Diamond officials held in Zimbabwe deny fraud

http://news.yahoo.com

AFP

– 12 mins ago

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) – Lawyers representing six diamond mining executives
held in Zimbabwe asked a Harare court on Tuesday for their release, saying
there were no criminal grounds for their detention.

The six executives, from two diamond-mining firms, were detained on
suspicion of fraudulently obtaining a licence to mine gems in the
controversial Marange fields.

"What we have is a very simple contractual matter," lawyer Lewis Uriri told
the court in a bail application.

"The fraud charges would not stick," he said.

Among the executives are Dominic Mubaiwa, chief executive of government
mining firm Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, and Lovemore Kurotwi,
the local head of Canadile Miners, a joint Zimbabwe-South African venture.

The executives are accused of duping the government into believing that a
non-existent South African firm was ready to invest two billion dollars in
Zimbabwe in order to obtain a licence for Canadile Miners.

The court is due to give its ruling on the bail request on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe has contracted three firms -- South Africa's New Reclamation Group,
China's Anjin and Canadile Miners -- to mine in the Marange fields, believed
to be the cash-strapped country's largest diamond find in a decade.

Last week the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) met in Israel
and failed to agree whether to allow Zimbabwe to sell gems from Marange.

Zimbabwe has said it will sell the diamonds with or without the Kimberley
seal of approval.

Zimbabwe sells steel co to Essar for $500 mln-source

http://af.reuters.com

Tue Nov 9, 2010 4:19pm GMT

* Essar to pay up to $500 mln including debt -source

* Essar Africa to hold 54 pct in ZISCO, govt keeps 36 pct

* Essar expected to re-start ZISCO ops as soon as possible

By Nelson Banya and Swati Pandey

HARARE/MUMBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe said on Tuesday it has chosen a
unit of India's Essar Group to take majority control of troubled state-owned
steel maker ZISCO in a deal that one source said was worth up to $500
million.

Zimbabwe's deputy minister for industry and commerce Mike Bimha told
reporters Essar Africa would buy a 54 percent stake in ZISCO, with the
government keeping 36 percent and 10 percent owned by small private
investors.

While Bimha did not provide financial details of the deal, a source with
direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters the Indian company would pay
roughly $450 million to $500 million for its stake.

An Essar spokesman declined to comment.

ZISCO is the first privatisation under a power-sharing government formed
last year by bitter rivals Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. The southern
African nation is struggling to attract the $10 billion of foreign
investment economists say is needed to right it after a decade of decline
and hyperinflation.

Bimha said Essar should be on the ground before the end of the year and
resume production "as soon as possible". ZISCO has the capacity to produce 1
million tonnes of steel a year.

Once a major foreign currency earner, ZISCO is now saddled with about $240
million in debt, which Essar will take over.

Bimha said Essar had been assigned "the the responsibility of
comprehensively reviving the country's steel giant".

Mugabe in May rejected shortlisted bids from the South African unit of
ArcelorMittal (ACLJ.J: Quote) and India's Jindal Steel (JNSP.BO: Quote),
saying the companies were too big and Zimbabwe preferred medium-sized
investors. [ID:nLDE64517I].

Essar, a steel-to-shipping conglomerate, is controlled by brothers Shashi
and Ravi Ruia, whose combined net worth is estimated at $15 billion, making
them among the richest men in India. [ID:nSGE68T05A]

The company raised nearly $2 billion by listing its energy and power
business in London earlier this year (ESSR.L: Quote)

ZISCO stopped operations in 2008 at the height of Zimbabwe's economic
meltdown, weighed down by $300 million of debt.

While the coalition has stabilised the economy, frequent wrangles and an
empowerment law seeking to localise control of all foreign firms has
discouraged many foreign investors.

However, the government has said ZISCO's privatisation is excluded from the
empowerment law, which compels foreign-owned firms including mines and banks
eventually to sell an at least 51 percent shareholding to local blacks.

NGOs want parties pact with generals

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Simplicious Chirinda     Tuesday 09 November 2010

HARARE – Civil society groups have urged Zimbabwe’s three governing
political parties to jointly engage security commanders to reassure them
about their future in return for guarantees that the military will not block
the country’s democratic transition process.

Zimbabwe’s hardliner generals are widely seen as wielding a de facto veto
over the country’s troubled transformation process and likely to block
transfer of power to the winners of elections expected next year should the
victors not be President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.

The 55 non-governmental organisations working to promote democracy and human
rights in Zimbabwe said ZANU PF and the two MDC formations of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara should open talks with the
commanders to look at “the interests and fears of the security chiefs”.

The groups that met a week ago to discuss a constitutional referendum and
elections penciled in for next year said in a statement: “Parties in the
inclusive government should look at the interests and fears of the security
chiefs and open negotiations with them with a view of making sure that they
do not interfere with electoral processes.”

The NGOs did not specifically say whether they believed security
commanders – who have been behind political violence and human rights abuses
in Zimbabwe for the past three decades of Mugabe’s rule – should be granted
amnesty as a way to buy their cooperation.

But the security chiefs are known to oppose transfer of power from ZANU PF
to especially Tsvangirai’s MDC party chiefly because they fear the former
labour leader could order their prosecution for political violence and human
rights abuses over the past 10 years, as well as the 1980s army atrocities
against the minority Ndebele ethnic group.

Tsvangirai -- who is himself a victim of police brutality -- in September
said, “discussions were taking place” with the military and other key
stakeholders to ensure a successful democratic transfer of power.

But the Prime Minister did not elaborate what exactly the discussions were
about neither has he given an update on the matter since then.

The ruling parties have not responded to the call that they make a joint
effort to calm the fears of security commanders and ensure successful
conclusion of the transition process.

The security chiefs are Mugabe’s staunchest allies and are credited with
keeping the President in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence
in 2008 to force then opposition leader Tsvangirai to withdraw from a second
round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the MDC leader to
win.

Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve
outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll.

The security chiefs have previously vowed to never salute a president who
did not take part in Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation struggle, in what was seen
as a clear warning they would topple any government led by Tsvangirai who
did not take part in the independence war. -- ZimOnline

Demonstration by Zimbabwean Soldiers for President Mugabe Heightens Concerns

http://www.voanews.com

Observers said the incident was not surprising considering that Defense
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa was recently quoted as saying ZANU-PF would not
concede power even if it were to lose in the next round of national
elections

Ntungamili Nkomo & Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington 08 November 2010

In a further indication of growing military involvement in Zimbabwe's
political process reminiscent of alleged Defense Force abuses in the 2008
elections, some 300 to 500 soldiers are said to have marched at a shopping
center in Masvingo on Sunday demanding that President Robert Mugabe rule the
country “forever.”

VOA confirmed the incident with sources in Masvingo, the provincial capital,
including legislator Tongai Matutu of the Movement for Democratic Change
formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The soldiers, believed to be from Four Brigade, based in Masvingo, chanted
revolutionary songs in Shona including one with the words: “Ukadenha gamba
redu watanga hondo,” or, “Provoke a hero, and you have started a war.”

Witnesses said the soldiers were demanding that Mr. Mugabe be declared life
president.

Residents of Masvingo’s Mucheke district were said to have been terrified by
the spectacle as some of the soldiers were bearing arms. VOA was unable to
establish upon whose orders the soldiers were acting.

Police in Masvingo and Harare refused to comment as did spokesman Rugabe
Gumbo of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

But observers said the incident was not surprising considering that Defense
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a senior ZANU-PF official, was recently quoted
by the state-controlled, pro-ZANU-PF Herald newspaper as saying ZANU-PF
would not concede power even if it were to lose in the next round of
national elections, mooted for 2011.

Matutu voiced concern that soldiers in uniform were openly taking sides
politically. "The people of Masvingo were shaken by this incident, which
clearly shows ZANU-PF's desperation to hang onto power," he said.

Nhlanhla Dube, a spokesman for the MDC formation led by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara, said the army should adhere to a policy of
political impartiality as prescribed by the country's constitution.

Sources said Parliament's committee on defense and home affairs is scheduled
to hold hearing soon on the involvement of the army and the Zimbabwe
Republic Police in the electoral process.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya said in
mobilizing the military for electoral purposes ZANU-PF was spelling its own
downfall, recalling the historical example of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian
Smith.

Constitution suggested by lawyers to be debated by Ministers

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
09 November 2010

Lawyers in Zimbabwe have unveiled a model constitution on which the
Constitutional Parliamentary Select committee (COPAC) can base its own
draft. Their model will be debated by key members of the three political
parties next week.
The influential Law Society of Zimbabwe has spent more than a year in
preparing its draft, a process which involved getting ideas from its members
and from the public, and consulting experts both inside and outside the
country.

Next week the Law Society will host its summer school program and
negotiators from the three political parties will attend and debate its
model constitution.
On Tuesday, Law Society President, Josphat Tshuma said: “I can confirm that
Minister Chinamasa is going to be in attendance, we will be discussing with
him issues of the constitution. He will be in the panel with David Coltart
and Eric Matingenga. We also have in attendance Tendai Biti, where we will
be debating economic issues, Kasukuwere will also be coming.”

Commentators have pointed that, as it stands, COPAC’s draft constitution
will be deeply flawed as outreach meetings were marred by ZANU PF instigated
violence and the outcome will be biased in favour of Robert Mugabe’s party.

Another criticism raised against COPAC is that the process asks ordinary
people to help draft a constitution, when most of them do not understand the
legal framework required. In addition, there is a danger that a
“people-driven” constitution could result in mob justice which ignores the
interests of minorities.

Tshuma said that the best constitution is one that protects minorities and
the vulnerable. He added that their organisation’s model constitution had
addressed that problem by proposing a system of proportional representation,
which allows different groups to be fairly represented.
The lawyer’s constitution also has a section that enshrines the rule of law
in the country. The government’s failure to observe the rule of law in
Zimbabwe has led to chaotic developments, such as the farm invasions.
Also included in the document is clause which states that the army, police
and intelligence services will be subject to both civilian and parliamentary
scrutiny and control. There will be a complaints mechanism for dealing with
complaints of misconduct of members of the security services. Several
commissions should be set up, it states, including a Truth and
Reconciliation body aimed at providing help for victims of past human-rights
abuses.

Khama urges lifting of Zimbabwe sanctions

http://www.nation.co.ke

By WENE OWINO NATION Correspondent
Posted Tuesday, November 9 2010 at 20:01

GABORONE, Tuesday

President Ian Khama of Botswana said yesterday that he wants sanctions
against Zimbabwe to be lifted to deny ZANU-PF the “lame excuse” it uses to
undermine the unity government formed with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
MDC.

He said Botswana wants sanctions lifted to help provide a conducive climate
for the Global Peace Agreement (GPA) to succeed and because ZANU-PF chooses
to use the sanctions as an excuse not to fully deliver within the process
they are a part of.

“This lame excuse should be put to the test,” President Khama told the
Botswana Parliament in his state of the nation address.

He said that contrary to media reports, his country has not changed its
position on Zimbabwe.

Botswana has been one of the most vocal critics of President Robert Mugabe
and his ZANU-PF, hence it was a surprise when President Khama recently
called for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

However on Monday, President Khama explained that his recent call for the
lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe during a recent visit to South Africa
is consistent with the position of regional body SADC.

“During my visit to South Africa, President (Jacob) Zuma and I reiterated
the current regional position taken at the SADC summits, held in Pretoria
and Windhoek in 2009 and 2010 respectively, that sanctions on Zimbabwe
should be lifted.

“Contrary to the recent misleading media reports that we have changed our
position on the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe, the position of
Botswana has been consistent with the earlier decisions of SADC mentioned
above, which we are party to,” President Khama said.

