http://www.nytimes.com
By REUTERS
Published: October
15, 2010
Filed at 4:59 a.m. ET
Reuters
HARARE (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government expires in four
months and should not be
extended, leading to new elections by mid-2011,
President Robert Mugabe said
in comments broadcast on Friday.
Mugabe has been forced to share power
with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, since last year under a
deal worked out after disputed elections
in 2008.
In comments aired
on state television as he addressed his ZANU-PF
supporters, Mugabe said the
country should hold a referendum on a new
constitution early in 2011 and
elections shortly afterwards.
"After a referendum then we have elections
by mid next year. I don't see any
reason why we shouldn't have elections
next year," Mugabe said.
He expressed frustration with constant wrangling
within the coalition
government, saying the political agreement he signed
with Tsvangirai had a
two-year life-span and would expire in February
2011.
"February next year, which is about four months to go, then it will
have
lived its full life and I do not know what is going to happen if we are
not
ready with a constitution," Mugabe said.
"Some will say let us
negotiate and give it another life. I am reluctant
because part of the
things that are happening (in the coalition) are
foolish."
The
power-sharing pact, signed on September 15 2008 after months of
wrangling,
is silent on how long the coalition government should last, but
gives a
24-month timetable for the crafting of a new constitution seen as
key for
free and fair elections.
The constitutional reform process is almost a
year behind schedule, held
back by lack of funding and bickering over the
composition of committees. An
inter-party parliamentary committee driving
the reforms has said it expects
a referendum on the draft charter by June
2011.
Mugabe said the remaining public hearings on the proposed charter
needed to
be concluded early to pave way for a referendum and subsequent
elections.
"I do not see any reason why we cannot do that. So, are you
prepared for
elections?" he said to cheers from supporters.
The
hearings were suspended in the capital Harare after violent clashes
blamed
on Mugabe's party.
Mugabe's comments come at a time when tensions have
risen in the unity
government, which saw Tsvangirai boycotting the weekly
cabinet meeting on
Wednesday in protest over what he says are unilateral
appointments of senior
state officials by Mugabe.
Last week,
Tsvangirai said his MDC party rejected all senior appointments --
including
that of central bank governor, attorney-general, six ambassadors
and five
judges -- made by Mugabe without consulting him. Mugabe says the
appointments were made in line with the constitution.
Although the
coalition government has stabilised Zimbabwe's economy, Mugabe
and
Tsvangirai have also frequently clashed over the pace of political
reforms
and Western sanctions imposed on the veteran ruler and his inner
circle.
http://www.ft.com
By Simon Mundy in Johannesburg
Published:
October 15 2010 19:16 | Last updated: October 15 2010 19:16
Fears for
Zimbabwe’s fragile power-sharing agreement have grown after Robert
Mugabe,
president, said he was “reluctant” to extend it beyond
February.
Addressing a meeting of youth leaders, Mr Mugabe said the
agreement, signed
in September 2008 to establish a government including both
his Zanu-PF party
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was
approaching the end
of its lifespan.
“February next year . . . then
it will have lived its full life,” he said,
in a speech broadcast on state
radio on Friday. “Some will say let us
negotiate and give it another life. I
am reluctant because some of the
things that are happening [in the
coalition] are foolish.”
Analysts said Mr Mugabe’s remarks were a
deliberate misinterpretation of the
terms of the so-called global political
agreement, which followed an
election marred by widespread fraud and
violence. The agreement said a
referendum on a new constitution should take
place within two years, to be
followed by a general election.
The
process of drafting a new constitution has been severely delayed by lack
of
funds and disruption by Zanu-PF activists. Mr Mugabe said the
consultations
would need to be accelerated to allow an election early next
year.
“I
do not see any reason why we cannot do that. So, are you prepared for
elections?” he said. The “shambolic” preparation of the new constitution
presented the risk of “a very, very flawed document being presented to the
electorate, and being rejected,” said Tendai Dumbutshena, a political
analyst. “If it’s rejected, Mugabe will be pleased as punch, because then we
would revert to the old constitution. It would play into his
hands.”
The statement came amid fraught relations between Mr Mugabe and
Morgan
Tsvangirai, prime minister and leader of the MDC. Mr Tsvangirai wrote
to
several foreign governments last week urging them not to recognise
ambassadors who had been appointed without the MDC’s approval. He also
protested against a number of other unilateral appointments, including those
of 10 provincial governors and the governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon
Gono. Mr Tsvangirai was absent from a cabinet meeting on
Wednesday.
But Brian Raftopoulos, director of research for the Solidarity
Peace Trust,
said Mr Tsvangirai had little option but to keep the MDC in
government.
“If the MDC backs out, what will they do? They would be
forced into another
election without having put in place the conditions for
a good election.
That’s not an option.”
Jacob Zuma, South African
president, sent a delegation this week to
encourage dialogue between the
coalition partners. The influence of South
Africa and other members of the
Southern African Development Community could
prove crucial in achieving
stability in Zimbabwe, Mr Dumbutshena said.
“One thing [Mr] Mugabe knows
he can’t afford is to alienate the SADC
leaders. But they don’t have the
courage or inclination to make sure Zanu-PF
abides by the GPA,” he said.
“Mugabe absolutely hates having the MDC in
government.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
15 October
2010
Robert Mugabe is not used to his authority being challenged. So when
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week convened a press conference
challenging
the 86 year old and his unilateral appointments of governors,
ambassadors
and judges, the ZANU PF leader on Thursday threw his toys out of
the cot and
said the coalition government should be dissolved within 4
months.
Addressing members of the ZANU PF youth league Mugabe said; 'The
life of
this creature called the Global Political Agreement is only two
years and it
started in February last year. Some will say let us negotiate
and give it
another life. I am reluctant because part of the things
happening (in the
coalition) are absolutely foolish and stupid.'
In
March 2008 Mugabe was humiliated when he and his party lost elections to
the
MDC led by Tsvangirai. Instead of accepting defeat and stepping down he
authorized the Joint Operations Command (JOC) which groups all arms of state
security, to go around the country torturing and murdering opposition
activists in retribution. Over 200 people died while tens of thousands were
tortured.
The Southern African regional block, SADC, cobbled together
a half-baked
power sharing accord to save Mugabe. On Thursday it was ironic
to hear
Mugabe, who remained in office because of the same deal, tell his
supporters; 'February next year, which is about four months to go, then it
(GPA) will have lived its full life and I do not know what is going to
happen if we are not ready with a constitution.'
Ominously Mugabe's ZANU
PF have been doing their best to scuttle attempts to
get a new people driven
constitution. Party thugs have been disrupting
meetings around the country
while intimidating people to tow the ZANU PF
line.
MDC-T spokesman
Nelson Chamisa meanwhile said Mugabe's announcement on the
timeline of the
GPA was something all three parties in the coalition had
agreed to. This of
course raises many questions about a date for the next
elections but Chamisa
said people shouldn't focus on the date but on
establishing conditions for a
free and fair election. He said this includes
dismantling state security
structures in the electoral machinery, media
reforms and having a new
voter's roll, among other things.
But this interpretation of the life of
the unity government however may not
be entirely accurate. In September we
asked constitutional law expert Dr
Lovemore Madhuku how long the GPA could
exist, and he said; 'There is no
time frame specified in the GPA itself but
the time frame is clearly
stipulated by law. A government elected in
Zimbabwe serves for a maximum of
5 years. The GPA is simply an agreement of
the political parties who were
elected in 2008 to govern the country
together.'
'So the GPA must come to an end on the 28th June 2013. That is
the maximum
because Mugabe took oath on the 29th June 2008 and under our
constitution
the term of office of any government is determined by the
office of the
President. So that is the legal limit of the GPA.'
Madhuku
however said there was a 'political limit' for the GPA, based on an
understanding by the political parties that the coalition government was
temporary.
On Wednesday ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo was trying to
defend Mugabe's
unilateral appointments, claiming he had authority to do so
under the
constitution. He further claimed that there was nowhere in the
constitution
'where it says as President, Mugabe must consult and get the
consent of the
Prime Minister when making key appointments such as those of
provincial
governors and judges.'
But Constitutional Affairs Minister
Eric Matinenga told SW Radio Africa the
power sharing deal known as the GPA
had been added to the constitution as
Amendment 19, and it is made clear in
the various clauses that 'this
amendment is going to take precedence over
any other aspect of the
constitution which it is inconsistent with it.'
