http://www.timesonline.co.uk
May
15, 2009
Jan Raath in Harare
It began as an ordinary Thursday for Constance
Gambara, who - in the course
of her duties as a judge's clerk - took one of
her boss's orders to a court
registrar in Harare to be processed. The
apparently routine task resulted in
her being thrown into prison, together
with her nine-month-old daughter.
Unfortunately for Mrs Gambara the
document was a bail order for three
high-profile detainees charged with
bombing police stations. Two are from
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change party. The other is a
journalist. All are part of a group
of 30 activists believed to have been
abducted last year by the secret
police.
Mrs Gambara was arrested at work for the alleged crime of "abuse
of office".
On that fateful day last week she had brought her nine-month-old
daughter,
Emi, into the office to be able to breastfeed her.
It was
the latest in a spate of arrests and harassment against clerks,
lawyers,
journalists and MPs deemed to have the slightest association with
President
Mugabe's enemies. For the past week mother and baby have been in a
freezing,
filthy, lice-infested cell in Chikurubi women's remand prison
outside Harare
where there are no blankets and hardly any food.
Mrs Gambara was granted
bail, but this was challenged by a prosecutor and so
the pair remain
imprisoned. Under Zimbabwean law defendents go to jail until
the appeal
against bail is heard. The state has a week in which to appeal
but rarely
does. It is deliberate tactic to put opponents in jail.
Also arrested was the
deputy registrar to whom Mrs Gambara had taken the
order, along with Alec
Muchadehama, a human rights lawyer who had asked for
the bail order to be
processed so his clients could be released.
Activists said that the most
sinister aspect of such arrests was that they
were being carried out in full
view of the three-month-old coalition between
President Mugabe's Zanu (PF)
party and Mr Tsvangirai's MDC, openly flouting
the undertakings of a
power-sharing agreement to respect the rule of law and
end
oppression.
On Monday Vincent Khahiya, editor of the Zimbabwe
Independent, and his news
editor, Constantine Chimakure, were arrested and
held overnight after
publishing the names of the secret police officers
allegedly involved in
last year's abductions. "These guys are a law unto
themselves," said Raphael
Khumalo, chief executive of the Zimbabwe
Independent. "It shows the
Government of national unity means nothing to
them."
Mathias Mlambo, an MDC MP in the eastern province of Manicaland,
was
sentenced to ten months in jail for "public violence" this week. Mr
Mlambo
lost his cattle and had his home and vehicle destroyed by Zanu (PF)
in the
bloody campaign for last year's presidential election run-off. Police
refused to accept his report.
Two other MDC politicians from the
province are awaiting sentence on the
same offence. A fourth is being hunted
by police, also for alleged public
violence.
A jail sentence of more
than six months disqualifies an MP from parliament.
"Zanu (PF) is trying to
reduce our majority in the assembly," said MDC's
Manicaland spokesman,
Pishai Muchauraya.
Mr Tsvangirai's MDC has two more seats than Zanu (PF)
in the assembly, and
its continued control of the chamber depends on an
uneasy alliance with the
smaller faction of the MDC, which has ten
seats.
To Abel Chikomo, head of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum,
proof that Mr
Mugabe is in control of the new wave of persecution is that
"it could be
stopped in a minute". He warned: "It could get worse."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=16570
May 15, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - Arthur Mutambara, leader of the smaller Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) party, has suspended two more legislators from his
party as he
battles to contain emerging rebellion against his
leadership.
The Zimbabwe Times heard that Gwanda legislator and former
mayor
Thandeko-Zinti Mkandla and Maxwell Dube, MP for Tsholotsho South had
been
summoned for disciplinary hearing on charges of undermining the party
leadership.
Six other members were suspended last week on similar
charges.
They include Nkayi South legislator Abednico Bhebhe, Sijabuliso
Mguni of
Lupane East, Bulilima East MP Norman Mpofu, former St Mary's
representative
Job Sikhala, Alex Goosen and Gift Nyandoro.
Party
spokesperson, Edwin Mushoriwa quickly allayed fears the party could be
headed for collapse saying the action was a normal procedure in any other
organisation.
The members are accused of visiting the party's
grassroots spreading
information that the party was disintegrating and was
in the process of
going back to the leadership of founding leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister, was leader of a united MDC
before its split
in October 2005 following differences on whether to take
part in the
senatorial elections which had been re-introduced by President
Robert Mugabe's
government.
