http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 23:24
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was Saturday forced to make a public
retraction
of recent statements by senior government officials that all
salaries had
been frozen in a bid to contain growing unrest among workers
who feel
neglected by the inclusive government.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti
last week said the government had frozen civil
servants' salaries saying the
government wage bill was too big.
This sparked a huge storm among workers'
representatives, who said the
announcement was insensitive to their plight,
with many pushing for fresh
elections fully supervised by local, regional
and international election
observers.
Biti's announcement also
appeared to have widened the rift between the
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU).
Last
week, ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo told a radio station that the
MDC-T
had already "disengaged" from the ZCTU.
But yesterday they appeared
to have found each other again when the MDC-T
stuck to its tradition of
joining the ZCTU in Workers' Day celebrations, and
took part at the main
commemorations in Harare.
Tsvangirai and a number of senior MDC-T
officials attended the event.
Speaking at the workers event,
Tsvangirai assured workers that the salary
freeze was not in line with
government policy adding the door was still open
for
negotiations.
"The government did not announce a wage freeze," said
Tsvangirai.
"There is no government policy on wage freeze. If ever
there is going to be
such a policy, it must also take into consideration the
price freeze.
"There is no government policy I know of on wage
freeze."
Tsvangirai said the government was "very serious" about
resolving the salary
discrepancies in the public service and ensuring a
better quality of life
for workers.
Matombo said if the
government did not urgently address the salaries issue,
workers would take
to the streets.
"No one should freeze salaries," said Matombo. "If
you want to freeze
salaries, why not go ahead and do it secretly with
employers, rather than to
make a public announcement without even
negotiating because it shows total
disrespect (for workers). We are not
afraid of anything. We are prepared to
take into the
streets."
Matombo said the current salary scales in the country were
"much lower than
those during Ian Smith's UDI (Unilateral Declaration of
Independence), 30
years after Independence."
ZCTU secretary
general Wellington Chibhebhe said the coming in of the
inclusive government
had not brought about any meaningful changes for the
workers.
"The journey we have walked since May 1 last year is
like we are moving
backwards.
"The explanation from the
government since 1980 is still the same, that
there is no
money.
"This very worrying for us because there is money for
everything else except
salaries of workers," said
Chibhebhe.
Representatives of various civil society organisations
also challenged the
government to be more sensitive with the plight of
workers.
Meanwhile, three journalists from The Standard almost failed
to cover the
ZCTU's May Day event in Dzivaresekwa after some overzealous
security
personnel demanded press cards.
But even after
presenting the press cards the guards went on to deny them
entry.
Senior reporters Bertha Shoko and Vusumuzi Sifile, and
photographer Shepherd
Tozvireva had to seek the intervention of MDC-T
spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
More than a year into the life of the
inclusive government, yesterday's
events also proved that there are still
wide divisions among workers along
political lines, when some workers
boycotted the ZCTU event to attend a
parallel programme organised by Joseph
Chinotimba's Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade Unions (ZFTU).
A
handful of people attended the ZFTU-led celebrations at Gwanzura
stadium.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE AND BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
23:02
ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH), the publishers of the Zimbabwe
Independent and
The Standard say the long wait for the group’s daily paper,
NewsDay may soon
be over.
This follows an announcement by the
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) that it
would start receiving applications
from media houses seeking registration
for new products on Tuesday. The
government on Friday gazetted registration
fees for media houses and the
accreditation of journalists paving the way
for the commission to begin its
work in earnest.
“It’s a major development,” said AMH CEO, Raphael
Khumalo (pictured)
yesterday. “After having waited for two years to get a
license for NewsDay,
it’s now a matter of time before we can get the
go-ahead to start
publishing.”
Khumalo said the daily paper would
give a voice to people across the country
who for a long time have been
denied access to alternative sources of
information.
He said
NewsDay would also provide employment to hundreds of skilled people
prevented from realising their potential by the restrictive media
environment.
Government has set application fees for mass media
service at US$500 and
registration fees at US$1 500. Publishers will pay
US$100 to renew licences.
“The commission will start receiving applications
for renewal of
registration certificates by mass media service providers and
renewal of
accreditation status on Tuesday,” the ZMC said in a
statement.
“All new applications for both registrations of mass media
services and
accreditation of journalists can be lodged with the commission
on the same
date.”
Journalists and media houses have been given
up to June 4 to renew their
licenses or lodge new
applications.
Those that have been publishing without licenses were
also given the same
deadline to regularise their operations.
ZMC
commissioners were appointed in December to fulfil the Global Political
Agreement that led to the formation of the unity government in February last
year.
The new dispensation is likely to see the return of
newspapers such as The
Daily News and Daily News on Sunday, which were
banned by government for
operating without licences.
BY OUR
STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
19:31
THE death of former Gweru Rural Member of Parliament and Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) secretary for lands and agriculture, Renson
Gasela
together with two other party officials in a horrific accident has
exposed
glaring handicaps in the country’s police and fire services.
Lack
of transport and fuel, poor communication and other infrastructure have
become a regular story even in matters that require urgent
interventions.
All this played out on April 24 when Gasela and two other MDC
officials,
Lyson Mlambo and Ntombizodwa Gumbo died in an accident.
Their
bodies were stuck at the accident scene for many hours, only to be
removed
in the early hours of the following day because the police had no
transport
and the fire brigade had no fuel.
Even the injured spent a few hours at the
scene before they were finally
taken to the United Bulawayo
Hospital.
After receiving a call that Gasela had died on the spot about 25km
from
Zvishavane, Regional Integration and International Cooperation Minister
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga immediately tried calling Zvishavane police
from Bulawayo, but failed to get through.
“We finally managed to get a
mobile number for a police officer based in
Zvishavane, who then confirmed
they had been informed of two accidents.
“One was along Masvingo road and the
other was along Shurugwi road,”
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said.
While the
police were aware of the accident, Misihairabwi said they failed
to react on
time because they had no transport to get to the scene.
“They told us that
the only car they had at the station had gone with
officers to the Masvingo
accident.
“I immediately drove to Zvishavane with former Senator Rita Ndlovu.
I took
the longer route, via Gweru and when I arrived, I found the police
had
arrived at the scene about one and half hours after I spoke to them,”
she
said.
An even bigger nightmare awaited Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
Industry Minister
Welshman Ncube and other officials who had rushed to the
scene.
They just watched helplessly at the bodies, as they did not have the
means
to get them out of the trap.
Attempts to get the Fire Brigade to
intervene swiftly hit a brickwall as the
fire fighters had no
fuel.
“Ncube called the Fire Brigade in Gweru, but he was told they had no
fuel,”
added Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
“It was only after he offered to
organise fuel for them that they managed to
get to the scene.
“They only
arrived after I had already left the scene to rush to Bulawayo
with the
injured, but I am told they were there in the early hours of the
next
day.”
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena on Friday said inasmuch as the
police
would want to respond swiftly to such situations, they were being
hindered
by lack of resources.
“That is what we have always been talking
about, that we do not have
adequate resources,” said Bvudzijena.
“We need
more resources in terms of transport, office equipment and other
forensic
equipment that we need to discharge our duties.
“The inclusive government
should provide sufficient resources to ensure that
we discharge our duties
properly.”
Bvudzijena said the police were still to finalise their
investigations on
the fatal crash.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
19:28
TOMORROW Zimbabweans join the rest of the world in commemorating
World Press
Freedom Day, but despite the formation of the inclusive
government, media
restrictions still abound.
When the inclusive
government came into office last year, hopes were very
high that the
inter-party government would free the working environment for
the
media.
Journalists and media rights campaigners believe that while amendments
to
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the
Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), among others, were likely to bring a few
positive changes in the media industry, those bent on silencing dissent had
found a new weapon in defamation laws.
This week, five journalists will
testify in a court case where businessman
Philip Chiyangwa is suing eight
Harare councillors for criminal defamation
following the publication of
details of a council report in The Standard and
Sunday Times
newspapers.
The five journalists - Vincent Kahiya, Nevanji Madanhire,
Jennifer Dube and
Feluna Nleya, all from The Standard and Stanley Gama from
the Sunday Times
of South Africa - are being accused of publishing stories
based on a City of
Harare council report about Chiyangwa's land deals in the
capital.
