http://af.reuters.com/
Mon Jun 1, 2009 11:33am
GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe needs $719
million in urgent humanitarian help
in 2009, as the country struggles to
attract Western aid in an attempt to
emerge from a decade of economic
collapse, the United Nations said on
Monday.
The southern African
country suffered economic implosion, pushing inflation
to a record 231
million percent last year in June, leaving nine in ten
people without a job,
and a cholera outbreak that killed more than 4,200.
But the formation of
a new unity government by old foes President Robert
Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February has raised hopes
that the once
vibrant economy may begin to recover.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for
Zimbabwe, Agostinho Zacarias, and
Zimbabwe government officials jointly
appealed to foreign donors to provide
funding to meet the humanitarian
needs.
"It is imperative that all partners, particularly donors, buttress
the CAP
(Consolidated Appeal Process) and generously provide financial
support to
the implementation of the programmes contained in the current
revision if
the humanitarian community is to meet the current objectives,"
Zacarias
said.
Zacarias said aid agencies had last November initially
put the country's
humanitarian needs at $550 million. The figure had now
been raised because
of growing needs in the sectors of agriculture, health,
education, food aid
and safe water.
Donors had provided 45 percent of
the initial requirements as of the end of
May.
Zimbabwe's Red Cross
and its partners said last week the country was on the
brink of having
100,000 cholera infections, highlighting the decay in water
and sewage
infrastructure.
The UN says six million Zimbabweans have limited or no
access to clean
water, more than half the population may require food aid
this year, while
44,000 children under five years need treatment for acute
malnutrition.
The new unity government has formulated a 100-day plan,
seeking to revive
the economy and set targets for political reforms in a bid
to convince
donors to release funding.
"Consequences of a protracted
economic meltdown and lack of agricultural
inputs for the 2008/9 agriculture
season, compounded by the collapse of
critical social services, continue to
place the country in a situation of
structural emergency," the UN
said.
Zimbabwe says it requires $8.3 billion for full economic recovery,
but
Western donors are pressing the country on wider reforms, including
opening
up the media, reversing nationalisation laws and an end to farm
invasions.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
01 June 2009
The MDC
used a national conference over the weekend to call on the Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) to convene an extraordinary summit, to
tackle
the outstanding issues plaguing the coalition government. Over 1000
party
delegates converged on Harare for the first national conference since
the
MDC entered into the shaky coalition government with ZANU PF.
Spokesman
Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel on Monday that delegates resolved
that Central
Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana
must step
down in the national interest. With district and provincial
reports being
submitted and debated, the delegates agreed that both Gono and
Tomana had
'poisoned the economic and human rights situation in the country.'
Since
SADC and the African Union acted as guarantors to the deal, the MDC
now want
them to intervene and resolve the impasse.
In other resolutions the MDC
vowed it would re-engage civil society groups
in the constitution making
process and that 'a genuinely free and fair
election must be held at the
conclusion of the process.' The party also said
the country needed a legal
framework to help deal with the plight of victims
of political violence.
Party delegates were also critical of what they felt
was the slow pace of
media reforms, high tariffs from state owned service
providers and the
deployment of army personnel in the villages.
Commenting on ongoing
political violence and persecution, Chamisa told us
the party urged Finance
Minister Tendai Biti to ensure government did not
fund any youth militia
structures as these promoted violence. The party also
demanded that the
National Security Council, that had been established to
replace the
notorious Joint Operations Command, 'must meet urgently in terms
of the
law.' There are reports Mugabe is refusing to sign the National
Security
Council bill into law and in the meantime the JOC continues to
meet.
The MDC resolutions clearly sought to draw a line between the
party and the
government. Tsvangirai for example told delegates 'the MDC is
in government
but we are not the government. These are the limitations in a
marriage of
convenience. Those in government will tell you this government
is walking on
a thin thread.' The Prime Minister has over the months drawn
criticism for
defending Mugabe too much, at the expense of his own
credibility. Over the
weekend however his party was not so
diplomatic.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai is set to make his first overseas trip
by going to
France at the end of June. French Junior trade minister
Anne-Marie Idrac,
who is visiting Zimbabwe, extended the invitation after
praising Tsvangirai
for his work in the unity government.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
1
June 2009
By David
Nothing to
fear in plan, say SA economists
Buddy Naidu
ZIMBABWE could
start using the rand as its currency this year. The country's
finance
minister, Tendai Biti, said his ministry was exploring three options
and a
"decision would be made by the end of the year".
