The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
SW Radio Africa
03 June 2013

The MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube has questioned the validity of the newly formed Constitutional Court saying the nine member judges who passed a ruling in the court last Friday ordering the running of elections by July 31st, has not been constituted yet.

MDC Secretary General Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga added more confusion to the controversy surrounding the holding of Zimbabwe’s next election when she said in a statement on Monday: “We do not understand under what law the nine member constitutional court was constituted since the part of the constitution which provides for a nine member constitutional court has not come into effect and will only come into effect when a new president is sworn in after the elections.”

The Secretary General said her party is “perplexed and bewildered” by the ruling which effectively gives President Robert Mugabe a two month deadline to call for harmonized polls.

Only two of the nine member panel of judges disagreed with the ruling with Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba saying in his opinion the decision ordering the holding of election by July 31st “defied logic” and compromised the rights of the voters.

ZANU PF, which favours early polls welcomed the ruling but the MDC Secretary General said the court has chosen to “lend individual authority to the political agendas of not just a political party but an anarchist faction of that political party [referring to Zanu-PF].”

Party spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told SW Radio Africa that the judgment does not aid the democratic process but will result in a “shotgun election”.

“In our view history informs us of what is going to happen in the future and no one can suddenly inform us that (Registrar General) Tobaiwa Mudede is going to do all that is required on time.

“You still need to synchronize and come up with an Electoral Bill which needs to go to cabinet, go to parliament, and go to the senate before it’s signed by the president. That has not even been agreed to, and you expect that to be done within the next 12 days because proclamation must be made with the next four days.”

The MDC spokesman said attitudes need to be changed and political commitment needed if Zimbabwe is to have an uncontested election.

The MDC formations in the coalition government have been calling for elections to be held later after key reforms have been implemented. They now intend to call the guarantors of the Global Political Agreement, the Southern African Development Community to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to implement the necessary reforms so that Zimbabwe does not have another contested election. SADC is set to hold an extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe in Harare on June 9th.

It is at this summit that regional leaders are expected to ask for a clear election roadmap from Mugabe; although ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo says the meeting would be primarily deal with election funding that has been promised by the regional body. “The question of a roadmap and so on is so wishy-washy. It’s all nonsense that people want to inject but there is really nothing of that matter,” revealed Gumbo.

South African facilitators are expected to do some groundwork in Zimbabwe early this week ahead of the SADC summit. Lindiwe Zulu, the International Relations advisor to South African President Jacob Zuma, was in meetings in Japan on Monday when contacted for comment.

The MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has also slammed the decision by the country’s highest court saying it had ‘overstepped its mandate’. But the National Constitutional Assembly welcomed the decision by the Constitutional Court, which it says has made three critical principles which must stand as a guide for Zimbabwe, namely:
That there must at all times have the three organs of state in place and not just be under rule by the executive. It showed that any individual has a right to approach the courts and insist on the country being governed in accordance with the law, and that the timing of elections is not an “exclusive terrain of self-serving politicians.”

NCA chairman Dr. Lovemore Madhuku said in statement that the country cannot be in a permanent election mode and political parties, including SADC should work within the timeframe issued by the court.

Listen to interview with Nhlanhla Dube

Supreme Court Judge Defects Against Mugabe

http://www.zimeye.org/

By Staff Reporter

Published: June 3, 2013

War is brewing faster in the file and rank of Zimbabwe’s Constitutional
Court over a recent judgement instructing President Robert Mugabe to hold
elections no later than 31st July 2013, and a judge sitting on the 9 panel
quorum that presided over the latter verdict on Friday, has come out into
the public slamming his own colleagues.

Two judges Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba, and Justice Bharat Patel on
Friday had already dissented.

Justice Luke Malaba was later quoted in public labelling the judgement
illogical. His words were nakedly printed expressing extreme displeasure.
Justice Malaba said the decision ”defied logic” in finding Mugabe was in
breach of his constitutional responsibilities although” at the same time
authorizing him to continue acting unlawfully” by proclaiming a July date.

