http://www.newzimbabwe.com
22/03/2011 00:00:00
by Lebo
Nkatazo
A KEY vote for a new Speaker of Parliament was postponed on
Tuesday after
the sitting of the House of Assembly was indefinitely
suspended.
MPs are expected to choose a Speaker at the next sitting after
Lovemore Moyo’s
2008 election was nullified by the Supreme Court on March
10.
The Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma cancelled a scheduled sitting of
Parliament on Tuesday pending the announcement of a date for the election of
Speaker, but was immediately criticised by the MDC-T.
“The
constitution, standing orders and Supreme Court ruling oblige us to go
back
to the beginning to procedurally and lawfully fill the vacancy in the
office
of Speaker created by the dissolution of Parliament at the beginning
of
2008,” Zvoma said.
“Accordingly, I as Clerk of Parliament duly mandated
to comply with
provisions of the constitution and Standing orders, do hereby
announce that
the election of the Speaker will take place on a future date
to be announced
in due course.”
Zvoma said there would be no further
parliamentary business until a new
Speaker was elected in line with the
constitution.
He added that decisions made by Moyo during his time as
Speaker remain valid
“for legal and other consequences”.
Moyo, who is
chairman of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
was kicked out
of the Speaker’s chair when the Supreme Court ruled his
election had
breached secret ballot rules.
Six MPs, including Moyo, had displayed their
filled ballot papers to the
party’s parliamentary leadership against
rules.
The MDC-T has since said Moyo will run again, while Zanu PF is
thought to be
considering Simon Khaya Moyo.
Reacting to Zvoma's move,
the MDC-T said its MPs "will proceed to Parliament
in spite of a unilateral
cancellation of Parliament by Austin Zvoma, a Zanu
PF
functionary".
"Zanu PF is scared of the vote for Speaker because of
factionalism and
divisions in that party. The people’s party of excellence,
MDC, is united
and ready to win the vote together with other progressive
members of
parliament across the political divide."
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Mar 22, 2011,
15:48 GMT
Harare - There were chaotic scenes in Zimbabwe's parliament on
Tuesday after
the election of a speaker was cancelled.
Legislators
chanted slogans and sang after the cancellation was announced by
the clerk
of parliament, Austin Zvoma.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) said
it would take Zvoma to court over his
unilateral decision.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court nullified the
election of speaker
Lovemore Moyo from 2008. Moyo is an ally of Tsvangirai
and the first speaker
from outside President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF since
Zimbabwe's independence
in 1980.
MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti,
the coalition government's minister of
finance, said Zvoma had become 'a
willing appendage' of ZANU PF.
Parliament had only reopened on Tuesday
after adjourning last month. Zvoma
said there would be no further business
of the house until of the election
of a speaker, the date for which will be
set by Mugabe.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
22
March 2011
ZANU PF MPs on Tuesday walked out of Parliament, after the MDC
displayed a
united front over the election of a new Speaker of the
House.
MPs were meant to vote for a new speaker during Tuesday’s sitting,
after the
Supreme Court’s shock decision to set aside the August 2008
election of
MDC-T candidate Lovemore Moyo to the position. But the vote did
not go
ahead, after a chaotic sitting, which saw the factionalised MDC come
together to support Moyo as the nominated candidate for the
role.
ZANU PF’s Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, had first thing
Tuesday morning
announced that the vote would be deferred indefinitely,
claiming that ZANU
PF was not prepared for the poll. The MDC-T almost
immediately stated that
its MPs would proceed to Parliament, regardless of
Zvoma’s announcement,
staying it was ready to win the Speakers
vote.
“ZANU PF is scared of the vote for Speaker because of factionalism
and
divisions in that party. The people’s party of excellence, the MDC, is
united and ready to win the vote together with other progressive members of
parliament across the political divide,” the MDC-T said in a
statement.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa reported that MPs
from all
three parties in the coalition government, ZANU PF, MDC-T and the
smaller
MDC faction now led by Welshman Ncube, arrived at Parliament for the
vote on
Tuesday afternoon. He explained that support for Moyo as the
nominated
Speaker was evident, with MDC MPs all chanting his name as he
walked into
the House.
Surprisingly, MDC-N leader Ncube and his
predecessor, Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara, appeared to put their
differences aside for the purpose of
the vote, walking into parliament
hand-in-hand. Ncube and Mutambara have
been fighting for several weeks after
Ncube took over leadership of the
party, with Robert Mugabe refusing to
swear him in to Mutambara’s position
as Deputy Prime Minister.
But it
appeared Tuesday that Mugabe’s favouring of Mutambara did not go
according
to ZANU PF’s plan, with Ncube and Mutambara showing their united
support for
the MDC-T’s elected Speaker candidate. Muchemwa explained that
this united
MDC front saw MPs cheering wildly and the ZANU PF reaction was
to walk out
of the House.
“The MDC-T realised that they had a large majority of
support with all the
MDC members ready to vote for their Speaker. So ZANU PF
MPs just walked
out,” Muchemwa said.
But the Speaker vote did not
proceed, and the MDC-T has threatened to seek
the intervention of the High
Court to force the vote to go ahead.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
William Hague has warned
that autocratic leaders including Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe could be shaken
and even toppled by a wave of popular uprisings
rippling out from north
Africa.
James Kirkup
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent 5:25PM
GMT 22 Mar 2011
The Foreign Secretary said that recent revolts against
authoritarian leaders
in countries including Libya and Egypt will have a
greater historic
significance than the 9/11 attacks on the US or the recent
financial crisis.
Mr Hague stopped short of threatening military
intervention against other
dictators, but warned that they will inevitably
face “judgment” for
oppressing their people and suppressing
democracy.
In a speech to business leaders in London, Mr Hague said that
the examples
being set in north Africa and the Middle East will ultimately
transform the
relationship between governments and their
populations.
“We are only in the early stages of what is happening in
North Africa and
the Middle East. It is already set to overtake the 2008
financial crisis and
9/11 as the most important development of the early
21st century,” he said.
"Inspiring scenes of people taking the future of
their countries into their
own hands will ignite greater demands for good
governance and political
reform elsewhere in the world, including in Asia
and in Africa."
In what will be seen as warning to Western allies
including Saudi Arabia, Mr
Hague added that the spreading demand for more
representative government is
likely to bring “some degree of political
change in all countries in the
Arab world.”
Repressive African
regimes will also face challenges from their populations
and from the
international community, the Foreign Secretary said: “Demands
for freedom
will spread, and that undemocratic governments elsewhere should
take
heed.”
He added: “Governments that use violence to stop democratic
development will
not earn themselves respite forever. They will pay an
increasingly high
price for actions which they can no longer hide from the
world with ease,
and will find themselves on the wrong side of
history.”
Britain, the US and France have said that members of the
Gaddafi regime in
Libya could face war crimes trials for atrocities against
civilians.
“At a time of such hope and optimism in the Middle East, we
cannot let the
Libyan government violate every principle of international
law and human
rights with impunity,” Mr Hague said, suggesting that other
African leaders
could also face international legal
tribunals.