"One of the options is
to join the rand monetary union. We will also
consider continuing with the
[current] regime of multiple currencies or
bring back the Zimbabwean dollar
and redenominate it either with the rand or
the US dollar," he
said.
Economist Dawie Roodt said South Africans should not be concerned if
Zimbabwe adopted the rand.
"I'm very much in favour of such a move.
People assume that the rand could
go the same way as the Zimbabwean dollar,
but that simply won't be the
case."
Biti's comments come after
ex-President Kgalema Motlanthe suggested in
February that it would be a
"practical" move for Zimbabwe as part of their
economic recovery plan under
its coalition government.
The idea was hailed at the time by economists.
However, such a move would
take away Zimbabwe's powers over its monetary
policies. It also means
Zimbabwe's interest rates and inflation levels will
be the same as South
Africa's.
Biti said: "Any such decision depends on
the performance of the economy -
that would be the ultimate deciding
issue."
He said there were signs of "stability" with the country expecting a
growth
rate for the year of 6 percent. Zimbabwe recorded a -1.1 percent
inflation
rate in April.
Just last month Biti announced that Zimbabwe
would be receiving 400-million
in credit lines from several African
countries.
Chris Hart, an economist at Investment Solutions, said adopting
the rand was
"an important step in terms of Zimbabwe's recovery".
"It
effectively imposes a fiscal and monetary discipline with the Zimbabwean
economy functioning on a basis where it does business that is more
competitive on an international basis."
He said it could be "painful
initially because, among other things, our
interest rates will be linked to
theirs and they will have to cut back
expenditure".
However, it would
"put their economy on a stronger footing" in the long
term.
Roodt said
the only downside would be that, in the short term, South Africa
would
probably have to lend Zimbabwe rands to kick-start any switch-over.
"We can
either provide them a loan or they can earn it. The latter is
probably best
as then we don't have to run any major risk."
Last week the African
Development Bank announced a short-term emergency
recovery programme in
Zimbabwe. The bank called for greater "foreign
assistance" and an injection
of private capital to resuscitate the economy.
Announcing the strategy that
would cover the next 19 months to December
2010, the bank said it had
"eliminated the quasi-fiscal activities of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and
introduced cash budgeting, spending only what
it receives in
revenue".
The Times/SAPA/AP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
1 JUNE 2009
Information
Alert
LAWYERS VINDICATED ONCE AGAIN AS
MUCHADEHAMA IS
REMOVED FROM REMAND
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) welcomes the
removal from remand of
its member and prominent human rights lawyer, Alec
Muchadehama, in a ruling
delivered at around mid-day on Monday 1 June
2009.
Magistrate Catherine Chimanda granted Muchadehama's application for
refusal
of further remand after determining that the State, represented by
Prosecutor Tapiwa Kasema, had failed to show any reasonable suspicion that
he had committed the alleged offence. The Magistrate also found that the
State had failed to prove that Muchadehama had an intention to commit the
offence.
Magistrate Chimanda said the State's evidence tendered in
court did not
prove that Muchadehama caused High Court Registry officials to
unlawfully
cause the release from custody of his clients, Kisimusi Dhlamini,
Gandi
Mudzingwa and Andrison Manyere. She further held that if Muchadehama
intended to defeat or obstruct the course of justice he would not have
communicated with and notified Chris Mutangadura of the Attorney General's
Office in writing that he was seeking the release of his clients due to the
lapse of the 7-day period in which the State was supposed to file its appeal
but which it had failed to do.
However, Magistrate Chimanda dismissed
the defence's application for the
recusal of Attorney General, Johannes
Tomana, and his law officers from
handling the matter.
