http://www.newzimbabwe.com
02/11/2012 00:00:00
by
AP
ZIMBABWE’S only white government minister has said racial slurs
against
whites at the highest political level continue to show “a gross
level of
intolerance” in the country.
Education Minister David
Coltart said if he made similar insults about
blacks he would “rightly be
branded as a sympathiser of the Nazis and the
Klu Klux
Klan.”
Ministerial colleagues sometimes seemed to forget he was in the
same room
when they made “shocking” remarks about whites, even at Cabinet
meetings, he
said on his Facebook page.
Debate on lingering
prejudices in Zimbabwe has raged since allegations of
racism in soccer have
reemerged in Europe.
A weekly newspaper run by loyalists of President Robert
Mugabe charged
Friday that racism by whites has endured three decades since
the end of
colonial-era rule.
The Patriot newspaper said since
independence in 1980 Zimbabweans have been
giving each other “plastic
smiles” that tried to conceal the deeply-rooted
brutality of past white
rule.
It said the tiny white minority of about 30,000 does not want to
mix with
blacks or respect the majority population of 12 million
people.
It said racial polarisation was shown at a writers’ gathering in
Harare last
month addressed by white and black best-selling authors. It said
Alexandra
Fuller, author of “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” an account
of
growing up as a white child in colonial times, dodged questions on “white
assumptions” about black Africans.
Coltart, a lawyer, longtime human
rights activist and a politician of the
former opposition now in the
coalition government, said white attitudes had
often been hardened by racist
hate speech in media controlled by Mugabe
loyalists and “ethnic cleansing”
by Mugabe militants since 2000, the start
of an often violent campaign to
seize thousands of white-owned commercial
farms and a black empowerment
program to take control of 51 percent of white
and foreign-owned businesses.
That “entrenched bitterness in the minds of
many whites,” Coltart
said.
He said he was glad the “important debate” was now being aired
openly.
In 1980, after a guerrilla war swept him to power, Mugabe announced a
policy
of reconciliation toward his former white foes and said he would
allow the
descendants of British settlers to keep their place in the
sun.
Coltart noted no independent truth commission was held in Zimbabwe
after
white rule ended and so whites never had to face up to the realities
of the
past. In neighboring South Africa, many apartheid era crimes were
investigated and heard by a truth and reconciliation
commission.
Coltart said “deeply offensive” generalisations on race were
frequently used
by all groups in Zimbabwe.
“As always, it is wrong to
paint any race or ethnic group with a single,
broad brush. There are
remarkable white people out there who are deeply
committed to the concept of
a multiracial, truly democratic Zimbabwe,” he
said.
“Sadly, we all
make generalizations which would be unacceptable in all
genuine
democracies,” he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Friday, 02 November 2012 09:27
HARARE - Zimbabwe must go for
fresh elections by June next year, South
Africa’s top foreign chief said
yesterday sparking a battle with President
Robert Mugabe who is escalating
his push for a March 2013 poll.
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa's
minister of International Relations
and Cooperation, said President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, leader of the
smaller MDC, have all
reaffirmed to President Jacob Zuma that the coalition
government had a June
2013 sunset clause.
Zuma is the mediator in the
Zimbabwean political crisis and speaks on behalf
Sadc.
Zimbabwean
leaders must proclaim election dates by June next year once
conditions on
the ground are ripe for a fair contest.
She spoke as Mugabe reiterated
his demand for a March 2013 election
timetable at the opening of the fifth
and final session of the seventh
Parliament in Harare on
Tuesday.
Zimbabwe's main political parties have disagreed on the poll
timetable, with
the two ruling MDCs insisting on a June poll and demanding
full
implementation of a road map mediated by regional grouping
Sadc.
Sadc, which appointed Zuma as mediator to Zimbabwe’s political
negotiations,
is heavily influential in the country’s politics because it
brokered and
guaranteed the power sharing Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
The internal contradictions at the heart of the coalition, latent
from the
start, are now beginning to emerge in full public view as the
country
hurtles towards a fresh election.
The rivals turned “unity”
government partners, have so far failed to agree
terms under which the
election roadmap and GPA can be fully implemented.
The three are under
pressure from Sadc, which wants them to hammer out a
final agreement and
implement the GPA instruments in time for elections.
"We should start
here, we should say that all political parties in Zimbabwe
have agreed that
their mandate will end, the one of the Global Political
Agreement that gave
birth to this government, the inclusive government, end
by end of June next
year," Nkoana-Mashabane told South Africa TV station
eNCA.
"So
working backwards, from 30th of June (2013) to where we are sitting
today,
they should have gone through a referendum for a new constitution and
they
should go through elections.
The details of how they agree on the dates
will better be dealt with by the
Zimbabweans.
"South Africa will
continue supporting them under the leadership of
President Zuma as a
facilitator on behalf of Sadc, Sadc that remains the
guarantor that will
take and has always been there to support the processes,
the political
processes of the implementation of the GPA from the time that
this
government came in, to the end of its mandate in June
2013."
Nkoana-Mashabane's statements puts Zuma on a collision course with
the
recalcitrant Zimbabwean leader, who has emphasised that he will not take
foreign dictation on Zimbabwean electoral processes, even though he has
backed down each time a dispute has been referred to the
facilitator.
While Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba was not picking up
his mobile phone
when we called, Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told the
Daily News: “The
South Africa government does not tell us what to
do.
The position of the President stands that elections will be in March.
No
outside interference will be tolerated and we do not expect South Africa
to
do that.”
Mugabe insists elections will be in March, but an
independent election
monitoring group has warned it will be "impossible" for
the polls to be free
and fair.
"The main objective remains holding of
elections in March next year under a
new constitution," Mugabe told
Parliament.
He said a referendum on a draft constitution expected to be a
cornerstone of
the effort to correct longstanding imbalances of power and
prevent the kind
of upheaval that followed deeply flawed elections in 2008,
will be held next
month.
"Should the people express their affirmation
of the draft in the referendum,
then Parliament will pass it as the new law
of Zimbabwe," Mugabe said.
Independent elections watchdog, the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network has
warned in a statement that "logistically it is
impossible" to meet this
timetable.
The ramifications of a chaotic
election cannot be overstated, government
officials say.
Finance
minister Tendai Biti has warned that a violent election could see
the
country losing up to eight percent of the gross domestic product for the
next five years.
The struggling southern African country's mainstay
agriculture industry has
suffered badly from the years of turmoil, and
foreign companies have been
wary of committing to investment in its abundant
mineral reserves.
Mugabe was forced to share power after losing elections
in March 2008 amid a
severe economic crisis blamed on his mismanagement. He
blames the economic
problems on sanctions imposed by Western
countries.
