http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27799
March 8, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE – The State on Monday closed its case against MDC
treasurer general
Roy Bennett, paving the way for Bennett’s lawyers to
immediately file for
discharge of the MDC top official’s terrorism
charges.But Attorney General
Johannes Tomana opposed the
application.
“The State has not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt,”
said top human
rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who is leading the
defence.
“Evidence produced is so manifestly unreliable.
“My Lord,
we respectfully submit that on the fact of this case, evidence led
on behalf
of the prosecution, the accused is an appropriate candidate for
discharge at
this juncture.”
By allegedly being found in possession of weaponry for
purposes of banditry
and terrorism, said Mtetwa, Bennett was being charged
for an offence under a
section of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
that was repealed in
2004.
Mtetwa said the State had failed to prove
the offence was committed when the
cited section was still
operational.
The State says the crime was committed between 2002 and
2006.
Mtewa told the court the state had also failed to prove that
Bennett made
the alleged deposit of 5000 American dollars into a Mozambican
bank account
owned by Peter Michael Hitschmann, Bennett’s
co-accused.
She added, “Having an account in Mozambique does not
constitute a nexus
between Bennett and the bank account.”
The state
says the funds were intended for the purchase of weapons for use
to
overthrow President Robert Mugabe’s former administration.
Mtetwa further
said it was unthinkable and ridiculous for Bennett to be
charged with an
offence which his co-accused Hitschmann was acquitted of in
his own trial in
2006.
Hitschmann, who was now key witness for the state, served two years
for a
less serious charge of possessing unlicensed weapons.
He was
impeached for giving contradicting statements during Bennett’s
trial.
Mtetwa further argued that if at all Bennett had indeed connived
with
Hitschmann in the alleged offence the police would ordinarily have made
an
independent investigation targeting him, instead of relying on the
purported
confessions of Hitschmann.
“The police did not make any
attempt to go to Bennett’s house, see his bank
statements, try to see his
computer and so forth,” said Mtetwa.
The said confessions were ruled
inadmissible at the commencement of the
trial after Hitschmann claimed he
gave them under torture by state security
agents.
Mtetwa said the
State has also failed to provide forensic proof the emails
allegedly
downloaded from Hitschmann’s laptop during police investigations
constituted
authentic communication between the alleged co-conspirators.
“My Lord,
the State summary consists of fiction, which does not meet the
criteria of
placing the accused person on his defence. Virtually none of the
allegations
has been proved,” said Mtetwa.
Tomana will file his opposing submissions
when trial resumes on Wednesday.
What an amazing tribute to Prudence and all the wonderful members of Liyana. The full acceptance speech is posted below and can be read on the official Oscar’s page here.
I was expecting the usual Oscar-style thank-you speeches that we all have yawned through, but the producer, Elinor Burkett – who lives in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – was on a mission! She cut in to the director’s speech with an intense sense of purpose. I was already emotional, blown-away by the fact the film had actually won an Oscar, but tears literally poured down my face when Burkett, who looked emotional herself, said
In a world in which most of us are told and tell ourselves that we can’t. Liyana, the band behind this film, teaches us that we’re wrong. Against all odds they did, so we can.
I can’t hear the words “Against all odds they did, so we can” without thinking of Zimbabwe because we are a nation daring to hope for a future without fear and tyranny, and we are a people who feel that all our hopes are fragile and flimsy when stacked up ‘against the odds’ hurled at us by a tyrannical Zanu PF.
“We can’t” is a daily struggle for me, and I know its a daily struggle for lots of Zimbabweans; in fact, I’d say that “we can’t” is probably one of the biggest obstacles confronting us.
It’s hard to square up to the enormity of the obstacles facing us and think, ‘we can do it’; it becomes even harder to do this when just as you think that maybe we’ve taken a small positive step forward, Zanu PF comes along and blindsides us with yet another ill-conceived policy that disrespects the nation and her people.
The film is all about an astonishing young woman named Prudence, and the Liyana band members, but the words “Against all odds they did, so we can” grabs what is an unashamedly ostentatious and glitzy American moment by its throat, and roots it strongly back in the brutal and bloody context the film emerges from: a country still struggling to recover, a nation still hurting from decades of human rights abuses, citizens still too afraid to hope that maybe we can pull ourselves through to the other side, families still divided across different countries and continents. Ours is a world where despair and hopelessness thrive. How do we dare to hope, and how do we dare to find the strength to believe that there might be a better future?
I hope that the individual band members who have overcome so much, and then came together to achieve so much, are enjoying every moment of pride that they are entitled to in this moment. An Oscar is … like… wow, wow, WOW!!.
But the most spectacular gifts that this band can potentially offer Zimbabweans are gifts of courage and self-belief – qualities that we desperately need to save and heal our wonderful country and to unite our communities. When the headiness if the red-carpet moment fades, it should be these inspirational gifts to Zimbabweans that Prudence and the band members should feel the most proud of, because these are the qualities that may save our country and quite literally save lives.
“Against all odds they did, so we can” – Amen to that! Congratulations! More about Liyana here.
Full acceptance speech:
Roger Ross Williams:
Oh my god. This is amazing. Two years ago when I got on an airplane and went to Zimbabwe, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I’d end up here. This is so exciting. This is so exciting. So exciting.
Elinor Burkett:
…Let the woman talk. Isn’t that the classic thing? In a world in which most of us are told and tell ourselves that we can’t. Liyana, the band behind this film, teaches us that we’re wrong. Against all odds they did, so we can. So the bottom line is, to me, my role models and my heroes, Marvelous and Energy, Tapiwa, Goodwell, the whole rest of the band and especially Prudence.
Roger Ross Williams:
And Prudence who is here. Who is back there. Prudence is here tonight. This is for Prudence.
http://www1.voanews.com/
Zimbabwe's president
strips power from three MDC ministries; move seen as
deliberate attempt to
provoke party into leaving power-sharing deal
Peta Thornycroft | Harare
08 March 2010
Zimbabwe's unity government has suffered its worst blow
since its formation
a year ago, according to the Movement for Democratic
Change and several
Zimbabwean political analysts and commentators. President
Robert Mugabe has
stripped effective power from three ministries, and
assigned them to ZANU-PF
ministers.
University of Zimbabwe political
scientist Eldred Masungure says the move
stripping power from three MDC
ministries was a "unilateralist" action and
deliberate effort to tempt the
party to quit the unity government.
