did not attend the meeting, but
sent his deputy. Thus popular perceptions of
them all — and Arthur
Mutambara — as being little more than Zanu PF’s or the
regional hegemony’s
pawns will continue, although they may gather enough
votes to keep the MDC-T
from gathering a large majority. The best option of
all will undoubtedly
never happen. It does not merit even a third of a
thesis.
Zimbabweans may well see elections bringing nothing but fear,
cynicism and
violence and start to treat them with contempt. Not a few of
the many
members of the youth tortured a decade ago by Zanu PF for helping
the MDC
are now dissatisfied at current prospects. Hedging their bets for
the next
decade, they see a continuation of something much less than
democracy-lite
for the medium-term future.
Some are starting to say
the only hope for real change will be with a
radicalised middle level of the
armed forces. This is far from democracy,
especially when one contemplates
the reality of a military that will soon be
made up of graduates of Border
Gezi “national service” schools that make
Terry Ranger’s notion of
“patriotic history” classes look anodyne indeed.
Those of an older
generation in the region who in the past few years have
held back at the
abyss of full electoral democracy (at every stolen election
since 2000) and
abided by its fudged version have this to look forward, too.
This moment may
indeed be on the cusp of a conjuncture that will be morbid
indeed.
Moore is professor of Development Studies at the University
of Johannesburg.
He is currently a visiting scholar at the University of
Cape Town’s Centre
for African Studies.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in News, Opinion
THE
creation of the coalition government in 2009 severely emasculated
parliament
rendering MPs from across the political divide powerless to raise
pertinent
issues as they feared rocking the fragile government, according to
the
outgoing chief whips.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
In the last four and half
years, parliament failed to pass any legislative
reforms or adopt key
motions that in any way seemed to unsettle two of the
biggest parties in the
tripartite alliance, Zanu PF and the MDC-T.
Among the legislative reforms
that were left to lapse on the National
Assembly’s Order Paper in the past
five sessions are the Public Order and
Security (Posa) Amendment Bill, Urban
Council’s Act Amendment Bill and
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA)
Amendment Bill.
Government also failed to implement any of the
recommendations from
parliamentary portfolio committees such as the Budget
and Finance as well as
the Mines and Energy that dealt with sensitive
issues.
Budget and Finance committee chairperson Paddy Zhanda moved a
motion that
called for an investigation in the conduct of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
between 2004 and 2009 on quasi-fiscal activities.
The
motion was left to lapse after Zanu PF MPs were whipped into line and
stayed
away from the controversial motion.
MDC-T chief-whip Innocent Gonese
conceded that parliament was hamstrung by
the coalition government as only
agreed motions and bills could be passed by
the House.
“We made so
many compromises because everything had to be negotiated by the
executive
first before it came to the House,” Gonese said.
Gonese moved two Private
Members’ Bills, the Posa Amendment and CPEA
Amendment bills, in the past
four years but they were also left to lapse.
He had proposed amendments
that would have made it easier for political
parties to conduct their
activities without police interference and to
remove the notorious Section
121 of the CPEA.
This section allows courts to continue detaining accused
persons for up to
seven days even after courts grant them bail once the
state shows an
intention to appeal against bail.
The House further
allowed Buhera Central MP Tangwara Matimba’s Private
Members Bill to amend
the Urban Council’s Act to lapse.
Matimba had argued the Act gave too much
power to Local Government minister
Ignatius Chombo, particularly that the
minister was empowered to suspend and
dismiss councillors or even entire
councils.
Chombo applied to the Supreme Court arguing that under the
coalition
government, only ministers were allowed to move bills in
parliament. The
Supreme Court upheld his argument effectively killing all
the Private
Members Bills.
Zanu PF chief-whip Joram Gumbo concurred
with Gonese that the dynamics of
the coalition government restricted
independence of the House from the
executive.
“Our whipping system
makes sure MPs have to do as instructed by their
political parties hence we
only discussed and debated issues from the
executive,” Gumbo
said.
