http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 11:22
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BINGA — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday
claimed President Robert
Mugabe last week told him he now wants to retire,
but was being forced to
stay by Zanu PF elements fearing his departure will
quicken the party’s
demise.
Tsvangirai’s remarks at a rally in
Binga have brought a new dimension into
speculation surrounding the
87-year-old leader’s health status.
Mugabe last week reportedly flew to
Singapore for the seventh time this year
to seek medical
treatment.
He reportedly suffers from prostate cancer that is
spreading to other organs
and creating tumours.
“On Monday during our
meeting, Mugabe said he is now tired and wants to quit
and rest but he said
elements in Zanu PF do not want him to step down,”
Tsvangirai told hundreds
of villagers.
“He said further, there are divisions (in Zanu PF) and
if he goes now the
party will collapse.” Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara meet every Monday to review work of their
coalition government.
Efforts to get a comment from Mugabe’s
spokesman George Charamba yesterday
were fruitless as his mobile phone was
unreachable.
Zanu PF is expected to endorse Mugabe as its candidate for
elections
expected next year.
But the veteran ruler has not
received the ringing endorsement he usually
gets against such Zanu PF
gatherings where provincial structures stampede to
give him a public
backing.
There is speculation that Zanu PF structures are undecided
about Mugabe’s
candidature given his mounting health problems. Reports that
Mugabe wants to
retire after ruling Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 are
not new but he
has often dismissed them as wishful thinking by his
detractors.
Tsvangirai also warned his supporters against engaging in
political violence
ahead of next year’s elections.
He said
perpetrators of political violence must learn from the case of Moses
Chokuda, an MDC-T activist killed by Zanu PF chairman Jason Machaya’s son
and other Zanu PF activists.
Chokuda’s family refused to bury his
remains for almost three years until
Machaya was forced to give them 25 head
of cattle and US$15 000 in cash to
appease his avenging
spirit.
“Be warned against committing acts of violence in the name of
MDC or Zanu
PF,” Tsvangirai said. “People should learn from the Chokuda
case. You cannot
just kill people and expect to get away with it. We
politicians will be at
our homes and vengeful spirits will be haunting you
alone.”
The premier was on a tour of Matabeleland North province.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 11:34
BY
PATIENCE NYANGOVE
MEMBERS of Parliament who have not been paid
sitting allowances since their
election in 2008 will not get anything from
government after principals in
the unity government blocked a plan that will
have seen them taking home
thousands of US dollars, The Standard has
learnt.
Early this month, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs
minister Eric
Matinenga had told the House of Assembly that Parliament was
now ready to
pay the MPs their outstanding allowances.
He said it
had been recommended that each MP would be given US$75 per
sitting backdated
to 2008 and Parliament was calculating what each
legislator was
owed.
But the MPs got the shock of their lives at a joint caucus
meeting on
Thursday when they were told that the three principals —
President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara — had written a letter instructing Parliament to
stop the
payments.
The principals instead recommended that the
MPs only start getting their
sitting allowances from November 1. If Mugabe’s
plans to have elections next
year, it will mean the legislators would only
get remunerated for less than
12 months out of five years.
Their
terms were supposed to end in 2013. Zanu PF chief whip Jorum Gumbo,
his MDC
counterparts Edward Mkhosi and Innocent Gonese were the bearers of
the bad
news and were nearly manhandled by the angry MPs, sources
said.
“There was near war with the MPs accusing the whips and
(Parliament’s)
Standing Rules and Orders Committee of giving them a raw
deal,” said an MP
who wanted to remain anonymous.
“Things were so
bad that Gumbo and Gonese were barred from leaving
Parliament. “Gumbo wanted
to rush to a Copac meeting but could not go.”
Gumbo yesterday confirmed the
development.
“Yes it was officially announced by the executive that
MPs will not be
getting their sitting allowances as from 2008 to October
2011,” he said.
Zanu PF’s Goromonzi North MP Paddy Zhanda said the u-turn by
the executive
was unfortunate.
“It’s wrong to deny us what is
rightfully ours on the basis that we have
other sources of income,” he said.
“It’s very unfortunate and as MPs, our
question is who is doing voluntary
work in Zimbabwe?
“We are the least paid in the whole region. Do your
own investigations and
you will see what I am talking about.” Another Zanu
PF MP said the three
principals had failed to respect the separation of
powers by involving
themselves in issues of MPs welfare.
He said
the same ministers who blocked the payment of the allowances drew
“salaries
of US$3 000 a month” and also benefited from Parliament’s car loan
scheme
for MPs.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 11:39
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
POLICE yesterday disrupted MDC-T rallies in Matabeleland North
despite a
court order that the meetings could go ahead. Information gleaned
from MDC-T
officials indicated that more than 30 anti-riot police officers,
armed to
the teeth, ordered the cancellation of a rally in Lupane and Binga
in which
party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai was due to
address.
Menacing police officers arrived in a number of
trucks and threatened to
shoot people in Binga as well, where masses had
gathered to listen to
Tsvangirai.
The police officers told the expectant
crowd and MDC-T officials that they
had not come to negotiate and were
neither obligated to follow court orders,
MDC-T officials
said.
Police are reported to have said the court order was fake and
that they only
took instructions from their boss. A distressed Tabitha
Khumalo, the MDC-T
deputy spokesperson, described the mood as tense in
Lupane, saying people
feared that police could unleash violence and arrest
their supporters.
“They have not arrested anyone so far, but they
have besieged the houses of
party leaders in Matabeleland North,” she said.
Khumalo said the houses were
being searched and she was not sure what steps
the police would take from
then.
The party’s organising
secretary, Nelson Chamisa described police actions as
unbelievable, saying
the police should not be allowed to trample on people’s
freedoms.
“Since independence we have moved backwards,” he said.
“This is utter
disrespect of the people and the prime minister,” he said
from Binga.
Police claimed they did not have the manpower to supervise the
rally and
thus could not allow it to go ahead.
Since the
inclusive government was formed two years ago, the MDC-T has not
been
allowed to hold rallies in Lupane, as police have cracked down on each
of
these.
The latest police action follows the disruption of another
MDC-T rally in
Nkayi last weekend after plain clothes policemen ordered the
cancellation of
the meeting.
Despite Tsvangirai’s protestations
that he had the same executive powers as
President Robert Mugabe and that
law enforcement agents were subservient to
him, the police would have none
of it.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson, Edmore Veterai’s
mobile phone was
off and could not be contacted for
comment.
POLICE DEFY MAGISTRATE'S ORDER
Lupane and Binga
magistrates Takudzwa Gwazemba and Stephen Ndlovu
respectively had on
Thursday and Friday okayed the MDC-T to go ahead with
their rallies,
describing actions by the police as “unlawful”.
In her ruling,
Gwazemba ordered the Lupane rally scheduled to take place at
St Paul’s to go
ahead without any interference from the police.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:30
BY JENNIFER DUBE
HARARE residents are planning a
series of demonstrations to protest against
the worsening water shortages
even after council admitted that it was
overwhelmed by the
problems.
A number of the capital’s high suburbs have entered their third
week without
running water after major disturbances at council’s Morton
Jaffray water
works.
Harare Residents Trust (HRT) yesterday
claimed its leaders were being
harassed by police who wanted to stop the
demonstrations against service
delivery.
The lobby group had
planned to start the demonstrations last Friday in Glen
Norah and Highfield
but had to revise its plans after police reportedly
harassed its
leaders.