But even as the economy stutters, an increasingly confident
Mugabe says the
coalition has become "dysfunctional" and wants to race
through a referendum
and general elections while his approval ratings are
still high. - Gift
Phiri
http://www.iol.co.za
November 2 2012 at 07:48am
By Peta
Thornycroft
Harare -Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has
agreed to pay a
former girlfriend about R2 million in an out-of-court
settlement after he
wed another woman in September.
Locardia
Karimatsenga, 40, said Tsvangirai, 60, married her in a customary
ceremony
last year. She demanded maintenance of R130 000 a month to maintain
the
lifestyle to which she said she had become accustomed.
Her lawyer, Evason
Samkange, said he could not disclose details of the
settlement, but
confirmed the maintenance case had been withdrawn. Other
sources said
Tsvangirai had agreed to pay Karimatsenga about R2m.
The settlement
shocked Tsvangirai’s aides, who said the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) leader had no income other than his salary of about
R30 000 a month
and no assets as he had been a poor trade unionist before he
went into
politics 13 years ago.
Several top members of the MDC said they were
worried that Tsvangirai was
compromising himself through his lifestyle,
evidence of which included his
recent lavish wedding to mother-of-three
Elizabeth Macheka, 35.
Macheka is the daughter of a prominent Zanu-PF
leader and was a widow. Her
first husband, a member of the Zimbabwe National
Air Force, died several
years ago.
Tsvangirais former partner,
Locardia Karimatsenga, is to be paid about R2
million in an out-of-court
settlement.
AP
One MDC official said he expected President Robert Mugabe’s
officials would
try to take advantage of Tsvangirai's money problems by
bringing charges of
financial impropriety charges against him before next
year’s elections.
He was charged with treason weeks before the 2002
presidential elections in
an implausible plot executed by the Central
Intelligence Organisation. It
took more than two years before he was
acquitted.
Senior MDC officials said they were mystified by Tsvangirai’s
dropping his
guard and behaving “inappropriately”, knowing that Zanu-PF was
“watching and
waiting” for anything that could be used against
him.
“We are also embarrassed,” said another MDC official.
“Of
course Zanu-PF will try to find out where he got the money. This is
inappropriate behaviour when we look at our supporters’ poverty.”
The
official was referring to suggestions that foreign donors must be giving
Tsvangirai the money he was spending on women.
It is illegal in
Zimbabwe for political parties and politicians to receive
foreign
funding.
Zanu-PF has long accused the MDC of being funded by Western
governments.
It introduced the law against foreign funding just before
the 2002
presidential election.
Zanu-PF itself had been supported
financially by Western businessmen,
including then-Lonrho boss Tiny Rowland,
and then-Libyan president Muammar
Gaddafi, who was killed last
year.
Zanu-PF senior officials have long been involved in illicit gold
and diamond
trading, which has funded the party’s activities. any major
companies have
been forced for decades to contribute to the
party.
Tsvangirai’s wife of 31 years, Susan, died in a car crash in 2009,
three
weeks after the politician had been sworn in as prime minister in the
power-sharing government.
A year later Tsvangirai’s love life made
headlines after a 23-year-old woman
bore his child and he refused to support
the baby until she threatened to
take him to court
.
Calls to
Tsvangirai’s spokesman went unanswered on Thursday.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
02/11/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
FORMER opposition leader, Margaret Dongo, has demanded
an investigation into
the source of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
alleged six figure pay off
to a former lover as he scrambled to end their
damaging public spat.
Dongo said the MDC-T leader has only been in
government for less than four
years and must explain the source of the
reported $280,000 to US$300,000 he
paid Locardia Karimatsenga to end their
relationship.
“As a concerned citizen, I am calling upon the inclusive
government to
investigate where the Prime Minister is getting the money
which he is using
to pay lobola and damages to his women,” Dongo said in an
interview VOA
Thursday.
“If the money is coming from donors, then
it’s a pity. Unfortunately for
Africa, for Zimbabwe, the international
community takes the view that as
long as one is fighting (President Robert)
Mugabe they deserve to be
supported, even if they are corrupt. It’s very
unfair.”
Tsvangirai has not commented on reports he paid Karimatsenga the
six figure
sum after she slapped him with a US$15,000 spousal maintenance
claim.
Karimatsenga also successfully blocked, in the courts, his bid to
marry
Elizabeth Macheka, forcing the MDC-T leader to resort to a traditional
ceremony.
However, Karimatsenga’s lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, who
insisted he does not
come cheap, billing at US$1,000 per hour, has helped
stoke speculation over
the size of the settlement after saying that his
client was “very, very
happy” with the deal.
“It was quite
substantial, I can’t disclose the figure. I can’t tell you the
figure but my
client is very happy. My client and myself are very happy,
especially me,”
Samkange told VOA’s Violet Gonda.
But Dongo said the amounts suggested
were simply staggering at a time most
Zimbabweans, including supporters of
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party, were
unemployed and struggling to put food on the
table.
“The Prime Minister does not earn that much from government and I
am
surprised he can afford the sums being mentioned when the country’s
economy
is struggling,” she said.
“I wonder if he ever imagines how
many jobs he could have created with that
money for the many unemployed
people in this country, including cadres from
his own MDC-T
party.”
Dongo said Tsvangirai’s position as Prime Minister and MDC-T
leader was now
untenable following the damaging revelations about his
private life and, in
particular, his treatment of women.
“I
think the MDC-T should ask Tsvangirai to step down because he has been an
embarrassment not only to the party but to the country as a whole. There are
many brilliant leaders in the MDC-T who can do the job better.” She
said.
“His claim that other political leaders also have multiple
relationships is
not acceptable. We expect him to be different. And he
cannot blame his
rivals for this mess because Zanu PF did not ask him to
sleep with these
women.
“In actual fact, the Prime Minister has
become a prostitute as far as I am
concerned because it is not just one
woman we are talking about. He is now
married to two women under customary
law … and there are many others who
were also abused and abandoned, even
after falling pregnant.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
02 November 2012
The brutal assault on an MDC-T official
and his wife, which happened
Wednesday night in Kadoma, has fuelled anger
among Zimbabweans and sparked
fears that political violence is intensifying
ahead of elections due next
year.
The attack has also focused
attention on Robert Mugabe, who on several
occasions recently said publicly
that he wants peace and tolerance between
party supporters. Critics are now
questioning the ZANU PF leader’s
sincerity, saying he must order police to
arrest all known perpetrators and
investigate incidents that are
reported.
The MDC-T Treasurer for Midlands North, John Kinnaird and his
wife Jackie,
were assaulted by a group of four ZANU PF thugs who broke into
their home in
Kadoma Wednesday night and escaped with $2,000 and two cell
phones.
The thugs wore ZANU PF regalia and dropped a ZANU PF bandana
during the
attack. John Kinnaird said they kept asking for money, appearing
to be
robbers after some cash. But he believes the assault was politically
motivated.
