http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
19 May 2011
Zimbabwe will
not feature on the agenda of this weekend’s summit of Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) leaders, after South African officials
finally
confirmed that President Jacob Zuma would not be attending the
meeting.
The Summit officially gets underway in Namibia on Friday,
and the Zimbabwe
crisis was meant to be high on the agenda of talks. But
Zuma’s absence,
because of ‘conflicting commitments’, means the matter
cannot be properly
dealt with, as he is the regional mediator in the ongoing
political crisis.
This is the official stance taken by SADC.
But
observers have expressed concern that the regional bloc is delaying
dealing
with a matter that holds such importance for the credibility of the
region.
SADC has repeatedly put off dealing with the Zim crisis, despite
being the
guarantor of the unity deal that ZANU PF has refused to implement.
The
regional bloc is now facing intense pressure to finally prove its
commitment
to democracy by endorsing a plan for Zimbabwe that includes a
roadmap
towards free, fair and credible elections.
The roadmap was listed as
crucial for ending the current political impasse,
by a SADC Troika summit in
March. That Summit also clearly stated that the
Global Political Agreement
(GPA) was not being implemented, in a veiled and
surprise criticism of ZANU
PF. It was hoped that this strong criticism and
apparent new, tough stance
on Zimbabwe, would be endorsed by the Summit of
leaders this
weekend.
The matter is now only set to be dealt with at a special meeting
in June,
although the date is yet to be confirmed. There is speculation that
meeting
could be put off to as late as 20th June.
Political analyst
Professor John Makumbe told SW Radio Africa on Thursday
that this delay is
very “unfortunate,” because Zimbabweans desperately want
some kind of
direction or confirmation about when elections will be.
“The Zimbabwe
situation has always been largely trivialised and given a low
priority,”
Makumbe said, adding: “It is unfortunate that the region is once
again back
to its old format of viewing the Zimbabwe crisis as not being a
crisis.”
But Makumbe said the delay, if anything, will give the MDC
time to put the
record straight with SADC, on the back of a regional
offensive launched by
ZANU PF. Mugabe’s party has sent envoys across the
region, trying to drum up
support for elections this year. Presidential
spokesman George Charamba
meanwhile said this regional offensive was to
‘correct’ the misinformation
supplied by the MDC, about the current
situation in Zimbabwe.
“This delay is a godsend for the MDC, because they
now have the time to do a
serious job of correcting what ZANU PF will have
been saying to SADC. They
can put together proper dossiers of the situation,
and clearly show that
elections cannot be held this year,” Makumbe
said.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
19/05/2011 13:56:00
Political Reporter
HARARE - SADC mediator and facilitator on the
Zimbabwean crisis, South
African President Jacob Zuma, has indicated that he
will not attend the
Namibian Heads of State Summit; dealing a devastating
blow to Robert Mugabe
and his party Zanu PF’s plans for for a snap election
this year, The
Zimbabwe Mail can reveal.
A South African embassy
official in the Harare said Zuma will be overseeing
the local government
elections in his country and SADC has seen it fit that
the Zimbabwe crisis
problems cannot be discussed without the facilitator.
This has left
Robert Mugabe clutching at straws because he and his party
faithful wanted
the summit more than the MDC formations.
Yesterday, Zanu PF even went a
step further flying bands of hired party mobs
and thugs to Namibia to sing
and chant at the Summit venue in demand for
elections this year and parade
banners in support of its beleaguered
leadership.
Early this week,
the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said in a
statement, "As far
as the MDC is concerned, what must be discussed at the
Extra-ordinary summit
is the progress that has been made by the negotiators
in resolving the
outstanding GPA issues. At the very least we want to see a
clear roadmap to
the holding of free and fair elections in the country. New
security sector
reforms must also be put in place before the holding of free
and fair
elections," the MDC said in a statement on the SADC summit.
Sources said
President Mugabe and his party Zanu PF were planning to use the
summit to
revisit the terms of reference of the SADC-South Africa mediation
role in
the context of the aftermath of the fall-out at the last SADC Troika
summit
in Zambia and the latest setback will surely cause havoc in the party
ravaged by bitter internal infighting.
In the last two weeks Mugabe
and his party have been burning airline fuel
travelling across the region in
a desperate bid to rally and bully regional
leaders ahead of what they
dubbed make-or-break special regional summit
scheduled for tomorrow Friday
in Namibia.
The Zimbabwe Mail can reveal that the Zanu PF regional
lobbying has not gone
down well with South African Presidency who feels that
there has been an
effort to undermine its position as mediator and usurp the
powers of the
Troika, a SADC body which deals with political problems in the
region.
The SADC troika, consisting of Mozambican President Armando
Guebuza, and the
South African and Namibian Presidents, Jacob Zuma and
Hifikepunye Pohamba,
has already issued a strong statement which
specifically stated that the GPA
is not being implemented, and so far that
is the regional position and
unless there is a dramatic shift, there won't
be a summit on Zimbabwe until
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF seek to abide by the
full GPA agreement.
President Mugabe’s Spokesman George Charamba was even
quoted by the state
media this week saying the government would set the
record straight at the
summit specifically on the political situation in
Zimbabwe.
He said dossiers on the complicity of the MDC-T in political
motivated
violence would be presented to the SADC leadership allegedly to
prove
Tsvangirai’s party lied in his report he presented at the last Troika
meeting held in Livingstone, Zambia.
Charamba’s outbursts shows that
Zanu PF has been burning candles working
night and day planning hard to mug
SADC leaders with propaganda material
prepared with the assistance of the
partisan Zimbabwe Republic Police to
lynch the MDC on Congress violence, but
as it turns out this is now another
yawn for the embattled former ruling
party as South Africa pulls off the rug
and all the work goes under the
drain.
Mugabe is becoming increasingly isolated within the region. The
87-year-old
leader first got a taste of the changing realities within SADC
at the
Livingstone troika summit, where the octogenarian received a stinging
rebuke
from his peers for his failure to implement the GPA in full and for
the
continuing violence and arbitrary arrests in the country.
At the
Namibia summit Mugabe wanted the Heads of States to endorse his plan
to
force a snap election in Zimbabwe this year, but South Africa is having
none
of it and is insisting on full political reforms.
Zanu (PF) has been
saying that elections will go ahead this year without any
reforms and that
they will not allow SADC to resolve the security sector
reforms. The MDC has
said the security sector must be reformed as a matter
of urgency and that
the party will only participate in an election roadmap
approved by SADC and
an election that is free and fair.
Mugabe has sent emissaries to the
region, including his Defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa who turned up in
Luanda, Angola. Angolan President
Eduardo Dos Santos refused to meet him and
referred him to Vice President,
Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos instead
and Minister of State Security
Sydney Sekeramayi ambushed Mozambican
President Armando Guebuza while on his
State duties in a small town of
Mocuba, both were trying and persuade them
on elections and stop the
security reforms.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono was also
dispatched to meet
with Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika in Malawi,
with the same message
from Mugabe.
This is despite the fact that
his party openly vilified the regional
grouping and its leaders on several
occasions over the past two months.
In the bid to beg Sadc for support,
the Zanu PF ploy aimed to divide the
region so that it would foist
forward-leaning resolutions in favour of
Zanu-PF which Mugabe would seek to
use as fresh terms of reference altering
the original GPA.
Mugabe and
his party were looking forward to persuade a few regional leaders
to fight
in their corner to ensure that they come out of the Namibia summit
without
being battered any further and leave President Zuma isolated.
The SADC,
led by Global Political Agreement (GPA) facilitator, President
Jacob Zuma of
South Africa, is set to adopt a roadmap towards the country’s
next elections
but this has been put on hold on condition that all agreed
political reforms
have been met. South Africa has said in private, they don’t
seek to
surrender this role to a SADC Heads of State Summit where Mugabe
would rough
shod his peers like he used to do with the compliance of former
South
African President Thabo Mbeki.
The executive secretary of the SADC
Secretariat, Tomaz Salomâo, said the
Council of Ministers that meets today
has to make some decision on the
Zimbabwean political reforms.
The
Madagascan mediator, Mozambique’s former President Joaquim Chissano,
will be
in attendance.
But, said Salomâo, the Zimbabwe and Madagascan issues are
not on the agenda,
pending the ministers’ decision today which will be
chaired by Zambia’s
President Rupiah Banda.
The Zambian President has
the full support of South African President Jacob
Zuma. Banda has been one
of the few outspoken regional leaders and he has
already given Robert Mugabe
a bitter stinging rebuke, amid reports that he
told him to shut up during
the last Troika summit.
The SADC Troika at the end of March at
Livingstone, Zambia, proposed that
the Summit receive an update on the two
issues.
But all else is set for the summit, said Salomâo. “We are ready
to start the
proceedings,” he said.
The two items that will be
tackled, in accordance with the SADC Summit in
August 2010, also in
Windhoek, are a report on the impact of the global
economic crisis on the
region, and the assessment of the recommendations of
the proposed review of
the SADC Tribunal.
Salomâo said it is up to the Summit to make a final
ruling on the SADC
Tribunal. Another issue foisted by Zanu PF.
SADC
countries that will not be in attendance are Madagascar, which was
suspended
after the December 2009 coup d’etat, and Seychelles, which is
currently
holding elections.
Salomâo said Swaziland has not yet indicated if it
will attend the regional
meeting.
Preparations are also underway for
SADC, Comesa, and the East African
Community to meet in South Africa to
discuss a free-trade agreement on June
12.
In view of that, said
Salomâo, the Summit will receive an update on regional
integration.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
19/05/2011 19:34:00 Staff
Reporter
HARARE - The Head of State and Government and
Commander-in-Chief of the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Zanu PF First Secretary
and Patron of War Veterans
Association and Chancellor of the University of
Zimbabwe, President Robert
Mugabe has arrived in Windhoek, Namibia for the
SADC Summit.
Mugabe, who left Harare this Thursday afternoon, was
received at the
Windhoek Airport by the Namibian Foreign Affairs Minister,
Utoni Nujoma
instead of the country's President, ahead of the summit which
is expected to
discuss other issues and not the Zimbabwean crisis.
