http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Reagan Mashavave and Gugulethu Nyazema
Sunday,
06 March 2011 19:01
HARARE - The European Union (EU) said the
inclusive government opened doors
for re-engagement with Zanu PF, but the
party has failed to shack off the
reasons which led to the imposing of
sanctions by the block in the first
place.
The EU said they
initiated the slapping of sanctions on President Robert
Mugabe and his
allies in Zanu PF in the hope they would respect the rule of
law and cease
violence.
But it said the situation, despite the consummation of the
power sharing
arrangement, is yet to improve.
“After the escalation
of political violence related to the elections in
2002, the EU decided to
introduce measures against Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF
party as a means to put
pressure on those considered responsible. These
measures have been renewed
each year since 2002,” the EU said.
“The establishment of a Government of
National Unity in 2009 triggered a
re-engagement process between the
Government of Zimbabwe and the EU.”
Part of the measures instituted by
the EU include suspending ties with the
Zimbabwe government, placing
individuals and companies on the sanctions list
and the banning of trade in
arms with Harare.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF party last Tuesday embarked on
an “anti-sanctions
campaign” meant to coerce the EU and its Western allies
to remove the
sanctions. Over two million signatures are planned to be
collected before
the party presents a petition to the EU over the
restrictive measures.
President Mugabe, who turned 87 years old last
month, has vowed to grab
companies owned by the EU and Western nationals in
a retaliatory move if the
restrictive measures are not
removed.
Mugabe has argued that the sanctions were imposed after the
country took
over farms from the minority white commercial farmers,
ostensibley to
resettle landless blacks.
The EU said the travel bans
and asset freeze on Mugabe and his Zanu PF
officials were imposed because
the Zanu PF leader and his party members
undermined democracy and trampled
on human rights.
Last month the EU removed 35 people - mainly wives of
Mugabe’s close
allies - from the sanctions list.
However, 163 people
including Mugabe remain under sanctions.
The economic bloc said the
“measures can be reassessed at any moment” if the
country makes reforms in
respecting the rule of law, human rights and
democracy.
“A visa ban
and asset freeze is currently enforced against individuals whose
activities
are considered to undermine democracy, respect for human rights
and the rule
of law in Zimbabwe,” the EU said.
“After the removal of 35 persons from
the list in February 2011, the list
contains 163 persons who are prevented
from travelling to and accessing
their assets in the EU.
“Also
affected are the 31 companies associated with those persons targeted
by the
visa ban and a few controlled by State companies.”
The EU said it remains
committed in providing assistance to the people of
Zimbabwe, saying they
have pumped $365 million in health, education,
humanitarian assistance and
water sanitation improvement among other things.
A top United States
official, Susan Page, who was in the country on Friday,
said Washington
would not shift its policy on sanctions and complained about
the resurgence
of political violence in the past weeks.
Four women from
Robert Sinyoka Suburb in Bulawayo have been arrested and are currently being
assaulted and tortured in custody
At noon Saturday
4 March, Glory Ncube arrived in Robert Sinyoka to visit her sick mother. She was
arrested by plain clothed police driving a cream double cab. They drove her to
her home in Old Pumula and thoroughly searched her home for WOZA material. They
then drove past Nomsa Sibanda’s house and seeing her outside, grabbed her
without occupants of her house even realising. It seems they then came across
Monica Shema and Beatrice Ngwenya on the road waiting for transport to town and
promptly grabbed them too. All four activists were taken to Bulawayo Central
Police station. Human Rights lawyer Kossam Ncube managed to see them but was
told to return on Sunday at which point an investigating officer could have been
appointed.
Nomusa Sibanda
is a nursing mother of a one year old.
WOZA members are
reporting heavy presence of police and army and ‘youth’ who are drunk and
violently beat up anyone indiscriminately. These police officers have been going
around telling people to be in their homes by 8:30pm and if they disobey they
will be severely beaten. Many members have witnessed beating of people as they
try to go about their business. The same security forces are also telling people
to never group in more than 3 people and if they do, they are beaten. The police
have also been conducting serious ‘stop and search’ of people in all suburbs and
also in town. Member’s recall last seeing this level of security during the 1982
crack down by the 5th Brigade. The country seems to be in the grip of
an undeclared state of emergency.
Relatives
feeding the four women confirm they have swollen faces and hands. Nomsa was
unable to hold or feed her baby brought to her Sunday morning.
WOZA wish to
call on SADC guarantors of the global political agreement to urgently send a
delegation to Zimbabwe to visit the suburbs and observe this crack down by
security forces before there is loss of life. Additionally, we ask for them to
hold police accountable for their proper role in society instead of arresting
people arbitrarily when they are going about their business
peacefully.
Ends
6 March
2011
For more
information, please call Jenni Williams on +263 772 898 110 or +263 712 213 885
or Magodonga Mahlangu on +263 772 362 668 or email info@wozazimbabwe.org or
wozazimbabwe@yahoo.com
http://www.radiovop.com/
06/03/2011
13:50:00
Harare, March 06,2011 - The security of Zimbabwean women
remain on the
spotlight as the country prepares for the referendum and
elections as they
fear they will be target for rape, beatings and
intimidation, says local
human rights watchdog, Zimrights.
In a
statement to commemorate the International Womens Day on Tuesday
Zimrights
said political instability in the country as the country
approaches the
referendum does not favour the development of women rights.
Zimbabwe
elections have in the past been marred by violence and intimidation
as
President Robert Mugabe faced challenge to his 31- year-old rule since
independence.
"As the country heads for the constitution referendum
and presidential
elections, the security of women is of major concern as
most fear reliving
the violations of the 2008 elections. Most women became
victims of rape,
torture and intimidation either for participating in
politics or being
married or related to men who are actively involved in
politics. This has
negatively affected women's participation in not only
politics but in most
governance processes,|" Zimrights said.
"To date,
many women have had to live with constant reminders of the rape
they went
through. Some were impregnated and have the babies, while some are
now HIV
positive as a result of the rape, yet justice has not been
delivered."
"Zimrights notes with great concern the predicament which
Zimbabwean women
find themselves in as a result of the political instability
that the country
is experiencing. Being one of the most vulnerable groups
,it it of utmost
importance that government takes into cognisance the need
to protect women
from being exposed to unwarranted human rights violations
at the hands of
their male counterparts,"ZimRights said.
The rights
group called on the government of Zimbabwe to improve the
livelihoods of
women as the country is still battling to find ways to
improve the economy
with high unemployment figures.
The government was also urged to avail
education facilities to the girl
child as this is when the basis of future
is created.
“ Most Zimbabweans cannot afford the standard school fees,
compromising the
education of the girl child. This must come to an end! A
woman does not need
a learned man to add value to her life, a learned woman
can stand on her
own. Give her that chance, ” ZimRights said.
This year's
theme for commemorating Women's day is being run under the theme
" Equal
access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to
economic development. " The United Nations (UN) office in Zimbabwe said they
will continue to advocate for women's rights to avoid trafficking of women
and gender-based violence among other things.
http://www.radiovop.com
06/03/2011 13:48:00
HARARE, March 6,
2011- President Robert Mugabe and his cabinet ministers in
Zimbabwe
coalition government are targeting British-owned multinational
financial
services group Standard Chartered, which has operations in the
country, for
seizure after it blocked Harare's uranium deal with China,
according to the
Sunday Times.
Documents seen by the Sunday Times this week show Standard
Chartered Bank in
Harare angered Mugabe and loyalists in thwarting Harare's
first uranium
mining project with China last year, citing sanctions imposed
by the
European Union and the US on a local state mining
company.
Standard Chartered refused to process financial transactions
involving
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and China Uranium
Corporation, saying the local company was on the sanctions
list.
Government insiders said this riled Mugabe and his officials. In
January,
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, in his monetary policy
statement, slammed
unnamed banks for perpetuating sanctions.
It has
emerged that one of those banks was Standard Chartered, one of the
biggest
in Zimbabwe.
Bankers were summoned on Tuesday by Mugabe's loyalists,
co-Vice-President
John Nkomo, Minister in the President's Office Didymus
Mutasa, Information
Minister Webster Shamu and Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo, to discuss the
anti-sanctions campaign and indigenisation. This
intensified pressure on
banks, including Standard Chartered, to comply with
Mugabe's demands or risk
seizure.
