PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has unexpectedly ordered Finance minister
Tendai Biti to set aside a staggering $200 million in his forthcoming
national budget to be delivered in November for fresh elections next
year.
Biti confirmed that he met Mugabe on Tuesday and was given an
instruction to reserve funds for the referendum and fresh
elections.
Biti said this means he has to make a special provision of
US$100 million for the referendum on the draft constitution and another
US$100 million on new elections in his budget.
Parties in
the inclusive government agreed that they would hold fresh elections after
the constitution-making process with or without a new
constitution.
The plebiscite on the draft constitution is likely
to be held early to mid next year if the current chaotic constitution-making
process does not drag on for much longer, while no one knows when new
elections would be staged. Mugabe did not reveal to Biti on Tuesday when
fresh elections would be held.
"We have got other challenges that are
unique to this budget," Biti told business executives on Wednesday at a
breakfast meeting organsised by the Zimbabwe Independent and Ernst &
Young. "We have got the key issue of the referendum that electoral experts
are advising me will cost US$100 million to run. A referendum is an
election.
"Then when is the date of the next election? I went
yesterday (Tuesday) and spoke to President Mugabe. I asked him the date of
the next election.The long and short of it is that I don't know but the fact
of the matter is that I am going to budget for the election next year. That
means that US$200 million is already gone in an economy such as this one,
which is a disaster if you ask me purely from a fiscal policy point of view.
Whether it happens or not, I don't know but I have to adopt a multi-layered
fiscal policy statement."
Mugabe's directive - which reveals his
unflinching determination to have fresh polls next year whatever the
electoral environment - is likely to cause a political uproar in government,
mainly in parliament, and in civil society given that Treasury is
broke.
It is not clear why Mugabe is pushing for elections. There are
reports that he is rushing for elections to secure another term before his
health deteriorates.
Yesterday Mugabe (86) refused to go into details
about his health in an interview with Reuters but said only God could decide
matters of life and death. A Reuters Harare correspondent, however,
described Mugabe as appearing "fit and lively for his age". This comes after
persistent rumours that his health is failing.
Mugabe did not
tell Reuters whether he planned to stand in the next elections or not.
However, he is on record as saying he would stand if "the people" say
so.
The order by Mugabe for Biti to set aside US$200 million for
elections at a time when civil servants are being paid peanuts and school
children are failing to attend classes due to lack of fees could provoke a
storm of anger among the public.
Government is failing to pay
civil servants, provide adequate social services and rebuild the economy due
to lack of money. Civil servants earn between US$150 and US$250 a month.
Treasury is already under intense pressure to meet government expenditures,
civil servants salaries and deliver basic social
services.
Government is desperately looking for US$10 billion to
rebuild the economy ruined by Mugabe's failed leadership and disastrous
policies. Since last year, government has only been able to get barely US$2
billion from donors, bilateral partners and multilateral institutions. Big
multilateral institutions are still unable to give Zimbabwe funding due to
policy differences and financial restrictions imposed by the United States
and European Union.
Zimbabwe, still recovering from the
devastation caused by hyperinflation which topped 500 billion percent in
2008 and a US$6,7 billion debt overhang, is also unable to borrow because of
its poor credit rating and serious sovereign risk.
Currently,
Zimbabwe is trying to get funding from neighbouring countries. Last week
Zimbabwe managed to secure a US$70 million line of credit from Botswana.
Biti is also negotiating for a R2,7 billion overdraft facility and a R500
million line of credit with South Africa.
Biti said from purely a
financial point of view Mugabe's directive to reserve US$200 million was a
"disaster". He said there was no "fiscal space" for such a huge expenditure
on elections.
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said he had not
heard about the new drive for elections. "I haven't heard about it," he said
in an interview yesterday.
Tsvangirai's spokesman James Maridari
said he could not deal with the issue and referred questions to MDC-T
spokesman Nelson Chamisa who said he was not aware of the latest development
of elections.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and MDC-M
secretary-general Welshman Ncube were not available for
comment.
However, a row has of late been brewing within the inclusive
government over the timing of the next elections and the level of Sadc's
involvement in any such polls. Regional leaders are increasingly viewing
fresh free and fair elections as the way out of Zimbabwe's decade-long
political stalemate.
Mugabe has made it clear that he wants early
elections with or without a new constitution. Mugabe's position, which he
reflected at the recent Sadc summit in Namibia, is that elections should
immediately follow the referendum on the draft new constitution whose
crafting is underway.
The process is expected to be completed in the
first quarter of next year despite that it is dogged by lack of proper
organisation and leadership and financial problems. The process is also not
inclusive nor cohesive.
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) provides a
framework for a new constitution led by the three political parties in the
arrangement which should lay the basis for future credible elections and
political stability.
Tsvangirai wants elections but believes Sadc,
guarantors of the GPA, should play a central monitoring
role.
South African President Jacob Zuma flagged the issue of
elections in Zimbabwe at the recent Sadc summit, demanding that Harare must
ensure future polls were free and fair, not dispute
again.
Mutambara has said while elections were crucial, what was
important at the moment was to fully implement the GPA and create conditions
for free and fair elections, instead of harping on about polls when the
situation on the ground had not changed much.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai used a panel discussion in Harare
on Thursday to hint at possible attempts to re-unite the two MDC formations,
which split acrimoniously in October 2005.
Addressing a forum
organized by the Mass Public Opinion Institute, Tsvangirai said; 'Any split
is regrettable. There is no objection for the MDC to come together again but
it takes two to tango. If there is an opportunity for an election pact, that
would be considered. They are not our enemies, get me right. Those who split
and formed another MDC are not our enemies.'
The MDC split in 2005
over differences centered on whether to participate in senate elections or
not. To avoid a bitter dispute over the use of the "MDC" name in the 2008
elections, the larger faction led by Tsvangirai called itself the MDC-T
while the smaller formation led by Arthur Mutambara retained the MDC name.
Both sides traded insults as the political campaigning got under
way.
In 2006 Tsvangirai made attempts at re-uniting the parties and asked
current Water Resources Minister, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, to chair a committee
that was meant to drive re-unification talks. Although both party leaders
Tsvangirai and Mutambara agreed there was 'no substitute for unity' the
talks were eventually torpedoed by hardliners in both factions who were not
interested in unity.
SW Radio Africa spoke to Deputy Prime Minister
Mutambara on Friday to get his reaction to Tsvangirai's comments. He said he
was at the World Economic Forum in China and wanted to focus on that. He
however promised to give his response to the overture from Tsvangirai when
he goes back to Zimbabwe in a weeks time.
With a revived ZAPU led by
Dumiso Dabengwa eyeing votes in Matabeleland analysts say it will not help
Tsvangirai's cause to have the Mutambara MDC tapping votes from the same
area. While both ZAPU and the MDC-M realistically cannot upstage the MDC-T,
any support they get will split votes and help ZANU PF. There is also Simba
Makoni's Mavambo party to factor into the equation.
While Tsvangirai
needs unity to shore up votes in the presidential race, the MDC-M needs a
unity pact to arrest the growing number of defections from the party. In one
instance they had to expel 3 MP's, accusing them of actively campaigning for
Tsvangirai's party. Over the last twelve months at least 27 councillors in
Nkayi North and South jumped ship while another 7 councillors in Bulilima
resigned from the party. In Mashonaland Central 39 party members also
announced they had joined the MDC-T.
But political commentator Bekithemba
Mhlanga shot down any chance of the two MDC formations coming together. He
said the bitter sniping between the two sides after the last SADC summit and
the death of Gibson Sibanda proved that there were 'more differences than
commonalities.' He described Tsvangirai's talk of unity as mere 'political
posturing.'
Meanwhile ZANU PF's 86-year old leader Robert Mugabe used an
interview with Reuters news agency to signal his intention to stand as
candidate in the next elections and to dispel rumours of his ill health.
Asked when he will step down he said; 'My time will come, but for now, 'no'.
I am still fit enough to fight the sanctions and knock out (my
opponents).'
Analysts warned that Zimbabwe has to prepare itself for a
Mugabe life-presidency. Already for most Zimbabweans Mugabe has been the
president the whole of their lives.
HARARE - Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the smaller
Arthur Mutambara-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has dismissed
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's public overtures for their two factions
to unite.
He argues that Tsvangirai's statement on unity was
aimed at destroying his faction.
Ncube said his MDC faction will not
read much into Tsvangirai's comments suggesting the possible re-opening of
talks with his erstwhile comrades ahead of Zimbabwe's next
elections.
Speaking at a panel discussion in Harare Thursday evening,
Tsvangirai all but cleared the path for a possible resumption of talks with
the splinter faction ahead of the next poll, saying the two parties have
never been enemies.
But Ncube said Tsvangirai's public comments were
insincere saying the MDC leader's alleged intransigence has torpedoed past
attempts by the two parties to reunite.
"They (MDC-T) are insincere.
Their behaviour on the ground speaks for itself," Ncube told the Daily
News.
Ncube, who is being accused of having engineered the split by the
party in October 2005, accused Tsvangirai's MDC of fuelling tensions within
his embattled MDC formation.
"Attempts have been and are still being
made to destroy our party," Ncube said.
"The reasons that led to the
MDC split are a matter of public record.
"That they have persistently
undermined our party is a matter of public record. That they have approached
our MPs behind the backs of the MDC (M) leadership elected at congress is
also a matter of public record."
Ncube refused to comment on whether his
party will turn away any proposals of a reunion by the Tsvangirai faction
saying such decisions were the preserve of his party's decision making
organs.
The smaller faction of the MDC battling to contain continued
defections from its ranks with party functionaries rejoining the Tsvangirai
led MDC.
Critics say by failing to bury their differences, the two MDC's
squandered the biggest ever opportunity to unseat Zanu PF during the March
2008 poll.
A combined vote by the two would have surpassed Zanu PF's vote
and terminated President Ro0bert Mugabe's three decade long stranglehold on
power.
Harare, September
10, 2010 - Police on Thursday arrested six American HIV/AIDS doctors at a
Harare College where they were administering drugs to people suffering from
the dIsease.
The doctors comprising five males and a female doctor had
been working in Zimbabwe for many years and were even given a farm to
operate from in Mutoko at a place now known as Mother Faith
Mission.
Their lawyer Jonathan Samkange confirmed the arrest on Friday
afternoon.
"I can confirm that the police arrested the six doctors at
Ranche House College in Harare but they haven't charged them," said
Samkange.
"The doctors have been working in Zimbabwe for a long time now
on HIV/AIDS projects and have a lot of patients most of whom are AIDS
orpans. They are in police custody at Harare Central Police
Station."
The American doctors also operate an AIDS clininc in Hatfield
Harare.
Samkange queried why the police went on to arrest the doctors and
put them in custody without charging them.
"They were arrested
yesterday (Thursday) and I am wondering why the police did not charge them
and there is no complainant. The Ministry of Health officials even vouched
for them. Their work in Zimbabwe is well known. I shall only be able to
bring them to court after the mandatory 48 hours in custody that the police
are allowed to keep suspects," he said.
The government of Zimbabwe has banned South African band Freshlyground over
a Spitting Image-style music video which portrays its ageing president Robert
Mugabe as a chicken afraid to relinguish power.
By Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg Published: 4:20PM BST 10 Sep 2010
Robert Mugabe in
South African band Freshlyground's 'Chicken Song'Photo: ZA NEWS
Mugabe, in a
puff of feathers, transforms into a poultry version of his former self in the
back of his presidential limoPhoto: ZA NEWS
The band, which is made up of South Africans, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans and
has a pan-African following, was due to perform a concert at the Wild Geese
Lodge in the capital Harare next month.
But this week, Zimbabwe's Immigration Department revoked its working visas
without explanation, just days after the launch of the "chicken to change"
song.
The song and accompanying video is the result of a collaboration between
Freshlyground, best known for performing the World Cup anthem Waka Waka with
Shakira, and controversial cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, most recently in hot
water for portraying South African president Jacob Zuma as "raping" Lady
Justice.
It opens by hailing the Zimbabwean president as a "supernova" who pledged to
faithfully reflect his people's wishes when Zimbabwe won its independentce from
Britain in 1980.
It goes on to condemn him for clinging on to power for 30 years and urges him
to "become the hero he used to be" by stepping down.
"You promised always to open the doors for us. Indeed it is you and only you
who sleeps with the key. You are chicken to change," lead singer Zolani Mahola
sings, as Mugabe, in a puff of feathers, transforms into a poultry version of
his former self in the back of his presidential limo.
The rooster is a symbol of Mugabe's Zanu-PF but the chicken has also become
emblematic of poverty in Zimbabwe, where fowl were sometimes given in return for
change when spiralling inflation meant that basic foodstuffs were often bought
for several billion Zimbabwean dollars.
The song also features Zuma chatting up women in a shebeen, observed by a
disapproving wife, while Mandela and Tutu, both of whom have retired from public
life, play dominoes in the background.
Thierry Cassuto, the executive producer of ZA News, the satirical news
programme that features Zapiro's latex puppets and created the music video, said
the "chicken for change" was not a protest song but an appeal to Mugabe's
conscience.
"We knew that if there was someone watching in Harare who didn't have a sense
of humour, they wouldn't have liked it," he said.
"People can read their own meanings into this video. It's a pity that
Freshlyground have had their permits cancelled because they are popular in
Zimbabwe. What kind of a threat does this song really represent?"
An immigration official confirmed the cancellation of the group's working
visas to Radio Voice of the People in Zimbabwe but said the department was not
obliged to give its reasons.
"Yes we cancelled the visas for that music group," Evans Siziba, an
immigration official, was quoted as saying.
Sarah Barnett, Freshlyground's spokeswoman, said the concert has now been
cancelled and the group were in negotiations with the Harare-based promoter.
The pilots at Air Zimbabwe who have
paralyzed the airline since they went on strike Wednesday morning, have been
given a deadline to get back to work. After conducting a second emergency
meeting on Thursday the board decided to give them just 24 hours to
return.
In the state run Herald newspaper Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan
Kadzura said: "It must be understood clearly that the industrial action is
illegal and if they do not go back to work inside the 24 hours, legal and
disciplinary action will be taken."
Kadzura also confirmed that
negotiations were continuing as hundreds of travelers remained stranded in
Harare and in London. Two planes that were abandoned on the runway in the
capital when the strike began Wednesday have not been moved and regional
flights to South Africa and between Harare and Bulawayo have been
cancelled.
But the pilots are sticking to their demand for increased
salaries and are also demanding full payment of their allowances, which are
estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Board chairman Kadzura told the
press that the airline did not have enough money to pay the 60 pilots their
full salaries of $2,500 per month and they were receiving less than this,
but he promised that they would receive back-wages.
Kadzura also said
that the pilots were receiving no less than $1,200 per month, which he
described as a very good salary. He is quoted as saying: "They are failing
to understand that there are people who are earning less than $200, like
civil servants in this country."
Air Zimbabwe pilots are earning much
less than the regional average and they work under the most strenuous of
conditions. The planes have few spare parts and are regularly taken off
their normal routing to ferry Mugabe around.
Air Zimbabwe CEO Peter
Chikumba on Thursday night said that negotiations were still going on and
nothing had yet been resolved. He is also quoted as saying that the
government, as the main shareholder in the airline, was now involved in the
negotiations.
Our Bulawayo correspondent Zenzele said that the Friday
flight to Johannesburg did not take off and people travelling to South
Africa from Bulawayo are having to go to Harare, then catch other airlines
to Johannesburg.
Zenzele said he had also spoken to cabin crew
recently who said they were unhappy flying because the Air Zimbabwe planes
are old and not well serviced.
"The airline is not making a profit
and they are therefore not replacing some parts. There is always talk of
mismanagement and contracts are awarded to friends. It is run like any other
parastatal," said our correspondent.
HARARE - Struggling national airline, Air
Zimbabwe, was yesterday operating one aircraft leased from South Africa as
it tried to service its stranded passengers as a result of a strike action
by its pilots.
The airline's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chikomba told
the Daily News Thursday evening that they are still negotiating with the
pilots but can only manage to fly one aircraft leased from a South African
company.
"The pilots are still on strike and we are negotiating; at the
moment we are operating one leased aircraft," said Chikumba.
The
aircraft is plying the Harare/Johannesburg route and the
Harare/Bulawayo/Victoria Falls route.
The airline's pilots went on
strike on Wednesday demanding to be paid their outstanding salaries and
allowances.
The pilots were paid USD $ 7940 a month when the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was still subsidising the airline but this was reduced to
USD $ 2347 in February when the central bank withdrew its
support.
Asked if there is any possibility of a breakthrough in the
deadlock with pilots, Chikumba said, "The reason why we can't pay the pilots
is that we have no money, absolutely no money." The pilots advised the
airline management last month of their intention to strike if they are not
paid their outstanding money.
The warning was however ignored by
management and the Minister of Transport and Communication Nicholas
Goche.
Air Zimbabwe has been tottering on the brink of collapse for a
number years but was often bailed out by the state with the RBZ at one point
subsiding it to the tune of US$ 1 million a day. Currently it
is operating on an overdraft and is suffering loss of business as passengers
shun its old aircraft whose safety is now questionable.
The airline
has lost many pilots over the past few years to emerging and strong Asian
airlines which pay attractive remuneration.
Apart from the strike by the
pilots, Air Zimbabwe is separately embroiled in a legal battle with about
400 retrenched workers who are demanding USD $ 1.3 million dollars in
severance pay awarded to them by an independent
arbitrator.
Meanwhile, Air Zimbabwe management threatened pilots with
unspecified action if they do not return to work within 24 hours. "It's
an illegal act, they did not follow the correct procedures in going on
strike. We have sent notices to all of them to return to work in the
stipulated hours, if they don't they will be charged under the Zimbabwean
laws," said Jonathan Kadzura, the Air Zimbabwe Board Chairman.
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) The head of Zimbabwe's state-owned airline has accused a "third
hand" of being behind a strike by pilots and cabin staff which has left
thousands of passengers stranded since Wednesday.
Air Zimbabwe board
chairman Jonathan Kadzura told state television on Thursday that external
forces were behind the industrial action by 44 pilots and scores of cabin
attendants but did not identify the alleged "third hand".
Air Zimbabwe
pilots and cabin crew went on strike on Wednesday following a dispute with
their employer over salaries and allowances.
Kadzura gave the striking
workers 24 hours to report for duty or face disciplinary action.
The
strike has crippled operations by the beleaguered Air Zimbabwe which has
been forced to cancel most flights.
Harare,
September 10, 2010 - THE Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has requested a
meeting with the Broadcasting Corporation (BAZ) to seek clarification on
delays in opening the broadcasting sector to other private
players.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) continues to
have the monopoly of the airwaves despite the government of national unity
agreed to roll-out media reforms.
The three principals also agreed to
reform the ZBC, which the others partners in the Government of Nationl Unity
(GNU) say is partisan in favour of Zanu (PF).
ZMC commissioner
Matthew Takaona, ZMC commissioner, told a media conference in Harare, that
the commission had resolved to meet with the BAZ board to seek clarity over
the delays in freeing the airwaves.
"One of one mandates as the ZMC is to
ensure and promote freedom of the media and expression," said
Takaona.
"At our last meeting we resolved to meet BAZ and a meeting is
being sought. We are worried that not a single licence has been issues,"
said Takaona, whose ZMC has licenced seven media houses to start
newspapers.
Meanwhile, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, the director of the Media
Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe, said on Friday his non- governmental
organisation would launch its free the airwaves campaign in Chitungwiza,
one of the country's on Saturday as pressure mounts on the government to
liecence independent players.
"The campaign is motivated by the
slow-paced manner in which the coalition government is attending to reforms
in the broadcasting sector. Beyond isolated rhetorical promises of
broadcasting reforms there hasn't been demonstrable commitment to urgently
democratise the sector and enhance access to information and citizen's full
participation in the on-going transitional processes," said
Ngwenya.
The state-run ZBC has remained the sole broadcaster operating in
the country despite the 2000 Supreme Court ruling that quashed its
broadcasting monopoly and compelled the authorities to open up the
broadcasting sector and instate a three tier broadcasting
system comprising public, commercial and community broadcasting
stations.
Aspiring broadcasters have had to resort to operating from
foreign countries, where they are broadcasting into Zimbabwe through Short
Wave and Medium Wave.
Ngwenya said while the stations, had been
condemned as "pirate radios" by President Mugabe and Zanu (PF) these had
become one of the main sources of alternative information despite being
hamstrung by the limited amount of time they are on air.
"Whereas ZBC
is on air 24 hours daily, the stations broadcast for an average two hours a
day. While the principals undertook to reconstitute the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe within a month of the SADC conference held in Namibia
mid August, it is feared the deadline will lapse - just like other deadlines
the coalition had set in the past.
"Going by past experience, we doubt if
there would be wide public consultations on the reformation of the country's
broadcasting sector, particularly transforming ZBC into a true public
broadcaster. The process is likely to be driven by politicians in their
pursuit of partisan interests. Thus, by embarking on broadcasting campaigns
MISA-Zimbabwe hopes to initiate debate and build public consensus on
broadcasting policy reforms."
POLICE are probing the death of Zanu PF national commissar, Elliot
Manyika after family members queried circumstances surrounding the accident
that claimed his life two years ago, the Zimbabwe Independent has
learnt.
Family members who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear
of victimisation said police were requested to investigate the matter after
the family members said the injuries the former Minister Without Portfolio
sustained were not consistent with a road accident and the damages to his
car.
Police sources confirmed that an investigation was
opened soon after Manyika's death in a road accident on the 145km peg along
the Zvishavane-Mbalabala Road on December 6, 2008. He was travelling from
Mutare to Gwanda on a Zanu PF restructuring mission that, if completed,
could have upset some top party officials' leadership
ambitions.
The results of the investigation will determine if an
inquest into the death should be launched.
A close family
relative said the family long suspected that "a lot was not adding up in the
accident hence the idea to have a more detailed investigation". The
relative also said just before his death Manyika had received threats on his
life from anonymous people.
"We had a lot of questions that we wanted
answered after the accident," one family member told the Independent this
week. "Some of the information we received was just not tallying. We were
not pointing a finger at anyone but just wanted some
answers."
The family member further alleged that villagers in the
community where the accident occurred had raised questions about the conduct
of the person who collected Manyika's body from the scene of the
accident.
