http://news.radiovop.com
13/03/2010
21:33:00
Guruve, March 14, 2010 - In a desperate attempt to restore
productivity at
repossessed farms, the government has recruited some former
white commercial
farmers as "consultants" to assist newly resettled farmers
in Mashonaland
Central Province.
Some new farmers in Guruve confirmed
during a field day at the centre that
they were now getting assistance from
some former white commercial farmers
in the area. In return, the farmers are
allowed to stay at the farm house
and farm a small area around the
farm.
One of the former white commercial farmers, Ian Henderson told
journalists
at a field day that he had been recruited to assist the farmers.
Among other
things, Henderson said he helps the farmers on such farming
techniques as
using organic manure, fighting pests, water harvesting and
other forms of
conservation farming.
Asked for his views about the
government's violent land grab that displaced
him and thousands of other
white commercial farmers, Henderson said the
programme was "coming up very
well".
"The land reform is coming up, it is coming up very well. The new
farmers
are improving by the day," Henderson told journalists on the
sidelines of a
field day to celebrate the success of some 10 000 farmers who
got inputs
assistance from the European Union (EU), through the United
Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
While the government has
also deployed extension workers to the area, it is
understood they are not
very well conversant with the crop production
techniques most suitable for
the area.
A new farmer who took part at the event, speaking on condition
of anonymity,
confirmed that they were being trained by Henderson and other
white farmers
who live in the area.
"Since they started helping us
out, things have greatly improved. Our area
is very tricky in that most of
the time we do not receive adequate rains,
and we do not have irrigation
facilities," said the farmer.
He said the white farmers also work as
advisers to local extension officers,
identified only as Mashange and
Chitate. Guruve, despite being in one of the
country's leading provinces in
terms of crop production, ranks among the
driest areas in
Zimbabwe.
Since 2000, the government has displaced more than 4 000 white
commercial
farmers from their land, a move that is widely blamed for the
perennial food
shortages in the country. The few white farmers that were
initially spared
at the farms are now in trouble as well, as Zanu PF militia
and army
officials, who are wantonly grabbing farms, including conservancies
and
plantations protected under Bilateral Partnership Agreements.
http://www.stuff.co.nz
By JONATHAN MILLMOW - The Dominion
Post
Last updated 05:00 15/03/2010
New Zealand Cricket has pulled
stumps on the scheduled tour of Zimbabwe in
June.
Chief executive
Justin Vaughan confirmed to The Dominion Post last night
that he had advised
Zimbabwe officials of the decision at an International
Cricket Council
meeting in Dubai last week.
Vaughan said NZC considered Zimbabwe as an
unsuitable place to send the
national cricket team but he was open to the
tour being played at a neutral
venue possibly in June 2011.
The
collapse of Zimbabwe's health system and the general unstable
environment
are the primary reasons for the cricket tour's postponement.
"It was a
decision made with the Government but we are looking at other
options like
playing the tour at a neutral venue, most likely South Africa,"
Vaughan
said.
He added that June next year was a possible window for the
rescheduling of
the tour. He said his decision had met with little
resistance from Zimbabwe.
http://www.apanews.net/
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday
called for
unity and political tolerance amid reports of resurgence in
violence in the
countryside.
Tsvangirai is on tour of Zimbabwe's 10 administrative
provinces to explain
his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party's
position on a shaky
coalition government formed with President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU PF in
February 2009.
He condemned incidents of violence
coming from some of the country's rural
areas and called for political
maturity among supporters of both parties.
The Zimbabwean premier
castigated officials who were distributing food
assistance along party lines
amid reports that thousands of hungry villagers
were being denied food
hampers because they belonged to one party or the
other.
The
tolerance call by Tsvangirai comes as Zimbabweans prepare for general
elections next year following the completion of the ongoing
constitution-drafting process.
There are however fears that the
isolated reports of violence could escalate
into nationwide clashes between
ZANU PF and MDC supporters ahead of the
polls.
JN/daj/APA
2010-03-14
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Monday 15 March
2010
HARARE – South African President Jacob Zuma’s mediation team
is expected to
arrive in Zimbabwe today to meet the negotiators of the three
parties to the
September 2008 power-sharing agreement in a bid to end a
power-sharing
dispute holding back their coalition government.
The
three-member delegation arrives a day before Zuma himself jets into the
country for a crucial meeting with President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
Lindiwe Zulu,
spokesperson for the facilitators said they will be arriving
Monday to start
the meetings.