The defence
lawyers had argued that neither Tomana nor any of the law
officers in the
Attorney General's office could be both the complainant and
the prosecuting
authority in the case due to the inherent conflict of
interest that this
raises. Furthermore the defence lawyers had also told the
court that the
Officer in Charge, Law and Order, Chief Inspector Henry Dowa
had confirmed
to Muchadehama's lawyers that the Attorney General had lodged
the complaint
which led to Muchadehama's arrest.
The Magistrate ruled that there was no
real merit in the defence's
application as the Attorney General can "in some
matters stand as
complainant and prosecutor". She stated that if the defence
lawyers had
requested her to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for a
constitutional
challenge she could have granted the
application.
ENDS
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
1 June
2009
Prominent human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama was on Monday removed
from
remand by Harare magistrate Catherine Chimanda. The lawyer was arrested
on
May 15th for allegedly 'conniving' with Justice Chinembiri Bhunu's clerk,
to
facilitate the release of his clients, abductees Chris Dhlamini, Gandhi
Mudzingwa and Shadreck Andrison, on bail. He was accused of doing this after
the State had been given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against the
granting of bail.
The lawyer was facing charges of obstructing the
course of justice, but on
Monday Magistrate Chimanda dropped the charges,
saying the State had failed
to provide enough evidence to show that the
accused committed the offence.
Muchadehama said: "We had applied for two
aspects, namely that the Attorney
General (AG) could not prosecute me
because he was an interested party,
because he was both the complainant and
the prosecutor. And the other
application was that I was not supposed to be
placed on remand in the first
place because the facts which the State was
alleging did not find a
reasonable suspicion that I had committed an
offence."
Magistrate Chimanda ruled in his favour, noting that the lawyer
had handled
the issue of his clients bail transparently and had written a
letter to the
Registrar, copied it to all concerned stakeholders and had
checked at the
Supreme Court and found that 'no notice of appeal had been
filed by the
State.' The magistrate also noted that it is possible to differ
on the
interpretation of a section of the Criminal Evidence and Procedure
Act, over
the issue of the 7 day time frame (notice) period, but she said
that can
hardly be perceived to have created an offence.
The
magistrate added that if Muchadehama had wanted to obstruct the course
of
justice, it was doubtful that he would have chosen to communicate his
intended action to the AG's office. She however dismissed the second
application by the defence on the issue of the AG assuming both roles of
being the complainant and the prosecutor in the same
matter.
Constance Gambara, the clerk to High Court Justice Chinembiri
Bhunu, was
also arrested over the same issue. She was released from remand
prison
together with her nine month old baby recently, but it is unclear if
charges
against her have also been dropped. Muchadehama said he wasn't sure
about
the status of her case, but believed she was still on remand as the
State's
version of events keep on changing.
"Sometimes they say I
connived with the judge's clerk and then they change
it to say I caused
their (clients) release when I knew that leave to appeal
had been granted,
then they change again to say that I misinterpreted a
section of the
Criminal Act. Then they change to say I knew what the seven
days pertained
to. So I really don't know whether they are sticking to that
story that I
connived with the judge's clerk because that simply did not
happen. I am not
sure what is happening there but I cannot say what the
State's story is in
regard to what her allegations are, but I understand
they pertain to
criminal abuse of office. I do not know in what way because
I did not
address any letter to her. I addressed the letter to the registrar
of the
High Court."
Meanwhile, next week the trials of the MDC and civic
activists abducted from
their homes last year will begin. Muchadehama said
MDC activist Concillia
Chinanzvavana and three others will be heard on the
8th June; MDC officials
Dhlamini, Mudzingwa, Manyere and four others on the
29th June; followed by
the group with civic leader Jestina Mukoko on 20th
July. They are all
accused of plotting to overthrow the former ZANU PF
government. They deny
the charges.
"The biggest worry in this case is
that our clients are the victims. So we
have victims in the dock while the
perpetrators of actual crimes, the people
who kidnapped and tortured our
clients, are out there. Some are actually
coming to purport to be witnesses
to the violations of our clients' rights.
