Controversy brewing over South Africa’s arms sale to Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 September 2012

South Africa recently sold weapons worth $276,000 to Zimbabwe’s defence
forces, according to that country’s latest quarterly report of the National
Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC).

This is despite the South African government’s pledge last year not to
permit such sales to Zimbabwe. Justice Minister and chairperson of the
committee, Jeff Radebe, said then that the government would not approve
permits for the sale of weapons to countries with ‘political complications.’

The arms sale to Zimbabwe was between April and July this year, according to
the report which has been extensively published in the South African media.
During the same period, the South African government approved contracts to
other countries worth R2.8 billion.

The NCACC report says contracts with 50 countries were signed, among them
India, Gabon, the US and China.

The report says the weapons sold to Zimbabwe fall mainly into the C
category, consisting of support equipment like teargas.

In the last decade the US and the European Union imposed an arms embargo
against the former ZANU PF ruling party, in response to Robert Mugabe’
serious violations of human rights. The police, headed by Augustine Chihuri,
has on numerous occasions used teargas to disperse peaceful political
rallies and meetings organised by the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.

With South African President Zuma the chief facilitator in Zimbabwe’s
crisis, political analyst Dewa Mavhinga told us it was unusual for South
Africa to also be selling arms to the country.

‘I think their impartiality will come under scrutiny considering the weapons
have been used mainly to crackdown on MDC supporters. We are approaching a
watershed election period in Zimbabwe and this is not the time to be selling
arms to the country,’ Mavhinga said.

Zanu (PF) Militia Demand Elections

http://www.radiovop.com/

By Professor Matodzi Harare, September 10, 2012 - Graduates of the notorious
national youth service have petitioned the High Court seeking an order
compelling President Robert Mugabe to set dates for the holding of
by-elections in 38 vacant constituencies.
“From as far as August 2008, there are parliamentary seats that fell vacant
and replacements were elected to fill in such vacancies within the time
stipulated by the Electoral Act…Applicant’s members who reside in the
affected constituencies continue to be prejudiced by non-representation.

"Laws and regulations have been made and continue to be passed without any
input from their elected representatives thereby depriving them of their
right to participate in the legislative arm of the State,” the secretary
general of the Zimbabwe National Youth Service Graduates Association, Abson
Madusise, stated in his founding affidavit accompanying his application.

In the application, which is set to send apprehensions down the spines of
several Zimbabweans who fear a repeat of the violent actions by the militia
graduates, Madusise cited Zanu (PF) leader President Robert Mugabe, Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission as respondents including its chairperson Simpson
Mtambanengwe.

Zanu (PF) and the MDC parties agreed at the inauguration of the coalition
government to avoid staging by-elections as a measure to safeguard the
stability of the inclusive government.

However, the pact was torn into shreds last year when the High Court ordered
the staging of elections in three Matabeleland constituencies after some
legislators, expelled from the MDC party led by Professor Welshman Ncube,
petitioned the courts.

In July, the Supreme Court ordered Mugabe to call for by-elections by the
end of August. However, the Zanu (PF) leader got a reprieve last month when
High Court Judge President Justice George Chiweshe extended the period for
Mugabe to fix the by-elections dates by 1 October.

Mugabe said he needed the time extension to mobilise and ascertain the
availability of financial resources to stage a “mini-general election” in
all the vacant parliamentary and senatorial constituencies in the country
including local authorities.

The disclosures on the lack of financial resources to fund by-elections
confirms the abstemious revelations by Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who has
repeatedly cautioned those clamouring for the staging of general elections
that the government’s purse was empty and could only fund a referendum on a
new draft governance charter.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe meet over Constitutional deadlock

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 September, 2012

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met with Robert Mugabe for their usual
scheduled Monday meeting, in a bid to try and unlock the current deadlock
over the Constitution reform exercise.

The meeting of the Principals reportedly included MDC-N leader Welshman
Ncube for the first time, causing further confusion in a coalition
government that has stopped functioning and is riddled with misinformation.

Ncube was last month acknowledged by SADC leaders as a principal in
negotiations. But ZANU PF had dismissed him, saying the Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara would remain a Principal when dealing with
Zimbabwean business.

The meeting precedes a SADC summit set for October in a yet undisclosed
location, which the new Troika chairperson Jakaya Kikwete said would tackle
the Zimbabwean crisis, with hopes of moving forward.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai launched his party’s “Yes Vote Campaign”
for the draft constitution over the weekend and made it clear he would try
to convince Mugabe and ZANU PF to call a referendum on the draft charter.
He told supporters at the launch in Harare that it was “improper” for the
three Principals to exclusively decide on the Constitution.

Political analyst Professor John Makumbe told SW Radio Africa that
Tsvangirai launched the campaign before the Monday meeting as a preemptive
move to try and force ZANU PF’s hand into adopting the Copac draft, signed
by the negotiators.

“You can’t launch a Yes campaign if the draft is still negotiable and on the
table. This was a tactical move to say the Copac draft is final and is now
in the public domain. Tsvangirai wanted to force ZANU PF to move forward,”
Makumbe said.

Makumbe explained that the parties now needed to wait for ZANU PF to confirm
to the chief mediator, President Zuma, that there was indeed a deadlock. He
explained that this was necessary because ZANU PF could present the
impression that negotiations were still taking place instead of a deadlock.

Makumbe said there should be more openness with the process and Zimbabweans
should be given more information about what is going on in these meetings.

Analysts and many civic society organisations continue to maintain that both
MDC formations conceded too much ground to ZANU PF in key areas in the Copac
draft.

CIO boss under pressure to quit

http://www.theindependent.co.zw

September 7, 2012 in News
PRESSURE is mounting on President Robert Mugabe from Zanu PF hardliners and
securocrats to boot out Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss
Happyton Bonyongwe from his post ahead of crucial elections expected next
year as the ghosts of 2008 return to haunt them.

Report by Our Staff Writers
Top intelligence sources told the Zimbabwe Independent this week Zanu PF
party hardliners and sections of the security establishment want the CIO spy
chief kicked out because of his links to former Finance minister Simba
Makoni’s Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party and the late former army commander
General Solomon Mujuru. He is also alleged to have been part of the bhora
musango (anyone but Mugabe) protest strategy during the 2008 elections.

Mugabe suffered a shock defeat in the first round of polling before storming
back through a vicious campaign of terror and brutality. Zanu PF for the
first time lost its parliamentary majority.

Bonyongwe, a retired brigadier, was accused of supporting Makoni, not
Mugabe. Mujuru, who reportedly recommended Bonyongwe to become the CIO
director-general, was behind Makoni, something which former Zanu PF
politburo heavyweight Dumiso Dabengwa recently confirmed. Dabengwa and
Mujuru tried hard to oust Mugabe in the run up to the 2008 elections.
Senior army and intelligence officers are already being suggested to take
over at CIO if Bonyongwe goes.

CIO deputy director Daniel Tonde Nhepera, Isaac Moyo who is the Executive
Secretary of the African Union Committee of Intelligence and Security
Service in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and CIO director (external
affairs) Amon Mutembwa, among others are touted as potential successors.

Brigadier-General Nhamo Sanyatwa, head of the presidential guard, has also
been mentioned as a possible candidate for the top intelligence post.
Sanyatwa is reportedly in China for training on military and intelligence
matters. However, some say he might not be suitable for the job due to
undisclosed “professional” reasons.

Although CIO director-internal Andrew Muzonzini and Albert Ngulube are also
senior directors, they have not been mentioned as potential Bonyongwe
successors.

“This issue has been there for some time now, even before the 2008
elections. However, there is renewed pressure to remove Bonyongwe ahead of
the next elections because of what happened during the 200 polls. Zanu PF
hardliners and some members on the Joint Operations Command want him to go,”
said a senior intelligence officer. “Because he is seen as someone who was
part of the bhora musango strategy, there is big debate whether to continue
with him or not as we go towards the elections.

