By Reagan Mashavave (AFP) – 2
hours ago
HARARE — Young supporters of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe
stoned and
beat up backers of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday,
blocking a
planned rally of his Movement for Democratic Change
party.
A group of youths singing anthems of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party threw
rocks at
MDC supporters inside the stadium where the rally was to be held,
in the
sprawling Harare suburb of Chitungwiza 30 kilometres (19 miles)
southeast of
the capital, an AFP correspondent said.
Police fired
tear gas to disperse the ZANU-PF supporters, but failed to stop
them from
throwing stones and beating MDC activists, forcing the MDC to
cancel the
rally before Tsvangirai could deliver his address.
"Unfortunately we are
unable to do this rally because of incredible acts of
wanton violence,
malicious violence that we have suffered at the hands of
ZANU-PF this
morning," Tendai Biti, MDC secretary general, told a news
conference.
Biti said seven MDC activists had to be hospitalised and
15 more treated for
injuries, while five party vehicles were
damaged.
"There are literally hundreds of people that have been beaten
up, that have
been stoned by ZANU-PF supporters. They have suffered bruises,
tissue
injuries, various degrees of injuries", he said.
He said
police had failed to protect the MDC.
"They watched us as these ZANU-PF
youths destroyed our property and
assaulted our members," he
said.
Biti, who is also Zimbabwe's finance minister in the power-sharing
government between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, accused ZANU-PF of using violence
to provoke fear in the run-up to elections expected to be held as soon as
next year.
"It is self-evident that ZANU-PF is already building up to
the next
election. It is quite clear that we are in a chaos scenario where
they are
unleashing violence," he said.
Police spokesman Oliver
Mandipaka said he had received reports of clashes
but was still gathering
information and could not comment or give details.
ZANU-PF national
spokesman Rugare Gumbo said he had not heard about the
incident.
"But
we are not surprised by the claim that ZANU-PF is the one that caused
the
violence. That is what we always know the MDC will say," he told
AFP.
Zimbabwe's unity government has been riven by problems since it was
formed
in February 2009, after a bitterly disputed first-round 2008 vote
where
neither candidate won an absolute majority.
That election
sparked a wave of attacks that killed more than 200 MDC
supporters. To end
the bloodshed, Tsvangirai pulled out of the second round
against Mugabe, the
country's ruler since 1980.
The power-sharing pact was meant to introduce
security sector reforms that
would prevent a repeat of the violence, but
Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe of
failing to uphold his end of the
deal.
Tsvangirai briefly quit the coalition in late 2009, but regional
mediators
persuaded him to resume working with Mugabe.
The leaders
are supposed to oversee the drafting of a new constitution that
will steer
the country to fresh elections, but the process has been marred
by violent
disruptions of community meetings by Mugabe supporters and is
running more
than a year behind schedule.
(AP) – 6 hours
ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The party of Zimbabwe's prime minister says
22
people were injured and property was destroyed after youths attacked
hundreds of supporters gathered at a rally in a town south of the capital,
Harare.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general for the Movement for
Democratic Change, says
the party was forced to cancel a Sunday rally after
attackers stoned and
beat up supporters. He says the attackers were
identified as President
Robert Mugabe militants, known as Chipangano in the
local Shona language.
The incident came as regional mediators wound up a
visit to Harare aimed at
easing tensions in Zimbabwe's two-year
coalition.
Mugabe formed a shaky coalition government with former
opposition Morgan
Tsvangirai in 2009 after disputed elections in 2008.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Gift Phiri, Senior Writer
Sunday, 06 November
2011 12:58
HARARE - The recent crackdown by police in Harare and a
countrywide lockdown
of political activities has once again underscored the
security sector’s
role in fomenting violence ahead of possible elections
next year, analysts
and political parties said yesterday.
This
comes as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday warned of a
possible
coup in Zimbabwe — after the nasty Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritania
and Niger
developments — and claims that the same cabal, operating under the
auspices
of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), was effectively running a
parallel
government.
“State security agents have instituted a coup over the
civilian authority
and they are now above the law, to the extent of
disrupting government
programmes, and assaulting civilians with impunity,”
the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader said.
Despite
Mugabe’s platitudes that he was against violence, a highly partisan
police
force has become the major source of instability in the country and
on
Monday Tsvangirai asked Mugabe to use his constitutional powers to deal
with
errant cops, and security personnel fanning violence across Zimbabwe.
But
barely a day later, truckloads of police besieged the MDC’s headquarters
and
caused mayhem in surrounding streets.
Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza says
the security forces have become the
“fifth column”, which is running a
parallel administration and even
diplomats concur.
“We’re hearing JOC
is calling the shots and the President is essentially
powerless,” said a
Western diplomat.
Edmore Veterai, the Matabeleland North police
commander, stopped Tsvangirai
from touring St Paul’s Clinic in Lupane last
week and subsequent rallies at
Lupane Business Centre as well as Chinotimba
Stadium in Victoria Falls
despite court orders okaying the
rallies.
“When a police officer refuses to respect a court order, this is
total
disregard for the rule of law and it represents a break-down of
justice in
the country,” a fuming Tsvangirai said.
Analysts say the
fresh crackdown was meant to stop the MDC or any other
political party from
unseating — through an election — long-time Zimbabwean
ruler Mugabe and his
military leadership.
“A majority of the top police leadership have openly
declared their
allegiance to Zanu PF so their actions are reflective of the
wishes of those
giving them instructions,” civil rights activist Blessing
Vava told the
Daily News on Sunday.
“After noting that their attempts
to have elections this year have flopped,
Zanu PF now wants to push MDC to
exit the GNU, frustrate the
Constitution-making process and have elections
next year. Zanu is desperate
for an early election because of Mugabe’s
failing health and age,” he said.
Promise Mkwananzi, the MDC Youth
Assembly secretary general, said: “It’s no
longer clear whether the police
are working to prevent or to provoke unrest.
We know that this is not the
wish of the ordinary policeman who is largely
youth, but orders from Zanu PF
demagogues who are working to advance Zanu PF
interests in total disregard
of their constitutional obligations.”
Vava and Mkwananzi’s views also
come as American assistant secretary for
African affairs Johnnie Carson said
early last week that there was need to
de-link state institutions from Zanu
PF if Zimbabwe’s stabilisation efforts
are to be fully realised.
But
Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo rejected charges that his party was
giving
instructions to the police.
“The party has nothing to do with police or
law and order. It’s meant to
smear Zanu PF so that the international
community has a poor perception of
Zanu PF. How can Zanu PF instruct police,
we don’t have that power, where do
we get the authority?” he
quipped.
Welshman Ncube, president of the smaller MDC, told the Daily
News on Sunday
that the GNU was meant to allow Zanu PF to demobilise its
shock troopers —
war veterans, youth militia and soldiers — and return power
to civilians.
He says the on-going election talk has caused JOC to latch
into its “default
mode of violence.”
“The election talk has
heightened the Zanu PF armed wing’s state of
preparedness that we are ready
to go to war,” Ncube said.
Article 12.1(b) of the GPA commits the GNU to
“undertake training
programmes, workshops and meetings for the police and
other enforcement
agencies directed at the appreciation of the right of
freedom of assembly
and association and the proper interpretation,
understanding and application
of the provisions of security
legislation.”
But the security chiefs have staunchly resisted security
sector reforms.
Peter Maregere, a security and intelligence analyst with
the Institute for
Peace and Security Studies, said: “It is common cause
that violence can
never be justified as a conflict resolution mechanism
because it is
abhorrent, inhuman, unjustified and must be condemned at all
cost. It is
immutable that violence has no place in a democratic
society
and it is regrettable that we continue to witness it in our
society.”
International rights group Amnesty International (AI) has
repeated calls
that the Zimbabwe police force needs an independent oversight
body to handle
complaints against police.
“We do not trust that
police are capable of investigating themselves.
The ZRP has been
instrumental in silencing government critics since 2000 and
continues to do
so with total impunity,” said Irene Khan, secretary general
of AI.