A
South African embassy official in the Harare said on Thursday President
Jacob Zuma will be overseeing the local government elections in his country
and SADC has seen it fit that the Zimbabwe crisis problems cannot be
discussed without the facilitator.
The executive secretary of the
SADC Secretariat, Tomaz Salomâo has already
said the Zimbabwe and Madagascan
issues are not on the agenda.
This has left Robert Mugabe clutching at
straws because he and his party
want the summit to deliberate on Zimbabwe
more than the MDC formations.
Zimbabwe State insists that the summit is
expected to get first hand
information on the situation in Zimbabwe
following what it called "a
misrepresentation of facts by the MDC-T that
there had been a silent coup by
the military in Zimbabwe and that there was
a resurgence of violence."
Mugabe and Zanu PF insists that the summit is
expected to examine the
progress that has been made by the political parties
in the inclusive
government in implementing the GPA and the roadmap to the
holding of
elections in the country.
Reports however say the GPA
Facilitator, President Jacob Zuma of south
Africa is unable to attend the
summit as he is committed to the current
local government elections in his
country, casting doubt whether Zimbabwe
will be on the agenda.
The
mandate and jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal will also be discussed, in
view of some rulings that contradict some national laws, in some member
states.
Mugabe is accompanied by his trusted sidekick Defence
Minister, Emmerson
Mnangagwa; Transport, Communications and Infrastructural
Development
Minister, Nicholas Goche.
Zanu PF National Chairman,
Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo, the Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of
Media, Information and Publicity, George
Charamba and several Zanu PF
officials, are also part of the delegation to
Namibia.
Justice and
Legal Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa and Foreign Affairs
Minister,
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi travelled ahead of the summit and are
already in the
Namibian capital, Windhoek.
During his departure, Mugabe was seen off at
the Harare International
Airport by Vice President John Nkomo; Lands and
Resettlement Minister,
Herbert Murerwa; State Security Minister, Sydney
Sekeramayi; service chiefs
and senior government
officials.
Meanwhile, John Nkomo has been left in charge as the Acting
President.
http://www.voanews.com
Official
sources said a special summit to discuss problems in Zimbabwe’s
power
sharing government and the road to elections has been tentatively
scheduled
for June 11 in South Africa - but might be held June 20
Ntungamili Nkomo
& Sandra Nyaira | Washington 18 May 2011
Zimbabwe has been
removed from the agenda of the Southern African
Development Community summit
opening on Friday in Namibia at the request of
President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa, SADC mediator in Harare, who excused
himself from the
meeting.
Official sources said a special summit to discuss problems in
Zimbabwe’s
power sharing government and the road map to elections has been
tentatively
scheduled for June 11 in South Africa. But the sources added, it
could
alternatively be held on June 20.
Sources said President Zuma
informed the SADC secretariat this week that he
was preoccupied with the
local government elections held on Wednesday in
South Africa so that he
would not be able to brief heads of state at the
summit on
Zimbabwe.
The summit was expected to examine a proposed road map to
Zimbabwe's next
elections among other issues including the rise in political
violence this
year, farm seizures and the unfulfilled provisions of the 2008
Global
Political Agreement for power sharing.
The SADC troika on
politics, defense and security in April effectively
rebuked President Robert
Mugabe, urging him to curtail political violence
and urgently institute
democratic reforms called for under the GPA. The GPA
laid the foundation for
the unity government involving his ZANU-PF and the
two Movement for
Democratic Change formations.
SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao told
VOA reporter Ntungamili Nkomo
that the complex of Zimbabwean political
issues must await a SADC session
when Mr. Zuma can be present. "Despite the
removal of Zimbabwe from the
agenda, the summit will still take place Friday
and Mr. Mugabe has indicated
he will attend," Salomao said.
He added
that focus will be on regional trade and the so-called SADC
Tribunal, which
was harshly criticized by Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party after
it ruled that
farm seizures in Zimbabwe were illegal and discriminatory
against white
farmers. SADC suspended the Namibian-based tribunal in late
2010 pending a
review of its functions.
Commenting, Zimbabwe Liberators Platform founder
and trustee Wilfred Mhanda
said that when SADC heads of state meet next
month to discuss Zimbabwe, they
should increase pressure on President Mugabe
to implement the GPA in full.
(AFP) – 11 hours
ago
HARARE — President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe should have fresh
elections
this year, once the country holds a referendum to adopt a new
constitution,
a state daily reported Thursday.
"We should not delay
the process any further than is necessary," The Herald
newspaper quoted
Mugabe as saying in an interview.
"Once you have gone to the people and
asked their views and if they support
that constitution why should we wait
any further," he said. "Then we proceed
to hold elections because that is
the mission of the global political
agreement."
"We have now said to
ourselves let's establish timelines... and see whether
the timelines
required cannot all be fitted into 2011," he added.
Mugabe and long-time
rival Morgan Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing
government two years ago to
avoid a descent into full-fledged conflict in
the aftermath of a bloody
presidential run-off election.
As part of the pact the parties agreed to
a raft of reforms including
amendments to the media and electoral laws and
drafting a new constitution
before new elections.
But public
consultations on a new constitution have been repeatedly
postponed after
outbreaks of violence, mainly blamed on the supporters of
Mugabe's
ZANU-PF.
Since its formation, the unity government has been marred by
disagreements
and boycotts, with Mugabe last year suggesting that elections
be held to
dissolve the deal.
Tsvangirai has said that elections were
not possible before reforms were in
place.
Last month a senior member
from Mugabe's party said the country could see
polls at least in 2013, but
others in his party continue to insist on polls
later this year, in an
unusually public show of dissent within the ranks.
Local business leaders
and central bank chief Gideon Gono have voiced
concern saying the country is
not ready for polls.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by James Mombe Thursday 19 May
2011
JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwe’s civil society groups have called
for the
demilitarisation of the country’s electoral institutions and
processes,
while also suggesting polls should be deferred until democratic
reforms have
been implemented and taken root.
“We call for the
demilitarisation of the political and electoral processes
before the holding
of any elections. The security sector (military, police
and the state
intelligence) must refrain from engaging and interfering with
the electoral
processes,” the groups said, speaking ahead of a summit of
SADC leaders in
Namibia tomorrow.
The SADC is a guarantor of Zimbabwe’s power-sharing
agreement known as the
global political agreement (GPA) that gave birth to
the coalition government
of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Under the pact Zimbabwe must adopt a new constitution
and implement
wide-ranging electoral reforms before holding new
polls.
But the reforms are lagging behind amid incessant bickering
between Mugabe’s
ZANU PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC, with each accusing the
other of blocking
full implementation of the GPA.
The former foes
have also differed over when elections should be held with
Mugabe, who at 87
plans to run for president one more time, insisting they
should be held this
year once a new constitution is in place.
Tsvangirai – the favourite to
win the next presidential vote but with no
guarantee Mugabe’s allies in the
military will allow him to takeover power –
has said polls should not be
held this year even after adoption of a new
constitution.
The former
opposition chief says a new constitution and several proposed
electoral
reforms would need to be given time to take root to ensure any
future vote
is free and fair – a position echoed by the non-government
organisations
(NGOs) in their statement.
“Zimbabwe is a fragile state; serious
consideration must be given to the
timing of the next elections,” the NGOs
said. “As it is, the country’s
institutional and legal infrastructure as
well as the psychology of the
people is not ready for what will certainly be
a critical and hotly
contested election.”
The NGOs that include
Zimbabwe’s biggest labour union, pro-democracy groups,
women’s rights groups
and the student movement called on the SADC to appoint
a team to ensure and
monitor implementation of the GPA and the democratic
reforms envisaged under
the political pact.
The rights groups also called for an end to political
violence resurgent in
many parts of Zimbabwe and said the Harare coalition
must act to uphold
citizens’ basic rights and freedoms including the freedom
of the press.
But tomorrow's summit of SADC leaders is not going to
discuss Zimbabwe
because South African President Jacob Zuma is not going to
attend the
conference because of other pressing commitments.
Zuma is
the SADC’s chief mediator in Zimbabwe and was due to present a
report to
regional leaders about the political and security situation in
Harare.
Zuma, who replaced former South African President Thabo Mbeki
as SADC’s
Zimbabwe mediator, appeared to take a tougher approach towards
Mugabe when
he mobilised the regional bloc’s special organ on politics and
security to
issue a statement that strongly criticised political violence in
Zimbabwe.
While the organ that met in Zambia earlier this month did not
directly
criticise Mugabe it raised most of the concerns voiced by
Tsvangirai, who
says veteran President’s allies in the security forces have
intensified a
crackdown on his MDC party in recent months.
Zimbabwe’s
elections have been characterised by political violence and gross
human
rights abuses with the last vote in June 2008 ending inconclusively
after
the military-led a campaign of violence and murder that forced
Tsvangirai to
withdraw from a second round presidential ballot
Tsvangirai had been
tipped to win the second round election after beating
Mugabe in the first
round ballot but without the percentage of votes
required to avoid the
run-off poll. The former foes eventually bowed to
pressure from southern
African leaders to agree to form a government of
national unity. --
ZimOnline
http://www.radiovop.com
19/05/2011
17:23:00
Harare, May 19, 2011 - President Robert Mugabe is insisting
on elections
this year despite resistance from the Zimbabwe civic society
organisations
and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC).
A group of nongovernmental organisations
agreed on a position paper that
said the Southern Africa Development
Community must allow a permanent
powerful implementing authority to be
stationed in the country so that all
agreed Global Political Agreement
issues are implemented without fail. They
said the security sector must be
reformed without failure.
The position was adopted by the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition, National
Association of non-Governmental Organisations,
National Constitutional
Assembly, Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade unions,
Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum and the
Zimbabwe National Students Union. The civic
organisations discussed their
position on Tuesday.
"We call for the
establishment of a SADC monitoring team in Zimbabwe with
full investigative
powers...and ensure full implementation of the provisions
of the GPA. We
demand an end to all forms of violence, intimidation and hate
speech by all
parties in Zimbabwe. Parties must publicly commit themselves
to non-violent
methods. All structures of violence must be dismantled with
immediate effect
and all perpetrators of violence must be made to account,"
the civic
organisations said.