Standard Chartered has operations in
more than 70 countries with a network
of more than 1700 branches and
outlets, including subsidiaries, associates
and joint ventures. It employs
about 80000 people worldwide.
A letter from ZMDC acting CEO and GM Sam
Siziba, dated October 12 2010, to
Gono seeking assistance on the issue shows
Standard Chartered blocked ZMDC's
uranium project with China Uranium
Corporation.
The project was going to be done through Afri-Sino Resources
Ltd, a company
jointly established by China Uranium Corporation, New On
Investment and
ZMDC. The capital investment to be injected would have come
from the Chinese
investors.
"In order to guarantee a normal company
operation it needs a safe channel of
capital transfer. The current channel
of capital transfer is through bank
account opened in Standard Chartered
Bank Zimbabwe," Siziba wrote to Gono.
"But please be advised that they are
facing serious challenges in receiving
capital investment from
China."
Siziba wrote that Standard Chartered blocked the project.
They
then visited the website of OFAC - a US Treasury agency operating under
the
auspices of the under-secretary of the treasury for terrorism and
financial
intelligence - which showed MMCZ and ZMDC are on their sanctions
list.
OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on
US
foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign
assets,
organisations and individuals.
Siziba wrote that more money
entering Zimbabwe from the Chinese for the
project through Standard
Chartered was also blocked.
"This obviously shows that our joint-venture
company has been targeted by
OFAC, for it is related with ZMDC and MMCZ.
Therefore the current channel of
capital transfer is blocked," Siziba
said.
"Chinese shareholders are not a basis of comprehensive investigation,
the
opening of offshore bank account in a third place (for them Beijing is
an
appropriate option) is currently the best solution.
As the joint
venture partner, we are fully aware of their difficulties and
support their
efforts of applying for the opening of offshore bank account."
Mugabe warned
on Wednesday at the launch of his anti-sanctions campaign
that, with his
indigenisation and black-empowerment laws, he would grab
companies that
belong to countries imposing sanctions. He said the seizures
would start
with UK companies.
"It is not enough to speak against sanctions," Mugabe
said. "We can't keep
hosting more than 400 British firms here, including
mines. It is now time to
take measures against them.
"I have said the
indigenisation and empowerment process should start with
those firms,"
Mugabe said. "We must take them over. We can also boycott
their
products."
Mugabe's Zanu-PF resolved in December at its annual conference in
Mutare to
grab foreign-owned companies.
The British Foreign Office
said this week Mugabe's remarks were
"irresponsible", a comment echoed by
British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Zimbabwean bankers are resisting
indigenisation, saying the sector is
dominated by locals, owning 68% of the
banks, even though they have a
smaller segment of the market.
This
campaign sets the scene for a bruising battle between banking
executives and
Mugabe as Harare tries to force banks to comply with
indigenisation and
empowerment demands.
Zanu-PF officials accused some banks of supporting
"illegal international
sanctions" by taking instructions from their
international parent companies.
They said the misguided banks had to change
or face seizure.
Bankers were told that, because of their misguided
practices, some
internationally owned banks were deliberately declining to
lend to
Zimbabwean companies and individuals appearing on the illegal
European Union
and American sanctions lists.
Foreign banks were also
accused of paralysing the money and capital markets
by sterilising huge
domestic deposits, ensuring that the funds did not reach
the productive
sectors of the economy through lending.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie Munyuki, Deputy News
Editor
Sunday, 06 March 2011 18:57
HARARE - The main faction of
the MDC has dismissed as meaningless a new
survey which shows its support
fading amongst Zimbabweans “because the
report is done in an environment of
fear”.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa, said the survey by the United
States’ Freedom
House could not be deemed conclusive arguing “there were
many people who did
not express their views freely in the
exercise”.
“It’s erroneous to say the support of the MDC is dwindling,”
Chamisa told
the Daily News. “How do you do a research or survey in an
environment of
fear and violence? Our support is not fading.”
Freedom
House released its findings in Johannesburg Friday, and later held a
panel
discussion which unpacked the current political issues in the
inclusive
government and the resurgence of violence, which is almost cowing
political
expressions.
It said the support for the MDC, led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai,
had dropped sharply from 55 percent to 38 percent –
showing a 17 percent
decline.
On the other hand, Zanu PF support grew
from 12 percent to 17 percent.
“What has indeed gone down is the
confidence and security of the people.
Their certainty levels surely have
sharply gone down because there is a
resurgence of violence and
intimidation,” said Chamisa.
“Of course, Zanu PF would come out in the
open and declare that their
support is increasing because they are the
perpetrators of violence. If we
look at that huge figure of people who did
not want to express themselves
freely, we can actually conclude that they do
not want Zanu PF.”
Chamisa said conducting surveys in the current
environment was like trying
to gauge free expression in Afghanistan. “In
the current circumstances of
violence, the surveys are
meaningless.”
Freedom House compiled the figures from a “nationally”
representative sample
of 1 200 adult Zimbabweans in all the 10
provinces.
In the survey, 89 percent of respondents did "not feel free to
express
political views”, 74 percent believe "that fear affects how people
vote", 57
percent and 58 percent, respectively, had experienced violence in
their
constituencies and communities.
At the same time, 42 percent of
respondents chose not to declare their vote
preference - an 11 percent rise
from the previous year.
Political analyst Eldred Masunungure, told
journalists on Friday the MDC had
lost ground because its senior members who
were now part of the government
paid more attention to matters of State than
to building up their own party.
The MDC is in an uneasy power-sharing
government with President Robert
Mugabe and has struggled to exert its
influence in the shaky deal.
While their ministers have shown much
promise and delivery in key areas,
Mugabe and his allies have frustrated the
movement’s plans to turn around
the economy.
Analysts have warned
Tsvangirai that it would be difficult to try and
extricate himself and the
MDC from the failures of the inclusive government,
because he is now a key
player in it.
Mugabe and his hardliners have been belligerent towards the
MDC leader who
is currently under pressure to negotiate his way out of the
sanctions trap
which neutrals say presents him with a stern
test.
Zanu PF and the entire SADC leadership have said the EU and the US
must
remove the sanctions to allow economic recovery.
Last week,
Mugabe launched the anti sanctions drive and has put in motion
plans to
seize companies with links to the EU countries and the US.
Tsvangirai has
said “we must speak with one voice” and revealed cabinet
would soon
deliberate on the issue.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
05 March, 2011 11:32:00
TimesLive
As anxiety grows about President Robert Mugabe's health,
divisions in
Zanu-PF have worsened, with the two main camps angling to
succeed the
veteran leader intensifying their internal battle for control of
the party.
Mugabe's health concerns escalated last week when he was
rushed to Singapore
for what spokesman George Charamba said was "the last
review on his minor
cataract operation".
It is the second time Mugabe
has had to travel to Singapore for treatment,
raising speculation that the
87-year-old octogenarian might have serious
health problems.
While
his people maintain he travels to Singapore for cataract problems,
diplomatic sources and the international media say Mugabe is fighting
prostate cancer.
Health experts said a cataract operation was so
minor that there was no need
to regularly travel to the Far East for
reviews.
Zimbabwe's most celebrated eye surgeon, Solomon Guramatunhu, who
also
happens to treat Mugabe on a regular basis, told Voice of America last
week
that cataract surgeries did not need regular follow-ups.
He was
speaking after being asked an open question without necessarily
referring to
Mugabe.
"In fact a cataract patient should be able to drive their car the
next day
after surgery," he said.
Such explanations have swelled
rumours that Mugabe could be facing a more
complicated disease and this has
escalated the fight between the faction led
by Emmerson Mnangagwa and the
one led by retired General Solomon Mujuru.
The Mujuru camp is reportedly
pushing for Mugabe to remain in power and,
when he becomes incapacitated,
Joyce Mujuru would take over as acting
president. Mujuru has the support of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
party.
But the Mnangagwa camp,
which now includes the army generals, and which
seems to have the upper hand
in Zanu-PF succession politics, wants Mugabe to
remain their leader for now
and to push for elections where he will force
his way in. After, that they
believe Mugabe would appoint Mnangagwa as his
successor.
Former
minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, who was recently recalled to
push
the Zanu-PF propaganda machine, said Mugabe was still fit enough to
rule for
some years.
"Without doubt and prejudice, the president is one of the
healthiest in the
world among people of his age. It's cynical to suggest
that the president is
not well. He is the most thoughtful person of his
age.