Kinnaird spoke to SW Radio Africa on Friday, just as his
wife was coming out
of surgery to treat the broken arm she sustained during
the attack. He said:
“I don’t believe for a minute that it was a simple
robbery. I just believe
strongly that there was a political
motive.”
Kinnaird explained that there were two laptops next to the money
taken by
the thugs and his wife’s jewellery was on a dressing table next to
that as
well. He added that his legs were tied and his wife was
incapacitated by the
time the thugs left, but they did not take any other
valuables.
“I think the fact that I am becoming increasingly popular here
in Kadoma and
Eiffel Flats is the reason that I was targeted. They were
trying to bully me
into giving up my political activism. I’ve been an
activist since 1999 and I
will not bow down to any bullies,” Kinnaird
stressed.
There has also been criticism of the MDC-T, for continuing to
do business as
usual while their innocent supporters are being victimised by
ZANU PF and
agents of the state, including the police and
soldiers.
According to medical reports 56-year old John Kinnaird sustained
multiple
head wounds and required 14 stitches. He also suffered a fractured
right arm
and deep puncture wounds on his legs and just below his throat.
These were
the result of repeated blows with a metal wheel
spanner.
His wife Jackie got a bruised throat where she was almost
strangled by the
ZANU PF youth. She also has a compound fracture on her left
arm, which was
operated on Friday afternoon.
Kinnaird explained that
whenever Robert Mugabe speaks publicly of peace and
non-violence, it seems
the opposite situation prevails and violence flares
up soon after
that.
“My experience in my political life is that when Mugabe starts
talking about
peace, what happens on the ground is diametrically opposite.
There are now
targeted acts of intimidation and violence against known MDC-T
supporters
like myself,” Kinnaird explained.
He said the police told
him on Friday that they have no leads and no clues
that they can
investigate. Yet they took a weapon that was left in his house
by one of the
assailants. According to Kinnaird, the police just seemed
uninterested.
This attack is just the latest in the ongoing violence
against anyone
perceived to support the opposition.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
02 November
2012
The trial over a violent protest in Chiweshe in August continues to
limp
forward, with the case being postponed once again.
20 people,
including eight nurses from the Salvation Army run Howard
Hospital, were
originally being tried in connection with the protest,
organised by angry
residents over the dismissal of the hospital’s chief
doctor.
Almost
three months later the case is still before the courts. 16 members of
the
accused group were acquitted last month because of a lack of evidence.
But
four individuals still remain on remand, with the case now only set to
resume next week.
Meanwhile there is ongoing speculation about what
the future holds for the
hospital, which local residents have told SW Radio
Africa has not returned
to its usual standards since Dr. Paul Thistle was
dismissed.
The doctor’s removal caused outcry, because of the work he had
done to turn
the Howard mission into a highly respected medical facility. He
was also
considered a valued member of the community, after living there for
more
than 16 years.
His dismissal, which the Salvation Army has
insisted is a standard
‘reassignment’, is understood to be linked to
concerns he raised about
financial mismanagement at the Zimbabwe chapter of
the church group. An
investigation was launched after Dr. Thistle was forced
out of the hospital,
but the Salvation Army insists nothing irregular was
found during this
audit.
These results have not been made public. But
questions have since been asked
about what was really discovered, following
the subsequent ‘reassignment’ of
the Zim Salvation Army chief Vinece
Chigariro. She has been reassigned to
Kenya.
Dr. Thistle remains in
Zimbabwe, but has not been allowed to return to the
hospital. It is not
clear what his future holds either, but SW Radio Africa
has learned he plans
to return to his native Canada with his family over
Christmas.
A
source in Chiweshe said on Friday that there is widespread speculation
that
Dr. Thistle will return to Zimbabwe after Christmas to head another
medical
facility.
The Salvation Army is yet to make any further comment about the
situation.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
02 November
2012
The cost of Zimbabwe’s journey to real democratic change is
continuing to
climb, with US$20 million needed to ensure the next poll
results are
distributed electronically.
The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) said this week it is in the process
of linking its national
command centre with all district offices nationwide,
in order to transmit
election results electronically. The ZEC said this will
prevent the results
being tampered with.
Acting ZEC chairperson Joyce Kazembe said in Kadoma
that the software would
be in place by January next year.
“We are
currently putting in place software that will be used to transmit
the
election results and we hope the cable linking all the districts with
the
command centre (in Harare) will be in place by January,” she
said.
Kazembe said a budget had been presented to the United Nations
Development
Programme, which has been providing technical and financial
assistance to
the ZEC. This latest budget includes the US$20 million needed
to digitally
link all the offices in time for the elections expected in
March next year
“A consultant has done a study and I will soon be
receiving the documents.
What I know right now is we have reached a stage of
buying the equipment
including computers and other accessories needed, of
course after going
through a tender process,” Kazembe said.
Phillip
Pasirayi, an activist with Centre for Community Development, told SW
Radio
Africa on Friday that “going digital is a good idea in principal.” He
said
that in terms of the country joining the modern world, “digitalisation
is a
good endeavour.”
But Pasirayi expressed concern that Zimbabwe’s
priorities are misplaced,
saying: “We are not, as a country, at the stage
where digitalisation is a
priority.” He said that issues around electoral
malpractice and the general
culture of violence and intolerance in Zimbabwe
should be tackled first.
“The only way we can deepen our democracy is to
exercise tolerance and stop
criminalising people for exercising their rights
to support and vote for
different political parties. This and the culture of
violence in our country
should be tackled above digitalising the election,”
Pasirayi said.
The US$20 million needed for this process is part of the
growing democracy
budget that is being funded by the donor community, to
help Zimbabwe hold
free and fair elections. This has included the ongoing
constitutional reform
exercise to produce a new charter ahead of a fresh
presidential poll.
The estimated total expenditure for the whole
constitutional making process
is believed to anywhere between US$45 million
and US$100 million. This has
included the costs of the drafting exercise and
the All Stakeholders
Conference that was held last month. All the funds were
provided by the
donor community.
The ZEC meanwhile requires a
staggering US$300 million for both the
referendum and election. The
referendum alone will cost over US$100 million,
with the remainder going to
the harmonized elections due early next year.
These costs again are set
to be met by donors, with Finance Minister Tendai
Biti insisting the
government has no money to pay this election bill. Biti
revealed during a
2013 Budget consultative meeting in Bulawayo last month
that he will be
depending on Western countries and world bodies for funds to
bankroll the
referendum and the elections.
“Countries such as the United Kingdom,
Norway, and China and the United
Nations have an obligation to fund the
elections, inasmuch as they fund our
education and health sectors. We will
soon approach them for assistance,” he
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
02 November 2012
Comments by an international diamond trade
monitor, who said operations at
Chiadzwa have reached international
standards, have been dismissed as
‘misleading’.
