http://af.reuters.com
Thu Nov 25, 2010 5:59pm
GMT
By MacDonald Dzirutwe and Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe expects its economy to grow nearly 10 percent
next year as the key
mining and agriculture sectors expand, and will rely
largely on domestic
revenue to fund its budget as donors hold back aid.
The southern African
country's economy expanded for the first time last year
under a unity
government led by President Robert Mugabe and bitter rival
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, but investors are still unhappy about
Mugabe's
policies.
GDP growth is seen at up 9.3 percent next year from 8.1 percent
in 2010 and
5.7 percent last year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said in a
televised
budget speech on Thursday.
"The economy is set to grow by
8.1 percent this year, compared to 5.7
percent in 2009 on the back of growth
in mining by 47 percent and
agriculture at 33 percent," Biti
said.
"In 2011 we anticipate that GDP will grow by 9.3 percent to $8
billion. Our
initial projections were that our GDP would be $5.9 billion in
2011 ... we
are ahead of schedule."
Biti presented the 2011 budget
against the backdrop of scant aid flows, with
donors withholding funds
crucial to boost an economy emerging from a decade
of contraction mainly
over Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms for blacks.
Investors have
also been rattled by Mugabe's drive to transfer control of
all foreign
firms, including mines and banks, to locals.
Analysts said Biti's growth
projections were unrealistic.
"These are very optimistic figures and I
don't know where that growth will
come (from). I believe growth will be much
lower than that," Tony Hawkins, a
professor of business studies said at the
University of Zimbabwe said. The
IMF has forecast growth of 2.2 percent this
year.
Biti saw total revenue for 2011 rising to $2.7 billion from $2.25
billion in
2010, adding: "That is the budget we are working with, which is
reliant
entirely on domestic resources."
Zimbabwe had produced 2.7
million carats of diamond this year and sales had
raised $85 million from
two auctions. Diamond production is expected to
increase to 4 million carats
in 2011.
ELECTIONS CLOUD OUTLOOK
In his speech to parliament, Biti
did not give provisions in the budget for
a referendum on a new constitution
and for elections Mugabe's ZANU-PF party
says will be held next
year.
Biti, from Tsvangirai's MDC party, later told journalists an amount
had been
set aside but did not elaborate. The next elections would
ordinarily be held
in 2013.
Analysts say a rushed vote could derail
economic recovery and that if held
without first implementing political
reforms, including a new charter
guaranteeing basic rights, it would favour
Mugabe, in power since
independence from Britain in 1980.
Biti said
the government would increase royalties on diamond sales to 15
percent from
the current 10 percent, while those on gold and platinum would
go up to 4.5
percent and 5 percent respectively from 4 percent.
"Despite the increase
in international metal prices, royalties collected
from precious metals
amounted to a paltry $20.7 million from sales of $593.8
million, during the
period January to September 2010," Biti said.
Zimbabwe, which has
grappled with chronic power shortages for the past
decade, would spend $135
million to raise its power generation capacity to
1,650 MW in 2011 from
current supply of around 1,000 MW.
"It is our intention to raise power
generation in 2011 to 1,650 megawatts by
prioritising the rehabilitation of
the Kariba and Hwange stations as well as
the small thermal stations in
Bulawayo, Harare and Munyati," Biti said.
Annual inflation, which slowed
to 3.6 percent year-on-year in October,
should accelerate to 4.8 percent by
year-end.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Nov 25, 2010 2:16pm
GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe produced 2.7 million carats of
diamond this year
and conducted three diamond sales, Finance Minister Tendai
Biti said on
Thursday.
In budget speech, Biti said 2.4 million carats
were from Marange while the
remainder of 300,000 carat came from Murowa and
River Ranch.
"Three diamond sales were conducted, with $85 million in
total sales
(raised) from two auctions," Biti said, adding no revenues was
received from
a third sale.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Nov 25, 2010 2:28pm
GMT
HARARE Nov 25 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will spend $135 million to
raise its
power generation capacity to 1,650 MW in 2011 from current supply
of around
1,000 MW, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on
Thursday.
"It is our intention to raise power generatioN in 2011 to 1,650
megawatts by
prioritising the rehabilitation of the Kariba and Hwange
stations as well as
the small thermal stations in Bulawayo, Harare and
Munyati," he said in a
budget speech.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
By Martin Banks in Brussels 4:10PM GMT 25 Nov
2010
Mr Mugabe will join senior EU political figures, including European
Council
President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President José
Manuel
Barroso and African Heads of State, at the gathering in Tripoli,
Libya on
November 29-30.
Amongst the issues to be discussed will be
'good governance'.
Mr Mugabe, 86, and his aides are currently subject to
travel bans and asset
freezes in the European Union and the United States
who accuse his regime of
denials of basic freedoms and his presence at the
summit has been condemned
as "appalling".
In 2002, the EU imposed
targeted sanctions, including travel bans to EU
territory and an arms
embargo, on Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party in direct
response to the
deterioration in the human rights and political climate of
the country. Last
year, these were extended for another 12 months although
Mr Van Rompuy
recently said the EU was ready to consider "fresh measures".
But the
attendance of the 86-year-old dictator who has been accused of
jailing and
beating dissenters, threatens to overshadow the summit which
will also focus
on economic growth, investments and job creation.
UK Conservative MEP
Geoffrey Van Orden, who has been personally banned by Mr
Mugabe from
entering Zimbabwe, said the EU should have pressed for Mr Mugabe
to be
banned from the summit.
He said, "Mugabe has continued to trample on the
rights of Zimbabwe's
people, showed scant regard for the political agreement
that he made with
Morgan Tsvangirai, and has continued his global
travels."
"Its not surprising so little progress has been made in
bringing about
change in countries like Zimbabwe. The African states receive
such garbled
signals from Brussels."
Relations between the EU and
Zimbabwe have soured over the past decade with
Mr Mugabe accusing the
27-member bloc of agitating for regime change through
the imposition of
sanctions and backing the main MDC party led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
25 November
2010
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday petitioned the High
Court to
nullify Robert Mugabe’s unilateral appointments of provincial
governors,
arguing this was done outside the provisions of the amended
constitution.
The court papers cited Mugabe as the first respondent followed
by the 10
governors, while Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo is
listed as the
12th respondent.
Skepticism greeted the high stakes
manoeuvre, given that Mugabe effectively
has the judiciary in his pocket and
a judgment hostile to him is highly
unlikely. Apart from that, Mugabe has
never taken notice of his Supreme
Court when he is unhappy with their
judgements, regularly using his
‘presidential powers’ to overturn
rulings.
Analysts however said the move could be part of attempts by
Tsvangirai to
highlight the dispute which has paralysed the coalition
government. The
petition also comes a day before South African President
Jacob Zuma is due
in the country for another round of his endless mediation
efforts.
Only last week the Southern African Development Community Organ
on Politics,
Defence and Security inexcusably failed to meet to discuss the
crisis in
Zimbabwe. The meeting was cancelled after Zambian President Rupiah
Banda,
who currently chairs the Troika, pulled out due to “pressing national
commitments.” Also missing was Mozambique President Armando
Guebuza.
Immediately various commentators rounded on SADC calling it
‘toothless’ and
‘biased’ in favour of Mugabe and urged Tsvangirai to instead
focus on mass
demonstrations by his supporters to put pressure on the
regime. Wednesday’s
court application is being viewed as representing a
change of strategy, with
one commentator saying ‘it’s better than writing
those letters of protest
like they used to do in the past. At the very least
this will force the
Supreme Court to sit as a constitutional court and
decide on the legality of
Mugabe’s appointments.’
In addition the
MDC-T have been disrupting senate proceedings in Parliament,
saying they do
not recognize the governors appointed by Mugabe and who are
meant to take up
seats as senators. In September MDC-T legislators,
attending a two-day Pan
African Parliament workshop in Victoria Falls,
walked out during an address
by Matabeleland North Governor Thokozile
Mathuthu from ZANU PF, saying her
term of office expired in August.
In October a furious Tsvangirai
addressed a press conference, at which he
berated Mugabe for betraying him
in attempts to implement the power sharing
accord. He vowed his party would
not recognize the governors, ambassadors
and judges named by Mugabe, without
any consultation with him as the Prime
Minister.
Tsvangirai has not
spoken to Mugabe ‘one on one’ in over a month and
continues to boycott
meetings with the ageing ZANU PF leader.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie
Munyuki
Thursday, 25 November 2010 15:22
HARARE - One of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai allies, Lovemore Madhuku,
has warned the MDC
leader that he is making unwise decisions that cast doubt
on his leadership
credentials and could potentially ruin his chances of
becoming the next
President of Zimbabwe.
Madhuku’s remarks come in the wake of
Tsvangirai’s decision to sue President
Robert Mugabe in the High Court where
the MDC president wants the unilateral
appointments made by the veteran
leader nullified.
“You don’t take political matters to court,” said
Madhuku. “What Tsvangirai
has done is to aid Mugabe. This is an unwise
decision, a wrong strategy that
leaves him exposed and yet he could have
acted differently.
“Tsvangirai has to be careful. Some of the decisions
he takes are unwise.
His strategies at times are wrong and these make people
wonder if he is the
right man to be president of this country. You want a
leader who instills
confidence in people rather than doubts,” he
said.
The University of Zimbabwe public law lecturer and constitutional
expert
said by taking Mugabe to court, Tsvangirai has made a mistake which
could
benefit Zanu PF.
“The issues he has taken to court are part of
the agenda in the
negotiations. What Tsvangirai has done is to arm Mugabe by
taking them to
court because they will now have to be decided on by the
courts,” Madhuku
lamented.
“Mugabe and Zanu PF will now find an
excuse and say let the courts deal with
the issues. We don’t want to tell
Tsvangirai what he should have done other
than saying he should have acted
differently by not taking political matters
to court,” Madhuku told the
Daily News.
Tsvangirai, through his lawyer, Selby Hwacha, wants the High
Court to
nullify the re-appointments of the provincial governors by Mugabe
which he
said were done unconstitutionally.