He said there was no rational basis
for the new law announced by the
government on Friday. He said the move was
a violation of the political
agreement which brought the unity government
into power and is designed "to
induce the MDC to walk out as they did in
October last year."
The MDC disengaged from the unity government when its
treasurer, Roy Bennett
was arrested.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general
of the MDC who also serves as finance
minister, said the political agreement
of September 2008 did not "give
anyone the right to unilaterally alter a
mandate." He said there had been a
"serious breach of the political
agreement and that the MDC would not take
this lying down."
Biti said
the MDC will meet on Wednesday to address the matter.
David Coltart, an
executive of the smaller MDC party which split from the
main branch and is
also in the unity government said "at first glance this
was a very serious
breach of the political agreement because there was no
consultation."
He said he hopes that this latest directive was not a
decision of Mr.
Mugabe's and that it can eventually be
reversed.
ZANU-PF justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, who has inherited
some of the
powers previously held by MDC ministries, was not available for
comment
Monday.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
8 March 2010
The
MDC-T has sharply criticised the latest ‘provocative’ moves by Robert
Mugabe
to reassign fundamental roles from ministries belonging to the MDC. A
government gazette published on Friday reallocated and diverted certain
responsibilities and portfolios for ministries that are controlled by the
MDC to those controlled by ZANU PF.
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa
accused Mugabe of trying to reverse the
spirit of power-sharing by
unilaterally trimming down the powers of the
MDC-T ministries of
Information, Communication Technology; Constitution and
Parliamentary
Affairs; Science and Technology; Parastatals and State
Enterprise and the
MDC-M’s Regional Integration and International
Co-operation Ministry. The
MDC says this is in gross violation of the Global
Political
Agreement.
Chamisa said the Principals – Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara - were meeting to discuss the issue on Monday. There was no update
on the outcome of the meeting by the time of broadcast.
However Chamisa
said: “This is all trying to have the MDC as an accessory… a
mere decorative
element without necessarily being part of this government.
Failure to solve
this would mean a disaster for the inclusive government.”
Although Mugabe is
entitled under the law to assign functions to ministers,
he still has to
consult his partners in government on the allocation of the
ministries,
according to the GPA.
This is also the second time that he has stripped
Chamisa’s powers and
transferred them to ZANU PF transport Minister Nicholas
Goche. The first
time there was such an outcry that he had to
backtrack.
There are also fears that serious repression will continue, since
the
draconian Interception of Communications Act, which was under Chamisa’s
ministry, has now been transferred to the President’ Office – home of the
Central Intelligence Organisation.
The legal monitor, Veritas, pointed
out that several other Acts have
surprisingly been assigned to the
President’s Office and Cabinet instead of
to a minister. The pressure group
pointed out that there is no
constitutional provision for Acts to be
administered by the Office of the
President and Cabinet.
Veritas said
the assignments which are ‘legally questionable’ include; The
Emergency
Powers Act (previously with Home Affairs); Zimbabwe National
Security
Council Act (a new Act not previously assigned); Procurement Act
and the
Commissions of Inquiry Act;
In another surprise move the MDC-T’s Eric
Matinenga, who is the Minister of
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs,
will not be responsible for the
Electoral Act nor the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Act and Human Rights
Commission Act. These have been assigned to
ZANU PF’s Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa. A very worrying move that does
not bode well for the next
election.
These latest developments come
barely a month after the controversial
indigenisation policy was gazetted,
allegedly without the MDC’s knowledge.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
08 March 2010
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti has called for a complete overhaul of the laws
governing the country's diamond trade, saying all the mining leases that the
government has awarded to firms in the Chiadzwa diamond field should be
cancelled.
The Supreme Court has ready ordered the state authorised
companies mining
the fields to halt their operations, over the ongoing
ownership wrangle for
the claim with a UK based firm. Currently Mbada
Diamonds and Canadile
Miners, which are both joint ventures the government
formed with two South
African firms last year, are mining diamonds at
Chiadzwa. They took over
from the London based African Consolidated
Resources (ACR), who were forced
out of the claim at gunpoint in 2006,
despite having the legal title to mine
the diamonds.
Biti said over the
weekend that the leases awarded to Mbada and Canadile
were done so
'fraudulently', explaining that the MDC's national executive
resolved to
have all mining operations in Chiadzwa stopped until a clear law
on diamond
mining is established. He added that there is also no revenue
entering the
government's coffers despite millions of diamonds being mined
by the
firms.
"There is nothing coming from Chiadzwa. There is nothing coming to the
fiscus from Chiadzwa," Biti said at a rally over the weekend.
"Chiadzwa
represents the biggest find of alluvial diamonds in the history of
mankind.
In the interest of transparency, all mining licences, leases,
special grants
that have been given in Chiadzwa must be cancelled forthwith.
All mining
operations must cease. There must be a new diamond law in
Zimbabwe," Biti
said.
The Finance Minister's comments come as an independent monitor ordered
by
the international diamond trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process, has
arrived
in Zimbabwe. Abbey Chikane, the head of the South African Diamond
Board and
a former Chairman of the Kimberley Process, was finally appointed
as a
monitor for the diamond fields after four months of fighting over a
suitable
candidate. He arrived last week and has been meeting with mines
ministry
officials and the state-authorised mining firms operating in
Chiadzwa.
Chikane's presence in the country forms part of a list of
guidelines set out
by the Kimberley Process last year to try and bring
Zimbabwe back in line
with international trade standards. Zimbabwe escaped a
widely supported ban
from trade over human rights atrocities at the diamond
fields. But the
Kimberley Process instead gave Zimbabwe until June to sort
out its diamond
industry, ordering it to follow the guidelines.
Such
guidelines have largely been ignored and role of the Kimberley Process
has
also been publicly shunned by the government. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu
recently warned that Zimbabwe will sell diamonds without Kimberley Process
certification (KP) should the watchdog rule that efforts to comply with its
standards are inadequate. Mpofu's threats echo comments made by Robert
Mugabe more than two weeks ago, when he also threatened to withdraw from the
Kimberley Process.
"If the KP is unsatisfied with our efforts and
wants to be difficult saying
that we have failed to comply with their
requirements... we will not lose
sleep, but rather we will just pull put and
not lose anything," Mpofu said.
"The KP does not own the diamond trade
markets. Zimbabwe will pull out of
the KP and sell its diamonds to those
markets," he said.
Gabriel Shumba, from the Zimbabwe Bloods Diamonds
Campaign, told SW Radio
Africa on Monday that such threats must be taken
seriously, saying: "ZANU PF
will find some way to sell these resources to
fund their politically
motivated repression ahead of elections." Shumba
explained that, despite the
existence of the Kimberley Process, which was
tasked with ending the trade
in conflict diamonds, there are still ways of
selling diamonds "regardless
of the abuses taking place when these stones
are mined."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Tsungai Murandu
Monday, 08 March 2010
17:11
.no new money until it's all paid back
HARARE - Zimbabwe will need
to devote almost all its projected revenue for
2010 before unlocking new
financial aid from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and other
multilateral funders.
Respected economist John Robertson said last week that
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti had to somehow come up with US$1.3 billion -
more than 90
percent of the government's anticipated revenue for 2010 -
before becoming
eligible for fresh aid.
The IMF last month restored
Zimbabwe's voting rights after seven-years, but
told the country to settle
its arrears to the Poverty Reduction and Growth
Trust before it could be
allowed access to the Fund's General Resource
Account.
"The IMF has also
reminded Zimbabwe of two critical issues. Firstly, the
country's eligibility
for new loans will not be fully restored until it has
paid off a total of
US$1.3 billion, the combined debts to the IMF, the World
Bank and the
African Development Bank," the economist said.
Harare's access to IMF
resources would also be subject to the Fund's
policies on the use of such
resources and to the country achieving a track
record of sound
policies.
The IMF and other organisations are keen to see evidence that
Zimbabwe
accepts policy changes that would restore the country's ability to
earn
foreign exchange.
Raising US$1.3 billion would prove a daunting task
for the cash-strapped
Harare regime which is relying on donor assistance to
finance the recovery
of social services battered by a decade of poor
policies.
Biti has budgeted for total revenue of US$1.44 billion for the 2010
fiscal
year, the bulk of which would go towards reviving collapsed health
and
education sectors and paying salaries for restive civil servants unhappy
about low remuneration.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by
WOZA
Monday, 08 March 2010 15:34
SIX HUNDRED members of Women and Men
of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) marched to the
High Court in Bulawayo today in
protest against the utterances of the
Minister of Education, Senator David
Coltart, made in Parliament last week.
The Minister said that he would not
stop teachers from receiving the illegal
incentive payments demanded from
parents. Minister Coltart had been invited
to receive a petition that the
peaceful demonstrators were delivering but
could not attend due to a prior
commitment. A clerk at the court received
the petition instead.
WOZA
vigorously oppose the practice of teachers refusing to teach children
until
their parents provide them with cash incentives. These 'top-ups', over
and
above the usual school fees and school levies which most parents are
unable
to afford anyway, are just another nail in the coffin of the
education
system in Zimbabwe. In a recent report on education released in
January
2010, entitled 'Looking Back to Look Forward - a WOZA perspective on
education in Zimbabwe', WOZA demanded that the Ministry of Education stop
this practice immediately. It is therefore incredibly disheartening for the
Minister to publicly state that they have no intention of doing so.
Four
simultaneous protests began and converged upon the High Court.Police
officers and clerks at the court merely watched the peaceful protest,
listening to the song sung by the demonstrators - "women are crying for an
education for their children. Their tears are sorrowful." WOZA chose
International Women's Day for the protest as the education of their children
is an issue close to the heart of every mother.
WOZA National
Coordinator, Jenni Williams addressed members outside the
Court, explaining
that Minister Coltart's utterances in parliament were
unfortunate as they
promoted illegal incentives and corruption.Magodonga
Mahlangu lead the
singing and sloganeering that finally dispersed the
peaceful group.After the
protest dispersed, two plain-clothed police
officers cornered Williams and
Mahlangu outside the Post Office. As they
called for back up the activists
calmly walked away.
WOZA leaders were recently summoned by the co-ministers
of Home Affairs and
instructed to notify police of any processions despite
the fact that WOZA
does not need to notify police under the current
exceptions as it is not a
political organisation. Before being dismissed,
Minister Giles Mutsekwa of
the MDC delivered a subtle threat that they could
be ambushed on their
return to Bulawayo that day. It is unclear as to if it
was intended as an
active threat but in the current security situation,
activists remain
vigilant about continued reports of threats on civic
society leaders.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
SW Radio Africa
8 March
2010
In May this year Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will launch a
charity
foundation in honour of his late wife, Susan, who died in car crash
in March
last year.
The weekly Zimbabwe Standard reported that the
new foundation would seek to
empower ordinary, grassroots people, to make a
difference in their lives.
The Prime Minister was speaking in Harare on
Saturday at a memorial service
to commemorate one year since the passing of
his wife. Robert Mugabe
attended the memorial.
Hundreds of people
attended the service at the Glamis Arena in the capital
Harare. Tsvangirai
is also quoted saying that after a year of self-searching
and consultation,
he had decided to launch the Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai
Foundation.
'The foundation would be driven by Susan's philosophy
that one person can
make a difference. If we all share this belief, all of
us can make a
positive difference in someone's life,' Tsvangirai is quoted
as saying.
He added; 'We celebrate Susan's life for reminding us of the
importance of
service and caring. She was a very generous person. Sometimes
we forget that
we are people in need.'
Despite Mugabe's attendance at
the memorial, his party supporters in
Marondera tore down almost all posters
advertising the commemoration.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27775
March 8, 2010
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe made a surprise appearance on
Saturday at a
church service held in Harare in honour of Susan Tsvangirai,
wife of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is the leader of the
mainstream MDC.
Mugabe said he was so touched by Susan Tsvangirai’s death
that he would
still have attended the church service even without any
invitation from MDC.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai paid tribute to his
late wife and described
her as his pillar during his trouble-ridden
political career.
Tsvangirai told over 5 000 people who attended the
first anniversary of his
late wife’s tragic death that he was lucky to have
been married to someone
who constantly encouraged him when his political
life became dangerous and
difficult.
“I was so lucky that in the
world of politics, you share the same passion,
the same vigilance, the same
resilience and the same fighting spirit,” said
the MDC leader, who was in a
jovial mood.
The former trade union leader has endured assassination
attempts, arrests,
beatings and criminal charges at the hands of President
Robert Mugabe’s
government. He is now Prime Minister in a coalition
government with Mugabe.