So these are the issues that we
will be raising in court," their lawyer
said.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17205
June 1, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - The Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
party has asked the inclusive government to smoke out Zanu-PF
militia and
so-called ghost workers from government's payroll.
The
MDC also asked government to stop the continued deployment of military
personnel into the countryside which it says is perpetuating a sense of fear
within the rural population.
The MDC is also keen to see the
convening of the National Security Council,
among other concerns, to address
issues that have seen the military chiefs
refusing to recognize its
existence in the inclusive government.
Party secretary general Tendai
Biti told journalists at a media conference
at the end of an MDC annual
conference Sunday afternoon that his party was
frustrated by the lack of
"paradigm shift by a few individuals" in state
institutions.
This was
in apparent reference to the country's powerful service chiefs who
continue
to ignore the new political dispensation that has ushered in an
executive
premiership among the top echelons of government.
The MDC said the
enactment of laws to support the transitional agenda and
the convening of
the National Security Council must meet urgently in terms
of the law to
remedy the situation.
The MDC also called on SADC, brokers of the
inter-party agreement, to
immediately convene an Extra-Ordinary Summit to
iron out outstanding issues
still affecting the progress of the new
political dispensation.
A deadlock on the status of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono
and Attorney General Johannes Tomana is chief
among them. The two were
appointed by President Robert Mugabe last year in
violation of the Global
Political Agreement.
The MDC said it noted
the divisive effect of the Gono and Tomana conflict
and called on the two to
resign in the national interest.
"The key conference resolution is that
SADC must move as a matter of urgency
to address these issues," Biti
said.
The MDC said it was "appealing to the conscience" of both Gono and
Tomana to
consider resigning in the national interest.
President
Mugabe, Zanu-PF politicians in government, the service chiefs and
war
veterans have all declared they will not allow the two to leave their
positions.
According to the MDC, the political environment was still
not conducive for
any political activity among parties.
"The
transitional government must move very quickly to address the
legislative
reform," Biti said.
"There is no doubt that the legislative reform would
look at issues to do
with reform of our Electoral Act, laws that restrict
proper freedom of
assembly and association in Zimbabwe key of those reforms
is the
Constitution.
"The conference resolved that a genuinely free
and fair election must be
held at the conclusion of the constitution making
process."
The MDC also said it was concerned with the plight of political
violence
victims and the absence of a legal framework for the programme of
national
healing or transitional justice conference.
To this, the MDC
said the inclusive government must "vigilantly address"
them.
Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament and legislator for Matobo
North
constituency was appointed substantive chairman of the party following
the
death of former chairman, Isaac Matongo, in 2007.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
1
June 2009
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is reported to be deeply
concerned with the
delay in implementing the issues agreed to, in the Global
Political
Agreement.
Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi, said the
Prime Minister was expected
meet Mugabe on Monday for their weekly meeting
and was expected to raise
these issues once again.
'Yes its true the
Prime Minister intends to raise these issues with the
President in his
meeting,' Maridadi said. Two weeks ago, Tsvangirai told
journalists in
Harare that the three party principals had managed to iron
out a number of
outstanding issues but that 'the process was slow and
frustrating.'
Last month Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara finally
agreed on most of the
outstanding issues still facing the unity government.
But these agreements
have still not been implemented. There is also the
remaining problem of the
irregular appointments of Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono and Attorney
General Johannes Tomana - issues which Mugabe has
made clear he will not
budge on.
The agreements reached included the
fact that Mugabe would retrench six
provincial ZANU PF governors that he
appointed. The Prime Minister said the
new governors from the MDC would be
sworn in "at the soonest of opportunity.'
Mugabe also agreed to swear in
Roy Bennett, the national treasurer of the
MDC and Tsvangirai's nominee for
the post of deputy agricultural minister.
Bennett is likely to be sworn in
at the same time with the governors.
Our Harare correspondent, Simon
Muchemwa told us the delay in implementing
the GPA issues was now being felt
by ordinary citizens. He said people were
blaming the current shortages of
cash on Mugabe's reluctance to speed up the
process.
'People are
frustrated and they know aid will not come in unless there are
visible
reforms on the ground. There is an outcry that GPA delays are taking
the
country backwards,' Muchemwa said.