"The villagers said that someone who claimed to be a doctor
arrived at the scene of the accident and they told the doctor that there was
a nearby hospital which was 45 km away. But he insisted on taking Manyika to
Bulawayo. It just raised questions," said the family member.
The
former minister's son, Ronald Manyika, referred questions to the police
while Manyika's brother, Enos Manyika, referred questions to Zanu
PF.
Ronald said: "Ask the police about the progress. They are the
ones who would know. Ask them to tell you at what stage the investigations
are because they are the ones who can help you. I cannot say anything more
than this."
Efforts to get comment from Manyika's wife Madeline
were fruitless.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the probe was
normal procedure.
"It is a normal procedure to conduct an investigation
when an accident or sudden death has occurred and this does not need the
approval of a family or relatives," said Bvudzijena. "Investigations are
done irrespective of the status of the person. It is normal that after a
sudden death of a person an investigation follows whose findings will be
submitted to the magistrate's court where a magistrate will make a decision
based on the findings."
The family member who spoke to the
Independent said the family was initially divided on whether to pursue
investigations, but later approached several influential Zanu PF officials,
some of whom were also opposed to the idea. Eventually, they approached a
service chief who told them that an investigation would take up to three
years.
At the time of his death, Manyika was spearheading a
restructuring exercise which was seen targeting the party's divisive
succession issue. A police source said although it was normal for police to
investigate sudden-death cases, the family insisted that they were
suspicious of the circumstances.
"If someone dies in a car
accident or sudden death, then a sudden-death docket is compiled which,
after investigations is submitted to a magistrate who will determine the
cause of the death," said a police source.
"However, during the
course of the investigations, the family raised issues that Manyika's
accident was more than just an accident. They suspected that injuries the
politician sustained during the accident were not consistent with a road
traffic accident."
"In addition to that the family initially could
not locate Manyika's cell phone and some of his clothes he had at the time
of the accident. However, they were later handed over to them by the
police," said the source.
As part of the investigations, a tyre of
the late politician's official Mercedes Benz car was sent to South Africa
for forensic examination.
The police source said the docket on the
investigations was yet to be presented to a magistrate for determination as
required by law though investigations were almost complete.
At
the time of his death, there were accusations that Manyika's commissariat
department had failed to mobilise support for Zanu PF, resulting in the
party losing its majority in parliament for the first time since
Independence in the March 2008 general polls.
His restructuring
was also seen as targeting a faction with ambitions to succeed President
Robert Mugabe when the 86-year-old eventually leaves the
scene.
The MDC, then an opposition party, on the other hand
accused Manyika of leading Zanu PF's terror campaign.
Enos
revealed at the burial of the former minister at the National Heroes Acre
that the family had a premonition of his death.
"He was warned not to
go," he said. "He was told he would die if he went to Gwanda but he refused
and maintained that he had a job to do there. Many people had warned him
that if he went to Gwanda he would not come back alive but he would not
listen," he said, without elaborating why and how they had foretold his
death.
Manyika was not the first Zanu PF political commissar to die
in a car crash in recent years.
Border Gezi died in a car
accident in April 2001 near Fairfield, about 120 kilometres from Masvingo.
He was travelling to Masvingo to address party supporters and reshuffle the
political leadership in the province.
His successor in the portfolio,
Moven Mahachi was killed in an accident near Juliasdale, Nyanga a month
later while driving in an all-terrain Land Rover Discovery.
Fears
that managed road accidents have been used in the past to eliminate
political rivals were reinforced when a widow of a top army general
questioned official information that her husband had died from a car
accident.
Widow of the late national hero Brigadier General
Armstrong Paul Gunda, Tatenda, last year sponsored several advertisements in
the media insinuating that Gunda died in suspicious
circumstances.
Gunda died in June 2007 when the car he travelling in
was said to have been involved in an accident with a train off the
Harare-Marondera Road near Watershed College.
A board of inquiry
set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death -- in terms of
the Defence Forces Disciplinary Regulations of 2003-- established that
there was no foul play.
However, in her advertisements, Gunda's wife
insisted that the board of inquiry misled the public.
The
Zimbabwe National Army had to issue a statement expressing concern over the
"unwarranted accusations" over the circumstances of Gunda's death.
BANKS and their
workers have reached a pay settlement to stop a potentially devastating
financial services sector strike. The Bank Employers Association and the
Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Union Association (Zibawu) on Tuesday agreed on a
pay structure that would result in workers getting a "14th cheque",
according to workers representatives. Zibawu's strike notification expired
yesterday, two days after a settlement had already been reached. "A
settlement has been reached and we have made communication to our members.
Employers agreed to grant us a 14th cheque which means that our members will
have two bonuses," said Peter Mutasa, the Zibawu president. Workers had
demanded an 80% salary increment. The compromise came after banks refused to
give in to the salary demands, arguing that they were unsustainable for the
sector. Mutasa said that the employers and the union had agreed on one-off
salary bargaining negotiations each year marking a shift from the quarterly
salary submissions currently in place Meanwhile, Air Zimbabwe has lost
about US$1,8 million in potential revenue following the cancellation of four
return flights because of a pilots strike. Pilots stopped work on
Wednesday demanding to be paid their outstanding allowances backdated to
February last year. The strike by 42 pilots has paralysed return flights for
the airline's lucrative Harare-London, Harare-Lubumbashi, Harare-Lusaka and
Harare-Bulawayo routes. The Harare-Johannesburg routes on Wednesday and
yesterday was serviced by a Fokker 28 with a capacity of 70 people which Air
Zimbabwe leased from Air Aquaria last month after its Modern Ark 60 (MA 60)
went for a C-Check. The national airline yesterday also sought to lease a
Boeing 737 from Air Aquaria to service regional routes. The potential
revenue lost from these flights was US$1 779 832, according to information
obtained from Air Zimbabwe sources who don't want to be named. These figures
do not include meals that Air Zimbabwe had to pay to the stranded passengers
and hotel bills for travellers who had to be booked at different
hotels. Air Zimbabwe CEO Peter Chikumba yesterday said negotiations were in
progress, adding that he was hopeful an amicable agreement would be reached
soon. But Jonathan Kadzura, Air Zimbabwe's chairman told state television on
Wednesday that the airline could not afford to pay the pilots. Even without
the allowances, pilots were getting between US$1 200 and $2 509 a
month. The pilots are also supposed to get up to US$10 000 in monthly
allowances before tax, according to Chikumba.
Zimbabwe's hopes for a return to the international fold have suffered a
setback after the cricket establishment followed government advice not to travel
there. Marylebone Cricket Club will not even enter the country to conduct a
fact-finding mission after receiving advice from the Foreign Office over the
"inappropriate" message it would send. A planned tour of Zimbabwe by one of MCC's representative teams is now
out of the question until the advice changes.
"There has been insufficient progress in the fundamental issues of political
reform to justify sports tours to Zimbabwe by British teams, including county
sides," said the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, in a letter to governing
bodies through their umbrella organisation, the Sport and Recreation Alliance.
"The positive signal such tours would send would not be appropriate."
The government is particularly concerned about the involvement of Peter
Chingoka as the head of Zimbabwe Cricket. He has appeared on an international
sanctions list and is seen as too close an associate of the discredited
president Robert Mugabe to justify the approval of tours to the country. MCC's
decision follows Cricket Scotland's cancellation of an Intercontinental Cup
fixture there next month and is a blow to Zimbabwean ambitions of returning to
Test cricket.
The Lord's fact-finding mission had been due to take place following a
request from Andy Flower, the England coach and former Zimbabwe Test player, to
explore the reopening of formal links. New Zealand are believed to be due to
send their 'A' team there in October, with Australia hosting a Zimbabwe 'A' side
next year. This followed South Africa's decision to take the first step, when
they warmed up for England's visit last year by hosting their neighbouring state
in two one-day internationals.
Earlier this year MCC's head of cricket, John Stephenson, met with David
Coltart, Zimbabwe's minister of sport and culture, and Andy Whittall, the former
Zimbabwe Test bowler and MCC member. Discussions centred on sending an MCC
representative team to Zimbabwe and to conduct further investigations while
there.
"We were advised by the government not to go at the present time," said a
spokesman for MCC. "We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible in
Zimbabwean cricket. As soon as the advice changes we'll act on it very
quickly."
Zimbabwe's tour to England last year was cancelled in June 2008 at the
request of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown. Since then the progressive
Morgan Tsvangirai has become Zimbabwe's prime minister and cricketing figures
such as Alan Butcher, the father of the former England opener Mark Butcher, have
begun to take up senior coaching posts in the country.
Those developments seemed to point to Zimbabwe's return from pariah status.
But with political upheaval in Zimbabwe continuing, the Foreign Office believes
sports tours would confer unjustified legitimacy on Mugabe's regime.
Timeline
February 2003 England and Wales Cricket Board pulls
England out of World Cup game in Zimbabwe because of fears over the players'
safety.
June 2004 International Cricket Council suspends
Zimbabwe's Test status for the rest of the year
January 2006 Zimbabwe cricket board bans the team's Test
status for the remainder of the year, but announces the side will still play
one-day matches.
May 2007 Australian Prime Minister John Howard orders
Australia to pull out of a scheduled September tour of Zimbabwe.
June 2008 ECB cancels Zimbawe's tour of England because
of continued political unrest.
July 2008 Zimbabwe pull out of 2009 World T20 tournament
in England.
July 2008 ICC meets in Dubai to decide whether to ban
Zimbabwe but does suspend them.
October 2009 South Africa host Zimbabwe for two one-day
internationals.
June 2010 Australia A appear set to host a Zimbabwe A
team next year.
July 2010 Following a plea by Andy Flower, the England
coach, the MCC will send a 'fact-finding' team to Zimbabwe with the view of
re-opening cricketing links.
July 2010 The exiled fast bowler Henry Olonga speaks out:
"I think what Zimbabwe needs now is a slow and steady reintroduction to Test
cricket."
September 2010 New Zealand A appear set to tour Zimbabwe
next month. The Kiwis postponed a tour to the Zimbabwe last year and again this
year amid concerns of health and security.
JASON MOYO | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Sep 10 2010
17:48
As forced equity sell-offs to black citizens loom, deals
collapse and mass confusion reigns
A politically charged battle for
control of Kingdom Meikles Limited (KML), a merger of old white capital and
new black money, is showing how hazy Zimbabwe's empowerment laws remain, and
how tough it will be to implement the controversial policy.
Whoever
wins control of KML will have assets that includes luxury hotels in Harare,
Victoria Falls and Cape Town, a bank, one of the country's top three
supermarket chains -- partly owned by Pick n Pay -- tea plantations,
department stores and a Clicks franchise.
The Kingdom-Meikles deal
had raised doubt from the start. It attempted to blend two very different
business cultures: an icon of colonial financial power founded by Scottish
merchants a century ago and a banking group owned by a charismatic young
black banker, Nigel Chanakira. It also sought to fuse businesses as diverse
as hotels, a linen manufacturer and financial services.
But to some
it made sense. It came just as President Robert Mugabe took steps towards
enacting the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, under which
foreign and white-owned businesses are required to sell majority shares to
black Zimbabweans.
But the merger collapsed as the two sides sought to
stamp their identities on the group. Now, in the legal battle to determine
who gets out with what, the row has deteriorated into a racially and
politically charged mud-fight and is attracting attention from Mugabe and an
array of politicians and pressure groups.
More than just a corporate
battle, the KML controversy is giving lessons on Zimbabwe's empowerment law:
nobody knows how the regulations are supposed to work and the forced
sell-offs implied by the law are laying the ground for more damaging fights
over culture and power.
Regulations under the Act force companies valued
at US$500 000 and higher to sell at least 51% to "indigenous
Zimbabweans".
The law defines an indigenous Zimbabwean as "any person
who, before April 18 1980, was disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on the
grounds of his or her race, and any descendant of such
person".
Uncertainty remains as to how the law will be implemented, amid
conflicting messages from the government. While reformers push for a
measured approach of lower equity targets and credits for social investment,
radical groups are pressing for complete takeovers.
In the radical
camp are Zanu-PF allies such as the Affirmative Action Group, the militant
black-empowerment outfit that hosted Julius Malema earlier this year. Last
week the group launched a campaign to drive foreigners-- mostly West African
and Chinese traders -- from the low-end grocery business.
For now,
though, it appears reformers are gaining ground. Empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere has had to tone down his tough rhetoric and has set up
committees involving private players to advise on how to apply the law. A
final decision on percentages is expected in February.
The Chamber of
Mines wants a 15% local equity target, in exchange for credits for employee
and community share ownership schemes, skills training, infrastructure and
social spending. Kasukuwere has called the proposal "crazy", but it appears
to be gaining support.
To convince the government, mines are scaling up
social investment. Alex Mhembere, head of Implats subsidiary Zimplats, said
his company has spent US$10million on new schools near its mines and is
building a US$30million power substation.
Yet this may still not be
enough. David Chapfika, head of a state board that monitors empowerment,
said the credits system was an option, but would be dropped "if we find it
complicating or compromising the goals of indigenisation".
Confused
investors are undecided on how to respond. Rio Tinto's Zimbabwe unit is
spending US$300-million to lift production sixfold at its 300
000-carats-per-year diamond operation, Murowa. But gold producer Falcon Gold
said it had been "paralysed in its operations by the uncertainty over the
indigenisation of the economy".
Zimplats plans to spend an additional
US$500-million to lift output to one million ounces a year, but may have to
delay the plan until it is clear on the law. Mugabe told a mining
conference in May he had "no intention of expropriating any mine", saying he
took "cognisance of the need to promote growth of the mining industry, which
requires new investment, particularly foreign direct investment".
And
yet government has done little else to assure investors.
Last month the
government stopped Barclays Zimbabwe from transferring its custody business
to Standard Chartered, saying the deal was illegal. Engen also saw a
US$16-million bid for BP and Shell's Zimbabwe assets blocked on the grounds
that it violated the law.
Engen's Andrew Bryce said Engen will place a
revised offer, but he faces competition from a consortium of well-connected
businessmen now also bidding for the assets.
On the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange, where foreign capital drove a rally last year, foreigners'
contribution to daily turnover has fallen from 60% a month to less than 20%.
HARARE - An arbitration tribunal has declared
illegal, the dismissal of several Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
journalists in the run up to the ill-fated June 2008, and Presidential
run-off elections and ordered the state broadcaster to reinstate them within
14 days.
The arbitration tribunal which was presided over by Madzwiwo
Chimhuka, ordered that former News Editor, Patrice Makova, executive
producers, Monica Gavela and Sibongikosi Mlilo, as well as reporters Garikai
Chaunza and Robert Tapfumaneyi be reinstated to their former positions
without loss of salary and benefits.
Chimhuka ruled that retrenchment
of the journalists should be in terms of the provisions of the Labour Act
Chapter 28:01 Section 12D (1) and (6) and should be negotiated by the two
parties.
He said it is common cause that the ZBC unfairly and unlawfully
dismissed the journalists by not following proper procedures.
"The
respondent (ZBC) is in my opinion shooting in the dark. The claimants have
not been charged of any misconduct, have been dismissed and the respondent
wants to negotiate a retrenchment package with the claimant when they are
not in employment. This is certainly unacceptable and capricious at law,"
reads Chimhuka's judgment.
"It is the opinion of this tribunal that
Respondent did not follow the provision of the Labour Act and the dismissal
of the claimant by the respondent is null and void."
Zimbabwe Union
of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary-general, Foster Dongozi welcomed the ruling,
saying the judgment is a lesson to employers that they should not victimise
their subordinates for doing their work in an ethical and professional
manner.
"ZUJ will continue to stand for the rights of workers. Managers
must follow the law and should understand that tomorrow, they may also be
victims," he said.
The journalists were represented by prominent
labour lawyers, Rodgers Matsikidze and Author Marara of Matsikidze and
Mucheche legal firm, while ZBC was represented by Norman
Mahori.
Several ZBC journalists among them Makova, were dismissed in the
run-up to the June 2008 presidential run-off after the government accused
them of providing positive coverage to the then opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) during the March harmonised elections.
The
government also blamed the journalists for contributing to Zanu PF's poor
showing in the elections.
However, the journalists argued that they were
only following the SADC guidelines and principles governing the conduct of
democratic elections which state that the state media should give equal and
fair coverage to all contesting parties and candidates.
Harare-Finance Minister Tendai Biti has castigated the South
African government for threatening to deport all Zimbabweans saying it was
unAfrican and lack of gratitude on the part of the South Africans given the
fact that Zimbabweans had been contributing to its economic growth through
providing labour over the years.
"We are all Africans living in the
same global village and Zimbabwean labour have been building the South
African economy and rebuilding it. Also there is no African who did not
fight against Apartheid," he said.
He said it was unfortunate for South
Africa to take such a rigid position, saying the move was Xenophobic in
another way.
"Our people can come back and we have no problems about
that, but the principle I am questioning is that an African Government
can take a drastic action against an African people. I think that policy
needs to be re-looked at,"Biti told journalists in Harare Thursday
evening.
South African authorities announced last week that the
deportations would begin as of the 31st December this year, warning that all
undocumented Zimbabweans have until that date to sort out their paperwork. A
moratorium on Zimbabwean deportations was announced in May last year, at
the same time that the South African government announced it intended giving
Zimbabweans a special dispensation permit.
That permit was meant to
assist Zimbabweans in regularising their stay in South Africa, as
technically, with the special permit, they no longer had to apply for
refugee status to work or receive support. But that permit was never rolled
out, and the paperwork crisis that epitomises South Africa's Home Affairs
department means most Zimbabweans in the country remain
undocumented.
Thousands of Zimbabweans skipped the country at the
peak of Zimbabwean political and economic crisis and went to regional and
international countries in search of better fortunes.
Gutu, September 10,
2010-Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) president Dumiso Dabengwa is in
Gutu rural district where he is making door- to -door campaigns for the
party in early preparation for possible elections next year.
Dabengwa
who has since made it known that he is ready to challenge both President
Mugabe of former ruling party Zanu (PF) and Morgan Tsvangirai of Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC-T) head-on in the next elections, is the first
party president to make home visits campaigns in Masvingo province.
ZAPU
national treasurer McDonald Muswere and youth chairman Tichaona Sithole are
among other senior officials taking part in Dabengwa's campaigning spree in
the politically volatile district of Gutu. Gutu is Zimbabwe former vice
president the late Simon Muzenda's home area.
Sithole said the move
to visit potential supporters in the comfort of their homes does not only
reflect Dabengwa's humility but also his maturity in the political
pitch.
"A man of the people is seen by going to the people. Dabengwa is a
guru in politics and this is reflected through his interaction with our
supporters. A real leader goes to the grassroots, spend time with the people
and get to know their plight.
"That's what Dabengwa is doing and that
is what will distinguish men from boys come next elections," said
Sithole.
Muswere who is also a prominent Masvingo business man said
Dabengwa's gesture is a true testimony that ZAPU is not a regional party. He
said Masvingo has a huge ZAPU following as compared to other
provinces.
"We are a national brand. People must not forget that we were
the first to fight for the people's rights in Zimbabwe. Dabengwa's visit is
purely a simple confirmation that this is not a party for Bulawayo," said
Muswere.
Dabengwa was officially welcomed in the district by Dhauramanzi
family in Gutu.
Due to reasons which could not be disclosed to press,
Sithole said Dabengwa decided to cancel the press conference which he was
supposed to hold in Masvingo on Friday night.
Though he could not
reveal exact number of homesteads or families met, Sithole, however, said
the visit to Gutu was successful.
"Initially, we wanted Dabengwa to meet
journalists in Masvingo but unfortunately due to some reasons that I can not
disclose to you, we have cancelled the press conference. However, I can
confirm that our Gutu visit is a resounding success," Sithole said in a
telephone interview.
Neither Sithole nor Muswere could be persuaded to
disclose whether ZAPU had already engaged a campaigning gear.
SW RADIO AFRICA TRANSCRIPT Apologies
for late posting
HOT SEAT: Mutambara says there’s a dearth of
leadership in Zimbabwe
BROADCAST: 03 September, 2010
HOT SEAT: (PART 2) Interview with DPM Arthur Mutambara. In this
second part of the Hot Seat interview with the Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur
Mutambara explains why the “30 day deadline”, communicated by the SADC Troika to
implement the agreed 24 outstanding issues in the GPA, is meaningless. He also
comments on reports of internal divisions in his party. Is Secretary General
Welshman Ncube challenging Mutambara’s leadership and to what extent has the
party been affected by the reported mass defections to the larger
MDC-T?
VIOLET GONDA: This week on the Hot Seat
program we bring you the concluding discussion with Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara. Last week Professor Mutambara talked about the controversial GPA
letter he wrote allegedly on behalf of the principals to President Zuma of South
Africa. He also accuses ZANU PF and the MDC-T of being ‘economical with the
truth’ regarding the agreement on governors and sanctions. In this concluding
discussion the Deputy Prime Minister gives us his understanding of the reported
30 days deadline announced by the SADC Troika to implement the agreed 24
outstanding issues. He also comments on reports of internal divisions in his
party. First I asked him what will happen if the coalition government fails to
meet the 30-day deadline.
MUTAMBARA: I think first and foremost already that
question is a false question because you are not referring to the SADC
communiqué. When you go to the SADC communiqué Violet, there’s no 30 days there
indicated, there’s no word elections in the SADC communiqué, that’s another area
where we are not being leaders ourselves. SADC is a very sophisticated
institution; they do a summit, after the summit they draft what they want to be
in the public domain. They draft what they want to be their decisions. If you go
to that communiqué you don’t see 30 days written down, you don’t see the word
elections written down and it’s for a good reason. If they had said in their
communiqué, like they did in Mozambique by the way – in Mozambique they put a
deadline. This time if you go to the SADC communiqué there is no 30 days
indicated because they know that they will be setting themselves up for failure
and creating unnecessary conflicts. The 30 days
is coming from internal communication we had at the Troika, which actually was
never communicated by SADC to the world and you must ask them why didn’t they do
that. Ask them – we understand you’ve got a 30-day deadline that Zuma spoke
about at the Troika, why is it not in your communiqué? I said this to say this
is some of the problems we create for ourselves by when we go into details that
are not supposed to be out there according to the institution. The institution
of SADC spoke for itself but what leaders then did after the conference was to
go out and give out what they felt was the SADC position. In other words I’m
simply saying to you, it’s a false question because I can tell you given what
happened after Maputo, that 30-day number is a meaningless number and that’s why
it’s not in the SADC communiqué.
GONDA: So Professor, you are saying there is no
30-day deadline to implement the 24 outstanding issues?
MUTAMBARA: It was discussed but it is not in the
SADC communiqué. Did you see it in the SADC communiqué?
GONDA: It was discussed by who?
MUTAMBARA: It’s in the Troika, but I’m just trying
to encourage you to respect SADC as an institution. In the SADC communication to
the world, they did not give that 30-day.
GONDA: So what does that mean then…?
MUTAMBARA: It means it is not an important number.
Ask them, I think I can’t speak for them, I think I must respect that.
GONDA: Yes but as government, does this mean you’re
not going to work within the 30-day deadline as discussed by the Troika…?
MUTAMBARA: We’re going to do it, we’re going to do
it as an internal deadline, we’re going to do it as people who believe in the
urgency of now but I’m trying to encourage you as a media practitioner, I’m
trying to encourage you as a Zimbabwean to say don’t create positions for
institutions. SADC as an institution did not give you that 30 days. Where did
you get it from?
GONDA: But Professor that’s why we are discussing
this. You mentioned that the Troika discussed the 30-day deadline, so I’m asking
you as government, what does this mean to you? What happens if nothing has not
been implemented within the 30 days…?
MUTAMBARA: We keep working. Remember we went to
Maputo and we were given a deadline and it was six months later before it was
accomplished, We keep working. Work in progress.
GONDA: So basically it’s just business as usual
because so far …
MUTAMBARA: Yah but I’ve tried to encourage you to
say, why don’t you have a conversation with the SADC Secretariat or the SADC
leadership and ask them – we heard that you had this 30-day in your Troika
discussions, why is it not in your communiqué? It means it is not an important
number OK? Nothing will happen in 30 days and let’s not create unnecessary
crisis, you know that’s what I’m trying to say – let’s work together, let us
cooperate with each other, let us realise that we need each other. Zimbabweans
across the board must put national interest before self-interest. ZANU PF,
MDC-T, our party, we must all work together and create a new Zimbabwe in terms
of our society, in terms of our politics, in terms of our economy. We are going
to sink or swim together.
GONDA: You mentioned the Roy Bennett, Johannes
Tomana and Gideon Gono issue, if there’s still a stalemate on those three
issues, what does it actually mean in terms of the progress of the unity
government?
MUTAMBARA: You know the best way to answer that is
by concentrating on the 24 and doing them. No if we were to completely implement
the 24 and do them judiciously, expeditiously, efficiently, effectively, they
will make the three totally unimportant and totally non-consequential. They
always remain, and by the way, they must be solved but if we were to resolve the
24 in terms of implementation, it will take the sting away from the three that
are problematic. In fact it will resolve some of the issues you’ve been asking
me – media reforms, electoral reforms – but those are agreed. So my answer to
you is, let’s concentrate on the areas where there is agreement and do those
things and try to find each other in those three. If we were to implement the
24, the three would become less painful to suffer.
GONDA: And Professor Mutambara it has been reported
that your power base is under threat internally. Can you talk to us about
this?
MUTAMBARA: No. no. no, when I have commented I have
said this is one of the areas people spend a lot of time on irrelevant,
unimportant matters. What we establish in our party is called democracy. Our
party is a democratic party, our country is a democratic country so we as a
party feel that we must now start walking the talk. This means in my party, any
individual, any individual has the right to run for any position including the
president of the party. Any individual from our party has the right to run for
any position in the country, be it to be governor, to be MP, to be senator, to
be president of Zimbabwe. We are trying to move away from the politics where
certain positions are reserved or sacred and there’s no competition in the
party. We are a very democratic party that encourages competition, that wants to
walk the talk on democracy and hence that’s why there’s been a lot of
discussions on is this one available for this and so on and we’ve been trying to
say through our leaders, in particular our Secretary General who has been quoted
in the media. The message from our Secretary General is very simple : we are a
democratic party and any individual in our party has the right to run for any
position. That is democracy. The other message is that any individual in
Zimbabwe has the right to run for any position in the country. That is if you
want to be an MP, a senator, a governor, or president of Zimbabwe. We want to
build a new culture in Zimbabwe and we’re starting at home. Charity begins at
home and we’re doing it in our party. Openness, transparency, competition.
GONDA: So is the Secretary General Welshman Ncube
challenging your leadership?
MUTAMBARA: But I’ve already answered that. I’m
saying that everyone, anyone in our party including the Professor Ncube has the
right to run for any position in our party and what is wrong with that? That’s
why we’ve said it’s a very interesting debate, it shows that our country has a
long way to go because it’s a no-brainer, it’s a non-issue because in any
democratic culture that should be permissible. So we are actually saying we are
walking the talk, we are a democratic party and our Secretary General, any
individual in our party has a right to run for any position including the
presidency. And by the way our Congress is about six months, seven months away
that’s why we’ve said really we should encourage Zimbabweans to be concentrating
on the economy, on the constitution, on national building because those are the
bread and butter issues that affect our country but we stand by democratic
principles.
GONDA: What about the reports of massive defections
from your party? It is reported that at least 35 members of your party have
defected to the MDC-M.
MUTAMBARA: Yah we again respect the right of people
to associate with whoever they want so if there’s anyone who wants to leave our
party, we congratulate them and welcome them to take a move but at the same
time, there’s also a lot of propaganda and competition where people plant
individuals who are no longer members of the party, who have left the party a
long time ago and then they go to the press and announce that they’ve defected
and so on. It’s another manifestation of this problem where we are competing too
much. This inclusive government time is a time of cooperation. MDC-T, ourselves
and ZANU should not be trying to score points against each other – oh ten people
have defected from you to me, I’m doing better – this is not the time for that.
This is the time for national interest. Look at our students – I call them our
students because they came after us – Nick Clegg and David Cameron – the Lib
Dems and the Conservatives – they’ve said for five years no competition between
the two of them. For five years there’ll be no vote of no confidence in
parliament. It’s actually an undemocratic thing to do but what they’re
emphasising is that this is the time for cooperation. We are in the same
government. Let us not try to score cheap scores against each other. After the
inclusive government we can take off the gloves, then go and have a good
democratic fight. For now Zimbabweans must concentrate on those things that
unite them. Zimbabweans must concentrate on the national interest and
de-emphasise their differences and minimise confrontation and competition. This
is the time for cooperation in Zimbabwe.
GONDA: Some people say there are deep problems in
your party and that with the defections you’ll be left with no party. Can you
comment on this?
MUTAMBARA: We don’t comment on meaningless
statements and we dismiss that with the contempt that it deserves. I’ve already
analysed to you that most of the things you are reporting on are falsehoods
peddled by some of our opponents. Fortunately we are in the same government and
we are trying to encourage those people who are doing that to say – ‘why don’t
you just worry about the country, why are you concerned about my survival, why
are you concerned about the survival of my party? Right now it’s not about
Mutambara, right now it’s not about MDC-A or MDC-B, right now it’s about
Zimbabwe’. To concentrate on what is good for all of us as opposed to
pontificating on the demise or lack of it of this or the other political party.
Whoever is peddling falsehoods, whoever is feeding in the gutter, must get out
of the gutter and be part of the Zimbabwean agenda which cooperation, which is
building a new country. I think what is happening in the country, we are all
damaged now. We find insults, we find competition, we find bad news more
attractive than good news. Why don’t you concentrate on what is positive about
our country? Why don’t you concentrate on that which unite us and just ignore
the confrontations, to ignore the differences. For the duration of the inclusive
government, our concentration is on the country, not parties, not
individuals.
GONDA: You mentioned elections earlier on, when are
by-elections going to be held because I understand there are a currently ten
vacant seats in parliament and six in the senate?
MUTAMBARA: The law of Zimbabwe must be respected
and that means that we must carry out those by-elections as prescribed by our
laws and I think the Speaker, the president and ZEC must do all that they are
supposed to do at law and facilitate the expeditious execution of those
by-elections.
GONDA: What about the agreement that you made as
the three parties in the inclusive government that there would not be any
by-elections…?
MUTAMBARA: No, no, no, no, you are mis-stating it.
The agreement was that in the event of a by-election, we don’t contest against
each other. So the by-election must still take place and so the agreement says
MDC-T, ZANU PF and ourselves don’t contest each other but independents can
contest, ZANU Ndonga can contest, Mavambo can contest, ZAPU can contest. So for
example in the areas the three for example that we lost, we can put candidates
there, what it means is that Tsvangirai and Mugabe cannot put candidates in
those areas but ZANU Ndonga can, Mavambo can and ZAPU can and independents can
contest. So the agreement we have which is almost a gentlemen’s agreement or
lady-like agreement has nothing to do with the constitution. The constitution
must be respected and the by-elections must be carried out as per the
constitution.
GONDA: So when is the constitution going to be
respected?
MUTAMBARA: Well I think I’ve given you the
authorities on that subject – it’s the Speaker, it’s ZEC, it is the president so
we can do our part to ensure that those three institutions and persons carry out
the requirements of the constitution.
GONDA: And a final word Professor.
MUTAMBARA: Well as we bury Gibson Sibanda, a great
Zimbabwean, a national hero, a hero of heroes, a soldier of soldiers, a leader
of leaders we must take a step back and be reflective and say what is it that
this man stood for when he fought in the liberation struggle, smuggling weapons
between Zambia and Rhodesia, when he was detained in Hwahwa and Marondera, what
is it that he stood for? In the labour movement when he toiled and worked hard
with the ZCTU what was it that was driving him? When he was part of the
formation of the MDC what is it that drove him? As the leader in this
government, as part of the national healing and reconciliation what is it that
Sibanda stood for and wanted for Zimbabwe? When we answer those questions we
realise that we must embrace each other, we must find each other. Gibson Sibanda
was a great stabilising force, Gibson Sibanda was a great unifier. Let us be
united so that the death of Sibanda is not in vain. Let us give respect to
Sibanda by closing ranks across the political divide and drive our Zimbabwean
national interest and work together towards the creation of a peaceful,
prosperous and democratic nation. If we do not
use this opportunity of the inclusive government to create common frameworks in
our country, a new constitution, a new national vision, a new brand for our
country, a new values system – if we don’t do this we would have let down
brother, father, fellow Zimbabwean Gibson Sibanda.
Since we have discussed other matters let me give a parting shot
again to encourage all of us to work together. The people in the Diaspora for
example as I’ve indicated elsewhere, you don’t have to be in Zimbabwe to make a
difference. You can do it from wherever you are in terms of ideas on the
constitution, ideas on reforms in the country, in terms of being an advocate for
investors to come to Zimbabwe, in terms of linking up the institutions in the
country to investors, linking institutions in the country to knowledge, to other
institutions, networks, remittances. We want to make sure that Zimbabweans
wherever they are, in the country, in the Diaspora are working towards a
collective Zimbabwean national interest. We in the country as we craft a new
constitution must also make sure that the Diasporian concerns like voting
rights, allowing the Diaspora to vote in our elections must be worked on.
Allowing dual citizenship for the people in the Diaspora must be done so that we
leverage the Zimbabweans in the country, we leverage Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora, we are one big family, let us work together, let us concentrate on
what is uniting us. We must all step up to the plate and be counted. We must
become the change we seek to see in Zimbabwe. We must become masters of our own
destiny. If we don’t, future generations will never forgive us. So it’s
incumbent on all of us to step up to the plate and create a new Zimbabwe, a
peaceful, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe, that’s our mandate.
GONDA: That was the Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara speaking to us on the programme Hot Seat. Thank you very much
Professor Mutambara.
MBERENGWA, Zimbabwe, Sep 9, 2010 (IPS) -
Headmaster Njabulo Mpofu has weathered long dry spells before, but the water
troubles affecting his school in the arid Midlands region of Zimbabwe are
severe.
Experts say the water table is receding in the Midlands Province,
with groundwater disappearing deeper into the earth, threatening the lives
of both humans and livestock.
This is where the devastating 1990s
drought saw skeletal cattle roaming the scorched earth in search of water,
while some villagers fled to the cities.
The continuing water scarcity,
Mpofu says, has forced school children to invest time in fetching water
instead of attending classes, with villagers also devoting more and more of
their day to looking for water from new sources further from their
homes.
Mberengwa is one of many communities in rural Zimbabwe that is
feeling the impact of low rainfall in a country where the supply of clean
water to both rural and urban populations remains a huge
challenge.
According to a 2004 MDG assessment, access to clean and safe
drinking water in Zimbabwe's rural areas declined from 75 percent in 1999 to
68 percent in 2003.
While many in rural areas have long relied on
groundwater - boreholes are a familiar part of the infrastructure for
schools like Mpofu's - it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw on this
vital resource amid challenges of both poor rainfall and poor groundwater
exploration.
Even though millions across the region rely on groundwater,
the Southern African Development Community's Water Division says there is
generally poor understanding in communities of how to manage this hidden
resource.
SADC'S Groundwater and Drought Management Project conducted a
baseline survey in 2008 addressing groundwater issues in member states. It
found that despite the acknowledged potential of groundwater use to improve
rural water supply, its invisibility leads to a lack of sound decisions and
resource allocation that could lead to its improved use, development and
management.
Sobona Mtisi, a researcher officer with the UK's Overseas
Development Institute (ODI) says what has made it difficult to harness
groundwater in the arid Midlands region and other parts of Zimbabwe is that
this resource is not as readily available as previously
thought.
There is growing recognition of falling water table levels
caused by reduced groundwater recharge from rainfall, Mtisi told IPS, but
groundwater remains a practical option - where underground geology permits:
"Groundwater can be harnessed from only 25 percent of the surface area in
Zimbabwe as the other 75 percent is composed of hard rocks which make it
difficult to extract ground water," he said.
Mtisi however added that
rural water woes like that affecting headmaster Mpofu's school and
surrounding villages can be adequately addressed through clear policies that
seek to provide long term solutions.
"Putting in place an effective
policy and institutional framework that promotes equitable access to water
for different users to enhance long term access to water," Mtisi said.
"[The] provision of low-cost water supply technology could enable people
living in arid and semi-arid areas to harness water to points where they
need it."
For Mpofu's rural school, life could be set to get even tougher
with recent projections by the country's meteorological department that this
could yet be another drought year.
It is only when schools are closed
for the term when pupils get a respite from their water fetching errands,
teachers here say.
The drought threatens big urban centres as well. The
Bulawayo municipality last month reported that the city's supply dams were
dangerously low because of poor rainfall, despite previous projections that
the last rains had seen inflows enough to last the city for another three
years.
In the past, acute water shortages have forced schools to close
amid fears of waterborne diseases like cholera.
Mberengwa villagers
say they have been appealing for a dam to be built as a long term
solution.
"It is painful for us when there are rains but all is lost to
run-off when it could be saved by the dam," said villager Titus
Mguni.
"Our water problems are as old as the hills but we survive all the
same."
But dams demand money, and in a country where many development
projects have been stalled because of lack of funds, this could mean the
underground water will not be harnessed for use during dry years anytime
soon.
Meanwhile, in the quiet Mberengwa hills desperate schools and
villages continue their search for oases of hope.
"The right to water
for poor people should be enshrined in the country's Water Act, to ensure
that the State makes it a priority to provide water to poor people," Mtisi
said.
NAIROBI, Sep 10,
2010 (IPS) - Peter Kivuti, a 51-year-old farmer from Eastern Kenya, never
relied on meteorological weather predictions all his life - until three
years ago. It was then that rainfall in the region become less
predictable.
Like other farmers from Rwanguondu village, Kivuti trusted
the traditional methods of weather prediction, which had been used by his
forefathers for ages.
"Since I was a small boy, I knew that it was
going to rain heavily on March 25, every year. This meant that all farms had
to be prepared with everything necessary by March 23, in readiness for
planting on March 26," said Kivuti.
This trend had been observed within
the entire Embu district for ages, until three years ago when the rain
patterns became unreliable.
In 2007 the rains came on Mar. 20, five days
earlier. And many farmers lost their crops because of this. "We were totally
disorientated. And by the time we planted, it was too late. The rainfall
subsided long before our crops became hardy enough, leading to losses that
year," said Kivuti.
However, a new report released on Sep. 6 by the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) warns that the changes in
weather and climatic conditions may get even worse.
It says that the
erratic rainfall related to climate change will further threaten the food
security and economies of many countries, particularly in Africa and
Asia.
While the Agricultural Market Development Trust (an organisation
that works with farmers in Kenya at grass-root level) has advised farmers to
prepare for planting earlier in the month due to changing rainfall patterns,
according to the report this may not be a long-term solution.
The
remedy, the report states, is that countries, organisations and individuals
must increase their investment in diverse forms of water
storage.
"Just as modern consumers diversify their financial holdings
to reduce risk, smallholder farmers need a wide array of 'water accounts' to
provide a buffer against climate change impacts," said Matthew McCartney,
the lead author of the report, in a press statement released alongside the
report.
"That way, if one water source goes dry, they'll have others to
fall back on," added McCartney, also a hydrologist at IWMI.
IWMI is a
scientific research organisation focusing on the sustainable use of water
and land resources in agriculture, for the benefit of poor people in
developing countries. The organisation is supported by the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research.
The report comes at the
time the World Food Program is already implementing a programme in Kenya,
known as Food For Assets (FFA). The programme has seen peasant farmers from
the arid and semi-arid parts of the country harvest and store water for
domestic and agricultural use. The harvesting is done when it rains -
flowing rain water is directed into reservoirs and stored.
Through the
programme, beneficiaries of food relief are required to do some work geared
to increasing food security in their community.
"In Eastern Province, we
chose dam construction as a project to alleviate poverty because water has
always been the setback," said Jacobus Kiilu of ActionAid Kenya, the
organisation implementing the FFA project in the area.
As a result,
residents still have access to water they harvested since heavy rains
subsided over five months ago. "This is the longest period we have stayed
with rain water - thanks to the dam storages," said Mwende Kisilu, a
beneficiary from Kyuso village in Eastern Kenya.
In sub Saharan
Africa, the IWMI report notes, up to 94 percent of farmers depend on
rain-fed agriculture, yet rainfall in the region is highly
unpredictable.
"Lack of predictability both in the amount and timing
of rainfall makes rain-fed farming extremely tricky," notes the
report.
This is because farmers find it difficult to choose when to
plant. "If you plant your crops too early, you may run into a risk of the
seeds failing to germinate in case the rainfall falters. And like in our
case when we planted too late in 2007, the rain subsided before the crops
matured - leading to losses," said Kivuti.
But if governments,
specifically in Africa and Asia, organisations and individuals were to take
immediate action to increase investment in diverse methods of water storage,
then an estimated 500 million people in Africa and India would benefit from
improved agricultural water management, the report states.
Though
governments of developing countries with fast-growing economies have
invested heavily in large dams during the current decade, the IWMI study
says that more weight should be put on a range of small-scale, well-planned
storage options to improve food security.
The report cites evidence
from Zimbabwe, where such basins have boosted maize yields, with or without
rainfall. In Niger, such methods have greatly boosted the millet
yields.
In the northeast of India's Rajasthan State the construction of
around 10,000 water harvesting structures has made it possible to irrigate
close to 140 square kilometres of agricultural fields, benefiting about
70,000 people.
However, it was noted that without proper planning of
water storage facilities, the perceived gains may easily become a burden.
"Badly planned storage will not only waste money but actually worsen the
negative affects of climate change, for example, by providing extra breeding
habitats for malaria-infected mosquitoes," notes the report.
Lance Guma: The National Healing and
Reconciliation organ, set up under the coalition government has been described
as a failure by participants who attended a workshop in Bulawayo over the
weekend. One of the three ministers in the organ Sekai Holland came in for some
harsh criticism from war veterans previously in the Zimbabwe People's
Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA. Reports say there was a heated exchange between some
of the veterans and Minister Holland who was officiating at the launch of a new
governmental trust meant to assist victims of political violence. Behind the
Headlines tracked down Minister Holland and asked her to respond to some of this
criticism that the ministers leading the organ were incompetent and that they
had done absolutely nothing since it was formed.
Sekai Holland: My response is that there is an
organ on national healing that is created by Article 7.1C, that our role is
advisory but what we need to get every Zimbabwean at home and in the Diaspora to
understand is that the question of national healing is a new thing in Zimbabwe,
it's a new thought that peace is actually an option, a choice we can work
towards together as a society.
It is a new thought and that we, the three of us agreed on a
process that is inclusive where we would go to Zimbabweans at home and abroad to
understand from them their opinions and sentiments on how they see the road map
to national healing, reconciliation and integration in this country as we work
towards getting an organised voice in an All-Stakeholders Conference next year,
which comes out with a national code of conduct which goes to parliament where
we then get the mechanisms that will create an infrastructure of peace in
Zimbabwe.
We need to get that message across to Zimbabweans and that is
what I was trying to do in Bulawayo.
Guma: Now that sounds all rather theoretical.
Would you understand though.
Holland: It is not theoretical at all because
Zimbabweans never sat down as a people to talk about peace and how Zimbabweans
together, will operationalise methodologies to arrive at peace. Our job is to
really get Zimbabweans understanding among themselves that the national
infrastructure of peace comes from the Zimbabwean people themselves, it doesn't
come from the organ.
So far we have actually got some responses which are very
encouraging from those ministries and institutions where we have already enabled
to dialogue with them and they've been able to respond by coming up with
programmes that align their own work policy and framework to arriving at peace.
So there is nothing theoretical about this.
Guma: Well for the skeptics out there can you
point out to any major achievements so far since the organ on national healing
was formed?
Holland: Yes. The fact that we now have, in the
past three months a process with political parties where we have met with the
politburos and national executive committees of all three political parties and
we are meeting with the secretary-generals again next week for us to come up
with the roadmap of political parties including those that are not signatories
of the GPA.
Working with their members together, that they understand that
politics is not about violence. We are really trying to, not even trying,
sitting together to work out the dynamics of our how they operationalise a
peaceful political process. This is the last three months we've been working on
this, before that we were working with traditional leaders, before that
churches, before that civil society.
Many that we have worked with now really have come up with their
own framework of how we get to the All-Stakeholders Conference where we come up
with a national code of conduct which is an agreement among Zimbabweans on the
way forward to parliament and to come up with a national infrastructure of peace
which will bring us the mechanisms to arrive at truth, justice and
reconciliation.
Guma: The function you attended in Bulawayo was
to launch a new organisation, the Zimbabwe Victims of Organised Violence Trust.
Holland: They are launching their organisation,
they wanted me to witness that.
Guma: Now this organisation is aimed at
assisting victims of politically motivated violence, is this alone not an
indictment of the failure of your organ, that structures outside government are
being formed to do something?
Holland: You know I don't know what we are
talking at Lance. What those NGOs are doing is precisely what Zimbabweans are
supposed to do. The job of the organ is to facilitate the process of
Zimbabweans, really organising themselves for Zimbabwe to arrive at a peaceful
culture. It doesn't come from the organ, it comes from the people.
I really believe that most the problems with Zimbabwe which I
hope people understand and get over themselves is that we are dealing in a very
Eurocentric and very divorced environment. What we need to do is to really
understand our lived reality that the GPA is an opportunity for Zimbabweans to
understand among themselves how we build peace together.
Here in Zimbabwe and those that are outside really need to arrive
at an understanding of how collectively they also contribute to peace building
in Zimbabwe. It's a job to be done by Zimbabweans so I really think that we need
to understand how in Zimbabwe, we will build this together. It's not the job of
the organ alone. The organ is there to facilitate that discourse.
Guma: Now in the past Mai Holland, you yourself
have admitted that when the organ was set up, there was really no clear mandate
drawn up and no-one knew what they really were supposed to do. Has this changed?
Are you clear on what the role of the organ is?
Holland: You know the way you question me,
really shows me we have failed. If you read the GPA yourself, on your own,
Article 7.1C which is what gives life to the organ is very vague, so the three
of us have made a major accomplishment that really if you had woken up any one
of us in the past three months, we are very clear now about how to advise on the
dynamics to take place for people to really arrive at peace and really how to
get people to really understand that the process of peace building is a peoples'
task, that organ has no business in telling people how to arrive at peace
building.
People know how to do it and more and more as we are clear
ourselves, people are coming up with some of the most brilliant strategies of
how to arrive there. We have been at conflict for so long in Zimbabwe that it
has taken time and it will take time for people to really grasp that it is their
job and that as they talk and work together, they will come up with the
necessary dynamics to create a national infrastructure of peace in this country.
Guma: Now it's been argued that the current
national healing agenda is tip-toeing around confronting the real culprits of
political violence and getting them to own up or offer some kind of apology
because the argument, even as Prime Minster Tsvangirai said at one function it
was going to be.
Holland: You said that this interview was going
to be three minutes, the time of this interview was going to be three minutes.
Let me say this to you we are not tip-toeing around anything. The GPA is a
compromise agreement so we cannot work in a compromised environment to produce
what ZANU PF wants or what MDC-T wants, or what MDC-M wants.
This is not a ZANU PF, it's not an MDC-T, it's not an MDC-M, it
is a very compromised agreement so we have to use strategies that get us to
understand the most basic common ground that we as Zimbabweans can build
together to start talking about peace. This is a compromise agreement, the GPA,
so it's not an ideal situation for us to talk about what MDC wants, what ZANU PF
wants, what MDC-M wants. It's what the Zimbabweans would like to see as the road
map towards building peace in Zimbabwe.
Guma: But are you not limited really by the fact
that people feel Mugabe still wields.
Holland: It's a compromise agreement, it's a
compromise agreement and it's limited. I think I'll go home, I gave you three
minutes, I've given you three minutes.
Guma: OK let me just add one more question -
Zimbabwe has had different parts of history where atrocities and abuses have
been committed, before independence, during Gukurahundi, Operation
Murambatsvina, the June 2008 presidential election to name the major one. What's
the mandate of your national healing programme?
Holland: The organ is to get Zimbabweans
thinking about how to articulate the truth about ourselves, our history, how to
address in a just way all those atrocities and what has happened in ourselves as
a people and to arrive at forgiveness and reconciliation in a 'never-again'
syndrome. That is what the organ is working with Zimbabweans to understand.
We are using experts in psychology, in sociology, history to also
have their input so that we come with something that will really work for all
Zimbabweans. So these people who are helping us to come up with really different
components to the All-Stakeholders Conference also are cognisant of the fact
that our history, our written history and the past history, not just for the
last 200 years, for the past 600 years, for the past 1000 years, here in
Zimbabwe has been a very violent and militaristic one.
So we want to understand how we bring out of ourselves that
culture of violence, whether it's institutional, domestic or whatever so that we
work with that in a 'never-again' syndrome, get rid of that in our society and
getting rid of it in ourselves. That comes from the people as they understand
what the task is and believe me, the people we are working with are as entry
points in our history, the institutions in Zimbabwe who we have already worked
with and we have to work with all. Understand that and they are coming up with
these operations of a national strategy towards building an infrastructure of
peace.
Guma: But didn't the reception you got in
Bulawayo show you that people are not happy with the organ?
Holland: It's not happiness, people have not
understood that the issue of national healing is their issue which they have to
understand by talking to one another. We are just a facilitator, so happiness
doesn't come in this at all. It's us in the organ, getting our society to
understand that we have peace as an option and we should start working on that
together now.
Guma: That was National Healing and
Reconciliation Minister Sekai Holland joining us on Behind the Headlines this
week. Minister Holland thank you very much for your time.
Mugabe’s spin doctors may be deluding
themselves if they think they have killed three birds with one stone by
sitting Mugabe before a Reuters correspondent for maximum coverage (not the
traditional ZBC or Herald comrade) to say his wishes about the things
bothering him most – his health, sanctions and relations with the
West.
The said interview does not read like a typical conventional
interview such as those we have seen on Violet Gonda’s hot seat on SW Radio
Africa which allow the reader to draw his/her own conclusions from the
verbatim dialogue. Interviews with Mugabe have been generally full of
controversy for different reasons and one wonders if this one will be an
exception..
A case in point is the censorship by the State-controlled
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) on 20 February 2007 of Robert
Mugabe’s interview on the eve of his 83rd birthday by deleting his comments
on what Dumisani Muleya described as “ Zanu-pf’s explosive power struggle”
(Zimbabwe Journalists, 26/02/07).
While in his interview with Cris
Chinaka, (Reuters (09/09/10) Mugabe reportedly laughed off suggestions that
he was dying of cancer and had recently suffered a stroke, it is said “a
picture is worth a thousand words” and we have of late seen not a few
pictures of Mugabe unsteady on the stairs in Kampala, Uganda and in China
being helped by his handlers. What he cannot laugh-off is that he is ageing
while in office, hence the public’s concern.
According to Neil Moonie,
(2000) Health and Social care, Oxford: Heinemann, “When we meet people we
have not seen for some time, we usually ask how they are, and we would be
quite surprised if they replied with full information about the state of
their health – most of the responses we get are usually fairly simple and
often inaccurate , such as ‘fine’ or ’not so bad’. Rarely do people tell us
about details of their health or well-being”( p.60).
The World Health
Organisation (WHO) says “‘Health is a status of complete physical, mental,
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”
while other writers add intellectual aspects to form the acronym
(PIES).
What Mugabe should have been asked (I know he will read
this!):
GPA stalemate: In view of the fast approaching 30-day deadline
set by SADC to implement the GPA without evidence of progress, do you agree
that you could have lost an important opportunity to at least prove to the
world that you were sincere in signing the agreement in the first
place?
Succession crisis: Although the succession issue is mainly a
Zanu-pf matter, there is no denying of the fact that the country and foreign
investors are daily becoming more and more anxious about the speedy
resolution of who is going to succeed you. Would you shed some light on
that?
Constitution: Given the disruption of COPAC’s constitution outreach
programme by logistical problems and allegedly by the CIO, war vets,
soldiers and Zanu-pf sympathisers, would it not be more prudent to have
alternative constitutions which are already there, put to the referendum and
save time and money?
Referendum: Can you confirm that the referendum
will be held sometime in February to allow you time to rest and celebrate
your birthday after what promises to be a heavy campaign period leading to
the referendum?
Elections: Is it correct that Presidential Elections will
be held in March 2011, which appears to be your traditional election month
and in time for a ‘victory’ speech at Independence Day 18 April by whoever
will have won?
Tsvangirai: When are you going to clear space for Morgan
Tsvangirai to move into Zimbabwe House in keeping with his status as
Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister?
SADC Tribunal: Would you agree that you may
have shot yourself in the foot by suspending the SADC Tribunal which
appeared to be objectively resolving the issue of compensation for
dispossessed white farmers, an issue very close to Western countries which
you say you would like to engage? Sanctions: You have called for the lifting
of sanctions on a number of occasion, but the European Union has already
responded by saying that because they are targeted smart sanctions, let the
affected people make their cases individually which will be considered on
their merits. What is your comment?
Jamming: Some people are
disappointed that Zimbabwe has no community radio and that your government
is jamming news broadcasts by the SW Radio Africa which is a legitimate
independent radio station run by Zimbabwean exiles based in London. In fact
there is a strong perception that jamming of SW Radio Africa is a violation
of the human right to access information, education and entertainment from
various sources of the individual’s choice without government intervention.
What do you say to that?
Indigenisation: There is a growing perception in
Zimbabwe and indeed abroad that the ongoing indigenisation or partial
take-over of foreign businesses is just a means of rewarding or compensating
your supporters in Zanu-pf for enduring Western targeted sanctions allegedly
for their role in propping-up your government during alleged widespread
human rights abuses?
Century Bank: Recently, you were quoted as advising
Nigel Chanakira to use the indigenisation act on his dispute with fellow
shareholders of Kingdom Holdings and Meikles Group. What would be your
advice to the exiled Zimbabwean banker Mr Gilbert Muponda whose Century Bank
was allegedly illegally seized by government and later re-branded into CFX
Bank before being sold on against his wishes?
SA Loan: Zimbabwe is
reported to be seeking US$450 million in loan and overdraft from South
Africa because Western countries are withholding critical funding, is the
country not becoming over-borrowed when others are actually engaging in
austerity and abandoning deficit budgeting as they try to recover from the
recession?
Hero Status: Do you regret the decision to deny hero status
for Gibson Sibanda?
Nkomo’s Statue: When is Joshua Nkomo’s statue
going to be unveiled?
Land reform: Despite what your Government and party
view as major successes in the land reform programme, your critics argue
that apart from being bloody, haphazard and racist contrary to your promise
of reconciliation in 1980, the government has given out just over a hundred
99-year leases with only two being processed this year. What is your
comment?
Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children: Just to conclude this interview,
have you ever watched the film called “Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children” which
was shot here by a Zimbabwean and broadcast on BBC 2 a fortnight ago? What
are your reflections? Here is the link: http://zimbabweschildren.org/index.php/about-the-film/
HARARE - In the late 1990's, as Zimbabwe's economy began to
stutter, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) chief executive
Simbarashe Mangwengwende began to worry about the organisation's advertising
punchline "ZESA: the power that drives the economy."
He felt that it
could be misconstrued that the economy was slowing down because there was
not enough power to drive it. He was right to fret.
As the decade wore
out, Mangwengwende realized that inordinate delays in implementing the
utility's System Development Plan (SDP) -- a comprehensive plan to beef up
power generation, strengthen the grid and ensure the system's robustness -
were going to impact negatively on the country's power needs going
forward.
Mangwengwende had helped draw the SDP in the wake of one of the
worst droughts in the region in 1992. That year, Lake Kariba, one of the
biggest man-made lakes in the world, recorded the lowest inflows since
records begun.
The then minister of energy, the late Herbert
Ushewokunze went to Zambia to negotiate with that country's power utility,
ZESCO, to provide electricity from their Kariba North power station.
Ushewokunze returned to Harare to consult with government officials only to
find that the Zambians, aware Zimbabwe was desperate for power, had
increased the price.
A furious Ushewokunze had no choice but take the
power at the price he had been offered.
Approved by Cabinet in 1992,
the SDP became the blueprint to resolve the looming power shortage which had
the potential of crippling, agriculture, industry and commerce. To cushion
the Zimbabwe system from the vagaries of weather, the SDP sought to link the
country's grid to the South African system which relied on coal and was not
affected by the vagaries of weather -- but cost more.
But the SDP
soon ran into problems.
The interconnector projects to South Africa and
Mozambique took off, albeit with some delays, ensuring steady power imports
until 2003 when contracts were to be renewed.
Power imports from the
two neighbouring countries - SA and Mozambique -- and the volatile
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were to be used as a stop-gap measure
while Zimbabwe built new generation capacity. South Africa had indicated
they would not be in a position to provide power beyond 2003 when import
contracts expired because their demand trajectory showed there wouldn't be
enough power for the country, let alone to export.
But South African
President Thabo Mbeki decided that the new power generation projects for
SA should be shelved, only admitting the fact after the country faced
severe shortages which threatened industrial growth and the hosting of the
World Cup.
For Zimbabwe, it had been planned that Batoka, down stream
from the world renowned Victoria falls, be a run-of-the- river power project
to come online by 2004 - it required no water reservoir to minimize
environmental impact. It would have a north (for Zambia) and south bank (for
Zimbabwe), each generating 800 MW, to be buildt at a cost of
US1.6bn.
The Zambians were not interested. They claimed they had been
short-changed in the sharing of the assets of the Central African
Corporation (Capco) which included the Kariba and Munyati power stations.
Capco had been formed during the failed Federation of the Rhodesias and
Nyasaland and had built the two power stations.
In addititon, the
Zambians felt they did not need more power because copper prices then were
depressed. When it was suggested that they sell the cheap hydro power to
South Africa to earn foreign currency until such time as they would need the
power, they would not budge.
Zambia is now building a new power station
at a higher cost when it could have built one at a lower cost. Hydro power
stations last longer and are cheaper to maintain.
Failure to
implement the Batoka affected the Kariba South extension project. It had
been planned to maximize water usage so that water used at Batoka would pass
through an extended Kariba down river.
The next project planned for
implementation was the extension of Hwange by adding two new 300MW
generators to be operational by 2001 and 2003. The World Bank was prepared
to fund the project. But when tenders had been adjudicated, Government
decided the tender be given to YTL of Malaysia, a company that belonged to
the son of then Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamed.
The problem was that
YTL was not a power construction company: it specialized in high-rise
buildings.
Government later changed its mind and decided to sell Hwange
thermal power station to Malaysia for a paltry US$350m. At that time, the
station provided half of the country's 1 800 MW power needs
It had
taken ten years to build Hwange power station. The late rebel leader, Ian
Smith had started building Hwange in 1976 during the height of the guerrilla
war and mandatory UN sanctions. The station was completed after independence
in 1986 when the power utility ZESA was formed.
Smith had mixed
technologies from those willing to bust sanctions. By the mid-1990s it was
decided to refurbish the power station to improve its operational
efficiency, standardize equipment and computerize controls. The World Bank
provided US$800 for the refurbishment.
The Malaysians, opted out of the
deal by refusing to pay the World Bank debt. After the collapse of Batoka,
yet another opportunity to increase the country's generation capacity had
gone begging.
1997 was a watershed year for Zimbabwe for a number of
reasons.
President Mugabe sent the then agriculture minister Kumbirai
Kangai and then Party Chairman John Nkomo to London to ask for funds to buy
land from white commercial farmers for redistribution to land-starved
blacks.
They came back empty handed. Relations between the British and
Mugabe chilled, then froze. This affected a number of Zesa projects. Sengwa
in Gokwe North, which has 100 years of coal reserves had been brought
forward and its capacity increased to 1 400MW. Four new 350MW coal-fired
units were to be built for commissioning by 2003 and 2004.
The
international mining giant Rio Tinto was to mine the coal while National
Power of the UK was to build the power station on a Build Operate and
Transfer basis. Also on the cards, ware the Lupane Gas turbines, to be built
by the British.
Both projects froze in the political chill.
In
November 1997, Mugabe buckled under pressure from war veterans and paid them
Z$5billion of printed money, after his party's big wigs had looted the first
Z$5bn in the early 90s. The second amount was looted too. But money printing
eventually devastated the country's economy which ended up with a worthless
currency.
Zesa was asked to contribute Z$88m to the war veterans' pay
packets, despite the printed money. Government said the contribution was a
dividend or half of the annual profits for the years 1995 to 1997. The
utility didn't have the money. Organisations don't keep profits locked away
in vaults for future use. Zesa had to borrow the money from the expensive
money markets despite the fact that, government had not put a cent in Zesa,
except to guarantee loans from international organisations.
As it
turned out, the guarantor later failed to pay back loans from the World
Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank.
The printing of the Zimbabwe
dollar sent the currency into a downward spiral. Zesa's power import bill
jumped overnight from Z$360m, to over Z$700m and kept increasing. The
increases could not be met from tariff hikes. In one fell swoop, the
parastatal, once regarded by the World Bank as one of the best run power
utilities in Africa, lost its profitability and began its descend to
mediocrity.
Planning became a nightmare under a currency whose value kept
receding. Debt servicing became impossible as the local equivalent of the US
dollar ballooned disproportionately.
On the day the war veterans were
paid, 11 November 2007, the local bourse crashed and there was a nationwide
blackout - an event that became known as "Black Friday" and marked the
beginning of the dark ages for the country.
In order to implement the
SDP, it had been planned to factor the cost of the new projects into the
tariffs. A study called the long run marginal cost pricing (LRMCP) had been
carried out to protect consumers from sudden sharp increases. This was to be
done over a three-year period from 1997 to 2000. Government never acceded to
the implementation of the LRMCP tariff; neither did it allow the utility to
implement cost-based tariffs, fearing the political implications of the
increases.
As a result, consumers got electricity below cost price when
they could afford to pay in the mid 90s up to about 2000. And when they
could not afford to pay, because of a collapsed economy following a ten-year
meltdown, the utility tried to charge electricity at cost
price.
Politicians had pretended they were protecting the consumer and
were acting in the public interest, but the consequences of their decisions
have come back to haunt the public which is suffering prolonged blackouts
and the use of costly alternatives -firewood and paraffin for the poor and
generators and gas for the well-heeled.
The Zimbabwe's power crisis
can only be solved by building new generation capacity. Unfortunately, a
lead time of up to five years and massive capital is needed to build a power
station. The Zimbabwe government cannot raise the sums required and
independent power producers are reluctant to invest in the country with
skewed property rights and new indigenisation rules which require foreign
firms to cede 50 percent of the shareholding to locals.
Political talk is
that the Chinese will build Sengwa, but many are skeptical. There is
reluctance from Mugabe's eastern friends to invest after he failed to pay
back moneys owing on the refurbishment of Zisco's furnace number four. Vice
President Joyce Mujuru recently said the Chinese were not keen to take up
projects given to them on a silver plata.
Some questions remain
unanswered. Are the Chinese going to build the power lines that are going to
carry power from the Sengwa to the power demand centres? That too requires
massive investment?
Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently came back from
a visit to China with a briefcase full of bilateral agreements and no
funds.
It has become clear that unless the country has enough
electricity,water and a credible property rights policy, the much talked
about industrial take off will not materialise.
Friday September 10th 2010 It was
inevitable I suppose, given the endless stories in the media of Mugabe's
supposed ill-health, that the Dear Leader should go public to reassure
Zimbabweans that he was still, in his words, "fit enough to fight the
sanctions and knock out my opponents." In an interview with Reuters News
Agency, the 86 year old conceded that "My time will come but for now 'no' "
and of course he could not resist the opportunity to remind us that "Bush is
out, Blair is out" adding dismissively if rather vaguely, "and the others
are persons of no consequence." The implication being that after thirty
years in power and despite his octogenarian status, he, Robert Mugabe was
still there in office and had no intention of leaving State House any time
soon - if at all. Thanks to the efforts of an enterprising civil rights
activist, I was fortunate enough to get hold of the following breakdown of
African leaders'ages and it reveals a very interesting contrast between
Africa and the west. At 86 Mugabe is the oldest , followed by Senegal's
Abulai Wade at 83 and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak at 82. The remaining listed
African leaders are all in their seventies: Malawi's Bingu Wa Mtalika is 76,
Namibia's Hifikepunye Pohamba 74, Zambia's Rupiah Banda 73, Kenya's Mwai
Kibaki is 71 and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia is 75. Jacob Zuma of South
Africa and Gadaffi of Libya are the youngest, both 68 years old. The average
age of African leaders listed here is 76 years. Compare that to western
leaders - who are democratically elected - and you see a remarkable
contrast. The President of the United States is 48, David Cameron of the UK
is 43, the Russian President, Dimitri Medvedev is 45, Canada is represented
by a 51 year old, Australia by a 49 year old. Nicolas Sakozy of France is
55, Spain's Luis Zapatero is 49 and Portugal' Jose Socrates is 53 while
Angela Merkel of Germany is 56 and at 62 Herman Van Rompuy is the oldest
western leader. The average age of these leaders is 51years, a staggering 25
years older than Africa's leaders. Quite apart from the decline in physical
strength which is an unavoidable consequence of the ageing process, it is
generally accepted that older people tend to get very set in their ways and
are often resistant to fresh ideas - and opposition of any kind! African
culture respects old age we know but wisdom and age do not necessarily go
together. Ironically, this week a man was sentenced to one year in gaol for
referring to Mugabe as "a wrinkled old man". This remark was deemed by the
magistrate to be disrespectful of the President but the one year sentence
was commuted to eight months on condition that the offender made no more
disparaging remarks about the president's age for the next five years! By
which time Mugabe will be 91 and wrinkles will surely be evident for all to
see, botox or no botox! Underlying these apparently trivial stories about
Mugabe's advancing years is the question of who will succeed him when he
finally moves on. An incident occurred this week which illustrates the
turmoil within Zanu PF as the battle for succession escalates. On Thursday
morning the Council Offices in Chitungwiza were invaded, quite literally, by
men waving AK 47s who proceeded to beat up the municipal guards, accusing
them of being supporters of Emmerson Mnangagwa. The gun-toting thugs were
apparently supporters of Solomon Mujuru - himself a War Veteran of note and
another 70 or 80 year old if I am not mistaken. He and Mnangagwa are both
contenders for the top job when the Old Man dies and the two factions are
daggers drawn. The police were called in to quell the violent disturbance at
Chitungwiza Council offices and they too were overpowered by the
well-trained Mujuru followers. The most worrying aspect of this incident was
the fact that Mujuru's people were actively supported by soldiers from the
ZNA based at Cranborne barracks. Interestingly, the Herald reported the
incident but said nothing about it being a direct result of faction fighting
inside Zanu PF over the succession issue. Age may be just a number but in
Zimbabwe Mugabe's age - and health - are crucial issues which could propel
us into civil war. Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH, aka Pauline
Henson.