Abbey Chikane, the
monitor from the Kimberley Process (KP), made the
comments this week, ahead
of an international diamond conference being held
in Zimbabwe later this
month.
Chikane, who will be a guest speaker at that conference in
Victoria Falls,
was quoted by the state run Herald newspaper as saying that
“all diamond
mines in Zimbabwe have reached international standards and
stand as a model
for many diamond-producing countries.”
But according
to the international pressure group Global Witness, Chikane’s
comments give
legitimacy to a sector that is likely propping up the Mugabe
regime.
Global Witness campaigner, Mike Davis told SW Radio Africa on
Friday that
Chikane’s comments reflect the fact that the KP’s narrow mandate
only
focuses on technical issues. He said this does not take into account
the
concerns that the profits at the Chiadzwa mines are not being accounted
for,
and are believed to be financing ZANU PF ahead of elections.
“So
it depends what he (Chikane) means by model. If he means model for
relatively high spec, technologically advanced diamond mining operations,
then he’d be correct. If he also meant a kleptocratic system for exploiting
diamonds, which puts the profits in the hands of violence security forces
with a track record of violence against civilians, then he’d also be right,”
Davis said.
He said the Chiadzwa diamond money trail should of real
concern to anyone
involved in the diamond industry, because of the fears
that the profits will
be used by ZANU PF. He said the party “face a
situation where they can’t win
an election fairly,” and in order to “beat
and cheat their way through the
next polls,” they need a source of
revenue.
“Diamond profits are the source at hand, because ZANU PF can’t
access
international funding because of sanctions, and they’ve lost control
of the
finance ministry. Diamonds are a godsend to them,” Davis
said.
Davis meanwhile said that Chikane’s comments are a further
indictment of the
KP and its narrow monitoring mandate, because it “doesn’t
address the
important question of the political ramifications of diamond
profits.”
“In that sense, the KP is providing fig leaf of legitimacy for
a diamond
mining industry dominated by individuals who don’t deserve this
kind of
recognition. Chikane’s comments are misleading and deeply
unhelpful,” Davis
said.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Violet Gonda, Tatenda
Gumbo, Sithandikele Mhlanga
01.11.2012
Education Minister David
Coltart has warned schools not to turn away pupils
from writing Ordinary and
Advanced Level exams over non-payment of
examination fees.
“Our
policy is very clear,” said Coltart adding that “we’ve said that all
children that are eligible to write O and A level exams should be allowed to
do so.”
The minister spoke after parents stormed St. Peters Kubatana
High School in
Highfield on Tuesday and allegedly manhandled the deputy
headmaster
Simbarashe Mavetera for preventing some pupils from writing the O
Level
Shona paper.
Coltart said this is not the first time that he
has heard that headmasters
are preventing pupils from writing exams because
of non-payment of fees,
warning that school authorities caught doing this
will be in breach of
government policy and will face disciplinary
action.
However, he also said parents should not take matters into their
own hands.
Zimbabwe’s education minister has faced criticism
following a number of
problems ranging from disputes between the Zimbabwe
Schools Examination
Council (ZIMSEC), teachers, parents and
pupils.
Recent woes at ZIMSEC include 13 lost exam papers in Matabeleland
North
Province after an acting headmaster reportedly misplaced them after
picking
them up in Bulawayo.
It has cost the ministry at least
$850,000 to reset the exams.
Also ethical issues over cheating, have
raised questions on the role and
competency of staff at the examination
authority.
VOA spoke with Takavafira Zhou, president of the Progressive
Teachers Union
Zimbabwe, and Felix Magalela Sibanda, a lawmaker and member
of the
parliamentary committee on education.
Sibanda said the
ministry of education is to blame for the failing education
system. “I
respect Honorable Coltart but he is a novice in the education
system."
Meanwhile, the ministry has ordered teachers from
Ndangababi Primary School
in Dete, Matabeleland North, to return to work
Friday after traditional
leaders reported that they have conducted
traditional rituals to cleanse the
school of “goblins” that have been
terrorizing teachers and pupils.
Matabeleland North deputy provincial
education director Jabulani Mpofu said
his ministry asked traditional
leaders in Dete Village to cleanse the school
after receiving complaints
from the teachers, who fled the school last week,
leaving 600 students
stranded, at a time when schools are preparing for end
of year
examinations.
PTUZ Matabeland North coordinator Never Nyahunzvi said the
education
ministry should close the school indefinitely because teachers are
not
convinced the problem has been solved.
Ministry officials said
they believed the traditional leaders have solved
the problem.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Friday, 02 November 2012
09:13
HARARE - Harare City Council’s 2013 proposed budget will fail due to
lack of
input from key stakeholders, residents’ groups have
said.
Combined Harare Residents Association (Chra) and Harare Residents
Trust
(HRT) have all predicted doom, saying city fathers failed to
prioritise
service delivery in their financial plan.
Simbarashe Moyo,
the Chra chairperson, said the fact that the bulk of
council revenue will go
towards salaries showed that capital development
would fall
behind.
“Council has no developmental attitude. It wants to spend more on
salaries
and less on service delivery and that is unacceptable,” said
Moyo.
He said the local authority should have prioritised capital
expenditure as
well as widened its revenue base.
“Council seems to be
depending more on ratepayers. This shows that
councillors and management
lack creativity. We need a council that has an
eye for other
revenue-generating mechanisms. Harare has a lot of resources
that include
properties. They should utilise those properties and not depend
on
ratepayers only,” Moyo said.
Council’s $291 million budget has no room
for tariff increases, a
development which resident groups
commended.
The budget, which will mainly be funded from water tariffs and
property tax,
was presented by the chairperson of the Finance and
Development Committee,
Friday Muleya.
“Your worship, it is council’s
intention to raise the projected income of
$272 million required to finance
the 2012 annual expenditure without
increasing tariffs charges and fees,”
said Muleya.
Council clinic fees as well as maternity fees will not
increase.
HRT director Precious Shumba said the budget’s success depends
on political
will of both management and councillors.
“But most
importantly, this will be dependent on the capacity of the senior
management
of the council to transform itself into a performing team that
has the
willpower and the drive to achieve set objectives,” said Shumba. He
further
said corruption was affecting service delivery.
“The City of Harare needs
to deal decisively with corruption, giving value
to all the money generated
through various council departments, and
realigning their staff complement,
because currently, the City of Harare has
wrong people assigned to carry out
tasks beyond their capacities and
competencies.
Shumba said too many
people are holding influential positions yet they have
increasingly become
unproductive, adding the billing system should be
revamped to instil
confidence. - Xolisani Ncube
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
01/11/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
SEVERAL Cabinet ministers and legislators are under
investigation for
suspected corruption, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption
Commission (ZNCC) has
revealed adding those found guilty would be
prosecuted.