"What is significant is that he left for Singapore a day after a
stunning
performance at the anti-sanctions launch. Medical reviews are
routine and
the only difference now is that the doctor is in Singapore. That
he is going
for a second time is not an issue."
Mugabe seems to be
overextending himself to prove to people that he is still
strong enough to
lead the nation.
Soon after returning from Singapore two weeks ago,
Mugabe engaged in lengthy
meetings with his fellow principals in the GPA,
met his security chiefs and
had discussions with his Zanu-PF
people.
Mugabe admitted at his birthday celebrations that his body felt
spent but he
still had a young mind.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Justice Zhou
Sunday, 06 March 2011
12:17
HARARE - Zimbabwe could find itself engulfed in total military rule
once
President Robert Mugabe dies or loses the forthcoming elections, unless
the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) pushes for greater
security
sector reforms, a South Africa based think-tank has
warned.
According to a latest report by the Institute of Democracy in South
Africa
(IDASA), South Africa and other SADC states must engage the
international
community to ensure a roadmap aimed at successful mediation
and peace in
Zimbabwe. As appointed SADC negotiator, South Africa needs to
clarify the
military’s role and other members of state security, targeting
specific
elements who pose a threat as spoilers, IDASA said.
“ SADC and
members of the international community must come together and
agree on a
synchronised public message that will engender concerted pressure
on Zanu
(PF) and the security sector to embrace and enact reforms,” said
IDASA.
“Failure to do so leaves the possibility for a coup d’état in the
event of
Mugabe’s death or a Zanu (PF) defeat at the polls.”
Army
defiance
Zimbabwe’s dreadful army top brass: Constatine Chiwenga, Perence
Shiri and
Philip Valerio Sibanda, a ruthless trio that has presided over
endless
civilian atrocities, have publicly sworn never to recognise Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai as the country’s leader if he won
elections.
They have continued to run as the Joint Operations Command (JOC),
a parallel
structure led by a defiant Mugabe, which was supposed to be
disbanded and
replaced by the inclusive government’s National Security
Council (NSC). The
report came as the junta and other state security
apparatus have pumped up a
show of repressive force against pro-democracy
activists, stifling a
groundswell of anti-Mugabe sentiment which was
inspired by the ousting of
dictators through ongoing mass uprisings in Arab
countries.
Several civic society leaders have been harassed and jailed, while
Zanu (PF)
top officials continue churning out pejorative war rhetoric
targeted at the
MDC and foreign nationals doing business in Zimbabwe.
Amnesty International
has joined calls for security reforms after 44
activists, including former
MDC legislator Munyaradzi Gwisai, were recently
arrested on treason charges
during a lecture focused on mass revolts in
Egypt and Tunisia, and
reportedly tortured by state agents while in
custody.
“These persistent abuses demonstrate the need for urgent reform of
Zimbabwe’s
security sector to bring to an end a culture of impunity for
human rights
violations and partisan enforcement of the law,” said Michelle
Kagari,
Amnesty International’s deputy director for Africa.
Serious
step backwards
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also
lashed out at the
arrests as a “serious step backwards, especially with
elections possibly
taking place later this year.” On Wednesday, thousands of
Zanu (PF) thugs,
including members of Johane Masowe Apostolic Church
worshippers who were
rounded up in Harare’s peripheries and force-marched,
attended a gathering
in which Mugabe agitated for the grabbing of
foreign-owned companies.
The planned violent campaign, Mugabe openly said,
would be led by his
minister of indigenisation and former state security
agent, Saviour
Kasukuwere. “Mugabe’s dismissal of constitutional reform as a
prerequisite
for elections has raised serious concern... the political and
electoral
environments will continue to favour Zanu (PF) and any election
result will
therefore be questionable,” IDASA cautioned.
The Pretoria
group noted Mugabe’s efforts to consolidate army patronage,
with a number of
high-ranking military officers imposed in managerial
positions at
state-owned parastatals and diamond mines.
IDASA added: “The military’s
re-deployment to the rural areas in support of
Zanu (PF) is complemented by
its greater role in the country’s economic
management and exploitation of
natural resources... role in the Chiadzwa
diamond fields, best noted in
Operation Hakudzokwi, indicates how far the
state is willing to go to take
control of new sources of revenue.”
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il
06.03.11, 12:00 / World
Obert Moses
Mpofu, Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Zimbabwe at the
Kimberley
Process plenary meeting in November 2010
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has
agreed to an audit of the country's
recent diamond sales, the Times Live
reports.
The country's finance minister, Tendai Biti, recently called
attention to
the fact that some $300 million in revenue from Kimberly
Process-approved
sales of rough diamonds had never made its way to the
Treasury. This put
Mugabe in a tenuous position, as he had been counting on
the diamond money
to cover the increased wages he has promised civil
servants.
A number of insiders from Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, have
expressed
displeasure with Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert
Mpofu, who they
say "embarrassed" Mugabe by reporting that the money for
salary increases
was available.
The Times also quoted an unnamed
diamond trader saying that Mpofu and the
Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation (ZMDC) – seeking to cover the
missing sum of money – were
selling diamonds on the black market at cut
rates.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
05 March, 2011 11:23:00 | By HENDRICKS
CHIZHANJE
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer Roy Bennett
has accused High
Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu of abusing the court
process by filing
a defamation suit against the popular former
legislator.
Bhunu's lawyers issued a summons against the MDC treasurer in
September
claiming $1-million in damages for defamation.
The lawyers
alleged that the damages resulted from wrongful and defamatory
words which
were uttered by Bennett during an interview with The Guardian
newspaper of
the United Kingdom, on or around May 9 2010, before Justice
Bhunu acquitted
him of plotting to overthrow the government.
Justice Bhunu's lawyers say
the remarks were published on May 24 2010 by an
internet-based publication,
the Zimbabwe Guardian newspaper, which they
claim enjoys wide distribution
on account of it being available on the
internet free of
charge.
Bennett is alleged to have stated that: "To know that the people
who are
doing it will stop at absolutely nothing to achieve their ends and
that
there is a selective application of the rule of law, that the judiciary
is
totally compromised, that the very judge that's trying me is the owner of
a
farm that he's been given through political patronage, that all the
appointments have been done through the Ministry of Justice on a political
basis ... basically I should expect no mercy and fear for the
worst".
But in his defendant's plea filed in the High Court recently
Bennett denied
ever having an interview with the Guardian
newspaper.
"The defendant (Bennett) denies having an interview with a
Guardian
newspaper as alleged, denies making the remarks attributed to him,
does not
know the alleged reporter, denies meeting or being interviewed by
him in
Harare or anywhere else and defendant puts plaintiff (Bhunu) to the
strict
proof of his claims," reads part of Bennett's plea.
Bennett
said Bhunu's claim should be dismissed as it was unjustified.
"The
defendant pleads that the plaintiff's claim is grossly excessive,
constitutes gross abuse of court process and the claim ought to be dismissed
with costs," said Bennett.
Bhunu's lawyers, of Chikumbirike and
Associates Legal Practitioners, argue
that Bennett's remarks were "wrongful
and defamatory" as they were intended
to convey "that the plaintiff (Justice
Bhunu) was not a fit and proper
person to be a judge".
The lawyers
claim that Bennett's statements imputed that Bhunu was "a
conscious and
willing tool" who was "deliberately selected to preside over
the defendant's
(Bennett's) trial by persons that will stop at absolutely
nothing to achieve
their ends by a selective application of the rule of
law".
The
defamation is further alleged to have occurred in that Bennett's remarks
intended to convey and were understood by the readers of the Guardian
newspaper to mean that "the plaintiff's integrity as a judge and to preside
over the defendant's trial (was) totally compromised by virtue of the fact
that his appointment was not based on merit but political patronage and
connections. This lack of judicial integrity having been achieved by the
allocation of a farm through the Land Reform Programme".
Bhunu
acquitted Bennett in May 2010 after ruling that the state's
prosecution
team, led by Attorney General Johannes Tomana, had failed to
establish a
prima facie case against the former Chimanimani member of
parliament, who
had been on trial on terror-related charges.
Tomana later appealed
against Justice Bhunu's decision to acquit Bennett.
Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku has reserved judgment after hearing
submissions from both the
state and Bennett's lawyers in relation to the
appeal. - TimesLive
http://bulawayo24.com
by Matthews Estell
2011 March 06
10:39:29
Speakndebele.com launches its first two part video tutorials.