“Governments that block the aspirations of their people, that
steal or are
corrupt, that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of
expression and
human rights should bear in mind that they will find it
increasingly hard to
escape the judgement of their own people, or where
warranted, the reach of
international law,” he said.
Mr Hague named
African leaders including Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe
since
1980.
The Zimbabwean security forces “continue to act with impunity,
ramping up
intimidation in order to instil fear in its opponents and to
prevent the
people of Zimbabwe from expressing their democratic voice,” Mr
Hague said.
He also named Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire, who has
refused to concede
that he lost last year’s presidential election, and is
“sanctioning attacks
on defenceless civilians in a desperate attempt to
cling illegitimately to
power”.
Despite repression in some countries,
Mr Hague said that Africa now stands
at a “turning point” that could lead to
economic growth and political reform
benefiting millions of people.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
22 March
2011
Robert Mugabe on Monday blasted western countries imposing a ‘no fly
zone’
to protect civilians in Libya as ‘bloody vampires.’
"There is
no reneging on the resolution anymore, it's there, it’s a mistake
we
made...we should have never given the West (the go ahead) knowing they’re
bloody vampires of the past all this room to go for our people in Africa and
try to displace a regime,” Mugabe said after a meeting with Chinese Vice
Premier, Wang Qoshan.
Mugabe accused the West of double standards,
saying they were only
interested in Libya’s oil. He said the West was
interpreting the UN
resolution to mean permission ‘to bombard any places of
their own choice in
Libya.’
But the United Nations had the support of
the Arab League when it passed a
resolution to impose a ‘no-fly zone’ over
Libya, after Gaddafi forces began
re-taking rebel held towns, vowing to go
door-to-door in search of the
so-called ‘traitors.’ Although Mugabe is
attacking the West, a crucial point
is that it was Gaddafi’s peers, the Arab
League, who called for the
intervention.
Debate has now shifted to
whether the no-fly mandate should be extended from
merely protecting
civilians, to including the removal of Gaddafi. Such talk
has worried
dictators in many countries.
There is now a growing chorus of voices
suggesting the MDC seek United
Nations help in resolving the political
crisis in Zimbabwe, rather than
relying on SADC and the African Union (AU).
Unlike the Arab league SADC has
bent over backwards for Mugabe and
accommodated his repressive regime.
But several UN resolutions on
Zimbabwe by the UN have been blocked by a
combination of South Africa and
China in the past, and despite analysts hope
that the UN is the most potent
organization to deal with Mugabe, it’s almost
certain South Africa would
continue to block any action or resolutions.
HRD’s
Alert
22 March 2011
Mutare
Magistrate Nixon Mangoti on Tuesday
22 March 2011 acquitted nine Rooftop artists and their driver, who were charged
with criminal nuisance after staging a theatre performance
entitled “Rituals” in Chimanimani, Manicaland
Province.
Magistrate
Mangoti
acquitted the nine Rooftop artists and their driver at the close of the State
case after the artists’ lawyers Blessing
Nyamaropa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Cosmas
Chibaya of
Chibaya and Associates applied for discharge at the close of the State
case.
State
prosecutor Fletcher Karombe had led
evidence from three witnesses since trial commenced on 17 March
2011.
In acquitting the
Rooftop artists, Magistrate Mangoti ruled that the State had not led
any
evidence that a reasonable court could convict the
artists.
The Rooftop artists
namely, Sylvanos Mudzvova, Chipo Bizure, Joice Mpofu, Zenzo Nyathi, Mandla Moyo, Rutendo Chigudu, Amina Lloyd Ayamu, Joshua Mwase, Norman Kamema and the driver Shingirai Muto were arrested on 5
January 2011 at Nhedziwa Growth Point in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province and
were detained at Cashel Valley Police station.
They were charged
with contravening Section
46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act as read with Section 2 (a)
(ii) of the third schedule to Section 46 of the said Act that is criminal
nuisance.
The
police
accused them of unlawfully holding a public performance, where they performed a
drama reminiscent of the political disturbances of June 2008 that incited the
affected members of the public to revive their differences.
ENDS
http://www.radiovop.com/
22/03/2011 14:18:00
Harare, March 22,
2011 - Air Zimbabwe pilots on Tuesday went on strike to
protest against the
non payment of their allowances.
The pilots downed tools on Tuesday
morning and assembled at a car park at
the national airline’s headquarters
at Harare International Airport.
Informed sources told Radio VOP that the
pilots had resorted to the
industrial action to demand payment of their
outstanding allowances, which
haven’t been paid since last year despite
promises by management which
undertook to clear the outstanding
payments.
“The airline owes us a lot. They haven’t fulfilled their pledge
to pay us in
full. So this is the only language that they can understand,”
said a source.
The strike action resulted in the cancellation of an Air
Zimbabwe flight to
Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.
Air Zimbabwe
board chairperson Jonathan Kadzura confirmed the strike and
said the
national airline had done nothing so far to avert or end the
industrial
action because it had no money to pay the pilots.
“It is the same old
thing. Money, that I don’t have,” said Kadzura when
reached for a comment by
Radio VOP on Tuesday. Air Zimbabwe pilots went on
strike last September
demanding payment of their allowances.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
12:21
By Nduduzo Tshuma in Bulawayo
Water Resources Management and
Development minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has
condemned poor working
conditions and abuse of employees by a Chinese
contractor, China Nanchang,
working on the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane dams link
pipeline.
This follows
the death of one of the workers, Charles Moyo, in an accident
two weeks ago
and complaints by some of the workers that company officials
in charge of
the project were abusive.
Moyo died on the spot when the walls of a 10
metre-deep pipeline caved in on
him and five other colleagues while laying
pipes.
Sipepa, who visited the deceased’s family last Thursday in the
company of
the permanent secretary in the ministry, Ringson Chitsiko,
presented $1 000
to the family to cover funeral expenses.
Moyo’s
colleagues yesterday told NewsDay the company exposed them to
dangerous
working conditions and made them work without protective clothing.
“At
times we do rock-blasting without any form of protective clothing. Some
even
work without shoes.A number have sustained cuts on their hands from
carrying
fragments of rocks with bare hands while others have sustained
various
injuries because we are not given any form of protective clothing,”
said one
of the workers who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The company’s 46
employees alleged they were paid $4 per day and were
sometimes forced to
work on weekends without overtime allowances.
The workers said they were
made to travel more than 10km to work on foot.
They also accused the
contractor of deducting money from salaries of those
who attended Moyo’s
funeral wake last week.
“We did not sign any formal contracts and if the
contractor decides to stop
us from working, they just tell you to stop
coming to work,” said Tapson
Nyathi, one of the workers.
He said one
of the Chinese nationals at the site was abusive and at one time
kicked a
driver for refusing to follow his orders.
“The problem is that these
people do not understand our language and they
give instructions, some of
which are unreasonable and they expect us to
follow them. One day a crane
driver refused to lay pipes as the crane had
its hydraulics damaged and one
of the Chinese contractors kicked him
accusing him of failing to do his
job,” said Nyathi.
“The driver had to turn back to avoid further attack
by the Chinese,” he
said.