Matinenga said Amendment 19
makes it clear all senior appointments are made
by the President, but in
consultation with the Prime Minister.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
15 October, 2010
The South African delegation sent to
Zimbabwe on Wednesday by President
Jacob Zuma, returned home Thursday, after
individual meetings with all three
principles to the Global Political
Agreement. The team carried a letter from
Prime Minister Tsvangirai,
explaining to President Zuma the latest crisis to
hit Zimbabwe’s so-called
coalition government.
There had been reports that the team, comprised of
Charles Nqakula, Mac
Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu, had failed to meet with
Robert Mugabe. But on
Friday Zulu, who is also Zuma’s foreign policy
advisor, told SW Radio Africa
that they had met with Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
separately on Wednesday, and with Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara on
Thursday morning.
Zulu said that the
delegation had gone to Zimbabwe with no desire to have
all three principals
meet under one roof. She added that this only happens
when the chief
facilitator Zuma is present. Zulu also denied reports that
the trip had been
organized in response to the latest crisis, which
developed when Mugabe
appointed governors and other key officials, without
consulting his
coalition partners, as is required by the GPA.
She said: “That issue was
raised partly because Prime Minister Tsvangirai
had already written a letter
to President Zuma and a whole range of other
people, though the purpose of
our going had not been that.”
According to Zulu, the trip to Zimbabwe was
to check on progress made in
fulfilling the GPA since the SADC summit in
Namibia. But she gave no other
details, saying this was because the team
wanted to report their findings to
President Zuma first and he would decide
how to proceed.
“The only thing I can say to you at the moment is that we
are not at liberty
as a facilitation team to go public and discuss these
issues as we raise
them because we still have to report to our principal
President Jacob Zuma.”
Asked what will happen as the 30 day deadline set
by SADC for the GPA to be
implemented had long gone, Zulu again only said:
“That is the reason we
came - to see what has been done and what has not
been done and why.”
Once again Zimbabweans are being left in the dark
regarding the situation in
their own country.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
15 October 2010
A former Zimbabwe diplomat to Ethiopia,
Clifford Mashiri, who served in
Addis Ababa between 1982 and 1986, said
people should not read much into the
failure or success of Tsvangirai's
request for the diplomats not to be
recognized where they were
posted.
Mashiri's comments come after the United Nations said on Thursday
it won't
disown Zimbabwe's U.N. ambassador, as he was properly accredited on
June
28th. Tsvangirai had this week written to the UN and several countries
asking them not to recognize ambassadors appointed in July by Mugabe to
Sweden, Italy, the European Union, the UN and South Africa.
But U.N.
deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the world body 'will be bound by
the letter
of Chitsaka Chipaziwa's accreditation, until advised otherwise by
the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.'
'Personally I don't see any of the
ambassadors who have already submitted
their accreditation being withdrawn
by the host countries. It would be a bit
awkward for them to walk away from
a guest they would have welcomed. It's
the same as asking Zimbabwe not to
recognize people they've already
recognized,' Mashiri said.
In
retaliation Mugabe has threatened to expel diplomats from countries that
may
refuse to recognize ambassadors he appointed. But Mashiri, now an
academic
in London said Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party should be
congratulated for
taking Mugabe head-on for violating the GPA.
'It takes a lot of courage
for what he did to expose Mugabe to SADC, the AU
and the whole world on how
he is flagrantly flouting the constitution of the
country to remain in
power,' he said.
'What Tsvangirai did was a good way of protesting, even
if he fails to
achieve what he wants or wanted. At least the message has
gone far and wide
that Mugabe is not an honest partner who thrives on
underhand tactics to
stay in power. Even his friends will view him in bad
light though they may
not say so to his face,' Mashiri added.
Another
analyst told us it was clear Mugabe was 'stung' by comments made by
Tsvangirai during his news conference last week.
'Mugabe's reaction when
he addressed his party's youth members said it all.
He was clearly stung to
a point where he now finds it difficult to work with
the MDC in government.
He revealed his inner feelings when he indicated his
unwillingness to let
the unity government go beyond its stipulated two year
period,' the analyst
said.
Members of the European Parliament have responded more positively
to
Tsvangirai's calls for a rejection of the EU ambassador have urged
European
Union President Jose Manuel Barroso to step up pressure on Mr.
Mugabe by
rejecting the credentials of Harare's ambassador to Brussels,
Margaret
Muchada.
EU Member of Parliament Geoffrey Van Orden, head of the
assembly's Campaign
for Freedom and Democratic change in Zimbabwe, has urged
the rejection of
Margaret Muchada's credentials as Harare's ambassador to
Brussels, on
grounds that her appointment was unconstitutional, as Mr.
Tsvangirai has
maintained.
""Until Mugabe and his cronies step aside
and there is real evidence of
change, the EU and its member states must keep
up the pressure on Mugabe,"
Van Orden said, urging the EU to "send a clear
signal to the Mugabe clique
that the EU does not tolerate despots." He urged
Italy, South Africa, Sweden
and Switzerland to do the same.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
15 October
2010
Four cabinet ministers and eight top State security officials have
been
named in another torture case before the courts, where a victim of the
2008
spate of state sponsored violence and abductions is seeking more than a
million dollars in compensation.
Activist Emmanuel Chinanzvavana, a
multiple victim of state brutality, is
demanding US$1.2 million in damages
for the abduction and torture he
suffered at the hands of State agents in
2008. Chinanzvavana is demanding
the damages from the ministers and security
official whom he says were
responsible for the State security agents who
abducted him on 3 November
2008. He was held incommunicado until 23 December
2008 when he was finally
transferred to detention at Avondale Police
Station.
Chinanzvavana says he was tortured during his ordeal with State
agents
trying to force him into admitting to sabotage and banditry
accusations.
Chinanzvavana was part of a larger group of rights and
political activists
abducted, tortured and charged with banditry in 2008
when there was a
vicious down on opposition activists.
Chinanzvavana
has cited co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles
Mutsekwa, Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Presidential Affairs
Minister Didymus Mutasa.
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri,
Prisons Commissioner Paradzai
Zimondi, CIO Director General Happyton
Bonyongwe, CIO assistant director
Ashley Walter Tapfumaneyi, police chief
superintendents Crispen Makedenge
and Magwenzi, police assistant
commissioner Nyathi and detective chief
inspector Mpofu, are cited as the
other defendants in the compensation
claim.
The top officials have also all been named in other torture cases
still
pending in the courts, to the tune of US$20 million. This includes the
abduction and torture of human rights activist Jestina Mukoko and 17 other
abductees. The group of 18 disappeared 10 weeks after Morgan Tsvangirai
signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which formed the unity
government and offered Zimbabweans a glimpse of change. Rights groups say
the shocking details of torture and impunity accompanying such cases provide
a compelling case for the coalition government to urgently undertake
security sector reforms as dictated by the GPA. But two years since that
agreement was signed, there is still no meaningful change.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
15
October 2010
Two top European banking groups have said they will not
finance
international diamond transactions with Zimbabwe, citing reputation
concerns
over dealing with the country.
It emerged during the Bank
Finance session on the second day of the Mines to
Market conference in
Mumbai this week, that neither ABN Amro nor the Antwerp
Diamond Bank (ADB)
will deal with Zimbabwe or its diamonds.
Both Victor van der Kwast, CEO
of ABN Amro's International Diamond &
Jewellery Group (ID&JG) and
Pierre de Bosscher, chairman of the executive
committee of the ADB, made it
clear that "reputational issues" stood in the
way of their banks involvement
with Zimbabwe.
De Bosscher stated that "ethical standards must improve,"
and that "we will
not finance diamond transactions with Zimbabwe while it is
still on the OFAC
(European sanctions) list, under an EU trade embargo as
well as a number of
other such issues." He went on to say: "We are not
willing to even finance
roundabout transactions in South African rands or
Hong Kong dollars, because
this isn't good for the transparency of the
industry."
International diamond dealers have been warned against dealing
with diamonds
mined in Zimbabwe, because the mining parastatal involved in
plundering the
natural resource is still on both European and US sanctions
lists. The US
based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network (RapNet) has cautioned
its members
against trading in stones mined from the Chiadzwa diamond
fields, partly
because of this involvement.