The two videos
are an introduction to the Ndebele language, the main
language in Bulawayo.
In the Speak Ndebele 101 video series, the tutor
'Ntando' chooses to start
with the alphabet from [a] up to [z]. In the two
videos you get to watch the
tutor pronounce all the letters of the alphabet
in Ndebele, aided with
images of the subject, spellings and phrases in both
Ndebele and English.
Speakndebele.com is a website dedicated to all those
who want to LEARN to
speak Ndebele:
- A person just looking to
learn a new and beautiful African Language
- A Zimbabwean Ndebele
person who can no longer or has never really
spoken isiNdebele very well and
would like to brush up on his/her skills?
- A Zimbabwean person who
speaks other Zimbabwean languages & would
like to add IsiNdebele to
their language hat.
- A man or a woman who has married into a
Ndebele speaking family & you
do not speak the language & you would
like to communicate well or better
with your inlaws in their
language.
- A Ndebele parent who moved out of Zimbabwe and is living
internationally, but has a strong desire to ensure that your children do not
lose this important part of their heritage.
- Someone travelling
to the Southern parts of Africa, South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland
or Lesotho where isiNdebele and Zulu and other
similar Nguni languages are
spoken and would like to get around with a local
language under your
belt.
For any one who wants to learn or teach someone the Ndebele
language
Speakndebele.com is the perfect place to start with. The website is
user
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gateway system for purchasing Advanced tutorial material and other Ndebele
artefacts.
Vigil supporters were appalled at
further reports from
With friends like Gaddafi and
Gbagbo, Mugabe could well find himself arraigned before the International
Criminal Court in
Setting up the Vigil we were
immediately approached by a Zimbabwean lady visiting her daughter in the
We in the diaspora are sometimes
accused of being out of touch with what is going on at home – though we are all
in constant contact with family and friends all over the country experiencing
the daily reality of a dysfunctional state. So we were interested that our
visitors shared our views: that the MDC has been hoodwinked by the illusion of
sharing in government and that Zanu-PF has no intention of giving up power. Our
visitors also had no confidence that
In other words no change. Admittedly
no Zanu-PF chef has yet had the gall to buy a US $380 million yacht like the son
of Teodoro Obiang, Chair of the African Union and President of Equatorial
Guinea, one of the poorest countries in the world (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/equatorial
guinea/8351343/African-dictators-son-orders-236-million-luxury-super-yacht.html).
Mugabe himself has been no slouch at
abusing the state’s resources. He has, for instance, dished out millions of
dollars to praise singers and his repeated visits to
Other
points
·
We were
glad to have with us solicitor Mark Taylor who has worked so hard on Zimbabwean
asylum issues. He updated us on the legal situation of Zimbabweans in the
·
Vigil
supporter Batson Chapata introduced us to Michael Liddell, a minister from his
church, who led prayers for our country.
·
We were
surprised to be criticized for our publicity stunt on Tuesday during which we
hanged Mugabe outside the Embassy. ‘Totally unbecoming in a society that strongly opposes the death
penalty anywhere in the world’ said a correspondent. In fact we would prefer Mugabe to end his
life in a Zimbabwean jail which would be a much worse fate that being hanged.
Batson said the cell he was in was so overcrowded that inmates had to
synchronise changing position at night!
·
For a
report in
sundaytimes/article949808.ece/Protesters--Next-demo-will-be-bigger
·
There
will be a repeat showing of the Prisoners of Conscience photo exhibition
‘Mugabe’s Victims: Zimbabwe Today’ from 22nd March to 3rd
April at the Woolfson and
photography_exhibition.aspx.
·
Thanks to
Atipa Pedzeni, Kelvin Kamupira and Josephine Zhuga for their help today at the
Vigil front table and to Atipa for arranging and putting up
posters.
·
A lady
from
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
FOR THE RECORD: signed the register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith
Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.
To receive a copy by post in the
UK please email confirmation of your order and postal address to
ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and 0send
a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners
Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust
which provides bursaries to needy A Level students in
·
Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by MUNYARADZI DUBE
Sunday, 06
March 2011 12:30
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe is a conundrum,
despised by many for his
unpopular policies, with some even wishing him
death, but loved and
worshipped by some. On Wednesday at the launch of the
so-called
anti-sanctions launch it was a day for the bootlickers to outdo
one another
in lavishing praises on Baba Chatunga. One interesting statement
came from
none other than the Minister of Information and Publicity, Webster
Shamu,
who said Mugabe is like Cremora, a milk product manufactured by
Nestle -
which is among the 400 companies Mugabe intends to grab.
It
remains to be seen whether after the grab Mugabe will still be Cremora,
as
Zanu (PF) has an incapacitating ability to destroy even what is
impossible
to destroy. Shamu, who is said to bow when he speaks to Mugabe,
said
“Gushungo, people say you have Cremora, the whole body. The war the
world
over, President is about you. They fear you and that is why they are
doing
all this (imposing sanctions).” It is doubtful that Shamu had thought
about
his chosen word of comparison, otherwise he would have compared Mugabe
to
one of the many Chinese products available in Harare, that no one intends
to
buy.
Shamu rambled on and on, sickeningly sycophantic: “There is no president
the
world over who has degrees like President Mugabe. He is brainy and
that’s
why he is feared. You fought the liberation struggle for a long time
and you
should also rule for as long as you want.” Indeed Mugabe has several
degrees - but that is not the reason he is feared. Many people in Zimbabwe
fear him because of his ruthless streak and his heavy-handed methods in
dealing with people who do not agree with him.
He has a law degree - but
claims that there is democracy in the country.
What happens then to freedom
of choice? Maybe Shamu should answer that.
Others were keen to put a feather
on Mugabe’s praise coat of many colours –
notably religious sect leaders -
who declared their love for the tyrant who
is pushing 90 at a time when most
Zimbabweans barely reach the age of 40.
The health sector has been destroyed
by Mugabe and only the intervention of
the MDC in 2009 has restored some
sanity in the sector.
Paul Mwazha, who leads one of the largest apostolic
sects in Zimbabwe, was
bubbling. Like a child, he chronicled what he does in
order to prop up his
father. “I am a member of Zanu (PF) party and pray for
President Mugabe,
from the beginning I have always supported Zanu (PF). When
I preach I preach
about Zanu (PF),” he said. His members seemed to enjoy the
‘sermon’ and
began to sing. Maybe afraid of being outshone, Shamu stopped
Mwazha midway
through his speech.
One person who had the audience’s
attention was self-titled Revered Obaddiah
Musindo. “VaMugabe vakaganzwa
naMwari and no one can remove him, Mugabe’s
name is written with the
angels,” said Musindo. There was another man of the
robes who waxed lyrical
about uncle Bob - Trevor Manhanga, bishop of
Pentecostal Assemblies of
Zimbabwe. Like others he chanted slogans
denouncing non-existent sanctions,
saying it was time for people to act and
not pretend it was business as
usual. The sorry fact of the matter is that
Mugabe is surrounded by people
who lie to him daily in order to secure their
place at the Zanu (PF) feeding
trough.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
05/03/2011 00:00:00
by Kudakwashe
Marazanye
I AM surprised that it has taken the world this long to
discover that
Tsvangirayi is a man of limited intellect. Or could it be
that the world is
only coming to terms with a fact they had all along wished
wasn’t true?
Either way, the phenomenon of leaders hamstrung by intellectual
handicaps is
not peculiar to the MDC.
Most movements or revolutions
produce leaders with the attributes necessary
for the particular historical
circumstance but not necessarily imbued with
all the skills needed to see
the revolution through. The liberation movement
in Africa and in Zimbabwe in
particular, also suffered the same problem at
some stage.
The
Zimbabwean liberation movement needed leaders whose main attribute was
courage, but you needed more than just courage to lead a liberation
movement. Men of courage who came up to lead the liberation movement in the
initial stages were not necessarily imbued with the sharp intellect needed
to mobilize a people and project a liberation philosophy to the
world.
Zimbabwe thus had people like Benjamin Burombo, Masotsha Ndlovu,
Joseph
Musika, Simon Muzenda, James Chikerema, George Nyandoro et al, being
at the
forefront of the genesis of African nationalism. These men were not
men who
had much academic education, but they had the courage to take on the
brutal
colonial regime. Courage was needed because the colonial regime was
very
repressive and having been defeated in 1896, Africans had all but given
up
on ever competing with the all conquering white man, who had the Maxim
gun,
which the Africans had not.