“That is a very dangerous principle and has no basis in law. The principle
of the rule of law just does not permit such an approach,” said Malaba who
is known for previously granting bail to MDC-T supporters controversially
accused of murdering Glen View police officer Petros Mutedza in 2011.

Malaba’s words came after the 9 member panel in Zimbabwe’s highest court
ruled that Robert Mugabe and his government must conduct elections before
the 31st July 2013 failure which they would be in breach of the
constitution.

But how can such a decision be reached while at the same time the Supreme
Court is ruling that Mugabe is in breach of his constitutional
responsibilities, Justice Malaba questioned.

Malaba said that Zimbabwe’s elections can be held even four months later
after the dissolution of parliament during a time when also the electorate
are being prepared before voting so that they can have a meaningful
contribution to the electoral process.

It is illogical to conduct elections soon after dissolution and in the time
frame now given, as this would affect the electorates’ constitutional
rights, contented Malaba.

Malaba went ahead to state in proverbial language openly ridiculing the
decision by saying that he cannot be fooled by it.

“I …refuse to have wool cast over the inner eye of my mind on this matter,”
said Malaba.

Malaba’s statements come after Zimbabwe’s judiciary was slammed for being
allegedly controlled by the presidency, something which the country’s
Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa denies. Chinamasa told ZimEye recently
that all such allegations are “damn lies,” and should be dismissed with
contempt.

Constitutional Court delays Diaspora vote case, as govt remains defiant

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
SW Radio Africa
03 June 2013

The government of Zimbabwe has been slammed for its continued silence over
the Diaspora vote, in defiance of the continent’s top human rights court.

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in February ordered the
government to make provisions allowing Zimbabweans abroad to use the postal
voting system during the March referendum.

The ruling followed a case filed by The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR), on behalf of exiled Zimbabweans Gabriel Shumba, Kumbirai Muchemwa,
Gilbert Chamunorwa, Diana Zimbudzana and Solomon Chikohwero.

The Commission’s ruling directed the government to provide all eligible
voters, including the five mentioned in the case, the same voting rights as
Zimbabweans working abroad in the service of the government.

The court stated that the government must report back on the implementation
of this provisional measure within 15 days of receipt the order.

But the Zim government has continued to take advantage of the body’s lack of
enforcement powers and ignored the ruling, resulting in Zimbabweans living
in South Africa failing to vote in the March 16 referendum.

Now it has emerged that another Zimbabwean residing in South Africa will
have to wait at least until August to know whether he will be allowed to
vote in the upcoming elections.

According to ZLHR, Tawengwa Bukaibenyu’s lawyers last year filed an
application at the Supreme Court (sitting as a Constitutional Court)
challenging the barring of postal votes for ordinary Zimbabweans, which he
argued violated his rights to choose his country’s government.

The Supreme Court had initially set down the matter to be heard Thursday,
but the matter has since been postponed to August.

If elections are held by July 31st as directed by the Constitutional Court
last week, this would mean that Bukaibenyu, like many Zimbabweans living
abroad, will be denied the right to vote which he argues is unfair.

Bukaibenyu argued in the court papers that economic hardships forced him
into exile in SA but intends to return to Zimbabwe, his “permanent home”
once the situation normalises and he can obtain employment in the country.

He wants electoral laws that prohibit the diaspora vote declared
unconstitutional, saying: “I therefore have a vested interest to do my part
to ensure that the situation in Zimbabwe normalises as soon as possible, and
this includes participation in elections and civic duties in Zimbabwe,”

According to ZLHR, some sections of the Electoral Act state that if a person
has ceased to reside in the constituency in which their name appears for
more than 12 months, that person is not entitled to have his name retained
on the roll.

Although the Zim government has not openly said they will disregard the
African Court’s ruling, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is on record as
saying the Diaspora vote will not be allowed.

During his visit to London in March, Chinamasa told Zimbabweans that ZANU PF
would not allow the Diaspora vote to happen because his party did not have
‘access’ to citizens abroad. He once again blamed the targeted restrictive
measures that have mostly been eased against key members of the party.

Mugabe remains steadfast on election date

http://mg.co.za/

03 JUN 2013 07:53 AFP

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says he will hold elections by July 31,
despite calls by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for reforms first.

"We will work in accordance with that judgment [of the Constitutional
Court]," Mugabe said on Sunday in Japan during an interview with the
Zimbabwe state-owned Spot FM radio. Mugabe was attending an international
summit on African development in the Asian country.

"The time has come for elections to be held," the 89-year-old veteran leader
was quoted as saying.

The polls will end a unity government led by Mugabe and Tsvangirai that was
formed in February 2009 after violent and disputed polls the previous year.

The two have already confirmed they will run against each other in this
year's polls.

'We must obey'
Mugabe's comments came after Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court ruled on Friday
that the Southern African country must hold elections by July 31.

"We must obey [the judgment]. I do not want to offend against the law,"
Mugabe said without setting a date for the polls.

Freelance journalist Jealous Mawarire had asked the Constitutional Court to
compel Mugabe to announce an election date before the tenure of the current
Parliament ends on June 29.

Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka charged that the court
"overstepped its mandate" in setting a deadline for the polls.

The "court has no power whatsoever to set an election date. An election date
is the responsibility of the executive," he said in a statement.

Credible polls
Tsvangirai (61) has been calling for security, media and electoral reforms
to enable Zimbabwe to hold credible polls.

The Southern African Development Community last week announced a special
summit to assess Zimbabwe's readiness for the general elections.

The Sunday Times reported that the summit, to be held in Mozambique's
capital, Maputo, should take place next weekend.

The meeting will review a number of issues, including the cash-strapped
government's efforts to raise $132-million budgeted for the elections. – AFP

Tsvangirai fumes over poll date

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

Ray Ndlovu | 03 June, 2013 00:08

Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has in effect backed President Robert Mugabe's call
for polls to be held on July 31, earlier than the opposition leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, wants.

The country's highest court, headed by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku,
announced its ruling on Friday after an application by Jealousy Mawarire, a
little-known rights activist, for Mugabe to announce an election date.

Mugabe will seek regional endorsement for early polls on Sunday at a summit
in Maputo of the Southern African Development Community. But Tsvangirai will
press demands for immediate political reforms, both in the security and
media sectors and in voter registration, which his Movement for Democratic
Change says are essential for fair elections.

Mugabe was pushed into signing a power-sharing Global Political Agreement
after the disputed 2008 elections, but the opposition says Zanu-PF has
dragged its heels and the playing field is far from level.

The next elections are also hamstrung by disputes over funding. Tsvangirai
said at the weekend the court had "overstepped its mandate" by ordering a
poll date.

"The Supreme Court has no power to set an election date. In the true spirit
of separation of powers, an election date remains a political process in
which the executive has a role to play," he said. "SADC and the people of
Zimbabwe know that an election date is a result of political pronouncements
in which the judiciary has no role to play."

Zanu-PF welcomed the court ruling and rejected any commitment to prior
reforms.

Political commentator Tanonoka Whande said Tsvangirai had been played by
Zanu-PF.

"I think it's all just cooked up and the MDC does not even know how to
respond. I suspect this court thing is a set-up ... who is this unknown man
[Mawarire] who sued to pressure Mugabe to hold elections? The reality is we
are not ready for elections yet," he said.

Tsvangirai is in contempt of court - Madhuku

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

Staff Reporter 11 hours 48 minutes ago

HARARE - President Mugabe's ally and National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
chief, Lovemore Madhuku, has said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was
liable to contempt charges after accusing the country’s top court of
overstepping its mandate when laying down a timeframe for new elections.

Tsvangirai – who has been pushing for new elections to be delayed to
September – slammed the Constitutional Court when it ruled Friday that the
new polls must be held by July 31.

“(The) ruling by the Supreme Court setting an election date is evidence that
the court has overstepped its mandate,” Tsvangirai said immediately after
the ruling was handed down.

“The Supreme Court has no power whatsoever to set an election date. In the
true spirit of separation of powers, an election date remains a political
process in which the executive has a role to play.”

But Madhuku said Tsvangirai’s remarks showed the MDC-T leader and his party
were “ignorant of the law and called for the Prime Minister's arrest and
face the law."
“It is clear that what the Prime Minister has done is contempt of court.
There is no doubt about that. He now wants to be seen as being above the
law,” Madhuku said in an interview with the Herald Newspaper

“These people (Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party) are just ignorant of the law.
They can destroy anything that stands in their way of political ambition. If
it is the Supreme Court they will throw it away. If it’s ruling without
Parliament they can do that.

“This is a very dangerous attitude for the country. They must know that
constitutionalism is to have a good constitution in place which you must
follow. Decisions relating to legal disputes are resolved by the Courts and
Courts alone.”

Harare lawyer Terrence Hussein, who represented Mugabe in the case added:
“The suggestion that the court overstepped its mandate is absolute nonsense.

“If there is anyone overstepping their mandate, it is the Prime Minister who
should know better than to challenge the legal authority of a constitutional
body. The court has the authority to act in the manner it did.

“The highest court has made a determination. The only way to overturn that
decision is by having an Act of Parliament nullifying that decision. No
other authority, even SADC, can do anything about it.”

Tsvangirai, who had opposed plans by Mugabe for an early election, recently
toured the region to urge SADC leaders to press his rival over the
implementation of further reforms before the polls can be held.

ZEC to roll out new voter registration exercise on Monday

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
SW Radio Africa
3 June 2013

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was on Monday expected to roll out
another voter registration exercise, a requirement under the new
constitution that was signed into law last month.

Over 200,000 first time voters were registered in the largely discredited
exercise done between April and May this year. The Finance ministry recently
released about US$12 million towards a fresh voter registration to cover the
whole country.

The new programme is intended to cater for thousands of would be voters who
failed to register during the initial registration programme.

Our Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us there was nothing to
show that the exercise had resumed in the city.

He said like the last time there has been lack of publicity for the voter
registration, leading to suspicions that there could be another plot to
disenfranchise voters in the forthcoming poll.

Local civil society organisations concurred and observed that there was
inadequate information, publicity and voter education and that the process
excluded key stakeholders such as the church and civil society in the last
exercise.

Where NGO’s and CSO’s sought to legitimately mobilize citizens to
participate in the process they were met with heavy-handedness from the
police. As a result potential voters were largely ignorant of the dates,
centers and the requirements for registration.

After the adoption of the new constitution, ZEC is required by law to carry
out a ward-based, transparent and accessible voter registration exercise
targeting all communities.

After the voter registration exercise, there must be a period set for the
inspection of the voters roll to make sure that it is correct and that all
eligible voters are on it.

ZEC’s deputy Chairperson Joyce Kazembe told journalists last week that about
five million potential voters were expected to participate in the harmonised
elections.
She indicated the Registrar-General’s office will remain in charge of the
voters’ roll until the holding of elections, after which ZEC would take
over.

Dali Tambo reacts angrily to ‘Mugabe PR campaign’ criticisms

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
SW Radio Africa
03 June 2013

The much-awaited Dali Tambo interview with President Mugabe was finally aired on South African TV Sunday, amid a lot of interest both at home and abroad.

Tambo’s interview traces the President’s life from his childhood in Zvimba through his student days at Fort Hare, and ends with a “Thank Mr President that was wonderful”, from Tambo.

Picked up by international media, including British TV stations, the interview touches on many aspects of Mugabe’s life, such as how he courted first-wife Sally, his life with Grace, as well as his fight for Zimbabwe’s liberation.

There are also sneak peeks into Mugabe’s thoughts about Gukurahundi, which he says “has a story that hasn’t been talked about. How it started but that is not a story we want to continue.”

On South Africa Mugabe says economically, the country would have turned out differently if the ruling ANC party had taken a tougher stance against the whites during independence negotiations.

“Things would have been different if your dad (Oliver Tambo) had been alive. They would have been a little tougher. They gave too much away,” he says.

However, as SW Radio Africa reported last week, analysts say the interview lacks critical depth, with many describing it as a public relations exercise and an attempt to whitewash Mugabe ahead of the elections.

Prior to the broadcast, Tambo told South African media about his reverence for Mugabe or “Chimurenga Man” as he refers to him, describing him as “warm, charismastic, and very humorous”.

“I feel, honestly, a pride in that man and I think that he has been misunderstood and ill-judged by a lot of the press. He’s made mistakes but in general he’s going to go down in history with a very positive perspective from Africans,” Tambo told the Guardian newspaper.

During the interview, a spell-bound Tambo is heard encouragingly saying ‘yes’ several times, especially when Mugabe blasts the British over the issue of land.

Tambo’s clips on Mugabe’s key moments appear to have been selected to project Mugabe in the best of light: including the president’s reconciliation speech to the Ian Smith regime in 1980, and him telling off the British Blair over sanctions.

Stung by the criticisms before and after the interview’s broadcast on his SABC’s People of the South programme, Tambo has come out guns blazing, accusing his critics of being ‘superficial’.

Confronted by that country’s Talk Radio 702 over the “Mugabe public relations exercise”, Tambo said he has presented Mugabe as he actually is: “What do you mean a PR exercise? What you wanted me to do was to say to him, ‘you’re lying, Robert Mugabe you’re a liar. That’s not true, how dare you say that? You’re a bloody liar’.”

According to the Eye Witness newspaper, Talk Radio 702’s Kienos Kammies had expressed disappointment at the interview’s silence on such issues as land grabs, human rights and political violations that have occurred over the last decade.

Tambo said those who wanted to interview Mugabe on human rights abuses were free to do so, before adding: “I covered a lot of things. Don’t obsess on what you want me to obsess on, because it’s my interview… I am not a politician. I am not there to do the trial of Robert Mugabe, as much as you would like me to do.”

Commenting on the interview, Zimbabwe’s independently-owned Daily News said Tambo’s spin attempts will not hoodwink anyone: “If the polls are peaceful, free and fair — and (Mugabe) accepts defeat if that is the outcome of the ballot — there is a possibility that history may judge him less harshly than at the present moment.

“If the opposite happens, then all this investment in time and effort in public relations work will be a waste of time,” the paper concluded.

Listen to the interview here

More MDC-T MPs fall by the wayside in primaries

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
SW Radio Africa
3 June 2013

More surprise results dominated the headlines after the internal party
primaries held by the MDC-T in the three Mashonaland provinces over the
weekend.

The internal selection process has so far been applauded by analysts who
told SW Radio Africa it has been smoothly held. US based political
commentator Dr Maxwell Shumba said the MDC-T leadership should be commended
for not imposing candidates, which has in the past triggered deep divisions
in the party.

‘The leadership has created a system were party members are choosing
candidates of their choice. This has also allowed the voices of the people
to come out strong, as evidenced by the high number of sitting MPs who have
not been confirmed in the elections,’ Shumba said.

The MDC has now conducted primaries in 10 out their 12 political provinces.
The exercise is set for its final stages in Manicaland and Masvingo, the two
provinces that garnered the biggest number of seats for the MDC-T.

Only one out of three sitting MPs was confirmed in Mashonaland East province
in elections held on Friday last week. Ian Kay, the legislator for Marondera
central, was confirmed by a big margin, while the MP from Murehwa West, Wadi
Nezi and Moses Jiri from Chikomba Central fared badly in the internal polls.
UK based activist Pearson Kazingizi easily sailed through to stand as an MP
for Uzumba.

In Mashonaland Central province, the only two sitting MDC-T MPs were
confirmed in elections held on Saturday. The two legislators are Bednock
Nyaude for Bindura South and Shepherd Mushonga in Mazowe Central. Tobias
Tapera was also uncontested in Rushinga.

Perhaps the biggest shock so far in the primaries was the dismal showing of
the influential provincial chairman Godfrey Chimombe who was beaten in the
primaries by the less known Leman Pwanyika. Chimombe only managed a paltry
four votes.

Another UK based activist, Elliot Pfebve, won convincingly in Bindura north.
Apart from Kazingizi and Pfebve, four other UK based activists have
participated and won in the primary elections. In all 15 contestants are UK
based.

These are Eric Knight (Mbare), Ezra Sibanda, (Vungu), Onismo Manungu
(Shurugwi) and Herbert Munangatire (Zvimba West). The rest will have their
primaries this coming weekend.

The four sitting MPs in Mashonaland West province were not confirmed and
will have to go for primary elections. Takalani Matipe (Chegutu West),
Stuart Garadhi (Chinhoyi), Cloepas Machacha (Kariba) and Severino Chambati
(Hurungwe west) have privately indicated their intention to drop out of the
primaries to be held in two weeks time.

One of the candidates who sailed through in the province was Abigail Sauti
(Zvimba North) who will battle it out with Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo if he manages to navigate his way past the ZANU PF
primaries.

ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo has indicated that they might begin their
primaries in two weeks time, once they finalize their rules and regulations
for the exercise.

The MDC-N secretary-general, Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, revealed on
Saturday that they were almost done with the preparations for elections
which are expected in a fortnight’s time.

Claims of land reform ‘success’ negated

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
03 June 2013

Claims by international academics that ZANU PF’s land grab campaign was a
success, have been negated by a leading Zimbabwean economics professor, who
has criticised these attempts at normalising the situation.

Professor Tony Hawkins was responding to recent publications, including a
book, which attempt to paint the land ‘reform’ programme in a positive
light. The book, Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land, was written by three
scholars, including UK based Joseph Hanlon.

The research in the book and the subsequent articles Hanlon has authored is
based on an assessment of three farms in Mashonaland Central during one
month last year.

The research pays little attention to the inhumanity of the land grabs,
ignoring the human rights abuses that took place and the illegality of the
process. Instead the authors spoke to the ‘fast-track’ owners of the seized
farms they visited and looked at their ‘successes’. The book details how
black Zimbabweans have successfully “taken back their land,” and farms are
returning to the positive production levels seen in the 1990s.

But these details are being criticised as an attempt to ‘sanitize’ what
happened during the land seizures that began in 2000, as part of a wider
campaign to clean-up ZANU PF’s image.

Professor Hawkins has since also countered what he called this “misleading
and dangerous” information, in a paper published last month. He argues that,
crucially, “the success or otherwise of land resettlement in Zimbabwe cannot
be judged by how many people are on the land now, but by what is produced,
what incomes are earned and whether the economy as a whole benefitted.”

Describing Hanlon as “an apologist for ZANU PF’s chaotic politically-driven
land programme,” Hawkins explains how Zimbabwe’s agricultural production has
all but collapsed since the land grabs began. And 13 years on the country’s
food import bill is well over $600 million a year, despite it being self
sufficient before the farm takeovers started.

Hawkins criticises Hanlon and the other academics’ research for failing to
mention “these inconvenient truths,” and instead focusing on “extremely
dubious employment and farm occupation data.” Hawkins argues that the
analysis by Hanlon “ignores the spillover effects of land resettlement
elsewhere in the economy.”

“The fact is that – regardless of how many people found poorly-paid jobs in
agriculture – land reform sparked a 40 percent decline in Zimbabwe’s GDP,”
Hawkins states.

The economics Professor told SW Radio Africa that it is this key fact that
cannot be overlooked and which emphasises how destructive the land ‘reform’
has been for Zimbabwe. He explained that it was not just the farms that
suffered, explaining that the collapse in farm output “is mirrored by
Zimbabwe’s de-industrialisation.”

“Hanlon’s failure to even mention the devastating impact of land
resettlement on industrial production and thereby on value-addition,
highlights his political and racist myopia,” Hawkins said.

He added: “There was also a total refusal to deal with the institutional
side it, the whole question of corruption and lack of accountability and
lack of transparency and so on, which everyone knows happened in the land
reform programme. And to pretend it didn’t, seems to me misleading and
dangerous. Particularly now that we have moved on to another form of land
reform (that) has been applied to mining and elsewhere.”

Professor Hawkin’s original paper was published in the May 2013 issue of
Welt-Sichten, Germany

http://www.weltsichten.de/

Air Zimbabwe hunts for new chief executive

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

02/06/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

AIR Zimbabwe last week launched a newly acquired Ambraer ERJ 145 aircraft on
its domestic routes as it emerged the company’s board had also stepped up
efforts to hire a substantive chief executive.

Officials said the 50-seat Brazil-made jetliner will service the Harare,
Bulawayo and Victoria Falls route as the company moves to increase services
on the domestic market ahead of the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in August.

The development also follows the introduction of one of the airline’s
recently acquired Airbus aircraft on the Harare-Johannesburg route which Air
Zimbabwe had abandoned after one of its planes was seized in December 2011.

The airline, facing huge operational problems, also announced plans to lay
off up to 600 workers, reducing its staffing complement to a more manageable
300.

“A skeletal staff complement of 307 shall be retained for operations while
the rest of the staff shall be sent on vacation leave to facilitate
streamlined operations and optimum use of personnel for the next six months,
at which point the airline will review progress,” said the airline’s
spokesperson, Shingai Taruvinga.

Meanwhile, the airline, which has been led by an acting chief executive
since February 2011, is understood to have short-listed four individuals for
the top job.

Those believed to be under consideration include acting CEO Innocent
Mavhunga, legal and company secretary Grace Pfumbidza, Obert Mazinyi,
aSenior Training Captain- B747-400 at Cathay Pacific Airways, and Alois
Nyandoro who has been Namibia’s presidential pilot since 1999, and Air
Zimbabwe.

The new chief executive will join a company weighed down by years of
mismanagement, poor industrial relations and debts said to be over US$100
million.

A new board appointed this year by the government has however, been working
to improve operations at the airline with new aircraft being leased to help
boost the company’s ageing fleet.

The last substantive chief executive, Peter Chikumba, - brought in from Air
Namibia and charged with turning around the company - left the troubled
airline in December 2010 after four years at the helm of the airline.

Unpaid ZBC workers appeal to Mugabe

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

02/06/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE Broadcasting Corporation workers, reportedly unpaid for three
months, have pleaded with President Robert Mugabe to help address problems
at struggling public broadcaster.

In a letter seen by The Standard newspaper, the workers said they were
struggling to survive adding management at the corporation had not shown any
interest in their plight.

"What this means is for three months we have not paid our rentals, utility
bills and accounts, school fees for our children, food for our families and
not to mention our extended families," wrote the employees,” the workers
said in their appeal.

"The truth of the matter is you have a demoralised and impoverished staff
complement at ZBC whose basic worker's rights continue to be violated
despite the fact that it is us who keep the machine running."

ZBC spokesperson Sivukile Simango would not comment on the development
saying he was away from work on leave.
The workers said managers at company were helping themselves to weekly
allowances running into thousands of dollars while giving them paltry
occasional payments of between US$60 and US$100 to help with their
subsistence.

The country’s sole television service, accused of partisan political
coverage, is one of the main targets of calls for media reforms by MDC-T and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

$3 500 fees at Grace Mugabe’s high school

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

By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer
Monday, 03 June 2013 13:42
HARARE - First Lady Grace Mugabe is unveiling a new state-of-the-art high
school in Mazowe where enrolment is underway for a whooping $3 500 per
term.

Despite claiming to be driven by the desire to give relief to the poor and
the orphaned, Grace’s Amai Mugabe Christian High — which is nestled in the
rolling mountains of Mazowe — is set to become one of the most expensive
schools in the country.

The high school will open its doors next year.

Fresh from building a primary school and now a high school, the First Family
is also mulling constructing a university on the expansive land that was
seized from Interfresh’s Mazowe Citrus Estate early this year.

The 47-year-old First Lady took over about 1 600 hectares of Mazowe Citrus
Estate in order to grow her empire, which already boasts of the Grace Mugabe
Children’s Home and Gushungo Dairy Project situated on an adjacent farm
seized from white commercial farmers during the government’s controversial
land reform programme.

For now, the First Lady’s two schools will have to share the two-storey
building which is in pristine condition, with gleaming tiled floors, mukwa
doors and beds.

The building smells fresh of paint.

Every sport, according to officials, will be offered at the school that is
separated from the orphanage with manicured lawns.

A Daily News crew last Friday found workers in overalls emblazoned AMPS
(Amai Mugabe Primary School) putting the final touches at the vast property.

An exclusive primary school, also named after her, opened last term with an
enrolment of 97 pupils and officials say vacancies are still plenty because
few can afford the tuition fees charged.

The fact that the Amai Mugabe Junior School is not attracting pupils has
however, not deterred the First Lady, with Chinese contractors forging ahead
with final touches to the high school which has called for applications from
pupils interested in enrolling there.

An advertisement placed in a local daily describes it as “a dynamic
state-of-the-art boarding school opening January 2014.”

It is also recruiting teachers and is set to provide a rich and multifaceted
set of educational and extracurricular activities.

While boarders at the school will enjoy luxurious trappings, parents wishing
to send their children there will have to fork out close to $3 500 a term —
a top line ripple for most parents.

Day scholars will need to pay $2 600 per term.

With such a fee structure, the high school must produce incredible academic
results across a large number of important academic indicators and joins an
A-list of expensive schools such as St George’s College where the First
family’s last born child Chatunga was expelled from early this year,
allegedly for juvenile delinquency.

The First Lady has touted her schooling projects as benefiting ordinary
Zimbabweans.

She told visiting Malawian President Joyce Banda last month during her
five-day State visit after touring the primary school that the projects were
helping ordinary Zimbabweans.

Famine stalks Buhera

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

Monday, 03 June 2013 13:19
BUHERA - Irrigation and food handouts will not resolve Buhera’s perennial
starvation, but resettling villagers in rich soils, authorities here have
said.

Rolland Madondo, Buhera District Administrator (DA) said resettling the
community in arable lands was the only viable long-term solution.

“Hunger is a fact,” he said. “I do not know why people were settled here in
the first place.

Essentially we are outside areas where we can talk of productive
agriculture. We talk of the grain loan scheme, how will the community pay
back when the hunger situation is indefinite?

“Talk of food aid, feeding a quarter of a million with food handouts every
year is unhealthy while irrigation is nonexistent. The question is, can we
afford to build and equip all these people?

“There is no harvest even with small grains. Resettling these people would
be the best if land was available, otherwise the problem continually goes
unabated,” Madondo said on Friday on the sidelines of the belated Manicaland
World Aids Day commemorations.

At least 50 percent of the district is in natural farming region five, 35
percent in region four and 15 percent is in region three.

Madondo said community emissaries have been frequenting his office weaning
about the impending famine.

“When other districts still have plenty, I have representatives sent to tell
me that the people are hungry,” he said. “Each time you gather people to
talk of other developmental issues, they begin by asking about food.” Chief
Nyashanu said the situation was worsening with each season.

“Three quarters of my people need food aid,” Chief Nyashanu said. “The
situation is becoming worse and worse. Animals are now perishing, and if
they continue to perish we are also finished.”

A Manicaland agricultural expert with an international NGO who declined to
be named, said Buhera should be used for other profitable businesses.

“Even if say, with irrigation, small grains are harvested, the means of
processing them makes it difficult for them to be used as a food source for
the whole family,” the expert said.

“Imagine kukuya zviyo everyday to feed a family of five. The area should
just be converted into a game reserve.” Buhera has a long history of rolling
famines that has left the community heavily reliant on aid from the UN World
Food Programme and government year-in-year-out.

Government has been encouraging villagers to grow small grains like millet,
sorghum and rapoko in dry areas as climate change worsens. - Wendy Muperi

The Africa Leadership Scorecard 2012

Human Development Index
The United Nation’s primary method of measuring development, the Human Development Index is a comparative measure of health, education and income that was introduced in the first Human Development Report in 1990 as an alternative to purely economic assessments of national progress, such as GDP growth. It soon became the most widely accepted and cited measure of its kind, and has been adapted for national use by many countries. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, developing, or under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Health is measured by life expectancy at birth; education or “knowledge” by a combination of the adult literacy rate and school enrolment rates (for primary through university years); and income or standard of living by purchasing-power-adjusted per capita Gross National Income (GNI); GNI includes remittances and foreign assistance income, for example, providing a more accurate economic picture of many developing countries.

Ncube-MDC questions validity of Zimbabwe’s constitutional court