http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in
Local, Politics
SECURITY chiefs are meeting behind the back of Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai, sources have said.
Report by Patrice Makova
The
revelations come amid fears that the disbanded Joint Operations Command
(JOC) has revived its structures ahead of next year’s
elections.
President Robert Mugabe has not called National Security Council
(NSC)
meetings for almost five months now.
But the NSC Act stipulates
that the body should meet every month to receive
reports and discuss key
security issues. The council, which is chaired by
Mugabe, is made up of
Tsvangirai, the two vice-presidents — Joice Mujuru and
John Nkomo.
Other
members are service chiefs, the two deputy prime ministers, Thokozani
Khupe
and Arthur Mutambara, ministers responsible for finance, the defence
forces
and the police, and one minister nominated by each of the three
political
parties in the Government of National Unity. Sources said although
the NSC
had not been meeting with Tsvangirai, security chiefs continued to
meet with
Mugabe on a regular basis.
“The securocrats are keen to avoid meeting
Tsvangirai until after elections
because up to now they still have little
respect for him,” said a source at
Munhumutapa Building.
“To them,
Tsvangirai is a stumbling block to a win by Zanu PF, which they
want
achieved by any means possible.”
The last time the NSC met to discuss
escalating violence in the country,
among other security issues, Tsvangirai
reportedly confronted the service
chiefs, accusing them of undermining his
authority.
Constitutional law expert, Lovemore Madhuku said failure to hold
NSC
meetings was indicative of the entire situation in the GNU, where
everything
evolved around Mugabe and members of his inner circle.
“The
real business of security is being discussed every week in the absence
of
Tsvangirai,” he said.
“They never really wanted to involve him in dealing
with security issues in
the first place. The first NSC meetings were
pretentions. You reach a stage
where you cannot continue to pretend anymore,
hence they are now openly
snubbing Tsvangirai.”
Greg Lennington, another
constitutional expert at the University of
Zimbabwe, said failure to hold
NSC was a cause for concern.
He said it was indicative of the tensions in the
GNU, particularly as the
country moves towards elections.
Political
scientist John Makumbe said it was clear that JOC was still
meeting
clandestinely, as the body was never abandoned.
“We are heading for a real
showdown because if Tsvangirai wins the next
elections, JOC will still not
allow him to assume power,” he said.
Makumbe said the behaviour by the
securocrats called for urgent need for
security sector reforms and training
of the military and police on handling
human rights before elections were
held.
JOC was accused of spearheading a violent re-election campaign for
Mugabe in
the disputed 2008 Presidential election run-off.
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka on Saturday said if JOC was
indeed meeting,
it would only be to further the agenda of Zanu PF.
“All we want is for formal
and recognised organs of the state, such as the
National Security Council,
to meet rather than any other informal bodies,”
he said.
Mugabe’s
spokesperson, Ge-orge Charamba could not be reached for comment on
Saturday
as he was said to be with Mugabe in New York for the United Nations
General
Assembly meeting.
Zanu PF plotting to stall democratic reforms:
Zamchiya
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition regional co-ordinator
Phillan Zamchiya said it
was now clear that the establishment of the NSC was
a calculated move by
Zanu PF to deflect attention and not a prelude to
democratic institutional
reform.
“As things stand, the military can step
in at any stage of the electoral
cycle and work to hold back democratisation
efforts,” he said.
“The political disposition of the military elites as
epitomised by their
support for Zanu PF, presents an unpredictable wild card
that can stall
Zimbabwe’s transition.
“The attempt to justify military
intervention in politics by Zanu PF
stalwarts because of the history of the
liberation war is archaic, to say
the least.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in Local,
News, Politics
A Tanzanian, David Katye, who is supposed to join the Joint
Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (Jomic), flew back to his country
after a Zanu PF
representative failed to attend a meeting where he was
supposed to be
introduced.
Report by Nqaba Matshazi
The
Zanu PF representative to Jomic, Nicholas Goche, reportedly could not
attend
the meeting of the committee scheduled for last week and the assembly
had to
be moved to the following day.
“We had a scheduled meeting with them
today (Thursday), but Goche is not
around and we cannot proceed in his
absence,” Elton Mangoma of the MDC-T,
who is the present holder of the
revolving chairmanship, said last week.
“This is a tripartite
arrangement and if one of the parties is not there, we
cannot
proceed.”
However, the Friday meeting also failed to take place after
a Zambian, Colly
Muunyu, who was also seconded to the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)
monitoring body said he could not make it, Mangoma
confirmed.
He said another meeting had been scheduled for this week,
but it depended on
Jomic members’ availability for the meeting to take
place.
“We are checking everyone’s diaries to see when they can be
available for
the meeting. as long as their diaries do not make it possible,
then we
cannot have the meeting,” Mangoma explained.
Southern
African leaders seconded two people, one from Tanzania and another
from
Zambia to Jomic, in an effort to strengthen the monitoring body, which
Sadc
views as a key cog in the functioning of the GPA.
However,
bureaucratic bungling and scepticism has seen the two failing to
join Jomic,
long after Sadc, which is overseeing negotiations in Zimbabwe,
recommended
that they should be party of the body.
Sadc at the end of May at the
Luanda summit, recommended the seconding of
two representatives to Jomic,
but scepticism remains over their terms of
reference.
Absent
members committed elsewhere: Nyathi
Jomic spokesman Joram Nyathi
confirmed that there was supposed to be a
meeting, but it had been
cancelled.
“There was supposed to be a full Jomic meeting, but some
members were
committed elsewhere,” Nyathi said.
He said he was
not sure where the hold-up had been, but reiterated that the
issue of their
terms of reference had been a sticking point.
Nyathi said the two
would be working with the Sadc facilitation team, which
is headed by South
African President, Jacob Zuma.
The two have previously been to
Zimbabwe, but had not formally resumed their
duties with Jomic, as they
waited to be officially assigned their duties.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in
Local, Politics
MASVINGO — The indigenisation policy is “chauvinistic” and
not
gender-sensitive, as the majority of women in the country are not
benefiting
from it, a Zanu PF senator said last week.Report by Tatenda
Chitagu
Maina Mandava, senator for Masvingo, took a dig at the policy, which
is
being spearheaded by the Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment
minister Saviour Kasukuwere, saying it did not benefit women,
even those in
Zanu PF.
“The whole thing is to the benefit of male
colleagues. Most of the
programmes do not benefit women and tend to be a
male-only affair and the
indigenisation is one such example, as it is yet to
benefit women,” she
said.
Mandava was speaking at an inter-party public
meeting organised by the
Zimbabwe Election Support Network ZESN in Masvingo
last week.
She urged women to make “noise”, so that they could get a share of
the
indigenisation cake.
“Women should claim a stake. We have always been
sidelined and discriminated
against, although our male politicians always
talk about gender equality,”
she said.
Mandava’s comment comes soon after
the Industry and Commerce minister
Professor Welshman Ncube blasted Zanu PF
stalwarts benefiting from the
policy.
Addressing about 200 supporters in
Masvingo last week, Ncube said: “Zanu PF
bigwigs who invaded the Save
Conservancy under
the guise of indigenisation are seasoned thieves.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in
Local
PEOPLE who fled the country during times of political turmoil are still
reluctant to come back because the government has failed to create an
enabling environment for their return, The Catholic Bishops Conference has
said.Report by Our Staff
The conference, which is made up of the eight
Roman Catholic bishops in the
country, said Diasporans found it hard to
return because the country had not
set up a proper healing and
reconciliation programme.
“The task of healing and reconciliation is
not helped by the ongoing culture
of intimidation and abuse of human
rights,” the bishops wrote in their
latest monthly pastoral
letter.
“Genuine engagement in a process of national healing and
reconciliation must
become real rather than notional. Without this
engagement, the festering
sore will remain and Zimbabweans will continue to
leave their country in
significant numbers.”
An organ of national
healing, reconciliation and integration was set up at
the formation of the
inclusive government, but so far, its work has been
hamstrung by a critical
lack of resources and political will.
The bishops said while they
noted the work being done by the civic society
and churches in aiding
Zimbabwe citizens in the diaspora, this was akin to
“band aid”, as they were
just putting a plaster on a festering sore, without
healing the
wound.
It is estimated that more than three million Zimbabweans fled
the country at
the height of an economic and political downturn, with most
believed to be
resident in neighbouring South Africa.
A huge
number are said to be in Britain.
The bishops said they felt shamed
and pained that many Zimbabweans felt
unwelcome in their own
country.
“This experience of being unwanted has been worsened by the
overall failure
of political discourse within Zimbabwe to focus with serious
intent on the
exodus of its people,” the letter continued.
“Very
few politicians have visited border areas or crossed border areas to
witness
first-hand the situation of their fellow Zimbabweans.”
The clerical
leaders were of the view that politicians were apathetic to the
cause of
exiled people, as it was not politically expedient to acknowledge
the
reality of the ongoing displacement of Zimbabweans since the inception
of
the inclusive government.
“(The) ongoing displacement, at best
suggests a political challenge, at
worst, political ineptitude, division and
failure,” reads the letter.
“The vast majority of those who leave,
are seen as politically insignificant
and expendable. Their only merit is
the remittances sent to prop up a
severely depressed
economy.”
‘Recognise Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora’
The men-of-the-cloth said the diaspora exclusion was
particularly acute
during times of elections, as they did not have the right
to vote.
There have been calls to include postal voting in the new
Electoral Act,
that will allow Diasporans to vote, but these have often fell
on deaf ears.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
01 October
2012
There has been ongoing criticism of Robert Mugabe’s intentions to
hold
elections in March 2013, with civil society groups warning this date is
‘unrealistic’ and ‘impossible’.
Mugabe has stated in court papers
that he intends to hold a general election
next March after a constitutional
referendum in November this year. His
legal team has used this as the
justification to seek an extension on a
court ordered deadline to call for
by-elections for vacant constituencies
across the country.
The ZANU
PF leader was originally ordered to call for the by-elections by
Monday,
after three MPs last year successfully challenged his refusal to do
so.
Mugabe’s legal team has insisted there isn’t money to have by-elections
in
all the constituencies where there is a vacancy, with 39 constituency
vacancies and 27 Parliamentary seat vacancies. Observers have said that if
Mugabe does call for by-elections to cover all theses vacancies, this would
amount to a mini general election.
Mugabe instead has unilaterally
decided to hold actual general elections
next March, according to court
papers submitted by his legal team last week.
His partners in the unity
government, the MDC formations, have both said
this is not a final decision
because there has been no consultation with its
leadership.
Civic
groups have also said elections in March will not be free and fair,
because
of the lack of key reforms that still need to take place by then.
The
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has said in a statement that it
is
“adamant that logistically it (elections in March) is
impossible.”
“Logistically, the timing of the elections is impossible
given a number of
fundamental issues that need time, resources, commitment
and the political
will to ensure that these elections are conducted in an
environment that
promotes democracy,” ZESN said.
The group said that
elections “must not be called for before substantive
electoral reforms take
place, including “the reforming of repressive
legislation such as Posa and
Aippa that hinder on respect and upholding of
fundamental
freedoms.”
“In addition, there is need to ensure that Presidential Powers
are removed
in respect of elections. Another critical issue is an end to
violence and
intimidation, in particular the dismantling of all structures
of violence in
all communities,” ZESN said.
According to Phillip
Pasirayi, from the Centre for Community Development,
the ZESN position has
been adopted by other civic groups who have warned
that without the proper
reforms, there is no chance of a free election.
“There are very serious
questions that have not received the adequate
answers. As long as we don’t
have proper reforms, the elections will be an
exercise in futility,”
Pasirayi said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in
Local
President Robert Mugabe last week indicated that he wanted elections
held
next March, but questions linger on whether polls would be possible
then and
if the president was genuine.
Report Nqaba
Matshazi
Qhubani Moyo of the MDC says what’s important is to reform
key institutions
that run elections, so that the next elections won’t be
disputed
Analysts this week indicated that while a poll was possible in
six months,
provided there was political will, Mugabe might have been
seeking to
frustrate former legislators that want him to declare a date for
by-elections.
Mugabe was supposed to set a date by today, but by
saying that he would call
for an election in March, analysts said, he could
be trying to pre-empt the
Supreme Court order that compelled him to set a
date.
MDC formations are quite sceptical of elections being held in
six months’
time, saying they were ready for them but it was important that
key reforms
be put in place before a date was set.
“For us, it’s
not about the date, but about the milestones that have to be
achieved in
reforming key institutions that run elections, so we can produce
an
indisputable winner,” Qhubani Moyo, a senior MDC official said.
MDC-T
organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa said what was needed were
conditions
for a free election and not rushing to set the date for
elections.
“Setting a date before key reforms are implemented is
akin to putting the
cart before the horse. any talk of elections without
reform is futile and
fatal to both the country and whoever is proposing
that,” he said.
Both officials said constitutional, security sector,
media and electoral law
reforms were needed before polls were called
for.
Political analyst Charles Mangongera said while this was a clear
indication
of Mugabe’s intent to hold elections, it was not the first time
the veteran
leader had made a definitive call for
elections.
Mangongera said since 2010, Mugabe and Zanu PF had been
demanding polls,
with the party’s last conference declaring that elections
be held this year.
Earlier this year, Mugabe said he would announce a date
for elections at the
end of May, but this came to
nought.
Mangongera said the plan was to set an agenda and have the
nation discussing
elections while losing sight of key reforms that were
needed before polls
were held.
“There is a whole range of
critical reforms that need to be implemented, but
now Zanu PF wants people
to lose sight of these issues and concentrate on
elections,” he
said.
Mangongera was of the view that elections could be held in six
months’ time,
but he feared that there was lack of political will to
implement key reforms
by Zanu PF.
This, he said, would scupper
the March poll plan.
“Six months is a reasonable time frame to hold elections
if there is
sufficient political will, but there are critical political
processes that
need to be carried out before then,” he said.
This
was a view shared by Trevor Maisiri, a senior analyst for southern
Africa at
the International Crisis Group.
“If there is utmost political will
among political parties for a free and
fair election, six months is ample
time to prepare and hold such a
plebiscite,” he said.
“However,
given the gridlock in the Government of National Unity and the
stalling of
reforms, I don’t think six months will deliver any significant
reforms for a
free and fair election — unless there is a new vein of
political will.
Without political will, even another five years will not
produce the
pre-requisite reforms.”
Maisiri said while Mugabe might want
elections in March, he had to consult
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
Welshman Ncube, who heads MDC.
‘MDC-T may prefer delayed
elections’
Political analyst, Trevor Maisiri, added that MDC-T
may prefer a delay in
elections and would oppose Mugabe’s March poll plans
as it had to sort out
issues regarding its support base.
Recent
surveys by the Freedom House and Afro-Barometer have indicated that
the
party’s support was dwindling.
MDC formations against Zanu PF
‘unilateralism’
The MDC formations have bemoaned President Robert
Mugabe’s declaration that
elections would be held next March, saying he
could not make such a decision
unilaterally.
Mugabe has made no
secret of his desire to have elections as soon as
possible. His party wanted
to collapse the inclusive government last
February claiming that it only had
a two-year life span.
Sadc, on the other hand, has demanded that
Zimbabwe first implement key
reforms before holding elections, whose result
might be contested.
The High Court will tomorrow decide if Mugabe’s latest
appeal to have the
by-elections deferred was urgent.
By Tererai Karimakwenda
01
October 2012
The MDC-T celebrated their 13th anniversary as a political party at a rally in Bulawayo on Saturday, where party President Morgan Tsvangirai, introduced his new wife Elizabeth Macheka and assured supporters that no rigging would be tolerated in the next election.
Mandhla Sibanda, the MDC-T spokesperson for Bulawayo, told SW Radio Africa the celebrations were mostly peaceful, except for a ZANU PF attack on some cars and minibuses that were bringing supporters to White City Stadium.
“At the venue it was generally peaceful but for some of our members who were travelling from areas like Gweru, there were skirmishes at Shangani where rowdy youths believed to be ZANU PF threw stones at their cars and kombis. There were some injuries but not very serious,” Sibanda said.
As for Tsvangirai’s message, Sibanda said the MDC-T leader admitted the draft constitution agreed to by the political parties was not what everyone wanted, but it had elements that would help ensure a free and fair poll is held, with the results announced immediately.
“He said the COPAC draft has better provisions that will assist us usher a free and fair poll because it deals with issues of democratic transfer of power, and immediate transfer of power after elections. He assured the people that this around we are going to protect the people’s vote and respect it,” Sibanda explained.
Tsvangirai also introduced his new wife to supporters at the rally. Sibanda said Elizabeth Macheka was received with a “rapturous applause” as she greeted party members and supporters. Sibanda said the MDC-T leader apologized for the drama caused by his former lovers and Macheka has been welcomed by the MDC-T family.
An old familiar party symbol showing a child with the open palm was re-introduced during the celebrations. Sibanda said the open palm is still the party symbol and, paired with the image of the child, will be used during elections. He explained that this was done in order to avoid the confusion that happened last time, when voters thought the open palm stood for the other MDC formation.
Senior MDC-T officials also addressed supporters in Bulawayo, including the party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora and secretary general Tendai Biti.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
01/10/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
A JUDGE on Monday postponed to Tuesday a ruling on President
Robert Mugabe’s
application to delay three overdue by-elections until March
next year.
The Supreme Court had given Mugabe until September 30 to call
by-elections
in three parliamentary constituencies – Nkayi South, Bulilima
East and
Lupane East – which fell vacant in 2009 when the MDC expelled three
MPs.
But Mugabe, in papers filed at the High Court last Wednesday, argued
that
the government was broke and general elections were due in six months
anyway.
Justice George Chiweshe heard preliminary arguments from
lawyers for the
three MPs and President Mugabe in a closed session in his
chambers at the
Harare High Court on Monday.
Lawyers Tawanda
Zhuwarara and Jeremiah Bhamu, representing the three MPs,
are arguing that
the lower court cannot amend or substitute the judgement of
the Supreme
Court.
The lawyers also questioned the validity of President Mugabe’s
appeal which
was made on his behalf by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Mugabe was
away at the United Nations.
“We had raised preliminary
points in respect of whether or not the minister
could depose affidavits on
behalf of the President,” Zhuwarara said as he
left court.
“It seems
that the court’s view is that we should proceed to the merits on
Tuesday and
to facilitate this exercise, we are filing our formal opposition
today and
then we will have the whole matter argued and determined at 10AM
on
Tuesday.”
Last Friday, the litigants – former MDC legislators Abednico
Bhebhe,
Njabuliso Mguni and Norman Mpofu – said in opposing affidavits that
Chinamasa had no legal standing to depose an affidavit on behalf of Mugabe
without presenting proof that he had been granted that
authority.
Beatrice Mtetwa, a member of the ex-lawmakers’ legal team,
argued that
Chinamasa could not possibly raise the financial constraints
argument
because he was not the Finance Minister and his application does
not have
the Finance Minister’s supporting affidavit.
In his
application, Mugabe said holding the three by-elections now would
require
that 29 vacant parliamentary seats and nearly 160 vacant local
government
seats be filled, a situation which he described as a
“mini-general
election”.
According to government figures, the “mini-general election”
would require
US$47,5 million at a time when the government is scrambling to
find US$104,6
million for a referendum on a new constitution set to be held
in November,
and US$115,3 million for general elections which Mugabe says
will be held in
March, if the court grants the requested
extension.
Unusually for the deeply divided unity government, Mugabe
has received
backing from his main political rival, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, as
he bids to delay the by-elections which observers fear could
spark political
violence.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
01 October
2012
Zimbabwe’s police commissioner Augustine Chihuri is being urged to
publicly
declare how much money is being collected by police officers at the
many
roadblocks across the country.
The Coalition Against Corruption
(CAC) last week handed over a letter and
petition to the police’s general
headquarters in Harare, in an effort to
promote transparency and
accountability in the police force. The CAC
director Terry
Mutsvangwa
said the public had the right to know where the funds collected
at
roadblocks were being channelled to.
“As CAC, we are not saying
Commissioner Chihuri is abusing the funds, but we
are just demanding to know
where the money is going,” he said.
The number of roadblocks across the
country has for months enraged
Zimbabweans, who are forced to pay
on-the-spot fines for a range of
‘offences’. A source who recently visited
Zimbabwe told SW Radio Africa that
the roadblock situation is “out of
control.” The source counted 29 separate
roadblocks on a single journey from
Harare to Bulawayo last month, adding
that the police “would even take your
drinks if you didn’t have any money.”
Public affairs commentator Precious
Shumba told SW Radio Africa that the
roadblocks are widely condemned as “a
corrupt, illegal, unjustified burden
on the public.”
“People are
being asked to part with their money at every single roadblock
for anything
the police say they have done wrong. People feel like
criminals. They are
inconvenienced all the time at these extortionate
roadblocks,” Shumba
said.
He welcomed the CAC petition for raising awareness about the issue,
but said
it was unlikely to make a real difference.
“I doubt the
police will take it seriously, because the police justification
is that the
roadblocks are for policing and they are maintaining law and
order,” Shumba
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
01 October 2012
Faced with a US$400 million
deficit in the 2012 budget and huge debt, the
Zimbabwean government has been
advised to seek financial assistance from
foreign donors, in order to fund
the pending referendum on a new
Constitution and elections due next
year.
A report on Zimbabwe released by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) on
Friday said this would ease pressure on the country’s treasury.
According to
the state run New Ziana news agency, Zimbabwe has already
turned to South
Africa and Angola for help.
The coalition government
was also warned to review its policy on foreign
direct investment in the
country, which requires foreign-owned companies to
give up 51% of their
shares to locals. The IMF said this was hampering
foreign investment in
Zimbabwe.
Time is running out for the select committee in charge of the
Constitutional
reform exercise, COPAC, following their announcement last
week that the 2nd
All Stakeholders Conference would be held by the end of
October. The
government will need the funds for the referendum soon
after.
It is not clear how much is needed for the exercise, but Finance
Minister
Tendai Biti has made it clear there is no money in the government
coffers to
even pay for wage increases that civil servants are demanding. In
addition,
census enumerators who worked last month have also not been paid
in full.
Meanwhile, the COPAC draft continues to be criticized by civic
groups in the
country. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), who
last week
published an analysis of the COPAC draft Constitution , have said
the draft
retains the executive powers of the President and is not clear on
the issue
of dual citizenship.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa’s “Behind
the Headlines” programme, ZLHR
chairperson Andrew Makoni said they analyzed
the draft because the version
released to Zimbabweans is full of legal
language that the ordinary person
may not understand.
This makes it
difficult to analyze before making contributions to the
debate, and before
deciding how to vote in the referendum.
Regarding presidential powers,
Makoni said: “We still have an executive
which is powerful. He is the head
of state, head of government and commander
in chief of the defence forces.
