http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
News
CONSTRUCTION of a luxury tent camp within a leading tourist resort Mana
Pools has fuelled the controversy engulfing the environmentally-protected
Unesco World Heritage Site buffeted by miners who want to extract precious
minerals from the wildlife-rich area amid fierce resistance from
conservationists. Report by Tendai Marima
As reported in the
Zimbabwe Independent last week, government has issued two
heavy mineral sand
exploration licences to Habbard Investments (Pvt) Ltd
within Mana Pools
National Park, causing a storm of protest by eco-activist
group, Zambezi
Society.
The organisation, which conserves wildlife and wilderness in
the Zambezi
valley, has also been campaigning against the construction of
tented chalets
on the banks of the Zambezi River.
In 2010 the
government invited private investors to lodge business proposals
to develop
the area and generate revenue. ECIS Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a
Harare-registered company, expressed interest and the Ministry of
Environment and Natural Resources swiftly approved and signed a lease,
renting out a 1km two patches of land 45 metres from the Zambezi
River.
At an estimated cost of US$94 100, ECIS began laying a wooden
platform
foundation in June this year as it initiated work on a project in
which it
proposes to construct a solar-powered thatched lodge equipped with
a bar,
two patios, a dozen en-suite chalets, 24 single rooms for staff and a
swimming pool.
However, stakeholders, including Unesco, have
objected to the construction
of Mana Pools Safari Camp because the
Management Plan for Mana Pools
National Park, drafted by the government in
2008, limits construction to
12-bed semi-permanent structures in the area.
ECIS plan to build a unit with
at least 36 beds, including staff
quarters.
Citing the draft plan, Zambezi Society has complained about
ECIS building on
the Zambezi’s sensitive shoreline. “During the management
planning process,
stakeholders agreed that further developments along the
Zambezi River
frontage at Mana Pools would likely increase tourism pressure
to a level
which could damage the very fragile ecosystem of Mana Pools,” the
organisation’s spokesperson Sally Win said.
“The Plan
recommended there should be no further developments in the Zambezi
riverside/floodplain zone of the park and that only small (12-bed)
semi-permanent developments should be encouraged at identified sites
inland.”
An Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted
by Vibes Consultancy
in June 2011, but environmentalist groups have
questioned its validity
because of inadequate public consultation and EIA’s
insufficient plans for
disposal of sewage waste and how to block wild
animals from accessing the
swimming pool.
A letter dated March
12, 2012 written by Zambezi Society to the
Environmental Management
Authority expresses these and other concerns. “We,
along with colleagues
representing the Unesco Mana and Biosphere Committee,
have perused the EIA
for the Mana Pools Safari Camp,” reads the letter
signed by the
organisation’s chairman Noah Madviza and strategic director
Richard
Maasdorp.
“The consultants obviously have no idea about access into
Mana Pools for
such things as sewage disposal lorries. During the rainy
season, roads are
completely impassable. No details (from Vibes Consultancy)
about what will
happen if they are found to be leaking into the Zambezi
River. There are
some mitigating measures mentioned for solid waste
management, but they are
straight out of an EIA guidance manual, and in many
cases not appropriate
for the Mana Pools environment.
“There is a
very high population of elephants and hippos in Mana Pools. It
is common for
swimming pools at safari camps to become a major attraction
for these
animals seeking clean water to drink. Such a situation can lead to
destruction of property, with the animals becoming a menace and eventually
having to be ‘removed’ – a situation which would not be appropriate in a
National Park and World Heritage Site such as Mana
Pools.”
Contacted on Tuesday on the scathing criticism of the EIA,
Vibes Consultancy
refused to comment and directed all questions to ECIS
Investments.
Investigations by Zimbabwe Independent have shown that the
directors of ECIS
Investments include Francesco Marconati, a Zimbabwean
citizen of Italian
descent of 91 Piers Road, Borrowdale, Harare and Chinese
national, Ms Li
Song.
ECIS Investments was registered
on July 5 2004 and also owns one of Zimbabwe’s
eight tanneries, Eagle
Tannery which is based in Harare. Calls on Wednesday
to ECIS Investments
about building developments were met with hostility.
“Yes there is nothing
wrong with it (Mana Pools Safari Camp), what do you
want to know about it?”
a company representative asked.
“I have been getting a lot of spinach
about this, but you can go to
government they are the authority to speak to
about this. Don’t worry about
me, I have no intention of speaking to you
because the newspapers always
write whatever they want, it doesn’t matter
what I say.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
News, Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe faces a new re-election hurdle if he
insists on his
party’s bid to amend the contentious Copac draft constitution
during the
potentially volatile second all-stakeholders’ conference where
the two MDC
formations want to push for the inclusion of a presidential
candidate age
limit, which they say is in the national report that Zanu PF
wants presented
at the meeting.
Report by Wongai
Zhangazha
The MDC parties had agreed to drop the clause on age limit
during the
negotiated drafting process as a compromise, but sources say Zanu
PF’s
dogged attempts to force through its 266 politburo amendments to the
draft
and persistent calls for the release of Copac’s national report could
bring
back those controversial issues.
Zanu PF’s revised document
conveniently omits issues relating to the
presidential age limit, single
farm ownership as well as devolution of power
which were raised by the
people.
Devolution is particularly going to cause a fierce battle
as the MDC parties
insist it must be in the draft. Zanu PF does not want
devolution, but
decentralisation which is part of the status quo. Mugabe and
his party are
fighting to restore the constitutional status quo, while
reinstating the
imperial presidency which has helped them win past elections
by hook or
crook.
According to the Copac national thematic
summary analysis and national
narrative report seen by the Zimbabwe
Independent, ordinary people want the
presidential tenure to be limited to
two five-year terms and the maximum age
limit to be capped at 70
years.
Further, the MDC parties would also want to push for the
inclusion of a
clause barring anyone who has already served 10 years as
president from
seeking re-election. This was also in the first Copac draft.
The age limit
would automatically rule out Mugabe, who turns 89 in February
2013, and is
serving his 25th consecutive year as president after spending
seven years as
prime minister.
The contentious final Copac draft,
to which Zanu PF negotiators appended
their signatures alongside their MDC
counterparts, curtails Mugabe’s
overwhelming powers by dispersing them to
other arms of government and state
institutions.
However, Zanu
PF’s amendments restore Mugabe’s sweeping executive powers and
expunge
devolution entirely from the draft. They also delete many other
issues the
party does not want.
The changes also removed the presidential
running mate provision, replacing
it with the current system, with the new
provision that in the event of the
office of president becoming vacant, the
replacement would be chosen by the
party to which the president belonged and
reposes all executive power in the
president by scrapping the provision
which vests them in the president and
cabinet.
The Zanu PF draft
also restores the current presidential immunity
provisions.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in News,
Politics
THE presence of soldiers in some Nyanga villages has heightened
fears of a
repeat of the bloody run-up to the sham 2008 presidential
election run-off
in which President Robert Mugabe contested alone after
MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai pulled out, citing systematic violence and
intimidation.
Report by Elias Mambo
The Zimbabwe Independent
understands that soldiers from the Mutare-based 3
Brigade have been visiting
traditional chiefs in Nyanga North and South
constituencies for “orientation
programmes”.
The programmes seem similar to the ones in which
soldiers countrywide
visited chiefs and headmen on Zanu PF campaign missions
disguised as lessons
on new farming methods to boost agricultural
production.
Villagers told the Independent the soldiers’ visits to
chiefs had been
dubbed “orientation programmes”, although the details had
not been explained
to them yet.
The Joint Operations Command,
which brings together the army, police and
intelligence services chiefs, has
played a strong commissariat role for Zanu
PF in previous elections, and
army sources said “Operation Maguta” was being
revived to justify the
presence of soldiers in most rural communities. The
operation was
discontinued after the formation of the coalition government
in
2009.
Zimbabwe National Army director of public relations
Lieutenant-Colonel
Alphios Makotore confirmed the presence of soldiers in
Nyanga North
villages, but dismissed allegations they were campaigning for
Zanu PF,
saying the army is involved in developmental issues in the
villages.
“Soldiers in Nyanga North are there to rehabilitate the
road that goes to
chief Tangwena’s homestead,” said Makotore. “They have
been there for a year
now and they have nothing to do with the
villagers.”
Nyanga North and South MPs Douglas Mwonzora and Willard
Chimbetete,
respectively, however expressed concerns at the presence of
soldiers in
their constituencies, saying it had caused unnecessary anxiety
and tension
as it evokes painful memories of the violent 2008
elections.
“The military involvement in my constituency is disturbing
as it is
instilling fear in the people,” said Chimbetete. “Recently, acting
chief
Saunyama, who is Victor Saunyama of Nyanga South, fired three headmen
—
Chifodya Katerere, Didymus Nyamahomba and Alfred Mukombedzi — and replaced
them with Zanu PF members. Mukombedzi, from Dende village ward 15, was
replaced after soldiers visited his homestead.”
Mukombedzi told
the Independent there are co-ordinated efforts by chiefs and
the army to
intimidate people ahead of elections expected next year.
“Soon after
the army’s visit, I was told that people are complaining about
the way I
carry out my duties and the chief said he was demoting me,” he
said.
He confirmed that the three sacked headmen were MDC-T
members.
Mwonzora, who is also MDC-T spokesperson, said although
soldiers have
besieged his constituency to coerce people to vote for Zanu
PF, his party
was confident of winning.
“Zanu PF is using state apparatus
to send the wrong message to the
electorate, but that strategy is tired and
will not work,” said Mwonzora.
Centre for Community Development in
Zimbabwe’s information officer George
Makoni said the presence of the army
in rural areas ahead of elections
should be addressed as a matter of
urgency.
“The deployment of the military in villages is part of the
Zanu PF strategy
to instil fear in the electorate ahead of elections. The
disruption of MDC
rallies confirms our fears Zanu PF is planning to unleash
its terror
machinery again,” said Makoni.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28,
2012 in News, Politics
SUSPECTED intelligence operatives last week besieged
relatives of murdered
police officer Petros Mutedza at their Mukumbura
homestead in Mt Darwin in
what appears to be a case of
intimidation.
Report by Wongai Zhangazha
Police allege Mutedza
was killed by MDC-T militants last year in Glen View,
leading to the arrest
of 29 party activisits who deny the charges and are
currently fighting for
bail.
The suspected Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
operatives allegedly
arrived at the homestead in two unmarked vehicles at
midnight and questioned
his brother Tichaona’s wife on the whereabouts of
her husband.
Tichaona recently made shocking revelations in court
that his brother
(Petros)’s body had missing genital
parts.
According to reliable sources, two vehicles with no number
plates arrived at
the Mutedza rural homestead. One vehicle remained a
distance away from the
homestead while the other drove on and a female
passenger asked to see
Tichaona’s wife.
“She asked her where her
husband was and on being told he was in Harare, the
suspected agent wanted
to know how he had gone to Harare and when he had
left,” said the
source.
“They are obviously trying to intimidate witnesses. We know what they
are
trying to achieve and I’m sure it has something to do with his testimony
in
court.”
Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who is representing the
accused activists, on
Wednesday confirmed receiving information of the visit
by suspected
intelligence officers.
She said she had already
officially registered her concerns.
“I was told the very same morning
Petros’ father gave evidence that people
in unmarked vehicles came to their
homestead at midnight and questioned
Tichaona’s wife about his whereabouts,”
said Mtetwa.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in News,
Politics
ZIMBABWE’s leading party in parliament MDC-T party, marks its 13th
anniversary at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on Saturday reeling from a
recent damning survey indicating a marked decline in its popularity ahead of
do-or-die elections expected next year.
Report by Herbert
Moyo
For the superstitious, 13 is an unlucky number, and the
anniversary comes at
a time when the party appears to be at a crossroads. A
scathing Freedom
House survey stated the party’s support had declined
nationwide while United
Kingdom-based Zim Vigil forecasted an electoral loss
for MDC-T. The survey
said MDC-T’s support declined from 38% to 19%, while
Zanu PF gained from 17%
to 31%. About 47% did not declare their
preferences.
Fresh reports of in-fighting and rampant corruption
within the party’s ranks
have also been of major concern and the anniversary
provides the party with
a chance to tackle head-on some of the ills
threatening to tear it asunder.
The party’s volatile Bulawayo
province, which hosts the anniversary, is on
the brink again with
disgruntled senior officials this week accusing deputy
president Thokozani
Khupe and provincial chairperson Gorden Moyo of
attempting to unilaterally
dissolve party structures to impose candidates of
their
choice.
“Bulawayo will be a litmus test of how we’ve responded to the
damning
(Freedom House) survey report claiming loss of support,” said a
senior party
official who requested anonymity.
“However, our
cause will not be helped by the authoritarian style of Khupe
who only last
week descended on the province in the company of Moyo,
(Abednico) Bhebhe and
(Tabitha) Khumalo seeking the dissolution of the
Bulawayo central district
party executive in order to impose people like her
sister
Buhle.”
Sources said the choice of Bulawayo for the anniversary is
meant to give
Khupe an opportunity to restore her tarnished image and test
the popularity
of the party at the heart of the MDC-T’s strongholds. Moyo
said Bulawayo was
a symbol of MDC-T resistance and endurance as it is the
only province where
the party continued to hold “a 100%” record since 2000.
“This is a record we
wish to maintain until all our competitors finally
accept that this is a
no-go area for them,” he said. “As we speak, Bulawayo
is a Zanu PF-free
environment.”
Party leader and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was angered by Khupe’s
failure to mobilise a sizeable
crowd for his national day of prayer address
at Barbourfields Stadium in the
same city in May.
Khupe had promised Tsvangirai a full house but only
10 000 people showed up
at the 35 000-seater white city
stadium.
Khupe has spent the past week holding door-to-door meetings
and strategising
how to flash out her opponents.
She held a
meeting at the home of Pumula East councillor Ephraim Ncube in
the company
of Moyo, Albert Mhlanga, Bhebhe and Khumalo last Saturday — a
move described
by a party official as “quite uncharacteristic of a party
deputy
president”.
There are claims long-serving members have been
side-lined in favour of
“mafikizolos” (johnnies-come-lately) such as the
seconding of youth leader
Promise Mkhwananzi and little-known Agnes Mvula to
Jomic as liaison
officers. However, MDC-T national organising secretary
Nelson Chamisa
dismissed all talk of divisions, saying the party would
“paint Bulawayo red”
on Saturday.
“We have all our ducks in one
row and all sceptics should come and witness
the show of support instead of
relying on concocted stories about disunity
and dwindling popularity,” said
Chamisa.
“We are one big family and naturally you can have
differences but that does
not mean the family is disunited or falling
apart.”
Party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said the party had done a
lot of candid
self-introspection in the wake of the Freedom House and
Afro-Barometer
surveys and would emerge stronger.
“We have
re-connected with our supporters and we are re-connecting with
civil
society,” said Mwonzora. “We are working very hard on all the
weaknesses
noted in those reports.”
However, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
director McDonald Lewanika said MDC-T
was hard-pressed to demonstrate its
popularity in the aftermath of the
Freedom House survey reports and the
in-fighting which sparked alleged
defections to Welshman Ncube’s MDC
formation.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
News, Politics
WHILE government is failing to create jobs andsufficiently pay
civil
servants languishing in poverty, latest disclosures show cabinet
ministers
are increasingly becoming affluent due to primitive accumulation
of wealth
through corrupt practices, including double-dipping on benefits
and
allowances.
Report by Herbert Moyo
Zimbabwe’s ministers
are among the most opulent in the region as they get
the latest luxury
vehicles, such as Mercedes Benz and Toyota Landcruisers,
as part of their
packages, and also have posh houses.
Added to this lucre of expensive cars
and houses some ministers,
particularly those from Zanu PF, have huge
well-equipped farms and other
businesses largely acquired through abuse of
office and rent-seeking
practices. Most ministers are incessant
globe-trotters, attending meetings
all over the world which they often treat
as holidays trips and getting
hefty allowances.
State Enterprises and
Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo told the Zimbabwe
Independent last week
preliminary reports from the Comptroller and
Auditor-General following
investigations into operations of parastatals in
2011 had unearthed evidence
of massive double-dipping in state enterprises
by greedy cabinet
ministers.
The revelations demonstrate further how political office in
Zimbabwe is used
as a stepping stone to the gravy train fuelled by
corruption and pilfering
of state resources, amid failure by the state to
hold to account those who
steal from the public.
While corruption is now
a hallmark of President Robert Mugabe’s rule since
Independence in 1980, it
is the realisation the Zanu PF gravy train made a
brief stop at the
Government of National Unity station in 2009 to pick up
new passengers from
MDC parties that would disturb the majority poor
Zimbabweans.
“There is
fraud involving ministers and deputy ministers, particularly with
respect to
travelling expenses which they claim from parastatals even though
they get
the same from treasury,” Moyo told the Independent. “They even
claim
vehicles as well and I can tell you this is double-dipping which
contravenes
the Public Finance Management Act.”
Moyo promised decisive action, saying his
ministry would not spare any
efforts in dealing with the culprits as it
would engage Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over the
matter.
“The cancer of corruption has already spread and we will stop at
nothing to
vaccinate against it and destroy it. We will be engaging the
offices of the
president, the prime minister, the parliamentary portfolio
committee on
parastatals as well as the Anti-Corruption Commission to deal
with the
offenders,” Moyo said.
Although the Anti-Corruption Commission
has been set up and given necessary
powers to tackle venality, it is
hamstrung by political interference and
reports of bribery to defeat its
efforts.
Complaints of corruption in official circles to Mugabe have also
been
largely ignored. The case of Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo
stands out.
While Zanu PF is submerged in corruption, the MDC-T appears
to be trying to
catch up as evidenced by events within most local
authorities it is
currently running.
Senior MDC-T officials have not been
as vocal about the abuse of
Constituency Development Funds by MPs from the
three parties to the unity
government as many would have expected, given
that the anti-corruption fight
has been one of the party’s rallying
calls.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said his party had remained
committed to
fighting corruption to prevent looting of the public
resources.
“We are tackling corruption even within our own ranks,” Mwonzora
said. “The
MDC-T believes fighting corruption is a progressive thing to
do.”
Mwonzora dared anyone with evidence of corruption against party
officials to
come forward as they were committed to rooting out the scourge
even if it
meant firing top officials, as demonstrated by the firing of
councillors,
including Harare deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto.
Kambuzuma MP
Willias Madzimure recently demanded that legislators be
involved in
negotiations with potential investors to prevent corruption by
ministers who
cheaply give away Zimbabwe’s precious natural resources for
kickbacks.
Moyo’s remarks on government corruption follow hot on the
heels of an
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa report titled
Corruption Cases:
Lest We Forget: Bad Leadership Examples for
Accountability, Transparency and
Integrity in Zimbabwe, which said senior
Zanu PF officials have fleeced
Zimbabwe of billions of dollars.
It
referred to past prominent corruption cases including the looting of the
War
Victims Compensation Fund, the VIP Housing Scam, the Zisco plunder,
Zupco
and Willowgate scandals, and the agricultural inputs scams and Noczim
scandals, among others.
The trust’s regional coordinator Alouis
Munyaradzi Chaumba says all
corruption cases should be revisited and
culprits prosecuted. “I do not
understand why the Zimbabwe Republic Police
and the Attorney General’s
office have been consistently refusing to
investigate and prosecute senior
government officials, their families,
friends and associates implicated in
corruption,” Chaumba said. “All the
implicated individuals should not
participate or contest in any election
until they are cleared.”
Political commentator Blessing Vava said
politicians’ propensity for
self-enrichment at the expense of the
impoverished population was “criminal”
and “incredible”.
“What is more
regrettable is the shocking nature of corruption, especially
now exhibited
by the MDC-T over and above what Zanu PF has been doing, which
has reached
unprecedented levels,” said Vava.
“At first we thought the MDC-T
was advocating for real change but instead
they have just joined the Zanu PF
gravy train and adopted associated corrupt
practices.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
News
ZIMBABWE’S education system was once among the best in Africa — with the
country at one time having the highest literacy rate on the continent before
dropping to number two after Tunisia — but now standards are declining due
to a combination of factors.
Report by Elias Mambo
Some of the
reasons why Zimbabwe’s education system is deteriorating include
economic
and funding problems, dumbing down of learning and examination
standards,
mushrooming of poor private schools and colleges, growing number
of
low-class universities, lack of commitment by teachers and students and
corruption in terms of entrance requirements, studies and
examinations.
The country’s education system consists of seven years of
primary school,
four years of secondary and two years of high school before
students can
enter colleges and universities. Before starting school,
children go to
kindergarten and pre-school.
When the country gained
independence in 1980, the new government introduced
a policy of free
education in a bid to educate the majority of the
population sidelined
through colonial discrimination and inequalities.
Education was declared a
basic human right in Zimbabwe and a non-racial
system was pursued, allowing
black students to enter formerly whites-only
schools. After inheriting a
good education system base and infrastructure at
all levels, the new
government expanded the facilities to offer mainly poor
students an
opportunity to get at least basic education.
Many children from poor
backgrounds got a chance to learn and rescue
themselves from
poverty.
However, since the late 1980s, government steadily introduced or
increased
school fees and other demands making it increasingly difficult for
poor
children to get education.
Apart from school fees, students started
paying charges like development
levies.
The situation got worse at the
beginning of 1991 when government adopted
austerity measures under the
Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, which
encouraged reducing the
budget deficit and ensuring a leaner government.
Subsidies on many things,
including education, were removed.
When the economic meltdown set in after
2000, the situation got worse.
Schools and colleges started losing teachers
and lecturers while students
dropped out en masse.
Besides the economic
crisis and funding problems, there were problems of
localising examinations
which led to corruption and cheating through the
opening and selling of exam
papers, deterioration of learning and
examination standards and mushrooming
of private schools, colleges and
universities offering poor quality
education.
Although the political turmoil and economic collapse made
headlines
worldwide over the past 12 years, the decline of the country’s
once
well-regarded education system has largely been ignored. owered
academic
standards, traceable to the mid-1990s, have unfortunately coincided
with the
growth of a knowledge-based economy requiring workers with higher
levels of
qualifications. This poses a challenge for Zimbabwe.
Since
government scrapped the Zimbabwe Junior Certificate exams and
localised ‘O’
and ‘A’ Level examinations in the mid-1990s, education
standards have been
plummeting.
Education departments have been lowering basic entry requirements
to enrol
more students, while there is a perception that exams have become
easier,
resulting in lower quality graduates.
Decaying infrastructure and
onslaught on schools and tertiary institutions’
autonomy through undue
political interference have had a telling effect on
the quality of the
country’s education, which needs a major policy shift and
robust funding in
order to get back on the rails.
At the height of the country’s socio-economic
crisis, Zimbabwe lost the
entire 2007 and part of the 2008 academic years as
teachers and lecturers
concentrated on meeting basic survival needs through
alternative means.
Unicef asserts 94% of rural schools, serving the majority
of the population,
were closed by 2009, with attendance plunging from over
80% to 20%.
Years of serious underfunding have forced the country’s tertiary
institutions to operate under the principles of economic rationalism, rather
than principles of education. In colleges and universities, students quality
is secondary to ability to pay.
Naturally, Zimbabweans are deeply
concerned about declining academic
standards at all levels of education and
have questioned preferential
college and university admissions and relaxed
standards of curriculum,
teaching, grading and marking.
Education
minister David Coltart places the decline in quality of education
on
government’s misplaced priorities.
“Zimbabwe’s investment in education has
drastically declined in the past two
decades due to misplaced priorities and
the sector still remains in a state
of crisis,” Coltart said. “The inclusive
government is spending three times
more money on globetrotting compared to
education and this has compromised
the quality of education.”
Private
colleges have mushroomed across the country’s urban areas as
proprietors
seek to make a quick buck, raising fears that the colleges, once
frequented
by those who had initially failed their public exams, were
compromising
education standards. But Coltart dismissed the fears, saying
the advent of
private institutions had not compromised the quality of
education because
students still write the same examinations.
“It is the funding that is needed
to maintain our standards,” he said.
However, Coltart’s view was contradicted
by remarks carried in a state-run
daily this week in which Zimbabwe Schools
Examinations Council (Zimsec)
public relations manager Ezekiel Pasipamire
said they had withheld ‘O’ Level
results for a private college in order to
maintain quality.
“To maintain the credibility of our examination system,
Zimsec has adopted a
zero tolerance to malpractices particularly by private
centres,” said
Pasipamire. “Those are the ones that give us a headache every
time there are
examinations by not adhering to the standard examination
procedures.”
Pasipamire warned Zimsec would de-register such centres to
maintain good
examination standards.
Zimbabwean academic Brian
Raftopoulos, a senior research mentor at the
University of the Western Cape
in South Africa, said the country’s education
system continues to decline in
the wake of insufficient efforts from the
coalition government to
resuscitate it.
“After 2000, in the context of the more general political
crisis, a whole
series of highly-politicised problems emerged in the
educational sphere,”
said Raftopoulos.
“These problems have centred
around the disciplining of teachers for their
support for the MDC, the
militarisation of youth centres, politicisation of
the university entrance
system as well as the struggle over the curriculum —
in particular the
teaching of history,” he said.
There is also a problem of political
interference where army commanders,
ministers, politicians and other
influential people now enter colleges and
universities through the back
door, compromising standards.
Former University of Zimbabwe vice-chancellor
Graham Hill was forced to
resign in 2002 following revelations he had
facilitated the enrolment of
Zanu PF Manicaland governor Chris Mushowe for a
post-graduate programme in
1995 when he did not qualify.
The localisation
of setting and marking of exams caused serious leakages of
exam papers,
mix-ups and errors in question papers and certificates.
The late Edmund Garwe
resigned as Education minister in 1996 after his
daughter was found in
possession of exam papers she had accessed after he
had taken them
home.
However, University of Zimbabwe (UZ) vice-chancellor Levi Nyagura,
widely
criticised for presiding over the UZ’s decline, is optimistic the
education
system would return to its former glory. The UZ has now been
enrolling
students who do not have ‘A’ Level English, but have 15 points
with passes
in subjects like Shona, Ndebele, Divinity and
Geography.
“Zimbabwe’s education is on the rise again and we want to
safeguard society
by providing quality students who will be effective in
industry,” said
Nyagura.
“At this institution, we aim to bring back our
former glory and for the
first time, we have enrolled female law students
with 14 points and have As
in ‘O’ Level English, as well as 61 first-year
female faculty of medicine
students.”
Higher and Tertiary Education
minister Stan Mudenge said the quality of
education remained high despite
years of deterioration.
“We are now number two in Africa according to UN
literacy levels and we want
to maintain those high levels,” said
Mudenge.
The survey shows Zimbabwe has a 92% literacy rate while Tunisia tops
with
98%, although the reality is that the quality of the education system
has
been compromised.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September
27, 2012 in News
Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) has dismissed the Zimbabwe
All-Media Products
Survey (Zamps) results released on Tuesday and reiterated
its stance that
audited circulation figures should be the basis upon which
the media
industry should be evaluated.
Report by Staff
Reporter
Trevor Ncube, AMH chairman, in a statement said
the Zamps figures were not
“just disputable, but mythical” in their quest to
portray the state of the
readership of media products in the
country.
AMH publishes NewsDay, The Standard and the
Zimbabwe Independent.
The media group last year announced
its decision to pull out of Zamps
because of the study’s faulty sampling,
poor methodology and unscientific
questionnaire.
“We
pulled out when it became obvious that there is a cartel in the
Zimbabwean
market that is not interested in international best practice, but
in
maintaining the fiction around readership claims,” Ncube said in a
statement
released on Thursday.
He reiterated AMH’s call for the
introduction of audited circulation as the
only transparent and consistent
measure of newspaper circulation and
readership.
Ncube said: “AMH is not the only one
challenging the veracity of the survey,
but readers have recently come out
to analyse the fictitious figures that
are being carelessly dumped onto the
market by Zamps.
“Readers can follow this link, Herald
Online to see what readers of the
Herald feel about the results of the
survey relative to what they know to be
the reality on the
ground.”
Ncube said the same public that the research
purported to have spoken to was
disputing the
numbers.
“Results of poorly executed media surveys have
over the years also failed to
influence advertisers’ regard of media
products. Advertisers place their
adverts where they see value,” he
said.
“For the survey to opine that vernacular newspaper
Kwayedza has more readers
than the Standard is ludicrous. When was the last
time you bought a copy of
Kwayedza? No advertiser can be fooled by this
chicanery.”
He said advertisers in this country know the
difference between circulation
and readership. Circulation is simply the
number of papers actually sold on
an average day, both through subscriptions
and newsstand sales.
A newspaper’s readership, on the
other hand, is almost always a higher
number, since it’s the newspaper’s
total circulation multiplied by the
average number of people who read each
copy. The pass-on rate for newspapers
in this country has never been clearly
defined by the surveys.
“Thus, results of the survey have
not in any way tallied with major changes
in our circulation figures even in
instances when there has been a 100%
increase in circulation, as is the case
with The Standard.
“How does Zamps claim that little
weeklies whose circulation is barely 5 000
have a higher readership than
titles printing 30 000 copies?” he asked.
Zamps also
claims that online readership has declined and yet scientific
data available
from Google Analytics, a service offered by Google that
generates detailed
statistics about the visits to a website, confirms the
massive growth of
AMH’s online properties and most websites in the
country.
“We want to restate our position that order
should be restored in the media
and audited circulation figures should be
the basis upon which the media
industry sells advertising space. To ensure
transparency and accountability,
print runs, sales and returns must be
subjected to an independent ABC
audit,” Ncube
said.
AMH last year embarked on a process of audited
circulation with numbers for
NewsDay freely circulated to the public. The
audited figures proved beyond
any shadow of doubt that NewsDay was the
biggest daily in Zimbabwe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is stepping up efforts
to manipulate the Supreme
Court ruling to proclaim by-election dates in
three vacant constituencies by
seeking another extension to enable him to
call for early general elections.
Report by Herbert
Moyo
Mugabe was initially given up to the end of August and then
October 1 to
proclaim by-election dates for three constituencies declared
vacant after
the expulsion of Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman
Mpofu from the
Welshman Ncube-led MDC.
In his latest application
filed on Wednesday, Mugabe showed he was delaying
the by-elections to hold
out for early harmonised elections.
“The applicant’s desire is to
hold elections the last week of March 2013 and
a proclamation to this effect
will be made at the appropriate time,” Mugabe’s
lawyers said in the
application.
Mugabe and Zanu PF have been expressing their desire for
early general
elections, apparently because of continuing fears about
Mugabe’s suitability
as a candidate later next year due to his advanced age,
increasing health
concerns and also to capitalise on recent public opinion
survey findings.
Freedom House and Afro-Barometer surveys put
Mugabe ahead of his main rival
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T
should elections be held now.
The survey showed support for MDC-T had fallen
from 38% in 2010 to 20% this
year while support for Zanu PF grew to 31% from
17% over the same period.
Mugabe’s poll plans have faced
hurdles, particularly from Sadc which insists
reforms outlined in the Global
Political Agreement must be fulfilled first
to ensure credible
polls.
As the Zimbabwe Independent reported soon after the Supreme
Court decision
in July, senior Zanu PF officials at the time expressed joy
that the court
decision, though appearing a defeat for Mugabe, suited their
designs of
circumventing Sadc’s opposition to elections without
reforms.
Zanu PF’s thinking was reflected in the state media in
Nathaniel Manheru’s
opinion piece titled Zanu PF: When defeat gets so
sweet.
“More dramatically and boldly, the president may use this
judgment to
dissolve parliament and get the country to move post-haste to
harmonised
elections,” he wrote.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28,
2012 in Politics
WITH President Robert Mugabe hinting in a High Court
application concerning
by-elections that he wants elections held in March
next year, Zanu PF is
rapidly swinging into full electioneering mode as its
provincial
chairpersons recently in China returned to a series of marathon
meetings,
while senior officials are trying to recruit worshippers and use
empowerment
activities to garner support.
Report by Brian
Chitemba
As part of its wider election strategy, Zanu PF
heavyweights, including
Mugabe, his deputy Joice Mujuru and Information,
Media and Publicity
minister Webster Shamu, have visited the Apostolic
church sect targeting
over two million members to boost their party’s
support base.
In a bid to build support from the apostolic sect
Mugabe, clad in a white
robe, praised polygamous church members while
attacking homosexuality in
July 2010.
Not to be outdone Shamu
last year urged a Johanne Masowe we Chishanu
Apostolic Church congregation
at Jurani-Firi Santa in Chitungwiza to rally
behind
Mugabe.
Destiny of Afrika Network founder and Zanu PF sympathiser
Obadiah Msindo,
who enjoys publicity in the state media especially towards
elections and
plays a shadowy role around the party, recently handed over 1
200
residential stands in Mutare in an attempt to entice voters ahead of
elections Mugabe desperately wants held as soon as possible while his health
and old age still permit.
Msindo, whose organisation and
reputation have been tainted by controversy,
told the stand beneficiaries:
“How many of you are ready to vote for Zanu
PF? Every one of you should
bring at least five people to vote for Zanu PF
in the next elections and
make sure that we win.”
The party is also using the controversial
indigenous empowerment drive to
drum up support among the youth –– seen as a
key constituency in the next
elections –– as the Zanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe
Youth Council dishes out US$1
million to youths in each
province.
Zanu PF is further using music and associated inducements
to target the
youth.
Community share ownership schemes launched by Mugabe
are also part of Mugabe’s
campaign to secure enough votes to cling to
power.
It is also said Zanu PF has built a war chest using the
Marange diamonds to
fight the next do or die elections. The party is already
reportedly buying
cars and other important material for
campaigning.
On top of state broadcasters which support Mugabe and
his party, two new
Zanu PF-linked radio stations have been licenced ahead of
elections.
Zimpapers, the state-controlled publishing group, also backs Zanu
PF against
its public mandate.
The army, behind the brutal 2008
presidential run-off campaign that saw
Mugabe retain power following MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s pull-out
citing to violence, is playing a
critical role in the Zanu PF poll strategy
with soldiers reportedly holding
“orientation meetings” with chiefs and
rural masses.
Traditional
leaders are given material benefits and are in turn expected to
mobilise
their subjects and coerce them to rally behind Zanu PF.
The heavy
presence of the army in rural areas, including Nyanga and Mutoko,
has
already sent shivers down the spines of an electorate still traumatised
by
the 2008 bloody presidential runoff. The MDC-T claims 200 of its
supporters
were killed while hundreds were maimed and injured by Zanu PF
militia during
the violence.
Senior army commanders have come out openly supporting
Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief-of-staff, Major-General
Martin Chedondo, has
openly declared his allegiance to Zanu PF and urged the
military to throw
its weight behind the party despite the constitution
stating that security
forces, particularly soldiers, must not dabble in
partisan party politics.
Undeterred by the constitution, Chebundo
recently declared: “As soldiers,
we will never be apologetic for supporting
Zanu PF because it is the only
political party that has national interests
at heart,” adding he was saying
so “because I was part of the liberation
struggle”.
Major General Douglas Nyikayaramba and Major General Trust
Mugoba –– who
together with Chedondo are part of the top chain of command ––
have also
came out support Zanu PF.
Besides, Zanu PF is also reportedly
employing dirty smear campaign tactics
against its political foes, with
suspicions that state security agents took
advantage of Tsvangirai’s sex
scandals to create drama around his recent
marriage and tarnish his
reputation. MDC-T secretary-general Tendai and MDC
leader Welshman Ncube are
also targeted through Pius Ncube-style sting
operations.
To show
Zanu PF is desperate to win the next elections, the party recently
dispatched its chairpersons for a two-week visit to China where they were
trained on strategies to mobilise support for the party which a recent
survey said is gradually regaining lost ground.
The chairpersons’
trip to China followed a visit by a Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) delegation
in June which met politburo, central committee and
district coordinating
committee members and advised the party to address
relevant issues facing
the electorate to win votes.
Zanu PF Matabeleland North acting
chairperson and Governor Sithokozile
Mathuthu who led the delegation to
China on Wednesday declined to discuss
the issue, insisting it was a Zanu PF
internal matter.
But Matabeleland South chairman Andrew Langa said
the chairpersons “learnt a
lot from the Chinese and also took time to
exchange political ideas”,
without elaborating. “It was an exciting and
educative trip; that’s all I
can say,” he said.
Other
chairpersons were mum on the trip, citing a gag on the details.
Fears abound
that the Zanu PF chairpersons could import repressive methods
used by the
CCP under its one-party state system to mobilise and coerce
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28,
2012 in Opinion
THE Sunday Mail afforded its readers a peek into the psyche
of
excommunicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and it was not a pretty
sight.
The interview with Munyardzi Huni revealed Kunonga’s disturbing
delusion of
grandeur which culminated in his declaration that “I am not
controversial. I
am the controversy”.
Asked about his feud with
Bishop Chad Gandiya, Kunonga described him as a
“little man I have never
considered to be significant”.
“It’s an insult that people say I am
fighting Gandiya. Even (Bishop
Sebastian) Bakare, he is no equal to me. I am
fighting Archbishop Rowan
Williams. That’s where these people are making a
mistake. I am not fighting
any black man. I am fighting Britain and
America,” bellowed Kunonga adding
that “I am not petty. This is where they
misunderstand me”.
“One of the reasons why I succeed is that I don’t
operate outside the law,”
smirked Kunonga despite subverting the law by
evicting headmasters, teachers
and priests for allegedly aligning themselves
with Gandiya’s diocese.
On his failure to maintain properties they
took over, Kunonga retorted:
“Like which property? No. Those are all
lies.”
The shocking deterioration of standards at schools taken over
by Kunonga
such as St Augustine’s Mission, St David’s Bonda, St Faith’s and
St Anne’s
Goto High Schools was conveniently ignored.
Kunonga’s
right hand man, Elson Jakazi, recently conceded the schools’
infrastructure
was in a deplorable state. Jakazi has been accused of
interfering with the
running of the schools and demanding large levies.
However, he still had the
temerity to accuse parents concerned about the
schools’ deteriorating
standards of trying to “politicise” the issue
whatever that
means.
Speaking of embedded church leaders, it seems
Bishop Johannes Ndanga, who
doubles as the executive president as well as
chairperson of the Apostolic
Christian Church Council of Zimbabwe, has a lot
of time on his hands judging
by the fact that he is always at ZBC’s beck and
call, commenting on any
issue under the sun from Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s love life to the
draft constitution.
In March Ndanga
demanded that Zanu PF provides vehicles and allowances to
church leaders
spearheading its elections campaign.
He claimed that “real bishops”
had more Zanu PF followers as compared to
traditional leaders, hence the
need to award them cars and cash allowances.
“Bring me Chief
(Fortune) Charumbira here. We want to see who commands more
supporters than
the other. Real bishops from indigenous churches can draw
more Zanu PF
supporters than chiefs. It is against this premise that we
(bishops) should
be given vehicles just like the chiefs.”
However, Musavengana Tawa,
leader of the Zion Church in Masvingo distanced
his church from Ndanga’s
demands stating that he is chasing away members
from the congregation by
supporting the discredited Zanu PF and giving the
impression that the rest
of the congregation supports the same party.
“In the church we do not
want bishops to be too political because the
congregation is comprised of
members of various political parties. Some
political issues might bring
about violence within the house of God,” Tawa
said.
We are always amused by how some of the most
undemocratic nations are at the
forefront of calling for reform and
democratisation of the United Nations.
The Herald’s Caesar Zvayi who
attended the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly in New York claimed there
was a groundswell from world leaders for
reform of the
body.
Among the most vocal advocates was Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad who
according to Zvayi “raised the bar” in his address to a
high-level plenary
on the rule of law on Monday as he called on world
leaders to reform the
structure of the UN to provide for “a democratic and
fair framework” for
other emerging nations.
“Effective steps must
be taken toward reforming the structure of the UN in
order to establish a
democratic and fair framework in this organisation,”
Ahmadinejad
said.
This clamour for democracy seems confined to international fora
and not
their home nations given countries like Iran’s appalling human
rights
record.
Meanwhile Zvayi claimed President Mugabe’s
address, slated for Wednesday,
was “highly anticipated”.
A bit
over the top don’t you think Cde Zvayi? Peharps Zvayi forgot to add it
was
highly anticipated by himself!
The writer of the Herald’s
Nathaniel Manheru column was conspicuously absent
this week.
The dreary
duo of Bowden Mbanje and Darlington Mahuku stood in for Manheru
who was
probably in New York with the president at the United Nations. The
column
was finally published on Monday accompanied by an apology attributing
it to
a “technical” problem.
We are keen to hear what Manheru says about
this when he comes back.
Zanu PF politburo member for
Environment and Natural Resources Management,
Francis Nhema, has urged
Zimbabweans to vote for leaders who have the people’s
interests at heart and
are willing to see the development of the nation.
He said Zanu PF is
a “revolutionary” party with the people at heart, adding
that the electorate
should vote wisely in the forthcoming elections and
avoid a situation where
people with selfish interests find their way into
office. The irony was
clearly lost on him.
The very same Nhema recently directed that
owners of the Save Valley
Conservancy take on board 25 individuals who are
mostly senior Zanu PF
officials, despite already being beneficiaries of the
land reform programme.
Chiefs in Chiredzi then issued a statement
accusing the party leadership of
engaging in a land-grabbing spree and of
being greedy.
“The same people now being allocated our conservancies
are multiple
beneficiaries of sugarcane plots, as well as ranches and
farms,” the chiefs
said.
“The option that the governor (Titus
Maluleke) and his clique have adopted,
under which they partner sitting
tenants, has caused a lot of destruction to
wildlife. For example, Mrs
Shuvai Mahofa and company are harvesting game
meat for sale without hunting
permits.”
Nhema should be careful what he wishes for. Otherwise his
appeal for voters
to avoid leaders with “selfish interests” might end up
boomeranging on him
and his party.
The loud and
hyperactive Destiny for Afrika Network (Danet) leader
“Reverend” Obadiah
Msindo has finally emerged from his rare hiatus after
being embroiled in an
agricultural inputs scam early this year.
Msindo was forced to
reimburse communal and commercial farmers from whom he
had collected money
promising to supply them with maize seed and fertiliser.
Danet
collected amounts ranging between US$40 and US$1 600 from individual
farmers
but did not deliver the inputs. The matter was reported to the
police and
eight Danet employees, including a manager identified as Tiki,
were picked
up and released after undertaking to reimburse the farmers,
NewsDay
reported.
With elections looming, it was only a matter of
time before the
not-so-reverend Msindo surfaced again with yet another
vote-buying scheme.
SW Radio Africa reports that Msindo is at it
again, this time dishing out
free housing stands to home seekers in Mutare
on condition they vote for
President Robert Mugabe and his party’s
candidates in the next election,
while persuading others to do the
same.
Comparing Mugabe to the Biblical David, Msindo distributed 1 200
residential
stands, urging the hapless residents to vote for Zanu
PF.
“How many of you are ready to vote for Zanu PF? Every one of you
should
bring at least five people to vote for Zanu PF in the next elections
and
make sure that we win,” said Msindo.
What happened to the R1
billion loan from a South African financial
institution Danet claimed to be
procuring to fund its “housing” projects?
By the way what does Msindo really
do?
Police Inspector Tadius Chibanda has replaced Chief
Inspector James Sabau,
whose tenure was characterised by a “hands-off”
approach as Harare
provincial spokesperson. His usual refrain was to express
ignorance over any
issue he was asked saying he would “investigate” the
matter.
When a Zanu PF official was assaulted by touts after
confronting them on
behalf of kombi operators, Sabau professed ignorance on
the incident. He
could only say those beaten up should report to the nearest
police station.
“People who are assaulted have to report to the
nearest police station or
police officer. I would be able to comment if the
soldiers had lodged their
complaints with the police,” said Sabau.
“They
(kombi operators) should find a way of dealing with their rank
marshals.”
Another quotable quote from Sabau came when he was
asked to comment on the
alleged harassment of women by police on the grounds
of loitering,
soliciting and prostitution. Sabau said they don’t just arrest
everyone,
saying they arrest women with the “regalia” meant to lure
clients.
“I would love these women to come on wearing the regalia
that they will be
wearing when they are on the streets. It’s unfortunate
when you see them, it’s
very different from how they look during the
night.”
Let’s hope Inspector Chibanda will be more helpful than
this.
A figure, US$40 million, was being bandied
about this week albeit for
different reasons. In the first instance, Deputy
Prime Minister Thokozani
Khupe and Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda clashed
over the deputy premier’s
push to scrap maternity fees at council
clinics.
Khupe said she had sourced US$40 million to subsidise
maternity costs under
the Health Transition Fund while Masunda described the
move as
“unsustainable”.
The second instance this amount was
mentioned was by Zimbabwe Defence Forces
commander General Constantine
Chiwenga’s estranged wife Jocelyn who is
demanding US$40 million from
Chiwenga’s new spouse as damages for “offending
her feelings” and cohabiting
with her husband after the army general left
the matrimonial
home.
Clearly we are living in different worlds in this country where
some people
can demand US$40 million for having their feelings offended
while others are
unable to pay for the most basic of
needs.
Finally we can always count on
“flamboyant” businessman Philip Chiyangwa for
a good chuckle. Chiyangwa is
currently engaged in a scuffle with Masunda
over a private clinic he is
building.
The NewsDay reporter who sought Chiyangwa’s comment over
the issue got more
than she bargained for: “This is my money my sister, it’s
a problem when you
don’t have money, they should make their own
money.”
Despite being taken to court for failing to pay his workers,
Chiyangwa
further declared: “I am filthy rich my sister, if I put you in a
room with
my money you will be buried in it. You make us lose money with
these false
stories that you write.”
It would be interesting to
know if the “filthy rich” Fidza honoured his
pledge in April to donate
US$1,6 million to the University of Zimbabwe or
paid his debts.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28,
2012 in Comment, Opinion
THE media silly season is upon us following the
release of the latest
Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (Zamps) results
which always provoke a
storm of controversy as self-interested organisations
engage in popularity
contests, while singing self-praises in a bid to
consolidate their market
positions.
Report by Dumisani
Muleya
For the record, we have always been sceptical about Zamps even
when its
findings are favouarable to us. So this is certainly not a new
concern but a
growing one.
Daily newspapers, in particular, like
engaging in self-serving
interpretations, with dubious extrapolations and
inferences, about Zamps
which seek to measure what people buy, watch, listen
to and read.
The state-controlled daily Herald, in the market since
1891 although badly
struggling with fledgling competition, sought to make
the most of Zamps, via
a front page story, editorial and cartoon, in a silly
way which betrayed its
deep-seated insecurity, yet insulting the
intelligence and wisdom of its
readers.
While the Herald has a
right to claim to be the most read newspaper in the
market (if we are to
believe Zamps), what it concealed from its readers is
that the same survey
shows its readership since the last review has plunged
by a huge 10%,
showing it’s on a slippery slope.
It fell from 41% to 34% during the
last survey and now from 34% to 31% –– a
massive cumulative plunge. But all
that was hidden in a dishonest pursuit
for bigger readership and
super-profits.
For years now, we have been arguing among colleagues
about the accuracy, let
alone the relevance, of Zamps statistics. You only
need to have a rough idea
of the print runs and circulation figures of
different media groups in this
market to appreciate the reality gap between
Zamps and what’s happening on
the ground.
Of course, readership
and circulation are different but surely there is a
correlation, which Zamps
always ignores. That is why the Zimbabwe
Advertising Research Foundation
(ZARF), which commissions Zamps, must do an
audited circulation of all the
newspapers so that Zamps findings can be
tested and verified, to prevent
them being used as hostage to fortune by
mostly dailies hooked to puerile
posturing.
What is probably off-putting about this self-glorification
is not just the
childish boasting part of it which doesn’t make any real
difference in terms
of credibility (the media’s core asset), advertising and
viability, but that
it’s vainly done in the name of readers who may disagree
given an
opportunity.
ZARF and Herald editors might be interested
in reading online comments by
readers of Wednesday’s scandalous front page
story headlined Herald the
“most complete, balanced newspaper”. The comments
are interesting and
revealing. That’s why it’s healthy to be sceptical about
Zamps.
The Herald’s delusions of grandeur, legitimised by Zamps, form
the footrest
of its self-praise fuelled byself-doubt. If indeed the paper is
“most
complete and balanced” why does it have to be surprised and crow about
it?
If it is common cause, why is it newsworthy? The reason why this is
hyped is
because everybody knows it’s not true.
This ridiculous
claim can only be true if the inherent assumption is that
the paper is
dealing with stupid readers. For the definition of stupidity
sometimes is
that of someone who reads, sees and experiences the truth but
even then
still believes lies.
It might be helpful for Herald editors, whom we
know are knowledgeable and
competent guys despite state shackles around
them, to remember bragging is
not a sign of confidence. It always proves
counterproductive when it is
communicated to a well-informed, rational and
enlightened population like
ours. Self-praise occasionally succeeds with
ignorant and gullible
audiences; rarely with those who are
knowledgeable.
The point is simple. ZARF and Zamps have lost
credibility. Even if there are
serious shifts and changes in the market in
terms of print runs and
circulation, their results are always more or less
the same. It’s a
template.
The underlying assumption by Zamps is
that there is no correlation between
circulation and readership. Surely,
this sort of deception and ineptitude is
not helpful.
There could
be a reason why this is happening. Conspiracy theories aside, a
former
ZARF/Zamps employee once told us the problem is not so much about the
methodology but manipulation of the research and fabrication of data. He
also said quantitative interviews allegedly conducted are mostly imagined
stuff and cooked up. We don’t know, but anything is possible in this sort of
situation.
What we do know, however, is that we need audited
circulation figures. To
ensure transparency and accountability, print runs,
sales and returns must
be subjected to an independent audit. This is
international best practice,
not this brazen Zamps fraud.
dumisani@zimind.co.zw
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
Comment, Opinion
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe this week took the opportunity
presented to him at
the United Nations General Assembly to rail at the West
for what he termed
its hypocrisy and unilateralism.Independent
Comment
Mugabe is apparently now stuck in a time warp where he has
remained
inconsolable after seeing the demise of Saddam Hussein, Muammar
Gaddafi and
Osama bin Laden. He has not forgiven the West, especially the
United States
for its role in the death of particularly Gaddafi, his former
ally, with
whom he has not shied from being identified.
In New
York Mugabe –– albeit with a dint of sarcasm –– condemned the killing
of US
Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, saying it was a “tragic death and
we
condemn it” but he quickly turned on the US whom he accused of the
“barbaric
and brutal death” of Gaddafi.
“As we join the United States in
condemning that death, shall the United
States also join us in condemning
the barbaric death of Gaddafi? It was a
loss, great loss to Africa.”
He
added: “The death of Gaddafi must be seen in the same tragic manner as
the
death of Chris Stevens.”
Mugabe loves to use the UN platform to rant
at the West. We recall his 2009
speech at the General Assembly when he
attacked US President George W Bush
saying; “His hands drip with innocent
blood of many nationalities…He kills
in Iraq. He kills in Afghanistan. And
this is supposed to be our master on
human rights?”
Mugabe on
many forums, including at the UN this week, has purported to speak
on behalf
of the African continent. He still believes that he is perched at
the apex
of international diplomacy as a champion for the cause of Third
World
countries in their quest for emancipation from the West. But those
days are
long gone. Mugabe is a forlorn caricature of his great past when
auditoriums
rang in adulation during his addresses. Age and longevity in
office do not
entitle him to retain that father figure status on the
continent. He
forfeited that right to strut his stuff on the grand stage
after spectacular
failures at home.
He can accuse the West of hypocrisy, murder and
human rights abuses but that
coming from a political gladiator like him ––
far from being a saint –– is
mere deceptive rhetoric that has only helped to
expose his own duplicity.
Mugabe has joined the refrain on the
continent to call for the reform of the
United Nations and the need for the
democratisation of the international
body. We have not heard calls couched
in equal zest from him for reform back
home.
In fact,
Mugabe’s leadership has been one dominated by political anachronism
and
resistance to reform and change despite clear leadership and policy
failures. Mugabe’s use of security laws to crash political opponents,
frustrate freedom of association, assembly and expression as well as other
political and civil liberties is well
documented.
This is a leader who is in charge of a
country where security arms of the
state still use torture to force
confessions and to punish political
opponents. The torture of a defenceless
woman like Jestina Mukoko by
intelligence officers, which was recently
confirmed by the Supreme Court
recently, is emblematic.
Mugabe’s
government has not ratified international instruments banning the
use of
torture. What is his commitment to human rights? Zimbabwe’s
government has
also gained notoriety for its disregard of international
charters. Civic
groups in the country have taken the government to the
African Commission on
Human and People’s Rights to ensure the regime abides
by the dictates of
international instruments.
That is not all. There is a long list of
reforms, agreed under the Global
Political Agreement, which have remained
outstanding largely because Mugabe’s
Zanu PF does not want them. These
include proposed changes to media laws,
electoral laws and security
laws.
Mugabe has presided over a government that has
meted out violence on its
people through internal para-military operations
to fight, kill and maim
unarmed civilians, destroy and expropriate property,
and to torture.
No amount of political rhetoric and posturing on
the international arena can
launder Mugabe’s image at home as long as he
does not show commitment to
domestic reform and change.
His to-do
list is long and this does not reflect well on a leader who never
misses an
opportunity to flaunt his credentials as a liberator. We can no
longer trust
him with our country and well-being any longer given all his
failures and
atrocities. His increasingly stale rhetoric is not fooling
anyone any
more.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September
28, 2012 in Comment, Opinion
ZIMBABWE has truly become a nation of crises,
and these seem to get worse by
the day. Most will recall how catastrophic
the fuel crisis was, beginning in
the early 2000s.
Report by Itai
Masuku
No doubt we’re still feeling the impact of the lost production
time in our
economy. Linked to the fuel shortages was the foreign currency
crisis, which
saw the development of black, grey and khaki markets for the
same.
Then came the shortage of local currency, where the now
defunct Zimdollar
itself became a rare commodity as inflation constantly
outstripped the
currency’s value. Estimates of inflation range variously
from a million to
billions percent per annum.
As we entered the
multi-currency regime, we did not leave the crisis
syndrome behind. Zesa
took over and to date we have a power crisis. However,
we now seem to be
facing the mother of all crises.
Several media have been publishing
stories about water shortages in various
parts of the country. One newspaper
had a photo of Bulawayo residents lining
up for water at a
borehole.
Reports from many of Harare’s high density suburbs paint a
grim picture of
the situation regarding this vital liquid of life, with some
being told they
can only flush their toilets at 7.30pm on particular
days.
That’s a real crisis. Frankly speaking, there is
no need to be experiencing
water shortages in Zimbabwe. We generally have
sufficient effective
rainfall annually except in the intermittent drought
years which a study by
the Zambezi River Authority way back in the 1950’s on
the country’s
hydrological cycle can more or less accurately
predict.
As correctly pointed out by the online Water Guide: “In many
countries of
sub-Saharan Africa, water scarcity is caused by too little
human
intervention. This occurs when natural supplies are sufficient to meet
demand but fail to reach users due to shortcomings in distribution or
storage infrastructure.”
That’s the cause of our water shortages.
The water crisis here is man-aided.
It simply shows how much we do not plan.
The population census conducted a
decade ago surely showed the trends in
population growth and we should have
been prepared for
that.
Those in charge of conducting censuses must know that the
usefulness of the
exercise lies in being able to make projections of future
population growth
and what needs to be done ahead of time. The census is not
for enumerating
the population for purposes of political elections, i.e. for
constituency
delimitation and gerrymandering.
May the true
figures of the latest census be forwarded to the economic
ministries so they
can plan for things like water?
The current situation where we are
using aquifers and boreholes is not
sustainable in the long-term since they
will eventually exhaust those
underground reserves, and please note,
reserves.
Experts say if withdrawals exceed the natural rate of
recharge, the level of
an aquifer or borehole will fall, eventually drying
up altogether. We’re
told the minister currently responsible for water is
attending a water
conference in China.
No sir, our solution lies
in building more dams and increasing our
harvesting of rainwater. It lies in
improving our distribution network, the
resources for which are in the
country.
Reports say there are 48 000 large dams in place around the
world, with many
more under construction. I don’t believe the last part
refers to Zimbabwe.
We’ve been hearing rhetoric about the Kunzvi Dam,
Tokwe-Mukosi and the
Zambezi Water Project ad
nauseum.
Without electricity and particularly without water, all
this humdrum about
economic growth and prosperity are more farcical than
Charlie Chaplin. Time
to get real.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in
Opinion
THE Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa last week ruled against
Zimbabwe’s
appeal against North Gauteng’s High Court registration and
enforcement of a
ruling by the Sadc Tribunal that Zimbabwe’s land reform
laws and policies
were racist in nature, and that displaced farmers were
entitled to full and
proper compensation for their expropriated
farms.
Eric Bloch Column
The ruling confirmed the
validity of attachment of property owned by the
Zimbabwean government in
Cape Town, to be disposed of by public auction with
proceeds going to the
three former Zimbabwean farmers deprived of their
farms and initiated the
legal actions with the Sadc Tribunal, and
subsequently to the North Gauteng
High Court.
In 2000, Zimbabwe embarked on land reform, pursuant
to enabling legislation
promulgated almost a decade previously. In terms of
the legislation, all
rural lands became state property in total disregard of
prior ownership
rights and title deeds.
The state began
eviction of non-Zimbabwean indigenous occupants of the farms
without any
consideration of the consequential near-collapse of agricultural
production,
converting Zimbabwe from being the regional bread-basket to
becoming heavily
dependent on non-affordable imports.
Similarly, government failed to
consider the resultant loss of employment
for over 300 000 farm workers,
reducing them and their dependants to immense
poverty and deprivation.
Almost two million Zimbabweans were reduced to
extreme hardships and endless
struggles to survive, over and above those in
other economic sectors
similarly jeopardised by downstream economic
prejudices triggered by the
substantial collapse of agriculture.
With the state-enforced
dispossession of thousands of productive,
non-indigenous farmers, many war
veterans, politicians and those with strong
political links took advantage
of the circumstances for self-enrichment.
They forced
non-indigenous farmers off properties which they had for decades
operated
productively, and reduced those properties to desolate barren
lands. In all
too many instances the land invaders resorted to violence to
achieve their
objectives, and having gained occupancy of the farms sought
temporary
enrichment by selling equipment thereon, such as irrigation pumps
and
pipelines. They thus deprived the farms of essentials necessary for
viable
agricultural production.
Attempts by the displaced farmers to seek
justice in Zimbabwe proved totally
fruitless, and eventually some sought
recourse in to international courts.
Such actions included placing the issue
before the Sadc Tribunal, with 77
affected farmers seeking justice through
the court.
The court ruled in November 2008 that Zimbabwe’s land
reform was racist, and
the affected farmers were entitled to full
compensation. Government ignored
the court’s findings, resulting in the
Tribunal issuing a contempt ruling
and awarding costs against it, but again
the Tribunal’s ruling was ignored.
This resulted in three of the
distressed farmers applying to the North
Gauteng High Court in South Africa
for an execution order, which was
granted, enabling the attachment of
property of the Zimbabwean government in
South Africa. This led to
Zimbabwe’s appeal to South Africa’s Supreme Court
of Appeal, but the court
of five judges unreservedly ruling against the
appeal.
The
economic impact of the judgment will be pronounced. In the event that
government belatedly acknowledges the criminality of its actions, it will
now have to address payment of just and due compensation to all that were
deprived of that for which they had worked for most of their lives.
Inevitably, the payment of compensation would have to be phased over a
period of time, for by its own recurrent admission the Zimbabwean fiscus is
bankrupt.
Justice (frequently anathema to government), also
dictates that the
compensation should include market-rate interest,
calculated from dates of
farm expropriations to dates of payment of the
compensation.
However, in order to fund the compensation and interest
payments, government
will either have to curtail other expenditures (many of
which are in any
event unnecessary), or increase taxes (many of which are
already excessive).
Such increases would be beneficial as they will enable
the state to
progressively settle its debt, but would be prejudicial to the
beleaguered
economy.
Another option for government,
which it would be reluctant to pursue, is to
dispose of various state assets
including many of the parastatals, surplus
state-owned residences, and
innumerable motor vehicles. Yet a further
option that government could
pursue is to reduce the number of ministers,
the public service, and the
international travel expenses it incurs.
Government must also
anticipate that, unless it now acknowledges liability
to the thousands of
displaced farmers, it will undoubtedly be confronted by
further litigation
by displaced farmers, with concomitant attachment of
other external assets
and those in Zimbabwe.
Such legal actions would not be confined
exclusively to the South African
courts but in diverse international courts,
which would indisputably have
regard to the determinations of the Sadc
Tribunal and the South African
Supreme Court of Appeal.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012
in Opinion
LAST week cabinet added yet another measure to its growing list of
high-sounding policies gathering dust in its offices by approving a new
agriculture plan aimed at providing much-needed cheap lines of credit for
farmers and ensuring suppliers distribute inputs countrywide well ahead of
the farming season.
Report by Brian Chitemba
Farmers are
currently being charged steep interest rates ranging from 11 to
28% per
annum, which the policy seeks to tackle through the provision of
cheap
credit. Zimbabwe’s new black farmers, who took over formerly
white-owned
land courtesy of the controversial and often-violent land reform
programme
beginning in 2000, perennially complain about unsustainable
production costs
caused mainly by high costs of fertilisers, chemicals,
labour, water and
fuel.
Finance minister Tendai Biti said under the new policy farmers
would buy
inputs directly from suppliers instead of waiting for government
to buy on
their behalf as this disturbed their plans due to late delivery of
supplies.
He said he is negotiating with donors to ensure vulnerable farming
communities get necessary assistance to ensure improved production and food
security.
Biti’s assurances came against the backdrop of
widespread complaints from
farmers’ unions over delays in payment for
produce delivered to the
state-run Grain Marketing Board.
But farmers —
in the past promised assistance only for government to fail to
deliver
leaving them hopelessly stranded — will at best welcome the policy
with
guarded optimism. Government has a long record of policy formulation
only
matched by its inaction when it comes to implementation.
The
three-year old coalition government has not fared any better, drafting
and
launching several ambitious policy frameworks which have been hardly
implemented.
The Industrial Development Policy, Short-Term Emergency
Recovery Programme
and the Medium-Term Economic Development Plan are among
the major policies
drafted and adopted by the unity government, over and
above numerous other
policy blueprints crafted by the previous Zanu PF
regime.
This has created the belief that some of the policies are
only produced to
give the false impression government is doing something to
address
multifaceted socio-economic problems facing the
nation.
Critics thus say it is highly unlikely government would
deliver on its
agricultural promise and it would be folly for farmers to
base their
preparations on government promises. This is despite the fact
that
agriculture contributes between 15-18% to the Gross Domestic Product as
well
as 40% of national export earnings and 60% of raw materials to the
agro-industry.
More than 70% of the country’s population relies
on agriculture for
survival, but lack of a comprehensive enabling policy has
adversely affected
general productivity, resulting in the country importing
grains it used to
be self-sufficient in prior to the disastrous land reform
programme.
Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union spokesman Tinashe Kairiza said while the
new policy
framework was progressive, farmers were anxiously waiting for
government to
implement the measures to boost
productivity.
“Government is facing a serious liquidity crisis, so
provision of cheap
lines of credit and subsidised inputs is highly unlikely
although it would
boost agricultural output,” he said.
Economist John
Robertson said farmers’ demands would not be addressed by the
new policy
because government was well known for failing to deliver on its
promises. He
also said government had repeatedly promised to pay farmers on
time but has
consistently failed to do so.
Robertson further pointed out
government was cash-strapped and it would be
almost impossible for it to
fund farming from its resources, unless it
relied on borrowed money despite
its onerous debt. Zimbabwe’s total debt is
about US$10,7
billion.
However, Zimbabwe appears set to secure US$100 million in
budgetary support
from neighbouring South Africa, part of which would be
used to finance
agriculture and boost productivity. South Africa has
previously helped
Zimbabwe with funds for inputs.
“The new
government scheme to assist farmers is difficult to implement
because
government owes a lot of money to seed producers and fertiliser
manufacturers,” said Robertson. “Government has promised farmers money
before but they failed to access the funds. The fact is government simply
doesn’t have the money. Even if it borrows from South Africa, the money has
to be paid back and that will depend on how local farmers service the
loans.”
Robertson said only a handful of farmers with collateral
were likely to
secure lines of credit. Most new farmers do not have title
deeds for
collateral against bank loans.
Since most of the new
farmers got farms through political connections and by
virtue of being war
veterans, they did not have title deeds and hence could
not borrow money
from banks, he said.
However, economic analyst Eric Bloch said
although government’s coffers are
empty, it could divert funds from other
sectors to boost agriculture since
the majority of Zimbabweans rely on
farming. He said the new agriculture
policy was likely to be implemented
fast given forthcoming elections next
year.
“Politicians are
aware agriculture is an important sector of the economy
hence they will seek
mileage by approving and implementing relevant
policies,” said
Bloch.
While farming preparations have often been scuttled by an
acute shortage of
farming inputs resulting in poor harvests, Biti said the
new policy would
resuscitate the virtually dead agricultural sector — the
economic mainstay —
and restore Zimbabwe’s breadbasket status in the
region.
Biti said the new policy is meant to help farmers end the
unproductive
dependence syndrome, while security of tenure on land would
assist them to
borrow.
AgriExpert economist and consultant Peter
Gambara wrote in the Zimbabwe
Independent recently that government should
invest in input schemes targeted
at the small-scale farmers and provide more
resources to extension agents.
Agriculture financing has always
favoured large-scale commercial farmers who
can use title deeds to access
funding from banks, while communal farmers
with user rights struggle to get
funding.
Erratic power supplies and high tariffs have also
contributed to poor
production, with farmers calling for subsidised
electricity supplies.
Farmers say government should revert to the
preferential rate of 55% of the
electricity tariffs in place before
2009.
While farmers and stakeholders are justifiably sceptical
government’s new
policy will be fully implemented, politicians are likely to
pull out all
stops to deliver, given the looming crucial elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
September 28, 2012 in Opinion
IN this ninth instalment of his article on
succession and the Zanu PF
constitution, Derek Matyszak looks at how the
Mujuru faction outfoxed the
Mnangagwa camp in the battle to secure the post
of vice-president.
The promotion of Joseph Msika to the vice-presidency
left the position of
national chairperson open, and Emmerson Mnangagwa threw
his hat into the
ring for this position. Had he succeeded in this quest, he
would have been
in pole position to succeed late Vice-President Simon
Muzenda, also a
Karanga, and within reach of the presidency after Mugabe’s
departure.
It was apparently astute political manoeuvering by the
late former army
commander General Solomon Mujuru, however, that secured the
nomination of
John Nkomo, a Ndebele, from eight of the 10 provinces. As a
Ndebele, Nkomo
was an unlikely rival to Mujuru’s choice for the presidency
when the
opportunity arose — as it did with the death of Muzenda in
September 2003.
The Tsholotsho saga
With the vacancy now
occurring in the Zanu PF wing of the vice-presidency,
the appointment of the
replacement was never going to be smooth. The
fractious nature of the
process is indicated by the fact that the vacancy
was not officially filled
until 15 months had passed, at the Zanu PF
congress of December 2004. A
bruising battle took place between the Mujuru
and Mnangagwa camps in the
intervening period, from which Mujuru emerged
winner.
Before
then, the grouping around Mnangagwa appeared to have been on the
ascendency
in the provinces for several years prior to Muzenda’s death, and
seemed
likely to muster the support for nomination from the required six
provinces
for the vice-presidency. To further Mnangagwa’s chances, his
supporters
sought to advance the principles expounded in what became known
as the
“Tsholotsho Declaration”.
Jonathan Moyo, a prominent fickle
politician, was a key player in the drama
which unfolded. He has written in
detail about the events. In his account,
Moyo maintains that the Tsholotsho
Declaration is made up of four
principles:
that all
the country’s four major ethnic groups, Karanga, Manyika, Zezuru
and Ndebele
be represented in the presidium;
that the position of
president should not be monopolised by one ethnic group
but rotate among the
four major ethnic groupings;
that the filling of positions in the
presidium should not be by imposition
by the party hierarchy, but through
democratic elections done by secret
balloting; and
such
positions must be filled in accordance with the party
constitution.
Since the Mujuru aspirant to the position,
Joice, is Zezuru, already
represented in the presidium by President Robert
Mugabe, support for the
declaration was seen as support for Mnangagwa as
vice-president. Those
supporting these principles envisaged a presidium with
Mugabe, a Zezuru, as
president, Mnangagwa, a Karanga, as one vice-president
with a Ndebele
co-vice president, and “young Turk” legal advisor to Zanu PF
Patrick
Chinamasa (Manyika) as national chairperson.
The
declaration threw down the gauntlet to those who believed the top three
positions in the presidency were inviolable until a vacancy occurred and
that two of the top four positions should be occupied by former PF Zapu
members. Among them was Mugabe who did not intend to be hampered by the
inconvenience that there was nothing in the Zanu PF constitution which
supported his views.
After a series of meetings in August 2003,
headed by provincial chairpersons
and provincial governors and presided over
by the national political
commissar, it was clear Mnangagwa had the support
for the vice-presidency
from all except three provinces — Mashonaland
Central, Harare and
Mashonaland East.
The Mujuru alignment, which
included elements from the three disaffected
provinces, came together
shortly after these meetings began. A strategy was
devised whereby a sudden
sensitivity to gender issues was to be used to
undermine the Mnangagwa
group. The Mujuru camp thus latched upon a
resolution, first put forward by
the women’s league at its August 1999
meeting in Victoria Falls, that one of
the four members of the presidium
must be a woman. The women’s league was
prevailed upon to repeat its demand
at its plenary meeting of September 2
2004.
Accompanied by his wife, Grace, Mugabe attended the meeting and
announced he
supported this demand. The Mnangagwa faction was unimpressed.
The date for
nominations to the posts in the presidium from the provinces
was November 21
2004. Under cover of an invitation as guest of honour at
Dinyane High School
for a prize-giving ceremony, Mnangagwa prepared to go to
Tsholotsho on
November 18, where, not coincidentally, chairpersons of the
provinces would
be present to hear his speech.
Austin Zvoma, who
would play a key role should the combined houses of
parliament sit as an
electoral college to determine Mugabe’s successors,
facilitated the crafting
of the speech for Mnangagwa by George Charamba. The
Tsholotsho meeting could
not be seen as anything other than a direct
challenge to Mugabe’s
authority.
It was clear Mugabe’s intention was that the vacancy left
by Muzenda’s death
be filled by Joice Mujuru. The Tsholotsho gathering
appeared intended to
counter this by advancing the Tsholotsho
principles.
Mugabe called an emergency politburo meeting for the same
day (November 18).
The result of the meeting was that the politburo declared
it had “amended”
the party constitution to include the demand of the women’s
league that one
of the vice-presidents be a woman.
Less widely
publicised, but of even more significance, was the amendment
providing that
provincial electoral colleges would no longer be the
44-member provincial
executive councils, but the much larger provincial
co-ordinating committees.
The election would thus be conducted under the
watchful eye of the central
committee members from the province, some of
whom would undoubtedly be
politburo members who had agreed to the amendment.
The latter amendment was
clearly designed to neutralise the Mnangagwa
faction’s control over the
provincial executive councils in seven provinces.
With perverse
cynicism, Mnangagwa, as secretary for legal affairs, was given
the task of
drafting the necessary amendments to the Zanu PF constitution.
This required
the alteration of only a few words, but, deciding that
discretion was the
better part of valour, Mnangagwa pleaded this commitment
to stay well away
from the meeting in Tsholotsho. As Zanu PF secretary for
administration in
the politburo, and, in what was to be one of his last few
acts as such, he
was also given the task of writing to the provinces to
explain the new
nomination procedure.
— To be continued next week.
Matyszak is
a former University of Zimbabwe law lecturer, constitutional
expert and
researcher with the Research and Advocacy Unit.