The gubernatorial posts
have been a subject of haggling and dispute in the
wobbly inclusive
government which is now tottering on the brink of collapse
following the
breakdown of relations between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
“As Prime Minister
of the Republic of Zimbabwe, I have a duty and obligation
to uphold the rule
of law and to seek redress in the event of any violations
of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe and/or the rule of law in general,” said
Tsvangirai
in his application.
“I have the same rights as a citizen. Personally and
as a Prime Minister, I
am determined to fulfill and enforce the terms of the
Constitution and to
re-orient attitudes towards respect for the
Constitution, national laws, the
rule of law and defence of democratic
values.
“Most regrettably, what has caused and compelled me to file this
application
is the fact that the first respondent, the President of
Zimbabwe, has
violated the Constitution. Sadly it appears clear that the
violations are
intentional,” he said.
“Although there are numerous
other instances of the first respondent’s
violations of the law, especially
in making appointments unilaterally, this
application concerns the
appointment of Provincial Governors.”
The appointment of provincial
governors was among the issues that the
November 2008 SADC summit held in
South Africa said should be addressed by
the three principals to the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
A sharing plan had been worked which could
have seen Tsvangirai getting five
provinces, Zanu PF four provinces and the
smaller faction of the MDC one
province.
While Tsvangirai and Mugabe
continue to quarrel, Madhuku said it was foolish
to expect SADC to do more
than what it had done in trying to placate
Zimbabwe from economic and
political turmoil.
Said Madhuku: “SADC is just a fiction which has been
propelled by headlines
created by you, journalists. Bodies like SADC, UN and
so on are not known to
go beyond certain functions. SADC cannot do more than
what it has done – to
bring the GPA and the inclusive government.”
He
said members of SADC were more concerned with dealing with their own
domestic matters and said the absence of Zambian leader Rupiah Banda and
Mozambican President Armando Gebuza at the SADC troika summit on Zimbabwe
last week in Botswana, was indicative of their priorities.
Banda had
an engagement in Brazil and could not make it to the meeting on
time,
leaving both Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara seething at
the
regional body which had invited them.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
23
November 2010
A meeting of ZANU PF’s politburo on Wednesday is reported
to have decided
that there will be elections in Zimbabwe, before June next
year. This
decision by the highest authority within Robert Mugabe’s party
was announced
by their secretary for information and publicity, Rugare
Gumbo, who stressed
that the elections will be held, whether or not the
country had a new
constitution.
Speaking at the ZANU PF Harare
headquarters where the politburo members met
on Wednesday, Gumbo said they
had received a report from Paul Mangwana,
co-chairperson of the
parliamentary committee responsible for the
constitutional draft
process.
Gumbo said Mangwana’s report accused the United Nations
Development
programme (UNDP), of withholding funds for the country’s
referendum on a new
constitution, in order to delay the elections next year.
The UNDP has so far
donated US$26 million for the constitutional outreach
programme.
Referring to these allegations Gumbo said; “For us, that is
neither here nor
there. As a party, we will find ways around it, but we are
very clear that
elections will be held.” He added: "If they cannot help us
write a new
constitution we will find ways, but elections will be held
before June next
year."
Under the current power sharing deal all
three parties have to agree on a
date for elections. It is not up to ZANU PF
to make a unilateral decision.
Gumbo also expressed the party’s
satisfaction with the outcome of the
constitutional outreach programme,
saying ZANU PF’s position on various
issues had received overwhelming
support from people. But always there was
no mention of the widespread
violence and intimidation perpetrated by their
party thugs, intelligence
agents and military officials.
Observers have expressed deep concern over
Gumbo’s statements. They said the
plan to have polls without a new
constitution shows ZANU PF’s determination
to keep control of the country,
with Mugabe as supreme leader.
The other two partners in the GPA, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, have
said reforms agreed upon in the
GPA must be fully implemented ahead of any
elections, if there is any hope
of it being free and fair.
Political
commentator Lameck Mahachi said it is typical of ZANU PF to behave
as though
they are not in an inclusive government. He explained that ZANU PF
wants an
election without making any changes to the current situation
because it is
in their favour.
“They are used to unilateralism and don’t care whether
Tsvangirai and anyone
else exists,” said Mahachi.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
25 November,
2010 12:50:00 Special Projects Reporter
HARARE – Zimbabwe is
heading towards a full scale civil conflict as
President Robert Mugabe
deploys troops across the country to secure another
hotly disputed
re-election followed by the imposition of his ally Defence
Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa as his successor, highly placed sources in the
State intelligence
and the military revealed.
A member of the army stationed at the Zimbabwe
Military Intelligence
Directorate (MID) revealed to The Zimbabwe Mail with
supported secret
military communications documents marked "Highly
Classified" that the
Zimbabwe National Army is on course for a full scale
deployment across the
country with their full combat equipment and orders to
carry out raids on
innocent villagers.
SADC, South Africa and Thabo
Mbeki
The source said Zanu PF, with the assistances of South Africa’s
ruling party
ANC and other regional SADC States are involved in a plot to
influence the
imposition of a requirement in the new Constitution which will
see a sitting
President retiring from office and his party nominating his
successor. A
majority vote will then be passed in Parliament for the new
President to
take charge for the remainder of the term without calling for
general
elections.
Mugabe has reiterated that the country will go for
elections before June
next year to undo the ill conceived power sharing
agreement signed with the
two MDCs in September 2008, but we can reveal that
this is all according to
the long political process backed and crafted with
the assistance of the
government of former South African President Thabo
Mbeki.
High level Zanu PF sources this week made the startling revelation
that the
defence minister unknown to many, has had an invisible hand in the
crafting
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) whose brainchild is former
South
African leader Thabo Mbeki. Mnangagwa we gather spent considerable
time
going up and down to South Africa soon after Mugabe was defeated by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, where he would meet up in Pretoria with Mbeki then
President on several occassions to nudge a solution whose outcome would
protect Mugabe and Zanu PF from losing political power. The GPA forming the
coalition government in Harare was then initiated secretly by Mbeki, with
cosmetic broadbased participation of the two MDC's negotiators sources
said.
"Mnangagwa, Mbeki, Mugabe and the army generals really know where
this GPA
thing is going," a Zanu PF central committee member has said in
privacy.
"You see they somehow control the process, because they conceived
it way
ahead of our partners in the inclusive government. Mnangagwa himself
is
using it for his own political calculations, that's why you hear talk of
elections and not surprising the re-surgence of violence at these
constitutional meetings. It's all meant to test the waters and position Zanu
PF for future victory. The problem in this country is that investigative
journalisim is dead, therefore our people will continue being in the dark
with regards to the political matrix in government."
The Zimbabwe
succession plan has been foisted to the less sophicticated new
South African
government led by Jacob Zuma.
China and Russia
The Chinese and the
Russians have weighed in as part of a whole raft of a
package to assist
South Africa obtain a sit in the UN Security Council and
an invitation for
Africa’s richest nation into the BRICs – a coalition of
World’s vibrant
emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India and
China.
China
is also understood to be backing Mnangagwa as a better replacement to
Mugabe. Interestingly, the defence minister seems to have deep chemistry
with the chinese after having attended the Beijing School of Ideology, run
by the Chinese Communist Party in the 1970s. Mnangagwa also received
military training from China and later in Egypt.
Diamonds
In
recent months, South Africa’s ruling party’s ANC key figures have been
secretly awarded access to Zimbabwean diamonds and other mineral riches in
exchange of key roles and the backing of a transitional political process
that would keep Zanu PF in power long after Robert Mugabe is gone.
It
is this political process unravelling in Zimbabwe which was authored by
President Robert Mugabe himself with the assistance of former South African
President Thabo Mbeki and executed by former South African Presidency’s
Director-General Reverend Frank Chikane, the chief principal negotiator for
the Zimbabwe coalition talks.
Reverend Chikane is the brother of the
controversial Kimberley Process’s
Zimbabwe diamonds monitor Abbey
Chikane.
The two Southern African liberation political parties, ANC in
South Africa
and ZANU PF in Zimbabwe both share the same history in violence
and
mentality and therefore, for them tolerance of a new party coming into
power, especially emerging from the union movement like the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe, and South Africa’s Cosatu simply is not
on the agenda.
The discovery of immensely rich diamond fields in
Zimbabwe have emboldened
South Africa’s ruling elite and this has raised the
grand scale of political
skulduggery using SADC to work against the Movement
for Democratic Change or
any other opposition movement in
Zimbabwe.
With an election coming up in Zimbabwe, the MDC and most
opposition parties
faces the predicament of staying out of the poll or
facing another stolen
election with the South African government and a
majority of SADC States
playing key roles in the trampling rough shod on the
will of Zimbabwean
people leading to the imposition of a man who is much
more ruthless than
Robert Mugabe himself. The man who has lost Parliamentary
elections in his
own backyard.
Senior ANC official, secretary general
Gwede Mantashe has already uttered
statements warning that criticism of the
South Africa government from
Cosatu, ANC's coalition partners from the South
African labour union
movements, is tantamount to a Zimbabwe’s MDC-like
flirtation. Zimbabwe's MDC
was found with the backing of the country's main
labour union ZCTU.
Mantashe has labelled the Movement for Democratic
Change a creation of the
West, and this follows recent rabid attacks on the
MDC by ANC Youths League
President Julius Malema.
Already, the plan
to kick start the election rigging process in Zimbabwe has
began with the
massive ID cards and passport registration process currently
being carried
out in South Africa and Harare for exiled Zimbabweans, albeit
with the aid
of South African government agencies.
Early next year South African
authorities will drive out millions of
Zimbabwean refugees ahead of
Zimbabwean elections and hence the South
African’s Home Affairs Ministry’s’
deadline of December 2010 for is well in
schedule to the Zimbabwean
elections.
It is therefore not rocket science that Robert Mugabe is
insisting on
elections next year and South African President Jacob Zuma was
the first to
pronounce the same earlier this year, only to be rebuked by
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Violence and rigging
elections
Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, the success of the proposed
Mugabe-Munangagwa
succession plan is build on the basis of Zanu PF securing
a landslide
majority in Parliament and this will be enabled by massive
unprecedented
State assisted political violence on rural populations by
joint security
forces aided by party militia and mercenaries from the Great
Lakes region.