Demonstrations are now planned for tomorrow in Mabvuku
and Tafara, areas
worst affected by the water cuts.
The
residents also plan to lay siege on Town House for two days beginning on
Wednesday.
“We are facing problems with the police who think
we want to upstage
government,” Shumba said. “Our leaders in the communities
are being
threatened.”
Mabvuku residents last week said they
had gone for more than two weeks
without running water despite settling
their bills on time.
The residents, who have previously gone for
more than two years without
water, now rely on community boreholes drilled
by the United Nations
Children’s Fund.
“I wake up early so I
can be in the water queue by 4am at the latest because
the queue can be very
long such that when you arrive late, you may only
fetch water after midday,”
a resident, Nyarai Chingono said.
“But sometimes even if we
arrive early, some bouncers from the community
arrive later and start
filling their containers ahead of us and we have to
wait until they are
done.
“The bouncers also sell water to people at the end of the
queue, charging
US$1 for a 20-litre container.”
The residents
said some schoolchildren had had to skip classes because of
lack of water
while others arrived late after first helping their families
fetch
water.
Fears of a renewed cholera outbreak continue to mount with
the prolonged
water shortage.
Some households have since
installed rainwater harvesting tanks with hope
for relief during the rainy
season.
“A number of households have installed water harvesting
equipment with
assistance from an American non-governmental organisation,”
Gogo Tembi Rego
said.
“We hope this will provide us with
temporary relief during the rainy season.
“But we still look
forward to the authorities to provide a lasting solution
to these
problems.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:32
BY PATIENCE NYANGOVE
THE county’s biggest unions
representing teachers have criticised the
government’s audit of the civil
service to identify ghost workers saying it
was shrouded in
secrecy.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) started the verification of
the skills
and payroll last week and the exercise will run until November
15.
It is a follow up to the comprehensive audit of the civil
service done by
Ernest and Young (India) on behalf of the Ministry of Public
Service, which
exposed thousands of ghost workers.
The audit
revealed that the payroll had more than 75 000 ghost workers, most
of them
unqualified Zanu PF militia and supporters.
It revealed that a
staggering 6 861 workers were employed in one day in one
ministry.
The PSC and Zanu PF heavily criticised the audit
saying it was not conducted
properly.
Raymond Majongwe, the
secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ) said
although they had not been formally notified about the
audit, he felt that
it was unnecessary.
“I am not aware that the PSC is carrying out
another audit. however, this is
clear testimony that Zanu PF continues
ducking and diving,” he said on
Friday.
“There was an audit
conducted by (the late Public Service minister Eliphas)
Mukonoweshuro, why
should he die and another audit starts?
“It’s a scandal being
engineered by those who want to do the audit.”
Majongwe accused
Zanu PF of trying to clandestinely employ people loyal to
it under the guise
of an audit.
“Zanu PF did create this situation where it wants to
parachute people into
the civil service before the pending elections so as
to rig elections,” he
claimed. “The whole point is to create
confusion.”
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) president
Tendai Chikowore had not
even seen the Earnest and Young audit
report.
“Even myself, I haven’t seen the report,” Chikowore
said.
“We have not been furnished as yet with the
report.”
Chikowore said the PSC audit had a number of
flaws.
Teachers from Midlands province have complained that PSC
officials failed to
turn up for meetings they organised.
“As
for the way the audit is being done, if it’s true that there is no PSC
staff
to interview them then that is irregular. That is not the way it
should be
done,” she said.
Public Service minister Lucia Matibenga refused
to comment on the matter
referring all questions to PSC chairman Mariyawanda
Nzuwa, who was not
available for comment.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:33
By Nunurayi Jena
CHINHOYI — A number of children are
dropping out of school in resettled
areas in remote Doma near Mhangura
citing long distances they have to travel
every day.
Many of the
affected children, who live in Chengeta and Chisase, have to
walk as much as
20km to and from school.
Parents are also being forced to delay
enrolling their children with some
starting Grade 1 at the age of nine
instead of seven.
In urban areas children can now enroll for
Grade 1 aged five or six.
A teacher at Doma Primary School who
wanted to remain anonymous because he
was not authorised to speak to the
media said most children in the area did
not proceed to secondary education
because schools were few and far between.
“Because of the long
distance children walk to school in the resettled areas
most children are
dropping out of school after completing Grade VII,” he
said.
A pupil at Doma Primary said she has to wake up at dawn
for her to be at
school on time. But she is never early at school, usually
arriving after
9am. She also has to leave school early to reach home before
dusk as the
area has dangerous wild animals.
However, Edgar
Tozivei Seremani, a parent, believes it is not the distance
that forces
children out of school but the high tuition fees demanded by
authorities.
Seremani, who is a farmer, revealed that he
failed to raise US$10 per term
for the levy and US$1 per week for teachers’
incentive for his child who had
to drop out of school.
“The
levy we are asked to pay is too high yet the teachers are not doing
their
job as they spend most of the time loitering in the staff room,”
said.
Government policy stipulates that children in rural areas
are not supposed
to pay tuition fees but a levy agreed between school
authorities and
parents.
Mashonaland West regional education
director Sylvester Mashayamombe said it
was “regrettable” that some children
were failing to access education
because there were no schools.
He
said it was the duty of rural district councils and parents to build new
schools. — By Nunurayi Jena
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 13:34
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) says gold
panners are threatening
key infrastructure in Bindura town as they dig
winding tunnels in search of
the precious mineral.
Robert Rwafa, the
EMA Mashonaland Central provincial manager told
journalists during a recent
tour of the town that houses at the National
Railways of Zimbabwe compound
were some of the structures threatened by the
illegal mining
activities.
He said the agency had since discovered that the
panners were hired by
people claiming to own mining claims issued by the
government.
“Even those digging a few metres away from the town
centre are said to be
claim holders,” Rwafa said.
“But where
is the mining commissioner’s office when these people leave open
pits and
gullies all over town?
“These gullies are affecting the beauty of
Bindura and exposing children
from nearby houses to dangers of falling into
these pits.
“All this destruction could be avoided if we
consulted each other.”
Some of the panners claimed they were
forced into illegal mining by economic
hardships.
Tatenda
Kasambarare (20), said he was forced into gold panning after he was
expelled
from school where he was doing Form IV for failing to pay tuition
fees.
“I also have to raise enough to buy food at home and
also for my siblings’
school fees,” he claimed.
Although
Kasambarare said the panners knew that the pits they dug were
supposed to be
back-filled, evidence on the ground showed massive damage to
the
environment.
The panners said some of the pits they had abandoned were as
deep as 10
metres.
Rwafa also accused Chinese miners of
worsening the situation by using heavy
machinery and emptying large amounts
of waste into rivers.
Tendayi Nyamuguru, a lecturer in the
department of environmental science at
Bindura University said gold panning
in the town was now a health and
political issue.
“These pits
are likely to collapse during the rainy season, something which
may lead to
the loss of lives and they can also be breeding ground for
mosquitoes,”
Nyamuguru said.
“What we need is strong political will for a
vigorous awareness campaign
aimed at teaching both legal and illegal miners
about the importance of land
rehabilitation.”
Police officer
commanding Bindura Kudakwashe Nhakwi said they had raided the
panners on a
number of occasions but sentences imposed by the courts were
not deterrent
enough.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:36
BY JENNIFER DUBE
THE way slain MDC-T
activist Moses Chokuda’s avenging spirit tormented his
killers and their
families left Gokwe terrified and captured the imagination
of many
Zimbabweans.
