Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Panel Quizzes Ministers on Missing MDC Activists

http://www.voanews.com


By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
18 March 2009

Fifteen activists of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai taken into custody late last year by police
remain missing despite recent inquiries by the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee established to resolve outstanding issues following
the formation of Zimbabwe's national unity government last month.

The monitoring committee, known as JOMIC, recently summoned the two
ministers who share control of the Home Affairs Ministry to inquire into the
whereabouts of the activists, who were accused of plotting to overthrow the
former government of President Robert Mugabe but apparently have never been
formally charged with any crime by the authorities.

The release of political prisoners was among the issues not yet resolved
last month when the unity government was finally constituted on Feb. 13,
five months after the signature of the power-sharing agreement providing for
such collaboration by the two formations of the MDC and President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF after disputed elections in March-June 2008.

High-profile prisoners such as Zimbabwe Peace Project Director Jestina
Mukoko, abducted by state security agents in December 2008 and later
produced by police, and Tsvangirai MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett, named deputy
agriculture minister, been released on bail. But a number of less-known MDC
activists and a photo-journalist remain behind bars.

The Home Affairs co-ministers, Kembo Mohadi of ZANU-PF and Giles Mutsekwa of
the Tsvangirai MDC formation were unable to account for the whereabouts and
disposition of the activists, according to sources familiar with the JOMIC
proceedings last week.

However, of 18 activists described as "missing," three were released by
police following the JOMIC meeting with the two ministers, the sources said.

Police are said to have told the Home Affairs ministers they had been
holding the three men in protective custody, but denied any knowledge of the
other 15 activists.

Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma of the
Tsvangirai MDC formation, chairman of the JOMIC panel this month, told
reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the committee is panel is making every effort
to find the missing activists.

'Zimbabwe's public education is in shambles'

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Charles Tembo and Tendai Maronga Thursday 19 March 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's once brilliant public education sector is in a
shambles, with the government unsure how many teachers or pupils were in
schools and without cash to revive the schools or pay teachers.

"Our schools are derelict and we do not have accurate information on
how many teachers are in schools, and the schools have been vandalised,"
Education Minister David Coltart told journalists in Harare on Wednesday.

Coltart said pleas to international donors for cash to pay teachers
had yielded nothing to date - a situation that could trigger a fresh job
boycott by the country's teachers.

Teachers unions said earlier this week that their members would not
report for duty in the second term in May if salaries were not increased
from the US$100 a month every civil servant is currently getting.

"Our entreaties (for money) to donors have failed. Money has not flown
into our coffers yet," said Coltart, a member of the former opposition MDC
party who joined government in February under a power-sharing deal with
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party and the main MDC wing led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

"While we are very concerned with the genuine demands of the teachers,
right now I can not promise anything in terms of salaries," said Coltart,
who appealed to teachers unions to show a spirit of patriotism by delaying
industrial action while the government looks for money for salaries.

Very little learning took place at public schools last year as
teachers spent the better part of the year striking for more pay or sitting
at home because could not afford bus fare to work on their meagre salaries.

As teachers left schools unattended and pupils to their own devices,
hooliganism crept in and buildings at most schools were vandalised with
doors removed and windowpanes broken.

A semblance of order has returned to schools after teachers returned
to work after the government paid them salaries/allowances in hard cash but
staffing levels at some schools remained very low, according to Coltart who
announced a 14-member body to help cobble up a plan to restore Zimbabwe's
schools to their former glory.

The National Education Advisory Board is chaired by Isaiah Sibanda a,
former permanent secretary in the ministry of education, former education
minister Fay Chung, MDC member Trudy Stevenson and Sharayi Chakanyuka.

Union leaders, Tendayi Chikowore from the Zimbabwe Teachers'
Association (ZIMTA) and Takavarasha Zhou from the Progressive Teachers'
Union of Zimbabwe are also members of the advisory board.

The board was tasked to carry out a detailed assessment of the
education system and develop a five-year education plan. It will also
provide advisory services to Coltart.

Zimbabwe's public education system was once highly rated and the envy
of many across Africa but a decade of political crisis and acute recession
left the education in disarray and without resources to maintain or develop
infrastructure.

The economic crisis also inspired a severe brain drain that saw
thousands of skilled professionals, among them teachers and other education
workers fleeing Zimbabwe to go abroad where salaries and living conditions
were better.

The government of national unity is seen as the providing the best
opportunity for Zimbabwe to end its crisis.

But rich Western governments with capacity to fund the unity
government have refused to provide support until they see evidence Mugabe is
committed to genuine power sharing and to implementing comprehensive
political and economic reforms.

Meanwhile Coltart said results for last year's public examinations
should be available by the end of the current school term in April.

Answer sheets had remained unmarked after teachers refused to mark
them because of the paltry allowances they were being paid for the exercise.
UNCEF had to step in with the cash to pay teachers to mark the papers, said
Coltart.

"We should not have high expectations for the quality of the results.
Children were in schools for less hours than expected per year and we had
about 40 percent of teachers in schools. There was massive disruption of the
school calendar last year and this will be reflected in the results," said
Coltart. - Zimonline

Last white Zimbabwean farmers to be evicted

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk

18 March 2009

Zimbabwe's pro-Mugabe attorney general has ordered the eviction and
prosecution of the country's last remaining white commercial farmers.

Johannes Tomana, the country's chief prosecutor, has already faced calls for
his dismissal from opposition supporters after declaring his support for
Robert Mugabe amid fears he will execute his duties in a partisan manner
along political lines.

Invasions of the few last remaining white-owned commercial farms intensified
following the formation of the inclusive government between Mugabe's Zanu-PF
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Analysts and critics say this is an attempt by Mugabe allies to grab as much
land as possible before the MDC can begin to take control in a government
and order the arrest of farm invaders to put a stop to the land invasions.

White commercial farmers evicted since February have had their court appeals
to reclaim their land thrown out by magistrates, and the Commercial Farmers
Union says the state magistrates are taking orders from the attorney
general.

"There is no let up on prosecution of white farmers for alleged occupation
of their farms. Most of the present farmers still on their land have some
form of permission," CFU president Trevor Gifford said.

"However, a recent document issued to all magistrates by the [attorney
general] suggests all white farmers should be summarily found guilty and
evicted if they are not in possession of an official letter or permit and a
land resettlement lease."

Prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai's calls for a stop to farm invasions has
been largely ignored by the Zanu-PF militants and war veterans.

While there is lawlessness, and sometimes violence on the last remaining
commercial farms across Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has not
acted, just as it did over the last ten years.

Indeed, some farm invasions are reportedly being led by police officers, and
members of Zimbabwe's army. The Southern African Development Community
(SADC's) tribunal ruling ordering a stop to farm invasions has also been
ignored.

In his 85th birthday celebrations last month President Mugabe said: "Again,
I want to say to the farmers who owned those farms which now have been
designated... they must vacate those farms. They must vacate the farms.

"Some farmers went to the SADC tribunal, but its nonsense, absolute
nonsense, no one will follow that. We have courts here in this country that
can determine the rights of the people. Our land issue is not subject to the
SADC tribunal."

Invasions of prime farming land by war veterans started in 2000 with the
blessing of President Mugabe. This resulted in agricultural output
plummeting to low levels since the new owners had no farming expertise.

Since then, the nation has survived on imports and handouts from aid
agencies.
© Adfero Ltd

Mugabe reveals human side - could it be a trick?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com

Observers differ over whether Zimbabwe's president is mellowing or up to his
old tricks in a new guise
GEOFFREY YORK HARARE

Globe and Mail Update

March 17, 2009 at 7:56 PM EDT

For many Zimbabweans, it was an astonishing sight. There was President
Robert Mugabe at the bedside of his long-time enemy, and at the funeral of
his rival's wife, expressing what seemed to be genuine sympathy and grief.

It was such a remarkable display - coming from a man who had once denounced
Morgan Tsvangirai as a "traitor" and allowed his thugs to assault the
opposition leader - that it brought a poignant response from Mr.
Tsvangirai's son, Edwin, who said it had "changed my understanding" of the
85-year-old President.