The parastatal Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) took over
Chiadzwa in 2006, after the
legal title holder, London based African
Consolidated Resources (ACR), was
forced off the claim at gunpoint. In 2009
the ZMDC joined forces with two
South African owned entities to mine the
alluvial fields, in a partnership
that will see the ZMDC take 50% of the
diamond profits. But the ZMDC is
still listed on the targeted sanctions
lists of both the US and EU and,
legally, American and European diamond
groups are restricted from dealing
with the ZMDC.
Meanwhile Mines Minister Obert Mpofu this week signed an
agreement at the
Mines to Market conference, with the Surat Rough Diamond
Sourcing India
Limited (SRDSIL), a newly-formed company of the diamond
merchants of Surat.
As part of the agreement, the Indian Diamond Institute
(IDI) will train
1,000 Zimbabwean youths how to cut and polish
diamonds.
In return, the Surat group has requested that Zimbabwe supply
it with US$100
million worth of Chiadzwa diamonds each month. In a letter
presented to
Mpofu on Thursday, SRDSIL chairman Ashit Mehta, whose private
company Blue
Star is linked to the international De Beers mining group,
offered to
provide training in cutting and polishing in exchange for the
rough supply.
Blue Star meanwhile was one of the buyers at a September
auction of Chiadzwa
stones, which was held in secret.
"We request
minister Mpofu and the government of Zimbabwe to facilitate the
supply of
rough diamonds, on a regular monthly basis, to the tune of $100
million,
which will be on an annual basis of $1.2 billion of run of mine
goods,"
Mehta said during the Mpofu's visit to Surat.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
15 October, 2010 11:00:00 By
Nkululeko Ndlovu
BRUSSELS - A consensus is emerging among the EU
institutions to reject
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's
ambassadors-designate to the European
Union, after the country's prime
minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, called on the
bloc not to recognise Mugabe's
unilateral appointment.
President Mugabe appointed Zimbabwe's new envoys
to the EU, Italy, Sweden,
Switzerland, South Africa and the UN without
consulting Tsvangirai - prime
minister since January 2009 and leader of the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party.
The normal
procedure everywhere in the world is that ambassadors are
designated by the
government and approved by the head of state. Then, the
countries of their
destination have the right to accept the appointment or
reject
it.
Tsvangirai, whose party shares power with Mugabe's Zanu-PF in a unity
government, wrote to the EU and UN this week urging them not to recognise
the choices, made solely by Mugabe. The unilateral appointments, he argues,
contradict the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that established the
power-sharing government last year.
MEPs, headed by Geoffrey Van
Orden of the European Conservatives and
Reformists, will call on Commission
President José Manuel Barroso and
Council President Herman Van Rompuy to
heed Tsvangirai's request by
rejecting Mugabe's choice for Brussels,
Margaret Muchada.
"As PM Tsvangirai has stated, Mrs. Muchada's
credentials must be refused, as
her appointment is clearly
unconstitutional," said the British MEP, who
leads the Parliament's campaign
for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
"As PM Tsvangirai's recent statements
illustrate, not much seems to have
changed on the ground following the
signing of the 'Global Political
Agreement' two years ago [.] Key elements
of the Zimbabwean state - in this
instance one of Zimbabwe's most important
diplomatic postings - are still
controlled by Mugabe, in outright
contravention of the GPA," Van Orden said.
"Until Mugabe and his cronies
step aside and there is real evidence of
change, the EU and its member
states must keep up the pressure on Mugabe. I
would urge Mr. Barroso and Mr.
Van Rompuy to send a clear signal to the
Mugabe clique that the EU does not
tolerate despots," he added.
EU: Envoy row 'a serious matter'
On
Wednesday (13 October), a spokesperson for EU foreign affairs chief
Catherine Ashton affirmed that the EU is taking the envoy row very
seriously.
"It is important that the ambassadors be fully empowered
to speak on behalf
of the whole government," said Maja Kocijancic, quoted by
AFP.
"The EU supports the GPA. Non-respect is therefore a matter of great
concern," she added. "This is a serious matter that demands
clarification."
Since the government was formed in January 2009,
relations between the two
leaders have been strained over the appointment of
state figures, such as
governors and the attorney general. Tsvangirai
recently accused Mugabe of
"betrayal" for failing to honour the unity pact.
http://af.reuters.com
Fri Oct 15, 2010 3:37pm
GMT
HARARE Oct 15 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's annual inflation quickened
to 4.2
percent year-on-year in September from 3.6 percent the previous
month, the
Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (Zimstats) said on
Friday.
Month-on-month inflation was at 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent in
August,
Zimstats said in a statement.
Zimstats figures showed that
rising food, beverages and utility prices drove
inflation higher. (Reporting
by Nelson Banya)
http://news.radiovop.com
15/10/2010 17:46:00
Masvingo, October 15, 2010 -
Masvingo Town came to a halt on Friday as
President Robert Mugabe's long
motorcade caused a stir and traffic jam.
Analysts in the town told Radio
VOP that President Robert Mugabe seemed to
be getting paranoid with each
tick on his biological clock.
Political commentator Ray Muzenda, the
National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA) executive member who is also the
provincial chair of the Restoration
of Human Rights (ROHR), said Mugabe's
boost on his security is an admission
that he is no longer liked by the
people of Zimbabwe.
"This is an acknowledgement that he knows that he is
not liked and may get
assassinated. Why should he overprotect himself to
such an extent?"
He said Nelslon Mandela, a great stateman did not have
bodyguards on him
always and Mugabe needed to learn from that.
The
tightening of his personal security was gobbling a lot of taxpayer's
money.The cars which were part of the motorcade comprised latest makes of
Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Nissan Twin Cabs, Mazdas, among others and covered a
stretch of two kilometres from Robert Mugabe way up to the Masvingo
Polytechnic College.
Mugabe was in Masvingo for the fourth graduation
ceremony of the Great
Zimbabwe Universtiy where he capped 1 028
graduands,.
The President had flown to the town and was whisked away soon
after landing
at the dilapidated Masvingo Airport.
His advance team
of security aides and agents from the dreaded Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) had been booked in most of the Town's hotels
where they
were seen drinking and dining in the accompany of women.
The Army and
police vehicles were also causing a commotion in the usually
sleepy town,
one of the oldest in the country.
http://news.radiovop.com
15/10/2010
09:43:00
BULAWAYO,October 14,2010---Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma said
Zimbabwe
Parliament is currently facing critical shortage of
funds.
Addressing a Parliament and Coordination Committee Retreat in
Bulawayo on
Thursday Zvoma said lack of funding has seen most parliament
business
failing to take place this year.
"We are facing critical
shortage of funds at the moment .The lack of finance
has compromised
capacity building and enhancement of parliament. I am having
fights with
some parliamentary portfolio committee chairpersons who are even
accusing me
of sitting on money which is not there," said Zvoma.
The Zimbabwe
Parliament resumes sitting last week . The Parliamentarians had
gone on
recess to concentrate on the constitution making process.
Prime Minister
Tsvangirai last month said he will ensure that all cabinet
ministers will
attend Question and Answer sessions in parliament. The
premier also said he
will take time to answer questions from
parliamentarians on government
business and policy issues.
Zvoma also said "the parliament portfolio
committee on mines will visit
Chiadzwa diamonds very soon after
getting a clearance from The Mines
Ministry, Home Affairs Ministry
and the police commissioner general
Augustine Chihuri."
In April
this year the Mines Ministry barred the parliamentary portfolio
committee
on mines and energy team from touring the Chiadzwa diamond fields
in
Marange. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy was
scheduled to visit was cancelled after Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and his
Permanent Secretary, Thankful Musukutwa refused to grant them
clearance.
The barring of the committee had reportedly irked individual
members, who
believe Mpofu is blocking them on baseless fears that the
committee could be
on a witch-hunt to embarrass him.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Diana Ngondonga
Friday, 15
October 2010 11:23
HARARE - Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone has
castigated alleged
corrupt practices at the Registrar General's Passport
Offices and vowed to
investigate what goes on at this critical government
department.
Speaking at the familiarisation tour that took
placeThursday, Makone said
that her ministry was going to look into these
allegations. He unannounced
tour came after the Home Affairs Ministry
decided to familirise with people
and see how the passport issuing process
was going after the slashing of the
fees.