Commission chair Denford Chirindo would not reveal the names
of those under
investigation but said corruption allegations had been
levelled against
senior public officials including cabinet minister and
MPs.
“We are not targeting only the small fish as some people may think,”
Chirindo said.
“There are no sacred cows and all the reports that we have
received,
including those of several ministers, senior Government officials
and MPs
are under investigation.
“No one is immune to investigation
and if there is enough evidence against
the ministers or MPs, we will simply
forward the documents to the
Attorney-General’s office for
prosecution.”
Chirindo dismissed as “misinformed” claims President Robert
Mugabe had
barred the commission from investigating ministers and other
senior
government officials.
He said: “People tend to lie about the
President. Our President does not
condone corruption. We are an independent
body and no one tells us how, who
and what to investigate. No one is immune
to investigation.”
But without any significant scalps to its name since
it was established in
2004 despite widespread concern over high level
corruption and the sudden
wealth of many in government, the commission has
been dismissed as a token
gesture by the authorities.
Chirindo
however, denies allegations the commission was all bark and no
bite.
“It is not that we are toothless as some people perceive, but
the major
challenge is there is no witness protection,” he said.
“The
laws of this country are clear and it is the AG that can decide to
prosecute
or not. Our duty is to investigate, prepare the dockets and
forward them to
the AG. If he is happy then he can proceed with prosecution.
“Another
issue is that investigations that involve financial issues are
complex and
require more time. In some instances, a case cannot move forward
without the
Comptroller and Auditor General’s report.”
The commission’s operations
have also been undermined by poor funding,
Chirindo added.
“Treasury
is not adequately funding us and we cannot discharge our duties
efficiently,” he said.
“If you do not fund the police, the AG’s office
and the ZACC, there will be
no movement on some cases because we work
together as stakeholders in
fighting corruption.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
01/11/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
BULAWAYO High Court judge Nicholas Ndou has indefinitely
reserved judgement
in the application for discharge by the three Mthwakazi
Liberation Front
activists who are facing treason charges.
Paul
Siwela, 49, Charles Thomas, 44, and John Gazi, 54, deny charges of
soliciting the overthrow of President Robert Mugabe’s government through
unconstitutional means.
The trio were arrested in March last year
over allegations they distributed
flyers bearing the logo of the Mthwakazi
Liberation Front – a pressure
group-cum-political party – agitating for
Egyptian-style uprisings against
Mugabe.
On Tuesday their lawyers
applied for discharge at the close of the State
case, arguing that
prosecutors Lovack Masuku and Samuel Pedzisai had failed
to prove a their
clients had a case to answer.
Advocate Lucas Nkomo, representing Thomas
and Siwela, argued that the court
was obliged to return a "not guilty"
verdict since the prosecutors had
failed to present evidence on which a
“reasonable court” could convict them.
He said the evidence of State
witnesses was only centred on the arrest of
the trio, items recovered during
the arrest and messages on some of the
items that were
recovered.
Advocate Sabelo Sibanda who is representing Gazi agreed the
evidence that
the State was seeking to rely on was manifestly unreliable
adding there were
no grounds for putting his client to his
defence.
But the prosecutors insisted that the essential elements of the
offence had
been proved adding that there was sufficient evidence on which a
reasonable
court, acting carefully, might properly convict.
They said
the basis of the State case were the minutes of a meeting held by
members of
the Mthwakazi Liberation Front at the beginning of March last
year were “an
overt act was committed” followed by the distribution of
fliers containing
subversive material by Thomas two days later.
Probed by the court on why
the State chose to prosecute two people out of
nine that attended the March
meeting the prosecutors said they chose to
prosecute Gazi and Siwela because
they had been found with the offending
materials while others did not have
them.
Justice Ndou indefinitely reserved judgement on the discharge
application.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The results of a probe ordered by Harare
Magistrate Jackie Munyonga into
torturer allegations by two MDC-T activists
at the hands of Zanu (PF)
militia group Chipangano have been delayed
following lack of cooperation
from the police.
30.10.12
by
Edgar Gweshe
Petros Makaza and Golden Nhika of Epworth were allegedly
handed over to
Chipangano by a soldier with the Presidential Guard,
identified as William
Makurumidze, and policeman John Kanyongo who were
accusing the duo of having
stolen a beret and cell phone.
The two
MDC-T activists were charged with contravening Section 126 of the
Criminal
Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23 when they appeared at
the
Harare Magistrates Court in August.
However, the defence team, led by
Tawanda Zhuwarara of the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights, made a request
for a referral of the case to the Supreme
Court, arguing that the accused
person’s right to protection from inhuman
treatment as enshrined in Section
15(1) of the Constitution was contravened
when the police surrendered them
to Chipangano.
They also argued that after the torture no legitimate
prosecution could be
conducted without further violating the rights of the
accused persons.
Magistrate Munyonga had given the state up to October 15
to complete the
investigations into the torture allegations. However,
Zhuwarara told The
Zimbabwean that the results of investigation into the
torture allegations
had been delayed as police were reluctant to
corporate.
“The police are not willing to corporate in the investigations
and up to now
the results of the probe are not yet out. That is why it has
taken so long
for the court to respond to our request for the matter to be
referred to the
Supreme Court,” said Zhuwarara.
The defense team
alleges that in Mbare the activists were severely beaten by
members of the
Chipangano youth militia. After several hours of torture,
they were
surrendered to Mbare Police Station where a docket was opened and
on August
12, the two activists were referred to Epworth Police Station. On
August 14
they were placed on remand and given $30 bail each.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
02 November
2012
International mining giant Amplats has signed off on a deal that
will see
more than half of their shareholding in their Unki mine being
handed over in
Zimbabwe’s indigenisation drive.
In a joint statement
this week Amplats and the Zim government said the 51%
stake is valued at
close to US$143 million. The plan will see a state fund
taking 21% of the
mine while employees, a community trust and unnamed local
investors will
take 10% each. According to the statement, the deal will be
funded through
dividends due to the new shareholders over the next 10 years.
Amplats is
the latest big name foreign company to bow to pressure to hand
over majority
shareholding of its Zim enterprises, in the ongoing ZANU PF
drive to take
over businesses. The campaign has already seen the South
African Impala
Platinum group surrender a 51% stake in its Zimplats unit,
after threats
from the Zim Empowerment Ministry.
At the same time, sugar producing
company Tongaat Hulett, has until next
week to fall in line with Zimbabwe’s
‘empowerment orders’, after being given
a 14 day deadline last month to
submit its indigenisation plans. Tongaat
Hulett’s sugar operations in
Zimbabwe comprise the wholly owned Triangle
Sugar operation as well as a
50.3% holding in Hippo Valley Estates.
In a letter dated October 23rd and
addressed to Triangle, the Ministry of
Indigenisation warned that it was
losing patience with the sugar company and
“should we not receive a proper
compliant plan within the prescribed period,
ministry and government would
take it that shareholders of Triangle are not
interested in continuing to do
business in the country.”