His connection to the Mujuru faction and Makoni makes his case worse.”

Intelligence sources say Bonyongwe’s enemies are trying to find more ground
to justify their demand for his removal. Those pushing for his ouster are
also trying to raise the issue of his family’s 5% shareholding, through
Brinski Investments (Pvt) Ltd, in Interfin Financial Services Ltd (IFSL),
which owns the troubled Interfin Bank. The bank was associated with the
Mujuru faction.

Sources also say after Bonyongwe has been under pressure, mainly since last
year when the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks revealed he was associated
with Makoni and the anti-Mugabe lobby during the 2008 elections.

According to leaked American embassy cables, Zanu PF politburo member
Jonathan Moyo accused Bonyongwe of “doctoring” reports compiled by the CIO
meant for Mugabe’s attention, mainly prior to the March 2008 elections.

Moyo told ex-US Ambassador Christopher Dell at a meeting on March 30 2007
Bonyongwe supported Makoni, who quit Zanu PF and challenged Mugabe during
the 2008 polls.

“With regard to the CIO, Moyo said Mugabe had received information that CIO
director-(general) Happyton Bonyongwe had been conferring with Solomon
Mujuru,” read the cable.

“Furthermore, he (Moyo) had received information from CIO sub-directors that
Bonyongwe was doctoring information. Believing Mujuru to be involved with
both military and CIO dissension, Mugabe had summoned Mujuru.”

NMB managing director James Mushore, who is said to be a nephew of Mujuru,
met US embassy officials on February 28 2008 and also indicated that
Bonyongwe and his uncle supported Makoni’s candidacy.

“Mushore mused about an ideal scenario under which Solomon Mujuru and CIO
chief Happyton Bonyongwe came out for Makoni two days before the election,
insinuating Bonyongwe’s support for Makoni as well,” one of the cables said.

Senior Zanu PF officials and MPs revolted against Mugabe in 2008 under an
operation codenamed “bhora musango” in which they canvassed support for
themselves but not their leader.
Under the 2008 operation, the MPs called for people to vote for them alone
and not Mugabe. Angered by the president’s refusal to leave power to the
younger successor despite his declining public support, MPs last year
threatened to resist Mugabe if he called for early elections.

In 2008, Mugabe lost to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai. He had 43,2 % of the
total votes compared to Tsvangirai’s 47,9% and Makoni who polled 8,3%. The
Mujuru faction and Bonyongwe were widely blamed for that in intelligence
circles. This has led to a renewed whispering campaign against the CIO boss
who has been at the held since he replaced Elisha Muzonzini in 2003.

The security forces, including the army, police and intelligence services,
are Mugabe and Zanu PF’s pillars of support. Mugabe and his party, whose
structures have collapsed, rely on the security agencies and associated
terror to hang onto power. “While many want Bonyongwe to go, it is a
catch-22 situatio for Mugabe because if he doesn’t remove him, what happened
in 2008 might be repeated in some ways, while if he removes him just before
elections that might be destabilising,” a source said. “It looks like a
damned if does, damned if doesn’t scenario.

No water in many areas of Harare

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

Water Barometer

24 August-07 September 2012: This update has been made possible by resources
provided to the Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) by well-wishers in Harare who
believe in our Vision, “A Free and Prosperous Citizenry”. To receive
updates, write Subscribe in the subject line and to unsubscribe write
Unsubscribe in the subject line. MAKE YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTION- Circulate
widely.

Comment: Ring fence Water Account in Proposed 2013 Harare City Council
Budget

The HRT has received several reports from residents reiterating the need for
the City of Harare to seriously consider having the water accounts only used
for the improvement and upgrading of the water distribution infrastructure.
These sentiments were particularly loud and clear in Mabvuku Chizhanje,
Budiriro 3, Glen Norah B, Kuwadzana Phase 3, Glen Lorne, Borrowdale, and
Dzivaresekwa among other suburbs. The ring fencing of the water account will
result in all the revenue collected as a result of rendering water services
to the residents be chanelled directly to the water services. This will mean
that money collected from water services will not be used for anything else
except water provision. This development will go a long way in improving
water services infrastructure in Harare. In addition this model will also
improve accountability as all resources chanelled towards water services
would be prudently used by Harare Water Department to provide water to the
citizenry. The HRT urges Central Government, through the Ministry of Water
Resources and Infrastructural Development and the Ministry of Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development to ensure that urban local
authorities ring fence the water account. This would ensure that residents
get value for their money, and transparency would be enhanced. Since
February 2009, the Harare City Council has been fleecing residents of their
money for services which the City fathers rarely provide and the bills were
based on estimates and not actual consumption. Key arguments being proffered
by the majority of residents is that before dollarization in 2009, they paid
for water and after dollarization, they still paid for fixed water and water
consumption but the City of Harare has dismally failed to account for the
money generated. This money could have been used to upgrade the water
infrastructure. Unfortunately, reports from various well-placed council
officials indicate that most of the money generated from water consumption
and charges is being diverted towards payment of salaries and administration
expenses, meaning residents have not derived much benefit from payment of
their water dues to the local authority. Even senior council officials are
frustrated by identified heads of departments who are vehemently opposed to
the ring-fencing of the water account. Water is apparently council’s
cash-cow, allowing them to rampantly abuse resources without investing in
the water infrastructure and water provision.

Sad memories still conjure in residents minds where nearly 4 000 residents
died during the cholera epidemic in 2008 while nearly 100 000 others were
affected due to poor water management systems in Harare, and other local
authorities. The city fathers have no concrete plans in place or at least
the political commitment to address the plight of the citizens in the
provision of clean water in all suburbs of Harare. The HRT encourages all
residents in Harare to participate in the 2013 pre-budget consultation
meetings that are scheduled began on Saturday 8 September 2012 and set their
priorities, to be addressed in the 2013 City Budget. It is imperative for
the residents to participate in this process and demand accountability from
the City of Harare rather than be short-changed, and still fail to express
their views. The HRT demands that the City of Harare puts into motion a
process of ensuring the water account is protected from being abused, but
that revenue generated is directed towards expanding, maintaining and
upgrading of the water infrastructure and distribution network in the once”
Sunshine City of Zimbabwe.”

Below are key highlights of water provision in various suburbs of Harare,
excluding western suburbs:

Waterfalls: In the Cheviot area water normally comes during the evening and
residents fetch water from this time until 4 am.
Park town –There is no water along 6th and 4th street and residents are
fetching water from Milford Road since there is no borehole or any other
water source at Park Town Shopping Centre.
Uplands, Derbyshire and Shortson- Residents only receive water three days a
week and water outages are experienced on Fridays and the water is
reconnected on Tuesdays. The borehole at Derbyshire is dysfunctional.
Hilton Park, Picnic Park- In this area the residents receive water three
days a week.
Mbare National- Tap water is running normally but the water is dirty.
Residents experience uninterrupted water supplies most of the time.
Sunningdale 1 and 2 – There are no water problems unless there is a burst
water pipe. The people fetch water from the district office where there is a
burst water pipe
Borrowdale-Residents in this area are advocating for a common borehole to
save them huge amounts of money they use to buy water from private
suppliers. Council has not provided residents with their plans to address
the aged water infrastructure in this area.
Hatcliffe-In this area there are a total of 20 boreholes in this area and
two boreholes needed to be repaired while two other boreholes are seasonal
boreholes which rely on the level of the water table.
Mount Pleasant and Avondale-Water supplies have been erratic and this area
receives water occasionally.
Greendale, Mandara, Highlands and Chisipite-Water supplies are very erratic.
This is now the eighth week without water supplies for these suburbs. The
situation is the same as the last two weeks where water supply is still very
low.
Harare East, Kugarika Kushinga and Tafara –There is no water at all in
Kugarika Kushinga, Old Tafara and some areas of New Mabvuku which include
Hunyani Street, Chitsere, Honde and all the areas that are found on higher
ground. However, low lying areas such as Chizhanje and some parts of Tafara
and New Mabvuku had low pressure water for four days.
Highlands –The situation has not changed from the previous state residents
are being assisted by well wishers as Net One had drilled a borehole at
Runnville shops in Highlands. Some residents are getting water from their
neighbours as well.
Chisipite- residents in this community are relying on well-wishers who are
willing to share your boreholes.
Email: info@hrt.org.zw/ advocacy@hrt.org.zw/ communications@hrt.org.zw/

Mobile: 0772 547 394/ 0772 771 860/ 0772 869 294

Facebook: Harare Residents’ Trust Hrt

Twitter: @Harare Residents

Website: www.hrt.org.zw

Physical Address: 5 Tudor Gardens, Corner Josiah Tongogara Avenue and Mazowe
Street

Mugabe's recovery caused by MDC-T corruption

http://www.zimdiaspora.com

MONDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2012 10:31

A RECENT opinion poll that shows support for Zimbabwe’s Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) plummeted in the last two years has thrown the
spotlight on to party corruption and the tumultuous private life of leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.

Commissioned by US think tank Freedom House, the poll shows that only 20 per
cent of Zimbabweans openly say they will vote for the MDC, down from 38 per
cent in 2010, a year after the former opposition party entered a coalition
government with president Robert Mugabe’s party. Support for Zanu-PF has
shot up from ′17 to 31 per cent.

Itai Zimunya of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa in
Johannesburg, said: “What we could be seeing is the second wave of a
politics of protest. We thought that with the MDC coming into power they
were going to reform the state. What we are seeing now is that these people
want to own 20 homes and 12 farms too.”

The MDC acted quickly, last week handing over the names of 12 party
officials suspected of corruption to the police.

Across the country, ordinary Zimbabweans are seeing neighbours who were
elected councillors on a pro-poor MDC ticket becoming rich. “The means are
dubious,” says Mr Zimunya. “People are disgusted.”

Much has been made of the 47 per cent of locals polled who refused to say
who they would vote for, evidence – says the MDC – of the fear that still
characterises Zimbabwe’s political landscape.

But there are signs the former opposition party is no longer the automatic
choice of techno-savvy urban school-leavers, forced to face up to
unemployment levels of more than 80 per cent and the dizzying wealth of the
Harare elite. For some, Mr Mugabe’s indigenisation programme, cloaked in the
mantra of self-help, is “very seductive”.

Ageing but still a dignified and talented orator, Mr Mugabe’s public stature
has been enhanced by his rival’s messy personal life. After a string of
affairs following the death of his wife Susan in a car crash, Mr Tsvangirai
is due to marry 35-year-old Elizabeth Macheka in Harare on Saturday. But a
woman with whom the prime minister contracted a 12-day traditional
“marriage” last November is trying to get a court injunction to block the
wedding. Locadia Tembo is also claiming £9,400 per month in maintenance. She
says Mr Tsvangirai has “other sources of income” besides his official
monthly salary, believed to be less than £2,000.

The MDC leader is unlikely to be replaced before elections and analysts
insist he is still the most popular official in the party. But secretary
general Tendai Biti said in an opinion piece last week the MDC knew it had
to “wake up and work for the support of Zimbabweans”.

It may not have much time. The Supreme Court recently gave Mr Mugabe until 1
October to set a date for three parliamentary by-elections. Zanu-PF
hardliners are now pushing the president to instead set a date for general
elections – without first holding a referendum on a new constitution as
stipulated by the coalition deal. Real change, it seems, is still a long way
off – News.scotsman.com.

Ian Smith’s name still on voter’s roll: ZEC

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 9, 2012 in Local
FORMER Rhodesian Prime Minister, the late Ian Douglas Smith, is still on the
Zimbabwean voters’ roll, a senior official with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) has confirmed.

REPORT BY NUNURAI JENA
Speaking at a Universal Periodic Review Implementation Plan of Action
workshop in Kadoma last week, ZEC deputy chief elections Officer
(operations), Utoile Silaigwana conceded that the voters’ roll was in a
shambles.

“The situation is really confusing as a known high profile people like
former Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith is still on the voters’ roll,”
said Silaigwana.

Smith died in 2007. There were two elections, parliamentary and presidential
the following year.

Participants at the workshop said if a high-profile person like Smith could
be on the voters’ roll years after his death, then there could be thousands
of ghost voters on the roll.

Efforts to independently verify that Smith was still on the voters’ roll
were fruitless last week. Register General Tobaiwa Mudede could not be
reached for comment.

However, Zimbabwe ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson, who has been
following the issue of ghost voters in the voters’ roll for a long time,
said that Smith’s name featured on the voters’s roll.

“He certainly was on the roll in 2008, so was Lardner Burke! I got
interviewed over that, and got photos of those pages,” said Stevenson.

The late Burke was the Minister for Law and Order and Justice who ordered
President Robert Mugabe’s detention in 1963. He died in 1984 in South
Africa.

The state of the voters’ roll has been a source of friction between Zanu PF
and the MDC formations who accuse the former ruling party of taking
advantage of the shambolic nature of the roll in order to rig elections.
Zanu PF denies the charges.

Food shortages in Chisumbanje

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 9, 2012 in Community News
CHIPINGE South — Scores of families evicted from Chisumbanje area to pave
way for the controversial ethanol project are facing serious food shortages.

BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
Some of the villagers are having only one meal per day and rely heavily on
the government’s grain loan scheme, which has proved to be adequate.

Supporters of the two MDC formations have complained that they were being
excluded from the scheme, which they said was mostly benefiting Zanu PF
members.
Zanu PF has on several occasions denied politicising food aid programmes.

Chipinge South MP, Meki Makuyana (MDC-T) told The Standard last week that
the food crisis was worsening on a daily basis.

“We have serious food shortages in this part of the country. Areas such as
Chisumbanje, Chinyamukwakwa and Machona could be the worst-hit,” said
Makuyana. “People there were evicted to pave way for the ethanol plant and
they were compensated with 0,5 hectare of land per family. The land they
were given is not enough to sustain their families.”

He added: “Some areas are not yet under sugar plantation but the villagers
were told to stop using that land. In previous years, villagers would
supplement their food by purchasing maize in other areas using money from
cotton production. Now that the land was taken, villagers are now in a dire
situation.”

Arda board chairman, Basil Nyabadza said they were providing maize to needy
villagers and more was set to come.

“We have done food distribution in Chisumbanje and more maize will be coming
in,” he said.

The US$600 million ethanol project is a joint venture between Arda and
private investors, Macdom and Rating.

After 20 years the Chisumbanje and Arda Estates would be handed back to
Arda.

War veterans storm Mzembi’s office

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 10, 2012 in Local
WAR veterans on Friday stormed Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry,
Walter Mzembi’s offices demanding an explanation as to why the recent
allocation of conservancies to a few politicians was being resisted.

REPORT BY PATRICE MAKOVA
The former freedom fighters, led by Joseph Chinotimba, who is himself not a
veteran of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, later had a change of heart after
the meeting and pledged to support plans by the government to broadly
empower communities living along the Save Valley Conservancy, rather than
individuals.

Chinotimba is one of the 25 Zanu PF politicians who were recently issued
with hunting permits and 25-year leases to run the conservancies in a move
which has been roundly condemned.
Mzembi confirmed that Chinotimba and other war veterans visited his offices
but he persuaded him to adopt a broad-based approach to the issue.

“Chinotimba now sees sense in a broad-based approach and has agreed to go to
Save Conservancy on Saturday (yesterday) together with Zimbabwe Tourism
Association Chief executive, Karikoga Kaseke to assess the situation there,”
Mzembi said.

Kaseke said it did not take long for Chinotimba to agree to the idea of
empowering communities.

He said Chinotimba was only worried that the hunting permits of the white
owners had expired, hence there were fears that they could go into poaching.
Kaseke said the visit to Save Valley was meant to assess the extent of
damage to tourism in the area.

Chinotimba also confirmed that he now fully supported efforts to come up
with new policies to deal with empowerment in conservancies.

“As war veterans, we will listen and follow whatever policies Mzembi and
Francis Nhema (Environment and Natural Resources minister) will put in place
as long as they benefit the people,” he said.

Chinotimba said while war veterans now agreed that whites should not be
kicked out of the conservancies, there was a need for them to co-exist with
blacks to avoid suspicions and counter suspicions over who was responsible
for rampant poaching in the area.

As the self-styled commander in chief of farm invasions, Chinotimba led a
violent campaign to forcibly remove whites from their farms from 2001.

Despite owning another farm in Mashonaland, he now wants to diversify into
conservancies, claiming that whites evicted his family from the Save Valley
back in the 1960s.

WOZA members protest to demand resumption of Constitutional reform

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 September, 2012

Members of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) held a surprise
demonstration in Bulawayo on Monday, to demand the immediate resumption of
the stalled Constitutional reform process.

WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams told SW Radio Africa that their members are
tired of the political parties bickering and posturing, without resolving
any of the key issues that are affecting the daily lives of Zimbabweans.

“We wanted to send a clear signal reminding the politicians that we want our
draft. What they have done is like stealing sweets from someone’s mouth.
They gave us the Copac draft which was not everything we wanted and we were
ready to put disappointment aside and look at the positive sides,” Williams
explained.

Regarding the demonstrations, Williams said they managed to complete five
separate demos without any interference from the police, who usually disrupt
the processions using brute force and arresting WOZA members. The group had
not sought police clearance either, but Jenni said the current laws do not
require this.

She said although the Copac draft is far from what they wanted in a new
constitution there were enough issues that resonated with their members to
warrant their support. After years of negotiations, WOZA members feel the
process must move to the Second All stakeholders Conference and a
referendum.

“We were disappointed mostly with the issue of citizenship because there is
such a large Diaspora of Zimbabweans out there that send money and could
help to develop this country. We want the Tererai’s of the world to be able
to return and contribute to that development with their skills,” Williams
said.

She said she did not agree with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who at the
weekend told supporters that the Copac draft included issues like dual
citizenship and devolution. “The citizenship issue was not made clear. It
should have been clarified much more and we were disappointed with that,”
Williams said.

She however added that the negotiators should be commended for having made
“a good start” on the issue of devolution, but did not go far enough. “They
should have removed the phrase that says Zimbabwe is a unitary state and
instead used devolved, because Zimbabweans do not want a centralised state,”
Williams said.

But Williams said they would vote Yes on the Copac draft because it contains
enough of what they wanted.

According to Williams, WOZA members will not take part in any election that
is held without key reforms being implemented first.

Zanu PF youths sue Mugabe

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer
Monday, 10 September 2012 10:30

HARARE - An association of youths accused of fronting Zanu PF’s often
violent election campaigns has gone to court to force President Robert
Mugabe to call a mini-general election.

In an action that points to a Zanu PF election strategy, the Zimbabwe
National Youth Service Graduates Association has lodged an application in
the High Court demanding that Mugabe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec) hold elections in close to 200 vacant parliamentary and municipal
seats.

Mugabe has been demanding an election under the current constitution but his
coalition partners have resisted the move.

The by-elections could work in the 88-year-old’s favour if he can show a
sceptical international community that he can hold credible polls without
necessarily adopting a new constitution as demanded by coalition partners.

Abson Madusise, who claims to be the secretary-general of youth service
graduates, says in the court application that his organisation has a
nationwide membership prejudiced by the failure to hold elections.

Mugabe is cited as the first respondent while Zec and its chairperson
Simpson Mtambanengwe are second and third respondents respectively.

“This is an application for an order directing the respondents to comply
with provisions of the Electoral Act in ensuring that full representative
democracy exists in the country within the legislature, in particular that
by-elections be held in all constituencies which are currently vacant,”
reads part of the application.

Section 39 of the Electoral Act says the President should call for elections
within 14 days after being informed by the Speaker of Parliament of a vacant
post.

The application lists parliamentary and council seats which are vacant in
virtually all parts of the country.

“From as back as August 2008 there are parliamentary seats that fell vacant
and no replacements were elected to fill in such vacancies within the time
stipulated by the Electoral Act…Applicant’s members who reside in the
affected constituencies continue to be prejudiced by non-representation."

“Laws and regulations have been made and continue to be passed without any
input from their elected representatives thereby depriving them of their
right to participate in the legislative arm of the state,” reads the
application.

Madusise does not state in court papers the association’s membership
figures.

But thousands of young men and women were trained under the national youth
service project which was overseen by the Youth ministry since 2002.

A damning 2007 parliamentary report and protests by coalition government
partners led to the closure of the training centres, although Zanu PF is
pushing for their revival ahead of a watershed election.

Many of the graduates are now employed in Saviour Kasukuwere’s Youth
ministry as ward youth officers.

They are planted in communities countrywide and earn a government salary
campaigning for Zanu PF.

Churches, civil society and MPs allege that the programme produced hordes of
violent youths fiercely loyal to Mugabe and Zanu PF.

They say graduates of the youth training programme, known as Green Bombers
because of their distinctive olive green uniforms, have been used as Zanu PF’s
shock-troopers.

The youths are not the first to take Mugabe to court over the vacant seats
though.

Last month, Mugabe had to approach the High Court seeking an extension of a
deadline set by the Supreme Court for him to fix a date for the
by-elections. He now has up to October 1 to gazette the election dates.

This followed a court application by three former MDC MPs Abednico Bhebhe,
Njabuliso Mguni and Norman Mpofu.

Mugabe disclosed that he would not be able to comply with the Supreme Court’s
order compelling him to gazette dates for by-elections and would need a
month’s extension to mobilise funds.

Finance minister, Tendai Biti, has already ruled out a mini-general election
this year, saying the government could only comply with the court ruling in
respect to Bhebhe, Mguni and Mpofu’s former constituencies.

Zimbabwe HIV activist demands medication for prisoners

(AFP) – 5 hours ago
HARARE — An HIV-positive Zimbabwean man who was denied medication while
detained on treason charges last year has launched a legal battle for
prisoners to be allowed access to ARVs, his lawyer said Monday.
In a landmark case, Douglas Muzanenhamo, who was infected 18 years ago,
wants an end to the ill-treatment of prisoners who are sometimes denied
access to medical facilities of their choice and medicine from family while
in custody.
Muzanenhamo was refused access to the life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs
(ARVs) in 2011 after his arrest along with 44 other rights activists on
allegations of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
The activists had been attending a meeting to talk about lessons from the
so-called Arab Spring and were accused of scheming to overthrow Mugabe, who
has been in power since independence in 1980.
"What we are asking them is that they should take direct and immediate
measures to protect people with HIV or AIDS in prisons or when they are
arrested," Tawanda Zhuwarara, Muzanenhamo's lawyer told AFP.
Zhuwarara said the case is the first of its kind trying to seek dignity in
the treatment of people who are HIV-positive in Zimbabwean prisons.
In his affidavit to the Supreme Court, Muzanenhamo said he was kept in
ghastly conditions and was denied permission to take his medication.
"I was made to sleep on the hard concrete slab in the cell. It was not just
cold and inhuman but the cells were also filthy and had human excreta and
dried blood all over the place."
His treatment at the hand of prisoners worsened his condition, he continued.
"I was subjected to cold baths and the diet was not appropriate for a person
with HIV. We were fed with stale bread, black tea, sadza (cornmeal porridge)
and beans," he said.
"It was hardly a balanced diet suitable for a person living with HIV and on
ARVs. There were no fruits, vegetables, milk or peanut butter which are now
essential elements of my diet."
"The conditions I was placed in placed my life in real mortal danger. I
cannot fend off infection in the same way a healthy human being can. My
immune system is compromised."
Zimbabwe's jails have been condemned by rights groups as unfit for human
habitation.