“We are arriving tomorrow (Monday) and start our meetings,”
Zulu said,
although she could not be drawn into commenting whether they will
be able to
finalise all the issues that are outstanding.
Initially,
the delegation was expected yesterday.
Zuma’s trip to Harare will be the
first this year, but will be his second
since he was sworn in as South
African president last year.
Zuma, who controls the region’s biggest
economy and is the Southern African
Development Community (SADC)’s mediator
in Zimbabwe, last visited Harare in
August last year.
The South
African leader is known to favour a fresh vote as early as next
year to end
political stalemate in his northern neighbour.
The 2008 global political
agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the Harare
coalition government in
February 2009 requires Zimbabwe to hold fresh
elections following the
drafting of a new and democratic constitution to
ensure the new vote is free
and fair.
But the constitutional reforms are lagging behind, prompting
suggestions
that the new vote that was initially expected in 2011 might have
to be
delayed to probably 2012 or 2013 – unless Zuma can convince the
Zimbabwean
parties to agree new electoral laws to enable the holding of
elections
before drafting of a new constitution.
Both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai have in recent days urged supporters to prepare
for new elections
with the former, who is empowered to call elections,
adding that Zimbabwe
will have to go to polls whether the constitutional
reform exercise flops or
succeeds.
According to sources Zuma, who is coming to Harare two weeks
after a trip to
London where he failed to convince Premier Gordon Brown to
back his call for
lifting of Western sanctions against Mugabe and his top
allies, will prod
the Zimbabwean parties to speed up resolution of a host of
outstanding
issues from the GPA.
Some of the outstanding issues that
have threatened to destabilise the
coalition government include Mugabe’s
refusal to rescind his unilateral
appointment of two of his top allies to
head Zimbabwe’s central bank and the
attorney general’s
office.
Mugabe has also refused to swear in Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett
as deputy
agriculture minister while the PM’s MDC-T party is also unhappy by
what it
says is selective application of the law to target its activists and
officials.
On the other hand Mugabe’s ZANU PF party, which insists
that it has met all
its obligations under the GPA, accuses Tsvangirai of not
keeping a promise
to lead a campaign for lifting of Western sanctions
against the party’s top
leaders. – ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Sebastian Nyamhangambiri Monday
15 March 2010
HARARE – The visiting president of the Confederation of
German Trade Unions
(DGB) Michael Sommer has said he is “deeply concerned”
by the Zimbabwean
government’s disregard for workers' and human
rights.
“I'm deeply concerned that the situation has shown significant
deterioration
over the past few weeks,” Sommer told journalists at the
weekend as he wound
up his four-day visit to Zimbabwe.
He said he
told Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai – a former trade unionist –
to ensure
that Harare respects trade unionism.
Sommer's remarks come in light of
the reports that General Agriculture and
Plantation Workers’ Union of
Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) leader Gertrude Hambira had
fled the country as police
wanted to arrest her for releasing a video
showing how President Robert
Mugabe’s supporters committed rights abuses and
other crimes against farm
workers.
"This is unacceptable. Freedom of association and trade union
action are
basic rights which must be respected by every decent society,"
said Sommer
who is also the vice president of the International Trade
Union.
"There are still (some) challenges. We'll continue to monitor the
situation
closely of trade unions in Zimbabwe and show practical solidarity
where we
deem necessary."
He said the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) would later this month
discuss Zimbabwe's
situation.
Addressing the same press conference German ambassador to
Zimbabwe Albrecht
Conze said the West was committed to assist the poverty
stricken country if
human rights situation improved.
"I hope positive
signals will prevail over the negative signals.
Unfortunately, that is not
the situation at the moment. Investment from
Germany to Zimbabwe will grow
bigger and faster, the faster the great news
the better. But I'm afraid that
is not the case now," said Conze.
He added that if the new law which
takes majority equity from foreign
investors in Zimbabwe had “scared” German
businesses.
"News that there are indications to revise the regulations is
something that
encourages us. Otherwise, if they remain German investment
will go
elsewhere," he added.
The regulations that came into effect
last Monday give foreign-owned
companies 45 days to submit proposals to the
Indigenisation Ministry on how
they plan to bring on board locals to take 51
percent of their businesses.
The rules have been a source of controversy
and besides dividing the unity
government along party lines, they have
rattled foreign investors who
analysts say may continue to stay away from
the country.
The coalition government of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Mugabe has
been struggling to win donor support from the West, who want
the government
to implement irreversible economic and political
reforms.
Critics fear Mugabe’s ZANU PF wants to press ahead with
transferring
majority ownership of foreign-owned companies as part of a
drive to reward
party loyalists with thriving businesses.