Zimbabwe reports new H1N1 flu outbreak

http://www.afriquejet.com

Health-Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's state radio Tuesday reported a fresh outbreak
of swine flu, saying five cases had been diagnosed in the capital Harare.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) quoted health officials as
saying ot her suspected cases had been reported in other parts of the
country.

It said the new cases were under strict surveillance and treatment.

The southern African country has been repeatedly hit by swine flu in recent
years, although no deaths have been reported.

ZBC said the Ministry of Health was fully prepared for the outbreak, and had
put medical teams on alert.

There are also sufficient stocks of medicines to deal with the outbreak.

Harare - Pana 09/11/2010

Seven schools close in Rushinga as teachers flee ZANU PF threats

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Lance Guma
09 November 2010

Several teachers in Rushinga are said to have fled marauding ZANU PF youths,
who want to punish them for contributing to the constitutional outreach
exercise which ended in October.

By contributing, the teachers went against ZANU PF orders that they should
ignore the process. The ZANU PF position was that teachers would influence
students, who in turn would influence their parents, to go against the party
position on the constitution.

Ironically the local MP, Lazarus Dokora, is the Deputy Minister of Education
in the coalition government. The youths behind the threats against the
teachers have been known to move around with him during election campaigns
in the past.

The youths are said to have visited each school in the area, fingering
teachers who contributed during the outreach meetings. But instead of the
Deputy Education Minister taking an interest in the welfare of the teachers
he has allowed 7 schools in his constituency to close indefinitely, because
the teachers have had to flee.

Locals say the MP is hardly seen in the constituency since ‘winning’ his
parliamentary seat but he is understood to be fully aware of the problem of
the schools closing down. Police say their hands are tied, a polite way of
saying the youths are receiving protection from the MP and others in ZANU
PF.

Zim Civil Servants To Receive Bonuses

http://news.radiovop.com

09/11/2010 10:33:00

Harare November 9, 2010 - Zimbabwe's bloated Civil Service will this
Christmas receive golden handshakes in the form of bonuses, the Minister of
Finance, Tendai Biti, has revealed.

"We however still do not have much money in our coffers but we can afford to
give the civil service bonuses this year," he said in an interview. "Our
coffers are very dry but we feel as a government that they deserve to get
more money for the festive season."
Zimbabwean civil servants earn an average of about US$150 monthly but they
say this is too little because the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) currently stands
at about US$500 in Zimbabwe.
They however want at least US$550 each.
Minister Biti said government would raise the money through taxation and
other "unmentioned business".
Insiders said he was trying to quell civil service strike action which had
been planned for early next year if he did not give them the bonuses which
were normal during the days of the Zimbabwe dollar.
This is the first time that the local civil service will receive a bonus
after dollarisation was introduced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
Governor, Dr Gideon Gono.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said it welcomed the move but
said the civil service was still grossly underpaid.
"They are overdue because we do not get enough money anyway," a spokesman
said in an interview with Radio VOP.
"Anyway half a loaf is better than no bread."

National Museums grabs control of Vic Falls rainforest

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona sibanda
9 November 2010

The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe have taken control of the
world famous rainforest in Victoria Falls, reportedly to stop the National
Parks and Wildlife management Authority from destroying the world heritage
site.

In an unprecedented move the National Museums last week took over control of
the rainforest, with the aid of armed policemen. They elbowed out long-time
managers, National Parks, to allegedly stop corruption.

MDC-T MP for Hwange West, Gift Mabhena, whose constituency covers Victoria
Falls told us the National Museums officials moved in to stop any further
development of the area.

‘What has happened at the rainforest is fraud and corruption of the highest
level. The information that I have is that Shearwater was granted permission
to refurbish the entrance to the rainforest only. This was to spruce up the
area in readiness for the 2010 World cup as we were expecting many tourists.
But for some reasons best known to them, they sneaked into the rainforest
and constructed new buildings in contravention of the laws,’ Mabhena said.

It has emerged that National Parks clandestinely partnered with Shearwater,
trading as Zambezi Helicopter Company, and constructed a new development
within the core zone of the Victoria Falls rain forest.

An environmentalist told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the original
project was presented as an ‘upgrade to existing facilities’ being the
information centre, merchandise and food and beverage amenities. According
to our source this would have been acceptable within the laws and management
plans governing the site.

However, the developers constructed a new kitchen, top class restaurant and
bar and converted and expanded the information centre into a merchandise
outlet that has impacted negatively on the livelihoods of more than 1 000
local artists and curio vendors.

The rainforest site generates an average of US$7 000 daily and those that
benefit are various groups, artists and curio vendors - not just one company
as was the intention of Shearwater

Residents of the resort town were up in arms against the new development
because of the impact it is going to have on the conservation status of the
mighty Victoria Falls and the livelihoods of poor curio vendors and their
families who were earning a living by selling curios.

One environmentalist told us that in 2007 UNESCO threatened to delist the
Victoria Falls rainforest as a World Heritage Site due to ‘mismanagement’
and ‘overdevelopment’, in contravention of their governing laws.

To remedy this, a joint management plan was agreed to by the Zimbabwean and
Zambian governments with strict guidelines for the management and protection
of the Victoria Falls rainforest, including a prohibition on any further
developments in the area.

‘But what surprised many of us is that out of an estimated 45 000 residents
in Victoria Falls only nine were consulted about the project. Four of the
nine were from Shearwater and others from the National Parks,’ our source
said.

‘The building itself is not an eyesore, it is nice, but it was put up
against the laws that govern World Heritage Sites and we suspect government
officials received kickbacks. What the National Museums have done is to step
in and stop the corruption and people breaking the law. This action has
received the backing of all people in the town and environmentalists,’ our
source added.

Another source told us the community in Victoria Falls has been left
wondering how and why the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority decided to
allow such a new operation to take place, fully aware of the implications of
the project.

Exclusive: Kuwaza’s role in Grace-Gonogate scandal suspicious

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

09 November, 2010 09:23:00    By Geoffrey Nyarota

AN article that appeared in the South African newspaper, The Sunday Times,
of September 19, 2010, and focused on ongoing boardroom squabbles at the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) ended on an ominously prophetic note.

The newspaper’s reporters, Stanley Gama and Zoli Mangena, quoted an
unidentified RBZ board member as having warned that if what the reporters
referred to as the war of attrition between the central bank’s governor and
chairman, Gideon Gono, and deputy chairman, Charles Kuwaza, was not stopped
immediately it was likely to "explode soon".

The situation at the bank did explode a month later, on Sunday October 24,
and this happened on the front page of the same Sunday Times newspaper. The
sensational story of an alleged love affair between Gono and the First Lady
of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe, spread like a bush fire to every corner of the
world except Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwean edition of the South African newspaper was published without
a whiff of award-winning British investigative journalist Jon Swain’s
sensational scoop.

The question on the lips of many journalists in the newsrooms of Zimbabwe,
who by all appearances had clearly been scooped by a visiting foreign
correspondent in their own backyard was: "Is this a true story?"

It is not clear whether Swain did visit Zimbabwe as claimed by him. Swain
claimed in the story that he had spoken to various sources within the
secretive Central Intelligence Organisation, as well as at the central bank
before he did something which many Zimbabweans find difficult to imagine.

He claims he drove out to the Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairy Farm just outside the
capital city.

Swain alleges he spoke to farm workers who actually furnished him with
details of what transpired in the farm-house during the visits of Gono and
the First Lady at least twice a month.

It now appears that Swain, an enterprising reporter with a string of
international awards for excellence in journalism to his credit and who was
portrayed by Julian Sands in the 1984 Oscar-winning film, The Killing
Fields, may have been fed and in turn caused The Sunday Times to publish
allegations that he possibly might not be able to substantiate if he was
called upon to do so while defending a case of defamation, possibly with
malicious intent.

An entry on Swain in Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia says Swain was born
in London and after an unhappy education at Blundell’s School, from which he
was expelled, he ran away to join the French Foreign Legion.

"French journalist Denis Robert, who unveiled the Clearstream Affair wrote
in his book, Clearstream Penquete. that he believes Swain was working in
2005 for Hakluyt & Company Limited, a private intelligence firm based in
London with close links to MI6," the entry continues.

MI6 is Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). It provides the British
Government with a global covert capability to promote and defend the
national security and economic well-being of the United Kingdom.

Back in Harare facts are now emerging that what was intended to be an
earth-shattering scoop published in the London and Johannesburg editions of
The Sunday Times may not have been anything more than the latest episode in
the ongoing battle, pitting the embattled governor of the RBZ against his
ebullient but belligerent deputy chairman, Kuwaza.

It appears the newspaper did not expend to the First Lady and to the
governor of the Reserve Bank the opportunity to defend themselves against
its allegations, as required by the tenets of ethical and professional
journalism.

I had a long chat with Kuwaza on Tuesday last week. I put it to him that
fingers were being pointed at him as the likely source or at least one of
the sources who furnished Swain with the sensational information around
which he crafted his article. It was being suggested that the article was
allegedly Kuwaza’s latest punch on the body of Gono, the man he has
allegedly been trying to dislodge from the central bank since Kuwaza’s
appointment there in May, 2010.

Kuwaza told me there were many Zimbabweans who would make better candidates
for the post of governor of the central bank. During the interview Kuwaza’s
responses were liberally spiced with the words "ignorant" or "illiterate" in
reference to Gono.

In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Tendai Biti on August 27, 2010,
Gono accused Kuwaza of leaking information about the RBZ to the media.
Insiders say Biti is closely linked to Kuwaza and was instrumental in
securing his appointment to the position of RBZ deputy chairman. Kuwaza told
me that his only association with Biti was that they are both prominent
chess players.

Kuwaza says he has was accused during his tenure as permanent secretary for
the Ministry of Finance of being a supporter of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC. Biti is the secretary general of the MDC. After his
appointment as Finance Minister in the government of national unity Biti
spearheaded a campaign to have Gono removed from the central bank. He did
not succeed.

As the war between Gono and Kuwaza escalated, Biti appointed Kuwaza chairman
of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in September, 2010.

"I write to sadly bring your attention to the fact that I have repeatedly
encountered serious operational differences with Mr. C. Kuwaza, the deputy
chairman of the RBZ board, which if not expeditiously resolved, will
compromise the smooth functioning of the board and, in turn, the central
bank," Gono said in the letter.

"As governor and chairman of the board I have for the past three months
forestalled and held back writing you this letter in the hope that Mr Kuwaza
was going to mend his ways, but things are spinning out of control."

Gono said in the letter that Kuwaza was destabilising operations of the bank
through "abrasive, abusive and unprofessional language" during management
meetings. He also accused his deputy of leaking information to the press.

Gono said unless Biti intervened, there would be chaos at the central bank.
The letter was copied to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the chief
secretary to the president and cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda.

On Tuesday Kuwaza denied he was in any way related to Swain, saying he had
never communicated with the reporter. Asked for his opinion of the Sunday
Times article, Kuwaza characterised it as "facts, half truths and absolute
lies, all meshed together to make their story."

Kuwaza then made a startling revelation. He said the police had arrested him
on Sunday, September 19, 2010. He described the arrest as "Gono’s hatchet
job". Asked if he had possibly passed information about Gono on to Swain in
bitter retaliation, Kuwaza made another astounding disclosure.

"The Sunday Times story was probably a hatchet job by my sympathisers, who
were angry with Gono for causing my arrest," he said.

Kuwaza refused to reveal the identity of his sympathisers, although he
subsequently admitted on Friday that they were politicians. He, however,
insisted that they were Zanu-PF officials, saying "Gono created many enemies
in Zanu-PF".

I spoke to Gono on Wednesday. He denied that he had anything to do with
Kuwaza’s arrest on charges of corruption at the State Procurement Board,
where he is chairman.

"The first time I knew that Kuwaza had been arrested was when he raised the
issue at the very beginning of a subsequent board meeting," Gono said. "This
item was not on the agenda of the meeting but I allowed him to raise it."

On October 4, 2010, The Sunday Times reported that the boardroom fight
between the governor and the deputy chairman had intensified, amid
revelations that Gono had uncovered a plot by his bitter rival to oust him
from his position.

The newspaper reported that it had in its possession documents that showed
that Reserve Bank and state security agents had been monitoring Kuwaza for
several months and had now reached the conclusion he wanted to get rid of
Gono.

The document detailed incidents which, according to Gono and the agents,
showed that Kuwaza, who also chairs the RBZ audit and oversight committee,
was working with unnamed senior ministers to remove Gono from office. In the
same October 4 article The Sunday Times reported that internal memos had
been "flying back and forth between Gono, Kuwaza and Finance Minister Tendai
Biti. According to the documents seen by the Sunday Times, Biti is
supporting Kuwaza."

On Tuesday Kuwaza made yet another astonishing disclosure.

He said the latest Sunday Times article, which exposed allegations of
infidelity involving Gono and the First Lady could be part of a grand
strategy to influence the outcome of general elections said to be scheduled
for 2011 against President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF.

He said he had been informed that the editors at The Sunday Times had a
dossier of incriminating information and photographs of Gono and Grace
Mugabe. He said the newspaper’s strategy was to disclose the information
during court proceedings, should the governor or the First Lady sue for
defamation.

I asked if it was not a more effective strategy to simply publish the
information at hand, instead of pursuing the circuitous route through the
law courts, as suggested by Kuwaza.

"I don’t know," he said, "but I understand that their strategy is to cause
the case to drag on up to the elections."

Asked in what circumstances he, the deputy chairman of the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, became privy to what appear to be highly confidential details of
alleged strategies to be employed by The Sunday Times to influence the
outcome of Zimbabwe’s forthcoming general elections, Kuwaza did not explain.

Kuwaza has accused Gono of corruption and of attempting to use security
service chiefs to muzzle him. He has also alleged in the past that he has
evidence to show that Gono "misappropriated seigniorage or printed money"
between 2004 and 2008. Seigniorage is the profit made from printing money.

But in a letter to The Sunday Times dated September 20, 2010, Kuwaza denied
that he had ever accused anybody of "looting as I have no such evidence".

Meanwhile, Gono said on Wednesday that he was not planning to institute
legal proceedings for defamation against The Sunday Times, "even if there is
no house worth calling a house at Gushungo Dairy Farm; that is a house that
would fit the characterization and use described by him (Swain) in the
article".

Gono said exposure of Swain’s article as false would be sufficient
punishment for him and his editors.

I met Kuwaza for the second time on Friday to seek clarification on some of
the issues he had raised. Kuwaza gave a new spin to the Gono-Mugabe saga.

"I was told that soon after our meeting on Tuesday that it is, in fact, Gono
himself who planted that information on Swain," said Kuwaza.

"Gono was informed by his security people that the President was very angry
with him; that he could even be killed. To pre-empt that happening Gono
broke the story himself in The Sunday Times."

Free the airwaves now - Ncube

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Guthrie Munyuki
Tuesday, 09 November 2010 17:03

HARARE - Welshman Ncube, Industry and International Trade minister, says he
regrets the lack of implementation of the broadcasting reforms agreed during
negotiations that gave birth to the government of national unity.

Broadcasting reforms were part of the changes agreed to during the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) negotiations, where Ncube was one of three
principal negotiators.

Ncube told a broadcasting conference in Harare that no progress has been
made to allow new entrants in the sector, which has only one player – the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

He said the three negotiators representing the three parties in government
had agreed that the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), would flight
applications of prospective broadcasters and process them in the time frames
set by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his
deputy Arthur Mutambara.

“Regrettably, nothing has happened. It means that what was agreed by the
political parties has not been implemented,” said Ncube.

“For things to move there is need for the relevant ministry to have the same
enthusiasm to make that which was agreed in the GPA, succeed.

“Regrettably, that enthusiasm does not appear to exist. We have asituation
where even though the legal framework permits, we still have no movement and
are unlikely to have movement particularly now that for one reason or
another, we are slowly retreating as political parties to our political mode
trenches,” he said.

The secretary general of the smaller faction of the MDC led by Mutambara,
was part of the negotiating teams that included Zanu PF’s Nicholas Goche,
Patrick Chinamasa, Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma and Priscilla Mushonga.

During the negotiations, said Ncube, they had agreed that BAZ would flight
adverts and process applications for prospective broadcasters as a matter of
urgency.

The three leaders  - Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara  - produced an
implantation matrix which demanded an immediate licensing of broadcasters by
BAZ, said Ncube.

He said during their negotiations, they did not thoroughly address the
implications of regulating the broadcasting section of the media like they
did in respect of the print media where they created the constitutional
body, the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), which could act independently
without the interference of the minister or government of the day.

BAZ, in contrast, has not flighted adverts or awarded licences to new
players despite there being clause 19 of the GPA which states that it must
licence new players.

The board is improperly constituted and Mugabe has said it must be properly
constituted although it has continued to operate without changes for more
than a year since his pronouncements.

“In the principal negotiations we did not thoroughly address the
implications of regulating the broadcasting sector of the media, whereas in
respect of the print media we created the constitutional body the ZMC).Maybe
we were tired,” said Ncube.

He said they had hoped the ZBC would be transformed into a truly public
broadcaster run by an apolitical board to bring efficiency to the rundown
institution.

“We said we needed an inclusive and open process by which we constitute the
ZBC board.

There is some movement but we expect a standing committee on rules in
Parliament to produce the list and do the job expeditiously so that,
hopefully, we have a board with full authority and control over ZBC
management and reflecting policies that underpin the GPA,” Ncube told
delegates at the conference organised by Misa Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is one of the few countries in the region which have not yet
implemented and practiced the three-tier broadcasting system which includes
public, commercial and community broadcasting, respectively.

ZBC is heavily controlled by Zanu PF which has a tight grip on the content
which civic society groups and political parties say is not reflective of
the unity government.

As an alternative to independent news and entertainment, fed up Zimbabweans
listen to broadcasts into the country by three offshore radio stations
manned by exiled nationals.

SW Radio Africa, Radio VoP and Studio 7 broadcast into Zimbabwe everyday and
have a combined listenership of a million people.

Mugabe has repeatedly said the radio stations must be banned before he can
allow their journalists back into the country to join other applicants for
commercial broadcasting licenses.

Keep Ya Head Up: News from Kubatana - 9 November,2010

If we are to have elections next year, we want the UN and EU to come and observe the elections…what does it take for them to come and protect us? If it is money, we villagers in Muzarabani are prepared to sell our chickens and goats to pay them to come. We cannot have a repetition of 2008 where SADC observers were relaxing in hotels while we got beaten here.
~ Mr Goto, during one of Heal Zimbabwe’s meetings at Machaya village Muzarabani

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Help-a-Street-Child Fundraising Campaign

NGOs/Embassies/International Donor organisations/Private Organisations – buy your workshop water from Streets Ahead!

Streets Ahead is a registered welfare organisation that was started in 1991 to assist underprivileged children and youth between six and eighteen years living and working on the streets of Harare. Its aim is to provide comprehensive services that meet the emotional, social and practical needs of street children.

Streets Ahead is running a Help-a-Street-Child Fundraising Campaign, which is aimed at building a Transit Centre (halfway/safe house) for street children who want to get off the streets of Harare. The Transit Centre provides a homely atmosphere where children are systematically reinitiated to everyday family environment, while family tracing is been done pending family reunification.

Currently Streets Ahead has its branded water, which we are selling as a fundraising tool, the water is going for $0.50 for a 550ml bottle. We would appreciate any kind of support in helping marketing the water and helping spread the word as well as purchasing the water for any of your workshops or programmes that might need water. The proceeds from the sale of this water will go towards helping children that live and work on the streets of Harare.

Thank you in advance for your support.

For more information please email: Fundraising Department, Streets Ahead info@streetsahead.org.zw

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Get active . . .

10 tactics for turning information into activism

Kubatana would like to invite 10 Zimbabweans to a morning of creative discussion, two film screenings and shared inspiration.

10 Tactics provides original and artful ways for rights advocates to capture attention and communicate a cause. It includes a 50-minute film documenting stories from around the world and a set of cards; with tools, tips and advice, for you to work through as you plan your own info-activism. The film has now been translated by volunteers into more than 20 languages and it has been shown at 100 screenings in 45 countries.

Elements of the tactics include these essentials:

1. Mobilise people
2. Witness and record
3. Visualise your message
4. Amplify personal stories
5. Just add humour
6. Manage your contacts
7. Use complex data
8. Use collective intelligence
9. Let people ask the questions
10. Investigate and expose

For added enjoyment and inspiration we will also be screening a documentary called Favela Rising. Kubatana is working in collaboration with the producers of this documentary to introduce it to Zimbabweans working toward peaceful and non-violent conflict resolution – especially useful as talk of new elections circle Zimbabwe.

A man emerges from the slums of Rio to lead the nonviolent cultural movement known as Afro-reggae. Favela Rising documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.

Kubatana would like to invite 10 Zimbabweans to a morning of creative discussion, two film screenings and shared inspiration.

Teas, lunch and a small transport stipend will be provided. Unfortunately, due to limited resources, we are not able to provide transport or accommodation assistance for activists coming from outside Harare.

To be considered please email us one page telling us your motivation for participating and how you intend to use the knowledge you gain.

Please email your application to info@kubatana.net before 10 November. Only short listed applications will be answered

You add - we multiply!

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Have some fun and support charity at the same time . . .

The Verandah Gallery Invites you and your friends to

Paintings, Pimms & Pancakes!

When: Sunday 14th November 2010 9.30am to 2pm
Where: 16 Woodholme Road, Emerald Hill

Lots of small and medium sized unframed ‘portfolio’ paintings by a wide variety of popular local artists - ideal for Christmas presents.

Commission on sales to be donated to: The Emerald Hill Children’s Home and The Emerald Hill School for the Deaf.

Refreshments by Vabatsiri Soroptimist Club

Entrance:  Adults $2, Under 12: Free

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We should write more, speak out more and stand up against human rights abuses

My daughter likes the animated feature, A bug’s life. It is about a few grasshoppers terrorising millions of ants. Each year the ants have to collect food for the grasshoppers as well as for themselves. At the end, one ant stands up to the grasshoppers and makes them realise that they, the ants, have strength in numbers. The other ants are inspired by this ant’s courage and join hands in bringing an end to the oppression by the grasshoppers.

This sounds like more like Zimbabwe; where we have suffered at the hands of a few and we have suffered in silence. I am one person who has decided to take the leadership head on using the pen. Whenever I read my poetry in public, most people are left wondering: How can he say all those things about the leadership in public? But shouldn’t we name and shame perpetrators of human rights violations in public? We should write more, speak out more and stand up against human rights abuses.

What will ‘they’ do? Throw everyone into prison? We have to realise that we do have strength in numbers and we can overthrow an oppressive regime without throwing a single stone.

- Mgcini Nyoni

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What’s new on Kubatana blogs

Upenyu Makoni-Muchema challenges you to stop complaining and be the change, Thandi Mpofu says that she’s Ndebele 1st, and Zimbabwean 3rd (maybe even 4th), The year past and the year ahead seen through the eyes of Marko Phiri, Education brings hope to Tafara's children says Lenard Kamwendo and Thandi Mpofu gives us some life lessons from the Chombo saga

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Featured articles . . .

'Poor' Minister Chombo

I was shocked that The Herald, that non-partisan, balanced missive, would report in such detail the extent of Minister Chombo's wealth. Interesting that the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Rural Development would own (according to the Herald):

2 Glen View houses
2 flats in Queensdale, A property in Katanga Township, Stand Number 1037 Mount Pleasant Heights
4 Norton business stands
3 Chinhoyi business stands,
4 Banket business stands,
1 commercial stand in Epworth,
2 residential stands in Chirundu
4 commercial stands in Kariba
1 stand in Ruwa
1 stand in Chinhoyi,
2 stands in Mutare
2 stands in Binga.
4 stands in Victoria Falls
1 stand in Zvimba Rural Chitungwiza (two residential and two commercial stands) Beitbridge (four stands),
20 stands in Crow Hill, Borrowdale
10 stands in Glen Lorne,
2 flats at Eastview Gardens (B319 and B320)
1 flat at San Sebastian Flats in the Avenues, Harare Number 79 West Road, Avondale. Greendale house Number 36 Cleveland Road, Milton Park Number 135 Port Road, Norton,
2 Bulawayo houses. Number 18 Cuba Rd, Mount Pleasant Number 45 Basset Crescent, Alexandra Park,
2 Chegutu houses
1 Glen Lorne house (Harare)
2 houses (Victoria Falls). Stand along Simon Mazorodze Road, Norton (one stand) Avondale (two stands)
365 Beverly House (one stand) Bulawayo (three stands), Mica Point Kariba (one stand)

Clearly this is a man who has taken the President's third Chimurenga seriously. You have to admire such industriousness: Chombo has been a full time Minister for fifteen years and a civil servant his entire career. This surely is an example to all those civil servants who have been protesting their paltry salaries for decades that 'yes they too can'.

To add to his assets the minister has a Facebook page. It's a shame Facebook doesn't have a dislike button.

- Upenyu Makoni-Muchemwa writing on the Kubatana community blog

The Hairdresser of Harare - A very brave novel for our times
Review by: Fungai Machirori

Immediately after reading Tendai Huchu's novel, The Hairdresser of Harare, the first thought to form in my mind was that the author is uncommonly brave.

Set in current day Harare, this contemporary novel tells the story of Vimbai, a hairdresser whose dominance as Khumalo Hair and Beauty Treatment Salon's finest is challenged by the arrival of the enigmatic character, Dumi, the male hairdresser who is able to bring out the woman in even the most ungainly of female creatures.

With time, the twists and kinks in the two characters' relationship soon revolve less around the hair that they comb, straighten and braid and become more personal as they grow ever closer.

But still, there are demons to be fought, severed relationships to be mended and bone-breaking secrets to be confronted and concealed.  Huchu wends these into the storyline with such great skill that one gobbles up chapter after chapter in pursuit of the answers.

I re-assert that Huchu is brave. And there are two very striking reasons that prove this.

The first is that he assumes the voice of the main character, Vimbai, who narrates the entire story to the reader. Huchu is male and I have rarely encountered, if ever at all, a male author whose female character narrates an entire text (or vice versa). This is refreshing in that Vimbai's femininity becomes somewhat eclectic.  The voice is not omniscient and all-knowing like the non-gendered third person's voice would be, but it is also not the typical femininity - in emotional and mental expression - that one would encounter from reading the texts of most female authors.

At times, Huchu's gendered experience of being male still comes through (in the structure and choice of language) in some of what Vimbai says and thinks. Sometimes it works and at other times, Vimbai's words seem mechanical, her descriptions of a man she finds attractive somewhat repressed and formulaic.

Now, no one is to say what the 'authentic' female voice and experience should sound like. Women and females are of course a disaggregated group of human beings with different worldviews about their femininity. There can never really be one voice that speaks on behalf of all women. But I dare say that at times while reading the text, I could feel an almost-palpable absence of 'woman' in Vimbai's words.

The second reason why I say that Huchu is brave is that he tackles the great Zimbabwean taboo topic of homosexuality. To say anymore about how it manifests itself within the text would be to 'let the cat out of the bag'. But what I can summarise is that Huchu, through this novel, is able to dispel various myths around homosexuality while showing the dire repercussions of gayness, particularly when those with political power can use it against individuals.

You will find this book a treat if you enjoy easy reads that discuss Zimbabwean society in a contemporary light. You will also enjoy it if you have a liking for some parody of Zimbabwe's politics and its politicians. I challenge you try to guess early on in the novel who the minister known as Mrs M__ might be a parody of, as she will play an unexpected role in the plot's development.

Thankfully, Huchu does not dilute the novel's plot with convoluted explanations about Zimbabwe's economic and political situation. Enough has already been written about this by his predecessors. There are references to hyper-inflation, farm invasions and abuse of power - but these are factored naturally into the storyline and do not stick out like clumsy boring explanations of the protagonists' environment.

Huchu is brave but he is also funny, imaginative and succinct (the novel is 189 pages long). However, I felt that the novel could have done with a few more pages as the sequences towards the conclusion happened in a brace, leaving me suspended and unanswered on a few questions. Perhaps Huchu has plans for a delightful sequel novel…

All in all, The Hairdresser of Harare is a great achievement and a refreshing addition to Zimbabwe's growing body of post-2000 literature. And by the time you are done reading, you too might be left with this debatable question, "Just who is the hairdresser of Harare?"

The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu
Published by Weaver Press, Harare (2010)
ISBN 978-1-77922-109-4

If you would like to buy a copy of The Hairdresser of Harare write to Weaver press at: weaver@mweb.co.zw

Mugabe in the ‘hood

Cellphone in hand and speaking street lingo, a cool Zimbabwean president is appearing in music videos in an attempt to woo young voters

Robert Mugabe, iron-fisted, anti-imperialist revolutionary, is getting an extreme makeover. He has been appearing in music videos, talking on a cellphone to teenage rappers and rattling off street lingo over booming house beats.

Still pushing for unpopular elections next year, he is targeting a youth vote that has long rejected the old-fashioned, revolutionary rhetoric that has been the hallmark of his party’s previous campaigns.

It is Mugabe’s youth militia that have helped him retain power for years, but his handlers are now looking for young musicians to help charm young voters away from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

In one video, played frequently on state television, Mugabe sits in his office, picks up a cellphone and asks his young sister at the end of the line, “Zvirisei-sei?”, the Zimbabwe equivalent of “Wassup?”.

In another song, a speech Mugabe once made mocking exiled Zimbabweans doing deadbeat jobs in foreign lands has been automated over a throbbing dance beat.

“You run off to England, you get there and you get a job cleaning old white folks’ behinds,” Mugabe’s voice booms over the track in Shona. “Who are you running to?”

The music is by a group called The Born Free Crew, a reference to those born after independence, known locally as “born frees” and much criticised by the older generation for discarding the values of the struggle.

A glowing review of the new Mugabe album in the state-controlled The Herald newspaper said the music “paid tribute to President Mugabe for advocating the total emancipation of not only Zimbabwe but also the continent at large”.

The songs on the album, the reviewer wrote, speak about “the need for people to stay connected with their country as well as the leadership, with President Mugabe at the helm”.

A member of the group, Chancellor Majoka, said: “To the youths, let’s put our heads together and enjoy the freedom our fathers and mothers fought for”.

Mugabe has his ear to the ground. Last month he jumped on the frenzy surrounding the Big Brother Africa television reality show and gave the losing finalist, Munyaradzi Chidzonga, $300 000.

After 30 years in power, Mugabe remains a mythical figure to many Zimbabweans, so some are surprised to find that he too uses an everyday gadget like a cellphone.

His handlers hope that showing him as an “ordinary guy from the ‘hood” will soften his image, though some feel the new campaign may only expose him to ridicule.

Re-branding Mugabe is a tough marketing job. His handlers have tried to make him look cool before. In 2008 they invoked Tupac using lyrics from the Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. album, to send the message to voters that their troubles were only temporary. Using Tupac’s lyrics from the song Keep Ya Head Up, one banner declared: “Through every dark night, there’s a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it gets, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.”

As he went into a run-off boycotted by the opposition, drab posters showing an angry old revolutionary, trademark fist in the air, were replaced by brightly coloured banners of a Mugabe wearing a playful smile.

The irony is that the youths in Zanu-PF itself, apart from being used as militia fodder, have little say. It was noted for years that one did not need to be young to be a youth leader in Zanu-PF. But at Zanu-PF’s congress last year the party grudgingly agreed to change its rules to let younger members lead the Zanu-PF Youth League – it can now be led only by someone younger than 30. But it kept in office its secretary for youth affairs, Absalom Sikhosana, who is believed to be in his 50s.

At the weekend Mugabe was back in more comfortable territory. At a meeting of mostly ageing traditional chiefs, who still revel in the colonial-era, ankle-length red robes, huge gold pendants, white pith hats and canes, endorsement came a lot easier for Mugabe. He alone could lead the country, they declared, and they would back him in the next election. 

Source: Jason Moyo writing for the Mail & Guardian

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The Kubatana web site is updated regularly. Here are some new articles and reports.
There are over 17 600 articles and reports available to browse.


Influential Zimbabwean women working for social good
>From refugee to advocate for refugees and internally displaced persons, Joan Mtukwa is the Country Director for the Jesuit Refugee Service Zimbabwe (JRS). Mutare is a long way from Free Town but that is the journey Joan Mtukwa took early in her life. The reality of pre-independent Zimbabwe forced her family to leave their hometown of Mutare for the safety of neighbouring Botswana. Joan spent nine months in a refugee camp there, where she experienced the difficulties of being in a foreign land, without resources and dependent on strangers.

With vision to sustain the planet, Charlene Hewat, the Chief Executive Officer of Environment Africa is inspiration in action. More than twenty years after her trans-continental bicycle ride, Charlene Hewat is still recognised as one of the famous “Rhino Girls”. The two-year journey, done with colleague Julie Edwards, took her from the United Kingdom through Europe, Africa and finally to Harare. Although they encountered numerous difficulties along the way, in the end they managed to raise awareness and £250 000 for the conservation of the rhino population in Zimbabwe, Kenya and other parts of Africa.

Lindiwe Chaza-Jangira the National Director of the Zimbabwe AIDS Network (ZAN) is a very accomplished woman. She is a graduate of prestigious American Universities, a well-travelled and vastly experienced human development professional and member of several boards, including the Developing Countries NGO Delegation to the Global Fund. She can also plough a field and grind peanut butter in the traditional way! Lindiwe puts her remarkable achievements down to her upbringing, which gave her “the best of both world’s” and equipped her to thrive under any circumstance.

More from Kubatana.net - Read and listen

- Civic society statement on the impending referendum and elections - ZESN - Read more
- Monthly report - September - Shadowing the outreach process - ZZZICOMP - Read more
- Zimbabwe court drops charges against diamond fields activist - Amnesty International - Read more

Majubeki report
The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) undertook a tour of the Majubeki Lines in Mbare on Friday 23 August and Saturday 24 August 2010. The HRT has constantly received reports from the residents concerning various aspects of their living conditions. In response the HRT has registered significant successes. Residents’ programmes have been built around residents’ capacity to unpack local government legislation, policies, and local authorities’ policies, regulations and by- laws. Corrupt practices by elected Councillors and City employees have been exposed and will continue to be exposed through parliamentary advocacy, stakeholder engagement and through the media. The crisis of accommodation in Harare has created a lucrative opportunity for City employees in the City’s Housing and Community Services department to exploit the poor and vulnerable members of society. This has been a serious concern of residents in suburbs where hundreds of residents are living in the so-called “rented accommodation”. This report details how bona fide dependants and relatives of deceased owners have been haunted out of their family houses in Mbare’s Majubeki Lines of Ward 3. The houses in this area were built in the early 1940s. The majority of the citizens living in the area remain hopeful that one day they would secure title deeds to their houses. However the city of Harare, through the Department of Housing and Community Services has constantly threatened residents with eviction whenever they demand ownership to their dwellings, which the residents insist are on home ownership. But the city claims that the houses belong to them. Read more from the Harare Residents Trust (HRT)

Harassment of WOZA members continues with court summons for Chikurubi 14
State harassment of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe continued this week when police attempted to serve summons to 14 activists arrested in May 2008. Only one member, Clara Manjengwa, received the summons to appear in Harare Magistrate’s Court today at 8.30am. When she presented herself at court, there was no docket, witnesses or any record of the matter being due to be heard. The police themselves were not even present. In fact the only evidence that a summons had been served was the copy that Clara herself had. Clara is still recovering from her most recent detention in Harare Central Police Station a few weeks ago and had to leave her sick bed to attend court.  Read more from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

- Pre-Budget Report of the Town House meeting - Harare Residents Trust - Read more
- Perspectives Series #4: Sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights in Africa -Heinrich Böll Foundation - Read more
- What can communities do to protect themselves against violence? - Peace Watch 13/2010 - Veritas - Read more

Water service delivery: A dream for the majority of Zimbabweans
The majority of Zimbabweans are finding it difficult to pay their water bills which are pegged at exorbitant cost. Some bills are as high as US$500 in a country where the average worker receives US$200 salary a month. What makes the situation worse is that 80% of urban residents are drinking unsafe water with the City of Harare failing to deliver 100 percent safe, clean water. All the council seems to be doing is to complain that ratepayers are not paying bills without asking themselves why they should pay. The answer lies in that despite incessant pleas by the ratepayers for local authorities to slash their salaries and direct resources to service delivery, the relevant officials have been adamant and ignorant. Some officials are allegedly pocketing as much pocketing as much as US$15, 000 in monthly salaries at a time when most civil servants are earning about US$150. The issue of water disconnections brings with it negative implications especially in view of the dangers of spreading of communicable diseases such as cholera which ravaged communities between 2008 and 2009 leaving close to 4, 000 people dead. If water for primary purposes such as drinking and cooking is disconnected, residents are left with no choice but it use unsafe water source. Read more from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition

Statement on the provision of condoms to prisoners
GALZ supports calls by the Ministry of Health and Child welfare to provide condoms to prisoners as a noble move in fighting HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe's prisons. The danger of sexual violence in prisons is extremely increased under conditions of severe overcrowding and malnutrition such as currently prevails in Zimbabwe. Prison culture encourages men to have sex with men if not necessitating it and you will often find aggressor/victim type relationships. The mere existence of sexual relationships between inmates who do not identify as homosexual or bisexual is powerful testimony to men's need for and ability to create intimacy when faced with factors such as confinement for longer periods. Due to the fact that men generally have a high sex drive, they are bound to have sex regardless of circumstances. By making condoms unavailable and by not acknowledging that men have sex with men in prison, the government and prison authorities are encouraging the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS and putting pressure on the national health budget. Read more from Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)

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Opportunities . . .

Call For Photographic Work: SHOTS (Issue no. 110)

SHOTS Magazine announces an international call for photographic work to be considered for publication in the ANNUAL PORTFOLIO ISSUE (Issue no. 110, Winter 2010). Subject matter is open. Selected photographers will be interviewed and have their work featured on at least four pages in this issue. Please visit the SHOTS website for further information and submission guidelines. An established independent photography journal in its 24th year of publication, SHOTS Magazine reaches an international audience of photographers, collectors, galleries, museums, educators and other fine art photography enthusiasts. Don't miss this chance to have your work seen! Submissions accepted online or by mail (CD or prints). Find out more

Awards . . .

Call for submission of Gender Sensitive articles for the 2010 Federation of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ) Gender Sensitive Reporting Media Awards
Deadline: 19 November 2010

It is that time of the year again, where we celebrate the achievements of the men and women who have worked hard in changing the society’s attitude, norms and perceptions on gender stereotypes and inequality during the year 2010. The Federation of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ) is calling for interested media practitioners to submit gender sensitive articles for the 2010 Annual Gender mainstreaming awards which will be held under the theme: “A media that promotes gender equality and equal opportunities for men and women as well as the youth”. The awards will be divided into three categories namely: print, electronic and on-line media. Qualifying articles should be on issues covering women and the youth; written during the period January to October 2010. Deadline for submission of all entries is 19th November 2010. Electronic material should be sent on Cassettes, DVDs and or CDs; whilst print and online material can be sent via email or hand delivered to FAMWZ offices. The awards ceremony will be held on 3rd December 2010 at a venue to be announced. 

For more information, please contact the following:
FAMWZ on 0772 915223 or famwz@mweb.co.zw  cc: asmakams@yahoo.com
Patricia Magorokosho on 0712 555158
Chido Sibalo on 0772 634672

The Federation of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ)
57 Central Avenue, Whitecroft Building
Office 6, Harare

Supported by SAIH – Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund

Call for Nominations: 10th Auxillia Chimusoro Annual HIV and AIDS Awards
Deadline: 21 November 2010

The Auxillia Chimusoro Awards honour individuals or organisations that have excelled in their involvement in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe. A cash prize and Award Certificate will be awarded to winners in each category.

Who is Auxillia Chimusoro?
- Born in 1956 at Gokomere Mission, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
- Publicly revealed her positive status in 1989
- Founded Batanai HIV/AIDS Support Group in 1992
- Co-founded Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in 1992
- Founded Auxillia Chimusoro Masvingo Provincial Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS
- Passed away on Friday, 19 June 1998

You are invited to nominate an individual or organisation for consideration in any of the following award categories:

Communication Award

This award recognises initiatives that provide information about HIV and AIDS using various channels of communication. Nominees for this award should be individuals or organisations who have excelled in providing up to date, relevant and accurate information addressing current issues on HIV and AIDS and targeted at a broad audience in Zimbabwe. Such efforts should demonstrate informed knowledge and promote innovative responses to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Social Investment Award

This award recognises visionary and strategic leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The nominated individual/organication should demonstrate innovation, commitment, relevance and consistency in the manner he/she has applied himself/herself in leading the HIV and AIDS response in Zimbabwe. The demonstrable areas of leadership may include but are not limited to policy, advocacy, programme implementation and management in all sectors.

Leadership Award

This award honours an individual or organisation that has designed and implemented creative and unique approaches to directly mitigate the socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS on society. The nomination must clearly demonstrate that the individual or organization has invested their own resources to support new or existing interventions and has gone further to build local sustainability of the intervention.

Special Recognition - Lynde Francis Award

This award will be given only to a deserving individual or institution whose actions have made a remarkable impact on the tide of the epidemic in Zimbabwe. Selection of the qualifying awardee will be subjected to rigorous assessment to measure impact, relevance, integrity and quality of work.

Nomination Rules

• No self nominations are permitted
• Provide a reason(s) for nominating this individual or organisation (no more than 300 words)
• Nominations must be accompanied by supporting evidence or documentation
• The organizers shall, where appropriate, use their own means to verify claims, therefore, nominations must provide full contact details of themselves and their nominee(s)

An independent panel of judges will review all nominations and determine winners. Their decision shall be final.

Submit nominations to:

The Secretariat, Auxillia Chimusoro Awards 2010, P.O. Box EH 306, Emerald Hill, Harare

Email: auxilliachimusoro@psi-zim.co.zw

Or: 30 The Chase West, Emerald Office Park, Block ‘E’, Emerald Hill, Harare

Young Environmental Journalist Award Africa
Deadline: 31 December 2010

Entries for the UNEP Young Environmental Journalist Award Africa are now open! The competition, which is made possible through funding support from the Government of the United States of America, is open to African journalists between 25 and 35 years old, working for African news and media organisations. The winner will be a print, radio, television or online journalist who has provided powerful new insights, challenged established thinking and greatly enhanced public understanding of the environment in Africa in 2010. The winner will be eligible for an all-expenses-paid trip to the USA*, where they will follow a unique, “green” itinerary. The winner will travel across the country, interacting with environmental projects, leading environmental journalists, scientists and public figures. Entering the competition is easy - just click here to submit your application form. Entries can be submitted in French and in English. *Note: U.S. visa and immigration requirements apply fully, and selection as the winner of this prize does not guarantee the issuance of a U.S. visa.

Fellowships . . .

Henry Moore Institute Research Fellowships
Deadline: 10 January 2011

The Henry Moore Institute invites applications for the following fellowship programmes:

Research Fellowships are intended for artists, scholars and curators, working on historic and contemporary sculpture using the Institute's library, archive of sculptors' papers and the collection of Leeds Art Gallery. Up to 4 fellows will be given the opportunity to spend a month in Leeds to develop their own research.

With access to our resources and an on-going dialogue with the Institute staff, fellows are free to pursue their own interests in a supportive and stimulating environment.

Senior Fellowships are intended to give established scholars (working on any aspect of sculpture) time and space to develop a research project free from their usual work commitments. Up to 2 senior fellowships, for periods of between 4 to 6 weeks will be offered.

Both fellowships provide accommodation, travel expenses and a per diem. The Institute offers the possibility of presenting finished research in published form, as a seminar, or as a small exhibition. The fellowships are an integral part of the research programme, presenting fresh perspectives on the Institute's collections, opening up new collaborative possibilities and furthering research into sculpture.

For more information on the Henry Moore Institute research fellowships please click here

For further information or to apply for a fellowship please contact:

Kirstie Gregory - Research Programme Assistant Henry Moore Institute, The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AH. T: + 44 (0) 113 246 7467 E: kirstie@henry-moore.org

To apply for either fellowship please send a letter of application, a proposal and a CV.

Funding . . .

Hellman/Hammett grants
Deadline: 10 December 2010

Human Rights Watch is seeking nominations for 2010 Hellman/Hammett grants, which provide financial support for writers around the world who have been victims of political persecution. Nominators should provide biographical information about the writer, the circumstances of persecution, samples or characterisations of the writer's literary or journalistic work, and information about financial need. Winners will be announced in spring 2011. The programme also provides limited funds for emergency grants to writers whose lives are at risk unless they flee their country or those needing immediate medical treatment after serving prison terms or enduring torture. For more information, contact Marcia Allina at: allinam@hrw.org

Consultancies . . .

Proposed Terms of Reference for the External Assessment of Caritas Zimbabwe National Office
Deadline: 11 November 2010

Background

Caritas Zimbabwe, formerly known as the Catholic Development Commission (CADEC), is a Commission (department) of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC hereinafter referred to as the Conference) tasked with spearheading the Church's relief, welfare and development interventions to the poor and vulnerable. The Conference is the highest policy making body of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe made up of the Bishops from the current eight Dioceses.

Caritas Zimbabwe intends to initiate a process of developing a Strategic Plan. As part of this it intends to commission an external assessment of its performance, relevance, and effectiveness since its inception in June 2006. The findings and recommendations should contribute to, specifying the roles and mandate of the National Office and recommended strategy and structure to achieve this.

These Terms of Reference (ToR) provide the guidance in carrying out this exercise. A suitably qualified external facilitator is required to provide professional guidance to this process.

Assessment Objectives And Outcomes
This assessment final will provide the key stakeholders that include the Conference, funding and technical partners and the Diocesan Offices with sufficient information to:

a.    Make an overall independent assessment about the past performance of the National Office with specific focus on its mandate, relevance, performance (service delivery), functional relationships and financial sustainability.
b.    Identify key observations, gaps and needs; and
c.    Propose practical recommendations for addressing the above
d.    Suggest core budget and funding strategy

Person Specification

The facilitator should possess the following attributes:
-    Degree to a Master's level in Organisational Development, Strategic Management or any other relevant management discipline
-    Minimum of three (3) years experience in carrying out similar assignments
-    Good communication skills both written and verbal
-    Excellent report writing skills
-    Excellent facilitation skills
-    Ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds
-    Knowledge of the Catholic Church structures will be a distinct advantage

Interested candidates should email the National Director of Caritas Zimbabwe on hamadziripi@zcbc.co.zw for a full set of the Terms of Reference.

Applications should then be hand delivered to the National Director, Caritas Zimbabwe Africa Synod House, 29-31 Selous Avenue Harare no later than Thursday 11 November 2010.

Volunteers . . .

Volunteer Copy Editors Wanted

Are you an experienced copy editor? Can you work quickly and accurately? Would you be willing to help Pambazuka News by volunteering a little of your time each week? Pambazuka News receives a growing number of articles every week, but we need help with copy-editing. If you think you can help, please get in touch with us - editor@pambazuka.org

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Vacancies . . .

Anti-Domestic Violence Council Secretariat Interim Co-ordinator: United Nations Population Fund / Ministry of Women’s Affairs Gender and Community Development
Deadline: 10 November 2010 (12noon)

(Conditions: Service Contract Post, January-December 2011, Duty Station: MOW AGCD Head Office Harare, Zimbabwe)

The Council Secretariat Co-ordinator’s main responsibility is to monitor and oversee the council’s implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. The Co-ordinator is responsible and accountable to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development and to the Anti-domestic Violence Council (ADVC). S/he is supervised by the Chairman of the Council in all his/her duties and responsibilities. The Co-ordinator will use Council’s Strategic Plan to facilitate planning, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of GBV initiatives.

Key responsibilities:

• Management of programs done by the Anti-Domestic Violence Council
• Develop quarterly and monthly implementation plans for the ADVC
• Facilitate the convening of ADVC meetings and documentation of all ADVC deliberations and decision
• Collect, compile and analyse GBV report data with an emphasis on identifying trends and patterns
• Develop monthly report formats that capture relevant information and that support the analysis and evaluation of program progress and outcomes
• Works with partners to develop awareness campaigns and promotes the use of effective multi-media strategies
• Promotes the provision of services necessary to deal with all aspects of domestic violence and monitor their effectiveness
• Participates in reviews to monitor the application and enforcement of the Act and any other law relevant to issues of domestic violence and makes recommendations for action to the ADVC
• Catalyse the formation of and/or strengthen, multi-sectoral GBV co-ordination groups at national, provincial and district level
• Identify funding gaps and opportunities, develop funding proposals, responds to donor concerns, and contributes to any other resource mobilization initiatives of the Anti-domestic violence council

Only candidates satisfying all of the following should apply:

• An advanced University degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences or other related social sciences degrees
• 5 years’ of relevant professional experience, preferably in programme planning and management, ideally in the area of Gender and Gender Based Violence in the public, NGO or private sector within Zimbabwe
• Fluency in English, as well as Shona and/or Ndebele
• Proficiency in current office software applications
• Zimbabwean national

Please send your Curriculum Vitae and cover letter to: The UNFPA Representative, Ref: ADVC Interim Co-ordinator, Block 7, 1st Floor, Arundel Office Park, Mount Pleasant, P O Box 4775, Harare or by email to mailzwe@unfpa.org

Notice: There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

Qualified Female Candidates Are Strongly Encouraged To Apply.

Food Security Officer - Cotton Production: Concern Worldwide (based in Gokwe South)
Deadline: 11 November 2010

Concern Worldwide is an Irish non-governmental organization.

Profile Specific to this post:

• Degree/Diploma in Agriculture
• Minimum of 1 year’s experience implementing and supporting cotton production with an NGO
• Excellent community mobilization skills
• Excellent training skills
• Experience in Conservation farming will be an added advantage
• Class 3 driver’s licence

Concern encourages female candidates and those living with HIV to apply.

A competitive salary is offered as per the experience required and the duties to be carried out in a new and challenging working environment.

Interested candidates should send their CVs as well as the following (Only candidates who meet the person profile above may be shortlisted):

• Details of two professional referees of persons to whom they reported
• A covering letter outlining reasons for applying and suitability of the candidate
• Details of their current/most recent salary
• Dates of Availability

Application should be sent to:

The HR Manager, Concern Worldwide, email lucille.tapfumaneyi@concern.net

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted


Information And Communications Officer: International Relief & Development (IRD)
Deadline: 12 November 2010

International Relief and Development (IRD) is a charitable, non-profit, non-governmental organization which focuses its operations in regions of the world that present social, political and technical challenges. IRD specializes in facilitating and supporting assistance that is tailored specifically to those most in need. IRD’s mission is to reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency. IRD Zimbabwe is looking to immediately hire a suitable candidate for the position of Information and Communications Officer.

The Position

The position will be based in Harare and will report to the Country Director. The Information and Communications Officer will be responsible for developing and implementing communication strategy for IRD in Zimbabwe; delivery of information to USAID; provide support and guidance to IRD Zimbabwe Program Managers and Chiefs of Party for preparation of weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and other reports for USAID and internal IRD use as directed; maintain management of the project reporting system and other information management system; design and maintain with the assistance of IT technical staff a functional web-site for IRD Zimbabwe; manage press inquiries and work with local and international media in publicizing project activities and impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications or relevant field;
• Minimum 5 years’ of experience in media production or a related field;
• Experience in developing and maintaining liaison with the NGO community, international donors, the international and local press corps and beneficiaries;
• Experience in the drafting of press releases, special interest pieces, media kits, press junkets, website content and informational documents for international and local audiences;
• Experience conducting interviews and public information sessions with donors and international/local media;
• Strong communication skills, ability to present a vast array of information in short multimedia form targeting USAID, Zimbabwean and international audiences.

Interested candidates can send their email to tgumbo@ird-zw.org


Project Officer: ZNNP+
Deadline: 12 November (12 noon)

The Project Officer will provide an all-round technical support on programmatic needs relating to the Zimbabwean National Network for People Living with HIV support group strengthening initiatives, economic strengthening and positive living to support groups for children, youth and adult groups and human rights. S/he will frequently liaise with the Programs Manager and Field Officers on operational issues and in interacting with the implementing partners and project stakeholders.

Qualifications and experience

A degree in Social Sciences, Public Health or equivalent from a recognized institution, or diploma in Counselling. A traceable ability and passion to work with people living with HIV and AIDS, with good knowledge of HIV and AIDS programming in Zimbabwe, willing to work with support groups in Zimbabwe. S/he must have knowledge of basic program management skills, report writing and program development skills, research methods, community mobilization and participatory approaches. Proven experience of NOT less than 5 years hands on implementing projects involving people living with HIV/AIDS, integrated community and home-based care or psychosocial support. S/he must be computer literate and a clean class 4 driver’s licence is a MUST.

Interested and suitably qualified candidates are encouraged to submit applications together with CVs via email to info.znnp@gmail.com or hand deliver to Number 28 Divine Road, Milton Park, Harare.

People living positively are highly encouraged to apply.

Field Officer x 3: ZNNP+
Deadline: 12 November (12 noon)
Locations: Mashonaland Central Province, Matebeleland South Province and Mashonaland West Province

The Field Officer will be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the Zimbabwean National Network for People Living with HIV project and HIV and AIDS-related training and technical support to the project’s implementing partners.

Qualifications and experience: Same as above but with experience of NOT less than 2 years hands on implementing projects involving people living with HIV/AIDS. A clean class 3 driver’s licence is a MUST.

Interested and suitably qualified candidates are encouraged to submit applications together with CVs via email to info.znnp@gmail.com or hand deliver to Number 28 Divine Road, Milton Park, Harare. The closing date of receipt of applications is Friday, 12th November 2010 at 12 noon.

People living positively are highly encouraged to apply.

Finance Coordinator: Southern African AIDS Trust - SAT
Deadline: 12 November 2010
Location: Regional Office, Johannesburg

SAT is a regional Organisation that supports Community responses to HIV and AIDS through in-depth partnerships with Community Groups in Southern Africa and wider networking, skills exchange and lesson sharing throughout the region and internationally.  SAT funding and skills building activities support the capacity development of partners and their programming in order to create more effective, sustainable and comprehensive Community responses. 

Job Summary:  The incumbent will coordinate the accounting services at SAT Regional Office and Country Offices.  This includes the preparation of cash payments, cheques and money transfers according to accepted procedures, the reconciliation of accounts, the entering of properly receipted expenditures in the appropriate account ledgers, and the preparation of financial reports as required.  The incumbent directly supervises the accounts staff and reports to the Director: Finance and Administration.

Job Requirements:
1.    A university level qualification in accounting, combined with additional formal training in financial management to the level of a widely recognised accounting qualification (e.g. CIMA, CIS)
2.    Experience in the management of multiple currency accounts.
3.    At least 5 years senior level experience in managing the financial accounts of an organisation of comparable size to SAT (@USD 10-15 million per annum), preferably an international or regional NGO.
4.    Ability to travel extensively in the region.

Applicants may send their CV’s, accompanied by a covering letter to nhlapo@satregional.org

If you do not hear from us within 2 weeks of the closing date, consider your application unsuccessful.

Freedom House Southern Africa
Deadline: 14 November 2010

With a regional office in Johannesburg, Freedom House, is accepting applications for the following vacant positions:

• Program Officer - Windhoek
• Program Assistant - Johannesburg
• Program Assistant - Harare
• Finance Officer - Johannesburg

For respective position descriptions and more details please go here and click on Overseas Opportunities.

You may apply to recruitspos@gmail.com by submitting: a current resume with full educational and career details, a cover letter stating why you are qualified for this assignment, 2 reference letters from previous employers and proof of nationality.  Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.

Finance and Office Managers: Australian Government AusAID
Deadline: 15 November 2010
Location: Harare and Nairobi

AusAID, the Australian Government’s Agency for International Development, seeks to appoint two experienced, dynamic and innovative Finance and Office Managers to help implement Australia’s aid program in the Australian Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe and the Australian High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya.  The Finance and Office Manager will mange the office administration function for AusAID including human resources management, finance, budgeting, procurement and maintenance of assets, travel support services, and record keeping.

Requirements: Excellent administrative and finance skills; office manager experience; strong written and spoken English; sound interpersonal, judgement, negotiation and problem solving skills and the ability to work effectively in teams.

View the full job description and application instructions on the Vacancies page here and email your application to olivia@actionappointments.co.za


Programme Leader (Markets and Livelihoods): Practical Action
Deadline: 19 November 2010

Practical Action Southern Africa, part of an international technology development organisation, is recruiting a Programme Leader for its Markets and Livelihoods thematic area based in Harare. This is a senior position in a well-established, progressive and leading development organisation operating in Zimbabwe since 1989. Practical Action has an excellent track record of using technology to challenge poverty. Making markets work better for the poor is one of the four top priority areas and this post will take forward exciting opportunities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi.

Practical Action's headquarters is in the UK with other offices in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

This post reports to the Regional Director, and will be responsible for the strategic direction of the thematic area.

Key deliverables will include:
-    Developing and communicating the strategic direction and intent of the programme
-    Leading the programme to develop new opportunities and innovative approaches to making markets work for poor people in the region
-    Programme planning and management
-    Fundraising for the program and overall budget management
-    Providing leadership and opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing
-    Encouraging team interaction to build new ideas and facilitation of interaction between the unit and other thematic areas
-    Providing mentorship /guidance to staff by and giving them regular feedback on their performance
-    Contributing to the senior management and international team

Person Specification
-    Ability to interact with government agencies, donors, NGOs, the private sector and other institutions at different levels
-    Leadership skills including experience in building effective teams
-    INGO and private sector experience an added advantage

Prerequisites for the post
-    A University post graduate degree in Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences or any other relevant degree discipline
-    At least ten (10) years experience in development work, including market development
-    Should be extensively networked within the relevant sector
-    Appreciation of current issues in the market development field a must

Send applications and detailed CVs to: Human Capital and Administration Manager Practical Action, 4 Ludlow Rd, Newlands or email to: hc@practicalactionzw.org

Applicants responding to this advert should have the authority to work in the Southern Africa Region.

Camfed Malawi Recruiting for Posts in Blantyre
Deadline: 19 November 2010

Camfed is an international organisation dedicated to the eradication of poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women.

Camfed is seeking to recruit motivated and dynamic individuals to join its new team in Malawi.  All successful candidates will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, an ability to work under pressure, and flexibility to travel. Camfed Malawi seeks for the following positions:

Monitoring & Evaluation Officer

Camfed Malawi is seeking a technically strong, highly motivated M&E professional to join a dynamic team. You will undertake data gathering and analysis for Camfed Malawi. You will consolidate and analyse data, identify trends and variances in Camfed’s programmes, generate data for donor reports and manage research studies.  You will have a degree and 3 years relevant experience. The position is based in the Blantyre office with regular travel to other regions of Malawi.

Finance Officer

Camfed Malawi is seeking a Finance Officer to be responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and smooth running of an accurate and up-to-date accounting system; provide management information for planning, control and decision making; provide timely and accurate financial reports; carry out field fields and support districts and other partners in financial management and record keeping.  You will have a degree or recognised accountancy qualification and will have experience of international accounting packages. The position is based in the Blantyre office with regular travel to other regions of Malawi.

To Apply:

More information about each position can be found here

Please email your CV (maximum 2 pages) and cover letter (maximum 1 page) to malawi@camfed.org Please use the job title in the subject line of the email. Applications which do not meet these criteria will be rejected.  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview

Research Director: HEARD
Deadline: 30 November 2010
(Two-year renewable contract)

HEARD is a self-funded, multi-national unit based at the University of KwaZulu Natal that conducts inter-disciplinary research to produce effective interventions and scientific knowledge. HEARD has a regional focus in southern and eastern Africa. Its mission is to inspire health and development strategies to improve the welfare of people in Africa and beyond and to influence global thinking and action on health and development.

HEARD is in its second five-year phase of development and expects to consolidate its position as a regional health research agency. The organisation will continue growing as a regional centre of research excellence; renown for the utilisation of research.
 
HEARD is seeking a highly qualified Research Director to lead and manage its research programmes. The successful candidate must have extensive experience in managing research programmes and research staff, and will have a strong foundation in the field of HIV and AIDS. S/he will have the strategic vision and leadership skills to guide all aspects of research work across HEARD’s projects and programmes, and a passion to make a difference to people’s lives in east and southern Africa. Minimum Requirements in order to apply:

• A relevant PhD
• A minimum of 10 years research experience using both qualitative and quantitative research methods in the area of health and HIV/AIDS
• A minimum of five years experience in a senior research or research management position
• An internationally recognised research and scholarly profile with a superior record of peer reviewed publications in the area of health, HIV/AIDS and related fields
• Proven experience in successfully undertaking collaborative research
• Experience with mentoring researchers
• Proven capacity to lead and manage a research team(s)
• A track record of successful proposal writing for funding and grants.

Key Duties include:

• Leading HEARD’s research programmes, and the development and implementation of research projects
• Managing senior researchers, researchers, junior researchers and research interns
• Overseeing research staff capacity building and development
• Overseeing all research utilisation activities, including research dissemination and advocacy related work
• Applying and refining HEARD’s research foci and strategic direction for 2011-2015
• Supporting HEARD’S fundraising initiatives, including the identification of fundraising opportunities and writing grant proposals.

Advantages: HEARD works regionally and collaborates extensively with government agencies, NGOs and academic organisations across Africa and beyond; its research work is largely cross-disciplinary and there is a strong emphasis on seeing research used and translated into practice.

Applicants whose professional experience includes the following will have an advantage:

• An international network of contacts
• Experience of work in Africa countries beyond South Africa
• Experience of multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research projects
• Engaging with policy makers and practitioners
• Experience with linking research and advocacy.

All appointments will be in terms of the prevailing University Employment Equity Policy and the Employment Equity Plan of the faculty or division available here The University reserves the right not to make an appointment or to stop the process at any stage to headhunt or re-advertise the post to meet its equity goals. Candidates who do not meet the minimum criteria will not be considered.

Closing Date: 30th November 2010. Applications must be mailed to heardhr@ukzn.ac.za Application forms are available here

Applications not submitted on the required template will not be considered. If you have not received feedback within 3 weeks of the closing date, kindly consider your application unsuccessful.

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The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe and
The NGO Network Alliance Project
PO Box GD 376
Greendale
Harare
Zimbabwe

Tel: +263-4-776008/746448
Fax: +263-4-746418
Email: mailto:admin@kubatana.org.zw
Website: www.kubatana.net

Visit www.kubatana.net Zimbabwe's civic and human rights web site incorporating an on line directory for the non-profit sector

Beer and cooldrinks for votes in Zimbabwe

http://www.kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=4055

Bulawayo Agenda have just issued this report:

    Hwange
    Teachers in one of the schools in the mining town of Hwange are reported
to have been arrested for being in possession of wireless radios. The radios
were distributed to the teachers by PTUZ. There are suspicions that the
arrests may be politically motivated. However, PTUZ and the Hwange Human
Rights Youth Forum have organized a demo for Thursday against Police
brutality and harassment. The two teachers are still in police custody.

    Victoria Falls
    Gushungo buses are said to have resurfaced in Hwange. The buses are
plying the Hwange – Victoria Falls route for free to the residents of Hwange
and Victoria Falls. The resurfacing of the buses is thought to be an
election campaign method by ZANU-PF. It is also alleged that Zanu PF is
funding funerals and birthday bashes of residents in Vic Falls with one
resident having benefitted 21 crates of beer and 25 crates of soft drinks on
her 50th birthday bash.  It is also reported that Zanu PF is dishing out
‘loans’ of between $500 to $1000 to youths and women in various parts of the
country while  government has run out of funds for other important issues
such as grants for the elderly and the disabled.

This entry was posted on November 9th, 2010 at 4:33 pm by Bev Clark

OPINION: The terrifying prospect of election-stealing in Africa

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Cameron Duodu     Tuesday 09 November 2010

THERE is no political event more dangerous than a general election. Even in
what are called the ‘mature democracies’, elections bring out hidden
weaknesses in a nation’s structure that can be stretched to breaking point,
and if wise counsels do not prevail, no one can predict what might happen.??

The best example of this sort of situation is the US presidential election
of November 2000. The result was extremely close – George W. Bush, the
Republican candidate, beat his Democratic opponent, Al Gore, by only 0.5 per
cent of the votes – 48.4 against 47.9 per cent!??Such a close vote always
brings allegations of hanky-panky.

Speculations become rife over what might have been, had it not been for…
What follows the ‘for’ is anybody’s game.??In the US election under
question, there were reports about votes disallowed because of ‘hanging
chads’ and ‘pregnant chads’ caused by faulty voting machines.??There were
also allegations of fraudulent counting, and many other misdeeds amounting
to electoral fraud.

So emotionally charged became the atmosphere that even when the matter
reached the US Supreme Court, not everyone was prepared to accept the Court’s
judgement – predictably given in favour of George W. Bush – as a genuine
judgment based on legal argument, rather than as a partisan judgement
rendered by the court in line with the known political leanings of Supreme
Court members.??

(The US is one of the few democracies in which judges are openly branded as
‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’, and where these judges almost invariably
satisfy the cynics by voting in precisely the fashion that it has been
predicted they will vote!)??

Fortunately for the US (and this is why it is called a ‘mature democracy’)
at the point where the very existence of the Supreme Court became threatened
because of the tension created by what many considered to be the usurpation
of the American people’s democratically-delivered verdict by the court – or
more exactly, the conservative members of the court who voted in favour of a
Bush victory – the person who stood most to gain from an opposite decision
by the Court, Al Gore, called off further challenges of the alleged
electoral verdict.??

What could have happened ‘if’ Gore had gone on with more legal and political
challenges?

The hacker’s choice

In an ‘immature democracy’, Kenya, on the other hand, a ‘minor’ civil war
did occur, when, in December 2007, election results were declared in a
manner that the populace clearly thought was manipulated to favour the tribe
of the incumbent president, [the Kikuyu] Mwai Kibaki, who was seeking
re-election.

Several thousand people were killed in inter-ethnic fighting that arose out
of the dissatisfaction with the election’s results as declared.??

Thousands more were chased out of their homes, and for a while, it looked as
if Kenya would be permanently divided along ethnic lines – just because of
dissatisfaction with the way a single election had been conducted. Certain
areas became de facto ‘no-go’ areas to certain ethnic groups.

The bitterness caused by the few months following the election, will remain
a psychological scar on the entire populace for at least a generation, as
ethnic oral history is recounted ad nauseam by those who lost relatives, or
were themselves injured, during the post-election maelstrom.??

The Kenya situation was repeated in Zimbabwe in March and June 2008, and
nearly replayed in Ghana in December 2008. Zimbabwe emerged from the
near-civil-war of the election’s aftermath with an uneasy coalition that
looks as if it may not take the country into the next election.??

And in Ghana, what saved the situation, after an extremely close runoff
between two candidates, Professor John Evans Mills and Nana Addo Danquah
Akufo-Addo was that the outgoing president, John Kufuor, had the prescience
to conclude from what he was hearing on the ground that any prolongation of
the tension created by the electoral result pull-and-stretch, might toss the
nation/baby out with the presidential seat/bath altogether – so to speak.??

What would the anxious crowds all over Ghana who were cursing the Electoral
Commission for delaying the results have done, if it had known then, what
had happened in South Africa’s election of 1994, when a computer hacker
managed to alter the results of the election and add millions of votes to
the numbers cast for three parties of the hacker’s choice?

SA’s near disaster

The near-disaster that would have blown up South Africa had the hacking not
been detected and corrected has just been revealed in a report published in
the Johannesburg Sunday Times of 24 October 2010.??

The report tells the world for the first time that the much-hailed general
election in South Africa in May 1994 – in which the African majority formed
beautiful, peaceful queues to joyfully cast their votes for the very first
time ever – was nearly ruined when a racist computer hacker was able to
change the results of three of the minority parties that contested the
election against the African National Congress (ANC)!

If the hacked results had stood, the power of the ANC in parliament would
have been considerably reduced, and the ANC would have found it extremely
difficult to rule the country, if not impossible altogether.??

Aptly headed ‘Plot to steal freedom’, the Sunday Times account says: ‘In
this edited extract from his ground-breaking book, ‘Birth: The Conspiracy to
Stop the ’94 Election’, Peter Harris recalls the tension that followed the
discovery of … an elaborate attempt to inflate the votes of the National
Party, the Freedom Front and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), [in order] to
steal the country’s first democratic elections through computer hacking.’??

Computer hacking in South Africa, the most technologically-advanced nation
on the African continent? If election results could be hacked in a South
Africa on which the eyes of the entire world were riveted at that particular
time, then what chance does the rest of Africa have, with its cheap ‘systems’
(sometimes donated from discarded stock by foreign governments and therefore
relatively primitive)???

Honest election result

In his book, Peter Harris writes: ‘The hacker went in between 05:56 and
06:41 on the morning of 3 May [1994] and made changes to the vote count of
three parties…I meet with Michael Yard of the forensic investigation team in
my office at eight o’clock on Wednesday morning, 4 May 1994.

He is exhausted, his eyes bloodshot and outlined by thick black lines of
fatigue. He hands me a two-page report.??‘Is that it?’ I ask.??‘That’s all
you need,’ he replies, an unhealthy rasp in his voice. ‘I’ll talk you
through it. The hacker went in between 05:56 and 06:41 on the morning of 3
May and made changes to the vote count of three parties,’ he says. ‘Neil
Cawse picked up early that morning that there was a significant increase in
the number of total votes counted nationwide (in the order of one to four
million).’??

‘Surely this couldn’t have been easy to do. I mean, the administration
division told us that this was an incredibly sophisticated system,
foolproof, the Fort Knox of systems, completely impregnable. You can’t just
get into a highly protected IT network and change national election results.’??

But Harris is further told: ‘The total votes for all parties at each
counting station was also changed, but doesn’t match the sum of the vote
totals for individual parties after the changes to these figures were made.
The new total for all parties per counting station is in between the
original correct figure and the sum of the votes per party for the counting
station after the changes. So the programme was doctored to increase the
votes of the three parties by about point thirty-three percent.’?

It turns out that the changes upward are between 2.5 per cent and four per
cent for the Freedom Front, approximately three per cent for the National
Party and between four and five per cent for the Inkatha Freedom Party.??

Harris writes:??‘There it is. Silence. I break it.??

“You and the team are sure of the extent of these changes?”??

“Oh, absolutely. These were consistent across our data sample and there are
always increases to the vote count.” It is worse than I thought.’??

Harris is only reassured when another officer comes in and tells him: ‘This
is history, it is already past,’ she says. ‘We are fixing this. We have no
choice but to go on and make it happen. We will get to an honest result.’?They
do give the nation an honest election result. But they need to find out who
the hacker was. Harris writes: ‘I turn to Michael Yard. “Can you find out
who did this?” He points me to the report.??

“The NT file server on the network is capable of generating a log of who
logged onto or out from the network, and the time that this happened. We
checked this log and found that this information is only recorded from 18:10
on 3 May. From this we conclude that this logging process was either cleaned
out as of this time, or was only turned on at that time.”??

“Nice … very nice,” I say, bitterly. ”So we can’t trace who did this. It is
a successful ‘hit and run’,” Harris adds.??

‘Meanwhile, the South African ‘Rainbow Nation’ about to be born is on
tenterhooks. Rumours are rife that the racist rightwing groups, with the
support of the military, had staged a coup and would soon make an
announcement.’?

Where have we heard that before? It is up to African Electoral Commissions
to get in touch with their South African counterparts and attach their own
IT staff to the improved system in South Africa, so that they can be certain
that in their next elections, everything will go well.??

For we have seen through blood on the streets that African elections are too
important to be left to chance. If African governments do nothing and we
continue to see bloodshed at election times – when the technology exists to
put an end to speculation about declared or undeclared results – they will
be cursed by generations unborn

    * This article was first published by Pambazuka News??
    * Cameron Duodu is a journalist, writer and commentator

Wilf Mbanga Behind the Headlines

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 09 November 2010 18:02

Interview broadcast 04 November 2010
Lance Guma: Good evening Zimbabwe and welcome to Behind the Headlines. This
week we focus on the story that pretty much took everyone by surprise and
this was the story in the state-owned media that the police had launched a
manhunt for the editor of The Zimbabwean newspaper, Wilf Mbanga.

According to the reports they are accusing Mbanga and his publication of
publishing a story after the 2008 elections which undermined president
Robert Mugabe. Now the story involves the suspicious circumstances under
which the late Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Director for Polling, Ignatius
Mushangwe was murdered.

So what we’ve decided to do is to get Mr Mbanga on the programme and first
of all I asked him why on earth the police would look for him when they know
very much that he’s in the United Kingdom?

Wilf Mbanga: I’ve been in the UK for the last six years. The police know
that I live in the UK, I phone them from time to time including their senior
assistant commissioner in charge of PR. I phone them to confirm stories,
they know where I’m phoning from so why they should be launching a manhunt
in Zimbabwe is ludicrous.

They know where to find me, if they want to find me, if they want to
interview me they can phone me, they know my phone number, I’m quite willing
to cooperate with them, I’m not a fugitive from justice. I know that this is
just a cooked up charge, I’ve not committed any offence, I deny that I’ve
committed any offence. In fact I deny that The Zimbabwean carried a story
saying that Mugabe, Mnangagwa and Bonyongwe met to plot Mushangwe’s death. I
deny it. I challenge them to prove it.

Guma: Now this story – people want to understand why is it coming out now
because this happened in 2008 so why on earth…

Mbanga: Why now?

Guma: Yes.

Mbanga: Exactly. That’s my question as well but the thing is I think they
are desperate. Remember in 2008 Emerson Mnangagwa announced that Mugabe had
lost the election because of The Zimbabwean and SW Radio Africa. He accused
us of having poisoned the minds of Zimbabweans so it could be a way of
wanting to silence us before the planned elections for next year. It could
be, I don’t know, I’m just guessing.

Guma: Yah there has been a lot of speculation that with elections coming
they probably might be finding a roundabout way of banning The Zimbabwean
from being sold on the streets of Zimbabwe.

Mbanga: It could be but it’s up to them. We will fight back, that’s for
sure.

Guma: Let’s remind our listeners Mr Mbanga the story concerning Ignatius
Mushangwe – what happened in terms of the way this was reported? What are
the background details just so that people can remember?

Mbanga: What we reported was that Mushangwe had had a meeting with officials
from ZEC, the ZRP, the CIO and the army at which he complained about the
rigging of the elections and he was shouted down at that meeting and then
next thing we heard that he had disappeared and the police were looking for
him. Next thing his body was found in the mortuary in Norton. It was badly
burnt and a post mortem revealed that he had been strangled first before
they set his body on fire.

Now you know that in Zimbabwe you cannot just take a body to the mortuary
and dump it there, they will need to know who has brought the body, there
would have been a record of who took the body there. Those records do not
seem to appear, somebody has destroyed those records, so it must be somebody
who was powerful enough to destroy the records and to this day we also know
that the military intelligence, we actually named the soldier who was
responsible for Mushangwe’s disappearance, nothing has happened, no warrant
of arrest has been issued for this character and yet they issue warrant of
arrest for me for reporting the facts.

Guma: It’s interesting also in the story that you’ve done covering this
development, you do raise a pertinent question that you are being victimised
as merely a messenger and yet up to now, police have not investigated who
killed Mushangwe.

Mbanga: Yah not only Mushangwe but also there were 200 other people who were
murdered during the run-up and during the elections in 2008. Not a single
warrant of arrest has been issued despite the fact that the murderers are
well known, they are serving members of the security forces in Zimbabwe
today.

Guma: So where does this leave us Mr Mbanga? The coming in of the coalition
government had raised expectations among Zimbabweans that this would lead to
an opening up of democratic space but clearly developments like this do not
harbour well for the future?

Mbanga: No, ZANU PF does not share power, it has never wanted to share power
from day one, it was merely a marriage of inconvenience for them and Mugabe
has been quite clear about it right from day one. He’s never wanted this
arrangement. He said he was embarrassed by the results of the elections and
he was forced into this marriage and you’ve noticed only since 2008 they’ve
started calling Mugabe head of state and government and commander-in-chief
of the defense forces and so on to show that he is the sole ruler of
Zimbabwe – the other people don’t matter.

MDC has virtually been sidelined in the government of Zimbabwe today.
You only have to read the Herald to see how they portray the MDC ministers,
they treat them like dirt. You have civil servants who denounce ministers
including the prime minister and they survive. Can you imagine if a
Zimbabwean civil servant denouncing a ZANU PF MP? He wouldn’t survive one
minute so it just shows ZANU PF went into this arrangement to save
themselves. Now that they have been saved they feel that they don’t need MDC
anymore and they are now going out (a) to destroy MDC and to go back, roll
back the carpet, roll back the steps towards democracy.

Guma: Do you think the MDC have been naive? Do you think they are aware that
this is what ZANU PF is planning because people think sometimes they’re too
good to be in politics in terms of being innocently naive at times? What’s
your assessment?

Mbanga: Well you see the problem with MDC people is that they are nice guys,
they are decent people and in politics, particularly in Zimbabwe, it’s the
sport of thugs. You only have to look at the characters in ZANU PF, it’s
full of murderers, thieves and so on and they are dealing with decent
law-abiding citizens on the other hand and then so you find that MDC is
back-footed the whole time because they are trying to play according to the
rules.

They certainly believed in the GPA and they’ve honoured the letter and the
spirit of the GPA and ZANU PF has breached the terms of that agreement, they
don’t care for it and that’s the problem we have in Zimbabwe today.

Guma: Where does this leave us as journalists because I’ve tended to notice
Mr Mbanga over time, media houses that are very critical, that pinpoint to
human rights abuses, you have certain quarters that will accuse you of being
too negative all the time, you are not giving this coalition government a
chance and that sort of thing. This has been happening over quite a long
period and every Zimbabwean journalist wants to see progress in Zimbabwe but
how do you approach a crisis like this?

Mbanga: Well the problem is we have, our job is just to tell the story as we
see it. If it’s negative it’s up to the people of Zimbabwe, the government
and everybody else to fix it. What we need to do, I mean what we do is
simply to mirror what is going on in our society and if people think what we
are portraying in the newspapers is negative, well that’s the reality.

That is what is happening and we want Zimbabwe to be the best country in the
world, we want Zimbabwe to solve its problems, we want Zimbabwe to be a
peaceful country – that’s what we are all aiming for and we’ve got the
enemies of peace murdering people. People are being murdered to this day,
people are still being arrested on trumped up charges and so on. We don’t
want that sort of thing. If they don’t want negative publicity they should
stop doing all these negative things.

Guma: And just going slightly to another issue, we’ve been in this boat for
quite some time, the unending Zimbabwean crisis, is there any particular
reason why it’s taking so much time to be resolved because it never seems to
end, it never looks like Mugabe is going anywhere, the discovery of the
diamonds has in a sense even empowered the regime, they have more resources
to remain where they are – is it ever going to end?

Mbanga: Well the thing is ZANU PF doesn’t want to end their rule of Zimbabwe
and they will make sure that they stay in power by hook or by crook and as
you say, the discovery of the diamonds is the one that helps them to fund,
to weld their machine and so they are going to fight to stay in power
because they know that if they lose power they could actually end up at the
Hague or they could end up in a Zimbabwean prison for all the criminal
activities they’ve been involved in over the years. They’ve been involved in
murder, they’ve been involved in looting from the state coffers, they’ve
been involved in all sorts of crime and they are terrified, they are
terrified people that’s the facts of the matter.

Guma: Final question for you Mr Mbanga – predictions for the future - the
coming elections – what do you foresee happening?

Mbanga: Well there’s no way Mugabe can win that election, there’s no way he
can win free and fair elections, he has to resort to rigging and the rigging
has already started.

Guma: Well that was Wilf Mbanga the editor of The Zimbabwean newspaper
joining us on the programme. Mr Mbanga thank you so much for your time.

Mbanga: You are welcome, thank you very much for having me.

Feedback can be sent to lance@swradioafrica.com or
http://twitter.com/lanceguma

SW Radio Africa is Zimbabwe’s Independent Voice and broadcasts on Short Wave
4880 KHz in the 60m band.

Peter Godwin in South Africa

Constitution Watch Content Series 4/2010 - 8th November [TheConstitution and the Rule of Law]