However, just like Tsvangirai now,
these early nationalists’ leaders had the
courage and conviction but not the
intellect sharpened by education to
understand the intricacies involved in
executing a decolonization project of
a people conditioned to accept that
they were inferior and were to be
perpetual hewers of wood and drawers of
water.
These early nationalists were acutely aware of this handicap and
they set
about persuading the learned Africans of the time to lead them in
the
complex decolonization project, which was “above their simple heads”.
And so
it was that emissaries were sent to Enoch Dumbutshena, Stanlake
Samkange,
Joshua Nkomo and others to persuade these learned Africans to take
up
leadership positions in the nascent nationalist movement. The emissaries
met
with varying degrees of failure in their efforts to persuade these
African
luminaries to join hands with them in dislodging settler
colonialism.
Uncle Tom politics
At the time, the learned Africans
like the Fort Hare boys, Tennyson
Hlabangana, Herbert Chitepo, Joshua Nkomo
and others were involved in Uncle
Tom politics in the ostensibly multiracial
Capricorn Society which
essentially sought to make Uncle Toms of emerging
African middle class
aspirants by cultivating white tastes in them, distinct
from their
uncivilised fellow Africans.
However, as the liberation
movement gained momentum, these learned Africans
sensed potential for
self-aggrandizement and started scrambling to take up
leadership positions
in the movement. These Fort Hare boys had absolutely no
history of being
involved in politics at Fort Hare. So it is clear that
these latter-day
nationalists were relative mafikizolos to the liberation
movement; lured not
so much by a desire to liberate Africans but by the
prospect of grabbing
power.
Still, after negotiations with the settler regimes yielded
nothing, Africans
had to resort to armed struggle as the only way to
liberate themselves and
courage to put oneself in harm’s way was needed in
the armed struggle. Thus
leaders emerged who were courageous militarily but
not intellectually gifted
coming forward to prosecute the war.
People
like Mayor Urimbo, Josiah Tongogara, Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru,)
Nikita
Mangena, Sheba Gava (Vitalis Zvinavashe) were the main players in
prosecuting the war but they were not necessarily very learned. In his
Chimurenga memoirs, Tekere reveals that some of the people who today posture
as liberation war fighters were in fact what the Shona call vana
Muchekadzafa (cowardly opportunistic hunters who rush to make a show of
killing an animal already dead).
Privatised struggle
Many may
be shocked to discover from Tekere’s book that those who have
privatised
Zimbabwe claiming they fought for the country may never have
fired a single
shot to liberate the country. Some of them cannot tell a Sub
(Chimurenga
parlance for an AK 47) from a bazooka. So the foot soldiers in
the
liberation struggle were not the ones who ended up claiming its
leadership
and pride of place in the political scheme of things in Zimbabwe.
Just as
the liberation project needed men of valour, in Zimbabwe, the
democratisation project also needed men of valour once it became clear that
the liberators had replaced the colonial regime with a dictatorship. This is
because the post-colonial dictatorship was just as repressive as the
colonial regimes.
As in the liberation project, the democratisation
project also produced
leaders who had the guts, but not necessarily the
brains to see the
democratization project through. Thus we had Morgan
Tsvangirayi emerging as
a leader of the democratization project, but lacking
in the intellectual
depth needed to see the project through.
Again,
like in the liberation project, intellectuals were supposed to come
in to
provide the intellectual leadership to steer the democratization
project to
a successful completion. Tsvangirayi emerged mainly due to the
platform
accorded him by the mass-based trade union movement that he led.
So
instead of leaving Tsvangirai at the mercy of foreign handlers who had
their
own agenda, it was the duty of democratically-inclined intellectuals
to do
the massive hand-holding on Tsvangirai that Dell had to do after the
criminal dereliction of national duty by intellectuals in
Zimbabwe.
Particularly culpable are Welshman Ncube and Co. who put their
egos ahead of
the national interests by deserting Tsvangirai and leaving him
at the mercy
of imperialists like Dell. Zambians suffered Chiluba’s
disastrous leadership
in the interests of establishing and entrenching
democracy in that country.
The democratisation project in Zimbabwe is now
in danger of failing because
of poor decision making by intellectuals in and
of the democratic movement.
An otherwise noble democratisation project has
offended key constituencies
in Africa and in the Diaspora as it is seen as
lending itself to
manipulation by the hated West.
Liberation
failure
The Pseudo-Pan Africanists in charge of Zanu PF have taken
advantage of this
to unleash propaganda to dismiss legitimate aspirations
for democratic space
by Zimbabweans as a project by the imperialists to
destabilise a country led
by a party out to empower its people. If the
intellectuals in the MDC had
handled the democratic movement astutely, it
would not be open to attacks
that it is foreign founded, funded and
directed.
Zimbabwe’s liberators failed the people of Zimbabwe and they
are now playing
the propaganda game claiming that they are fighting Western
imperialism.
That a lot of well meaning Pan-Africanists are celebrating Zanu
PF’s
pseudo-nationalists as champions of African interests, is testimony to
the
dearth of true leaders that Africans can look up.
Just about all
Africans -- at home and in the Diaspora -- have an axe to
grind with the
white devils and they therefore can easily be taken in by the
propaganda of
wily false prophets of African liberation and empowerment.
What many do
not realise is that the Zanu (PF) government has been right
wing right from
the start in 1980. Witness how they jettisoned the African
agenda in the 80s
and early 90s as they cavorted with white devils while
ignoring the
interests of Africans at home.
People should not confuse the vengeance of
Uncle Toms slighted by Tony Blair
and out to avenge their wounded monstrous
egos with sincere Pan Africanism
meant to advance the cause of the God
forsaken Africans.
Of all the liberation movements in the SADC region
which became ruling
parties, Zanu PF is the most disappointing. As a
liberation movement turned
ruling party, Zanu PF has been a great betrayal
to black Zimbabweans.
Having been given a political blank cheque, well
almost, at independence,
they turned against their own people using the
Rhodesian repressive
machinery they inherited at independence comprising
repressive laws and
instruments of coercion like the police, CIO and army,
in their quest to
keep a grip on power.
Betrayal
Instead of
using people-centred policies to maintain their grip on power,
they used
repression. The party also turned into a bunch of corrupt looters,
using
state resources to line their pockets in contemptuous disregard of the
wishes of their people. Isn’t it a scandalous shame that the number of
black people killed by the settler regime in its defence of white interests
may be equal or is even less than those killed by the ZANU PF government in
its quest to remain in power?
So the yearning for genuine freedom by
the black people of Zimbabwe thirty
years after independence is a legitimate
aspiration, which should not be
confused with the antics of the imperialists
to advance their own cause
using the suffering of black Zimbabweans. The
progressive world should not
throw away the proverbial baby with the bath
water in their indecent haste
to dismiss the MDC as a front for white
interests.
MDC mediocrity
The mediocrity of the MDC leadership,
including Tsvangirai has always been
an open secret. The preponderance of
mediocre leadership in the MDC can be
attributed to the fact that ZANU PF
has managed to scare away people of
substance from opposition
politics.
It takes a lot of personal sacrifice for anybody to offer
themselves as a
candidate for opposition politics. One risks their life and
livelihood by
dabbling in opposition politics in Zimbabwe. ZANU PF has not
hesitated to
kill, or maim opponents or destroy their businesses and/or
their careers.
Again because of an entrenched patronage system in the
country business
people can lose government business and business from
Parastatals or even
licences to do business if they come out in the open as
opposition party
members.
In addition, appointment to positions of
authority in government,
Parastatals, universities etc is also dependent on
membership to Zanu PF or
non involvement in opposition politics at the very
least, so one would be
jeopardising their career by getting involved in
opposition politics.
The dirty nature of politics as practised by Zanu PF
is succinctly captured
in Chimurenga music guru Thomas Mapfumo‘s song Jojo
“… Jojo zvenyika… Jojo
siyananazvo/ Jojo unozofa….Vazhinji vakapondwa
pamusana penyika…” (Jojo do
not be involved in politics, because you will
be murdered. Many people have
been murdered for dabbling in
politics.)
For a party formed and led by a mere trade unionist with
limited education,
together with students still wet behind the ears, I think
the MDC has done
reasonably well in very difficult
circumstances.