So fearful was Midlands governor and Zanu PF
provincial chairperson Jason
Machaya, whose son was one of the killers, he
did not hesitate to part with
35 head of cattle and US$15 000 to compensate
Chokuda’s family.
Chokuda died in March 2009 at the hand of Farai
Machaya, brothers Edmore and
Bothwell Gana as well as Abel
Maphosa.
The murderers were recently jailed for up to 18 years
after inordinate
delays in their case.
But the move by
Machaya to compensate the Chokudas, who for almost three
years had refused
to bury their son’s remains, ensured the conclusion of
what might be one of
Zimbabwe’s most intriguing murder cases.
Chokuda’s remains were
finally buried in Gokwe last Saturday after the
family performed some
rituals.
Now observers believe his case could be used as a
template to address the
problematic issue of political violence and
impunity.
Phathisa Nyathi, a prominent historian said the case
was a lesson that
whoever spills blood should face the
music.
“It should be a lesson to other people,” Nyathi said. “It
shows that if you
allow yourself to be used, it does not affect the person
who gave the order,
but it affects you the murderer.
“The
sender is very safe, and the one who spilt blood suffers.”
The
case, according to Nyathi could also reopen debate on the power of
traditional belief systems in resolving conflict.
“The
traditional system worked in this case because in our African culture
imprisoning a culprit does not help at all,” he added.
“When
such things happen in our culture, what is important is to reestablish
the
lost equilibrium, the lost harmony, the injured social
relations.
“The Shona have the best solution to this; the
operation of ngozi where the
murderer has to pay.”
While
serving a jail sentence would go a long way in punishing the
murderers,
Nyathi said the avenging spirit would have continued to torment
them after
prison had they failed to “make amends with the injured”.
He
cited the example of the Gukurahundi atrocities in the 1980s, which he
said
“will never affect those who gave orders, but willing agents and their
families”.
“It will cost your parents, while those who sent
orders are comfortable in
their offices,” Nyathi
said.
Organ of National Healing, Reconciliation and
Integration co-minister Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu, said while anticipating that
people can forgive each other,
the government’s reconciliation programme was
flawed.
He said as a result his MDC party was trying to convince
its partners in the
unity government to support a process that will promote
disclosure about
past human rights violations.
“We prefer an
approach which starts with acknowledgement of the atrocities,
for example
those perpetrated by the 5th Brigade, which make the greater
part of the
national healing project,” Mzila-Ndlovu said.
“If you look at the
Chokuda case, there was acknowledgement.
“We are not going to
achieve anything by just saying that people should
forgive each
other.
“The justice that happened in the Chokuda family has to be
extended to the
5th Brigade victims whereby the courts sentence the
perpetrators to long
jail terms.
“There has never been any
acknowledgement, no arrests, no justice in the
fifth Brigade massacres
cases.”
Mzila-Ndlovu added that it was obvious getting this
justice was not going to
be easy.
Zimbabwe National
Traditional Healers Association leader Professor Gordon
Chavhunduka said the
Chokuda case would help them drive home the point that
traditional systems
can work in fostering healing.
“The message is that we should use
traditional systems,” Chavhunduka said.
“In 1980 after the war,
the Zanu PF government used traditional experts to
go around the country and
talk to people about reconciliation.
“It has a lasting effect because
people respect traditional systems.”
He said although the court
system works, people were still more inclined
towards their traditional
beliefs.
Jesuit priest Father Oscar Wermter said there could be
many similar cases.
He also supported the view that the
traditional system could work, “but it
is not enough”.
“This
is not an individual case, there are many cases like this, and
therefore
many victims,” said Wermter.
“Human life cannot be paid for
because once a family has lost a father,
there is no replacement for that
father no matter the payment.
“So what we need is to address the
issue of political violence in general,
whereby parties continue to blame
each other.”
The best solution, Wemter said, was to address the
culture of violence which
has become deeplyembedded in Zimbabwe’s political
fabric.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 13:21
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has opened a hornet’s
nest with calls for
the legalisation of homosexuality, a hugely divisive
subject in the country.
Speaking in Britain last week, Tsvangirai said he
hoped the new constitution
would come up with freedom for sexual
orientation, immediately drawing the
ire of Zanu PF and cultural activists
in Zimbabwe.
The prime minister has been questioned on why he
seems to say one thing to a
Zimbabwean audience and another to a foreign
audience.
“Women make up 52% of the population...There are more
women than men, so why
should men be proposing to men?” Tsvangirai asked
then, speaking after
Mugabe at a function to celebrate Women’s
Day.
“That issue is not debatable, it’s not up for discussion.
It’s just madness,
insanity. The ancestors will turn in their graves should
we allow this to
happen,” Mugabe had said.
Tsvangirai’s new stance,
observers said would feed into Mugabe’s rhetoric,
as homosexuality was
hugely frowned upon as un-cultural and un-African.
Justice
minister, Patrick Chinamasa has also laid into Tsvangirai, saying
the prime
minister’s call was not genuine but rather he was telling his
“sponsors”
what they wanted to hear.
Zanu PF accuses Tsvangirai of being a pawn of
the West, particularly Britain
and America.
Britain has
already threatened to cut aid to countries that criminalised
homosexuality
and Tsvangirai’s statements could have been meant to please
them, Zanu PF
charges. “I know personally he doesn’t believe it. He has said
so many times
in the cabinet,” Chinamasa said.
An analyst, Dumisani Nkomo
reckons Tsvangirai should have kept quiet on the
issue and rather waited for
the completion of the constitution-making
exercise.
“The
problem is that at the moment the majority of Zimbabweans are not
necessarily in agreement with that and he can play into Mugabe’s hands
through that statement,” he said.
Nkomo said Tsvangirai’s
statements were not calculated and Mugabe was going
to go to town accusing
the prime minister of trying to smuggle gay rights
into the
constitution.
He said, following Tsvangirai’s statements, gay
rights could turn into a
major election campaign tool, in the next
election.
While Tsvangirai may be able to ride this storm,
analysts claim that Mugabe
would exploit this and the prime minister may yet
live to regret saying
that.
Leader of a faction of the MDC,
Welshman Ncube has turned the knife in the
back of his former colleague,
claiming he lacked consistency on policy.
“He lacks a clear point
of view and consistency,” he told a rally in Nkayi
on Friday. “He says one
thing when he is in Europe and he says another when
he is with (President
Robert) Mugabe. Leaders should be clear and consistent
on
policy.”
Ncube’s charge probably stems from that only last year,
Tsvangirai was
singing from the same hymn book with Mugabe claiming
homosexuality should
not be legalised.
The lone voice so far
backing the MDC-T leader’s call for inclusion of gay
rights in the
constitution, is the Gays and lesbians Association of Zimbabwe
(Galz). “We
urge him to have the courage to stand by his laudable respect
for human
rights in the face of the propaganda and unpopularity that will be
generated
by the Zimbabwean media around his position,” the association said
in a
statement last week.
Galz said it did not expect every Zimbabwean
to embrace gay rights or the
issue of homosexuality.
“But we
do expect Zimbabweans — and our political leaders in particular — to
understand and promote the fundamental, inalienable and indivisible nature
of human rights, including non-discrimination on the basis of race, gender,
tribe, culture, sexual orientation or political affiliation,” the
association said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 13:29
BY FORTUNE
MOYO
BINGA — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was on Friday
greeted by placard
waving villagers during his tour of
Matabeleland.