Tsvangirai said some marriages had broken up due
to restive spouses who
feared victimisation by the State and their
opponents.
He said his wife was a courageous person and his
adviser
Tsvangirai also described his wife as generous.
He said:
“We are here to celebrate her life, her belief that one person can
make a
difference. All of us can do something to help somebody else.
“We
celebrate Susan’s life for reminding us of the importance of serving and
caring.”
He urged supporters of his MDC not to mourn
forever.
“We cannot mourn in perpetuity,” he said. “The best we can do is
to remember
her through this kind of celebration.”
Susan,
Tsvangirai’s wife for 31 years, died at 51 in a tragic car accident
on March
6 last year.
The Glamis Arena is the same venue where over 10000 party
supporters bade
farewell to her last year, moments before her body was
transported to Buhera
for burial.
Among those who attended Saturday’s
memorial service were some senior MDC
officials, party MPs, civic society
representatives and church members from
Susan Tsvangirai’s Methodist
church.
The crowd also included relatives from Tsvangirai and his wife’s
Mhundwa
families.
During Saturday’s ceremony, speaker after speaker
also commended the works
of Susan Tsvangirai before her tragic death in the
car accident.
MDC women’s assembly chair Theresa Makone, who was a close
friend the
deceased Tsvangirai, said the late MDC leader’s wife was a mother
to all and
was “free from any scandals”.
MDC national chairman
Lovemore Moyo described her as an idol, heroine,
patriot and “mother of our
struggle”.
Joshua Chinyere, President of ZINASU, said Susan Tsvangirai’s
death and that
of other MDC activists should be probed.
He said she
deserved her own place among national heroes who lie buried at
the national
shrine.
National Constitutional Assembly chair Lovemore Madhuku and
Lovemore
Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions also
spoke of
the kindness Susan Tsvangirai had shown to them when they had been
assaulted
by the police and were hospitalised alongside her
husband.
Harare based musicians Tongai Moyo, Fungisai Zvakavapano and
Raymond
Majongwe entertained the crowd.
Susan Tsvangirai died less
than a month after her husband was sworn in as
Prime Minister in the new
unity government, formed between President Mugabe’s
Zanu-PF and the two MDC
parties.
Mugabe and his family, Zanu PF ministers and Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono attended a church sermon held in her
honour.
The solemn event will perhaps help calm tensions stemming from
nearly 10
years of bitter rivalry between Mugabe and the MDC leader.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Monday 08 March
2010
HARARE – Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has said the
controversial empowerment law that came into effect last week was also meant
to counter sanctions Western nations imposed on President Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU PF party top brass over alleged human rights
abuses.
"Sanctions worked because the economy was being controlled from
outside the
country,” Kasukuwere told journalists at the weekend. “Who can
assure me
that the economy will not be in trouble if the programme does not
take off.”
Kasukuwere said some foreign-owned banks were not keen to fund
locals.
“These British banks, should change their attitudes; either they
support our
people or there is no need for them to be in First
Street."
The Indigenisation Minister who is from ZANU PF said there was
no going back
on the law although he was prepared to listen to
industrialists’ concerns.
"There is no going back. Forget it. We are
going forward. We are prepared to
engage and discuss with these companies,
but it's time to do things. We
shouldn't be scared to take painful
decisions," said Kasukuwere.
He said, ever since he was appointed
minister, he was now getting
invitations from some Western diplomats who
were now keen to engage him.
The regulations that came into effect last
Monday give foreign-owned
companies 45 days to submit proposals to the
Indigenisation Ministry on how
they plan to bring on board locals to take 51
percent of their businesses.
The rules have been a source of controversy
and besides dividing the unity
government along party lines, they have
rattled foreign investors who
analysts say may continue to stay away from
the country.
The coalition government of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Mugabe has
been struggling to win donor support from the West, who want
the government
to implement irreversible economic and political
reforms.
Critics fear Mugabe’s ZANU PF wants to press ahead with
transferring
majority ownership of foreign-owned companies as part of a
drive to reward
party loyalists with thriving businesses.
Analysts
say the empowerment programme could see Zimbabwe being shunned by
investors
again who fear a repeat of the land seizures, at a time the new
government
is out to attract to grow an economy that was in decline for ten
years.
Kasukuwere, just like Mugabe is on both the EU and US
sanctions list which
effectively bars him from travelling to these
countries. – ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27771
March 8, 2010
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Relief aid agencies have suspended operations in the
hunger-stricken Gutu district of Masvingo Province after a senior Zanu-PF
official in the province threatened to take over the distribution of the
food aid in the area.
The move has landed thousands of people, among
them, the elderly and HIV/
Aids sufferers, in dire straits.
CARE
International and Christian Care said Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial
chairman
Lovemore Matuke threatened to take over the distribution of food
from
them.
Officials of the two relief aid agencies on Saturday told The
Zimbabwe Times
they had temporarily stopped food distribution after the
threats.
"We have had problems with Lovemore Matuke," said an official
who requested
anonymity. "He vowed to take over the distribution of relief
food aid.
"He ordered that we should surrender all the food to the
Zanu-PF political
leadership in the district but we refused to
comply.
"We have since stopped giving food to the people as we try to
find common
ground with him."
The MP for Gutu Central Oliver Chirume,
who was elected on an MDC ticket,
confirmed the developments.
"I only
received complaints from concerned villagers that some Zanu-PF
officials
wanted to take over the distribution of food aid," said Chirume.
Matuke
on Saturday, however, told The Zimbabwe Times he had no regrets over
his
actions. He said some NGOs were politicising the distribution of relief
food.
"We are saying the distribution of food should be left to the
local
leadership in order to avoid politicisation of these products," said
Matuke.
"NGOs that come and engage in politics should stop operating and
leave those
that stick to their core business."
Both Zanu-PF and the
MDC have traded accusations over politicisation of food
aid.
Zanu-PF
has over the years claimed NGOs were campaigning for the MDC through
food
programmes. During controversial elections in 2008, the government
ordered
all relief agencies to stop operations and subsequently reapply for
licenses.
On the other hand, the MDC says the previous regime of
President Robert
Mugabe has used its food distribution programmes to
victimise MDC members.
The suspension of food programmes by aid agencies
in Gutu has left Gutu
residents in dire straits. Hunger and starvation have
become endemic in the
district after most families exhausted their food
reserves.
The United Nations estimates that over 2 million people will
need urgent
relief food aid in Zimbabwe.
A crop assessment conducted
by the government has shown that Zimbabwe will
require an additional 500 000
tonnes of cereals this year due to crop
failure.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27787
March 8, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Youth, indigenisation and empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere
says his ministry will proceed to seize shares from
foreign-owned companies,
in spite of strong protests from the mainstream MDC
component of the
inclusive government.
Indigenisation Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere
"There is no going backwards," he said, "There are
those who think the
regulations would be changed. Forget it. Forward ever,
backward never."
Kasukuwere, who was briefing journalists at a cocktail
party on the
controversial law in Harare over weekend, was referring to last
month's
gazetting of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (General)
Regulations 2010 by his ministry.
The regulations spell out the
country's indigenisation policy.
Kasukuwere, a Zanu-PF stalwart, rebuked
fellow ministers within the
inclusive government and urged them to stop
interfering with his duties.
"I am the Minister of Indigenisation. I
published those regulations. I have
not repealed them. I have not done
anything to them. So they are very much
in force. Every minister has his
area and you will not hear me talk about
other people's areas.
"We
agreed in the council of ministers that any change that has to be
brought
into those regulations will come through this very minister. No
minister
must speak on behalf of this very minister. They are in force. They
are
law."
This was in apparent reference to comments by Industry and Commerce
Minister
Welshman Ncube of the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC, who pointed out
that the
indigenisation regulations had not been submitted to a cabinet
committee for
debate on their legality and whether they were consistent with
government
policy.
"The regulations are now in place," Kasukuwere
said, "We are now working
from the 1st of March we started and we would be
moving forward."
The MDC says the law is too harsh on those wishing to
inject much needed
investment into the country economy.
The MDC also
sees the law as a campaign strategy by Zanu-PF which has lost
support among
the majority of Zimbabweans.
Kasukuwere denies this saying it was passed
long before any thought of an
election was conceived.
He also denied
his party was opposed to foreign direct investment and
seeking the personal
aggrandizement of a few.
Kasukuwere deputy Thamsanqa Mahlangu, a
mainstream MDC ministerial
appointee, has distanced himself from the
indigenisation programme, saying
he stands by his own party's
position.
Kasukuwere said essentially there were no fundamental
differences with the
MDC on the need to empower Zimbabweans.
The MDC
says the process must be gradual. It favours a "broad-based"
strategy that
would first end massive unemployment that has seen hundreds of
thousands of
citizens leaving the country over the past decade to seek
employment
abroad.
In implementing the regulations, Kasukuwere denied disrespecting
his
supervisor Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who says the regulations
must be
frozen as they were gazetted both without his knowledge and also
outside the
proper procedures.
Kasukuwere castigated journalists whom
he accused of have developed the
habit of opposing every policy that comes
from Zanu-PF without giving
themselves the opportunity to study its
intensions.
He said clever journalists should seize the opportunity to
also empower
themselves through the vehicle.
He said the law provided
the most viable opportunity for downtrodden
Zimbabweans to break free from
their poverty and regain direct control of
their natural
resources.
He said it was unthinkable for a Zimbabweans to go to a
western country and
be allowed to freely exploit their resources.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Freeman Razemba
8 March
2010
Harare - Police and panners in Chegutu are engaged in
running battles
following the discovery of gold near Hintonville suburb in
this farming
district of Mashonaland West Province.
Hundreds of
panners besiege the town at night seeking the precious metal and
there are
fears of an upsurge in cases of armed robbery and housebreaking in
the
town.
The skirmishes escalated a fortnight ago when panners invaded the
town. They
were so daring that they attacked policemen.
When The
Herald visited the area last Friday, there were empty teargas
canisters
strewn all over the mining site and some empty FN rifle
cartridges, evidence
of fighting between police and the panners.
The gold deposits were
reportedly discovered at a site belonging to Exor
Service Station near the
town centre last year.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri
last Friday confirmed the
rush for gold in Chegutu, but said the situation
was now under control.
He said construction work was taking place at the
service station site last
November when the workers stumbled upon the
"gold".
Supt Phiri said Exor decided to discontinue construction after
the discovery
but the news spread like veld fire, resulting in hundreds of
people
descending on the site to search for the gold ore.
Supt Phiri
said 10 people were arrested for contravening the Mines and
Minerals
Act.
"They appeared in Chegutu court on March 2 and others at the end of
February
and were each fined US$20," he said.
He said although some
people were still going to the site to search for
gold, the situation was
under control.
The situation had escalated when more people got the news
of the gold
findings and thronged the place with trucks to collect gold ore,
which they
processed elsewhere.
There are also unconfirmed reports
that some policemen were clandestinely
involved in gold panning after
chasing away the panners.
Said Supt Phiri: "They (panners) are coming at
night but police are raiding
them and they will remain on the
ground."
However, police sources said a group of about 200 panners,
including
hardcore gold dealers from as far as Kwekwe, Shurugwi and Sanyati,
had
descended on the small suburb last week.
The Herald observed a
convoy of vehicles with people coming with sacks to
load ore, which they
believed contained gold.
Some of the panners assaulted two policemen from
Chegutu Police Station who
had descended on the area to conduct
investigations.
Although the policemen were armed, they failed to
control the situation as
the panners attacked them with stones, shovels,
knives and clubs. The
policemen fled the scene before returning with
reinforcements.
Several panners took cover in nearby bushes, playing hide
and seek with the
police.
Hintonville residents said they often hear
gunshots and were sometimes
affected by tear- smoke. Some of the panners
rushed to the suburb for cover
during skirmishes with the police.
The
panners said they would continue playing cat and mouse games with the
police
because they wanted to eke out a living.
"It's better to search for this
gold than to steal. They should give us a
chance so that we make money as
well," said one of the panners who preferred
anonymity.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27807
March 8, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
BULAWAYO - Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP)
chairman Dumiso
Dabengwa has castigated Water Resources Minister, Samuel
Sipepa-Nkomo, for
what he described as rushing into auditing the water
project's operations.
Nkomo last week told Parliament that his ministry
had engaged the services
of a Comptroller and Auditor-General to undertake a
thorough and
comprehensive audit of the MZWP operations. He said he had
recently received
a report from the Reserve Bank on the amounts of money
disbursed to the
MZWP. The findings of the audit would be made public with
all concerned
stakeholders being consulted on the way forward, Nkomo
said.
Last year Nkomo announced the government's takeover of the project,
saying
it was meant to ensure that the project was led by the government for
purposes of improving accountability and enhancing the probability of
attracting international investors.
"We wonder why the minister is so
much in a hurry to audit this project's
operations. We are not criminals.
They can go ahead we have nothing to hide.
We also hope the ministry has
money to pay for the service of those
auditors. We have our own auditors
from Ernest and Young but they were
rejected," Dabengwa who is also the
interim leader of the opposition ZAPU
party, told The Zimbabwe Times on
Monday.
The MZWP was set up by leaders from the Matabeleland region who
accused the
previous Zanu-PF government of lacking the political will to
push the US$500
million project through.
MZWP which was first mooted
by the colonial government back in 1912 involves
three phases. Phase One
envisages the construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam
while Phase Two
involves construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo
Pipeline. Under
Phase Three a pipeline will be constructed from the
Gwayi-Shangani Dam to
the Zambezi River. By the end a 450km pipeline will
supply water to the city
of Bulawayo and create a green belt along its
route.
Construction of
the Gwayi-Shangani Dam - expected to provide a reservoir for
the project -
began in September 2004 but has been hampered by lack of
funds.
Successive budgetary allocations for the project either turned
out to be a
drop in the ocean, or were diverted by the Zanu-PF government,
fuelling
perceptions in the region that Matabeleland was being
"marginalised".
Political leaders in the region say the unreliable water
supply has forced
many companies or potential investors either to shun the
area or to relocate
to Harare.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=27759
March 7, 2010
By Ray
Matikinye
BULAWAYO – An editor employed by a state-controlled newspaper,
who was fired
last week on allegations of posting certain comments on a
website, now
charges that the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) is
reluctant to take up
his case with his employers.
Wellington Toni, a
sports editor with the state-owned Sunday News, a weekly
newspaper published
by Zimbabwe Newspapers’ in Bulawayo says he has been
left out in the cold by
ZUJ although he is a fully paid up member of the
union.
Journalists
say the case has become a litmus test for the recently elected
ZUJ executive
members, who are mostly state media journalists, particularly
its president
Dumisani Sibanda.
Toni was sacked following what he believes are
“spurious allegations” of
having commented on a website giving details of
corruption at sister
newspaper, The Chronicle.
Toni becomes the
second line editor to be fired by the company recently. The
editor of
Umthunywa, a weekly vernacular newspaper published by the same
company, was
dismissed allegedly for using a picture showing a woman being
carried to a
clinic in a wheel barrow.
Management at the newspaper decided that
publication of the picture was a
negative portrayal of health provision in
Zimbabwe’s rural areas.
“They hired outside computer technicians to try
and establish which computer
the e-mailed comments had emanated from,” Toni
said of his own case.
“The team failed to pin it on me because newsroom
computers are shared by
many reporters. Not satisfied, management took the
IT department to task and
brought pressure to bear on them to confirm that
the comments had been
posted from the computer even though initially the IT
department had said it
had not found any evidence.”
Until recently,
ZUJ had a tradition of having a blend of members from the
independent press
and the state media to counter the possibility of undue
pressure on ZUJ
executive members from employers when defending its members.
Sibanda is
the news editor of the Sunday News and it remains to be seen
whether he has
the courage to challenge Zimbabwe Newspapers, his employer.
“We have
advised Toni to appeal to the board and seek legal advice on the
matter,”
Sibanda said.
Documents available reveal that the decision to fire Toni
was made after a
hearing committee recommended his dismissal to the
board.
In the past, ZUJ has hired lawyers to represent its members but
although the
union members have at times won court cases against either
suspension or
unfair dismissal of members, management at state-media
organisations has
routinely ignored the court verdicts with
impunity.
For example, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings went ahead and
dismissed
employees who were accused of not doing enough to campaign for
Zanu-PF in
the parliamentary elections of March 2008.
Fired editor
says ZUJ abandoning him
By Ray Matikinye
BULAWAYO – An editor
employed in the state-controlled media who was fired
last week on
allegations of posting certain comments on a website now
charges that the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) is reluctant to take up
his case with
his employers.
Wellington Toni, a sports editor with the state-owned
Sunday News, a weekly
newspaper published by Zimbabwe Newspapers’ in
Bulawayo says he has been
left out in the cold by ZUJ although he is a fully
paid up member of the
union.
Journalists say the case has become a
litmus test for the recently elected
ZUJ executive members, who are mostly
state media journalists, particularly
its president Dumisani
Sibanda.
Toni was sacked following what he believes are “spurious
allegations” of
having commented on a website giving details of corruption
at sister
newspaper, The Chronicle.
Toni becomes the second line
editor to be fired by the company recently. The
editor of Umthunywa, a
weekly vernacular newspaper published by the same
company, was dismissed
allegedly for using a picture showing a woman being
carried to a clinic in a
wheel barrow.
Management at the newspaper decided that publication of the
picture was a
negative portrayal of health provision in Zimbabwe’s rural
areas.
“They hired outside computer technicians to try and establish
which computer
the e-mailed comments had emanated from,” Toni said of his
own case.
“The team failed to pin it on me because newsroom computers are
shared by
many reporters. Not satisfied, management took the IT department
to task and
brought pressure to bear on them to confirm that the comments
had been
posted from the computer even though initially the IT department
had said it
had not found any evidence.”
Until recently, ZUJ had a
tradition of having a blend of members from the
independent press and the
state media to counter the possibility of undue
pressure on ZUJ executive
members from employers when defending its members.
Sibanda is the news
editor of the Sunday News and it remains to be seen
whether he has the
courage to challenge Zimbabwe Newspapers, his employer.
“We have advised
Toni to appeal to the board and seek legal advice on the
matter,” Sibanda
said.
Documents available reveal that the decision to fire Toni was made
after a
hearing committee recommended his dismissal to the board.
In
the past, ZUJ has hired lawyers to represent its members but although the
union members have at times won court cases against either suspension or
unfair dismissal of members, management at state-media organisations has
routinely ignored the court verdicts with impunity.
For example,
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings went ahead and dismissed
employees who were
accused of not doing enough to campaign for Zanu-PF in
the parliamentary
elections of March 2008.
BILL
WATCH SPECIAL
[8th
March 2010]
House
of Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic Committees: 8th to 11th
March
The
meetings listed below are open to members of the public, but as observers
only, not as participants. [See note at the end of this bulletin on
public attendance/participation at different types of committee meetings.]
Monday
8th March at 10 am
Public
Accounts Committee
Oral
evidence from:
i) Ministry
of Science and Technology
ii) Ministry
of Local Government
iii) Ministry
of Higher and Tertiary Education
Committee
Room No. 4
Chairperson:
Hon Mashakada Clerk: Mrs
Nyawo
Portfolio
Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral
evidence from Mbada and Canadile Companies
Committee
Room No. 413
Chairperson:
Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr
Manhivi
Portfolio
Committee: Higher Education, Science and Technology
Oral
evidence from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary
Education
Committee
Room No. 3
Chairperson:
Hon SM Ncube Clerk: Miss
Chikuvire
Monday
8th March at 2 pm
Thematic
Committee: HIV/AIDS
Oral
evidence from Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Activists Union
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon D Khumalo Clerk: Mr
Ndlovu
Portfolio
Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs
Oral
evidence from the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs
Committee
Room No. 413
Chairperson:
Hon. T Matutu
Clerk: Miss Zenda
Tuesday
9th at 9 am
Portfolio
Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral
evidence from the Permanent Secretary for Mines
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr
Manhivi
Tuesday
9th at 10 am
Portfolio
Committee: Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International
Trade
Oral
evidence from the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Committee
Room No. 3
Chairperson:
Hon Mukanduri Clerk: Ms
Macheza
Portfolio
Committee: local Government,
Rural and Urban Development
Oral
evidence from City of Harare
Committee
Room No. 413
Chairperson:
Hon Karenyi Clerk: Mrs
Khumalo
Wednesday
10th March at 9 am
Portfolio
Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral
evidence from Minister of Mines and Mining
Development
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr
Manhivi
Thursday
11th March at 10 am
Portfolio
Committee: Media, Information and Communication Technology
Public
hearing on the provision of telecommunication services by fixed and mobile
operators
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson:
Hon Chimanikire
Clerk:
Mrs Nyawo
No
Meetings on Fridays
Public
Attendance at and Participation in Committee Meetings
These
portfolio and thematic committee meetings are open to the public to attend as
observers only.
Members of the public wishing to attend a meeting should telephone Parliament
first [on Harare 700181], to check with the relevant committee clerk that the
meeting has not been cancelled. If you are attending, please use the Kwame
Nkrumah Avenue entrance to Parliament. IDs must be produced. Members of the
public are only free to participate when committees call public hearings.
Veritas will send out separate notices of these public hearings and outline the
procedures. Committees also sometimes have meetings where invited stakeholders
[and those who notify Parliament that they consider themselves stakeholders and
are accepted as such] are able to make representations and ask questions. These
meetings will be highlighted in these notices. Portfolio and thematic committees
meetings for deliberations are not open to the public, and these are not listed
in these notices.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.
BILL WATCH
9/2010
[8th March
2010]
The
Senate will resume on Tuesday 9th March
The House
of Assembly has adjourned to Tuesday 16th March
Indigenisation
Regulations Discussed by Council of Ministers
The
regulations were discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the Council of
Ministers on Thursday 4th March. Strong objections were voiced to some
provisions and it was agreed that the responsible Minister, Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Savior Kasukuwere, would prepare
amendments for consideration at the Council’s next meeting on Thursday 11th
March. The Minister’s public remarks in the meantime leave little room to
expect significant changes.
Update on Inclusive
Government
Negotiations on GPA
Disputed Issues: The MDC-T have said
that negotiations on the disputes between the two main parties in the inclusive
government are deadlocked. They held a National Executive Council meeting on
Thursday and a National Council meeting on Friday and it was decided that they
would ask the South African facilitator and SADC to step in. [National Council resolutions available on
request]
Elections:
President Mugabe
declared last Thursday that the Global Political
Agreement has a two-year lifespan which means that if the constitution-making
process succeeds there will be an election and if it fails that, too, would lead
to an election. [In fact there is nothing in the GPA to indicate its
lifespan.] The President said he would be standing for re-election if his
party nominated him. Speaking at a MDC-T rally over the weekend Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, referring to the next elections, said "We want a
peacekeeping force, so that we can have a free and fair environment for the
election to keep our people free so that they can vote. We can use AU and
Southern African Development Community forces for peacekeeping during the
election period."
“Sanctions”: US President Barack
Obama extended the travel and financial restrictions on Mr. Mugabe and other
individuals until 6th March 2011. During his State visit to the United Kingdom
last week President Zuma pressed the British government for the removal of all
“sanctions” against Zimbabwe, but the British Prime Minister said there first
needed to be clear evidence of improvement in human rights, reform of governance
and freedom of speech. He reiterated that the EU's sanctions did not target
Zimbabwe or Zimbabweans but "individuals who are responsible for violence and a
number of businesses linked to them."
National Security
Council [NSC] Meeting: The NSC met on Friday
5th March, and is now scheduled to meet on the first Friday of every month,
monthly meetings being required by the NSC Act. It has taken a year to arrive
at this point. What has not been established is whether JOC continues to
meet.
In
Parliament Last Week
The
House of Assembly met on 2nd, 3rd and 4th March. The Senate was in
recess.
House
of Assembly
Speaker’s
Ruling on Submission of Notices of Motions: To
avoid the disorder that arose in the House last month when a motion was
introduced without prior warning, the Speaker confirmed the previous practice of
Parliament under which the Speaker has had sight of motions before their
announcement on the floor of the House, thereby enabling the Speaker to assess
the admissibility of all motions and to withhold from publication or to amend
any motion not complying with Standing Orders. “In future, therefore, all
Notices of Motion must be submitted to the Clerk’s Office by 11 am on the day on
which Notice is to be given. Notices of motion not abiding by this ruling will
not be allowed.”
Motions:
The
House approved Hon. Bhasikiti’s motion calling on the Prime Minister and Deputy
Prime Minister Mutambara to “engage the European Union, the United Nations, the
British and American governments to urgently and unconditionally remove the
illegal sanctions imposed at their instigation on the government and people of
Zimbabwe as confessed in the British Parliament by the Foreign Affairs Secretary
Mr David Milliband”. Curiously, although MDC-T contributors to the debate
challenged the motion’s attribution of responsibility for sanctions to Mr
Tsvangirai and demonstrated that Mr Miliband had been misquoted, they did not
move amendments to the motion, which was approved without apparent
opposition.