"We call on the demilitarisation of the political and
electoral processes
before the holding of any election elections. The
security sector (military,
police, and state intelligence) must refrain from
engaging and interfering
with the electoral processes."
The civic
groups said elections must not be held for the sake of holding
them. They
said an unfair election will be disputed like the 2008 elections
which later
formed the coalition government of President Robert Mugabe and
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that has been failing to resolve sticking
GPA
disagreements.
"Zimbabwe is a fragile state; serious consideration must
be given to the
timing of the next elections. Elections must not be held for
their own sake,
but must be meaningful, where each vote counts and given
voluntarily. As it
is, the country's institutional and legal infrastructure
as well as the
psychology of the people is not ready for what will certainly
be a critical
and hotly contested election. Elections in the absence of the
above
mentioned conditions will not yield the desired result, rather it will
lead
to another inconclusive and disputed election," the organisations
said.
Mugabe in an interview with a newspaper owned by the Namibian and
Zimbabwe
government said elections are going ahead this year. He said; "We
should not
delay the process any further than necessary. We have now said to
ourselves
let's establish timelines...and we see whether the timelines
required cannot
be fitted into 2011. If they can be fitted in 2011 then we
go ahead."
Zimbabwe was pushed off the agenda of the regional SADC summit
set for
tomorrow in Windhoek, Namibia as facilitator of the country's talks;
South
African President Jacob Zuma will not be attending the meeting. Zuma
was to
present a report on the status of the talks.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
RW
JOHNSON: Zimbabwe
Published: 2011/05/19 07:03:52 AM
DESPITE clear and binding
international agreements to the contrary, evidence
now available shows that
President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) is again
planning to steal the
next elections in Zimbabwe with the help of a grossly
rigged electoral
register.
After the 2008 elections, in which the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) won a parliamentary majority but in which the MDC
leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, was forced to withdraw from the ensuing
presidential
election due to the overwhelming level of
government-orchestrated violence,
Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern
African Development Community (Sadc)
stitched together a deal, the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), which saw
Mugabe remain as president with
Tsvangirai as prime minister and a
commitment to a new constitution with
free and fair elections.
In terms of the GPA, the constitution has to be
passed by a popular
referendum before elections can take place, probably
around June next year.
But, of course, the new register is thus fundamental
to both the referendum
and the elections — for parliament and
president.
In all previous elections, the electoral register has been a
major source of
controversy. Drawn up by Tobaiwa Mudede, an outspoken Zanu
(PF) supporter,
it was notoriously full of dead and fictional voters — who
always voted Zanu
(PF). Mudede regarded the register as a state secret and
defied all court
orders to make it available to the press or opposition
parties. When a
nongovernmental organisation did finally procure a copy in
2002, it was
found to contain at least twice as many voters as was
plausible. Despite
that, the supposedly independent Zimbabwe Election
Commission (ZEC) — in
fact stuffed with government supporters — never upheld
any complaints about
the register.
With this unhappy history in mind,
the Sadc insisted that a wholly new
voters’ roll be drawn up and that all
the personnel of the ZEC be changed to
allow a properly independent
commission to be constituted. These changes
were then confirmed by the
Zimbabwean parliament. In fact, all this has been
illegally set aside by the
ZEC. Mudede, though 70 and way past retirement
age, has been retained as
registrar-general — clearly for political reasons.
Similarly, several of the
old ZEC members have, despite the stipulations of
the GPA, been re-appointed
to the new ZEC. Under their guidance, the ZEC has
agreed not to do as the
Sadc and parliament determined but simply to keep
the old, discredited
register and add new names to it.
The results are grotesque. Although the
new roll is a closely guarded secret
I have managed to gain sight of a
copy.
The first notable fact is that an impossible 5727902 voters were
registered
on the 2008 register. Given that more than 4- million Zimbabweans
have fled
Mugabe’s rule, most analysts now believe Zimbabwe’s population is
between
8-million and 10-million. Even if the 10-million figure is
preferred, 60% of
the population is aged under 18 and all previous surveys
show a maximum 80%
voter registration rate. So the maximum possible number
on the voters’ roll
should be 3,2-million. So the 2008 register had at least
2,5-million too
many voters on it — more than enough to settle any election.
Thus the
(illegal) decision to retain the old 2008 register as a baseline
has fatal
consequences. However, Mudede has now added 366550 new voters — a
remarkable
figure given that Zimbabwe’s population is shrinking. Moreover,
these are
not all young voters coming of age. Although Zimbabwe’s average
life
expectancy is now down to 44,8 years, an astonishing 33206 of these new
voters are aged 50-70, and another 16649 are older than 70. Even more
remarkable, 1418 are older than 100, although everyone knows that the
famines and hardships of recent years have carried off most of the old.
Oddly, although it is legally required for all voters to give a valid
address, quite a few names on the roll lack one. There are also hundreds of
underage people registered, some of them as young as two or three years
old.
It is also striking that these anomalies are by no means evenly
distributed
across all constituencies. Instead, they are concentrated in
seats where
Zanu (PF) feels under threat. Thus, in Mount Darwin East, one
finds 118
voters older than 100, the majority of them all born on the same
day,
January 1 1901. Another nine 96-year-olds are all born on January 1
1905 and
a further 25 91-year-olds are all born on January 1
1910.
Once one looks at the new register as a whole, one finds there are
no fewer
than 16828 voters all born on the same day, January 1 1901. Such a
concentration of 110-year- olds with identical birthdays is no doubt a
planetary record.
Even more remarkable, though, 1101 of these are
concentrated in Mugabe’s
birthplace, Zvimba, which, no doubt, will help to
guarantee a pleasing
election result there.
All told, the register
includes 41119 voters older than 100. Yet in Britain,
with a population more
than five times the size of Zimbabwe and with an
enormously higher life
expectancy, there are only 10000 people older than
100.
It seems
clear that Mudede has arrived at such absurd figures only by
systematically
failing to remove dead voters from the roll. What is clear
enough of
Zimbabwe’s 41119 centenarians is that if they ever really existed,
they
doubtless died long ago.
It is also interesting to note that 18525 voters
are listed merely as being
attached to "housing co-operative" associations
without any proper address.
Such phantom voters vote early and often in
Zimbabwe. There is a notable
concentration of such address-less voters in
Harare North, which helped Zanu
(PF) evict MDC MP Trudy Stevenson from the
seat in 2008.
I will publish a full report on the voters’ roll under the
auspices of the
South African Institute of Race Relations, together with
supporting
documentation.
President Jacob Zuma has acted well on this
matter so far, insisting that
Mugabe be held to the terms of the GPA , to
Mugabe’s vocal irritation.
However, these new data on the voters’ roll make
it crystal clear that
Mugabe intends to subvert the GPA and cheat his way
back to power again.
If Zuma and his Sadc colleagues are serious, they
can prevent this. The
agreement to free and fair elections with a new
voters’ roll was part of the
GPA, which Mugabe personally signed.
The
Sadc is due to meet to consider the situation tomorrow in Windhoek,
Namibia.
• Johnson is a writer, journalist and academic.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
May 19, 2011 2:46 PM | By Sapa-AFP
Zimbabwe's
87-year-old president scoffed at speculation over his health as
"misplaced"
and said Thursday he and his wife are fitness enthusiasts.
President
Robert Mugabe also dismissed recent reports that his wife Grace,
his former
secretary who is half his age, was also ill. He told state media
they were
both in "sound health."
In excerpts of an interview published Thursday by
the state Herald
newspaper, he said he exercised regularly and recently only
had an eye
cataract operation in Singapore. His wife was undergoing
physiotherapy in
China for a dislocated hip which may have been made worse
by exercise, he
said.
South Africa's ruling party reported Tuesday
that health problems facing
Mugabe could jeopardize efforts to resolve the
political crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe is seen to be increasingly frail and
at a recent regional summit he
was transported around the convention centre
in an electric golf cart.
Visitors to his offices have also reported him
suffering from fatigue.
Interviewed also by Southern Times, a regional
weekly that is under the
Herald stable and distributed by loyalists, Mugabe
said his wife was in
China studying for a degree in language and cultural
studies. He said
doctors there told her to stop fitness
exercises.
"It is not an ailment. It is a physical dislocation," he said
in excerpts of
the interview Thursday. The full version is expected to be
published Friday.
He told the newspaper he did not use gym equipment but
used common exercises
he began in a colonial-era jail cell.
"I fall
sick if I don't exercise. For now I am as good as my age says I must
be," he
said, adding that he also takes a calcium supplement to help
strengthen his
bones.
"I am not old. I am 87 but my body says the counting doesn't end
at 87, at
least you must get to 100," he told the newspaper.
Mugabe's
office has denied he is suffering from prostate cancer treated in
Singapore
and suggested his five trips there since December were to meet
with his wife
and daughter Bona, 21, who is studying in Hong Kong.
Mugabe is scheduled
to attend a regional summit Friday in the Namibian
capital of Windhoek but
discussions on Zimbabwe have been postponed,
possibly to June 11 and 12 on
the sidelines of an African economic summit in
South Africa.
South
African President Jacob Zuma, the region's chief mediator on Zimbabwe,
is
not expected in Windhoek. At the last regional summit in Zambia in March,
Mugabe and his party received a stern rebuke over the slow pace of reforms
in Zimbabwe and continuing political violence.
Mugabe, who has ruled
since independence from Britain in 1980, has
repeatedly said despite his
age, he is fit to govern. He has called for
elections this year, but
regional mediators say that would be too early for
free and fair polling.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
Presidency and Mail & Guardian
back in court over whether government should
release report on the
Zimbabwean elections in 2002
FRANNY RABKIN
Published: 2011/05/19 06:50:01
AM
THE Presidency and the Mail & Guardian newspaper were at the
Constitutional
Court on Tuesday over whether President Jacob Zuma should
release a report
compiled by justices Dikgang Moseneke and Sisi Khampepe for
former president
Thabo Mbeki in the run-up to the hotly disputed Zimbabwean
election in 2002.
The report has been kept under wraps for nine years,
despite the Mail &
Guardian’s attempts, since 2008, to gain access to it
using the Promotion of
Access to Information Act. The Constitutional Court
is the last stop for the
Presidency in its bid to keep the report secret. It
failed in the North
Gauteng High Court and in the Supreme Court of
Appeal.