However, MDC’s weaknesses do not make Zanu PF angels. Zanu
PF may unleash
all the propaganda they like about conspiracies by
imperialists, but that
can never belie the fact that as a liberation
movement that gained power the
party has been a great betrayal to the
aspirations of Africans who waged a
war to get them into power.
Zanu
PF is not the panacea to Zimbabwe’s problems; it is part of the
problem.
There is still a struggle to be fought to improve the lot of
Zimbabweans in
terms of their freedoms and their economic well being.
The lot of the
generality of Africans in Zimbabwe is not any better than
what it was in
colonial Rhodesia. In Rhodesia they lived in fear of the
Special Branch and
they had to be subservient to the colonial Nkosi / Baas.
In Zimbabwe they
live in mortal fear of the dreaded CIO and they have to
grovel before the
black Shefu. In Rhodesia, Smith killed and maimed black
Zimbabweans to
maintain white rule. In Zimbabwe, Zanu PF kills and maims
black Zimbabweans
to maintain remain in power.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za
Eddie Cross
06 March
2011
Eddie Cross says the choice facing the country is quite
simple
I spoke to a friend who works for one of the aid agencies in
Harare and
asked if we had succeeded in confusing her at last. She laughed
and said
that we had. Now if she is confused by Zimbabwe, with all her
resources and
information and the analytical capacity available to a person
in her job,
then the rest of us should be stumbling in the dark.
But
the reality is actually quite simple in its basic elements. The GPA
government is not working, economic recovery has slowed and we simply cannot
go on much longer like this. That is a fact, we either resolve our
differences, work together to find a solution, or we start to slide
backwards into the anarchy we left behind in 2009.
The second reality
is that we are all out of time. Suddenly Mr. Mugabe is
mortal; the
implications are far reaching for all of us and especially for
Zanu PF,
which is hopelessly fragmented.
Thirdly, we are all tied into the GPA
process by our leader's signatures and
the political commitment of the
region and the AU as a whole. This means
that whether we like it or not we
either walk across the GPA Bridge or
abandon the process and jump off into
the gorge below.
The one thing is sure for all of us - we are on the GPA
Bridge and our
collective future depends on our willingness to continue the
walk to the
other side that we started on in February 2009. We cannot go
back, none of
us; this is the only way forward if the jump into the gorge is
out.
The only group here that wants to risk the jump are those who know
that once
we get across the bridge there is no future for them there, only
total
uncertainty and insecurity. This group includes all the real
hardliners in
Zanu PF as well as key military and security figures. They
want an Egypt
solution - chaos on the streets, an ungovernable State, a leap
off the
bridge and if they survive the fall into the river below, regroup
and form a
new government that will be a flimsy disguise for a military
Junta.
They do not give a damn about the welfare of the people, they fear
and
despise democracy and trust only themselves. They think that in an
unholy
alliance with international crooks and thugs and the rich natural
resources
here, they can get by very well. Those who do not like it can and
will
leave, eventually resulting in a tiny population governed by an
oligarchy
like Burma or Guinea, protected by powerful friends who profit by
exploiting
our isolation and resources.
As I write, the South African
facilitators are in town again. They are
talking about how to get this
collection of arguing, infuriating people to
stop quibbling and get on with
the walk across the bridge. Their efforts
have been complicated immeasurably
by Mr. Mugabe's sudden frailty and there
is a new sense of urgency. A
changing of the guard is now more certain than
ever and it is only a
question of how and when, and perhaps, who?
Despite all our efforts we
are still only about one third of the way across.
The GPA road map envisaged
that by now we would be over the bridge and
conducting elections for new
leadership for a new era. Instead we are stuck
and not even in the
middle.
Let's just have a quick look at what we have to do before we can
say we have
crossed over this Jordan. First is the issue of a new
constitution to
determine the shape and operations of the new State. We have
consulted the
people, a flawed process but nevertheless, it did clearly
state certain
fundamental national requirements - a devolved State, perhaps
with five
Provincial Governments, reduced powers for the President who will
govern
without a Prime Minister, a stronger, more independent Parliament and
greater independence for key Commissions.
I think the two main
Parties can agree on most of this and a new
constitution should not be
difficult to negotiate - and it will be
negotiated, the idea of a people
driven process is simply not going to work,
that is for next time. What we
will almost certainly end up with is a
compromise document that will form
the basis of a new transitional
government to be formed after an
election.
By itself, the constitution will not deliver a free and fair
election that
is not open to dispute. This is the stated goal of the South
African team
and is attainable. What is needed is for the new Electoral
Commission to be
given full control of the process, sufficient funding for
what is required
and for a new staff at the Commission to replace the
CIO/Military
establishment that has run elections here for the past
decade.
If it is decided to go for a harmonised election, then we will
need a new
voters roll. The present roll is totally and irrevocably
compromised. The
Registrar Generals Office has been playing games with the
roll for so long I
do not think even they know who is on the roll anymore.
It has six million
voters recorded - at least two million are dead (my
father is still on the
roll and he has been dead for 20 years) and goodness
knows how many are
absent from the country - we have at least 4 to 5 million
Zimbabwean adults
abroad or in other African States. Urban and young voters
are understated
and thousands of people who qualify as Citizens under the
amendments to the
present constitution have been deregistered.
Once
we have a new roll, then we need a new delimitation exercise conducted
by an
independent and apolitical authority under the guidance of ZEC. I am
quite
sure that this will reverse the relationship in numbers between urban
and
rural constituencies - in my view the present ratio of rural to urban
voters
is one third/two thirds. Such a shift would have a profound impact on
the
electoral outcome as every Zanu PF leader understands.
We need peace and
total control of political violence. Believe me, Zanu can
turn on and off
the violence in five minutes. They have done it in the past
and only they
have the mechanism to do so. The recent upsurge in violence is
totally at
the behest of Zanu PF leadership and they must be persuaded that
this is not
only unacceptable, but it's unproductive and not in their
interests.
We need international observers in here - months before
and after the
elections. Then we need a decent election, observers in every
polling
station, a transparent ballot, counting and reporting system as laid
down in
new electoral regulations that are under discussion right
now.
The trouble with such a road map is that it has nothing for Zanu PF
after
the bridge has been crossed. They would be defeated in such an
election and
by such a wide margin that they might cease to exist as a
viable political
entity. The only way to avoid that is to go for a
Presidential election
only. This would leave Zanu intact in the House and
force a new President to
work with them in the formation of a post GPA
Government.
The adoption of a road map that leads to such an outcome
would have many
advantages - Zanu would be more prepared to work with the
MDC on a new
constitution that was compliant with the people's wishes. It
would take less
time - we would not need a new voters roll or delimitation
and the interests
of Zanu PF, including security, would be met by
negotiation on the
composition and shape of the new
administration.
Eddie Cross is an MDC MP for Bulawayo South. This article
first appeared on
his website www.eddiecross.africanherd.com
in late February.
By Clifford Chitupa
Mashiri, Political Analyst, London 05/03/11
Reports that Zimbabwe’s
cabinet ministers in the shaky coalition government
clashed in furious
scenes on Tuesday over a series of political issues is
very concerning.
(Zimbabwe Independent, 03/03/11). Indications are that the
contentious
issues such as targeted sanctions, the media, external radio
stations, hate
speech, the rule of law, land audit and so on are unlikely to
be resolved at
the next Cabinet meeting as planned.
As the country faces a bleak and
terrifying political future amidst
militarization and GPA stalemate, many
questions come to mind, like: ‘Do
Zimbabweans deserve Jacob Zuma’s style of
mediation? Is Jacob Zuma the
surrogate President of Zimbabwe? Why is there
no progress in Zuma’s
mediation? Why can’t the UN replace Zuma as the
facilitator on the Zimbabwe
crisis?
The reasons for losing hope in
Jacob Zuma’s mediation efforts abound but for
now, we shall focus on five
key pressing ones. These include Zuma’s rather
secretive facilitation style,
a lackadaisical approach, probably an apparent
conflict of interest, taking
sides e.g. on targeted sanctions and
withholding 2002 election violence
report.
Over-secretive facilitation
The facilitation team was last
in Harare two weeks ago but left tight-lipped
at a time of increasing
tension due to political violence and intimidation
in the country. President
Zuma was expected to visit Zimbabwe in the new
year to discuss a road map
and transfer of power, but that did not take
place. Iin October 2010 the
team also left Harare empty-handed after it
failed to convene a meeting of
the three principals (Zimbabwe Metro,
15/10/10).