The House also failed to push for an audit into the RBZ
Mechanisation
Programme as senior members of Zanu PF attacked it as
witch-hunting.
Ministers also deliberately avoided responding to questions
on the Order
Paper that were likely to ruffle feathers.
However, this
parliament will be remembered for passing the new constitution
to replace
the Lancaster House charter and that for the first time since
independence,
the speaker came from the opposition, with the MDC-T’s
Lovemore Moyo and
even his deputy Nomalanga Khumalo presiding over the
National Assembly.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Opinion
The election
season is indeed upon us. Despite serious contestations being
the order of
the day between the country’s mainstream political parties
(which find
themselves in an uneasy coalition government), particularly on
the issue of
the actual election date, it is apparent that the tenure of
this government
is coming to an end, an end which has one conclusion —
elections.
Vote 4 Zim Campaign
The genesis of the inclusive
government is itself premised on one major
deliverable — the creation of an
environment and conditions sufficient for
the holding of a credible
election.
It needs no introduction that the last election held in
Zimbabwe in 2008
lacked credibility and therefore precipitated a negotiated
government
facilitated by Sadc.
Many a scholar have come up with
papers trying to explain the voting
patterns and trends of that last
election, in the process trying to
extrapolate and predict the effect on the
likely pattern for the impending
election, whenever it is held.
While
a lot has and continues to be said and done about the need to ensure
wholesale participation of the electorate in the elections, however, very
little focus has been put in discerning the real issues that the electorate
is supposed to vote for.
Specifically, this talks to the various
policies, legislative and political
alternatives that each of the parties
offering themselves for public office
is putting forward to attract that
vote from the electorate.
Proper analysis of politics will tell that this
is equally if not more
important than actual voting as anyone leaving the
ballot booth does not
find the vote they have cast as food on the table —
rather they will hope
that their choice on the ballot paper is able to
ensure that the voter is
able to put food on his/her table.
After
five years under the leadership of the inclusive government, the
platform
has indeed provided an intriguing space for those in it, to outdo
each other
and in the process positioning the parties and their constituent
individuals
in the favour or otherwise of the electorate, who are the
undoubted arbiters
in any electoral contest.
It is without doubt that the current players in
the inclusive government are
the front-runners in this election. There is
one glaring reality that has
been brought about by the inclusive government
and this has been its open
portrayal of the various political parties and
individuals to the citizens —
which will ultimately play a significant role
in the eventual capacity of
various politicians and their parties to attract
votes.
The ongoing confirmation and primary elections are testimony
enough to the
fact that the voters are indeed the final arbiters in terms of
delivering
the ultimate verdict on who should govern us from time to
time.
While other political parties are still dealing with important
democratic
intra-party issues, it is becoming clear that the electorate is
beginning to
look at the “track record” of an individual politician and/or
their party as
the basis for voting for or against them.
And this is
where ideally our politics as a nation should be moving to.
The last five
years and even the period before then, will provide enough
basis upon which
the voting citizenry will be able to assess, judge and
ultimately decide on
who they will cast their ballot in favour of.
And this decision will
ultimately be made against the background on what
each party or individual
is able to realistically deliver to ensure that the
ordinary citizen is able
to attain a livelihood, with the attendant salient
bread and butter issues
that are associated with a “decent livelihood and
existence”.
For the
citizens in their wide diversity, as cohorts and social groups, this
will
imply that any aspiring public office-holder and/or their political
party
ought to have a sound and coherent answer to the various needs of
these
citizens and be able to adequately sell their idea to the electorate.
It
is only on such a basis of choosing leadership we can create a foundation
upon which as citizens, we can eventually be able to hold to account those
who we mandate to govern.
It is only when as citizens, we can speak
the same language with the
prospective and serving leaders, in terms of how
we interpret the common
national vision, that we can be able to attain
social justice and
sustainable development for all citizens and the nation
as a whole.
