| 08/11/2010 00:00:00 | |
 |
by Veneranda Langa |
|
http://af.reuters.com/
Mon Nov 8, 2010 6:16pm GMT
*
ACR in dispute with government over diamond concession
* Company accused
of fraudulently registering Marange claims
* Charges follow arrest of
executives linked to state JV
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, Nov 8
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe-focused African Consolidated Resources
Plc (AFCR.L:
Quote) has been charged with fraud and violating the country's
precious
stones laws and will soon appear in the high court, the company
said on
Monday.
ACR said it faced allegations of unlawfully acquiring diamond
claims in
Marange by using subsidiary companies that were unregistered at
the time, a
process the authorities considered fraudulent.
"ACR has
been legally advised that this should make no difference to the
validity of
the Marange Claims and accordingly that the charges are
groundless," the
company said.
London-listed ACR is already involved in a court battle
with the Zimbabwean
government which cancelled the company's claims in the
Marange fields in the
east of the country in 2006.
Zimbabwe's high
court confirmed ACR's titles in a Sept. 2009 ruling. It
rescinded that
decision this year, citing irregularities in the acquisition
and
registration of claims.
Last week, Zimbabwe police arrested six directors
linked to a joint venture
firm mining diamonds in Marange, also on
allegations of fraudulently
acquiring the concession.
The arrested
executives include five officials from the state-owned Zimbabwe
Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a Zimbabwean representative of its
South
African partner, Core Mining and Minerals, in the 50-50 diamond mining
joint
venture, Canadile Miners.
A magistrate will rule on Tuesday on the
executives' bail application.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/11/2010 21:49:00
Harare,November 09,2010 -
Harare provincial magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe on
Monday remanded in
custody to to Tuesday six diamond executives accused of
obtaining a licence
fraudulently to mine diamonds from the vast Marange
diamond
fields.
Guvamombe is set to make a ruling whether the six were arrested
lawfully and
have any charges they are facing.
The six are Lovemore
Kurotwi, Canadile diamond mine chief executive officer,
Dominic Mubaiwa
Zimbabwe Mining Development Company (ZMDC) CEO, John
Tichaona Muhonde,
Gloria Mawarire, Ashton Ndlovu and Marck Tsomondo.
Muhonde,
Mawarire,Ndlovu and Tsomondo who are ZMDC officials iare accused of
misleading the Mines ministry to ward the licence for
Canadile.
Kurotwi is accused of making representations by the state that
his company
Core Mining, which is registered in South Africa will inject US
2 billion
dollars in a joint venture with Marange Resources a government
owned
company.
Marange Resources which is owned by the ZMDC and Core
Mining later formed
Canadile Mine company which Kurotwi is the chief
executive officer.
Muhonde, Mawarire,Ndlovu and Tsomondo who are ZMDC
officials iare accused of
misleading the Mines ministry to ward the licence
for Canadile.
Canadile has since been in operational and has already sold
more than one
million carats of diamonds.
Kurotwi, it is alleged
duped the Ministry of Mines with the his other five
co-accused that Core
Mining will fund mining operations from a US2 billion
dollars which it will
get from their main company named BSRG.
The court spend the whole day on
Monday with defence lawyers making
aplications for refusal of further remand
after they said the police
unlawfully arrested their
clients.
However, magistrate Guvamombe is expected to make a ruling on
Tuesday
whether the six accused are properly before him.
"You are
remanded in custody. Come to court tomorrow morning at 9am,"
Guvamombe
said.
Zimbabwe Marange diamonds have been marred by controversy as some
members of
the Kimberley Process, a diamond watchdog have called for the ban
of the
country's gems, but Zimbabwe has said it will sell its gems whether
KP
decides against the sell of the diamonds.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
08 November 2010
Questions are being raised over the government’s
true intentions of
implicating a diamond mining firm in fraud, after
personally giving it the
green light to operate at Chiadzwa.
Police
have arrested six directors linked to the Canadile Mining group and a
total
of 12 executives have been blacklisted by mining authorities, on
allegations
of fraudulently acquiring a concession at the Chiadzwa alluvial
diamond
fields. The arrested executives include five officials from the
state-owned
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a Zimbabwean
representative of its South African partner, Core Mining and Minerals. The
two groups are part of the Canadile joint venture that was granted a licence
to mine at Chiadzwa. The directors are facing charges of misrepresenting to
the government that the joint venture firm had the capacity to fund its
mining operations.
The six officials were set to appear in court on
Monday, while Canadile has
since been barred from Chiadzwa, with the ZMDC
now running mining operations
on its own. Government investigators say that
Core Mining and Minerals
smuggled an estimated US$100 million worth of
diamonds out of Chiadzwa in
order to get the working capital to fund
Canadile Miners at the mining site.
Canadile has for months been at the
heart of fraud allegations, with civil
society groups and even the MDC
warning that their operations were not above
board. The MDC warned in
February that Core Mining’s board members allegedly
included former
mercenaries, smugglers and fraudsters. And in May, the
Mutare based Centre
for Research and Development (CRD), implicated Canadile
as the source of
rampant smuggling operations out of Chiadzwa. The CRD said
in a report that
at least 2,000 carats of diamonds are being smuggled out of
the
controversial Chiadzwa diamond claim every day, in direct contravention
of
international trade standards. The group stated that smuggling was
rampant,
with the prime suspects being employees at the Canadile mining
firm.
“Security loopholes at Canadile’s plant in Chiadzwa are costing
Zimbabwe
about 2000 carats per day,” the CRD said in a statement. “Company
employees
have overtaken illegal panners and soldiers in supplying diamonds
to local
and foreign buyers, who descend on Chiadzwa daily in search of the
precious
stones.”