Was it a new Robert Mugabe, finally mellowing with age, finally willing to
reconcile with his old enemies, and perhaps even preparing for his departure
from the political stage?

Or was it just another tactical manoeuvre by a wily old fox, buying time in
a crisis by forging a temporary alliance with the opposition leader in order
to attract financial aid from foreign donors?

It's the biggest question in Zimbabwe these days, and it drives all other
questions. If the donors decide that Mr. Mugabe has genuinely changed into a
conciliator who is slowly giving up power, it could unlock the assistance
and recognition that Mr. Tsvangirai desperately needs to keep alive the new
"unity government."
But if the alliance with the opposition is seen as just a tactical trick, if
Mr. Mugabe has no intention of ceding power or stepping down, the donors
will be much more cautious, and Zimbabweans will be reluctant to trust the
new government in which Mr. Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister.

Few people in the new government are willing to comment publicly on Mr.
Mugabe's future since it touches on sensitive issues about his health - and
since there is always a risk that the President could turn vengeful again.
But privately, most insiders are convinced that this will be the final year
of the long reign of one of Africa's most famous autocrats, the man who has
dominated Zimbabwe since 1980.

Many are convinced that Mr. Mugabe will give up most of his power by the end
of this year, allowing a successor to assume leadership of his long-ruling
ZANU-PF party when it holds its annual conference in December.

He might remain as the national president after this year, some say, but his
job would become increasingly ceremonial. Few expect him to be a candidate
in the next election, likely to be held within two years.

"Our impression is that he is tired and he'd like to step down," said a
senior official of Mr. Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic
Change. "He's frail, and he fades. He'd like to go, but he's scared to let
his guard down."

Rumours abound. Some say Mr. Mugabe is able to work for only two hours a
day. Some say he is ill, with medical conditions that require treatment
abroad. Some say he is forgetful, rambling in interviews, dozing or nearly
falling asleep at functions.

"He is too old to run in the next election," another top MDC member says.
"He has to rest. He has done his bit, and it's time for a new broom. But the
transition has to be smooth - otherwise it could become an ocean of blood."

If it is true that Mr. Mugabe is weary and seeking a safe way to retire, the
new unity government might be his best hope of easing away from power
without any vengeance from his enemies.

"For him, it represents a dignified way out, an honourable exit," said a
veteran journalist in Harare. "He's exhausted and he wants to leave the
political stage, as long as he is assured that nothing will happen to him.
He's not healthy at all; you can see it in him. But the people of Zimbabwe
can be very forgiving."

If he does give up power, of course, his successor might be as ruthless and
authoritarian as Mr. Mugabe himself.

Many analysts suggest that the next leader of ZANU-PF will be the defence
minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa - nicknamed Ngwena, the crocodile - who is one
of Mr. Mugabe's most feared lieutenants. Though he was demoted in previous
power struggles, he has now returned to the most powerful post in the
cabinet.

"Ngwena has spread his tentacles in all crucial sectors," a party source
told an independent newspaper, The Zimbabwean. "He is ready to take over."

But nobody should assume that Mr. Mugabe has made an irrevocable decision to
leave. Despite his health problems, he is still capable of defying all the
pressure to depart. Skeptics are doubtful of his rumoured plan to quit.

"Mugabe will not step down," a long-time human-rights activist in Harare
says. "He can't step down because he knows ZANU-PF would be wiped out. If he
has his way, he will die in power."

Dr Fay Chung backs Dr Simba Makoni

 

