http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:29
BY
PATIENCE NYANGOVE
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe (pictured right) and his
bloated delegation of
around 100 people failed to fly back home from New
York on Friday after
their chartered Air Zimbabwe plane’s tyres were
punctured while landing.
Mugabe left the country on September 17 to
attend the 66th session of the
United Nations General Assembly. Air Zimbabwe
board Chairman Jonathan
Kadzura, yesterday confirmed that the plane was
grounded but refused to
comment on the delegation’s new travel
plans.
“It’s nothing serious, it’s not as magnified as you want it to
sound,”
Kadzura said. “The plane’s tyres got punctured on landing and we are
working
on replacing them.
“Although I can’t tell you when the
president is coming, what I know is he
will be here soon.” Air Zimbabwe
resumed local and international flights
last week after a strike by pilots
that grounded its planes for almost two
months.
The pilots were
demanding unpaid salaries and allowances. Government gave
the cash strapped
airline US$2,8 million as it sought to end the job boycott
that has crippled
the country’s tourism industry.
Last year Mugabe attended the 65th
session of the UN General Assembly with a
delegation of about 80 people that
included cabinet ministers, security
aides and support staff.
His
trips gobble thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money as his delegation
will
be paid handsome allowances. Early this year Mugabe’s trips came under
the
spotlight when it was revealed that the veteran ruler demanded at least
US$3
million from Treasury each time he travelled overseas.
The
revelations came out in April when Mugabe made his sixth trip to
Singapore
where the First Lady Grace Mugabe was seeking medical treatment
for a
dislocated hip.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:25
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
A Zanu PF faction loyal to President Robert Mugabe wants
Vice-President
Joice Mujuru ousted from her post and replaced by the party
women’s league
boss Oppah Muchinguri in the event that she is found guilty
of selling party
and state secrets to the Americans, authoritative Zanu PF
officials said
last week.
The sources said the
“loyalists” were urging Mugabe to take stern action
against the “spies” and
the leaks presented them with an opportunity to
achieve their long-held
factional desire to dislodge Mujuru.
Mujuru is reported by
whistleblower website WikiLeaks as having met former
American Ambassador
James McGee behind Mugabe’s back and discussed
leadership renewal within the
former ruling party.
She is also accused of being too close to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
MDC, a party working to oust Mugabe. The
sources said loyalists, who
comprise of Zanu PF hardliners, want Mugabe to
initiate the disciplinary
process before the party’s conference to be held
in December in Bulawayo.
The loyalists were infuriated by Mugabe’s
failure to raise the issue of
Wikileaks at the party’s politburo meeting
held a fortnight ago.
“What they want is to have all those accused
hauled before a disciplinary
committee,” said a source. “This will enable
them to find a way of doing
away with Mujuru, if she is found guilty by the
committee.”
But Mugabe is reluctant to take action as this would
destabilise his party,
already riddled with factions.
Sources
said the idea was first discussed unofficially by some of the
senior Zanu
PF officials on the sidelines of the party’s provincial meeting
held in
Mutare early this month.
Speaking at the provincial meeting, Zanu PF
secretary for administration
Didymus Mutasa said all those caught on the
wrong side of the law should be
punished regardless of the positions they
held in the party.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Zanu PF
national commissar
Webster Shamu, youth chairperson Absolom Sikhosana and
Muchinguri.
Mutasa yesterday professed ignorance of efforts to oust Mujuru
saying the
issue was never discussed at any meeting.
“We don’t do
things like that,” said Mutasa. “There is no one who wants to
remove Mai
Mujuru. Don’t write such things. There is no one talking about
it.”
Mutasa however said the issue of whether or not disciplinary
action should
be taken against the alleged sellouts was still being
discussed in the
party.
There are at least four distinct factions in Zanu
PF. These are said to be
led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mujuru, Zimbabwe Defence
Forces (ZDF) chief,
Constantine Chiwenga and one loyal to
Mugabe.
Other senior Zanu PF official accused of selling out to the
Americans
include Vice-President John Nkomo, Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangangwa,
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, Tourism minister Walter
Mzembi and
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono.
Mujuru,
Muchinguri fight for vice-president’s post not new
The fight for the
vice-presidency between Mujuru and Muchinguri is not new
as it has been
going on for some time now. Comments made by McGee in 2009
shortly after
meeting Mujuru show that Muchinguri has not relented in her
fight for the
post.
McGee said that apart from Mnangagwa, Mujuru also faced a
challenge from
Muchinguri, a close ally of Mugabe since the war of
liberation. “Muchinguri
is now head of the powerful Zanu PF’s women’s league
and (possibly with
Mugabe’s backing) may attempt to dislodge Mujuru from her
position as
vice-president at the Zanu PF congress in December,” he
said.
In the June 17 2009 cable, Mujuru was said to be working behind
the scenes
with Tsvangirai. “Whether this is because of a newfound reformism
or as a
tactic against Emmerson Mnangagwa in the struggle to succeed Mugabe
is
unclear,” said the cable.
In 2009, the Mnangagwa faction
reportedly unsuccessfully sponsored
Muchinguri to wrestle the
vice-presidency from Mujuru at the party’s
congress.
Reports said the
Mnangagwa faction had put in place a plan that would have
seen Mujuru losing
her seat in the presidium.
Mujuru and Muchinguri were allies when the
former beat Mnangagwa for the
position of Zanu PF vice-president at the 2004
congress following the
infamous Tsholotsho meeting.
Last night,
Muchinguri said she would not comment on the matter.“There is a
more mature
way of handling issues. We have procedures in Zanu PF.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:23
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — The family of the late MDC founding Vice-President,
Gibson
Sibanda (pictured) has revealed that the MDC founder never wanted to
be
buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare as the family had already
built
a burial site for its members in Filabusi, Matabeleland South
province.
Mbuso Sibanda, the family spokesperson, told The Standard
ahead of a
memorial service for the late Sibanda to be held today at his
rural home
that the family would not have allowed the late ex-trade unionist
to be
buried at the shrine.
The two MDC formations made noise
last year after Sibanda was denied a hero
status by Zanu PF in light of his
contributions before and after
independence.
Sibanda died in
August last year due to a cancer ailment. After his death,
the MDC, with
support from MDC-T, wrote two separate letters to President
Robert Mugabe
requesting that the former trade union leader be accorded
national hero
status and be buried at the national shrine.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:22
BY
RUTENDO MAWERE
GWERU — High Court Judge Nicholas Mathonsi is expected to hand
out a
judgement in a case in which Midlands governor Jason Machaya’s son is
accused of murdering a Gokwe man.
The case involving Farai
Machaya, Abel Maposa, and brothers Edmore Gana and
Bothwell Gana, as well as
Obert Gavi and Tirivashoma Mawadze, all of Gokwe
Centre, has caused the
extension of the High Court circuit in Gweru that was
supposed to have
officially ended on Friday.
The six have pleaded not guilty to the
charge of killing Moses Chokuda in
March 2009. Chokuda’s family has refused
to bury his remains until they
obtain justice.
The trial opened
on September 16 and the defence lawyers are expected to
conclude their
submissions on Monday.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:17
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
SCORES of women are reported to have been raped in strange
circumstances in
the past few weeks, as the stories of bizarre attacks
continue to be on the
rise.
For almost a year now, the country
has been seized, in horror, with stories
of women raping men, but now it
seems the male counterparts are hitting
back, but strangely, the modus
operandi is the same.
In one case, a woman is reported to have
flagged a lift at Westgate in
Harare and the next thing she remembers is
that she woke up at Snake Park,
raped, drugged and naked.
“What
she remembers is that she got into a lift which had two women and one
men
and after they passed Westgate Shopping Centre, another man got in and
immediately grabbed her and put a cloth on her nostrils,” a health
professional, who cannot be named, said.
The victim only regained
consciousness at around 11pm, 12 hours after
getting into the lift. she
crawled to a nearby farm and sought assistance
and was later taken to
Parirenyatwa Hospital. Traumatised, she cannot eat
nor sleep, the woman is
now receiving treatment for sexually transmitted
infections.
This
comes amid revelations that the Parirenyatwa Counselling Unit has in
the
past few weeks been inundated with such cases, with several women
reportedly
being kidnapped and raped.
The youngest victim, so far is a
14-year-old girl who took a ride in a kombi
in Chitungwiza and was later
drugged, raped and dumped in an alley next to
the police Charge Office. The
lass was unconscious for two days.
But in the most bizarre case, one
girl was reportedly raped and when taken
to the counselling centre, she
reportedly started vomiting saliva that
looked like spittle from a
snake.
These stories mimic the story of women rapists, who reportedly
raped men,
while threatening them with snakes and guns. In some cases the
men were
drugged.
Efforts to get a confirmation from the police
were fruitless, as the
spokesman, Andrew Phiri said they were busy at a
function and were not
commenting on stories this
weekend.
Parirenyatwa boss, Thomas Zigora’s phone went
unanswered.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
18:12
BY PATIENCE NYANGOVE
THREE top Zanu PF officials have been
accused of setting up a community
trust to benefit from the indigenisation
of the country’s biggest platinum
miner, Zimplats, without involving the
local chief. The trust, to be
officially laun-ched by President Robert
Mugabe soon, is set to get 10%
shares in Zimplats worth US$120 million under
the indigenisation programme.
The development has set Local
Government, Public Works and Urban Development
minister Ignatious Chombo,
Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
minister Saviour
Kasukuwere and area MP Bright Matonga on a collision course
with paramount
Chief Nyika.
Zimplats Mine in the Mhondoro-Ngezi constituency is mining in an
area under
Chief Nyika’s jurisdiction.
Chief Nyika said he won’t
recognise the “community trust” because his people
had formed their own
Mhondoro-Ngezi Community Development Foundation
(MNCDF), which the three
politicians have allegedly sidelined.
Chombo, Kasukuwere and Matonga
on Thursday informed traditional leaders of
the formation of the trust at
Chief Murambwa’s homestead in Mhondoro-Ngezi.
Chief Nyika alleged
that he had not received an official invitation to the
meeting and was not
briefed about the purpose of the trust being spearheaded
by the
ministers.
He claimed that Zimplats had bought a named minister a car
as part of an
inducement plan, accusations that were dismissed by the
platinum miner.
“As the people of Mhondoro-Ngezi, we formed our own trust and
I am surprised
as to why these ministers do not want to recognise that
trust,” the chief
fumed.
“They expect us to recognise theirs
which they formed in Harare without
consulting us.
“They did not
even invite me to their launch; I went there because I had
heard about it
and simply because the Zimplats mine is situated in my land.”
The chief also
castigated Zimplats senior management for bypassing him when
they were
seeking authority to build Island Dam in his area.
“They went and took
(chiefs) Mushava, Murambwa and Benhura to consult with
spirit mediums in my
area and I am not happy about that.
“I will make sure President Mugabe hears
about that,” he said.
However, Chombo, Kasukuwere and Matonga denied
hijacking the community trust
initiative at the expense of
locals.
“Allegations will be made out of ignorance but it’s just cheap
propaganda,”
Kasukuwere said.
“This community trust is here to
empower the people of Mhondoro-Ngezi, not
me. The money will go towards
construction of roads, schools and hospitals.”
Matonga said their
trust was operating within government structures and
those who were
complaining wanted to “cause unnecessary controversy”.
Chombo said it was not
him who wanted to hijack the trust but some people he
did not name who were
“visiting chiefs at night” to lure them into starting
other community
trusts.
ZIMPLATS DID NOT DONATE A CAR
Zimplats, head of
Corporate Affairs, Busi Chindove refuted claims Saturday
that the mining
company had bought a car for a government minister.
On the dispute
over community trusts, Chindove said such initiatives were
the
responsibility of the district administrator of Mhondoro-Ngezi district
council and the chiefs.
“We have never bou-ght a car for any
minister. Nothing like that happened,
we observe high levels of corporate
governance. This is fictitious,” she
said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 18:10
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
LOCAL Government, Public Works and Urban Development minister
Ignatious
Chombo has urged Chitungwiza mayor Philemon Chipiyo to take
appropriate
action against his deputy and the town clerk whom he accuses of
insubordination.
Chipiyo last week survived a vote of no confidence from
fellow MDC-T
councillors after Chombo’s ministry leapt to his
defence.
The mayor accuses his deputy Rangarirai Mutingwende and town clerk
Godfrey
Tanyanyiwa of sabotaging him.
A fortnight ago Mutingwende
almost manhandled Chipiyo at council offices
while allegedly hurling insults
at him.
Chipiyo accuses Tanyanyiwa of sidelining him on council business as
he
allegedly works with Mutingwende.
Chombo’s ministry wrote to
Tanyanyiwa last week advising him that council
had no authority to pass a
vote of no confidence against Chipiyo.
The minister also said the town clerk
erred in authorising the purchase of a
brand new Ford Ranger vehicle for the
deputy mayor, saying Mutingwende was
not entitled to a
vehicle.
“The town clerk is only involved in the administration of
the town while the
mayor is involved in policy matters and therefore the
town clerk should
inform and work closely with the mayor,” Chombo
said.
“The town clerk cannot override the mayor and we support the
mayor fully.
“The town clerk should also not have bought the deputy
mayor a vehicle and
it’s up to the mayor to take appropriate
action.”
Chombo said it was Tanyanyiwa’s duty to inform the mayor on all
council
activities.
On Wednesday Chipiyo boycotted a meeting at
Chitungwiza Hospital to prepare
for a fundraising gala saying Tanyanyiwa had
informed him 15 minutes before
it was due to start.
He said the
town clerk had known about the meeting a week before but chose
to not inform
him.
“They are trying to push me out through a vote of no confidence.
However,
this has since failed because I am saying no to this luxury while
we have
not delivered better services to the residents of Chitungwiza,”
Chipiyo
said.
“The town Clerk is now working together with the
deputy mayor to push me
out.
Efforts to get comments from Tanyanyiwa and
Mutingwende were fruitless as
their mobile phones were going to voicemail.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 17:04
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
SPIRITED attempts by Zanu PF to grab all income generating
projects from the
Harare City Council and parcel them out to its youths are
part of an
elaborate election campaign, sources in the party said last
week.
Zanu PF reportedly wants to integrate the youths into its patronage
system,
which will make them feel duty-bound to drive its often violent
campaign.
Apart from wresting political control of urban areas from the
MDC-T, under
the strategy the youths who will become dependent on Zanu PF,
will defend it
in the coming elections because their livelihoods would be
entirely centred
on such projects.
President Robert Mugabe has
said elections would be held by March next year.
In cities such as Masvingo
and Bulawayo, the youths are invading buildings
owned by white
businesspeople claiming they were doing so under the
controversial
Indigenisation and Empowerment Act.
In the past few weeks Zanu PF,
through the shadowy Chipangano gang, has been
trying to grab council
facilities such as Mukambo Market in Highfield and
commuter ranks in
Harare.
They are already in control of several other ranks in Harare,
the Green
Market, Mupedzanhamo and Siyaso informal trade markets in Mbare
suburb,
where Chipangano operates from.
“The idea is that once
the youths benefit through this patronage system they
will not break away,”
said one Zanu PF official.
“If they do so, they risk losing all they got.
Zanu PF is taking advantage
of the high levels of poverty and unemployment
among the youths.”
Currently unemployment rate tops 80% while poverty
levels hover around the
same level, with most people surviving on less than
a dollar a day.
Analysts say the patronage system has worked quite well
against many
disgruntled senior Zanu PF officials who can no longer leave
the party
because they acquired their wealth through patronage or corrupt
means.
Attempts to leave would mean risking prosecution or losing all
they
acquired.
Just a fortnight ago, suspected Zanu PF youths
were demanding “toll fees”
from commuter omnibuses plying the Kuwadzana
route claiming they had been
sent by the Minister of State for Presidential
Affairs Didymus Mutasa.
Mutasa, who is also Zanu PF’s secretary for
administration, has however
disassociated himself from the youths.
They
rowdy youths were putting on Zanu PF bandanas.
The incident came a
few days after a commuter driver was seriously injured
after he refused to
pay the same fee to another gang believed to be linked
to Zanu
PF.
Most of the youths interviewed said they surrender part of their
daily
collections to Zanu PF provincial headquarters along Fourth Street
where all
their operations were directed from.
This prejudices
the city council of the much needed revenue.
“These incidents are not
isolated, they are well-organised and approved at
the party level as a way
of taking over Harare from the MDC and create youth
dependent on the party
for their survival,” said one Zanu PF official.
“This is why you see
that in most of the cases the thugs are never
arrested.”
BULAWAYO,
MASVINGO BUILDINGS SEIZED
In Bulawayo and Masvingo, Zanu PF youths
have been invading buildings in the
city owned mostly by the Asian and
European business community claiming they
were not adequately
utilised.
The youths, led by the Zanu PF provincial leadership, claim
that they have
identified about 70 unoccupied buildings in the city, which
they said would
be opened up to residents who need them.
It
appears that while senior Zanu PF officials publicly rebuke the youths,
they
secretly urge them to continue with their violent property grab.
MDC-T
spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said the property grab was a
co-ordinated Zanu
PF strategy, sanctioned at the senior party level, to make
it impossible for
free and fair campaign as the country heads for elections.
The
invasions lacked legal or moral justification, he said.
“They (Zanu
PF) sanction this violence because if they wanted they would
have stopped
this a long time ago.”
But Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo on Friday
dismissed accusations that
those grabbing council facilities were from his
party.
“I don’t know anything about that. Who told you they are our youths?”
said
Gumbo.
Mutasa recently said Zanu PF will defend its violent
youths who had
disrupted a Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission bill hearing at
Parliament,
assaulted MPs and journalists.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
17:03
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
THE government will this week launch the
second phase of the National Action
Plan (NAP2) on child protection,
following up on one that had been running
between 2004 and 2010.
Worth
US$300 million, the new programme will run for the next four years,
centred
mainly on the continuation of the cash transfer programme, which
entails
providing an average US$20 a month to poor and vulnerable families
to
procure basic commodities.
The NAP2 is set to provide a framework for
coordinated action to ensure that
orphans, vulnerable children and their
families, have incomes and access to
basic services, and that all children
are protected from abuse and
exploitation.
Some of the key
components of the action plan are that it it will target
vulnerable children
and their families; improve effectiveness of
child-protection programmes and
provide a comprehensive package of high
quality interventions designed to
address the wide range of deprivations
facing orphans, vulnerable children
and their families.
The ambitious programme, NAP2 seeks to benefit
about one million children,
who have lost either one or both parents.
The
plan will also target the children’s families, in what is considered a
more
holistic approach compared to the previous NAP, which only targetted
the
children.
It will also develop minimum standards for service
provision and
strengthening monitoring and follow-up and rebuilding the
capacity of the
government to deliver the social services needed by children
and their
families.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 16:59
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
SOUTH African president, Jacob Zuma will soon take up an
active role in
ending the Zimbabwean impasse, as the region is increasingly
frustrated at
the slow pace of negotiations in the country.
A high-level
source revealed that South Africa, which leads the facilitation
process in
the Zimbabwe crisis, expressed frustration that the parties to
the GPA were
not talking enough to end the impasse in the country.
The informant
revealed that the Zimbabwean parties were only too keen to
discuss their
problems at regional summits, but were not talking enough
among themselves
and this prolonged the stalemate north of the Limpopo.
“When the
facilitation team is here, there is so much animosity and you
would think
people would storm out of meetings because they are not talking
enough among
themselves,” the source said.
Momentum to end the Zimbabwe crisis was
generated in Livingstone, Zambia,
the source added, but this was not
followed up with action in Zimbabwe.
More steam was generated in Sandton,
South Africa, but the informant said
while seemingly obscure, the Angola
summit could be the most definitive in
ending the problems in
Zimbabwe.
“Jacob Zuma has said he wants to play a more active role in
Zimbabwe so as
to speed up the pace of reforms,” the source said.
“Since
Angola he has been occupied by diplomatic efforts ahead of the United
Nations summit, but now he will have more time to deal with this
issue.”
He said he was sceptical that elections could be held next March, as
wanted
by Zimbabwean leader, President Robert Mugabe.
“There are
so many issues involved, the constitution, the roadmap and
outstanding
issues, it’s almost impossible to see elections being held in
March,” he
said.
The source said the region, and South Africa in particular, was
pushing for
people to be seconded to the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee
(Jomic) despite opposition from Mugabe and his Zanu PF
party.
“He (Mugabe) cannot refuse to have more people in Jomic, that
is a
resolution of Sadc,” he said. “As we speak, the terms of references are
being circulated on how Jomic will work.”
As if to confirm South
Africa’s increasing interest in Zimbabwe, the country’s
ambassador to
Zimbabwe, Vusi Mavimbela, told a forum last week that Zuma
would play a
bigger role following the Angola summit.
“In his report to the Sadc
summit Zuma said (he) shall arrange an interface
programme with the
political principals and how best we can expedite the
full implementation of
the GPA and help create conditions for a smooth
election in Zimbabwe,” he
said.
Zuma, the ambassador said, hoped the interaction would help
move the process
forward and resolve the matters that were still in
dispute.
To show the extent of the frustration at the pace of reform in
Zimbabwe,
Angolan leader, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, also spoke out about
violence and
lack of democracy.
Mavimbela said the media had
missed the subtle points of the Angola summit
and agreed that this could be
the most defining yet, regarding reform in
Zimbabwe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 16:58
BY OUR
STAFF
LATE former army commander Solomon Mujuru wanted President Robert
Mugabe to
step down but was afraid the octogenarian would scuttle his
businesses if he
openly challenged him, secret US diplomatic cables have
revealed. A study of
several cables leak-ed by the whistleblower website
WikiLeaks have revealed
that Mujuru, who died in a mysterious fire last
month, was fed up with
Mugabe.
His wife Vice-President Joice
Mujuru has demanded a thorough investigation
into his death as she suspects
foul play.
The dispatches by the US diplomats in Harare over the years show
that the
former army general actively campaigned for Mugabe’s
ouster.
Former Zanu PF politburo member Simba Makoni in 2008 told former US
ambassador James McGee that Mugabe had kept people like Mujuru in check
through fear.
There were reports that Mujuru was one of the
senior Zanu PF people behind
Makoni’s presidential bid but chickened out
from openly supporting him
fearing Mugabe’s reaction.
“Makoni
said there had been internal opposition to Mugabe from within for
over 10
years,” McGee quoted the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn opposition party
leader.
“This opposition was now at its peak. Nevertheless,
Mugabe had been able to
hold on to power through fear.”
Makoni
saw no immediate threat to Mugabe, but noted that a potential
coalition
between the Mujuru faction and ex-Zapu Zanu PF members from
Matabeleland
could leave Mugabe without a working majority in the politburo
and central
committee.
He said Mugabe was aware of the internal opposition and
had tried his best
to placate the factions.
“Illustrative of this was his
recent appointment of governors, he replaced
four governors thought to be
allied to Solomon Mujuru,” McGee said.
Tirivanhu Mudariki, descri-bed
by the US embassy as a business partner and
political advisor to Mujuru,
also gave an insight into the former general’s
relationship with
Mugabe.
“He told us that Mujuru and others were beginning to suffer
in Zimbabwe’s
parlous business environment and were convinced they could
thrive
economically with a change of leadership,” McGee said in a different
cable.
“He said Mujuru supported Makoni but would not take an active
role in his
campaign. He would consider covert financial
support.”
Mudariki said while numerous Zanu PF heavyweights in
addition to Mujuru
wanted to see Mugabe go, they continued to enjoy Zanu PF
patronage and
challenging the 87-year-old leader to leave would result in
an immediate
end to their privileges.
“A challenge to Mugabe
could result in their arrest and prosecution,” he
reportedly
said.
“Therefore, these individuals are hoping to ease Mugabe out without a
direct
challenge.”
He said the Mujuru faction had tried to
challenge Mugabe in 2007 using party
structures and had hoped a challenger
would be nominated at the Zanu PF
extraordinary conference.
“He
admitted that the Mujurus had been outmanoeuvre and had been on the
defensive since,” McGee wrote.
VP Mujuru also had a secret
meeting with McGee where she told him that Zanu
PF hardliners were
sabotaging the unity government.
Zanu PF has in the past claimed that reports
of factionalism in Zanu PF were
exaggerated.
Police are yet to
publicise their findings on the investigations on Mujuru’s
death, which many
people believe was an assassination.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 14:29
BY NQOBILE
BHEBHE
STATE Enterprises and Parastatals minister, Gorden Moyo has warned
that poor
administration at the Beitbridge Border Post risks driving off
commercial
traffic to Kazungula as international transporters are getting
frustrated.
Kazungula Border Post is shared among Botswana, Zimbabwe and
Zambia at the
Zambezi River.
When the project is complete, possibly in
2015, the route is likely to
replace the Beitbridge/Chirundu routes as the
main transport corridor from
South Africa to Zambia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC).
This could negatively affect Zimbabwe as a
transit country for north and
south bound cargo.
Moyo told participants
at the Independent Dialogue meeting in Bulawayo on
Wednesday that once huge
international transport operators shun Beitbridge,
the country’s busiest
surface entry point, it would impact heavily on
Matabeleland.
“There
is general poor administration at Beitbridge border post.
International
cargo from as far as DRC is stuck at the border for long
durations.
Therefore, when Kazungula is fully operational, we risk losing
revenue as
transport operators will quickly change routes” said Moyo.
The
Independent Dialogue meeting was held under the theme “Is Matabeleland
contributing to the national fiscus and is it getting a fair share of the
national cake?”
Speaking at the same meeting, Industry and
Commerce minister Welshman Ncube
said some of the findings of “Let Bulawayo
Survive” task force set up by
cabinet to investigate the closure and
relocations of companies in the city,
point to “porous” entry points in
Beitbridge and Plumtree. He said
industrialists told the task force there
was rampant smuggling at the two
entry points, a situation that was
negatively affecting business.
The minister said smuggled products
also included manufacturing equipment.
The Beitbridge Border Post is
extremely important to the economies of
sub-Saharan Africa.
It is
the busiest regional transit link in Eastern and Southern Africa and
forms
the main axis of the North-South Corridor linking South Africa by road
and
rail with Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, DRC, Malawi, Tanzania and Northern
Mozambique.
Over 10 million tons of cargo passes along this corridor
every year.
In August, South Africa’s Standard Bank announced a US$97
million facelift
of the entry point that will result in delays reduced by up
to 75%.
With traffic flows hitting record levels in recent years, facilities
at the
post have proved inadequate.
It can take up to four hours
to transit the post with the delays
particularly worse during peak holiday
periods.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 14:27
BY
NDAMU SANDU
A proposed capital raising initiative by the Rainbow Tourism
Group (RTG)
suffered a major setback last week after the single largest
shareholder,
Nicholas van Hoogstraten said he would not support such a move
because the
company is already in debt, which it cannot justify.
RTG
plans to raise US$15 million from existing shareholders through a rights
issue to recapitalise the group as well as retiring short-term
debts.
Under a rights issue, a company can sell new shares in order to raise
capital.
Shares are offered to existing shareholders in
proportion to their current
shareholding, respecting their pre-emption
rights.
The price at which the shares are offered is usually at a discount to
the
current share price, which gives investors an incentive to buy the new
shares — if they do not, the value of their holding is
diluted.
Van Hoogstraten told Standardbusiness: “This Company already
has debts of
over US$20 million.“Why should shareholders lend any more money
to an
incompetent and self-serving board who are responsible for destroying
shareholder value?”
Chipo Mtasa, the RTG CEO told a meeting of
shareholders in June the group
had long-term loans of US$10 million borrowed
to refurbish two of its
facilities, A’Zambezi River Lodge and Rainbow
Towers.
She said that RTG had borrowed US$9 million short term for
working capital
requirements.
Van Hoogstraten’s family has over
36% of the shares held by Hamilton &
Hamilton Trustees Ltd, Zimcor Ltd,
Messina Investments Ltd and his six
children.
The National Social
Security Authority (NSSA) with 27% shareholding in the
hospitality concern
would not say whether or not it would support the rights
issue.
“It would not be appropriate for NSSA to comment on issues
that are still
under consideration by RTG shareholders,” said James Matiza,
the NSSA
general manager.
RTG needs majority backing of
shareholders to raise capital and analysts
fear some shareholders might vote
against the move because of the liquidity
crunch.
There are now
fears that van Hoogstraten will mobilise other shareholders to
vote against
the move.
“A shareholder like government which is broke cannot raise the
money and if
it doesn’t, it means dilution. In such a case it has to vote
against the
move,” an analyst said on Friday.
Government, through
the ministry of Tourism has 5,05% shareholding in the
hospitality
group.
Van Hoogstraten, who has become the lone voice of shareholder
activism, said
he is not aware of any organisation with a capacity to
underwrite the rights
issue adding this “is probably another scheme to
charge fees and expenses to
the long-suffering shareholders of RTG and
delivering nothing”.
The business magnate has been fighting other
shareholders for the control of
the hospitality group insisting that he
should have some board seats.
At a stormy meeting of shareholders in June,
van Hoogstraten’s board
nominees—Messrs S Chibanguza, AS Hamilton, MR
Hamilton and I Haruperi —
failed to garner enough votes for them to sit on
the board.
He then threatened to call for an extraordinary general
meeting of
shareholders to expose the “corrupt practices” of some
directors.
Last week, the businessman told Standardbusiness he had put the
move on hold
after he was persuaded by the minister of tourism and
hospitality industry
not to take such a route.
His reluctance to
support the rights issue stems from an earlier capital
raising method in
which the businessman alleges that he was duped.
In a case before the courts,
business tycoon van Hoogstraten claims he was
defrauded of 19% shareholding
when he agreed to underwrite RTG’s rights
issue in 2005.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
14:27
BY OUR STAFF
AN international Monetary Fund (IMF) top official
described central bank
chief Gideon Gono as the world’s worst governor for
resorting to the printer
to meet the country’s needs, according to a leaked
cable posted on
whistleblower website, WikiLeaks.
In a classified cable
titled IMF TEAM LEADER DECLARES ECONOMY DIRE; GONO
“WORLD’S WORST CENTRAL
BANKER — BY FAR”, IMF Article IV Mission Chief
Sharmini Coorey told US
Embassy Charge d’Affaires Eric Schultz that the
government’s penchant to
resort to printing to cover the financial deficit
was fuelling
inflation.
The two met on December 15 2006 where Coorey briefed the
US Embassy on
Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, which she described as the worst
ever and one
not caused by war or natural disaster. Coorey said the pressure
on the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) would be to print ever more currency
to
extract an inflation tax-seignorage from the ever smaller amount of the
monetary base held in the formal sector.
“Because of this gross
economic mismanagement, Coorey termed Gono the world’s
worst central banker
by far,” the cable said.
Coorey told Schultz, Gono was known in IMF
circles as the only central
banker in the world who liked to print money.
“The IMF team had attempted to
explain the risks of ballooning central bank
debt to Gono, but Coorey said
he appeared indifferent to the risks, much
less the solutions,” the cable
said. “She noted that Gono seemed to see his
role as more of a development
banker, who could fix problems piecemeal,
garnering goodwill by handing out
money at a whim to increase his personal
standing.”
Gono has in the past defended his quasi-fiscal activities
saying it was a
response to an extraordinary situation.
The quasi-fiscal
activities were only stopped in the amended RBZ legislation
which removed a
clause which directed the central bank to meet critical
nation needs such as
funding agriculture and financing elections.
In the old Act, the
Ministry of Finance would write a letter to RBZ
instructing the institutions
to make funds available for national projects.
In a comment following the
meeting, Schultz wrote that “Coorey’s report to
the board seems unlikely to
pull any punches and should, as she suggested,
strengthen our hand in
arguing for conditions to be attached to restoration
of voting
rights.”
“It may only be symbolic, but symbols matter in this
context, especially
given Mugabe’s (President Robert Mugabe) apparent
intention to extend his
term in office and Gono’s rise to political
prominence in his own right,”
the cable said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
14:19
BY OUR STAFF
AFRICAN countries should ensure that commodity
deals they negotiate with
China are fair and favourable to the exporting
country, according to a new
book by the African Development Bank
(AfDB).
In a book, entitled China and Africa: an Emerging Partnership for
Development?, the bank said “African countries should have a negotiation
capacity, for example, by obtaining specialised legal services, to ensure
that large, complex commodity deals with China can be negotiated with
favourable terms for the exporting African country.”
China is
aggressive on the continent signing deals in search of raw
materials to feed
its booming industries and also finding markets for its
products.
The
AfDB study sought to trace the impact of China’s trade with Africa and
how
that trade could be improved for the benefit of African countries.
The study
said China should prioritise the development challenges of Africa
within the
established Forum on China—Africa Cooperation framework,
“including
addressing issues such as food insecurity, climate change and
adaptation
technology and infrastructure.”
It said China should coordinate its
aid and investment flows more centrally
instead of the current practice
where over 20 ministries, public banks and
agencies provide support to
Africa.
“A good example might be South Korea, which is also an
emerging development
partner, where aid is coordinated jointly by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Ministry of Strategy and Finance,” it
said.
The study said China should untie aid gradually and open bids
to
international tender.
“This approach would enhance transparency,
development effectiveness and
ownership by the recipient African country,”
it said.
It said China should support additional investment in Africa in
labour
intensive manufacturing industries.
“Currently, as wages
are rising in China, labour intensive manufacturing is
‘relocating’ to other
Asian countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam,” it
said.
China has been
aggressive on the continent providing financing for the
building of
economies in return for preferential resource extraction
arrangements and
concessions.
China has also helped in the building of infrastructure
on the continent
complementing efforts by governments and private investors,
according to
AfDB.
According to estimates, the continent has an
infrastructure gap of US$50
billion annually.
The continent is
only able to raise half of the amount meaning that foreign
direct investment
has to be ploughed in to close the gap.
The Asian economic giant has been
accused of ignoring human rights
violations in countries such as Zimbabwe
and Sudan, where it continues to
pour in millions in aid every
year.
China says it is neutral when it comes to governance issues and
its aid
programmes mainly hinge on exchange between preferential resource
extraction
arrangements, mining deals and tradeoffs among
others.
Statistics show that China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in
Africa has
increased yearly by an average of 46% over the last
decade.
The stock stood at US$7,80 billion in 2008 compared to US$ 56 million
in
1996.
During the first three quarters of 2009, Chinese FDI
flows into Africa
amounted to US $875 million, posting an increase of almost
80% year-on-year.
This has made China a major trading partner for Africa and
it now absorbs
about 10 % of the continent’s exports.
In 2008,
the total bilateral trade amounted to US$114 billion of which US$52
billion
consisted of exports by Africa to China and US$62 billion of African
imports
from China.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
17:11
Mouths agape, fingers pointing, hands gesticulating, faces
contorted with
dark joy at another man’s misery on the pitch, is a typical
scenario at
sports bars in the ghetto on a Sunday afternoon.
I
make a beeline for Sahwira Café in Mufakose, when electricity is out at
home. It is always nice to go and mingle with friends before the match
starts and get to hear what our domestic premiership players have been up
to — on and off the field. Never mind being pestered for a beer by some
people who claim to know me, it is always a joy being at a sports
bar.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres is the butt of most jokes at
watering holes,
particularly at Sahwira. I have since discovered that we
live in an age
where it seems there is more pleasure derived from another
man’s misfortune
than one’s team achievements. The English call it the
X-factor mentality. Or
schadenfreude!
It’s when an audience
derives its pleasure more from failure than
achievement. I am tempted to
borrow a joke from Sahwira pub to say the
Torres syndrome has hit the Castle
Lager premiership. Not that I derive
pleasure from other people’s failures,
but that is how the script is panning
out.
With eight matches to
go before the curtain comes down on the premiership,
the race for the Golden
Boot does not look golden. It looks like the
premiership will degenerate
into another Torres show, minus the big bucks
involved in his transfer from
the Kop.
But unlike any other time in the history of the local
league, some
greenbacks have been poured into the premiership courtesy of
Castle Lager.
The domestic league has never been this rich but we are short
on quality.
Then we have some moneybag sides like FC Platinum coming
to the party. The
short of it is that our players are getting better
remuneration than in the
last four years, but the goals have not been
coming. With the eight games
before the season ends our top goalscorer
gunning for the not-so-Golden Boot
is Charles Sibanda sitting on nine
goals.
Simba Sithole on 10 goals is out of the equation since he has
found home at
Super Diski’s Mamelodi Sundowns. The other players gunning for
the top
goal-scorer award are Dynamos Rodrick Mutuma (8), Pride Tafirenyika,
Leonard
Fiyado and Makai Kawashu with seven goals each.
By
Fanuel Viriri
It’s hard to imagine with the players’ goal scoring
exploits if any of them
have the capacity to score an average of two goals
per match. It’s almost
next to impossible.
It will be a fantasy
to think that Charles Sibanda can beat Norman Maroto’s
21 goals in the 2010
season let alone Nyasha Mushekwi’s 22 goals in 2009.
Sibanda will certainly
not beat Evans Chikwaikwai’s 23-goal haul in 2008.
But maybe Sibanda
can beat Ralph Matema and Master Masitara who shared the
Golden Boot award
in 2006 after scoring 11-goals apiece.
Please do not get me wrong, I
am not finding pleasure in our players’ under
achievement, but we need to do
something about this rot. Our players have
lost that hunger for success. The
league has been professionally run this
season and the players should give
us value for money.
WHY THE POOR SCORES THIS SEASON
Low scoring
rates mean our players are not good enough or the defenders have
been good
this season. But I would like to stick my head and say the
domestic
premiership does not have deadly strikers and are just a bunch of
occasional
goal scorers. I wonder if it’s the coaching methods or if maybe
it’s in our
genes not to produce good strikers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September
2011 15:29
Veteran Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata built Friday’s
election upset
on an army of young support fired up by promises of no
corruption and lots
of jobs, a winning formula that may carry lessons for
politics across
sub-Saharan Africa.
At the ripe old age
of 74, the silver-tongued former trade unionist has been
mobbed by young
supporters whenever he hits the streets of the former
British colony’s
bustling capital. On a visit to a polling station on
September 20, the crowd
burst into spontaneous chants of “We want change, we
want
change.”
After 20 years of Rupiah Banda’s increasingly
scandal-plagued Movement for
Multi-party Democracy (MMD), many of Zambia’s
13 million people were clearly
hungry for something new.
But by
turning that hunger into a political force potent enough to overthrow
an
incumbent buoyed by annual economic growth of 6 percent or more, Sata may
have written a new page in the African election rule
book.
“Sata’s victory was won on the backs of disillusioned ‘swing
voters’ and
strong support from the one million new youth voter bloc,” said
Sebastien
Spio-Garbrah of DaMina Advisors, a frontier Africa
consultancy.
“Banda’s thwarted re-election may send signals to other
beleaguered
incumbents in Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya and elsewhere
facing tough
upcoming re-election battles to focus on the youth
vote.”
Home to one billion people, Africa has the fastest-growing
population in any
of the world’s regions. By the middle of the century,
there will be two
billion Africans.
One consequence of this rapid
growth is that Africa is overwhelmingly a
young continent — its median age
is 19,7 years, compared to 32 for the
Brazil, Russia, China, India and South
Africa BRICS grouping of major
emerging powers.
In its most
populous nation, Nigeria, 55 of every 100 people are under 20,
according to
UNpopulation researchers. “Sata has shown that if you manage to
tap into
that youth, getting them to like you and getting them to come out
and vote,
you are going to start winning elections,” said Simon Freemantle,
an
economist at Standard Bank in Johannesburg.
Successful mass uprisings
in north Africa, driven largely by young men and
women armed with little
more than mobile phones, have already set alarm
bells ringing south of the
Sahara, where many entrenched leaders base their
credentials on winning
independence rather than building stronger societies.
Sata’s victory
in a relatively small landlocked nation towards the other end
of the
continent is only going to reinforce those lessons. “Capturing the
youth
vote has been an increasingly important electoral strategy for
governments
since the return to multi-party democracy across the continent
in the
1990s,” said Chris Melville of political risk group Menas.
“However,
the approach most have taken is that reaching out to the youth is
really
something you only do during election campaigns.”
Even in South
Africa, the continent’s biggest and most sophisticated
economy, one of the
most pressing concerns of the ruling ANC is youth
unemployment that stands
at 50 percent — 17 years after the end of
apartheid.
In his
tearful and dignified concession speech, Banda acknowledged the shift
in
demographics that is occurring across the continent. “My generation, the
generation of the independence struggle, must now give way to new ideas,
ideas for the 21st century,” he said.
He also set an important precedent
on a continent where peaceful transfers
of power are all too
rare.
—Ed Cropley/ Reuters
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
15:27
Shortly after 12:32PM on September 23, Zimbabwe’s neighbour to the
north,
Zambia erupted into tumultuous celebrations over the announcement of
the
results of the presidential election that had taken place three days
earlier
as part of their tripartite elections.
The celebrations were
far from being from members of the Patriotic Front
only, which had won the
presidency, making Michael Chilufiya Sata the fifth
president of
post-independent Zambia, but for all Zambians, judging by the
multitudes of
people who stormed into the streets in their bed clothes to
celebrate.
The celebrations were those of a nation, saluting
itself for maturing its
democracy and enhancing the culture of change. The
celebrations were of a
nation staying true to the founding principles of
democratic governance,
where the authority and right to govern is determined
by the collective will
of the people as expressed through elections. As
Zimbabweans, we can only
look to the north with envy and
guilt.
Envy because the pleasure of having power change hands
with limited
incidents in post-independent Zimbabwe is a pleasure that we
are yet to
experience. And guilt because we have no one to blame but
ourselves for our
desperate situation which has seen democratic regression
instead of the
democratic rebirth that Zambia and our brothers and sisters
in north Africa
have achieved.
The developments in Zambia are for
Zimbabwe pregnant with lessons for both
the citizens and those who govern
them. For those in power, the lesson from
Zambia is not only that incumbents
can be defeated but also that when they
do they should bow out
graciously.
The Zambian elections outcome was a victory for the
people’s will and shows
that real power resides on the streets where the
people live. The resolve
shown by the people of Zambia in enhancing their
democracy through change of
government is worthy of salute, and inspite of
the skills that Sata and the
PF party possessed, the Zambian people are the
real victors of this
election.
To the majority of them, it
was not just about Banda and Sata and deciding
who was the better man, it
was also about the fact that with 20 years of
occupying the state, the
majority of people felt that Movement for
Multi-Party Democracy (MMD)’s long
incumbency needed to be brought to an
end.
It is also proper to
appreciate that Rupiah Banda and the MMD deserve the
thanks of not just
their nation, but the entire African continent, for the
lesson on respecting
the will of the people. There are few things easier
than trying to unseat an
incumbent president on the African continent.
Twenty years in power is a
long time, but Banda and his colleagues, still
left when the people decided
to call time-up on them.
Zambians are generally of a good
temperament, being a Christian nation, but
the incumbent chose not to test
the patience of the people for much longer
than was necessary. This is the
second time that Zambia has demonstrated
this lesson, after calling time on
Dr Kenneth Kaunda in 1991, and refusing
Chiluba an extension to his tenure
as president after two terms in 2001.
Given what we have seen in
the recent past in Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Egypt,
Libya and other places, the
events in Zambia are clearly not commonplace on
the continent, and do serve
as a good example.
Signs which had manifested themselves in protests
and scenes of violence
especially in the Copperbelt, were also ample
evidence that while willing to
follow the process, the people of Zambia
would not stand by as their vote
was made not to count.
And
therein lies another lesson.
Not that people should be violent, but rather
that people have to be
vigilant. The opposition and ordinary members of the
public in Zambia kept a
keen eye on the process and protested whenever there
were indications that
something was amiss.
This vigilance, though
characterised by some elements of regrettable
violence, no doubt assisted in
protecting the peoples vote, and alerting
anyone with intentions of
manipulating the process, that this time the
people were watching, with the
clear intention of making every vote count.
But before the vote can even be
protected, people first have to vote.
The last Zambian elections
voter turnout figures were not off the charts,
but in terms of registration,
they did manage to rise by over a million new
voters. Those of the million,
who made it to the polling stations no doubt
assisted in the result that has
been dubbed the “people’s victory”.
Participatory democracy is about
exactly that — participation. One cannot
reap where they did not sow or
expect to celebrate victory in a race that
they didn’t run.
By the
time of declaration of the result by the ECZ chairperson Judge
Mambilima,
and announcement that Sata was the president-elect by the Chief
Justice of
Zambia Justice Sakala, Sata had an unassailable lead of over 180
000 votes
with seven constituencies still to be counted.
The clear lessons
in this case are that, in order to change governing
authorities there is no
substitute to getting out the vote, and also that in
mitigating attempts to
rig elections there is no substitute for getting out
the
vote.
By McDonald Lewanika
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011 15:25
Few terror
groups in Zimbabwe can rival the notoriety of Chipangano, a
well-known
militia gang that has been actively operating in Mbare for over a
decade.
With the blessing of senior Zanu PF leaders, Chipangano
has tightened its
grip on the suburb and is responsible for beatings and the
eviction of
suspected MDC supporters from council flats.
The
group is also notorious for extorting money from vendors and traders at
Mupedzanhamo where it forces people to pay “protection fees”. Those who
refuse to pay are banished from the popular markets.
While the
group has mainly restricted its infamous operations to Mbare, a
disturbing
trend has emerged over the past few weeks showing the militia
spreading its
tentacles across the capital.
Over a month ago they invaded
Parliament and beat up journalists and an MP.
They then went on to invade a
market at Machipisa where they beat up several
people suspected of being MDC
supporters. In both instances, hapless police
officers could only watch as
the gang went on the rampage.
From Machipisa, the militia group has gone into
the city centre where it is
targeting council properties, car parks,
commuter bus ranks, markets and
open spaces.
They have also
beaten up anyone who dares to oppose their illegal takeovers.
Home Affairs
co-minister Theresa Makone is on record as having said she can’t
do anything
to stop the terror group.
Another frustrated MDC-T official, Morgan
Komichi, who is the party’s
national vice-chairperson, last week urged their
members to defend
themselves against Chipangano.
While such calls
can only lead to more violence, what is clear is that
Chipangano is
introducing the law of the jungle into Harare and must be
stopped by the
police.
Their activities are inimical to any society which desires to
establish
peace and security in the land. Police should abandon the
kid-gloves
approach they use in dealing with Chipangano and arrest such
toxic
characters who are a threat to peace. President Mugabe, who of late
has been
preaching peace, must convince the nation that he is serious by
intervening
and re-establishing the rule of law in the city.
Quote of
the week
The people of Zambia have spoken and we must all listen, now is
not the time
for violence.” Losing presidential candidate Rupiah Banda
conceding defeat
in the Zambian presidential election.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 24 September 2011
15:21
The football fraternity in Zimbabwe is all excited about what began
to
happen yesterday with the US$1 million Mbada Diamonds Cup roaring into
life.
It is no secret that football is Zimbabwe’s national sport; we didn’t
invent
it, the Brits did, although the Chinese claim to have played it —or
something like it — thousands of years before the Europeans. The simple fact
that Zimbabwe —and indeed the whole world — has turned the beautiful game
into a religion goes to show its magnetism.
But the Mbada
Diamonds Cup is a major public relations boob for the diamond
miner. If
Mbada thinks that by dumping their “moola” into football they can
wash their
name of the “dirty diamond” tag then they are mistaken.
Let’s take a
look at the persona of the diamond miner as perceived by the
general public.
First of all, even the choice of name was unfortunate.
Mbada— Shona for
leopard — is a name associated with guile in its negative
sense. It is
associated with greed and underhand dealings to achieve an end.
If someone
says to you, “Uri mbada” (You’re a leopard) you should straight
away go to
church and repent!
But what else are the Marange diamonds, where
Mbada operates, associated
with? The Marange diamonds have been dubbed
“bloody diamonds” by human
rights groups because of Operation Hakudzokwi (No
return).
This was a crackdown by security forces on illegal
diamond miners in the
Marange area which peaked in 2008. When diamonds were
discovered in the
Chiadzwa area of Marange district, Zimbabwe was going
through one of its
worst periods in history; the economy had imploded and
starvation was
widespread. The discovery of diamonds therefore was seen by
people living in
extreme penury as godsend manna triggering a diamond rush.
It was not
Zimbabweans only who flooded the area but people came from as far
afield as
Lebanon in the Middle East in pursuit of their
fortune.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba, in his column which
he writes under
the penname Nathaniel Manheru, described Marange then as the
“wild-wild
East” and urged for a “shock therapy” to clean the area.
Operation
Hakudzokwi was just that “therapy” but it was heavily criticised
by human
rights groups because of the heavy-handedness that accompanied
it.
They said hundreds of people had lost their lives in the
crackdown;
government disputes this but eyewitness accounts seem to
corroborate it.
Charamba gloatingly said that captured diggers were being
made to use their
bare fingers to refill gullies they dug.
“The
deep gullies are being refilled with bare hands and fingers are sore
and
finishing, well before a quarter of the job is done. I do not think
diamond
hunters will descend on Chiadzwa ever again.”
On June 26 2009, Human
Rights Watch released a report in which it alleged
that in Operation
Hakudzokwi the government deployed more than 800 soldiers
drawn from three
army units under the overall command of Air Marshal Perence
Shiri and
General Constantine Chiwenga, commander of the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces.
Human Rights Watch said in the report: “Military abuses
in Marange also
included denial of medical care to victims of abuse in the
community,
including those who sustained dog-bite wounds and injuries from
beatings or
gunshots.
“Nurses based in the local community told
Human Rights Watch that soldiers
instructed them not to render medical care
to any person who sustained
injury by whatever means on the diamond
fields.”
In all, according to reports in The Herald, more than 35 000
people were
arrested under Operation Hakudzokwi.
International diamond
certification group, the Kimberley Process, also
released a preliminary
report accusing the army and police of looting
diamonds in the area. It
accused the security forces of committing human
rights abuses and
recommended their withdrawal from Marange.
The reports do not
implicate the mining companies, Mbada and Canadile in the
atrocities but
paint the diamonds as dirty for this reason. But by
association the miners
also become dirty. Obviously this provides the
rationale behind public
relations efforts such as the football cup to
present a positive image to
the public.
Not only is Mbada going to give the US$1 million prize
money, it has ensured
that the matches are spread throughout the country and
are overwhelmingly
attended by providing transport to spectators in some
cities all at huge
cost.
But is there a hint of profligacy in all
this? Of course there is. The
public knows that there is a lot of money to
be made in diamonds and there
is speculation that diamond auctions are being
held in the dark, that is,
out of public scrutiny. Speculation is also rife
that there is a lot of
corruption in the diamond industry. I emphasise the
word “speculation”
because these allegations have not been proven as fact
but suffice to say
that it is speculation that builds the public’s
perception of anything
especially opaque companies.
In short the
public perception of the diamond miners of Chiadzwa is that the
diamonds are
dirty because people have been killed; the miners are not
transparent and
therefore corrupt and the diamond money is not trickling
down to the
people.
One does not clean this image by extravagance as we are
seeing in the Mbada
Diamonds Cup. If anything, the spending is seen by the
general public as
reckless and therefore reinforces the negativity
associated with the mining
company. It’s like power utility Zesa sponsoring
football under floodlights
in an attempt at PR. Not only will people take it
as a huge joke but they
will call for the sacking of the entire Zesa
management.
What Mbada needs to do to portray a positive image to the
public is to open
up on how it extracts its diamonds, who it employs, how it
sells the
diamonds and how the general populace benefits from this national
resource.
A company cannot remain opaque on these issues and hope that
sponsoring a
football tournament will launder its image.
What are
the major issues vexing the nation at the moment? Inadequate
electricity,
lack of potable water in urban areas and a woefully underpaid
civil service
are the issues that keep the nation awake.
The people look up to the
diamond miners to help solve these problems by
transparently selling the
diamonds and dutifully remitting their dues to the
national kitty. That way
the Mbada PR department would not look so foolish.
By Nevanji
Madanhire