"We are aware of these
corruption allegations and the ministry will conduct
an investigation to
ensure that all passport seekers can acquire the much
needed document," she
said.
Makone further said that her ministry is not aware of the $318 and
$253
'emergency' passports that are being issued and said that they are only
aware of the $50 ones.
"After speaking to the people who are queued
here, I am actually surprised
that there are passports that are being issued
at exohibitant prices. My
ministry is not aware and we will probe into these
allegations as passports
are a fundamental right, everyone should easily
access them," said Makone.
She also addressed the issue of congestion at
the passport offices and said
that they will also look into it.
"We
will investigate and see what the problem is and try to rectify it. If
its
about staff shortages, we'll employ more staff," she added.
People who
were queuing for passports complained that there was visible and
shameless
corruption at Makombe indicating that someone who came as early as
4 am
could be served last whilst others who came later like 8am will be
served
first.
"There is rampant corruption going on here, if you want to be
served first
you will have to fork out between US $20 and $50 and this is
unfair. What
will it do to those of us who cannot afford to bribe the staff
here?" said
Praise Andireya from Epworth.
Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task
Force
Landline: 263 4 336710
Landline/Fax: 263 4
339065
Mobile: 263 712 603 213
Email: galorand@mweb.co.zw
Website: www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
Website: www.zimbabwe-art.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15148470211
http://www.mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU - Oct 15 2010
06:00
ArcelorMittal looks set to further extend its tentacles into
Southern Africa
after it emerged that the multinational steel corporation
had put in a bid
for the troubled state-owned Zimbabwe Iron and Steel
Company (Ziscosteel).
Zicosteel has suffered a decade-long slump caused
by alleged looting and
externalisation of funds by officials linked to
Zanu-PF.
Foreign investors are lining up to acquire the 70% stake in
Ziscosteel
offered by the Zimbabwe government.
Three valid bids are
under review, said Welshman Ncube, the minister of
industry and commerce,
namely those of ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa),
Jindal Steel and Power of
India, and Shogun, a Chinese company.
In May President Robert Mugabe
rejected an earlier bid by Amsa on grounds
that the multinational was too
big for the small country. However, an
industry source revealed that Amsa
now has the full support of top Zimbabwe
government officials who believe it
could turn Ziscosteel's fortunes around.
"Of all the bids received, we
feel strongly that ArcelorMittal has the
capacity to run Ziscosteel. We
welcome its new bid, as it realises that
conditions have changed from when
its bid was rejected," the source said.
Media reports suggest that Amsa
is prepared to channel more than
$500-million to the Zimbabwean concern to
pay off its estimated debts of
$300-million and recapitalisation
projects.
Insiders at the ministry of industry and commerce described the
debt
strategy offered by Jindal Steel and Power as "not feasible", making
Amsa
the frontrunner.
At peak operating capacity Ziscosteel produced
one million tonnes of steel
annually, making it the second-largest steel
producer in sub-Saharan Africa
after Amsa.
However, steel production
ceased two years ago and the company has
reportedly been selling scrap
metal.
The bulk of Ziscosteel's debts were accrued in 2006 after what was
dubbed
the "Ziscogate scandal", in which high-powered Zanu-PF officials,
including
Deputy President Joyce Mujuru and Defence Minister Emerson
Mnangagwa, were
fingered for siphoning off the parastatal's
resources.
A report by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate
detailing the alleged
looting was never made public. Observers have reacted
cynically to the
government's requirement that bidders include a debt
strategy for
Ziscosteel, seeing it as an attempt to protect the looters, who
have never
been prosecuted.
In an interview with the Mail &
Guardian this week Ncube said: "It is true
that a lot of externalisation and
irregularities took place at Ziscosteel,
but beyond the stepping down and
resignation of several people and
restructuring of the board, no one was
arrested. It is not for me to open up
old cases."
He said that when a
new investor becomes involved "we will restructure the
board at Ziscosteel
to reflect the new interests".
Ncube said his ministry had notified the
three parties in the unity
government of the bids and was waiting for a
decision.
It is also understood that the new foreign investor will have
special
privileges exempting it from Zimbabwe's controversial empowerment
law, which
requires foreign companies to cede a controlling stake to
indigenous
Zimbabweans.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance
Guma
15 October 2010
The full bench of the Supreme Court on Monday
will sit to hear an
application by Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who is
seeking to have his
detention by police in 2008 declared illegal.
The
MDC-T Secretary General was arrested in June 2008 as he stepped off a
plane
at Harare International airport, from South Africa where he had spent
two
months in self-imposed exile. Police detectives Boysen Matema and
Crispen
Makedenge kept Biti incommunicado for five days.
At the time lawyers
representing Biti sought the intervention of High Court
Judge Samuel Kudya,
but the application was dismissed on flimsy grounds.
This was despite the
fact that 6 days after Biti was arrested police had
still not charged him
with any offence.
The police later claimed they had a warrant to arrest Biti
on treason
charges. The entire case stemmed from a 'clumsy, ill-written
document'
authored by the Central Intelligence Organisation and later
published in the
state media.
Following Mugabe's election defeat in
March 2008, Biti had convened a press
conference at which he announced
Tsvangirai and the MDC as the victors. This
did not go down well with the
regime who subsequently engineered a case to
harass the MDC-T Secretary
General.
The charges were eventually dropped just before the MDC-T joined
the
coalition government.
http://news.radiovop.com/
15/10/2010 11:08:00
Mutare, October 15,
2010 - Starvation is looming in the diamond - rich area
of Chiadzwa
following poor harvests due to erratic rains last season.
Chiadzwa, which
is in Marange, is traditionally an arid area which is a poor
area for
agriculture. The little crops that withstood the drought were
destroyed by
illegal panners leaving the villagers with little rt nothing to
depend
on.
Despite sitting on mineral wealth worth billions of United States
Dollars
the villagers' from Chiadzwa and surrounding areas are scrounging
for food.
The majority of them are relying on handouts from relatives
from Mutare for
basic foodstuffs.
The local leadership has been
pestering companies mining in the area to come
to the rescues of the
villagers resulting in Mbada Diamonds, one of the
three companies mining
diamonds in the area donating foodstuffs to 3 800
people.
Each
household received 40kgs maize-meal, 8 litres of cooking oil, 3 kgs of
sugar
beans, 4 kgs of sugar and 2 kgs of salt.
The distribution was done at
Chiadzwa Clinic.
But while the villagers expressed gratitude to Mbada
Diamonds for its timely
intervention, they complained bitterly that the
companies mining in Chiadzwa
were failing to deliver on their promises of
constructing better houses for
families to be relocated from the
diamond-rich fields.
The villagers said they were angry with the slow
progress on building better
houses for them before they
relocate.
They said the government wanted to move them out of the homes
before the
houses they are supposed to occupy at Arda Transau have been
build. They
complained the government wanted to dump them in the
bush.
Patrick Chiadzwa said the companies should be seen to be doing
something in
terms of construction.
"Some of the companies mining
here now have a year operating but nothing is
being done in terms of
fulfilling their promises of providing decent
accommodation to the families
to be relocated from the Chiadzwa diamond
fields," Headman Chadzwa
said.
"Our villagers are prepared to move out of the mining companies'
concessions, but they cannot just move and settle in the bush. We want
proper structures and better social amenities for the people. No one is
resisting relocation, but we want everything to be done properly because a
lot the communities around us.
The villagers are also complaining the
Chinese national working for a
Bejing - based company Anjin, were behaving
as if they were above the law.
The villagers accused the Chinese of
ill-treating their workers and beating
them up once a labour dispute
arises.
"They always threaten workers and villagers that they will report
them to
Zanu (PF) if they cause trouble," said Tendai Makono, from
Hotsprings.
The Chinese have also become unpopular with villagers because
they have
turned the area red - luring young women and girls into
prostitution.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Ndumiso Mlilo
Friday, 15
October 2010 11:31
JOHANNESBURG: The Zimbabwe consulate in Johannesburg
has stopped the South
Africa Communist Party (SACP) from giving soup to
Zimbabweans in some
queues. An official SACP told The Zimbabwean that the
Consulate General
Chris Mapanga told them to stop giving soup to Zimbabweans
as it was
embarrassing the Zimbabwean community.
Mothusi Mongele from
SACP says, "Mapanga behaves exactly the same way as the
Zimbabwean regime.
They want to show strength. The consulate said the
Zimbabweans are working
and can feed themselves. He said if there is anyone
who is starving they
will send him with the next bus to Zimbabwe. He is
arrogant."
Palesa
Motsome from SACP told The Zimbabwean that they were touched by
seeing
Zimbabweans circling their offices the whole day. Palesa says, "We
used to
find them on the queue and leave them on the queue some with
children on
their backs. We decide to assist our brothers and sisters. We
are a party
that cares for the marginalised. Zimbabweans have assisted us
before."
Palesa says they wish the City of Johannesburg could do
something to assist
with mobile toilets and water since people spend some
days in the queues.
Ngqabutho Dube the Administration Secretary form the
Movement for the
Democratic Change Mutambara MDC-M) says the consulate
should sympathise with
Zimbabweans in some queues. Ngqabutho says, "the
consular general does not
care about the plight of the suffering
Zimbabweans. He is not the one who is
buying and giving the soup. People are
given the soup because of their
(consulate) inefficiency to assist people so
that they do not sleep in
queues. Why should he stop people who care about
the welfare of the
Zimbabweans?"
Dube says they are some Zimbabweans
who do not afford to buy their meals.
Ngqabutho Dube has been assisting the
SACP to prepare and distribute soup at
the consulate offices. Some members
of the MDC-M are also volunteers
assisting in the at the Zimbabwe
consulate.The Zimbabwe consulate general in
South Africa Chris Mapanga says
the giving of soup was portraying
Zimbabweans in South Africa in bad light.
He says, "Why are you worried
about the soup? Do you want Zimbabweans to be
presented as destitutes? Most
of people are applying for passports so that
they can apply for business and
study permits. They are employed and can
afford to buy their own food."
Mapanga says the national pride is at
stake if Zimbabweans are seen being
given some free soup. He says they
wanted also to avoid a situation where
other people would come only for the
soup and disturb those waiting to get
passports. Some Zimbabweans queue for
two days to get some passports which
will enable them to get some permits.
Zimbabweans are struggling to beat the
December 31 2010 deadline to legalise
their stay in South Africa. SACP have
been feeding more than one a thousand
people a day in some queues for about
a week.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Reporter
Friday, 15 October 2010
16:39
HARARE - The Director of Business Support Services, Retired Major
Kudzai
Mbudzi, whose company facilitated a loan offer of US$50 billion to
Zimbabwe
by Norange Capital Markets has hit back at the Finance Minister
Tendai
Biti for rejecting the offer.
Minister Biti said in
September that one of the officials representing
Norange Capital Markets was
an arms dealer and could have "Russian Mafia"
links.
Biti said the
offer was outlandish and reeked of "a strange financial
smell." The money
was therefore unclean, according to the Finance Minister.
In a long
statement, released this week Mbudzi explained that Norange
Capital Markets
is a highly diversified international company with branches
in Hong Kong,
China , South Africa and Botswana.
"Its directors and Advisory Board
consists of predominantly South African
citizens. The company is a funding
conduit of the Global Funder whose
history and dynasty funds are well
documented. They have funded many
governments and have engaged in several
international humanitarian
programmes throughout the world. This is why
their headquarters is located
at the United Nations offices in
Geneva,"
Mbudzi said Norange Capital officials came to Zimbabwe at the
invitation of
Minister Biti, for a meeting at which a number of issues were
explained.
The first was that Norange Capital and its principals
wanted to operate
within the framework of the formal government system in
Zimbabwe , including
the RBZ. And that they wanted to finance the government
of Zimbabwe directly
through the RBZ and the Ministry of Finance.
In
addition, Norange Capital wanted the Zimbabwean government to
immediately
review and verify the funds in the Central Bank of Malaysia in
accordance
with pecific Norange protocols and procedures to be agreed
upon by both
parties.
"These protocols included the signing of a sub-recipient
agreement, the
verbiage of which was provided, between the government of
Zimbabwe and
Norange after which Zimbabwe would be assisted to verify the
funds in the
Central Bank of Malaysia . Having satisfied these two protocols
then the
funds would immediately and unconditionally be released to Zimbabwe
. This
whole process would include notification of the IMF, World Bank, the
USA FED
system and Interpol," Mbudzi said in the statement.
In an
interview with the Herald recently Biti indicated that the government
could
not take up the loan on "suspicion that it was dirty."
http://www.voanews.com/
Faced with heavy demand, the Zimbabwean Passport Office has
assigned
priority to those willing to pay US$253 dollars to obtain an
emergency
passport in three days, or even to ante up US$318 for one-day
service
Patience Rusere and Irwin Chifera | Washington DC 14 October
2010
The Zimbabwean government's reduction of the fee for a passport to US$50
from US$143 previously has unleashed a flood of applicants at the Registrar
General's office, overwhelming the office's capacity and frustrating
consumers.
Faced with such heavy demand, the Passport Office has
assigned priority to
those willing to pay US$253 dollars to obtain an
emergency passport in three
days, or even US$318 for one-day service,
reports Irwin Chifera.
For a look at the causes and consequences of the
passport crunch affecting
so many Zimbabweans - not only at home but in
South Africa where many
thousands are desperately seeking new passports to
apply for South African
residency permits, reporter Patience Rusere turned
to Combined Harare
Residents Association Chairman Simbarashe Moyo and Youth
Initiative for
Democracy in Zimbabwe Director Sidney Chisi for their
analysis.
Moyo said corruption - staff demanding bribes for service - is
the main
reason for the Passport Office traffic jam, while Chisi said the
decision to
slash the prices for passports reflected the desire by the
former ruling
ZANU-PF party to encourage the emigration of young Zimbabweans
likely to
support the Movement for Democratic Change. About 4 million
Zimbabweans live
abroad in the so-called diaspora, having fled oppression or
sought a better
life.
Co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone, who
visited the Passport Office on
Thursday trailed by reporters, said on the
VOA Studio 7 LiveTalk call-in
program that she intends to crack down hard on
such corruption.
http://www.voanews.com/
Some
sources report currency trades in the Harare black market where the
dollar
has fetched 10 rand or a rate of 10 US cents per rand - in normal
foreign
exchange market terms an extraordinary premium for dollars over
rand
Gibbs Dube | Washington 14 October 2010
Fluctuating demand
for the US dollar and South African rand in Zimbabwe,
where both currencies
as well as Botswana's pula circulate as legal tender,
has resulted in some
price distortions on street dealings in the currencies.
In Johannesburg
as elsewhere in the global currency market, the South
African rand currently
trades around 6.8 rand to the dollar - or putting it
another way, one rand
equals about 14.5 US cents. That's about the same
exchange rate that
consumers and businesses are seeing in Bulawayo, where
there is strong
demand for the South African rand, and in Matabeleland South
province, which
runs along the border with South Africa.
But some sources report trades
in the Harare black market where the dollar
has fetched 10 rand or 10 US
cents per rand - in normal foreign exchange
market terms a remarkable
premium for dollars over rand. The relative
attractiveness of the two
currencies is influenced not only by intrinsic
market value but also by the
relative scarcity of physical US dollars,
especially small-denomination
bills much sought by consumers and traders.
Economists add that such
distortions are not easy to control as the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe has no
power to set dollar-rand exchange rates - indeed,
the RBZ under Governor
Gideon Gono has been close to bankruptcy with its
physical assets ranging
from buildings to so-called Scotch carts, Zimbabwean
wheelbarrows, seized
for debts.
Financial analyst James Wade told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs
Dube that the
longer-term appreciation of the rand against the US dollar on
global
currency markets has also caused dislocation in Zimbabwe's trade
sector, as
many merchants and manufacturers source materials in the rand but
price
their goods locally in dollars.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
15 October, 2010
09:00:00 By
DROGHEDA, IRELAND - A Zimbabwean man Micheal Tuzuka was
remanded in custody
today over a multi-million euro fraud.
Micheal
Tuzuka was arrested along with two other people after a nationwide
investigation into stolen cheques and cheque books and the elaborate forging
of credit cards.
The 32-year-old, of Park Square, Grange Rath,
Drogheda, Co Louth, was
charged with a series of fraud offences including
possession of high-tech
counterfeiting equipment, handling stolen cheques
and theft.
A 28-year-old woman arrested in Drogheda and a 34-year-old man
arrested in
Galway were released without charge. All three were from
Zimbabwe.
A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions
(DPP).
A Garda spokesman said over the last five months business
customers of banks
have been targeted by a criminal gang trying to transfer
money overseas.
Criminals were pretending to be the account holders and
sent forged
documents to bank branches instructing them to transfer funds to
other
jurisdictions.
Several charities and companies doing
international business were targeted
by the gang.
The Garda spokesman
said the investigation recovered €160,000 taken from the
account of a
well-known charity in September and prevented attempts to steal
about €1.3m
in September alone.
Searches were carried out on Wednesday morning at
addresses in Drogheda and
Galway.
The Garda Bureau of Fraud
Investigation and Drogheda-based detectives found
forged documentation used
to perpetrate a number of the frauds in the area.
High spec counterfeit
equipment used to make fake credit cards, business
cheques and cheque books
were also found.
Detectives believe the cheques were stolen from post in
Ireland and the UK.
Tuzuka is due back before Drogheda District Court
next Friday. Irish
Examiner
It is Blog Action Day today, and the theme this year is 'Water'.
By Sanderson N
Makombe
The recent spat between President Mugabe and Prime Minister
Tsvangirai has
led to a host of false legal opinions being splashed without
care and due
legal analysis and discourse. The most absurd interpretation
was the moronic
gibberish muttered by Rugare Gumbo, the ZANU PF spokesman,
who I quote,
reminded all and sundry that 'It should be made clear that the
GPA itself is
not part of the Constitution of Zimbabwe'. He goes on to say
'there is
nowhere in the constitution of Zimbabwe or GPA which says
President must
consult and get consent of the Prime Minister in making key
appointments'.
Another 'legally challenged' article by ZANU PF sympathiser
Itayi Garande
appeared in the Guardian, postulating the same, arguing the
GPA is only a
'good faith document'. He concludes Mugabe can unilaterally do
as he wishes
using his executive powers as before commencement of the
inclusive
government. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Firstly it
is true to some extend the GPA is not part of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe.
However, some provisions of the GPA, as stipulated in the
Interparty
Political Agreement found expression in the Constitution of
Zimbabwe in
December 2008 as Constitution Amendment No 19.To that extend
,those
provisions as stipulated, are enshrined in the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, an
enshrinement which perpetuates as long as the Inclusive
Government is in
subsistence. Section 115 of the Constitution, on
Transitional Arrangements
(Schedule 8),subsection (2), states 'Schedule 8
shall have effect from date
of commencement of Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment No 19,2008, and
continue in force during the subsistence of the
Interparty Political
Agreement. If the ZANU PF spokesman does not know this,
God knows whether he
has a functional head at all.
Amendment No 19 diluted some of the powers
previously held by the state
President and this is made explicit by Sec
115,subsection (3), which states
that 'the provisions of this constitution
shall, for the period specified in
subsection (2),operate as amended or
modified to the extend or in the manner
specified in Schedule 8.A
straightforward example of the conjunction of the
old constitution without
amendment No 19 and the one which includes can be
discerned from the powers
conferred upon the President on the dissolution
of Parliament. Before the
amendment, the President, under Part 3, (5) (a),
could dissolve parliament
without approval of cabinet or anyone else. This
provision is still valid
but only suspended because Under Transitional
Arrangements brought about by
Amendment No 19, at 20.1.3, the President now
'may, in acting in
consultation with the Prime Minister dissolve parliament.
To those borrowing
Rugare Gumbos mantra, they would rather ignore
implications of amendment No
19 and still claim Mugabe has absolute
executive power as before the
amendments to dissolve parliament.
The provisions which found expression in
the constitution are mainly
contained in Schedule 8 of the same
constitution. Notably, Schedule 8
details the powers of the President and
also those of the Prime Minister.
The major areas of disagreement are
stemming from the unilateral
appointments of the Attorney General, the
Reserve Bank Governor, the
reappointment of Provincial Governors and
appointment of Ambassadors. It has
been foolishly argued by Gumbo that
President Mugabe has executive powers to
appoint these without consulting
with the Prime Minister. Playing on
semantics, he further states the
governors and ambassadors were simply
reappointed, transferred or otherwise.
Again this is erroneous.
Under Schedule 8,Powers of the President, at (P),it
is stated the President
,'in consultation' with the PM,makes 'key
appointments' the President is
required to make under the terms of the
constitution or any other act of
parliament. The key wording in this clause
is 'in consultation'. The phrase
is defined on Sec 115 (1) (a) as meaning
'the person [president in this
case] is required to consult before arriving
at a decision after securing
the agreement or consent of the person
consulted'. Surely no spin can hide
such a blatant exposition .It does not
require the wisdom of the Godfather
to understand this. For the avoidance of
doubt, under the same subsection, a
reference to the power to appoint key
person (s) to any public office is
required to be 'construed as including a
reference to the like power of (a)
to reappoint to that office, (b) to
appoint him or promote or transfer to
that office.Rugare Gumbo is quoted
saying the governors were simply
reappointed as if this provision only
applies to appointment of new
governors, which is wrong.
'In
consultation' can readily be contrasted with another phrase commonly
used in
the same constitution, 'after consultation'. The difference being
,where
'after consultation' is used, the person required to consult is not
bound by
the advice or consent or opinion of the person consulted, again as
provided
by 115 (1)(a).Despite the non binding aspect of the advice,
opinion or
consent, it is still a procedural requirement that a consultation
process or
event be initiated. It remains a procedural requirement and where
it is not
done, the process is unconstitutional.
Lastly, the drafters of the
Constitutional Amendment No19 must have foreseen
the present difficulties
and expected certain groups to try to wiggle out of
the binding nature of
the amendment. It duly then provided under schedule 8
(1) that for the
avoidance of doubt, the following provisions of the Inter
party Political
Agreement, being XX thereof, shall during the subsistence of
the Inter party
Political Agreement, prevail notwithstanding anything to the
contrary in
this constitution.
The Prime Minister is very correct in asserting that some
of the
appointment, reappointments were done unconstitutionally. However it
should
also be noted that appointments done before Amendment No 19 might
legally
not be challenged using provisions contained in Schedule 8.Rugare
Gumbo and
those who borrow his skewed line of thinking must not try to
hoodwink the
public by hiding behind constitutionalism. Rather, he should
just have
stated the obvious, which is that ZANU PF does not care about
constitutionalism. Let Gumbo be reminded that there is currently is no
legitimacy outside the GPA. Mugabe and ZANU PF lost the last election, only
to be saved by the brutality of the gun and Mbeki's machinations
The
writer can be contacted at smakombe@btinternet.com
by Clifford
Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London 15/10/10
What has been dubbed
“legitimised looting in the guise of indigenisation and
the racist land
seizures” could be argued as having got unintended results
in achieving more
inequalities and investor boycott.
In what clearly appears to be a
deliberate retaliatory response to the EU
travel ban on Mugabe and his 200
allies, the Harare regime has targeted for
partial acquisition,
British-owned industrial and financial giants such as
cigarette manufacturer
BAT Zimbabwe, Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered
Bank. The inclusion of
the Swiss food group Nestle Zimbabwe on the short
list comes as no surprise
in view of last year’s incidents.
Having been in Zimbabwe for 50 years
Nestle sparked an international media
outcry in February 2009 when it was
reported to be purchasing milk from
Gushungo Dairy owned by Mugabe’s wife.
However, in an undated statement on
its website, Nestle announced that it
would no longer be receiving milk from
“these 8 farms” referring to Gushungo
Dairy Estate and 7 other (unspecified)
farms from Sunday 4 October (without
saying 2009 or 2010). Consequently,
militant rhetoric has also
increased.
“We are going to make sure that Nestle buys Gushungo milk. It
is clear that
Nestle is perpetuating a foreign regime change agenda. We are
demanding that
with immediate effect Nestle must be indigenised,”
Affirmative Action Group
(AAG) Secretary General Tafadzwa Musarara told
journalists in Harare. It is
common knowledge that Grace was allocated
Gushungo under her husband’s
controversial land reforms. Other beneficiaries
include Zanu-pf senior
members, their friends and allies as well as many
members of the AAG who got
some of the best farms seized from whites
(Zimonline, 22/10/09).
Other large multinational corporations in the line
of fire are the partially
British-owned mining giants Rio Tinto and
Zimplats. Zimbabwe Platinum Mines
(Zimplats) had to put on hold its US$2
billion expansion project in December
2005 unless the issue of Bilateral
Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAs)
between Zimbabwe and South African
companies had been settled.
The need to respect BIPAs came after Hippo
Valley Sugar Estates, which is
owned by Anglo American Corporation had had
part of its land invaded by war
veterans despite a standing bilateral
agreement. As a result, 7 833 tonnes
of poor quality and unmillable cane
from settler farmers valued at US$1.4
billion was rejected (The Zimbabwe
Standard, 18/12/05). Five years later, no
BIPA is being respected by the
Zanu-pf regime. The combined effects of the
chaotic, racist land seizures
and indigenisation better known as “the
Zanu-pf vindictive nationalisation
of foreign owned firms” are evidenced by
famine, poverty, 90 percent
unemployment, the influx of Zimbabweans in South
Africa and obviously the
reluctance of investors to risk everything to
“legitimised looting.” As a
result, investors have voted with their feet.
In March the country’s
power utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Power Authority
(ZESA) was reportedly
failing to secure serious investors to develop two
power stations worth US$3
billion that could help to ease power problems
bedevilling economic growth.
Asked on whether investors were scared to
invest in the country, the then
chief Executive, Engineer Rafemoyo gave an
academic or politically correct
answer saying the country was coming from
doldrums of economic meltdown and
some investors were not yet ready to take
part in such huge
projects.
That Zesa is feeling the effects of an investor boycott and the
recent
resignation of its boss, Engineer Rafemoyo materialised on Wednesday,
13
October 2010 when the government owned Herald reported that Zesa holdings
had indefinitely shut down Hwange Thermal Power Station owing to “technical
problems,” forcing the utility to increase load-shedding outside normal
schedules in most parts of the country. However, Zesa Holdings denied that
Hwange Power Station had been shut down. “Hwange Power Station lost all five
generation units which were producing 560MW of power at 1745hrs on Monday 13
October 2010 (wrong date) due to a transmitter fault. Restoration of units
to service was conducted in phases with three units coming into service by
Tuesday 12 October 2010” said Zesa on its website, giving another wrong date
(Zesa.co.zw accessed 15/10/10). Its customers are on the receiving
end.
A German business delegation cancelled a visit to Zimbabwe in March
2010,
put off by the controversial indigenisation law saying Zimbabwe had
become a
“no-go area” for foreign investors. The move by Germany came about
a week
after Norway announced it was putting on hold a US$1.5million project
to
assist Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector citing the indigenisation law as
the
reason.
Meanwhile beneficiaries of the chaotic land reform
programme have confessed
that their participation in the land grab exercise
was a result of greed to
merely snatch the farm houses from the white
community and not to till the
land. The assertion contradicts the perceived
enrichment of land reform as
peddled by Zanu-pf. A ZBC Newsnet reporter
said, “Most farmers are
confessing that what they needed were farm houses
and not vast swathes of
land, which implied slavery for them. That is the
reason why there is no
productivity on the farms” (Zimdaily,
18/02/10).
Although the Zanu-pf leadership code says that it regards
corruption as an
“evil disease destructive of society” the story seems to
differ in practice.
The Zimbabwe Times reported on 15 June 2009 that Senator
Jamaya Muvuduri of
Zanu-pf, who already allegedly owns four farms was
wrestling with Catherine
Jouineau-Meredith, a French citizen for Twyford
Farm in Chegutu which is
protected by a Bilateral Investment Protection
Agreement (BIPA) between
Zimbabwe and French governments. Muvuduri
reportedly owns Shiloh Farm near
Kadoma, Mandalay Farm near Chegutu,
Hoffmarie Farm in Kadoma and Brunswick
Farm in Chegutu.
A typical
breakdown of the rule of law under Mugabe’s stewardship is
illustrated by
Jouineau-Meredith, when she said that during one of the
beating sessions,
her farm workers were assaulted from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00
a.m. with bars and
sticks on their buttocks and under the sole of their feet
adding, “The
police refused to intervene or come to the farm to make a
statement.” The
courts were not interested to help either.
Zimbabwe’s High Court in a ruling
in January refused to enforce a SADC
Tribunal judgement outlawing the
country’s land reforms although, the
Tribunal in November 2008 declared
Mugabe’s land reform programme
discriminatory, racist and illegal under the
SADC Treaty. It was suspended
for six months in August.
Mugabe has
reportedly commissioned at least four land audits but failed to
publish
their explosive findings due to embarrassment. First, there was a
land audit
by Flora Bhuka, the then Minister of State in Vice President
Joseph Msika’s
office, followed by the audit by the former Secretary to the
Cabinet Charles
Utete to investigate matters relating to Flora Bhuka’s
audit! Then there was
the Chiwewe Committee which recommended in vain that
areas that were
protected under BIPAs, forestry estates or which had Export
Processing Zone
(EPZ) licences be exempted from compulsory land acquisition.
According to
Zimnetradio.com (20/07/09) a five-member Presidential Land
Resettlement
Committee appointed by Mugabe (fourth one) completed its land
allocation
audit in July 2009 and unearthed widespread evidence of corrupt
allocations
and the use of violence by senior politicians and military
officers to evict
landless smallholder farmers, the very people Mugabe
claimed the land reform
policy sought to help. The team reportedly named
about 13 cabinet ministers
and four provincial governors as having violated
the “one man, one farm
policy” but the report is being set upon by Didymus
Mutasa, Mugabe’s
confidante.
The Supreme Leader himself allegedly owns a 10,000 acre
holding made up of
six farms worth £2million. According to the Daily
Telegraph 25/09/09, Robert
Mugabe has built a secret farming empire from
land seized from at least five
white-owned businesses. The paper says, the
1,100-acre Highfield farm near
Mugabe’s tribal home was bought commercially
but five others were seized
from their white owners. His Local Government
Minister Ignatius Chombo
allegedly attempted to “hide” his empire under
shelf companies “facilitated”by
Attorney General Johannes Tomana. For
details of the properties see
www.zimbabwemetro.com “Chombo’s Empire –
The Details” Sep 1st, 2009.
Nobody is suggesting any wrong doing in the
foregoing but just astonished at
the ease with which some people amassed
wealth and became multi-millionaires
in less than 30 years in the midst of
abject poverty.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com.
by Clifford Chitupa
Mashiri, Political Analyst, London 05/10/10
It was a big delight to read
about the US snub of SADC’s four Presidents
Jacob Zuma of South Africa,
Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, Hifikepunye
Pohamba of Namibia and Bingu wa
Mutharika of Malawi, now African Union
chairman who are reportedly planning
to lobby for the removal of a travel
ban on Mugabe and his 200
allies.
Sadly SADC’s leaders have chosen delude themselves and bury their
heads in
the sand like ostriches for the sake of pleasing their ageing
“hero”.
Despite concrete evidence of Zanu-pf’s gross violation of human
rights,
disregard for the rule of law, racist land seizures, legitimised
looting,
reluctance to reform political governance and use of violence
during the
constitution outreach programme, SADC leaders have shown who they
sympathise
with.
As the prospect of famine looms high in Zimbabwe due
to a botched land
reform programme and economic mismanagement, the SADC four
have no regard
for the welfare of millions of displaced Zimbabweans some of
who are facing
deportation to the depressing status quo of political
uncertainty and 90 per
cent unemployment. While it is appreciated that some
SADC countries have
opened their borders to Zimbabweans who are seeking
political or economic
refuge from Mugabe’s tyrannical rule, a lot of the
exiles are spending days
and nights in queues trying to regularise their
stay in the face of forced
removal from certain countries.
It is not
academic to visualise Zimbabweans being condemned to an indefinite
nomadic
life all over the world due to some leaders’ preference for Mugabe’s
erstwhile debatable liberation war heroism. Rather than go on a wild goose
chase and, the SADC leaders should watch their carbon footprint and put
pressure on Mugabe back home to make him reform politically and honour the
GPA which he signed in their presence after losing presidential elections in
March 2008.
Zimbabweans who are struggling to find jobs, shelter and
food 30 years after
independence are tired of being lectured on colonialism
by people who have
caused them more suffering than the colonialists. It is a
fact that the
Zimbabwe problem ended at Lancaster House conference with the
signing of a
ceasefire agreement and the holding of democratic elections in
1980 as
neither side had won militarily. It is therefore unfair of some SADC
leaders
to take sides when they should be impartially mediating and
reconciling the
opposing sides.Targeted sanctions have never affected the
ordinary
Zimbabweans other than the privileged 200 listed people who have
been
invited by the EU to apply for delisting
individually.
Ironically, as Mugabe was pontificating about human rights
at the recent UN
Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, in the
presence of these
SADC leaders, 73 Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were held
for three days in
filthy police cells at Harare Central without food or
access to legal
assistance for the crime of exercising their democratic
right to free
expression ion International Peace Day. Also five MDC
officials were
reportedly seriously injured and one man died in Mbare after
being attacked
with iron bars allegedly because of his views on the proposed
constitution.
Racism has also reared its ugly head at the constitutional
outreach
programme with the reported denial of white citizens by Zanu-pf war
veterans
of the right to express their views on the proposed constitution as
they
were regarded as “foreigners”. Similarly, according to the Centre for
Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) a fight erupted during a meeting at
Seke 1 High School in Chitungwiza on 18 September 2010 when one participant
advocated for dual citizenship in the new constitution leading to the
Zanu-pf supporters attacking the COPAC facilitator. The reason is that it
would give those in the Diaspora the right to vote regardless of their race,
colour, creed, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation or where they are
resident.
These incidents seek to demonstrate the need for pressure
to be put on
Mugabe by SADC presidents to ensure there is a level playing
field for all
Zimbabweans who want to exercise their democratic right to
write a new
constitution in a peaceful, tranquil and tolerant
environment.
PEACE
WATCH 12/2010
[14th October 2010]
Peace-Building in
Zimbabwe
Veritas will be doing a
series profiling different organisations that are working in the arena of
conflict prevention, management and peace-building. It is hoped that sharing
information on objectives and programmes, strategies that have been found
effective and problems encountered will inspire and help others working in this
field. We all need to be peace-builders in Zimbabwe and to learn from the
experience of others.
This bulletin features the
Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation [CCMT], an organization
providing conflict intervention services to communities and organizations, using
training and dialogue as tools for conflict resolution. Veritas conducted a
question and answer interview with CCMT’s director, to learn more about the
organisation’s outreach programmes, achievements and the challenges it has faced
along the way.
The Centre for Conflict Management and
Transformation
Question
[Q]: What
are your organization’s objectives?
Answer
[A]:
CCMT’s vision is to promote “a society where people actively participate in
creating social and economic justice by managing and transforming all forms of
conflict constructively”. CCMT’s objectives are to raise awareness and enhance
the capacities of communities in conflict transformation to enable them to deal
with their conflicts constructively. We do this using capacity building,
intervention and research.
Q: Conflict management and
resolution are difficult enough in less complicated situations, how has the
concept been received in the polarized political atmosphere prevailing in
Zimbabwe.?
A: Our work has been very
well received in both the urban and rural areas. Our approach is to sensitize
communities on what we offer but it is up to them to identify problems and
disputes affecting them. We do not go into communities to dictate but to
facilitate dialogue and help them tackle the issues they see as problems.
Q: Does your initiative have
the support of politicians?
A: We work within the
framework created by the political environment at the grassroots level, mainly
through local government structures which include district councils, elected
local officials and legislative representatives. Members of Parliament attend
our workshops. If we are required to seek authorization from the DA to enter a
community, we comply.
Q: Do you intervene in
conflict situations by invitation from the community
?
A: Yes, we intervene only
by invitation. However, not every community experiencing problems knows about
CCMT. If we see a problem, we may go into a community to organize a workshop to
sensitize community leaders about our work. But after that it is up to them to
invite us or not.
Q: Tell us about some
situations CCMT has tackled and whether long-term impacts have been achieved in
the communities in question?
A: Conflict resolution
associations have been formed as a result of CCMT’s work. We support such
associations in Epworth, Chitungiza, Mbare, Kuwadzana, Highfield and
Tafara-Mabvuku in Harare. Other associations are in Rujeko and Mucheke in
Masvingo and Mkoba North and South in Gweru.
Q: How do you ensure that
communities feel they own the process rather than that CCMT imposes or
prescribes solutions?
A: We clarify the role that
CCMT is able to play; we only go in as facilitators. CCMT’s role is to create a
safe space where conflicting parties can discuss and identify solutions to their
problems. We do not impose or prescribe solutions, those have to come from the
parties.
Q: What are the measures
that communities emerging from conflict situations must take to ensure that they
do not relapse into violence and other upheavals?
A: When we facilitate
dialogue between conflicting parties, we make sure participants internalize the
process and that way learn relevant skills. CCMT’s hope is that they can use
these skills beyond the specific intervention. In the main, we try to impart
skills for communicating in a non-violent way. We also equip communities with
skills to analyse a conflict so that they can identify its root causes and work
on them.
Q: It is common knowledge
that in any conflict situation, it is women and children who bear the brunt.
Does CCMT take this into consideration when implementing outreach
initiatives?
A: While it is true that
women and children bear the brunt in conflict situations, the creation and
exacerbation of a conflict is a collective responsibility. All members of a
community bear responsibility. Therefore our approach is as inclusive as
possible. We recognize that women are an intrinsic part of the community and
can play a vital role through their ability to influence as mothers and
nurturers. We believe it is good to equip them with skills to deal with
conflict, but do not regard them as a separate entity.
Q: Apart from conflict
linked to political affiliation and land occupation, what other issues spark
disputes within communities?
A: Every day disputes are
the ones that give rise to political conflict as people will seize on them,
misinterpret them and take them out of context. As an example, CCMT is
facilitating the resolution of disputes in schools between parents, school
development associations and school
administrations.
Q: The work of CCMT
involves giving communities capacity to manage conflict. Tell us about CCMT’s
training programmes?
A: We provide training
linked to specific interventions. If a particular intervention is needed, we
bring in training for it. To cite an example, in one area of Zimbabwe we have
brought together a group of headmasters to equip them with conflict management
and transformation skills to deal with disputes within their field of
professional operation. Ideally, however, it is the conflict that defines the
training needs. It should not be the other way
around.
Q: How does CCMT liaise
with other organizations undertaking similar work so as to avoid
duplication?
A: We are part of the
Peace-Building Network of Zimbabwe whose very purpose is to enhance
co-ordination among organizations involved in peace building. At community
level we network with organizations operating in the same districts. This rules
out unnecessary duplication.
Q: Has the existence of
the government of national unity created a better operating environment for
CCMT?
A: Yes, it has created a
better operating environment in that communities are more open to assistance
from outside and there is more tolerance between conflicting political groups.
This has generally created a more conducive environment. We hope to work
towards maintaining and enhancing it
Q: Skills to handle
differences amicably must be instilled early in life. Does CCMT have programmes
specially tailored for schools and youth groups?
A: We do not have any
programmes for pupils in schools, but are initiating a pilot project in
association with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in
Bulawayo. This involves building up intervention skills within a select group
that includes students, lecturers, university administration and support staff.
This is in recognition of the fact that universities and other tertiary
institutions are hotbeds of conflict. We will assess the success of the pilot
project and decide where we go from there.
Q: How do you disseminate
information about your programmes and successes so that communities in conflict
can benefit?
A: We are currently
developing a strategy by building up our research department which will package
and disseminate our information.
Q: What are some of the
challenges CCMT has faced along the way?
A: One that comes to mind
immediately is the imbalance between the work that needs to be done and the
availability of resources to do the work. An additional challenge is CCMT’s
ability to be flexible in responding to situations on the ground. Funding
partners expect specific outcomes from specific areas in specific timeframes and
this can be very limiting when a situation demanding immediate attention
arises
We would be pleased to
hear from any organisations working for peace that would like their work
featured. We are aware that some organisations are working in very difficult
circumstances and cannot therefore give us full details of their work, for the
sake of the communities they work with. But any strategies that can be shared
are of interest. We have a policy of sending a profile to the Director of the
organisation featured for the go-ahead before it is distributed by Peace Watch.
Veritas makes every effort to
ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied.