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Tsvangirai
Meets Supporters Over MDC Rift
http://news.radiovop.com
09/05/2010 07:38:00
Harare, May 09,
2010 - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and members of the
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) standing committee on Saturday met with
the party's
supporters in an attempt to contain rifts between senior
officials which are
fast spreading to the party's grassroots.
The meeting was held at the new
conference centre at the MDC headquarters in
Harare.
There have been
speculation that there are two MDC factions battling for
supremacy in the
party, one aligned to Tsvangirai and another sympathetic to
the party's
Secretary General, Tendai Biti.
Sources that attended the Saturday
meeting said Tsvangirai told the MDC
supporters that the current confusion
was a result of "Zanu (PF)
machinations", but the supporters also demanded
explanations on the party's
unclear position on salaries.
"People
were drawn from all 48 wards in Harare. The discussion centred
mostly on the
public disagreements, and the party's apparent lack of a clear
position on
the issue of salaries," said a source.
"President (of the MDC) Tsvangirai
said the confusion was caused by Zanu
(PF) and the central intelligence
organisation, and pleaded with supporters
top be wary of these."
The
reported divisions in the MDC have generated a lot of interest at a time
the
party is preparing for its elective congress to be held next
year.
Political analyst John Makumbe also supported the claim on possible
CIO
interference during a recent interview with a UK based Zimbabwean radio
station, SW Radio Africa.
"I suspect very strongly that a lot of that
is coming from the Central
Intelligence Organisation and then there are also
elements within the MDC
who are influenced by it and the rumour mongering
really spreading all kinds
of innuendos about the relationship between Biti
and Morgan," Makumbe told
the station.
But some MDC insiders blame
the confusion on power struggles within the
party.
Although talk
about the divisions have been going on for some time, the
issue has been
more publicised over the last two weeks when Biti and
Tsvangirai publicly
disagreed over public servants salaries.
Ugly scenes at the party's
headquarters, Harvest House in Harare also oiled
the already burning
rumours. The party's Director General Toendepi Shonhe
was beaten by youths
who also impounded his car.
Tsvangirai later issued a statement blaming
the disturbances on outsiders.
The failure by the party to publicise details
of a report on the violence
has also heightened the speculation.
Job
Sikhala launches massive national party for elections
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Sunday, 09 May 2010
16:13
FIREBRAND Zimbabwean politician and founding member of the
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change Mr Job
Sikhala has formed
a new political party which he named MDC99, The Zim
Diaspora can reveal.
Mr Sikhala, dismissed from the MDC Mutambara on
charges of gross political
indiscipline emerged in Harare on Saturday with
what appears to be a
powerful political ideology and was supported by
hundreds of disgruntled
political activists.
In what stunned many, Mr
Sikhala easily raised a diverse national executive
of more than 70
members.
The new party will start mobilizing support through rallies in
preparation
for elections next year, Mr Sikhala said during a press
conference in Harare's
Adelaide Acres. The party will be headquartered at
Old Mutual House in
Harare's central business district, he added.
Mr
Sikhala installed himself as interim president deputized by Abigail
Mahlangu
and Bibiana Musunami.
Announcing his 70 member national executive at a press
conference, Mr
Sikhala said he believed that he has done the right thing -
in line with the
founding principles of the MDC.
The powerful post of
Secretary General is held by Joshua Khumalo while
national chairman is held
Webster Muzulu and Treasurer General is Gladman
Usada.
"Today is not
a day for the usurpation of powers, it is a day of restoration
of the very
principles that founded the MDC. We have been disgruntled for
the past five
years after the split of the MDC in 2005 when the institution
that we all
constructed and sacrificed for, started to be personified with
individual
names of leaders and hired guns like Arthur Mutambara,"
"We have decided
to take over and restore back the people's project and
continue from where
we left when we were fighting President Mugabe. This
party, the original MDC
shall be called MDC 99, in recognition of the year
it was formed." he
said.
"MDC 99 will use the party's constitution as per its formation in
1999. The
part will stick to the founding principles and ideals of the MDC
as of that
year. The slogans and party regalia will remain the same," he
said.
The Zim Diaspora understands that Sikhala's new party will however
continue
to use MDC-M structures at grassroots as a means of political
mobilization.
Sikhala also took a swipe at the Mugabe/Tsvangirai so-call
coalition
government of national unity. He likened the collation to a
"loaded bus
without wheels".
"This government of national unity is
like a bus going nowhere but carrying
a placard written many destinations
and people are made to pay dearly.
President Mugabe is the driver while
Morgan Tsvangirai is the conductor and
Authur Mutambara is the loader," he
said
The MDC split into two factions in 2005 over disagreements over
participation in Senate elections. Since then, the smaller MDC-M faction
whom Sikhala belonged to has been dogged by serious internal power
squabbles. Its leader, Professor Mutambara has been attacked by the party
supporters for his alleged praise and support of President Mugabe.
Zimbabweans
may be left in the dark for World Cup
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Ryan Truscott | 5 Hours
Ago
Zimbabweans are worried that they won't get to watch live broadcasts
of the
FIFA World Cup next month because of persistent power
cuts.
Many homes only get power now between midnight and 4am and
the state-run
power company has warned of increased power cuts over the
winter months.
The prospects of Zimbabweans seeing any matches
are slim as the state ZESA
power company threatens more
load-shedding.
Zimbabwean households have power cuts that last up
to 19 hours.
Many homes only have power between midnight and four
or five in the morning.
ZESA says if people pay their bills it
might be able to import more power.
The company is currently owed
more than 230 million US dollars from
consumers.
Priority
appears to be going to tobacco farmers curing tobacco or irrigating
wheat.
ZESA spokesperson Fullard Gwasira says he can't
promise anything to World
Cup viewers residing in Zimbabwe.
ZIMBABWE: Region commits to rebuilding
universities
http://www.universityworldnews.com/
Universities in Southern Africa have
rallied to support the rebuilding of higher education in Zimbabwe, in what could
evolve into a model of regional collaboration. Following a meeting of
vice-chancellors in Cape Town, convened by the Southern African Regional
Universities Association, a special envoy to Zimbabwe will be appointed to
identify priority needs and develop an action plan to assist a sector devastated
by a decade of political turmoil.
SARUA organised the meeting on 24 April
following a request from the Zimbabwean Universities' Vice-chancellors
Association, ZUVCA, for strategic assistance to stabilise universities under
threat from an exodus of academics and professionals, weakened research and
teaching infrastructure, and lack of internet connectivity and access to
resources.
The meeting, called the SARUA Leadership Dialogue on
Rebuilding Higher Education in Zimbabwe, led to a "
Cape Town Accord and Call for Action" that was finalised last
week.