The plan is to carry out these atrocities well ahead of the
arrival of
foreign election observers and international monitors, a source
said on
condition of anonymity.
The political cleansing operation in
the country side will see Zanu PF re-
take the majority of rural
constituencies including those held by the
Movement for Democratic
Change.
SADC states who are mainly loyal to President Robert Mugabe with
the backing
of South African government will immediately declare the
elections free and
fair and pressure will be mounted on the opposition not
to contest the
results. South African bases for the opposition will be
closed down and
arrest warrants issued for any exiled MDC leaders stationed
in South Africa.
On retaining power, President Mugabe will step down in a
year’s time and his
party will nominate Mnangagwa as his successor, a
process which will be
rubber stamped by Parliament by a majority
vote.
With its new position in the UN Security Council, South African
government
and its SADC allies will crank up the pressure to the
international
community to accept Mnangagwa as the new undisputed leader in
Zimbabwe.
Key figures in the Western governments, the United States and
United Kingdom
will be given access to the country’s mineral resources
alongside the
Chinese on condition that they lobby for the acceptance of
"President
Emmerson Mnangagwa" into the international fold.
Efforts
are already underway to approach the new British coalition
government
through business and mining investors linked to Mnangagwa’s proxy
business
associates who have been awarded rights to mine platinum and
Gold.
Meanwhile, the rural pre-election political cleansing operation
which will
be administered by the Zimbabwe National Army’s Brigade
commanders and has
been dubbed "Operation Last Chimurenga" will soon
establish "defensive
barriers" and enforce no-go areas for the opposition in
the months ahead.
Small groups of heavily armed army patrol units will
move into villages to
carry out "re-education" campaigns aimed at instilling
fear through mental
torture of rural people.
Identified opposition
supporters will be silenced and those who resist will
be killed in front of
villagers with their heads decapitated in what will be
dubbed "Operation
headless chicken".
Every village head is now a Zanu PF ward leader,
doubling up as the Village
Development Committee chairman (VIDCO), who
replaced the colonial times
Kraal heads.
In the Zimbabwe Voters Roll
Register Database Management System batch
header, the VIDCO Chairman will be
ordered to mobilise database member
batches of all people in the his cell or
ward (Village) and he will be
assisted by security forces and the data will
be submitted to provincial
Governors in those in batch headers and their
members.
The Governors will then submit the data to the Registrar General
who will
manage it on behalf of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and
by the
time the elections are conducted Zanu PF will be in a position to
know
exactly the precise numbers in the each rural constituencies and on the
polling day, no member in the batch will be turned away, while those in
urban areas struggles to find their names – "enda kwawakambovhotera last
time" (go where you voted last time).
Reports say, the Zimbabwe
electoral voters register database management
system software was designed
and is still being run by an Israel company
called
Cogniview.
However, in recent months the company has denied any
association with Robert
Mugabe’s regime and writing on his blog Cogniview
CEO Yoav Ezer has called
the story "codswallop".
In the country side,
the office of the Registrar General is already busy
issuing National ID
cards and birth certificate whereas those in the urban
areas have to put up
with long queues and high standards set to put them off
or they are asked to
go to rural bases.
The information on new birth certificates and national
ID cards is being
secretly relayed to village VIDCO chairman who would then
mobilises young
villagers to take ID Cards and Birth Certificates from
mobile government
agents. This is usually carried out during the legendary
food-for-work
programmes.
The whole process is organised by the
provincial Governors and it is
therefore not rocket science that Robert
Mugabe has remained adamant on the
appointment Governors in the face of the
MDC’s bitter protests.
Meanwhile, alongside the military terror plan
there are deadly Zanu PF
militia hit squads trained in Angola and they will
be working with Hutu and
Tutsi refugees recruited from a refugee camps
located in the Manicaland
province.
A fugitive former Rwandan general
who is wanted by the UN for war crimes
will be leading the
mercenaries.
Some of the refugee hit squads participated in the aborted
2008 Presidential
run-off and they are renowned for their role in brutal
cutting off hands in
what was called "Operation short sleeve", and the
gruesome cutting off of
tongs and toggling of eyes of abducted MDC
supporters.
The hit squads will target opposition leaders at grass roots
level,
particularly in both the urban and rural areas to decimate the
party’s
structures.
An internal army command signal which has already
been circulated to all
commanding officers is ordering them to cancel all
leave days for serving
members in the coming year and massive cash payments
will be made in
exchange.
Political monster
The newly created
and expanded Zimbabwe National Security Council (ZNSC) to
be chaired by
Mnangagwa will replace the current Joint Operations Command
(JOC).
The Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick
Chinamasa has been
tasked to fast track the Bill in order to create the
legislation which will
transform JOC into a massive political monster called
Zimbabwe National
Security Council (ZNSC) which will catapult Mnangagwa into
power.
ZNSC will include military commanders; State spy agents, police
and prison
Generals in addition to senior high ranking Zanu PF officials. In
the coming
year, its first role will be to roll out a full program of
seeking Robert
Mugabe’s re-election, ahead of the national constitutional
referendum.
The Zimbabwe National Security Council will be divided into
various
committee groups and former Information and Publicity Minister
Professor
Jonathan Moyo, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s long time
campaign
strategist will be tasked to run its operations as chief strategic
operations officer.
Moyo, who will become the country’s Prime
Minister when Mnangagwa takes
charge, is said to be central to the overall
plans and heading the strategic
think-tank involved in the dark arts of Zanu
PF power gamesmanship scheme
and sources said he has already secured two
floors at the Zanu PF HQ with a
strong team making preparatory stages for
the final assault to the close
down of Robert Mugabe’s era.
Across
the country, soldiers and intelligence officers on reconnaissance
missions
have already been deployed in towns and country side across the
country,
reportedly to monitor MDC activities and positions.
They have set up
camps at local police stations and teamed up with local
Zanu (PF) members in
joint operations conducted at ward level, according to
well placed
sources.
"We were deployed to take note of people’s grievances around
town. Three-man
teams comprising a CIO, Army and Zanu (PF) official would
monitor political
proceedings in various wards. The exercise was meant to
bring back ‘normalcy’
among the electorate.
Several army control
stations have been established country-wide, equipped
with stand-by
generators to maintain a round-the-clock radio communication
with other
sub-stations and army headquarters," said the source.
Other sources in
the army confirmed that the reconnaissance teams were
assisted by local Zanu
(PF) members to identify influential MDC officials in
each ward for future
action.
"It was felt strategically correct to deploy the army now, as
deploying it
towards election time would raise eyebrows among the
international
community. This is a military state and the army would not
want to take any
chances. The political playing field has to be tilted in
favour of Mugabe
and Zanu (PF) now," said another soldier.
Mugabe’s
succession is a very serious matter in Zimbabwe, particularly in
Zanu PF.
Over the years, the two persons thought to be heading the race are,
Emmerson
Mnangagwa, and former military supremo, Solomon Mujuru, whose wife
is one of
Mugabe’s vice presidents. Mujuru is backing his wife in the race.
Last
month, at the burial of his brother Mnangagwa made a startling
confession,
that he was taught to destroy and kill, but in the same breath
immediately
said he had turned a new leaf and had found comfort in the arms
of
God.
However, this week Mnangagwa told hundreds of people in the midlands
city of
Kwekwe that Zanu PF will continue to rule Zimbabwe even if
Zimbabweans
rejected it.
"If you disagree with what is being said
here, then there is nothing I can
do about it and if you don’t vote for us
in the next election, this country
is huge, we will rule even if you don’t
want," Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa, is one of the most shrewd politicians in
Zimbabwe who is referred
to by those that know him well as "Ngwena" (the
Crocodile), for his deadly
ruthless streak in maiming opponents who crosses
his path.
"Ngwena" is fingered in most political murders and torture in
both the
opposition and Zanu PF that have taken place during Robert Mugabe’s
30 year
rule.
A United Nations report has also fingered him and the
late army General
Vitalis Zvinavashe as some of the individuals involved in
the plunder of
Democratic Republic of Congo, late in the
90s.
Mnangagwa a qualified lawyer is said to have ganged up with Justice
minister
Patrick Chinamasa, in tilting the GPA pendulum in favour of Zanu PF
thus
expalining the current order where the party has a grip on all powerful
ministries such as defence, mining, justice, police and
agriculture.
Some of the key support which Mnangagwa secretly has inside
Zanu PF, through
a power plotting scheme fronted by his chief political
strategic Jonathan
Moyo reportedly includes, but is not limited to: Sydney
Sekeramayi, Didymus
Mutasa, Patrick Chinamasa, Ignatius Chombo, Joseph
Made, Kembo Mohadi,
Obert Mpofu, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, and Webster Shamu.
- *Additional
reporting: Zimbabwe News Intelligence featuring Tsitsi Madiro
(South Africa)
and Gilbert Mushonga (Canada).
http://www.radiovop.com
25/11/2010 14:48:00
Harare,
November 25, 2010 - Zimbabwe’s influential civil society
organisation, the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CIZC) has described as
treasonous a utterances
by the minister of defence, Emmerson Mnangagwa over
the weekend that Zanu
(PF) will continue to rule even if they lose
elections.
“Utterances
made by the Minister of Defence, Emmerson Mnangagwa in Kwekwe
over the
weekend are shameful, treasonous and a subversion of the will of
the people.
Mnangagwa was quoted as saying Zanu (PF) will continue in office
regardless
of any electoral outcome.
“The statements by the Minister of Defence are
a reflection of the
intentions of Zanu (PF) which has largely relied on
‘calculated terror,
error and psychological warfare’ to maintain its three
decade hold on power.
“In 2008, following the victory of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
in the March 29 election, Zanu (PF) unleashed a wave
of terror on innocent
civilians leading to the death of an estimated 200
people and the
displacement of thousands more.