Analysts
say the empowerment programme could see Zimbabwe being shunned by
investors
again who fear a repeat of the land seizures, at a time the new
government
is out to attract to grow an economy that was in decline for ten
years. –
ZimOnline
http://af.reuters.com/
Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:13pm
GMT
MIAMI, March 14 (Reuters) - West Indies wrapped up a 4-1
series win over
Zimbabwe on Sunday with a crushing four wicket victory in
the final game of
the one-day series at Arnos Vale, St
Vincent.
Zimbabwe, who had won the opening game of the series, recovered
from 25-5 to
make 161 all out in their 50 overs with Charles Coventry's
leading the
recovery with his 56.
West Indies skipper Chris Gayle,
knowing the series was already won, again
took a positive approach as he
blasted 63 from 41 balls.
When Gayle departed the home side were well on
their way at 96 for two in
just the 16th over.
Zimbabwe though once
again forced a wobble in the West Indies middle order
with a mini-collapse
bringing the Caribbean team to 104 for five.
But Kieron Pollard and
Denesh Ramdin recaptured the momentum with a bright
partnership of 49 runs
from 34 balls with Pollard particularly aggressive in
his knock of 36 from
20 balls, including three sixes.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/
From a special correspondent
14 March
2010
Issue: 0049
Lecturers in Zimbabwe have been awarded salary
hikes, prompting them to
return to work more than a month after engaging in
a wider civil servant
strike that is still raging. Top-paid academics will
now earn US$800 a
month - up from $290. Only lecturers have been awarded a
pay rise so far,
out of a striking civil servant pool that includes health
workers and
teachers, who continue to take home less than $200 a
month.
In prioritising lecturers, the government appears to have been
jolted into
action by grim figures on the brain drain from Zimbabwe's higher
education
institutions, published recently by the parliamentary committee on
education.
The committee painted a bleak picture of departments at
the University of
Zimbabwe that were hopelessly short of academics. As
University World News
reported, the university required 1,200 academics but
had fewer than 500,
with science departments the worst hit.
Effective
from January this year, the lowest and highest paid academics will
be paid
$200 and $800 respectively. They will also receive a 30% reduction
in
tuition fees and a retention allowance, according to the state-owned
paper
The Herald.
Although lecturer pay remains considerably below the average
$2,000 offered
in the region, this is the first time in close to five years
that Zimbabwe
academics will receive salaries that enable them to pay the
rent and buy
basic foods.
In previous years, lecturers' earnings were
wiped out by world-record
inflation that reached 231 million percent at the
height of a decade-long
economic crisis brought about by poor management and
increasing political
oppression under President Robert
Mugabe.
Inflation was finally solved by the government of national unity
forged in
February 2009 between Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai,
now Prime Minister. The government dumped the Zimbabwean dollar
as legal
tender and adopted the South African Rand and the US dollar as the
medium of
exchange.
The still cash-strapped government is now under
pressure to meet the demands
of other state employees, who want $630 a month
including housing and
accommodation allowances.
In a development
related to the brain drain, legislators have produced
another report
detailing problems in the research sector. The report said
the draft Science
and Technology Innovation Bill of 2007 had been shelved
because of funding
problems.
The report noted the Biotechnology Authority did not have
laboratory
equipment for testing biological material, especially GMOs. As a
result,
some biological resources were being "poached" by other countries.
Further,
the Research Council of Zimbabwe was failing to perform because of
lack of
resources.
"There is need for a certain proportion of export
tax to go towards research
and development. The parliamentary committee
learnt that there is need for
the creation of a conducive environment for
the retention of scientists.
Scientists require laboratories, research
resources and salaries for their
work to be done successfully," the report
said.
Meanwhile, the non-profit Solidarity Student Trust reported that in
the year
to February, flouting of student rights had led to the expulsion of
43
students from higher education institutions, 128 students had been
unlawfully arrested and 124 had been unlawfully detained. The organisation
recorded a total of 313 rights violations involving
students.
Mugabe's failure to observe human rights has seen the European
Union and
United States renew targeted sanctions against him and his inner
circle for
another year.
http://news.radiovop.com
14/03/2010 13:37:00
Harare, March 14,
2010 - Despite being the latest target of attacks and
ridicule by Zanu PF,
exiled media outlets have become the reliable sources
of news after the
closure of vibrant independent newspapers by the previous
Robert Mugabe
government, a media survey by the Zimbabwe All Media Products
Survey (ZAMPS)
has revealed.