"It was an historic moment, the potential of which was probably not
clear in the minds of vice-chancellors when we started talking," Professor
Derrick Swartz, Vice-chancellor of South Africa's Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University, told
University World News.
"By the end of the
conversation, we had reached a momentous agreement on support for higher
education in Zimbabwe."
Vice-chancellors from across Southern Africa,
Swartz said, committed to actions ranging from encouraging academics to visit or
return to Zimbabwe to ease critical staff shortages and helping to train
postgraduates to connecting universities to fast broadband now available in
South Africa and using ICTs for joint teaching programmes.
Professor
Lindela Ndlovu, Vice-chancellor of the National University of Science and
Technology and chair of ZUVCA, said one achievement of the dialogue "was the
willingness of vice-chancellors to respond to our clarion call for assistance".
Another was realisation of how useful a regional body could be in bringing
universities together to tackle challenges.
The appointment of a special
envoy will be coordinated by SARUA in partnership with the Zimbabwe Council for
Higher Education and ZUVCA, which will convene a steering committee to guide the
work of the envoy and ensure that development of an action plan for assistance
is led by the Zimbabwean higher education sector.
SARUA, in consultation
with Zimbabwean university leaders, will draft a proposal to raise funds to
support and host the work of the envoy in the coming months. The envoy's tasks
will be to ascertain the higher education sector's priority needs, propose
strategies to respond to them, identify implementation means and draft an action
plan and budget.
The African Development Bank had already expressed
interest in supporting the initiative, said Piyushi Kotecha, CEO of SARUA, which
works to develop a regional identity for higher education and enhance university
collaboration in the Southern African Development Community.
"We believe
this could evolve into a model for regional higher education collaboration," she
told
University World News.
The Cape Town Accord endorsed the need
for collective leadership, on a regional level, to realise the developmental
benefits of higher education in Southern Africa.
But it also stressed
that higher education was first and foremost a national responsibility. "The
outcomes of the dialogue tend towards supporting the leadership of the higher
education sector in Zimbabwe in their process of rebuilding and revitalising the
sector," it stated.
Higher education in Zimbabwe made a significant
contribution to the region, and decline in its performance weakened the sector
across Southern Africa.
Zimbabwe had the second highest student enrolment
in the region, 18% of total student enrolment in science, engineering and
technology, nearly a quarter of students in business management and law, and
close to 20% of enrolments in the humanities and social
sciences.
However, the sector faced "significant challenges that threaten
its very survival". While demand for graduates and academic services continued
to grow, resources to meet those demands had dramatically diminished during
Zimbabwe's political and economic crises.
Institutions now operated with
"grossly inadequate financial, material, human and other resources. The exodus
of senior academics, in particular, exerts an enormous constraint on the
capacity of the system to reproduce itself," the Accord
reported.
Zimbabwean university leaders at the meeting identified four
areas of priority needs:
* A critical need for qualified academic and
teaching staff. Measures to assist staff to become better qualified were the
highest priority. Also needed were teaching and learning facilities, equipment
including better-resourced libraries, computers and access to the
internet.
* An increase in research funding to expand knowledge
production. Mentoring through collaborative research was required to develop the
skills of young researchers. The visibility of Zimbabwean research needed to
increase through communication and publication.
* Significant expansion
of teaching, laboratory, administrative and research infrastructure was required
to accommodate growth in student numbers. Universities needed support to connect
to new broadband availability in South Africa so that they could acquire
reliable and cheaper connectivity and use ICTs in management, teaching, learning
and research.
* Improvements in institutional governance and management,
which had been eroded by lack of funds and personnel. Turnover of senior
managers was high and vacancies could not be filled due to poor working
conditions, the political situation and a scarcity of qualified
skills.
The Accord called on governments, donors and universities to
actively support student and staff mobility, exchange and collaboration in
higher education in Southern Africa. Mutual reciprocity was fundamental to
making cooperation work and should be a core criterion guiding collaborative
projects, it said.
The vice-chancellors committed to a range of
collaborative activities aimed at rebuilding higher education in
Zimbabwe.
One short-term pledge was to find innovative ways to make staff
available to Zimbabwean institutions for limited periods. Many academics in the
region, the Accord pointed out, already had working relations with colleagues in
Zimbabwe and these could be developed, where practical, and extended to increase
support for universities in that country.
Staff could be made available
through, for instance, secondments, exchanges and research supervision.
Institutions were encouraged to take full advantage of ICTs for teaching and
learning within and across borders.
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher
Education would collect information on specific staff shortages, and would
facilitate contact between local universities and institutions across the region
so that support could be negotiated.
"Vice-chancellors are encouraged to
issue a communiqué that informs academics at their institutions of this request
for assistance and that encourages them to assess opportunities for providing
support," the Accord stated.
Medium-term action will focus on the
appointment and work of the special envoy. While universities required immediate
assistance, the Accord said, vice-chancellors were "hopeful that the process of
stabilising higher education in Zimbabwe will create a strategic space for
thinking through the long-term sustainability of the sector in that
country".
Challenges faced by higher education in Zimbabwe were
challenges to all of SADC, the Accord concluded. "We are convinced that
cooperation and partnerships among higher education institutions in the region
and other stakeholders such as government, donors and the private sector are a
sine qua non for addressing the plight of Zimbabwe and the region."
Masvingo
Journalist On the Run After Threats
http://news.radiovop.com
09/05/2010 17:25:00
Masvingo,
May 09, 2010 - The editor of a Masvingo independent weekly paper
has gone
into hiding after police threatened him with arrests for a story he
wrote
concerning Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi.
It is alleged the police were
acting on the orders of Mzembi who wants the
reporter charged for criminal
defamation for publishing a story that linked
him to the theft of President
Robert Mugabe's birthday gifts in February.
Mzembi, also Masvingo south
legislator, is said to have instructed Officer
commanding CID Masvingo
district, only identified as Superintendent Magamba,
to lock up Golden
Maunganidze, the Editor of Masvingo Mirror last Monday.
Mzembi is a
accusing Maunganidze of authoring the story that linked him to
the
disappearance of hundreds of tonnes of sugar donated to
President Mugabe on
his 86th birthday celebrations. He said the story was
published in his paper
and was picked up by other papers including online
publications.
Maunganidze went into hiding after Magamba stormed his
offices and
questioned him. He told him that Mzembi had made a report at the
Harare
central police station.
Police in Masvingo declined to comment
a referred all the questions to their
headquarters in
Harare.
Maunganidze's whereabouts are not known but Mirror news editor
Tatenda
Chitagu confirmed that the journalist was in hiding.
"We are
very worried about our Editor's whereabouts since the day police
wanted to
arrest him. He just disappeared and never told anyone where he was
going.
But the last time I talked to him he was so terrified and kept on
insisting
that he was afraid of being tortured and harassed by police if he
was
detained," he said.
His mobile phone was switched off.
The
government has been accused of using criminal defamation law as a weapon
to
silence journalist in the country despite hopes from the
media fraternity of
a few positive changes in their working environment.
Five Harare based
journalist were last week summoned to court to answer
charges over a story
linking business mogul Phillip Chiyangwa and local
government minister,
Ignatius Chombo to a serious land scandal in the
capital city.
The
five, Vincent Kahiya, Nevanji Madanhire, Jennifer Dube, and Feluna
Muleya of
the Standard and Stanley Gama of the Sunday Times are being
charged for
writing stories based on a city of Harare report about Chiyangwa's
land
deals.
Media bodies have also attacked the govenrment with ZUJ Secretary
general
Foster Dongozi describing the action as scoring a spectacular own
goal while
MISA said the it was an attempt to silence the media and society
as a whole.
Mzembi refused to comment on the matter.
Mugabe opponent facing execution over terror charges
On eve of decision on whether trial in
Zimbabwe will go ahead, MDC official Roy Bennett insists case is politically
motivated
- David Smith in Harare
- guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 May 2010 13.24
BST
- Article
history
Roy Bennett of Zimbabwe's MDC party leaves the high court in
Harare, in November 2009. Photograph: Philimon Bulawayo /
Reuters/Reuters
An opposition politician and hate figure for the Zimbabwean president, Robert
Mugabe, will learn tomorrow whether he must answer terrorism charges that could
result in the death penalty.
Roy Bennett,
the treasurer general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), will appear
at the high court to find out if his trial will go ahead. The white former
farmer is accused of buying £3,000 worth of arms in 2006 to carry out acts of
insurgency, sabotage, banditry or terrorism.
In an interview with the Guardian, Bennett insisted the long-running case was
politically motivated but offered to relinquish his claim to a position in
government, in a bid to save Zimbabwe's fragile
power-sharing agreement.
"It's very unsettling," said Bennett, at his home in the capital, Harare. "To
sit there and to listen to absolute fabricated lies where basically you've got
the death sentence hanging over your head is not pleasant at all."
He continued: "To know that the people that 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 appointees have been done through the
ministry of justice on a political basis . basically I should expect no mercy
and fear the worst."
Bennett is pessimistic about the outcome of tomorrow's hearing. "If you look
at the whole trend and pattern of how [Mugabe's] Zanu-PF has operated with
opposition leaders, it's a case of tying people up with court cases for as long
as they can, and keeping them out of the active arena of their duties within
politics.
"I honestly believe that for whatever reasons they will try and make this
thing last as long as possible and carry it on as long as they can."
The MDC says that more than 100 of its members and activists are facing
various trumped-up charges across the country. Bennett was
arrested in February last year, on the day he was due to be sworn in to the
inclusive government as deputy agriculture minister.
The senator said that he would be willing to step aside if it meant breaking
the political deadlock and moving towards fresh elections.
"I was elected to my position by the people of Zimbabwe to serve them
honestly and transparently so I have absolutely no problem where I serve.
Certainly I would hate a process to stop over individuals and personalities.
"It's far beyond personalities and far bigger than personalities. You're
talking about people's livelihoods, the restoration and reconstruction of a
country."
The 53-year-old added: "Certainly a single post should not stop that process
moving forward. So if it meant step aside completely and not be involved, and
that would move the process forward towards a fresh election and towards
democracy, I would be the first person to endorse that."
Bennett said: "Zanu-PF and MDC have very little interaction. They're two
polarised camps, which is why this GPA [global political agreement] is a total
failure. One person's been murdering and raping you and accusing you of being
puppets of the west and British and whatever; and on the other hand you try and
sit and have a civilised conversation. It's impossible."
But he added: "I'm very optimistic ... You're dealing with a total autocratic
despot dictator. Where in the world have those sort of people been removed
overnight? It is a process. The people that have to be given accolades is the
Zimbabwean people that have suffered the brunt of this dictatorship economically
and through human rights abuses, yet they have remained resolute and strong on
what they want.
George Mlala, Zanu-PF's Bulawayo province deputy secretary for
indigenisation, argued that the courts should now be left alone to decide
Bennett's case.
"Suppose Mugabe says today, 'Hey police, this man please, can you stop all
your investigations, I want to appoint him today,'" he said. "Is that not an
interference with the police? We are saying, if MDC wants this matter settled,
let the court settle the matter.
"If Bennett is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, 10 years'
imprisonment, 24 hours' imprisonment, go to the president and say, 'The man has
been found guilty. Can you please pardon him?' If he pardons him, nobody will
say he's interfered with the courts or police. But now his hands are tied. If it
was me, I would not release Bennett. I would allow the court to
proceed."
Response of
Harare Diocese to Kunonga ruling
http://nehandaradio.com
May 8, 2010 at 6:25 pm
By Bishop Chad
Gandiya
Events of the last few weeks have left many of you baffled
because instead
of the expected positive change many have witnessed an
escalation of the
disturbances. Honourable judge Malaba's judgment on Monday
this week has
also added to the confusion of what is actually going
on.
Most of you will have read in today's Herald that Dr. Kunonga is
calling for
reconciliation and was "making all church buildings accessible
to all
Anglicans on times to be arranged with clergy from different
persuasions of
the church".
We are therefore writing to inform you
about the position of the diocese on
the matter and to encourage you all to
stand firm in your faith and
commitment to the lord Jesus Christ and his
Church. First we would like you
all to remember that the church is people.
You are the church and not
buildings even though they are
important.
Dr. Kunonga if quoted correctly in today's Herald newspaper
seems to be
accepting Honourable President Judge Makarawu's initial judgment
that we
shared use of church buildings at agreed times until the Courts made
a
determination on the matter. That matter is still before the High Court of
Zimbabwe and we are waiting for a date to be set for the
trial.
Second, we should guard against discussing church business
including matters
that are before the courts in the papers. I understand the
need both to
disseminate correct information to a wider audience and to
counteract
propaganda and lies that are at times peddled through the papers
as "gospel
truth" about our situation.
This has to be balanced with
other prudent considerations such as the wisdom
of refusing to play
according to someone's tune no matter how great the
temptation may be.
Third, do not act on the basis of what you read in the
newspapers without
checking with us first. Again, we do not conduct our
business through the
papers. We will inform you officially about any changes
to the status
quo.
For instance, Dr. Kunonga has not contacted the province or us as he
indicated in the Herald. If and when he does and the province or diocese has
anything to share with you, we will do so without delay. In the meantime if
you are able to use your churches please go ahead and do as it is in
accordance with Makarawu judgment. If the police prohibit you, please do not
resist because it could then end up in violence.
Our response to
Judge Malaba's judgment is as follows:
We, the Church of the Province of
Central Africa (CPCA), Diocese of Harare,
would like to comment on the
article that appeared in The Herald of Tuesday
4 May 2010 entitled Church
assets go to Kunonga, The reportage of the
article aforesaid is not
factually correct.
The Supreme Court did NOT declare Dr Nolbert Kunonga
and his board of
trustees legitimate and did NOT grant them control over
properties of the
Anglican Diocese of Harare, CPCA.
The Supreme Court
granted a chamber application brought by Dr Kunonga to
dismiss the appeal
noted by the CPCA on a procedural technicality. The
appeal brought by the
Province related to the High Court Order that was
granted by the Honourable
Justice Hlatshwayo declaring Dr Kunonga and six
others trustees of the
Diocese of Harare.
That order vested the custody and control of diocesan
property to Dr Kunonga
and his six 'trustees' who have since left the CPCA
and formed their own
organization known as the Church of the Province of
Zimbabwe and made Dr
Kunonga archbishop of that church.
Since Dr
Kunonga and his six 'trustees' are no longer part of the CPCA, they
cannot,
and are not part of the church that owns the property to which they
are
'trustees'. It is for this reason that the CPCA appealed against the
order
of the Honourable Justice Hlatshwayo.
The main matter pertaining to the
ownership of diocesan property is still
pending in the High Court and has
not been disposed of. Since that matter is
still pending in another court,
the Supreme Court did not make any fining on
it.
It is therefore a
misnomer to report that diocesan assets now belong to Dr
Kunonga as the
ownership of assets was never an issue in this appeal. The
High Court in the
not too distant future, will determine the main property
issue.
The
CPCA also notes that in an article published on the front page of The
Herald
on Friday 7 May 2010, Dr Kunonga is alleged to have stated that all
churches
in the diocese were now accessible to all Anglicans on times 'to be
arranged
with clergy from different persuasions of the Church'.
This is indeed the
way it ought to have been as set out in the ruling of the
Honourable Justice
Makarau were it not for the illegal use of the police to
bar CPCA
parishioners from accessing church premises in clear contempt of
the
ruling.
The CPCA has always complied, and will continue to comply, with
court orders
issued by the courts of Zimbabwe. The CPCA will be filing an
application to
re-instate the appeal to the Honorable Justice Hlatshwayo's
order with the
Supreme Court to ensure that the matter is determined on the
merits.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, remember the words of St. Paul
in 2 Cor.
2:7-10: ".we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed;
perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down,
but not
destroyed - always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
body".
Now, to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present
you before
his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the
only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus
Christ our
Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Every
blessing in Christ
Bishop Chad Gandiya, Harare
Rights
lobby wants justice for murdered farmer
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
May 9, 2010 12:00 AM | By Doubt
Dube
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has expressed concern
at delays
in the prosecution of two war veterans facing murder charges after
they
allegedly killed a white commercial farmer at the height of
controversial
government-sponsored land reforms nine years ago.
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Albert Ncube and Robert Nyathi were arrested in 2001 on
allegations that
they murdered Elizabeth Gloria Olds, a commercial farmer in
the Nyamandlovu
district in Matabeleland North.
The murder case has
been pending for the last nine years and was delayed due
to various
reasons.
Three prosecutors assigned to handle the case failed to do so
after they
quit the attorney-general's office. Also key witnesses have
failed to turn
up.
ZLHR regional coordinator for Bulawayo, Kucaca
Phulu, said: "The delay in
getting to the bottom of this case is worrying.
The accused and those
affected need justice and the delay is reflective of
the inefficient and
slow justice system in this country."
Phulu said
it was worrying that justice had not been served almost nine
years after the
two war veterans were arrested. But he said the justice
system might have
been compromised by the political nature of the case.
"When one looks
closely at the case, it is difficult to ignore the political
aspects. But in
general justice in this country is very slow, as some times
cases take
between five and seven years to be completed, and in the justice
system that
is too much time."
More than a dozen white commercial farmers were killed
by Zanu-PF supporters
and war veterans during farm seizures President Robert
Mugabe and his party
said corrected historical imbalances in land
allocation.
Olds was ambushed at the gates of her Silver Streams farm in
Nyamandlovu.
Her bullet-riddled body was found in a pool of
blood.
Nyathi and Ncube were arrested but pleaded not guilty to the
murder charge.
At their first court appearance in 2001, the state alleged
in its outline
that the two men, who were clad in army uniforms, shot at
Olds 20 times and
missed only five times.
Olds was the mother of
another commercial farmer killed at the start of
Mugabe's campaign to
repossess land from white-owned farms for
redistribution to landless
blacks.
Her son Martin Olds was killed after a four hour-long shoot-out
with dozens
of war veterans who had invaded his farm.
Self-styled war
veterans, many too young to have served in the liberation
war, led the
occupation of white-owned farms in 2000.
Zim's
malaria time bomb
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
May 9, 2010 12:00 AM | By Claire Keeton - Additional
reporting by Reuters
The countries on both sides of the Limpopo are trying to
tackle the disease
reports Claire Keeton
DOOMED TO DIE? A child
inside a mosquito net in a mud hut in Sierra Leone.
In Africa a child dies
of malaria every 30
Zimbabwe and South Africa's Limpopo province are
working on an agreement to
eliminate malaria on both sides of the Limpopo
River.
Top malaria scientist Professor Maureen Coetzee said: "They are in
the
middle of drafting a trans-Limpopo malaria control
application."
The health department in Limpopo, which borders on
Zimbabwe, reported an
increase in malaria cases in December in the Vhembe
and Mopani districts.
Zimbabwe's malaria programme has suffered setbacks
in control and research,
said Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting
Malaria.
"For many years Zimbabwe had an excellent malaria control
programme and now
it is down to almost zero," he said.
The National
Institute of Health Research (formerly the Blair Research
Institute), which
does malaria research, has lost many of its staff and much
of its
resources.
Tren said: "Since 2000 the malaria control programme has
broken down."
This could present a threat to Zimbabwe's neighbours, since
people travel
with the parasite.
But on the continent as a whole
significant progress has been made in
"scaling up coverage with key malaria
control interventions" according to
the latest report on the killer disease,
World Malaria Day 2010: Africa
Update.
"The momentum to control
malaria in Africa is really there,'' said Coetzee,
director of the
Witwatersrand University/National Institutes of Communicable
Diseases
malaria entomology research unit in Johannesburg.
"If we take advantage
and make a success of this, it will be fantastic for
(the people) and the
African economy."
Malaria costs Africa more than $40-billion a year in
treatment and sick
days - 247 million cases were reported in
2008.
"In 2008 malaria caused nearly one million deaths, mostly among
African
children," said the World Health Organisation.
AG's
wings set to be clipped
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
May 9, 2010 12:00 AM | By Themba Sibanda
Moves to
trim the powers of Zimbabwe's Attorney General and institute
reforms to the
operations of his office are now at an advanced stage,
cabinet members have
said.
Parties have argued the AG's post, currently under Zanu-PF
acolyte Johannes
Tomana's custody, has too many powers that are prone to be
abused by any
individual in his position.
Arbitrary arrest,
detentions, and prosecution of opposition politicians,
activists and
supporters, mainly from the mainstream MDC party in the
country have been
the order of the day under Tomana's reign.
Cabinet sources disclosed this
week that Justice and Legal Affairs minister
Patrick Chinamasa presented to
cabinet new "principles" set to be contained
in the AG's Bill to be tabled
before Parliament.
"The minister has presented to the cabinet the new
principles that will be
the basis for the formulation of the
Bill.
"The discussion around the principles has already started at
cabinet level.
We as cabinet are trying to find which are the best possible
principles,
internationally renowned principles, we can take on board in
this reform of
the AG's office and his or her powers," said a cabinet
member.
According to another insider, the thrust of the Bill is to have
the Attorney
General's office standing on its own and separated from the
ministry of
justice and legal affairs.
This would then see the AG's
office being staffed according to the
prescriptions of the Bill.
"The
Bill also intends to create a set-up as the one in South Africa where
you
have the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) operating as an authority
free
from government interference," the insider said.
The move is also aimed
at ensuring that the Attorney General would be a
non-political appointee. It
is hoped this would result in a situation where
even the rogue elements of
political parties , who have benefitted from
partisanship of the AG, face
the full wrath of the law.
The Bill, it is expected, is also going to
propose that the AG's office,
since it will be a fully-fledged office, be
allocated its own resources from
the national fiscus.
"The finance
minister, under the new Bill, will now be required to set aside
funds meant
for the AG's office. This has been created in such a way that
the AG's
office administration determines the salaries for staffers. The
input of
this is to try by all means to stop the brain drain that is
affecting
service delivery in the ministry through the determination of
attractive
salaries that would lure personnel to the AG's office," said the
insider.
Since the advent of the country's economic downturn, the
AG's office has
been dented by the departure of key staff to lucrative jobs
elsewhere in the
country.
This has seen delays in the prosecution of
cases as the very few staffers
that have held the fort have become
overwhelmed by the amount of cases to be
dealt with.
"Recruitment of
staff and personnel will also be done independently by the
AG's office,
obviously guided by the Act of Parliament that will be passed
as a result of
the Bill," said the insider.
Chinamasa could not be reached for comment
on Friday.
Dual
citizenship row splits Zanu-PF
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Moyo lashes out at those with a laager
mentality
May 9, 2010 12:00 AM | By Zoli Mangena
Zanu-PF,
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party, is deeply divided over
dual
citizenship.
The divisions emerged during a heated caucus meeting on
Wednesday and it
left the party fractured ahead of the outreach programme of
the current
constitutional reform process.
Zanu-PF MPs who attended
the meeting told the Sunday Times that cracks
appeared after the
registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede, a civil servant, told
the party during a
presentation that it should not allow dual citizenship
during the current
process. He said dual citizenship showed a lack of
patriotism and loyalty to
the "sovereign nation of Zimbabwe" on the part of
those who held
it.
One MP reported that "Mudede said Zanu-PF should tell people to vote
against
dual citizenship and reject it because there is no way one person
can have
loyalty to two sovereigns. He said Zimbabweans living outside the
country
should choose whether they wanted to be Zimbabwean citizens or South
Africans, British, Americans or whatever nationality," the MP
said.
"He also claimed that no country within the SADC (Southern African
Development Community) region allowed dual citizenship."
Another MP
said Mudede insisted that Zimbabwe, which outlawed dual
citizenship during
the 1980s mainly to deny Rhodesians the opportunity to
retain dual
Zimbabwean and British nationalities, should maintain that
position, because
"it will be abused by some people who are not loyal
citizens".
The MP
said Mudede was referring to Rhodesians and foreign nationals. "He
said
Rhodesians or foreigners could still abuse citizenship laws if given an
opportunity and Zanu-PF should not allow them to do so."
Mudede
initially appeared to have the support of the majority of Zanu-PF MPs
at the
meeting until those opposed to his position objected. They included
senior
party member Jonathan Moyo.
Insiders said Moyo made "a powerful
intervention", which challenged Mudede's
argument on a number of
points.
They said Moyo said the party should not be guided by rigid
political and
policy positions which did not take account shifting
circumstances and
reflect the changing concept of sovereignty.
Moyo
apparently told the MPs that they could not afford to debate issues as
if
they were "caught in a time warp", and should not drive themselves into a
political laager over issues like citizenship because supra-nationalism -
decision-making in multinational forums - was inevitable in the
future.
"Moyo indicated that it would unfair to deprive Zimbabweans
living outside
the country of their birth a constitutional right to
citizenship.
"He said he represented a constituency (Tsholotsho North)
where most people
of working age were in South Africa and he would not like
them to lose their
citizenship because of what the caucus meeting
decided."
According to the source: "Moyo also argued that it was not
helpful for MPs
to debate as if they were not aware of changing
circumstances around them.
He even indicated that regional bodies like SADC
and the African Union were
consolidating supra-nationalism and Zanu-PF
couldn't be guided by 'laager
mentality politics' and Rhodesian sentiments
'in this day and age'."
There are millions of Zimbabweans living abroad
who could lose their
nationality if Zanu-PF blocks dual
citizenship.
An insider said Moyo also challenged Mudede's claim that no
SADC country
allowed dual citizenship. "Moyo said this was not particularly
correct, and
cited South Africa as an example, among other
countries.
"He said Mudede was oversimplifying the issue to the point of
being
misleading. His remarks opened up the debate and in the end the party
was
divided."
The
MDC wars
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Tsvangirai and Biti lock horns
May 9, 2010 12:00 AM | By Zoli
Magena
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai, is locked in a fierce power struggle between factions led
by
Tsvangirai and party secretary-general Tendai Biti, who is also finance
minister.
The two groups are slugging it out ahead of next year's
party elective
congress. These congresses are held every five years to
choose new leaders.
Tsvangirai, MDC leader since 1999, was supposed to
have stepped down last
year, but he amended the constitution, and removed
term limits, allowing
himself to remain in charge. The MDC split in 2005 was
used to justify the
removal of term limits.
Insiders say the two
MDC-T factions, coalesced around Tsvangirai and Biti,
have sucked in the
other top 10 party officials, who include vice-president
Thokozani Khupe,
chairman Lovemore Moyo, deputy secretary-general Tapiwa
Mashakada,
treasurer-general Roy Bennett and his deputy, Elton Mangoma,
organising
secretary Elias Mudzuri and his deputy, Morgan Komichi, and party
spokesman
Nelson Chamisa.
Tensions between the factions are said to have
intensified dramatically,
leading to recent clashes at the party's Harvest
House headquarters.
A fortnight ago, youths allegedly loyal to Tsvangirai
attacked party
director-general Toendepi Shonhe, and grabbed his car
keys.
Insiders say Shonhe is Biti's key ally in the party bureaucracy,
and
Tsvangirai supporters have accused him of trying to create a "loyal
secretariat" to seize control of head office to boost their faction's
position.
The unruly youths, now suspended pending investigations,
also assaulted
three other people. MDC-T MP Seiso Moyo was appointed to head
an
investigations committee.
Tsvangirai said on Monday he received a
preliminary report on the
investigation, and was "shocked" by the findings.
He said the report would
be made public, but so far he has kept it under
wraps.
This week, for the first time, Tsvangirai was forced to discuss
the power
struggles.
"Recently there have been sustained attempts to
divide the person of the
secretary-general and myself. These attempts are
not new. They happened in
the past, and in fact led to the split of the
party in 2005," he told
journalists in Harare on Monday.
Tsvangirai
claimed that people he did not name were trying to divide his
party
again.
A document seen by the Sunday Times lists "political problems,
administrative issues, salary structure and sexual harassment" among issues
dividing the party.
It insinuates that Biti's faction created
parallel structures on budgets,
party programmes and activities to support
its ascendancy bid.
Insiders say although Biti is not expected to
challenge Tsvangirai next
year, he is positioning himself for an eventual
takeover.
Tsvangirai and Biti have both denied they are locked in a power
struggle.
Mining
firms opt for generators
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
09/05/2010 00:00:00
by Gilbert
Nyambabvu
MINING companies are being forced to consider alternative power
supplies as
the country's electricity utility (ZESA) struggles to meet
demand with at
least two firms announcing plans to install diesel generators
in order to
maintain production.
The country's mining sector is
beginning to recover from years of decline -
spurred by a complimentary
operating environment and better commodity
prices - but most companies say
power supply problems are undermining
efforts to ramp up
production.
Caledonia Mining Corporation, which operates the Gwanda-based
Blanket gold
mine, says it has already ordered the first of several diesel
generators as
the power outages have adversely impacted
productivity.
"In recent weeks, the continuity of electricity supplies
has deteriorated
significantly: average daily power outages at Blanket have
increased from
approximately 5 hours per day in February 2010 to over 9
hours per day in
May.
"The increased frequency, coupled with the
unpredictability and duration of
power outages has an adverse effect on gold
production, and also on the
underground installations essential for the
completion of the No. 4 Shaft
Expansion Project," Caledonia said in a
statement.
The company said funding for the additional generators would
come from an
existing credit facility. The generators would enable the
company to
complete its expansion project as well as maintain its annual
production
target of 40 000 ounces of gold.
Elsewhere, New Dawn
Mining Corporation which owns Turk Gold Mine in
Matebeleland North also
expressed concern over the power supply problems as
well as ZESA's failure
to comply with its own load-shedding schedule.
"At present, Zimbabwe has
insufficient internal power generating capacity to
fulfill domestic
requirements and there has been a significant increase in
power cuts since
early March 2010, which has resulted in a significant loss
of operating
shifts and ore processing at the Turk Mine.
"In addition, the power
utility has not been able to follow its existing
load shedding schedule,
which has made contingency plans implemented by
management ineffective. The
result has adversely affected production output
and costs at the Turk Mine,"
New Dawn said in statement read.
The company said it would install new diesel
powered generators in order to
meet its production targets.
"New Dawn
views the installation of the new diesel powered generators as an
effective
solution to provide the electrical capacity sufficient for the
company to be
able to realize its next production target of 22,000 to 23,000
ounces of
annualized gold production by mid-2011," the statement read.
Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 8th May 2010
Vigil supporters – like everyone
else here – have been closely following the UK’s general elections, which left
none of the three main parties with an overall majority in Parliament. A bit like
Zimbabwe? Surprisingly, Zimbabweans have the
right to vote in parliamentary elections here (though citizens of even EC
countries can’t). The loophole for Zimbabweans is that the British government
has yet to update the legislation which allows Commonwealth citizens to vote –
even though Mugabe took us out of the Commonwealth in December 2003!
Many Vigil supporters voted and some
even campaigned for the rival parties. We were interested in the different
attitudes towards immigration, which became a main issue in the election
campaign. Up to half a million people a year have apparently been settling in
the UK in recent years leading to fears of
being “swamped”. There are, by all accounts, more Zimbabweans in the
UK than there ever were British people
in Zimbabwe.
The immigration question was at the
heart of a meeting in London on the Monday before the elections.
It was attended by many Vigil supporters. All three party leaders answered for
their policies. Vigil people were particularly keen to see Nick Clegg of the
Liberal Democrats, who has come to the Vigil. One of the questions raised was
about the welfare of children detained with their parents in immigration centres
and there were promises to look into this. Despite the unity government,
Zimbabweans make up one of the biggest groups of asylum seekers in the
UK.
The whole exercise had much to teach
us about how to resolve differences. But it made us depressed about the
situation in Zimbabwe where a defeated President has
refused to surrender power and the former opposition seems increasingly
schizophrenic. Vigil supporters wondered how else to interpret Tsvangirai’s
recent comments at the meeting in Dar es
Salaam of the World Economic Forum on
Africa.
He was reported as saying that, given the chance again, he wouldn’t have
joined the coalition government but went on to maintain that Zimbabwe’s
political crisis ‘no longer exists’. At the same time he admitted that, even
though the principals had received a report on the SADC-facilitated talks weeks
ago, they had not yet met to discuss it.
Well we – on an surprisingly cold
day for May but thankful that the threatened rain failed to materialise – have
just about given up on the interim government. We are settling down in the
UK and its becoming ever more
difficult to think of going back. New elections, free and fair, as soon as
possible are what we want.
It lifted our spirits to welcome
back Father Bernard, a Jesuit priest who has helped so many of us. He
unfortunately has dislocated his shoulder and had to use a walking frame. We
pray for his early recovery.
The Vigil has had an email from
James
Chidakwa, friend and fellow activist of
Tonderai Ndira who was brutally murdered two years ago in
Zimbabwe. Tonderai was abducted on
13th May
2008 and his
body was identified in the morgue on 22nd May. In a BBC report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7416933.stm),
his brother describes Tonderia’s body: "His jaw was shattered, his knuckles
broken, a bullet hole below his heart, many many stab wounds and a large hole at
the back of his head which seemed to have been caused by a hammer." Other
reports state that
he had been shot in the heart, with multiple stab wounds, his eyes gouged, his
tongue cut out, and his neck, skull, jaw and knuckles broken. James has let us
know they will be holding a commemoration for Tonderai on 14 / 15 May. The Vigil
joins with Tonderai’s family and friends in remembering and honouring this brave
activist. There will also be a memorial
in London, check our Events and Notices’ section.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page
of our website. For earlier ZimVigil TV
programmes check: http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline.
FOR THE
RECORD: 147 signed the register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
Tonderai Ndira
Memorial. Tuesday
11th May from 6.30 – 11 pm. Venue: Inn on the Green, 3-5 Thorpe Close,
London W10 5XL. For more details and RSVP:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=100000726715549&k=Z6E3Y5PYSY6BZFMJWDXXYVWTQ6BAX53FU3GV&oid=106630222713433.
·
ROHR Harlow general meeting. Saturday 15th May from
1.30 – 5.30 pm. Venue: Perry Road, Harlow CM18
7NP. Substantive committee to be
elected and ROHR President and ROHR Executive present. Contact: L Kashangura
07506481334, Blessing Office 07759884633, Bothwell Nyemba 07725208657, Grace
Kachingwe 07529524965 or P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070
·
ROHR
Cambridge fundraising event. Saturday 22nd May from
4 – 10 pm. Venue: Arbury Community Centre, Campkin Road, Cambridge CB4 2LD.
African music, food and drinks hobho. Entrance fee £10 including food. Contact:
Jospheth Hapazari 07782398725, Locadia Mugari 07501304116, Sibusisiwe Bafana
07765268622, Percy Marimba 07894670271 or P Mapfumo
07915926323/07932216070
·
R0HR North
London
General
Meeting.
Saturday 22nd
May from 1:30-5:30. Venue: Tottenham Chances,
399 High
Road
London N17 6QN. Closest Tube -Seven
Sisters. From Seven Sisters towards Tottenham three stops on buses 123,149,256,349,341
and 476,
ROHR Executive and Guest Speakers in attendance. Fundraising
raffle and draw. Contact
Bekithemba Nyahwa 07534905348, Nobuhle Ndlovu
07949588597, Wellington Chinombe 07529290157, Chipo Denenga 07960761122, P Mapfumo 07915926323.
·
ROHR
West
Bromwich Branch fundraising event. Saturday 29th May from 1 – 11pm.
Venue: St Peters Church Hall, Whitehall Rd, West Bromwich B70 0HF.
Admission £8.00 including food and drink. Contact: Pamela Dunduru 07958386718,
Diana Mtendereki 07768682961, Peter Nkomo 07817096594, Godwin
Kativu 07576994816 or P Chibanguza 07908406069
·
ROHR Northampton General
Meeting. Saturday
5th June at 2 pm. Venue: Carey Memorial
Baptist
Church,
King Street, Kettering, Northants, NN16
8QL. ROHR Executive members present
and Guest Speakers. Contact: Marshall Rusike 07833787775,Wadzanayi
Mpandawana 07717795574, Gladys Milanzi 07846 448 711, Norian Chindowa 07954379426, Sherry Ngaseke 07869295544 Or P Mapfumo 07915 926 323 / 07932 216 070.
·
OTIENO by Trevor Michael
Georges. A
contemporary reworking of Shakespeare's Othello, set against the continuing
deprivation of present-day Zimbabwe. From Tuesday 25th May –
Saturday 12th June at 7.30 pm, matinees 3 pm. Venue: Southwark
Playhouse, Shipwright Yard (Corner of Tooley St. & Bermondsey St.),
London SE1 2TF. For tickets ring 020 7407 0234 or book online here.
·
Swaziland Vigil. Saturdays from 10
am – 1 pm.
Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20 Buckingham Gate,
London SW1E 6LB. Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest
stations: St James’s Park and Victoria. For more information check: www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.
·
Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s
Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue:
The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre,
84 Mayton
Street,
London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest
underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the
Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and
Thursdays).
·
Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans
organised by Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work
placements for qualified Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For
information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html
or contact: zimbabweinternship@cof.org.uk.
· For Motherland ENT’s videos of the
Vigil on 24/04/2009, check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvwikOhO3Fk & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qqXJ7jfVY.
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from
14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in
Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October
2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are
held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
Indigenisation,
a personal enrichment exercise
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Wezhira
Sunday, 09 May 2010
18:35
An indigenous miner, who has suffered harassment and torture from
senior
police officers, questions whether the Zimbabwe's indigenisation
programme
is a correction of historical imbalances or just a personal
enrichment
scheme. The police officers have allegedly stole gold from his
mine in broad
day light since last year and the miner says efforts to have
them persecuted
have failed. His identity cannot be revealed because he
fears more
victimisation.
It is interesting to hear how various groups
are already jostling themselves
to position themselves for the
indigenisation programme. Interestingly some
of these groups are made up of
people who hardly put up anything into the
system.
Despite various
schemes to support the participation of the indigenous
population, only a
few have benefited. These beneficiaries and mostly
privileged people are the
ones running their companies by flouting every
regulation in the book. The
simple question I would want to pose to some of
our leaders is, who are the
people or companies dodging to pay corporate
taxes and whose cars, whose raw
materials and whose goods cross the border
without a dime being
paid?
These often pay the lowest incomes and apply the most oppressive laws
to
their employees. Any further effort to enrich and empower such people
would
move Zimbabwe towards slavery.
It is a fact of life that oppression
of one person by another for whatever
reasons is intolerable, unbearable and
certainly unsustainable. In ancient
history we had slave masters and slaves,
and the system was becoming
unsustainable and expensive to maintain. While
it may not matter much to
know the specific people who were the champions
and proponents of its
abolition, the bottom line is that these were people
of great vision and
knew that the system would crash.
A lesser oppressive
system was perceived to enhance the well being of the
masters and their
workers. History has evidence that as societies became
freer they were
equally able to improve on their material and social
welfare. Even to this
day, the battle rages on between capital and labour,
and any compromises
that enable the system to meet the needs of both would
result in enhancement
in the quality of life. The battle between classes or
divisions is as old as
the history of mankind itself. At some point it was
along racial and gender
lines.
Man does not seem to learn from his past that the earlier the parties
recognise the need to work together and negotiate with one another in the
spirit of mutual interest, the better it becomes for all. The issue is not
about colour or gender but about liberty, equity and common justice. An
equitable and just system will be subscribed by many if not all. The oldest
constitution on the law of liberty, equity and justice prescribes that an
alien who agrees to abide in your land shall do so under the terms and
conditions that applies to all the citizens of the land. They in turn shall
become part of you forever, and they and their children shall be eligible
for benefits pertaining to the citizens of that country for as long as they
continue to abide with the laws of the land.
On the surface, Zimbabwe's
land reform and the current proposed blanket
indigenisation policy of the
economy may look and sound simple and yet the
results could be far reaching
with very undesirable consequences.
There are a number of questions which our
leaders should ask themselves if
they desire success for this nation. They
should look seriously into the
people who are eligible and the terms, the
manner and nature of benefits and
how these would be spread, how the
programmes would benefit the poor and the
disadvantaged such as widows,
orphans, the disabled, women and children,
sustainability of the system and
how it would address future challenges.
The Zanu (PF) government did a lot
during its early days to address problems
of social and economic
inequalities. They advanced the rights of women and
the workers in general,
particularly on remuneration for equal work. They
designed one of the most
progressive labour laws in the continent. Without
taking anything away from
them, they did a lot with limited resources.
Significant inroads were made
in education, health and social
infrastructure. They came up with cheap
finance schemes to stimulate
participation by the previously disadvantaged
groups but these schemes were
far from adequate given a demand for
them.
During the early years of independence, some benefited immensely by
simply
putting up project proposals for funding, got allocated foreign
currency to
import project related equipment only to sell licenses to others
who ended
up importing finished goods and luxuries. Some of these people
have built up
their business empires on these faulty structures and yet
today they are
being hailed as people of great business acumen. Despite the
fact that their
wealth was ill gotten and should have been prosecuted, the
government has
taken a blind eye and allowed these people to continue as if
nothing ever
happened. It would be interesting to find out how this class of
people would
be treated under the new indigenisation policy.
However,
others have built their businesses through hard work and taking
serious
risks such as disposal of properties or taking mortgage loans. Some
people
failed in this process, others have died of blood pressure and some
have
become destitute.
Others have never been employed and will probably never be
employed but
still one would need to know how they will benefit from the
much talked
about indigenisation policy.
The first phase of the land
reform programme was characterised by the
scramble for farm houses,
tractors, vehicles, cattle, other animals, crops
in the field and other
items on farms. Financial institutions also suffered,
they had to find new
lines of business to survive. The law of the jungle
was in
operative.
Yet the government could have legislated for farm sizes in every
ecological
region and allocated it to deserving black farmers and peasant
farmers in
highly congested areas. Other well structured and self financing
schemes
could have been structured to raise funds to support the new
farmers. Land
tax could also have been applied to penalise those who wanted
to hold more
land than was necessary for their use. Use of foreign aid could
have been
secondary. Infrastructure on the farms could have been preserved
and
perceived incremental agricultural output that could have been enhanced
at a
far lower cost. Cross fertilization of ideas and experience could have
shortened the learning curve of the new commercial farmers. The old farmers
should have been allowed to stay at their houses and choose the first
portion of the land for their use as long as they subscribed to government
policy. The process could have been less disruptive.
The unfortunate
development on the land reform is that we had people who did
not believe in
spearheading it. As if the problems were not enough, the ugly
head of
multiple farm ownership showed the lack of faith by the leadership
in the
process. It was like leaders were saying to people this is the only
chance
and once one misses it, it is the end of the world.
The result was that a
number of genuine farmers got frustrated because they
never benefitted from
the distribution of inputs and were forced to fund
their operations from
their own resources. Some of these farmers are already
broke and can no
longer afford to remain on the farms. Those who abused the
free farming
inputs from government got away with it.
As a nation we need to carry out a
serious soul searching to find out
whether we are ready to proceed with such
policies on a much wider scale. A
hurried policy on a faulty foundation has
every ingredient for discontent
and instability. So far, most of the
beneficiaries of defective schemes and
other good intended schemes of
government are the ones who have already
lined themselves to catch the
windfalls and are the most likely to benefit
from the new policy. Some of
these beneficiaries are the ones steering the
hype for indigenisation but
mostly for their selfish means.
We are often misled to believe that the West
has an obligation to give us
funding but what about if they don't as what is
the position currently. What
we need is sound and convinced leadership that
can take us through the
storms. Governments, particularly in Africa, should
be convinced of their
own people and count on their support because in the
absence of such support
a government can just be a shell without any
meaning. I don't need to go
into the details of the Somali case were people
are ruled by warlords. A
future under such circumstances is frightening to
even contemplate. However,
Zimbabwe has all the ingredients of becoming
another Somalia.
As a matter of policy we need, to include in the
constituition that leaders
should concentrate on the business of leadership
and governance, and give
their best.
Storm
not yet over Mr Prime Minister
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Editor
Friday, 07 May 2010
17:24
The majority of Zimbabweans will probably understand the difficult
task
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (Pictured) must perform on a daily
basis,
trying on one hand to persuade Zanu (PF) to embrace democracy, while
on the
other he has to convince a skeptical world that his unity government
with
President Robert Mugabe is working.
It is no doubt a difficult
balancing act to perform. But that should be no
excuse for the Prime
Minister to -- in the style of Zanu (PF) -- attempt to
splash paint over the
widening cracks on the walls of the unity government
that are so visible
even to the blind. There is simply nothing to be gained
by telling the
world, as the Prime Minister did at the World Economic Forum
on Africa in
Tanzania last week, that Zimbabwe is out of the political
woods, that the
political crisis that left us a nation of paupers no longer
exists. "The
perceived risk on Zimbabwe does no longer exist... The
political crisis...
no longer exists," this is what the Prime Minister told
journalists on the
sidelines of the forum. This is simply not true! If in
any doubt, just ask
the commercial farmers who are still being harassed and
evicted from their
properties a whole year after formation of the unity
government.
Or if
you do not believe the white farmers, then talk to the villagers from
Mtoko
district and other parts of the country who are being terrorised by
Zanu
(PF) youths and armed soldiers and being threatened with violence once
next
month's FIFA World Cup in South Africa is over. Now, we do not expect
the
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe to make it his business to hang the nation's
dirty linen out for the whole world to see. But neither do we expect him to
try to use the backdrop of an international economic forum to try to pull
the wool over the eyes of the world press. It is simply an unwise thing to
do, to say the least, and one would have hoped that the Premier's able
advisors would know this. Telling the world that all is well in Zimbabwe
when people like Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere are threatening
to seize private companies does not do quite well for the image of the Prime
Minister.
Assuring the world that the chaos is over in the same week that
Joseph
Chinotimba and his crew - yes the same lot that triggered 'black
Friday' 13
years ago - stormed the finance ministry to demand more cash and
other
freebies is to us not a good idea. The Prime Minister must market
Zimbabwe
as best he can. We agree. Only we believe that the best way to do
that is by
holding Mugabe to his every word and promise under the global
political
agreement (GPA). With the rule of law back on farms and in rural
areas,
political violence stopped and more pace added to constitutional and
other
democratic reforms, Tsvangirai would find Zimbabwe much easier a
product to
sell. But simply telling the world that the storm is over is not
going to
work for the simple reason that it is not yet over!