“The utterances are a
deliberate ploy to circumvent another loss on the part
of Zanu (PF) at the
same time depriving Zimbabweans their constitutionally
guaranteed right to
participate freely in the governance of their country.
“The intimidatory
statements are in violation of Section 133A of the
Electoral Act which
outlines electoral offenses among them, intimidation. If
anything, the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should deal decisively
with the Minister
whose utterances, which are evidently treasonous, could
ignite violence
against perceived opponents,” reads part of the statement
from
Crisis
Mnangagwa, is considered President Robert Mugabe’s blue eyed boy
and is
sometimes touted as the veteran leader’s natural successor in Zanu
(PF).
The feared Zanu (PF) stalwart has of late reportedly shrugged off
opposition
from retired general Solomon Mujuru’s in terms of fighting for
closeness to
Mugabe.
What has even sent panic modes in both Zanu (PF)
and the nation in general
is that Mnangagwa and the Commander Defence
Forces, General Constantine
Chiwenga have developed a very close
relationship probably explaining why
the Minister of Defence is now speaking
like a soldier.
But CIZC believes that Mnangagwa should be stopped as he
is sending a wrong
signal to the soldiers and the nation at
large.
The hard hitting statement, also took a swipe at Mnangagwa’s
utterances that
the people voted for the wrong party, referring to MDC. The
statement said
the Minister of Defence was wrong in attacking the people for
making their
choice as they were making a statement against torture, rape
and
victimisation.
“What Mnangagwa is doing is virtually arm twisting
the electorate to accept
that no matter how many times they cast their
votes, Zanu (PF) will
disrespect the outcome of every electoral process
undoubtedly creating the
impression that the ballot will not change
anything.
“If anything, Mnangagwa’s utterances encourage apathy and
discourage full
citizen participation in political processes. The question
most people would
ask themselves is, why should I participate if the outcome
is clearly
pre-determined?
“Mnangagwa and Zanu (PF) should respect
the outcome of elections and allow
the people of Zimbabwe to decide their
own destiny instead of making
statements which cause apathy and incite
violence among citizens” said
Crisis.
Mugabe has announced that
elections will be held next year.
Meanwhile a Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (ZESN) officer, Barbra
Nyangairi said electoral reforms must not
assist in intimidating voters.
Presenting a paper on minimum conditions
for free and fair elections at a
Radio VOP elections workshop, Nyangairi,
said there must be transparency in
the printing of ballot papers and postal
voting.
She said police should not be allowed to man polling stations if
the
perpetrators of violence in the past elections were not
arrested.
"It’s unfortunate that there is no audit of army and police and
their
numbers can be manipulated in favour of a certain political party,"
she
said.
ZESN is also concerned on Presidential Temporary Measures
Act that gives the
power to President Robert Mugabe to override decisions
using his executive
powers.
She added that local observers gave
credibility to the elections process.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/11/2010 00:00:00
by
Ntungamili Nkomo
A HIGH Court judge on Thursday dismissed as “without
merit” an appeal by
prosecutors against the granting of bail to Standard
newspaper reporter,
Nqobani Ndlovu.
Ndlovu, who is charged with
criminally defaming the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, is expected to be released
from prison on Friday.
Reacting to Justice Nicholas Mathonsi’s ruling,
Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists chairman Dumisani Sibanda said: “The state's
opposition to bail
for Nqobani was just frivolous and vexatious considering
he is the one who
presented himself to the police after hearing they were
looking for him.”
Ndlovu was arrested on Wednesday last week after the
Standard published a
news story claiming police had frozen internal
promotions this year in order
to accommodate war veterans who were being
recruited to “direct operations
during elections next year”.
The ZRP
said it had “not at all recalled any single retired police officer
and war
veterans to take up whatever vacant top posts the paper alludes to”.
A
Bulawayo magistrate granted Ndlovu US$100 bail on Monday but prosecutors
invoked a controversial law which granted them power to further detain him
and overrule the magistrate while they prepared their appeal to the High
Court.
Ndlovu’s colleagues told of their delight at Justice Mathonsi’s
ruling.
Journalist Nqobile Bhebhe, writing on a Facebook page calling for
the
journalist’s release, said: “I will witness his long awaited release …
all
logistics for his welcome bash or gala are in place and only true cadres
invited.”
Former ZBC news anchor Nqobizitha Mkandla said: “Victory!
Victory! Victory!
Victory!"
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists has
planned a street demonstration in
Bulawayo next Monday to “protest the
government’s repression of the press”,
Sibanda said.
http://www.africalegalbrief.com/
Thursday, 25
November 2010 13:37
By Taffy Nyawanza
THE United Kingdom Court of
Appeal has handed down the case of RT (Zimbabwe)
& Ors v SSHD [2010]
EWCA Civ 1285, which is an extremely generous decision
and will be of
significant use to Zimbabweans seeking asylum in the UK.
In a nutshell,
it confirms that three things are sufficient for a grant of
asylum status to
a Zimbabwean.
One: a lengthy absence from Zimbabwe.
Two: having
claimed asylum in the UK (which is interpreted as an act of
disloyalty to
the Mugabe regime) and,
Three: having no adverse credibility
findings.
The case authoritatively states that as a general proposition,
a person
found to have genuine political beliefs cannot be refused refugee
status
merely because they can be expected to hide those beliefs, or to act
“discreetly” in order to avoid persecution.
In the particular case of
Zimbabwean asylum seekers, they cannot be expected
to lie about their
political activism, or lack of loyalty to the regime on
return to
Zimbabwe.
The case involved four Zimbabweans whose asylum appeals had
been rejected by
the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal by reference to the
guidelines in the
current Country Guidance case of RN (Zimbabwe CG) [2008]
UKAIT 00083.
The court accepted that all four were not “political
refugees” in any
ordinary sense. In other words, they all did not have any
particular
political commitments, nor had they suffered because of them.
They had all
left Zimbabwe for reasons which were unrelated to any political
activities
there; and they had not engaged in any significant political
activities in
the UK. They all argued that regardless of their actual
political beliefs or
activities, or lack of them, there was a risk,
particularly having regard to
their long absence from Zimbabwe, that if
returned to Zimbabwe they would
suffer persecution because of their
unwillingness or inability positively to
prove their loyalty to the Mugabe
regime.
The question before the court was whether Zimbabwean asylum
seekers should
be required to pretend that they were loyal to the Zanu PF
regime in order
to avoid persecution. The question arose after the
successful outcome in a
case called HJ (Iran) which involved gay asylum
seekers and in which the UK
Supreme Court stated that gay people should be
granted refugee status if
going home would result in them being forced to
hide their sexuality in
order to avoid persecution.
The court in RT
(Zimbabwe) was asked to extend the same reasoning to
political activism, ie,
that an individual found to hold genuine political
beliefs should not be
required to modify their behaviour or deny their
beliefs in order to avoid
persecution.
Another way of putting this is that an appellant should not
be required to
pretend that they are loyal to the Mugabe regime, when they
are not, in
order to avoid persecution. He cannot be expected to lie about
his true
political beliefs, or lack of them. This must be understood against
the
background that in the particular case of Zimbabwe, even a lack of
political
beliefs is dangerous, since those at risk on return to Zimbabwe
are no
longer restricted to people who are perceived to be members or
supporters of
the MDC but include anyone who is unable to demonstrate
support for or
loyalty to the regime or Zanu PF (per paragraph 258 of
RN).
In applying this reasoning to the individual cases before it, the
Court for
instance found that a person with no political profile, but who
had claimed
asylum in the UK, and had been absent from Zimbabwe for a
lengthy period of
time, should be entitled to asylum, if he is generally
credible.
What are the important conclusions in RT
(Zimbabwe)?
1. The general proposition is that returnees cannot be
expected to lie
about their background and circumstances when asked by the
authorities. This
means that if they have been politically active, they
should be entitled to
asylum if going home would result in them being forced
to hide their
opinions in order to avoid persecution.
2. Even
someone with a low political profile should also be entitled
to asylum since
he falls in the category of people who would be unable to
demonstrate
loyalty to the Mugabe regime.
3. Further, even someone without any
political profile should not be
expected to lie about the absence of their
political beliefs to avoid
persecution, as they would be unable to prove
loyalty to the Mugabe regime.
This covers asylum seekers who rely on simply
having been in the UK for a
long time and having made an asylum
claim.
4. Credibility remains the critical issue. If someone is
generally
credible about other aspects of their case, they should be
entitled to
asylum, even if they have no political profile.
5.
RT (Zimbabwe) concludes by confirming that even where a claim to
asylum
would be hopeless, the conditions in Zimbabwe have been accepted to
be
exceptional and a grant of asylum may therefore be appropriate, except
where
the asylum seeker is not a credible witness.
To put it very plainly, a
Zimbabwean who has been in the UK for some time
(the threshold in RN is 2
years), who has claimed asylum, and who does not
have an adverse credibility
profile should be entitled to asylum status,
simples!
It is important
to point out that the RN Country Guidance case is currently
under review and
it is possible that the law may change again very shortly.
For the moment,
however, RN, as helpfully and generously clarified in RT
(Zimbabwe), remains
the applicable law.
http://www.radiovop.com
25/11/2010
11:13:00
Harare, November 25, 2010 - A Zimbabwe Media Commissioner
Matthew Takaona
has expressed concern at the prospects of a violent election
next year.
Takaona was speaking at a Radio Voice of the People
facilitated workshop on
the coverage of 2011 elections if they are
held.
"Many Zimbabweans are resisting the elections because of the
violence that
usually accompanies elections in Zimbabwe" said
Takaona.
Both Takaona and a political analyst, Professor John Makumbe,
who also
addressed the same workshop, called on media practitioners to "name
and
shame" perpetrators of political violence.
"Go after them, expose
them and traumatise them," Takaona told workshop
participants. "There is a
lot of hate speech, intrusion into privacy and
grief. As a commission we
find this earth shattering."
Meanwhile Afro Barometer field officers are
being harassed by Zanu (PF)
politicians and supporters over anti-President
Mugabe public survey results.