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Lance Guma talks to former Education Minister Dr Fay Chung - She backs Dr Simba Makoni   Dr Fay Chung FULL TEXT INTERVIEW - SW Radio Africa Producer/Presenter Lance Guma speaks to former Education Minister Dr Fay Chung, in a wide ranging interview. How does she see the prospects of success for the new coalition government, given the constant violations by ZANU PF? Lance also asks her about the problems rocking Dr Simba Makoni’s Mavambo Movement, which she is part of. Dr Chung explains why she made the decision to support Makoni’s presidential bid last year. Would she ever be tempted to join the MDC? Lance: Hello Zimbabwe and welcome to another edition of Behind the Headlines. My special guest this week is Dr Fay Chung as you will know she is a former Education Minister serving 1988 right up to 1993. Dr Chung thank you for joining us on the programme. Dr Chung: My pleasure. Lance: Right now…the starting point, political developments in Zimbabwe. We have a coalition government that has hit the ground running, what do you think are the prospects of this new arrangement? Is it going to work? Dr Chung: I very much hope that it will work because it will give the country a breathing space. I think all parties have talked about an election in about 2 years time and I think a 2 year breathing space when we have peace and we can recover from some of the drastic suffering…..(inaudible) valued by Zimbabweans as a whole and makes me optimistic and hopeful that this inter-party agreement will work. Lance: Mm this new arrangement obviously has been blighted by what have been described as violations. We’ve seen the detention of people like Roy Bennett, Jestina Mukoko till recently before she was released. Do you think all these are issues that will harm the arrangement? Dr Chung: Well I think they are very unfortunate, because I think it is important for these abducted and detained people to be released as soon as possible. I think that is absolutely essential. But I guess what is happening is each side is flexing its muscles to show they are still in power or they can make a difference and this is what we see. Lance: But obviously Zanu PF has focused on trying to get targeted sanctions removed and they are not doing enough some would argue to convince skeptical western countries that things have changed. For example, I mean why would you be asking for targeted sanctions to be removed while you have Roy Bennett locked up in Mutare jail? I mean what’s the reasoning there. Dr Chung: Yeh, well I think each side is trying to please its constituency to show that they still have power to do what their particular constituency thinks is important. But I do agree with you that the targeted sanctions will remain as long as we have people imprisoned without trial. I think it is essential that these people be released as soon as possible. I don’t see these targeted…ah what are called restrictions; I don’t think they will go away, without some movements being taken along those lines. Lance: Now looking at your C.V, Dr Chung, very impressive in terms of your contribution to Zimbabwe. Minister of National Affairs Employment Generation and Cooperatives, Minister of Education Sport and Culture, Deputy Secretary for Administration in the Ministry of Education Sport and Culture. What is your relationship now that you are in a sense out of Zanu PF, how are you interacting with your former colleagues? Dr Chung. Oh, I am still very friendly with colleagues who are working with me. I think we feel that change is needed at this time. I think if I look at people who were with me in the liberation struggle, who were with me in the early years of the independent government, I still have very good relationships with them. I don’t have any problems with them and they don’t have any problems with me. So I don’t see personal relations as a problem. I think most of them do feel that Zanu PF somehow lost its way over the last decade I think and I think this is a consensus opinion, not just myself but within Zanu PF people, I think people are quite critical of the fact that we have not had succession over the last 10 years when obviously succession was necessary, that we allowed a lot of decay to take place. You know, I mean the cholera is one, the decay of the medical system, the decay of the education system, the closure of so many industries, I think all that is noted by everybody. It’s not a secret; you know it’s staring you in the face. Lance: Last year you were one of the early public supporters of independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni, a decision that maybe surprised a few. Any particular reason you chose to back Dr Makoni? Dr Chung: Oh I thought it was very important to come out with people who are serious about solving the country’s problems in Zimbabwe in a technically sound way. In a way Simba is an extremely brave person to have come out the way he did. And also he is a technocrat, I mean he is a competent person and it was important at our stage of development to say lets look at the problems we facing in the country rather than which party are you and we are going to bash you down if you are the other party. And we are saying no there are solutions and we have to go for the solutions. So I think it was very important to move away from the polarization of the two party system were each side feels….on the Zanu side they say the MDC is a representative of the imperialist forces and from the MDC side they say Mugabe is a dictator and so on, so we have to move from that kind of over-zealous, over simplified and half truths really on both sides to go to find ways to solve the real problems we face and I think Simba is offering that way. Lance: And are you still involved with Simba’s project or you doing something else? Dr Chung: Oh yes I am still heavily involved and in the midst of working out how to form a political party, cause so far we have Zanu PF and the two MDC formations but we feel its important to have another political party which is independent of both and that is what we are in the midst of doing. Lance: In terms of problems that have rocked the Mavambo project. I mean we had retired Major Mbudzi convening a press conference with his colleagues and saying Dr Simba Makoni had been removed at the helm of the organization. Umm how has that matter been resolved so far? Dr Chung: Ah well I don’t think it’s resolved because Mavambo had not yet been formed into a political party so I don’t know how you can remove someone from a non existent political party that’s one problem. I think the other is fighting over resources particularly money and cars. I think Simba is by nature a very cautious person in terms of how money is used, in terms of the regulations Vis a Vis cars. So that is very much the quarrel that he was too slow in forming the party and he was to release the money and cars to people. As you know in Zimbabwe people fight over these cars and I think that is one of the issues we have today. So I think it’s a good thing really that Major Mbudzi and Ibbo Mandaza and others have chosen to leave Simba. Simba on his side is continuing with the formation of the party. So I don’t see..I guess in the end we might have two parties coming out but with Simba we still have the majority of people who followed him through the bid he made to challenge Mugabe and Tsvangirai for the presidency. Lance: Now last year I spoke to former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa, in fact I think it’s this year, and he said the reason why he supported Simba Makoni, it was a rescue operation and they wanted to prevent either Morgan Tsvangirai or Robert Mugabe from winning outright and this is what led to the run-off some are saying. Is that a fair assessment of the role Simba Makoni played because some are saying he acted as a spoiler and created the run-off? Dr Chung: I don’t think he was a spoiler, I don’t believe that at all. I think the issue was that he saw that neither of those two candidates was offering a solution. You know they were kind of organizing against each other mainly on the basis of personality. Up to now you know I think I can say without fear of contradiction that neither Zanu PF nor the MDC have clear long term policies or strategies for improving the situation in this country. And what you hear really is we want a return to what it was like in the 1980’s but I think that is not a proper solution. We can not return to the so-called good times of the 1980’s. I think actually that is a delusion. I think we need some new solutions which neither have come upwards. That is were Simba comes in, to offer a new vision of where we are going to. I think the older generation really harks back to restoring the good times which of course were based on the good inheritance of the Rhodesian days but I think there are problems with the Rhodesian days because the Rhodesia was perfect only for a minority, at that time a white minority. But after independence you had a black minority enjoying all these advantages but the majority of the people were not able to gain very much from either the Rhodesian system or from the post independence system. I mean of course in the education, health, clean water supply they were better off for lets say the first decade or so. But after that even that went backwards you know, health care is gone backwards, education has gone backwards, and off course water supply has ended up in cholera. So I don’t think we have a clear vision of were we go to from those two parties. Lance: Well those two parties as you say are now in a coalition government. Clearly both are eyeing the elections in 2 years if we are to have a new constitution. Who do you think will come out the winner from this, Zanu PF or the MDC? Dr Chung: Well I think if MDC plays its cards well and shows a lot of progress in the two years its future will be very comfortable. So I think it ’s very much up to the MDC to show what it can do in two years. I think if it does not show great progress in the next two years then the kind of doors open for new parties and in fact that’s what I foresee really at the next election we will have more parties than we have now. I can see new candidates coming in. New parties forming because the old parties may not be offering proper answers to the challenges we have. Lance: Would you ever be tempted to join the MDC? Dr Chung: Well I think MDC has a very solid working….the urban working class base and I think it has had very good support from the trade unions. So in that way I do see it as a progressive party. I think because it formed as an opposition to Zanu PF and based on an analysis that the problem is a person, that is Robert Mugabe. It became fairly confused because, you know, it seems very often the policy is if Robert Mugabe is removed all the problems will be solved, so I don’t believe that at all. I think there is much more to be done in Zimbabwe than just removing one person. And I think also kind of focusing on a personality muddies the analysis because I think we have very poor analysis on both sides you know and in some MDC side you kind of hear if we had not done land resettlement we would be okay, that is wrong analysis. From Zanu PF they think that MDC spoilt everything by getting too much support from Britain and America. Well I think that is partially true in that some of the kind of confused messages that we get from MDC is from getting too much support from too many different groups both inside and outside the country. You know there have been very favoured in terms of those internal and external support and I think these different groups have wanted their different messages to be the most dominant ones, you know. Let’ s take the two main groups, the trade unions on the one side and the white commercial farmers on the other side. In a way they are very disparate groups but they are the two groups which are the most prominent in supporting MDC. So I think there certain types of mixed messages which come out. Umm….so your question is would I join MDC, well I think at the present moment I definitely would not. Lance: That was Dr Fay Chung joining us on Behind the Headlines and certainly she has a lot to say on Zimbabwe and we hope to get her again for a part two. Dr Fay Chung, thank you for joining us. SWRadio Africa

Women's Day event set to foster peaceful co-existence

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Simplicious Chirinda Thursday 19 March 2009

HARARE - Zimbabweans will on Friday hold a belated commemoration of
International Women's Day (IWD) at a gathering set to bring together women
from different political parties to promote unity and harmony, a top
government official said on Thursday.

"We are organising a national event where we will invite all women from all
political parties to commemorate the International Women's Day on March 20,"
said Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development
Evelyn Masaiti in Harare yesterday.

Speaking at an event organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights
(ZHLR) and the Zimbabwe Young Women's Network for Peace Building to mark IWD
in the high-density suburb of Mbare, Masaiti said her ministry was preparing
for an event on Friday where supporters of different political parties would
be invited to attend.

The organisers will allow the women to attend the event at the City Sports
Centre fully dressed in the regalia of their different political parties to
promote tolerance and togetherness in a country deeply divided along
political lines.

"We want all the women in Zimbabwe to come to this event in their different
party regalia as a way of fostering peaceful co-existence despite coming
from different political parties," said Masaiti.

"We even want those in religion, the judiciary, academia or any other
profession to come in their professional regalia."

A major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social
achievements of women IWD is celebrated on March 8 every year.

Friday's event will mark the first real attempt by Zimbabwe's new unity
government at bringing together people from different political parties at a
national event to promote peace and harmony in the country following violent
elections last year.

Human rights groups, churches and the country's political leadership have
said that Zimbabwe needs national healing to promote peace and harmony after
a decade of gross human rights abuses and politically motivated violence
left the country deeply scarred and polarised.

Politically motivated violence and murder have accompanied elections in
Zimbabwe since the 1999 emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) as the first real threat to President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF
party's decades-long hold on power.

The country witnessed some of the worst political violence and torture after
a March parliamentary election last year that was won by the MDC while the
party's leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a parallel presidential
poll but with fewer votes to avoid a second run-off ballot.

In a bid to ensure Mugabe regained the upper hand in the second round vote,
ZANU PF militia, war veterans and state security agents unleashed an orgy of
violence and terror across the country, especially in rural areas many of
which virtually became no-go areas for the opposition.

Tsvangirai later withdrew from the June 27 run-off election because of
violence that left about 200 of his supporters dead, leaving Mugabe to win
uncontested in a ballot that African observers denounced as a shame and
Western governments refused to recognise.

A power sharing agreement was signed on September 15 to stop the bloodshed,
leading to the formation of an inclusive government last month and a
committee of senior ministers set up to begin the process of national
healing and reconciliation.

Incidents of political violence have also resurfaced in some rural areas of
the country such as Buhera, Prime Minister Tsvangirai's home area where
houses were torched last week despite recent calls for an end to violence by
both Mugabe and Tsvangirai. - ZimOnline

International Women’s Day Celebrations In the Eyes of A Zimbabwean Woman

13 March 2009

As we join the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day (8/3), I find it vital that I spare time to reflect on its meaning in the context of a Zimbabwean woman. More so, given that in Zimbabwe, women make up 52% of the total population.

Since the Zimbabwean Government promulgated and adopted the Zimbabwean National Gender Policy in March 2004, expectations were high that this would usher in a new era in addressing gender inequality in Zimbabwe. I recall, back then, attending some women empowerment workshops run by the then, UN funded, Women In Politics and Decision Making Project (WIPDM), where discussions centered around the suggestions that women had better rise above political party affiliations and vote for any female Parliamentary candidates.

Most women were and are still of the perspective that upon juxtaposing the male and female leadership and management styles, the woman’s is much more ‘careful and concrete’. The woman, being a mama, is generally warm, kind, and caring. Of cause this is not to necessarily shield the hard hearted careless and reckless women in our communities, who are also known to abuse their offices. They do exist and should not find cover from the discussions surrounding gender inequality.

It was partly against the background and thinking outlined that, back then, some Zanu pf women like Joyce Mujuru, and Flora Bhuka among others bounced back as Parliamentarians. These women were contesting against males from other political parties and possibly won most of their votes from the woman. This assertion does not necessarily imply that the writer is dismissing all the violence and intimidation that accompanied these Zanu pf women’s election campaigns.

And then to follow, was the ascendancy of Mujuru taking up one of the Vice Presidential portfolios for Zimbabwe.

With the ascendancy of Mujuru onto the Vice Presidential tower, expectations were high that she would act with the then Minister for Gender issues, Oppah Muchinguri to champion women’s issues. Endless issues which include; health, food security, gender violence.

And the woman had also wrongly assumed that the occupation by Flora Bhuka in her previous Ministerial land portfolio in the President’s Office would result in capable single women easily acquiring farms too.

Noted is that despite the elevation of some women into political decision making positions, they have done very little if any to champion and address the problems bedeviling the Zimbabwean woman at grass root level.

All these female incumbents to the Ministerial portfolios opted to prioritize their beauty and advancement of their wardrobes. They did this at the expense of the advancement of the welfare of the vulnerable woman who placed them into office through her voting power. And in fact what makes the gender discussions in Zimbabwe a mockery is that the majority of the people especially those at grass root level do not even know that Zimbabwe has a National Gender Policy Document.

The woman at grass root level is not consulted on most of the issues concerning her, yet from time to time we have heard women claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Zimbabwean women. Most Zimbabwean female leaders have manipulated the plight of the vulnerable Zimbabwean woman, in sourcing donor funding or in advancing their popularity. Their failure to plough back through alleviating the plight of these vulnerable women is very frustrating.

This leads us to the question; is it necessarily the number of women occupying political decision making positions which matters when it comes to championing women’s issues, or it is more to do with how these few will place their priorities and how they will liaise with the other relevant stakeholders such as WOZA?

With these questions in our minds, as Zimbabwean women we wait to see whether or not the new crop of female Ministers under the new Government of National Unity has the commitment, will and zeal to champion our issues, something the female Zanu pf Ministers dismally failed to do.

Posted by Britavoice at 10:18 PM

As Cholera Epidemic Continues, Zimbabwe Government Sets Water Summit

http://www.voanews.com

By Patience Rusere
Washington
18 March 2009

With an eight-month-old cholera epidemic slowing but far from extinguished,
the government of Zimbabwe has called a summit on water Friday in Bulawayo
to focus attention on delivery of clean water as the most critical component
of a strategy to vanquish the disease.

The one-day summit will assemble officials of the five-week-old national
unity government, civil society organizations, engineering companies, and
international donors.

Public health experts say the restoration of water systems in cities, towns
and rural areas is indispensable for halting the spread of cholera.

The World Health Organization said authorities had recorded a cumulative
91,265 cases since August 2008 resulting in the deaths of 4,030 people
through Monday.

Health experts say recent weekly data have sketched a decelerating trend in
the appearance of new cases - but 287 new cases and 11 more deaths were
recorded March 16.

Spokesman Fambai Ngirande of the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organizations said water contamination is the the root cause of the
epidemic, therefore making clean water widely available to Zimbabwean
households is the key to stopping it.

But AU should isolate all oppressive rulers

http://www.businessday.co.za

18 March 2009

FOR all its numerous and well-documented shortcomings, the
African Union (AU) has been consistently correct in its policy towards coups
d'état on the continent: it refuses to recognise any government formed
through military intervention, even if the ousted party has failed to live
up to basic democratic standards.

That is the right approach - even though it gives entirely
undeserved protection to tyrants such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and
Equatorial Guinea's Obiang Nguema - because any endorsement of
unconstitutional regime change is bound to be the thin end of the wedge.
Coup leaders seldom make good on promises to hold elections and hand over
power to civilians, and the instability caused by the violent overthrow of
one administration encourages others to resort to similar undemocratic means
of unseating unpopular leaders in future.

The trouble with the AU's stance is that it does not back it up
by using other means to isolate African leaders who rig elections, suppress
legitimate dissent and treat the national treasury like a personal piggy
bank. This not only gives people such as Mugabe a sense of impunity, but
ultimately encourages the very military solution the AU ostensibly seeks to
avoid.

The situation in Madagascar at present is a case in point:
President Marc Ravalomanana, who surrendered power to the army yesterday,
was helped into power by the AU after disputed elections in 2002, when his
predecessor was threatening to use the military to remain in office against
the wishes of the people. However, having helped prevent a coup by making
clear that the resulting administration would not be recognised on the
continent, the AU then sat on its hands while Ravalomanana proceeded to
misgovern Madagascar and take an increasingly hard line on the resulting
dissent, culminating in the presidential guard opening fire on demonstrators
in February, killing 28.

A period of instability is now inevitable, and even if free
elections are eventually held, a precedent will have been set that is likely
to haunt Madagascar for decades to come.

Shocking legacy

http://www.moneyweb.co.za

It's very early days and a mountain of decay, corruption and plain thievery
stands in the path but the feeling of hope continues to grow.

Cathy Buckle*
18 March 2009 00:51

Its been a month now since Zimbabwe's unity government took office and this
seems an appropriate point to record the changes that are affecting everyday
life.

The economy is now running completely on US dollars and the prices of most
goods are still two, three or sometimes even four times more expensive than
in our neighbouring countries. But, on the positive side, more and more
shops have got products back on their shelves so at least now we can find
food - even if we can't afford most of it! Basic economic rules of supply
and demand and competition are coming back into play and forcing the
outrageous profiteers to back down. Seeing shelves stocked with food is such
a shock that we still stand and stare wide-eyed at the sight of tins and
packets and bottles. For such a long time we've been scavenging, scrounging,
bartering and just going without that seeing food for sale again makes us
realize the terrible abuse that was inflicted upon us by the previous
leadership.

Another positive development has come for civil servants who have begun
receiving a small monthly salary in US dollars, and a top up in Zimbabwe
dollars. Frankly the top up in Zim dollars is a waste of time and utterly
useless as there is nothing at all that you can buy in local currency - not
even a single banana or cup of ground nuts from a woman on the roadside. The
US dollar amounts being paid to civil servants is nowhere near enough, is
not linked to people's qualifications and is not comparable to salaries
being paid for the same work in the region, but it is a start.

I had to visit a Police station recently and seeing the appalling
circumstances under which these men and women have to work is truly
shocking. Ceilings falling in, broken tables, chairs collapsing and without
backs, no stationery, nowhere for people to sit, doors falling out of their
frames, roadways almost unusable because of deep gullies and potholes. This
situation is similar in almost all government buildings and is another
shocking legacy left by the previous leadership.

In the last month utilities, licences and other urban service fees have gone
through the roof and despite our paying in US dollars no changes are yet
noticeable on the ground. Garbage is still not being collected (its been a
year now) roads are a maze of deep potholes, street lights still don't work
and sewage continues to run openly in some streets. Water and waste
management is in a perilous place and the handing back of assets, tools,
chemicals and other equipment by ZINWA (controlled by government) to the
local municipalities has opened a writhing can of worms. Water pumps have
gone missing, chemicals have vanished and assets which actually belong to
the ratepayers, have simply disappeared. We are told by the incoming MDC
officials that legal action is being taken and that people will be held to
account. This promise is a breath of fresh air but actions speak louder than
words!

It's very early days and a mountain of decay, corruption and plain thievery
stands in the path but the feeling of hope continues to grow. Change must
come from the top, the middle and the bottom; we're ready at the bottom!

©Copyright cathy buckle 16th March 2009

JAG open letter forum - No. 610 - Dated 18 March 2009

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject
line.

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the JAG mailing list, please email:
jag@mango.zw with subject line "subscribe" or "unsubscribe".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  Jailbirds United

Hello Jag

From being in the fast track to eviction and conviction, we now seem to
be on the slow road to nowhere. We keep going to court, and from first
day being hurry- hurry, two hours to find a lawyer, now we spend the
whole morning waiting.

We get shuffled from one court room to another, the magistrate has a
problem with his Zesa at home and cant get to work....and when we
eventually have a place to be convicted (or not) everyone is so tired
that not only does our police officer fall asleep, but the Chief Witness
falls asleep, and the Chief prosecutor stops writing our lawyers
deposition out to have a little snooze.  Yes she did have a lot to say,
but she had waited a very long time, and she was getting really irritated
with the situation, and the situation warranted a lot to say,
particularly as she did not want to seem frivolous and vexatious, and had
to produce good examples of how other people were not considered
frivolous and vexatious in the past.

Meanwhile those of us in the Front Row get to have long meetings under
the Indaba Tree outside the courthouse, coffee and sarmies, and
reacquaint ourselves with old friends.

But let those in the backline be aware, that when the Front row
collapses, the back line get tackled....word is that the Chosen Few who
can continue farming, are warned not to be around us.  But then this
always was like a communicable disease.  It is noticeable that those who
are in the backline of farming, have never played rugby.

Best wishes

JAILBIRDS UNITED.

Blood, land and sanctions - part 3

[Parts 1 & 2 were published in https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/mar5_2009.html#Z21 ]

http://www.independent.co.ug

Wednesday, 11 March 2009 09:21 By Mahmood Mamdani

In this four-part series, renowned Ugandan scholar Professor Mahmood Mamdani
examines the historical causes of Zimbabwe's crisis

What land reform has meant or may come to mean for Zimbabwe's economy is
still hotly disputed. Recently there have been signs that scholarly opinion
is shifting. A study by Ian Scoones of Sussex University's Institute of
Development Studies - in collaboration with the Programme for Land and
Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape - challenges
some of the conventional wisdom in media and academic circles within and
beyond Zimbabwe.

The problem with this wisdom is that certain highly destructive aspects of
reform - coercion; corruption and incompetence; cronyism in the
redistribution of land; lack of funds and an absence of agricultural
activity - have come to stand for the whole process. In particular, Scoones
identifies five myths: that land reform has been a total failure; that its
beneficiaries have been largely political cronies; that there is no new
investment in the new settlements; that agriculture is in ruins; and that
the rural economy has collapsed. Researchers at PLAAS have been quick to
point out that over the past eight years small-scale farmers 'have been
particularly robust in weathering Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil,
as well as drought'. Ben Cousins, the director of PLAAS and one of the most
astute South African analysts of agrarian change - who had previously argued
that the land reform would destroy agricultural production - now says that
the future of Zimbabwe lies in providing small farmers with subsidies so
that food security can be achieved. According to researchers at the African
Institute for Agrarian Studies in Harare, new farms need to receive
subsidised maize seed and fertiliser for a few seasons before achieving full
production. Some might give up during this period, but not many - partly
because the land tenure system doesn't allow land sales; only land permits
or leases can be acquired.

Zimbabwe has seen the greatest transfer of property in southern Africa since
colonisation and it has all happened extremely rapidly. Eighty per cent of
the 4000 white farmers were expropriated; most of them stayed in Zimbabwe.
Redistribution revolutionised property-holding, adding more than a hundred
thousand small owners to the base of the property pyramid. In social and
economic - if not political - terms, this was a democratic revolution. But
there was a heavy price to pay.

The first casualty was the rule of law, already tenuous by 1986. When
international donors pressured the regime in the run-up to the parliamentary
elections of 2000 by suspending aid and loans - a boycott favoured by the
MDC and the unions - the government simply fixed the result in its favour.
In the violence that followed, more than a hundred people died, including
six white farmers and 11 black farm labourers. Some of the violence was
government-sponsored and most of it state-sanctioned. The judiciary was
reshaped, local institutions in rural areas narrowly politicised, and laws
were passed which granted local agencies the powers necessary to crush
opponents of land reform. Denouncing his adversaries in the trade unions and
NGOs as servants of the old white ruling class, Mugabe authorised the
militias and state security agencies to hound down opposition, as repression
and reform went hand in hand. In 2003, the leading independent newspaper,
the Daily News, was shut down. While jubilant government supporters
applauded the sweep of the revolution in agrarian areas, the opposition
denounced the repression that accompanied it. Land reform had been ruthless,
but in 2004, the violence began to abate. There was noticeably less violence
surrounding the parliamentary elections of 2005.

In retrospect, it is striking how little turmoil accompanied this massive
social change. The explanation lies in the participation of key rural
figures in ad hoc but officially sanctioned land committees. When first
introduced in 1996, these committees had mixed fortunes, some not
functioning at all, others becoming instruments of this or that group of
squatters. But a radical change occurred in 2000, when the committees were
expanded to include centrally appointed security officials, ruling party
representatives and local government personnel, as well as local veterans
and traditional leaders. Charged with implementing fast-track land reform,
these committees sidelined the old local administrative structures. They
also had a national impact, since they reported to similarly constituted
provincial committees, which in turn reported to the Ministry of Local
Government. It was the infusion of veterans that gave the new
semi-bureaucratic committees the edge over their wholly bureaucratic
counterparts. Local committees usually comprised between 15 and 30 members.
The veterans formed 'base camps' represented by 'committees of seven' which
took the lead in identifying land for acquisition as well as finding
prospective beneficiaries (mostly from veterans' waiting lists and rosters
in former 'communal areas'). They also judged disputes, punished petty
criminals and allocated farm equipment, seeds and so on. In a word, the
committees co-ordinated everything, thus constituting new centres of power.

The second casualty of the reform was farm labourers. There were about
300,000 in all, around half of them part-time. Fast-track reform resulted in
a massive displacement of these workers, who were traditionally drawn from
migrant labour. Nearly a fifth came from neighbouring states and were
regarded with suspicion by peasants in communal areas; even if they'd been
born locally, they were often seen as foreigners and denied citizenship
rights. Migrants and women (many employed as casual labour) were the weakest
links in the rural mobilisation for land reform. Many were thought to have
been encouraged by landowners to vote against the government's
constitutional proposals, and the anti-land-reform lobby certainly tried to
organise farm workers, ostensibly to protect their jobs, but really to
protect the white ownership of farms. When the workers rallied by the MDC,
civil society activists and white farmers clashed with veteran-led
occupiers, they came off badly. Occupiers held meetings to explain to
workers what was at stake and eventually came themselves to distinguish
between white farms, not only on the basis of size, proximity to communal
areas, and the amount of unused land, but also on the basis of the farmer's
attitudes, particularly on race and towards his workers, and whether he had
participated in the counter-insurgency during the independence struggle.

Some of the 150,000 full-time farm workers threw in their lot with the
occupiers, though usually not on the farms where they had been employed.
About 90,000 kept their jobs on sugar and tea estates, and on new or already
established tobacco and horticulture farms. About 8000 were granted land,
but most were denied it on the grounds that they or their elders had come
from foreign countries, though some were given citizenship. Many went from
steady employment to contract or casual work; many others were forced to
supplement their meagre incomes through fishing, petty trading, theft and
prostitution.

The best publicised casualties of the land reform movement were the urban
poor who hoped to benefit from extending land invasions to urban areas. The
veterans spearheaded occupations of urban residential land in 2000-1.
Housing co-operatives and other associations followed their lead and set up
'illegal' residential or business sites. But the state feared that it would
lose control over towns to the MDC if the land reform movement was allowed
to spread and met these occupations with stiff repression, including
Operation Restore Order/ Murambatsvina, a surprise military-style
intervention in 2005 in which tens of thousands of families were evicted.
Not surprisingly, those who opposed land reform in rural areas were the
strongest critics of government efforts to stifle occupations in urban
areas.

The final casualty was food production: Zimbabwe, once a food surplus
country, is today deficient in both foreign exchange and food. In 2002-3,
half the population depended on food aid: this was a drought year and the
figures improved in 2004-5. The UN now estimates that nearly half the
country's 13.3 million inhabitants will once again be dependent on food aid
in 2009, after another drought year. A million of these are poor, urban
residents who can't afford imported food. The rest are peasants, most of
them hit by drought. Climate change is clearly a factor here, its role most
obvious in marginal land: the communal areas worked by millions of small
farmers. A 2002 World Food Programme study noted that there had been three
droughts in Zimbabwe since 1982 and that the 2002 drought, which also
affected several neighbouring countries in Southern Africa, was the worst in
20 years. The WFP estimated that 12.8 million people in the region would
require assistance as a result of that drought and that in Zimbabwe alone,
overall production would decline by 25 per cent, with cereal production down
57 per cent and maize, the staple in the diet of ordinary Zimbabweans, down
by a devastating two-thirds.

To separate out the effect of drought and that of reform - and thus to
understand how land reform has hit production - one needs first to
distinguish between three groups of agricultural producer: local white
farmers, who were the target of the land reform; peasants with farms in
communal areas; and foreign corporations, whose large farms (except for
small tracts of unused land) remain intact. Harry Oppenheimer, for example,
lost most of his private land, but his firm, Anglo American, kept its sugar
estates, which it then sold to Tongaat Hulett, a South African firm with
15,000 hectares in Zimbabwe. In a nutshell, white commercial farmers focused
on export crops, whereas communal farmers were the major source of food
security. The production of tobacco, hitherto the main source of foreign
exchange, is concentrated in large-scale commercial farms; it has seen the
most severe decline, almost entirely as a result of land reform. Maize and
cotton are peasant crops and have not really been directly affected by land
reform, but have suffered badly from prolonged drought - maize production
was down by 90 per cent between 2000 and 2003. In contrast, the production
of crops - sugar, tea, coffee - grown mainly by the large corporate
plantations has remained steady.

Mahmood Mamdani is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government in the departments
of anthropology, political science and international affairs at Columbia
University. This article first appeared in the London Review of Books; it is
published by The Independent with his permission.

Blood, land and sanctions - part 4

http://www.independent.co.ug/

Wednesday, 18 March 2009 08:22 By Mahmood Mamdani
This is the last of a four-part series in which renowned Ugandan scholar
Professor Mahmood Mamdani examines the historical causes of Zimbabwe's
crisis.

Besides drought and reform, there is a third cause of declining production:
the targeted donor boycott. Zimbabwe has been the target of Western
sanctions twice in the last 50 years: once after UDI in 1965 (very 'soft'
sanctions, which did not stop the country becoming the second most
industrialised in sub-Saharan Africa by the mid-1970s) and again after
Zimbabwe's entry into the Congo war in August 1998. Zimbabwe's involvement
in the war was not well received in the West. Participants in the donor
conference for Zimbabwe that year were decidedly lukewarm about committing
funds. Britain announced a review of arms sales to Zimbabwe and, after the
conference, again disclaimed any responsibility for funding land reform.

The following year the IMF suspended lending to Zimbabwe, while the US and
the UK decided to fund the labour movement, led by the ZCTU, first to oppose
constitutional change and then to launch the MDC as a full-fledged
opposition party. Its enemies have claimed that, by the late 1990s, the ZCTU
was dependent on foreign sources for two-thirds of its income. Once
'fast-track' land reform began in 2000, the Western donor community shut the
door on Zimbabwe.

The sanctions regime, led by the US and Britain, was elaborate, tested
during the first Iraq war and then against Iran. In 2001 Jesse Helms,
previously a supporter of UDI, sponsored the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery bill (another sponsor was Hillary Clinton) and it became law in
December that year. Part of the act was a formal injunction on US officials
in international financial institutions to 'oppose and vote against any
extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit or guarantee to
the government of Zimbabwe'. In autumn 2001 the IMF had declared Zimbabwe
'ineligible to use the general resources of the IMF' and removed it from the
list of countries that could borrow from its Poverty and Growth Facility. In
2002, it issued a formal declaration of non-co-operation with Zimbabwe and
suspended all technical assistance. The US legislation also authorised Bush
to fund 'an independent and free press and electronic media in Zimbabwe' and
to allocate six million dollars for 'democracy and governance programmes'.
This was fighting talk, Cold War vintage. The normative language of
sanctions focuses less on the issues that prompted them in the first place -
Zimbabwe's intervention in the Congo war and the introduction of fast-track
reform - than on the need for 'good governance'. In citing the absence of
this as a reason for its imposition of sanctions in 2002, the EU violated
Article 98 of the Cotonou Agreement, which requires that disputes between
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU be resolved by the
joint EU-ACP Council of Ministers.

Clearly, the old paradigm of sanctions - isolation - has given way to a more
interventionist model, which combines punishment of the regime with
subsidies for the opposition. So-called 'smart' sanctions are intended to
target the government and its key supporters. In 2002, the US, Britain and
the EU began freezing the assets of state officials and imposing travel
bans. Only four days after the EU imposed sanctions, the US expanded the
list of targeted individuals to include prominent businessmen and even
church leaders, such as the pro-regime Anglican bishop, Nolbert Kunonga.

Nonetheless, sanctions mainly affect the lives of ordinary people. Gideon
Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, wrote recently that the
country's foreign exchange reserves had declined from $830 million,
representing three months' import cover in 1996, to less than one month's
cover by 2006. Total foreign payments arrears increased from $109 million at
the end of 1999 to $2.5 billion at the end of 2006. Foreign direct
investment had shrunk from $444.3 million in 1998 to $50 million in 2006.
Donor support, even to sectors vital to popular welfare, such as health and
education, was at an all-time low. Danish support for the health sector,
$29.7 million in 2000, was suspended. Swedish support for education was also
suspended. The US issued travel warnings, blocked food aid during the heyday
of land reform and opposed Zimbabwe's application to the Global Fund to
Fight Aids - the country has the fourth highest infection rate in the world.
Though it was renewed in 2005, the Zimbabwe grant is meagre. Agriculture has
been affected too: scale matters, but no one disputes that subsidies are
vital for agriculture to be sustainable, and sanctions have made it more
difficult to put a proper credit regime in place.

Despite the EU's imposition of sanctions in the run-up to the parliamentary
elections of 2002, Mugabe polled 56.2 per cent of the vote against Morgan
Tsvangirai of the MDC's 42 per cent. There were widespread allegations of
Zanu-PF violence and last-minute gerrymandering, with polling stations in
urban areas - Tsvangirai's electoral base - closing early and extra stations
being set up in rural areas, where Mugabe's support was assured.
Nonetheless, it was clear that support for Zanu-PF was higher than in the
pre-fast-track elections of 2000. Bush and Blair refused to recognise the
outcome, but Namibia, Nigeria and the South African observer team, which had
monitored the elections, concluded that the result was legitimate. Whatever
the truth of the matter, the Africans could do little in the face of
mounting Western pressure, from Britain especially: a three-member panel of
Commonwealth countries - Australia, Nigeria and South Africa - was convened
to consider the question of Zimbabwe. There were reports of intense pressure
from Tony Blair on Thabo Mbeki. The panel suspended Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth for a year. Zimbabwe withdrew from the organisation.