Mugabe man cashes in on diamond fields

http://mg.co.za

07 SEP 2012 00:00 - MAIL & GUARDIAN REPORTERS

Mega-rich Zimbabwean businessman Robert Mhlanga stands at the centre of an
opaque network of companies set up to cash in on Marange diamond fields.

Mhlanga, a retired air vice-marshall, is widely regarded as a close
associate of President Robert Mugabe and a business representative of the
Mugabe family, although both parties have denied this.

The Mail & Guardian recently reported that Mhlanga has been on a
R200-million property buying spree in South Africa.

The company he chairs, Mbada Diamonds, and other concerns operating in
Marange have been accused of remitting inadequate revenue to the Zimbabwean
treasury despite making "a killing".

The United States and the European Union recently introduced new measures
that require processors of rough diamonds to disclose the origin of the
gems, putting a squeeze on companies operating in Marange.

Central to Mbada's operation is a South African scrap-metal company, New
Reclamation. Despite its lack of mining expertise, Reclamation was chosen to
partner Marange Resources, wholly owned by the state's Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC), in a joint venture called Mbada Diamonds.
Mbada, favoured ahead of several other established diamond-mining companies,
immediately received a 1000-hectare concession in the Marange fields.

In October 2009 Zimbabwe's minister of mines and mining development, Obert
Mpofu, appointed Mhlanga chairperson of the joint venture, which Reclamation
entered through its Mauritian-registered subsidiary, Grandwell Holdings.
Grandwell was given the mandate to oversee day-to-day operations and the
right to market all diamonds produced.

Although Mhlanga was ostensibly appointed to its board to represent the
government's interests, the M&G has established that he has a stake in other
companies linked to Mbada.

Joint venture deal
These include the mysterious Hong Kong-registered Transfrontier Mining,
which acquired 49.99% of Grandwell last year. The owners of Transfrontier
who would benefit could not be established. However, Mbada's Marange
concession was increased sevenfold after Transfrontier bought into
Grandwell.

Mhlanga's lawyer of more than 10 years, Paul Casasola, a director of
Grandwell and Mbada, is seen to represent Mhlanga's interests in both
companies. The M&G was told that Casasola was involved in crafting the joint
venture – although he insisted that the negotiations "occurred prior to my
appointment as director at Mbada and Grandwell". He said he was a director
of both companies but "had no financial interests in either".

He did not respond to a question asking him whether Mhlanga had employed him
to work in the companies.

At the time the joint venture deal was clinched, Grandwell was wholly owned
by New Reclamation. Casasola said he had "absolutely no relationship" with
the latter.

The M&G has also established that when a ZMDC team visited Johannesburg to
conduct due diligence on Reclamation in August 2009, Mhlanga was among the
representatives who met the group. Mhlanga attended the meeting in his
capacity as the chairperson of a South African-registered commodities
company, the Liparm Corporation, which trades in diamonds. He is its sole
shareholder and director.

Share registry documents indicate that Liparm does not have a stake in the
Reclamation group. Reclamation's lawyer, David Hertz, said the scrap metal
company "has a commercial arm's length relationship with Liparm".

Until early this year, Liparm listed Transfrontier and Mbada Diamonds as
sister companies on its website. However, the relevant section has been
removed from the site.

In questions put to him through Casasola, the M&G asked Mhlanga to explain
his role in Mbada, but he did not respond. Mhlanga also did not answer a
question about the nature of his relationship with the Reclamation Group and
its chairperson, David Kassel, a director of both Grandwell and Mbada.

Vision and growth strategy
Casasola said he would meet Mhlanga on August 20 to put the M&G's questions
to him, but later said the meeting did not take place.

Mhlanga is believed to have played a role in ensuring Reclamation's
acceptance as the ZMDC's partner, ahead of specialist mining companies such
as Alrosa, Namakwa, Gem Diamonds, SAIIC and Community Energy. It is thought
the scrap metal company's relationship with Mpofu dates to when he was
Zimbabwe's industry and trade minister.

In 2008 Reclamation approached Mpofu to acquire a stake in Zimbabwe's ailing
state steel manufacturer, Ziscosteel. However, Mpofu was reassigned to the
mines portfolio in February 2009 before the deal was concluded and
Reclamation's Marange coup followed soon after.

Ironically, the ZMDC team that came to South Africa to conduct due diligence
"on approved" companies noted that Reclamation had no experience in diamond
mining. Despite this, it gave the company the thumbs-up. Allegations are
that Mhlanga and Mpofu's influence may have been crucial.

"Reclam is not a mining house and is currently not involved in mining ...
They have no diamond mining as part of their vision and growth strategy,"
the due diligence report states.

Complicated mining techniques
Hertz said there was nothing amiss with Reclamation landing the deal,
because the company "drew on the experience of certain key executives and
employees who have extensive experience in the mining sector".

"These individuals were involved in the reopening of the Roberts Victor
Diamond Mine in Kimberley and the Monarch Gold Mine in Botswana, which ...
required the utilisation of complicated mining techniques and methods," he
said. This is an apparent reference to Kassel, whose role in the two mines
is mentioned on the company's website.

Hertz said none of the Reclamation executives have a personal relationship
with Mpofu. It had bid for Ziscosteel but the minister had not influenced
the outcome.

"The first time a meeting was held between any members of the Reclamation
Group's executive team and minister Mpofu was in 2009 when the ministry met
with the Reclamation Group to discuss the then prospective Marange
transaction," Hertz said. "Subsequent to that meeting, the Reclamation Group
interacted with the ZMDC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Marange Resources
(Pvt) Limited."

Allegations of diamond revenue being diverted into private pockets and
concerns that elements of the Zimbabwean security forces have control of
diamond companies have resulted in the US, Australia, New Zealand and
European Union imposing restrictions on diamonds from Marange.

Repeated efforts to contact Mpofu for comment were unsuccessful.

Mugabe Too Rude!

http://jamaica-gleaner.com

Published: Monday | September 10, 2012 0 Comments

Tufton offended by Zimbabwe president's reported comments

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

A diplomatic stand-off between Jamaica and Zimbabwe seems to be bubbling
following recent comments attributed to the president of the African
country, Robert Mugabe, who has been quoted as labelling Jamaican men
"drunkards and perennially hooked on marijuana".

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade A.J. Nicholson said yesterday
his office would be seeking to verify the statements, after which Prime
Minister Portia Simpson Miller would respond.

But going one step further, Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Trade Dr Christopher Tufton described the statement as unfortunate
and said if it were found to have been made by Mugabe, the Zimbabwean
president would have a responsibility to shed light on his comments, as well
as provide an apology.

"I think that he should be called on to provide an explanation as to what he
meant. It's inappropriate and, frankly speaking, rude. He should apologise
to the Jamaican people," Tufton declared.

"It certainly is in poor taste and does not generate confidence in the
relationship. It is inappropriate and it threatens to undermine the
relationship that Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe have had with Jamaica
and the people of Jamaica over many years," Tufton told The Gleaner.

Tufton went on to add that the comments generate questions as to whether
Mugabe should retain membership in the Order of Jamaica, which was conferred
on him during a state visit to the island back in 1996.

"If he thinks that way about Jamaica, then what I would certainly say is,
why did he accept that award that was offered to him? Now that he has that
impression of Jamaica, then perhaps he should consider returning the award
and I have no difficulty with that. He has insulted the Jamaican people.

"Clearly, he does not place much value on the relationship that we have,"
Tufton said, while adding that the diplomatic channels must be utilised to
call for the Zimbabwean president to clarify his statement.

Yesterday, Nicholson told The Gleaner that the Government "strongly rejects
the suggestions contained in the news item", while adding that Jamaica is a
nation characterised by adherence to democratic principles and the rule of
law.

"Jamaican men and women from all walks of life have made valuable
contributions to national development and have made their mark on the world
stage, be it in the field of politics, diplomacy, medicine, science and
technology, or sports and culture, among many others," he said.

"We take immense pride in the acknowledged contribution that Jamaica has
made to the liberation of southern Africa and are gratified that nations
such as South Africa and Zimbabwe enjoy the right to choose their own
destiny," Nicholson said.

In the online article posted on Friday on a Zimbabwean radio station,
Mugabe, who was speaking during a distinguished lecture at a university
function, reportedly urged Zimbabweans never to follow in the footsteps of
Jamaicans whose influence on the country is all too pervasive.

"In Jamaica, they have freedom to smoke (men are always drunk) and
universities are full of women.

"The men want to sing and do not go to colleges (some are dreadlocked). Let
us not go there," the African president was quoted as saying.

nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com

Treasury concludes draft to reform RBZ

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 9, 2012 in Business
THE Ministry of Finance has concluded drafting legislation to liberate the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) of its US$1,1 billion debt in the last leg of
reforms at the institution.

REPORT BY OUR STAFF
The legislation is among a raft of measures designed to bring sanity to the
banking sector.

Finance minister, Tendai Biti, said last week that he would present to
cabinet the RBZ Restructuring Act in two weeks’ time.

“As long as the debt is there, capitalising the central bank becomes
academic unless you are going to find US$2 billion that swallows the US$1,1
billion debt. We therefore have to liberate the central bank balance sheet
of this debt,” Biti said.

The government would create a Special Purpose Vehicle to take over the debt.

Biti said the bifurcation (splitting) of the balance sheet and a new
instrument that would take over the banks’ indebtedness would make banks
operate without any hindrances.

Government plans to take over non-performing loans of banks via a US$1
billion syndicated fund, taking a leaf from Asset Management Company of
Nigeria, credited for restoring sanity into the west African nation’s
banking sector. A 10-year bond would be issued.

A draft bill has been crafted and the ministry is consulting all the
stakeholders — RBZ, World Bank, IMF and bankers — to have a buy-in before
the bill is presented before cabinet.

RBZ is constrained by debt and lost its assets after some of the creditors
obtained writs of execution to attach the central bank’s assets.

In 2010, government then moved swiftly to protect the assets by invoking the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, to protect the RBZ’s assets
from being attached by various creditors as the bank was incapacitated to
repay the outstanding amounts.

Biti blasted banks’ voodoo practices, saying the high interest rates and
huge levels of non-interest income were manifest in the form of bank charges
and service fees.

He said the time of talking was over and government would come hard on the
banks.

“Within the course of the next few days, we are going to come up with
corrective measures that ensure that banks stick to normal banking
practices, where returns are less than 7%, not the exploitative returns that
we have seen,” Biti said.

Banks have been accused of ripping off clients by levying interest rates as
high as 30% at a time annual inflation is below 5%. They have also been
accused of penalising clients through high bank charges and service fees.

Bankers argue that the accusations were unjustified, as there were no
short-term instruments on the market to set the benchmark interest rates as
well as the liquidity constraints.

Banking act overhaul on cards

Biti said major amendments to the Banking Act were on the cards to
completely overhaul the legislation.

In April, Biti hinted that amendments to the Act would look at oversight,
stress tests, capital requirements and corporate governance, among others.

He said it was anomalous for owners to simultaneously be managers in the
banking sector.

“That has to stop. If you are a shareholder, go and play golf and let other
people run the bank for you, both at management and board level,” Biti said
in April.

Masiyiwa sends eight Zim students to US college

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

10/09/2012 00:00:00
by The Grio.com

FOR 17-year-old Abel Gumbo, things couldn’t be better. Only a few months ago
he was among more than a thousand students at a high school in Harare. Today
he is rubbing shoulders with future leaders at Atlanta’s Morehouse College
in the United States.

Gumbo is one of 10 African students who have been awarded full ride
scholarships to Morehouse, beginning this year. Everything is being paid for
by billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s richest man, according to the
2011 Forbes list.

The telecom tycoon has committed $6.4 million in scholarship dollars to send
40 African freshmen to Morehouse over a four-year period. This year’s intake
comprises of two teenagers from Burundi and eight from Zimbabwe.

“It’s been an experience,” said Gumbo, who is studying for an undergraduate
computer science degree. “I have left everything behind to gain an education
in America. Computer science is technologically more advanced in the States
and I am learning a lot about people from different cultures.”

“My life has been transformed,” said Prince Abudu, 17, from Zimbabwe, who is
also studying computer science. “Morehouse has taught me the spirit of
brotherhood and to strive for success.”

The 10 students, who arrived in Atlanta last month, are the first class of
the newly-established Ambassador Andrew Young International Scholars
program. The international scholarships were set up by Capernaum Trust, the
education arm of Masiyiwa’s Higher Life Foundation.

Higher Life advertised for students throughout Zimbabwe, Burundi and South
Africa to fill the highly competitive 10 scholarship slots. More than 500 of
the brightest students from across the region applied.

A team from Morehouse flew to Zimbabwe to interview 20 finalists in June.
Ten were selected and the others received scholarships to a South African
university.

The winners were chosen on the basis of their high SAT scores, gruelling
face-to-face interviews and a written essay.
Indeed, Masiyiwa has high hopes for the recipients of the scholarship. His
vision is to develop young talent to become future leaders who will return
to work in their native countries.

“My dream is to become an ethical leader,” said Abudu. “I want to be a
morally conscious person, who can develop my country through
entrepreneurship and business.”

Both boys are from modest backgrounds. Gumbo became an orphan at 10 years
old and Abudu is from a single parent household, where his mother struggles
to keep the family afloat since his father died in 2004. What makes them
stand out is they are driven and academically talented.

“He himself (Strive Masiyiwa) from a very early age, when he was still in
Zimbabwe, had heard about Morehouse College and had always wanted to come
here,” said Petronella Maramba, executive director of Zimbabwe’s Capernaum
Trust, in a recent televised interview with CNN.

“So when the opportunity was afforded to establish a relationship with
Morehouse College to further a vision that he’s always had. To develop,
young, bright, orphaned children in Africa,” she said.

“To help them develop into leaders who are able, after having obtained a
good education in the United States of America, to go back to Africa and
give back to the community and develop it further than what’s already been
done in the past.”

In May Morehouse awarded Masiyiwa an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane
Letters in recognition in recognition of his philanthropic and humanitarian
work across the African continent.

Dabengwa's Zapu broke

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Monday, 10 September 2012 12:53
HARARE - Dumiso Dabengwa, leader of the revived Zimbabwe African Peoples
Union (Zapu), has admitted that his party is going through turbulent times
and struggling for cash.

So bad is the situation that the party is begging its supporters to pay
their monthly subscriptions to save it from collapse.

Dabengwa, a former Home Affairs minister, pulled out of Zanu PF to lead
Zapu, which had entered into a “unity” agreement with President Robert
Mugabe in 1987.

Ahead of crucial elections, most likely to be held next year, Zapu has no
offices and is deep in a debt it cannot pay.

Bulawayo High Court judge Nicholas Ndou last month ordered the eviction of
the opposition party from offices it was renting and using as its national
headquarters.

He also ordered the auctioning of Zapu’s property to recover a $15 000 debt
owed to Edson Chemhere Mabudapasi, the owner of the premises.

Despite reports of the former giant party selling 14 herd of cattle to save
the situation, Zapu is still in the doldrums, Dabengwa said.

Dabengwa told party supporters at Magwegwe Hall during a weekend function to
commemorate Zapu liberation war fighters who died during the 1970s
anti-colonialism struggle.

“I am appealing to you to pay your monthly subscriptions because as a party
we survive on them.

You need to look after your party as we used to do during the time of Joshua
Nkomo when our party used to survive on monthly subscriptions and it used to
be very strong,” he said.

“I have even tasked our secretary-general who is overseas to source funds
for us and fortunately he has promised us something,” he said.

Speaking to the Daily News on the side-lines of the event, Dabengwa
confirmed that his party was financially handicapped.

“Subscriptions have not been coming through in a manner we would have
wanted.

That is why we are trying to have our members pay their subscriptions in a
proper way as this will go towards assisting us in running our affairs,”
Dabengwa said.

On the closure of party offices Dabengwa said: “We got an alternative, a
small place just to operate from as we look for money to pay our debt. After
we finish paying we can as well renegotiate with the owner of the building
so that we can go back.”

“The issue has affected us especially on our communication where some people
are even calling me on issues that could have been handled by the
secretariat,” he said.

Dabengwa said the party’s visibility was affected by lack of resources.

“People are complaining about the visibility of the party and it is not
easy. We need to have resources. We need the money, transport to go out
there and that is our challenge,” said Dabengwa.

Once led by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, Zapu was forced to sign a
unity agreement in 1987 by Mugabe’s Zanu PF following years of political
strife in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces where more than 20 000
people are believed to have been killed by a North Korean-trained brigade
under Mugabe’s command.

Draft charter: Zanu PF seeks to entrench dictatorship

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 9, 2012 in Opinion
The Zanu PF position on the draft constitution is, in short, an attempt to
legalise dictatorship under the guise of constitutional reform.

REPORT BY PEDZISAI RUHANYA
One can discern that power, class and ideological struggles are at the core
of the political impasse over the Copac draft constitution.

The Zanu PF draft constitution proposals show that not all struggles are
democratic. Some are simply power struggles meant to retain political
hegemony over the state.

In my view, Zanu PF wants to maintain and entrench what legal scholar Dr
Alex Magaisa describes as constitution without constitutionalism. Magaisa
writes that constitutionalism is meant to limit the powers of government by
law. Those limitations are usually enshrined in the constitution. The Zanu
PF draft is an aberration to this principle.

When such limitations are removed, the very essence of constitutionalism is
undermined. The retention of the imperial presidency by Zanu PF negates
democratic parlance. One critical element that Zanu PF wants to maintain is
the centralisation of powers. The party is opposed to devolution of
political administration of the state.

Centralisation of autocracy is taking the country back to the period of
colonisation. For instance, it has been argued by African scholars such as
Mahmood Mamdani that although Western powers abolished formal slavery,
colonialism crystallised, formalised on the range of constraints unleashed
in 19th Century conquest states, only to generalise them. It is postulated
that from African tradition, colonial powers salvaged a widespread and
time-honoured practice, one of a decentralised exercise of power, but freed
that power of restraint, of peers or people.

Thus they laid the basis for a decentralised despotism which is what the
Zanu PF leadership has copied in the administration of local and provincial
governance while the critical levers of state power remains with the
metropolitan. Decentralisation of despotism as captured by the Zanu PF draft
does not amount to empowering regional governments to exercise autonomy in
the administration of national affairs.

The Zanu PF draft is an affront to critical democratic requirement as
captured during the debates on the writing of the US Constitution in the
1780s by James Madison in Federalist Paper Number 51 where it is noted: “If
men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angles were to govern
men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be
necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over,
the greatest difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government
to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the
government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary
precautions.”

Zanu PF’s opposition to dual citizenship and the Diaspora vote is
unreasonable but linked to power retention and a focus on the impending
elections. Thousands of Zimbabweans driven out of the country by the party’s
bad economic and political policies are being denied their fundamental
rights on power retention grounds.

However, it should be acknowledged that Zanu PF has beaten its opponents at
the level of political strategy and ideological positioning of its
undemocratic views. For instance, while Zanu PF was negotiating in Copac,
there was a group of intellectuals led by Professor Jonathan Moyo that was
constantly bombarding both the electronic and print media on the critical
issues it wanted captured; power retentions and political dominance.

This could not be said of the MDC formations and part of NGOs that supported
the process. These groups lacked the ideological rigour and lacked
consistent intellectual interrogation of both the process and content.

The MDC formations should realise that there is no group in society that can
capture state power without having its own group of coordinated organic
intellectuals; that is agents of class projects.
Thus, if the working class wants to succeed in becoming hegemonic, it must
also create its own intellectuals to develop a new ideology.

Moving forward to address the constitutional impasse, the MDC must go back
to its roots; the people and engage genuine civic bodies such as workers,
students, ordinary villagers, women groups and the National Constitutional
Assembly. The party needs genuine collaborations with these bodies and
mobilise its political base to confront its problems. The MDC should desist
from co-opting its democratic partners and work on a mutual basis. The
solution should be found in these platforms not necessarily the Sadc
facilitation team.

Pedzisai Ruhanya, is a PhD candidate, University of Westminster, London.

So much for the Jewel of Africa

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 10, 2012 in Editorial
As the nation of Zimbabwe celebrated independence in 1980, the Tanzanian
president, Julius Nyerere dispensed words of profound wisdom to our then
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe.
“You have inherited a jewel,” Nyerere said, referring to the new nation
state of Zimbabwe. “Keep it that way.”

While the Tanzanian leader spoke metaphorically, a mineral rush, starting in
2006, should have turned Nyerere’s perceived jewel into a semblance of
reality. But by the time the Chiadzwa diamonds were discovered, Zimbabwe’s
image as a jewel had become exceedingly tarnished.

This happened mainly through failure on the part of President Mugabe’s
government to satisfactorily manage the national economy or to generally
administer Zimbabwe’s affairs of state.

One inexorable symptom of our jewel’s diminishing lustre over the past three
years has been the failure of the Government of National Unity to run our
national affairs without foreign intervention.

This has resulted in a syndrome of relentless dependence on the assumed
aptitude of neighbouring countries to solve our political problems. As a
result, Zimbabwe has assumed the semblance of a political appendage of Sadc,
as it turns to the regional organisation for solutions to even the most
banal of our predicaments, especially political.

It is as if the GNU has abdicated its power and authority to Sadc,
notwithstanding the unmistakable preponderance of men and women of
extraordinary academic achievement and discernible political acumen within
its ranks.

While South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and even Portuguese speaking
Mozambique have benefited from the arrival of Zimbabweans with their
multitude of talents and skills, when it comes to political decision-making,
Zimbabwe bows to the assumed superiority of politicians in neighbouring
states. South Africa, the greatest beneficiary of Zimbabwean academic
qualifications and professional skills, has become our greatest benefactor
when it comes to cross-border political maneuvering.

Take the current Welshman Ncube/Arthur Mutambara power tug-of-war. Our own
government failed dismally to make a resolute decision on this particular
fiasco; that was until Sadc came to their rescue in Maputo two weeks ago.

So much for the jewel that President Julius Nyerere dreamt about.

Editor’s desk:Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

September 10, 2012 in Editorial
Some time mid-last year I sat down with a couple of long-lost friends for a
cup of coffee in a café in Avondale.

BY GEOFFREY NYAROTA

Tommy Sithole, former Editor of The Herald was back in Harare on holiday
from Switzerland, where he is now Director of International Cooperation and
Development with the International Olympic Committee. A former director of
the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Sithole is arguably Zimbabwe’s most widely
travelled citizen. He certainly would be my candidate for the position of
Minister of Sport in any Zimbabwean government that values relevant
qualifications when making ministerial appointments.

The third man at our table was Musekiwa Khumbula, a former officer in the
Ministry of Information at Linquenda House during the good old days of
permanent secretary of Information, Justin “Soft Guy” Nyoka and Abbey
Rusike, father of the Rusike Brothers band.

Musekiwa subsequently became a staffer on The Sunday Mail before he ventured
into business in his own right.

Now he is a senior executive with Innscor, where his office in Newlands is a
favourite haunt for MDC and Zanu PF functionaries alike, as well as for the
totally apolitical.

Back in the verandah of the café in Avondale, we sipped coffee and chatted
about many fascinating current events, as well as about developments in our
country over the many years of our separation. Then we simultaneously all
espied former Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, as he emerged from the
café through a side door.

A regular target of vitriolic attacks in the independent newspapers,
especially The Daily News, whose predecessor Moyo banned back in 2003, Moyo
relentlessly churns out verbiage of his own. He targets those perceived to
be his foes or to be simply unpatriotic, apart from pursuing issues on
behalf of Zanu PF.

The new Daily News appears wholly unprepared to forgive the man widely
viewed as a Zanu PF apologist for banning the original Daily News, of which
I was founding Editor-in-chief.
Occasionally the newspaper digs up and re-publishes Moyo’s old anti-Zanu PF
diatribe in order to place his current pro-Zanu PF dissertations in their
proper political context.
Moyo saw the three of us; immediately changed direction and made a beeline
for our table.

Uninvited, he pulled out a chair. After a round of greetings and an exchange
of pleasantries, the former minister made it patently clear that he was not
in any hurry to depart. After a somewhat embarrassing interlude we resumed
our original political discourse, wandering from subject to subject, with
Moyo assuming an increasingly dominant role.

“What would you say if you were requested to submit two pieces of advice to
President Mugabe through me,” Moyo inquired, his gaze fixed pointedly and
unflinchingly at me.

Without hesitation, I looked Moyo straight in the eye and responded: “In the
first instance, I would request the President to appreciate that Zimbabwe
belongs to all of its citizens; including those who are not members of his
Zanu PF party.

“Secondly, I would kindly request His Excellency to mount a platform and
make an unequivocal public pronouncement, enjoining all Zimbabweans, members
of his own party especially, to desist from engaging in political violence.
If this presidential pronouncement was repeatedly broadcast on radio and TV,
while being published in all sections of the press, it would go a long way
to bring the spectre of pubic violence to an absolute end, especially if it
was reciprocated by his counterpart, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
president of the Movement for Democratic Change.”

For good measure, I suggested that Moyo himself could utilise his residual
influence at the national broadcaster to ensure that the mandarins at
Pockets Hill appreciate the fact that Dr Tafataona Mahoso and Messrs Vimbai
Chivaura and Claude Mararike are certainly not the collective repository of
all useful knowledge about our country. The quality of dialogue on radio and
television would be enhanced through invitation of participants other than
the said three.

I never met Moyo again since that day. So I do not know if the President
ever received my message.

Talking of Prime Minister Tsvangirai, this week he experienced an eye-ball
to eye-ball encounter with the wholly devastating implications of the quote
by English playwright and poet, William Congreve: “Heaven has no rage like
love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”

While he was comfortably ensconced at the 2012 Democratic National
Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States of America,
Locardia Karimatsenga Tembo, his alleged wife of exceedingly brief duration
in 2011, seized on the opportunity to inflict maximum embarrassment on the
person of the Prime Minister.

Not only did Karima tsenga make a claim for maintenance, which her lawyers
pegged at an astounding US$15 000, claiming that her alleged husband had
introduced her to a life of luxury during the two weeks of their
co-habitation. She then proceeded to institute legal proceedings at the High
Court seeking to prevent the Prime Minister’s forthcoming wedding to
Elizabeth Macheka from taking place this week.

Tsvangirai paid an equally mind-boggling US$35 000 by way of lobola for
Karimatsenga Tembo in November 2011 before dropping her unceremoniously two
weeks later and engaging Macheka a few months later.

However strong the temptation, and whatever the advice of aids, the
Honourable Minister is hereby kindly advised to desist from engaging in a
sustained public war of words with Ms Karimatsenga Tembo, especially on the
front pages of Harare’s newspapers.

The only beneficiary to emerge from such combat is Karimatsenga Tembo — and
the circulation managers of the newspapers peddling the salacious tales. She
has little or absolutely nothing to lose. She has already been taken to the
limits of mortal embarrassment.

The Prime Minister has much to lose.

In any case, it is most certainly below the dignity required of the office
of Prime Minister to indulge in a public fight with his allegedly estranged
alleged spouse. It is easy to blame journalists for their marital trials and
tribulations, but politicians must strive to protect their own images.

Geoffrey Nyarota, the founding Editor-in-Chief of The Daily News, is a
journalist and author. He is the CEO of Buffalo Communication, a company
which publishes magazines.

FACTBOX-Political risks to watch in Zimbabwe

http://af.reuters.com

Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:30pm GMT
By Nelson Banya

HARARE, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's quest for a new constitution has hit
a snag after the ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe acted to overhaul
some provisions that would limit presidential powers while strengthening
those of parliament.

A new constitution is a required step ahead of elections, which the
impoverished southern African nation must hold by next year under the terms
of a power-sharing deal between ZANU-PF and rival Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC.

The vote raises fears of a repeat of violence that marred previous elections
and led to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to neighbouring South
Africa.

DEADLOCK OVER NEW CONSTITUTION

ZANU-PF's amendments to the draft constitution - authored by an inter-party
parliamentary committee - have angered its MDC coalition partners, who say
Mugabe's party is bent on restoring sweeping presidential powers. The
dispute is likely to further delay the stop-start constitution-making
process.

The final charter is likely to be a compromise, since neither party commands
the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to pass the new supreme law.
ZANU-PF has accused the MDC of trying to include measures on voting rights
and executive authority that could undermine Mugabe's party.

What to watch:

- Steps by regional leaders, who brokered Zimbabwe's power-sharing deal, to
break the impasse on the constitution.

REGIONAL BAILOUT?

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said this month Zimbabwe would seek at least
$150 million in financial aid from neighbours South Africa and oil-rich
Angola in a bid to plug a $400 million hole in its budget.

Zimbabwe's economic recovery under the coalition government has stalled due
to a poor harvest, lack of foreign investment and aid, forcing Biti to slash
the 2012 GDP growth forecast last month from 9.4 percent to 5.6 percent.

What to watch:

- Will South Africa and Angola come to the rescue and would such aid give
regional leaders any leverage in mediating Zimbabwe's political crisis.

ELECTION LITMUS TEST

Zimbabwe is expected to hold by-elections in 26 constituencies before the
end of this year, which could alter the balance of power in parliament and
foreshadow what happens in the general election.

The vote will also be a test of whether violence-free polls are possible in
a country where ZANU-PF has faced international condemnation for suspected
use of death squads to intimidate voters and rigging ballots.

What to watch:

- Mugabe announcing dates for the by-elections.

PRESSURE ON BANKS

The central bank has increased minimum capital requirements for banks to up
to $100 million, a move that could hold back a Mugabe drive to force foreign
banks to sell majority shares to locals while forcing small, locally owned
banks to merge.

Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has given foreign banks up to a year
to sell their shares to Zimbabweans. The central bank also gave banks until
the end of Sept. 30 to submit plans on how they intend to meet the new
capital thresholds.

What to watch:

- Bank mergers as they bid to pool capital and meet new requirements.

MUGABE SUCCESSION

Mugabe, 88, in power since the country's independence from Britain in 1980,
says he wants to contest another election and refuses to designate a
preferred successor.

ZANU-PF officials, many of whom now consider Mugabe a liability, fear the
party could implode if he dies in office without settling the succession
issue.

What to watch:

- Will Mugabe clip the wings of potential successors in an attempt to keep
his grip on power.

Peace Watch 2/2012 New Series - 10th September 2012 [National Healing - First Stop the Violence]

Bill Watch 42/2012 of 10th September [Delays in Government and Parliamentary Business]