Even the monitor appointed by the trade watchdog, the
Kimberley Process,
concluded in his report about the situation in Zimbabwe,
that there was
inadequate security at the Canadile sorting and valuation
centre in Mutare.
The monitor, Abbey Chikane, also concluded that there was
no visible paper
trail to track the movement of rough diamonds through
Canadile, and added
that the lax security at the site showed that Canadile
Miners “may be
encountering financial difficulties.”
But Canadile
only started mining after it was approved by Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu and
Robert Mugabe, both of who are also implicated in looting of
Chiadzwa.
Questions are now being raised over the government’s true
intentions of
implicating the firm.
The arrests have since widely been attributed to
bitter infighting within
ZANU PF. It has been reported that the arrested
officials “are victims of
ZANU PF rival factions fighting for the control of
Zimbabwe diamond
resources.”
The Zimbabwe Mail news service quotes a
senior ZANU PF government official
saying that First Lady Grace Mugabe,
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu are
behind the arrests.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
08 November
2010
Concern has been raised that silence over ongoing farm attacks
across the
country is playing into the hands of ZANU PF, who continue to
insist that
the agricultural sector is well on its way to
recovery.
Robert Mugabe’s party has been quick to claim that all is well
in the
farming sector, which has been destroyed by a decade of state
sponsored land
grabs. The forced take-overs of commercial land have also
wrecked the
economy and left the nation unable to feed itself. But ZANU PF
insists that
the sector is recovering, blaming Western targeted sanctions
for any
downturn.
But these claims are far from the truth, with the
country still dependent on
food aid, and the remaining handful of commercial
farmers living in fear of
land invasions. These invasions have continued
unabated under the unity
government, which promised to protect the property
rights of all
Zimbabweans. In recent months the attacks have left even more
farmers and
their farm workers homeless, while last month a farmer who has
been fighting
to remain on his land, was shot and killed on his
property.
Former Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth, whose homestead was burnt to
the ground by
land invaders, said on Monday that fear has driven people to
silence. He
said that even the country’s main farmers’ union is increasingly
afraid to
speak out about the continued abuses on farms, saying the
“conspiracy of
silence is playing right into the hands of Mugabe’s
party.”
Freeth has expressed concern that the Commercial Farmers’ Union’s
new
publication, AgriZim, is shying away from reporting on the truth of
Zimbabwe’s
farm situation. Freeth said: “There is no news in the magazine at
all of the
main issues, that hamper us all in our quest to want to farm and
be a part
of rebuilding Zimbabwe, including lawlessness, corruption of the
judiciary,
illegal evictions, farm murders and assaults.”
“In Chipinge
there is huge chaos with officials taking over land. Hundreds
of cattle are
being stolen, workers are being beaten and no one wants to say
anything
because they are afraid,” Freeth told SW Radio Africa,
Freeth also
expressed frustration that there has been no further information
made
available about the fate of a land invader who had fled to the UK and
appealed to remain in the United Kingdom, on asylum grounds. According to
the UK Daily Mail newspaper the woman, whose identity cannot be named for
legal reasons in the UK, and referred to only as SK, confessed to having
beaten up to 10 people during two land invasions. Her appeal was rejected by
High Court judge, Justice Ouseley.
Sitting at the Upper Tribunal
Immigration and Asylum Chamber, he accused the
woman of ‘crimes against
humanity’ and said the state sponsored violence was
akin to genocide. The
judge said the farm invasions were ‘part of
widespread, systematic attacks’
against white farmers and their black
workers, carried out with the full
knowledge of the regime ‘as a deliberate
act of policy’.
Although
Justice Ouseley admitted the woman was a ‘lesser participant’ in
the
violence he said she took ‘a voluntary, even if reluctant’ part in the
invasions. He said even though she had a ‘peripheral role’ she still made ‘a
substantial contribution to genocide.’ The judge likened her role in the
invasions to that of a concentration camp guard in Nazi Germany during the
Holocaust saying ‘we are satisfied that the two farm invasions were crimes
against humanity.’
Freeth told SW Radio Africa that this ruling was
“landmark”, but said it was
“disturbing” that there is no sign of this woman
ever facing justice for her
crimes.
“The UK all but promised to send
her back to Zimbabwe where she could,
presumably, commit more crimes against
humanity. It’s very disturbing for
those who have been victims of these
crimes,” Freeth said.
Freeth meanwhile expressed hope that the UK ruling
would be “the first of
many more to come.” He said, as the truth about
Mugabe’s land grab campaign
slowly begins to reveal itself, the more likely
it is that international
courts will make the same decision.
“What we
need is for people to start speaking out against the evil that is
happening,
and until people do, then crimes against humanity will continue,”
Freeth
said.
http://www.mg.co.za
NELSON BANYA | HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Nov 08 2010
15:59
Zimbabwe's economy will grow for the second successive year in
2010 due to
positive policies and strong commodity prices, the International
Monetary
Fund (IMF) said on Monday, while calling for more reforms to
sustain the
recovery.
The Southern African country's economy,
battered by hyperinflation that
reached 500-billion percent in 2008, grew
5,7% in 2009 -- the first time in
a decade -- under a power-sharing
government set up by bitter foes President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
An IMF team that visited between October 25 and
November 3 for routine
discussions with the government and the private
sector said Zimbabwe would
have a budget surplus this year, among other
signs of improved economic
conditions.
"Supported by renewed efforts
to strengthen policies and favourable shocks,
the Zimbabwe economy is
completing its second year of buoyant economic
growth after a decade of
economic decline," the IMF said.
"The budget is projected to generate a
cash surplus in 2010, governance at
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is
improving, and the government is working
toward strengthening the business
climate."
The IMF has projected the economy to grow by 2,2% in 2010,
while Finance
Minister Tendai Biti says it is on course for 8,1% growth this
year and 10%
in 2011.
The IMF said there should be more funding for
infrastructure and social
needs in the 2011 budget and recommended that the
government cap cash budget
expenditure at $2,5-billion.
Higher gold
and platinum prices have boosted exports and government revenues
in 2010,
while favourable weather conditions contributed to higher
agricultural
output.
Analysts have said Zimbabwe's shaky coalition government, which
has
squabbled over key government appointments and the pace of reforms, was
holding back the pace of recovery.
"Political stability is also key
to consolidating gains in macroeconomic
performance," the IMF said, adding
that more reforms were needed to realise
potential.
"Priority areas
include reducing labour market rigidities, establishing
security of land
tenure, clarifying ownership requirements under the
indigenisation
legislation, and addressing concerns about governance in the
diamond
sector."
The IMF also said strict regulation had seen risks in the
banking system
easing since the beginning of 2010. It added that aid to
Zimbabwe, which
owes multilateral finance institutions nearly $7-billion,
would remain
limited to technical assistance. -- Reuters
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Monday 08 November
2010
HARARE – A famine early warning system says the operating
environment for
aid agencies in Zimbabwe is likely to worsen in the run-up
to next year’s
general elections, reigniting fears of another ban on
activities of
non-governmental organisations critical of President Robert
Mugabe’s
policies.
The US-funded Famine Early Warning System Network
(FEWSNET) warned that the
government was likely to block critically needed
humanitarian support for
the hungry and other marginalised groups as
campaigning for polls gathers
momentum next year.
“If conditions
become politically volatile, humanitarian agencies might be
called to stop
their support,” FEWSNET said in its latest update on
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe’s government banned all NGO field operations in June
2008 after
accusing relief agencies of using aid distribution as a pretext
to carry out
political work for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his
MDC-T.
The veteran leader, who lost both presidential and parliamentary
elections
to Tsvangirai and his party in March 2008 but survived to fight
another day
because the opposition leader just fell short of the required
margin to take
over the presidency, has in recent years stepped up pressure
against NGOs
accusing them of using food aid distribution as a pretext to
campaign for
the MDC-T.
He has hinted on calling an early election in
2011 at the end of the
lifespan of a two-year coalition government he was
forced to enter into with
Tsvangirai in February last year.
Zimbabwe,
once a regional breadbasket, has grappled with severe food
shortages since
2000 when Mugabe launched his haphazard fast-track “land
reform” exercise
that displaced established white commercial farmers and
replaced them with
either incompetent or inadequately funded black farmers.
Shortages of
seed and fertilizer have regularly hampered planting since the
“land
reforms” started and international relief agencies have had to step in
with
food aid.
FEWSNET also warned of a significant deterioration in
Zimbabwe’s food
security situation until the next harvest around March/April
2011.
“Over the next six months, the most likely food security scenario
is a
deterioration of food security status across a greater part of the
country
with the exception of the central area which is traditionally a
grain
surplus region,” it said.
An increased number of people in
other parts of the country are “likely to
become moderately food insecure
throughout the lean season and outlook
period from October 2010 to March
2011”.
Close to a million Zimbabweans are estimated to require food aid
until the
end of the year and the number could rise by more than 40 percent
before the
next harvest.
According to a FEWSNET report published in
October, the food-insecure
population in Zimbabwe’s rural areas is estimated
at 904 463 between October
and December, up from about 536 000 during the
third quarter of 2010.
It was estimated that at the peak, 1.3 million
people would be food insecure
during the 2010/11 consumption year which ends
in March next year.
http://news.radiovop.com/
08/11/2010 20:43:00
Harare, November 8, 2010
– Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has won
the International
Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) Democracy
Medal.
The
award was presented to him at the 43rd annual world conference of the
IAPC
in Paris, France, which is being held under the theme “Campaigns
Without
Frontiers,” according to a statement from his party, the Movement
for
Democratic Change T.
The IAPC is an international association of renowned
experts and strategists
in media, politics and democracy. The award is given
to an organisation or
individual “courageously fostering, promoting and
sustaining the democratic
process anywhere in the world.”
The MDC T
said Tsvangirai won the award in recognition of his “unstinting
effort and
courageous leadership in the struggle for democracy and freedom
in
Zimbabwe.
In his acceptance speech, Tsvangirai said the medal belonged to
the people
of Zimbabwe, dead and living, who have borne the brunt and pain
of the
struggle for democracy, freedom and real change.
Previous
winners of the IAPC Democracy Award include Lech Walesa (Poland),
Aung San
SuuKyi (Burma) and renowned freedom icon and former South African
President
Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in prison fighting
apartheid.
Tsvangirai becomes the second African leader to win the award
after former
South African president Nelson Mandela who won it in
1993.
Tsvangirai is in Paris accompanied by the Minister of State in the
Prime
Minister’s Office, Jameson Timba and Nelson Chamisa, the Minister of
Information Communication Technologies and other senior government
officials, including the Zimbabwean envoy to France, Ambassador Hamadziripi.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/11/2010
13:12:00
Masvingo, November 08, 2010- Residents here spent Sunday
locked indoors in
panic when over 500 armed soldiers marched through the
streets of townships
demanding that Mugabe rule "forever and
ever".
The marching soldiers brought the town to a halt and blocked
roads, forcing
motorists to park on the roadsides.
When RadioVOP
bumped into the soldiers near Manjange shopping centre, they
were singing
praises about President Robert Mugabe.
“We want our president (Mugabe) to
stay in power forever and ever," they
chanted. "Ukadena gamba redu watanga
hondo." (If you provoke our hero then
you must be prepared for
war).
“I am afraid," said Vongai Mandebvu. "I am confused," adding that
he had
spent the day locked inside the house with his family because they
feared
the soldiers were after their lives.
Masvingo 4 brigade
spokesperson Kingstone Chivave said: “I can not give any
comment today, I
need to be cleared with bosses before I say anything.”
Meanwhile in
Mwenezi Zanu (PF) youth militia in collaboration with
traditional chiefs
were said to be forcing poverty stricken villagers to
contribute US$2 each
to buy the party's membership card as their passport to
getting food
aid.
Zanu (PF) Member of Parliament for the area Kudakwashe Bhasikiti
denied the
allegations saying the buying of his party's cards was voluntary.
He said
people were 'rushing" to buy the cards because the party had a good
reputation.
“Besides us, which party do you think villagers should
join? It is no longer
possible for the people to be fooled by MDC-T
(Movement for Democratic
Change) again. What is happening shows our
popularity in the area. People
actually scramble for the party cards,”
claimed Bhasikiti.
But villagers told Radio VOP that they were being
threatened with death by
the party's youth who were moving door to door
forcing them to buy the
cards.
Rashid Muziro of Maranda area said:
“The youths are telling us that MDC-T is
a foreign sponsored party hence its
members in the rural areas should also
get food from its top party
officials.
“We are starving here but the food aid is being politicised by
overzealous
youths,” said another villager.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
08
November, 2010 08:30:00 Staff Reporter
Harare — Former Grain
Marketing Board acting chief executive and operations
director Retired
Colonel Samuel Muvuti is entitled to three vehicles and his
gross annual
salary for five years, as part of his terminal benefits, an
arbitrator has
ruled.
Muvuti's contract of employment was terminated in August 2007. He
was then
arrested on criminal charges for allegedly corruptly issuing GMB
fuel to
friends and relatives. However, Muvuti was cleared of the charges of
criminal abuse of duty after a fully contested trial.
The Rtd army
officer is still enjoying another exite package from his former
employer,
the Zimbabwe National Army who gave him a government house in
Belvedere and
a flat in Mabelreign.
Arbitrator Mr Arthur Manase recently ruled that Rtd Col
Muvuti was entitled
to his terminal benefits. He ordered GMB to give Rtd Col
Muvuti a Toyota
Land Cruiser he was using at the time of his employment, a
Mazda 4x4 Eagle
and another vehicle with the same value as the Land
Cruiser.
"Claimant is entitled to terminal benefits stipulated in terms
of the
operative agreement between the parties and the law. The contract
which was
being tacitly renewed and which was terminated at the end of
January 2008
was the acting chief executive's contract," ruled Mr
Manase.
In a quantification award by the same arbitrator, it was stated
that Muvuti
was entitled to: Toyota Land Cruiser, Mazda Eagle, Vehicle (same
status with
the Land Cruiser), Annual gross salary for five years.
The
following benefits covering the five-year period, are payable in
monetary
value as gratuity: A board house or housing allowance, Fully paid
medical
insurance for children and spouse, Clothing allowance (covering four
suits,
four shirts, four neckties, two pairs of shoes), Two business class
return
airfares per annum for holiday to a regional destination plus
spending money
for 15 days.
Entertainment allowance
Security guard for 12 hours
daily
Housemaid and a gardener
Telephone allowance (covering 100
percent of his cellphone bill and 60
percent of landline
phone)
Tuition fees and levies for children
Full membership fees
for him and spouse to a professional or recreational
club of
choice.
However, GMB, through its lawyers have filed an appeal at the
Labour Court
against the arbitrator's decision. Rtd Col Muvuti's lawyer Mr
Blessing Diza
of Musunga and Associates said Muvuti would wait for the
appeal outcome
before executing the award.
"We got the award, but we
now have to wait for the Labour Court challenge.
"The benefits should be
worked out in monetary value, but at the time we
cannot talk about the
figures," said Mr Diza.
Rtd Col Muvuti was appointed operations director
for GMB on August 1, 2002
and the contract was valid for five
years.
Six months later, Rtd Col Muvuti was appointed acting chief
executive
officer, on a contract that was expected to run until February
2008. But the
acting chief executive's contract ended prematurely after the
parastatal
accused him of criminal abuse of duty.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/11/2010 21:48:00
Harare, November 09,
2010 - Zimbabwean police have summoned journalists at
the Zimbabwe
Independent over a story exposing Police Commissioner-General
Augustine
Chihuri’s opposition to electoral reforms.
Detective Inspector Henry
Sostein Dowa, delivered the summons to the
newspaper’s offices in Harare on
Monday.
The police want to question Zimbabwe Independent Editor
Constantine
Chimakure and Farai Mutsaka, the newspaper’s former news editor,
who wrote
the story in August.
In the story headlined “Chihuri
opposes electoral reforms” the newspaper
disclosed that Chihuri demanded a
reversal of sweeping electoral reforms
agreed to by coalition government
partners and suggested that police
maintain a presence in polling stations
as well as the postal voting system
seen as aiding vote rigging.
In
his story Mutsaka, a veteran journalist, who resigned from the newspaper
last month quoted a letter written by Chihuri to the co-Home Affairs
ministers, Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone in July protesting against the
agreed electoral reforms.
Dowa reportedly told Chimakure during a
meeting held Monday at the newspaper’s
offices that the police were keen on
knowing the source of the story.
The journalists are likely to report to
Harare Central Police Station on
Tuesday morning in the company of their
lawyers.
Dowa is amongst senior police officers who are regularly linked
with the
arrest and harassment of rights and political activists.
http://channel6newsonline.com/
8 November
2010
HARARE (BNO NEWS) -- At least 16 people have been killed and
hundreds more
are ill after a fresh cholera outbreak in eastern Zimbabwe,
according to
state-run media on Monday.
The state-controlled Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation reported that the
epicenter of the latest cholera
outbreak is in Marange District of
Manicaland Province, killing at least
sixteen people since October.
"Thirteen were community deaths where the
people died at their homes and 3
were institutional deaths," said Zimbabwean
Deputy Minister of Health and
Child Welfare, Douglas
Mombeshora.
Mombeshora said another 669 people are suspected to be
suffering from
cholera, while 86 others are confirmed to have cholera. Most
of the cases
are reportedly linked to illegal diamond mining activities in
Chiadzwa,
where miners live in unhygienic conditions.
The new
outbreak comes only months after most of the country's ongoing
cholera
epidemic appeared to have passed. The epidemic, which began in
August 2008,
killed at least 4,300 people and sickened up to 100,000 others.
"We have
noticed also that there is a general tendency by people to slacken
when they
think that the worst is over," said Mombeshora, referring to the
cholera
epidemic. "After last year’s cholera outbreak, people had learnt not
to
shake hands but that is all a thing of the past now, people are back to
their old ways of doing things including eating cold
food."
Mombeshora also added that the new outbreak might be the result of
illegal
immigrants who came from Mozambique. "Investigations are still being
done
because we want to determine the exact cause of the outbreak again, but
we
are not ruling out the unhygienic conditions and illegal border jumpers
from
Mozambique," he added.
The broadcaster said the Zimbabwean
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is
working in collaboration with the
International Rescue Committee (IRC) to
contain the outbreak in the area,
which could get worse by the rainy season.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
08
November 2010
The chances of another violent election have grown
following reports that
Mugabe’s regime has enlisted the services of the army
to try and revive ZANU
PF and its crumbling party structures.
The
weekly Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reports that ‘serving military
officers and other security agents have been deployed to ZANU PF, including
at the party’s headquarters in Harare.’ The team of soldiers, codenamed
‘Boys on Leave’, will work with the party to ‘rebuild and renew’ it’s
collapsed structures.
Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena from the Air Force
of Zimbabwe is leading a
team of 300 army officers who have been deployed
around the country. Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Internal
Director Sydney Nyanhongo, is also
part of the team and is said to be now
working directly with ZANU PF.
According to the Zimbabwe Independent
there will be ‘three top commanders
stationed at each of the country’s 10
provinces. These commanders were being
assisted by three soldiers per
district deployed around the country.
Zimbabwe has 59 districts and 1 200
municipalities. The soldiers deployed at
district level were stationed at
all the 59 districts.’
Although the official line is that the army is
helping to rebuild ZANU PF
structures, past history suggests a more sinister
motive. After the March
2008 elections the Joint Operations Command, which
groups the army, police
and CIO, similarly deployed 200 senior army officers
who led a murderous
campaign of retribution. Hundreds were killed and tens
of thousands tortured
or maimed.
Mugabe is all too aware he cannot
win a free and fair election and is
pushing for an election next year, and
signs are that he wants the army to
again play the same role they did in
2008. This prospect is even more likely
given the admission by ZANU PF’s
political commissar, Webster Shamu, who
reminded last Wednesday’s politburo
meeting that their grassroots structures
‘had crumbled and were in a state
of chaos.’
http://news.radiovop.com/
08/11/2010 13:15:00
Bikita,
November 08, 2010 - Police are hunting down the executive of the
Movement
for Democratic Change from the Morgan Tsvangirai faction here and
two
legislators who defied police orders not to go ahead with a roadshow at
several places in Bikita on Sunday.
The MDC-T held the roadshows at a
last minute at Nyika growth point,
Makuvaza, Matsvange and Mutikizizi
townships.
MDC-T provincial chairman Wilstuff Sitemere said: "The police
had called off
the roadshow, but we went ahead. We were just moving about
and not
addressing anyone. We are suprised they wanted us to seek clearence
first
when Zanu (PF) is just holding rallies and meetings, doing whatever it
wants."
"Two detectives approached us but we did not want them to
disrupt our
programme, so we sped off. I am told they want me for a
questioning but I am
yet to go to the police," Sitemere said.
He said
the police targetted him as the provincial chair for Zaka North.
They were
also looking for Zaka North Member of Parliament Ernest Mudavanhu
and Bikita
West legislator, Heya Shoko.
Asked to comment, provincial police
spokesperson Inspector Tinaye Matake
said: "We just want them for
questioning. The roadshows were turned down. It
is not like we want to
arrest them. Talk to my seniors for more details."
Shoko and Mudavanhu
could not be reached for a comment as their mobile
phones were switched off.
http://news.radiovop.com/
08/11/2010 13:07:00
Bulawayo, November
08, 2010 - Zimbabwe's Vice President John Nkomo said
there was no more joy
in the country's unity government as the parties that
signed the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) had failed to work together.
“Zanu PF and MDC
can’t sit down in government and map the way forward as
there are wide
differences in the way we view development," Nkomo told a
Zanu (PF)
Matabeleland South provincial conference in Esigodini on Sunday.
"There
is absolutely no unity between these parties in government,” said
Nkomo who
is also Zanu (PF) deputy secretary.
Nkomo also claimed “war veterans are
Zanu (PF) base and should continue
campaigning for the party in preparation
for elections scheduled for next
year”.
Zimbabwe’s unity government
formed in February2009 has been further strained
following the recent
unilateral appointing of government officials by
President Robert Mugabe
without consulting the Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai
recently described the coalition government as a mixture of oil
and water
saying elections were the only way out of frustrations by Zanu
(PF) which
continued to violate GPA which gave birth to the unity
government.
http://www.voanews.com
Peta Thornycroft |
Bulawayo 08 November 2010
Zimbabwe's influential Law Society has launched
a draft of a model
constitution it hopes will influence negotiations for a
new charter. The
country is committed to creating a new constitution which
will be put to a
referendum ahead of fresh elections.
Josphat Tshuma,
who is Law Society president and a senior lawyer in
Bulawayo, released the
organization's draft charter saying they spent more
than a year in preparing
it. He said the process involved getting ideas from
its members and from the
public, and consulting experts both inside and
outside the
country.
Map of Zimbabwe
Tshuma said a new constitution was an
historical moment and the most
important law reform since President Robert
Mugabe came to power in 1980
after the country won its independence. He said
the Law Society was obliged
to get involved with drawing up a new
charter.
"It is a statutory mandate for the Law Society to peruse,
critique and
through some informed advice to the legislators on any law
reform in
Zimbabwe and there cannot be any greater law reform in Zimbabwe
than the
constitutional drafting that we have embarked," said
Tshuma.
Sternford Moyo, a previous Law Society president, said the
proposed model
constitution significantly reduces concentration of executive
power and
restores the independence of Zimbabwe's courts.
"The
reduction of concentration of power in the hands of the executive. It
has a
completely new power architecture. It respects democratic rotation.
There
is a term limitaion imposed on those who hold executive authority of a
country," Moyo said.
In addition, power over provinces would by
dramatically reduced.
"So there is distribution of power from central
government to local
government to provincial government both executive and
legislative
authority," he added.
Moyo said the concentration of
power in the executive branch was the most
important difference compared
with the draft constitution promoted by Mr.
Mugabe and ZANU- PF. Known as
the Kariba draft, it leaves the presidency
with sweeping powers.
The
Law Society's model constitution guarantees the right to life, which
Moyo
said would mean that there would be no death penalty in Zimbabwe.
He also
said that people with so-called "natural differences" or
homosexuals, have
the same rights as any other person - a significantly
widening of the bill
of rights. Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe and Mr.
Mugabe has said he
despises people with sexual differences.
Property rights would be
enshrined in the constitution giving people the
right to go to the courts
over loss of property.
Moyo said the Law Society draft ruled out impunity
and suggsted a commission
be formed that is committed to recovery of the
truth to protect citizens
from suffering injustice in the future.
"We
also need to be able to commit ourselves to the never again slogan ,
never
again will we allow this to happen, and the only way in which we can
make
that commitment is if we know exactly what happened so that in the
future we
are able to guard against its recurrence," Moyo said.
Most political
analyts say a new constution will emerge after intensive
negotations between
the three parties which make up the inclusive
government.
Next week
the Law Society hosts its summer school program and said it hopes
negotiators from the three political parties will attend and debate its
model constitution.
http://www.voanews.com
Mass expulsions of Zimbabwean migrants from South Africa would
be a
‘catastrophe,’ warn activists
Darren Taylor | Johannesburg,
South Africa 08 November 2010
“We expect everyone, whether you are a
foreigner or a South African, to
abide by our laws…. And anyone who flouts
the law will have to face the
consequences.”
Many human rights
monitors are convinced the South African government is
committed to
expelling as many Zimbabweans as possible, as soon as possible.
“Their
harsh words recently seem to prove this. The announcement that they’re
going to be deporting people next year is one that gives them the
opportunity to deport very large numbers of people,” says Braam Hanekom, the
founder of Cape Town-based refugee rights group, People Against Suffering,
Suppression, Oppression, and Poverty.
New immigration legislation
says only Zimbabwean migrants who the South
African authorities establish
are working, studying or owning businesses in
South Africa, and who apply
for revised residence permits by December 31 and
are granted the documents,
can remain in the country legally.
“We expect everyone, whether you are a
foreigner or a South African, to
abide by our laws…. And anyone who flouts
the law will have to face the
consequences,” says Jackie McKay, chief of
immigration and one of the Home
Affairs officials driving the state’s
“Zimbabwean Regularization Project.”
The “consequences” McKay speaks of
are arrest and expulsion from South
Africa of all Zimbabweans who do not
have the “correct” residence papers.
“If you are in the provinces you are
deported through the point of entry
nearest to your province. If you are
arrested elsewhere you will be taken
to our holding center at Lindela (near
Krugersdorp in Gauteng province) and
from there you will be transported back
to Zimbabwe,” he explains.
Up until now, the South African authorities
have allowed “illegal”
Zimbabweans to remain in the country under a “special
dispensation.” This
policy – widely praised by international human rights
advocates – took into
account the intense political and economic instability
in Zimbabwe.
But the revised regulations governing migrants from the
country north of the
border, where unemployment is more than 80 percent,
have reversed this
policy.
Hundreds of Zimbabweans cross into South
Africa daily
“All indications so far are that the government of South
Africa has
completely lost patience with illegal immigrants, and Zimbabweans
in
particular,” says Hanekom.
McKay says South Africa indeed has a
“huge problem” with illegal
immigration. “Things can’t go on like this,
with people just pouring over
the border without consequence,” he
states.
The latest United Nations Refugee Agency Global Report says South
Africa
continues to receive the largest number of asylum applications in the
world,
with 222,000 applications submitted in 2009 alone.
According
to analysis by South Africa’s main opposition party, the
Democratic
Alliance, 300 to 400 Zimbabweans arrive in South Africa every
day. The
International Organization for Migration estimates there are
currently up to
two million illegal Zimbabwean immigrants in the country.
But Gabriel
Shumba, a lawyer and director of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, says
this
figure’s “far too conservative…. I’d say it’s about double that.”
Amid
the clamor of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Africans, who are
trying to settle in Africa’s strongest economy, McKay says South Africa must
protect its interests. “Anywhere you go in the world, deportation is a way
of controlling illegal immigration. That said, this is a documentation
process, not a deportation process,” he says.
Hanekom responds, “We
will try our best to hold the South African government
to its word that this
new process is a means to document Zimbabwean
immigrants, rather than to get
rid of most of them.”
Into the lion’s den
Tara Polzer, of Wits
University’s Forced Migration Studies Program, says
South Africa’s stricter
policy regarding Zimbabweans will have several “very
negative” effects on
some migrants.
“That does include the potential for quite a few people
being arrested and
deported without really having had the chance of duly
getting into the
systems that are being offered, just because of
bureaucratic issues, because
of timing issues,” she explains.
“At this
stage, a lot of Zimbabweans will be deported next year….There will
be mass
deportations,” says Austin Moyo, the leader in South Africa of the
MDC, one
of the parties that shares leadership in Zimbabwe’s government.
Shumba’s
convinced this will be “a human rights and humanitarian
catastrophe….Some
(migrants) do not even have homes or jobs to go back to.”
The lawyer says
other Zimbabweans who don’t qualify for the new residence
documents fled to
South Africa after suffering political persecution.
Deporting them, Hanekom
maintains, will be their “death sentence.”
Shumba agrees, saying, “It
will be like throwing them into the lion’s den
because they hold political
opinions that are at variance with (President
Robert Mugabe’s) ZANU-PF
(party) and these people will be targeted – myself,
for
example.”
Monitors say in advance of a proposed election next year,
heightened tension
between the two main players in Zimbabwe’s unity
government, Mr. Mugabe and
the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, sets the scene for
intensified violence in the
near future.
“With what we have seen
during the constitutional outreach process, violence
is going to be on the
increase. It can even be dangerously higher than
2008,” says
Shumba.
“The reality is that if there’s another election in Zimbabwe
there’s no
guarantee for the Zimbabwean people that they won’t be beaten up,
they won’t
be assaulted, they won’t be killed; that they won’t suffer the
same kind of
violence they suffered in (election) 2008,” says well-known
Zimbabwean
academic, Elinor Sisulu.
New policy won’t stop illegal
immigration
McKay says he can’t comment on Zimbabweans’ fears of being
forced back to
their unstable homeland.
“All that I will say is that
we have laws in South Africa. Our mandate as
the Department of Home Affairs
and more specifically the Department’s
immigration section is to regularize
movement into South Africa, and people
need to have correct documentation
for that. And that is internationally
accepted. And that is what we will
do, and that is what we will police,” he
emphasizes.
Many Zimbabweans
say if they’re deported, they’ll return to South Africa
illegally as soon as
possible. McKay says his government will respond by
“stepping up military
operations” on the border. “We believe that we will
be doing enough to keep
out people that want to enter South Africa
illegally,” he says.
But
Polzer says the South African authorities “just don’t have the capacity”
to
fully prevent illegal immigration from Zimbabwe. “The borders are so
porous; even with all these extra army patrols, Zimbabweans are entering and
leaving whenever they want and relatively few get caught,” she
says.
According to Sisulu, “no matter what laws are made” migration from
Zimbabwe
to South Africa will continue for as long as Zimbabwe’s ravaged
economy
relies on US dollars and South African rands. “Where do people get
access
to that money, unless they work outside (of Zimbabwe)?” she
asks.
Sisulu adds that illegal immigration will also carry on as long as
there’s
political violence in Zimbabwe. “The reality is that a fresh
election is
going to cause an outflow of people again (because of
violence). The same
people the South African government will deport are
going to be heading back
across the border to South Africa as soon as
there’s another election.”
‘Genuine’ reform in Zimbabwe before
deportations
Moyo says the MDC is advocating “a managed repatriation of
Zimbabweans”
living illegally in South Africa, rather than “a wave” of
deportations. “We
need foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe, to create
fresh employment,
which can absorb those people that are coming back into
the country,” he
says. “And that sort of big investment is going to take
quite a long time,
because the international community still has little
confidence in
Zimbabwe.”
Sisulu’s convinced the “real solution to
uncontrolled Zimbabwean migration
in South Africa is a genuine political
solution in Zimbabwe which guarantees
the security of the Zimbabwean
people.”
When this happens, she maintains, “the natural consequence will
be
re-investment in Zimbabwe, and life will begin to improve for ordinary
Zimbabweans. Such improvement on the ground will naturally stem the flow of
migration into South Africa.”
Moyo also calls on South Africa to wait
until there’s “true political
reform” in Zimbabwe before deporting
Zimbabwean migrants and to therefore
extend its deadline for applications
for new residence permits.
“We’ve got a pending election in Zimbabwe.
We’re hoping that, because the
next election will be run under a new
constitution and a new electoral act
and there will hopefully be credible
international monitors, the election
will be free and fair,” he says. “So
we are saying to the South African
government, at least wait until that
election goes through.”
Only after the polls, says Moyo, will South
Africa be in a position to make
a “clear judgment” about whether or not it’s
stable enough for Zimbabweans
to return to their homeland.
If
violence mars another Zimbabwean election, says Shumba, the South African
authorities should suspend immigration reforms pertaining to Zimbabweans,
and should exercise “leniency” with regard to Zimbabweans in South Africa
illegally, “in the interests of basic human rights.”
But in the
meantime, South Africa’s head of immigration is unmoved by all
the
controversy and comment surrounding the implications of the new
policy.
Jackie McKay says both the Zimbabwean and the South African
governments have
agreed that all Zimbabweans in South Africa illegally
“should now return
home” and he has “no intention of backtracking” on this
agreement.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
by Irene
Madongo
08 November 2010
Sections of Zimbabwe’s government are still
fighting plans to liberalise the
airwaves, a media organisation has said,
despite promises of change,
The Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe
(MISA) says that independent
broadcasters are not allowed to operate in
Zimbabwe because of resistance
from the top.
Zimbabwe’s unpopular
state broadcaster has maintained a monopoly on the
airwaves and is used by
ZANU PF as it’s mouth piece. Robert Mugabe’s party
has forced through laws
which have maintained the ban on independent
broadcasters, while journalists
working for independent newspapers are still
harassed. Others have been
tortured and many have fled the country.
On Monday, Nhlanhla Ngwenya
director of MISA, attacked the unity government
for its failure to help
democracy in Zimbabwe. “The issue is we are dealing
with some pockets in
government who do not want to see a liberalised media
environment,” he
said.
Hoping to come up with an ideal broadcasting model for the country,
MISA
held a broadcasting conference in Harare last Friday.
The
meeting was attended by 50 participants made up of journalists and civic
organisations, as well as the state broadcaster. Also present was a
representative from the Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio, which
joined calls for a repeal of the repressive laws.
“This conference
managed to re-state civic society’s’ position around the
broadcasting
sector, particularly repressive laws. We re-stated our dislike
for the
situation as it stands at the moment,” he said.
“The resolution we came up
with is the repeal of laws like the Broadcast
Services Act (BSA) and an
overhaul of the policy framework itself. MISA’s
advocacy programme will be
informed of that way forward,” he said.
MISA pointed to the unpopular BSA
which gives only the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) the authority
to issue licenses. And BAZ has
still made no effort to licence any
independent broadcasters.
“We wanted to have BAZ present, but then they
pulled out last minute. They
did not give reasons for not coming,” Ngwenya
said.
Ngwenya also defended the fact that MISA had asked ZANU PF Justice
Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, a well-known ZANU PF opponent of democracy, to
open the
conference. He said it was a way to bring negotiators to the
table.
However, Chinamasa did not turn up and the Industry Minister Welshman
Ncube
opened the ceremony instead.
Zimbabwe is widely known for its
laws which are hostile to the media, such
as the Criminal Law and
Codification Act which focuses on what it calls
‘publishing false statements
prejudicial to the state’ plus penalties for
‘undermining the authority of
the President.’
Another law, the controversial Access to Information and
Protection of
Privacy Act, states that journalists must be accredited to
work in Zimbabwe,
yet accredited journalists are often still prevented from
doing their work.
Wilbert says that Chombo’s divorce case, which has
exposed the extent of his
assets, has shown the root cause of Zimbabwe's
economic meltdown. It is
Mugabe & his cronies who are responsible for
the destruction of the country
and he believes the MDC should call for
investigations into the looting;
while Simms says the UN has been donating
fertiliser & seeds to peasant
farmers of Mash Central, but ZANU PF is
now accusing the UN of having an
agenda to campaign for the MDC in the area.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/11/2010 20:41:00
Harare,
November 08, 2010 - Zimbabwe has used 268.5 million male condoms and
10
million female condoms for the past five years which have assisted the
country to reduce HIV prevalence rate, Population Services International
(PSI) has said.
PSI Country Director for Zimbabwe Louisa Norman said
constant use of condoms
in Zimbabwe was the major contributor to the
country’s reduced HIV
prevalence which was now at 13.7% from over 28% five
years ago.
“Over the past five years a staggering 268.5 million male
condoms were
distributed through 12.000 private sector outlets leading to
the reduction
of the country’s HIV prevalence over the period.
In one
of the most successful female condom programmes a total of 10 million
care
female condoms were also sold over the same period.
A total of 1,9
million individuals were also counselled and tested for HIV,"
she
said.
She said the New Start was expecting its 2 millionth client to be
tested
this month.
In an effort to further reduce the HIV prevalence
rate to reach a single
digit Zimbabwe has joined the growing list of
countries in Southern Africa
that is pushing for adult men to get
circumcised. Studies have shown that
men without a foreskin were 60 'per
cent' less likely to catch HIV.
AIDS specialists say the foreskin has
more cells that are easier for HIV to
infect. The findings have sparked a
regional drive to make circumcision a
routine party of prevention efforts.
http://www.apanews.net/
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The caretaker coach of
Zimbabwe’s national soccer team
Norman Mapeza announced on Monday that he
was quitting the Warriors job due
to differences with the country’s football
administrators.
Mapeza told private radio station Radio VOP that he was
“fed up with the the
Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)”.
Mapeza
was unhappy about the recent elevation of a fellow former Zimbabwe
international Madinda Ndlovu to the post of joint caretaker
coach.
Ndlovu has been given the assignment to run the show with the aid
of Mapeza.
"I wish Madinda and the Warriors well. I however cannot
continue to be used
by some individuals who do not have football at heart. I
will find something
else to do soon," Mapeza told the station.
Mapeza
has been caretaker coach for the Warriors since the departure in May
of
former substantive coach Sunday Chidzambwa.
He temporarily relinquished
the position in September to make way for Tom
Saintfiet but the Belgian was
deported a few days after assuming the post
over problems with his work
permit.
Mapeza’s resignation is a major blow to the Warriors whose CAN
2012 campaign
got off to a bad start following two draws in as many
matches.
The Zimbabweans currently lie in third place in Group A, two
points adrift
of log leaders Cape Verde which has four
points.
Zimbabwe’s next CAN game is against Mali in Bamako in March
2011.
JN/ad/APA
2010-11-08
| 08/11/2010 00:00:00 | |
|
by Veneranda Langa |
|