The Mail & Guardian says the report about legal and
constitutional issues in
the run-up to the disputed election, "remains a
matter of great public
interest".
In its court papers, the newspaper
said new elections were expected in
Zimbabwe this year. "Whether the
incumbent president continues to hold
office by virtue of illegalities and
irregularities stretching back at least
to 2002 is clearly a matter of
public interest," said Jeremy Gauntlett SC
for the Mail & Guardian
.
On Tuesday counsel for the Presidency, Marumo Moerane SC, agreed that
it was
up to the Presidency to justify its refusal to hand over the
report.
The Presidency had said the report contained confidential
information from
Zimbabwean government officials. The report was also
compiled for the
purpose of formulating policy. Both of these are bases upon
which the state
can validly refuse to give access to information
.
The Supreme Court of Appeal found that there was simply not enough
evidence,
from the Presidency’s side, to show that the report did contain
confidential
information and that its purpose was to allow Mr Mbeki to make
policy.
Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo said the question the court needed
to decide
was what the "standard" was to determine whether the Presidency
had
discharged the burden to justify its refusal.
Mr Gauntlett said
that, under a constitutional dispensation, with a "culture
of justification"
it was not enough for the "refuser" to merely repeat what
the act says, with
nothing further.
He reminded the court there had been no affidavit from
Mr Mbeki or the
justices. The only affidavit was from the Reverend Frank
Chikane, then
director-general in the Presidency. But he gave no proof —
such as evidence
of meetings, e-mails or correspondence — to show that the
reasons for
refusal were indeed true.
Justice Ngcobo said he would be
"troubled" by the argument that access to
information could be refused on
the "ipse dixit", or mere say so, of the
refuser.
But Mr Moerane said
there was more that a mere ipse dixit before the court ,
and the evidence,
especially that of Mr Chikane, was enough to justify
refusal. Responding to
a question from Justice Zak Yacoob, he said there was
no reason "at all" to
doubt Mr Chikane’s word.
Justice Yacoob suggested it could be presumed
that Mr Mbeki was not sending
the judges "on a frolic of his own". Justice
Ngcobo added there must have
been a reason and what other reason could there
be than to formulate policy?
But why was it left to the court to "join
the dots?" the chief justice
asked.
Judgment was reserved.
rabkinf@bdfm.co.za
May 19th, 2011
On the eve of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State in Namibia (20/21 May), a dispossessed black commercial farmer from Zimbabwe who ran a successful agricultural enterprise is selling packets of sugar to feed his family.
Luke Tembani (74), one of the first black commercial farmers after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, lost title to his farm in November 2000 when it was unilaterally auctioned by the Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (ABZ), to cover a loan.
Despite Tembani’s proposal to sell off a viable section of the farm to cover the debt, his entire property was sold to a third party at a fraction of the value estimated by an independent valuator.
Tembani took his case to the High Court of Zimbabwe, which eventually ruled in his favour, but the ABZ appealed to the Supreme Court whose members – apart from one judge – were recipients of “redistributed” farms, and in November 2007 the execution of the sale was upheld.
With no recourse to justice in Zimbabwe, Tembani took his case to the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek, Namibia, where it was heard on 5 June 2009. He won the case and the Zimbabwe government was told to take all the necessary measures not to evict him from the property and to stop interfering with his use and occupation of the farm.
Despite the protection of the SADC Tribunal, in October 2009 Tembani and his family were evicted from the farmhouse where they’d been living and struggling to survive. They were not allowed to remove any of their farm equipment, are now virtually destitute and want justice.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Tembani’s first job in 1954 was working in the garden of a private home. Subsequently he took up an apprenticeship, but his objective was to become a commercial farmer. Three years later, he enrolled at Chibero Agricultural College in Norton. On completion of the course, he became a farm manager on a dairy farm in the Nyazura district, where he worked for 18 years.
Three years after independence, Tembani was ready to farm for himself and acquired a five-year lease of a farm called Minverwag, a 1,265ha property in Nyazura, with an option to buy. The farmer, Helgard Muller, gave him a free lease to help him get established.
The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), subsequently renamed the Agriculture Bank of Zimbabwe (ABF), provided a loan and in 1985 Tembani became the registered owner.
He was appointed onto the Rural District Council and served as Provincial Chairman for the Indigenous Commercial Farmers’ Union.
Tembani built up Minverwag into a highly profitable enterprise comprising up to 100 hectares of tobacco, 80ha of maize, 5ha of marigolds, 10ha of paprika and 40ha of wheat/soya rotation. He also invested time and resources to improve the farm’s irrigation system.
Over the years his beef herd was increased to 600 animals and he also developed a pig unit with 16 sows and an ostrich project with up to 89 breeding birds.
In 1986 Tembani decided to build a school and provide education for the children of farm workers from the area, but neither the Ministry of Education nor the Rural Council were able to assist.
He went ahead, using his own money generated from the farm, and the following year opened Chimwanda Primary School with four classrooms and free schooling for 321 pupils between grades 1 and 7, an office and accommodation for eight teachers.
He also sunk a borehole, improved his employees’ housing and built a church hall.
During the 1990s, when interest rates escalated sharply and there two were serious national droughts (1992 and 1994), many commercial farmers ran into financial difficulties.
Tembani, who had invested substantially in his school, was among them, so he met with the planning department of the AFC and arranged to sell off a viable 418 hectare section of the farm as a subdivision in 1996.
The AFC agreed that this would cover his debt and buyers were found while they waited for the title deeds to be issued.
Subsequently the renamed ABZ failed to verify the exact value of Tembani’s debt and reneged on the arrangement, auctioning the entire, undivided property in November 2000 for a mere Z$6 million although an independent valuator valued the property at Z$15 million.
“Only two buyers were present and the farm was sold to Takawira Zembe, a businessman who only paid 10 percent at the auction and who is believed to have as many as 18 farming enterprises in the country gained in this way,” said Tembani.
When Zembe took over Minverwag, he petitioned the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe to undertake the running of the school.
After Tembani’s eviction in 2009, Zembe refused to let his twins attend the school their father built, unless Tembani ceded total ownership of the farm to Zembe and withdrew his appeal against the eviction.
“Zembe is not operating Minverwag as a commercial farming enterprise but has cut it into plots for peasant farmers who are paying him for the use of the land,” Tembani said.
At the beginning of April 2011, Tembani joined commercial farmer Mike Campbell in signing papers to take the SADC Heads of State to the Tribunal for initiating its suspension.
In calling for the review, the SADC Heads of State denied Tembani access to the Tribunal to claim damages against the Zimbabwe government for refusing to comply with his SADC judgment.
Campbell died a few days after signing from injuries sustained during his abduction and brutal beating after the contentious Presidential run-off election in June 2008, but Tembani remains resolute. “The Tribunal must continue to function in all respects as established by the SADC Treaty,” he said.
Tembani, his wife and their two children now live in basic rented accommodation and are without an income. They cannot afford the school fees of US$300 per term for their daughter, Mildred (15), or for their son, Luke (10) who requires US$70 per term.
Their other daughter, Terrylee, who was Luke’s twin sister, was killed tragically in March this year when she was electrocuted due to poor wiring in their rented accommodation.
“As I speak to you, at the age of 74, I’m sitting on an old stool with nothing, despite all the years of hard work,” said Tembani. “We live hand-to-mouth selling little bags of sugar and other basics in a difficult and competitive environment, instead of contributing to food security.”
“When the hungry season comes, the food situation is going to be serious in Zimbabwe,” Tembani warned. “There has been a major drought and between 75 and 80 percent of the people have been affected. The irrigation systems are not functioning and the land is lying idle.”
“My wife and I want our farm back but right now it’s too political,” Thembani said regretfully. “If we had the money to open a small shop and stock it with tools, hardware and other more profitable goods it would be easier to survive. We had a lot of money in the bank before the Zimbabwe dollar crashed. But when it collapsed and was replaced by the US dollar, we were left with nothing.”
See the previous blogs about Luke Tembani and his family:
Luke Tembani’s children
forced out of the school their father built – 27th October
2009
Luke Tembani’s property sold – 4 November
2009
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MISA-Zimbabwe
Thursday, 19 May 2011
09:07
CNN journalist Robyn Curnow and her cameraperson Shevan Rayson were
detained
in Harare on 18 May 2011 after police stopped them from filming in
the
Zimbabwean capital.
The CNN crew had all the relevant accreditation
documents issued by the
statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission in terms of the
Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The news team
was, however, later
released.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by VMCZ
Thursday, 19 May 2011
13:15
The Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) condemns in the
strongest
terms the arrest and detention of CNN journalist, Robyn Currow and
her
cameraperson, Shevan Rayson by the police. Currow and Rayson were
detained
by police in Harare on 18 May 2011 after police stopped them from
filming in
the capital city. Regardless of the fact that the two were later
released,
it is an issue of serious concern that the police would interfere
with
journalists who are only undertaking their professional duties be they
from
international or local media houses.
The ZRP unfortunately has a
history of threatening and arresting (local
and foreign) journalists doing
their work and VMCZ urges the police to
desist from harassing the media.
Instead, the ZRP must serve to protect
all journalists and media
practitioners from any harm while they are
executing their duties.
The
VMCZ is also of the strong view that the ZRP needs to revisit its
understanding of Section 20 of Zimbabwe’s Constitution, which guarantees
freedom of expression and access to information. It is this section that
makes the right of the Zimbabwean public and all media professionals to
receive and impart information a fundamental human right and not a
privilege.
Where the ZRP has a problem with a media story as is published
by media
practitioners and received by members of the public, the VMCZ has a
Media
Complaints Commitee and a Media Code of Conduct that all police
officers can
access and utilise for amicable resolution of complaints about
media
stories.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
Tom Harper
19 May 2011
A
key opponent of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe has been forced to flee to
London
after he received death threats, the Standard can reveal.
Roy Bennett, 54,
moved his family to central London after they were targeted
by thugs thought
to have been employed by the dictator.
The white former coffee farmer is
popular with black Zimbabweans and is seen
by some as capable of healing the
country's racial divides.
Mr Bennett, who is a leading member of the
opposition party, the Movement
for Democratic Change, was acquitted last
year of plotting to overthrow
President Mugabe.
The case against Mr
Bennett hinged on the evidence of Peter Hitschmann, a
former policeman and
arms dealer. Prosecutors produced emails which they
said proved the former
farmer had conspired to buy weapons.
But during the trial Mr Hitschmann
disowned the emails and said he had been
tortured.
Despite clearing
his name, Mr Bennett was forced to flee Zimbabwe after his
family received
"constant" death threats.
A spokesman told the Standard: "Roy is in
London to help finish the job
Zimbabwe's people started in the last
democratic election - won by the MDC
and stolen by Mugabe.
"With its
historic links, Britain and indeed London, is the best place for
Roy to do
this as he can no longer live in his beloved Zimbabwe."
Mr Bennett has
been a persistent irritant for Mugabe since his farm was
seized by
government-backed militias in 2000. He claims that many of his
employees
were killed and the stress of the attack caused his wife to
miscarry.
Mr Bennett is perhaps best known for losing his temper with
Justice Minister
and Mugabe ally Patrick Chinamasa in 2004 in a row over the
land
redistribution programme, which saw most of the country's 4,000 white
farmers lose their land.
Mr Chinamasa called Mr Bennett's forefathers
"thieves and murderers" and
claimed that he deserved to lose his farm after
benefiting from a British
colonial system that robbed black Zimbabweans of
their land.
In the heat of the argument, Mr Bennett pushed the minister
to the ground
and was sentenced to 15 months in prison - an experience he
described as a
living hell.
Shortly after he returned from two years'
exile in South Africa, he was
arrested again on suspicion of treason in
February 2009 - just as he was
about to become a minister in the fragile
coalition government between the
MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
http://www.radiovop.com/
19/05/2011 12:16:00
Gwanda, May 19 2011
- Zimbabwe Intelligence Corps alongside the military
police are involved in
a massive track down operation targeting hundreds of
men and women who
deserted the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) at the height of
political and
economical turmoil a decade ago.
Reliable sources who spoke on condition
of anonymity said captured soldiers
were being subjected to torture which at
times leads to death.
The operation reportedly comes amid fears that
deserters could be working
with some political parties to topple Robert
Mugabe.
“There are fears that they may use their experience in the army
to the
advantage of the MDC hence an operation to recapture these soldiers,
those
caught are being subjected to severe interrogation and torture which
at
times leads to death”, said a soldier at Mbalabala Army Barracks who
requested not to be named.
In December last year Christmas shoppers
in Gwanda had to scurry for cover
after a member of the Intelligence Corps
pulled out a gun while pursuing
Butholezwe Khumalo who had left the army
without procedure.
Khumalo was a week later shot down in a suspicious
armed robbery at a night
club after he had escaped from
torture.
Witnesses concurred the shot had been fired by an expert someone
who had
probably undergone military training.
The formation of the
Mthwakazi Liberation Front which has threatened a
violent takeover of power
has also sent panic among security chiefs who fear
deserters are involved in
the country’s politics.
MDC T youths have also threatened to fight back
should ZANU PF make a repeat
of the bloody June 2008 elections.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
19 May, 2011
The testimony of a former intelligence agent
from Zimbabwe, who has been
granted protection in the UK, has exposed
ruthless acts of torture, rape and
murder committed against MDC supporters
in Zimbabwe. Last week the ex-CIO
agent told the Immigration and Asylum
Tribunal in Wales how he victimized
MDC supporters from 1999 to 2000,
confessing to brutal acts with details
“too gruesome” to reveal in
court.
The court protected his identity but numerous media reports on
Thursday
named the agent as Phillip Machemedze and despite his shocking
confessions
he was granted protection under the European Human Rights
Convention.
Justice David Archer said his life would be in danger if sent
back to
Zimbabwe.
Machemedze’s wife, who claimed to be an active
member of the MDC and the
rights group ROHR, was granted asylum as a
refugee. Both were originally
denied asylum by the Home Office and had
appealed. Surprisingly the Home
Office is not challenging the decision to
protect the admitted murderer.
Rights activists have expressed deep
concern that the former ZANU PF agent
may never be made to account for the
vicious crimes he committed against
innocent civilians. It is feared that
this lack of accountability will
deprive his victims of any sense of justice
and help bring closure to their
suffering.
Machemedze told the court
he had joined the CIO in 1996. He admitted that he
once smashed the jaw of
an MDC supporter and pulled out his teeth using
pliers. He also said that in
2000 he tortured a white farmer named Thornhill
by electrocuting and beating
him until he was unconscious. The farmer had
been “rumored” to be
financially supporting the MDC. He also admitted to the
kidnapping and
torture of dozens of MDC supporters. "Some were killed slowly
and their
bodies disposed of.”
According to the Daily News newspaper; “Machemedze
worked as a bodyguard to
Enos Chikowore, after completing his training by
the Chinese and war
veterans in 1996.”
Sanderson Makombe, who was
himself assaulted by ZANU PF thugs in Zimbabwe,
said he was saddened by the
fact that nothing is being done to prosecute the
former operative. He said;
“If there is to be justice, people have to take
responsibility for what they
did. Accountability is the cornerstone of
democracy.”
Makombe added
that he sees a contradiction between a country’s duty to
protect victims
under the Human Rights Charter and the responsibility to
prosecute criminals
under the U.N. Convention against Torture. “The UK is
signatory to the
Convention against Torture and it would not be difficult to
bring criminal
charges against this guy,” Makombe said.
Machemedze’s confessions confirm
that that the security sector in Zimbabwe
is deeply engaged in political
activity and has been involved in assaults
against opposition party
officials and members. ZANU PF has always denied
these
allegations.
Reform of the security sector is one of the key issues being
called for by
the MDC-T and civic groups ahead of any elections in the
country.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
Press statement Women
of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
Six WOZA women arrested for wanting power for the
poor
SIX members, all women, were arrested along Khami Road in Bulawayo
and
detained at Western Commonage police station between 8 and 9pm
Wednesday.
The women are from Iminyela and Pelandaba suburbs. The members
were arrested
by police officers who accused them of painting messages on
the road. The
messages read- 'power to poor people' ; 'no lengthy load
shedding' ;
'prepaid meters now!'; focus on the electricity crisis in
Zimbabwe.
WOZA fear torture of members, 14 members were tortured while in
custody in
March 2011. This morning, food brought by relatives and lawyers
access was
denied by Assistant Inspector Purazeni, the officer-in-charge at
Western
Commonage police station whose officers arrested the six, he is said
to have
indicated that the orders came from above.
WOZA, a women's
movement identify electricity supply as directly targeting
the role of a
woman in the home. As a result WOZA have lobbied the Zimbabwe
Electricity
Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) for close on 5
years to
provide an affordable and regular service. A multi faceted protest
strategy
is used peacefully targeting local and city based company
officials.
These arrests follow a 10th May protest to the Bulawayo
electricity power
station to launched a 6 week 'Power to Poor People'
Campaign to 'discipline'
the ZETDC for its daylight robbery to consumers.
Members are also continuing
to engage suburban office of the power company
with consumer deputations to
deliver 'yellow cards' with their demands. The
campaign demands are:
1. Stop cheating fixed meter consumers, we demand
prepaid meters.
2. Please provide cheaper firewood, candles and matches, we
do not want to
destroy our environment by cutting down trees.
3. We are
tired of 18 hour power cuts -provide proper timetables of load
shedding.
4. Urgently put in place a proper and transparent billing
system. Stop
sending metered consumer's estimates, send ACTUAL bills.
5.
Create a smoother process of customer's claims for compensation.
6. Review
recruitment policy and bring salaries to decent levels with our
current
economic record. Professionalise staff performance and honesty. No
more
luxury cars we need transformers.
7. We will record the exact hours we
receive electricity for the last 2
weeks of May while we get petition
signatures which we will take to
Parliament and demand they review your
monopoly and poor service. You have
cheated us for long enough, after we
submit our demand to parliament we will
organise a RED card Campaign. Be
warned POWER TO THE POOR - ZERO service
ZERO bill. HOKOYO!!
The
campaign includes obtaining signatures to a petition dubbed the 'Anti
Abuse
of Power' Petition; completing of a time sheet of power cuts and the
delivering of a 'yellow card' to the company. WOZA has campaigned for
affordable and available electricity since 2006 with its 'power to the
people' campaigns. In response to a campaign demand the company have just
advertise power cut schedules but have indicated that there will be longer
cuts as this is winter in Zimbabwe.
Please help save our activists
from torture by calling +263 9 403996 up to 8
speak to Assistant Inspector
Purazeni, the officer-in-charge at Western
Commonage police station or call
the Law and Order Dept on +263 9 72515.
Please remind them to conform to
international standards of detention and
ask them to allow WOZA members to
lobby for and power for all to enjoy.
http://www.voanews.com
Sources
said the aviation authority declared the three planes a public
danger having
reached the limit of 34,000 cycles or trips - a claim that was
said to have
infuriated the manufacturer which demanded an explanation
Gibbs Dube |
Washington 18 May 2011
Air Zimbabwe on Wednesday canceled all
domestic and regional flights after
the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe
declared the national carrier's
three Boeing 737 aircraft too old to
continue in service, leaving hundreds
of travelers stranded.
Sources
said the aviation authority declared the three planes a public
danger having
reached the limit of 34,000 cycles or trips - a claim that was
said to have
infuriated the manufacturer which was demanding an explanation
from the
aviation authority.
Air Zimbabwe’s sole functional Chinese-made MA60 also
failed to take off
Wednesday to service the Harare-Victoria Falls route,
sources said. Two
other MA60 planes have been grounded for more than a year
- one was badly
damaged when it struck warthogs on the Harare runway and has
been stripped
for parts, the other was declared unusable.
Elsewhere,
the International Air Transport Association was demanding a
surety bond of
US$1.7 million from Air Zimbabwe to allow it to resume air
ticket booking
operations. Air Zimbabwe owes the association US$280,000 said
to have been
run up during an April strike by pilots and air crew which
obliged extensive
re-ticketing.
Air Zimbabwe has also lost the Boeing 737-500 it leased
from Air Zambezi
after failing to pay monthly installments on the
lease.
The carrier's two Boeing 767s servicing its Harare-China and
Harare-London
routes are also grounded because Air Zimbabwe has been unable
to meet the
cost of fuel.
Commercial aviation expert Guy Leitch of
South Africa’s Fly Magazine said
the grounding of the three Boeing 737-200
planes sounded questionable,
stating that "there are many Boeing 737s with a
lot more than 34 000 cycles"
in service.
Economic commentator Rejoice
Ngwenya said it is time Harare privatized Air
Zimbabwe. “This is the only
way of saving Air Zimbabwe from total collapse,”
he said.
http://www.voanews.com
German
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Albrecht Conze said the parliamentary
delegation in
meetings with officials and activists stressed that Harare
must closely
follow the road map to elections now being drawn up
Studio 7 Reporters |
Washington/Harare 18 May 2011
German parliamentarians visiting
Zimbabwe said Wednesday that the Southern
African Development Community must
maintain pressure on President Robert
Mugabe until the Global Political
Agreement for power sharing has been fully
implemented.
Concluding a
two-day visit to Zimbabwe, Stefan Liebich, head of the
delegation of the
Southern African-German Friendship Group said South
African President and
regional mediator President Jacob Zuma must keep
pressure on Mr. Mugabe to
implement the GPA as a subset of regional leaders
did at a mini-summit in
Zambia in April.
Liebich said it was clear from meetings his group held
with the co-governing
Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and human rights activists that Mr. Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF party is the primary
source of political violence.
He said
his group disagrees with the ZANU-PF proposal to hold elections this
year.
Liebich’s delegation also held a meeting with ZANU-PF Chairman
Simon Khaya
Moyo and told reporters that the party chief complained about
Western
sanctions and so-called pirate radio stations such as VOA's Studio 7
broadcasting to Zimbabwe from abroad.
Liebich said his group told
Moyo that sanctions do not target ordinary
Zimbabweans but only those
considered to be derailing the democratic process
in the
country.
German Ambassador to Zimbabwe Albrecht Conze added that the
delegation
returned to Zimbabwe with renewed interest in the country’s
political and
social development.
Conze said that the delegation in
meetings with officials and civic
activists stressed that Harare must
closely follow the road map to elections
now being drawn up.
The
ambassador told reporter Tatenda Gumbo that issues having to do with the
removal of European sanction will not addressed until reforms are fully
implemented.
Meanwhile, following the conclusion of ZANU-PF's
anti-sanctions petition
drive, which organizers say collected more than 2.5
million signatures, the
party says it is launching a massive lobbying
campaign against the
restrictions imposed on President Mugabe and some 200
other senior officials
of the former ruling party by Western
nations.
Organizers said they will take the anti-sanctions petition to
the Southern
African Development Community, the African Union, the
International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank and the International Court of
Justice, among other
institutions.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo
said the aim is to lobby such organizations
to issue resolutions against the
sanctions, which the party says hurts all
Zimbabweans.
Industry
Minister Welshman Ncube, head of the smaller MDC formation in
government,
told reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga that although sanctions have
a negative
impact on the Zimbabwean economy, ZANU-PF may not succeed in its
mission
because it is not working with the other co-governing political
parties on
the issue as agreed.
Elsewhere, a high court judge today said state
prosecutors in the corruption
case against Energy Minister Elton Mangoma
could again question their key
witness on points that arose during his
cross-examination by Mangoma’s
defense team.
Mangoma is accused of
improperly awarding a US$5 million fuel contract to a
company in South
Africa. The MDC says the charges against him are
politically inspired.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu May 19, 2011 1:43pm
GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's annual inflation was at 2.7 percent
year-on-year in April, unchanged from March, the Zimbabwe National
Statistical Agency said on Thursday.
On a month-on-month basis,
inflation stood at 0.1 percent from 0.8 percent
in March, Zimstats said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Student Solidarity
Trust
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 07:47
A cocktail of court cases and
disciplinary hearings have ensured that
students are always on the back foot
as college authorities try to flush out
those they deem undesirable, writes
the STUDENT SOLIDARITY TRUST.
HARARE - Upon Zimbabwe’s attainment of
independence in 1980, infrastructure
and facilities for students were
limited. The nation rapidly increased the
number of schools, universities
and vocational training institutions. This
was remarkable and commendable
for a government whose primary aim was
education for all.
As student
populations grew and more Zimbabweans got educated, the country
was looking
to a bright and prosperous future. However, the story of
Zimbabwe’s students
took a mind-boggling turn with the appointment of poor
custodians of our
colleges and universities. This has been atrocious and has
sold students
short. Those given the responsibility have long relinquished
it, opting to
be Zanu (PF) functionaries and favouring that party’s
oppressive
tactics.
On July 9 2007, the vice chancellor of the University of
Zimbabwe, Professor
Levi Nyagura ordered the closure of halls of residence
in 30 minutes -
rendering the estimated 4500 student population homeless.
This was two weeks
before crucial end of year examinations and during a
pretty cold winter
spell.
The official reason was that there had been
demonstrations. But instead of
looking for and punishing the culprits,
unsuspecting residents suffered
collateral damage as the professor sort to
exorcise the University of any
Living Soul. Four years down the line, the
halls of residents are still
closed amid all sorts of excuses – ranging from
the unavailability of water
to renovations.
In a politically
polarized country such a Zimbabwe, a concentration of
students at the oldest
university is the last thing authorities would want
to deal with. In
Nyagura, a willing servant has been found to ensure that
students continue
to suffer, living in squalid conditions and dropping out
of college due to
lack of accommodation. This has seen unscrupulous
landlords mushrooming and
charging exorbitant tariffs for substandard
accommodation. Infrastructure is
seriously run down and some of the
facilities, such the students union
building, are no longer functional.
Wanton persecution of students
continues - with arrests, suspensions and
expulsions being part of the
administrators’ toolkit to frustrate student
activism and stifle dissent. A
cocktail of court cases and disciplinary
hearings have ensured that students
are always on the back foot as college
authorities try to flush out those
they deem undesirable.
Students continue to long for the day when
professionalism returns to
colleges. Indeed, the current crop of college
administrators continue to do
Zanu (PF)’s bidding at the expense of students
nationwide. They are
condemning the country to a future where all educated
minds will have to be
imported. The culture of getting instructions from a
political office must
cease in order to enable full recovery of the
education system.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
19 May
2011
Elias Mudzuri, the former MDC-T national organising secretary, has
bounced
back into the party national executive and is likely to be appointed
the new
secretary for elections.
A long-standing member of the MDC-T,
Mudzuri lost his position as organizing
secretary to Nelson Chamisa, but has
returned, thanks to heavy lobbying from
his supporters in the
party.
Following a meeting of the national council in Harare on Thursday,
the MDC-T
announced new members of the national executive, who include
Jameson Timba
and Luta Shaba.
Timba, a political scientist graduate and
Minister of State in the Prime
Minister’s office, is tipped to become the
next secretary for International
Relations. Shaba is a lawyer, policy
analyst and respected women’s rights
campaigner. It is believed she might be
appointed secretary for women and
gender.
Also back in the limelight is
Abednico Bhebhe, the newly elected
vice-Chairman of the Matebeleland North
province. Bhebhe was expelled by the
MDC led by Welshman Ncube for backing
Lovemore Moyo’s initial election as
Speaker of Parliament. He was the MP for
Nkayi but when he was booted out
from the then MDC-M, he also lost his
parliamentary seat.
Some of those brought back in to the new look
national council lost
elections at the recently held congress in Bulawayo.
The 39 member executive
now includes Lucia Matibenga, who lost her bid to
unseat national party
chairman Lovemore Moyo and Professor Elphas
Mukonoweshuro, who challenged
Secretary-General Tendai Biti and lost by a
wide margin.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed there was opposition
from other senior
party members about some of these appointments. But party
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai reportedly remained resolute that bringing some of
the long
standing members back into the executive would keep the party
united.
Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that even
though some
of the members lost elections at the Bulawayo congress, they
were still
nominated by their respective provinces to sit in the national
executive.
‘I will give you an example of Dr Henry Madzorera. He has been
nominated by
his Midlands North province and since he’s the only medical
practitioner in
the top bodies of the MDC-T, he will certainly be appointed
the Secretary
for Health.
National executive members are:
-
Morgan Tsvangirai
- Thokozani Khupe
- Lovemore Moyo
- Morgen
Komichi
- Tendai Biti
- Tapiwa Mashakada
- Nelson Chamisa
- Abednico
Bhebhe
- Roy Bennett
- Elton Mangoma
- Douglas Mwonzora
- Theresa
Makone
- Solomon Madzore
- Emma Muzondiwa
- Evelyn Masaiti
- Jessie
Majome
- Editor Matamisa
- Agnes Mloyi
- Last Maengahama
- Sitembile
Mlotshwa
- Settlement Chikwinya
- Seiso Moyo
- Giles Mutsekwa
-
Jameson Timba
- Gubbuza Joel Gabuza
- Lucia Matibenga
- Thabita
Khumalo
- Kerry Kay
- Paurina Mpariwa
- Concilia Chinanzvavana
-
Luta Shaba
- Spiwe Ncube
- Henry Madzorera
- Eddie Cross
- Sesel
Zvidzai
- Thamsanqa Mahlangu
- Eliphas Mukonoweshuro
- Elias
Mudzuri
- Amos Chibaya
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Bradshaw
Muzanenhamo
Thursday, 19 May 2011 06:26
...as Mnangagwa backs
ZMC
HARARE- The battle for turf control between the government appointed
Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, over the
formation of a media council to regulate the activities of journalists
intensified on Wednesday as alliance members boycotted the ZMC launch press
conference.
The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe is made of media organisations
such as the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, ZUJ, MISA, Zimbabwe National
Editors Forum,
Zinef, and the Federation of African Media Women of
Zimbabwe, FAMWZ who
say allowing the ZMC to constitute a Zimbabwe Media
Council would perpetuate
media oppression. They are advocating for the
continued existence of the
Voluntary Media Complaints of Zimbabwe, VMCZ
which they set up in 2007.
The ZMC commissioners are nominees from the three
political parties in the
Government of National Unity and are insisting that
for now, a statutory
complaints council is the way forward while the
alliance has said it will
boycott attempts to force a statutory council on
media practitioners.
Under the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act, AIPPA,
stakeholder organisations are supposed to second
officials to the statutory
council. Following the boycott by the stake
holders, ZMC chairperson,
Godfrey Majonga told the press conference that
they would engage stake
holder organisations to come up with nominees to the
council. “If for any
reason, any association fails or refuses to submit
nominations, the
commission is lining up a number of consultative meetings
with the concerned
associations for the purpose of nominating
representatives to the media
council. We hope to have concluded these
meetings by mid June.”
Majonga told the press conference that they hoped
stakeholders would embrace
the process so that “ ...we have, at the end of
the day, a media council
reflective of the diverse representation of
stakeholders as per the
objectives of the legislature, for the development
of a free press.” Majonga
said it was possible to achieve press freedom
under the existing draconian
media laws.
“If we work together, we could
make more progress in that regard, and in
bringing about legislative,
structural and other desired reforms.” As the
press conference was being
held, it emerged that Defence Minister, Emmerson
Mnangagwa had lodged a
formal complaint with the Zimbabwe Media Commission
over a story published
in The Standard in which services chiefs were said to
have held a
teleconference with President Robert Mugabe, urging him to find
a ‘sellable’
Zanu PF candidate ahead of the next elections.
Mnangagwa wants a ‘prompt and
unconditional apology and retraction as soon
as possible’. He said the
retraction should be given similar prominence as
the original story,
failure of which he would use draconian defamation laws
against the
publication.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
19 May, 2011
Ray Kaukonde, the ZANU PF chairman for
Mashonaland East province, is
reported to have made comments that implicate
him in the burning of a chief’s
home in 2008. The report quotes sources who
said Kaukonde also threatened to
bring soldiers to Chikomba district to
strengthen ZANU PF structures, with
the aim of replacing the local MDC-T
council.
According to the NewsDay newspaper, Chief Mtekedzi got angry
after Kaukonde
commented that “he would burn the home of the local MP for
Chikomba East,
Edgar Mbwembwe”, in the same way the chief’s house was burnt
in 2008. The
report alleged that Mbwembwe is a ZANU PF official suspected of
sympathizing
with the MDC-T.
NewsDay said the incident took place
last week at Sadza Growth Point in
Chikomba District, where Kaukonde was
addressing ZANU PF supporters about
strengthening their party structures
ahead of the next elections.
Kaukonde “allegedly accused the local
district coordinating committee of
failing to take over the council from the
MDC-T” and said if necessary he
would “invite soldiers” to set up ZANU PF
structures in the area.
NewsDay said Kaukonde refused to comment and
threatened to sue the paper if
the story was published. Chief Mtekedzi who,
according to Newsday, “has been
accused of being an MDC-T activist”, also
refused comment to the paper. His
homestead was burned down by suspected
ZANU PF thugs during the 2008
election period.
http://www.radiovop.com/
19/05/2011 17:22:00
Karoi,
May 19, 2011 - Residents here have for the past five days snubbed a
Zanu
(PF)'s audit and verification exercise that kicked off at the
weekend.
Party insiders here said no-one had showed up at the
venue.
"We are always told to postpone audit meetings here as no one seem
to be
interested to attend. Even top army officers spearheading the exercise
are
giving up," party insiders told Radio VOP.
Zanu (PF) provincial
political commissar Phillip Muguti confirmed that the
party is still yet to
audit three districts namely Kubatana, Chitepo and
Tongogara in town due to
failure by supporters to attend audit meetings.
''Very few people came in
Karoi urban but will wind up as we revisit other
rural outskirts, maybe its
due to poor communication," said Muguti.
However some residents
interviewed by a Radio VOP reporter said they had no
reason to attend the
meetings. "Most people have never been party members
but had their names
forcibly slotted in the Zanu (PF) structures. I do not
have time to attend
the audit" said a woman who preferred to be called Mai
Theresa for fear of
victimisation.
Confusion has gripped the party that is insisting that
elections be held
this year.
In Tengwe, local Zanu (PF) MP Sarah
Mahoka is accused of defying the audit
team that saw them coming back empty
handed on Monday. Top military
personnel had been deployed to conduct a
restructuring exercise of the party
that is facing internal divisions ahead
of possible elections.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T)
is against elections this year pending a Southern
Africa Development
Community (SADC) election roadmap to guarantee free and
fair elections and
avoid a repeat of the 2008 political violence. The
political violence
resulted in more than 200 people mostly MDC supporters
killed with thousands
others displaced from their homes.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Chengetai Zvauya, Staff Writer
Thursday, 19
May 2011 17:08
HARARE - A South African man at the centre of a fraud
storm involving the
First Lady will be unable to visit his dying wife after
the High Court
denied him permission to travel to
Johannesburg.
Cassimjee Bilal, a truck driver arrested for allegedly
defrauding Grace
Mugabe of US$1 million in a botched deal to import six
trucks from South
Africa, will remain in Zimbabwe until his case goes to
trial next month.
Meanwhile, his wife Nazmeera Ebrahim who had delayed a
crucial heart
transplant by two months because of her man’s arrest remains
in the
intensive care and desperate to be with her man at a Johannesburg
hospital,
according to Bilal’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa.
Bilal had
petitioned the High Court last month to have his passport back on
humanitarian grounds to allow him to attend to his wife.
Mtetwa said
Justice Andrew Mutema had turned down the application last week.
“The
judge said the court affidavit that had been filed by his wife’s
doctors was
defective and dismissed his application,” said Mtetwa.
“Nazmeeira remains
sick and would have wanted to be close to her husband.”
Bilal and three
other South African drivers are out of custody on bail.
Police are holding
the men’s passports as part of the bail conditions.
Bilal, Henry Radebe,
Samuel Baloyi and Sydney Sekgobela ran into trouble
after being hired by
Chinese businessman and Grace’s former associate Ping
Sung Hsieh to deliver
three trucks to a children’s home run by the First
Lady, through an aide
Police Commissioner Olga Bungu.
Grace, through Bungu had ordered six
trucks from Ping in 2008, but felt
cheated when the drivers delivered only
three in February this year.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
19/05/2011 00:00:00
by Guy Taylor
IT HAS
been many years now since Robert Mugabe and his cronies entered the
halls of
leadership in Zimbabwe.
With Zanu PF’s ascendancy to power was born the
Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), whose techniques are a cross
between Hitler's Gestapo
and Russia's former KGB.
It is a known fact
throughout Zimbabwe, in both the security sector and the
public sector, that
the CIO agents are well-trained and well-resourced. They
spread terror and
are no service to the people or the security of Zimbabwe,
they are solely
there to keep those in power in power, to whatever end.
They are not the
only ones who do this. The Zimbabwe National Army, the
Zimbabwe Republic
Police and the Zimbabwe Prison Service have dedicated
their services to the
political and legal preservation of Robert Mugabe and
his Zanu PF
party.
Mugabe, for many years now, has been a sworn enemy of Britain,
despite the
fact that the former colonial power put him where he is today.
While Mugabe
has been accusing Britain of recruiting Zimbabweans into the
British armed
forces to recolonise Zimbabwe, he has been conversely
deploying his agents
into Britain, deceitfully, yet, cleverly.
Often,
these agents pose as asylum seekers, completely fooling the UK Border
Agency
and judges of the immigration tribunals. They are then granted
asylum,
giving them full access to jobs, health care and other benefits, yet
85% of
the time these people will be paid by the Zimbabwean authorities for
their
duties to “King and Country”.
A curious case of one such “former” CIO
agent came before the First Tier
Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum
Chamber earlier this month. Phillip
Machemedze was granted asylum despite a
judge finding that he was “deeply
involved in savage acts of extreme
violence”.
He is just one case that we know about, how many more have
sneaked in under
the radar of the MI5 after passing themselves off as MDC
supporters and
Mugabe’s opponents?
Typically, diplomatic missions are
allowed four intelligence attaches, which
means basically the Zimbabwe High
Commission in London must maintain that
number of agents, and the same
applies to other embassies.
But it’s everyone’s guess how many more CIO
agents are operating within
Zimbabwean communities around the UK, in breach
of Britain’s territorial
integrity and international law.
These
operatives are well trained and well equipped. They don’t stand out –
they
have ticked all the boxes of “integrating” into British society.
It will not
surprise me if there has been an infiltration by CIO agents into
the British
armed forces and the police.
This is a very serious problem for genuine
Zimbabwean asylum seekers who
will no doubt feel they are not adequately
protected from Mugabe’s goons.
We can only wonder what is going on in the
halls of British security. Are
they really on the ball?
Guy Taylor is
a former Zimbabwean police officer now living in Britain
http://www.businessday.co.za
HOW often is it possible for Zimbabwe to take
a turn for the worse?
Published: 2011/05/19 07:10:30 AM
HOW often is
it possible for Zimbabwe to take a turn for the worse? You
would expect that
at some point, a social disaster of the scale that has
afflicted Zimbabwe
would reach its nadir. However, as sad as it is to say
so, Zimbabwe has
taken a turn for the worse.
In an illuminating study, the Brenthurst
Foundation has tracked Zimbabwe’s
decline, up to suggestions in recent times
of improvement, including
economic growth for the first time in a decade.
Sadly, according to this
study, these green shoots appear to be flattering
to deceive, and more
problems loom.
Despite a level of development
second in the region only to SA in the early
1990 s, Zimbabwe registered 12
years of economic shrinkage associated with
hyperinflation until forced
dollarisation in 2009. At its peak in 2008,
inflation was estimated at 6,5
quindecillion novemdecillion percent — or 65
followed by 107 zeros. The
Global Political Agreement signed between Zanu
(PF) and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its smaller
offshoot in 2008
suggested a possible partial way out and led to the
government of national
unity . At last, economic growth reappeared, although
today most of the
civil service is still being paid less than the minimum
wage in
SA.
New problems are threatening even this min uscule economic
resurgence. The
politics of Zimbabwe is still deeply flawed, and investor
confidence is low,
with the government’s apparent determination to
nationalise much of the
remaining private sector, to say nothing of the
growing corruption and
cronyism, the report states.