Revamping the economy and persuading
skeptical foreign donors and investors
to help is the top priority for
Tsvangirai. But none of this will be
achievable until Mugabe shows he is
genuinely prepared to relinquish power.
http://www.radiovop.com
BUHERA, June 1 2009 -
Teachers from both secondary and primary schools
in Buhera and Bikita
districts are reportedly demanding ten kilograms of
maize from each student
per month to supplement their salaries, it has been
established.
Most teachers spoken to say they were now
accepting groundnuts,
sorghum and rapoko whose quantity equals ten
kilogramme of maize or USd2.
However, parents said they have no
option but to give in to teachers'
demands, who have since threatened to go
on strike if the government
continues to ignore their call to increase
allowances.
Jameson Mureriwa, who has four Children at
Changamire Primary School
in Buhera, said he is struggling to meet demands
by the teachers.
"I am having serious problems raising 40kgs
needed for my children
every month because if I continue pumping out such
huge amounts of maize
every month, I will be begging for food four months
down the line.
"We did not get a bumper harvest here and there
is no way we can
continue paying teachers from our granaries," said
Mureriwa.
Peter Muvhunzi, whose child is in grade seven at
Mumbijo Primary
School, urged the government to urgently address teachers'
plight.
"As parents, we feel teachers have a genuine cause to
complain.
However, we are not the rightful people to solve this problem. I
think the
government should hurry to address teachers' problems. Our
agreement with
teachers is just a temporary measure.
"No
parent wants their child to lose a teacher especially at this time
of the
year when the students should be preparing for exams," he said.
Some parents said they have no option because, unlike their urban
counterparts, cannot afford private tutors.
"Teachers are
the only people who can help our children. Unlike their
urban counter parts
who have private tutors, our children solely depend on
these teachers so we
can not afford to let them go on strike when we can
prevent that," said
Tafadzwa Musarurwa.
Meanwhile, Takavafira Zhou of the
Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president said his
organization is already moblising
teachers to gear up for a strike since the
government is delaying to come up
with 'a reasonable' salary for
teachers.
"We are already finishing up the logistics prior to
the strike. We
cannot continue working when the government is failing to
quickly address
our problems. The USd100 allowance is very little and we can
not let our
members continue to work for such peanuts," said Zhou.
http://www.africanews.com
Bruce Sibanda, AfricaNews reporter in Harare,
Zimbabwe
Senior army officials in Zimbabwe have told their commander in
chief
President Robert Mugabe that they are now afraid to review parades at
army
barracks as they risk being shot. A crisis meeting with Mugabe on
Thursday
at the Defence Forces Headquarters revealed that there is growing
indiscipline among the junior ranks.
"Army commanders are now
afraid to review parades saying junior solders
are plotting to kill them, so
they sort guidance from their commander in
chief Mugabe," said an army
source at the headquarters.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander,
Constantine Chiwenga, Zimbabwe
National Army (ZNA) Commander, Phillip
Valerio Sibanda, Air Force of
Zimbabwe (AFZ) commander, Air Marshal
Perrence Shiri, and his Number Two,
Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena were
reported to have attended the meeting.
Chiwengwa is said to have
pleaded with Mugabe to sort out the welfare of
members of the uniformed
forces saying: "We are sitting on a time bomb."
"He told Mugabe that it
would not be surprising if one was shot at while
reviewing a parade," said
the source.
Indiscipline was said to be particularly rampant among
young officers who
are said not to be happy with the US$100 that they are
being paid by the new
coalition government.
It was recommended that
service firearms should be withdrawn from members
of the security forces.
Sources say is to limit the prospect of a mutiny.
At the height of
political disturbances last year, a group of soldiers
went into the streets
of Harare and ransacked shops while beating members of
the public
indiscriminately.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17203
June 1, 2009
By Gift Phiri
HARARE -
Constitutional reform lobby group the National Constitutional
Assembly
(NCA), is reported to be in the red and owing over R100 000.
Weekend
reports suggested that the NCA has had its funding switched off
after its
major financier refused to bankroll a parallel constitution making
process.