According to the poll held in the country's urban areas,
there was a growing
interest by Zimbabweans to listen to such channels as
the Radio Voice of the
People (Radio VOP) Voice of America (VOA)'s Studio 7
and British
Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) in the wake of biased coverage
from the state
controlled Zimbabwe Television.
ZAMPS, a leading
market observer, which surveyed a sample of 2 000 consumers
in each town,
said ZTV's viewer ship rankings had drastically dropped down
in the face of
competition from free-to-air channels.
Radio VOP broadcasts on 11610KHz
on short wave from 6.00 to 7.00 am
everyday. It also runs a 24 hour news
website on www.radiovop.com
Radio
VOP board said at the weekend that it is intending to resume its
evening
programme, which has always been its flagship and a hit, especially
in the
rural areas.
"Plans are afoot to restore our evening programme," said
Radio VOP in a
statement. "We did our own internal research and found out
that the rural
folk listen most to the evening programme, as compared to the
mornings when
they will be busy in the fields or doing other
chores."
Zanu PF under its leader President Robert Mugabe has called for
the ban of
exiled media together with an end of Western sanctions on
Zimbabwe.
The survey also showed that the Prime Minister's newsletter,
published from
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office was enjoying a 11
percent market
share, showing that conventional state media outlets had lost
a great market
share.
Analysts say this is an indication that the
readers are shunning away from
Zanu PF propaganda and the failure by
government to open up the media space
to allow more players in radio,
television and print.
Zanu PF and the two MDCs' agreed in the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) to
open up the airwaves and allow Zimbabwean
journalists abroad to come and
operate from home. Recently President Mugabe,
Prime Minister Tsvangira and
Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara agreed to the
appointment of a nine-member
Zimbabwe Media Commission to among other things
look into the licensing of
new players in both the print and electronic
media.
http://www.zimtelegraph.com/?p=6424
By TAPIWA MAKORE
Published: March 14,
2010
While Zimbabwe celebrates South Africa's world cup hosting with
a profit
mind, there has been no mechanism to make sure that the perceived
profits
owing to the month-long soccer showcase will eventually translate
into
reality considering the payment mechanisms in the
country.
Considering that the country currently does not have
connectivity to
international financial institutions, this then means the
visitors will have
to bring with them bags of cash so that they don't get
stuck.
Concern has been raised about the state of the national payment
systems and
international credit platforms that are supposed to maximise
spending.
The perception on the international source market has continued
to be
negative and will definitely have to be managed if the country is to
gain
anything meaningful with some countries beginning to warn their
citizens
against traveling to the troubled Zimbabwe, fearing they will be
cash
standed.
An advisory that is presently posted on the United
States State Department
has warned against coming to Zimbabwe without enough
cash.
"Zimbabwe has become a cash society, with very few establishments
accepting
international credit or debit cards. All ATMs (automated teller
machines) in
the country are incompatible with international networks and
are unreliable.
"Cheque-cashing facilities are effectively non-existent.
Travelers must
bring adequate cash for their planned visit or wire through
Western Union.
"While there is no set legal limit of the amount of foreign
currency that a
person can carry into Zimbabwe, the maximum foreign currency
that can be
taken out of the country is US$5 000," reads the
advisory.
In reality, only a few financial institutions, mostly
international banks,
have the Visa Card facility and this limits flexibility
by consumers.
American Express also withdrew in August
2009.
Naturally, the hassles of trying to explore different alternative
methods -
that are obviously inconvenient - are enough to discourage
visitors from
opting to use the country as a destination of
choice.
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Engineer Walter Muzembi
said in
a recent interview that the state of payment platforms is the
missing link
as the country angles to reap dividends from tourist
arrivals.
"It is paramount that we have the issue of international credit
and debit
cards solved by the financial services sector, because right now
they are
the missing link.
"Most tourists do not travel with suitcases of
cash; they use plastic money
and unfortunately that service is not available
in Zimbabwe.
"I have been communicating my concerns with the Bankers'
Association of
Zimbabwe and I hope they are doing something about the
matter," said Eng
Muzembi.
It then means the visitors will have to
conduct their transactions via the
internet provided
http://www.mg.co.za/
FANUEL JONGWE | MUTOKO, ZIMBABWE - Mar
14 2010 06:20
Giant yellow loaders whine as they struggle to lift
freshly cut blocks of
black granite, their massive tyres sometimes rolling
backwards as the
vehicles grapple with the weighty stones.
The stone
prized by European designers is found in one of Zimbabwe's poorest
districts, where residents look with envy on the granite that can fetch up
to $600 for a square metre slice.