AI
has specifically called for urgent reforms of the law and order section
of
the Zimbabwe Republic Police, and its anti-riot unit, which have been
named
as key divisions for torture, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention
of
suspects under Zanu PF’s tools of repression against perceived political
opponents.
Tsvangirai wants commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri
and Defence Forces
Commander Constantine Chiwenga, whose term of office ends
in February 2012,
to be relieved of their duties and he also wants the new
commanders to
declare allegiance to the Constitution.
Although
Tsvangirai and other political principals’ consent is required to
renew
Chihuri and other security men’s tenure of office, Mugabe has
disregarded
this GPA requirement and publicly stated that he will not
countenance any
attempts to change his military or security command.
Without fundamental
reforms, observers say a transition looks increasingly
tenuous and
unachievable, as attempts by President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation
team to
deal with this thorny issue are being thwarted by Zanu PF.
Now, Zimbabwe
is pinning its hopes on the Southern African Development
Community team — to
be dispatched before the end of November — to try and
help the largely
impotent Joint Monitoring, and Implementation Committee to
tackle this
important issue.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
by 7 hours 37
minutes ago
Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font
Reports from
Zimbabwe say President Robert Mugabe has massively tightened
his security
and that of his family in the wake of the Arab spring.
Sources say that
because of Wikileaks revelations, Mugabe no longer trusts
many senior
officials in Zanu-PF.
Wikileaks showed that senior government officials,
including his personal
banker, spoke privately to the US embassy about the
Zimbabwean leader.
The Standard newspaper is reporting that Mugabe’s
security has been beefed
up.
Mugabe attended the ground-breaking
ceremony for his wife’s new school at
the Mazowe District on
Thursday.
The newspaper says heavily armed soldiers and unarmed police
were deployed
in nearby hotels and garages and residents were told to
minimise their
movements.
The sources said the enhanced security was
also necessitated by the fact
that Mugabe no longer trusts his cronies
following revelations by
whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks, that most of
them wanted him to go.
Some questioned his ability to continue to lead
due to advanced age and
failing health. Mugabe’s reinforced security was
evident last week in
Mazowe, about 40km outside Harare, where he officiated
at the ground-
breaking ceremony for the multi-million dollar Grace Mugabe
Foundation
Primary School.
The school was built on the same land that
the First Lady grabbed from local
residents who had built their houses on
it. Some of the 62 affected families
had built their houses while others
were at foundation level.
Security details on Thursday were almost
everywhere in Mazowe when The
Standard news crew visited the area.
Armed
and unarmed police officers and soldiers were deployed at a dirt road
that
turns from the main road along the Harare-Mazowe road from Blue Ridge
Shopping Complex, almost 10km from the venue of the ceremony.
Heavily
armed soldiers were also deployed in the mountains near Mazowe Dam
and by
midday some were visibly tired as they slept under trees.
The Standard news
crew was prevented from covering the event by security
manning the entrance
who accused it of writing negative things about the
orphanage and the First
Lady.
Residents of Mazowe were afraid of walking freely because of
the heavy
security presence.
Some of the residents said they were told to
minimise their movements a day
before the event because the First Lady was
visiting the area.
“I have not seen anything like this,” said one
resident.
“How can one family have such security details around it?
Is Mugabe really
under threat?” The resident stopped talking after a police
officer emerged
from a service station shop where he had replaced the guard,
who usually
keeps check at the door.
They were taking turns
to sit in the shop. Other details were deployed at
the hotel and two
shopping centres along a road that leads to Iron Mask
Farm, a prime
agricultural farm that the First Family grabbed from a white
commercial
farmer.
Sources said Mugabe’s security was enhanced soon after
demonstrations that
rocked Malawi in July. The fall of leaders such as
Muammar Gaddaffi of
Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Tunisian leader Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali
has shaken the 87-year-old leader, who has been ruling
Zimbabwe to the core.
Efforts to get a comment from the Minister of State for
State Security in
the President’s Office Sydney Sekeramayi were fruitless as
he could not be
reached on his mobile phone.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai says Zimbabwe is slowly but surely
descending into lawlessness
with a resurgence of political violence
reminiscent of the months leading up
to the bloody 2008 elections.
He accused Zanu-PF "fascists" of being
behind the violence against his
supporters.
In wide-ranging remarks
to journalists in Harare, Tsvangirai said the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
have exposed themselves as partisan and
disrespectful to him and the
executive office he holds.
On Tuesday, armed riot police descended on
Tsvangirai's headquarters,
Harvest House, and assaulted vendors and
passers-by within the vicinity of
the property in what critics say could be
a resurgence of state-sanctioned
violence against President Robert Mugabe's
opponents as fresh polls loom.
Mugabe, who is battling old age and health
problems, has intimated he wants
elections in March next year, contrary to
advice from South African
President Jacob Zuma, the Southern African
Development Community's (SADC)
appointed mediator in the Zimbabwean
crisis.
There is general consensus that Zimbabwe is not yet ready for
fresh
elections to bring closure to the acrimonious government of national
unity,
which includes Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
It is also understood hardliners in Zanu-PF want Mugabe to win
the
presidential poll against the premier before he retires.
But
speaking after police ransacked his headquarters before arresting six
vendors who were selling MDC-T CDs outside Harvest House, Tsvangirai said
misguided elements in Zanu-PF were pushing for early polls.
He
accused the police of being used by Zanu-PF hardliners to persecute his
supporters.
"We meet at a time of rising political tension,
increasing cases of
violence, sabotage and total disrespect by the police
and other government
agencies of the prime minister, even as he executes
government programmes,"
said Tsvangirai, in apparent reference to the
disruption of his tour of
provinces by Zanu-PF supporters.
Violence
in the past month have shown an increase, he added, saying one
human rights
group recorded 800 cases of human rights violations in the
month of
September alone .
"The violence we are witnessing is state-sponsored and
state-driven. It is
being championed by a few fascist leaders who want to
reverse the little
progress we have made.
"I want to promise these
misguided elements their days are numbered because
I and the president
agreed on Monday that we must put a stop to this
violence in Harare and
elsewhere," he said.
He said state security agents have instituted a coup
over the civilian
authority and they are now above the law, to the extent of
disrupting
government programmes and assaulting civilians with
impunity.
"The country is at a high risk of imploding if some in the
leadership
continue privately abetting lawlessness while publicly preaching
non-violence."
He said, however, the inclusive government was
trudging on, albeit with
differences on how best to economically empower the
people of Zimbabwe.
"We differ with our Zanu-PF colleagues in government
because they seek to
empower a small, well-connected elite while some of us
are advocating for a
comprehensive plan which creates jobs, uplifts the
ordinary people, and
attracts investment so that everybody
benefits.
"I have travelled the whole country and what is evident is
that, despite the
rhetoric of indigenisation, over 90% of our population has
no jobs."
Tsvangirai said one other key challenge the inclusive
government faced was
the lack of progress on key reforms.
"One of the
most important of these is media reforms. I am saddened to note
there is no
movement on this arena, especially the liberalisation of the
airwaves.
"The minister of media, information and publicity has
simply refused to act
to ensure movement in this key area."
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Editor
Sunday, 06 November 2011
13:24
HARARE - The Constitutional Select Committee (Copac) has given
a strongest
hint that the new constitution might be a negotiated document by
taking an
unprecedented step of filling into the constitutional draft issues
not
raised by people in their contributions during the outreach
programme.
Representatives of the country’s three political parties to
the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) met last week in Masvingo at a
pre-drafting
workshop where they agreed to fill in gaps on constitutional
issues which
were not raised by the people during the outreach
programme.
Zimbabwe is in the process of drafting a new constitution
which will lead to
new elections to elect a new leader for the
country.
Douglas Mwonzora, a Copac co-chairperson told the Daily News on
Sunday that
the committee met in Masvingo last week for a pre-drafting
workshop.