Tsvangirai, who appeared to be playing into Zanu PF’s hands
when he told the
BBC last week that gay rights were also a “human right,”
was eventually
forced to address the thorny issue at a rally in
Binga.
Villagers in Lupane and Tsholotsho carried placards with
messages such as,
“No to homosexuals.”
Speaking at a rally at
Pashu Secondary School in Binga South, Tsvangirai
said he did not understand
why people were making such a fuss about his
views on gays. “I am not gay,
but I will not persecute someone who wishes to
make his or her own choice
about their sexual orientation, it is their own
business,” he
said.
But he admitted that homosexuality was a “very
controversial subject” in
Zimbabwe. “Surely we cannot spend time talking
about gays and lesbians. Do
you think that I have time to be responding to
what I meant or did not mean
when I made reference to the issue of gays?
There are more serious issues to
talk about, such as how to take care of the
well-being of the people,”
Tsvangirai told the rally.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
11:45
BY RUTENDO MAWERE
GWERU — Mysterious fires that have destroyed
about 15 cars parked at homes
in Zvishavane has left the sleepy mining town
searching for answers. The
fires, which are believed to have started late at
night on different dates,
have stoked up fear.
Police have since
imposed a 10pm curfew to try and catch the criminals to no
avail. Fainos
Mare, a local businessman of Charlesinn suburb became the
latest victim
after his Nissan hardbody truck was set on fire.
“My Nissan Hardbody
pickup was reduced to ashes on Thursday night,” he said.
“It is clear it was
deliberately burnt because they used firewood near the
tank.
He
added: “I suspect that those burning vehicles could be owners of security
companies to instill fear into the Zvishavane residents so that they look
for guards to look after their property.
“We also suspect that it
could be those companies that also deal in alarm
systems.” Mare said they
were disappointed by Zvishavane police’s failure to
stop the
crime.
“These police officers just take notes and do not assist in
any way,” he
claimed. “It is better that we do not have the police force at
all because
I feel they are useless.”
A Vehicle Inspection
Department official identified as Takesure Mugarisanwa
had his house partly
burnt after his car was set on fire. Zvishavane Town
council chairman,
Alluwis Zhou said they were at a loss on what was
happening in the
town.
“The whole town is confused at the moment as to what is
happening,” he said.
“Together with the police we have tried our level best
but so far nothing
has been found.
“We have no idea who is
engaging in such destructive acts but it seems most
people suspect insurance
companies. “It can also be the security companies
that have sprouted here
because since the problem started a number of people
have engaged the
services of security guards.”
Zvishavane police could not immediately
comment on the matter but earlier in
the week they told state media that
they had not made any breakthrough in
their investigations
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 12:16
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
PRISONS boss, Paradzai Zimondi has been sucked into an ownership
wrangle
over a conservancy in Kariba, amid allegations that he was
benefitting
financially, despite not being a director or a
shareholder.
A retired army colonel, Thomas Ngwenya claims that
Zimondi and other
directors of the conservancy, Wesango Safaries, conspired
to have him
removed from the list of directors and this has seen him being
prejudiced of
dividends since 2004.
In papers filed before the
Bulawayo High Court, Ngwenya accuses the Zimbabwe
Prison Service (ZPS) boss
of chairing a meeting in October 2009, where a
resolution was passed to
recapitalise the company that runs the conservancy,
an agreement which he
says is a nullity and void.
Also cited in the court papers are the
other directors, Agnes and Epmarcus
Kanhanga, Richard Chingombe and the
Registrar of Companies, in a suit where
Ngwenya is demanding US$10
000.
Chingombe is an heir to the estate of Amos Chingombe and Ngwenya
charges
that his appointment was unprocedural. The defendants have since
entered a
notice to defend.
Ngwenya, who holds a quarter of the
shareholding, says he has not received a
dividend for 2004 to 2009 and only
received a Mazda twin cab in 2008 as part
of the dividend of that
year.
The former military man says he was unprocedurally removed from
the director’s
list and this had seen him being prejudiced of an income,
despite trying to
solve this, he says, he was forced to approach the courts,
as he had not met
any joy.
In this regard, Ngwenya wanted the
court to have his directorship restored
and that the Registrar of Companies
be compelled to include his name in the
list of directors. He also sought to
have the appointment of Chingombe as a
director to be rescinded, as the
meeting that named him was unprocedural and
therefore,
illegal.
Ngwenya also sought to compel the other directors to release
management
accounts, bank statements, financial statements, minute books and
annual
returns from 2005 to 2010.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 12:17
BY
LESLEY WURAYAYI
THE Iranian Clinic of Red Crescent Society (ICRCS) recently
donated US$30
000 to the Zimbabwe Red Cross to help fund its operations.
Speaking at the
handover ceremony, clinic manager Amin Hamidzadeh said the
donation will go
a long way in helping the organisation fulfill its mandate
of providing aid
to the vulnerable in society.
“This is just
a start for great things yet to come from the Iranian
community regarding
aid which is in line with strategy 2010, ensuring all
Red Cross Society
organisations are well-funded so as to fulfill their
mandate,” Hamidzadeh
said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:40
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
ZANU PF has accelerated
the controversial indigenisation drive by dangling
shares grabbed from
foreign-owned companies in exchange for votes in the
next elections,
political analysts have said.
But the populist community
ownership trusts could plunge the country, still
smarting from a decade-long
economic decline, into deeper crisis as it will
scare away foreign
investors.
The party has started dishing out shares in the hope
of recapturing its
disillusioned supporters as well as grabbing swing voters
who are not
solidly committed to any particular party ahead of the
elections.
President Robert Mugabe has demanded polls next year
while his main rival
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai insists on a level
electoral playing field
first.
A fortnight ago, Mugabe
officially launched the
Chegutu-Mhondoro-Ngezi-Zvimba Community Share
Ownership Trust, which he said
was designed to economically empower
indigenous people.
But his critics dismissed it as a
“vote-catching strategy,” similar to the
ruinous land grab
policy.
Mining giant Zimplats gave 10% shareholding to the local
community as part
of the scheme.
It will also surrender US$10
million to the local community to be disbursed
over a three-year
period.
Under Zimbabwe’s contested empowerment laws, foreign
firms must cede at
least 51% of their shareholding to
locals.
The architect of the schemes, Minister of Youth
Development, Indigenisation
and Empowerment Saviour Kasukuwere said the
schemes were critical towards
achieving broad-based empowerment after the
“successful” conclusion of the
land reform
programme.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora dismissed
the empowerment programme
saying it smacks of Zanu PF clientelism, cronyism,
corruption and political
paternalism.
Since 2000, Zanu PF has
dished out vast tracts of productive farmland
grabbed from commercial
farmers to party loyalists.
In recent years, Mugabe has drawn
most of his votes from the farming
communities, who are ordered to vote for
Zanu PF or risk losing the
allocated land.
“The political
polarisation is such that only those in privileged positions
and those who
supported Zanu PF will benefit from this so-called
empowerment,” said
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer John
Makumbe.
“It ceased to be a government programme because the
MDC-T has washed its
hands.”
In the past, thousands of
Mugabe’s supporters have been favoured with jobs,
properties and other
privileges at a great cost to the economy.
Judging from the land
invasions, analysts said the “clientelism” strategy
could shake Tsvangirai’s
support base if all the community share
beneficiaries were to vote for
Mugabe.
In previous polls, Zanu PF dished out farming implements
and food in
exchange for votes. It has also used political violence with
limited
success.
But Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe chairman
Jonah Gokova said just like the
land reform; the empowerment programme will
only benefit Mugabe’s cronies.
“During the land invasions, Mugabe
said he was empowering the poor but they
voted against him in the 2008
elections,” Gokova said.
“People are not fools. They know it’s a
vote-buying gimmick.”
Economic analyst Daniel Ndlela described
the policy as noble but feared that
it will be abused.
He
said similar policies were pursued to empower disadvantaged Aborigines in
Australia and American-Indians in America.
“As a policy, you
cannot run away from it but it has to be transparent and
non-political,”
Ndlela said.
“These are the conditions for
sustainability.”
Ndlela expressed concern that the policy was
heavily politicised and forced
companies, some of which were not making any
profits, to contribute.
“Will they not forget it soon after
elections?” he asked. “It should go
beyond political
rhetoric.”
Makumbe said Zanu PF officials had already positioned
themselves to grab
shares in foreign-owned firms like they did with farms,
which are now
derelict.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
12:03
BY BRIAN HUNGWE
THE next few weeks could prove to be the most
trying in the career of
Zimbabwe’s 87-year-old President Robert Mugabe.
Until now, it would have
been unthinkable for him to doubt the support of
his Zanu PF party at the
gathering of the party’s annual
jamboree.
But party insiders say the country’s leader, who has
been in power for 31
years, was stunned by recent disclosures by the
whistle-blower website,
WikiLeaks, that his close allies spoke to US
diplomats about his political
exit.
With elections beckoning, the
reality is that a string of his top officials
in his party believe he is now
a liability and want him to go before
presidential polls slated for next
year. Insiders say he would like to stand
for re-election, but because of
the WikiLeaks exposures, the President is
now weighing his
options.
The diplomatic cables — covering the period 2004 to 2010 —
were relayed to
Washington from Harare, containing details of secret
meetings US diplomats
held with top army officers and Zanu PF
officials.
The meetings took place without the knowledge of Mugabe
and his supposedly
omnipresent spies. The general consensus is that although
the top Zanu PF
leadership wants Mugabe — who has cancer, according to the
cables — to go,
no-one is brave enough to tell him that to his
face.
Party insiders say Mugabe is not too sure how to deal with his
enemies from
within, especially those officials he thought would keep party
secrets under
lock and key.
On the 7th floor of the imposing Zanu
PF headquarters overlooking the
capital, Harare, party spokesperson Rugare
Gumbo has been making a study of
the documents. In the right hand corner of
his office is a bookshelf and a
file written in bold letters
“Wikileaks”.
“The people who were talking to the Americans clearly
take themselves and
the Americans more seriously than they take us. My
feeling is that (the
WikiLeaks) issue might have ruffled feathers,” he
admits.
So are heads going to roll at the annual conference in
December when Mugabe
is expected to seek Zanu PF’s endorsement to serve
another five-year term?
“We will cross the bridge when we get there,”
Gumbo said. It is not even
clear, he says, if Mugabe’s future will be on the
agenda as “according to
party constitution, the president of the party is a
candidate for any
(presidential) elections that are held”.
“He is
likely to be endorsed,” he added. The top party officials implicated
in the
diplomatic cables of plotting against Mugabe have powerful party
constituencies which he cannot afford to alienate by punishing
them.
Vice-President Joice Mujuru is wife to late army general
Solomon Mujuru, a
kingmaker, believed to have pressured Mugabe to step down
during party
meetings.
Mujuru has a huge support base within Zanu
PF, as does party legal affairs
secretary and Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa, who is understood to have
muted the idea of forming a new party
to challenge Mugabe. Dozens of others
were named in the cables and Mugabe
has indicated he would like them
investigated.
But there seems to
be limited options for Mugabe. He may be damned if he
acts and damned if he
does not. If he does not, he will come out as a weak
leader and his party
will go into elections divided. If he does act, he will
also divide the
party.
For a lawyer and author Petina Gappah, it is good to hear
senior figures
question Mugabe’s continued leadership, but she questions
their motives.
“The people who were talking to the Americans clearly take
themselves and
the Americans more seriously than they take us,” says
Gappah.
“If anything, this is a God-sent event which will go a long,
long way to
unite people, scare cowards. That makes me angry,” she
says.
Political commentator Brian Raftopolous sees the closed-door chatter as
a
historical problem for the party, now in its 48th
year.
“Succession issues have never been dealt with openly in
Zanu PF. There has
also been violence and death and all kinds of
skulduggery. It’s really the
inability of a liberation party to transform
itself into a democratic
party,” he says. — BBC
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 14:16
BY
NDAMU SANDU IN SEOUL, Republic of Korea
ZIMBABWE owes Republic of Korea
US$2,8 million for tractors delivered during
the farm mechanisation exercise
four years ago and the delay in clearing the
debt has stalled the processing
of a US$50 million line of credit, a top
official said on
Wednesday.
If the money is repaid, the suspension of the line of
credit would be
lifted, said Young Chul Baik, honorary consulate of the
Republic of Zimbabwe
in Seoul.
“I arranged the US$5 million
facility. Korea supplied tractors and Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe paid US$2,2
million and the US$2,8 million was not paid,
meaning default,” he said,
adding that the Korean government has suspended
credit lines to
Zimbabwe.
“Minister Biti must pay, but he is against what
(Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor) Gideon Gono had
done.
“That is why he didn’t pay, even after the Insurance
Corporation of Korea
announced that they were promised payment. If you pay
the US$2,8 million,
they will give you US$50 million immediately,” said
Baik, who is also the
chairman of Taesung Chemical Co.
Ltd.
RBZ embarked on a farm mechanisation programme in 2007 to
boost agricultural
production as part of its quasi-fiscal
activities.
The quasi-fiscal activities were stopped in 2009 when
an amended legislation
governing the activities of the RBZ directed it to
concentrate on its core
business.
Some of the equipment
bought under the farm mechanisation programme was
auctioned to offset debts
after those who were owed money by RBZ obtained
writs of
execution.
According to the Trade Insurance Act, an insurance
arm, K-sure, was set up
as an official export credit agency to promote
Korea’s exports, overseas
investment and other businesses by providing
credit insurances and
guarantees.
Korea’s K-sure operates
under the ministry of Knowledge and Economy.
In July RBZ
announced that it was disposing of its shareholding in seven
companies.
“According to the MoU (Memorandum of
Understanding) they must approach me,
but they didn’t,” Baik
said.
Baik said he had written letters to the RBZ committee on
disposal and Gono
asking for permission to identify a local partner he can
work with.
“Without an agreement with me, that project will not
go anywhere because
Zimbabwe does not have any technical expertise,” Baik
said.
He said the shareholders injected US$12 million at
inception. He said the
project has been turned into a white elephant since
it is not operating.
“Since the end of 2007 there has been no
production. It used to produce, but
the Reserve Bank took the diesel and
didn’t pay,” he said.
“Now, it is four years no payment: where is
the working capital?
“If we are not operating, you can imagine
the cost of maintenance, huge
maintenance costs,” he
said.
“One of the bidders came to me because they needed
technical support. I
asked the buyer, do you have money? He said he does not
have and I asked,
how are you going to do it and he said once he gets
support from me they are
going to get financing from the bank,” Baik
said.
Baik said he told the prospective investor to look for
money to repay the
loan since the project is a viable long-term venture,
which can only declare
a dividend in 10 years.
“It is a good
project, the only one in Africa and once we have done well we
can export
technical expertise.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 14:05
BY
NDAMU SANDU IN SEOUL, Republic of Korea
YOUTH Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment minister Saviour
Kasukuwere told Korean
business executives on Wednesday that their
investments in Zimbabwe are safe
despite the move to seize foreign-owned
firms.
At a dinner hosted for
the executives by the Zimbabwean delegation that was
in the Asian country on
a study tour, Kasukuwere said the empowerment of
locals was meant to achieve
a “win-win situation” for all stakeholders.
“The process of
empowerment is not meant to stifle investments in the
country, but to
achieve a win-win situation,” he said.
“We want Korean investment
and we will make sure that investments by Korean
business people are
protected.”
According to the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act,
locals must have at
least 51% shareholding in all foreign-owned companies
operating in Zimbabwe.
The ministry has already concluded
discussions with major mining houses and
will now move to the manufacturing
and financial sectors.
Kasukuwere was head of a Zimbabwean
delegation that was in Korea to look at
the success story of the Asian
nation backed by locals and how its
experiences could be replicated in
Zimbabwe.
The delegation comprised State Enterprises and
Parastatals deputy minister
Walter Chidhakwa, National Indigenisation and
Economic Board chairman David
Chapfika and NIIEB chief executive officer
Wilson Gwatiringa among others.
The delegation toured Korea’s
small-to-medium enterprises, where it learnt
how the sector was contributing
to the growth of the economy.
Once one of the poorest countries
in the world, Korea has transformed in
four decades into one of the best
countries in terms of economic development
and is now spreading its
tentacles across the world.
It has now set its eyes on Africa and
hosts the Korea-Africa Industry
Cooperation Forum
annually.
On Wednesday, Korea pledged its support for Africa
saying the continent
faces a golden opportunity for
development.
“As for Korea, supporting Africa’s development is an
international
obligation as well as a means of pursuing national interests,”
said Deung
Hun Chun, president of Korea Institute for Development
Strategy.
He said the “virginity” of Africa should be the source
of its future
competitiveness and a blue print for sustainable development
of global
community.”
Korea is offering concessional loans to
African countries as well as
technical assistance through its Knowledge
Sharing Programme.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
14:06
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
THE African Development
Bank (AfDB) says increasing imports at a time when
growth in exports is
sluggish has negatively affected Zimbabwe’s economic
recovery.
In its Zimbabwe Monthly Economic Review for
October, the bank noted that
over the period January to September 2011,
provisional data indicates that
exports amounted to US$3 153,40 million
while imports raked in US$6 265,27
million.
“This resulted in
a cumulative trade balance of US$3 111,88 million over the
period of
review.
“On a monthly basis, however, the trade balance declined
from US$872,49
million in August 2011 to US$508,84 million in September
2011,” said the
AfDB in a statement.
Under the government’s
Medium-Term Plan (MTP), the country’s current account
improvement is
premised on both exports growth in response to investment and
GDP
growth.
“Exports are forecast to increase at a faster rate than
growth in the rest
of the economy reflecting dominance of the mining
sector,” reads the MTP
document.
The MTP also targets a
current account deficit of not more than 5% of GDP by
2015.
“The trade balance structure remains a potential
challenge to the management
of the current account,” said the
AfDB.
Government expects the current account deficit to improve
from US$1,6
billion in 2011 to US$1,2 billion in
2012.
Although the AfDB commended Zimbabwe’s improved economic
governance, based
on the Finance ministry’s budget strategy paper (BSP),
Government Works
Programme and the Medium-Term Plan, experts contend that
the business
environment needs to be transformed in order to pursue
export-led growth.
Following years of protracted political
wrangling among the leading parties,
which led to negative ripple effects on
the economy, Zimbabwe’s
manufacturing sector experienced an unprecedented
slump in production levels
resulting in massive corrosion of the export
sector’s performance.
Over 95% of the country’s mining sector
output is exported, but the AfDB
notes that the general trend shows that the
indigenisation law was
negatively impacting on the performance of the stock
market and the economy
in general.
However, under the BSP,
domestic capacity utilisation is projected to
increase to 60% and in the
process reduce the high quantities of imports,
with particular emphasis on
basic commodities.
Food imports are expected to decline by 31,1%
under the BSP.
Finance minister Tendai Biti re-introduced import
duty on basic commodities
such as maize meal and cooking in a bid to improve
local industrial capacity
utilisation as well as to stimulate local
production of stock-feed.
Duty on salt, flour and rice remains
suspended until December this year.
The BSP also projects an
improvement in the balance of payments position
from a deficit of US$789,7
million in 2011 to a deficit of US$438,2 million
in 2012 on account of
growth in exports and reduced imports.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
14:03
BY JOHN KACHEMBERE
THE National Economic
Consultative Forum (NECF) says the re-introduction of
duty on some basic
commodities by the Ministry of Finance will impact
positively on the
economy.
Finance minister Tendai Biti in August re-introduced import
duties ranging
between 10 to 25% on basics such as maize meal and cooking
oil and other
commodities such as potato chips, baked beans and mixed fruit
jam.
The move resulted in unjustified price
increases.
In a recent report the NECF said despite reports of
price increases, the
re-introduction of duty was positively impacting on the
economy.
“The task force’s analysis established that the cost
structures of the
manufacturers of the selected basic commodities did not
change as a result
of the re-introduction of duties.
“Whatever
changes might have occurred, were results of shifts in commodity
prices on
the international market,” reads the NECF report in part.
The
NECF, which was created to ensure the attainment of socio-economic
goals,
based on the concept of smart partnerships between the public and
private
sectors, said as a result of the re-introduction of duty, National
Foods
re-opened its Bulawayo plant while Cairns Foods’ Mutare branch resumed
operations on October 1.
In addition, the companies have increased
the number of operating shifts and
hence creating
employment.
But at the same time, manufacturers lack raw
materials to fill the gap.
“Most local manufacturers of the
commodities, whose duties were
re-introduced, rely on the seasonal supply of
key raw materials which are
agro-based, which invariably leads to a high raw
material inventory to
guarantee the security of supply for these
materials.
“Besides the high cost of financing operations with
borrowed money, the
flooding of cheap imports coming in duty-free on the
market, led to locally
produced key products becoming
uncompetitive.”
Some analysts argued that after a decade of
decline, the Zimbabwean economy
now once again needs infant industry
protection.
“The restoration of duty will certainly result in
significant revival of the
industry, as capacity utilisation is set to
increase.
“With more companies escalating their ability, we are
going to witness local
companies gaining competitive edge,” said prominent
economist Johannes
Chiminya.
Chiminya however, said constant
power outages and lack of raw materials and
working capital might work
against the full recovery of the local industry.
The NECF study
also noted that most manufacturers whose products benefited
from the
re-introduction of duty, had doubled capacity utilisation from 21%
to 46%,
especially in Harare and Bulawayo.
“Despite this increase, more
excess capacity still exists, for instance,
National Foods still has
capacity to meet the increasing national demand at
affordable
prices.
“It has employed 2 000 more workers. Victoria Foods has restarted
three
milling plants to meet demand and has employed more
people.
“Olivine now has 1 200 employees. More importantly, the companies
have
intentions of raising prices due to the Zesa’s 31% tariff increase,
which
would translate into 53% extra cost.
Increased capacity
utilisation had also led to the production of the
much-needed offals by the
livestock industry, saving them from importing the
same from neighbouring
countries such as Zambia and Malawi, the NECF added.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 14:00
BY LESLEY
WURAYAYI
AS the mobile phone industry continues to turn into a
cutthroat trade,
service providers are fighting hard to outdo each other,
with the latest
innovation being mobile banking.
In a country where
statistics are hugely inaccurate and not regularly
available, the country’s
three mobile phone service providers, Net One,
Econet and Telecel, claim
they are reaching out to Zimbabwe’s unbanked
population, whom they say make
a huge percentage of the population.
The companies claim they
want to reach out to rural customers and those that
have no access to banks,
as they continue to diversify in the hope of luring
more
clients.
Due to the growth of use of mobile phones in developing
countries, mobile
operators are cashing in on the convenience that the
mobile phones offer.
While this may be a new innovation in
Zimbabwe, Kenya was a trendsetter,
having mobile phone company Safaricom
introducing M’Pesa, the cash transfer
system sometime ago.
Recently,
Econet launched a mobile money transfer system, but the company
says this
should not be mistaken for mobile banking.
“The misconception
that EcoCash is mobile banking is false, it is a mobile
money transfer, more
like a mobile wallet,” Curtis Takawira, an official
from Econet
said.
Telecel, on the other hand, have come up with a system that
they claim is
technically different from Ecocash, as it offered a variety of
products to
its clients.
The company partnered with banks under the
ZimSwitch banner, saying this
gave them wider coverage across the
country.
“Telecel has entered into a partnership with ZimSwitch
that allows ZimSwitch
member financial institutions to provide mobile
banking services through
Telecel mobile network,” Francis Chimanda, from
Telecel, said.
Their advantage, Telecel says, is that their
clients can make their
transactions at either supermarkets, post offices,
stores or any outlet with
a ZimSwitch Ready sign.
“Our
charges are low but viable. Telecel and its banking partners would wish
to
see many of those who have not previously had a bank account brought into
the banking system through mobile banking,” Chaminda
said.
They hope that their affordable services and the strength
of the reputations
of the partnered financial institutions can be expected
to increase
confidence in the concept.
Despite the money cash
transfer system being new, it is already receiving
rave reviews from people
who have used it.
“EcoCash is extremely convenient and a well
thought out initiative. Though
it’s still in its early stages we are yet to
see if it will be recognised
brand. People hate the inconvenience of banks
so it might be a success
story,” Lizwe Chitanganya, a Harare resident,
said.
“I don’t even know there are transaction charges but
obviously that’s always
a deterrent to such
services.”
Convenience was cited as being the major factor why
the mobile transfer
system could prove to be a hit with
Zimbabweans.
“Well, it is not different from other money couriers
like Western Union,
just that it’s more convenient sending money while you
are at home or
anywhere,” Busi Matinhure said.
Shiana Nazareth said,
“What I like the most is that I can purchase airtime
anytime and send money
to my friends and siblings. It’s really a good
innovation.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:59
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
SCIENCE and Technology
minister Heneri Dzinotyiweyi (pictured right) says
government must lift the
ban on genetically modified (GMOs) foods insisting
they have been
scientifically proven to be safe for human consumption.
His call comes at
a time when over 1,7 million people, mostly in the rural
areas, are said to
be at the verge of starvation due to hunger.
Dzinotyiweyi’s
appeal is supported by the Grain Millers Association of
Zimbabwe, which has
also called on government to lift a ban on GMOs to avert
hunger amid
widespread food shortages.
Dzinotyiweyi, a former University of
Zimbabwe Dean of Science told
Standardbusiness that GMOs remained banned
because there was no unanimity in
government as far as their use and
consumption was concerned.
“From a scientific angle, nobody has
shown that such products are unsafe,”
Dzinotyiweyi said. For us, as a
developing country, to say they are unsafe
would be
wrong.”
He added: “With the way the world is going, we cannot
survive on
superstition. We have to respect scientific evidence and go along
with it
that GMOs are good and boost food production.”
The
former UZ lecturer urged farmers and millers to confront government so
that
it can lift the ban of GMOs.
“I hope affected constituencies such
as farmers and millers can confront
government on this with a desire to
arrive at a conclusive position, which
is of interest to both the country as
a whole and to themselves,” he said
Government banned the
importation of genetically modified grain citing
health and environmental
reasons.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011
13:45
By Tarisai Shumba
Statistics show that Zimbabwe
still has an incredible 28% of its total
landmass set aside for wildlife
areas and made up as follows:
lAbout 14% for National
Parks,
lAbout 12% for Campfire and Forestry
lSome 1,9% for
Conservancies.
Unfortunately, though, only conservancies have
been able to generate income
and, thus, manage their wildlife assets as well
as tourism and hunting
infrastructures to maximise the use of these assets.
Due to the abysmal
reputation of Zimbabwe as an international tou rism
destinations even
conservancies have difficulties of making ends
meet.
National Parks and Campfire have not fared any better.
National Park’s camps
and lodges are in poor condition as are roads and
water supply for the
animals.
Proactive game management
normally includes game counts and aerial surveys.
Few, if any of, such
management tools have been applied in the state-owned
assets for some time
now. Therefore, understanding the composition of
wildlife herds; initiating
conservation and proactive management practises
are difficult, if not
impossible. Compare this to running a business without
a regular stocktake
of stocks and assets and no auditing of financial
statements: Management and
owners would run around like headless chickens
and unable to make
responsible decisions. That is the situation prevailing
in National
Parks.
As stated by one of the former director generals: “About
90% of all income
in parks is derived from hunting concessions sold in
National Parks. Hunting
in National Parks? This must be a Zimbabwe
special!
Generally, National Parks are kept for the appreciation
and recreation of
the local population as well as overseas guests, not for
hunting safaris.
Parks should therefore earn entry fees if their offer of
what to see and how
to enjoy is acceptable. The latter is clearly not the
case; otherwise why
would the tourism gate receipts amount to less than 10%
of revenue?
As admitted by PWMA director general, Vitalis Chadenga, and
what is now
public knowledge, Zimbabwe has lost about 80% of its national
wildlife in
the past 12 years.
While Chadenga is in charge
only since early last year, his minister Francis
Nhema has held the
portfolio of Environment for over 12 years. A minister
who has overseen the
destruction of the largest asset under his control, an
asset that is a
national as well as international heritage must be named a
national failure.
But he is still in cabinet and allowed to continue
mismanaging his
portfolio.
We have recently received the: Ministry of Environment
And Natural Resources
Management, Strategic Plan 2: 2011 –
2015
Indeed, the plan makes good reading. But the plan’s
implementation is
chaired by a minister and his staff who have the dubious
record of
destroying the assets under their control. What credibility, if
any, does
this plan have, therefore?
Mismanagement is not
countered by making a good plan but by firing the
management which failed
and by appointing new and credible managers, in this
case politicians, who
will work on and implement an industry embracing
Strategic
Plan.
Unless drastic changes are forthcoming in heading and
manning the Ministry
of Environment, the national asset of wildlife will
continue to be
squandered.
Wildlife-based tourism accounts for over
10% of GDP and employment. Will
this government; this Cabinet leave the fate
of such a large contributor to
Zimbabweans wellbeing in the hands of
incompetent politicians who have
proved beyond doubt that they have no
interest or ability of managing their
responsibility for our National asset
of wildlife?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday,
30 October 2011 13:44
By Nevanji Madanhire
I saw a new bin
in Harare last week. The bin was beautiful and carried the
legend: Keep
Harare Clean. It also had painted on it the graphic of a
pedestrian throwing
litter into it. Another sign on it was the recycle sign.
It was an
exhilarating experience. The previous week Harare Mayor Muchadeyi
Masunda
had texted hailing The Standard for its anti-litter crusade.
Interestingly,
other newspapers, particularly public ones, have also picked
up the fight
against litterbugs. All very marrrrvelous!
I would like to
emphasise the importance of bins being beautiful. The
message to send around
to the people should be that “bins are cool”. If the
bins are ugly they
negate the purpose they are supposed to serve. If a bin
is an eyesore in
itself, people would not wish to be associated with it. It’s
an interesting
observation; people throw their litter at unsightly bins
instead of into
them. The result is a mess.
Now that the City Fathers have taken
the first step of providing bins at
strategic points they must ensure two
things; that the bins are emptied
regularly and that they are kept in good
shape. Those that have become
misshapen should be replaced by new ones. This
is going to be expensive,
reason why our business community should lead on
this one by identifying
with the anti-litter campaign and providing bins
regularly; they can put
their signage on them.
But the
success of this crusade depends on the public’s response. The bins
are there
to be used, not simply to decorate the motorways. But how can this
message
be drilled into the minds of people long used to throwing their
rubbish all
over the place?
Zimbabweans have engaged in successful campaigns
before. The HIV and Aids
awareness campaign is one such. I can hear readers
sighing and saying how
could I liken the anti-litter campaign to the
anti-HIV/Aids campaign! But
this demonstrates how seriously we should take
the litter issue. One thing
that made the anti-HIV/Aids campaign a success
was the totality of its
thrust. It was on radio and television. It rang
everywhere until our ears
ached.
Campaigners went into
schools and factories; messages were pasted everywhere
including in buses
and trains. It was total immersion! Now thanks to this,
statistics show that
the incidence of new HIV infection has declined
considerably and continues
to do so.
The same can be done about litter; there should be
campaigns in schools and
on factory floors, in buses and in trains until the
message is drummed home.
The campaign should go further and
educate the public on the different types
of litter. Recently, I noticed a
very disturbing trend; people are burning
heaps of litter in the middle of
the road or wherever they are found. The
intention might be good but that is
not the right thing to do. Not only does
the burning pollute the air but
also the resulting fumes are pregnant with
gasses that have other diverse
effects on the environment. We have all head
about the depletion of the
ozone layer due to the discharge of
chloro-fluro-carbons. Burning rubbish
also produces other toxic gases that
can trigger asthma and irritate mucus
membranes.
Litter can be separated into five categories namely,
simple trash, organic,
plastic, paper and metal. It is important that the
public are made aware of
this. Almost all litter can be recycled, hence
burning should absolutely be
only as a last resort
In some
countries bins are properly marked to indicate which sort of litter
should
be placed into which bin (see illustration). This means it becomes
easier
for litter collectors to know exactly where they should take contents
of the
bins. Recyclers’ job is also made easier as they would have been
saved the
onerous task of extracting what they want from mixed bins.
The
anti-litter campaign is now poised to go full-throttle nationwide, watch
this space!
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 30 October 2011 13:43
By
Benjamin Chitate
Prominent political commentator, Rejoice
Ngwenya’s recent contribution in
which he predicts victory for the Professor
Ncube-led MDC-N adds very little
value to Zimbabwe’s political discourse,
besides exonerating Robert Mugabe
of all the crimes he and his party have
committed and continue to commit
that have been a stumbling block to efforts
by the newcomers in government
from both the MDC-N and MDC-T.
To
start with, he calls Morgan Tsvangirai Zimbabwe’s perennial presidential
aspirant, when every Zimbabwean knows that Morgan Tsvangirai has contested
only two presidential elections, one of which he lost, and the other one
which he won in 2008. To accuse him of not being the substantive President
of Zimbabwe is to celebrate the mayhem that followed Tsvangirai’s election
victory in 2008, which has been condemned by the entire
world.
The sole purpose of Ngwenya’s article was to obviously
prop up MDC-N and
backstab the MDC-T as he heaped praise on the MDC-N
ministers in government
and failed to acknowledge a single positive
contribution made by MDC-T. It
is surprising that Ngwenya decided to ignore
completely the fact that Zanu
PF has been throwing spanners into efforts by
all non-Zanu PF ministers.
MDC-N officials have been detained or arrested —
I recall an incident when
the majority of the MDC top leadership had
problems with the police during a
tour of Matabeleland North province, and
Ngwenya knows pretty well that the
Police Commissioner-general himself,
Augustine Chihuri, is a card carrying
Zanu PF member who has refused to
co-operate with Home Affairs co-minister
Theresa Makone. It will be
expecting miracles to expect Makone or MDC-T
alone to have any influence on
the police force, and instead of blaming
Makone, Ngwenya would be better off
contributing ideas on how Zimbabweans,
whether they are MDC-N, MDC-T,
Mavambo, NCA, ZCTU — you name it, can drum up
pressure on Chihuri and Mugabe
to restore peace and order rather than attack
Makone. Any attack of that
nature should only be expected from Zanu PF and
those who intentionally or
unintentionally support Mugabe and Zanu PF
dictatorship
It
could be true that the urban centres under the control of the MDC-T have
had
water problems; it could be true that Sipepa Nkomo’s efforts on the
Zambezi
River water project have not brought water in the two years that he
has been
in office, but with the state of the infrastructure and what is
needed to
achieve the intended results, it would have been a miracle to
expect any
meaningful change in two years. Given the state of the economy,
which every
sane Zimbabwean will rightfully blame on Mugabe and Zanu PF for,
every
Zimbabwean should be putting pressure on Zanu PF and Mugabe to behave
responsibly. No development can take place without financial injection, and
we all know how proceeds from Zimbabwe’s minerals are being abused by Zanu
PF, amid reports that some of those proceeds are not going into Treasury.
Rejoice Ngwenya needs to re-think before he starts blaming anyone else apart
from Mugabe and Zanu PF for lack of development, because development can
only take place with financial resources.
Rejoice even goes
further to celebrate the harassment on tormented
Zimbabwean Ambassador to
Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region,
Ambassador Zwambila, who he
describes as having a new lead role as Australia’s
rendition of Desperate
Housewives. Many Zimbabweans with an interest in
knowing the truth would be
interested in hearing from Rejoice what detail he
has on the stories that
have been created around Ambassador Zwambila. Please
Rejoice, be elaborate,
we all want to know what you know about the
allegations around Ambassador
Zwambila. What if it turns out to be that
Ambassador Zwambila is being
framed? If you don’t have the facts, you better
shut
up.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life, including those in MDC-N,
should wish
for the extinction of dictatorship. I don’t get Ngwenya’s point
in accusing
Tsvangirai of calculating MDC-T’s parliamentary domination on
Zanu PF’s
extinction. If anything, Tsvangirai may have predicted a landslide
victory
for his party, and that does not translate into wishing that
Zimbabwe
becomes a one party state. Tsvangirai has not barred any other
party
interested in contesting the elections, but every Zimbabwean knows
very well
that he and leaders of other political parties other than Zanu PF,
have been
calling for a free and fair election in which everyone interested
should
participate. Please stop putting words into Tsvangirai’s
mouth.
If Ngwenya really needs Zimbabwe to be progressive, he
should point out
where exactly ministers from across the political divide
have failed so that
those who are not living to expectations can correct
their mistakes for the
good of Zimbabweans. While he wants to portray
ministers from the MDC-N as
the super performers in government, we have had
some of them claim that
their work is being affected by Zanu PF’s throwing
spanners into the works.
Who is Rejoice trying to fool?