The Bulawayo-based government-run Sunday News newspaper
claimed to have
documents revealing that the NCA, founded in 1997, was
saddled with debts to
organisations and individuals amounting to more than
R100 000 ($12 680) in
staff salaries, rentals, fax, internet, phones and
transport fees.
The NCA has denied that it is in the red but admitted
that it had gone
through a bad patch recently.
The newspaper claimed
that international humanitarian donor organisation,
Open Society Institute
of Southern Africa (OSISA), which it claims is the
major sponsor of the NCA,
had refused to bankroll the civic organisation,
sparking an internal revolt
in its South African office over outstanding
salaries.
Efforts to
verify this information with OSISA boss, Tawanda Mutasah, were
futile.
Mutasah was a founder member of the NCA in 1997 together with
now Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, human rights activist Brian Kagoro and
current
NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku.
Mutasah now heads the southern
Africa division of the George Soros-funded
OSISA.
The Sunday News
reported: "NCA's donors are reportedly getting scared of
funding the
organisation, especially after realising that the inclusive
government in
Zimbabwe already had a structure in place for the writing of a
new
democratic constitution.
"According to documents at hand, the civic
outfit does not have its own
office in SA and is lodging at the offices
owned by the Action for Conflict
(also known as Action) and Transformation
and Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum
(ZSF). The offices are situated at number 141
Commissioner Street, Kine
Centre, Suite 1801 in Central
Johannesburg.
"Investigations, also confirmed by documents, have proved
that the NCA owes
Action R90 000 - being money for rentals, printing, fax,
Internet and salary
advances that were made to its disgruntled staff
members."
NCA spokesman Maddock Chivasa, in thinly veiled remarks,
insinuated that the
Sunday News story was planted by the NCA's creditors,
Action, which is said
to be owed R90 000 by the NCA.
"As NCA we
believe that those we owe can only get their money from us not in
newspapers," Chivasa said, admitting the NCA's indebtedness.
"We have
confidence that those we deal with are people of integrity. We hope
if there
are problems they will be able to come to our offices to settle any
issues
with us."
The Sunday News claimed it sought but could not find anyone
from the NCA to
comment on the allegations made against the NCA in the
story.
But the newspaper quotes Tiro Dipudi, the Operations Manager for
Action in
South Africa as reportedly saying: "We can confirm that the NCA is
sharing
offices with Action and Solidarity Forum and we are also in constant
communication with the NCA Harare about financial
arrangements.
"These discussions are positive. Should you require any
more information,
please contact NCA Harare."
Chivasa said the NCA
was confident that its office in Johannesburg was doing
a lot of work to
campaign for a genuine democratic people-driven
constitution. He denied
reports that the Johannesburg office had been
downsized to two workers and
eventually closed.
"Zimbabweans in South Africa will continue to enjoy
the services offered by
our office in Johannesburg," Chivasa told The
Zimbabwe Times.
"As NCA, our office in South Africa once had difficulties
to get funding, so
as a result we accrued debts in terms of salaries and
payments for other
services."
"But as NCA, we do not see that as
being broke or abnormal; it's the way
that NGOs and most civic organisations
operate.
"We depend on donor funding and when we do not have resources we
can accrue
debts that we later pay when we get money. We have already got
some funding
for the South African office and we are in the process of
paying our debts."
The NCA, which spearheaded the successful campaign
against a new
constitution in February 2000, which gave President Mugabe his
first ever
electoral defeat, says it has already begun mobilising
Zimbabweans to reject
any draft constitution produced by the inclusive
government.
The four-month old coalition government between President
Mugabe, Prime
Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
says it has
initiated an all-inclusive process of constitutional
reform.
The government process will be spearheaded by a parliamentary
select
committee.
The process is expected to last 18 months by which
time a new democratic
constitution must be implemented, which will also
include a time frame for
new elections at some point to be conducted in
terms of the new
constitution.
The process will include civil society
in a peripheral role, something that
has touched a raw nerve between
government and the NCA.