The experience of land reform in Zimbabwe has set alarm bells ringing in
South Africa and all the former settler colonies where land shortage is
still an issue. In South Africa especially, the upheaval and bitterness felt
in Zimbabwe seems to suggest that the 'Malaysian path' to peaceful
redistribution and development is not inevitable. An anxious South Africa
and less powerful members of the Southern Africa Development Community tend
to feel that sanctions, along with other destabilising policies pursued by
the West against Zimbabwe, have only made matters worse. SADC states have
long tried to reconcile the need to resist Western influence with the fact
that they serve as a bridge between Africa and the wealthy Western
economies, but South Africa's non-confrontational policy vis-à-vis Mugabe -
which Mbeki pursued despite mounting criticism from the ANC and the unions
in South Africa - along with its provision of fuel and electricity to its
northern neighbour, set it at odds with Western governments. South Africa
and the SADC states describe their approach as one of 'non- interference',
'stabilisation' and 'quiet diplomacy', but the West sees it as a deliberate
effort to undermine sanctions, and critics in South Africa - most recently
Mandela - have found the Mbeki line much too conciliatory.

In 2007, SADC called for an end to sanctions against Zimbabwe and
international support for a post-land-reform recovery programme, but earlier
this year Western countries brought their influence to bear on key SADC
members - Botswana and Zambia - to split the organisation. Ian Khama, the
president of Botswana, went so far as to announce publicly that he would not
recognise the results of the 2008 elections. The pressure on SADC came not
only from Western countries, but from trade-union movements in the region,
in particular Cosatu of South Africa, which has strong links with the ZCTU.
Here is another striking aspect of the current Zimbabwe crisis: it is not
just Western and pro- Western governments that have joined the sanctions
regime, but many activists and intellectuals, for the most part
progressives, have aligned themselves with distant or long-standing enemies
in an effort to dislodge an authoritarian government clinging to power on
the basis of historic grievances about the colonial theft of land. Symbolic
of this was the refusal by Cosatu-affiliated unions to unload a cargo of
Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe when the An Yue Jiang sailed into Durban
in April.

The arguments, which are not new, turn on questions of nationalism and
democracy, pitting champions of national sovereignty and state nationalism
against advocates of civil society and internationalism. One group accuses
the other of authoritarianism and self-righteous intolerance; it replies
that its critics are wallowing in donor largesse. Nationalists speak of a
historical racism that has merely migrated from government to civil society
with the end of colonial rule, while civil society activists speak of an
'exhausted' nationalism, determined to feed on old injustices. This fierce
disagreement is symptomatic of the deep divide between urban and rural
Zimbabwe. Nationalists have been able to withstand civil society-based
opposition, reinforced by Western sanctions, because they are supported by
large numbers of peasants. The tussle between these groups has even greater
poignancy in former settler colonies than it had a generation earlier in
former colonies north of the Limpopo, for the simple reason that the central
legacy of settler colonialism - the land question - remained unresolved and
explosive after independence. Southern African leaders have tried, with some
success, to put out the fires in Zimbabwe before they spread beyond its
borders. It is worth noting that the agreement between Zanu-PF and the MDC
signed in September and brokered by Mbeki accepts land redistribution as
irreversible and registers disagreement only over how it was carried out; it
also holds Britain responsible for compensating white farmers. In the wake
of Mbeki's resignation as president of South Africa it is vital that this
agreement remains in place. Few doubt that this is the hour of reckoning for
former settler colonies. The increasing number of land invasions in KwaZulu
Natal, and the violence that has accompanied them, indicate that the clock
is ticking.

Mahmood Mamdani is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government in the departments
of anthropology, political science and international affairs at Columbia
University. This article first appeared in the London Review of Books; it is
published by The Independent with his permission.

Richer than Bill Gates without any effort

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13569

March 17, 2009

By Sibangani Sibanda

TOWARDS the end of last year, I wrote about an investment that I had made
that was yielding at rates that I doubt have ever been seen anywhere else in
the world.

An investment of some sixty seven million in mid-October turned into nine
hundred and fifty quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars by the beginning of December
2008. In just under two months I had become a billionaire, then a
trillionaire, then a quadrillionaire! Had Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono not intervened, I was very close to becoming a quintillionaire!

Not even Bill Gates can challenge that!

Gono did intervene and effectively shut down the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
whose unbelievable "Bull run" was responsible for the yields that my
investment was enjoying. Rather than withdrawing my investment, and getting
a cheque to put in the bank from which I could not withdraw, I decided to
leave my quadrillions where they were until the fate of the Zimbabwean
bourse was decided. It was.

Earlier this year, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange started to trade again - in
hard currency.

Last week, having allowed a decent period for the new trading to take shape,
I inquired about the fate of my considerable fortune. My investment was
still intact, I was told, much to my relief. It had even been converted into
United States dollars! Staying calm, in spite of my sweating palms, I asked
how much it was worth. Well, replied the very pleasant sounding lady at the
other end of the line, I had something in excess of sixteen thousand units
in my investment (in unit trusts), and these were now worth all of three
American Dollars and some change.

The rest of my fortune is still sitting in the bank not worth taking because
I cannot buy anything with it! It is worth a few hundred thousand Zimbabwe
dollars - after the removal of the many zeroes by our Reserve Bank
governor - but in reality, is worth less than discarded old newspapers which
can be useful as wrappers and, in desperate circumstances, toilet tissue.

It strikes me that after many years of working, I am down to my last three
dollars and have to put away any thoughts of retirement any time soon! I am
in the same position as a school leaver just coming into the world of work
with nothing. But I have a lot less energy!

Of course, I have been pinning my hopes on the vow by our new unity
government's Finance Minister that he would "save" the Zimbabwe Dollar. He
has been strangely silent on the matter since then. The government seems
more concerned with assuring civil servants - many of whom are, in my view
at least partly responsible for the mess we find ourselves in by their
inefficiencies and rampant corruption - that they will get paid salaries in
hard currency, which the government does not have, but is hoping to get from
international aid agencies!

The rest of us can do what we can to earn money in the new liberalized
environment - without any Capital!

Gono, on the other hand is still Reserve Bank Governor - no doubt earning
hard currency - in spite of his disastrous monetary policies being widely
held responsible for the melt-down of our economy and the demise of our
dollar. And in spite of his many quasi-fiscal policies that disbursed money
with little accountability, his new "bosses" - those from the MDC side at
least - seem unable to do anything to keep him in check.

New Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara's utterances about reviewing Gono's
monetary policies and Patrick Chinamasa's budget were met with an arrogant
rebuff that seems to have sent the deputy PM whimpering to a corner to lick
his wounds. New Finance Minister Biti is reported to be unhappy working with
Gono, but, it seems to me that Gono is all he has.

There are others, with even less energy than I have, and without even the
three American dollars that I have who are unable to "Jingirisa" (Do
whatever it takes to survive) like many of us are having to. They can only
watch as supermarkets , some of which are now open twenty four hours, fill
up with luxuries they cannot buy. Their lot is to wait for death by curable
diseases because they cannot afford medical treatment, or by starvation
because they cannot afford to buy food.

Many of them suffered beatings and torture because they dared to hope for a
better life for themselves and their children. They must now wonder what
that was all about.

UK House of Lords Zimbabwe debate

http://www.nehandaradio.com/blog/?p=503

House of Lords
Monday
16 March 2009
Zimbabwe
Question

Asked By Lord Blaker

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of recent
developments in Zimbabwe.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, we are ready, with other donors, to support
the new Government when we see demonstrable commitment to reform. Tendai
Biti's appointment as Minister of Finance is a positive development, and an
IMF mission this month provides an opportunity for constructive dialogue.
However, major concerns remain about commitment to democracy, respect for
human rights and the rule of law. Of course, our thoughts are with Morgan
Tsvangirai after the tragic loss of his wife.

Lord Blaker: My Lords, I am sure that the whole House will agree with what
the noble Lord has just said about Tsvangirai's wife. Were not specific
commitments made in the Memorandum of Understanding between political
parties in Zimbabwe? Does not Mugabe's party continue flagrantly to breach
those commitments? Does not the memorandum also say that implementation of
the global political agreement,

"shall be underwritten and guaranteed by the Facilitator, SADC and the AU"?

Is not the facilitator Thabo Mbeki?

Is the Minister aware of any censure by the guarantors over those continuing
breaches or, given the expectation by SADC members that the UK will provide
funding for Zimbabwe, have we been given any indication by SADC and the
African Union of measures that they intend to adopt to make good their
guarantee?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, as I indicated in my original Answer, there
are one or two developments that give some cause for optimism, but progress
is very slow, as the noble Lord indicated. That is why the British
Government are extremely guarded in our response to developments in
Zimbabwe. The noble Lord is right that there is a role that Thabo Mbeki is
to play in monitoring the development of and encouraging the restoration of
those features which I have indicated in terms of the rule of law and the
return to democracy. We wait and see. At this stage, it would be premature
to reach judgments, but the noble Lord is right to raise the issue. We must
be watchful of what are very limited developments in Zimbabwe at present.

Lord Acton: My Lords, are the Government satisfied that the money they give
Zimbabwe via United Nations agencies is allocated as it should be? Is there
monitoring that is independent of the United Nations of the distribution of
such international funds?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the House is pleased to see my noble friend
back, and I am encouraged by this question. The position of the British
Government with regard to aid in Zimbabwe is that aid is concentrated on
food aid under the United Nations programme and on concern about the health
and welfare of the people of Zimbabwe, particularly given the background of
the recent cholera epidemic. Those are both priorities to which
international support is being given. Although there is always a difficulty
about monitoring certain flows of funds, the international community and the
British Government have a great interest in ensuring that the two main
issues in Zimbabwe-food and the restoration of some degree of public
health-are priorities that can be monitored.

Baroness D'Souza: My Lords-

Lord Avebury: My Lords-

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My
Lords, can we hear from the Cross Benches first and then the noble Lord?

Baroness D'Souza: Thank you, my Lords. More specifically, the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee was set up by SADC to oversee the
power-sharing agreement between ZANU-PF and the MDC. Never has its work been
more desperately needed than now. I heard last week a first-hand account
stating that this committee does not have the resources to do its work. Can
pressure be brought to bear on SADC countries, or are the Government
themselves prepared, to supply the committee with the resources it needs to
do this job?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the SADC commitment was entered into
voluntarily and the Prime Minister, of course, is responsible for seeing it
through. We are concerned about this monitoring position. The question of
whether there are sufficient resources also relates to the extent of the
will to monitor effectively. It is still early days to reach judgments on
that matter, but the noble Baroness is quite right to identify it as a key
element, because this was the assurance given as regards underpinning the
development of the new arrangements in Zimbabwe.

Lord Avebury: My Lords, I should like to be associated with the condolences
expressed by the Minister on the tragic loss of Mr Tsvangirai's wife. While
I note the Zimbabwean Government's declaration of the principles that have
to be satisfied, does the Minister agree that the best way of restoring
confidence in the international financial institutions would be for them to
comply with the specific requirements of the constitution as amended,
including full consultation before the appointment of senior government
officials, such as the governor of the bank, Gideon Gono, and the
Attorney-General, Mr Tomana? Can the noble Lord assure the House that he has
specific proposals on these matters, particularly on the release of the 40
political detainees, to place before the G20 when it meets in the near
future?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, Zimbabwe remains an important issue for the
international community. Therefore, I have no doubt that these issues will
be discussed. Tardy progress has been made towards the development of the
principles upon which the Government should be founded that the noble Lord
identified. He is right to express anxiety about appointments, as I have
indicated, but one or two developments and appointments, including the
swearing into office of Mr Bennett who has been freed from prison, offer
some limited encouragement. We have to be patient in circumstances where
quite a significant transition of this Government needs to occur.

Makedenge's wife commits suicide

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13582

March 18, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - The wife of Chief Superintendent Chrispen Makedenge, one of the
most dreaded police officers in Zimbabwe, committed suicide Monday
reportedly over serious marital problems with her husband.

Sources within the police say Makedenge, who is in charge of Harare's
Criminal Investigations Department (CID) homicide section, had been having
endless disputes with his wife. She allegedly took poison on Sunday evening.

Mrs Makedenge was employed by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM).
She is said to have been a frequent visitor to Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates where she bought goods for resale in Harare.

"She took poison on Sunday evening and was rushed by Makedenge to the
Avenues Clinic for treatment," said a source on condition of anonymity, "She
died at midnight on Monday."

Makedenge has been associated over the years with the arrest of opposition
politicians, journalists and human rights activists.

He is the chief architect of last year's abductions on 32 Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and human rights activists who included a couple
with its two year old child.

The abductees, some of whom have since been released, were seized from
different places in Harare and surrounding towns on allegations of
attempting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's government through
banditry.

Some of his victims, who include Jestina Mukoko, the Zimbabwe Peace Project
director, are now nursing permanent injuries as a result of weeks of torture
while in secret captivity.

Makedenge, whose normal duty is to investigate crimes involving murder
including suicide cases, was also the investigating officer in MDC secretary
general Tendai Biti's treason case.

Biti was in June last year subjected to both physical torture and
intermittent interrogation by the police which lasted long hours.

Makedenge is also feared by his subordinates some of whom he routinely
accused of supporting the MDC.

For this, Makedenge has been rewarded with new vehicles that had been placed
at their disposal, an unlimited fuel of supply and permanent bookings in
various hotels throughout the country.

He has also been allocated a commercial farm in the agriculturally rich
Banket farming area.

He benefited immensely from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's farm
mechanisation programme.

Talk at the bar

Comment from The Globe and Mail (Canada), 16 March

Geoffrey York

Harare - The debate over the fate of Zimbabwe's new government rages nightly
at the Quill Club, a dingy drinking establishment in downtown Harare where
local journalists hang out. The giant head of an African buffalo is mounted
on the wall above a pool table and a bar where Amos the bartender pours
frothy mugs of Lion beer. As the night wears on, the Zimbabwean journalists
argue heatedly with a former colleague who is now a top official of the
Movement for Democratic Change. Jameson Timba, an ex-journalist who has
become the MDC deputy minister of media and information, sits at a table
with a beer in front of him, listening to his journalist friends accusing
the new government of not doing enough for press freedom. Mr. Timba vows
that the new government will take steps to free the tightly controlled state
media. Within 100 days of its inauguration last month, all banned newspapers
will reopen, and the government will call for licence applications for
independent radio and television stations, he says. He admits it's an uphill
struggle.

Zimbabwe today has only one daily newspaper and one television network, and
both are propaganda organs for the Zanu PF party of President Robert Mugabe.
The daily newspaper, The Herald, is slightly less biased than before - it
actually gives some coverage to MDC cabinet ministers these days - but a
report last week by an independent media-monitoring agency concluded that
Mr. Mugabe's party still has a "stranglehold" on the state media. Mr. Timba
says he is convinced that the new government will succeed in liberalizing
the state media. And if there is resistance from the bosses of the state
media? "They will be fired," he says. So far, however, the new government
has been reluctant to fire anyone. There has to be a "soft landing" for the
leaders of the old regime to avoid the bloodbath of civil war, Mr. Timba
says. Veteran journalists here are not persuaded by Mr. Timba's claim that
the state media are becoming more balanced. "It's a small shift, and very
begrudging," says Bornwell Chakaodze, a former editor of The Herald who is
now a columnist at an independent weekly. "By and large they are still Zanu
PF mouthpieces," he says. "There's a little opening up, but no change in
mindset. The MDC ministers are covered in The Herald when they reinforce
Zanu PF policies. When they criticize those policies, they are completely
ignored or relegated to the inside pages. The change doesn't seem to be
happening as fast as it should."

Goodness gracious me

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=1883&cat=1

'Flash out corrupt leaders'

By Fidelis Munyoro

FIRST LADY Amai Grace Mugabe yesterday urged Government to investigate and
flash out corrupt leaders, saying vice had destroyed the country and
retarded economic development.

She said there have been several reports of corruption, which need to be
investigated.

"Wealth is not for the leadership, the economy should not be in the hands of
President Mugabe alone.

"There is no smoke without fire. Investigations should be done. We have to
ask ourselves about all these things we hear about corruption. Corruption
has killed the country.''

Some people, she said, thought if they occupy high positions they have a
passport to amass wealth for themselves at the expense of the majority.

She urged Zimbabweans to emulate President Mugabe's character that
demonstrates a true and honest revolutionary leader with people at heart.