While Zimbabweans
may think they have been waiting for too long since 2008,
they will have to
wait until August when Pretoria assumes the SADC Troika
chairmanship, which
according to President Zuma’s State of the Nation
address, ‘will give it
more leverage to carry out its mediatory role in
Zimbabwe, including pushing
for a clear roadmap to new elections’
(Southafricahouseuk.com,
10/02/11).
A roadmap to free and fair elections
The SADC
facilitator has since been reportedly presented with the minimum
conditions
for free and fair elections by the MDC led by Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai and what remains to be seen is President’s Zuma’s own
action
plan. The conditions include:
• a new constitution;
• guaranteeing
the security of people;
• an end to violence;
• the introduction of
a biometric voters’ roll;
• a transparent and impartial delimitation
process;
• full audit of electoral processes;
• Sadc monitors six
months before and six months after the elections and
• security sector
reforms and realignment to prevent political abuse by
the military,
intelligence agencies and youth militia (Zimbabwe Independent,
03/03/11).
Amazingly some analysts were quoted as despising the
MDC-T’s conditions
which actually constitute a credible roadmap to free and
fair elections. Two
additional conditions are worth mentioning here. There
should be
enfranchisement of all Zimbabweans including those in the Diaspora
not only
in South Africa as suggested recently by Zapu leader Dumiso
Dabengwa.
In addition to a SADC force, there should be a UN peacekeeping
contingent to
ensure neutrality given the biased stance of SADC states in
previous
elections and as demonstrated by their calls for the lifting of
targeted
sanctions before the reasons for their imposition were
addressed.
Lackadaisical approach
President Zuma was in Harare
from 16th to 18th March 2010 as SADC
facilitator and set a deadline of March
31, 2010 for the implementation of a
package of measures (Kubatana.net,
22/03/10). However, the deadline was
never met and nothing happened. In
August 2010, parties to the coalition
government insisted there was ‘little
to no chance’ of meeting President
Zuma’s 30-day deadline for the resolution
of outstanding issues in the
implementation of the GPA (New Zimbabwe,
22/08/10). That deadline was not
met as well.
The Southern African
Development Community (SADC ) Organ for Politics,
Defence and Security
otherwise known as the Troika aborted its meeting in
Gaberone, Botswana in
November 2010 due to lack of quorum. The Troika
comprises Zambian President
Rupiah Banda (chairman) Mozambican President
Armando Guebuza (member) and
Democratic Republic of the Congo President
Joseph Kabila (member). With
Banda and Guebuza absent, the meeting was
aborted leading to analysts saying
‘SADC is in no hurry to solve Zimbabwe
crisis’ (Financial Gazette,
26/11/10).
The SADC Troika meeting that was supposed to take place in
Zambia in
December 2010 failed to materialise. So was the one pencilled in
for January
then shifted to February. It is now over six months since the
SADC tribunal
was suspended pending a review leaving displaced Zimbabwean
white commercial
farmers disadvantaged due to Robert Mugabe’s reluctance to
honour its
rulings which were in favour of compensating the
farmers.
Defying court orders
Despite the fact that two courts
have ordered the South African Presidency
to release a hitherto secret
report into Zimbabwe’s 2002 elections, Zuma’s
administration continues to
withhold the information surrounding the
controversial 2002 presidential
poll widely believed to have been rigged in
favour of Robert Mugabe of
Zanu-pf (Mail and Guardian, 21/12/10). The
Presidency has appealed and
lost.
Sanctions bias
In all fairness before calling for
the lifting of targeted sanctions on
Robert Mugabe and his inner circle,
Jacob Zuma is supposed to demand to see
evidence of democracy and good
political governance for example the
prosecution of perpetrators of election
violence in 2008 during which an
estimated 200 MDC supporters were murdered
by suspected Zanu-pf elements.
It is not clear how the SADC facilitator
hopes his roadmap to work while the
co-chairman of the constitution outreach
programme Douglas Mwonzora and 22
villagers languish in a remote prison
despite court bail orders (The
Zimbabwe Mail, 21.02/11).
Arms
sales
There are concerns that there could be a conflict of interest in
the
mediation process. Fears were expressed in 2009 that South Africa was
planning to sell arms to Mugabe’s regime. Visiting Members of Parliament of
the Democratic Alliance said: ‘We regret to report that our country South
Africa is planning to export 7.62 and 9mm ammunition to Zimbabwe. Our
colleague David Maynier MP recently revealed – on 2 August 2009 – that
Parliament’s National Conventional Arms Committee is considering authorising
more than a million rounds of both types of bullets for export’ (Zimbabwe
Independent, 13/08/09).
The South African MPs were concerned that the
Harare regime was funding ‘a
war chest’ following talks with Venezuela, Cuba
and North Korea ahead of the
next election. Citing a report by a Belgian
Research group, International
Peace Information Service, they said: “On
August 21 2008, the first of many
arms shipments containing 32 tonnes of
(ammunition) was flown from the
Democratic Republic of Congo to Harare. On
August 30 a second shipment of 20
tonnes of AK-47 (ammunition) arrived. This
was flown in via Angola (and
also) included mortar bombs and rockets”
(Zimbabwe Independent, 13/08/09).
Armscor of South Africa allegedly broke
the arms boycott when it reportedly
sold spare parts for Alloutte
helicopters to the value of more than R1m to
the Zimbabwean government
according to Fin24.com, accessed 05/03/11.
The SADC facilitator did not
deplore the recent intimidating show of
military and police force at Harare
Gardens, in the city and suburbs by the
Mugabe regime ahead of a supposedly
peaceful demonstration dubbed ‘million
citizens march’ prompting it to be
called-off.
Conclusion
It is against this background that Zuma’s
credibility as a mediator is in
doubt. Although, Zimbabwe is not a member of
NEPAD’s African Peer Review
Mechanism, it is ironic that South Africa which
is a member state seems to
disregard democracy and good governance as
important benchmarks for free and
fair elections in
Zimbabwe.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
BILL WATCH SPECIAL
[5th March 2011]
Information about other committee meetings open to the public from
Monday 7th March to Thursday 10th March will be circulated as soon as Veritas
obtains it from Parliament
Parliamentary Committee Meeting Open to Public: Monday 7th
March
This meeting will be open to members of the public, as observers
only, not as participants.
Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral evidence from:
· Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono on allegations of
externalisation of foreign currency by Mr Mawere and SMM companies prior to
Government action under Prevention of Corruption Act and Reconstruction of
State-Indebted Companies legislation
· Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Melusi
Matshiya on the circumstances leading to the specification of Mr Mawere and
SMM companies under Prevention of Corruption Act
Venue: Senate Chamber, Parliament building
Chairperson: Hon. Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr Manhivi
With this meeting the portfolio committee continues its long-running
probe into aspects of the Government’s takeover of Mr Mawere’s SMM asbestos
mining empire. It has already heard from Mr Mawere himself and Minister of Justice
and Legal Affairs Chinamasa. Two weeks ago it held public hearings on the spot in Zvishavane and Mashava and heard
evidence from mineworkers and local businesspeople of the devastating effects of
the closure of the Shabanie and Mashava mines under the management of the
Government-appointed administrator.
Note: It is recommended that members of the public wishing to attend the
meeting avoid possible disappointment by checking beforehand with the committee
clerk that the meeting is still on and still open to the
public. Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare 700181 or 252936-55.
If attending, please use the Kwame Nkrumah Ave entrance to
Parliament. IDs must be produced.
Note: Zimbabweans in the Diaspora can send in written submissions by
email to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.
BILL WATCH
7/2011
[5th March 2011]
Both the House of Assembly and the Senate will resume on Tuesday 8th
March
Commentary
on General Laws Amendment Bill
Introduction
The General Laws Amendment Bill
[HB 8, 2010], which was gazetted in October last year,
was introduced into the House of Assembly on 16th February and is currently
being considered by the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
[Electronic version of Bill available on request]
General Laws
Amendment Bills are Bills which amend several different Acts. They save time
because Parliament does not have to go through the laborious process of
considering and passing a large number of small Bills. But they should make
only minor, non-contentious amendments to the Acts concerned. Over the years,
however, the Government has tended to insert far-reaching and potentially
controversial provisions into its General Laws Amendment Bills, presumably
hoping that MPs would not notice them. This Bill continues that regrettable
trend. Although its memorandum states that it “seeks to make minor amendments”,
some of the proposed amendments are by no means minor.