BIPPA
between Zimbabwe and SA approved: At
the request of the Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion the
House approved the Agreement between Zimbabwe and South Africa for the
Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments. [Electronic
copy of agreement available on request.]
Coming
up in the Senate this Week
Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill: The
Committee Stage of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill is on the agenda
for the Senate’s sitting on Tuesday 9th March. Senator Mutsvangwa of ZANU-PF
has tabled major amendments; Senator Gutu of MDC-T has tabled one
amendment.
[Bill as
amended by House of Assembly available on request.]
Court
Cases Affecting Parliamentarians
High
Court Ruling Expected on Validity of Speaker’s Election:
Last year Jonathan Moyo [at that stage an Independent MP, but now back in
ZANU-PF] went to the High Court seeking the setting aside of the August 2008
election of Lovemore Moyo as Speaker of the House of Assembly. The complaint
was that voting had not been conducted by secret ballot as required by the
Standing Orders of the House. Justice Patel is expected to hand down his
decision on Tuesday 9th March.
MDC-T
MP Acquitted of Fraud:
Tichaona Mharadze, MDC-T MP for Masvingo West, has been acquitted of fraud at
the close of the State case; the charge alleged misuse of agricultural inputs
allocated to him under the Master Farmer Scheme.
Bennett
Case
resumes March 8th.
POSA
Amendment Bill
The
Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs have finished holding public
hearings on the Bill around the country. The opinions from the public expressed
at these hearings indicate that most people would like POSA repealed and a
simpler new Act drafted from scratch, based on the intention of protecting the
public when exercising their right of assembly and freedom of expression, rather
than one that can be used by the State to repress these rights and freedoms. In
the meantime the amendments were considered a step in the right direction. Also
raised repeatedly in the hearings was the need for retraining and reorienting
the police force. The Committee will meet again on 8th March to discuss its
draft report, and may invite the co-Ministers of Home Affairs and Hon Gonese,
the sponsor of the Bill, to appear before the Committee for further
discussions. The Committee will then finalise its report on the Bill for
presentation to the House of Assembly during the Second Reading debate. The
Parliamentary Legal Committee will meet on Tuesday 9th March to consider the
constitutionality of the Bill. [Available
[1] POSA with all amendments to date; [2] POSA annotated to show the effect of
the changes proposed by the Bill.]
Update
on Constitutional Commissions
Media
Commission [ZMC]: President
Mugabe said during a meeting with editors and journalists last week that the new
Media Commission should get down to work without delay and deal with the
accumulated applications
for registration of media houses and journalists under the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act [AIPPA] that await its attention. They do not
need to be sworn in before commencing their duties. There is still a legal
question mark over whether or not AIPPA needs updating, as there is now a
Constitutional Media Commission as opposed to the former statutory Commission to
which AIPPA refers.
Electoral
Commission [ZEC] and Human Rights Commission [ZHRC]:
The
Judicial Service Commission and Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders are being consulted on these appointments, as required by the
Constitution. [The proposed chairpersons are former High Court Judge Simpson
Mtambanengwe [ZEC] and Prof. Reg Austin [ZHRC].]
South African Court
Judgment on SADC Tribunal Farm Case
Having obtained the
registration in South Africa of the SADC Tribunal’s rulings in the Campbell
cases, legal practitioners for the three farmers who applied for the
registration have said that the next step could be legal proceedings to attach
Zimbabwean Government properties located in Cape Town in order to recover the
costs awarded to the applicants by the Tribunal. The properties are said to be
“non-diplomatic”, i.e., not protected by the immunity from legal action
applicable to buildings and land used for the purposes of Zimbabwe’s diplomatic
mission in South Africa. [SA court order
available.]
Chiadzwa Diamonds
Case
African Consolidated
Resources [ACR] has alleged that mining is continuing in the area in dispute
between ACR and the Government’s joint venture partners, notwithstanding the
Chief Justice’s order that there must be no mining there pending the Supreme
Court’s decision on the Government’s appeal against Judge Hungwe’s September
2009 decision in favour of ACR. ACR has also indicated its intention to contest
the recent administrative action taken by the Permanent Secretary for Mines and
Mining Development to cancel its mining rights under the Mines and Minerals
Act. Minister of Finance Tendai Biti, lamenting that Government has received no
royalties from the exploitation of the diamond field, has suggested that: “In
the interest of transparency, all mining licenses, leases, special grants that
have been given in Chiadzwa must be cancelled forthwith. All mining operations
must cease. There must be a new diamond law in Zimbabwe."
Legislation
Update
Acts: No
Acts were gazetted last week or this week.
Bills
passed by Parliament last year awaiting gazetting as Acts:
Financial Adjustments Bill, Public Finance Management Act and Audit Office
Bill.
Bill in
House of Assembly: POSA
Amendment Bill.
Bill in
Senate:
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill awaits its Committee Stage.
Statutory
Instruments: SIs 35
to 67/2010 dated 4th March
[available on request] notify
the assignment to Ministers of responsibility for the administration of Acts of
Parliament. [See Bill Watch 8/2010 of 6th March 2010 for an explanation of
these statutory instruments.]
Veritas makes every
effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied
Who would believe that we could go on this long?
It all started when the farm invasions began early in 2000. Karen and I and several others met regularly on an online message board, and everyone was
worried about what was happening in Zimbabwe and anxious for news. So Karen set up a website and gathered news from various sources. I helped out occasionally and she asked me to take over when she went away on holiday in September..... heavens, I said, you don't think there will still be a "situation" that needs reporting on in September?... how little we knew.
Time passed, the website grew, changed from just a private blog - people wanted to know what they could do, so we collected addresses of prominent people to write to, and various other useful resources. We felt too that we had to spread the news to the world which was then very ignorant of Zimbabwe. More and more people wanted news, and we started newsletters.
Today our audience is mainly people in Zimbabwe who feel starved of news, and Zimbabweans around the world who want to know what is going on.
Some time ago Karen found she did not have the time to spend on the everyday work, and so I have been doing it on my own. How long this can continue I don't know - as well as our tenth anniversary, this year will also see my 70th birthday, and getting up at 5am every day to do the work is becoming harder and harder! But I do know that my life is not as hard as that of those in Zimbabwe, and I will go on as long as I can.
I just hope it is not another ten years
Barbara