“Our findings have been challenged, mainly
by supporters of the Zanu (PF)
supporters and in certain areas they have
tended to threaten our field
workers, because there is suspicion that they
are being sent by the
opposition party," said Afro Barometer Southern
African Development
Community region Outreach manager Mxolisi
Sibanyoni.
Afro Barometer is an independent, on-partisan research
instrument that
measures the social, political and economic atmosphere in
Africa.
A recent poll by the Mass Public Opinion Institute showed that
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan
Tsvangirai was
more popular and trustworthy than his counterpart President
Robert Mugabe of
Zanu (PF).
“The Zimbabwean government has been very
critical of the findings mainly
because it records the views of the public.
Like many governments when
opinions do not favour the government, it tends
to be critical and this has
been the same situation here,” he
said.
But a former researcher from the institute, Anyway Ndapwadza said
the same
political parties critical of the findings of the polls run by the
Institute
came back in private to demand the results.
“We see them
knocking our doors asking for the full research results so that
they go back
and amend the anomalies we would have highlighted, despite
disputing the
results in public. They come and ask us where we are in terms
of our
political support and which areas are we needed most."
http://www.voanews.com
Representatives for thousands of government workers said they will
only sit
down with their employer after studying details of the budget,
which will be
presented by Biti on Thursday.
Thomas Chiripasi and
Sithandekile Mhlanga | Harare/Washington 24 November
2010
Zimbabwean
civil servants on Wednesday boycotted a meeting with the
government over
salary negotiations accusing Finance Minister Tendai Biti of
drafting the
2011 National Budget without consulting them.
VOA Correspondent Thomas
Chiripasi reported from Harare that most civil
servants were angry with the
government, accussing authorities of failing to
address their grievances
including low salaries and poor working conditions.
Representatives for
thousands of government workers said they will only sit
down with their
employer after studying details of the budget, which will be
presented by
Biti on Thursday.
Reached for comment, Public Service Minister Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro said he
was still to be briefed on the matter since he was out
of town when the
boycot happened.
But Mukonoweshuro's deputy, Andrew
Langa, a ZANU-PF legislator for Insiza
North, told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Sithandekile Mhlanga that his ministry was
committed to improving working
conditions for civil servants but was
hamstrung by Western sanctions.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
25 November, 2010
The regionally appointed mediator on
Zimbabwe, President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa, is expected to travel to
Harare on Friday for meetings with the
three principals to the GPA. As usual
little information has been released
about the visit, where the meeting will
be held and who will be there. But
his international relations advisor,
Lindiwe Zulu, is reported to have said
Zuma would seek an end to the current
tensions and push for the coalition
government leaders to fully implement
what they agreed to.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has not attended
the progress meetings that
he used to hold regularly with Robert Mugabe
since early October. This is
due to Mugabe’s continued disregard for his
coalition partners, and his
unilateral appointment of governors and
ambassadors led to the current
standoff.
Zulu reportedly said Zuma’s
agenda will include a ‘discussion on the
implementation of the global
political agreement issues agreed at the
previous SADC meeting and any
troubling issues that might have arisen in the
implementation pact that will
lead to free and fair elections expected next
year’.
Zuma met with
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara and
Robert Mugabe separately, last week in Botswana. This was
after the SADC
troika meeting on Zimbabwe failed to happen. Committee
chairperson,
President Rupiah Banda of Zambia and Mozambique President
Armando Guebuza,
did not bother turn up.
Zuma’s mediation efforts have received much
criticism from Zimbabweans and
political observers, who say he has failed to
reign in Mugabe and ZANU PF.
Zuma is also largely viewed as being soft on
Mugabe and choosing to ignore
the facts on the ground.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
25
November 2010
The police’s refusal to allow a human rights group to
continue its public
campaign against torture in Zimbabwe, has been brought
up short, after a
Bulawayo court ordered the force to stop removing
billboards calling for the
abolition of torture.
From the beginning
of 2010, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has been
running a campaign,
calling for the eradication of torture in Zimbabwe.
Through the billboards,
the group has been calling on the government to
ratify the United Nations
Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, and
Degrading Treatment and the
abolition of torture.
When the constitution-making process began to gain
momentum earlier this
year, the Forum started using billboards in all major
cities in Zimbabwe to
carry its message on torture. With the required
licences, the Forum erected
billboards in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo,
Mutare and Chitungwiza.
But on the 5th November Chief Superintendent
Patrick Moyo and CID Officer
Samakanda from Bulawayo contacted the Forum,
demanding that all the
billboards in Bulawayo be removed. The basis given
for the removal of these
billboards was that they were offensive. The Forum
however said this claim
was “not substantiated.”
“It appears that
futile attempts were allegedly made by the said officers to
apply pressure
on the City of Bulawayo to revoke the billboard leases. It is
understood
that the rationale cited to the City Council was that the
locations did not
meet Council standards on environmental friendliness and
that they
obstructed some important tourism features,” the Forum said in a
statement.
Chief Superintendent Moyo had summoned the Forum and
agreed to a meeting on
Friday the 12th November. But on the date of that
meeting the Forum
representatives found most of the billboards already
destroyed.
“The Forum representatives refused to meet the police because
it was
apparent that the police were not acting in good faith,” the group
said.
The police have now been ordered by a Bulawayo court to stop
removing the
billboards and other posters.
“While the police chose to
attribute the illegal action to “politics” and
members of an unnamed
political party, the Forum believes that the police
must be held
accountable,” the Forum said.
The group added they are “dismayed that the
police, who have been fingered
in many cases of torture, seem to want to
retain this abominable practice in
our country.”
The police actions
are a clear sign of the ongoing clampdown against free
speech in the
country, where public fear is so high that even utterances
against Robert
Mugabe carry a harsh penalty. Most recently, a Karoi
magistrate had to warn
a man accused of ‘insulting’ Mugabe to watch what he
says in public or he
will “die for nothing.” The accused man is an example
of the fear in the
country, because after making the reportedly ‘derogatory’
remarks about
Mugabe, he went to the local offices of the Central
Intelligence
Organisation to confess and beg for forgiveness.
He was told to write a
report before he was handed over for prosecution.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
25 November
2010
There has been a shocked reaction to news that the Zimbabwean
Consulate in
Johannesburg has stopped Zimbabwean nationals in the city from
receiving
food, while they camped out on the streets for days at a time
trying to get
legal documents.
The process to document the tens of
thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa
without legal paperwork has seen
people queuing at Home Affairs offices
across the country for days at a
time. The turn around for applications has
reportedly been very slow. And
with the deadline for Zimbabweans to
regularise their stay in country
looming, many have opted for staying
overnight in queues so as not to lose
their places.
This includes a large number of women and children who have
all been waiting
desperately for their turn to get their applications in,
before the December
31st deadline expires. That deadline is set to signal
the resumption of
deportations back to Zimbabwe, despite warnings from human
rights groups
that many Zimbabweans will not have their paperwork in order
by that time.
Concern has already been raised over how the Zimbabwean
consulate
authorities in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg, have
been
treating their own citizens. Some nationals who have been trying to
obtain
passports to get their relevant South African permits, have been
refused the
documents or asked for bribes.
But, in what action group
Sokwanele has called an example of “how ZANU PF
responds to humanitarian
crises,” the Zimbabwean consulate has taken its
cruelty towards its own
people a step further. The Consul General, Chris
Mapanga, has told groups
who have been trying to feed the Zimbabweans in
queues in Johannesburg to
stop this kindness, calling it “embarrassing.”
The South African
Communist Party (SACP) decided recently to start assisting
the large number
of men, women and children queuing for documents in
Johannesburg, by
providing them with soup, bread and water. The SACP’s
Politburo Member and
Head of the Office of the General Secretary, Solly
Mapaila, told SW Radio
Africa that this was their answer to the clear
“humanitarian question on our
doorstep.” But Mapaila explained that the
situation lasted for some time, so
the SACP decided to involve local
government to get more assistance for the
situation.
“We also eventually had meetings with the National government
who brought in
the Zimbabwe High Commission, and it was at that meeting that
he said we
must stop feeding the people in queues,” Mapaila
said.
Mapaila explained that the Zimbabwean authorities were “quite firm
on this
point,” adding that the excuse given was that the Zimbabweans trying
to get
permits didn’t deserve to be fed “because they are here (in South
Africa) on
their own accord.”
“This is clearly nonsense, we all know
the political situation that people
have left the country over,” Mapaila
said. “It is unacceptable and inhuman
that a person would use their position
to ask us to refuse others food.”
Mapaila said the SACP’s intervention
has, at least, made some difference,
with the local government sending
monitors to observe how people are coping
in the queues. He explained that
temporary ablution facilities and even
chairs and shade have been provided
to assist those people stuck queuing for
days.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
25/11/2010 00:00:00
by Alex Magaisa
Author’s
Note: Faithful followers of work recorded in this column have been
generous
with their support and encouragement. Thank you. I write for
pleasure but if
brings enjoyment to others, it’s a bonus.
I understand that reading is
labour and reading the hard issues that we
encounter everyday in our social
and political lives is a challenge
especially when we read the same things
over and over again. So as the
faithful know, here we like to experiment a
bit with the word and style; we
prefer not to judge but to lay out a story
and let the reader make up their
own mind.
Over the years, I have
produced one or two articles that follow this style,
what I prefer to call
‘analysis through the story’. I appreciate that it
doesn’t excite everyone.
Some of you have said, they would rather read more
and are disappointed when
the story has to end. Some have suggested that a
book of sorts is needed. I
am much too lazy and not well organised for that
type of undertaking but
maybe one day.
Here however, is a very long story that I wrote in late
2008 but has up to
now only been read by a few close to my circle. So I
thought, why not share
it with those who enjoy reading. It will take you
time because it is longer
than usual but anyway, it’s for you, my friend, to
read it your own way.
WHEN Machekecha bade farewell to his wives as he
set off on his hunting
expedition, he could hardly have imagined the events
that followed.
It was a dry, slightly cold morning but he didn’t expect
to be away for too
long. His wives and children wished him well as he set
off with his pack of
hounds. All his life, he had never returned home
empty-handed.