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/
November 2, 2012
By Associated
Press
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's national team was disbanded Friday as a
match-fixing scandal continued to seriously undermine the sport in the
country even after the conclusion of an investigation into widespread
corruption.
ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube questioned the integrity of
the team in its
last match two weeks ago after it let a 3-1 aggregate lead
slip against
Angola to miss out on qualification for next year's African Cup
of Nations.
Dube said the team -- dogged for more than two years by
fixing allegations
and with some players and officials only recently banned
for life -- had now
been "discarded."
"The Warriors, if indeed they
were Warriors, have been dissolved en masse,"
Dube said, referring to the
team by its nickname. "We will rebuild from the
under-20 and the under-23s.
These are people who are clean. The team has
been discarded in its
entirety."
Dube said only a few current players would be kept after the
long-running
scandal.
Dube also said his body would put in place an
appeals process in accordance
with FIFA rules after the 15 players,
officials and reporters were banned
for life for helping fix Zimbabwe games
on tours to Asia in 2009.
ZIFA would have to appoint an independent
three-man committee, Dube said,
because some members of its current appeals
committee were "interested
parties." It showed how far match-fixing had
seeped into Zimbabwean football
and ravaged the setup.
Dube said
those that were banned were able to appeal from Monday.
Among those given
life bans this month were former ZIFA chief executive
Henrietta Rushwaya,
former national team coach Sunday Chidzambwa, former
captain Method Mwanjali
and a reporter, Robson Sharuko.
Chidzambwa has launched an appeal in the
courts and has been replaced in his
job as head coach of South African club
Black Leopards to allow him time to
fight the sanction.
Rushwaya was
said to be the mastermind of the fixing, where matches were
rigged by an
Asian betting syndicate linked to Singaporean mastermind Wilson
Raj Perumal,
who has been jailed in Finland.
Zimbabwe lost to Jordan 2-0, to Thailand
3-0 and to Syria 6-0 on its Asian
tours, and players told an ethics
committee investigation of how
representatives of the betting syndicates
were even present in the team's
dressing room at halftime of one match to
give instructions on how the game
should go.
Most recently, Zimbabwe
lost in Angola 2-0 on Oct. 14, with both goals in
the opening seven minutes
to lose on away goals after winning the first leg
3-1. The match is not
believed to be under scrutiny for match-fixing.
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Friday,
02 November 2012
A four hectare
farm belonging to Clever Maramba an MDC member in ward 27,
Makoni South was
last week illegally occupied by one Muringani, a Zanu PF
activist who
masquerades as a war veteran.
The farm was seized on 28 October.
On
the day, Muringani went to Maramba’s farm with two oxen yoked to a
plough,
where he found Maramba’s children farming and he started ploughing
the other
side of the farm. He had previously gone to the same farm five
days before
the invasion where he threatened Maramba’s family with death if
they did not
stop farming.
Maramba reported the matter to Nyazura police station but
the officer in
charge refused to accept the report and referred him to the
District
Administrator claiming that the DA was the one responsible for land
disputes
and police would only intervene when there is
assault.
Before the invasion last week, Maramba was on 18 August shocked
when Chief
Makoni fined him for absconding his court when he had not
received any
summons that had to appear before the chief.
Chief Makoni
subsequently sent his representatives who seized a tractor, a
wardrobe and a
bed form Maramba as punishment for defaulting the chief’s
court.
He
again reported the case to Nyazura police station and the officer in
charge
refused to take action. Maramba is yet to recover his property and
to know
what charges he is facing. Hon. Pishai Muchauraya, the MDC
Manicaland
Information and Publicity provincial secretary strongly condemned
abuse of
human rights and said Zanu PF should desist from invading people’s
properties simply because they do not subscribe to Zanu PF’s scorched earth
policies.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government, Rural and
Urban Development,
Ignatius Chombo has blocked the installation of
Tapfumaneyi Mandizvidza as a
headman in Chikomba district because he is an
MDC elected councillor.
According to the lineage in Mandizvidza clan,
Tapfumanei was supposed to be
throned as the next headman but Chombo blocked
the move and installed one
Mhurushomana, a Zanu PF activist. This has not
gone down well with the
people of Chikomba as Mhurushomana has turned to be
partisan for he is
denying villagers access to the government grain loan
scheme claiming that
they are non Zanu PF members.
Councillor
Mandizvidza said he lodged a complaint with the district
administrator and
Chief Mutekedza but the duo only promised to look into the
issue.
The Last Mile: Towards Real
Transformation!!!!!!
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/8174
November 2nd, 2012
The months of
August, September and October are an interesting season in
rural Zimbabwe.
This period, marked by the end of the cold winter season and
the onset of
the hot rainy season, is the time when Zimbabweans conduct the
traditional
rituals of ‘kurova guva’ and ‘mutoro’ in the Shona culture.
‘Mutoro’ is also
variously referred to as ‘mukwerere’ or in Manyika,
‘makanzvo.’
‘Kurova guva’ is a ritual that is conducted at least a
year after the
passing on of any adult who is survived by offspring. When a
grown person
dies in the Shona culture, it is believed that his spirit
wanders about. It
is a homeless spirit. Only until the surviving relatives
of the deceased
“welcome back” his or her spirit does it become a legitimate
ancestral or
family spirit. The ritual, which varies in detail between
different
ethnicities, is also meant to bring back into the home the spirit
of the
deceased for the purpose of looking after the spiritual welfare of
the
surviving offspring. It generally involves the brewing of traditional
beer
and the slaughtering of a goat and, for those who can afford it, a
cow.
This season I had the opportunity to attend numerous ‘kurova guva’
rituals
and two ‘mutoro’ rituals. I will share what happened at the ritual
that I
attended at the end of September.
The actual ritual is centred
on the traditional beer and the goat. The cow,
if slaughtered, will have no
relevance to the conduct of the ritual. It will
be slaughtered simply for
relish to feed the relatives and friends of the
deceased.
The ritual
commences prior to the brewing of the beer, when a senior blood
relative of
the deceased performs a ceremony to dedicate the malt to the
spirit of the
deceased. After the beer has been brewed, the most important
aspects of the
ritual follow.
First is the sprinkling of water on the goat by blood
relatives of the
deceased and the goat is expected to wince as a signal that
the deceased has
approved of the ceremony. If the goat doesn’t wince, the
turn goes to the
next relative until the goat finally winces. If all the
blood relatives take
their turn but still the goat doesn’t wince, that would
be a signal of
disapproval by the deceased, and the ceremony has to be
aborted.
After the goat has winced, it is slaughtered, roasted and eaten
without salt
by the close relatives of the deceased. A calabash or clay pot
of beer is
set aside specifically for the ritual and as with the malt prior
to brewing;
another short ceremony is performed to dedicate the beer to the
spirit of
the deceased.