Nkomo said the abuse of the workers was
unacceptable.
“We cannot allow these members of the contractors to abuse
the locals. I am
going to talk with the head contractor so that this stops
otherwise those
who abuse the workers will have to leave the site,” he
said.
He also suggested that the workers form a union that would present
their
grievances to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority’s Umzingwane
catchment
manager Tommy Rosen.
No comment could be obtained from the
Chinese contractor at the time of
going to print - Newsday
http://www.voanews.com/
With the
government keeping international and non-governmental partners at
arm’s
length over their alleged politicization of food, sources say ordinary
Zimbabweans may end up suffering as Harare is ill-prepared
Sandra
Nyaira | Washington 21 March 2011
Agricultural and food experts have
been voicing concern for some time about
the impact of a recent drought on
Zimbabwe's soon-to-begin maize harvest,
but new information suggests the
food-security impact could be much greater
than previously
thought.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said Monday that the provinces
of
Manicaland, metropolitan Bulawayo were being added to those of
Matabeleland
South, Matabeleland North, Midlands and Masvingo as facing
critical food
shortages.
Observers said Harare could need up to
US$300 million to meet food
requirements if it turns to the international
marketplace to meet national
food requirements, particularly in light of
steep increases in grain prices
over the past year.
With elements of
Zimbabwe's national unity government keeping traditional
international and
non-governmental partners at arm’s length over their
alleged politicization
of food, sources said ordinary Zimbabweans may end up
suffering as Harare is
ill-prepared.
The government has said that things look worse on the
ground than its recent
crop and food assessment suggested. The Cabinet has
instructed the
state-controlled Grain Marketing Board to start sending grain
to the
affected areas.
But experts said the GMB has not held
significant reserves for some time and
will not be able to meet food needs.
The agency says it will be selling a
50-kilogram grain bag for US$16 in some
areas - out of reach for many
cash-poor rural and urban
dwellers.
Dadirayi Chikwengo, chairwoman of the National Association of
Non-Governmental Organizations, told VOA reporter Sandra Nyaira that the
food situation is dire.
Chikwengo said the Zimbabwean government must
work with traditional partners
to conduct a new assessment and allow such
partners to help feed the
vulnerable.
Economist John Robertson says
Zimbabwe could have avoided food security
problems if most of the farms
seized under land reform had been put under
crops this year.
"We've
had poor weather in parts of the country but if crops had been grown
in the
first place, we would have reasonable crops today," said Robertson.
"But
very little of the land is planted and we see very little activity on
the
land that was taken through the land reform process," he said.
http://www.voanews.com
The
Matabeleland Liberation Front has called for a separate Matabele state,
and
while the Abammeli Human Rights Network says it does not necessarily
share
this view it believes everyone deserves legal representation
Sithandekile
Mhlanga | Washington 21 March 2011
A group of attorneys who broke
away from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights to form the Abammeli Human
Rights Network said Monday that they have
officially begun to represent
three members of the Matabeleland Liberation
Front facing treason
charges.
Members of the Abammeli Human Rights Network, which taps
prominent
Matabeleland lawyers, say they broke away from the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for
Human Rights last week after the latter organization said the
Liberation
Front's views were too radical.
The Matabeleland
Liberation Front has called for the creation of a separate
Matabele state.
An Abammeli Human Rights Network spokesman said the group
does not
necessarily share those views, but believes that everyone deserves
legal
representation.
A Bulawayo High Court judge Monday postponed ruling on
bail for the three
defendants: John Gazi, Thomas Gumbo, and former
presidential candidate Paul
Siwela.
Abammeli lawyer Kucaca Phulu told
VOA reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga that the
case has drawn much attention in
the region and the High Court was packed on
Monday.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
by Irene
Madongo
22 March 2011
Residents in Harare are demanding action to be
taken against Local
Government Minister Ignatious Chombo, for firing two
councillors who were
part of a committee investigating corruption claims
against him.
Last week Monday Chombo reportedly dismissed MDC-T
councillors Warship Dumba
and Casper Takura, accusing them of fraud and
mismanagement of council
funds. But Dumba and Takura were part of a special
committee formed to
investigate the theft of property in Borrowdale and
Avondale, which
implicated Chombo and businessman Phillip
Chiyangwa.
On Tuesday, Combined Harare Residents Association chairman
Simbarashe Moyo,
said they are fed up with the Minister abusing his power
and want to
finalise their course of action against him at an upcoming
meeting. Strike
action will not be ruled out, and they also want to approach
the Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to intervene, Moyo said.
“We are
going to explore several options in trying to expose this kind of
heavy
handedness by the Minister,” Moyo said.
“What is left for us is to make
as much noise as possible. We are going to
go a step up to mount pressure on
the Minister, to mount pressure on the
Prime Minister even so that, if
possible, he should rein in on his
Ministers,” Moyo added. “It has reached a
level whereby to ignore it will be
actually dangerous, not [just] to the
person ignoring it, but even to
everyone in the country.”
It’s been
reported that Chombo’s deputy, Sessel Zvidzai who is an MDC-T MP,
has
already taken the dismissal issue to the Prime Minister. Meanwhile,
Dumbo
and Takura have reportedly threatened to take legal action against
Chombo.
While he accuses councillors of corruption, Chombo himself is
widely
associated with it. He shocked Zimbabweans last year when the
staggering
amount of property he owned was revealed in his divorce case. In
addition to
properties in the capital, he has interests in several farms,
mines and
hunting safari lodges in other parts of the country and in South
Africa.
Critics say there is no way a former university lecturer could have
acquired
such wealth on his salary.
Various residents associations
around the country have long been calling for
Chombo to step down, because
of allegations of corruption against him.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
22 March 2011
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is being urged to seek help from the United
Nations (UN) to intervene in the Zimbabwe crisis, as efforts to force action
from regional leaders again seem set to fail.
UK based political
analyst and former diplomat, Clifford Mashiri, has
written to Tsvangirai
asking for a possible meeting, saying: “I am taking
the initiative to
express my personal wish that you as our Prime Minister
and MDC President
pay a visit to the UK so that I and hopefully other
interested Zimbabweans
can have a decent conversation with you on how to
resolve the current crisis
in our country.”
Mashiri told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that Tsvangirai
is in danger of
further isolating Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, by not making
the effort to
engage with them or give them the chance to explain how they
believe the
situation back home could be solved. Mashiri said that he is
particularly
concerned about the UK’s recent decision to resume deportations
to Zimbabwe,
and said this is partly Tsvangirai’s fault for insisting that
all was well
back in Zimbabwe.
Mashiri also used the letter to urge
Tsvangirai to consider seeking UN
intervention, saying: “The option we seek
to discuss with you is seeking
help from the office of the United Nations
Secretary General to compliment
what has been achieved so far by the SADC
and the AU, and help map-out a
realistic roadmap for free and fair elections
in Zimbabwe.”
Mashiri said on Tuesday that, although he was being
diplomatic in his
letter, he is “very unhappy with the foot-dragging by
SADC.”
“I am not alone in this. Many people believe SADC has failed
Zimbabweans. I
am also not with South Africa’s Jacob Zuma and his mediation
efforts,”
Mashiri said. “What difference has it made? The situation is not
getting any
better as we can see by the selective application of the rule of
law,
political violence and the denial of different civil
liberties.”
Tsvangirai last week returned from a brief regional tour,
where he met
leaders from Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland and South
Africa. He
told the leaders that SADC urgently needs to intervene in
Zimbabwe, which he
warned was on the brink of becoming a police state. But
so far, the only
regional reaction to Tsvangirai’s efforts has been for
South Africa’s Zuma
to promise a return of his mediation team to Zimbabwe
this week.
Observers have commented that it is unlikely SADC, which has
been dismissed
as a ‘toothless bulldog’ will do anything to stop the ZANU PF
violence and
intimidation across the country, because they have never done
anything
meaningful in the two years that the unity government has been in
existence.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by MISA-Zimbabwe
Tuesday, 22 March
2011 14:04
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights on 17 March 2011 filed an
appeal with the
High Court challenging a Bulawayo magistrate’s denial of
bail to Vikas
Mavhudzi who is facing charges of attempting to overthrow the
government
through comments posted on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
facebook wall.
According to the heads of argument filed by Lizwe Jamela who
is representing
Mavhudzi, magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa erred when he denied
the accused bail.
He said the state had not proved how a simple and
unsophisticated man could
pose a threat to the safety of the public and
security of the state which
had security structures at its disposal
nationwide.
Jamela argued that the court had no reason to assume that his
client was
going to continue sending messages to people encouraging them to
revolt
against the government. Jamela told MISA-Zimbabwe that the state had
since
filed its opposing papers on 21 March 2011.
Mavhudzi who was
arrested in Bulawayo on 24 February 2011, was remanded in
custody to 25
March 2011.
Background
Through the facebook posting, Mavhudzi is
alleged to have "unlawfully or
suggested” to Tsvangirai the taking over or
attempt to take over the
government by unconstitutional means or usurping
the functions of the
government.
He had thus allegedly sent an email to
the Prime Minister saying: “I am
overwhelmed, I don’t want to say Mr or PM
what happened in Egypt is sending
shockwaves to dictators around the world.
“No weapon but unity of purpose
worth emulating, hey.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
22/03/2011 00:00:00
by Business
Reporter
WORKERS at the comatose Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company
(ZISCO) have
welcomed the Redcliff-based firm’s takeover by ESSAR Global
Limited and
urged the new investors to address the issue of unpaid salaries
which, the
say, date back to December 2010.
ZISCO ceased operations
more than a couple of years back weighed down by
undercapitalization, heavy
debts and poor management forcing the government
to sell a majority 54
percent interest in the company to ESSAR in a bid to
revive the company’s
operations.
The new investors have committed to relieve Government of
debts reaching
US$340 million as well as invest up to US$750 million in the
revival of the
company.
ZISCO has over the years suffered a massive
flight of skilled human capital
and the few who remain – mostly to help
maintain the moribund plant – want
the issue of unpaid to be salaries
addressed.
“We have not been paid since December last year and we hope
the new
investors will address this problem. They should also get rid of the
present
management since they are responsible for the collapse of the
company,” one
employee told NewZimbabwe.com.
Some of the workers said
they had been advised that the back salaries would
be paid during the
week.
Meanwhile businesses in Redcliff and Kwekwe are also upbeat over
prospects
for the local economy with ZISCO’s revival.
“Once ZISCO
returns to viability we should see business picking up in both
Kwekwe and
Redcliff,” said a local retailer.
Most of the major local employers such
as BIMCO and Lancashire Steel – both
subsidiaries of ZISCO – took a hit from
steelmaker’s collapse with effects
also being felt in other downstream
activities as well as the retail and
commercial sectors.
ESSAR says
it plans to boost ZISCO’s production capacity from one million
tonnes of
steel a year to 2.5 million tonnes in the next three to four
years.
The company also plans to set-up an iron beneficiation plant
in Chivhu and a
power plant at Redcliff to meet additional requirements that
will come with
the boost in output.
"We will work with Government to
put up a power plant (to ensure adequate
supply for Ziscosteel increased
power needs," a company spokesperson was
quoted as saying by state
media.
The official said there was a huge gap between production and
demand for
steel in Africa, which ESSAR could exploit by raising capacity at
ZISCO.
He however, said this depended on the availability of basic
infrastructure
including an efficient rail system, adequate power supplies
and other key
raw materials.
"The infrastructure should be available
– 2.5 million tonnes of steel is not
a joke. For instance, this would
require 4.5 million tonnes of iron ore per
year, around 2.5 million tonnes
of coal for coke and a lot of limestone," he
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
MISA-Zimbabwe Alert Update
22 March
2011
Zanu PF activists arrested for tearing copies of Newsday
Two
suspected Zanu PF activists were reportedly arrested in Harare during
the
weekend after they tore copies of the privately owned daily, Newsday.
The
suspects who were detained at Harare Central Police Station, were set to
appear in court on 22 March 2011.
According to Munn Marketing
distribution manager Tonderai Charamba the duo
was part of a group that was
demonstrating in the city ahead of the
anti-sanctions campaign launch by
Zanu PF at its provincial offices in
Harare.
They allegedly
confiscated and tore copies of Newsday and other Alpha Media
Holdings’
publications, The Standard and Zimbabwe Independent.
Alpha Media Holdings
chief executive officer Raphael Khumalo commended the
police action saying
similar cases had been reported in the past but no
action had been taken
against the culprits.
The editor of Newsday, Brian Mangwende, said:
“Those responsible (for
tearing the papers) should face the music. The
arrests show (that) the
police … did the professional and honourable thing
by apprehending the
misguided elements of society. We commend the police for
a job well done.”
End
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
The MDC and judicial
freedom
The MDC is a genuinely democratic party which believes in
Constitutionalism and the rule of law. At the core of the rule of law is the
belief that disputes must be settled after due process and that there can be no
resort to self-redress and self execution. That is why for many years, the MDC
has persistently and consistently sought redress in the courts of
Zimbabwe.
We have filed endless applications with different results with
the various courts in Zimbabwe. The reason why we did this was our strong belief
in the Judiciary and we still believe that disputes can be resolved in the
courts of this country.
To that extent, I and the party I lead truly
believe in the independence of the Judiciary. This means that there should not
be an executive interference in the work of the Judiciary. This also means that
the conditions of service of those who serve in the Judiciary, the provision of
the necessary requirements such as law reports, translation and recording
equipment and research assistants, must be provided and enhanced.
It
follows that the Judiciary itself has a duty to uphold the laws of the country
in a fair and just manner.
My recent comments on the Judiciary were
clearly an immediate reaction against a judgement that affected the morale of my
party. Those comments should not be taken out of context. They are not in any
way a departure from my strong belief in judicial independence nor were they
meant to undermine anyone.
As a party, we remain committed to judicial
independence. We have never sought to undermine anyone in the Judiciary and we
will continue to place our matters before the courts. That is why, as recently
as last Saturday, our lawyers were before Justice Chiweshe, arguing for the
lifting of the ban on our peace rally.
In a democracy, the courts must
have the freedom of exercising their duties without undue interference from
politicians and the executive. We believe in the separation of powers of the
executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. The Judiciary will remain the last
bastion of the defence of the rights of citizens in a democratic society.
Morgan R. Tsvangirai
MDC President and Prime Minister of the
Republic of Zimbabwe
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
22 March
2011
Mugabe’s ZANU PF party is in the middle of a full scale crusade to
violently
force people to sign their ‘anti-sanctions’ petition. This week
attention
briefly turned to Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo, one of the
ZANU PF
strategists behind the campaign, and his hypocritical parroting on
the
matter.
Writing in May 2006 Moyo, then an independent MP after
being sacked by ZANU
PF, argued that targeted sanctions, including the
Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), “cannot be said to be
illegal either in
terms of United States law or international
law.”
Moyo proceeded to say; “If there was any illegality in terms of
international law, the government of Zimbabwe would have by now taken the
matter up with the appropriate international bodies with the relevant
jurisdiction. The fact that no such thing has happened or will happen shows
that the mumbo jumbo from the ZANU PF government about the so-called illegal
sanctions is cheap propaganda.”
Astonishingly Moyo even defended his
inclusion on the targeted sanctions
list, arguing; “Sovereign countries have
a right to take policy measures and
enact laws such as those contained in
the sanctions targeted at some
individuals in this country including this
writer (Moyo), as long as those
measures are lawful in the countries
imposing them.”
Moyo attacked what he called the ‘policy poverty’ of
Mugabe’s speech at the
opening of parliament in 2006 saying it “demonstrated
that the ZANU PF
leadership is now brain dead, hence its policy
delinquency.”
Moyo said; “Despite spirited attempts to attribute the
present economic
turmoil to the so-called illegal sanctions, all available
indications
suggest that the sanctions issue is indeed nothing but
propaganda. That is
why there is no response to it either in the fiscal or
monetary policy.”
A fitting summary of the political games at play was to
come from Moyo when
he said; “Mugabe and Murerwa (Finance Minister)
understand that the
sanctions talk is pure ZANU PF propaganda for mobilising
political support
from the masses by seeking to make them believe that their
suffering is due
to economic sanctions imposed by imperialist foreigners and
not a result of
the failure of their government.”
But five years
later Moyo is once again part of the ZANU PF team of
strategists trying to
make something out of the so-called anti-sanctions
petition. Over the
weekend he had no hesitation in singing the praises of
the campaign,
claiming it had ‘gathered further momentum’ with “its
localisation at major
centres in all the country’s 10 provinces.”
What Moyo calls the
‘localisation’ of the campaign has been a campaign of
terror and
intimidation to force people to sign the petition. In Marondera,
ZANU PF
thugs closed down all the shops and beer halls in the Rujeko suburb,
ordering people to attend the signing of the petition.
Similar
bullying was reported in Mutare over the weekend, where violence
erupted in
the eastern town of Mutare as ZANU PF again forced people to
attend their
rally and sign the anti-sanctions petition. Loads of trucks
were seen
passing by the Christmas pass leading into town, just before the
violence
erupted.
In Bindura white commercial farmers were paraded in front of
people at the
anti-sanctions rally in the mining town. The farmers were
forced to sign the
anti-sanctions petition. The scenes are being replicated
countrywide and
even school children are being forced to sign the
petition.
War vets in Mutare visited Sakubva High 1 and Sakubva High 2
and forced all
students in Form 4 to 6, plus the teachers, to attend a
lecture on ZANU PF
policies. “After waiting for more than four hours in the
heat, singing ZANU
PF songs, they were later forced to sign the ZANU PF
anti-sanctions
petition,” the MDC-T reported last week.
It is this
violence and intimidation by ZANU PF that led to the imposition
of the
targeted sanctions by the West and strategizing behind the scenes is
the man
who once admitted that the anti-sanctions crusade was just mere
propaganda.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com
22nd
Mar 2011 15:53 GMT
By Obert
Gutu
Zimbabwe is presently on a knife edge.A country with so much
promise, so
much potential, has literally been reduced to a political war
zone.
A visitor to Zimbabwe these days might be forgiven for thinking
that there
is no inclusive government in place and that in fact, the
government is
wholly under the control of only one political party; Zanu
PF.
Such is the level of polarisation presently pervading
our
political environment that one wonders whether this otherwise great
nation
called Zimbabwe will ever rise up to take its rightfull place amongst
the
comity of nations.
We are our own worst enemies as
Zimbabweans.The majority of our people
deliberately refuse to take an active
interest in matters concerning the
governance of their country.
Many
people think that politics is too dirty for them and that they
shouldn't be
bothered by a game with no
rules and also a game that anyone can play;
without any minimum
qualifications required. Well,these people are wrong
because politics is an
essential component of our daily lives.Whether we
like it or not, everyone
of us is a politician.
This is so because
politics inevitably impacts on our lives directly or
indirectly.We cannot
wish politics out of our lives.No, that can never
happen because
politics
is an integral component of human existence from time
immemorial.
During the past few weeks, we have witnessed ZanuPF going
into overdrive
with its so-called anti-sanctions campaign.We have seen
hordes of people,
country wide, being force-marched to attend so-called
anti-sanctions
rallies.
We have seen the nation's scarce resources
being commandeered to bankroll a
laughable and idiotic campaign against
so-called illegal sanctions.We have
seen grown men and women huffing and
puffing; screaming their voices hoarse
and chanting slogans against
so-called illegal sanctions.
Some of us have been thoroughly amused as we
watched otherwise respectable
businesspeople and churchmen supping with the
devil; screaming hate language
on national television and behaving as if
they had taken leave of their
senses. Cry the beloved country,
Zimbabwe!
I have stated it in previous articles and I will repeat it here
and now: it
is Zimbabwe that needs the world and not the world that needs
Zimbabwe. Zanu
PF's fascination and obsession with so-called
illegal
sanctions is clearly understandable. This is a desperate and
thoroughly
unpopular political party that has since realised that they are
on their way
out.They have realised that as a political grouping they have
nothing new
and/or fresh, in terms of policies and strategies, to
sell to
the electorate.They know that the people are now fed up with the
Zanu PF
diet of lies,corruption, greed, malice and hate.
As such, they have
decided to adopt a scotched earth policy.As Zanu PF
inevitably faces the
exit door; they have become possessed by the demon of
violence, the demon of
intolerance, the demon of looting and
the demon of mass destruction. As they
are being peacefully pushed out of
power by the democratic forces led by
Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC, Zanu PF
has since turned lethal in its
destructive agenda.
They are behaving like a bull in a china shop.They
want an election in which
they will compete against themselves. Thus, they
will bann, forcibly, any
gathering of the country's democratic forces.They
fear the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai simply because they know that it is
the largest and most popular
political party.
Put simply, Zanu PF is
afraid of the people. Shame.
Against this background, we realise that the
so-called anti-sanctions
crusade is a desperate sideshow meant to woodwink
the people into believing
that they are living in poverty because of
illegal ''sanctions'' imposed on
Zimbabwe by Britain and her allies in
the
West.
This is complete and unadulterated nonsense. I have read
ZIDERA back to
front and I hereby challenge any right-thinking person to
show me the number
of times that ZIDERA has been invoked to deny
Zimbabwe
access to both domestic and offshore lending.
Can somebody be
honest enough to explain how exactly ZIDERA, that was
enacted by the United
States congress in 2001 when Zimbabwe's economy was
already on its knees
courtesy of Zanu PF misgovernance and corruption, has
caused the
majority
of Zimbabweans to live in abject poverty. Can somebody tell me how
travel
restrictions imposed on just over 160 people have caused the economic
meltdown that was the hallmark of Zanu PF misgovernance from 1980 to
February 2009 when Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party came to the people's
rescue by agreeing to form the inclusive
government? The problem with
ZanuPF is that it takes people for granted.
It believes that
forcemarching people to its rallies will
save it from total annihilation
come the next elections. The people spoke,
resoundingly, on March 29, 2008 :
they rejected ZanuPF's politics of
thuggery, intolerance and looting. Come
the next elections, the people will
speak again; this time more
resoundingly.They will
vehemently reject Zanu PF's politics of retribution,
callousness, thievery
and corruption. In their teeming thousands, the people
of Zimbabwe are going
to vote for hope; they will vote for real change; they
will vote for a
bright future and they will vote for a
New
Zimbabwe.
In a nutshell, the people will overwhelmingly vote for
the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.
We are acutely aware of the fact
that, countrywide, people are being forced
to sign the Zanu PF
anti-sanctions petition.We also know that people are
being threatened with
death and some other unspecified
action if they do not append their
signatures to this so-called petition.
This is desperate act by a
desperate regime.The people have rejected Zanu PF
and no amount of force and
coersion will change their hearts. Zanu PF
propagandists and other
sycophants might huff and puff but the truth of the
matter is that Zanu PF
is a party in terminal decline; torn apart by
factions that hate each other
with a passion. Only a miracle will save Zanu
PF from total annihilation
during the next elections.
And miracles don't happen often!
It is
true that for the past thirty years or so the people Zimbabwe have
suffered
under debilitating sanctions. These sanctions have been very
painfull and
corrosive. These sanctions have caused widespread poverty and
anger amongst
the generality of the people. These sanctions have been
toxic.And these
sanctions were exemplified by Zanu PF's unbriddled
corruption over the
decades; ZanuPF's rabid intolerance of any dissenting
voices and ZanuPF's
morbid fear of the people.
It is these sanctions, imposed against the
people by ZanuPF, that should be
immediately lifted!
What makes some
of us happy is that the freedom train will not engage
reverse gear.The
freedom train is on an unstopable march to a New Zimbabwe.
They may ban our
peace rallies, ban all our meetings, beat us
up, imprison us and do all sorts
of other nefarious things against us as
they are wont to do.But there is one
thing that is certain: they cannot
break our spirits and they cannot reverse
the tidal wave of change sweeping
through the African continent.
As
for me, I will only sign the so-called anti-sanctions petition on one
condition : over my dead body! Sanctions, what sanctions?
Obert Gutu
is the Senator for Chisipite in Harare.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Prashant Dayal , TNN | Mar 22, 2011,
07.11am IST
AHMEDABAD: The Mumbai crime branch busted a match fixing
racket from a hotel
in Ahmedabad involving three Dawood men, who sneaked
into the hotel where
the Australian team was put up to play Zimbabwe in the
World Cup game on
February 21.
The tip-off from Mumbai police exposed
Gujarat police's tall claim that
foolproof security has been provided for
the quarterfinal match to be played
here on March 24. Sources told TOI that
the three D-company men stayed with
the Aussie team in a five-star hotel in
Satellite area and met them in the
lobby where the deal was struck for spot
fixing. Australia won the match.
An intelligence input on the day
Ahmedabad was fixed as a venue for the
quarterfinals, had warned that WC
could be a terror target. The police had
then told TOI that they would be
screening all hotel guests. The Australian
team arrived here four days
before the match, accompanied by an observer
from the International Cricket
Council's anti-corruption wing. Intercepts
showed that the Dawood men made
calls to London, Nairobi and Nagpur. The
duration of these calls ranged from
39 seconds to 1.20 minutes. The phone
taps also revealed details about the
spot fixing. The Mumbai police tipped
off the ICC about the match being
fixed and the possible outcome. Sources in
the anti-corruption wing
confirmed that the match was fixed.
Soon after the match, it was reported
that the ICC had taken note of the
slow batting in the first 10 overs by
Australian openers Shane Watson and
Brad Haddin. The two openers scored just
28 runs in 11 overs and 53 in 15
overs in a match that Australia won
comfortably. However, the slow rate of
scoring in the first two powerplays
was scrutinised by the ICC's
anti-corruption and security unit.
The
Australian team, however, rubbished media reports that the ICC was
investigating the game.
“My pen is a broom
sweeping vendetta pebbles from talk tables.”
U.S. Embassy welcomes
the Black Poet to celebrate
World Poetry
Day
Harare, March 22,
2011: The United States Embassy hosted Mbizo Chirasha, popularly known as ‘The
Black Poet’ in performance circles, for a discussion of the “metaphor of voices
and rhythm of words” featuring a scintillating recital of his works to mark
World Poetry Day.
“The Embassy is
pleased to mark this important day. Poetry calls forth those voices in society
that would otherwise go unheard and gives them a powerful tool for expressing
their deepest feelings, thoughts and beliefs. Poets have the power to influence
hearts and change minds,” said Michael Brooke, Public Diplomacy Officer at the
U.S. Embassy in Harare.
In typical poetic
form, Chirasha told his audience, which included students from Westridge High
School in Harare, that, “metaphors are the lotion drying political syphilis from
the manhood of the state, my pen is a broom sweeping vendetta pebbles from talk
tables, and my ink is a detergent cleansing political stains from parliament
overalls.”
Describing his works,
Chirasha said the common theme in most of his poems has been respect for women
and recognizing their suffering and endurance. “It’s a coincidence of creation
and creativity, that’s what I believe in,” said the poet whose work is featured
in over 40 journals and anthologies around the world.
However, Chirasha’s
poetry cuts across issues to include children’s rights, politics, social lives,
gender issues, praise and protest, culture and African
pride.
Chirasha read some of
his published works, including “Identity Apples,” published by the Memorial
University English Department in Alberta , Canada; “Anthem of the Black Poet”
and “Decade of Bullets,” published in India; “Haiti My Generation,” published in
United kingdom; and the popular, “African Names.”
“This poem reshuffled
cabinet; the rhythm resigned the president and its metaphors adjourned
parliament,” said Chirasha reciting his poem, “Letter to my daughter,” published
locally.
Asked why he
preferred publishing outside the country, Chirasha bemoaned the lack of
structures to support writers in Zimbabwe, and said he was thinking seriously
about writing his poems in Shona for local audiences.
“We lack that
administrative connection in terms of writing. We lack consensus as writers, and
publishing houses are closing shop,” he noted. Contributing to the discussion,
another poet, Thando Sibanda, said the study of literature should be made
compulsory at all levels of education in Zimbabwe so as to promote an
environment that supports writers and poets.
World
Poetry Day
is celebrated on March 21st, as declared by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999, to "give
fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry
movements."- ZimPAS © 2011
ZimPAS
is a product of the United States Embassy Public Affairs Section. Queries and
comments should be directed to Sharon Hudson Dean, Public Affairs Officer, hararepas@state.gov Website: http://harare.usembassy.gov
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by William Gumede
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Many an African dictator is trembling in his
(invariably dictators appear to
be mostly men) boots, following popular
uprisings that swept long-time
rulers out of power in Tunisia and
Egypt.
Libyan people are rebelling against their ruler, Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi –
and he is fighting back violently. Gaddafi has ruled since 1969
when he took
power in a coup, making him Africa’s longest
ruler.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF has prohibited state owned
media from
reporting the full extent of the Maghreb uprisings – presumably
lest its own
people get ideas from the citizen of Tunisia and Egypt. Robert
Mugabe’s
government charged 45 students, trade unionists and activists with
treason,
accusing them of watching news videos of the uprising in Egypt and
plotting
to topple Zimbabwe's autocratic president.
But will the
domino effect of these popular uprisings also sweep dictators
out of power
further south? ??Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and other
Sub-Saharan African
countries are also ruled by long-time autocrats and
their people are
suffering as hard – if not harder – than those in Tunisia
and
Egypt.
In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has been in power since 1980. In
Cameroon Paul
Biya has been in the saddle for 29 years. Yoweri Museveni has
presided over
Uganda since 1986. Jose dos Santos has been in power since
1979, and is
preparing to stand for another term – while, incredibly,
grooming one of his
children to take over. The list goes on.
There
are some parallels, but also some clear differences, between societies
in
the north, and those South of the Sahara.
The first parallel is that both
the Maghreb countries and those South of the
Sahara have allowed – in the
words of South African Finance Minister Pravin
Gordhan, ‘inequality to grow,
allow(ed) joblessness to accelerate (and is)
about state(s) that doesn’t
actually perform (and is) about a minority that
accumulates things for
itself’.
ECONOMIC CRISIS, ELITES AND UPRISING
All African
countries are about to feel the delayed effect of the global
financial
crisis, just as Tunisia and Egypt had. Typically in countries,
like
Swaziland, Lesotho or Cameroon, leaders pride themselves on the fact
that
they have supposedly not been so harshly affected by the recent global
financial crisis. However, they are mistaken – the true effects are yet to
be felt.
But many of those countries depend heavily on Western aid.
With the
austerity in most of the major donor countries, this aid may either
dry up,
or trickle into a drip. Even the budgets of international
organisations and
NGOs heavily active in development projects in these
countries have been cut
or will be reduced.
In some African countries
more than 50 per cent of the national budget comes
from foreign aid.
Combined with a perceptible rise in the prices of basic
food and living
costs in most African countries, ordinary African people are
having it
tough.
Desperation is easily turned into the political outrage. Just last
year,
high bread prices caused violent riots in Maputo, Mozambique. With
day-to-day living expected to become even worse, such riots may this year
turn into full-blown uprisings against the ruling elites.
Like in
Tunisia and Egypt, there is a deep gulf between the relatively small
ruling
elite, living a ‘bling’ and elite lifestyle, and a majority of the
poor – a
potent grievance, a festering sore if one happens to be the
unfortunate poor
individual.
The effect of the global financial crisis has also hit the
relatively small
middle classes in countries south of the Sahara, just as it
also hit the
Tunisian and Egyptian middle classes. In Tunisia and Egypt the
middle
classes were also starting to feel the pinch of difficult economic
circumstances.
Generally in these regimes, the middle classes are
locked into the system,
and often have much too loose opposing it. The
combination of squeezed
middle classes, the usually long-suffering poor
working classes and the
unemployed and underemployed youth are a potential
explosive cocktail – also
in the countries south of the Sahara.
YOUTH
AND UNEMPLOYMENT
The demography of all African countries has changed so
dramatically since
independence, so much so that young people now make up
most of their
populations, whether the country is south, or north of the
Sahara. Young
people were at the vanguard of the uprisings in both Tunisia
and Egypt.
Furthermore, young African people – those unemployed - now
have generally
higher levels of education, although in most cases, not with
the kind of
technical skills African economies now desperately need,
compared to a
generation ago.
Globalisation and new technological
advances, such as the internet, social
media, such as twitter, have meant
that many people in Tunisia and Egypt,
including the youth can see how
better-off their peers in Western countries
live, compared to
them.
MEDIA FREEDOM AND CONTROL
In most African countries most of
the media is in state hands, so ruling
parties can ensure news about
official corruption, mismanagement or
wrongdoing is kept out of the public
domain.
Private media, where present, often does not have a wide reach.
Furthermore,
such private media is often also financially vulnerable. The
state in many
African countries still directly controls most of the economy
– whether in
North Africa or Africa south of the Sahara.
And if they
don’t, they have indirect influence, through their ability to
restrict
private companies trading licenses, and so on, should they refuse
to toe
government lines.
This means in most African countries the state is still
the biggest
advertiser. If they are not, they can influence the private
sector not to
advertise in print, broadcast or electronic media they
perceived to be
critical of government – or risk losing government contracts
or operating
licenses.
Radio is the largest medium in Africa,
including South Africa, but it is
often controlled by governments. In many
cases, independent FM radio is
frequently only given licenses if they do not
cover political issues.
Although community radio is increasingly
proliferating across the continent,
they often also have the same
restrictions – or they just refrain from
covering politics to stay on the
good side of governments.
The news blackout in most African countries
means that leaders and political
movements can stay in power for longer
without many of their supporters in
the far-flung rural areas knowing the
extent to which these leaders abuse
their powers.
This is why the
likes of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe can get away with blaming
his government’s
own bad governance on the work of Western ‘imperialists’,
former colonial
powers, minorities or opposition groups supposedly linked to
them.
A
flourishing private and independent media that conveys information to
citizens about the corrupt activities of leaders and ruling parties, which
is not conveyed to them by official media, plays a crucial role in informing
citizens of what is really happening in their name.
Not surprisingly,
‘people power’, the phenomenon where African citizens
finally kick out bad
governments that have ruled for far too long, often
always coincides with
the growth of private independent media– that can
provide citizens
(especially ordinary members of these parties) with the
real story – and a
growing civil and opposition movement, that can offer an
alternative.
THE ROLE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The rise of the
internet, social media, the mobile phone, has meant there
are now
alternative means of communication outside that of the state-owned
media.
In the uprisings against unpopular governments in Tunisia and
Egypt, new
social media, that can circumvent the official media, and the
rise of
independent media, such as Al Jazeera, has done the trick
also.
Although the internet is not as widespread in many African
countries south
of the Sahara compared to Egypt or Tunisia, the power of the
worldwide web
is still potent.
In Zimbabwe’s last elections, people
used mobile phones to text witnessed
attempts at vote rigging by ZANU (PF)
(Mugabe’s party) strongmen at voting
stations in remote areas. This meant
that opposition groups, international
observers and independent media could
be informed more quickly than during
previous elections.
Mobile
phones are more promising among poorer Africans. This presents
potential for
the internet if most of these mobile phones can be made
internet capable.
Furthermore, the potential to bringing news via the mobile
phone is an
attractive option for Africa.
So if a revolution is unlikely to arrive in
most African countries south of
the Sahara via the internet, it may arrive
via the mobile phone.
CURBS ON MIGRATION
In Egypt and Tunisia many
young people and professionals in the past could
migrate across the
Mediterranean to Europe to seek better prospects.
However, economic
difficulties in most of Europe have meant that these
countries blocked entry
barriers for the young from Africa – the phenomenon
of ‘fortress’
Europe.
It is also now more difficult for young Africans to seek greener
pastures in
Europe or the US. Of course countries neighbouring South Africa,
such as
Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, also have the option of exporting
many of
their young to relatively richer South Africa.
Yet, South
Africa itself has felt the brunt of the global financial crisis –
all this
after leaders initially claimed the country rode the storm. Last
year more
than one million people lost their jobs. In spite of all the talk
by
politicians that they will create millions of jobs this year: looking at
their plans it becomes quickly clear this is half-baked and mere wishful
thinking.
The opposite appear more likely; more people will lose
their jobs this year.
South Africa is also now tightening entry barriers for
those looking for
jobs from neighbouring countries. This will force the
unemployed young at
home – where they could become a potent force for
change.
PLAYING THE ELECTIONS GAME
One big difference between
Egypt and Tunisia compared to other African
countries south of the Sahara,
is that there are more incidents of staged
elections in the latter which on
regular occasions give the masses an outlet
for their frustrations. The
recent presidential and parliamentary elections
held in Uganda springs to
mind.
Furthermore, the opposition parties in these countries are so
irrelevant –
little alternative policies, and generally clones of the ruling
parties and
each other (the opposition political parties in Nigeria are a
good example);
they are more of a stumbling bloc to genuine democracy than
anything else.
In the Ivory Coast presidential election that took place
last November
strongman Laurent Gbagbo lost against Alassane Quattara, but
still insists
he won. Whoever finally becomes president, there is very
little, if any,
differences between their policy platforms or even the
outlook of the two –
so it will in real terms be more of the
same.
Most of Africa’s dictators are of course being propped by Western
giants or
the new Eastern powers, such as China, in exchange for oil,
minerals or for
strategic geopolitical reasons – Kenya is a good
example.
Zimbabwe recently stated that China’s Development Bank will pump
in up to
US$10 billion of investment in the country’s mining and agriculture
sector,
a big boost for Mugabe political survival.
Over the past few
years, Tunisia’s supposed economic ‘miracle’ – in spite of
political
autocracy - was toasted by multilateral organisations and Western
powers.
Egypt was a strategic focus for the US and the regime there was
flush with
foreign aid.
Even Libya joined the US-led ‘war of terror’ and became an
ally of Western
powers – which shored up Gaddafi’s powers ahead of the
recent rebellion
against his rule by ordinary citizens of Libya.
It
is instructive when US President Barack Obama pulled the plug on Egypt
the
regime caved in. Many African countries south of the Sahara have in the
past
either like Swaziland, kept on the right side of the US, by claiming
they
are partners in the ‘fight against terror’, or have been kept in power,
by
financial support from China (who needs their minerals), as is the case
of
Zimbabwe, or South Africa (in Zimbabwe because of historical ties as a
fellow liberation movement).
Long-time strongmen Yoweri Museveni in
Uganda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia
have been the darlings of the West, in
spite of their autocratic behaviour.
Recently Ethiopian economists and
scholars wrote an open letter to Nobel
Prize winning economist Joseph
Stiglitz, who is close to Meles Zenawi, to
distance himself from the
autocrat.
Most African regimes – whether north or south of the Sahara –
have been in
power because the army has been loyal to them. These regimes
have generally
showered the army with largesse to keep them onside. With
difficult economic
times ahead it will prove increasingly hard to keep
feeding these armies.
Furthermore, in the cases of Egypt and Tunisia once
it became clear, to the
army, that the regimes had lost the support of
powerful overseas backers,
they changed allegiances, or at least remained
neutral.
In countries south of the Sahara, the army still remains a
formidable
obstacle. That is why in countries, like Zimbabwe, in order to
bring about
change, the army may have to be bought off, or at least given
enough
incentives, for example amnesty and job security, to remain
neutral.
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
Tunisia and Egypt are countries that
are relatively ethnically homogenous.
Except for perhaps, Swaziland and
Lesotho, most countries south of the
Sahara are ethnically
diverse.
More importantly, in most of these countries unscrupulous
political leaders
and parties have played off different ethnic groups
against each other to
remain in power, or did so on the back of the most
dominant ethnic group, or
by forming ethnic alliances.
This means
that in many African south of the Sahara countries, people often
perceived
their problems in the context of the fact that they are in the
‘wrong’
ethnic group, rather than blaming it on their bad leaders or
governments, no
matter the ethnicity. Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya are cases
in
point.
LIBERATION AND THE LIBERATED
Finally, in some African
countries south of the Sahara, parties of
liberation and independence are
still in power. Many supporters vote for
them mostly on the credentials they
acquired as a result of their struggles
for independence.
The youth
in many countries south of the Sahara, where liberation or
independence
movements are still in power, are often mobilised by youth
wings of these
ruling movements. The youth leagues are often allowed to be
more radical by
the founding liberation and independence movements, in order
to periodically
disperse popular anger among the youth.
A good case is the ANC Youth
League, and its leader Julius Malema or
Zimbabwe’s ZANU (PF), Mozambique’s
Frelimo or Angola’s MPLA youth wings.
In African countries ruled by
independence/liberation movements, the number
of youth participating in
civil movements outside these leagues is small –
though not
insignificant.
Youth, like their senior activist predecessors, may
protest against
incumbent liberation/independence movement now in
governments, but still see
these movements as the parties of liberation and
independence.
Angry youth in such cases are not demanding for these
liberation/independence movement governments to be removed, but for them to
improve the way they govern – or to allow them to share the spoils of
government also.
As the demography of most African countries is
increasingly becoming
younger, these credentials independence/struggle
credentials are wearing
thin. This changing demographic means many young
people have little if any
memory of yesterday’s liberation
struggle.
And very soon, young voters will have no recollection of the
anti-apartheid
or the anti-colonial struggle, and may not simply vote for
ruling parties
because of their historical liberation movement record. This
may herald the
kind of youth-led rebellions seen in Tunisia, Egypt and
Libya.
Revolution south of the Sahara may not come immediately, but it is
certainly
on its way.?--?First published by Pambazuka News
* A
version of this article was first published by the Foreign Policy
Centre.
* William Gumede is senior associate and programme director,
Africa Asia
Centre, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),
University of London.
His forthcoming book, The Democracy Gap, Africa’s
Wasted Years, is released
in 2011.