One of the
biggest problems is that Zanu (PF) has used the comparative
improvement in
the economy and access to income to step up intimidation
around the country,
to the extent that only half of the population feel they
would be free to
vote for whatever party they choose, according to surveys.
It is in this
context that Zanu (PF) has insisted on the indigenisation
policy going
ahead. The policy forces foreign companies to sell half their
equity, not
only to Zimbabweans, but Zimbabweans specified by the
government. Only in
the flat- earth mentality of Zimbabwean economics could
such a move even be
considered. The notion that this plan will "retard
investment" is such a
radical understatement it hardly bears examination.
One of the disturbing
aspects of the programme is that it appears to be
garnering some support
from none other than the MDC. At the recent World
Economic Forum, MDC leader
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said:
"Across the political divide we
agree on the principle of citizenship
empowerment ... we have been
consistent in the area of indigenisation." This
is despite him saying that
indigenisation was "empty rhetoric" earlier this
year.
It seems the
unity government is doing what its detractors feared most:
strengthening
Zanu (PF)’s position. Zanu (PF) has been provided with a
lifeline, and is
using its position in the unity government to consolidate
its hold on power.
The consequence is that for once it is actually Zanu (PF)
that is pressing
for early elections.
What should regional nations do now? The Brenthurst
paper suggests we should
not rely solely on external intervention nor place
undue expectations on the
MDC, "whose performance in the unity government
has fallen well short on a
number of levels". It calls for a new approach
that should comprise several
elements, including renewed international
pressure for reform, stronger
regional leadership by SA , and a commitment
by the opposition in Zimbabwe
to become a credible, democratic and
accountable alternative to Zanu (PF).
This approach seems eminently
reasonable, but also very hopeful. If Zimbabwe
insists on what is
effectively the theft of South African companies, perhaps
more comprehensive
sanctions should be considered. It is extraordinary that
a company like Old
Mutual can still be invested in Zanu (PF)’s despotic
media interests .
Corporate SA , at the very least, should know better.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by John Makumbe
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
07:50
The decision by Zanu (PF) to defy the Sadc and stick to its
December 2010
resolution to hold elections this year is a classic example of
infantile
radicalism. It is a decision that will cost the beleaguered party
very
dearly in terms of political support both nationally and regionally.
The
reasons for insisting on conducting the polls this year are now well
known
to most Zimbabweans.
The main reason is the declining support
that the former liberation
political party is receiving from the masses of
this country, given its
violent nature. The Mugabe party cannot hold a
political rally that will be
well attended anywhere in this country without
having to frog-march people
to the venue. Furthermore, the party’s
structures are in a shambles as a
result of factionalism and the lack of
organization.
The aged political party has run out of ideas for
mobilizing the people and
has to resort to brutality and the political
culture of fear. It was,
however, very sad that the man who is actively
sponsoring violence and
intimidation in the Nyanga North area lost his own
daughter in a traffic
accident two weeks ago. Life has a nasty way of making
all of us pay for our
sins in one way or the other. The pain you perpetrate
on people may come
visiting you one day. Food for thought.
It remains
to be seen whether the Sadc extraordinary summit scheduled for
this week
will accept the Zanu (PF) decision to hold elections this year
regardless of
the extent to which the Global political Agreement (GPA) will
have been
implemented. It will be foolhardy for the outgoing ruling party to
insist on
holding elections which will be disputed by the other parties.
This will
throw the nation straight back to the illegitimacy of 2008, and
the Sadc is
unlikely to be willing to tolerate such madness.
It is also likely that
the MDC-T will refuse to participate in sham
elections that cannot result in
undisputed results. As in the past, Zanu
(PF) is likely to proceed to
elections even without the MDC-T. There are
always the NDA, NDE, NDU parties
that will be glad to jump onto the ballot
train, even though they know that
they will not win even a single seat in
Parliament.
Zanu (PF) will
itself sponsor some of these parties to come out of the
woodwork and
participate in order to give some degree of credence to the
electoral farce.
The bottom line is, however, that the Sadc and the
international community
will refuse to recognize such elections as in any
way legitimate. Without
the participation of the MDC-T, there cannot be any
legitimate elections in
Zimbabwe.
So, what is the best way forward for this nation and for the
Mugabe party?
Zimbabwe will benefit from the full implementation of the GPA
as soon as
possible. The nation will also be placed in a much better place
if the
security sector is reformed prior to the holding of elections. It is
frivolous for Zanu (PF) to argue that no nation should try and reform this
nation’s security structures. South Africa never said that it wanted to come
and reform our securocrats. The provisions for the reforming of the security
structures are contained in the GPA, which was drawn up by the negotiators -
who are all Zimbabweans.
All the principals who signed the GPA were well
aware that these provisions
existed in the document and that they were
placed there by the negotiators.
For Zanu (PF) to stubbornly allege that
external countries want to reform
our national security structures is
clutching at straws.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by MOTHER DUCK, Bulawayo
Wednesday, 18 May
2011 07:44
EDITOR - I happened to become enmeshed in the midst of a WOZA
march this
morning outside the ZESA headquarters in Lobengula
Street.
Whilst querying my electricity account at the Zimbabwe Electricity
power
company, suddenly, as if by magic, I was surrounded by thousands of
men and
women waving banners and chanting!
It was an eerily chilling
feeling being caught in the wrong place at the
wrong time, but I suppose it
is one of the joys of living in a tyrannical
dictatorship.
After my
initial fear had ebbed I became enthused by the sheer weight of
numbers and
infectious pride of the protestors. It was, I gather, a 'Power
to Poor
People' Campaign.
There were hundreds of pamphlets festooning the streets
after the protestors
had scattered and I hastily stuffed one in my pocket to
read at a more
convenient time.
It was not the hundreds of singing and
chanting folk who scared me – but the
sudden appearance of a number of
support policemen in riot gear. Safely
under their helmets and behind their
visors, batons flailing down on the
women and men, I was shocked and
horrified at their brutality. They, the
police, might have been carefully
protected against hurt, but the brave WOZA
men and women had little to
protect their heads against the merciless
onslaught of the batons.
Women
with babies, without protection, young girls and young men, tried
furiously
to avoid the onslaught, scattering in all directions whilst the
riot police
revelled in their own disgusting behaviour. Faces twisted
lasciviously and
maliciously, the police loved every moment of their run in
with the
helpless, defenceless populace.
WOZA is a group of peace, they do not resort
to violence. They sing and pray
and sit down in the face of repression by
the authorities. Their demands are
always simple - peace, prosperity for the
common people and love for their
fellow man.
It was a sad day for me as I
watched the face of repression portrayed at its
most disgusting and vile.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
respects a free press in Zimbabwe and he sincerely believes that press freedom
is an integral part of a democratic society.
The Prime Minister, for
long a victim of hate speech and a subservient public media, has largely
remained quiet in the wake of vicious and defamatory attacks. He respects the
public media, but the same media also have a responsibility to respect him and
the public office that he holds.
It is in this context that the Prime
Minister made what the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists is calling unpalatable
remarks about journalists from the public media. At a recent seminar organized
by the SAPES Trust, the Prime Minister berated the public media for
irresponsible journalism, adding that judging by the incessant propaganda
peddled from those media houses, it was hard to believe that the journalists
themselves believed in their own stories.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai has
always been a victim and not a perpetrator of hate speech. He has been a victim
of a hostile public media that has consistently and persistently attacked his
person and it is regrettable that the ZUJ has not sought to protect him or to
censor the responsible journalists and the media houses.
Everyone
deserves protection from the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and the Zimbabwe
Media Commission; from the public media journalists who are themselves victims
of government bureaucrats and politicians, to the hapless Zimbabweans like the
Prime Minister who are needlessly vilified every day. The Prime Minister is a
staunch disciple of press freedom and that is why he has championed media
reforms as a key deliverable if this country is to have conditions for free and
fair polls.
Journalists, particularly those in the public media, must be
free to do their duties with neither fear nor coercion. They must refuse to be
purveyors of one political party and one political leader, but must respect the
political diversity that Zimbabwe has become since the consummation of the
inclusive government in 2009.
The Prime Minister believes in the role
of free expression in economic development. He believes that the fanning of
violence and hatred by the media must stop immediately in the national interest.
But he also upholds and respects the GPA, which calls for the granting of new
broadcasting licenses to private players and calls on the public media to
refrain from abusive language and hate speech.
Luke
Tamborinyoka
Spokesperson - Office of the Prime Minister Harare
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
BILL WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SERIES
Public Hearings on Social Protection Programmes: 20th to 23rd May:
Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland North, Masvingo and
Manicaland
The Senate Thematic Committee on MDGs [Millennium Development Goals]
will be holding five public hearings in rural centres round the country from
Friday 20th to Monday 23rd May [see below for details of venues and
times].
The committee is enquiring into social protection programmes in
Zimbabwe.
Members of the public are invited to attend these public hearings and
to provide the committee with information relating to the objectives of its
enquiry, which are:
· to establish whether social programmes are accessible to deserving
communities in remote parts of the country
· to establish whether social programmes are reaching the deserving
beneficiaries
· to find out whether recipients in formal institutions are accessing
social welfare assistance
· to assess the effectiveness of social protection programmes in
addressing MDG 1 – eradicating extreme poverty and
hunger
· to recommend action for improved social protection systems in
Zimbabwe.
The chairperson of the Thematic Committee is Hon Senator Chief
Mtshane. The committee clerk is Mrs Lucia Nyawo.
Details of the Public Hearings
Friday 20th May: Rushinga
Rushinga District Administrator’s Office: 9.30
am
Saturday 21st May: Bubi
Inyati Council Hall: 2.30 pm
Sunday 22nd May: Masvingo [two hearings]
Mucheke Hall: 10.30 am
Nyika Growth Point (Council Offices): 2.30 pm
Monday 23rd May: Mutasa
Mutasa District Council – District Administrator’s Office: 9
am
For more
information please contact the committee clerk, Mrs Lucia Nyawo. Telephone
04-700181. Mobile 0772 892 769. Email nyawol@parlzim.gov.zw
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied.