CFU President Press Release
It is
with dismay, but not unexpected that the persecution and attacks on
our
members continues and indeed in recent days has increased despite our
continued calls to Government for immediate relief.
In the last two
months alone our members have suffered murder, eviction,
extortion as well
as theft of their personal property in some cases in full
view of the
Police, the very people who are mandated to maintain peace and
stability as
well as ensuring the rights of all citizens.
After 11 years this
situation unfortunately has become the norm hardly
raising a worthy news
story let alone headline status. Let us be absolutely
clear, what is
happening on the land is blatant human rights abuse based on
the selective
application of the law against an ethnic group. It breaks
every moral and
ethical code that our Government has ever signed up to
either in our
Constitution or the GPA and is in direct contravention to the
United Nations
Charter for the protection of human rights.
It is therefore no wonder
that our country is facing such dire financial
challenges with little hope
of escaping from poverty when all its citizens
are subjected to such
constant abuse.
We have entered an agriculture season, which in our view
is the least
prepared for in over 50 years. Growers of all sizes, and from
all
backgrounds have no security; there is little funding available for
inputs
and their ability to plan have been removed due to the constant
threat of
eviction. Zimbabwe is going to suffer massive food shortages next
year and
the concern must be who is going to assist us this time around. For
the last
11 years we have survived on food hand outs, but the world is
changing, many
of our traditional donor friends are no longer in a financial
position to
donate millions of dollars to fund our basic food deficits,
possibly leaving
us the Zimbabwean people, at the mercy of countries who
have no concern or
feeling for Zimbabwe and its citizens, but whose only
interest is to plunder
our natural resources.
This status quo can no
longer continue, for the sake of our country let us
put this land issue to
bed, once and for all. It is the unresolved land
issue that is holding this
country to ransom by perpetuating the negative
image of Zimbabwe on the
world stage and highlighting our country’s
disregard for property rights
which is ultimately preventing any foreign
direct investment with the
resulting collateral damage affecting all
sectors.
We need urgently
to create mechanisms to compensate those who need to be
compensated, restore
sound property rights, create an active land market,
and get inflows of
money into the productive sector, with the ultimate aim
of getting Zimbabwe
working again. Zimbabwe has the land, the natural
resources, the water, the
expertise, the best infrastructure in Central
Africa outside of South Africa
together with a highly educated and motivated
population. We ask our
leaders; please give us the stability and policy that
will return this
economy to again be the power house of the region.
PRESIDENT
C
TAFFS
11 November 2011
http://www.radiovop.com/
Gwanda, November 17, 2011, - Three
aspiring soldiers died Monday in Guyu
when they succumbed to the sweltering
heat currently sweeping across the
country while running a 10km long
marathon that is part of the requirements
by the Zimbabwe National Army
(ZNA) when one wants to enrol as a soldier.
The region has since the
beginning of the month experienced record high
temperatures that also
resulted in a woman dying in Bulawayo after she
disembarked from a Railways
of Zimbabwe train.
Sources told Radio VOP that almost 30 youths
collapsed as they tried to
finish the road race in thirty
minutes.
“Yes its true three people died while scores fainted another
one is
critically ill and admitted at Gwanda Hospital”, said a police
officer based
at Guyu who requested not to be named.
The police
officer said they had been ordered by army officials not to
release any
information about the issue.
Villagers in Guyu are angered by the sad
developments and have ordered the
Army to meet funeral expenses and
compensate the families affected.
“Honestly how can they make them
run in such high temperatures, they should
have waited for the weather to
change, now breadwinners have been lost”,
said an angry
villager.
The ZNA is on a massive countrywide recruitment amid
reports that many
soldiers are quitting the army due to poor working
conditions.
In September Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Commander
Lieutenant-General,
Phillip Valerio Sibanda said Matabeleland South had the
least number of
successful candidates in the recruitment exercise conducted
recently because
most candidates were malnourished.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
17
November, 2011
The three telecoms executives accused of espionage
appeared at Harare
magistrates court on Wednesday, to apply for refusal of
further remand, but
walked out free men after the State dropped espionage
charges against them.
Simba Mangwende and Farai Rwodzi of Africom
Holdings, and Oliver Chiku from
Global Satellite Systems, were arrested last
month and accused of conniving
to communicate official secrets from
government ministries to the United
States, Canada and
Afghanistan.
But from the beginning there were suspicions something else
was at play, and
SW Radio Africa later received information that the case
centered around
Rwodzi, who was a close business associate to the late
General Solomon
Mujuru.
The trio had been out on bail and the courts
had delayed hearing their
application for refusal of further remand twice.
On Wednesday a
representative from the Attorney-General’s office
unexpectedly said the
State had decided to withdraw charges before
plea.
Lesser charges that they set up satellite equipment, without
permission from
the proper authorities, remain but these charges face a
small fine, as
opposed to the 25 years they faced for
espionage.
Strict bail conditions imposed on all three executives two
weeks ago were
removed immediately. Mangwende, Rwodzi and Chiku were also
given their
passports back, with no explanation given for the sudden change.
This
confirmed initial suspicions that the charges held no
weight.
Lawyer Kucaca Phulu, who has represented many clients whose cases
were later
dropped by the State, explained that the police inZimbabwehave
been abusing
the law, “arresting to investigate instead of investigating to
arrest”.
Phulu said victims can sue for wrongful arrest and recovery of
damages, but
the law says State property cannot be attached and the State
does not pay
out damages. The police know this and have used it to develop a
culture of
impunity.
Regarding Africom, SW Radio Africa had received
information from a source
close to the Mujuru faction, who alleged that the
espionage case against
Rwodzi was engineered by members of another ZANU PF
faction led by Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
The source said Rwodzi ran the
late Mujuru’s business empire and is so close
to Vice President Joice Mujuru
that he calls her “mainini”, meaning auntie.
Rwodzi was allegedly targeted
as a signal to Joice Mujuru that her faction
no longer had the upper hand.
It’s being suggested the death of her husband
in a mysterious fire was the
first and very clear signal.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
17 November
2011
A ‘fugitive’ Zimbabwean banker, who was extradited from Taiwan back
to
Zimbabwe this week, has been granted bail under strict
conditions.
Nicolas Vingirai fled the country at the height of the
controversial
crackdown on the financial sector in 2004, which saw prominent
Zim
businessmen persecuted on various allegations. This included James
Makamba,
Mutumwa Mawere, Gilbert Muponda and James Mushore, among
others.
Vingirai, who was the CEO of Intermarket Holdings before 2004,
was specified
under Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption laws in 2005, along with more
than a dozen
other business executives and bankers. The specification was
lifted in 2009
after the government announced an amnesty. But despite the
despecification,
Vingirai’s arrest warrant for alleged money laundering was
not cancelled.
Vingirai, who has spent years on the Interpol Red Notice
list of wanted
criminals, was arrested in Taiwan in August following a
reported tip-off
that he was in the country. He arrived in Zimbabwe on
Monday at the Harare
International Airport, on a South African Airways
flight, and was
immediately arrested by Zimbabwean police.
He is
accused of stealing and laundering money from Zimbabwe to bank
accounts in
Zambia, South Africa and the United Kingdom between 2003 and
2004. He
appeared before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei, on Wednesday
facing 11
counts of theft and externalisation of foreign currency.
Vingirai was
ordered to pay US$2,000 bail and, as part of his bail
conditions, was also
ordered to surrender title deeds to two properties
valued at US$60,000. He
was also ordered to surrender his passport, report
to police’s fraud unit
once a week, and not to visit or interfere with
day-to-day business,
employees, directors or other Intermarket personnel.
Political analyst
Clifford Mashiri told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that he
doubts the state
has a legitimate case against Vingirai, who commentators
have said was one
of many ZANU PF engineered scapegoats the party used as
blame for Zimbabwe’s
economic collapse.
Mashiri agreed that there is credibility in this
argument. “The bankers will
still have to prove their innocence, but I have
my doubts about this case,”
Mashiri said.
In August this year
fugitive ENG Asset Management boss, Gilbert Muponda, who
was facing charges
of abusing Z$61 billion in depositors’ funds in 2003,
went back to Zimbabwe
after spending seven years exiled in Canada. He was
arrested on his return
and spent a night in custody before all charges
against him were dropped.
He’s now a free man.
Mashiri said it is likely that Vingirai will have
the same fate, depending
on what kind of deal can be struck with the
Attorney General’s office.
“ZANU PF could be using this tactic to gain
favour, by making a deal that
secures Vingirai’s freedom, on condition of
support,” Mashiri said.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, November 17, 2011 -- A
Zimbabwe magistrate on Wednesday released the
editor of the privately owned
The Standard newspaper Nevanji Madanhire and
reporter Nqaba Matshazi on
bail, a day after they were arrested on criminal
defamation and theft
charges.
This was after Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe advisor Munyaradzi
Kereke made a
police report claiming they had stolen confidential documents
about Green
Card Medical Aid Society.
The paper had reported that the
society was facing imminent collapse because
its income was far outweighed
by expenditure.
He also launched a US$2 million civil suit against the
newspaper owned by
Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), the publishers of the
Zimbabwe Independent and
NewsDay.
Magistrate Sandra Mupindu released
the journalists on US$100 bail each and
ordered them to surrender their
passports.
But Mupindu threw out an application by Kereke seeking to bar
the AMH
titles from reporting on the problems facing his company.
She
said: “The issue of publication has not been put as a condition because
that
is the issue of the Civil Courts that deals with interdicts.”
Defence
lawyers said acceding to Kereke’s application would be in violation
of press
freedom.
Meanwhile, the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) has
lashed at the
continued use of criminal defamation against
journalists.
“VMCZ views the arrest of the two as part of a growing
campaign to
intimidate the media and muzzle the press, in a bid to stop
journalists from
unearthing corrupt practices,” the body said in a
statement.
“VMCZ also call on the inclusive government to condemn the
police actions.
The government must demonstrate its commitment to the
principles of
accountability by enforcing freedom of expression.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
17 November 2011
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) has
cut ties with Munyaradzi Kereke,
over the role he played this week in the
arrest of two Zimbabwe Standard
journalists.
Nevanji Madanhire, the
editor of the weekly newspaper, and reporter Nqaba
Matshazi, were arrested
in Harare on Tuesday and charged with theft,
unlawful entry and criminal
defamation. The scribes were however bailed on
Wednesday and ordered to
surrender their passports.
They were arrested over a story Matshazi wrote
on 6th November that claimed
a new health insurance firm, Green Card Medical
Society owned by Kereke, was
on the brink of collapse. Until Thursday
Kereke’s Green Card Medical Society
was a major sponsor of ZUJ. In the last
two years the company also sponsored
the National Journalistic and Media
Awards (NJAMA).
While acknowledging Kereke’s immense role in financially
backing the
journalistic awards, ZUJ found his actions deplorable in the
arrest of
Madanhire and Matshazi and they were left with no choice but to
terminate
their relationship.
ZUJ President Dumisani Sibanda said for
all the good Kereke has done to
enhance the journalism profession, they
cannot be blinded from condemning
his action that threatens press freedom,
and the right to free expression.
’As ZUJ we subscribe totally to the
higher values of a free media and we
will not hesitate to defend the media’s
unfettered freedom to expose the
ills of society.
We therefore
declare that in future we will not deal with Kereke in programs
that seek to
enhance journalistic standards because his actions put him in
direct
confrontation with the cherished ideals of a free media,’ Sibanda
said in
statement.
He said if Kereke felt aggrieved he should have channeled his
grievances to
the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) for redress,
rather than
resort to draconian action.
‘The arrest has resulted in
the journalists being treated as common
criminals. Cells were not built for
journalists pursuing their professional
duty of reporting without fear or
favour, but for murderers and other
undesirable elements of
society.
‘We continue to fight against undemocratic archaic and
repressive legal
instruments like the criminal defamation legislation. We
will not stand
aloof as our members are persecuted for fear of losing
sponsorship. It
should be made clear that sponsorship that seeks to hold the
media at ransom
will be rejected and exposed for what it is,’ Sibanda added.
http://www.voanews.com
16 November
2011
Officials of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai said distribution of his newsletter has
also been
prevented in Magunje, a larger village in Mashonaland
West
Sandra Nyaira & Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington
The
independent daily newspapers which returned to the streets in Zimbabwe
in
2010 in the first wave of media reform under a national unity government
are
being blocked from circulating in politically volatile Mashonaland West
province, sources said Wednesday.
The sources said youth militants
affiliated with President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF and soldiers have been
blocking the sale of the Daily News and
Newsday.
Officials of the
Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
said distribution of his newsletter has also been
prevented in Magunje, a
larger village and growth point, also in Mashonaland
West.
MDC
activists in the area reported intimidation and harassment.
Deputy
Information Minister Murisi Zwizwai of the Tsvangirai MDC formation
confirmed such reports, which he described as worrisome, particularly in
light of the meeting of all three unity government parties called last week
to denounce political violence.
"The problem is that we have people
like [Information Minister] Webster
Shamu and [Information Ministry
Permanent Secretary] George Charamba
continuing to intimidate the
independent media, threatening to withdraw
their licenses saying they are
for the regime change agenda," Zwizwai said.
"Such talk does not help
things on the ground where, especially in the rural
communities we continue
to receive reports of independent publications being
banned."
Media
Commission Member Mathew Takaona said press houses should report such
incidents to his commission and the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee for action. JOMIC was established to track compliance with the
Global Political Agreement for power sharing, which prescribes a range of
reforms, especially in the media.
Elsewhere, two weekly Standard
newspaper journalists detained in Harare on
Tuesday were freed Wednesday
afternoon on US$100 bail apiece.
Editor Nevanji Madanhire and reporter
Nqaba Matshazi were ordered back in
court on December 20 for trial on
charges they stole documents from an
insurance company owned by Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe official Munyaradzi
Kereke.
They are also facing charges
of defamation for reporting that Kereke's Green
Card Medical Society is
financially on the ropes.
Matshazi told VOA that he stands by his story.
http://www.voanews.com
16 November
2011
Morocco is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security
Council,
and Mr. Tsvangirai has recently visited other African Security
Council
members such as Gabon, South Africa and Nigeria
Blessing Zulu
| Washington
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
current trip to Morocco has
touched a nerve with George Charamba, spokesman
for President Robert Mugabe,
who says the prime minister traveled to Rabat
as part of a diplomatic effort
to engineer a Libyan-style scenario of
Western intervention for regime
change in Harare.
A recent column in
the state-controlled Herald newspaper signed by Nathaniel
Manheru - long
considered a pen name for Charamba - accused Mr. Tsvangirai
of using the
media to project an image of violence and chaos in Zimbabwe.
Morocco is a
non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,
and Mr.
Tsvangirai has recently visited other African Security Council
members such
as Gabon, South Africa and Nigeria, and met with United Nations
Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon. He is scheduled to visit Washington later
this year,
adding to Zanu-PF anxieties.
But sources in Mr. Tsvangirai's
power-sharing Movement for Democratic Change
say the prime minister went to
Morocco to address the prestigious Amadeus
Institute, a think tank, with the
likes of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila
Odinga and Libyan Interim Prime
Minister Abdurraheem El-Keib.
International relations expert David Monyae
told VOA reporter Blessing Zulu
that it would be premature in any case for
the UN to intervene in Zimbabwe,
where political tensions are steeply on the
rise in anticipation of national
elections some time in 2012.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Pindai Dube
Thursday, 17 November 2011
14:39
BULAWAYO - Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha
yesterday
postponed indefinitely the case in which the smaller faction of
MDC is
fighting among themselves over control of the party.
The
smaller MDC faction’s secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
wants Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara stopped from interfering with
the party.
Justice Kamocha said he needs time to study submissions
from both Ncube
faction’s lawyer Advocate Adrian De Bourbon and Mutambara’s
lawyer Alec
Muchadehama of Mbidzo, Muchadehama and Makoni Legal
practitioners.
Presenting his submission in court Advocate De Bourbon
said Mutambara should
step down as principal in the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) as the word
principal in this scenario refers to a leader of
a political party in GPA
which comprises of three parties.
“Principal
is term art which refers to three senior party leaders in the
GPA. It does
not refer to anyone holding an office of the state but office
of the three
parties involved,” said Advocate De Bourbon.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai of mainstream MDC and President Robert
Mugabe of Zanu PF are
other principals in the GPA.
Advocate De Bourbon also said Mutambara did
not put his candidature for the
position of the MDC president during the
party’s elective congress early
this year.
“He knew it, when going
into that congress that his term of office was going
to end. It is common
knowledge that after the voting in the congress,
Professor Welshman Ncube
was elected the president of the MDC. It’s high
time this man should be
stopped,” he said.
Muchadehama on the other hand said the MDC application
was not filed in
proper form and there are no facts to support
it.
“The respondent (Mutambara) has denied all that is stated in the
application
that he is acting as the President of the party. He is not doing
anything
that is harming the interest of the MDC. What is happening in MDC
is just
contestation for power,” said Muchadehama.
Ncube was elected
MDC president at the party’s congress in Harare in January
this
year.
That election was later challenged by a section of the smaller MDC,
which
argued that the correct process had not been
followed.
Mutambara has retained the post of Deputy Prime Minister. This
prompted the
Ncube-led MDC formation to file the urgent chamber application.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Nkululeko Sibanda, Senior Writer
Thursday, 17
November 2011 13:08
HARARE - Sadc's bid to save Zimbabwe from further
international isolation
through the institution of “tough” restrictive and
travel measures has all
but failed to reap the intended fruits unless the
coalition government
implements reforms, it has emerged.
The
regional grouping, had taken it upon themselves to push for the removal
of
the measures by the international community.
Lindiwe Zulu, Sadc-appointed
facilitator and South African president Jacob
Zuma’s international affairs
advisor told the Daily News in an interview
yesterday the EU and the US had
so far refused to remove the restrictive
measures.
She said they
preferred to keep the measures in place until next year when
they would
carry out assessments of the situation on the ground.
In its communiqué
after the Livingstone Troika Summit in March this year,
Sadc undertook to
send a delegation of its members to the European Union and
the United States
to lobby for the removal of the restrictive measures.
At the Sadc summit
in South Africa last June, the then Sadc chairperson and
Namibian president,
Hifikepunye Pohamba said the regional bloc was awaiting
a response from the
EU and the US over their overtures.
“On the issue of the Zimbabwe
sanctions, we are still waiting for the
response of those members we engaged
as per the resolution of the last Sadc
Troika summit in Livingstone, Zambia.
We hope they are going to advise us
soon on what the outcome of that
engagement has been,” said Pohamba while
closing the Sadc summit in Sandton,
South Africa.
However, the bid looks headed for a dead end after it
emerged the EU and the
US were not satisfied with the efforts Zimbabwe’s
partners were making
towards convincing the world, the environment at home
was now ripe for the
restrictive measures’ removal.
“Sadc has been in
constant touch with the European Union and the United
States in pursuit of
the bloc’s earlier engagements with the two bodies.
“The regional leaders
have been discussing with them the possibility of
having those sanctions
removed as part of Sadc’s call on the international
community.
“So
far, I can say, we have not received a favourable response on the
subject
matter,” Zulu said.
“The EU has said that it will be making a review of
the sanctions embargo in
February or later in the year while the US has also
indicated something
similar.
“Sadc leaders have been told that the
sanctions will remain in force until
the two blocs are convinced otherwise,”
she added.
Zulu said the major challenge facing the region’s bid was the
fact that the
Zimbabwean political situation was not changing for the better
despite
efforts by the region to assist political players reach an agreement
on how
to deal with the country’s volatile situation.
“The EU and the
US have both said they are willing to engage with Zimbabwean
authorities on
one score — that there is an end to violence and intimidation
of those
viewed as opposed to one of the parties.
“If violence continues and the
government fails to address the stifling of
activities that seek to promote
democracy in Zimbabwe, they have said, they
will not see any reason why
these sanctions should be removed.
“The onus is on the Government of
Zimbabwe to ensure that it abides by these
tenets of good governance and
democracy if the sanctions war is to be won,
courtesy of the regional
initiatives,” Zulu added.
The Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC party, two weeks
ago, wrote to Sadc
facilitator Zuma complaining bitterly over Mugabe and
Zanu PF’s behaviour in
the coalition government.
Among the issues
cited by the MDC in its dossier to Zuma are issues
pertaining to
state-sanctioned and sponsored violence, breakdown in the rule
of law and
selective application of the law, partisan practice at state
media
institutions and Zanu PF’s alleged running of a parallel government in
Zimbabwe, among other issues.
A meeting of political party
negotiators to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) seen as the only way in
which parties can force Zanu PF and Mugabe to
level the playing field for
the holding of free and fair elections is on in
Harare tomorrow
(Friday).
Sources close to the meeting say the negotiators are taking a
tacit and
tactful approach to the issues that have seen the coalition
partners failing
to fully implement the GPA.
Zuma is expected in
Zimbabwe next week to deal with the teething problems
that have faced the
coalition government since its formation in 2009.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
By 5 hours 29
minutes ago
HARARE - National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
chairman Lovemore Madhuku
has said Zanu PF has roped in leader of the
smaller MDC faction Welshman
Ncube on the principal’s table because they
have found him useful in
undermining Tsvangirai.
Madhuku was speaking
in Harare on Tuesday at a public debate, "Beyond the
Universal Periodic
Review (UPR): Lessons for Zimbabwe" hosted by Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR), a debate meant to review the submissions by
Zimbabwe at the
UPR meeting in Geneva last month.
According to Madhuku, the fact that
Ncube was allowed to attend the
anti-violence indaba a fortnight ago as a
coalition government principal
showed that Zanu PF had caved in to his
demands to be recognised as the
legitimate MDC leader.
Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara used to represent the smaller MDC
faction before
and after he was ousted from party presidency.
Madhuku said Zanu PF might
have given in to Ncube’s demands because he had
been useful to them in
de-campaigning Tsvangirai, who is set to be President
Robert Mugabe’s
greatest challenge in the watershed elections set for next
year or
2013.
Tsvangirai recently published a book "At the Deep End" where he
revealed
that the MDC split in 2005 was caused by former South African
president
Thabo Mbeki in collaboration with Ncube.
While Ncube is
attacking Tsvangirai, he is in the middle of a leadership
wrangle with
Mutambara and the High Court in Bulawayo yesterday reserved
judgment on the
matter.
Abedinico Bhebhe, the MDC deputy national organising secretary
says leader
of the smaller faction of the MDC Welshman Ncube is a Zanu PF
ally who is
being used to try and weaken Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
support in
Matabeleland.
He said if Ncube wins any election in
Zimbabwe now, "God will come".
Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo on
Tuesday, Bhebhe said Ncube’s
continuous attacks on Tsvangirai are not
surprising because he is working
hand-in-hand with Zanu PF to fight the
Premier.
"Welshman is being used by Zanu PF. He is just a nobody trying
to seek
attention by attacking the Prime Minister day in, day out. He is
also a
loser who should not be taken seriously by the people of
Zimbabwe."
"He lost elections but went ahead to appoint himself as a
minister leaving
Members of Parliament in his party who had won elections.
That shows his
selfishness. He is a ceremonial minister who doesn’t even
have a following
behind him. We wonder what kind of politician he is.
Instead of telling
people about his party policies, he spends time fighting
Tsvangirai," said
Bhebhe.
Bhebhe, who was expelled from Parliament
and from the Ncube faction in 2009,
added that Ncube is spending time
campaigning in Matabeleland only in an
attempt to weaken Tsvangirai in that
region but is failing.
"He only campaigns in Matabeleland and he thinks
he can run this country,
that is impossible.
"If Welshman wins any
election now it will be a great miracle and God will
come," said the MDC
deputy national organising secretary.
Ncube has been lashing out at
Tsvangirai in the past weeks at his rallies
and once described him as a
ceremonial Prime Minister who has betrayed
Zimbabweans by allowing the
powers bestowed upon him upon signing the Global
Political Agreement (GPA)
to slip away to President Robert Mugabe.
When contacted for comment, the
Ncube faction spokesperson in Matabeleland
region Edwin Ndlovu said: "Bhebhe
is still excited by being appointed MDC-T
deputy national organising
secretary so he feels he must speak even though
he has nothing to speak,
typical of an empty vessel."
Tsvangirai and Ncube are former allies who
launched the united MDC in 1999
with the former becoming the President while
Ncube became the
secretary-general of the party.
The vibrant party
split in 2005 over strategy and participation in Senate
elections held then.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/i
By Pindai Dube and Everson Mushava
Thursday,
17 November 2011 14:53
BULAWAYO - Abedinico Bhebhe, the MDC deputy
national organising secretary
says leader of the smaller faction of the MDC
Welshman Ncube is a Zanu PF
ally who is being used to try and weaken Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
support in Matabeleland.
He said if
Ncube wins any election in Zimbabwe now, “God will come”.
Speaking to
journalists in Bulawayo on Tuesday, Bhebhe said Ncube’s
continuous attacks
on Tsvangirai are not surprising because he is working
hand-in-hand with
Zanu PF to fight the Premier.
“Welshman is being used by Zanu PF. He is
just a nobody trying to seek
attention by attacking the Prime Minister day
in, day out. He is also a
loser who should not be taken seriously by the
people of Zimbabwe."
“He lost elections but went ahead to appoint himself
as a minister leaving
Members of Parliament in his party who had won
elections. That shows his
selfishness. He is a ceremonial minister who
doesn’t even have a following
behind him. We wonder what kind of politician
he is. Instead of telling
people about his party policies, he spends time
fighting Tsvangirai,” said
Bhebhe.
Bhebhe, who was expelled from
Parliament and from the Ncube faction in 2009,
added that Ncube is spending
time campaigning in Matabeleland only in an
attempt to weaken Tsvangirai in
that region but is failing.
“He only campaigns in Matabeleland and he
thinks he can run this country,
that is impossible.
“If Welshman wins
any election now it will be a great miracle and God will
come,” said the MDC
deputy national organising secretary.
Ncube has been lashing out at
Tsvangirai in the past weeks at his rallies
and once described him as a
ceremonial Prime Minister who has betrayed
Zimbabweans by allowing the
powers bestowed upon him upon signing the Global
Political Agreement (GPA)
to slip away to President Robert Mugabe.
When contacted for comment, the
Ncube faction spokesperson in Matabeleland
region Edwin Ndlovu said: “Bhebhe
is still excited by being appointed MDC-T
deputy national organising
secretary so he feels he must speak even though
he has nothing to speak,
typical of an empty vessel.”
Tsvangirai and Ncube are former allies who
launched the united MDC in 1999
with the former becoming the President while
Ncube became the
secretary-general of the party.
The vibrant party
split in 2005 over strategy and participation in Senate
elections held
then.
Meanwhile, National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore
Madhuku
has said Zanu PF has roped in leader of the smaller MDC faction
Welshman
Ncube on the principal’s table because they have found him useful
in
undermining Tsvangirai.
Madhuku was speaking in Harare on Tuesday
at a public debate, “Beyond the
Universal Periodic Review (UPR): Lessons for
Zimbabwe” hosted by Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), a debate meant
to review the submissions by
Zimbabwe at the UPR meeting in Geneva last
month.
According to Madhuku, the fact that Ncube was allowed to attend
the
anti-violence indaba a fortnight ago as a coalition government principal
showed that Zanu PF had caved in to his demands to be recognised as the
legitimate MDC leader.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara used to
represent the smaller MDC
faction before and after he was ousted from party
presidency.
Madhuku said Zanu PF might have given in to Ncube’s demands
because he had
been useful to them in de-campaigning Tsvangirai, who is set
to be President
Robert Mugabe’s greatest challenge in the watershed
elections set for next
year or 2013.
Tsvangirai recently published a
book “At the Deep End” where he revealed
that the MDC split in 2005 was
caused by former South African president
Thabo Mbeki in collaboration with
Ncube.
While Ncube is attacking Tsvangirai, he is in the middle of a
leadership
wrangle with Mutambara and the High Court in Bulawayo yesterday
reserved
judgment on the matter.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
17 November
2011
In 1995 Robert Mugabe hit the headlines when he said gay people
“behave
worse than dogs and pigs”. That same year he used a speech during a
national
holiday to proclaim: “If you see people parading themselves as
lesbians and
gays, arrest them and hand them over to the
police.”
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai predictably provoked a backlash
from Mugabe’s
regime when he suggested that gay people had human rights, and
should be
protected in a new constitution. Those remarks triggered a vicious
campaign
by the state media, with war vets leader Jabulani Sibanda even
calling for
Tsvangirai to be ‘stoned to death’ because he spoke out in
defence of gay
rights.
But ZANU PF is extremely hypocritical in its
approach to homosexuality and
SW Radio Africa can report that many officials
inside Mugabe’s government
have been accused of engaging in the same
lifestyle. The country’s first
ceremonial President after independence,
Canaan Banana, is the most
prominent example.
Banana was arrested in
1997 on charges of sodomy following revelations made
in the murder trial of
former bodyguard, Jefta Dube. It came out in the
trial that Banana’s
preferred method of seduction was to dance to Dolly
Parton records, while
wearing a belt of bullets across his chest.
The trial exposed how Banana
coerced (often against their will) numerous men
in his service as President,
ranging from domestic staff to security guards,
into accepting sexual
advances. He even targeted members of some of the
sports teams for whom he
had acted as referee during matches. Banana was
found guilty of eleven
charges of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent
assault in
1998.
Although Banana fled to South Africa while still on bail he
eventually
returned to Zimbabwe in December 1998 after being convinced by
the then
South African President Nelson Mandela to go back and face the
ruling.
Banana was sentenced to ten years in jail, nine years suspended. In
November
2003, Banana died of cancer.
In August 2009, a 31 year old
Bulawayo man Mncedisi Twala, sensationally
claimed that the then ZANU PF
National Chairman and now Vice President, John
Nkomo, molested him in April
2002. After fleeing to South Africa Twala says
he came back after the
formation of the unity government and filed a police
complaint in July
2009.
The police however refused to investigate his complaint until they
called
him to supply more information. He was arrested, allegedly for making
a
false report, and spent 6 days in custody. Twala also claims attempts were
made at Luveve Police station in Bulawayo to inject him with a mysterious
substance.
Details of the case are that in 2002 Twala was taking
photographs at
Centenary Park in Bulawayo where he says he met Nkomo, who
was then Home
Affairs Minister, who invited Twala to his room at the Rainbow
Hotel,
promising him a job. Twala claims the Minister then tried to kiss him
while
pressing his body against his and dancing to country music (Dolly
Parton?)
More sordid activities were to take place that we cannot
publish. Twala says
at the end of it all Nkomo’s bodyguards threatened him
with death if he
reported what happened. He was then given an envelope
containing Z$2,000,
with a note marked ‘Service Fees’.
When the story
came out Nkomo claimed a dirty game was being played to
undermine him as the
front runner for the post of Vice President, as Joseph
Msika had passed
away.
Nkomo’s supporters even accused Twala of being used by ZANU PF
governor Cain
Mathema and Mines Minister Obert Mpofu to undermine him. Twala
in his
defence says he approached the South African Human Rights Commission
in 2003
and reported the matter, but they told him to seek help from the MDC
offices
in South Africa. He said during that time Nkomo was not being linked
to the
Vice Presidency.
People commenting on the story even pointed
to the striking similarities
between the testimonies of the late Jefta Dube,
who was sodomized by Banana.
Dube, just like Twala, says Banana played
country music and wanted to dance
with his victims.
Former Foreign
Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge, who is now the Higher
Education Minister, has
in the past also faced accusations of gay liaisons.
It was reported that the
notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
launched a manhunt for gay
rights activist Dumisani Dube after he made a
stunning disclosure that he
had a love affair with the cabinet minister.
Dube also claimed Mudenge
infected him with the deadly HIV virus several
years ago. Dube, described in
reports as a former member of the Gays and
Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), even
threatened to expose the names of six well
known cabinet ministers, priests
and several ZANU PF bigwigs he claimed were
gay and had solicited sex from
his friends and other GALZ members.
Former Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo was also sucked into a huge
scandal involving the former Director
General of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC), Alum Mpofu. Moyo
recruited Mpofu into the position but
the ZBC boss left in a huff after it
was alleged he was having an affair
with Moyo himself.
It was
reported that the resignation, which cited ‘personal reasons’, was
submitted
to stop an inquiry after Mpofu was caught in a homosexual act in a
Harare
night club owned by a ZANU PF MP. It is further alleged that Moyo’s
affair
with Mpofu started in 1999 when the ZANU PF propaganda chief was at
the
University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Several male journalists who
worked for the state media during Moyo’s reign
also alleged that they had to
resist his sexual advances.
In August this year Robert Mukondiwa, the
assistant editor of the state
owned H-Metro tabloid, was reported to have
been caught red-handed sleeping
with a male prostitute during a trip with
Mugabe to Windhoek, Namibia.
Mukondiwa accompanied Mugabe to cover the
summit of liberation war movements
in SADC.
It’s alleged Mukondiwa
shared a room with a member of the CIO as a way of
cutting costs during the
presidential trip. But with the CIO agent having
gone on duty Mukondiwa
hired a male prostitute. Unfortunately the CIO came
back early and walked in
on the two. The matter was reported to Mugabe and
the ZANU PF leader
reportedly blew his top.
To make matters worse for Mukondiwa, last year
he was allegedly caught by
security personnel while sleeping with a male
reporter in the newsroom after
hours. Zimpapers management are said to have
swept the matter under the
carpet.
This week has seen intense
speculation on the relationship between Youth and
Empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere and Psychology Maziwisa, a former
anti-Mugabe critic he
recruited from South Africa. Maziwisa quit an NGO he
was running called the
Union for Sustainable Development, and joined
Kasukuwere’s Ministry under
the dubious title of ‘political and legal
advisor.’
Not much was made
of this relationship until Maziwisa wrote a glowing
tribute to a gay British
cricket writer, Peter Roebuck, who committed
suicide as he was about to be
detained over accusations he sexually
assaulted a 26 year old Zimbabwean
man. Roebuck jumped to his death from the
6th floor of the Southern Sun
hotel last Saturday after being visited by
detectives.
But in an
article titled; “Peter Roebuck … a tribute from his first African
son”
Maziwisa wrote that Roebuck was “one of the most integral people in my
life.” He said as an orphan Roebuck adopted him as a ‘son’ and “paid for my
“A” Level tuition as well as my other educational
requirements.”
According to Maziwisa, Roebuck “built a mansion in the
KwaZulu Natal
Midlands and left me in the care of a youngish couple.” He
even enrolled
Maziwisa at a South African university. In his own admission
Maziwisa said
his decision to later join Kasukuwere and ZANU PF ‘upset’
Roebuck ‘pretty
considerably.’
Meanwhile Itai Gondo, the 26 year old
Zimbabwean man whose complaint of
sexual assault triggered Roebuck’s
suicide, claimed the former cricketer
lured him with money, “groomed” him on
the social networking site Facebook
with the promise of money for his
college fees, before sexually assaulting
him. The fact that Maziwisa
actually had his fees paid for by Roebuck has
only fuelled the speculation
further.
It’s also reported that Roebuck has a total of 17 “adopted sons”
who live at
his 10-bedroom home in Pietermaritzburg, South
Africa.
Cue in the accusations that have dogged Kasukuwere over the years
and you
have a very murky situation. It’s alleged Kasukuwere made his
initial
fortune after blackmailing a white businessman in Mutare who ran a
transport
company. Using photographic evidence of their gay liaisons the
former CIO
member is alleged to have forced the transport owner to give up
his business
and let him take over.
SW Radio Africa spoke to
Chesterfield Samba, from the organisation Gays and
Lesbians of Zimbabwe and
he told us those in Mugabe’s government who have
engaged in sodomy are not
necessarily gay.
Samba said “sodomy is also used as a form of expressing
power in Zimbabwe or
as a form of violence against opposition parties.” He
gave the example of
the 2008 political violence directed by ZANU PF, saying
a lot of male
opposition supporters were sodomised as a way of extreme
intimidation and to
force them to change their political persuasion.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
17
November 2011
The Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly, Promise
Mkwanazi, has
accused the State of ‘deliberately frustrating’ the case
against fellow
youth leader, Solomon Madzore.
Madzore was arrested
more than a month ago in connection with the death of a
policeman in Glen
View in May, a case that has seen the arrest of 27 other
MDC-T members.
Madzore and seven others remain behind bars, while the others
were all
granted bail in July.
Madzore was originally denied bail after repeated
delays following his
arrest in October. His fresh bail application has now
been postponed twice
this week, which Mkwananzi told SW Radio Africa is
‘deliberate’.
“We maintain that the arrest is political and has nothing
to do with any
crime. We continue to condemn the errant behaviour and
intransigency by ZANU
PF, and the political violence that continues to
escalate with total
impunity,” Mkwananzi said.
Madzore’s bail
application was postponed for a second time on Thursday after
High Court
Justice Hlekani Mwayera said she needed time to go through the
State’s
submissions.
The State on Wednesday failed to give its submission to the
High Court,
forcing Justice Mwayera to postpone the matter. State prosecutor
Edmore
Nyazamba then only managed to present his submissions on Thursday
forcing
the judge to postpone the matter to Friday.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
17
November 2011
Five months after government put into action plans to
resuscitate industries
in Bulawayo, pressure is mounting on authorities to
release the $40 million
fund set aside for the project.
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti last month launched a $40 million fund for the
revival
of Bulawayo industries under the unity government’s Distressed and
Marginalised Areas Fund (DIMAF).
However on Wednesday Industry and
Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube said
companies in the second largest city
will have to wait while government
finalises ‘modalities’ of chandelling the
funds.
Bulawayo was known as the hub of industry in Zimbabwe but in
recent years
almost 100 companies have closed shop, throwing over 20,000
workers into
unemployment.
This put the coalition government under
pressure to save the city, but
bureaucracy has now been blamed for the lack
of progress in the dispensation
of funds.
Our Bulawayo correspondent,
Lionel Saungweme, told us industrialists and
business executives are
complaining of a disturbing trend among some
bureaucrats in Harare who tend
to ‘sit’ on approved projects resulting in
delayed
implementation.
‘People here in Bulawayo are saying government often
formulates and even
budgets for several good-intentioned projects that could
uplift the poor and
create much needed employment.
‘They note however
that excessive red tape results in many of these projects
never taking off.
There is genuine belief that if government can come up
with a rescue package
for Bulawayo, the revived industries would make
Zimbabwe graduate into a
genuinely vibrant economy,’ Saungweme said.
There have been accusations
that the unity government has not been serious
enough in reviving state-run
industries and other businesses that have
ultimately collapsed since
2009.
‘The business community in Bulawayo is arguing that no nation in the
world
has ever grown into an economic giant without investing heavily in the
industrial sector.
‘While they accept $40 million is not good enough,
they still appreciate
efforts to get things started. But they are worried
those efforts are taking
long and contributing to the high unemployment
rate,’ Saungweme added.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff
Writer
Thursday, 17 November 2011 08:48
HARARE - Government is
hoping to tap into the experience of countries such
as South Africa in its
bid to host a successful 2013 United Nations World
Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) general council meeting.
Zimbabwe and Zambia jointly won the bid
to host the UNWTO meeting which is
expected to bring to Zimbabwe’s Victoria
Falls, tourism chiefs from across
the globe.
The major tourism
conference is expected to put Zimbabwe back on the
international map
following a decade-long lean spell where tourists shunned
the southern
African country owing to political problems that haunted the
country.
Reports of human rights abuse and failure to respect the
rule of law also
forced the tourists to shun the country as they feared for
their lives.
Some countries placed travel restrictions on their
nationals, thereby
stopping them from choosing Zimbabwe as their tourist
destination.
Speaking during a press briefing on the forth coming
Regional Tourism of
Southern Africa (Retosa) board meeting to be held in
Bulawayo next week, a
director in the ministry of tourism and hospitality,
Douglas Mavhembu said
Zimbabwe will use the meeting to drum up support for
the UNWTO general
council.
Retosa is a grouping of Southern African
countries and Zimbabwe will be
handing over the chairmanship to
Mozambique.
“We are having countries within the region that have a lot of
experience in
hosting big events. We can take for example South Africa that
hosted the
2010 Fifa World Cup.
We would like to use their experience
of hosting such an event to work
around organising this mega event,” said
Mavhembu.
Zimbabwe, since the formation of the inclusive government in
February 2009,
has been on a drive to promote tourism among Western
countries.
More than a dozen initiatives termed tourism brands have been
launched in
many countries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in
many other
countries in a bid to lure the tourists to Zimbabwe.
The
drive has seen an increase in the number of tourists visiting the
country by
over 40 percent since 2009, according to statistics from the
tourism and
finance ministries.
Expectations are also high that by 2013, tourism will
contribute over 30
percent towards the national fiscus and above 20 percent
to Gross Domestic
Product (GDP).
Mavhembu said host countries
(Zimbabwe and Zambia) have put in place
co-ordinating committees to work on
the strategies of hosting a successful
2013 UNWTO general assembly but will
also seek financial assistance from
other countries in the
region.
United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki Moon is expected in the
country to
assess the preparedness of the two countries to host the
international
event.
Mavhembu said the Retosa meeting will also
prepare the agenda for a Sadc
meeting responsible for tourism to be held in
Mauritius in March next year.
He also revealed that the regional meeting
will also deliberate on the
possibility of coming up with Uni-visas for
tourist visiting any of the
countries.
“We want to see whether it is
possible for tourists to enter through Zambia,
come to Zimbabwe and exit
through South Africa using one Visa. This is
despite the fact that these are
sovereign states and a lot of complexity is
involved,” he said.
To Be Held Accountable
When we choose to enter public life we lose a
number of important things –
our right to some forms of privacy, the right
to say just what we want; we
cannot speak anymore as a private citizen and
our public has the right to
hold us accountable. Just recently I have been
speaking out on the issue of
the Marange diamond discovery, in doing so I
have been trying to disclose
the facts about the discovery, one of the most
remarkable diamond
discoveries in the history of the industry, the facts
surrounding their
legal and operational status and the cost to us as a
nation of the present
situation.
The facts are not in
dispute:
· They were discovered by De Beers Diamond Mining Company – the
largest
gemstone company in the world who allowed their rights to
lapse;
· They were then registered legally by African Consolidated
Resources whose
legal rights have simply been swept aside by the Ministry of
Mines;
· Since 2006 when commercial and informal exploitation began,
several
billion dollars worth of gemstones have been produced with
production and
sales now running at over $4 billion a year; and
· The
fields have been the subject of serious human and legal rights abuse,
there
has been no accountability or transparency in the States activities on
site
or those of their “partners” who represent shady interests and whose
links
to prominent Zanu PF and Military figures is shrouded in secrecy.
The
Minister responsible, Mr. Obert Mpofu has reacted in an interesting way.
At
a recent Parliamentary budget workshop he walked up to me with a broad
smile
(we know each other well) and said he had nothing to hide and would be
announcing major new initiatives on Marange. In his subsequent speech he
stated that diamond sales “could” reach $2 billion in 2012 and said he was
in discussion with the Minister of Finance about how to boost the revenues
to the State. He attacked De Beers and made some outrageous allegations
about their exploration activities on the site alleging that they had
illegally been exporting diamonds from the field for years up to
2006.
He then went on to say that my proposal to nationalize the Marange
diamond
fields was nonsense; if we were to do that “Why not nationalize
everything
else – the platinum mines, Marowa Diamond Mine (Rio Tinto of
London) and
everything else”. He has subsequently repeated this mantra on
several
occasions. Last week he went further when he attacked my position
saying
that nationalisation never worked, Parastatals were universally a
mess and
if the Marange Fields were nationalized they would not work. He
also claimed
that the resource was under the control of the State in that
the Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation was in control.
He then
said that I had been the Chief Executive of the Cold Storage
Commission and
under my leadership the CSC had collapsed and look where it
is today (it is
virtually derelict and non functional).
Does the Minister think that
because he is a Minister in Government that he
cannot be held accountable
for what he says and does? He must not take us
for granted or think that we
are stupid and ignorant about what is taking
place?
His statements
are so misleading and incorrect that he cannot be allowed to
get away with
them – he must be held accountable for what he says. Let’s
deal with some of
these statements one by one:
Nationalisation of the Marange Fields is
official Government Policy. It was
discussed last year in Cabinet and again
recently and Cabinet resolved to do
just that to get full control of the
diamond fields for the national
benefit. The reason was quite simple – the
situation at Marange is neither
transparent nor accountable and completely
out of control. The resource is
unique – all the people mining there have
had to do is dig soil and put it
through a separator and diamonds in massive
quantities are produced. The
proposal was debated in Parliament on the 27th
of October and was passed by
a significant majority. Mpofu has no right to
challenge Cabinet or
Parliament; he is the officer of Government who is in
fact responsible for
implementing the decisions of these superior bodies of
the State.
His allegations about the activities of De Beers during their
exploration of
the Marange fields also have no basis in fact. They sent
samples of ore to
South Africa on a regular basis as is standard practice in
exploration
activity – these were always properly documented and managed.
The Ministers
allegations about De Beers, in my view, are actionable and it
is a pity that
he will not be taken to Court by the Company.
Then
there is his attack on my record at the Cold Storage Commission. I
worked in
the CSC in one capacity or another for over 20 years, ending up as
CEO from
1983 to 1987. During this time the CSC became the largest meat
marketing
organisation in Africa, handling up to 150 000 tonnes of beef and
its
associated bi-products a year. In 1984 we handled a record kill of over
700
000 head and put some 250 000 head on the Ranches to save them from
death in
the severe drought of that year.
I was responsible for negotiating our
entry to the markets of the EU after
Independence and building the new works
at Bulawayo and Masvingo. I
converted the organisation to wet blue
processing of hides and skins and
during my stay at the CSC we made a
massive contribution to the industry,
establishing a marketing network in
tribal areas that is still operational
and handles some 150 000 head of
cattle a year.
During my tenure the CSC was controlled and managed by the
farming industry.
Since then both have been destroyed by the dead hand of
Zanu PF – everything
they touch dies. Mpofu, as a Minister from Zanu PF and
of the Government in
Charge during the collapse of the Zimbabwe economy up
to 2008, is directly
responsible and accountable for this situation. The
many fine dedicated men
and women and the workers who made the CSC such a
fantastic organisation,
deserve better.
Then finally, does Obert
Mpofu think that his personal accumulation of
wealth, assets and the
creation of a massive business empire in Zimbabwe is
going unnoticed? This
is an African State, there are no secrets. We know his
salary as a Minister
– there is simply no way that he could possibly pay for
this massive
accumulation of wealth from anything other than corrupt
activity linked to
his position in Government. He is well known as the most
corrupt Minister in
Government and that is no secret.
But it is his role in the Marange
diamond fields that he exceeds all the
boundaries of acceptable behavior as
a Minister of Government. We, all of us
in public positions of trust, are
accountable to the people for what we do
with our position and authority.
What Obert Mpofu is doing is violating both
and in consequence is denying
the general population of Zimbabwe what is
their right – a better quality of
life.
If the Minister was managing the resources under his control
properly and in
the national interest then he single handedly could
transform the social and
economic situation in Zimbabwe. When I left the CSC
in 1987 I did not own a
car, I had a bond on my home and my children were
all in State schools
because we could not afford private education. My
pension is $64 a month.
Every woman who dies in childbirth in Zimbabwe,
every child turned away from
school because they cannot pay the fees, is a
victim of Obert Mpofu’s greed
and corruption.
One day soon, we, the
people of Zimbabwe will hold him accountable for his
actions.
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, 17th November 2011