Not much has changed, except in one or two
areas where he must consult
parliament or the cabinet.”
Makoni explained that without adequate checks
and balances, the President
can declare war without much opposition and
ignore any objections raised by
parliament. He can simply “consult” them
then proceed to make unilateral
decisions that can affect the whole
country.
On the issue of dual citizenship, Makoni said: “The issue is
very
convoluted. The draft is not clear on dual citizenship. Parliament has
been
given enormous powers to look into these issues. It was left to an act
of
parliament to decide. We are making a Constitution here and we must be
clear.”
This week on Crisis Analysis, SW Radio Africa will continue
unpacking the
COPAC Draft with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, to
help our
listeners understand the issues at stake before making decisions at
the
referendum.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Monday, 01 October 2012
11:47
HARARE - With just 10 months left before Zimbabwe co-hosts the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly with Zambia,
government is yet to decide whether or not to construct a convention centre
in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
While Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority, ZTA chief executive Karikoga Kaseke has
been on record saying the
inclusive government was content to host the mega
event on the basis of a
temporary structure that will be erected on Africa
Sun Limited’s Elephant
Hills Resort golf course, there are political figures
pushing for the
construction of a new convention centre with a sitting
capacity of up to 4
000 people.
Addressing a public lecture at the University of Zimbabwe
last week, Tourism
minister Walter Mzembi said it made no economic sense to
host the
international delegates in a marquee.
“There is a school of
thought that is saying we should use a tent. This is
an indication of a
small vision. In 2010, South African government put
everything on hold and
concentrated on building world-class stadiums which
will continue being a
legacy in many years to come,” said Mzembi.
“You are faced with a similar
event and all one can think of is (private
events management company)
Rooney’s. We pitch a tent and dismantle after the
event, then what?” asked
the Tourism minister.
“If those in decision-making at the time had
decided against building
Rainbow Towers Hotel to make use of a temporary
structure (when Zimbabwe
hosted the Non-Aligned Movement leaders’ summit 20
years ago), the country
would have been losing on a lot of opportunities and
revenue now.”
The new convention centre, he said, can still be built, but
not in time for
the event.
Kaseke said a viable option would be to
build a semi-permanent structure for
the event, and in line with Transport
secretary Munesu Monodawafa’s
recommendations, for government to build an
aluminium glass fabrication
structure which will last for up to 20
years.
Despite Mzembi’s call for the country to erect a permanent
structure,
Transport minister Nicholas Goche last week said infrastructural
development
was moving at a pleasing pace in the rest of the country except
in Victoria
Falls, the host town to the general assembly.
“I am
impressed with the progress being made in Bulawayo and many towns
including
what I have seen here (at the Harare International Airport) except
in
Victoria Falls.
Progress has been slow and I do not know why,” said Goche
during his tour of
the country’s largest airport.
Kaseke recently
announced Zimbabwe expects up to 2 000 delegates to attend
the event next
year.
At least 1 500 delegates attended the last general assembly in
Korea.
Nkosilathi Jiyane, Victoria Falls mayor, says about 30 000 jobs
are expected
to be created with the construction of the tourism convention
centre in
Victoria Falls. -
Wendy Muperi
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Monday, 01 October 2012 11:30
HARARE - Local
Government minister Ignatius Chombo says he has written to
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai demanding a copy of the MDC graft probe
report.
The
damning report, drafted by deputy secretary general Tapiwa Mashakada,
reports widespread corruption in MDC-run councils.
Chombo, a man the
MDC accuses of having an axe to grind with its
councillors, told a news
conference last Friday that while he has written to
Tsvangirai requesting
the report, there has been no response from Charter
House.
The MDC
councillors’ lifestyle audit resulted in the dismissal of 12
councillors
countrywide from the party, while several others faced censure.
“I have
written to the Prime Minister so that he can give me their probe
report, I
am still waiting for the PM’s office to furnish us with their
report so that
we can act from government side,” said Chombo
“The MDC has long promised us
the report but up to this day they have not
done so.”
Chombo’s
request is strange given that in 2010 he flatly refused to give
effect to
the dismissal of Chitungwiza councillors fired from the MDC on
allegations
of corruption.
The 2010 Chitungwiza probe followed allegations of
corruption in the
dormitory town which resulted in the entire MDC council
being dismissed from
the party.
But Chombo, a person who as minister
has power to remove councillors from
office, refused to cooperate with the
MDC claiming that the party had not
furnished him with their report, an
assertion the party said was a lie.
Since his Zanu PF party lost control
of most local authorities countrywide a
decade ago, Chombo has engaged the
MDC in pitched battles, dismissing MDC
councillors on charges of vice while
refusing to fire those whom the party
would have recommended for
dismissal.
Chombo has so far dismissed more than a dozen councillors
countrywide while
several others are still on suspension.
The MDC, on
the other hand, claims it has written to Chombo advising him of
their
decision to fire the 12 councillors in the latest case.
But Chombo
claimed the MDC was lying.
“They have not done so, I am still waiting and
they should be sincere to
whatever they say,” said Chombo. - Xolisani Ncube
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Jeffrey Muvundusi, Own Correspondent
Monday,
01 October 2012 10:11
BULAWAYO - Former Zanu PF Women’s League
national commissar Tracy Mutinhiri
has blasted her ex-party as “blood-crazed
murderers” facing ouster in the
next election.
Mutinhiri, who to the
mainstream MDC earlier this year, was speaking at the
13th MDC anniversary
in Bulawayo on Saturday.
Officially introducing Mutinhiri to thousands of
MDC supporters who packed
White City Stadium, MDC national organising
secretary Nelson Chamisa
described her as a “big catch” from the Zanu PF
river.
Mutinhiri, who was received with a rapturous applause from the
overwhelming
crowd, said MDC was a God-fearing party that deserves to lead
this country.
“Each of us here knows the party that is good, the party
that fears God and
that party is MDC,” said Mutinhiri, a former minister of
Labour and Social
Services.
“If a party fears God it does not kill
people, it does not kidnap people and
it does not engage in
corruption.
“We no longer need corruption in this country. Our children
graduated and
they need jobs. Everywhere in the streets you hear: Mushonga
wemakonzo pano,
mushonga wemapete pano, ndizvo zvatakaendesera vana
kuchikoro izvozvo? (We
are selling rat poison, cockroach poison — did we
send our children to
school so that they can be street vendors?)” she asked
to rapturous
applause.
Mutinhiri said it was time for the former
revolutionary party to call it a
day as it had nothing to offer.
“The
time for Zanu PF is up,” she said. “It is a fact that their time is up,
if
their time wasn’t up they could have not been doing all these tricks to
kill
people. They can’t stop a process, you can only delay it but you can’t
stop
a process.”
She urged the MDC to fight on as change was just around the
corner.
But before she left the podium, the visibly energetic Mutinhiri,
who had
chanted the party slogan, coined another slogan which goes “Spirit
of
killing, stealing and destruction?”
“Out,” the crowd roared
back.
Mutinhiri crossed floor from Zanu PF to the MDC earlier this year
after
falling out with her former party over her liberal views and inclusive
politics.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Monday, 01 October 2012
10:10
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC has said Zanu
PF “thugs” in
Shangani stoned and injured at least three party members
heading for the
13th MDC anniversary.
MDC spokesperson Douglas
Mwonzora told the Daily News yesterday that three
party members wrere
admitted at Mpilo General Hospital after the weekend
barbaric
attack.
“Some of our members were attacked at Shangani by a group of Zanu
PF
supporters while travelling to Bulawayo,” Mwonzora said. “A group of Zanu
PF
supporters wearing party T-shirts stoned our buses carrying our
supporters
and this saw three of our members severely injured and they are
at Mpilo
Hospital.”
No comment was immediately available from
Matabeleland South police
spokesperson Sergeant Nkosilathi Sibanda as he was
out of office yesterday.
The continuous escalation of violence cases has
heightened mainstream MDC’s
call for reforms before the forthcoming
election.
During the attack on MDC supporters, one person identified as
Darlington
Serewu was severely injured while Trust Shayanewako is in
Intensive Care
Unit at Mpilo General Hospital.
In an emergency
response to the violent developments, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka told the media in Gweru that the
country
cannot go for the next election without a solution to political
violence.
“We cannot go to the next election without coming up with
lasting solutions.
The electoral reforms should be observed. This violence
explains what to
expect ahead of the election slated for March next year.
The next election
should be centred on reforms and not date-driven,” said
Tamborinyoka.
“We need to put our house in order instead of thumb-sucking
a figure. The
recent violent encounter is a clear indication that Zimbabwe
is not ready
for an election, despite President Mugabe’s call for elections
in March next
year,” he added.
Meanwhile, six other MDC supported
were seriously injured while travelling
from Bulawayo when a commuter
omnibus they were travelling in burst a front
tyre on the 40km peg along
Gweru Kwekwe road.
Some of the accident victims were hospitalised at
Gweru General Hospital
include Tendai Moyo, Fanny Nyoni, Tinasher Karikodzi
and Ruth Chinanayi
among other. -
Pindai Dube and Alfred Tembo
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary
Editor
Monday, 01 October 2012 10:00
HARARE - Zanu PF Members of
Parliament (MPs) are up in arms with the party’s
Constitutional
Parliamentary Committee (Copac) team, which they claim is
flip-flopping on
the party’s position on the Copac draft.
A Zanu PF parliamentary caucus
meeting held at the Zanu PF headquarters
descended into chaos as MPs were up
in arms against their Copac team led by
Paul Mangwana and his deputy Monica
Mutsvangwa over the manner the team had
performed in the negotiations for
the draft constitution.
Other Zanu PF MPs in the Copac team are Joram
Gumbo, Olivia Muchena, Lazarus
Dokora, Walter Chidhakwa and Tambudzani
Mohadi, with Patrick Chinamasa
heading the management
committee.
Mangwana and his Copac team faced angry MPs who were charging
that they did
not know what to tell their constituencies on the party
position as the
Copac team was flip-flopping.
They demanded to know
whether they were in agreement or not of the draft.
Zanu PF MPs expressed
their displeasure at the way the Copac team had made a
volte face and
condemned the draft constitution which they signed and agreed
to.
The
MPs said they were being confused by the Copac team on the draft
constitution and did not have correct and accurate feedback to brief their
supporters on the ground.
According to party sources, Zanu PF
secretary for legal affairs Emmerson
Mnangagwa cooled the temperatures after
suggesting that the party was going
to organise a workshop on legal issues
on the draft constitution for the MPs
before the Second All-Stakeholders
Conference.
Mangwana appended his signature to the draft constitution
document on July
18, this year on behalf of the party. However, Mangwana and
his team are now
disowning the draft constitution and saying it does not
capture the views
gleaned during the outreach programme in
2010.
Mangwana argues he had not signed the document but had only
initialled it as
an acknowledgment that it was a Copac document.
Zanu
PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo confirmed the draft constitution was
discussed
by Zanu PF legislators in their meeting.
“I was not in the meeting but I
was briefed the matter was raised up by
legislators who wanted to know what
the party position on the draft
constitution is. They asked the management
committee led by Patrick
Chinamasa and Paul Mangwana on what is happening
with the draft
constitution,” said Gumbo.
“However I urge the MPs to
be disciplined and toe the party line and wait
until we are done with the
Second All-Stakeholders meeting soon. We shall
have the chance to discuss
what we want to be added or removed in the draft
after that meeting because
we have our own position on the draft
constitution.”
Contacted for
comment, a fuming Mangwana alleged the MPs who leaked the
caucus meeting
details to the Daily News were “sell outs and
counter-revolutionaries” that
must be expelled from the party.
“I do not discuss the party business
with press and whatever we talked about
is for the party members only and
not for press consumption,” said Mangwana.
“We have procedures and
processes to follow in the party, if members have
grievances they should
follow due procedure rather than go to the press.
Your source is an MDC
agent. The MPs must know that I am senior party member
and I cannot be just
pushed around by some Jack and Tom in the party who
have their hidden
agendas. The party leadership is happy with the way my
team worked in Copac,
otherwise I could have been demoted from that post,”
added
Mangwana.
MDC formations have endorsed the draft constitution, while Zanu
PF wants
over 200 amendments to the draft.
The draft constitution
will be discussed at the end of this month by more
than 1 200 delegates,
before being referred to Parliament for further
debate.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Monday, 01 October 2012 09:56
HARARE -
Zimbabwe national students union (Zinasu) secretary-general has
been
arrested ahead of a planned demonstration against government’s failure
to
pay university fees for students under the cadetship scheme.
Zinasu
secretary-general Tryvinne Musokeri was arrested whilst attending a
court
hearing at the Harare magistrates’ court on Friday.
He was at the courts
in connection with a demonstration that was staged at
Midlands State
University.
His arrest comes as the students’ union had been calling for
peaceful
demonstrations charging that government was displaying misplaced
priorities
and weakening the education system in Zimbabwe.
The fiery
Zinasu says it was shocking that government fails to pay fees for
tertiary
education students at a time it was acquiring top of the range
vehicles for
ministers, jet setting with monolithic delegations and paying
out of hefty
back-dated allowances to parliamentarians.
“This move by the GNU can be
likened to a father who buys expensive cars for
himself and makes many
costly foreign trips but fails to pay school fees for
his children,” Zinasu
president Pride Mkono said.
Zinasu claims police has taken out a warrant
of arrest against Mkono, who
has since gone into hiding.
Hundreds of
university students from poor backgrounds have been unable to
register after
the government failed to provide funds for the cadetship
scheme.
Meanwhile, a student preparatory meeting with the Masvingo
student leaders
was disrupted by the police over the weekend. - Staff Writer
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 01 October 2012
00:00
Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
THE five-year
wrangle over property owned by the Anglican Diocese of Harare
is set to end
on October 22 with the Supreme Court deciding on all the seven
outstanding
appeals.
The appeals were grouped following a directive by Chief Justice
Godfrey
Chidyausiku last year in a bid to finalise the dispute.
The
cases will be heard one after the other on the same day, but the parties
are
yet to agree on the order to be followed.
In 2007, the Diocese of Harare
under Bishop Nolbert Kunonga withdrew from
the Church of the Province of
Central Africa and founded a new independent
Angican Province of Zimbabwe
with Bishop Kunonga elected as Archbishop.
The new dioceses in the new
province claimed the ownership of the property
owned by the original Harare
diocese.
The Church of the Province of Central Africa continued to
function in the
area of the old Harare diocese and elected Bishop Chad
Gandiya as the Bishop
of Harare within the older province.
The core of
the dispute is whether a synod of the Harare diocese could
retain the
property when it switched provinces without the consent of the
former
province.
The High Court dealt with numerous applications and judgments
were made,
resulting in both parties appealing to the highest court.
The
Supreme Court is now expected to determine the following cases on
October
22:
Bishop Elson Madoda Jakazi and another versus The Anglican Church of
the
Province of Central Africa and two others (SC118/10).
Anglican Church
of the Province of Central Africa versus Diocesan Trustees
of Harare
(SC180/09).
Church of the Province of Central Africa versus Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga and
10 others (SC130/10).
Diocese of Harare versus Church
of Central Africa and another (SC17/08).
Right Rev Dr Nolbert Kunonga and
another versus Church of the Province of
Central Africa and three others
(SC72/08).
Right Rev Dr Nolbert Kunonga and other versus Church of Central
Africa and
three others (SC83/08).
The Diocesan Trustees for the Diocese
of Harare versus The Church of the
Province of Central Africa
(SC134/10).
In all the cases, Archbishop Kunonga and those associated with
him are
represented by Chikumbirike and Partners, while Gill Godlonton and
Gerrans
are acting for Bishop Gandiya and the Church of the Province of
Central
Africa.
Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba is expected to preside
over the cases in a
panel that includes Justices Vernanda Ziyambi and
Paddington Garwe.
Chief Justice Chidyausiku’s letter of September 29,
2011 stressed the need
to end the property ownership wrangle once and for
all.
“ . . . I issue the following instructions to the Deputy
Registrar:
“All the matters relating to the above parties will be determined
by the
same court,” he said.
“All matters should either be consolidated
or set down before the same court
on the same date or one after the
other.
“The Deputy Registrar is directed to set down all the matters on
the next
available date upon being advised of the readiness of the matters
to be set
down.”
The court is expected to determine the rightful owner of
the property.
It is also expected to decide on the legal consequences of
the withdrawal or
ex-communication of Archbishop Kunonga and his supporters
from the Church of
the Province of Central Africa in line with property
ownership.
Spokesperson for Archbishop Kunonga and his province, Reverend
Admire
Chisango welcomed the decision to group the cases.
“We really
welcome the development. We hope the disputed will be quickly
ended,” he
said.
“Finality of the wrangle is long overdue considering that the
problems
started in August 2007.”
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, 01 October 2012 00:00
Daniel
Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
AT least 31 people were killed, while several
others were injured in road
accidents that occurred in one of the bloodiest
weekends on record.
The country recorded 13 fatal accidents between Friday
and Sunday.
On Friday, 15 people died when a commuter omnibus collided
head-on with a
haulage truck in Rusape along the Harare-Mutare
highway.
The figure rose to 21 on Saturday after a bus smashed into a rock
and killed
six more people along the Matange-Mkwasine Road in
Masvingo.
At least 26 people were injured in the same accident.
Another
person died yesterday in an accident at Shangani along the
Harare-Bulawayo
Road.
Nine others were killed in separate road accidents in the last three
days in
several provinces.
National traffic police spokesperson Inspector
Tigere Chigome confirmed the
accidents, saying they were mostly attributed
to speeding, faulty vehicles
and substandard tyres.
“This weekend we have
recorded 13 fatal accidents in which 31 people were
killed countrywide,” he
said.
“Several people were injured as a result of the accidents. We suspect
that
most drivers are speeding. For example, in the Masvingo case, the bus
driver
lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road before hitting a
big
rock and landing on its left side.
“There is an element of speed and
drivers should abide by the speed limits.
“In the night accidents, we
suspect poor lighting affects most drivers and
we urge motorists to take
their vehicles for service regularly to ensure
lights and other essential
components are working properly.”
Insp Chigome said burst tyres were also a
major cause of accidents
considering the high temperatures this
season.
“There is need for motorists to check their tyres and ensure they fit
quality tyres that are meant for our roads and temperatures,” he
said.
Insp Chigome said the police were not happy with the statistics.
“We
are not happy with the statistics recorded this weekend. People should
follow the rules of the road, especially abiding with the stipulated speed
limits.”
In the Masvingo accident, five people died on the spot, while
one died on
the way to Mashoko Mission Hospital.
The Rusape accident
involved a commuter omnibus and an Isuzu double cab.
Nine people died on the
spot, while four others were pronounced dead on
admission at Rusape General
Hospital.
Two others died the following morning.
As the military establishment, we have an ideology that is represented in the mission of ZANU-PF |
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
October 1, 2012 in Editorial,
Opinion
Assertions by President Robert Mugabe that elections should be held
in March
next year has received mixed reactions, with gullible smaller
political
formations welcoming the move which they believe will lead to a
new
political dispensation. Standard Comment
They are
wrong.
The wily Mugabe has been pushing for elections for more than
two years now,
notwithstanding dictates of the Global Political Agreement,
which clearly
spell out what needs to be done before polls are
held.
These critical requirements were given impetus in the roadmap
which the
principals in the Government of National Unity (GNU) agreed to
follow last
year. The holding of elections should be guided by the roadmap
and not
parochial political concerns.
The country is currently
off-track, far away from the route agreed to be
followed towards elections.
This suits Mugabe perfectly, as it has for a
long time been his wish to hold
elections on his terms and not on the basis
of agreed
conditions.
The whole idea of Sadc mediation which culminated in the
formation of the
GNU and the plotting of the roadmap, is to avoid the
re-enactment of the
2008 chaos in future polls.
Ingredients for
another sham poll are still there because Mugabe is not
interested in
rolling out the reform agenda as spelt out in the roadmap. It
is worth
noting that the greatest short-term risk to the consolidation of
peace in
the country remains the administration and conduct of the upcoming
2012
elections under current conditions.
Failure to reform the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act means that
human rights defenders,
journalists and political activists will continue to
be arrested and charged
on a regular basis. The regime will also continue to
use Section 33 of the
code to charge opponents for “insulting or undermining
the authority of the
president”.
Added to this is Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure
and Evidence Act
which is oftentimes abused by prosecutors to block release
of suspects after
bail has been granted.
The role of the
military as a campaign agency for Zanu PF is a major source
of worry. The
reform agenda is way behind schedule. Zimbabwe cannot afford
to once again
have elections which do not represent the will of the people.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
September 30, 2012 in
Editorial
During last Wednesday’s News Hour, ZBC screened footage of the
ruined citrus
plantations in Guruve district in Mashonaland
Central.
From the Editor’s Desk by Nevanji Madanhire
In
the news clip, provincial Governor and Resident minister Advocate Martin
Dinha ordered the Guruve council to surrender all plantations allocated to
it during the land reform programme with immediate effect. He said failure
to do so would be in contravention of the Consequential Provisions Act (of
2006).
The footage showed that all citrus plantations given to
the local authority
were in what ZBC understated as a “sorry” state as a
result of neglect. The
ZBC footage showed that the plantations — all seven
of them — given to the
council had been vandalised and the bulk of the trees
destroyed by veld
fires. In an attempt to salvage the situation the
government had allocated
the plantations to some farmers deemed productive
and given them offer
letters, but the council was against the idea and
continually disrupted the
new farmers’ activities.
The dispute
between the farmers and the council had led to the continued
dereliction of
the plantations, hence the move to invoke the Consequential
Provisions Act.
Dinha said he was concerned over the under-utilisation of
the plantations,
saying the disruption of farming activities by the Guruve
council was a form
of sabotage of the land reform programme. Dinha was
probably referring to
Clause 6 of the Act which validates all offer letters
issued before the
fixed date and are not withdrawn by the acquiring
authority.
The
state of the trees — most of them burnt in wild fires — some just dried
up
due to lack of moisture and the rest almost invisible due to the long
wild
grass choking them, must have left a lot of people in tears. Irrigation
infrastructure had been ripped apart and workshops vandalised by
workers.
Reports from around the country and Google Maps reveal that
this is the
general state of citrus plantations in the country, particularly
in estates
around Chegutu.
ZBC was very courageous to flight the
footage during the same week that
President Robert Mugabe was in New York
City attending the 67th United
Nations General Assembly. Mugabe has used the
land reform programme, which
he has touted as a resounding success, to throw
brickbats at Western
countries he accuses of trying to sabotage the
programme by slapping
sanctions on him and a coterie of his officials to
effect a regime change
agenda.
But the citrus plantations debacle
is a manifestation of everything that has
gone wrong with the land reform
programme and all other programmes
ostensibly meant to redress colonial
imbalances. The plantations were, in
the heat of the moment, allocated to
people who had no clue of how to use
them
productively.
During the days of land occupations when this was
pointed out, many
Zimbabweans who said the land was being allocated to
people who did not have
the requisite skills and wherewithal, were labelled
racist. Such sentiments,
according to the proponents of wholesale
acquisition, implied that blacks
were incapable of doing what whites could
do. But common-sense, not racism,
was at the heart of the sentiments, as the
plantations now show.
Now it’s time to swallow humble
pie!
But what must get Zimbabweans thinking is the puncture on our
pride that the
plantations have inflicted. Zimbabweans had inured themselves
to the
relentless criticism of the land reform programme from around the
globe and
were beginning to speak with one voice that the programme had
indeed gone a
long way in redressing historical imbalances, and was
irreversible. The
local private media and the foreign Press were beginning
to publicise
success stories.
Recently, a powerful American
news organisation had carried a story on the
land programme and how it had
empowered thousands of new tobacco farmers who
would otherwise never have
had access to land and would still be living in
abject poverty. What the
report did not say was that these thousands of
farmers were mere appendages
of foreign capital, mostly Chinese, as they
were contract farmers financed
by foreigners who reaped bigger benefits.
But the major point to note
is that what has happened in the citrus
plantations is not unique to the
orange sector. Besides the tobacco sector,
which is heavily foreign funded,
all other sectors have been left derelict
due to the lack of expertise and
finance. What has become clear is that
faced with lack of money and skills,
the new farm occupiers chose the
easiest way to survive, though temporarily.
They chose to loot whatever was
available and vandalise the infrastructure;
ripping it apart and selling
whatever could be sold.
It happened
at Kondozi Farm where the most successful horticulture concern
was torn to
the ground in a matter of a handful seasons, striking a mortal
blow to a
sector Zimbabwe was among the global leaders. Now there is no
horticultural
sector in Zimbabwe to speak of. All the flowers and vegetables
we used to
export have dried out. All the jobs this sector used to sustain
have been
snuffed out.
But instead of learning a lesson from all the mistakes
that were made in the
farming sector, the leadership of this country has
decided to employ the
same wanton tactics in industry, commerce and mining
through an
ill-thought-out indigenisation programme which is already
beginning to have
devastating results on the country’s
economy.
The point is that indigenisation, like land reform, is
not being done for
the noble reasons that are touted. It is being done so
that the same people
who invaded farms and discovered that farming wasn’t as
easy and as
rewarding as they thought, can have another dip into the cookie
jar, before
sanity is restored.
Anyone who doubts this ought to
just take a peek at what is happening at
conservancies, particularly the
Save River Conservancy! What all the noise
emanating from the Save debacle
is hiding, is that all the other
conservancies around the country have been
destroyed leaving the Save the
last one where rich pickings can still be
made; hence the dog-eat-dog
fighting among comrades. What is most
disheartening is that the same model
is being used:
Make as
much money as you can, while you still can. So the animals are being
hunted
down and much money made without putting back any penny into the
venture to
ensure its sustainability.
It has happened to the vegetables and
flowers, then to the fruits and now it
is happening to the animals and also
the minerals. And soon it will be to
the money in the banks.
What
will be left of the country for our children?
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Monday, 01
October 2012
The MDC National Council met in Bulawayo on
Friday and came up with the
following resolutions.
CELEBRATES and
hails the party for surviving thirteen years of brutal
dictatorship,
violence, repression and emasculation by an autocratic
predatory
state,
ACKNOWLEDGES and is indebted to the people of Zimbabwe for
supporting and
standing by the Party and its leadership and for remaining
firm and resolute
in the struggle for socio-economic development and
democratic change in
Zimbabwe,
MOURNS, remembers and celebrates the
lives of our departed heroes and
heroines including Tichaona Chiminya,
Talent Mabika, Trynos Midzi, Learnmore
Jongwe, Gift Tandare, Isaac Matongo,
Susan Tsvangirai, Simangaliso
Chikadaya, Dr. Tichaona Mudzingwa, Enna
Chitsa, Tonderai Ndira, Better
Chokururama, Machiridza, Remius Makuwaza,
Cephas Magura, Nicholas
Mudzengerere, Senator Josiah Rimbi and many
others,
RECOGNIZES and acknowledges the roots of our movement, our
umbilical cord to
the struggle for national liberation in Zimbabwe, our
mandate being
fulfilling the unfinished business of the national liberation
struggle,
ACKNOWLEDGES the maturity of our movement and struggle from the
National
Working People’s Convention of February 1999, and indeed the
preceding
struggles led by the workers through the ZCTU, the Student, Women
and
Constitutional movements,
CELEBRATES the achievements of our
peaceful democratic struggle including
our mass resistance campaigns such as
Final Push and the March 29 2008
election victory,
Now therefore this
Council resolves,
1. ATTAINMENT OF 13 YEARS
The Party
congratulates itself for attaining 13 years under a hostile
environment
characterized by murder, terror, and dictatorship.
Further, the Party
congratulates itself for attaining 13 years without
resorting to violence or
any illegitimate process.
2. THE CONSTITUTION MAKING
PROCESS
Restates and reaffirms its resolution of the 3rd of August
2012 to endorse
the Copac Draft constitution as a panacea to the
socio-economic and
political crisis confronting Zimbabwe.
Calls for a
peaceful 2nd all-stakeholders conference that will respect the
progress and
efforts made by all Zimbabweans to date.
Reiterates that elections should be
held in Zimbabwe after the
implementation of the agreed Road Map, when all
requisite reforms have been
attended necessary to create a legitimate
credible and sustainable election.
That no party or individual has the right
to call for an election
unilaterally and the next election can only be
called with by the parties in
consultation with each other.
3.
CONTINUED INCARCERATION OF THE GLENVIEW 29
The Party notes with
uttermost disgust the continued incarceration of our
Youth Assembly National
Chairperson, Solomon Madzore and twenty-eight others
who include Edwin
Muingiri, Simon Mudimu, Gabriel Banda, Zwelibanzi Dube,
Stefani Takaedzwa,
Francis Vambai, Sydney Chirombe, Abina Rutsito, Stanford
Mangwiro, Cynthia
Manjoro, Last Maengahama, Lazarus Maengahama, Stanford
Maengahama, Rebecca
Mafukeni, Kerina Gweshe, Solomon Madzore, Memory Ncube,
Paul Rukanda, Linda
Musiyamhanje, Yvonne Musarurwa, Simon Mapanzure,
Tafadzwa Billiart, Jephias
Moyo, Lovemore Taruvinga, Tendai Chinyama,
Phineas Nhatarikwa, Gapare
Nyamadzawo, Augustine Tengenyika and Tungamirai
Madzokere.
The
Party demands the immediate release of arrested cadres and in any event
demands the expeditious due process with regards to those that have been
arrested.
The Party notes with irony that while no stone has been left
unturned with
regards to the arrests and harassment of MDC activists many
perpetrators of
violence against MDC members continue to walk
scot-free.
The Party directs its appointees in Government to raise
this matter as
matter of urgency in Government structures including Cabinet,
Council of
Ministers, Parliament and the National Security
Council.
4. UPHOLDING THE DECISION BY EXECUTIVE TO FIRE
COUNCILLORS
1. In terms of Article 5.11 A the Party, expels the following
Councillors
pursuant to the decision and recommendation of the National
Executive of the
15 August
2012;
HARARE
GWERU
ZVISHAVANE
BINDURA
KWEKWE
Cllr
Emmanuel Chiroto
Cllr Peter Marange
Cllr Phumulani
Musagwiza
Cllr Xavier Vengesai
Cllr Tedius
Chimombe
Cllr Clemence Kwaru
Cllr Holly Dzuda
Cllr
Alois Zhou
Cllr Vengai Mudadi
Cllr Rickson
Kaseke
Cllr Ivory Matanhire
Cllr Johannes
Ngozo
5. HATRED AND MALICIOUS ATTACKS
The Party notes
with regret the continued vitriolic attacks particularly by
the State media
on the party and its leadership. The party condemns all
forms of hate
speech, slander and malice.
In this regard, the Party congratulates its
president Morgan Tsvangirai and
wishes him and his new wife a happy and
successful marriage.
6. HUNGER AND STARVATION
The Party
notes the desperate food situation prevailing in the country and
the parlous
state of livestock particularly in the Matabeleland region.
The party calls
in Government to ensure the expeditious and impartial
distribution of food
in the country and calls on the Ministry of Agriculture
to openly and
effectively address the livestock from the resources that
Treasury has
allocated.
7. VIOLENCE AND INVASIONS
The party notes the
continued existence of violence and lawlessness in the
country characterized
by the deployment of the army, Zanu PF militia such as
the Tendai Savanhu
sponsored Chipangano in Mbare, Harare and Emerson
Mnangwagwa owned Al Shabab
in Kwekwe.
The party too notes the continued invasions and assaults
on property rights
including the ongoing invasion of Save
Conservancies
The party condemns these acts of predatory banditry and
instructs its
deployees in Government to immediately address the issue in
appropriate
government fora.
Committing our Party and our Country to
God!!!
MDC @ 13 - The last mile: Towards Real
Transformation!!!
MEDIA
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ben Freeth, Harare
30 September 2012
The history of
property rights and the flawed Zimbabwe Draft Constitution
Titled land and the protection of property rights is not a
recent phenomenon. It has a long and fascinating history that is especially
relevant today while the highly flawed new draft constitution in Zimbabwe is
debated, causing dissent and division.
Acclaimed Russian author Ayn Rand notes in a
1964 collection of essays, “The Virtue of Selfishness”, that the right to life
is the source of all rights – and the right to property is their only
implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are
possible.”
Rand also notes that, “Since man has to
sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of
his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others
dispose of his product is a slave.”
In a 10-page document released
today by Ben Freeth, executive director of the Mike Campbell Foundation, he
explores the early history of titled land and property rights, starting with the
earliest documented transfer of property rights in Hebron in 1675 BCE – 3,678
years ago. This transaction is described in detail Genesis, the first book in
the Bible.
Freeth, a committed Christian,
lists the three Biblical principles relating to property rights:
·
The prohibition of theft, enshrined in the 8th
commandment in Exodus, “You shall not steal”
·
The world ultimately belongs to God (and not to the
state)
·
Humans are temporary tenants upon God’s property – in
effect, custodians.
With respect to Zimbabwe’s new
Draft Constitution and property rights, Freeth discusses the contentious section
on land.
This section relates specifically
to land that has been acquired already, as well as to land to be acquired
in the future. It allows land to be taken without compensation, without
the owners being allowed a hearing in court, and on a discriminatory
basis.
“Such draconian
clauses that allow theft to take place on a discriminatory basis and without a
hearing in court, need to be looked at in the light of property rights
throughout history and what the Bible says in this regard,” warns
Freeth.
He explains that at the dawn of
civilisation in Samaria and Babylonia (where the prophet Abraham had come from)
the right of holding property was already in force. Careful surveys were made
and anyone who interfered with property rights could invoke the curse of “the
gods”.
As a result of the protection of
property rights, sophisticated irrigation schemes could be set up and an
agricultural revolution occurred. Detailed laws protecting private property were
written, administered and enforced – more than 4,000 years ago. Consequently,
the people flourished.
Freeth says that studies have
proved that property rights are central to the prosperity of all great
civilisations, notably the ancient Greeks and Romans. Disciplined life and hard
labour on the thousands of small, independent Greek farms developed Greek
character, generated wealth and defended their city states. This was the
precursor to private ownership in the West.
In Africa, private ownership of
land was established in ancient Egypt as early as the middle of the third
millennium BC. Long before the dawn of democracy, laws relating to private
property were in place and the sense of private ownership was well
developed.
In Zimbabwe, the consequences of
the chaotic farm invasions, which began in 2000 immediately after President
Robert Mugabe lost a constitutional referendum which would have further
entrenched his power, have been catastrophic.
Substantial, well-run agricultural
enterprises, many involving sophisticated irrigation schemes, have been replaced
largely by erratic subsistence farming. As a result, Zimbabwe has become
dependent on food aid, ironically from the West which Zanu PF politicians
malign.
In the Bible, property rights and
titled land was already a given more than 2,600 years ago. Without property
rights the Bible says, the land becomes a desolate waste, without men or
animals. Zimbabwe has become a wasteland for exactly this
reason.
Title deeds in the Bible were
scrupulously protected – Jeremiah stored his in a clay jar, which proved to be
an extremely effective method of preserving ancient documents.
In the book of Ruth, written in
1,000 BC, over three thousand years ago, people worked the land diligently and
it was privately owned land, not a communal system of patronage.
In Deuteronomy, God promised curses
on anyone who moved his neighbour’s boundary stone and stole his land.
The New Testament is also very
clear about the rule of law and property rights. Jesus accepted that the
private ownership of land was God-ordained for the ordering of society and
feeding of the people.
The Jubilee laws of Leviticus 25
ensured that a family would always have land. Furthermore, a father could not
dispossess his family from the land because of poor stewardship, carelessness or
debt. Fathers were instructed to lay up an inheritance for their
children.
Every attack on private property is
an attack on a man’s liberty, says leading theologian, Rev
Rushdooney.
In every dictatorship, there is a
tussle between Godly law in private ownership of property and man’s law in State
ownership, notes Freeth.
If the State becomes both sovereign
and owner, it displaces God, he says. Private property encourages the wise use
of scarce resources, while nationalisation provides no such incentive.
Nationalisation of land in China
led to starvation and the deaths of more than 70 million people over a period of
four years. This was the result of Mao spurning God’s laws on property rights,
cautions Freeth.
In the USA, with only a third of
the arable land of Africa, approximately 320 million tons of maize are produced
annually, while Africa produces just 60 million tonnes. In Zimbabwe since the
land invasions, wheat production has fallen by more than 90
percent.
Jesus’s parable of the good
shepherd demonstrates that the owner will lay down his life for his sheep, while
the hired hand will run away if a wolf comes, because he lacks the
commitment.
“Faith is fundamental to our
spiritual lives and is synonymous with a title deed, which is fundamental to our
physical lives,” says Freeth.
“It is abundantly evident that as a
country, the further erosion of property rights – as contained in the draft
constitution – offers little hope to Zimbabweans for feeding themselves,
educating their children and developing as a nation,” he
contends.
“Such is the curse of nations that
choose to go against the holy and immutable laws of God.”
Freeth says that Christians and
Christian leaders are obliged to stand up and speak out for righteousness.
“If the highest law of the land is
to go against God’s law, we cannot vote for it or urge others to vote for
it.”
Freeth calls on the drafters to
come up with a constitution that does not allow theft, that does
not allow discrimination and that does allow recourse if
Zimbabwean’s homes and livelihoods are taken away from them – because continued
theft will not bring blessing to anyone.”
He reminds Zimbabweans that God
promised to cut off Ahab and his descendents, just as Jezebel had dispossessed
Naboth of his vineyard – and his descendents.
“When we look at what God did to
Ahab and Jezebel, our politicians would do well to listen,” concluded
Freeth
ENDS
Submitted by/For further information:
Ben Freeth
Executive Director
The Mike Campbell Foundation
Cell: +263 773 929 138
E-mail: freeth@bsatt.com
Click here to read Ben Freeth's opinion piece on Draft Constitution Property Rights
Click here to read an Anonymous Opinion Piece