http://www.bdlive.co.za
BY FOREIGN STAFF, SEPTEMBER 07 2012, 09:52 | 0
COMMENT(S)
ZIMBABWE would seek funds from Southern Africa to help
finance its budget as
the country battles the effects of a nearly
decade-long downturn, Finance
Minister Tendai Biti said yesterday.
"I
am appealing to our colleagues in the Sadc (Southern African Development
Community) countries," Mr Biti said in an address on the state of the
economy.
"I have secured an appointment two weeks from today, with
South African
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan where we are going to ask for
budgetary
support to the tune of $100m.
"Another thing we are doing
is appealing to our friends in Sadc. We are also
in discussions with the
Angolans for a $50m credit facility."
Zimbabwe’s powerhouse neighbour SA,
the continent’s largest economy, would
also be asked to make good on a line
of credit promised in 2009 to the tune
of R500m, he said.
Mr Biti
said although the economy was stable since the
hyperinflation-crippled local
dollar was dropped in favour of foreign
currencies, money was short in both
the government and the private sector.
"I regret to announce that the
economy still remains depressed with funding
challenges for both private and
public sectors, irrespective of the
prevailing stable macroeconomic
environment and some output improvements in
sectors such as mining," said Mr
Biti, who in July cut the year’s growth
forecast to 5.6% from
9.4%.
He blamed low economic performance on lack of money to fund
productive
projects, low foreign investment, high unemployment, a high debt
overhang
and uncertainty and delays over the constitution-making
process.
Zimbabwe’s economy has shown signs of recovery since veteran
President
Robert Mugabe and long-time rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
formed a
unity government after 2008 poll chaos.
Mr Biti said revenue
collections were still falling short with $257.4m
collected in July against
a $271.2m target and $269.2m last month against a
target of
$280.7m.
The gold-mining sector was on course to attain the annual target
of
15,000kg, while inflation was on the slide due to the depreciation of the
South African rand against the dollar.
He said payments for imports
rose 30% from the same period last year to
reach $5.1bn.
Zimbabwe’s
government needed nearly $400m before the end of the year to pay
annual
bonuses for workers, and to finance the 2012-13 farming season and an
expected referendum on a new constitution, Mr Biti said.
The country
has struggled to attract funding from the likes of the
International
Monetary Fund and World Bank due to external debt that Mr Biti
put at
$9.1bn. Mr Mugabe’s drive to force foreign firms to hand over
majority
shares to local interests has also kept private investors away.
Sapa-AFP,
Reuters
http://www.voanews.com/
Sebastian
Mhofu
September 07, 2012
HARARE — Zimbabwe's economy is growing but
has yet to recover from the
catastrophic collapse it suffered in the decade
prior to 2009. This week
the country's finance minister said he will seek
loans from neighboring
countries in hopes of meeting some urgent needs and
getting the economy
moving at a higher gear.
Some say diamonds
glitter, but that shine seems to be failing in Zimbabwe.
“I regret to
advise that the economy remains depressed irrespective of the
prevailing
stable macroeconomic environment and some output improvements in
such
sectors as mining," said Biti.
That is almost the norm for Zimbabwean
Finance Minister Tendai Biti when he
opens his monthly addresses to
journalists.
He mentions mining, which many thought would anchor
Zimbabwe’s economy after
the collapse of the country’s once vibrant
agriculture sector. Diamond
prices remain high on the world market and
Zimbabwe has diamond fields
estimated to be bigger than the size of Wales in
Britain.
But as Biti has noted in the past, little revenue from diamond
sales reaches
the national treasury. He accuses President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party,
which controls the Marange diamond fields, of withholding
diamond revenue in
preparation for future elections.
Independent
economic analyst Paradzai Paradza, a former lecturer at the
University of
Zimbabwe, says that move is holding back Zimbabwe's recovery.
“It is
actually a stand-alone case in the whole world because we have seen
diamonds
are rejuvenating economic growth in some countries. We have Angola,
we have
Botswana, we have countries like DRC who have transformed themselves
into
vibrant economies through diamonds. But in the case of Zimbabwe, the
situation is not like that. I don’t think companies at Marange are not
remitting the proceeds. I think they are remitting the proceeds, but the
problem is who is getting the proceeds after they are remitted," said
Paradza.
The news is not all gloom for Zimbabwe's economy. Since the
formation of a
power-sharing government in 2009, after a disputed election,
the country has
registered annual growth of about 8 percent.
But
because of the shortfall in revenue, Biti says, regional countries will
have
to chip in to help his country through this year. He says Zimbabwe
needs
$400 million to mitigate drought effects, to raise money for
by-elections
and for a constitutional referendum, among other urgent needs.
Biti told
reporters he has stepped up efforts to ensure that diamond revenue
reaches
the treasury. He also plans to appeal to Zimbabwe's neighbors in
the
Southern African Development Community.
“The second thing that we are
also doing is appealing to our colleagues in
the SADC countries," he said.
"I have just come from South Africa where I
secured an important appointment
two weeks from now with the South African
minister of finance. In this
meeting we are going to make a request for
budgetary support to the tune of
$100 million from the South African
government."
He says he wants the
South African government to honor a pledge of a $60
million line of credit
it made in 2009. From Pretoria he heads to Angola
asking for a $50 million
line of credit. Earlier this week Botswana
extended a $70 million line of
credit to Zimbabwe to revive its ailing
industries.
Zimbabwe cannot
get loans from international lenders such as the World Bank
until it has
retired its current debt of about $10 billion.
The country cannot
continue on its current course, Biti warned.
“We are eating that which we
are not killing. We are killing a rat and
consuming an elephant. That is not
sustainable," said Biti.
Wages for government workers consume about 70
percent of the treasury's
revenue.
Biti hopes that when the board of
the International Monetary Fund meets in
two weeks time it approves a deal
to retire Zimbabwe’s international debt.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
06.09.2012
Former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith may be
turning in his grave as his name is
still appearing on Zimbabwe’s voters
roll, five years after his death.
Utoile Silayigwana, the deputy chief
elections officer of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, shocked participants
at a development and planning
workshop in Kwekwe Thursday when he revealed
that the late Smith is still on
the nation’s voters roll.
Silayigwana
said this was an indication that the voters roll is in tatters,
confirming
claims by human rights activists that large numbers of dead
people are still
on the voters register.
The delegates said the situation will remain the
same if the voters roll is
still controlled by the Registrar-General’s
Office.
Most participants suggested that a new voters’ roll should be
managed by an
independent electoral commission like in South Africa and
other progressive
countries.
The Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede, a
staunch supporter and relative of
President Robert Mugabe, was not readily
available for comment.
Human rights activists have been complaining
bitterly over the years about
the national voters roll.
Blatant vote
rigging has been proved in Zimbabwe's courts as far back as
lawmaker
Margaret Dongo's case in the 1990s but Mr. Mugabe keeps holding
elections
that are marked by violence, intimidation and suspected ballot
stuffing.
The roll of Zimbabwe's registered voters is riddled with
dead voters, ghost
voters and double entries.
A partial audit in 2003
showed that 25 percent of the voters listed on the
roll in one constituency
were non-existent.
The latest exposure was provided by the respected
South African Institute
for Race Relations which found that the voters' roll
includes an impossible
number of people over 100 years old.
The audit
indicated that there were more than 40,000 centenarians - 16,800
of them
born on January 1, 1901, in a country that has one of the world's
lowest
average life expectancies at 37 years.