It is only through building such a culture of open dialogue
and engagement
between leaders, law and policy-makers and the citizenry that
the country
can be able to embrace the new dispensation ushered in by the
adoption of
the new constitution. With attendant legislative alignments and
other
reforms, this is supposed to lead to fresh elections to settle the
debacle
of 2008 and give citizens a government of their choice, although new
problems have now arisen.
Voting 4 Zimbabwe Campaign is an elections
advocacy group.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Opinion
The state media’s
use of politically inflammatory language ahead of the
anticipated
application for extension of time by government to the
Constitutional Court
(Concourt, which on Wednesday indefinitely postponed
the case) as
recommended by Sadc is a cause for concern because it
undermines the
judicial process by creating an impression that the matter
has been
pre-judged and will not be given fair consideration by the court.
Opinion
by Alex T Magaisa
It is clear that the state media has chosen a side and
there appears to be a
concerted effort designed to sway the court in that
particular direction.
This comes in a context where there has been a
deliberate and concerted
effort by the state media in the last fortnight to
set up the MDC parties
against the judiciary. It began with a story,
repeated each day in varying
forms, reporting on an alleged meeting of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR) suggesting that the MDC parties are
on a crusade against the
courts.
Even assuming that a meeting took
place, the insinuation that it was
convened to launch an attack on the
judiciary and to soil its image was
designed to create a wedge between the
MDCs, ZLHR and the judiciary.
The fact that any client, whatever his/her
station in life is
constitutionally entitled to approach his/her legal
representative and to
have a meeting that is protected by the laws of
confidentiality, is lost on
the state media, preferring instead to read into
the meeting some political
machinations aimed at the
judiciary.
Section 69(4) of the new constitution guarantees the right of
every person
to be legally represented. Furthermore, the new constitution
provides for
the right of access to the courts for the resolution of any
dispute (Section
69(3)).
A person commits no wrong, but is exercising
a right when he approaches and
meets his or her lawyer for legal advice and
assistance.
It is highly unethical for a newspaper to publish such
confidential details,
let alone make interpretations that are designed to
cause friction between a
person or persons and the judiciary. Details of the
alleged meeting would
ordinarily be protected by lawyer-client
confidentiality.
In recognition of the significance of protecting
privileged information, the
new constitution states in Section 62(4) that
legislation may restrict the
right of access to information on grounds of
professional confidentiality.
The reporter only need to consider a
situation where one gets access to a
transcript of his consultation with his
medical doctor and such information
is splashed in the public
domain.
However, the problem has got worse in the wake of the recent Sadc
summit in
Maputo, with attempts to influence the decision-making process of
the
Concourt on the application for extension of time in line with a Sadc
resolution becoming even more apparent.
The Herald edition of June 17
2013 led with a story in which further
statements were made that the MDC-T
is against complying with the judgment
of the Concourt.
In that
article, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, Goodwills Masimirembwa and
Terrence
Hussein are quoted extensively making comments that effectively
pre-empt the
judgment of the Concourt even before the application directed
by Sadc has
been made. The net effect of the article is to say that the
Concourt should
and will dismiss the application by government to extend the
deadline for
the harmonised elections in compliance with the Sadc
recommendation.
Four things are evident in these stories:
Firstly,
the attempt to pit the MDC-T against the Concourt by creating the
picture of
the MDC as aggressors against the judiciary;
Secondly, creating the false
impression that the MDC-T is defying and
disobeying a lawful court
order;
Thirdly, the effort to portray Zanu PF or related elements as
being more
judiciary-friendly; indeed as guardians of the judiciary against
MDC-T
attacks.
Fourthly, the pre-empting of the judgment of the
Concourt in the wake of the
Sadc recommendation at the Maputo
Summit.
The state media is actually undermining, rather than
strengthening or
protecting, the judiciary. It is not fair on the judiciary
for people to
publicly engage in a debate on the merits or otherwise of a
matter that is
under consideration or in this case, a matter that, as is
commonly known, is
going to be brought to the court’s attention.
In
this regard, it is now common knowledge that the Maputo summit
recommended
for the government of Zimbabwe to approach the Concourt to seek
an extension
of time to hold the harmonised elections.