Machekecha was a man of many talents but it was his
legendary hunting
prowess was the one gift that did more to raise his
reputation and notoriety
across the region. All over Chief Mtekedza’s land,
Machekecha was a hunter
without equal.
Legend had it that at the
early age of sixteen, Machekecha had
single-handedly fought and killed a
lion. Needless to say, the legend had
grown legs and hands through the
passage of time and a popular version had
it that Machekecha had actuially
battled and defeated the lion with his bare
hands. That feat earned him the
title of Murigashumba - the one who felled a
lion.
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Although Machekecha had long passed the prime seasons of
his life, he was
amaziingly fit. In fact, he was better-equipped for the
rigours of life than
most men half his age. His exact age was unknown. The
colonial officer at
the office of Births and Deaths Registration had simply
picked a date
through general estimation based on the claim that Machekecha
was born
during the year of the locusts. It was the year when a severe
drought
visited the land after the rains failed and an unusual attack by
large
swarms of locusts that wrecked havoc across the whole country. So it
was
known as ‘Gore reHwiza’ – the year of the locusts and apparently many
people
of Machekecha’s generation had been recorded as having been born
during that
year. It was a convenient date.
For his age, Machekecha
still carried the fitness of an athlete. He was
lean, tall and gangly with
strong hands and muscular shoulders. Only the
white hair on his small head
gave some indication that he was one among the
world’s long-serving
residents. He had three wives, having recently taken a
young girl, Muchaneta
who was expecting his seventeenth child. Five other
offspring had not made
it out of childhood a circumstance that was generally
ascribed to evil
spirits.
Villagers often spoke of Machekecha in hushed tones, saying that
he had a
powerful charm bequeathed to him by his grandfather, himself a
legendary
warrior and hunter.
Others went further and suggested that
he had zvikwambo, little goblins that
worked for him day and night. Other
men swore that when he was at work he
transformed mysteriously into a
strange being; that he roared like a lion
and even the birds of the forest
stopped singing in his presence. Machekecha’s
unusual habits did little to
abate these rumours. He always hunted by
himself. He never liked company
during his expeditions. Fellow men said he
did so because he didn’t want
anyone noticing his strange ways, like the
transformation into an odd being
that others described in minute detail even
though they all relied on
hearsay.
They also said it was his custom to capture a live chicken and
eat it raw on
the night before the hunting trip. Whenever he went on a
hunting expedition,
villagers were sure he would return with big game, where
others would
struggle to catch a single rabbit.
On this particular
day after scouring the forest, Machekecha encountered a
large kudu. This was
a rare moment. It had been a long time since he last
caught a kudu. There
were too many hunters . He relished the opportunity to
bring home one of the
biggest of them all.
Careful not to disturb this rare target, Machekecha
took a position behind
the thick bush so that he could hit it accurately.
However, just as he was
taking aim with his bow and arrow, he was startled
by the sudden fall of the
giant kudu. It was too late to stop the shot so
his arrow landed on the
underside of the kudu’s fallen body. As he stood up
abruptly to inspect what
had just happened, he found himself face to face
with a young man standing
on the other side of the fallen kudu.
They
stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, as if they had
both
encountered a strange object from another universe. The young man was
short
and stout, with large, muscular hands. For a man his size, his
shoulders
were broad and looked very strong. He had large eyes whose glare
was sharp
and piercing. Machekecha was startled by the young man’s
apparently quiet
confidence.
The young man spoke first. He was gentle and respectful, a sign
of a man who
understood the presence of an elder.
“Good evening,
Baba!” he called out, trying to break the ice. He paused for
a moment,
expecting a response from Machekecha. There was no answer.
Machekecha simply
maintained stern glare at the young man – the way a boss
looks
authoritatively and condescendingly at a junior caught at the wrong
place
during working hours.
So the young man continued, hoping to thaw the
thick ice that had clearly
formed and was steadily growing between them even
in the few seconds that
they had just met.
“Shall we not thank the
ancestors for blessing us at this hour? Do they not
say sango rinopa waneta
– that, the forest is a testing lady who only gives
to the hard-workingand
patient ones?I am tired, Baba, I have been searching
all day and this is
what the good forest has provided”, said the young man.
There was a hint
of excitement in his voce as he spoke but he was calm. He
was trying hard to
earn conversation with his elder but Machekecha remained
unmoved.
Instead
of returning the greeting, Machekecha asked in a hard, stern voice,
“Who are
you, mfana?” , he bellowed. For a man so lean, his voice was
disproportionately heavy.
The young man cleared his throat as he
prepared to respond but before he
could even account for his identity,
Machekecha continued in the same hard
tone of voice.
“Who are you to
intrude into the work and lands of the elders?” he he aksed
in a more
demanding tone.
“I do not intrude, Baba. I only seek usavi relish for the
family. The
children say they are tired of living like goats, surviving on
green
vegetables every day. So I thought, I would come here and beg the
ancestors
for some proper relish and this is what they have done for me.
That is why I
am here, Baba. That is why I am happy now”, replied the young
man, in a
polite but firm voice, pointing with his index finger to the large
kudu
lying without life on the ground.
As it was getting dark,
Machekecha was having great difficulty identifying
the young man’s
expressions. His eyes, unfortunately, had not kept his
phyisique’s
resistance to the raveges of time. This only served to incense
him further
and increase his irritation. He took a few careful steps towards
the young
man. Then he stopped abruptly when he was a few yards away.
He tried to
maintain a calm demeanour but his voice betrayed his surprise.
“Argh!” he
said, trying to collect himself and maintain his composure,
before
continuing.
“It is you! Are you not Furambi’s son? Furambi … erm … that
carpenter from
Nhangabwe … the one who makes coffins?” He dragged the
question a little as
he tried to identify the young man.
“It is just
as you say, Baba. The man you speak of is, indeed, my father”,
replied the
young man trying to reassure Machekecha but also feeling proud
that his
father was known for his work with wood. In an attempt to take
advantage of
this apparent goodwill, he continued.
“He works with wood, my father.
That is what he has done all his life and he
is good at it, as you probably
know. I chose to pursue animals. They call me
Mutsvuku. I do not know why
they call me Mutsvuku. Perhaps, it’s because I
have fair skin”.
This
was followed by a quick laugh – the kind of laugh one makes to lighten
the
atmosphere – a laugh that says, we’re friends, after all. He paused
hoping
the dose of light comment could thaw the old man’s frosty demeanour.
This
did little to affect Machekecha.. His stern eyes never moved away from
the
young man, whom he now knew was called Mutsvuku and was the coffin-maker’s
son. He never smiled or showed any hint of amiability. It was clear that he
was annoyed and he was determined to demonstrate his
displeasure.
“Yes, but do you not know that this is the land of the
elders? Who gave you
the permission to venture into my lands?” Machekecha
demanded again. The
voice became louder and the tone got heavier.
“I
come in peace, Baba. I come not to harm you or anyone but to look for
relish. I have never, in my life, caught such a big animal and as I said, my
family will be very happy when I return home with this gift from the
ancestors”, replied Mutsvuku. He was still firm but polite, not wishing to
upset the old man any further. He couldn’t understand the old man’s
agitation. So he asked, “If I have done anything wrong, Baba, I am here to
be educated as I too, am your son”.
Machekecha was quick to respond with
a flurry of questions.
”What exactly are you talking about, boy? When you
say you have never caught
such a big animal, which animal are you talking
about? What is it that you
say your ancestors have given you and your
family?” he asked.
“I mean this kudu, Baba”, Mutsvuku said, pointing to the
kudu lying on the
ground.
“Do you not see it? I waited for a long
time and I was very happy when I
finally got it by the neck. Just a single
shot! And even though I say so
myself, Baba, I think it was a great shot’,
he explained, feeling quite
proud of his accomplishments.
“You are a
crazy young man, hey? Your head is full of water. It’s full of
dreams!”
thundered Machekecha before exploding into loud, hysterical
laughter.
“So you really think the kudu is your catch? You honestly
believe that it’s
yours?” he asked, eyes still fixed on Mutsvuku showing
contempt. He was
glaring at Mutsvuku as if he had caught the young man doing
something very
embarrassing.
”Yes, Baba, it is my catch. I hit it
really well. Look at the arrow on the
neck”, Mutsvuku was pointing to the
arrow stuck on the kudu’s neck.
Machekecha continued to laugh
contemptuously at Mutsvuku and then paused to
say, “Your father must find a
n’anga to examine your head, young man! You
have a big head, eh?! Why do you
make such wild claims? Did you not see that
I hit the kudu?”
“But, Baba
…” Mutsvuku tried to protest, but he was rudely interrupted by
Machekecha,
“Anyway, as I have already told you, you come from so far
away in Nhangabwe
and these lands are the lands of my ancestors. You have no
permission to be
hunting in this forest. You kids of today, you do not
respect tradition and
culture! You just roam around like flies and think you
can do whatever you
want in other people’s lands? Huh?” asked
Machekecha.
Machekecha was visibly angry as he went on to deliver a long
lecture on
culture, respect and tradition to Mutsvuku. Mutsvuku listened
patiently but
he remained unmoved.
After Machekecha had finished, Mutsuku
said,
“But I, too, am a son of this land, Baba am I not? I know and
respect you as
a legend in this land. I would do anything to be your hunting
apprentice.
But over the years, I have been told that you hunt alone. I
would have tried
but I was discouraged. But these lands, Baba and I do not
mean any
disrespect to you; these lands are also my ancestors’ lands and
this kudu
lying here, I swear on my grandmother’s grave, that this kudu
lying here is
mine. And if you permit me to say so, Baba, you too in your
heart do know
that this kudu is mine.”
Machekecha was taken aback by
the steadiness and maturity exuded by the
young man standing in front of
him. He had never encountered a young person
with such resolve. For a
moment, he silently admired him. He saw in the
young man, traces of himself
in his younger days – strong-willed and calm.