Mushoriwa said people should not read
much into that the party's rebels were
legislators who successfully won
seats in the March 29, 2008 elections.
Mutambara, his deputy Gibson
Sibanda, secretary-general Welshman Ncube and
his deputy Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga all failed to make it to
Parliament.
But based
on the election of their MPs, the party won a crucial voice in
Zimbabwe's
inter-party talks brokered by SADC which eventually led to the
formation of
an all inclusive government.
The talks left Mutambara as deputy premier
while the other leaders secured
ministerial positions.
Critics say
this could be one of the reasons why the lower rungs of the
party leadership
could find occasion to second guess the party's top
leadership.
"People should not view this as a crisis," Mushoriwa
said.
"The fact that it involves sitting MPs facing disciplinary action
at the
same time does not make it a crisis.
"The party will not
hesitate to discipline any member who deviates from its
disciplinary code.
No one is bigger than the party."
Mushoriwa said the MDC would not stand
in the way of anybody who felt he had
to sever ties with party, saying it
was the members' democratic right to do
so
He was referring to former
legislator Sikhala who in a letter, "Permanent
migration from forces of
retrogression" published in the press, last week
announced he was leaving
the party but refused to disclose where he was
destined.
Sikhala,
just like a handful of other party officials who broke away from
the main
wing of the party, has seen his political fortunes waning after his
association with Mutambara group, lesser popular of the two
MDCs
Said Mushoriwa, "Anybody who genuinely feels they have not breached
the
party's constitution would not be afraid to come before the disciplinary
committee to clear their names."
It is not the first time that some
legislators within the Mutambara-led MDC
have rebelled against the party
leadership.
Last year, most of the 10 MPs in the lower House of Assembly
defiantly voted
against Paul Themba Nyathi, who was the party's choice of
Speaker of
Parliament which later went to Lovemore Moyo of the other
MDC.
Imagine yourself working side by side each day with a man who -- for the last decade -- has repeatedly arrested you, charged you with treason, detained and beaten your friends, and may have plotted your assassination just a year earlier. You are prime minister and he is president, even though your party won elections to oust him from power last year. The fates of an entire country and 11 million people depend on your having a good working relationship. And now imagine that the country has multi-million-percent inflation, hundreds dying from cholera, and a pattern of political violence that has chased thousands out of the country in recent years.
Welcome to the life of Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister of Zimbabwe and leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Since September, Tsvangirai has endured grueling negotiations to set up a power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF. Three months into its operation, the pace of progress is slow, Tsvangirai told Foreign Policy's Elizabeth Dickinson. Remaining disagreements over the appointment of ministers, the ongoing arrest of activists and journalists, and basic day to day operations have plagued the arrangement. Donors in the West have refused to send aid to the broke Zimbabwean government so long as Mugabe is still at the reins. Still, Tsvangirai is thinking big about how to get the country back on track. An economic plan will aim to get the country functioning again over the next 100 days -- tackling even the contentious issue of land redistribution. In short, Tsvangirai says, "Ours is the transformative challenge: to transform old habits and introduce a new governance culture, and you know it's difficult in a coalition government."
Foreign Policy: How did it feel on day one, walking into the position of prime minister knowing all the challenges before you? What did it feel like?
Morgan Tsvangirai: It is obvious the level of economic degeneration that just hit us in the face when we went into government. There was a sense of euphoria, which was very short-lived because the decision to go in was influenced by a number of factors, one of which was that we could not be authors of chaos, and that if there was chaos in the country the outcome would be unpredictable; it would engulf us all. So, yes, there was a sense that we have made the right decision, but we didn't know what we were going into.
FP: You said yesterday that elements of ZANU-PF are holding up the progress of the unity government. Can you update us on the status of talks to resolve these remaining issues -- for example, the position of the Central Bank governor?
MT: The discussions amongst the principles are going very well; we certainly hope that tomorrow we'll be making an announcement on the outstanding issues. You must be conscious that this is a coalition government. There are sensitivities and emotions that need to be navigated and negotiated. One would be a bit overambitious to expect everything we're grappling with to be resolved within three months.
It's frustratingly slow, in our assessment, that we have gone this far without at least indicating how the outstanding issues will be resolved. But I'm glad to say that we have made progress. The issues that we have agreed upon -- and those we are still in disagreement about -- will be announced to the nation so that the nation is able to make an assessment as to if there has been progress or not.
FP: You have shown an incredible spirit of reconciliation -- saying on Friday, "Robert Mugabe was part of the problem but he is also part of the solution, whether you like it or not." But are Zimbabweans ready for that kind of reconciliation?
MT: There is a sense of cautious optimism that this inclusive government will be a successful experiment because no one wants to go back to the November, December, January, situation. So therefore, when you present national union as one of the democratic challenges, people accept that there is need for national healing for progress. But of course, there has to be a process of that national healing, otherwise people will continue to [have] that frustration.
FP: President Robert Mugabe has a sinister reputation in the United States and elsewhere. But are there things that the West is failing to understand about Mugabe?
MT: I'm sure this perception is what has been built up over the years -- some of which is a reality. But one of the underlying things is that I am prepared to work with President Robert Mugabe -- not because he's right but because of the national interest: We would work with anybody who wants to push the national agenda forward. But instead of [the international community] taking a cue from us as to how to proceed, it would appear that people have made this judgment [not to help], and they have thrown out the baby with the bath water.
FP: How do you react to donors when they tell you that they can't give aid to Zimbabwe yet, until more democratic progress is made?
MT: My beef with all the international community and diplomats is that, look, those of us who are pushing the democratic reform agenda should be supported so that we can sustain this experiment.
I was saying to somebody this morning that it would appear that by raising the bar every time there is progress -- or every time there is an attempt [by the international community] to ignore the progress that has taken place because of one or two [outstanding] issues [unresolved in the coalitional government], you are invariably becoming a part of the [internal government] negotiations. And for the negotiating parties who are actually on the field, who are negotiating with ZANU-PF, you actually go to the extent of undermining the influence that we are trying to build among those skeptics [of international aid] inside the country.
FP: You've announced a new 100-day economic recovery plan. Can you tell us some of the things that will be happening as part of that plan?
MT: I'm sure that you know that we've just completed the first three months of this inclusive government, and the first phase was to try and consolidate the government, which I believe has now been achieved.
Now we go to the second phase in the next three months. It's a short-term program to try to intervene in various areas of our economy. And there are really five clusters: economic, social, infrastructure, rights, and security. We have done [this division] in order to build the priority programs in each ministry with the key results areas in target -- the milestones. So I would say that the next 100 days, the key priorities are to set the policy framework in various ministries; to ensure that we are able to rehabilitate some of the dilapidated infrastructure; and to ensure that the education and health delivery systems are on their feet. But above all, we need to mobilize the resources so that we can support these programs. So the 100-day plan is a test of the synergies within ministries -- across ministries -- to ensure that the whole government is working as a cohesive team.
FP: Where does land reform fit into this plan?
MT: In the 100 days, what we would expect from the Ministry of Land is first and foremost to do an assessment -- a country-wide assessment on the so-called land invasions [that occurred under Mugabe's previous government] -- if there are still any. The second part is to set up a land audit in terms of the global political agreement, a land audit that is meant to reveal whether the independent land commission is the basis to do proper land reform. We've got a plan on the land, and I think this is the only way that this issue will be finalized.
FP: In spite of your own resolve, is it difficult to motivate other members of the MDC in light of so many challenges?
MT: We have to keep focused. We know that from time to time, some of the old habits of violence will remain. But we don't lose focus on the need to create a democratic playing field so that when the new constitutional dispensation is created -- we can hold free and fair elections down the line. That's still the objective.
In other words, ours is the transformative challenge: to transform old habits and introduce a new governance culture, and you know it's difficult in a coalition government. But we know that within the transitional phase, it is important to unlock some of these mindsets that have taken us this far down. So how do I motivate our people? Our people know that we have not yet arrived as a full democratic Zimbabwe. But we are on the journey.
Morgan Tsvangirai is prime minister of Zimbabwe.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Patricia
Mpofu Friday 15 May 2009
HARARE - Britain's top expert on
Africa Adam Wood is expected in Harare next
week to meet leaders of
Zimbabwe's new unity government, in a further sign
of thawing relations
between London and its former colony.
The visit by Wood, Africa director
in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, follows what diplomats described
as ice-breaking talks in Pretoria
last weekend between a British minister
and Zimbabwe government officials on
the sidelines of the inauguration of
South African President, Jacob Zuma.
UK junior foreign affairs minister
Mark Malloch-Brown held separate meetings
with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi in
Pretoria.
The British embassy in Harare confirmed Wood's visit, but said
it had been
planned "sometime" ago and well before Malloch-Brown's meetings
with
Tsvangirai and Membengegwi.
"The Foreign and Commonwealth
Office's Africa director will visit Harare
next week to familiarise himself
with the inclusive government's plans and
perspectives and explore prospects
for dialogue. The visit was planned
sometime ago," the embassy
said.
A few weeks ago Finance Minister Tendai Biti held talks with
Malloch-Brown
and British foreign secretary David Milliband in London - the
first
high-level political meeting between the two countries since formation
of a
power-sharing government between Mugabe and Tsvangirai three months
ago.
Zimbabwe and Britain have had icy relations for the past decade with
London
accusing Mugabe of violating human rights, stealing elections and
failure to
uphold the rule of law and ruining Zimbabwe's economy through his
controversial land reform policies.
Mugabe, in power since winning
independence in 1980, denies mismanaging
Zimbabwe and instead blames his
country's problems on sanctions and sabotage
by Britain and its Western
allies opposed to his land reforms.
But Tsvangirai has undertaken to
restore relations with Western countries,
the International Monetary Fund
and other international institutions as he
pushes to raise financial help to
rebuild Zimbabwe's collapsed economy.
Once a model African economy,
Zimbabwe is in the grip of an unprecedented
economic and humanitarian crisis
marked by acute shortages of hard cash,
deepening poverty and record
unemployment.
Western nations, skeptical of Mugabe's commitment to
reform, have said they
want the new Harare government to implement genuine
and comprehensive
political and economic reforms before they can provide
financial support and
lift visa and financial sanctions on Mugabe and his
inner circle. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Nokuthula Sibanda
Friday 15 May 2009
HARARE - The Zimbabwe government may have
to keep the local dollar out of
circulation for much longer than12 months,
according to Economic Planning
Minister Elton Mangoma.
Speaking at
the launch of the unity government's 100-day action plan on
Thursday,
Mangoma said the return of the local dollar depended upon the
economy
picking up and industrial output rising - targets he said may take
longer to
be achieved.
"We have shelved the local currency for at least the next 12
months,"
Mangoma said, adding that a decision on the return of the Zimbabwe
dollar
"might take a bit longer than we had anticipated".
He said:
"We will only review the use of the Zimbabwe dollar once productive
sectors
have picked up. Currently our employment figures are less than 10
percent.
The main employer is government, there is no production taking
place."
Since January, Zimbabwe has resorted to using multiple
foreign currencies -
mainly the South African rand and the United States
dollar - to try to pluck
the once prosperous country out of a crisis brought
about by a decade-long
economic recession. The rand is used as the reference
currency.
The unity government that has promised to revive Zimbabwe's
comatose economy
has said it wants the local dollar to be reintroduced only
when industrial
output reaches about 60 percent of capacity from the current
10 percent
average.
But the capacity of the administration to turn
around the economy hinges on
its ability to raise financial support from
rich Western countries that have
however said they will not immediately help
until they are convinced
President Robert Mugabe is committed to genuinely
share power with his
former opposition foes. -- ZimOnline.
http://www.businessday.co.za
15
May 2009
MATHABO LE ROUX
THE African
Development Bank (AfDB) is prepared to give budgetary support to
Zimbabwe,
which has mainly relied on SA for financial assistance.
Donald Kaberuka,
the bank's president, has urged the international community
also to come to
Zimbabwe's aid to help it to rebuild its economy.
Speaking at the AfDB's
annual meeting in Dakar, Senegal, Kaberuka was
emphatic that assistance
would only be forthcoming if Zimbabwe honoured its
commitments to persist
with a unity government.
The bank "welcomed the recent evolution in
Zimbabwe" and was encouraged by
the global political agreement reached
there, Kaberuka said. He also said
the parties should stick to it and
implement it.
The AfDB already has a delegation in Harare and has started
providing
technical support and humanitarian aid to the
country.
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who also attended
the bank's
meeting , said Zimbabwe's budget deficit could have disastrous
consequences
for the unity government.
Biti said Zimbabwe could
become a second Somalia if the country did not get
financial
assistance.
Zimbabwe needed $100m a month to meet its budgetary
commitments, but
collected only 20% of its requirements.
So far, the
only budgetary assistance has come from SA, though other
countries in the
Southern African Development Community have made verbal
commitments.
Lesetja Kganyago, the director-general of SA's
Treasury, said there had been
discussions on helping Zimbabwe, with
encouraging calls from the bank's
governors . But Zimbabwe still needed to
regularise its affairs with the
International Monetary Fund.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Friday, May
15, 2009
Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT will make available documents
related to past constitution-making
drives at public institutions as part of
efforts to assist citizens in
making meaningful contributions to the current
process, a Cabinet minister
has said.
Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga said the
State would produce
several copies of the Kariba Draft Constitution, the
Global Political
Agreement and the 2000 Draft Constitution.
These would be distributed at
public institutions such as churches and
schools to assist people to make
informed views.
Minister Matinenga said this in Parliament on Wednesday
while responding to
a question from Magwegwe House of Assembly Member Mr
Felix Sibanda (MDC-T)
on the constitution-making process.
Mr Sibanda
had, during a question and answer session, asked why the minister
had not
published the Kariba Draft as well as asking him to define what "a
people-driven" constitution was.
"The starting point is the GPA which
makes reference to the Kariba Draft but
was not attached to the
agreement.
"It would have been appropriate for the negotiators to attach
the Kariba
Draft," said Minister Matinenga.
"We are embarking on a
systematic approach to make them available in three
main languages, English,
Shona and Ndebele.
"Yesterday, Ministers were given copies of the GPA and
MPs will also get
them and the number should be good enough for them to take
them to their
constituencies.
"We will also make them available to
public institutions."
Minister Matinenga said the term "people-driven
constitution" was being used
by some civic organisations to push a political
agenda.
He said it was possible to have a people-driven constitution even
if a
Select Committee of Parliament was initiating the process.
"What
is important is to ensure the involvement of the people from the
beginning
and the Select Committee of Parliament will leave no stone
unturned to
achieve that," he said.
"The constitution-making process has already
begun and the GPA sets
benchmarks, but we have also been holding informal
meetings before the
formal meeting of the all-stakeholders' conference to be
held in July to
ensure that everyone is involved."
The National
Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions have
accused Parliament of sidelining the people in the current
constitution-making process.
They have argued that "an independent
body" should spearhead the process.
Government has responded to this by
saying Parliament is the most
representative body by virtue of it having
been elected by the people.
http://www.sowetan.co.za/
15 May 2009
Alex
Matlala
The
Beitbridge border gate between South Africa and Zimbabwe is a major
passage
for the smuggling of illegal cigarettes and drugs.
This
was revealed by a police source working at the border gate
yesterday.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity , said
officials at the gate
were taking bribes ranging between R5000 and R30000,
depending on the size
and value of the contraband.
A
man was arrested by Limpopo police yesterday for smuggling cigarettes
worth
thousands of rand . The 45-year-old white man was arrested between
Vivo and
Dendron.
Provincial police spokesperson Superintendent Mohale
Ramatseba said the man
was arrested by police on patrol yesterday morning
while driving to Gauteng.
Ramatseba said the cigarettes w ere from
Zimbabwe and were worth R150000.
The man will appear before
the Polokwane magistrate's court soon on a charge
of
smuggling.
Meanwhile, Captain Dennis Adrio said senior police
officials were being
arrested for receiving bribes every year.
But
Adrio said security at the border post was very tight at all
times.
He said there were surveillance cameras installed at the
border gate.
| |
| |
Eleven Zimbabweans – five men, three women and three toddlers – were rescued after three days in which some of their compatriots went missing after being raped.
They had left Zimbabwe in a group of 23 – 15 men, five women and three toddlers.
The desperate group were lured into a van at Beit Bridge at Musina, Limpopo, by three fellow Zimbabweans who promised to get them to South Africa “without any problems”.
Instead, two women were raped and dumped on the way with 10 men.
Only eight reached Johannesburg and they were promptly locked in a tiny room without a toilet and food and were forced to use a bucket to relieve themselves.
“We left Zimbabwe. When we got to the border three men approached us and said they would take us to Johannesburg without going through the border,” said Calisto Dube.
He said their kidnappers told them they would have to cross the river because their car was waiting on the other side.
“We walked for about 40km before we reached a Toyota Hilux bakkie and we were told it was to be our transport.”
He said they squashed themselves into the back of bakkie “because we hoped to have a better life in South Africa”.
Dube said on the way “two women were raped” and thrown out of the moving vehicle.
He said others were dropped in different places along the way.
Another kidnapped man, Thomas Danga, told Sowetan that when they got to Yeoville, Johannesburg, their kidnappers locked them in a room and took their cellphones, money and clothes.
“They told us that they would only release us if our relatives came with a R1000 a person.”
He said they again had to share a small bucket to relieve themselves.
“Can you imagine relieving yourself in front of strangers. We were sleeping on the floor with no blankets.”
He said they were also not provided with food.
“They only bought a one litre mageu for the children. That was after the kids were crying,” said Dube.
Johannesburg Central police spokesperson Captain John Maluleke said police were tipped-off by a relative of one of the kidnapped Zimbabweans.
“We found them in a tiny room with urine all over the place. It is unbelievable human beings can do such a thing to their fellow beings.”
He said three men were arrested and will appear in court soon. “The victims will undergo counselling to help them deal with their ordeal.”
http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr
Rowan Williams and The Archbishop of York,
Dr John Sentamu, have this week
seen public donations for their joint
Zimbabwe appeal reach £292,330. The
appeal highlights the support needed by
churches, which are struggling to
feed the hungry and provide health care.
In a joint statement, the
Archbishops said: "The support of the general
public has been overwhelming,
and we have been humbled by the response so
far. We know that rebuilding
Zimbabwe is a long-term aim, and this short
intervention is still only
reaching a small number of the many millions in
need. Thank you for enabling
us to do this.
"Our brother Bishops in Zimbabwe have highlighted the need
for immediate
relief activities to address the cholera epidemic and
starvation, but also
that we support programmes that provide long term
solutions to poverty. So
at their request we will be providing seed-corn for
crops in time for the
planting season which normally starts end of
October.
"More of the dioceses of Zimbabwe are expected to send in their
specific
requirements in the next few weeks, and they have told us that
their focus
will be on the most vulnerable in their communities; those
living with HIV,
the elderly as well as children."
Staff from USPG
and Lambeth Palace have just returned from meeting with the
Zimbabwe bishops
and their staff to hear their long terms plans for
community work in the
areas of health, agriculture and peace building.
"Whilst we know that
food is the first priority we have also committed to
buy medicines,
initially for six clinics, and we expect the first of these
vital medical
supplies to be dispatched in the next weeks.
Three dioceses, those of
Central Zimbabwe, Masvingo and Matabeleland, are
the first ones to roll out
the supplementary feeding programme in schools,
and Easter week saw the
first food distributed through the Church schools.
The Archbishops'
appeal (which is being administered on their behalf by
USPG: Anglicans in
World Mission) will be accepting donations for the rest
of
2009.
Donations can be made online at www.uspg.org.uk
http://www.voanews.com
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
14
May 2009
Seeking to heal the wounds of the post-election violence
seen in 2008 in
Zimbabwe, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace is
stepping up a
nationwide program to bring the perpetrators of violence and
their victims
together for reconciliation.
Aimed at bridging the gap
between members of opposing political
organizations, the program bases its
approach on Rwanda's so-called gacaca
courts based on traditional justice
systems where those accused of crimes,
and their victims, are united in a
reveal-all style.
The Movement for Democratic Change, in opposition
before the 2008 elections
in which it won a parliamentary majority, says
more than 300 of its
supporters were killed last year by youth militia and
war veterans aligned
with the then-ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert
Mugabe. Hundreds of
thousands of MDC supporters were also displaced
internally.
Catholic Commission National Director Alois Chaumba told
reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that program aims
to help
Zimbabweans recover harmony and tranquility within their communities
regardless of political affiliations.
Source: Famine Early Warning System Network
(FEWS NET) Date: 14 May 2009 - However, access to food by chronically food insecure populations throughout
the country, (about 10 percent of the national population), continues to be a
serious challenge in cases where no safety nets or properly formulated food aid
assistance exists. - Households and individuals that are dependent on the market for their food
and who have unreliable income sources continue to face serious difficulties
accessing adequate food, due to their limited purchasing power. Such households
are predominantly found in urban centers and on mines and farms where little or
no production is currently taking place. - The 2008/09 harvest, much improved compared to last year, is likely to
improve food access for rural and urban households in the early part of the
2009/10 consumption year. However, assessments estimate that most rural
households will face cereal harvest deficits of between four and six months
during the consumption year. Other income sources – including market gardening,
casual labor, and livestock sales – are likely to reduce cereal access
difficulties for most households to less than four months in most rural
districts. Urban farming households, the majority of which are poor, are
expected to have cereal access from their own harvests for about four months.
- Generally, food
security in Zimbabwe continued to improve throughout March and April on account
of the arrival of the 2008/09 harvest, complementing the last food aid
distributions and readily available private sector food imports on local
markets.