As guarantor of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) and the inclusive
government, Sadc recognised the
legal and practical impossibility of holding
free, fair, credible and
legitimate elections before the deadline of July
31. Knowing that the
Concourt will soon be seized with this crucial matter,
the state media has
gone into overdrive prejudging the outcome of the case.
For people to
start discussing the merits of the matter and draw
conclusions, is
prejudicial to the case. The idea seems to be to create an
impression that
an application following the Sadc recommendation is
hopeless. It is akin to
“trial by the media” whereby media coverage of a
case creates an impression
of guilt on the part of an accused even before
he/she has been tried by a
court of law.
In this particular case, it makes a hard job even worse for
the court. This
is an important case with serious implications for the
future of this
country and the media and commentators need to tread more
carefully to avoid
creating perceptions of unfairness and bias.
It is
wrong to pre-judge a case before it has even come before the judiciary
when
people know that it will definitely be brought to its attention. Based
on
the reportage so far, one is swayed to believe that the effort is
designed
to influence the judges to make a ruling that is against the Sadc
recommendation.
The unfairness of the reporting on the courts is that
even if the court were
independently minded to refuse the extension of time,
they have now been put
in a difficult position where doing so would only
confirm the fears of those
who believe the state media articles were
designed to influence them to rule
as such. Because the state media has
taken that particular position, it will
put the court in an awkward position
where, if it makes a decision rejecting
the application, the public will say
the court is simply toeing the line.
This is not fair on the judges who
will be seized with this critical
responsibility to decide on a matter of
immense public interest.
It is wrong to pre-empt the judgment of the
court or to portray opponents as
attackers of the judiciary and therefore
setting up an imaginary fight. For
the record, the MDC-T fought for a new
democratic Constitution which
includes critical provisions guaranteeing the
independence of the judiciary.
The judiciary is now more protected than it
has been under the Lancaster
House Constitution.
Further, as a
confidence-building measure, the MDC-T agreed to the
continuation of serving
judges, including the fact that for the first seven
years of the new
constitution, judges of the Supreme Court would also sit
and serve in the
Concourt. None of the serving judges has reason to feel
threatened by the
MDC-T. The MDC-T stated, after the Concourt judgment, that
it respected the
court’s decision. There was never any suggestion that the
party would
disobey or defy the order. When a party is critical of a
judgment, that is
not the same thing as saying it is defying an order.
The most worrying
issue is that the use of politically inflammatory language
causes people to
question whether the application for extension will ever
get fair
consideration by the court and this is not fair on the Concourt.
The
state media has openly chosen a side rather than report objectively on
the
matter. The reports would be more objective if they at the very least
made
reference to views on the matter held by people other than those
aligned to
or who speak on behalf of one political party or outcome.
Overall,
lawyers have a duty and responsibility to the court and ethical
lawyers know
well the importance of desisting from conduct that would
otherwise
compromise the courts or their processes.
Magaisa is political adviser in
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Opinion
Muckraker
enjoys watching newly arrived ambassadors presenting their
credentials to
President Robert Mugabe.
By the MuckRacker
This is often an
opportunity for reporters from the state media to pounce on
unsuspecting
ambassadors who are invited to say how wonderful Zimbabwe is
when they’ve
just got off the boat and can hardly know a thing about the
country.
We recall a newly arrived Japanese ambassador being caught
in a media trap
at State House some years ago and having to write to the
editor of the
Herald to say he didn’t say any of the things attributed to
him.
A lot in common
This is also an opportunity for some of our
colleagues to advertise their
geographical shortcomings. Last week we saw
the president receiving the
ambassador of Papua New Guinea (PNG). She will
be based in Pretoria we
gather. The ambassador had to go to some lengths to
explain she was the
representative of Queen Elizabeth. Papua New Guinea is
one of several
Commonwealth states to retain the Queen as their head of
state.
The Herald described PNG, as it is known, as “a small island” in
the
Pacific.
In fact it shares the rather large island on which it is
located with
Indonesia. We can’t understand why the PNG government decided
to establish
relations with Zimbabwe when they have little in common and
derive most of
their revenues from donors, as the ambassador helpfully
pointed out.
On reflection, perhaps they do have something in
common!
One man band
Muckraker has in past editions pointed out
some of the obscure organisations
Zanu PF has set up to counter genuine
civic bodies. Advocate Martin Dinha
for instance has been prominent in
Lawyers for Justice which we can safely
assume was set up to counter
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
What we didn’t know is that there is a
move to set up a Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Economic Rights and Zimbabwe
Revolutionary Lawyers, both we can be sure
comprise one man and his
dog.
The terrible twins from Bindura University believe such “patriotic”
lawyers’
organisations are necessary.
They claim their Herald
colleague Rangu Nyamurundira has “earned quite a lot
of respect because of
his strong stance on the indigenisation and
empowerment
policies”.
Really? When have you heard anybody going around saying “that
young lawyer
has stood his ground in defence of people-centred policies?”
What tosh!
The names say it all
Speaking of dubious outfits, political
parties sympathetic to Zanu PF’s
cause have once again emerged from the
woodwork. Two of the outfits’
leaders, the curiously named Moreprecision
Muzadzi and Kissnot Mukwazhi, are
now parroting Zanu PF’s call for early
polls.
Silly season is well and truly upon us.
Eating its own
tail
The Herald reported last week that Dinha claimed to be the victim of
an
assassination attempt. Somebody had tried to run him over in Bindura he
claimed. His assailant was later arrested.
“It was a calculated
attack,” Dinha told the Herald, “that was aimed at
intimidating me in
campaigning for my party”.
He suspected that his attack was politically
motivated as he was at the
forefront of campaigning for Zanu PF in
Mashonaland Central. Dinha said he
would continue preaching a gospel of
peace and has withdrawn from the race
on personal and professional
grounds.
As dense as a brick
We were interested to see from the
government’s revised National Housing
Policy launched by President Mugabe
this week that the emphasis will be on
building self-contained human
settlements on the periphery of urban centres.
Development should now focus
on densification, Mugabe said.
He was obviously preaching to the
converted.
Densification has been a huge success among the less gifted of
his
followers. Muckraker can list who these individuals are but there is no
need; they are household names, all of them as dense as each
other.
Mugabe said he was happy with the revised housing policy facets
borrowed
from the once popular, “Start paying for your house”
scheme.
That rings a bell. This newspaper revealed some prominent folk who
took
advantage of that scheme.
Notably Morgan Tsvangirai and Giles
Mutsekwa were unable to attend the
ceremony. Could that be because it
appeared to be an election-related
shindig that, like all the other populist
schemes of this sort, will not
last five minutes once the election is over
and will actually contribute to
urban sprawl?
The kiss of death came when
Mugabe announced that the policy should
indigenise the housing delivery
sector.
Isn’t that the last thing we need? Zimbabwe’s cities have armies
of
competent planning officers. To what extent were their inputs
captured?
‘Voluntary’ exit
Muckraker was intrigued by a Herald
report this week that told us among
those voluntarily withdrawing from the
Zanu PF primaries in Bulawayo was one
Cde Peter Baka Nyoni who was
contesting against Retired Colonel Tshinga
Dube.
Pastor Peter Baka
Nyoni, the Herald omitted to tell us, is the husband of
Sithembiso Nyoni,
Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
She was in the news
in March 2006 when three of her farm’s employees were
charged with
stocktheft.
The Sunday News carried a story claiming “Stolen cattle found
at minister’s
farm”.
It said police recovered 14 stolen cattle on the
farm owned by the minister.
Nyoni objected strongly to the story claiming
that “as a senior politician
and government minister I am of course the easy
target in such machinations”.
Three of the minister’s workers at Fountain
Farm were arrested and charged.
The cattle, worth hundreds of millions of
(old Zim) dollars, the Sunday News
said, were identified by the owner,
Robert Bruce Moffat who owned
neighbouring Ormseon Farm.
In a letter
to the Sunday News, Nyoni said: “It is such a pity that the
person who
rushed to alert the police to the incident is a neighbour of ours
on the
farm, a fellow tenant who has over the past three years not made a
secret of
his hostility to us and our operations on this farm as a family.
The local
police should have been more careful not to be drawn into this
hostile
agenda and machinations against me.”
She pointed out that it was her
husband and son who manage and oversee the
day to day business operations at
the farm.
Moffat subsequently complained he had received threats from war
veterans in
the area to withdraw the charges against Nyoni’s employees.
Peter Baka Nyoni
said he had never met Moffat and was unaware of threats
against him. Perhaps
the Sunday News could tell us what happened to its
story.
Fidza’s boomerang
Philip Chiyangwa has the unwitting habit
of making claims that boomerang on
him. NewsDay reports the aspiring Zanu PF
parliamentary candidate for
Chinhoyi warned voters to be on the lookout for
“crooks who will make
promises and do not deliver on them”.
“I don’t
make promises, I do things just like President (Robert) Mugabe
delivers,”
Chiyangwa bellowed at a campaign rally recently, despite not
honouring his
pledge last April to donate US$1,6 million to the University
of
Zimbabwe.
Since last year, Chiyangwa has been “exploring” the idea of
assisting
emerging businesspeople in Mabvuku with collateral.
Added
to this, Chiyangwa promised to pay fees for hundreds of Africa
University
students but nothing came of it and some students failed to write
their
exams.
“Do you think if I had followed the vision of crooks who just make
promises
and don’t fulfil them, I would be where I am in life?” Chiyangwa
asked
It’s quite possible Cde Chiyangwa!
Error of
omission
Finally, we were hugely entertained by Zanu PF’s response to its
own
incompetence.
The usual “legal and political experts” said
specification of the nomination
day was “just a descriptive aspect which is
of no legal consequence to the
nomination date”. Tsvangirai’s argument was
based on a clear and genuine
typographical error, they said.
So that’s OK
then!
PS: Since when have we had “dons” in Zimbabwe?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
June 28, 2013 in Opinion
ELECTIONS are the
cornerstone of democracy, and the media has a critical
role to play in
informing the public about what political parties, their
leaders and members
are doing, not doing and promising to do.
Opinion by Dumisani
Muleya
Polls can be a key element either in both conflict resolution and
conflict
escalation. Therefore, free and fair elections are essential for
democratic
consolidation and conflict prevention.
Professional media
coverage and how journalists report are crucial during
election periods.
That is why to promote fair, safe and professional media
election coverage,
United Nations agencies like Unesco (from whose
literature I borrowed
extensively) support advocacy to encourage full, fair
and efficient
disclosure of information to journalists covering elections;
training to
enhance professional reporting; training on the safety of
journalists and
their right to work without fear or favour; and production
and distribution
of guidelines reflecting principles of professional
reporting during
elections, journalists’ rights, election processes and
safety information,
as well as briefing notes on international human rights
law with emphasis on
freedom of expression.
Freedom of expression, including the
constitutional right to receive and
impart information, is a pre-requisite
for free and fair democratic
elections. In order to enable citizens to make
informed democratic choices,
journalists have a heightened responsibility to
provide accurate and
impartial information to the public during election
periods.
Journalists play an important role in the democratic process.
So, it is
imperative that they be afforded the highest level of access to
election-related events, access to information, and protection from all
forms of harassment and/or intimidation as reasonably possible during the
election campaign period.
Media practitioners also have a crucial
role in telling politicians what
ordinary people want, or do not want, and
in ensuring that the polls are
free and fair. This is particularly important
for countries without a solid
democratic foundation, or which are struggling
to break away from
dictatorship to democracy.
Covering elections
should not merely be from the time election dates are
proclaimed to when
they take place, but should span the period well before,
during and after
the polls.
This implies something. Journalists must be equipped in many
different ways
to do a good professional job. This means they must know the
history,
contesting parties and their leaders, as well as political economy
of the
country they are reporting on.
Some of the key issues
journalists must be familiar with include the
following:
Electoral
system;
legal framework;
electoral commission;
voter registration
process;
electoral preparations;
voter information and education;
media
structure and set-up;
out-of-country registration and postal
ballots;
pre-polling environment and complaints;
code of conduct for
parties;
primaries and nomination of candidates;
polling day and voting
procedures;
vote counting and compilation of results; and
post-election
events and complaints
Journalists covering elections should know the
electoral law by heart. If
something is not right, it is up to them to
campaign for rectification. They
must closely follow the selection and
nomination of candidates and check
that all candidates seeking to stand have
been allowed to register, for
instance. They must also make sure that the
current electoral laws do not
discriminate against any individuals or groups
on grounds of race, creed,
religion, gender or ethnicity, among other
issues.
Electoral systems
There are many electoral systems around the
world, but they mainly fall
under three categories:
Plurality: A
candidate who obtains more votes than any other is elected even
if that
candidate wins only a minority of votes cast. The most common form
of this
is the “first-past-the-post” system, sometimes known as “winner
takes all”,
used in countries such as Britain, the United States, India and
Zimbabwe
(until the new constitution came in recently although the country
has used
party lists before), among others.
Majority: The successful candidate
must win more votes than those of all the
others combined. This is normally
achieved by holding a two-round contest in
which the early loser is
eliminated after the first.
Proportional Representation (PR): The most
common version of this is when
voters choose from party lists and seats are
allocated according to the
votes going to each party. This is used in most
European countries, South
Africa and Israel. Zimbabwe has partly adopted
this and thus it now has a
mixture of plurality and
PR.
Single-Transferable Vote (STV): There is also the so-called STV where
voters
indicate an order of preference among candidates. Once a candidate
has
received enough votes to be elected outright, second preference votes
are
added to the totals of the remaining candidates.
Each system has its
own strengths and weaknesses, but Zimbabwe now has a
mixture of plurality
and PR.
Free and fair elections
What are free and fair elections? Some
are now using the phrase “peaceful
and credible elections” instead of free
and fair. But what are free and fair
elections?
I looked at many
different definitions of this, but chose this one by Human
Rights Watch
which is contained in Unesco documents on media and election
reporting.
“An election is ‘free’ when it reflects the full
expression of the political
will of the people concerned. Freedom in this
sense involves the ability to
participate in the political process without
intimidation, coercion,
discrimination, or the abridgment of the rights to
associate with others, to
assemble and to receive or impart
information.
“The ‘fairness’ of an election refers to the right to vote
on the basis of
equality, non-discrimination, and universality. No portion
of the electorate
should be arbitrarily disqualified, or have their votes
given extra weight.”
The basics
As soon as an election is announced
and campaigning begins, the media should
carry essential information on how
many parties are involved, how many
candidates, the number of constituencies
and eligible voters, among other
things.
Campaign
funding
Journalists must be interested in how parties are funded and how they
finance their campaigns. Is there a system of state financing for political
parties, as exists in other countries? Is there a limit to business/private
donations to party campaigns? And is there an obligation for parties to
declare them?
The public is entitled to know if candidates are
receiving significant cash
from narrow business interests, with the
potential of influencing the policy
of a future
government.
Currently, the main tools of election campaigning are the
broadcast media,
particularly TV, and social media.
In Britain, for
instance, all broadcast media are barred from carrying
election advertising
apart from brief party political broadcasts which are
carried simultaneously
by all principal TV channels.
There are also restrictions on how much
each candidate can spend on
campaigning, based on the size of the electoral
district, as well as
national spending limits on each party. Most
campaigning is done by
door-to-door or telephone canvassing by party
workers, election rallies,
leaflets through letter boxes and via social
media.
In the US, there are no limits to campaign spending, the bulk of it on
TV.
Campaigning
Election campaigns are challenging and exhausting for
journalists covering
them. Since campaign rallies and debates are usually
signalled well in
advance, media organisations should draw up detailed daily
and weekly
schedules assigning reporters to the various events so that the
campaign
period is covered as much as possible.
The
issues
Increasingly, elections have been dominated by the personality of the
candidates. Journalists should try to keep the focus on issues, by talking
to ordinary people, particularly those lacking a strong voice in society
(even though social media now provides them with vast platforms) — the
elderly and the young, women, and in some countries, the poor as well as
ethnic and religious minorities. Ask them if they are better or worse off
since the last polls. Put their views to the candidates, and report their
responses with emphasis on issues rather than personalities and
speechifying.
Media coverage and ethics
Journalists must know the
media structure and set-up in their country and
the operating environment,
including constitutional and legal frameworks, as
well as the political
climate.
Is there unrestricted access for the media to all
candidates/parties? All
responsible media should report impartially about
the elections,
particularly state-run media, since they are funded by the
tax-payer.
Some governments have used media they control to attack
opposition
candidates, restrict their coverage, while offering unlimited
space and
airtime to the ruling or dominant party and the
incumbent.
News can manipulate people and be manipulated to set the
agenda as we all
know. Governments and corporates which own the media often
attempt to
manipulate news in service of their agendas, be they political or
commercial, or both.
This implies journalists must strictly be guided
by media professional
ethics and standards in their work to resist undue
influences. These include
public interest, truth, accuracy, fairness and
balance. In general terms,
this all implies objectivity in their
coverage.
Good journalists should report on elections in a non-partisan
way,
suppressing their own political prejudices and views in order to allow
the
public to make up their minds solely on the basis of what the various
candidates are offering.
Role of social media
It is generally
agreed that a plural and diverse as well as free and
independent press is a
cornerstone of democracy as it promotes public debate
and keeps government
accountable to an informed citizenry. A free media is
also crucial for
credible elections, as it fosters the free exchange of
ideas and provides
information on the electoral process.
An informed citizenry is a crucial
component of a healthy and resilient
democracy as it engages in a variety of
civic education activities,
including informing voters of their rights and
responsibilities while
empowering them to have a voice in the way they are
governed.
So, given the advent of social media, journalists should use
social media
technology or tools to broaden their coverage of electoral
processes and
issues, while ensuring interaction between them, parties,
politicians and
the people.
Social media tools — including Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest,
MySpace, Google Plus+, DeviantArt,
LiveJournal, Tagged and Orkut, among
others — have transformed the way we
live and how information is exchanged
as they allow us to engage and discuss
issues on public forums with other
people all over the world.
Since
content or news travels much faster on social media than through any
other
medium, journalists must take full advantage of this to help them do
their
work more resourcefully and efficiently, including covering of
elections to
send and receive news and information, although this presents
ethical
challenges.
It would be interesting to observe how journalists, as well
as other
Zimbabweans, use social media during the next elections. Democracy
flourishes when all groups in society are involved in how their leaders are
elected, how the country is run and how they are governed.
Safety of
journalists
The first banal rule in journalism relating to risky coverage of
events is
that no story is worth dying for, although I must add this should
not imply
that cowardice is a virtue.
The preservation of life and
safety is paramount. Journalists must be aware
that unwarranted risks in
pursuit of a story are unacceptable and strongly
discouraged. As a result,
media houses must consider safety first, before
competitive
advantage.
Journalists must also remember that they are neutral
observers. They should
always remain impartial during the course of their
work to avoid being
caught in partisan disputes and
conflicts.
Governments, parties and most importantly security forces must
respect the
safety of journalists in their areas of operation. They must not
unnecessarily restrict freedom of movement or compromise the right of the
media to gather and disseminate information. Security forces must never
harass, intimidate or physically attack journalists going about their lawful
business.
On their part, journalists must take precautionary measures
and avoid being
reckless on duty.
Muleya is the Zimbabwe Independent
editor. This is an edited version of a
paper he presented to local
journalists at a Misa workshop in Bulawayo last
Friday.