The NCA, which has dubbed its campaign "Take
Charge" has vowed to oppose the
so-called Kariba Draft penned on September
30, 2007 by six politicians from
the three main political parties on a
houseboat on Lake Kariba which
parliament wants to use as a working
draft.
The NCA has already pointed out what it says are shortcomings in
the current
process and has, to some extent, made parliamentarians think
long and hard
about the use of the Kariba draft as the working
constitutional draft.
Article 6, of the power-sharing agreement signed on
September 15 in Harare
between President Mugabe and the two MDC leaders
states that parties will
embark on a "new, democratic and people-driven
constitution".
Zimbabwe has not had a popular constitution since gaining
independence from
Britain in 1980, following a protracted liberation
struggle against the
rebel Rhodesian Government of Ian Smith.
The
country has been operating with a constitution signed at Lancaster House
in
Britain in 1979. The current constitution has been amended 19 times since
1980, and critics say the changes have helped to entrench Mugabe and his
Zanu-PF party's stranglehold on power.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, June 1 2009 - The Media
Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe
chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe) has released a
test run of a drama performance on
the imperative need to transform Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC)
into a genuine public broadcaster, in Kwekwe
and Gweru.
The drama is part of a campaign to ensure that
the transformation of
ZBC leads to the attainment of a Public Service
Broadcaster (PSB) which is
independent from any interests.
The humorous play features six characters; Professor Marashike (panel
chairperson), Professor Mupererwi (panelist), Doctor Chiura (panelist),
Doctor Mahoto (in attendance), Marcus (producer), Nicole (assistant
producer).
"The six character cast, titled Dzimbabwe
chronicles how ZBC has been
literally reduced to a political party public
relations department which
featured some political party sympathisers given
a free rein to propagate
political messages contrary to the need for the
broadcaster to air the views
of the public," said MISA Zimbabwe in a
statement.
Gweru, advocacy committee chairperson Zerrubabel
Mudzingwa, defined
the performance piece as, "a fine depiction of how ZBC
has been behaving
post the independence era against the aspirations and
dreams which the
people of Zimbabwe yearn to see being portrayed on
television."
MISA-Zimbabwe's national Vice-chairperson
Njabulo Ncube argued that
the people of Zimbabwe are the genuine
stakeholders of ZBC and should have a
say on the direction which the
broadcaster should sail through. He
castigated the levels of state
interference on how the broadcaster operates
and the continued imbalance of
portal of different political parties in the
country.
"The
overall gist of the play captures how the four characters,
Professors
Marashike, Mupererwe and Doctors Chiura and Mahoto were given the
latitude
to bequeath themselves outright announce in defining who is a
genuine
Zimbabwean and who is not?
"The panel appears on the national
television reciting tied and
exhausted mantras of lampooning the then
opposition, the Movement of
Democratic Change (MDC) and glorifying the
hegemony of the ruling party Zanu
PF before the establishment of the
inclusive government as the
'super-patriots'. Those who do not fit in the
'defined' parameters of
patriotism were caricatured as agents of western
imperialism," said MISA
Zimbabwe.
The drama group
acknowledges the ray of hope brought by the inclusive
government and maps
the way forward by calling upon the broadcaster to be
tolerant of divergent
views and the need to end divisive polarisation both
within the media and
the nation at large.
MISA-Zimbabwe said it would soon take the
play country wide to give
the public a chance to engage with the artists on
how best ZBC could be
transformed from being a state broadcaster into a
genuine public
broadcaster.
http://www.ciir.org
1 Jun
2009
Poverty and AIDS are
combining to create desperate conditions for children
in many of Zimbabwe's
orphanages, says Musa Chibwana, a Progressio worker.
Visiting the Mbuya
Nehanda children's home, outside Harare, recently, Musa
met nearly 100
children surviving on meagre rations provided by dedicated
staff who
themselves have not been paid for many months.
While there he met
12-year-old Chipo, whose story is typical. She said that
when both her
parents died, she turned to her aunt for help.
"My aunt started to beat
me with electric cables. When she could not look
after me any longer she
told me to leave the house and go to the beer hall
where the men drink. But
the police found me and brought me here."
Sheila Kaseke, who has run the
orphanage for the past 23 years, says they
are relying on 'well wishers' for
much of their food supplies. "We tried our
best to plant maize in the field,
but we did not have any fertiliser, which
means the crop is not very good
and our tractor is broken."
She adds: "Some of the children are here
because their parents have died
from AIDS. We think there are HIV+ children
here, but we have not been able
to get them tested. When children fall sick
we take them to the main road in
a wheelbarrow and try to hitch a lift to
the nearest hospital several miles
away."
Progressio's Musa Chibwana
is seeking funding and other support for the
staff and children, as well as
seeking to help dozens of similar
institutions through his work with the
Zimbabwe National Council for the
Welfare of Children.
Says Musa: "We
can make a massive difference to this home. With the right
support this
orphanage could be running really well by the end of this year.
But there
are many institutions that need support."
JOHANNESBURG, 1 June 2009 (IRIN) - The
international humanitarian community has increased its donor appeal for Zimbabwe
by over 30 percent to better reflect the depth of need in the ongoing
crisis.
Photo:
IRIN
Long road
to recovery
"Clearly, significant changes in the country's political and
socio-economic landscape have occurred since January 2009," the United Nations
Humanitarian Coordinator for Zimbabwe, Agostinho Zacarias, said at the launch on
1 June of the revised Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) 2009
in the capital, Harare.
The need to revise the CAP, the most
important tool for raising resources for humanitarian action, had become apparent by early March, when the initial appeal for
US$550 million had ballooned to around $719 million needed to support the key
areas of agriculture, health, education, food aid and safe water.
A
country-wide cholera outbreak and a spike in food insecurity during the lean
season had "aggravated an already difficult socio-economic environment of
hyperinflation and collapsed basic social services," the CAP said.
Six
million people had limited or no access to safe water and sanitation; 1.5
million children required support to access education; 800,000 people were in
need of food aid, and 44,000 children younger than five years needed treatment
for severe acute malnutrition.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Minister
of Regional Integration and International Cooperation, said the government
recognized that "the social-economic situation in Zimbabwe would have
deteriorated to levels that could easily have lead to social unrest" without the
support of the international community.
"The revised CAP comes at a time where
Zimbabwe has moved into a new context, not only politically, but also socially
and economically."
The revised CAP comes at a time
where Zimbabwe has moved into a new context, not only politically, but also
socially and economically
The formation in February 2009 of the Inclusive
Government - comprising President Mugabe's ZANU-PF, and the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change - led to the Short-Term Emergency and Recovery Programme
(STERP), which had "paved the way for the country's rehabilitation," the CAP
said.
Beyond humanitarian
While the CAP is a
strictly "humanitarian" financing tool, and thus traditionally restricted to
short-term emergency needs, the revised version tried to bridge the gap between
humanitarian and development work in the new Zimbabwean context. "Essentially,
the revision reflects a combination of new opportunities and deepening needs,"
the document noted.
Previous appeals had underlined the need for
assistance in water and sanitation, health, education and protection, but "most
sectors continued to suffer from lack of support - it is from there that the
concept of 'humanitarian plus' activities emerges in this revision, including
activities that are transitional in nature, but which ... are considered
time-critical and life-saving."
Misihairabwi-Mushonga noted: "This
revised CAP takes into cognizance the expressed need for Zimbabwe to move from
the humanitarian-support stage to the recovery stage - 'Humanitarian plus'
simply means Zimbabwe is no longer a country in crisis but a country in
recovery."
The CAP document was less optimistic: "In spite of the
positive impact of the humanitarian response and initiatives by the Inclusive
Government, the international community remains relatively cautious."
It
is uncertain whether the revised CAP will translate into more funding; at $246
million the initial appeal was still only 45 percent funded by the end of May,
and more than half that amount was carried over from 2008, with an aditional 18
million coming from money available in the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.
Actual funding to the CAP was therefore only 17 percent, compared to 25 percent
at the same time a year ago.
The STERP, too, remains underfunded. Of the
$18.4 billion required until the end of 2009, by April African governments had
pledged only $400 million in credit lines.