Non-controversial Amendments
Most of the Bill is uncontroversial.
There are clauses which will require appointees to the Administrative and Labour
Courts to take an oath of office before the President. Then there are clauses
which will amend the Ombudsman Act to reflect the office’s new title of Public
Protector, and the Police Act to reflect Mr Chihuri’s title of
Commissioner-General [note: a change of title should not affect Mr Chihuri’s
retirement terms – see comment at end]. There is a clause allocating State
assets between the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General’s Office and the new
Judicial Service and although the clause suggests that ownership in the assets
is being transferred, that cannot be the case since none of the bodies concerned
is legally capable of owning property – it is all State property – so what is
being transferred is use of and responsibility for the
assets.
Debateable Amendments
that may Adversely Affect Sectoral Interests
Some of the amendments made by the Bill are
important.
Clause 8 –
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act
This clause will amend the Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Act to allow the responsible Minister to carry out
assessment ratings of “businesses” rather than just “companies”. The amendment
itself is a small one, but its implications may be far-reaching, in that
it will extend the Act’s scope to all kinds of business entities such as
syndicates and professional partnerships.
Clause 11 –
Environmental Management Act
This clause will make several amendments to
the Environmental Management Act, one of which will require an environmental
impact assessment study to be done before bill-boards can be erected or
fibre-optic cables laid [this was not mentioned in the Bill’s memorandum and
Harare City Council is reported to be against it].
Clauses 12, 18 and 19
– Local Authority Procurement to be via National Procurement Board
These
clauses will make urban councils and rural district councils go through the
tender proceedings laid down in the Procurement Act when they obtain goods and
services. The clauses may be intended to curb corruption, but local authorities
oppose them on the ground that putting all procurement in the hands of the
national Procurement Board will result in over-centralisation, bureaucratic
delays, and an increase in corruption.
Unsatisfactory Amendments Needing
Reconsideration
Clause 4 – enforcement of compensation
orders in favour of victims of crime
This clause
will amend the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act so that if a criminal court
orders a convicted person to pay compensation to a victim of a crime, the victim
will be able to have the order registered as a civil judgment against the
convicted person and will be able to enforce the civil judgment even if the
convicted person appeals against
his conviction. If the convicted person disputes the compensation order he will
have to appeal against it separately. This amendment needs to be reconsidered because:
·
There is no provision for the convicted
person to be told if the compensation order has been registered as a civil
judgment. So it can be enforced against him without his being aware that it has
been made a judgment.
·
If the convicted person is not told when
the compensation order has been registered as a civil judgment, he will not be
able to appeal against it within the 21-day time-limit for lodging civil
appeals.
·
Most importantly, if the convicted person
is successful in his appeal against conviction, and if the appeal court finds
him innocent, he will still be liable to pay compensation to the victim of a
crime he didn’t commit, unless he lodges a fresh appeal against the compensation
order.
The clause
will also amend the Third Schedule to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act by
adding to the offences for which magistrates cannot
grant bail without the consent of the Attorney-General and for which no court can
grant bail unless there are exceptional circumstances. One of the offences so
added is “contravening section 128 of the Parks and Wild Life Act.” It is not
possible to contravene that section since it does not create an
offence.
Clause 13 – limitations on legal action
against Reserve Bank
This
clause, as stated in the Bill’s memorandum, will apply the State Liabilities Act
retrospectively to actions against the Reserve Bank. The memorandum does not
say what the effect of this will be:
·
It probably won’t affect legal proceedings
that have been instituted in South Africa against the Reserve Bank. Those
proceedings will continue to be governed by South African
law.
·
It will stop litigants in Zimbabwe from
executing against the Reserve Bank; that is, from obtaining court orders
requiring the Bank’s assets to be seized and sold in order to pay off the Bank’s
debts. This may be a mixed blessing for the Bank. On the one hand, the Bank
won’t have to worry about creditors seizing and selling its property. On the
other hand, the Bank may not find people willing to do business with it.
·
The amendment, as noted above, will be
retrospective to the 18th June 2010, which is when regulations were promulgated
under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to stop execution against
Reserve Bank property. Those regulations, however, expired in mid-December last
year, so at present there is nothing to stop Zimbabwean creditors from having
the Reserve Bank’s property seized to pay off its debts.
Incidentally, it is not clear if the
provisions of the State Liabilities Act requiring notice to be given before
legal proceedings are taken against the State will apply to legal proceedings
which have already been instituted against the Reserve Bank. The point should
be clarified.
Undesirable
Amendments
Some of the amendments set out in the Bill
are both important and thoroughly undesirable.
Clause 7 – heavy
penalties for offences under Aviation Regulations
This clause will amend the Civil Aviation
Act to allow the responsible Minister to make regulations prescribing criminal
and civil penalties for contraventions of aviation law. At present the maximum
penalty that can be prescribed is a fine of level 5 [currently US $200] or six
months’ imprisonment; this clause will increase it to a fine of level 14 [US $5
000] or five years’ imprisonment. Such severe prison sentences should be
prescribed only by Parliament itself, not by a Minister. Incidentally, the
increased criminal penalty is not mentioned in the Bill’s
memorandum.
Clause 10 – mandatory
minimum sentences for rhino poaching
Section 128 of the Parks and Wild Life Act
currently imposes severe penalties [a fine of up to level 14 — currently US $5
000 — or imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both] for poaching rhinoceros and
other specified protected animals. This clause will increase the penalty to a
mandatory minimum prison sentence of nine years for a first offence and 11 years
for a second offence.
Mandatory minimum sentences are generally
undesirable:
· They are contrary to the rule of law, of
which an essential element is an independent judiciary which is free to exercise
its judicial functions without interference from the Executive or the
Legislature. The imposition of sentence in criminal cases is essentially a
judicial function, and should be left to the courts’ discretion. Justice cannot
be done if courts are not allowed to take account of differences between
cases.
· A mandatory sentence may be
unconstitutional in that it amounts to inhuman or degrading punishment. This
applies not only to barbaric sentences such as castration, but also to mandatory
sentences of imprisonment if the sentences are so high that they pass beyond all
rational bounds of punishment in the eyes of right-thinking people. The
sentences specified in this clause come close to this.
Clause 16 – copyright
protection for Acts, statutory instruments etc
This clause will give the Government
copyright in various types of official documents, namely Acts and statutory
instruments, court judgments, Gazette notices and official registers. Objection
to the clause were outlined in detail in Bill Watch No. 44/2010 of 31st October
2010, but in summary the objections to it are as follows:
· It will give the Government a complete
discretion to decide whether or not the documents should be published, so
private individuals and organisations will not be allowed to publicise and
disseminate laws such as the Electoral Act, or important court judgments, unless
the Government agrees.
· The amendment is unconstitutional in that
it violates section 20 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression,
namely the freedom to receive and impart ideas and information without
interference.
· The amendment will violate the rule of law,
which the principals undertook to uphold in article 11.1 of the GPA. One of the
essential elements of the rule of law is that the law must be readily available
to the public, because if people don’t know what the law is they will not be
able to obey it. So statutes and judgments which embody the law must be
disseminated as widely as possible to everyone who needs or wants to read them.
The Government should not be allowed to control their
dissemination.
·
The proposed
amendment will also be contrary to best practice in the southern African
region. In South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia, there is no copyright in
Bills, Acts of Parliament and other texts of a legal or administrative
nature.
Conclusion
As usual,
the Bill is a spotty mixture of important and trivial provisions, good ones and
bad — and too many bad ones to make it a welcome piece of
legislation.
Re
Police Commissioner-General: A final point may be
noted about clause 6 of the Bill, which will amend the Police Act to reflect the
Commissioner’s new title of “Commissioner-General”, given to him by Constitution
Amendment No. 18 in October 2007. Under the Act the “Commissioner” of Police
must retire after four years, though the President can re-appoint him thereafter
for further 12-month periods. The last time Mr Chihuri’s re-appointment was
gazetted was in February 2008, and it may be that the Government felt further
re-appointment was unnecessary because the 12-month term-limits laid down for
the “Commissioner” in the Police Act no longer applied now that he was
Commissioner-General. If that was the reason for not re-appointing Mr Chihuri
it was manifestly incorrect as a change of title does not mean he is no longer
subject to the same term limits. Members of Parliament might well question the
co-Ministers of Home Affairs about this when the clause is debated in the House
of Assembly.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied