http://www.ft.com/
June 1, 2013
4:16 pm
By Tony
Hawkins in Harare
Friday’s Zimbabwe Constitutional Court ruling ordering
president Robert
Mugabe to call presidential and parliamentary elections by
the end of July
could spark a political crisis that spills over into the
15-nation Southern
African Development Community (SADC).
Seven of the
nine judges ruled in favour of a private application requiring
Mr Mugabe to
call elections immediately after the dissolution of parliament
whose term
expires on June 29.
Then ruling is a victory for Mr Mugabe who has called
for the polls to be
held even earlier (on June 29) while his coalition
partner in Zimbabwe’s
hopelessly split coalition government, prime minister
Morgan Tsvangirai says
elections should be delayed until
September.
The judgment comes just a week ahead of a SADC summit next
weekend to assess
Zimbabwe’s readiness for elections and decide whether the
electoral and
media reforms, set out in the September 2008 political
agreement guaranteed
by SADC, have been fully implemented.
Veritas,
an independent legal research group said the July election date was
impractical, noting that the constitution provides for the executive and
government ministries to continue operating without a sitting parliament for
up to four months after dissolution – which means until October
29.
But for reasons that are unclear, Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF is a hurry to
go to
the polls, seemingly confident that it has the momentum to defeat Mr
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change.
Rejecting the court
ruling, the prime minister said: “The Supreme Court has
no power whatsoever
to set an election date”, adding that the Principals to
the September 2008
agreement had a consultative mechanism whereby the
election date would be
agreed by the three political parties in the
coalition government. “This is
what SADC, the African Union and the people
of Zimbabwe expect, not a date
set under the cover of the judiciary without
a mechanism to ensure that
issues of the election environment and reforms
are addressed” Mr Tsvangirai
said.
Two interrelated issues, both of which will affect the timing of
the poll,
are likely to next weekend’s SADC summit. Some SADC leaders will
back the
MDC in demanding that electoral reforms are in place before
elections, while
Zimbabwe’s request for $130 million to finance the
elections is unlikely to
gain traction in the absence of these electoral and
media reforms.
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, who is SADC’s
point-man in the
Zimbabwe dispute will use what authority he has to get the
three Zimbabwe
political parties to accept a compromise date in September or
October.
While President Mugabe’s hand has been strengthened by the
Constitutional
Court ruling, unless he is backed by SADC, he is likely to
seek an
election-date compromise with the two MDC factions rather than risk
going it
alone – a move that might provoke an opposition boycott, a very low
voter
turnout and a refusal by African and foreign governments to recognise
the
result.
Mr Tsvangirai’s MDC is keenly aware that election
uncertainty is damaging
the economy. Finance minister Tendai Biti – an MDC
minister – this week
blamed political uncertainty for a 3 per cent decline
in GDP in the first
quarter of 2013. All of which points to elections in the
latter half of
2013 – most likely in September or October.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Gibbs
Dube
01.06.2013
WASHINGTON DC — The Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) formation of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says it will soon
approach the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) to seek its
intervention on the country’s
electoral crisis.
Party spokesman
Douglas Mwonzora tells VOA Studio 7 the party wants SADC to
give the unity
government partners direction on holding crucial elections
following a
ruling on Friday by the Supreme Court that the country should
hold polls no
later than July 31this year.
Mr. Mwonzora says the party’s national
standing committee held a meeting
Saturday and resolved that they will abide
by the Supreme Court ruling
though the date of the elections still remains
the center of dispute in the
unity government.
A man identified as
Jealousy Mawarire approached the Supreme Court recently
and filed an
application seeking to compel President Robert Mugabe to
declare the
election date.
He argued that Zimbabwe will be run by an illegitimate
government when
parliament’s term comes to an end June 29.
In a
related development, the MDC-T party is believed to be facing problems
in
some parts of the country where is it conducting primary elections.
One
of the losing candidates, Jimmy Jombo Charowa of Mudzi North in
Mashonaland
East Province, declared in a WhatApp group chat forum that he
will be
standing as an independent candidate in the forthcoming polls.
Mr.
Mwonzora, who says the primaries are going on smoothly nationwide, has
no
kind words for such party members.
In the other MDC formation led by
Industry Minister Welshman Ncube,
indications are that some people are also
not happy about the way the
primaries are being conducted.
Party
spokesman Nhlanhla Dube says his party is doing what he calls a
consultation
process for choosing candidates instead of common primary
polls.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
Staff Reporter 8 hours 44
minutes ago
ZANU PF politburo member and former Harare commissioner
Cleveria Chizema has
revealed that President Robert Mugabe no longer wanted
to cling to power,
but has no apparent successor within his party to
maintain his legacy.
Addressing a Zanu PF campaign rally in Mt Pleasant
on Thursday, Chizema said
factionalism and divisions in the party were
forcing Mugabe (89) to remain
in power.
“If you give a thorough look
at the President, do you think he still wants
to remain in office? But he
then looks around and says who amongst my peers
is capable of taking
over.”
Chizema’s statement resonates with similar revelations made by
Zambian
Vice-President Guy Scott, who alleged last month that the veteran
leader had
confided in him that he wanted to relinquish power.
“I
think if you asked him, he’d say it was enough. That’s what he said to us
a
few months ago,” Scott was quoted by the international media as having
said
of the Zanu PF leader, who has been in power since independence in
1980.
Mugabe has kept his succession plan a closely-guarded secret
and besides
Chizema, no other party member has spoken openly about the
issue.
Former Mugabe allies, notably ex-Home Affairs minister Dumiso
Dabengwa and
former Finance minister Simba Makoni, have also disclosed that
89-year-old
Zanu PF was ready to quit active politics, but was being held
back by his
close lieutenants and securocrats.
Some political
analysts believe the Zanu PF politburo member is spot-on
while others feel
the President is still determined to rule.
“There is evidence that he may
be thinking of stepping aside which can be
seen in his utterances and
actions which point to someone poised to leave a
positive legacy in terms of
three things – unity, peace and economic
emancipation,” said political
commentator McDonald Lewanika.
“He doesn’t want to leave a disintegrated
party, hence his persistent calls
for unity. His rhetoric around peace
indicates he does not want to leave a
legacy of violence and his
determination to indigenise the economy is
testimony of his desire to
empower Zimbabweans before he goes.”
However, another political analyst,
Ernest Mudzengi, said: “I think he still
wants to soldier on. He recently
said though he is now old, he could still
continue running the country and I
think he meant what he said.”
Zimbabwe is set to go for elections later
this year and should Mugabe win,
he could be in office until the age of
94.
Infighting to take over the batton is reportedly intensifiying in
Zanu PF as
two factions, one reportedly led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru
and another
by Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, are said to be leaving
no stone
unturned to prevail.
As polls beckon, primary elections are
yet to be held allegedly because the
party is failing to agree on
guidelines. In addition, a probe team led by
the party’s national chairman
Simon Khaya Moyo is investigating all
provinces amid reports that
factionalism has taken root in all structures
countrywide which analysts
believe is set to cost Zanu PF dearly at the
polls. - NewsDay
http://www.herald.co.zw/
1
Saturday, 01 June 2013 00:08
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Comments
Bulawayo Bureau
ABOUT 4 000 voter educators will be deployed
across all the country’s 1 963
wards in the second phase of mobile voter
registration set to start next
week. In an interview on the sidelines of
a
two-day workshop with faith-based organisations in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission deputy chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe said training of
the provincial election officers (PEOs) on the proceedings of voter
education commenced yesterday and would stretch up to mid next
week.
“The mobile registration exercise will begin towards the end of
next week or
the week after. The exercise will cover 1 963 wards in the
country and there
will be between two and four voter educators per ward
depending on the
availability of funds.
“The training of PEOs which
is the training of trainers started today
(yesterday) in Harare. District
election officers (DEOs) are trained next
according to our plans followed by
the voter educators and that should be
completed by mid next week. When all
this has been done, voter education
will roar into life,” Mrs Kazembe
said.
She said the first phase of the mobile voter registration exercise
which
ended on May 19 recorded more than 200 000 first time
voters.
Mrs Kazembe said Bulawayo recorded the lowest figure for first
time voters
in the country.
“A total of 204 041 first time voters were
recorded between 29 April and 19
May. Bulawayo recorded 5 068, Matabeleland
South had 9 403 and Matabeleland
North recorded 13 536 while Midlands had 23
404 first time voters.
“Mashonaland East recorded the highest number of
first time voters with 35
266, Mashonaland West had 31 570, Mashonaland
Central recorded 29 635,
Manicaland recorded 24 024 while Masvingo had 20
610 and Harare recorded 11
525,” Mrs Kazembe said.
She said 214 233
adults were able to register new identity cards while 268
574 people
inspected the voters roll throughout the country.
The new voter
registration would be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of the new
constitution, which President Mugabe signed into law
last week.
The
new Constitution, gazetted last week, provides for an additional 30-day
registration period.
The latest developments bring the total number of
registered voters to about
5, 7 million.
In 2008, the national voters’
roll stood at 5 934 769. The figure had been
trimmed to 5 589 355 by last
November after which it rose to 5 651 600.
Treasury has released $11,6
million towards the second phase of voter
registration.
The new exercise
would cater for thousands of prospective voters who failed
register to vote
during the just ended mobile voter registration programme.
Zimbabwe is
geared for the holding of harmonised elections after the expiry
of
Parliament on 29 June.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court, sitting as a
Constitutional Court, ruled that
harmonised elections should be held by July
31.
http://www.bizday.co.zw/
Sat, Jun
1st, 2013
Harare – Air
Zimbabwe is set to release an Embraer 145 and an Airbus A320
into service
very soon.
The 50 seater Embraer jet was tested on May 24 on the Harare
- Byo – Vic
Falls route.
Air Zim also released its Air bus A320 into
service this week.
Sources close to the transaction have indicated that
the Embraer was leased
from a South African company while the Airbus was
leased in last year but
has just returned from a bridging check by SAA
Technical as Air Zimbabwe is
still to build the required capacity in Airbus
maintenance.
In response to inquires from BizDay, the Permanent Secretary
for Transport
Ccommunications and Infrastrucral Development, Munesu
Munodawafa confirmed
the
latest developments and expressed confidence
that the latest acquisitions
signalled the “earnest beginning of the
revival of Air Zimbabwe”.
He confirmed that efforts were under way to
secure the lease of a second
Embraer jet adding that the deal should be
concluded in the next three to
four months.
The Permanent Secretary
added that the above developments were meant to
ensure that Air Zimbabwe
readies itself to meet the requirements of the
United Nations World Trade
Organisation assembly (UNWTO) while marking a
turning point in the
operations and viability of the airline.
The UNWTO general assembly will
be jointly held by Zimbabwe and Zambia in
August.
Munodawafa also
confirmed that efforts were underway to recruit a
substantive Managing
Director for the national airline Air Zimbabwe Pvt
Limited.
With
regards to the fate of Innocent Mavhunga who has been acting CEO of the
airline, Munodawafa pointed out that he would for now continue as the Acting
Group CEO of Air Zimbabwe Holdings.
Currently the Air Zimbabwe Group
Company Secretary, Grace Pfumbidzayi is
the acting Managing Dircetor of Air
Zimbabwe Pvt Limited.
Having brought into service the two aircraft
within such a limited time
frame, Mrs Pfumbidzayi could have enhanced her
chances of being appointed in
a substantive position.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Gibbs
Dube
31.05.2013
WASHINGTON DC — Eight youths drawn from Zimbabwe’s
parties in the unity
government have arrived in Washington for a month-long
visit to familiarize
themselves with America’s democratic processes as
Zimbabwe prepares for
crucial elections to be held sometime this
year.
The youths from the two Movement for Democratic Change formations
and
Zanu-PF have already attended several workshops and visited various
institutions of democracy such as the Harry Truman Center and several
others.
They will soon be attached to non-profit organizations
specializing in
politics and democracy in Iowa and Philadelphia.
One
of the visiting youths, Descent Collins Bajila, Youth League secretary
general of the MDC formation of Industry Minister Welshman Ncube, told
Studio 7 they expect to learn a lot about the American political
system.
“The people of the United States regardless of their political
differences
and the fact that the U.S is essentially an immigrant nation,
they have some
things that are common to all of them and whenever duty calls
they all
adhere to them and keep to them religiously,” said
Bajila.
He said it appears as if the majority of U.S citizens understand
their
political processes compared to some parts of Africa “where apathy is
very
high in terms of what people know about their own nations.”
Mr.
Bajila further said he admires the citizens’ power in the USA in
determining
their way of life through the federal system of governance.
He said
Zimbabwe has come out with a weaker version of federalism in the
form of
devolution of power which is contained in the nation’s new
constitution.
“You find that people living in difference USA states
have got ways through
which they can determine what needs to be produced,
various laws and other
issues. We can have such kind of dispensation in
Zimbabwe,” he said.
POLICY DIALOGUE FORUM
TUESDAY 4 JUNE 2013
5pm – 7pm
SAPES Seminar Room
4 Deary Avenue, Belgravia, Harare
THE SUPREME COURT RULING ON ELECTIONS: WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
Chair: Pettinah Gappa, Lawyer.
Panellist: Lovemore Madhuku, President NCA.
Douglas Mwonzora, MDC-T Spokesman.
Welshman Ncube, President MDC-N.
ALL WELCOME
SAPES Seminar Club Membership Forms available at entrance
Feel free to visit our website at www.sapes.org.zw
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
June 1, 2013, 7:37
am
Dear Family and Friends,
It’s the calm before the storm in
Zimbabwe, and we’re soaking it up,
watching, waiting and bracing for what’s
to come. It couldn’t be a nicer
time to be watching! In the cool, clear
mornings the Woodland Kingfishers
wake you up with their insistent, noisy
chattering, going on for so long
that there’s no chance of going back to
sleep and plenty of time to get up
and admire their exquisite blue wings and
astonishing red bills.
As the days warm up and the political wannabees
fight it out in their
primary elections, we are basking under a glorious,
wide blue sky. Power
cuts of early winter leave us listening to what’s going
on outside and this
week it’s the soft plopping sound of caterpillars
falling out of trees.
Fearsome looking black caterpillars, 5 centimetres
long, and covered with
long grey hairs are falling out of the Musasa trees
at a startling rate.
Unlike most hairy caterpillars, the grey hairs on these
caterpillars don’t
shoot, sting or itch, they are soft and fine. Around here
they call them
Madora and the caterpillars feed on Musasa trees and are a
sought after
delicacy at this time of year. Squeezing the innards out, a
quick rinse and
then a few minutes in boiling salted water. When they’re
cooked and dry, if
you can get past the psychology of the business, it’s
difficult not to like
them: hard and crunchy with a spicy, peppery
flavour.
Listening to Kingfishers and eating caterpillars while the
politicians tear
themselves apart makes you wonder if all these grown men
and women fighting
over power and diamonds can remember what it’s like to
see, taste, hear and
smell these little treasures of our amazing country
anymore. Only thirteen
million Zimbabweans in this vast 391 thousand square
kilometre country; isn’t
there room enough for us all to share this
treasure regardless of our skin
colours and political
persuasions?
For months everyone’s been saying that business is hardly
ticking over,
money’s not being spent, no one’s investing or expanding and
the country’s
stuck in election paralysis mode. This week the direct result
of our leaders’
behaviour was finally acknowledged by a member of
government. Thanks to the
perpetual arguing, threatening and uncertainty
over elections, Finance
Minister Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe’s economy had
shrunk by 3% during the
first quarter of this year. "The elephant in the
living room evidently is
the election and the sooner there is clarity on the
dates from the
politicians the better for the economy," he said
As
the sun sets over Zimbabwe this June, it’s almost always into a golden,
coppery horizon accompanied by the whistling of a Heuglin Robin and the
screams of distant Francolins. Reaching for our winter woollies we wait for
another star- filled night sky and wonder how much longer this relative calm
will last and how much longer before the dreaded elections. Until next time,
thanks for reading, love cathy.