Black granite was used to create
the Heroes' Acre cemetery for liberation
war leaders in Harare, and is used
for facades of downtown buildings.
But 95% of the the 150 000 tonnes
mined last year was sent overseas, making
it a crucial foreign currency
earner as designers snapped it up to make
tables in posh
hotels.
Meanwhile, in villages near the mine, families struggle to eke
out an
existence on small loamy plots, living in dilapidated houses and
looking up
to the quarry for help.
Employment opportunity
"The
community is impoverished, but I would not say one of the most
impoverished," said Dave van Breda, chief executive of Natural Stones Export
Company.
"It's more well-off because of the quarrying industry which
has created
employment."
He says his company provides seed and
tractors for poor farmers, runs an
ambulance service, builds classrooms and
bathrooms, and offers scholarships
to local students.
"When we had
food shortages, we were feeding around 3 000 families," he
said. "The
situation warranted us to contribute as much as we could even as
we
ourselves were not generating much money."
The Mutoko miners declined
to divulge their earnings. Local villagers
believe the companies are earning
a fortune and want a bigger piece of the
cake.
"They have tried but
it's not enough," said a teacher, who requested not to
be named, at Kowo
primary school where the miners built a classroom block
and new
toilets.
"They must do more than this. Workers from the quarry have
children who
attend school here so the company must must do more. This
school must be
made attractive."
The classrooms have no doors and are
bare except for a few old desks and
chairs.
"The classrooms were
complete with doors but some people came to steal,"
explained Vice Nyamanzi,
a former councillor and now welfare officer for
Natural Stones.
"We
are trying to do our best to help," he said.
'Communities complain
naturally'
Van Breda blames the situation on government rules requiring
proceeds from
the quarries to go to Harare instead of the local district
council.
Last year, he says his company paid $400 000 in royalties to the
government,
but the money does not flow back to the
communities.
"Communities complain naturally," said van Breda. "They say
part of their
heritage is being mined out and not much in terms of
improvements or other
forms of benefits is being ploughed
back."
Nekati Kowo, a 25-year-old villager said granite quarries were
causing more
damage than they were benefitting their host
communities.
"What is being destroyed is more than what we are benefiting
from the
mining," Kowo said.
"The companies only employ a few people
and their trucks and mining
activities cause cracks to develop on our houses
but we don't get
compensation."
Zimbabwe Environmental Law
Association agrees, saying gains for the
community were
negligible.
"Granite miners are mostly interested in black granite," the
association
said in a statement, arguing that royalties from the mine should
be returned
to the local community.
Van Breda said he supports that
effort.
"We and various councillors and traditional leaders and local
politicians
have been lobbying for years to get at least 50 percent of the
royalties
diverted back where the black granite is produced," he
said.
"We just wait and hope some will be done." - AFP
http://www.thepost.ie/
14 March 2010 By Bill Corcoran in Cape
Town
The outcome of a recent assessment carried out by a Kimberley
Process (KP)
Certification Scheme representative on Zimbabwe's controversial
Marange
diamond fields could have serious consequences, not just for the
Zimbabwean
government, but for the watchdog body itself.
Diamond
monitor Abbey Chikane was given the task of inspecting Zimbabwe's
diamond
production and valuation methods to ensure the state-run operations
are
above board and comply fully with KP regulations.
The regulations are
designed to stop conflict diamonds - or 'blood diamonds - which are used by
rebel groups to finance wars, from entering the legitimate precious stones
trade.
''Chikane's appointment as a monitor marks the beginning of a
collaborative
approach to the implementation of the KP minimum requirements,
which should
result in Zimbabwe diamonds being traded legitimately on the
global market,"
a statement released by the KP secretariat in Israel said
earlier this
month.
The Marange diamond fields have been on the
organisation's radar since
2006,when the British company which discovered
the diamond deposits, African
Consolidated Resources (ACR), was sidelined by
the Zimbabwean government.
Shortly after the government takeover,
soldiers sent to guard the fields
allegedly committed widespread atrocities,
including the mass murder of
illegal miners and the use of civilians as
forced labourers.
The World Diamond Council (WDC) has urged that action
be taken to end human
rights abuses at Marange, but late last year, KP
decided to give Zimbabwe's
government until June to comply with its rules,
rather than banning their
diamonds immediately.
The value of the
Marange diamond mines to President Robert Mugabe and his
Zanu PF party,
which control the mines ministry that oversees operations
there, cannot be
overstated because of the party's poor financial situation.