He wanted to continue his
lecture but that attempt was interrupted by a
sound of movement behind the
bushes. This startled both of them. They forgot
each other’s presence for a
brief moment, as their attention was drawn to
the intruder whom they both
couldn’t see. They got their spears ready as
they thought it could be a
predator. In an instant, they were transformed
from adversaries into allies
united against potential danger. There was
silence and it scared them
both.
“Who is there?” bellowed Machekecha as he readied his spear in the
direction
from which the shuffling sound had emanated.
“It is I” came a
confident voice from behind the bushes.
“I said who are you? Who are you
to answer in that manner when elders speak
to you? Do you not come from a
home where there is a father and mother who
taught you manners? Are you a
wild animal, because you behave like one?”
shouted Machekecha, who was
clearly not satisfied with this briefest and
vaguest of answers.
“Ask
that fellow in front of you! He should know who I am. We come from the
same
hut”, replied the voice from behind the bush.
“Do not waste my time, you
foolish idiot!” thundered Machekecha, clearly
annoyed by the invisible
intruder.
“As I said, iwe Mdhara, ask Mutsvuku! He knows who I am and why
I am here. I
have been quietly listening to your argument and I am surprised
that the two
of you should be fighting over something that belongs to
neither of you”,
the voice continued.
“Do not talk nonsense! Come out
in the open and reveal yourself or I will do
to you what I did to that
kudu!” Machekecha demanded as he took steps
towards the voice in the bush.
He was not sure but he did not want Mutsvuku
to take the initiative.
At
that point the bearer of the voice crept out of the bush and faced
Machekecha and Mutsvuku.
“Argh! It is you, Magija!” said Mutsvuku, with
an unconvincing show of
surprise.
“Please Mutsvuku, why do you pretend so
much?” said Magija, staring at him.
“You act surprised as if we were not
together all day? Did you think I would
go home empty-handed? You thought
you could carry the whole forest and all
the animals on your own?” asked
Magija still looking at Mutsvuku.
The formerly invisible man, whom
Machekecha now knew to be Magija was of
short build, darker in complexion,
with a large head that tilted sharply to
one side. They said his head had
landed awkwardly at birth, hence the odd
shape. The younger children
mockingly called him Musoro Chingwa, because
they said his head looked like
a loaf of bread. That head was also the
bearer of large eyes and unkempt
hair. His demeanour was that of a young man
with incredible self-belief
bordering on arrogance.
Magija and Mutsvuku came from the same village in
Nhangabwe. Apparently,
they had set out together that morning to hunt in the
forest. However, after
a fruitless search through the forest, they had got
into a bitter argument
and decided to go their separate ways. Now they were
meeting again, except
that between them now stood Machekecha and a lifeless
kudu lying on the
ground.
“Why then do you say we are squabbling over
something that belongs to
neither of us?” asked Machekecha, who had been
listening intently as Magija
accounted for his presence.
“That’s
because I have been chasing this kudu all afternoon. I hit it on the
leg but
I ran out of arrows. This man you see here, Mutsvuku, is a selfish
man. He
has too much ambition and thinks he knows everything. When he left
he took
all the arrows, spears and the dogs. I was left with nothing. So
when I
wounded the kudu I decided to chase it on foot. I knew it would
eventually
get tired and I would catch it. So I have been running after it,
using the
trail of the blood from the wound. Do you not see the bruises on
my feet and
legs? I have endured much pain and suffering to get this prize”,
Mutsvuku
explained, pointing to the kudu.
After a brief pause, he continued, “And
now I find my kudu is here and the
two of you making claims and
counter-claims over it. In fact, varume this
kudu is mine. You are no more
that michekadzafa – it was already gone by the
time you wasted your arrows!
Just another mile I would have caught up with
it. So you see, machinda
that’s why I say the kudu is mine. And now you
know”
When Magija
finished, Mutsvuku and Machekecha burst into wild laughter - a
collective
laughter of two old friends meeting for the first time in years.
They seemed
to unite, for that moment, in contempt of Magija, the young
upstart who was
making a big claim at their expense.
However, suddenly remembering they
were not on the same side, the arguments
resumed. And that now there were
three claimants, a circumstance which
prompted Mutsvuku to remark that with
the way it was going, the whole
district would be laying claims to the
kudu.
“Someone can come here right now and say, ‘O, I saw this kudu last
week, so
it’s mine too!”, he said, laughing derisively at Magija’s
claim.
They haggled all night and by dawn, they decided it was best to ask
for
help.
“‘I have an idea”, said Magija, “Why don’t we find someone
to judge who
amongst us deserves this kudu? We will all present our stories
and let a
neutral person pass judgment”. They all agreed that this was the
best way to
solve their conflict. So they tried to find an arbitrator to
help them.
They saw a tall man walking near where they were gathered.
They saw that it
was Sinyoro, from a village nearby. He was walking briskly,
clearly focussed
on his journey when he was startled by Machekecha’s loud
call. Sinyoro
happened to be a well-respected man from the neighbouring
village. Sinyoro
was told of the men’s problem and he agreed to help. He was
known to be a
fair man but he and Machekecha were of the same generation.
Mutsvuku was not
sure but he agreed to give him a chance.
Sinyoro
listened to each of the men’s stories.
Then he said, “I have heard
everything you said. I respect all your
opinions. It is hard to make
judgement for one without upsetting the others.
None of you will be happy
and this could go on and on until this meat goes
to waste. You all seem to
have made an effort and this is what your
ancestors have given to
you”
He paused, whilst he assessed the men’s faces. His voice was clam,
slow and
assured. He spoke like a judge, pronouncing every syllable and
making sure
he had their attention. After a long pause he
continued,
“Maybe the ancestors decided to give something to all of you,
seeing as it
is that the forests are dry these days. There are few animals
now and
perhaps the gods are saying you must work together and share. I
therefore
propose that you share this animal. Everyone will get something
and your
families will be happy.”
He reminded them that, in any
event, what they had done was illegal. The
Chief had decreed that kudu were
protected animals and should no longer be
hunted. It was therefore, best for
them to resolve the matter privately and
they could do this easily if they
shared the meat. Any public dispute would
not only embarrass them but also
put them into big trouble with the chief.
At first, the three men found
it hard to accept. Machekecha was especially
unhappy with the judgment. He
had always been known to be an expert hunter
who did things his way. How
could the whole village know that he had not
caught the kudu by himself? How
could he share his catch, in his own land,
with these young upstarts? He
found it hard to accept the decision.
Mutsvuku wanted a fair share – he
was not going to settle for crumbs. He was
convinced that it was his catch
and there was no need to share with anyone.
Magija knew that his claim
was the weakest and he was happy to at least get
something. He wanted his
own share, however little, to acknowledge his
contribution to the
catch.
Eventually, they agreed to share as suggested by Sinyoro. They
asked him to
do the sharing. But Sinyoro said he had delayed his journey for
too long. He
was going to see his in-laws in Maware. It was a long journey
and he was
already late.
He advised that as Machekecha was the eldest
of the three, he should do the
sharing. Mutsvuku and Magija were concerned
about giving Machekecha the
power to do the sharing. They thought he would
be biased. The three men
thanked Sinyoro and offered him the head of the
kudu. Sinyoro politely
declined, explaining that he was on a long journey
and he had no capacity
for a heavy load.
Machekecha then took out his
knives and declared that it was better to start
skinning the kudu and share
the meat. Mutsvuku was not happy that Machekecha
was doing the sharing. So
he asked again, “Who is going to do the sharing?”
“Did you not hear what
the judge said? I will do the sharing. I am the
eldest here, am I not?” said
Machekecha, with some authority. “Plus this is
my land”, he added
emphatically.
“But we all know the parts of the animal, so why don’t we
just agree instead
of you making that decision yourself?” asked Mutsvuku,
“After all, as agreed
we all contributed to the catch. Why can’t we make the
decision
collectively?”
“That is correct”, weighed in Magija who had
been watching from the
sidelines as Machekecha and Mutsuku argued over the
allocation.
“I think we should agree before we start sharing because
there might be
problems if one of us takes all the good parts. None of us
want to go home
holding only the skin or the tail!’ he said, with a
laugh.
But Machekecha was adamant.
He said, “Young man, you look at me
and you think I am old. You look at me
and you think I cannot do this alone.
I have been very kind and considerate
to agree to share with you what
belongs to me. Here, I am saying, I will do
the allocation. I will go on and
cut the pieces for you and you either take
or leave them for the
dogs!”
He proceeded to cut up the kudu and allocate the meat.
There
was a huge outcry from Mutsvuku and Magija. They felt that Machekecha
had
given himself the best parts. However, they had heard that the old man
had
strong charms so even if they wanted to start a fight they backed down
in
fear of the unknown.
Instead, they refused to take their share and
declared that Machekecha could
not leave with the meat. In any event, they
threatened that if he insisted
they would report him to the chief for
killing a kudu, which was against the
decree. The three were united by their
illegal act. Eventually, Machekecha
agreed to ask for assistance
again.
Meanwhile, it had been two days since the kudu had been captured.
The meat
was beginning to attract large swarms of insects. As the three
hunters
haggled and argued, they almost forgot what they were arguing over.
The
growing smell of rotting meat was beginning to attract all kinds of
scavengers. Vultures could be seen waiting on the branches of surrounding
trees.
Later on, they saw three men, Chimowa walking alongside Madota
and Majecha
in the distance. All three were distinguished village elders.
They called
out to the men for help.
As they approached the little
gathering, Chimowa who was known to speak his
mind commented about the
over-powering stench. He was about to ask if all
was well when he saw the
kudu meat hanging on tree branches and the large
swarms of flies that were
hovering above. The three men were shocked when
they heard that the men who
had called them were fighting over the meat,
which was already
rotting.
They narrated their stories and then Chimowa asked, “So you have
been here
all this time and you are arguing over meat? And that there is the
meat you
are fighting over? Do you not see that the meat is going bad
already?’ He
was pointing to the meat, with a look of astonishment and
bewilderment
written all over his face. He had one hand on his waist whilst
the other
slowly caressed his beard. All the while, he was making a sound of
surprise,
“Siiiii … hey?!” He looked at the three protagonists with a
mixture of pity
and contempt.
“Varume imi mukati makakwana?” he said,
asking after the mental stability of
the three. “You are telling me that you
have disturbed us on our trip. Three
whole men like us, and you ask us to
decide what to do with this rotting
meat?” he asked.
It was then that
Machekecha, Mutsvuku and Magija realised the folly of their
argument.
Majecha admonished them for their illegal act and Madota weighed
in with the
view that given the illegality and the state of the meat, none
of them
deserved a share. Chimowa and his colleagues decided that it was
fair that
none of them should get a share. They threatened to report the
three hunters
to the Chief.
“What then do we do then with all the meat?” asked Magija who
was still
quite anxious to get his share.
Chimowa said they should
leave the meat to the scavengers as none of them
deserved it. “Hamuoni
magora atouya aya? Regai adye”, Let nature feed, he
said, dismissing the
three men who stood in silence, as if they could not
believe what they were
hearing.
Machekecha tried to resist, saying he alone had the power to
decide what to
do. But Chimowa had one final word for him, saying he, as the
eldest should
be more ashamed of the foolish way in which they had dealt
with the matter.
He said, “Nhai Mdhara Machekecha, kana iwewo haunyari fani!
Chii chaunoda
ipapa? Iyo nyama yaora iyi? You are the leader here and we
expect you to
help these youngsters but your behaviour is appalling!”
And
with that the six men began to walk away. The vultures instantly
descended
from the tree branches and the party began.
A pack of hyenas came rushing
to the scene – it was a real stampede. The
scavengers howled, growled and
snarled as they fought over the rotting meat.
The party had begun in earnest.
Up in the sky, more vultures could be seen
heading towards the
feast.
You can contact Magaisa on e-mail: wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
BILL WATCH
49/2010
[24th November 2010]
Update on Party Voting Strengths in
Parliament
Current
Party Voting Strengths in Parliament
The
numbers for the current voting strengths exclude the 10 seats in the Senate
normally occupied by the Provincial Governors. The allocation of Provincial
Governors is still being hotly contested between parties. The President
allocated them all to ZANU-PF despite an agreement that was supposed to have
been reached that they should be distributed between the three parties in the
GPA. The MDC-T have contested this, both by protests resulting in a
three-month adjournment of the Senate and, today, by launching a court case on
the issue. [See more below.]
House of
Assembly Total
available to vote 200 [total potential seats
214]
ZANU-PF: 96 MDC-T: 96
MDC-M: 8
Senate Total
available to vote 80 [total potential seats 100]
ZANU-PF:
45* MDC-T: 27 MDC-M: 8
*The
ZANU-PF Senate figure includes the 17 senator chiefs, because chiefs have
traditionally voted ZANU-PF. There should be 18 chiefs, but one chief died last
year and has not yet been replaced.
Figures exclude the
Attorney General – although he has the right to sit and to speak in both Houses,
he has no vote. All other members are voting
members – whether elected, appointed, nominated, ex officio, constituency or
non-constituency, chiefs or provincial governors
Recap on
How Voting Strengths in the Current Parliament have
Changed
Bill Watch
2/2010 set out party voting strengths in Parliament as at 20th January and how
they were arrived at. Changes since then have been caused by two deaths
[one MDC-T MP in June and one ZANU-PF elected Senator in July] and two MDC-T MPs
having their suspensions lifted [see below for more details on these
suspensions]. Throughout, the figures below do
not include the AG and chiefs and provincial governors have been included in
ZANU-PF totals.
When the
New Parliament Opened in August 2008
Actual
voting strengths
House of
Assembly – total
seats taken up 209 [total potential seats
210]
ZANU-PF:
98 [99]* MDC-T: 100 [100]* MDC-M:
10 [10]
Independent: 1
Senate – total
seats taken up 91 [total potential seats
93]
ZANU-PF:
61 [63]* MDC-T: 24 [24]* MDC-M: 6 [6]*
[The potential party seats as gained through elections and Presidential appointments are
denoted by the figures in brackets.]:
[Not all seats were taken up because one ZANU PF member of the House
of Assembly died in July and was not replaced through a by-election; and two of
the possible five Presidential appointments to the Senate had not been
made.]
After
February 2009 additional seats were allocated by the GPA
As a
result of Constitution Amendment No. 19’s incorporation of GPA Article 20 into
the Constitution, the number of Parliamentary seats was increased by the
addition of 4 ex officio or nominated members to the House of Assembly
[an increase from 210 to 214] and 7 ex officio or nominated members to
the Senate [an increase from 93 to 100].
[See Bill Watch 9/2009 of 13th March
2009 for how these were distributed between the
parties.]
Actual
voting strengths
House of
Assembly [total potential seats 214]
ZANU-PF: 97 [100]*
MDC-T: 101 [102]* MDC-M: 11
[11]* Independent: 1
Senate [total potential seats 100]
ZANU-PF: 60 [64]*
MDC-T: 28 [28]*
MDC-M: 8 [8]*
[*Potential party seats are denoted by the figures in
brackets.]
Not all
seats were occupied, as a result of incumbents
being elected to the posts of Speaker and President of the Senate or appointed
as provincial governors, appointed seats not being filled, and vacancies caused
by deaths.
Voting
Strengths at 20th January 2010
Actual voting strengths
House of
Assembly [total potential seats 214]
ZANU-PF: 96 [101]*
MDC-T: 95 [102]*
MDC-M: 8 [11]*
Senate [total potential seats 100]
ZANU-PF: 56 [64]* MDC-T:
27 [28]*
MDC-M: 8 [8]*
[*Potential party seats are denoted by the figures in
brackets.]
Note: The
ZANU-PF House of Assembly figure includes former Independent MP Jonathan Moyo,
who rejoined ZANU-PF in October 2009, as well as provincial governors and
chiefs. The MDC-T House of Assembly figure
reflects the suspension of 4 MPs. The MDC-M
House of Assembly figure reflects the expulsion from Parliament of 3 MPs who had
left the party.
Suspensions of Members Sentenced to
Imprisonment
In terms
of section 42 of the Constitution a prison sentence
of more than six months for a criminal offence triggers automatic suspension
from Parliament, notwithstanding the noting of an appeal or granting of bail.
In January 2010 four MDC-T members of the House of Assembly had been in that
position for several months. Two have since had their convictions overturned on
appeal, ending their suspensions – most recently Mathias Mlambo, MDC-T MP for
Chipinge East, whose conviction was set aside by the High Court on 28th
October. The two MPs still under suspension awaiting the
hearing of their appeals by the High Court are Meki Makuyana, MP for Chipinge
South, and Shuah Mudiwa, MP for Mutare West.
By-Elections for Constituency Seats
18 vacant constituency seats: At present there are 18 vacancies in these seats, 11 in the House
of Assembly and 7 in the Senate.
The first vacancy in a constituency seat arose when a newly-elected
ZANU-PF member of the House of Assembly died shortly before Parliament met for
the first time in 2008. Other constituency seats have fallen vacant since for
various causes – deaths, election of incumbents to the offices of Speaker and
President of the Senate, appointment of incumbents as provincial governors, and
the expulsion of members for leaving the political party under whose auspices
they were elected.
Failure to hold by-elections unconstitutional: In terms of the Constitution and the Electoral Act by-elections to
fill these vacancies should have been called by the President within 14 days
after the occurrence of each vacancy. But no by-elections have been called or
held, meaning that voters in the constituencies concerned have been
unconstitutionally and illegally denied the Parliamentary representation to
which they are entitled.
Not even the appointment of the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
earlier in the year resulted in the President calling by-elections. A High Court action by would-be candidates in Bulawayo to compel the
President and ZEC to call and hold by-elections has not yet been
heard. In August the ZEC chairperson acknowledged concern over the
by-elections backlog but declined further comment, saying the Bulawayo case made
the matter sub judice. ZEC’s formal response to the court case was that it could not conduct
by-elections until the President had published proclamations calling
them.
Extension of GPA no-contest pact: One of the 24 points agreed by the inter-party negotiators and
endorsed by the principals on 4th August was the indefinite extension of the GPA
pact that, to avoid conflict, the parties would not contest by-elections against
each other – in other words, the party originally holding a vacant seat would
not be opposed in a by-election by the other two GPA parties. [Other parties or
independent candidates are not affected by the pact – they would be free to
contest by-elections.] [See Bill Watch 34/2010 of 31st August.] As so
few of the 24 agreed points have been implemented, it remains to be seen if this
one is honoured if by elections are called.
Filling the Vacant Chief’s Seat in the
Senate
The President and Deputy President of the Council of Chiefs are ex
officio members of the Senate. The other 16 Senator Chiefs – 2 for each of
the 8 rural provinces – are elected by the provincial assemblies of chiefs
sitting as electoral colleges. One of the two Matabeleland South seats is
vacant following the death of Senator Chief Bidi last year. Under the Electoral
Act it is the President who summons the electoral college to meet – and that has
not been done, although the Act says the summons must be issued within 14 days
of the President being informed of the vacancy.
Provincial
Governors and Senate Voting Strengths
The
President recently re-appointed 10 ZANU-PF governors. He failed to consult the
Prime Minister before making the appointments. Since Article 20 of the GPA was
incorporated into the Constitution by Constitution Amendment No. 19, he had a
constitutional obligation to consult the Prime Minister. This was not done, so
the MDC-T noisily protested their taking seats in the Senate [see Bill Watch
46 of 10th November and Bill Watch 47 of 13th November]. As a result the
Senate was adjourned for three months. An agreement had been reached between
the GPA parties for the provincial governorships to be shared between the
parties in a ratio according to the number of votes for each party in 2008:
MDC-T 5, MDC-M 1, ZANU-PF 4. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s lawyers today
filed papers launching a High Court case against the President, the Minister of
Local Government and the 10 governors, contesting the legality of the 10
re-appointments. He has also protested to the SADC facilitation team. If
governorships are shared between the parties this would result in changes in
party voting strengths in the Senate. It could affect voting strengths in the
House of Assembly, too, as three people MDC-T have earmarked for governors are
members of that House.
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