Mudede has flatly denied reports
that the electoral register is flawed
saying "there is no country in the
world with a perfect voter registration
system". Staff Reporters
http://www.ctvnews.ca
The Associated
Press
Published Friday, Sep. 7, 2012 1:48PM EDT
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- An
AIDS awareness campaigner and his lawyers said Friday
they are taking a
groundbreaking test case to Zimbabwe's highest court to
force police and
prison authorities ensure HIV sufferers get their life
prolonging
medication.
Douglas Muzanenhamo said in papers filed at the Supreme Court
that he was
denied appropriate antiretroviral treatment in jail for three
weeks last
year and his condition veered toward death.
Muzanenhamo, who
has been HIV-infected for 18 years, was freed without
charge in March 2011
after police arrested bystanders at a lecture in Harare
on the Arab Spring
they claimed was in preparation for a revolt in Zimbabwe.
In court documents
released Friday, he said he was kept in filthy cells
making prisoners with
HIV susceptible to fatal infections. He said he was
held in solitary
confinement for demanding his drugs.
Sudden changes in drug treatment over 48
hours are known to lead to a sharp
deterioration in the body's immune
system, even if the drug is resume
patients are at risk that the treatment
will not be effective, leading to
their death.
In the first lawsuit of
its kind, citing as respondents Zimbabwe's police
and prison commanders,
government ministers and the nation's attorney
general, the chief law
officer, Muzanenhamo said on the day of his arrest
officers at the main
Harare police station didn't allow him to call his
family to bring
medication he took twice daily to a precise timetable.
After lawyers
intervened, his family brought medication two days later but
they were kept
by police and not given to him at the prescribed times. Then
he was given a
single prison issue tablet once a day that he was unfamiliar
with.
In the
court deposition, he said he was "totally dependent" on the drugs,
along
with a healthy diet, to stay alive.
He suffered hypertension and depression,
fearing he was in "mortal danger"
on an insufficient diet of black tea, corn
gruel and beans in harsh prison
conditions.
Since his HIV infection,
Muzanenhamo has campaigned among fellow sufferers
on hygiene and medical and
dietary ways to be able to live a "happy and
fulfilling life," he
said.
Upon his arrest, the police ordered him to take off his jacket, socks
and
shoes and remain only with "one layer of clothing." He was put into a
tiny
cell for five days with no running water with 15 other inmates,
sleeping on
the floor without blankets.
He said was made to walk barefoot
through "human excreta and dried blood all
over the place."
"Walking
barefoot significantly increases the likelihood of me contracting a
life-threatening infection," he said in his Supreme Court deposition.
No
official figures are available on deaths in the nation's police cells and
prisons.
Lawyers acting for Muzanenhamo said Friday his plight and that
of thousands
of other prisoners suffering from illness who do not get
treatment was a
cruel and inhuman denial of basic constitutional rights to
life for many
inmates, like Muzanenhamo, who had not been convicted of any
crime.
Zimbabwe has one of the world's highest rates of HIV infections and
AIDS.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
07
September 2012
A Mudzi member of the MDC-T was rushed to hospital for
emergency treatment
on Friday. Over a week ago he had been injured in a
violent attack by a ZANU
PF supporter.
Titus Kaneupandu who is in his
sixties, suffered injuries to his head, arms
and back after an axe wielding
ZANU PF supporter attacked him last week
Thursday. At the time of the
attack, Kaneupandu was walking home following a
government sponsored meeting
about peace and democracy that was held in
Mudzi.
The meeting, hosted
by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(JOMIC), encouraged
members across the political divide to join together to
talk about a
peaceful future for Zimbabwe.
But the lesson was short lived and a
notorious ZANU PF thug, Brian
Kazingizi, followed Kaneupandu after the JOMIC
meeting and attacked him.
The MDC-T member had originally received
treatment at Murerwa hospital and
also reported the incident to the police,
who have done nothing.
SW Radio Africa’s Harare correspondent Simon
Muchemwa reported Friday that
Kaneupandu has been hospitalised at the
Avenues Clinic for emergency
treatment after his condition deteriorated over
the past week. Muchemwa
spoke to Kaneupandu in hospital, who said he
believes the attack was not
random.
“He believes there was a
political motive for the attack. Brian Kazingizi is
a notorious thug in the
community who has previously been involved in
attacks on MDC supporters.
Kazingizi is also the son of ZANU PF’s district
commissar in the area,”
Muchemwa explained.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By
Alex Bell
07 September 2012
The ZANU PF aligned Chipangano youth gang
is being blamed for a growing
number of attacks on commuter minibus drivers
in Harare, with analysts
warning that the gang is “out of
control.”
Minibus drivers have been caught up in a protracted battle for
control of
bus ranks across the capital, and are being forced to pay daily
‘protection’
fees to operate on certain routes. The fight is being led by
gangs known as
the “mandimbandimba” and they have been flouting their ZANU
PF allegiance,
by wearing party regalia and colours.
The gangs have
also been attacking drivers who refuse to pay the fee. On
Thursday morning
drivers at the Charge Office bus terminus were assaulted,
after more than 30
“mandimbandimba” arrived at the terminus and formed an
illegal road block.
Drivers who refused to hand over their three dollar fee
were pulled out of
their vehicles and assaulted. Some were strangled and
slapped and others
were forced to kneel on the ground and beg for
forgiveness.
The gang
members reportedly arrived at the bus terminus in top-of-the range
cars,
including black BMW X5s, Range Rovers and Mercedes Benz MLs. They were
also
seen wearing designer suits and black tops inscribed with the words
‘security’. One minibus driver was quoted as saying that the gangs threaten
them every day, and they are seen wearing “badges, crčme and green berets
inscribed (with) ZANU PF. We comply with their demands because of fear.”
Another driver said that the money being extorted from the drivers will be
used by ZANU PF ahead of elections.
It is widely believed that the
notorious Chipangano are linked to the
minibus scam, because the gang
already controls most flea markets, council
owned flats and other bus ranks
across Harare. The gang is also synonymous
with violence and intimidation in
Harare and for years has led attacks
against perceived supporters of anyone
opposed to ZANU PF.
Precious Shumba, the director of the Harare
Resident’s Trust, told SW Radio
Africa that the gang was originally let
loose by top ZANU PF officials to
ensure the party’s grip on power. But he
explained that the party no longer
has control, because the gang has become
financially independent.
“The gang depended on ZANU PF for protection
from prosecution. But they have
now become independent financially from ZANU
PF because of the money they
are making controlling markets and bus ranks.
They don’t need ZANU PF
anymore. They are a gang for hire,” Shumba
said.
He added: “ZANU PF has lost all control of this vigilante
group.”
ZANU PF has been trying to distance itself from the attacks on
the minibus
drivers, taking to the state controlled Herald newspaper to
insist the gangs
are not aligned to the party. The Herald, which
traditionally steers clear
of reporting on anything that paints ZANU PF
negatively, has also reported
extensively on the gangs holding the minibus
drivers to ransom, even quoting
drivers who have pointed the blame at ZANU
PF.
Shumba said this behaviour by the party and its mouthpiece newspaper
is
likely linked to ZANU PF’s plans for elections, explaining that the party
“might be trying to curry favour by condemning violence.”
“ZANU PF
thinks it can play this game of talking peace and practicing
violence, and
they think they have a chance of increasing their areas of
influence like
this,” Shumba said.
He added that Chipangano is donning party regalia to
take advantage of ZANU
PF’s reluctance to punish its members, because of the
potential backlash
from its support base. He said ZANU PF would prefer to
distance itself and
preach peace, than be seen taking action against a gang
they can no longer
control.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
07
September, 2012
Many areas in Zimbabwe’s second largest city went for a
fifth day without
water on Friday as the Minister for Water Resources, Sam
Sipepa Nkomo, was
in Bulawayo for crisis meetings with the MDC-T Provincial
Council.
The Bulawayo City Council declared a water emergency in July as
lower-than-usual rainfall continued to plague the area. A water rationing
plan put in place at the time was supposed to see residents go for a day
without water, twice a week. But the last two weeks have been much worse for
many residents.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme
reports that the situation
has been critical this week, without any help
being provided by the City
Council.
“There is an emergency situation
here yet the city has not even started
using bowsers to bring water to
people. There are 350 boreholes in the city
and only a few are motorized.
About 110 of them are also not working,”
Saungweme said.
He added
that residents lucky enough to have boreholes were helping their
neighbours,
but the supplies are not enough to make a difference to many
people who
still struggle daily to find basic water supplies.
According to
Saungweme, two out of Bulawayo’s five dams were decommissioned
last year
after water levels dropped. If the drought conditions persist and
no repairs
are made to the infrastructure, two more may have to be closed.
Samuel
Sipepa Nkomo met with members of the MDC-T provincial structures
Friday. Our
correspondent said he also tackled the water situation and the
bad publicity
it has brought the MDC-T led Council.
“The Minister knows that ZANU PF
caused all these problems through neglect.
But there is propaganda here
blaming the MDC-T led Council and he has to
address that issue today,”
Saungweme said.
The MP for Bulawayo South, Eddie Cross agreed. He told SW
Radio Africa that
many Bulawayo residents do not fully understand why there
is such a water
problem in the province and Minister Sipepa Nkomo was
explaining the
situation to their Council so that they can explain it to
their
constituencies.
Cross said the most affected areas were the
high-density suburbs located on
the outskirts of the city. Distribution to
those areas is more difficult and
current problems with power cuts have made
a bad situation worse.
“Load shedding has not helped with the
distribution of water to the
peripheral areas and a power surge at Wankie
Station on Tuesday also
affected distribution,” Cross explained.
“In
the last 15 years the population in our cities has doubled. Harare now
has
about 4.5 million people and Bulawayo has 1.2 million to 1.3 million.
Our
infrastructure was built to serve only 600,000 people,” The MP said.
As
for immediate plans to help Bulawayo, Cross said the city is rushing to
complete a pipeline from one of the dams, which will help distribute water
to the high density suburbs. This should be completed in the next two
weeks.
According to Cross, the City Council has also negotiated a deal
that will
help increase the production of clean water from 5,000 cubic
metres to
15,000 each day from just one dam. This will supply at least 20%
of Bulawayo’s
daily consumption needs. The 110 boreholes that were not
working are
currently being repaired and this should help many
people.
Water shortages have plagued many other parts of the country,
including the
capital Harare. Years of neglect and corruption under ZANU PF
and growing
urban populations, have all combined to create the current water
problems
that plague Zimbabwe.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff Reporter
7th
September 2012
Newsday newspaper and the state media is reporting that
the Prime Ministers
ex lover, Locardia Karimatsenga Tembo, is seeking an
urgent High Court
interdict to stop his wedding to Elizabeth Macheka next
week.
Speaking to Voice of America Tembo’s lawyer Jonathan Samukange
said: “If
they get married, that will prejudice my client. Under customary
law that
would mean Locardia is no longer Tsvangirai’s wife.”
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai maintains he did not pay lobola to Locardia’s
parents,
only damages, therefore he is not married to her.
Newsday quoted
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, who alleged
that the Central
Intelligence Organisation was trying to block the wedding.
“There are two
CIO operations: Operation Blackhawk and Operation Spiderweb
financed to the
tune of $100 million to cause maximum damage to the person
of Tsvangirai,”
he said.
On Thursday the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai again denied
that he was
customarily married to Locardia and said he would be going ahead
with the
final wedding preparations to Ms. Macheka.
It’s reported
that a number of regional leaders have been invited to the
extravagant event
which will be held next Saturday.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, September 07
- Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spin-doctors say
the premier’s former
lover Locadia Karimatsenga Tembo is working with
President Robert Mugabe’s
spy agency to discredit their ahead of fresh polls
after she filed court
papers, seeking financial maintains.
On Wednesday Tembo filed a civil court
application demanding US$15 000 a
month from the leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change.
On Friday her lawyers were expected to seek an urgent
interdict in the
Harare High Court to stop the premier’s wedding to
Elizabeth Macheka slatted
for 15 September.
Tembo, in her maintenance
application, insists that she is customarily
married to the PM, claiming the
MDC leader paid lobola. But the premier’s
spin-doctors on Friday came out
guns blazing, accusing Tembo of working in
cohorts with the dreaded Central
Intelligence Organisation.
Tsvangirai spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said
there were two CIO operations:
Operation Blackhawk and Operation Spider web
financed to the tune of $100
million dollars to cause maximum damage to the
person of Morgan Tsvangirai.
“Today it's a lawsuit. Tomorrow, they want
to file an urgent application to
stop the wedding....But the people's
resilient dream will not die. The
embodiment of that dream will march this
country to the promised land,” he
said.
But the PM, whose party is
reeling from damning independent surveys which
show that his party has been
eclipsed by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, is accused of
bed-hopping.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
7
September 2012
Zimbabweans have every right to demand new elections under
acceptable
minimum requirements for a free and fair poll, the National
Constitutional
Assembly said on Friday.
Blessing Vava, spokesman for
the NCA, told SW Radio Africa Zimbabweans are
now tired of the never-ending
political negotiations between ZANU PF and the
MDC formations.
‘SADC
can help so much but it must be left to us Zimbabweans to decide our
own
destiny and not three political parties. The negotiations to implement
the
GPA and come up with a roadmap have taken far too long and many people
are
just fed up and crying out for change,’ Vava.
Under the terms of the GPA,
signed in September 2008 between ZANU PF and the
MDC formations, elections
can only be held when the country has adopted a
new constitution and
instituted a number of other reforms. But ZANU PF has
now demanded extensive
changes to the draft constitution that they had
originally signed off on.
Critics had noted that the draft was far from
perfect as the MDC’s had
already made major concessions to ZANU PF.
The two MDC formations have
endorsed the new charter, completed on 18th
July, while ZANU PF insists it
won’t accept the draft constitution without
amendments.
ZANU PF wants
homosexuality and same-sex marriages outlawed, the watered
down attempts at
devolution to be completely abolished and replaced with
decentralization,
and dual citizenship banned, even though the draft did not
legalise dual
citizenship. The party claims these were popular sentiments
contained in the
national report of the outreach program.
The deadlock over the
constitutional process has forced the SADC Troika to
convene a special
summit next month, to discuss and address the issue.
Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete told journalists in Dar es Salaam on
Tuesday that they wanted
to see free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Kikwete, who took over the
Troika chair in August, said the summit will be
held on the 7th and 8th
October in Tanzania.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Friday, 07 September 2012 00:58
Lloyd
Gumbo Herald Reporter
CHURCHES have vowed to mobilise their followers
countrywide to vote against
the draft Constitution at the referendum if the
document does not outlaw
homosexuality and same-sex marriages.
This
follows revelations by Copac co-chairperson Cde Munyaradzi Paul
Mangwana
that Copac deliberately left the draft vague on homosexuality after
failing
to agree on whether or not to outlaw it.
Cde Mangwana’s sentiments were
echoed by MDC-T policy director Mr Eddie
Cross who confirmed his party’s
pro-gay stance during a discussion on Star
FM on Wednesday night.
“As a
party, we are not prepared to criminalise homosexuality because we
think 10
percent of our population have homosexual tendencies,” Mr Cross
said adding,
“We think that criminalisation of personal practices and
preference is a
violation of human rights.
“We fundamentally differ with Zanu-PF because
they want to criminalise
homosexuality.”
Mr Cross confirmed his party’s
intention to make the Constitution remain
silent on
homosexuality.
Ironically, the National Statistical Report, that contains
the views of the
people, says 76 percent of Zimbabweans want homosexuality
outlawed.
However, Copac — which tried, but failed — to smuggle
homosexuality into
the draft through phrases such as ‘‘natural
differences’’, chose to give gay
rights silent treatment, a development
legal experts say is open to
manipulation should the Gays And Lesbians
Association of Zimbabwe approach
the courts for
same-sex
marriages.
Church leaders said they backed Zanu-PF’s
amendments to the draft.
In its proposed amendments, Zanu-PF wants clause
4.35 that covers Marriage
Rights to include two new sections (4) and (5)
to read as follows: “(4)
Same-sex marriages are prohibited; and ‘‘(5)
Homosexuality, gays and
lesbian practices are prohibited’’.
The
churches say the proposed new Constitution should clarify that Zimbabwe
does not condone homosexuality.
“As the church, we have never been for
homosexuality and we want it
clarified in the draft Constitution that it is
outlawed,” said Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe president and
spokesperson Dr Goodwill Shana.
“The current draft doesn’t have a provision
where homosexuality is
outlawed. We want it amended.”
Pentecostal
Assemblies of Zimbabwe leader Bishop Trevor Manhanga, said
churches would
mobilise people to vote against the draft at the referendum
if the amendment
was not effected.
“If they don’t clarify in the Constitution that
homosexuality is outlawed,
then we won’t vote for it and we will mobilise
our people to vote NO. We
applaud Zanu-PF for coming up with amendments in
line with what the people
said. We don’t want a situation where people will
go to the court because
the law is silent.
“It is better that we answer
that question in the beginning than to have
people flooding our courts,”
Bishop Manhanga said.
Bishop Joshua Chiwenda of Revival Ministries
International said: “If they
want to bring a draft without those amendments
then the church will campaign
for a NO vote.
“There is no negotiation
on that matter because homosexuality is an
abomination before God and our
culture.
“We want the amendments by Zanu-PF on homosexuality to be
incorporated in
the draft Constitution. We want it to be clearly outlined
that
homosexuality is outlawed.
“It must be outlined that according
to the Word of God and culture,
homosexuality is outlawed. These things are
being peddled by the New World
Order because they are fighting God,” Bishop
Manhanga said.
Pastor Alwyn Bizure of Adonai Ministries said: “We want the
draft
Constitution to clearly spell out that homosexuality is
outlawed.”
“If anyone commits the crime, then those people should be
sentenced to life
imprisonment.”
The Constitution-making process has been
referred to the Principals of the
Global Political Agreement who are now
seized with the process.
The MDC formations have, however, endorsed the
Copac draft with MDC-T
leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai announcing that they will
soon launch a “Yes”
campaign.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff Reporter
7th September
2012
The nightmare for Ziscosteel employees may be coming to an end after
Cabinet
finally approved the multi million dollar deal between Ziscosteel
and Indian
company Essar Africa Holdings.
On Thursday, Industry and
Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube told NewsDay that
Cabinet approved the deal
on Tuesday.
But the political infighting over the deal continues after
the MDC-T and
ZANU PF MPs called for an investigation into the way Ncube
negotiated the
deal. They allege that he took bribes, an allegation that
Ncube has angrily
denied. His MDC party said that ZANU PF and the MDC-T were
ganging up to
undermine him.
Criticism of the Essar deal has been ongoing
with suggestions that billions
of dollars of iron ore were being given away
for just $700 million. Mining
Minister Obert Mpofu has also been doing his
best to block the investment,
the largest since independence 32 years
ago.
But for the town of Redcliff, the reopening of Ziscosteel cannot come
soon
enough.
The town sits in an iron rich area and has relied on
steel production as its
source of revenue since it was founded in the early
part of the last
century.
From the 70′s through to the mid 90′s
Ziscosteel F.C. was one of the country’s
best soccer teams. Zisco Rugby club
enjoyed success in the national league,
while the Iron Shooter basketball
team, which changed its name to Redcliff
Steelers, dominated Midlands
basketball.
The Zisco Athletics teams produced many talented athletes,
Christopher
Madzokere, Tinos Maridza, Sam Madzinga and Mark Fanucci, all of
whom were
members of Zisco’s almost unbeatable 4×100 and 4×400 metre relay
team. These
four athletes not only represented Zisco and the Midlands, but
also
represented Zimbabwe at many international competitions including the
1982
Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
Thousands of workers
in the town were absolutely dependent on Ziscosteel for
their livelihoods
and their way of life. Schools and hospitals in the town
were supported by
Ziscosteel who paid their bills and ensured property
maintenance through its
social responsibility program.
But senior ZANU PF officials took control of
the company and plundered and
looted it. After many years of bad management
and theft Ziscosteel was
closed down in 2008. By that time it had a
$300-million debt.
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo, September 07, 2012-
The Movement for Democratic Change has
rubbished recommendation made by a
few misguided MDC T and ZANU PF
parliamentarians for government to institute
a probe into the alleged
misconduct and corruption by Professor Welshman
Ncube in the awarding of the
Essar deal.
The MDC National spokesperson,
Nhlanhla Dube told Radio Voice of the People
in an interview Thursday that
it is not only nonsensical, false, defamatory,
scandalous and malicious but
a desperate act by those who have been out
thought, out organised and out
articulated and are now resorting to
unorthodox means as they cannot stop
the green machine .
Dube said Professor Ncube like all other party
deployments to government has
discharged his duties with the highest level
of prudency and honesty.
“Our political party always demands the most
stringent adherence to best
practice and regard for transparency in the
discharge of public affairs from
all its officials in all arms of
government.
“We wish to unequivocally and without any prevarication place
it on record
that the accusations being leveled against Prof. Ncube are not
only spurious
but pejorative and profane, sorely aimed at injuring both the
person and
political credibility of Prof. Ncube as both a public servant and
leader of
the MDC,” added Dube.
He said that MDC should the ill
thought probe be instituted by government on
Prof. Ncube then a full
announcement should be made to the public and that
those that have found it
convenient to set aside their well-known political
disputes to pursue a
common cause of embarrassing Prof. Ncube will eat their
self-served humble
pie with the same amount of brouhaha and bravado.
“We believe that
parliamentary oversight should not be used as a forum for
displaying petty
jealousies. Parliamentary privilege should not be abused to
make
unsubstantiated accusations against our country’s guests such as
Essar.
“When Hon. Madzimure says that money exchanged hands corruptly,
one would
expect the Honourable member to avail that same information to the
law
enforcement agencies,” explained Dube.
He said the level of
reckless and careless statement unfortunately only
serves to discredit our
legislature and that Parliamentarians should not
abuse the parliamentary
privileges to assassinate characters of hardworking
and progressive
Zimbabweans like Professor Ncube.
MDC said such assaults on Ncube and the
Party will not stop their resolve
and fight for democracy that entails
empowerment of local communities
through devolution of power.
A few
parliamentarians recently accused Prof Ncube of corruptly dealing with
Essar
Investors.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.net
1 hour
ago
HARARE - Zanu PF loyalists including politburo member
Professor Jonathan
Moyo have lambasted Mr Tendai Biti, describing him as the
worst Minister of
Finance since independence.
They also called on civil
servants to show Mr Biti the door during the next
elections.
The remarks
follow Minister Biti’s statement that civil servants are
unlikely to get
their annual bonus this year because the government does not
have
money.
Responding to the statement by Minister Biti that civil servants will
not
get bonus Zanu PF loyalist Dr. Charity Manyeruke say civil servants
should
now come out of the woods and use the next plebiscite to remove
characters
like minister Biti from the government.
Professor Jonathan
Moyo, who described Biti as the worst Minister of
Finance, said his last
statement should be a wake up call for civil
servants.
Minister Biti this
Thursday told journalists that there might be no bonuses
for civil servants
this year because of the poor performance of the revenue
and the depressed
economic environment.
Across the divide Zimbabweans have hailed Tendai Biti
as the country's best
Finance Minister since independence following his
brilliant work stirring
the country from a decade of unprecedented economic
decline under President
Robert Mugabe.
While President Robert Mugabe
publicly denigrates Finance Minister Tendai
Biti accusing him of throwing
spanners into the works it has now emerged the
88-year old former guerrilla
leader secretly extols the robust MDC-T
secretary general, as his best
finance minister ever.
According to Wikileaks, US leaked cables secrets,
former United States
ambassador to Botswana Stephen Nalon said Mugabe
recently disclosed that he
rated Biti as the best ever finance minister he
has worked with since he
took over the country in 1980.
Mugabe reportedly
said he was overly impressed by Biti despite having worked
with Biti for a
short period.
The late Bernard Chidzero, the late Ariston Chambati, Herbert
Mrerwa,
Christopher Kuruneri and Simba Makoni, have all held that portfolio
but
Mugabe rates Biti higher.
In a leaked US diplomatic cable, Nolan
said; “President Mugabe praised the
work of Tendai Biti in only a few weeks
and called him his best Finance
Minister ever.”
The diplomatic cable was
dispatched in April 2009 but leaked late last year
by whistle blowing
website Wikileaks. The cable was made available this
week.
In the cable,
Nolan said he was told about Mugabe’s appreciation of Biti’s
work by the
Botswana Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani.
Skelemani had just met Mugabe
during a Sadc Summit held in Swaziland soon
after the formation of the
inclusive government in Harare.
But Mugabe has repeatedly accused Biti of
throwing spanners into the works
by allegedly allocating himself
presidential powers; cutting support to
black farmers and failing to help
struggling businesses, particularly in
Bulawayo.
“This man we gave the
job of managing the country’s finances does not think
along the same lines
as us,” Mugabe said recently, while in Manicaland where
he was meeting
traditional leaders.
“To him and some of his colleagues, agriculture is not
an important area
because they think that if they finance this sector, they
will be
strengthening Zanu PF. They don’t want to see the economy
prospering.”
But contrary to this, it emerged Mugabe rates Biti very high
esteem. The
Botswana Foreign Minister Skelemani told the former US
ambassador to
Gaborone, that he was surprised that Mugabe was so impressed
by Biti and
that he was grateful about Botswana’s attitude towards
Zimbabwe.
According to Skelemani, the Sadc leaders told Mugabe and the
Zimbabwean
delegation, at the summit, that "you need to help us to
you."
Minister Skelemani says that President Mugabe approached him to "thank
him
for his attitude" during the summit.
Mugabe told Skelemani that "we
are glad you (Botswana) are even thinking
about helping us." Skelemani says
that he told Mugabe "we have been trying
to help you all along, even if you
didn't see it."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
7
September 2012
Piniel Denga, the MDC-T MP for Mbare, is to leave his
relatively safe urban
based seat to run in his rural home of Chikomba in
Mashonaland East province
in the next poll.
Denga, elected as MP for
Mbare in 2008, is the chairman of the party in the
province and says he
wants to lead from the front. The MDC-T holds three
parliamentary seats out
of 19 in Mashonaland East.
SW Radio Africa understands that a popular
former ZBC Radio 2 disc jockey,
now an MDC-T activist, is interested in
contesting the Mbare seat.
With the next election looming Denga believes
a radical approach is needed
to make significant inroads in the Mashonaland
East province, once
considered a ZANU PF stronghold.
‘This is why as
a province we’ve decided to ask those high-profile party
members to abandon
their safe seats and concentrate on challenging ZANU PF
in their
strongholds. The former ruling party is not as strong as 10 years
ago and in
some areas we notice they’re now very vulnerable, and we want to
take
advantage of that. In politics you take risks or there is nothing for
you,’
Denga said.
Asked if people would not assume he’s running away from the
notorious terror
group Chipangano, the MP laughed at the suggestion,
pointing out that there
are more than 20,000 registered voters in Mbare
compared ‘to just 20 thugs
protected by the state.’
‘If it was
definite the MDC-T was going to lose the Mbare seat, I wouldn’t
go anyway. I
would remain there and fight to maintain our dominance in the
urban areas.
But look, it doesn’t make sense to safeguard the seats you
consider safe and
try not challenge the ones we lost marginally. For
instance, in Chikomba
there is a seat that we lost by 27 votes, so if we
work hard, we can be able
to grab that seat,’ the MP said.
He continued: ‘Over and above that, we
studied the whole province, ward by
ward, constituency by constituency, and
discovered that we have at least
nine seats that we lost by a sizeable
margin. If we pull our resources
together, work very hard to preach our
polices and what the MDC-T will do
when we win power, I think we stand a
good chance of becoming the party with
the majority of seats in the
province,’ Denga added.
http://mg.co.za
07 SEP 2012 00:00 - MAIL & GUARDIAN
REPORTERS
Mega-rich Zimbabwean businessman Robert Mhlanga stands at the
centre of an
opaque network of companies set up to cash in on Marange
diamond fields.
Mhlanga, a retired air vice-marshall, is widely regarded
as a close
associate of President Robert Mugabe and a business
representative of the
Mugabe family, although both parties have denied
this.
The Mail & Guardian recently reported that Mhlanga has been on
a
R200-million property buying spree in South Africa.
The company he
chairs, Mbada Diamonds, and other concerns operating in
Marange have been
accused of remitting inadequate revenue to the Zimbabwean
treasury despite
making "a killing".
The United States and the European Union recently
introduced new measures
that require processors of rough diamonds to
disclose the origin of the
gems, putting a squeeze on companies operating in
Marange.
Central to Mbada's operation is a South African scrap-metal
company, New
Reclamation. Despite its lack of mining expertise, Reclamation
was chosen to
partner Marange Resources, wholly owned by the state's
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC), in a joint venture called
Mbada Diamonds.
Mbada, favoured ahead of several other established
diamond-mining companies,
immediately received a 1000-hectare concession in
the Marange fields.
In October 2009 Zimbabwe's minister of mines and
mining development, Obert
Mpofu, appointed Mhlanga chairperson of the joint
venture, which Reclamation
entered through its Mauritian-registered
subsidiary, Grandwell Holdings.
Grandwell was given the mandate to oversee
day-to-day operations and the
right to market all diamonds
produced.
Although Mhlanga was ostensibly appointed to its board to
represent the
government's interests, the M&G has established that he
has a stake in other
companies linked to Mbada.
Joint venture
deal
These include the mysterious Hong Kong-registered Transfrontier Mining,
which acquired 49.99% of Grandwell last year. The owners of Transfrontier
who would benefit could not be established. However, Mbada's Marange
concession was increased sevenfold after Transfrontier bought into
Grandwell.
Mhlanga's lawyer of more than 10 years, Paul Casasola, a
director of
Grandwell and Mbada, is seen to represent Mhlanga's interests in
both
companies. The M&G was told that Casasola was involved in crafting
the joint
venture – although he insisted that the negotiations "occurred
prior to my
appointment as director at Mbada and Grandwell". He said he was
a director
of both companies but "had no financial interests in
either".
He did not respond to a question asking him whether Mhlanga had
employed him
to work in the companies.
At the time the joint venture
deal was clinched, Grandwell was wholly owned
by New Reclamation. Casasola
said he had "absolutely no relationship" with
the latter.
The M&G
has also established that when a ZMDC team visited Johannesburg to
conduct
due diligence on Reclamation in August 2009, Mhlanga was among the
representatives who met the group. Mhlanga attended the meeting in his
capacity as the chairperson of a South African-registered commodities
company, the Liparm Corporation, which trades in diamonds. He is its sole
shareholder and director.
Share registry documents indicate that
Liparm does not have a stake in the
Reclamation group. Reclamation's lawyer,
David Hertz, said the scrap metal
company "has a commercial arm's length
relationship with Liparm".
Until early this year, Liparm listed
Transfrontier and Mbada Diamonds as
sister companies on its website.
However, the relevant section has been
removed from the site.
In
questions put to him through Casasola, the M&G asked Mhlanga to explain
his role in Mbada, but he did not respond. Mhlanga also did not answer a
question about the nature of his relationship with the Reclamation Group and
its chairperson, David Kassel, a director of both Grandwell and
Mbada.
Vision and growth strategy
Casasola said he would meet Mhlanga
on August 20 to put the M&G's questions
to him, but later said the
meeting did not take place.
Mhlanga is believed to have played a role in
ensuring Reclamation's
acceptance as the ZMDC's partner, ahead of specialist
mining companies such
as Alrosa, Namakwa, Gem Diamonds, SAIIC and Community
Energy. It is thought
the scrap metal company's relationship with Mpofu
dates to when he was
Zimbabwe's industry and trade minister.
In 2008
Reclamation approached Mpofu to acquire a stake in Zimbabwe's ailing
state
steel manufacturer, Ziscosteel. However, Mpofu was reassigned to the
mines
portfolio in February 2009 before the deal was concluded and
Reclamation's
Marange coup followed soon after.
Ironically, the ZMDC team that came to
South Africa to conduct due diligence
"on approved" companies noted that
Reclamation had no experience in diamond
mining. Despite this, it gave the
company the thumbs-up. Allegations are
that Mhlanga and Mpofu's influence
may have been crucial.
"Reclam is not a mining house and is currently not
involved in mining ...
They have no diamond mining as part of their vision
and growth strategy,"
the due diligence report states.
Complicated
mining techniques
Hertz said there was nothing amiss with Reclamation landing
the deal,
because the company "drew on the experience of certain key
executives and
employees who have extensive experience in the mining
sector".
"These individuals were involved in the reopening of the Roberts
Victor
Diamond Mine in Kimberley and the Monarch Gold Mine in Botswana,
which ...
required the utilisation of complicated mining techniques and
methods," he
said. This is an apparent reference to Kassel, whose role in
the two mines
is mentioned on the company's website.
Hertz said none
of the Reclamation executives have a personal relationship
with Mpofu. It
had bid for Ziscosteel but the minister had not influenced
the
outcome.
"The first time a meeting was held between any members of the
Reclamation
Group's executive team and minister Mpofu was in 2009 when the
ministry met
with the Reclamation Group to discuss the then prospective
Marange
transaction," Hertz said. "Subsequent to that meeting, the
Reclamation Group
interacted with the ZMDC and its wholly owned subsidiary,
Marange Resources
(Pvt) Limited."
Allegations of diamond revenue
being diverted into private pockets and
concerns that elements of the
Zimbabwean security forces have control of
diamond companies have resulted
in the US, Australia, New Zealand and
European Union imposing restrictions
on diamonds from Marange.
Repeated efforts to contact Mpofu for comment
were unsuccessful.
The M&G Centre for Investigative
Journalism (amaBhungane) produced this
story. All views are ours. See www.amabhungane.co.za for our stories,
activities and funding sources.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/09/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
A WEEK after threatening to sue The Daily News for $45
million, Munyaradzi
Kereke launched into a new legal battle with the weekly
Financial Gazette on
Thursday.
The Rocfoundation Medical Centre
founder wrote to the newspaper’s editor to
claim that an opinion article by
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono was in
fact his “intellectual
property”.
The article, published in the newspaper’s ‘Special Report’
page under the
title ‘Revisiting the pre-election pact in the economy’s
interest’, was
originally printed in the same newspaper under Gono’s name
just before the
June 2008 presidential election run-off.
Kereke – who was
an adviser to Gono until February this year – claims the
piece, a cautionary
note to the country’s political leaders, should have
been published under
his name – and not Gono’s.
He wrote to Financial Gazette’s editor Hama
Saburi to claim: “Please take
note that I am the author and owner of those
views and article.
“Urgently, therefore, publicly retract your erroneous
attribution of this
article, failure of which I would be bound to take
immediate legal action
against your paper and Dr Gono for theft of
intellectual property.
“Please take this matter as an urgent and serious
one.”
The Financial Gazette, which is owned by Gono, said it would not be
retracting the article and encouraged Kereke to file his court
claim.
A spokesman for the newspaper said it was curious that Kereke
would assert
authorship of an article published in 2008 when he did not
raise the same
objections at the time.
“Because of our association
with Dr Gono, our paper had taken a
self-censorship stance that we would not
get involved in Kereke’s misguided
mission of rubbishing our principal
through his unfounded and ludicrous
claims, which he has now chosen to
extend to us,” the spokesman said.
“Our silence, while he behaves like a
bull in a china shop and goes about
intimidating media houses and their
editors through his unending frivolous
claims, is not a sign of weakness or
approval of his deplorable conduct.
“We will not tolerate his threats.
Let him proceed with his legal action and
we will meet in court.”
Last
week, the litigious Kereke threatened to sue The Daily News for
publishing
details of correspondence between a lawyer for a 13-year-old girl
allegedly
raped by Kereke in 2010 and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri.
Kereke
– who maintains his innocence – asked the newspaper to publish an
apology
within seven days or face a US$45 million libel lawsuit. The Daily
News
defended its reporting with a spokesman insisting: “We will defend the
action when it is launched.”
The Financial Gazette and The Daily News
join The Standard newspaper which
Kereke sued for US$5 million in November
last year over its coverage of the
rape allegations.
Since leaving
the apex bank, Kereke has targeted his former boss with a
string of
corruption allegations. He has also accused Gono of hiring a
hitman to kill
him.
Gono responded by filing a US$25 million defamation suit last month,
challenging Kereke to prove his claims.
http://www.wcpo.com
Posted: 12:35 PM
Last Updated: 1 hour
and 2 minutes ago
By: Sarah Beth Hensley, shensley@wcpo.com
By: Brandi Smith, bsmith@wcpo.com
CINCINNATI - A federal
grand jury has charged seven people who lived in the
Tri-State with using
stolen identities to rack up as much as $10 million in
fraudulent income tax
refunds.
The indictment, which was announced Friday morning, includes seven
people —
six of whom are citizens of Zimbabwe. The people named on the
indictment are
34-year-old Kudzaiishe Marimbire, 30-year-old Hlomera
Mabhande, 37-year-old
Johanes Tagarisa, 26-year-old Kudzaishe R. Bungu,
23-year-old Tawanda
Marimbire, 22-year-old Andrew Bere and 32-year-old
Julius Marimbire.
The IRS estimates that in the last five years, the
defendants filed IRS
refunds claims that totaled as much as $10 million,
according to information
released Friday by the United States Attorney for
the Southern District of
Ohio, Carter Stewart.
“The indictment alleges
that the defendants stole personal identifying
information for thousands of
actual people,” said Stewart in a news release.
“They allegedly used this
information to file false federal income tax
returns to obtain refunds,
often before the actual taxpayers ever filed
legitimate tax returns. The
defendants usually received the fraudulent
refunds on debit cards tied to
the returns.”
Once the false income tax refunds were deposited on the prepaid
debit cards,
the defendants and others working on their behalf allegedly
cashed them in
at ATM machines or by purchasing money orders. The cash was
then allegedly
sent through bank wires to other people in the operation in
Africa who
purchased expensive vehicles in the United States and had them
transported
to Zimbabwe.
Kudzaiishe Marimbire and his brother, Julius,
started a tax preparation
service in approximately 2007 to help with their
effort, according to the
indictment.
All seven are charged with
conspiracy, which is punishable by up to 20 years
in prison. The indictment
also includes charges of fraud, aggravated
identity theft, money laundering,
making false claims and filing false
income tax returns.
Five of the
defendants are fugitives. Tawanda Marimbire is in custody
outside of Ohio
and will be returned to Cincinnati to face the charges.
Bungu has been
summoned to appear in federal court in Cincinnati on Sept.
13, according to
the release.
Mark Porter, Secret Service special agent in charge, said
identity theft has
emerged as a major threat to our nation's financial
infrastructure. It's the
secret service's investigative mission to protect
our financial
infrastructure.
"There are multiple ways that a
citizens identity can be stolen," Porter
said. "For example, the taking of a
victim's trash from their home, to the
stealing of their mail, to their home
being or their vehicle being
burglarized, or as simple as losing a purse or
a wallet."
Darryl Williams, special agent in charge, Internal Revenue Service
Criminal
Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office (IRS), also spoke at the
Friday
morning press conference.
"The IRS is aggressively pursuing
those who steal others' identities in
order to file false returns," IRS
Special Agent in Charge Williams said.
"Our cooperative work with the U. S.
Attorney's Office and other law
enforcement agencies will help protect
taxpayers in the Cincinnati area, as
well as the State of Ohio, from being
victimized by identity theft and bring
identity thieves to justice."
No
other information has been released at this time.
Read more:
http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/seven-charged-with-10m-tax-fraud-scheme?#ixzz25odTLaMQ
http://edition.cnn.com
By Teo Kermeliotis, for
CNN
September 7, 2012 -- Updated 1214 GMT (2014 HKT)
(CNN) --
Simba Makoni, the former Zimbabwean finance minister and
presidential
candidate in the country's last elections, describes himself as
"an eternal
optimist."
"I believe those of us who don't see a half-empty glass but a
half-full
glass will prevail over those of us who want to keep us stuck in
the past,"
he said reassuringly as he concluded his speech Tuesday at a
Royal African
Society event in the UK entitled "Whither Zimbabwe?"
Yet,
Makoni's optimism-filled end remarks could do little to lift the gloom
that
had descended upon the packed room moments ago while he was describing
life
in today's Zimbabwe.
"Surviving is very difficult on a daily basis," Makoni,
founder and
president of the Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn party, had told earlier the
crowd of
analysts, activists and members of the diaspora gathered at
London's School
of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Unemployment is
soaring, he said, and acute food shortages threaten
vulnerable parts of the
population with starvation. Schools are short of
books and hospitals often
lack the most basic supplies -- just a few days
ago, he said, a hospital in
Harare was left without running water.
The price of dissent in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean PM responds to verdict No chance
of an Arab Spring in Zimbabwe
Inside Zimbabwe's diamond industry
"This is why all our leaders when they're
falling ill they leave the country
and go for treatment in Thailand, in
Singapore, in Malaysia, in the UK and
the rest of us must die," he
said.
Read related: Inside Zimbabwe's controversial Marange diamond
field
A former member of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, Makoni first joined
Zimbabwe's government in 1980, the year the southern African country gained
its independence from Great Britain. He served as a deputy minister of
agriculture before leading the industry and energy development.
During
his tenure as finance minister in the 2000s, Makoni backed the
devaluation
of the Zimbabwean dollar and faced strong opposition as some of
his policies
contradicted the rest of ZANU-PF. He left the party in 2008 to
run for
president against Mugabe, garnering 8.3% of the vote in that year's
controversial elections.
Makoni's speech at SOAS was billed as a
conversation "on issues in
contemporary Zimbabwean politics."
Yet, it
felt more like the launch of a new presidential campaign.
Makoni blamed
Zimbabwe's unity government for failing to meet people's
expectations and
regenerate the economy in a country beset by widespread
poverty.
"The
people of Zimbabwe are thoroughly disgruntled with the inclusive
government
and they would like the shortest opportunity to be rid of [it],"
he
said.
Zimbabwe has been ruled by a fragile power-sharing government cobbled
together after 2008's disputed elections prompted months of violence that
paralyzed the country. Under the deal, ZANU-PF leader Robert Mugabe remained
president while his political foe, Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC-T), became prime minister. Third party leader
Arthur Mutambara was named deputy prime minister.
Yet, tensions have
always remained high within the coalition. Its two main
parties quickly
formed polarized political camps, quarreling publicly on a
number of issues,
including the draft of a new constitution. After many
disagreements about
the date of the next vote, Zimbabwe is now expected to
go to polls within a
year.
Makoni said that Zimbabweans "are yearning for elections the
soonest" but
are also "fearful of the violence" that had engulfed past
votes. "They would
like assurances that that election would be free and
fair, without violence
and intimidation."
He noted, however, that
Zimbabwe does not need a new constitution to hold
free and fair elections.
In principle, Makoni said, the existing law and
institutions such as the
Zimbabwean Electoral Commission are adequate: "If
we put the right people in
it but more importantly if we take out the wrong
people who are in it at the
moment."
Read: Zimbabwe 'open for business'
Last month, a Freedom House
survey said that support for Tsvangirai's party
fell from 38% to 20% in the
last two years, while Mugabe's ZANU-PF grew from
17% to 31% in the same
period. But also in August, a survey by Afrobarometer
described a different
picture, giving ZANU-PF 32% and MDC-T 31%.
Presented with these figures,
which show that 2013's elections will be once
again a contest between Mugabe
and Tsvangirai, Makoni was quick to stress
that 47% of the respondents in
the Freedom House survey did not disclose
their voting preferences.
"That
is the most significant for me," he said. "For me and for others who
are not
in that global political agreement that is our target constituent
because
whoever gets half of that 47% is the person who will make the
government of
Zimbabwe the next time around."
Mugabe, who's been in power for 32 years, has
blamed many of his country's
economic woes on the sanctions, imposed by the
United States and the
European Union in 2002.
But Makoni argued that the
sanctions, which include travel bans, and
freezing of assets, were not
affecting ordinary people. Instead, he said,
the measures are aimed at
Mugabe and his allies.
"These are targeted measures against individuals
who are perceived to
perpetuate the violation of human rights," said Makoni,
who was also subject
to the EU travel ban in the 2000s as a member of
Mugabe's regime.
Trade between Zimbabwe and the EU grew by almost 50% in the
last 12 months,
Makoni said. Nearly all of the country's platinum production
and most of its
tobacco is heading to the northwestern hemisphere, he
added.
"These things don't happen in a country that is under sanctions,
particularly trade and economic sanctions," he said.
"Now, if barring
Robert Mugabe and Grace Mugabe coming to London to shop at
Harrods are
sanctions against Zimbabwe, you will have to make a new
definition of
sanctions."
Looking toward the upcoming vote, Mokani said that his party has
already
began conversations in Zimbabwe to bring together other political
groups and
patriotic Zimbabweans who can help the country escape its
hardship.
Not surprisingly, he said was hopeful about the Zimbabwe of
tomorrow -- the
people's resilient spirit and skills, coupled with a better
management of
Zimbabwe's natural resources, will all contribute to the
country's
resurgence, he said.
"There is a silver lining around this dark
cloud hovering over Zimbabwe,"
declared Makoni. "The future of Zimbabwe is
bright."
And when asked about who was going to win the next elections,
Makoni, as
optimistic as ever, replied: "Simba Makoni."
Friday, 07
September 2012
President Tsvangirai will tomorrow launch the Vote Yes
campaign at a
colourful event at the Harare Show Grounds at 10am.
The
Yes Vote campaign will be held under theme; “My Voice is In – My Vote is
Yes”.
The campaign is meant to sensitise, inform, educate and engage the
people of
Zimbabwe on the new Constitution. Zimbabweans made contributions
to the
draft during the outreach process, which views were captured in the
new
Constitution.
The people will define the destiny of the draft
Constitution during the All
Stakeholders’ Conference and through the
Referendum, which will lead to the
holding of credible, free and fair
elections next year.
The MDC National Standing Committee members,
National Executive officials,
ministers, Members of Parliament, councillors,
Harare provincial party
structures, members and supporters will attend the
Harare launch, which will
be preceded by a nationwide roll out
programme.
The launch comes at a time when Zanu PF is dithering and
trying to stop the
Constitution making process, by bringing a totally new
draft constitution,
which disregards the people’s views.
The new
Constitution preserves our history, secures the future of the
country and
its people including those in Zanu PF. During the outreach
campaign, Zanu PF
used operation Chimumumu where only a few selected party
members were
allowed to speak. Now the sunset party would like to take that
away from the
people by rewriting the draft Constitution and bringing in new
changes
totaling 266 alterations
My vote is in. My voice is YES!!!
http://africanarguments.org
September 6, 2012
On the surface of it, it would appear that
the political dispute over the
Save Valley Conservancy in South Eastern
Zimbabwe is yet another story of
‘illegal land-grabs’. It must however be
said at the onset that this is an
understandable perception given the
controversy and violence that has come
to be associated with our
government’s land reform policies since the year
2000. The fault for such a
perception resides with the same said government
and I do not hold a brief
to assist it in changing how its policies are
viewed globally or
domestically. It is however important that the issue of
the Save Conservancy
not be lost in the conundrum of typical debate about
land conflict and/or
reform in Zimbabwe. This is because it is more
complicated than what is
currently being placed in the public domain.
Evidently, and as has been
reported in the media, there are four points of
conflict over and about this
safari area. The first being that of the broad
policy of the Zimbabwean
government to pursue indigenisation of the national
economy. In this, the
government has insisted that all sectors of the
economy must be placed into
indigenous ownership. Given the fact that parts
of the conservancy are
managed by some local state and private entities in
partnership with foreign
nationals, it appears that the Zimbabwe Community
Areas Management Programme
for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) is not immune
from indigenisation . In
response, the European Union has issued a warning
that it may renew
sanctions on Zimbabwe over this matter. This of course is
in keeping with
the contemporary narrative of our government’s international
relations and
domestic policies.
The second point of conflict over the Save Conservancy has
been between the
political parties in the inclusive government. The two MDCs
in government
have denounced not only the broader methodology of economic
empowerment but
also specifically the takeover of the conservancy through
the same policy
and by persons perceived to be functionaries of Zanu
Pf.
This also leads us to the third and rather surprising node of conflict
surrounding this matter. This being that of the Zanu Pf intra-party
divisions over the allocation of parts of the conservancy that have
reportedly required the intervention of Vice President Mujuru. The fourth
and perhaps most important point of dispute over the Save Valley Conservancy
has now been reported as coming from traditional chiefs who are arguing that
any redistribution of the land there must not be only for the bigwigs but
must benefit the community.
This claim by the chiefs should however be
accepted with caution as it is
not clear whom and whose interests they are
representing. Fundamentally
however, all of the four nodes of disagreement
have some sort of tentative
acknowledgement that whatever happens, the
conservancy must benefit the
‘community’ and this is a point that must be
debated honestly.
The general narrative about conservancies has been about
preserving wildlife
both for environmental reasons or alternatively
touristic and game hunting
profitable endeavors. As akin to our forestry
protection policies,which are
largely a carry over of colonial policy,
conservancies are protected
particularly from what have been perceived to
be the ‘marauding’ locals who
are deemed to have a limited understanding of
either the environment or the
wildlife that they live in close proximity
with. (Hence some of the
statements from the incumbents at the Save
Conservancy that some of those
that wish to take over do not understand a
thing about running safaris).
Further still, even those that have been in
partnerships or those that
intend to politically take over the conservancy
have not shifted in their
approach to the same ‘local community’. As it was
in the beginning of the
laying of the boundaries between villages and the
wildlife/forestry areas
before independence, so it has remained. This even
in the aftermath of the
once much celebrated Campfire which has
demonstrated the patent ineptitude
of many a rural district council since
its inception in 1989. In effect, all
players in this new
environmental/safari tourism cum political contest have
essentially become
part players in what is referred to in some academic
circles as the lie of
the land ( an unquestioning acceptance of statistical
data from
environmental and other NGOs that Africa’s rural poor damage their
own
environment). This has been the underlying reason why local communities
are
barely in with a chance of benefiting from such projects. This is
especially
so when one looks at the example of displacements of people from
Matopos to
the Gwaai Shangani forests and their subsequent placement under
another
Campfire project in their new locations after independence
(ostensibly to
protect the elephants and other wildlife).
In extending its indigenisation
programme to conservancies, the government
has not demonstrated a thorough
re-examination of its Campfire programmes
thus far and is not necessarily
seeking to depart from ‘colonial’ policy
understanding of the interaction
between environmental/natural resources and
the country’s citizens. The Save
Conservancy debacle is the latest proof of
this. To seek to merely want to
replace existing owners of the wildlife
sanctuary and assume that is
‘progress’ is thoroughly inadequate.
Simultaneously to talk of community
share ownership trusts without a
thorough re-examination of Campfire’s
successes and failures is to give
false hope (if any) to communities in the
vicinity of the area.
The primary challenge is now not only about managing
the narrative of
investor confidence ahead of the Untied Nations World
Tourism Organisation
conference. Instead, it is of the urgent need for the
country and government
to depart from the exclusionary policies of the
colonial past not by way of
displacement or replacement but by wholesale
democratic reform of the manner
in which our natural resources are managed
in the best public interest. This
would begin with an evident understanding
that what is happening in Save is
a proverbial case of the grass suffering
while the elephants fight in order
for things to remain the same.
^
Phrase ‘Lie of the land’ title taken from the title of the book by
Melissa
Leach and Robin Mearns, eds. The Lie of the Land: Challenging
Received
Wisdom on the African Environment Oxford: James Currey and
Portsmouth, N.H.:
Heinemann, 1996.
* Takura Zhangazha writes in his personal capacity.
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
http://www.swradioafrica.com/Documents/freeth070912.pdf
Read about the Makgadikgadi Pans expedition undertaken by Ben Freeth and his young sons to
raise funds for the Mike Campbell Foundation, which works on human rights and
justice issues
and assists destitute Zimbabwean farm workers.