He said the three political parties agreed on several issues
including the
controversial agreement on adding up constitutional issues
that were left
out during public consultations.
“We met and agreed on
five fundamental themes. We agreed to draw up a list
of extracted
constitutional issues, a draft framework which basically lists
the chapters
of the constitution, a list of constitutional principles which
represents in
general terms the vision of the country’s future
constitutional order,” said
Mwonzora.
He added that they also agreed to “identify gaps in the
information given by
the people looking at what was not said by the people
and suggest ways of
closing the gaps. We agreed that we will close the gaps
by research based on
world practices.”
In addition he said they
agreed on a dispute resolution mechanism on any
arising
issues.
Mwonzora said the actual drafting of the constitution should
start on
November 20 and will last until December 31.
Three
constitutional drafters have already been identified.
They are Justice
Moses Chinhengo — a Judge at the Botswana High Court,
former Zimbabwe High
Court Judge Priscilla Madzonga and Brian Crizier, a
former legal drafter in
the Attorney-General’s office and also a legal
practitioner in
Harare.
Mwonzora said barring any disputes that might stall the
constitution making
process, the constitutional referendum is now expected
between the end of
March and May 31, 2012.
Zimbabwe expects a new
constitution to replace the outdated Lancaster House
constitution negotiated
in London in 1979.
The constitution has so far been amended 19
times.
An earlier attempt by the government to come up with a new
constitution in
2000 was rejected by the populace which voted for a No
Vote.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
HARARE CORRESPONDENT | 06
November, 2011 03:22
Zanu-PF spin doctor Jonathan Moyo has gatecrashed
the Zanu-PF negotiations
of the SADC-sponsored power-sharing truce
facilitated by South African
President Jacob Zuma as the stalemate over
outstanding issues in the Global
Political Agreement (GPA)
remains.
Moyo and Zanu-PF chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa met Zuma's
facilitation
team of former cabinet minister Charles Nqakula and Lindiwe
Zulu - Zuma's
international affairs advisor who doubles-up as the
spokeswoman for the
facilitation team.
The former minister of
information and publicity was a surprise inclusion in
the talks, but
Chinamasa said Moyo, who was re-admitted into Zanu-PF last
year after
serving a five-year suspension, stood in for Nicholas Goche and
Emmerson
Mnangagwa, the other two Zanu-PF chief negotiators.
He is seen as one of
the hardliners in Zanu-PF and is close to the
securocrats who have vowed not
to salute Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
even if he beats President Robert
Mugabe in the next elections.
Moyo has been a fiery critic of Zuma's
mediation efforts and particularly of
Lindiwe Zulu, whom he has attacked in
lengthy articles in the state media.
Sources familiar with Tuesday's
talks between Zuma's team and negotiators
said the two came face-to-face but
there was no incident.
In one of his articles on July 17, 2011, in the
state-owned Sunday Mail,
Moyo said Zulu should shut up about the goings-on
in Zimbabwe.
He called her "an African sell-out who continues to fail to
tell the
difference between facilitation and dictation, and who continues to
fail to
understand that, even in terms of the GPA - let alone the
constitution of
Zimbabwe - the determination of who shall rule Zimbabwe, and
how they shall
do so, is the exclusive and sole prerogative of Zimbabweans
alone."
Moyo added: "Why has Lindiwe Zulu become such a recklessly
willing friend of
Zanu-PF's enemies, who is always available to comment
negatively after every
Zanu-PF politburo meeting but never does the same
after any MDC meeting?"
Critics say it is Moyo's acerbic tongue that
Zanu-PF has found to be a vital
cog in its propaganda machinery as the party
attempts to reverse its
political misfortunes against Tsvangirai's MDC as
elections loom.
The combative Moyo, who is accused of orchestrating the
closure of The Daily
News in 2003, as well as the bombing of its printing
presses earlier, is
seen to be rising in Zanu-PF after being appointed to
the central committee
before being parachuted into the politburo after his
re-admission in July
2009.
But it is his emergence on Tuesday, as one
of Zanu-PF's negotiators, which
surprised both friends and foes within and
without Zanu-PF.
Critics note that in fact his star has been on the rise
since his
re-admission in 2009 after being suspended for five years for
standing as an
independent in Tsholotsho.
Last month, Zanu-PF
seconded him to represent the party in the Joint
Implementation and
Monitoring Committee of the GPA. He is thought to be
working on the Zanu-PF
manifesto for the election President Mugabe wants in
March next
year.
His rise in Zanu-PF at a time the party battles fissures fuelled by
the
death of retired army general Solomon Mujuru, the fight to succeed
Mugabe,
as well as the WikiLeaks disclosures, is attributed to hard work,
planning
and spin-doctoring.
But Moyo is also known for his litigious
tendencies against the country's
media.
During his tenure as the
spokesman of the Mugabe administration, he sued
several local and regional
newspapers.
In September this year, Moyo filed a $100000 lawsuit against
the Associated
Newspapers Group, publishers of the Daily News, over two
articles based on
WikiLeaks reports.
As a political scientist,
critics say other political opponents of Mugabe
have no match in
Moyo.Independent newspapers continuously refer to him as a
"serial
flip-flopper", due to his seeming love-hate relationship with
Zanu-PF.
"There is no doubt he appreciates the political environment
and issues
better than most within Zanu-PF," said Bekithemba Mpofu, a
political analyst
who has been following Moyo's political
career.
"This shows that Zanu-PF has gone for individual strength rather
than
cronyism, which some believe is a major challenge with most Zimbabwean
parties. Professor Moyo's role within Zanu-PF is set to become more
influential as we approach the constitutional referendum and general
elections."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
HARARE CORRESPONDENT | 06 November, 2011 03:21
Mines and
Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu says Zimbabwe stands to
generate at
least $2-billion per annum through the export of diamonds.
This follows a
Kimberley Process (KP) plenary session in the Democratic
Republic of Congo
that approved the export of diamonds from mines that had
previously been
banned from doing so.
Zimbabwe, which already has massive stockpiles of
diamonds, believes that
following the KP approval, the mining industry could
contribute about 50% of
the country's Gross Domestic Product.
At
least $30-million in diamond revenue has been going to Treasury every
month,
according to Mpofu.
"This is a historical development we all had been
waiting for," Mpofu told
reporters after arriving from the DRC this week.
"We want to shock and shake
the world. We are going to unleash our
worthiness to the world and Zimbabwe
will not beg for anything from anybody
again.
"I am instructing diamond mines in Marange to ratchet their
operations and
sell in a big way. It is not a secret that Zimbabwe has the
largest diamond
reserves in the world. Our sovereign rights to trade in our
diamonds had
been unjustifiably denied by participants with hostile foreign
policies on
Zimbabwe," the minister said.
Government moved into the
Marange diamond fields about five years ago to
clean up what had fast become
a regional diamond smuggling hot-spot.
Illegal miners had flooded the
claims that became a lifeline for thousands
in the wake of a recession
highlighted by unprecedented inflationary
pressures.
Three diamond
companies have gone into partnership with the Zimbabwe Mining
Development
Corporation to extract the diamonds.
But diamonds from some producers in
Marange had until now been banned by the
Kimberley Process, the
international organisation that polices diamonds,
following reports of
large-scale killings and abuse by Zimbabwe's security
forces in the diamond
fields.
Mpofu said following the approval, a KP team would arrive in
Zimbabwe within
two weeks to officially give the green light for diamond
exports from
producers that were approved this week.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
05/11/2011 00:00:00
by Business
Reporter
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has said initial budget
projections of US$3.4
billion will have to be revised to take into account
proceeds from diamond
sales after the Kimberly Process approved the export
of gems from Marange.
“Our budget is worth US$3.4 billion. We have based
this on the anticipated
revenue. We had not factored in the diamond revenue
that will increase
following the decision by the KP,” Biti said while
discussing his 2012
national budget in Harare last Thursday.
“I will
engage with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development because I
am
seriously considering increasing the Budget to factor in the KP
decision.”
Last week, Kimberley Process experts meeting in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) agreed to allow Zimbabwe to sell diamonds
from the Marange
fields in the eastern Manicaland province.
Zimbabwe,
which has denied allegations of human rights abuses in the area,
had been
under sanctions since 2009 because of "significant noncompliance."
The KP
decision allows all diamonds from the area to be sold with the
country
understood have stockpiled some 4.5 million stones valued at around
$2
billion.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu welcomed the development and insisted
Zimbabwe
would no longer need to beg for international
assistance.
"We are going to shock the world. We are going to unleash our
worthiness,"
Mpofu told reporters in Harare.
"Zimbabwe will no longer be
begging for anything from anybody."
http://www.radiovop.com
Karoi, November 06, 2011 -
Home Affairs co-minister, Theresa Makone took a
swipe at Zanu-PF accusing
the party for plunder and looting of the country’s
precious
gems.
Makone who is also the chairperson o the mainstream Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC-T) lambasted Zanu-PF bigwigs for self enrichment
through illegal
diamond sales when majority of the population is languishing
in poverty.
Makone made the attacks in Karoi where she was addressing
a political
gathering.
“If diamonds are sold transparently
everyone will benefit not the situation
where few individuals are busy
looting and lining up their pockets when
majority of the population is
battling to make ends meet.
Makone also attacked Zanu-PF’s sponsored
indegenisation and empowerment law
that according to Zanu-PF seeks to
transfer Zimbabwe’s wealth into the hands
of the black
majority.
“The claims of empowerment are just an excuse to enrich few
individuals in
Zanu-PF’’ lamented Makone.
On farms Makone assured
resettled farmers that they are not going to lose
their land.
“If
MDC-T forms the next government resettled farmers will not be removed
from
their farms as it is a Government policy to resettle people”.
Makone
also defended her boss, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over
accusations
leveled against him by Zanu-PF that he called for imposition of
sanctions.
‘’Zanu PF must ask their own members among them
Professor Jonathan Moyo and
former Governor, Josia Hungwe for submitting
names of top officials who were
slapped with sanctions” added Makone.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
05/11/2011 00:00:00
by Gilbert
Nyambabvu
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe chief Gideon Gono has angrily
rebutted widespread
criticism of his stewardship of the central bank which
now teeters on the
brink of collapse, weighed down by debts of up to US$1.4
billion.
The RBZ is technically insolvent with critics blaming its
massive debt pile
on Gono.
They accuse Gono of presiding over a
spending spree after assuming office in
2003 which saw the RBZ freely
printing money and engaging in so-called
quasi-fiscal operations that
included funding elections, acquisition of farm
implements and luxury
vehicles for government officials.
This, the critics add, helped stoke
inflation which reached record levels of
11.2 million percent in 2008,
leading to the ditching of the Zimbabwe
dollar.
But the RBZ chief hit
back in a statement issued to the state-owned Sunday
Mail
newspaper.
“The belief is that RBZ and my management team spent US$1,1
billion either
buying tractors and scotch-carts (mechanisation programme) or
simply went on
a debt contracting spree and blew away the money in support
of non-existent
programmes or at the worst, the whole amount is a Gono debt
which he must
find a way to repay,” he said.
Gono said all the
expenditure had been requested and authorised by the
government through
successive Finance Ministers adding the RBZ could easily
liquidate its $$1.1
billion obligations if the government paid up its own
debt of US$1.4 million
to the institution.
“We at RBZ asked for specific letters authorising us
to mobilise forex
resources for government, with limits being placed by
government in relation
to how far and how much the Ministry of Finance
wanted RBZ to mobilise on
its behalf,” the statement read.
“This we
insisted upon in order to avoid the kind of irrational debate we
are
currently having as a nation.”
Gono said the RBZ owed external and
internal creditors US$1,082 billion in
government authorised
borrowings.
The government, however, owes the RBZ US$1.5 billion in
funding extended
towards supporting various state enterprises, grain
imports, acquisition of
farm implements, cars for ministers and other
officials and funding for the
2008 elections.
“It is also recommended
that without any further delays, the Hon Minister of
Finance (Tendai Biti)
be advised to acknowledge and take over these
government debts from RBZ
books and work out amicable repayment plans with
creditors,” he
said.
The RBZ chief appeared to be particularly incensed by criticism
of his
involvement in helping farms acquire implements with many of them
failing to
pay for them.
“In debates about RBZ debt, the discussion
of RBZ debtors has only centred
around Farm Mechanisation debtors who owe
RBZ about US$198,0 million which
is 12,4 percent of RBZ’s debtors, while
ignoring 87,6 percent of the debts
owed to the bank by government,” he
said.
“If government was to repay RBZ US$1,4 billion that it owes the
apex bank
tomorrow, the bank would in turn be able to pay its US$1,1 billion
debt to
creditors and still remain with US$300 million for its
capitalisation,
lender of last resort operations, day-to-day needs and then
focus on its
core mandate!”
He also claimed to have inherited a debt
of US$400 million when he assumed
office in 2003 and added that the ditching
of the Zimbabwe dollar and
liberalisation measures introduced by the
coalition government in 2009
further worsened the situation.
“The new
economic measures introduced in March 2009 saw the sudden and
abrupt
abolition of any inflows of funds into the RBZ coffers by way of
export
surrender proportions, gold proceeds retentions as well as the use of
the
Zimbabwe dollar as a medium of exchange,” he said.
“This move, while
intended to revive the economy and therefore most welcome,
brought with it
unintended consequences which are the subject of this debt
debate and RBZ
debt crunch.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Gift Phiri, Senior Writer
Sunday, 06 November 2011
13:19
HARARE - Valiant efforts by Parliament to clip Local
Government, Rural and
Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo’s powers
are bearing fruits after
it approved a motion giving leave to MDC
backbencher Tangwara Matimba to
bring in a Private Member’s Bill to amend
the Urban Councils Act.
The MP for Buhera Central is among those leading
the charge to have Chombo’s
powers diluted.
Zanu PF and the MDC are
now headed for a bitter clash in Parliament before
year-end as the bill that
seeks to curtail Chombo’s excess powers come up
for debate.
The MDC
has intensified its quest to pass amendments to the law which it
says has
been used by Chombo to suspend its elected members in local
authorities
around the country.
Chombo is on record saying he acts in accordance with
the law and denies
targeting councillors.
The MDC accuses Chombo of
particularly using Section 114 of the law to wield
the axe on several MDC
councillors countrywide. Last week, MDC lawmakers
forced Parliament to grant
leave to table the amendments.
Zanu PF legislators, had, however, earlier
staunchly resisted the motion,
saying the MDC was seeking to interfere with
the job of the Minister of
Local Government.
Chombo has so far
suspended a total of four MDC councillors in Harare for
corruption — five in
Rusape, one in Nyaminyami Rural District Council and
two in Zvimba Rural
District Council.
Two of the suspended Harare councillors Warship Dumba
of Mt Pleasant and
Casper Takura of Mabvuku were suspended after they had
opened a council
probe seeking to expose Chombo’s alleged corrupt activities
particularly on
how he had acquired so many properties in Harare and several
other
properties in councils around the country.
Four Harare
councillors suspended last December over allegations of
irregularly
acquiring stands and forcing themselves into council houses,
councilors
Maxwell Katsande of Ward 26, Johnson Zaranyika Ward 39, Paul
Gorekore Ward 3
and Silas Machetu Ward 25, were reinstated by High Court
judge Justice
Bharat Patel last week.
The judge ruled that their dismissal was “so
grossly irrational in their
defiance of logic that no reasonable person
applying his mind to the matter
could possibly have arrived at those
decisions.”
Backing the motion, MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese said the
Urban Councils
Act has a staggering 406 references to the minister while the
Rural District
Councils Act mentions the minister 329 times.
“The
problem is that this particular piece of legislation gives immense
powers to
the Minister of Local Government,” Gonese said.
Matimba’s Private Members
Bill aims to amend the Urban Councils Act “by
reducing the powers of central
government over municipal and town councils,
thereby encouraging democracy
at local levels”.
He has handed in a copy of the Urban Councils Amendment
Bill. Parliament is
now set to send the Bill to the Government Printers for
printing and
gazetting.
After gazetting, the Bill will be tabled in
the Lower House for its first
reading.
Zengeza MDC MP Collin Gwiyo
said Chombo must be stopped.
He said the minister has used the law in the
past few years to fire MDC
mayors countrywide “defeating the will of the
people”.
He said Chombo had used the Urban Councils Act to sack the first
MDC
chairperson of Hwange Council Jessie Majome, who is now deputy minister
of
Women Affairs in the inclusive government.
The minister also used
the law to fire the MDC Mutare Mayor Misheck
Kagurabadza, now Mutasa South
MP.
Former Mayor of Harare Engineer Elias Mudzuri was another victim of
the
provisions of this law.
Chombo also used the Urban Councils Act
to fire Chitungwiza MDC Mayor
Misheck Shoko, claiming the mayors were
incompetent.
Matimba, who chairs the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development said the rigidity of the Urban
Councils’Act gives supreme and absolute powers to Chombo.
Musundire
said Chombo had abused his position and alleged Chombo had become
“the
symbol of corruption himself” through the wide powers he enjoys under
the
Act.
The Urban Councils Act empowers Chombo to appoint “councilors
representing
special interests, not exceeding one-quarter of the number of
elected
councillors as the Minister may fix in respect of the council by
statutory
instrument, and who shall hold office during the pleasure of the
Minister.”
The Urban Councils Act also gives the minister power to
suspend or dismiss a
councillor, to act on behalf of council, to take
possession of any
undeveloped council land, including surveyed
land.
The minister also has power under the Act to make or adopt by-laws
on behalf
of councils, and also has power to make general regulations for
the conduct
of elections.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Sunday, 06
November 2011 13:23
HARARE - Harare City Council (HCC) will continue
investigating Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and other Zanu PF
members allegedly
involved in shady land deals, despite his directive to
stop the probe.
HCC resolved that investigations into Chombo’s “illegal”
land acquisition
will continue by way of a commission of enquiry, comprising
councillors and
independent investigators most of whom are former government
administrators.
Muchadeyi Masunda, the Harare Mayor, said a special
council meeting adopted
the resolution on Thursday.
“We have
re-constituted the special committee which will be made up of
Justice Ahmed
Ebrahim, Andrew Chigovera, Sarah Kachingwe, plus three other
councillors
with John Reid Rowland providing necessary back-up service to
the special
committee,” said Masunda.
Documents seen by the Daily News reveal that
Chombo, who was implicated for
illegally grabbing council land, directed
Masunda to reverse a council’s
resolution to assemble an independent team
tasked with bringing finality to
the land scam.
In his directive,
Chombo said the constitution of such a team was illegal
saying council has
no authority to appoint and remunerate such a committee.
“Council has no
powers to remunerate the members of the tribunal set up in
terms of the
invalid resolution although it has agreed to pay the members
from the funds
of council. The resolution to appoint the tribunal and
remunerate its
members is therefore not in the interest of residents and
rate payers as it
priorities that payment of the special tribunal is
unlawfully appointed at
the expense of service delivery,” wrote Chombo in
his October 6
letter.
Efforts by residents, councillors and other stakeholders to have
Chombo
investigated or arrested regarding how he benefited from the vast
tracts of
land in Harare have so far drawn blanks.
A team of
councillors which attempted to have the police investigate the
matter has so
far been rebuffed and some of the councillors have been
suspended.
Masunda last month said council was merely doing its work
and had no
“personal” axe to grind with Chombo.
“It (the probe) is in
the interest of not only the city council and Chombo
but also stakeholders
of greater Harare and indeed, the whole of Zimbabwe."
“For the matter to
be put to rest it must be investigated so that we may
move on with our
respective obligations of getting our capital city and
country back on the
right path,” said Masunda.
He said Chombo did not have the locus standi
to give instructions to council
on how it should run its affairs, especially
concerning the matter at hand.
“In the circumstances, Chombo would not
ordinarily have any locus standi to
issue the sort of directive contained in
his letter of 6 October 2011 simply
because he is an interested
party.
“He clearly has more than a passing interest in the outcome of the
investigation into the land transactions,” Masunda said.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
VLADIMIR MZACA | 06 November, 2011 03:22
The
Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture is on an ambitious drive to
get a
large chunk of the national budget for 2012, aiming to make sure that
government continues to give top priority to the education
sector.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti is expected to announce next year's
budget in
the next two weeks.
In recent weeks his team has been on a
countrywide consultative drive.
He is on record as saying that a huge
share of the budget will go towards
paying the civil service bill, while
another considerable figure will go
towards electoral
reform.
However, Education Minister David Coltart has sent his wish list
to Biti.
"We want at least 22% of the budget. There is a lot to be done in
the
education sector to keep it alive," said Coltart.
Coltart heads a
ministry whose workers' union activists do not shy away from
threatening
industrial action.
The minister has argued that there is a need to
improve the working
conditions of teachers for them to stay in
service.
"The issue does not start or stop with their remuneration.
Conditions of
service are also important. Some schools have dilapidated
infrastructure and
textbooks are still an issue," he added.
In
Coltart's view the ministry has always been underfunded, which is why
problems are getting worse.
"If you are always short-changing the
education sector, it always carries
forward its burdens to a point that they
become too many. That is why things
are like this at the present moment," he
said.
In the 2011 budget the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture
and the
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education received the largest
allocation of
the government's budget.
In 2010 Biti stated that 555
primary and 399 secondary schools had no desks.
Furthermore, the textbook to
pupil ratio was 1:15.
He also pointed out that at least 26% of primary
classrooms needed repair.
In a drive to alleviate a textbook shortage,
Unicef came up with a textbook
distribution programme in 2010 that seeks to
ensure a textbook to pupil
ratio of 1:1 at primary schools.
It is
difficult to gauge the success of this programme since it has not yet
been
evaluated.
Zimbabwe's education system was once among the best in Africa.
Since the
turn of the century it has suffered a serious decline in public
funding,
along with hyperinflation and political unrest which has resulted
in the
mass exodus of teaching staff in search of greener pastures in
neighbouring
countries.
Biti said the projected budget for 2012 was
$3.6-billion, so the 22% that
Coltart referred to amounts to $750-million.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
SUNDAY TIMES
INVESTIGATIONS | 06 November, 2011 03:22
South African Justice Minister
Jeff Radebe is demanding answers on the Hawks
conducting illegal
"renditions" of people from South Africa to Zimbabwe.
And, in a move that
puts him on a collision course with cabinet colleague
and Police Minister
Nathi Mthethwa, he said the renditions "fly in the face
of our [SA's]
constitution and its values".
Radebe's comments follow an exposé in the
Sunday Times on how top
investigators from the elite crime-fighting unit
were fingered in sending
several Zimbabwean nationals to their deaths in
Zimbabwe. Radebe is
demanding answers from the justice cluster to "map a way
forward".
Radebe said the rendition claims were "very worrying",
especially
considering the allegations "were levelled not only against
organs of state,
but one that is responsible for law enforcement and
security".
This week more cases surfaced, in which the Hawks and members
of the SA
National Defence Force were accused of arresting people and
handing them
over to Zimbabwean police - and where they were either murdered
or tortured.
Their actions flout the Immigration Act and breach a government
moratorium
on deportations to Zimbabwe as well as the UN Convention Against
Torture,
which South Africa ratified in 1998.
Radebe's comments are
in opposition to those of Police Minister Nathi
Mthethwa, who on Friday told
the Sunday Times "there is nothing in front of
[me ]" to warrant an
investigation. He said the claims of rendition
involving the Hawks were
"baseless and imaginative".
This is despite a paper trail, published by
the Sunday Times, confirming
that a number of individuals were arrested as
"illegal immigrants" by the
Hawks and taken through the Beitbridge border,
where they were handed over
to Zimbabwean police. At the time Hawks boss
General Anwa Dramat confirmed
they had "deported" three individuals -
Witness Ndeya, Gordon Dube and
Pritchard Tshuma - but said this was done
"properly".
Ndeya died of "multiple gun shot wounds" on November 20 - two
weeks after
his arrest in South Africa - while in police custody in
Bulawayo, according
to his death certificate. Tshuma and Dube are believed
to have met a similar
fate.
Now more details of a number of other
cases have emerged. In one, John
Nyoni, 33, was arrested on January 26 by
the Hawks and deported . In another
case, Gift Nhadzi - a former organiser
of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) - detailed how he was arrested
by members of the SANDF, who then
handed him over to Zimbabwean police
officers in plain clothes. He was then
tortured in front of
villagers.
"While they were torturing me they said: 'This is how a
sell-out and a
terrorist is treated'," he said. "My wife was four months
pregnant. They
said they wanted to skin her alive because there is a sellout
in her womb."
Nhadzi said after begging for mercy, they beat her belly, and
she then
suffered a miscarriage. Nhadzi has since fled back to SA.
http://www.radiovop.com
Nompumelelo Moyo, Umzingwane, November
06, 2011- Police in Matabeleland
South blocked Zapu from conducting a road
show in Umzingwane district were
they were scheduled to meet their members
and supporters.
The road show was scheduled for last Saturday in areas
around Mbalabala,
Nswazi and Mawabeni.
Speaking to Radio VOP, Zapu
spokesperson, Methuseli Moyo, said his party had
initially planned holding
the event on Wednesday November 2, but the police
advised them to give them
more time to prepare and suggested Saturday, which
Zapu agreed
to.
“We were surprised when Esigodini police called on Friday and told us
we
should not go ahead with the event. The police claimed that they did not
have enough manpower and resources to cover all the areas we wanted to
visit.
“We were left with no option but to comply even though it was
clear that the
police were not genuine in their conduct. All along they were
aware of our
plan, which we gave them in writing. How then does the issue of
manpower and
resources suddenly become a hindrance? In any case, Zapu is
aware of the
challenges facing the police and we have at all times
transported police
details to venues of our meetings if they so wished,”
said Moyo
He added that as Zapu they believe that the police were acting
on
instructions from the Zanu-PF establishment not to allow Zapu to
campaign.
“We call on the co-ministers of Home Affairs and the rest of
the Inclusive
Government to prevail on the establishment to allow
Zimbabweans to freely
conduct political activities.
"Zapu is fast
losing patience with the dictatorship. If the situation
remains unchanged,
our party will in the near future go ahead with its
activities, with or
without police clearance. We would rather face the
consequences than allow
other human beings to trample on our God-given right
to associational life,”
fumed Moyo.
He called on Zanu-PF to learn to respect other political
parties or else the
people of Zimbabwe will soon teach them how to do
it.
Moyo concluded by saying that they hoped the dethroning and demise of
celebrated dictator Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya at the hands of self-trained
fighters was a good warning for the Zanu-PF establishment to change its
ways.
Last week, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai ran battles with the police in Matabeleland North
province
when they banned their three rallies that were scheduled to be held
in
Lupane, Binga and Victoria Fall.
MDC-T had been granted a
court order allowing them to conduct the rallies
but the police declared
that the rallies were illegal and they even barred
the Premier from visiting
St Paul’s Hospital under maternity government
project initiative.
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo, November 06, 2011- Zimbabwe’s
media environment remains hostile to
privately owned newspapers and its
journalists despite the disbandment of
the Media and Information
Commission.
The International Federation of Journalists for Human Rights
(IFJHR) made
the remarks.
In a report released on Friday by the
IFHR entitled Steadfast in Protest -
Annual Report 2011 Zimbabwe, the human
rights’ organisation said the
privately owned media remains gagged and its
journalists exposed to severe
acts of reprisal.
IFHR added that
the state has not repealed repressive laws governing the
media that have
been used to harass journalists and media houses.
“Journalists and
human rights defenders were intimidated and arrested as
part of an increased
harassment campaign,” the report said.
The report also said lack of
justice for past abuses remains a serious
concern.
“Authorities
have failed to discipline, remove from their posts or charge
with criminal
offences leaders of the security forces who were involved in
human rights
violations, abducting and torturing human rights activists,”
reads in part
the report.
The report also added that political violence, lack of
respect for the rule
of law and human rights violations remained a serious
concern in Zimbabwe
and defenders of sexual minorities continue to be
targets of repression.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Bulawayo, November 06, 2011---Zimbabwe
Media Commission (ZMC) chairman,
Godfrey Majonga has come out guns blazing
in defense of the controversial
ZMC chief executive officer, Tafataona
Mahoso saying he is performing his
job very well.
Mahoso of late has been
attacked by his long-established opponets of
continuing undermining media
freedom in Zimbabwe.
In an interview with Radio VOP after addressing
journalists at the Bulawayo
Press Club last Friday, Majonga said since they
started working with Mahoso
last year, he has been doing his job
well.
“Since we started working with Mahoso in the commission, we haven’t
seen any
reasons why we can say he is failing to do his job. He is
performing his job
very well and we hope he will continue like that,”
Majonga told Radio VOP.
Mahoso who has been nicknamed “Zimbabwe Media
Hangman” has a deplorable
track record of implementing all kinds of
restrictions against the media in
this country in the past years.
He
was appointed ZMC chief executive officer last year. Under his
chairmanship
of the now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC) more
than five
newspapers including the popular Daily News were banned and
several foreign
and local journalists were arrested and some were deported
from
Zimbabwe.
Majonga who was being accompanied by two ZMC commissioners
Mathew Takaona
and Luton Hikwa also said the commission will launch the
Media Council of
Zimbabwe before year end.
“According to Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA)
the commission is required
to set up a Media Council which will oversee the
professional and ethical
conduct of the media and media practitioners.
“We wrote letters to all
associations and groups as identified by the Act to
submit three nominations
from which the commission will appoint one of them
to sit on the Media
Council,” he said.
Majonga said the Media Council is expected in
consultation with commission
to develop a Code of Conduct and Ethics
governing the rules of the conduct
to be observed by journalists and mass
media services.
The ZMC added that foreign newspapers sold in Zimbabwe
without being
registered by the commission will be banned as they are taking
business from
local newspapers.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
JAMA MAJOLA | 06 November, 2011 03:22
A fierce
battle is raging behind the scenes over the fraud scandal in which
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his close relative Hebson Makuvise,
ambassador to Germany, are accused of misappropriating $1.5-million in
public funds meant to buy the premier a house in an up-market suburb of
Harare.
Information obtained by the Sunday Times this week shows
divisions and
fights have erupted within the law enforcement and state
security agencies
over the issue.
Tsvangirai's high-profile case has
attracted the interest of the police and
the Joint Operations Command (JOC),
which brings together army, police and
intelligence chiefs.
The JOC
wants Tsvangirai arrested, although some of its members fear this
could
trigger political upheaval in the country ahead of elections and
propel him
to power by default.
The issue has generated quarrels within the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),
which gave Tsvangirai the $1.5- million, the police
and other state security
arms.
The controversy has also attracted the
attention of President Robert Mugabe,
who in 2009 approved the $1.5-million
for the house, which is currently
under renovation.
Makuvise
allegedly misappropriated the money in collusion with the premier.
The
money was approved by Mugabe on November 13 2009, after a request by
Tsvangirai through RBZ governor Gideon Gono for it to buy the house because
Mugabe had allegedly blocked him from moving into either the State House or
Zimbabwe House.
Government officials say there has been explosive
conflict between the
police, JOC and the RBZ over the issue. Senior
officials said this week the
unfolding battles were on how to handle the
sensitive issue, which has
serious political implications for Tsvangirai and
the country.
There are two main contending arguments over the issue. One
group within the
JOC wants Tsvangirai arrested, claiming there is
overwhelming evidence there
has been fraud. Others say, even though that
might be true, arresting him
would be a serious political mistake, as it
could plunge the country into
chaos and fast-track Mugabe's
demise.
"There is serious infighting going over the issue. Endless
meetings have
been held in recent months to deal with that but no solution
has been found
yet. One group, mainly in the JOC, wants Tsvangirai arrested
and charged
with fraud.
"This group argues that it doesn't matter
what the people's reaction will be
as long as the allegations can be
substantiated," a senior government
official told the Sunday Times. "The
opposing camp contends that, even if
the allegations were to be proven in a
court of law, the majority of the
people won't believe it. They will say it
was a political case and the
charges were trumped-up. That might plunge the
country into chaos and
fast-track Mugabe's departure."
Another
government official said strategically for Mugabe, arresting
Tsvangirai
would be a "disaster". "In terms of political strategy, arresting
him would
be a blunder, because whatever the outcome, most people would
complain. If
he is convicted they will say it a political issue and if he is
acquitted
they will say there was no issue in the first place. So you can't
win," the
official said. "Damned if you find him guilty, damned if you
don't."
A senior intelligence officer said the biggest fear was
creating "a Jacob
Zuma out of Tsvangirai". "You see those cautioning against
his arrest say
Zimbabwe's political leaders and security operatives must
learn something
from South Africa," the officer said.
"Zuma was
charged over the arms deal and hauled before the court on
allegations of
rape, although he was acquitted on the latter case. Quite
clearly, the
manner in which those issues were handled propelled him to
power. If those
matters were dealt with differently, Zuma may not be the
president of SA
today. So others are saying let's learn from that."
Efforts to get
comment from the police on Friday were unsuccessful. Police
have denied in
the past that they were investigating the premier despite
overwhelming
evidence to the contrary.
Tsvangirai has denied the charges.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Staff Writer
Sunday, 06 November 2011
13:13
HARARE - Zanu PF has extended an invitation to the new Zambian
leader,
Michael Sata to attend its annual conference set for Bulawayo next
month but
the charismatic figure has so far kept them guessing on whether he
will
attend.
The liberation movement is scheduled to hold its annual
conference which has
been billed as a mini congress next month in
Bulawayo.
Party officials told the Daily News last week that the party
has invited
Sata but he has not yet confirmed his
attendance.
President Robert Mugabe has decided to use the conference as
an elective
congress although analysts see the move as an opportunity for
the wily
87-year-old leader to purge a number of his colleagues implicated
in
WikiLeaks exposés.
Zanu PF Secretary for Administration, Didymus
Mutasa who has been tasked
with the role of inviting Sata to the conference
said he is still in the
process of inviting the Zambian leader.
“We
are still talking and we haven’t finalised on the matter,” said
Mutasa.
Sata is expected to travel to Bulawayo next month with his white
Vice
President Guy Scott who met with Mugabe in Malawi last month during the
Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa).
At the meeting
the two struck a deal which resulted in Scott pushing for the
re-admission
of Zimbabwe into the commonwealth family of nations at the just
ended
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Perth, Australia.
The
government recently invited South Sudan President Salvar Kirr to come
and
open the Harare Agricultural show, but the Sudanese leader cancelled his
trip to Zimbabwe at the last minute.
Since his election to the
presidency of his country, Sata is yet to travel
outside Zambia as head of
state as he seeks to consolidate his political
position at home.
Last
week he fired more than a dozen army generals as part of a raft of
reforms
aimed at giving him a steady grip on his country’s politics after
years of
campaigning as an opposition political party leader.
Sata has also been
on a mission to mend relations with past foes in the
region such as Malawi
and Angola.
But he has been also been seeking to settle old scores with
others.
He has demanded that Zimbabwe pay a colonial debt dating back to
the 1950s
failure of which will result in the death of a proposed power
generation
project on the shores of the Zambezi River.
Recently he
sent the country’s former President Kenneth Kaunda to Luanda,
Angola and
China to apologise for backing Jonas Savimbi’s Unita forces
during the
country’s 27-year-old civil war and for criticising Chinese
investments in
his country, respectively.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Helen Kadirire, Staff
Writer
Sunday, 06 November 2011 13:05
HARARE - Zimbabwe, which is
slowly emerging from a decade-long political and
economic crisis, has been
named among the least developed countries in the
sub-Saharan region
according to the latest figures released by the United
Nations.
The
UN Human Development Report ranks Zimbabwe at position 173 out of 187
countries.
UN Human Development Report represents an annual
assessment of measures of
progress in human well-being.
The 2011
Human Development Report shows that Zimbabwe’s development is at
0.376.
The index combines measures of life expectancy, literacy,
school enrollment
and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.
Dubbed
Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All, the report notes
that
income distribution has worsened in most of the world.
The Human
Development Index (HDI) which measures the average achievements in
a country
in three basic dimensions of human development which are — a long
and
healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living, shows
that Zimbabwe ranks below even war-torn countries like Afghanistan and
Iraq.
According to the report public health expenditure in Zimbabwe is
4.1 percent
of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the life expectancy
at birth is
now below 51 years.
Between 1980 and 2011 Zimbabwe’s HDI
increased from 0.366 to 0.376 with an
average annual increase of 0.1
percent.
In 2010 Zimbabwe ranked 163 out of 163.
Between 1980 and 2011
Zimbabwe’s life expectancy at birth decreased by 7.8
percent, years of
schooling increased by 4 percent and expected years of
schooling increased
by 3.4 percent.
However, comparison between the years is not effective as
data collection
methods have changed due to the increase in countries being
assessed.
Niger and Kenya which are ranked 186 and 143 respectively are
the two
countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are close to Zimbabwe in terms
of rank
and population size.
Like Zimbabwe, the two countries were
recently blighted by various spates of
political violence which left their
populations severely scarred.
The index ranks Zimbabwe’s Gender
Inequality Index (GII) of 0.583 at 118 out
of 146 countries in the
Index.
According to the report 17.9 percent of Parliamentary seats are
held by
women, with 48.8 percent of women having reached secondary or a
higher form
of education as compared to the 62 percent for men.
For
every 100 000 live births in the country, 790 women die from
pregnancy-related complications, with the adolescent fertility rate at 64.6
births per 1 000 live births.
Sixty percent of women participate in
the labour market as compared to
74.3 percent for men.
Countries at
the bottom of the list, one of which is Zimbabwe, suffer from
inadequate
incomes, limited schooling opportunities and low life
expectancy rates due
to preventable diseases such as malaria and HIV/Aids.
The report
stresses that a lot of the problems encountered by countries with
low
rankings are worsened by armed conflicts and its devastating
consequences.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country
with the lowest
ranking, more than three million people died from warfare
and conflict
related illnesses.
In Zimbabwe most service delivery
provisions have suffered due to decades
long economic and political
implosion once described as legendary by world
standards.
The index
identifies Norway, Australia and the Netherlands as the top ranked
countries
in well being of people’s lives while DRC, Niger and Burundi
countries
still experiencing war are at the bottom of the ladder.
According to
the report, Latin America has the largest income inequality,
although it is
more equitable than sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia in life
expectancy and
education.
The Vigil is appalled that the EU has
cleared the way for Zanu PF to expand massively its diamond swindle. We believe
the EU’s craven capitulation to commercial interests will undermine fatally any
attempts to get Zanu PF to honour the GPA.
With virtually unlimited funds at
Zanu PF’s disposal, Vigil supporters believe it is farewell to hopes of free and
fair elections (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov3_2011.html#Z2
– Approval of Zimbabwe gem sales will fund Mugabe, politician warns and https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov3_2011.html#Z5
– Process Lets Zimbabwe Off The Hook, Again). We are not surprised that people
are now talking of violent resistance.
The EU’s foreign
affairs chief, the British mediocrity Baroness Ashton, lauding the Kimberley
Process agreement, spoke of monitoring and transparency. What delusion! (http://eu-ashtonstatement.notlong.com/
– Statement by EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, on the agreement
reached in Kimberley Process regarding Marange diamonds).
The less deluded Zimbabwe Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu jubilantly declared that Zimbabwe would ‘unleash her
worthiness’ on the unsuspecting world. He elaborated on this: Zimbabwe will
uphold KP standards ‘in a way that has never been seen before’. Quite! (see: http://voa-mpofu-diamonds-statement.notlong.com/ – Kimberley Process Clears Zimbabwe Diamonds for Export; US
Chairmanship Mooted).
‘I find I am now in
love with the donkey’ he told a court – echoing the breathless new British
Ambassador Deborah Bronnert the morning after a 90 minute assignation with
Mugabe (see: UK envoy speaks on
Mugabe charm, Tsvangirai intelligence – http://zim-mail-ukenvoy-mugabe.notlong.com/).
‘Such a courteous gentleman. Friendly and engaging.’ Ms Bronnert could hardly
restrain herself from gushing ‘we must drop these illegal sanctions preventing
Gushongo from investing his hard-earned $3 billion in Switzerland (Mugabe Family
planned to open Bank Accounts in Switzerland – https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov1_2011.html#Z12).
The Vigil believes
that Ms Bronnert could have delivered a more pertinent message: UK taxpayers –
that includes us at the Vigil – have given you $130 million this year to make up
for the billion dollars plus that you have been stealing from Marange and we
insist that you honour your obligations under the GPA.
Other
points
·
The Vigil is happy to
report that our supporter Shamiso Kofi has been released from detention after
the government’s failure to deport her. Another case to which we drew attention
involved ROHR activist Lovemore Muzadzi. An attempt to deport him on Monday
resulted in the pilot refusing to fly and Lovemore was taken off the
plane.
·
The Vigil has
received a reply to our open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury about his
visit to Zimbabwe (see: http://zimvigil-lambeth-palace.notlong.com/
for full text of both letters). The Archbishop expresses his ‘deep and sincere
gratitude’ for our support. The reply says the Archbishop thanks the Vigil for
its ‘continuing dedication’ and that he is following assiduously the situation
in Zimbabwe.
·
We were joined by
about 100 uniformed members of the Chinese spiritual organisation, the Falun
Gong, whose demonstrations against communist oppression we have supported. The
group included a large musical ensemble drawn from several countries. We
discussed with them our disquiet at Chinese involvement in the Marange diamond
racket and other matters such as arms sales to Mugabe.
·
Vigil management team
member Luka Phiri has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the STAR (Student
Action for Refugees) Conference: Freedom from Torture, 111 Isledon Road, London
N7 7JW on Saturday 19th November.
·
Thanks to Marbel
Matewa who worked hard selling the Zimbabwean newspaper.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website – they
cannot be downloaded from the slideshow on the front page of the Zimvigil
website.
FOR THE
RECORD: 73 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND
NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other
website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the
views and opinions of ROHR.
·
ZBN News.
The
Vigil management team wishes to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not
responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that
they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no
control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN News.
·
The Zim Vigil
band
(Farai Marema and Dumi Tutani) has launched its theme song ‘Vigil Yedu (our
Vigil)’ to raise awareness through music. To download this single, visit: www.imusicafrica.com and to watch the
video check: http://ourvigil.notlong.com. To watch
other Zim Vigil band protest songs, check: http://Shungurudza.notlong.com and http://blooddiamonds.notlong.com.
·
ROHR Manchester
Meetings. Saturday
12th November (committee meeting from 11 am – 1 pm, general meeting
from 2 – 5 pm). Venue: The Salvation
Army Citadel, 71 Grosvenor Road, Manchester M13 9UB. Contact; Delina
Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika
Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353. Future meetings:
10th December. Same times / venue.
·
ROHR Manchester
Vigil. Saturday
26th November from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Cathedral Gardens, Manchester City Centre
(subject to change to Piccadilly Gardens). Contact; Delina Tafadzwa
Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira
07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353. Future demonstration: 31st
December. Same time and venue.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith Todd’s
acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe. To receive a copy by post in the UK
please email confirmation of your order and postal address to
ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and send a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to
Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All
proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust which provides bursaries to needy A Level
students in Zimbabwe.
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe.
http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 06/11/11.
It is the author’s personal wish
that a UN Special Envoy for Zimbabwe be
appointed by the Secretary General
of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr
Ban Ki-moon ahead of his reported
planned fact-finding visit in February
2012.
Such an envoy would help
oversee the democratisation process in the country
especially as SADC has
not yielded much progress via the Joint Monitoring
and Implementing
Committee as previously thought soon after the Sandton
summit.
The
attached Microsoft Excel document is an Appendix to this opinion paper
and
does not in any way try to represent the views of any political party or
organisation in Zimbabwe or elsewhere except by coincidence. The paper does
not seek to promote hatred at all but dialogue and of-course action by the
Harare regime in redressing the crisis in the country.
Among various
issues, the paper recommends the arrest and prosecution of
Jabulani Sibanda,
a self-styled war veteran who had reportedly called for
the stoning to death
of a prominent Zimbabwean politician because the
politician spoke out in
defence of gay rights. Furthermore, Sibanda is
allegedly terrorising people
in Masvingo and other parts of the country and
threatening them for their
political views.
The paper is intended to contribute to an intellectual
and certainly
practical debate on nation building by focusing on specific
issues
considered by the writer to be outstanding and critical in creating
an ideal
environment ahead of Mr Ban Ki-moon’s visit.
In other words,
if true, the Secretary General’s proposed visit should be a
golden
opportunity for getting the Harare regime implement reforms some of
which it
has been sitting on since 2009. By no means are the suggested
tasks, persons
responsible, durations and milestones an intention to
undermine the
authority of the persons or office holders mentioned in this
“Case Study” or
those holding public office in Zimbabwe or other countries.
The fact that
one can identify so many issues that need urgent attention
shows that
probably it is pre-mature for a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe
by the
Secretary General of the United Nations before reforms and genuine
commitments on human rights, the rule of law and democracy are
made.
At least my grand-children will not blame me for not doing anything
about
the Zimbabwe crisis.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Former Diplomat,
London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
The Zimbabwe Achievers Awards last month announced the launch of an exciting new writing award to be presented at their prestigious event next April at a London hotel. Instead of nominating for the best writer, like in other categories, ZAA has set up a writing competition to encourage, inspire and celebrate the best literary talent abundant in Zimbabwe. There is a $1,000 cash fund for the winners plus publication in a volume of shortlisted and highly commended entries.
This competition will become one of very few. Apart from the NAMAs and the Yvonne Vera Award presented at the annual Intwasa festival, there isn’t much else recognition for Zimbabwean writers. Competition brings out the best out of people, and the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards, is a platform to celebrate the best of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean literature continues to flourish, despite a contracted publishing scene. The announcement of NoViolet Bulawayo as the winner of the 2011 Caine Prize shows the immense potential from Zimbabwe to conquer the world. We want to unearth more of this talent.
The new award is a way to promote the growth of quality Zimbabwean literature. While the competition is aimed at encouraging Zimbabwean writers who write in Zimbabwe under severe conditions and with fewer resources and opportunities, the competition will also be open to all Zimbabweans regardless of their geography.
An anthology of new writings selected from the very best submissions that will be received for the competition will be published and launched in the New Year. The shortlist will be revealed at the end of December and the eventual winner at the 2012 ZAA event. The competition will become an annual fixture on the Zimbabwean literary calendar and hopefully become an incentive to positively encourage young and emerging Zimbabwean writers.
Entries should be no more than 5,000 words and submissions will be by electronic mail only and must be forwarded to stories@zimachievers.com . The deadline line is 20 December 2011. For more information visit www.zimachievers.com
Click here to read From Dictatorship to Democracy