After these important aspects of the ritual,
the cow can be slaughtered and
beer is offered to the general public. Drums
are beaten and people perform
traditional dances throughout the night. The
following morning the final
part of the ritual is performed, in the event of
the deceased being a man.
The eldest surviving son, if there is one, is
officially given his late
father’s name and he assumes the responsibility of
head of family. He is
handed over his late father’s spear and any other
tools that symbolize the
assumption of all the responsibilities that go with
that name.
At one of the ceremonies that I attended, an elderly uncle
whispered to me
something that I did not personally witness. The old man
spoke softly into
my ear that the blood relatives of the deceased man had
collected a soil
sample from the grave of the deceased and had brought it to
the homestead
where the ritual was being conducted. This part of the ritual,
according to
my uncle, symbolizes the act of bringing the spirit of the
deceased back
from the grave and into the home. But my uncle said this was a
version that
was peculiar only to certain clan groups.
The year 2012
appeared to be different from previous years in a number of
ways. There were
an unusually high number of rituals this year. I have
already pointed out
that the rituals are performed at least a year after the
passing on of
somebody who left behind offspring.
But this year rituals were performed
for people who passed away many years
ago. There were also an unusually high
number of cows that were slaughtered.
The explanation for these phenomena is
that there is a high mortality rate
in Zimbabwe, mainly due to HIV and AIDS.
Also, the modest improvement in the
general economic wellbeing of the people
is the explanation for the high
number of cows slaughtered this
year.
The ‘mutoro’ is a ritual that is performed to appease the gods and
ask them
to bless the planting season with adequate rains.
It is a
fairly simple village-based ritual that is conducted by the
villagers under
the direction of the village head. In my area the chief
decreed a two-week
period during which all village heads were expected to
perform the
rituals.
Villagers contribute grain and elderly women who have reached
menopause are
selected to brew the traditional beer. The beer is then taken
to a ‘shrine’
in the bush where the rituals are conducted. The shrine is a
small enclosure
built with branches under a tree, and the menopaused ladies
are the only
people allowed into the enclosure, where they will sit with the
beer pots
and serve all the other villagers sitting outside the
enclosure.
The village head opens the ceremony by making an offering of
beer to the
ancestors, and the day is spent drinking, beating drums and
dancing.
Only clay pots and pumpkin-shell calabashes and cups are used.
Metal and
plastic containers are prohibited. Shoes are not permitted. All
the beer
should be consumed under the tree shrine, and no takeaways are
allowed. Any
left-over beer is spilled to the ground just before sunset when
the shrine
is abandoned.
Unlike in the case of the ‘kurova guva’
ritual, I did not see any goats
being slaughtered, and neither was there a
means of ascertaining approval of
the ancestors.
This entry was
posted by MadZimbabwe on Friday, November 2nd, 2012 at 7:26
am
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn
(M.K.D) has said that the three Principals in the
Global Political Agreement
(GPA) do not have the final say on the making of
a new constitution for
Zimbabwe.
02.11.12
by Tony Saxon
This was said by
George Hukuimwe, the Manicaland Province MKD coordinator,
at a public
meeting on a post mortem of the second all stakeholders’
conference convened
by Zimbabwe Election Support Network in the city today.
In his official
opening remarks of the second all stakeholders’ conference
at the Harare
International Conference Centre recently PresIDENT Robert
Mugabe said the
principals in the Inclusive Government would have the final
say on the draft
constitution as they were the ones who conceived the Global
Political
Agreement that resulted in the ongoing constitution making
process.
Other Principals to the GPA are Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara (MDC –
M).
Hukuimwe said Mugabe’s views run contrary to provisions of Article VI
of the
GPA, which stipulates that the parties shall set up a Select
Committee of
Parliament, composed of representatives of the parties whose
terms of
reference shall hold public hearings and consultations in the
process of
public consultation, over the making of a new constitution for
Zimbabwe.
“Mugabe and other GPA leaders are not the only people in
Zimbabwe. The whole
process of holding the second stakeholders meeting was a
waste of time
because the parliamentarians are the ones that are going to
make massive
debates in the parliament and they will not consider what was
contributed
during the conference. Besides that Mugabe’s utterances are not
shared by
Tsvangirai and Mutambara,” he said.
Hukuimwe argued that
Mugabe’s utterances were a clear sign of the
unwarranted interference in the
activities of the legislature.
“They (Principals) have no mandate
whatsoever to finalise the country’s
constitution. Mugabe should not usurp
the powers and responsibilities of
both Parliament and the people of
Zimbabwe,” he added.
He said Mugabe’s remarks were a clear sign that the
people’s views who
contributed during the outreach programmes would not
matter at all.
He said Zimbabwe might have the best constitution in the
world, but as long
as the constitution or other laws were not respected and
obeyed, the
document would count for nothing.
http://indepthafrica.com
Posted On : November 2nd,
2012
DEVOTED Zimbabwe watchers will have noticed a change in events
typically
preceding any elections in the country, especially during the past
decade.
Report by Mthulisi Mathuthu
Usually, President Robert
Mugabe sets the ball rolling with either brazen or
thinly-veiled threats
punctuated with jocular jibes at his rivals.
Then as the political
tensions rise, the service chiefs generally intervene,
sometimes by issuing
statements to heighten pressure and fear before all
hell breaks loose. This
has been Mugabe and Zanu PF’s standard script.
This time around, with
only a few months before the elections, a new pattern
is readable, but
unlike before, the trend is rather unfamiliar. Instead of
Mugabe, Justice
minister Patrick Chinamasa has been sabre-rattling followed
by Rugare Gumbo,
both of whom threatened Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
would not rule
Zimbabwe even if he wins elections.
This followed separate but similar
threats by three senior army commanders
Major-Generals Douglas Nyikayaramba,
Martin Chedondo and Trust Mugoba in
recent months. Naturally, public opinion
was universally agreed these
threats pointed towards a coup in the event of
Tsvangirai winning the next
poll.
In a rare sequel, Tsvangirai issued
a riposte to the effect that the threats
were nothing but hot air because,
as he claimed, he was assured by the
disciplined lot within the military
hierarchy that they would not back a
coup.
That is on the one hand.
On the other, Mugabe did not just remain mum on the
issue, but instead
appeared at last week’s Copac constitutional conference
to play a
peace-maker as he pleaded for calm.
Tsvangirai’s fearless response was
not just a first, but a clever one too.
He read through the strategy:
Mugabe, who all along has held Tsvangirai in
contempt and was belligerent,
is now genuinely scared which explains the
cataract of threats by his
diehards flowing rather awkwardly.
