The ZIMBABWE Situation
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SA
computer upgrade closes BB border
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The halt of trade across the
Zimbabwe-South Africa border which was
scheduled to run from 10pm on Monday
until 2am on Tuesday ran way after the
scheduled time, and the elongated
closure cost Zimbabwe millions.
20.09.1112:13pm
by Chief
Reporter
By Tuesday afternoon, the border was still closed. Taking
into account lost
labour, factory production and spoiled produce, the bill
incurred by both
sides, mainly Zimbabwe is several million dollars each
day.
Not only did goods pile up on both sides of the Beitbridge crossing
point, a
consequent traffic jam formed.
Millions of dollars' worth of
trade goes through that border. The
authorities lost millions in duty and
taxes.
The impact of the closure was particularly strong at the main
overland
border crossing point between Beitbridge in Matabeleland South in
Zimbabwe
and the Southern African side.
The closure affected almost
everyone, stranded travellers, whether truck
drivers, taxi drivers, market
stall-holders, restaurant and guesthouse
owners or traders. Cannisio
Mudzumwe, the ZimRA spokesman declined to
comment on how much the tax
collector had lost from the border closure.
Official sources said the
closure came as a decree from South Africa
Immigration. South Africa said it
was upgrading its IT system from 10pm on
Monday until 2am on Tuesday and
refused to countenance any explanations or
pleas.
"We will not be
processing travellers during this period,"read the Sept. 16
memo from SA
Immigration to to the head of immigration at the Zimbabwe's
Beitbridge
border. "We are therefore requesting that you stop travellers
from entering
the border during this period until the process is finished.
"The last
batch of travellers to be processed are those that would be inside
the port
of entry before 9pm tomorrow. We will not accept entry after 9pm as
we will
be finishing with those who will be inside the port of entry."
Minister
of International Trade Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was locked
in
meetings at the time of going to print.
But a government official said
the two countries have signed all sorts of
collective agreements towards
free trade and SA's sudden action was
unacceptable.
"They suddenly
and arbitrarily decided to close the border," said an
official in the
ministry of International Trade.
"Border closure and flagrant flouting of
zero tariff agreements as part of
economic protectionism need to end if
progress is ever going to be made to
achieve the one-stop border," the
official told The Zimbabwean this week,
agreeing to speak on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the subject. South Africa is
reportedly dithering on an arrangement in which
immigration and customs from
both countries would be working at one point
jointly clearing travellers and
cargo bound for either direction.
Air
Zimbabwe flies back single passenger on recovery flight
http://www.africareview.com/
By KITSEPILE
NYATHI in HararePosted Tuesday, September 20 2011 at 14:17
Air
Zimbabwe flew back to Harare from Victoria Falls with one passenger when
it
resumed flights on Sunday after a two-month stoppage.
The troubled
airline grounded its planes at the end of July after its pilots
went on
strike demanding unpaid salaries and allowances.
Acting chief executive
officer Innocent Mavunga had last week said flights
would resume after the
airline secured a $2.8 million rescue package from
the
government.
However, there were signs customers had lost confidence in
the airline after
it took only 15 passengers from the capital to the resort
town of Victoria
Falls and returned with a single passenger.
It was
using an MA60 plane on the return flight, which normally carries over
60
passengers.
But Mr Mavhunga told the state-owned Herald that there was
nothing amiss
about the flight that carried one passenger.
"There is
nothing unusual about that,” he said “We have not been operating
for the
past two months and we only resumed on Friday. We are re-entering
the
market, so to speak."
"We are looking at three to six months to resume
normal loads. Clients often
book flights way in advance, so we cannot expect
an overnight change in the
situation."
Zim
rights Bill amended
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Tuesday 20 September
2011
HARARE – Justice Minister Patrick Chinamsa has amended the
Human Rights
Commission Bill to empower the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
(ZHRC) to
defend the rights of all people in the country including
none-citizens.
The Bill previously prohibited foreigners -- including
those that might have
fled their home countries because of persecution and
seeking refugee status
in Zimbabwe -- from appealing to the commission for
protection.
Other new changes to the Bill that will be tabled in
Parliament when the
House resumes sitting today include a widened definition
of human rights
violations that the ZHRC can entertain to encompass acts
defined as abuses
under international law.
Before the amendment the
Bill allowed the ZHRC to entertain complaints of
human rights violations
under international law only if the legislation
domesticating that law
specifically stated that the commission could do so.
The ZHRC, appointed
by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai about 17
months ago, has remained idle because there is no Act of
Parliament enabling
the body to do its work to promote human rights or
investigate the many
abuses that continue to be reported in many parts of
the
country.
Under Zimbabwe’s legislative process the Bill must be passed by
both Houses
of Parliament before it is handed over to Mugabe who must sign
it to become
effective law.
Zimbabweans hope creation of the ZHRC –
part of reforms agreed by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai under their power-sharing
pact -- will help protect basic rights
and freedoms seriously eroded over
the years as Mugabe adopted more
repressive tactics to keep public
discontent against his rule in check.
But human rights activists have
strongly criticised the ZHRC as a
half-hearted and inadequate response to
the country’s long history of rights
abuses and victims’ quest for justice,
especially because the rights body
will not probe violations committed
before February 2009.
The Harare coalition government’s decision to
prohibit the ZHRC from delving
into violations committed prior to February
2009 means perpetrators of
abuses during some of the country’s darkest
periods such as the bloody 1970s
war of independence or the infamous 1980s
Gukurahundi atrocities committed
by the army in the country’s south-western
regions will not be brought to
justice. – ZimOnline
African Union
finally recognises Libya's NTC
http://af.reuters.com
Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:43pm
GMT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) recognised the
National
Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya's de facto government on
Tuesday,
removing another piece of diplomatic support for ousted leader
Muammar
Gaddafi.
The pan-African body, which has frequently been
criticised for its ponderous
reaction to events on its doorstep, said in a
statement it was ready to
support the NTC in its efforts to build an
inclusive government.
It also urged the NTC to protect African migrant
workers following reports
of black Africans being targeted by militia units
hunting down mercenaries
loyal to Gaddafi.
As of August 22, most
European nations, the United States and Nigeria had
recognised the NTC,
while China official acknowledged the Benghazi-based
group as Libya's
"ruling authority" on September 12.
The AU's switch was likely to bring a
modicum of pressure to bear on
long-standing leaders such as Zimbabwe's
Robert Mugabe, who expelled Libya's
ambassador at the end of August after he
switched allegiance from Gaddafi to
the NTC.
Zimbabwe
to recognise Libya rebels
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
20/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZIMBABWE is set to end its boycott of the Libyan rebels
after the African
Union moved to recognise the National Transitional Council
(NTC) which
replaced Muammar Gaddafi’s regime following an armed
insurgency.
The African Union (AU) recognised the de facto government on
Tuesday after
receiving guarantees, among them assurances on the safety of
black migrant
workers as well as a pledge to “give priority to national
unity and to bring
together all Libyan stakeholders, without any exception,”
to rebuild the
country.
In its statement issued following a meeting
of its five-nation Ad Hoc
Committee on Libya, the AU said the interim Libyan
government had also
reaffirmed its commitment to the African
continent.
Zimbabwe had taken the stance that it would be guided by the
SADC and AU
positions. Support for the NTC could now be automatic following
the AU move.
President Robert Mugabe’s government expelled Libya's envoy
to Harare, Taher
Elmagrahi, at the end of August when he announced he had
defected to the
NTC. Ministers said the envoy “represented no-one” after
denouncing Gaddafi,
who had signed his accreditation
papers.
Zimbabwe, along with South Africa, had long expressed
reservations about the
NATO-led military bombardment of Libya in aid of the
rebels which began in
mid-March and continues today.
President Mugabe
dismissed the uprising in the country as a false revolution
engineered
Western powers keen to control the North African country's oil.
“We do
not agree with the form of government that was in Libya," President
Mugabe
said recently. "We looked forward to it reforming its system in its
own way,
not in the way they (the West) desire."
Meanwhile, South Africa, whose
President Jacob Zuma sits on the AU Ad Hoc
Committee on Libya, announced
Tuesday that it would now recognise the NTC.
Although the NTC controls
most of the country including the capital,
Tripoli, fighting continues in
the towns of Bani Walid and Colonel Gaddafi's
birthplace, Sirte, where
pro-Gaddafi fighters are mounting fierce
resistance.
Anti-Gaddafi
forces launched an offensive on Bani Walid, 140km south-east of
Tripoli,
late last week, but were forced to retreat under heavy fire both
times.
Heavy clashes have continued since then.
Justice
Delayed As Water Outage Shuts Down High Court
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, September 20,
2011 - Critical water shortages on Monday forced the
High Court to suspend
business thereby delaying and denying justice to
several prisoners who are
languishing in the country’s jails.
In a memorandum written on Monday and
addressed to all judges at the High
Court, Judge President, Justice George
Chiweshe advised judges to exercise
caution and not to report for duty on
Monday afternoon as a result of the
water disconnection.
“There are
no water supplies in the high court building today. For health
reasons,
judges may take afternoon leave and return tomorrow when the
situation is
expected to have improved,” reads part of Justice Chiweshe’s
memorandum.
Chiweshe said only Justice Tendai Uchena and Justice
Andrew Mutema who were
tasked with manning the high court’s urgent duty
roster and those judges
heading divisions should remain at the high court
building to entertain
urgent matters.
“Judges are expected to use
their discretion responsibly. Those who have
matters set down for hearing
this afternoon must attend to them and either
hear them or postpone them to
a suitable date,” said Chiweshe.
It was not possible to immediately
ascertain the reason for the water
disconnection.
Water outages are
common in Zimbabwe. During the height of the country’s
economic catastrophe,
courts were forced to shut down for several days as a
result of water
shortages.
Zimbabwe Wildlife Poisoned
September 20, 2011
Photo: REUTERS
A
critically endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) eats a Bushbuck's head
and neck in the Mana Pools National Park, a World Heritage Site, in northern
Zimbabwe November 7, 2009.
Poaching of
Zimbabwe's dwindling wildlife is at an all-time high, and for the first time
poison being put in water holes in protected areas is killing animals and
endangering people living nearby. Wildlife is Zimbabwe's main tourist
attraction.
Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority says that
poachers have poisoned water holes in five national parks, killing at least 21
animals including lions and elephants, and that villagers living nearby are in
danger.
Caroline Washaya-Moyo, spokesman for the parks authority, said
poachers have developed new, "silent" techniques to kill animals, and that this
was only discovered after the bodies of animals were found near water holes in
some of Zimbabwe's most famous national parks last week.
National parks
officials say this is the first time animals in protected wildlife areas have
died from poisoning.
Peter Henning has been involved in wildlife
management in southeastern Zimbabwe for many years.
He said although
the poison had not yet been identified by government laboratories, he believed
examination would find that a common poison known as "two step" was responsible
for killing the wildlife and that this poison would continue to contaminate the
area indefinitely.
"Sometimes [it is] called 'two step" meaning the
animal once it consumes water with the poison in it takes two steps then it
dies, very potent and that would mean the water in which it has been placed is
permanently poisoned, it's very likely the mud itself is contaminated," said
Henning.
Henning said there was massive destruction of Zimbabwe's
wildlife taking place in several protected areas. He said he has specific
evidence of destruction of wildlife in low lying parts of southeastern Zimbabwe
near a small town called Chiredzi.
"I can speak of the Zimbabwe lowveld
where there is complete devastation taking place at the moment," Henning added.
"A number of conservancies, Chiredzi River Conservancy is willfully being
invaded now at the encouragement of some powerful politicians and they are
cutting down trees, and slaughtering the wildlife including elephant and
rhino."
Henning said many animals were being poached, with wire traps
being used to kill giraffe and deer. He said there was little evidence at
present that guns were being used to kill wildlife.
He said the new
poaching method, poisoning water holes, was incomprehensible in its cruelty. He
said poisoned animals were a danger to birds and animals feeding on the
carcasses as well as hungry people tempted to cook and eat the meat.
"It
is depravity in its extremity you can't describe it in any other manner," said
Henning.
National parks officials issued warnings to everyone including
game rangers to carry fresh water with them and not drink from any of the
watering places in the five protected wildlife areas affected by the
poisoning.
Zimbabwe Nuns, Priests Evicted, Orphanage Seized
By GILLIAN GOTORA
Associated Press
MUREWA, Zimbabwe September 20, 2011 (AP)
Zimbabwe's
top Anglican bishop said Tuesday that an excommunicated church
leader close
to the country's president has taken over an orphanage housing
80 children
as part of a schism over gay marriage.
Bishop Chad Gandiya, leader of the
mainstream Anglican group, says the
breakaway leader also has seized mission
schools and priests' homes on the
church premises near Murewa, some 50 miles
(85 kilometers) east of the
capital, Harare.
Worshippers now
congregate instead under the shade of trees beside a dirt
road.
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga was excommunicated four years ago after
he was
accused of inciting violence in sermons supporting longtime President
Robert
Mugabe's party. Kunonga, though, still has the protection of police
loyal to
Mugabe, and already has taken over the main Harare cathedral and
church bank
accounts.
Kunonga insists he split from the Anglican
church because of its position on
gay marriage. However, the reverend who
was forced to leave the mission
church near Murewa insists it was not
marrying gay couples.
Leaders of the global Anglican Communion have
condemned gay relationships as
a violation of Scripture. However, the
Anglican Communion is loosely
organized without one authoritative leader
such as a pope, so some
individual provinces have decided on their own they
should move toward
accepting same-gender unions. In 2003, the U.S. Episcopal
Church caused an
uproar in the worldwide fellowship by consecrating its
first openly gay
bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Sister
Dorothy, one of the three nuns in charge of the care of orphans at
the
Shearly Cripps home near Murwea, told The Associated Press local
officials
and followers of Kunonga told the orphanage staff they were under
orders to
leave because they "support homosexuality."
"We refused to listen to
Kunonga but he says this place now belongs to him,"
said the elderly sister,
who has served at the home for three decades.
Local officials in this
longtime Mugabe party stronghold showed an unsigned
court eviction order
when the carers were bathing, feeding and giving
medication to children last
week, she said.
The nuns later moved to find shelter in a house several
miles (kilometers)
away. Visitors to the orphanage have since reported that
children appeared
not to have received regular meals and it was not clear
whether qualified
replacement staff were at the historic Shearly Cripps
home.
The Rev. Richard Mombeshora, who was forced to leave the mission
church,
said pleas for police to intervene to stop the takeovers were
ignored.
Mombeshora said Kunonga's followers forced their way into the
church
rectory, and police were brought oversee the evictions.
"These
people confess openly they don't fear the law. So you just put your
faith in
God," he said, adding: "We don't marry homosexuals here. We don't
approve of
it at all."
Gandiya on Tuesday told the nuns and carers an appeal against
the evictions
and other property seizures is scheduled before the Supreme
Court, the
nation's highest court, later this month.
"We haven't
forgotten you or the children. Who is looking after them and
giving them
medicine?" Gandiya said.
Some of the children are AIDS orphans and need
regular treatment and
HIV/AIDS medication.
In 2007, Kunonga was
excommunicated by the main Anglican Province of Central
Africa and the world
wide Anglican Church after he was accused of inciting
violence in sermons
supporting Mugabe's party.
The head of the church, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, is scheduled to visit
Zimbabwe in October and wants to meet with
Mugabe, 87, a Roman Catholic, to
discuss an end to the disruptions.
MDC Election Unity Hopes Dashed by Reported Comments of Wing Leader
Ncube
http://www.voanews.com
19 September
2011
The independent daily Newsday reported that Ncube told supporters
at a rally
Saturday in Kwekwe, Midlands, that Mr. Tsvangirai is "uneducated"
and lacks
the intellectual capacity to lead Zimbabwe
Violet Gonda
& Ntungamili Nkomo
Recent speculation that the two main
formations of the Movement for
Democratic Change might present a united
front in elections expected to be
held in 2012 may have been dashed by
reported statements from Welshman
Ncube, leader of the smaller MDC
formation, personally attacking Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The
independent daily Newsday reported that Ncube told supporters at a rally
Saturday in Kwekwe, Midlands, that Mr. Tsvangirai is "uneducated" and lacks
the intellectual capacity to lead Zimbabwe. Ncube said his own party’s
leaders have the vision required to rebuild the country, calling Mr.
Tsvangirai a “teaboy” who is out of his depth.
Ncube issued a
statement Monday denying he had denigrated Mr. Tsvangirai,
saying he had
merely quoted business contacts on the subject of management
capacity.
Spokesman Nhlanhla Dube of the Ncube MDC told VOA Studio 7
reporter Violet
Gonda that his party leader was speaking about the dangers
of appointing
leaders on the basis of who had been beaten by Rhodesian Prime
Minister Ian
Smith, in the case of President Robert Mugabe, and who was
victimized by Mr.
Mugabe, in Mr. Tsvangirai's case.
“The net effect
of his speech is that our measurement of leaders must not be
on the basis of
what they have met in terms of victimization but in terms of
the quality of
their ability as leaders to think through issues and to
deliver," lawyer
Ncube said.
Dube added that comments from his party leader merely echoed
what senior
officials of Mr. Tsvangirai’s formation told US officials in
comments that
later became public through the release of US cables by
Wikileaks. In
conversations related in such cables, officials of Mr.
Tsvangirai's MDC
described him as a weak and indecisive political
leader.
Tsvangirai spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka called Ncube’s comments
"ridiculous"
and "unnecessary." He said Ncube has nurtured his resentment of
Mr.
Tsvangirai instead of building the membership of his "small" breakaway
MDC
formation.
Lawyer and National Constitutional Assembly chairman
Lovemore Madhuku
commented that voters must be informed of a leader's traits
so the can make
informed decisions.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tsvangirai, in the
US, warned that another disputed
Zimbabwean ballot could trigger political
instability not only in Zimbabwe
but in the region as
well.
Addressing American civil society leaders in Chicago this weekend,
Mr.
Tsvangirai said that mechanisms supporting democratic reform must be put
in
place to make sure the next Zimbabwean election is conducted in a free
and
fair environment.
He cautioned that a repeat of 2008, when
President Mugabe lost the
first-round of the presidential election then
resorted to violence ahead of
a run-off that the MDC refused to join, could
threaten, “all bordering
nations and ... their own political
dispensations.”
Mr. Mugabe has insisted that elections must be held no
later than March 2012
with or without the electoral and other reforms sought
by the two MDC
formations.
Mr. Tsvangirai warned that Zimbabwe risked
experiencing the violence that
gripped Ivory Coast when now-ousted President
Laurent Gbagbo refused to heed
ballot results.
During the same
meeting, US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson
demanded a
violence-free election, saying “we say no to violence and yes to
a peaceful
Zimbabwe.”
Tsvangirai’s spokesman said the prime minister wants the
international
community to intervene in time to ensure Zimbabwe has a free
and fair.
But ZANU-PF Parliamentary Whip Joram Gumbo called Mr.
Tsvangirai’s
statements reckless and without foundation.
Ncube
clarifies 'education' comments
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
20/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
MDC leader Welshman Ncube has denied describing his MDC-T rival
Morgan
Tsvangirai as “uneducated".
Ncube spoke after comments
attributed to him appeared to suggest Tsvangirai’s
limited education would
be a hindrance to his leadership of the country – if
ever he becomes
President.
“Business has collapsed, factories ruined and schools have all
but collapsed
and these require a leadership with vision and capacity, which
only this
party has, not a tea boy,” Ncube was quoted as saying at a rally
in Redcliff
by the NewsDay newspaper.
“Tsvangirai cannot perform
miracles and solve problems of our nation. That
era ended with Jesus who
performed them a long time ago.”
The story drew an unprecedented 381 comments
on New Zimbabwe.com, and Ncube
wrote in to clarify his comments.
He
said: “For the record, during a rally over the weekend I quoted a
statement
made by a number of business people that I had met with at
Mzinyathini
during the week.
“These business people, who were formerly detained by
Rhodesians, said that
when the nationalists met to plan and fight
colonialism, they realised and
decided that they needed to find leaders from
amongst them with the
intellectual and technical capacity to take on the
colonialists and bring
about freedom for Zimbabweans.
“I then said
that is not ironic then that if the nationalists understood
that the
challenges ahead would require capacity to lead and an
understanding of the
complexities of economics and governance, how much more
do we today -- given
the much more complex environment -- require a team of
leaders with huge
capacity?”
The Industry and Commerce Minister Minister and law professor
added: “At no
point did I mention President Mugabe or Prime Minister
Tsvangirai or anyone
else. At no point did I call anyone names.
“My
point, however, remains that we need people with the intellectual and
technical capacity to take us forward as a country. And if the people who
wrote the article then decided to fit the shoe that fits to whomsoever, then
that is another matter altogether.
“If you want to fly from Harare to
Bulawayo, as much as you may have someone
who is popular but only has the
ability to ride bicycles, their popularity
will not help them to fly that
plane. You need someone with the capacity to
fly planes. That is my point
and that of the nationalists that I quoted and
on that I stand by my words
knowing the validity in them.”
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Ncube insisted
that “capacity” does not mean a certain level of education
“though that
sometimes helps”.
He added: “What we need in Zimbabwe is men and women
with the capacity,
integrity, honesty, consistency and the will to take us
to a free, fair and
prosperous Zimbabwe.
“I do believe Zimbabwe is
not lacking in such men and women. Change will
come as they take their roles
in all sectors of our country to build a
better Zimbabwe for future
generations.”
Ncube's comments had ignited an old debate in Zimbabwe
about the level of
formal education required for a presidential aspirant.
Presently, the
constitution is silent on education.
A requirement for
the president to have a degree was contained in a draft
constitution which
was rejected in a referendum in 2000.
With UN, Zimbabwean Ministry of Health Targets Non-Communicable
Diseases
http://www.voanews.com
19 September
2011
Health Minister Henry Madzorera said he will soon as the Cabinet
to boost
taxes on alcohol and tobacco products to finance the fight against
illnesses
such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer
Sandra Nyaira,
Tatenda Gumbo & Safari Njema |
Washington/Harare
Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes,
heart disease and cancer are
receiving more attention in Zimbabwe and other
developing countries as well
as by United Nations health agencies. On Monday
the UN Security Council held
a special session on such diseases, which have
risen in frequency along with
developing nation incomes.
UN Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon, speaking to the gathering, noted that
three out of
every five deaths in the world result from non-communicable
diseases, a
threat to development which can affect the poor other vulnerable
groups
particularly hard.
He said that according to the World Health
Organization deaths from NCDs
will increase 17 percent in the next decade
but in Africa they will surge by
24 percent.
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of
Health says it will soon ask the Cabinet to increase
alcohol and tobacco
taxes to finance the fight against such illnesses.
Health Minister Henry
Madzorera said non-communicable diseases now pose a
greater threat to
Zimbabweans than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
combined.
Madzorera, in New York for the UN session, said his
ministry is concerned by
the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases in
Zimbabwe.
Itai Rusike, director of the Community Working Group on Health,
commended
the health ministry, telling VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo that the
alcohol and
tobacco industries are contributing significantly to the
increase in
non-communicable diseases.
Douglas Gwatidzo, chairman of
the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights, said
the rise in such diseases in
Zimbabwe and Africa signals the need for a
global approach.
Economist
Eric Bloch says the tax hike proposal should target luxury items
only so
that it does not cripple sectors that are economically important to
the
country.
President Robert Mugabe attended the UN session. Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai joined meetings the Clinton Global Initiative aimed at
fostering
partnerships to reduce poverty, clean up the environment, and
boost access
to health care and education.
In Harare, residents of
high-density suburbs said health services are being
neglected, noting the
abandonment of the construction of clinic projects in
MIlton Park, Kuwadzana
extension and Budiriro after the World Bank withdrew
assistance.
Officials said some US$6 million is needed to complete
the facilities.
ZANU
PF Chipangano gang attack minibus operators
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
14
September, 2011
A group of violent youths known to be members of the
Chipangano gang from
Mbare, descended on the bus terminus near the police
charge office on Monday
and demanded fees from minibus drivers plying the
Sunningdale to City route.
It is believed the gang is attempting to control
the terminus.
Although the location is next to Harare Central Police
Station, the gang did
not hesitate to assault drivers who resisted their
demand for one dollar per
trip. According to the Newsday newspaper, the gang
claimed the money would
be forwarded to senior ZANU PF provincial officials
who had sent them.
The gang reportedly attacked rank marshals,
drivers, conductors and anyone
who resisted. Newsday quoted ZANU PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo as saying
Chipangano “does not belong to us” and
the gang were “members of the
opposition who are trying to soil the good
image” of their party.
This was dismissed by the MDC-T Youth Assembly
spokesman Clifford Hlatywayo,
who said their supporters would have been
arrested if they attempted such a
stunt. He described Chipangano as “an
extension of ZANU PF” as well as their
“terror unit” in Harare’s suburb of
Mbare.
The youth activist said police officials know who the gang members are
and
can even identify the ones responsible for violence and intimidation.
“Vane
kamushandira pamwe (they work together),” Hlatywayo
said.
According to Hlatywayo, the one dollar per trip demanded from
drivers by the
gang is nothing new, because they routinely extort money from
many informal
traders, including street carpenters, tomato growers and flea
market
vendors, who sell a variety of second hand goods.
“They are fund
raising for ZANU PF. We understand the money is for their
elections terror
campaign,” explained the MDC-T activist.
A brother to one of the
assaulted drivers told Newsday that the youths have
been trying to take over
the bus rank for the last two weeks, but there has
been resistance from the
Sunningdale Commuter Association.
Hlatywayo confirmed that there are
organized efforts to resist the
Chipangano gang and make Mbare a place for
all political parties again.
MDC-N
youths denied bail in Bulawayo
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
20 September,
2011
Ten youth activists from the MDC-N party, who were arrested by
soldiers in
Bulawayo while handing out party flyers, were denied bail by
magistrate
Tapiwa Muchemwa on Tuesday. One of them fainted in court and bail
was also
denied to another activist who turned out to be a juvenile, 17
years old.
The youths have been accused of “trespassing and criminal
nuisance” by the
Law and Order Division, based on the soldiers’ claim that
they “threw”
flyers over the fence at Robert Mugabe’s State House near
Sauerstown, on
Saturday.
But according to Edwin Ndlovu, MDC-N
spokesman for Bulawayo, the youth
activists were miles away from that
location and did not throw any flyers
into the yard at State House. The
hearing is now scheduled for Octiober 4th.
SW Radio Africa correspondent
Lionel Saungweme who was in court on Tuesday,
said one of the activists
fainted during the proceedings and was removed
before the ruling was
announced. Lawyers argued that he should be granted
bail in order to seek
medical treatment, but were denied.
The soldiers first detained two of
the youth activists and then drove around
the area picking up more activists
with flyers. A total of ten were
eventually taken to State House, where they
were allegedly beaten and
tortured.
The youths were detained for
about three hours, stripped naked, beaten,
splashed with water and made to
roll around on the ground. The soldiers then
took them to the police. They
are being detained by the Law and Order
section at Bulawayo Central Police
Station.
‘Facebook’
case thrown out of court
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
20 September 2011
The
case against a Bulawayo man, accused of trying to overthrow the Robert
Mugabe regime using social media site Facebook, has been thrown out of
court, in what commentators have said is a victory for online activism in
Zimbabwe.
Vikas Mavhudzi was on Tuesday cleared of all the charges,
after the state
failed to gather any evidence against him. Mavhudzi’s shock
arrest in
February came after he posted a message of support on Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Facebook page. The two line message referred to
the civic
uprisings seen in Egypt earlier this year, which led to the fall
of the
Hosni Mubarak administration there.
The message said: “I am
overwhelmed, don’t know what to say Mr PM. What
happened in Egypt is sending
shockwaves to all dictators around the world.
No weapon but unity of
purpose. Worth emulating, hey.”
Mavhudzi was then arrested over this
message and charged with encouraging
Tsvangirai to take over the government
by ‘unconstitutional’ means or
‘usurping’ the functions of the
government.
But on Tuesday Bulawayo magistrate Rose Dube granted an
application by
Mavhudzi’s lawyer, Lizwe Jamela of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights
(ZLHR), to have his client removed from remand. Jamela
successfully argued
that there was no evidence warranting the matter to go
for trial since the
police conceded that they had failed to access the
message which formed the
basis of the charge.
The magistrate noted
that it was appropriate to have the accused removed
from remand and the
charges withdrawn if the evidence forming the basis of
the alleged criminal
offence could not be furnished.
SW Radio Africa’s correspondent Lance
Guma, who is a regular on social
networking sites like Facebook and Twitter,
said such a case was just an
attempt by the regime to “scare people.” He
explained that ZANU PF has been
left trembling by the fall of oppressive
governments in North Africa after
public protests that were organised and
highly publicised used the social
networking sites.
“This arrest
coincided with the Arab Spring that we saw in North Africa,
which threw the
regime into panic. So Mavhudzi’s arrest was meant to send a
message to
people that the use of these sites would not be tolerated,” Lance
explained.
He also said that, for a time, this tactic had the desired
effect.
“This arrest coincided with our (SW Radio Africa’s) exposure of
the
controversial CIO list, and you could see that people were not
commenting on
Facebook as much as they would have before the arrest,” Lance
said.
But he added that this has now changed with the crumbling of the
state’s
case against Mavhudzi.
“Events in North Africa have proved
that no matter how oppressive the
regime, people power always wins at the
end of the day,” Lance said.
He added: “People tend to look at these
governments as being invincible. But
Facebook and Twitter are becoming
powerful platforms for real change in the
hands of the people.”
ZANU
PF commander jailed 20 years for rape
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
20
September, 2011
A regional magistrate in Masvingo has ruled that a ZANU
PF base commander,
who assaulted and raped a married MDC supporter just
before the presidential
election runoff in 2008, is to be jailed for 20
years.
The court was told that Gilbert Mavhenyengwa, a 55 year old war
vet from
Ruware Settlement area Chiredzi, was accused of leading ZANU PF
youths who
broke into the victim’s home as she slept with her
husband.
They forced her out of bed and ordered her to march with other
youths
towards their base, which was six kilometers away. As she got tired
along
the way, Mavhenyengwa hit the victim with a stick then dragged her
behind
some bushes and raped her.
At the base she was severely
assaulted and raped again by several youths,
after which she was tortured by
lying in the cold water of a nearby river
until the sun came up. For these
torturous acts, the magistrate described
Mavhenyengwa as “a disrespectful
thug and an opportunist”.
The ruling by regional magistrate Esther
Muremba has been hailed by some
observers as a small step in the right
direction, because ZANU PF thugs and
war vets have operated with impunity in
Zimbabwe, literally “getting away
with murder”.
But they also say
this one case does not change the culture of impunity that
exists in the
country, as many other ZANU PF supporters continue to commit
horrendous acts
without being investigated or arrested. And there have been
many cases of
brutal rape, where the perpetrators have walked free, even
though they were
known.
OPINION:
Zim gets ready for “indigenisation”
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tony Hawkins Tuesday 20 September
2011
In a country that needs foreign capital not to grow but to
survive, Zimbabwe’s
indigenisation law defies understanding.
Although
the recent sale by the State of a 54% stake in the Zimbabwe Iron
and Steel
Ziscosteel) Company (Ziscosteel) to a Mauritian-based Indian
company, Essar
Africa, shows that some foreign investors, especially from
Asia, are more
equal than others, mining companies, regardless of size, have
since been
singled out for special treatment.
They have been given until the end of
September not just to submit
“empowerment” proposals but to actually give up
majority ownership, though
the deadline will surely pass as negotiations
continue.
The regulations first published in February 2010 stipulate that
any
foreign-owned business with net assets of more than $500 000 must divest
51%
of its shares to indigenous Zimbabweans within a five-year
period.
An indigenous Zimbabwean is defined as a person who suffered
under
colonial-era racial discrimination and their children born after
independence in 1980, which in practice means mainly black
Zimbabweans.
Business leaders and diplomats, including the former British
Ambassador,
have said that while they agree with the “principle” of
indigenisation, they
have reservations over the practicalities, most notably
the time-frame and
the payment terms.
Some officials mooted the idea
of “leveraging” mineral deposits by borrowing
against them to pay for the
shares, while Indigenisation minister Saviour
Kasukuwere has hinted that the
government might pay nothing, simply valuing
the mineral deposits as its
share of the equity.
That the authorities rushed the regulations into
print without considering
the ramifications is evident not just from the
goalpost shifting still
taking place, but also from disagreement within the
fractious
administration.
Members of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), the former opposition
party that is part of the ruling coalition, say
they support the principle
of indigenisation, but are playing down the idea
of expropriation, although
they have produced no alternative formula.
Meanwhile Robert Mugabe, the
87-year-old President, and the firebrand
Kasukuwere (dismissed by many
critics as “a Julius Malema wannabe”, a
reference to the extremist South
African politician advocating
nationalisation) have ratcheted up the
pressure with threats of
nationalisation and, most recently, the
cancellation of operating licences.
While miners are at the top of the
indigenisation programme, all foreign and
minority-owned companies with
assets worth more than $500 000 are in the
frame, including the banks
Barclays, Standard Chartered and South Africa’s
Stanbic, and manufacturers
such as Cargill, BAT and Nestlé.
Ministers from President Mugabe’s Zanu
PF party, which governed the country
from 1980 until the coalition was
formed in February 2009, insist their aim
is to empower the black
majority.
Their previous “empowerment” exercise, land resettlement,
resulted in the
halving of per capita incomes, the loss of half a million
formal sector jobs
and the emigration of two to three million Zimbabweans to
South Africa, the
UK, Australia and North America.
Given that
precedent, businesses might be expected to speak out. Not so.
Some
business people say they are “playing it long”, hoping they can force
delays
that will prevent implementation before the next elections in 2012 or
2013.
Others say the indigenisation plan is mere political theatre
and that as
officials realise the enormity of the problems involved, they
will back off.
The less sanguine fear the miners have played the wrong
card. Rather than
confronting a political party most have at last written
off, recent polls
put Zanu PF’s support at about 20%, and most of that in a
few remote rural
areas, miners have tried to compromise, offering 26% equity
participation
rather than 51%, though on what terms is unclear.
The
miners want their social investments, schools, clinics or houses,
treated as
“empowerment credits”. They argue that in so doing they have
seized the
moral high ground, but that is true only if economics is ignored.
Indeed,
all sides appear to have lost sight of the mess Zimbabwe is in.
Mining
accounts for two-thirds of exports.
External debt has not been serviced
for a decade and the country is
insolvent, with foreign debts equal to 108%
of GDP of which 80% is in
arrears.
It is ineligible for loans from
the multilateral institutions and in the
World Bank’s “shadow” sovereign
ratings published last month,
Zimbabwe was ranked bottom of the pile with
a rating of CC- to CCC. Domestic
savings were largely wiped out by
hyperinflation in 2007-08 when inflation
reached billions of percent a
year.
In sum, the country has nowhere to go to finance recovery and
development
other than offshore.
The insistence on majority local
ownership, however it is achieved (whether
through employee share ownership,
community share ownership or even listing
on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange)
will reduce the availability of capital
while raising its cost.
It
will mean less investment and slower growth.
The mining industry says it
has plans to invest $5bn to $6 bn expansion over
the next five years while
Zimplats, owned by South Africa’s Implats, talks
of investing between $5bn
and $10bn over an unspecified period.
That indigenisation will slow
growth and perpetuate poverty in Zimbabwe
without empowering the majority is
obvious, which makes it all the more
puzzling that mining executives and
Tsvangirai’s MDC, supposedly a party
preparing for government, are prepared
to go along with it. -- This article
was first published by the Financial
Times.
Tony Hawkins is professor of economics at the University of
Zimbabwe has
said.
Analysis: Impunity rules during Zimbabwe's
“transition”
HARARE, 20 September 2011 (IRIN) - Earlier this month
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was telling MPs in parliament - to loud
cheers from both side of the house - that there would be “zero tolerance” of
political violence, while on the steps of the building, supporters of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
were being severely beaten by Mugabe supporters, as police stood by.
About 11 MDC supporters needed hospitalization, including MDC councillor
Victor Zifodya who sustained head injuries. “The police know that ZANU-PF
supporters are behind this but they appear to be afraid to arrest them,” MDC
youth spokesperson Maxwell Katsande told IRIN.
Tadiwa Choto, a victim of
political violence during the 2008 elections, told IRIN if ZANU-PF can engage in
violence while Mugabe addresses parliament, it illustrates “either they don’t
listen to him [Mugabe] any more or that he is aware of these acts of violence
while saying the right things in order to please SADC [Southern African
Development Community].”
The disconnect between political realities on
the ground and public statements was also evident during the SADC security
troika meeting in Zambia some six months ago which called for “the immediate end
of violence, intimidation, hate speech, harassment and any other form of action
that contradicts the letter and spirit” of the unity government - but the
violence continues.
Brian Raftopoulos, a senior researcher at the Centre
for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape, told IRIN
political violence was the domain of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and sporadic acts of
violence by the MDC paled into insignificance by comparison.
Violence has been a
central electoral tool [of ZANU-PF] since 2000 [when the MDC emerged as a viable
opposition to ZANU-PF rule]
|
“Violence has been a central electoral tool [of ZANU-PF]
since 2000 [when the MDC emerged as a viable opposition to ZANU-PF rule], as it
has been for most of the post-independence period. Since 2000 it has
intensified,” he said.
But he said SADC was “keeping a closer-eye” on
political violence and it was unlikely there would be a repeat of it in any
forthcoming election, potentially as early as next year.
Violence peaked
during the disputed 2008 election in which ZANU-PF lost its majority in
parliament for the first time since independence, and Tsvangirai narrowly missed
securing the presidential vote in the first round, amid widespread claims of
vote-rigging. Tsvangirai subsequently withdrew from the second round in protest
against political violence.
The MDC says about 200 people were killed,
thousands injured and tens of thousands displaced during the 2008 electoral
violence.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) said in a recent statement it
was “appalled by the ongoing use of violence and brutal attacks on members of
the public” and the failure of police “to respond in timely fashion and arrest
all those responsible.”
The ZPP said in July 2011 it recorded 910
incidents of violence and human rights abuses.
Raftopoulos said ZANU-PF
does have levels of support, but when “confronted with losing power”, as in
2008, political violence becomes “a central part of ZANU-PF’s capacity to rule”.
ZANU-PF had also become “fractious”, he said - illustrated by its desire
to hold early elections, as the party had no “national figure” to replace Mugabe
amid mounting reports of the 87-year-old’s deteriorating health.
Election announcement sparks violence
Mugabe’s recent announcement that elections should be held by
March 2012 at the latest - although analysts say the holding of a poll could no
longer be set unilaterally by Mugabe and required consensus both from the MDC
and SADC - led to violence across Harare, while some members of the army went on
the rampage assaulting civilians at random.
The National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA), an NGO campaigning for a democratic constitution, said in a
recent statement: “We note that the escalation of violence is as a result of
President Mugabe‘s pronouncements that elections will be held next year in March
and it seems the political parties are now in campaign mood.
Is it possible for
someone to just leave their homes to go and beat up people at parliament without
being provoked?
|
"The violence signals instability in our country and
must be quelled before it fuels to the levels we saw before the 2008 elections…
We are, however, worried about the partisanship of our police force who are only
shifting the blame to the MDC while leaving those from ZANU-PF,” NCA said.
Violence is also not limited to the streets: MDC MPs and a priest were
also assaulted inside parliament in June: Their attackers demanded that a
parliamentary debate on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill be deferred.
Didymus Mutasa, the presidential affairs minister, said his party stood
by those who attacked MDC parliamentarians inside the house, telling the media:
“Is it possible for someone to just leave their homes to go and beat up people
at parliament without being provoked?”
Weak SADC
SADC’s ability, beyond occasional rhetoric, to curb or end
political violence in Zimbabwe was limited both by its capacity constraints, and
the few enforcement mechanisms it had available, Judy Smith-Höhn, a senior
researcher at the African Conflict Prevention Programme at the Pretoria-based
think-tank the Institute for Security Studies, told IRIN.
Zimbabwe could
be expelled from SADC, but this was unlikely as it was a founding member of the
regional body; and SADC sanctions were unlikely since the organization had been
campaigning for their removal since 2002, Smith-Höhn said.
The nearly
decade-old targeted sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union (EU)
banning travel and freezing the bank accounts of individuals and companies
linked to Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party, has become politically expedient for
ZANU-PF: Mugabe routinely blames economic woes and food insecurity on the
sanctions, and SADC has also pitched in on Mugabe’s side.
Raftopoulos
said there needed to be a “calibrated approach” to sanctions by the US and EU,
who should look to reward progress with the suspension of some sanctions.
[This report
does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
Wikileaks:
ZANU-PF’s disdain for parliament
http://www.insiderzim.com/
Tuesday, 20 September 2011 09:20
The
Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front did not have a lot of
respect for Parliament despite its majority in the House and instead it
preferred to use statutory instruments to pass legislation as these could be
effective immediately without having to go through the rigorous process that
bills had to do through.
According to a cable released by Wikileaks
ZANU-PF was showing disdain for
Parliament and was apparently not satisfied
with its substantial majority
which assured it full control of the
government’s legislature.
“The legislature's shrinking calendar and
growing GOZ (government)
preference for statutory instruments instead of
formal legislation may be
driven in part by budgetary constraints and time
sensitivities. Perhaps more
significantly, however, it reflects executive
mistrust of an institution
that has constitutional authority to exert an
independent, albeit limited,
check on executive power,’ the cable
says.
The cable said many bills were languishing in Parliament unpassed,
resurfacing session after session.
Wikileaks:
Zanu PF chief whip offered 'union' with MDC
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
19/09/2011 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
ZANU PF chief whip Joram Gumbo offered to aid the MDC
in parliament and
raised the possibility of a “union” with the party to
defeat President
Robert Mugabe, leaked United States embassy cables
reveal.
Gumbo, whose role is to ensure that Zanu PF MPs attend parliament
and vote
as the party leadership desires, is said to have made the approach
to the
MDC in 2005 claiming “irreconcilable differences” with President
Robert
Mugabe’s party.
The shocking revelations were made by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai to the
then United States ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Christopher Dell.
Writing to Washington on September 9, 2005, Ambassador
Dell said Tsvangirai,
now Prime Minister in a unity government, had told him
that Zanu PF was
“treading on fragile ground and that some ruling party
members were
beginning to question whether the end was near.”
Dell
added: “He [Tsvangirai] pointed to the international community's
condemnation of Operation Restore Order [Murambatsvina] and divisions
amongst Mugabe's traditional African backers as evidence that the regime was
increasingly isolated.
“Tsvangirai said it was, however, naive to
think that President Mugabe would
become a democrat and step down. Instead,
he said Mugabe is prepared to die
in office.
“Meanwhile, some Zanu PF
members, including parliamentary whip Joram Gumbo,
had been reaching out to
the MDC citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ within
the regime. Tsvangirai
said that these talks might produce a union that
could work together in
parliament or contest the next election.”
The revelations will cause
further ructions in Zanu PF which has already
been rocked by disclosures
that senior party leaders, including Vice
Presidents Joice Mujuru and John
Nkomo, Youth Minister Savior Kasukuwere,
Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa, former Information Minister Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu, politburo member
Jonathan Moyo and several MPs wanted Mugabe to
stand down.
Others
privately told US diplomats they were prepared to form break-away
parties or
join the MDC after failing to nudge Mugabe towards the exits.
Why should Anjin pay peanuts for Meikles Park?
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri,
20/09/11
Following reports that Anjin paid only US$1000 per family as
compensation to
20 of the close to 300 families it evicted from Chiadzwa to
Odzi, tongues
are wagging at plans to give it Meikles Park for a
song.
Households were demanding US$50 000 before they were moved to ARDA
Transau
in the Odzi area, a figure that a local human rights organisation,
the
Centre for Research and Development (CRD) felt was
justified.
However, Anjin management reportedly refused to pay, instead
armed soldiers
and police forced villagers to pave way for mining diamonds
(The Zimbabwean,
11/05/11).
Other reports say compensation for the
displaced families is just a
three-roomed brick and mortar house.
Furthermore, the villagers complained
of being denied opportunities to work
at the mines or the proposed diamond
cutting plant at Mount Hampden near
Harare (The Independent, 23/06/11).
Considering the fact that the
displaced villagers made way for others to
work at the mines while they were
forced into destitution, it is only
logical to demand that Anjin compensates
them in line with the UN habitat
minimum standards for
relocation.
There are serious concerns at the planned sale of Mutare’s
Meikles Park
which has mysteriously been offered to Anjin for US$160 000 by
the local
government ministry as opposed to US$1.7million proposed by the
city
council.
It is not clear if Mutare City Council is that
desperate for cash and
consulted residents before deciding to part with such
a vital asset which
others have described as prime land, almost the city
centre of Mutare which
might not be accessible to locals to meet and relax
(NewsDay, 19/09/11).
The wide disparity in the prices offered and the
surrounding circumstances
make it imperative to urgently refer the Meikles
Park saga to the Anti
Corruption Commission for a thorough
investigation.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Letter
from Zimbabwe - some acts of kindness are still happening
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/
By: Oskar Wermter
SJ
Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 5:57 pm
The other day I had
to step on the brakes of my car quite hard to avoid
hitting three police
officers, one in olive green, the other two, one of
them a woman, in blue,
rushing in front of me across the road, wielding long
and dangerous-looking
baton sticks in order to restore “law and order”. It
struck me as symbolic
for this country: it is ruled with threats and
intimidation, by inflicting
pain on people and humiliating them. What
happened to the old policeman who
exuded benevolence and was a picture of
kindness and humanity?
We
denounce the colonial period for its inhumanity. How do we bring back
human
feelings and respect for fellow citizens today?
Good manners and courtesy
are the lubrication necessary to keep a community
functioning, to keep the
wheels of society turning, avoiding friction and
grating noises. Taking time
over going through the traditional greetings
(“Makasimba here?” –
“Ndakasimba kana makasimbawo” – Ndakasimba” . – “Are
you well?” – “I am well
if your are well” – “I am well”). All this has gone
in the urban jungle of
Mbare. We are all rushing somewhere. We cannot stop.
Take the
kombi-drivers and their touts. They threaten you with brute power.
You had
better stop if you want to avoid expensive repairs at the panel
beater’s.
My advice to young street vendors: if you ever want to sell
me anything don’t
shout at me, don’t call me “boss” or “murungu”. That is
not just bad
manners. It is extremely bad salesmanship as well.
But
some acts of kindness are still happening. Whenever people see me carry
something they want to take it out of my hands and carry it for me (and I am
not talking about ‘matsotsi’ who would run away with my shopping….).
Whenever I need some youngsters to help carry something heavy like
containers with clean borehole water or food supplies for the poor up to our
flat I can find them. Many thanks, my friends!
Sometimes he occupies
half the street with his improvised carpentry shop
where he makes wooden
huts, dog kennels etc. He tries very hard to make a
living through
self-employment. Yesterday I stopped and asked, “How’s
business?” He was
downcast. “They don’t buy anything!” And he wonders if I
might like to buy a
dog kennel. “Sorry, we only have a cat, no dog”. An old
experience made many
times before: making things is comparatively easy.
Selling them, that is the
hard part.
There is a group of people in the parish who want to form a
carpentry
cooperative. They want to make cribs for babies and coffins. Maybe
that is
safer. There are always some people being born while others
die.
Oskar Wermter SJ
Fr Oscar is a parish priest in Harare. This
was first published in In
Touch - the Zimbabwean Jesuit newsletter.
Constitution Watch Content Series 7/2011 - 19th September 2011 - Local Government and the Constitution
CONSTITUTION WATCH 2011
CONTENT SERIES 7/2011
[19th September 2011]
Local Government and the Constitution
In previous
Constitution Watches, how far the new constitution should devolve or transfer
power from the central government to provincial governments was considered. In this Constitution Watch the same question
in regard to local authorities will be considered – asking how much independence
they should have and what powers they should be given.
Note: the
terms “local authorities” and “local government” are used to mean cities,
municipalities and towns established for urban areas, and rural district
councils established for the rural areas of Zimbabwe.
The Present Position
The present
Constitution does not deal with local government. In this country, as in the United Kingdom,
power is given to local authorities by Acts of Parliament, namely the Urban Councils Act and the Rural
District Councils Act. Both these Acts
vest considerable powers in the central government. For example:
· The President on the advice of Cabinet can
establish local authorities without the consent of the people who live in the
area [though they must be consulted], and he can
abolish local authorities and
alter their areas without the consent of the authorities
themselves.
· The Minister responsible for local
government has virtually unfettered powers to suspend elected councillors for
suspected misconduct and, after investigation, to dismiss them. No formal enquiry or judicial involvement is
required; the nature of the enquiry and
who conducts it is not specified. A
disaffected councillor’s only recourse is to take the Minister’s decision to the
High Court for review, which means that he cannot challenge the merits of the
decision, only the way in which it was reached.
· By-laws made by
local authorities must be approved by the Minister before they are enacted. The Minister therefore can veto all
by-laws.
· Rents and service
charges must be approved by the Minister before local authorities can levy them
in high-density areas.
· The Minister
may prohibit rural district
councils from passing resolutions on any particular subject without his
approval; he therefore has a veto over
those resolutions.
· The Minister appoints the Local
Government Board which regulates conditions of service for senior employees of
local authorities.
· Urban councils
cannot appoint or dismiss senior employees, including town clerks, without the
approval of the Local Government Board
· The Minister may
give urban and rural councils
directives as to the policies they must follow, if he considers such directives
necessary in the national interest.
Councils must obey the directives.
· The Minister can direct a
council to reverse, suspend or rescind any resolution, decision or action if he thinks it is not in the
interests of the inhabitants of the council area or is not in the national or
public interest.
These
powers are profoundly undemocratic, and there can be little doubt that in recent
years they have been used for partisan political purposes. For example, shortly after the MDC took power
in Harare in 1999, the Minister suspended the entire council and replaced it
with his own nominees — who remained in office after their six-month term
expired and were re-appointed unlawfully for several years.
Should
Local Authorities be Given More Autonomy?
The arguments
for giving local authorities more autonomy [i.e. independence] are largely based
on the premise – which is difficult to argue with – that councillors who live
and work in an area are more attuned to local sentiment than politicians based
in a distant capital, and are better able to find out what services local people
need and how those services can best be provided. Many issues are local only and should not concern the central
government. On the other
hand, there are dangers to be considered in giving local authorities greater
autonomy:
· Different
local authorities may adopt different policies or may implement the same
policies in different ways. This is not
always a bad thing, but it can result in different levels of service provision
and benefits in different areas. It may
also make it difficult to implement national policies dealing with country-wide
issues such as water conservation.
· Too much local
autonomy may entrench local prejudices and lead local authorities to develop
isolationist attitudes, inhibiting co-operation with central government and
other local authorities.
· The more
levels of government that are imposed on the country, the greater the burden,
particularly the financial burden, becomes for ordinary people. This extra cost must be weighed against the
benefits that accrue from local government.
Clearly a
balance must be struck between allowing local authorities freedom to deal with
local issues, while ensuring they do not hinder the central government from
performing its task of setting and implementing national policies. It is clear, however, that our local
authorities should be given more powers of self-government than they have
today.
Should
the Powers of Local Authorities be Laid Down in the Constitution?
The reason why local authorities in
Zimbabwe have so little autonomy is largely because their powers derive from
Acts of Parliament rather than the Constitution, and they can reduced at any
time. If local authorities are to be
protected against undue control and interference, then their autonomy must be
upheld in the new constitution rather than by Act of Parliament. The Kenyan and South African constitutions
both recognise a degree of autonomy for local government as a necessary part of
democracy. Section 174 of the Kenyan
constitution states that the objects of devolving government are, amongst other
things:
· to promote democratic and accountable
exercise of power;
· to foster national unity by recognising
diversity;
· to recognise the right of communities to
manage their own affairs and to further their development;
· to ensure equitable sharing of national and
local resources throughout Kenya.
All these
desirable objectives are applicable to Zimbabwe. Section 152 of the South African Constitution
is to the same effect.
Issues
to be Considered
There are several contentious issues that
need to be dealt with in the new constitution when devolving power to local
authorities:
(1) Taxation and revenue
At present local authorities raise revenue
through rates, rents, licence fees, charges for services, parking charges, and
so on; but this is not enough to fund
the services they are expected to provide.
Further revenue must be found, and it can only come through taxation or
from grants by central government. If
local authorities are allowed to impose taxes in their areas, the question
arises whether their taxes should be imposed in place of or in addition to
national taxes. Whichever answer is
given to that question, there may be difficulties:
· If local authority taxes are substitutes
for national taxes, then the new constitution will have to devise a system for
determining which taxes can be imposed by the central government and which by
local authorities. If there is no such
system, the central government is likely to tax all the most lucrative sources
of revenue, leaving local authorities with little or
nothing.
· If local authority taxes are imposed in
addition to national taxes, then many people will find themselves doubly taxed
and in some cases over-taxed.
Furthermore there may be difficulties in collecting local taxes, and the
process of tax remittance could become an administrative nightmare for
taxpayers.
Another question is whether there should be
uniformity in taxation as between local authorities. The answer here is probably not, because
local authorities should be able to compete for investment through tax
concessions.
It will not be feasible for the new
constitution to lay down precise rules for local authority taxation. All it will be able to do is to give local
authorities taxing powers [extensive or limited, as the constitution-makers may
decide] and leave the details to be sorted out by the national legislature, i.e.
by Parliament. This is how the
constitutions of the Philippines and South Africa, for example, deal with the
matter, though they differ in that the Philippines constitution gives local
authorities broad taxing powers while the South African constitution prohibits
them from raising income taxes, VAT, sales taxes or customs
duties.
If local authorities are to receive
additional funding through grants from the central government,
the new constitution will need to specify this and lay down some
way of ensuring that local authorities receive adequate funding. If the constitution leaves the amount of the
grants to the discretion of the central government then local authorities will
almost certainly be starved of revenue, as they are at present. The South African constitution seeks to
resolve this problem by stating that national revenues must be equitably divided
between the central, provincial and local spheres of government, their
respective shares being determined after consultation between representatives of
the three spheres and a constitutional Finance and Fiscal Commission. In Zimbabwe the Law Society’s draft model
constitution adopts the same idea.
(2) Relationship with central government and provincial
governments
Although it is desirable for local
authorities to be given broad autonomy within their sphere of operation, their
autonomy cannot be absolute because, as already suggested, the central
government must be able to set and implement national policies to deal with
national issues. Furthermore, the
central government should have power to compel local authorities to meet minimal
standards of good governance, particularly in financial matters, for example by
ensuring that they operate transparently and adhere to proper accounting
standards.
What if a local authority fails to carry
out its statutory duties? Should one of
the other spheres of government be able to take action, or should it be left to
local residents to do so? In South
Africa, if a municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in
terms of the constitution or legislation, a provincial executive may intervene
by taking any appropriate steps to ensure fulfilment of the obligation. The steps that may be taken include: directing the municipal council to fulfil its
obligation; assuming responsibility for
the obligation, so far as is necessary to maintain essential standards or to
prevent prejudice to other local authorities or to the whole province; or in exceptional circumstances dissolving
the municipal council and appointing an administrator pending fresh
elections. The central government can
take similar steps if a municipal council persistently fails to provide basic
services, or fails to keep proper control of its finances or is unable to meet
its financial obligations. The grounds
on which such interference can take place are fairly limited. Neither the central government nor a
provincial government can interfere with a municipality merely because it
disagrees with the municipal council’s policies or
politics.
Should the central government be able to
interfere with an urban council indirectly, by imposing another layer of
government on it? This happened in
Zimbabwe, when new provinces, each headed by a provincial governor, were created
in Harare and Bulawayo, apparently with the intention of diminishing the power
of the “opposition-led” city councils.
The President was able to do this in terms of s 3 of the Provincial
Councils and Administration Act without consulting anyone. Such manipulation of the local government
system should not be allowed under the new constitution.
(3) What powers should local authorities
have?
The matters which fall under a local
authority’s control, and the extent of its legislative powers [i.e. its power to
make by-laws] will need careful consideration by the constitution-makers. The South African Constitution gives
municipal councils power over the following things, amongst others: air pollution, building standards,
electricity reticulation, roads, public transport, municipal planning,
fire-fighting, health services, trading, markets, water and sanitation — in
other words, amenities and facilities that affect the lives of people living in
municipal areas. Similar powers should
be given to local authorities under the new Zimbabwean
constitution.
(4)
What system of government should local authorities have?
It would be
unrealistic to expect the new constitution to lay down in detail the
governmental structure of local authorities, i.e. how many councillors there
should be, how they are elected or appointed, and so on. These matters must be dealt with in an Act of
Parliament. It is worth noting, however,
that neither the Urban Councils Act, which governs municipalities and towns in
Zimbabwe, nor the Rural District Councils Act, which governs rural district
councils, give residents of an area the right to decide for themselves what the
structure of their local authority should be.
These matters are all laid down in the Acts themselves; in other words, they are decreed by the
national Parliament and only Parliament can change them.
This top-down approach can lead to abuse,
as illustrated by the system of salaried executive mayors which was introduced
in the 1990s, although there was little or no public demand for the system. Executive mayors received mansions and
expensive motor cars, benefits which the various cities and towns could scarcely
afford. In 2008 Parliament abolished the
system and there was a return to non-executive, non-salaried ceremonial
mayors. If there had been greater
consultation with residents of the municipalities concerned, this unnecessary
and expensive experiment might have been avoided.
In the new constitution, once powers have
been devolved via the constitution, provision can and perhaps ought to be made
for residents of an area in which a local authority is to be established, to
decide on the form and structure of that local authority – in other
words, to draw up a constitution for their local authority. [For
example cities in the US have their own Charters.] This would ensure local authorities are
“people driven” and promote democracy and accountability.
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information supplied