So far this year
two million carats in diamonds have been excavated from
Marange.
Last
year, Zimbabwe's supreme court ordered the government to stop mining
the
fields following a case taken by ACR to win back its mining rights, but
operations have continued despite the order.
Prior to Chikane's
arrival, mines minister Obert Mpofu said Zimbabwe would
sell its Marange
diamonds regardless of the outcome of the KP assessment.
''If the KP is
unsatisfied with our efforts and wants to be difficult,
saying that we have
failed to comply with their requirements, we will not
lose sleep, but rather
we will just pull out and not lose anything," Mpofu
said.
Another
issue hampering the process and undermining the credibility of the
KP is,
according to a founding member, that there is a critical loophole in
the
watchdog body's regulations.
Martin Rapaport told Media Global recently
that the Kimberley Process is
''utterly useless when it comes to dealing
with the situation in Zimb abwe
' ' , because its regulations focus only on
diamonds mined by rebel groups.
In the case of Zimbabwe, the diamonds are
being mined by a government
accused of rights abuses.
A failure by KP
to stamp its authority on the situation would undermine its
position as a
watchdog body in the future.
Following our appeal to President
Zuma to arrange early elections in
The petition reads: ‘We call on the
Security Council to ensure that the next elections in
As we explained to President Zuma,
Vigil supporters believe that the situation in
1.
After a
year of the interim unitary government it is clear that it is making no
progress. If anything it is going
backwards. The Mugabe regime has shown that it is determined to cling to power
and that it will block real change, such as a free media and independent
judiciary, so new elections are the only way forward.
2.
The
situation will steadily deteriorate as long as Mugabe and his gang remain in
power. Finance Minister Tendai Biti has admitted his hoped-for foreign budgetary
aid and external investment will not be realised and, on top of that, the
national exchequer has seen zero benefit from the exploitation of the Chiadzwa
diamond fields.
3.
The Vigil
rejects the argument that lifting or suspending targeted sanctions will make the
Mugabe regime more conciliatory. On the contrary, we are convinced that
appeasing the regime will only encourage it in its intransigence. We believe
that the Mugabe gang fears that any change will lead to their prosecution for
human rights and other abuses and that it is up to
4.
In
particular, Vigil supporters reject the notion that sanctions should be lifted
because they are misrepresented by the Mugabe regime as sanctions against
Zimbabweans in general. We believe the proper answer to Mugabe’s propaganda is
to
Some other
points:
·
We were
glad to be joined again after a long absence by Ben Buckland nam Cameron in full
Scottish regalia, kilt and all, who played the bagpipes to accompany the
national anthem. Ben has a family
connection with
· City and
·
Vigil
supporters were cynical about a video shown on the television in the Embassy
window pontificating hypocritically about saving lions. We felt it was a pity
they did not do more to save the lives of Zimbabweans – and end the rampant
poaching which is wiping out wildlife.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
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FOR THE
RECORD: 191signed the register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR Thurrock & Basildon launch meeting, Saturday 27th March from 1.30 – 6 pm. Venue: Grays
Parish Hall, West Street, Grays RM17 6LL. Contact: Tobokwa Malikongwa
07533660621, Billy Machekano 07765459538,
· Southwark Cathedral’s hymn singing
in solidarity with worshippers in
·
·
Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s
Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue:
The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre,
·
Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans
organised by
Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work placements for qualified
Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html
or contact: zimbabweinternship@cof.org.uk.
·
For Motherland ENT’s
videos of the Vigil
on
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and the Vigil on
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Vigil
Co-ordinators
The
Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27951
March 14, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
BULAWAYO - The ongoing battle for the ownership of the
Matabeleland Zambezi
Water Project (MZWP) has taken a new twist after a
group linked to Zanu-PF
claimed ownership of the project at the
weekend.
Water Resources Minister Samuel Sipepa-Nkomo, of the mainstream
MDC, last
month announced that the government had taken over the water
project.
He said the government would soon start auditing the MZWP
accounts.
The minister said the government had taken over the project for
the purposes
of improving accountability and enhancing the probability of
attracting
international investors.
However, a group calling itself
the Matabeleland Action Group (MAG), chaired
by Zanu-PF deputy commissar and
politburo member, Richard Ndlovu on Saturday
laid claim on the troubled
project.
Ndlovu claimed MAG were there the initiators of the MZWP and
would block the
inclusive government from taking over the
project.
"Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project is the brain child of MAG
and such it
owned by the MAG," he said. "Therefore there cannot be any
unilateral
declaration of the takeover of the project. MAG asserts its
responsibility
and ownership of the MZWP.
"Despite setbacks caused by
hostile economic environment, MAG as the owners
of the project will continue
to promote completion of the project," said
Ndlovu in a statement released
soon after a Zanu-PF provincial meeting at
the party's Bulawayo offices at
Davies Hall at the weekend.
The MZWP, first mooted by the colonial
government back in 1912, involves
three phases.
Phase One envisages
the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam while Phase
Two involves
construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo Pipeline.
Under Phase
Three, a pipeline will be constructed from the Gwayi-Shangani
Dam to the
Zambezi River. It is envisaged that ultimately a 450km pipeline
would supply
water to Bulawayo and create a green belt along its route.
Construction
of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam - expected to provide a reservoir for
the project
- began in September 2004 but has been hampered by lack of
funds.
Successive budgetary allocations for the project either turned
out to be a
drop in the ocean, or were diverted by the Zanu-PF government,
fuelling
perceptions in the region that Matabeleland was being
"marginalised".
Political leaders in the region say the unreliable water
supply has forced
many companies or potential investors either to shun the
area or to relocate
to Harare.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Monday,
March 15, 2010
Municipal Reporter
In a shocking development, Harare
City Council has paid Z$3,1 septillion to
its chief accountant Mr Tendai
Kwenda in settlement of unpaid salaries and
benefits after the parties
failed to agree on a favourable exchange rate.
The payment was for two
months, December 2008 and January 2009.
The ZW$ is now redundant
following the adoption of multi-currencies in
February last year.
Mr
Kwenda was sent on forced leave for the whole of 2008.
An internal
council hearing found him guilty of misconduct but the Labour
Court
dismissed the council decision and ruled that he be reinstated with
full
benefits.
The council agreed to pay Mr Kwenda US$4 700 for January 2008
to November
2008, using the exchange rate at that time. Mr Kwenda was not
paid for
December 2008 and January 2009, as he demanded to be paid US$650
000 arguing
that the exchange rate at that time amounted to that
amount.
Town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi refused to comment on the matter
saying human
resources issues were not discussed in the
Press.
However, sources said management decided to pay Mr Kwenda in the
redundant
Zimbabwe dollars because he had refused to agree on a favourable
exchange
rate.
However, Dr Mahachi had agreed with Mr Kwenda that the
outstanding amount
would be paid. An agreement to that effect was signed on
January 29 2009.
According to a letter to Mr Kwenda from council lawyers
Chihambakwe, Mutizwa
and Partners a Z$ bank account was opened for him at
CBZ head office and the
amount deposited.
"We write to advise you
that an account has been opened in your name at CBZ
head office, and
ZW$3.136,831,988,848,700,000,000,000,00 has been credited.
"Please
contact either Mr M.T Mudondo (treasurer) or Mr P. Zimunya (acting
managing
director) to arrange for the draw down," reads the letter from the
city
lawyers.
Mr Kwenda said he would not accept the "insult from council"
adding he had
instructed his lawyers to attach council property to settle
the debt.
"The city does not have such an amount in the old redundant
account. I
wonder where the town clerk got the funds," he said.
He
said no one in the treasury department had approved the deposit.
Mr
Kwenda had even asked council to pay him with a commercial, residential
and
industrial stand, livestock and vehicles.
However, council reneged on
that deal resulting in the present scenario.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Mutumwa Mawere Monday
15 March 2010
OPINION: We are privileged to live in a world that is
more wired than in any
previous generation.
The digital revolution is
here to stay and any nation that finds itself
excluded from this revolution
faces the risk of suffering from a new form of
poverty ie information
poverty that has more devastating implications on
human development and
growth than biological hunger.
The web has and continues to shake world
politics. The Internet has
unleashed a new toolbox that can easily be used
to bridge the knowledge
divide that has made it easy for undemocratic
regimes to thrive in many
parts of the world.
It is true that the
Internet is a potent weapon against any from of central
control. It inspires
solidarity and challenges and defies old notions of
identity, nationalism
and nation building.
It empowers people to act beyond the confines of
geography or organisational
structure.
Social cohesion is a critical
factor in the enterprise of progressive,
prosperous and sustainable nation
building.
The few of us who are wired and have joined the virtual highway
already
appreciate the power of networking and its role in redrawing the map
of the
world, as we know it.
The virtual revolution provides an
opportunity to people who believe in
acting and yet poses a headache to
those who want to control or engineer
social development.
The genius
of mankind lies in the fabric of life itself and more importantly
in the
embedded social capital.
Africa's politics, culture and society are
shaped by its past with severe
and debilitating limitations imposed by
language, geography and race and
ethnicity.
The relationship between
the state and citizen is critical in determining
the success or failure of
any nation state.
Many virtual communities have been created and
individuals continue to
voluntarily join them and yet in the case of Africa
we observe that many
Africans would rather exit the social contract than be
bound by the
post-colonial social contract that condemns them as an
economically,
socially, cultural and politically powerless indigenous
class.
The state can be a weapon of oppression but the virtual world is
difficult
or impossible to control.
It relies on the goodwill of the
citizens and the explosion of the in the
digital revolution has exposed the
narrowness of concepts like
indigenisation and nationalism in creating
viable social networks whether in
form of nation states or
communities.
Many repressive states have soon discovered that they cannot
arrest the
Internet and that people who are online are free to express
themselves in a
manner that would be considered to be subversive in physical
states.
In the physical world that we line in, it is not unusual for
governments to
want to block or guide the opinions of citizens for nothing
other than pure
political expediency.
The voice of the state is weak
on the Internet and yet the conversations
that take place between Africans
have yet to show a collective maturity in
reinforcing the kind of belief
system that is required for building a
progressive Africa.
The
virtual revolution has given us a new voice that transcends national
borders
but regrettably we have failed to use this power for good.
There is
nothing that stops wired Africans from establishing institutions
that can
serve their needs.
The revolution has the power to redefine our identity
as Africans as well as
reshape our democracy and open new
horizons.
The web does not respect national boundaries but can create a
platform for
greater understanding of the values, beliefs and principles
that should
inform our progress.
What is noticeable, however, is that
the majority of the voices that inform
the conversations on what kind of
Africa we want to see are ruthless and
conniving.
Repressive regimes
are allergic to environments where information is free
and
accessible.
Many Africans have joined the various social networking
platforms that are
on the web without appreciating that the future
architecture of the world is
being framed each day they use this powerful
instrument of human
organisation.
We take for granted the utility of
the web and its role in reshaping the
African story.
Through the web,
we can set up our own preferred countries and decide who to
include and whom
to exclude. The passports and visas are granted by each one
of us.
As
I write this article, I could not help but refer to my space on facebook
that has connections to 3 206 human faces in a total community of 350
million faces that are part of the facebook family.
Imagine that
facebook has 350 million citizens who evidently have elected to
voluntarily
join this family.
If facebook were a country, for instance, it would rank
as the third biggest
nation state.
Such is the nature of building
communities. What is the genius of facebook
that countries like Zimbabwe
that continues to lose people do not have?
As a member of facebook, I am
and should be less concerned about who is the
president or cabinet of the
community than what I can get from sharing with
my online cluster and yet in
real life we define the success or failure of a
country by its
leaders.
The growth of platforms like facebook is pregnant with lessons
to those
among us who believe that to build a progressive nation, central
authority
and control is a pre-requisite.
The online communities
represent an example of how rainbow nations can be
created and exposes the
counterproductive effects of nationalism.
With the facebook family, my
family has only 3 206 as at today and I am
privileged to be part of a
resource that extends to 350 million people.
There is no doubt that if I
had a business idea, I have access to this
resource that would not be
accessible to me.
This revolution has taken only 20 years to produce the
kind of outcomes that
enables us to have access to information and knowledge
that can change
Africa's destiny.
Africa hosts more poor people than
rich people but what is remarkable is
that the digital revolution is already
making an impact on the few Africans
who are wired. We now have platforms
to negotiate our future and also share
experiences.
How can we use
this revolution to advantage? We know its power in terms of
the social
capital that it generates but have yet to connect the link
between social
networks and nation building.
Free societies encourage citizen ownership
and action.
To whom do the online platforms belong? To whom does Africa
belong? I should
like to believe that the online platforms should belong to
users in as much
as Africa should belong to anyone who believes in
Africa.
I have been able to expand my circle of friends beyond the
typically African
face and I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of
people who are
passionate about Africa but have no umbilical connection to
it.
As a member of Africa Heritage Society www.africa-heritage.com and also a
founder of an online community that seeks to invest in a new African
identity www.myafriface.com I
believe that the virtual revolution provides a
window of opportunity to
create our own community that can through visible
projects and programs make
a difference to the heritage of Africa.
What time is it? It is our time
to use the power of technology to bridge
the knowledge divide in Africa and
in so doing the beneficiaries of
ignorance will diminish by the day. -
ZimOnline