Since Mugabe’s role has all along been
to play a civilian camouflaging the
quasi-military state, this time around
and in keeping with an unannounced
deal, the subordinates and the army have
to reciprocate by projecting their
mutual fear of
Tsvangirai.
Clearly, Mugabe and his loyalists fear an election result
that might lead
them to contemplate an open coup. So they must rattle their
sabres now to
scare away Tsvangirai.
The fear of staging a coup is
real given what happened to Muammar Gaddafi in
Libya.
So,
Tsvangirai’s response, for once in a long time, was a stroke of genius.
But
as smart as it is and perhaps unbeknown to Tsvangirai, Mugabe has more
tricks up his sleeves. Rather than simply succumb to his fear or remain
belligerent, Mugabe has also opted for “strategic patience” by deploying a
“hug the enemy” ploy.
Cognisant of the mutual pathological
resentment between Tsvangirai and
Welshman Ncube — the leader of the other
MDC faction — Mugabe is doing
everything and may even stoke ethnic tensions
to fit his usual
divide-and-rule strategy.
He might try to exploit
the issue of devolution — Ncube’s trump card. Mugabe’s
strategy is to create
the false impression that rather than promote
decentralisation of power and
government functions, devolution is about
federalism or secession, a
deliberate distortion although there are some
ignorant Zanu PF officials who
can’t distinguish these systems.
Mugabe is now busy cajoling Tsvangirai
to join his alliance with Arthur
Mutambara to gang up against Ncube. To his
credit, Tsvangirai seems to be
resisting amid suspicions of
collusion.
If Tsvangirai is to accept Mugabe’s invitation into an
alliance with
Mutambara to fight Ncube, he would be undermining himself
while falling for
this divide-and-rule approach.
Tsvangirai must
never embrace a leader and a party which pursue such brand
of authoritarian
politics.
To mask their failed authoritarian project, Mugabe and Zanu PF
govern
through an aberration: a calibrated mixture of bigotry, repression
and a
smidgen of democracy.
So when Mugabe passionately denounces
violence, while his diehards threaten
military intervention if Tsvangirai
wins, this must not be seen as a
contradiction but a strategy. Tsvangirai
had better understand Mugabe’s
current gestures in that light. His attempt
to rope him into his alliance
also falls into that broad
strategy.
Astonishingly, Ncube, whom one would expect to be strategic in
his thinking,
has fallen headlong into Mugabe’s divide-and-rule politics.
Fully aware as
he is that Mugabe seeks to isolate him, Ncube should have
known that by
boycotting the constitutional conference last week he was
falling into his
trap.
Mugabe wanted Ncube to do just that. At least,
Tsvangirai sought to distance
himself from Mugabe’s strategy through his
speech at the conference.
Ncube must have put aside his petty squabbles
with Mutambara and presented
his views on a national platform, but instead
he chose to be part of a
sideshow. If anybody was pleased by Ncube’s
boycott, it was surely Mugabe.
Clearly, Ncube did not need a stayaway to
register his displeasure at
Mutambara’s presence at the conference. He
should realise Mutambara is no
longer his but Mugabe’s burden and move
on.
Effectively, Ncube has created a problem for himself for he must now
swallow
his pride and climb down — one thing a politician must not do during
election time — and attend meetings in Mutambara’s presence as he has been
doing anyway in cabinet. More lethal for Ncube, Mugabe, crafty as he is,
might seize the moment and intensify his plot to commute his temporary
boycott into permanent political ex-communication.
However, what is
important now is for Tsvangirai and Ncube to keep their
eyes on the ball in
the midst of seemingly contradictory signals from the
politico-military
alliance behind Mugabe and not allow this divide-and-rule
strategy to
prevail ahead of crucial elections.
Mathuthu is a Zimbabwean
journalist based in London.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
November 2, 2012, 2:42 pm
Robert Mugabe
finally got round to opening the fifth and final session of
parliament this
week. For a man who hates the Brits and spews out his hatred
of them and the
west on every possible occasion, it is surprising that he
remains so wedded
to the quaint old British customs and pageantry that go
with the occasion:
the venerable black Rolls Royce to carry himself and his
wife, the escort of
mounted policemen and the military band playing martial
music. It is all
very reminiscent of a colonial past that we all hoped had
gone forever.
Robert Mugabe, however, seems reluctant to let go of these
remnants of
colonial splendour.
Having officially opened the session, Mugabe made his
Opening of Parliament
speech and it was no surprise to hear him once again
castigating the former
colonial power. “As (for) the British, to them the
truth is nothing they go
by.” Well, ‘it takes one to know one’ as the old
saying goes! The west,
Mugabe added “were the mischievous external hand of
Zimbabwe’s detractors –
they lied about human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.”
The picture today of the white man (an MDC official) beaten by
Zanu PF thugs
gives the lie to Mugabe’s rosy picture of human rights in
Zimbabwe. Ordinary
citizens know only too well that Mugabe and his thugs
have very little
respect for human rights. The white farmers currently
visiting Britain to
appeal for compensation for their lost farms know it;
similarly the
villagers in Gokwe know it. They are being terrorised by
soldiers
‘persuading’ them to vote for Zanu PF in the next election. Their
human
rights mean nothing to Mugabe. His repeated calls for peace may fool
the IMF
but the people know the truth; even his own supporters know that
they will
pay the price if they defy the party. The MDC politician who
commented last
week that Mugabe holds the key to peace is saying no less
than the truth. If
he tells his people to stop the violence they will obey”
said Elton Mangoma,
but that suggests that Mugabe is in control of the thugs
inflicting the
violence. Meanwhile, Mugabe himself says nothing about the
blatant
corruption and criminality that is going on within his own party and
its
top-ranking supporters, including even his own Vice President who is
being
investigated for poaching after game meat was found in her
butcher-shop.
Mugabe’s Police Chief, too, is said to be involved in a
somewhat ‘dodgy’
burial scheme and his army generals are busy doing diamond
deals.
The Finance Minister said this week that he doesn’t know how
the country
will pay for the referendum or the election that must follow.
That can’t
happen until the new constitution is in place, so it was no
wonder that
Mugabe urged the drafters “to move frantically and with haste.”
Haste is
sadly not the byword for the postponed trial of the Glenview 29 who
are
denied bail and languish in gaol on a charge of murdering a policeman, a
charge which has absolutely no evidence to support it, hence the delay in
bringing the case to court, this time on grounds of the judge’s ill-health.
Was the ill health real or ‘feigned’? On the day the trial was due to resume
the lawyers were summoned to Justice Bunhu’s chambers to hear the cause of
his ill-health. Apart from walking into court and walking out again at the
end of the proceedings, a judge sits in his chair all day. Judge Bunhu,
however, has trouble with his legs as he told the lawyers – especially in
cloudy weather. So, while the judge nurses his sore knees at home, innocent
men and women are once again denied the justice that is their basic human
right.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle Pauline Henson