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists Secretary General, Foster Dongozi said
the
case was "a spectacular own goal" by the inclusive government.
"It is
actually becoming a very dubious trend, because even last year around
this
time we had colleagues (Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure) who were
arrested
on charges related to criminal defamation," said Dongozi.
Kahiya and
Chimakure, then Editor and News Editor of the Zimbabwe
Independent
respectively, were arrested a few days after World Press Freedom
Day last
year on charges of publishing falsehoods.
Irene Petras, the director of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said
recent cases of criminal defamation
involving some senior officials were a
proof that there were still major
challenges facing journalists.
"Criminal defamation is not something we need
in our statutory books," said
Petras. "People have enough remedies to
resolve these issues without
instituting criminal charges."
The Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe chapter says
defamation laws
"have the effect of not only silencing the media but also
silencing society
which relies on the media to know and critique government
decisions".
"The police have been more than ready to act on political
instructions
arresting journalists on criminal defamation charges," said
MISA in a
document on criminal defamation.
Farai Nhende, a legal advisor
at MISA Zimbabwe said, "The major hazard with
criminal defamation laws is
that in cases pertaining to the publication of
allegations of corruption and
other criminal acts they may simply be invoked
to put brakes on further
investigations or publication."
Defamation criminalises the publication of
statements that may cause harm to
an individual's name and good
standing.
He said in most cases defamation laws force journalists to reveal
their
sources, which "has a very chilling effect on investigative journalism
and
amounts to an abuse of media freedom since the practice effectively
turns
journalists into police informants".
Defamation criminalises the
publication of statements that may cause harm to
an individual's name and
good standing.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 19:25
THE
recent controversial visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
exposed MDC-T’s inability to influence the direction of the inclusive
government and reinforced perceptions that Morgan Tsvangirai is a lame duck
Prime Minister, analysts said last week.
President Robert Mugabe
unilaterally invited the Iranian leader who is
considered a despot by the
West to officially open the Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) in
Bulawayo sparking protests from his
so-called equal political partners in
the government of national unity (GNU)
Tsvangirai and ministers from MDC-T
snubbed Ahmadinejad describing his
invitation as a “colossal” political
scandal and an insult to Zimbabweans.
Undoubtedly the MDC-T’s presence in the
unity government has brought some
semblance of economic and political
stability but Tsvangirai is clearly
struggling to assert his authority as
Zanu PF hardliners continue to put
spanners in the works.
He is slowly
losing his political influence and has been shown little
respect by
ministers he is supposed to supervise.
Zanu PF has been making crucial
foreign, political and economic policies
with a bearing on the country’s
future without consulting the two MDC
formations.
At every opportune
moment, Mugabe has deliberately undermined the PM and has
on several
occasions wantonly violated the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
with
impunity.
Political analysts last week said Mugabe’s behaviour showed that
the MDC-T —
though occupying “an important democratic space” in government
—was playing
second fiddle to Zanu PF.
Over a year after the formation of
the GNU, the police, army and secret
intelligence service which are all
headed by Mugabe’s loyalists continue to
act as if they are an extension of
Zanu PF.
The selective application of the rule of law is still apparent
whenever
MDC-T and Zanu PF supporters clash.
Tsvangirai’s supporters
continue to be hounded out of their homes by Zanu PF
activists in the rural
areas such as Muzarabani and Mutoko.
Tsvangirai’s silence and inaction by
police — even though MDC-T co-chairs
the Home Affairs ministry — is an
indication of lack of power not only by
MDC-T minister Giles Mutsekwa but by
the party as a whole.
Of late Mugabe has been gazetting laws that his party
passed during the
sixth Parliament in 2007, when Zanu PF was still the
majority in the House.
Among the laws are the controversial Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment
Act and the Petroleum Act, widely seen as designed
to keep the bankrupt
liberation party financially afloat as the two laws
would benefit mostly
Zanu PF loyalists.
MDC-T spokesman and Information,
Communication and Technology Minister
Nelson Chamisa is one of several
officials from the two MDC formations who
are ministers onlyon paper after
Mugabe stripped them of powers. They donot
administer any Acts.
Apart
from mild protests, Tsvangirai appears hamstrung to stop an
increasingly
intransigent Mugabe from eroding any of the little power he has
as
PM.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) political science lecturer John Makumbe says
although the MDC-T occupies an important democratic space in government
Tsvangirai is playing second fiddle to Mugabe.
“They are not by any
chance equal,” said Makumbe. “They (MDC) are playing
second fiddle. The MDC
is saying the gazetting of the laws is illegal but
they are failing to stop
them.”
Makumbe said Tsvangirai also appeared to be failing to force Mugabe to
award
his party an ambassadorial post in South Africa which would soon be
vacant
after Simon Khaya Moyo was elected Zanu PF chairman.
The three
parties in the GNU agreed that any vacancy that arises in the
diplomatic
arena be given to the two MDC formations but Zanu PF seems
determined to
keep the influential post under its wings.
John Kanokanga, the chairman of
the Zimbabwe Movement for Peace,
Reconciliation and Unity (Zimpru), a local
peace advocacy body, shares
Makumbe’s sentiments.
He said the MDC-T was
just “a lame duck” in the inclusive government as Zanu
PF was still very
much in control.
Kanokanga said suspicion between the two political
protagonists made it
difficult for them to fully work together.
“As
things stand now, Zanu PF is the ruling party,” said Kanokanga.
“They are
running the show and MDC is just being by-passed on important
matters.”
But Makumbe also gave the MDC-T a pat at the back for playing a
watchdog
role in keeping corruption in check which he said had become
rampant in
Mugabe’s party. Its presence, said Makumbe, forced Zanu PF into
agreeing to
the writing up of a new democratic constitution.
“Their
effectiveness is definitely limited,” said Makumbe. “But they are
useful in
exposing Zanu PF’s misgovernance including corruption pertaining
to Chiadzwa
diamonds.”
Another political commentator Eldred Masunungure said the presence
of the
MDC formations in government “has moderated extremist elements” in
Zanu PF.
Both Zanu PF and MDC-T, he said, were not in total control of events
in
government because of “the rule of anticipated reaction” which moderates
their political behaviour.
“They (MDC-T) are playing a limited role but
(which is) crucial and
critical,” said Masunungure who is also a political
science lecturer at the
UZ.
“Things could have been far worse than they
are without their presence.”
There are a number of other crucial decisions
that Mugabe and Zanu PF have
made without consulting their partners in the
coalition such as the
continuing land seizures and the refusal to swear-in
Roy Bennett as deputy
Agriculture minister.
Mugabe has also refused to
address a host of other GPA outstanding issues
such as his unilateral
appointments of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and
Attorney General
Johannes Tomana.
Outwitted and disregarded by Mugabe, all that Tsvangirai has
done is make
fruitless trips to South Africa to put pressure on the
mediator in the
Zimbabwe crisis, South African President Jacob Zuma to reign
in Mugabe.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 19:09
A
militant Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA)
splinter group, which two years ago urged President Robert Mugabe not to
accept defeat in elections is now demanding 20% of all acquired land and a
slice of the economy as compensation for participating in the war of
liberation. The faction, led by Retired Colonel Basten Beta says it wants
more control over land, mines and the economy in general because it feels
the compensation given to war veterans in 1997 was not enough.
Beta told
Mugabe soon after he lost the first round of the presidential poll
in March
2008 to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he must not to lose
"what we got
through the bullet through the ballot".
By coincidence or design, Zanu PF
immediately embarked on an orgy of
political violence that forced Tsvangirai
to pull out of the run-off
election three months later.
The MDC-T says at
least 200 of its supporters were murdered by suspected
Zanu PF activists and
State security agents in a bid to keep the 86-year-old
leader in
power.
Thousands of people were displaced, others were maimed while many
women were
raped as Zanu PF militia went on a rampage.
But Beta still
stands by his advice to Mugabe.
"I still stand by what I said," said Beta.
"My political ideology is that
we were fighting for 100% political power and
we must not allow opportunists
to rule this country and reverse the gains of
the liberation struggle."
Asked if he feels bad about the killings, he
quipped, "I can't feel sorry
for people who killed each other for no
apparent reason, just for
greediness. I should feel sorry for those killed
during the liberation war."
The ZNLWVA has been divided into three factions
led by Beta, Jabulani
Sibanda and Joseph Chinotimba.
Mugabe is the patron
of the war veterans and has battled to stay neutral in
the battle for the
association.
Two years after he made the inflammatory statements, Beta is now
demanding a
stake in land and the economy, alleging former freedom fighters
have been
neglected for a long time.
"As war veterans we want to be
assisted to get land and finance so that we
can participate in the
mainstream economy.
"We will soon approach government," said Beta, who could
not say what they
would do if government rejected the demands.
He also
backtracked on earlier reports that his faction would approach
Britain for
compensation saying they would only push the government to
assist
them.
Beta wants the "return of decency" for war veterans, spouses and their
children through benefiting from government's empowerment laws.
"Most war
veterans don't have farms but they were used to invade farms by
politicians," he said.
"Government is talking about empowerment laws and
we are not being
consulted. Some war veterans are dying and being buried
without any
government assistance."
Although war veterans spearheaded the
chaotic land invasions few of them
benefited, he said.
Mugabe's cronies
in the civil service, army, police and secret service
grabbed the most
fertile land.
For the past few weeks Beta's faction, which appears to be
well-funded, has
been splashing full page adverts in the press highlighting
the plight of war
veterans.
One of the adverts titled Heal Our Wounds
Campaign, which claims over 27 000
freedom fighters were killed during the
liberation war, betrays Beta's
hunger for monetary compensation.
"The
Mau-Mau in Kenya was compensated why not Zanla and Zipra?
"Your children,
brothers and sisters did not die in vain, the war veterans'
leadership needs
your help to honour them for we knew them by their
Chimurenga names," reads
the advert.
But the Mau Mau fighters were never compensated by the British
administration as claimed by the faction.
They are suing for compensation
but Britain is arguing that liabilities of
the Kenyan colonial
administration were passed on to the government that
succeeded it.
Beta
said Z$50 000 lump sum compensation that war veterans got from
government in
1997 was peanuts that could not sustain their whole lives. War
veterans also
continue to receive pensions from government.
Chinotimba's faction says it
wants the monthly pensions increased from US$50
to US$600, an amount which
will make gainfully employed civil servants green
with envy.
"What does
one do with US$50 per month? For a person who sacrificed his or
her life to
be treated in this manner is a shame," said Chinotimba.
On average, civil
servants are earning US$200 a month.
Beta said except for the late Chenjerai
Hunzvi, the war veterans have been
led by "gullible and usable people" who
never participated in the war of
liberation.
He accused Sibanda of
flouting the war veterans' constitution by failing to
hold congresses during
the time he has been in office.
"We are supposed to hold congresses after
every three years but Sibanda has
refused to do so," said Beta. "This guy
has been in office for the past
three years without our mandate".
He said
the chairmanship should be rotated between Zanla and Zipra but "ari
kutiza
nepoto (But Sibanda is refusing to hand over the baton)".
"It is not written
down but it is known that the chairmanship is rotational
and now it's
Zanla's turn," said Beta, adding that he was organising war
veterans across
the country in preparation for a congress.
Sibanda could not be reached for
comment last week.
In December last year, Army General Constantine Chiwenga
reportedly summoned
the factions to his office and ordered them to put a
planned congress on
hold.
Sources say Zanu PF was concerned about the
likely "domino effect" an
acrimonious congress would have on the party's
congress held around the same
time.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 18:29
REGARDLESS of
what country NATO Training Mission Afghanistan members
represent, returning
home from their deployment here often means taking some
much needed time off
to get some rest and spend quality time with the
family.
However, for
Gunner Kuziva Dapira, a British soldier currently assigned to
the Camp Alamo
UK Leadership Training Team, time off and rest is not what's
on his agenda
after reaching the end of his tour in April.
Dapira is a member of the United
Kingdom's King's Troop Royal Horse
Artillery, also known as The Troop, and
within a month of his returning to
London, his unit will be participating in
one of Britain's biggest events -
Queen Elizabeth's official birthday
celebration also known as Trooping the
Colour.
The Troop is an elite unit
of about 100 soldiers, all of whom superb
equestrians trained to drive a
team of six horses that pull the "thirteen
pounder" state saluting gun.
Their duties include the firing of royal
salutes on royal anniversaries and
state occasions, and providing a gun
carriage and team of black horses for
state and military funerals.
But out of all the ceremonies the unit
participates in, Trooping the Colour
is the highest honor, according to
Dapira.
"Riding in the Queen's Parade means a lot to the King's Troop," he
said. "It's
our bread and butter. It's like playing in the World-Cup
finals." He added
that out of approximately 100 members of his unit, only 48
actually ride in
the parade and that to him it is a high honour to be one of
those selected.
Dapira, a Zimbabwe native, has been in Britain for six years
and joined the
Army three years ago. His duties at the KMTC include
providing logistical
support to his fellow British soldiers and to train
Afghan noncommissioned
officers.
Training NCOs for the Afghan National
Army is very rewarding because it
helps create more leaders for Afghanistan,
he said.
"Other high-points of this deployment have been working with
multi-national
forces and also different regiments," he said. "And learning
languages, I've
learned a little bit of Dari and a little bit of
French."
This will be the second time Dapira rides in the Queen's Birthday
Parade,
and he feels confident that regardless of the short time given for
him to
prepare, he will be ready by June.
"It won't be hard readjusting
to being back on parade because it's something
I have done before," he said.
"While it's a big change to go from being in a
war zone to going back to
being in front of a crowd, I'm a professional
soldier and I'm trained to
adapt to any circumstance."- mtn
Trooping The Color celebrates the queen's
official birthday and is always
held the second or third Saturday of June.
Her actual birthday is on April
21, but the ceremony is held in June to in
the hope for good weather. The
ceremony itself dates back to at least the
early 18th century when the flags
of the battalion, also referred to as
colors, were carried or 'trooped' down
the ranks so that they could be seen
and recognized by the soldiers. The
Queen attends in a horse-drawn carriage
and the regiments of the Household
Division, her personal troops, parade in
front of her. More than 1,400
soldiers are on parade, plus 200 horses and
more than 400 musicians.
Dapira is a member of the United Kingdom's
King's Troop Royal Horse
Artillery, also known as The Troop, and within a
month of his returning to
London, his unit will be participating in one of
Britain's biggest events -
Queen Elizabeth's official birthday celebration
also known as Trooping the
Color.
The Troop is an elite unit of about 100
soldiers, all of whom superb
equestrians trained to drive a team of six
horses that pull the 'thirteen
pounder' state saluting gun. Their duties
include the firing of royal
salutes on royal anniversaries and state
occasions, and providing a gun
carriage and team of black horses for state
and military funerals.
But out of all the ceremonies the unit participates
in, Trooping the Color
is the highest honor, according to Dapira.
"Riding
in the Queen's Parade means a lot to the King's Troop," he said. "It's
our
bread and butter. It's like playing in the world-cup finals." He added
that
out of approximately 100 members of his unit, only 48 actually ride in
the
parade and that to him it is a high honor to be one of those
selected.
Dapira, a Zimbabwe native, has been in Britain for six years and
joined the
Army three years ago. His duties at the KMTC include providing
logistical
support to his fellow British soldiers and to train Afghan
noncommissioned
officers.
Training NCOs for the Afghan National Army is
very rewarding because it
helps help create more leaders for Afghanistan, he
said.
"Other high-points of this deployment have been working with
multi-national
forces and also different regiments," he said. "And learning
languages, I've
learned a little bit of Dari and a little bit of
French."
This will be the second time Dapira rides in the Queen's Birthday
Parade,
and he feels confident that regardless of the short time given for
him to
prepare, he will be ready by June.
"It won't be hard readjusting
to being back on parade because it's something
I have done before," he said.
"While it's a big change to go from being in a
war zone to going back to
being in front of a crowd, I'm a professional
soldier and I'm trained to
adapt to any circumstance."
Trooping The Color celebrates the queen's
official birthday and is always
held the second or third Saturday of June.
Her actual birthday is on April
21, but the ceremony is held in June to in
the hope for good weather. The
ceremony itself dates back to at least the
early 18th century when the flags
of the battalion, also referred to as
colors, were carried or 'trooped' down
the ranks so that they could be seen
and recognized by the soldiers. The
Queen attends in a horse-drawn carriage
and the regiments of the Household
Division, her personal troops, parade in
front of her. More than 1,400
soldiers are on parade, plus 200 horses and
more than 400 musicians. SOURCE:
mtn
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
18:15
CHURCH organisations from different denominations have joined
forces to
support the Anglican Church faction led by Bishop Chad Gandiya in
its battle
to regain access to premises that have been at the centre of a
three-year-old dispute. Zanu PF sympathiser and ex-communicated Anglican
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga has successfully used his connections in the party
and the police to lock out the majority of the church's followers from
dioceses in Harare.
But representatives of the Zimbabwe National Pastors
Conference, Christian
Alliance and Ecumenical Support Services who met
recently in Harare endorsed
a multi-pronged strategy to help Gandiya's
group, in a move that might mark
a new twist to the conflict.
"What is
happening at the Anglican Church is an old tactic of the devil who
is a
divider of the people," Bishop Ancelimo Magaya of the Grace Ablaze
Ministries International said after the meeting.
"We need to identify
with our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Church.
"If we do not do that,
we will be sinning and if we take time to do it, the
evil that is happening
in the Anglican Church will come to us."
Magaya said Christians must look at
similar divisions in trade, students'
and lawyers' unions among other
sectors to understand the severity of the
Anglican saga.
"For us here in
Harare, when some of these things happened to the people of
Matabeleland, we
bought the dissidents story and ignored those people's
suffering," Magaya
said.
"Then came the killing of people with the formation of the MDC and we
sat
back and said it's politics.
"The divisions continued with the farm
seizures and we said it was for the
whites.
"It came again with the
destruction of people's houses in 2005 and those in
Borrowdale said it was
for those in the ghetto.
"It swept through the business sector with the price
slashes, continued with
the 2008 violence and now, banks and so many other
companies are at risk
because of yet another divisive piece of
legislation.
"We as the church should refuse to bow to this wave of
divisiveness."
Among other things, the organisations will urge Christians to
make "direct"
prayers which mention names of the people deemed responsible
for the
Anglican saga including Kunonga, the police, the
commissioner-general of
police Augustine Chihuri and President Robert
Mugabe.
Churches will also be urged to publicly condemn the divisions at the
Anglican Church through the media and peaceful marches.
They will also
petition the three parties in the unity government protesting
against the
Organ on National Healing and Reconciliation's failure to find a
solution to
the saga.
Also to be petitioned are regional and international Christian
bodies and if
possible, the mediator of the Zimbabwe talks, South African
President Jacob
Zuma.
Two factions have emerged in the Anglican Church
following Kunonga's 2007
failed attempt to withdraw the Harare Diocese from
the mother body, the
Church of the Province of Central Africa
(CPCA).
Gandiya told the meeting that Kunonga and his people had allegedly
used the
police to terrorise CPCA members.
He said CPCA members engaged
in running battles with the police every
Sunday, even if they worshipped
from alternative places since Kunonga and
his people barred them from
entering the church premises despite numerous
court orders that the two
groups must share the premises.
He said his group was also not happy that
Kunonga gets proceeds from the
church's buildings that are being rented out
as well as levies from its
schools.
Kunonga's spokesperson Reverend
Admire Chisango said he could not comment
much on the issue as it was before
the Organ on National Healing and
Reconciliation.
"It will not be prudent
for me to say much on this issue before the Organ
concludes its
intervention," he said."But all I can say regarding sharing of
properties is
that currently we are at a stage called the status quo," he
said.
"We are
at a stage we were at before September 21 2007 where we had one
Bishop,
Bishop Kunonga, one diocese, one authority and one throne.
"Never in any
diocese of the Anglican will you find two bishops, the throne
is never
shared."
Chisango said he would need to verify issues about the number and
type of
buildings the church owns but refuted claims that his faction was
enjoying
all proceeds from these.
He said he was confident the national
healing organ could resolve the
Anglican saga, adding that "Bishop Kunonga
long ago extended his hand to the
other group when he was made custodian of
the church's properties."
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
18:13
GOVERNMENT has laid the blame on members of the apostolic faith
sects for
the unrelenting measles outbreak that has killed more than 183
children
since it was first detected in September last year. Some sects bar
their
members from seeking medical attention for religious reasons.
A
team of government experts who gave oral evidence during hearings by the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Welfare on Tuesday
recommended that the immunisation of children against killer diseases such
as measles must be mandatory.
Portia Manangazira, the head of
Epidemiology and Disease Control in the
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare
said the measles outbreak had mainly
affected children whose parents were
members of the sects because they were
not immunised.
The outbreak has
been detected in at least 52 out of the 59 districts and
99% of the deaths
occurred outside community centres.
Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Harare
provinces have been the hardest hit.
"Other countries in the region have made
child immunisation mandatory but
when you look at Zimbabwe there is no such
legal framework to allow for
this," Manangazira said.
"I urge you
Honourable Members of Parliament to look into this issue
seriously because
without any binding law we will not be able to reach these
members of the
apostolic faith sects and we will continue losing lives to a
very easily
preventable and curable disease.
"Despite losing so many children members
continue to shun seeking treatment
for their children."
She said
Zimbabwe's immunisation rates were also low at 80%. The
recommended rate is
90% and above, Manangazira said.
Vaccination rates began falling in 1996 in
one of the earliest signs of a
weakening health delivery
system.
Government was also urged to strengthen its routine immunisation
campaigns
to fight diseases such as measles.
As part of efforts to fight
the current outbreak, the Ministry of Health and
its partners will conduct a
door-to-door immunisation programme countrywide
between May 10 and the end
of next month.
Manangazira said they would need the support of MPs to reach
out to
religious sects that continue to shun modern medicine.
Kwekwe
Central MP, Blessing Chebundo said it was the duty of government to
guarantee the wellbeing of children.
"We must stop the further loss of
lives as a government," he said after the
experts gave evidence.
"We
should not allow the further loss lives of children on the basis of
religion."
Editor Matamisa, the MP for Kadoma urged the government to
ensure that
vaccines used during immunisation met the standards to prevent
cases of
children dying after vaccination.
She said the ministry also
failed to communicate properly last year after
children died following
another immunisation campaign.
The government says its investigations
revealed that the deaths were not
related to the vaccinations.
BY
BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
18:10
BELINDA Muchenje Makowa remembers the trauma her family went
through when
her mother was diagnosed with cancer of the bone marrow two
years ago. All
her life Makowa says their late mother Grace Ngoni Muchenje
was a pillar of
strength and she had never imagined losing her.
"I was
the one driving her on that day when she received the news that she
has
cancer," she recalled last week.
"We were all there together with my other
sisters.
"This was the first time we ever had cancer in the family and I was
very
worried about my mother's health especially knowing that cancer has no
cure."
But Makowa's says the way her mother came to terms with her
condition
quickly calmed the family's fears.
"My mother was a very strong
person who took everything in her stride and
she often comforted us telling
us this was God's way for her.
"She was diagnosed around February 2008 and by
May that same year she told
us she already knew that she was going to
die.
"She had embraced her fate by that time and she had begun planning for
her
funeral.
"She knew what songs she wanted us to sing at her funeral. .
.what passages
of scripture she wanted the pastor to read.
"She also
wrote her own will, wrote letters of wishes.
"She was prepared for her death.
She said her goodbyes and when her time to
go came she went peacefully in
October."
Although the family went through immense pain during the illness
and
subsequent death, Makowa said the experience had taught them valuable
lessons about people who help others cope with difficult conditions in
life.
Last week Makowa and her other family members donated equipment and
literature worth US$3 000 to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe to assist
with therapy and education for cancer patients and their families.
The
material was bought with the prize money Juliet Makowa (Belinda's
sister)
won when she took part in the New York Marathon in November last
year.
Their sister-in-law Yvette said Muchenje benefited immensely from
the Cancer
Association which offers free care to patients.
Yvette said
the family had found it befitting to give back to other cancer
patients who
also require the services of the organisation.
"The Cancer Centre does
tremendous work for cancer patients and we are
hoping that through this
donation other people can benefit as well," she
said.
"Our mother was a
very generous person and I am sure she is proud of us
today as we give this
donation."
Cancer Association deputy manager and education officer Shingirayi
Dakwa
welcomed the contribution saying her organisation depended on such
generosity to survive.
"Our organisation is a non-profit organisation
that offers counselling
services, radiotherapy for people with cancer so we
do our best to assist
those with cancer and their families through their
illness," Dakwa said.
Cancer treatment in Zimbabwe is very expensive but the
association offers it
for free.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 17:28
NYETERAI
Sikuveka from rural Sanyati says the first time she laid her eyes
on her
newly born baby she was struck by fear.
Wiseman was born with a mouth
deformity that even baffled the nurses that
helped Sikuveka deliver.
"The
nurses were shocked and they began speaking in hushed tones," she said
last
week. "At first they didn't want to show me the child until I insisted
I
wanted to see him for myself.
"I had never seen anything like that, I thought
someone had bewitched my
son."
Sikuveka's son, now eight, had a condition
known as cleft lip.
It is a treatable birth defect that occurs when the
tissues of the upper jaw
and nose do not join as expected during foetal
development, resulting in a
split lip.
Because of lack of access to
health services and ignorance by the majority
of Zimbabweans, many children
grow up with the condition, which has a lot of
stigma attached to
it.
Luckily for Sikuveka, Wiseman was among the 70 plus children who were
selected to receive free corrective surgery from a group of American
surgeons through an organisation known as Operation of Hope.
Founded by
US-based surgeon, Joseph Clawson, Operation of Hope has been
doing similar
operations on children from across the world since 1989.
Clawson himself has
performed more than 2 500 free surgeries.
The surgeons have been visiting
Zimbabwe since October last year to perform
corrective surgeries for
children and even adults with mostly mouth
deformities known as cleft lip
and cleft palate.
At least 500 children have benefited from the
operations.
"I heard the news about these doctors from Save the Children,"
Sikuveka
said.
"When they told me that there are some people from America
who can fix my
son's mouth I just couldn't believe it."
She had watched
Wiseman being teased by her peers and the operation last
week ended her
eight year-long nightmare.
"I am relieved that he can now play with the other
children and not be
teased, he is now almost normal like them," the elated
mother said after the
operation.
"This is a miracle I thought I would
never see it in my life. I cannot wait
to get back to the village and for
his brothers and sisters to see him."
Jennifer Trubenbach who was leading the
Operation of Hope team said the
cleft lip surgery was important because it
allowed affected children to lead
normal lives again.
"In some cases we
have heard mothers have been accused of cutting their
children's lips
because people don't understand that it's a genetic thing
just like someone
has brown eyes and another has blue eyes," she said.
"It is the way you were
born, it is not the fault of the mother or the
father."
Trubenbach said
for the cleft palate, it was important for the surgery to be
done before the
child began to speak so that speech development is not
affected.
A cleft
lip and palate surgery is estimated to cost around US$1 500, an
amount
beyond the reach of many ordinary Zimbabweans.
BY BERTHA
SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 12:48
IN one of his
many articles about the country’s collapsed agricultural
sector, the late
former Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator for
Gweru Rural,
Renson Gasela wrote: “One thing that the government has been
consistent on
has been the annual failure to ensure farmers have inputs in
time.”
In this January 20 2010, article titled: “How to get
agriculture on its
feet”, Gasela – who served as secretary for agriculture
in the MDC before
and after the 2005 split – stressed the need for proper
planning by the
government as the only way out of perennial crop
failures.
“It would appear to me that as for failure to plan
for each agricultural
season over the past 10 years or so, is concerned; it
is like an eroded
field which needs to be repaired by providing the
necessary contours…
“What I recommend to government is that there be a
continuous two-year plan
for agriculture,” wrote Gasela.
At the
end of his article, he warned: “If we do not do something along these
lines,
we will, as a country, continue to fail to plan for our food.”
This
was among Gasela’s very last articles, focusing on, as usual, his
favourite
subject of agriculture.
He died in a car crash near Zvishavane in the
Midlands on April 24,
alongside two other officials from the MDC formation
led by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara.
He will be buried
in Gweru today.
While in his articles Gasela complained that the
government had been
consistent in failing to plan, he also made consistent
recommendations for
the government to prioritise agriculture
reforms.
The recommendations fell on deaf ears.
When many
were still basking in the excitement that followed the signing of
the global
political agreement (GPA) two years ago, Gasela challenged the
parties to
expedite the implementation of the agreement to allow farmers to
plant on
time.
At the time, there were numerous media reports about the
importation of
maize from neighbouring countries.
But in an
article on October 9 2008, Gasela said instead of celebrating
maize that had
not even been delivered, the government should “bring maize,
make it
available everywhere and then go on television”.
“Very few people eat
any maize from their television screens,” he wrote.
Sharing the same
name with one of Gasela’s aides, on a number of occasions
he made a mistake
and dialled my number instead of Vusa his aide.
In all those “lost”
calls, the sense of urgency to get things done on the
farm was
evident.
Those calls also revealed to me, as one of his colleagues
put it, “the
epitome of humility” that Gasela was.
According to
Regional Integration and International Cooperation Minister
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Gasela had an unmatched love for
agriculture.
During his days as a parliamentarian, he spent most of
his time at the
grassroots with other farmers, something that enabled him to
always resonate
with the daily struggles of Zimbabwe’s small-scale
farmers.
“Ga’s passion was in land, its use and its produce, he
symbolised everything
about ‘the farmer’ and I know his happiest and most
fulfilling times were
during his tenure at the GMB,” said
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
She described him as “a combination of the
past, present and the future of
Zimbabwe”.
Gasela was among the
MDC heavyweights who disagreed with party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai over
senate elections in 2005, resulting in the party splitting
into two
factions.
Because of his principled nature, Tsvangirai found it fit
to push aside
those differences and travelled all the way to Gweru to mourn
his former
comrade.
Even senior officials from Zanu PF, including
the party’s provincial
chairperson and Midlands governor Jason Machaya also
found time to go and
comfort the Gasela family.
A statement from
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa’s office said Gasela was
consistent in his
fight for a positive change in Zimbabwe.
“The MDC family particularly
remembers Gasela as a committed and patriotic
Zimbabwean who fought for many
years to bring real change to the people of
this country,” said the
statement.
“He was a democrat, a patriot and a staunch defender of
human rights who
wanted to see positive change in the country of his
birth.
“Since 1999, Gasela has always been on the vanguard,
responding to the
clarion call to save his country from the vagaries of Zanu
PF misgovernance
and corruption.”
Most of the issues Gasela
raised in his articles have not been addressed.
The agriculture
sector continues to be on a nosedive, but very few
officials, including
those from the two MDCs, seem to treat agriculture
revival with the same
urgency he advocated for.
Gasela’s death in a car crash alongside his
party’s chairperson of the
disciplinary committee, Lyson Mlambo and
chairperson of the Women’s Assembly
in the Midlands, Ntombizodwa Gumbo has
spurred public debate on a vast array
of issues, among them the sorry state
of the country’s roads.
In his statement, Chamisa said the roads had
become “highways of death…
rivers of blood and death
cages”.
“Innocent people have perished on our roads and on our
railways; far too
many to warrant urgent action from the inclusive
government,” said Chamisa.
“The MDC calls on the inclusive government
to take these accidents as
wake-up calls to deal decisively with the carnage
on our highways which has
become a loud indictment on the state of the
national road network.”
Chamisa said roads now topped the list of
killers of innocent citizens and
revealed that the MDC-T was now pushing for
a “special investigation into
the toll-gate fees that continue to be
collected but with no improvement on
the state of our
roads”.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal and MDC secretary for policy
and research,
Trudy Stevenson said “Gasela was one of the most decent,
principled fighters
for democracy and for the betterment of our beloved
Zimbabwe and its people”.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
17:56
BUSINESS leaders from different sectors have teamed up to draft a
governance
code in an attempt to bring to an end the continued failure of
various
businesses as a result of "moral bankruptcy and unethical behaviour
of
business leaders". This follows the economic crisis of the past decade
that
has been attributed to poor corporate governance which resulted in
unlawful
speculative investments, institutional collapses, parallel markets,
as well
as shortages of local and foreign currency.
Institute of
Directors of Zimbabwe (IoDZ) executive director, David
Mutambara said they
would use the proposed national code on corporate
governance to stamp out
"rampant corruption designed to cripple the economy
and condition of the
Zimbabwean people".
The code is being drafted jointly by the IoDZ and the
Zimbabwe Leadership
Forum (Zimlef).
"The code itself is not meant to
solve problems of the past, but it is meant
to define the desired future,"
said Mutambara.
"It is focused on the future than addressing the past. One
important thing
is to make sure that whatever we do resonates with the bread
and butter
issues of the ordinary Zimbabwean.
"It has to relate to the
daily needs of the ordinary person."
Among other things, the code will
recommend amendments to listing
requirements on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange.
Zimlef chairperson and prominent Harare lawyer Canaan Dube said the
code was
also an attempt to restore investors' confidence and trust in
Zimbabwe.
"People need to know the advantages derived from good corporate
governance
compliance and what bad corporate governance does to investment,
prospective
investors and the economy at large.
"Security of investment
is of great concern to any investor," said Dube.
Renowned business leader
Luxon Zembe said the code was now "work in
progress" and would be completed
before the end of the year.
He said the project had generated a lot of
interest in Zimbabwe and beyond
the country's borders.
"This commitment
from Zimbabweans is very critical in unlocking the doors
and the value we
can realise from this," said Zembe.
"By the end of this year Zimbabwe will be
having its own corporate
governance code.
"It takes time and commitment,
but I believe as Zimbabweans we have what it
takes to make the project
successful."
There had initially been scepticism from some people who felt it
was more of
a duplication of South Africa's King Report.
The report,
initially drafted in 1994, has been pivotal in shaping the
direction of
South African businesses.
A number of the King Report principles have since
been adopted by the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
But Mutambara said they
would not copy the King Report in drafting their own
code. He said they
would only use it for background referencing.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010
17:52
ZIMBABWE and Ghana will host a joint business forum in Accra later
this
month where the two countries are set to strengthen their economic ties
especially in the private sector.
The Zimbabwe-Ghana business forum
exhibition to be attended by
businesspeople will provide a platform to
showcase opportunities provided by
both countries.
Ghana's ambassador to
Zimbabwe James Okeo Naadgi told a preparatory meeting
recently that the
forum would give local businesses new ideas as the West
African country had
one of the best models of micro-financing upcoming
projects.
"There are a
number of things that the two countries could learn from each
other so
businesses must take advantage of the competitive advantage that
one country
has over the other." he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Zimbabwe's
ambassador to Ghana Pavelyn Tendai
Musaka who said there was need for local
financial institutions to learn
from Ghana, which offers services that make
it easy for small
businesspersons to access loans without
collateral.
"Ghanaians do not wait for government to make a move. What we
think are
challenges, Ghana sees them as business opportunities" she
said
She also urged Zimbabweans to take advantage of the newly-discovered oil
in
Ghana when they explore new investments.
The forum which is private
sector driven was started in 2006 with the first
business exhibition held in
April 2007.
BY PERPETUA CHIKOLOLERE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 17:49
BULAWAYO
- Motorists are set to cough up more on the country's roads as the
government intends to increase the number of toll gates. Government has been
collecting US$1,3 million in road usage fees every month since it set up the
22 toll gates on the major roads late last year.
Patson Mbiriri, the
permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and
Communications told a
business conference during the just-ended Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair
that government was not getting enough revenue from
the toll gates.
"At
the moment, we are collecting around US$1,3 million a month from our 22
tolling points throughout the country," he said.
"We believe if we
increase these points, we are going to be able to get more
funds to attend
to the pressing needs of our country and infrastructure."
Mbiriri said the
revenue generated so far had been used to repair and
maintain the country's
dilapidated roads.
Motorists pay between US$1 and US$5 depending on the size
of the vehicle
each time they pass through a toll gate.
"Our view as a
ministry is that these funds are not sufficient enough to
cover our
needs.
"We need more funds. We have to specifically generate resources to
meet the
challenges we face," he said.
One of the big projects the
government wants to embark on is the dualisation
of the Chirundu-Beitbrdge
road to cater for increased traffic in southern
Africa.
Zimbabwe's once
enviable road network has deteriorated to dangerous levels
owing to years of
neglect.
The number of people dying in road accidents continues to increase
owing to
the battered road network.
Mbiriri said the deterioration of the
road network was being quickened by
the collapse of the country's rail
network that has seen most freight movers
resorting to road
transport.
"Our rail lines are now older than roads in some parts of the
country," he
said.
"We have over 100 plus points that are deemed deadly
on our lines and this
shows there is need to upgrade our rail
system.
"This has resulted in slow movement of goods to a point where many
people
now prefer to use the road to transport their goods."
He said
government was concerned that some transporters were not respecting
weight
restrictions on the roads leading to the destruction of the
network.
BY NKULULEKO SIBANDA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 01 May 2010 17:55
THE
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) acting chief executive officer,
Givemore
Chidzidzi has said the A’Sambeni travel expo held in Bulawayo
recently has
given exhibitors the chance to see that the country’s tourism
industry has
recovered. A’Sambeni is an annual travel expo held concurrently
with the
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
This year’s edition of the expo attracted
59 exhibitors from Britain and
Italy. Last year there were 39 exhibitors,
Chidzidzi said.
“We have shown them (exhibitors) the hospitality in Zimbabwe
and they are
coming back in October for Sanganai/Hlanganani,” he
said.
Sanganai/Hlanganani is Zimbabwe’s largest travel and tourism trade expo
held
annually in October and has been slotted on the United Nations World
Tourism
Organisation calendar.
Chidzidzi said ZTA had embarked on hosting
programmes like A’Sambeni and
Miss Tourism to spruce up the
country’s
image.
“We are having a perception management programme where we
bring in brave
people from abroad to visit our country so that they send
back messages
about Zimbabwe. We want people to think twice about Zimbabwe,”
Chidzidzi
said.
The tourism product is tired and requires attention but
operators do not
have capital to fund major refurbishments.
Local
operators are turning to regional financial institutions for long-term
funding which is not available locally.
ZTA hopes that the hosting of the
Fifa World Cup in South Africa will send
out favourable signals about
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector.
“Southern Africa will benefit in the long term
from the publicity produced
by 2010,” Chidzidzi said.
“We, as the
government are thinking of the long-term challenges we will face
in trying
to sustain good publicity before and after the World Cup.”
Visiting
journalists said there were opportunities for investment in the
tourism
industry.
Cindy Lou Dale, a British writer and photojournalist said she saw
many
opportunities for investment in Zimbabwe during the tour.
“Zimbabwe
needs to reclaim the brains that have left for other countries,”
she
said.
“There is no need for capital investment from foreign countries. It’s
time
Zimbabwe pushed bureaucracy aside and used the brains that they
have.”
Dale called upon Zimbabweans abroad to engage in promoting Zimbabwean
tourism while acting as ambassadors for the country.
Zimbabwe’s tourism
industry is recovering from a decade of a slow down due
to the bad publicity
owing to an unstable political and economic
environment.
BY
PERPETUA CHIKOLOLERE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 01 May 2010
19:05
Zimbabweans are getting angry with the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) and
many think that the process of national healing, reconciliation
and
integration will come to naught if the force is not reformed.
On
Saturday April 24 this emotional letter from a lady named Thembe
Sachikonye
who had been ill-treated by the police dropped onto the editor's
desk.
"Yesterday I was 'arrested' while trying to overtake a public
demonstration
in my car, being under the impression that the police were
directing traffic
to go around the demonstrators. I was detained,
intimidated and harassed for
three hours, and finally released with a charge
of 'dangerous parking' for
which I paid a $10 fine.
"When a ZRP officer
says to you, 'Masungwa' (You're under arrest) is it the
equivalent of 'I am
placing you under arrest for the crime of..You have the
right to remain
silent. If you wish to give up this right.' etc. etc.?
Somehow 'masungwa'
seems incomplete, not to mention oftentimes
incomprehensible.
"Since
yesterday I have been thinking that I am sad; pondering the
possibilities of
a mild case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Now I see
that I am not sad,
but rather MAD. I am in a rage, and memories of similar
rages have gathered
to keep the present one company.
"As a child my mother, my sister and I
cowered and quaked with fear while
soldiers stormed our house, pointing guns
and inventing violations and
transgressions we did not have the power to
comprehend, let alone commit.
Like many other households in our town, ours
was reduced to a fragile social
structure populated only by women and
children while the men were dispersed
and disenfranchised. The ugly lessons
that Gukurahundi taught me have stayed
with me for all of my life. They
became important tools in the construction
of the story of us:
"Lesson 1:
We don't need to have done anything wrong to get into trouble.
"Lesson 2:
Whoever is in charge determines our final destiny - and not we
ourselves
"Lesson 3: Our life is fairly cheap. If we do not comply we may
die, and the
worst thing is that our death will have no consequence. It will
change
nothing. Mean nothing.
"Over the 30 years that Zanu PF has held
our country hostage, these lessons
have been reiterated to new and different
sub-audiences - each taking their
turn in the queue behind the people of
Matabeleland, forming a chain of
voiceless victims - silenced by fear. In
the meantime we are playing at
'national healing, reconciliation and
integration', empowering people who
couldn't possibly be serious about
cleansing our nation of its burdens of
anger and indignation.
"I am tired
of being quietly outraged and afraid; of being sad and even of
being mad. I
no longer want to allow another power over my life, my output
and my
destiny. I know that I am not alone in this social and emotional
space. I
join a myriad of disembodied voices in the darkness of our unending
political gloom. Voices ready to rally and respond: 'Here I am, send
me'.
"But the tragedy of Zimbabwe may be even greater than that of a nation
pointing weapons (guns, whips and destructive legislation) at its own
children. The tragedy we face is that there is no one out there calling. We
answer to a silent space: a leadership vacuum. This is akin to picking up a
telephone receiver and urgently declaring a series of hellos, to a line that
never rang.
"So where are the leaders, why aren't they calling?
Logically the MDC maybe
expected to answer that question, and ideally they
would answer it with
their own: 'Here we are - we'll send you'. But I wonder
whether it may not
be too late for MDC. Perhaps we should rather pose that
question to someone
else; to anyone else: Where are the leaders? Why aren't
they calling?"
Our police force still has a modicum of respectability - it is
still being
called upon by the United Nations to undertake peacekeeping
duties in
hotspots around the globe. But there are many incidents back home
that
overshadow the good work they might do; hence the call for
transformation.
Describing the apartheid police on the eve of Nelson
Mandela's release from
detention Janine Rauch, an independent consultant on
the transformation of
the South African police, had this to say:
"By the
early 1990s, (all) the police in South Africa had acquired a
reputation for
brutality, corruption and ineptitude. Police organisations
were militarised,
hierarchical, and ill-equipped to deal with 'ordinary
crime'.
"Street-level policing was conducted in a heavy-handed style,
with bias
against black citizens and little respect for rights or due
process.
"Criminal investigations were largely reliant on confessions
extracted under
duress, and harsh security legislation provided or tolerated
various forms
of coercion and torture. "Their policing techniques were
outmoded, partly as
a result of the campaign for international isolation of
the apartheid
government. However, despite their lack of skill in dealing
with crime, the
South African police were notoriously effective against
their political
opponents.
"It never occurred to the leaders and members
of the African National
Congress -- the main democratic opposition party -
that the police who had
been so ruthlessly effective against them would be
any less effective
against criminals in the new era. However, coping with
the political
transition and adapting to policing in a democratic society
have been
difficult for the police service."
This disturbingly sou-nds
too close to home.
According to Rauch the job of the police under apartheid
was to enforce laws
of racial segregation, to secure the minority
government, and to protect the
white population from crime and political
disruption. This did not require
traditional policing skills, and instead
rewarded political loyalty and
allowed large-scale abuses of powers. The new
(South African) government
faced the mammoth task of transforming the police
service into one which
would be both acceptable to the majority of the
population, and effective
against crime.
Similarly in Zimbabwe now it can
be said that the job of the police is to
enforce laws that close democratic
space to secure the unpopular government
of Zanu PF and to protect the party
from political challenge. And as in
apartheid South Africa, this too does
not require traditional policing
skills but rewards political
loyalty.
One of the challenges our country faces is to transform the police
into a
force guided by its own motto: Pro populo, pro lege, pro patria. We
need to
take a leaf from the South African book and "make the police
legitimate and
acceptable in the eyes of the majority of citizens", and for
them to make a
"clean and definite break with the past".
In
transformation of the apartheid force the new government identified a
number
of other challenges:
n curbing crime and improving levels of safety and
security;
n improving police-community relations;
n removing all forms of
discrimination within and by the police service;
n adopting a new "mindset"
within the police forces;
n restoring discipline and morale among police
personnel; and
n establishing a culture of fundamental rights within the
police
organisation.
Our transitional inclusive government is in a
similar position to that which
South Africa found itself in at the end of
apartheid and steps should be
taken to learn from them in reforming this
most important agent of national
governance.
BY
NEVANJI MADANHIRE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 01 May 2010 19:02
Those
who say that the mediator in the Zimbabwean Global Political Agreement
(GPA)
talks and South African President’s commitment to the Zimbabwean
problem is
meant to buy time for his country to be allowed to host the World
Cup soccer
tournament could not be far from the truth considering events in
Zimbabwe
today.
Jacob Zuma who is mandated by the Sadc to facilitate the
negotiations on a
power-sharing agreement between long-time fierce political
rivals, Zanu PF
and the two MDC formations, appears not to be keen on an
urgent resolution
of his neighbour’s crisis. At least from the information
in the public
domain, President Zuma has not put forward any proposals that
suggest
urgency in the resolution of the perpetual crisis north of the
Limpopo. He
has dragged his feet and with impunity his deadlines have been
ignored at
best and at worst disregarded by the negotiating
parties.
However, facilitators of crises of the Zimbabwean nature should know
that it
is unacceptable in the politics of transition that a transitional
government
can be allowed to remain bogged down on the implementation of key
reforms
that define the actual transition for which the world was prepared
to
sacrifice democratic principles.
After Zimbabwe shamelessly proved to
the whole world that it was not capable
of conducting democratic elections
that are free and fair, the country was
allowed to form an inclusive
government that would see to it that internal
capacity is built for a
self-sustained democracy.
Even the Zimbabwean citizens who were cheated of an
opportunity to elect a
leader of their choice were optimistic that in two
years, the political
parties would work together to create conditions where
they would exercise
this right without fear or prejudice. Suspicious of the
workability of the
arrangement, maybe realistic that the modalities of
implementing the
transitional government agreement would not be easy, Sadc
acted as
guarantors opting for Zuma to be their point man on the basket’s
bad apple.
Upon getting this nod, Zuma did not mince his words on his
commitment to
supporting Zimbabwe on its way to recovery. Together, with the
current Sadc
chairperson Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president,
Joseph Kabila,
president Zuma intervened promptly and decisively when the
MDC formation led
by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai “disengaged” from
government,
threatening the life of the inclusive government. A crisis
meeting to
discuss Zimbabwe was called.
The Maputo Declaration, from this
crisis meeting held late last year, gave
the parties an ultimatum to talk
out the sticking issues in a month. At that
summit, Tsvangirai announced
re-engagement with his Zanu PF counterparts in
government. Zimbabweans were
not to get a Christmas present as the widely
expected finality to the talks
did not materialise.
For over four months Zuma spoke through the media and
did nothing else to
end the perpetual talks, which had long since gone
beyond the deadline. By
this he proved to the whole world that he actually
did not bite contrary to
the posturing before election to his country’s
presidency. Instead of
flexing his muscle to those stalling progress, he
went across the world
doing public relations on behalf of his disgraced
neighbour. In fact, he
gave them the impression that all was well and he
was firmly in control.
Zuma would continue giving this impression even when
he told journalists
that he had managed to get feuding political parties in
Zimbabwe to agree on
a “package of measures” on his last visit to the
country last month.
Needless to say, he gave the political parties a fresh
deadline to keep on
negotiating, even though there were some parties to the
negotiations, who
were not aware that they had agreed to anything. Zanu PF
did not take long
to contradict him on this position saying they had not
made any concessions
as widely reported in the private media.
Several
weeks after the lapsing of this deadline, Zimbabweans are still
waiting to
unwrap the gift of the said “package of measures”.
As these events unfold,
one major question sticks out: Is the South African
president concerned with
addressing the Zimbabwean question, or at least, to
do it with urgency? I
say with urgency because some may say but he is seen
to be doing
something.
My opinion is that President Zuma has little clue, if any, on how
to tackle
the Zimbabwean challenge. I agree with those that say he is
worried about
not having his neighbour’s childish brawl eclipse his
country’s historic
holding of the world soccer extravaganza.
What
meaningful progress really does Zuma expect the parties to make when it
is
clear to everyone, including the esteemed facilitator, that we have
reached
a point where each party regards concessions to the other’s demands
as
compromising their position for being the next government?
BY TAYSON
MUDARIKIRI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 01 May 2010 18:57
The
long-awaited Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was finally sworn in at
State House apparently a few hours before April Fools' Day on March 31
2010.
Will this body deliver free, fair, transparent and credible
elections as per
its constitutional mandate under section 100c? There are
three glaring
impediments:
First, the precursor to the swearing in of ZEC
was a statutory instrument
published in the Government Gazette on March 5
that allocated the
administration of the Zimbabwe Electoral Act and Zimbabwe
Commission Act to
the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Patrick Chinamasa.
The minister will have powers to veto any regulations ZEC
might make for the
conduct of elections like airtime for contesting
political parties on
state-owned television and radio. It is Chinamasa, a
Zanu PF chief
negotiator, who will also have powers to approve any funding
for the
electoral body.
The minister lost an election and he owes his
appointment to President
Robert Mugabe; therefore his loyalty lies with the
president first and
foremost. Given his loyalty to Mugabe who has already
declared his
candidature for the next election it is a possibility that the
appointed
minister will scuttle any attempts to fund the body in order to
incapacitate
its functions and will frustrate progressive
regulations.
Second, President Mugabe's role in the electoral body leaves a
lot to be
desired. How can the popular Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
exercise
leverage on the supposed consultation spelt out in the Global
Political
Agreement (GPA) when for now the results do not mirror any
consultations?
The chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Justice
Simpson
Mtambanengwe, seems to have been solely appointed by President
Mugabe who is
also a player in this game. What brings little joy is that
Justice
Mtambanengwe has a long relationship with President Mugabe that
traces back
to the liberation struggle long before Zimbabwe was born.
Moreover, it is
not the first time that the ZEC chair has been appointed by
Mugabe; for the
record he was once appointed as a High Court judge, usually
a reward for
loyalty. To worsen this situation, President Mugabe appears to
have
bulldozed his appointment of the deputy chairperson of ZEC, Joyce
Kazembe,
who is on the European Union targeted sanctions
list.
Consequently, Kazembe is prevented from entering any European country
because of a visa ban; her assets in Europe are frozen all because of her
consistent support for the regime of President Mugabe as evident in the June
27 disputed election. It is a possibility she has an axe to grind with the
MDC.
Third, voters' registration is still in the hands of Tobaiwa Mudede
who is
also on the European Union, Australian and American targeted
sanctions lists
because of his alleged track record of rigging the 2000,
2002 and 2005
national elections in favour of President Mugabe at the
expense of the
people's choice. The Registrar General is also an appointee
of President
Mugabe. Although the Registrar-General under Section 18 of the
Electoral Act
will have to take directions from ZEC there is no clear
mechanism on the
implementation. Moreover, ZEC cannot initiate a new
registration of voters
or order a new voters' roll as the Electoral Act is
silent on this. Yet the
issue of ghost voters continue to haunt Zimbabwe's
electoral laws. As a tip
of the iceberg the Sokwanele voters' role audit
unearthed names of 74 021
voters aged above 100 years on the voters' roll
used in the March 2008
harmonised local, parliamentary and presidential
elections. There were also
82 456 people registered aged between 90 and 100
years of age. It is common
knowledge that Zimbabwe's demographics have
changed and there is more than
meets the eye.
However, the positive thing
is that in the latest round of perpetual
negotiations Zanu PF and MDC have
agreed to revisit the Electoral Act. I
hope that the detail will be attended
to in the amendment of the Electoral
Act otherwise ZEC remains old wine in a
new bottle. Whatever Zanu PF decides
to implement Zimbabweans should be
conscious of the details where the devil
resides.
Zamchiya is a
student at University of Oxford,United Kingdom
BY PHILLIAN
ZAMCHIYA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 01 May 2010 18:51
IN 19th
Century Europe nationalist upheavals saw the emergence of
middle-class
governments accountable to parliament rather than to the
monarchs of an
earlier era.
But despite these democratic reforms, it was always remarked
that foreign
policy remained "the domain of the king".
We have echoes of
this in Zimbabwe where President Mugabe exercises absolute
authority over
foreign affairs. Despite swearing in a government of national
unity, Mugabe
declines to consult his partners in government who are
expected to uphold
decisions to which they were not a party.
We saw the problems that arise from
unilateral policy-making recently with
the visit of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad of Iran.
For the majority of Zimbabweans Ahmadinejad was not a
welcome guest. He
ruthlessly crushed protests on the streets of Tehran last
June when his
opponents claimed his election had been rigged. He has said
that the
Holocaust, which saw the slaughter of six million Jews, did not
happen and
threatened to obliterate Israel. Moreover, his regime's
flirtation with
nuclear power has led to growing concern in the UN Security
Council.
In short, Ahmadinejad is not the sort of person we should be
welcoming here.
He is an oppressor in his own country and a poor example to
his neighbours.
He is in fact capable of destabilising the whole Middle
East.
The claims in the state press that he and Mugabe represent some sort of
progressive movement is plain nonsense. Both resist change. Both threaten
their respective regions.
While Mugabe is not obliged to consult the MDC
on all issues, this is one
example of where consultation would have made
sense. The MDC claims to stand
for democratic governance. It could not in
the circumstances condone a visit
from a ruler widely seen by the
international community as a bigot and
outcast.
A country is defined by
its friends, the MDC rightly said in a statement,
and it is little surprise
other countries have reacted with disgust to the
clumsy diplomacy of
Zimbabwe's rulers. Zimbabwe desperately needs
international approval if it
is to recover from its self-inflicted wounds.
Instead it compounds its
reputation as an outpost of tyranny by hobnobbing
with the likes of
Ahmadinejad.
This pattern of delinquency can be detected over the past two
decades. The
visit of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1983 was the starting point. He
was given the
freedom of the city of Harare and a couple of heifers from
what was then the
flourishing Kintyre estate.
In the period before 1990
Zimbabwe's arthritic foreign policy was
underpinned by the eastern bloc. But
with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in
1989 and the winds of change blowing
across Africa, Zimbabwe's
Marxist-Leninist support system began to
disintegrate. Mugabe found it
increasingly difficult to strut upon the world
stage. Even offers to address
the AU began to dry up. And at the UN it was
Hugo Chavez who spoke for the
developing world, not Mugabe.
His
pretensions to be the authentic voice of African nationalism were
overtaken
in the 1990s by South Africa's commitment to inclusive and
constitutional
governance.
Zimbabwe was obliged to cultivate insignificant island states
such as
Equatorial Guinea in the hope of securing oil. Nelson Mandela's
stance on
the Congo intervention in 1998 infuriated Mugabe and led to a rift
in Sadc.
Sadc has since 2007 been involved in negotiations aimed at national
reconciliation in Zimbabwe. Sadc leaders intervened after being appalled by
evidence of assaults on MDC leaders. That "facilitation" is on-going.
It
would be logical in the circumstances, if they want international
respect,
for all three parties in the GNU to consult on foreign policy
issues so the
country speaks with one voice and greets visitors with one
embrace. If we
are to invite the EU to take the GNU seriously, as we expect
from Elton
Mangoma's forthcoming mission to Brussels, we will need to engage
in mature
diplomacy among ourselves.
The reaction by some officials to our ambassador's
Independence Day speech
in Canberra on April 18 suggests there are still
people living in the past.
If we are to have a democratic Zimbabwe we need to
have new thinking at the
top.
That should be put in place before there is
any further embarrassment.