http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
13 September
2010
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has agreed not contest the result
of the
nest election, after he and Robert Mugabe agreed that the poll will
be held
next year.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai said over the weekend
that the polls will be held
next year. He said on Saturday that he had
agreed with Mugabe that "whoever
loses (the next election) should make way
for the winner." He was speaking
at a ceremony to mark his MDC-T party's
11th anniversary and told supporters
that he and Mugabe agreed to take
advantage of the 'prevailing peace' to
hold elections.
"When I last
saw President Mugabe he said the prevailing peace was ideal for
us to go for
an election and this time we agreed that whoever loses should
make way for
the winner," Tsvangirai said.
Political commentator Professor John
Makumbe told SW Radio Africa on Monday
that Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
agreement not to oppose the result will mean
nothing to Mugabe's loyal
security forces. He said that the security forces
"will rip an agreement
like this to shreds to ensure a result they want."
"Tsvangirai has put
the MDC in a difficult position because if ZANU PF once
again rigs the
election, then the MDC won't have room to contest it,"
Makumbe said.
"Tsvangirai has embarrassed himself."
Makumbe predicted that,
politically, a 2011 poll will be a repeat of 2008,
saying: "The MDC will
likely win an election once again and ZANU PF will
once again refuse to
accept the result."
SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said on
Monday that there is
widespread fear that there will also be a repeat of the
kind violence
experienced during the 2008 vote. He said there was no 'peace'
in Zimbabwe,
only fear of a violent backlash by ZANU PF during the 2011
poll. Muchemwa
said the current exercise to gather public opinion for a new
constitution
has clearly shown that ZANU PF is preparing for polls. He said
the party "is
preparing to take the next election by force."
"There
has been widespread intimidation of MDC supporters and even people
have
haven't been intimidated are still afraid of violence if an election is
called," Muchemwa said.
Muchemwa explained that people, particularly
in the rural areas, "are not
prepared to have another election under
violence." He explained that there
are no mechanisms in place to protect the
public against violence, and "if
ZANU PF can get away with open intimidation
during the constitutional
outreach process, then they know they can get away
with another violent
election."
There have been widespread reports of
politically motivated violence against
MDC supporters during the
constitutional outreach exercise, with ZANU PF
supporters and war vets
leading harassment and intimidation campaigns. There
are also clear signs
that ZANU PF has begun electioneering, and there are
reports of torture
bases being set up ahead of polls. All this indicates
that Mugabe's party is
gearing up for an election win by force, a win that
Tsvangirai now says he
will not contest.
An election next year was stipulated by the Global
Political Agreement
(GPA), which formed the basis of the current unity
government. That
coalition is meant to be paving the way for a peaceful
election by writing a
new constitution before the polls. The process of
getting public opinion on
a rewritten constitution has been under way, and
has clearly shown that the
country is not ready for a vote.
Mugabe
meanwhile has ordered Finance Minister Tendai Biti to budget US$200
million
for polls for next year, despite the chairman of the election
commission,
Simpson Mutambanengwe, saying there was not enough money for a
2011 poll.
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has also
advised that a
proper voters roll would take at least 18 to 24 months to
prepare.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
13 September
2010
Judge President George Chiweshe on Monday started hearing the first
of many
cases against top government ministers and security officials, for
their
involvement in the abduction and torture of MDC activists.
The
case was originally meant to get underway last month, after Norton MDC
activist Mapfumo Garutsa applied to the court for almost US$200,000 in
compensation from top officials. Garutsa was abducted in November 2008 and
held incommunicado for 22 days, on claims that he committed acts of
terrorism and banditry. His captors accused him of bombing two bridges,
police stations, and undergoing training in Botswana. Garutsa says he was
repeatedly assaulted and denied food during his ordeal.
His case was
postponed after Judge President Chiweshe decided it would be
heard alongside
similar cases of 17 other abductees, who are suing the
minister and security
officials for more than US$20 million. The process got
underway on Monday
but there is doubt that the abductees will find justice
through the courts.
Chiweshe is a known Mugabe loyalist and as former head
of the Zimbabwe
Election Commission, ensured that the ZANU PF leader
retained his grip on
power.
Home Affairs co-Minister's Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa,
Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa and former State Security Minister
Didymus Mutasa have all
been listed in Garutsa's case. The activist is also
claiming damages from
police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, Prisons
Commissioner Paradzai
Zimondi, Happyton Bonyongwe, Director General of the
Central Intelligence
Organisation, Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi (Assistant
Director of the CIO) and
senior police officers, identified as Senior
Assistant Commissioner Nyathi,
Chief Superintendent Makedenge, Detective
Chief Inspector Mpofu, Chief
Superintendent Magwenzi, Superintendent Joel
Shasha Tenderere and
Superintendent Regis Takaitei.
The senior
officials are also facing legal action from a Harare woman who is
personally
seeking more than US$3 million in damages, after being severely
assaulted by
police at the time of the abductions. Shamiso Nziramasanga was
four months
pregnant when she was assaulted by a policeman who threatened
her with more
violence if she reported the assault. A few days later she was
admitted to
hospital in severe pain, where doctors found that her uterus had
ruptured
from the beatings she endured. She lost her baby and also had to
undergo an
emergency hysterectomy.
13 September 2010
Information
Alert
LAWYERS
SEEK CONSOLIDATION OF MINISTERS’ TRIAL OVER
ABDUCTION
Lawyers
representing four ministers and several top state security agents on Monday 13
September 2010 filed an application seeking an order to consolidate the various
matters brought about by abductees into three clusters for purposes of
trial.
Farai
Mutamangira of Mutamangira and
Associates, who is representing the four ministers and the state security
agents, wants the cases brought up against the ministers and the state security
agents by 19 victims of enforced disappearances to be consolidated into three
clusters before trial can commence in the High
Court.
In his
application, which was heard in Judge President George Chiweshe’s chambers Mutamangira
argued that all of the various matters that were instituted by the abductees
have already passed the pre-trial conference stage and await the set down before
various judges only with the exception of two matters involving Norton residents
Mapfumo Garutsa and Regis Mujeyi, whose matters had been
set down before Justice Chiweshe.
Mutamangira
wants the matters of all the abductees who are suing the ministers and the state
security agents for more than $20 million to be consolidated into three clusters
according to the similarities of their circumstances. He said the matters to be
consolidated involve the same parties and similar evidence will be led among
other things which makes it convenient for the matters to be
consolidated.
Mutamangira
said it would be expedient and convenient for the various matters to be set down
in the clusters since the abductees allege similar facts and all claim that
their arrest was unlawful.
He argued
that the abductees in the various matters are all represented by the same legal
teams and it would be unfortunate for the same legal counsel engaged in the same
matter having so many parties thereto to come to court on an occasional or on
record 18 or 19 times.
Mutamangira
wants the first cluster to involve Fidelis Chiramba, Violet Mupfuranhewe, Nigel Mutemagawu, Collen Mutemagawu, Concillia Chinanzvavana, Emmanuel Chinanzvavana, Pieta Kaseke and Tawanda Bvumo while the second cluster
should be made up of Jestina Mukoko,
Broderick Takawira, Pascal Gonzo, Audrey
Zimbudzana.
Mapfumo
Garutsa, Regis Mujeyi, Andrison Manyere, Kisimusi Dhlamini, Gandhi Mudzingwa, Zacharia Nkomo and Chinoto Zulu should make up the third
cluster.
Justice
Chiweshe told Mutamangira and the abductees’ lawyer Charles Kwaramba, who was assisted by Rose Hanzi that the ministers’
application should be heard and determined in a month’s time from 13 September
2010.
Kwaramba
will soon file his response to Mutamangira’s application
The
abductees are demanding $1.2 million each in damages which they suffered after
they were abducted by state security agents and charged with committing acts of
terrorism and banditry.
The
abductees, who were accused of receiving training in Botswana and bombing police
stations, were kept incommunicado during the period October 2008 until 22
December 2008 when they were brought to a police station.
ENDS
Kumbirai Mafunda
Senior Projects Officer
Communications&Information
Officer
6th
100 Nelson Mandela Av
Tel
Email
“We Need
Generational Change”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
13
September 2010
Three Chitungwiza based MDC-T officials died on Saturday
after the vehicle
they were travelling in was involved in an accident along
the Gokwe-KweKwe
highway in the Midlands province.
The trio was
travelling back to Chitungwiza from Gokwe when tragedy struck
around 3pm.
They were part of around 5000 people who gathered in Gokwe for
the MDC 11th
anniversary celebrations.
The MDC named the three party cadres as Alex
Magunda, the district
chairperson for St Mary's, Loveless Sango, the vice
chairperson of the
district and Innocent Muzuva, the secretary for ward
1.
According to eyewitness accounts the vehicle in which the three
officials
were travelling in was hit by a vehicle driven by Evelyn Masaiti,
the MDC-T
MP for Dzivarasekwa and former Woman Affairs deputy
minister.
It is reported the MP was attempting to overtake, but swerved
back to the
left lane after seeing an oncoming vehicle ahead, resulting in
her hitting
the vehicle she was trying to overtake.
'On impact both
vehicles lost control and veered off the road. Masaiti's
vehicle crashed
into a tree while the one with officials from Chitungwiza
rolled several
times. Most of the passengers from this pick up truck were
thrown out of the
vehicle and in the process sustained serious injuries,'
one MDC official
told us.
It is believed there were as many as 10 people in truck that
overturned.
Most of those who sustained injuries were seated in back of the
vehicle.
Masaiti was also injured in the accident. A source told us she
may face
charges of culpable homicide for not taking due caution on a
highway. She
was due to fly out of Harare on Sunday morning for Berlin,
Germany, on party
business.
Magunda, Sango and Muzuva were rushed to
Zhombe hospital where they were
pronounced dead on arrival. Others were
ferried to KweKwe hospital and had
to be airlifted to Harare on
Sunday.
In his condolence message MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai said he
was
grievously pained by the death of the officials on their way from the
part's
11th anniversary celebrations.
Tsvangirai arrived at the scene
of the accident 20 minutes after it had
happened and managed to mobilise
help for those injured. He also made a
follow-up to KweKwe hospital where he
gave orders that those injured should
be airlifted to Harare for specialist
treatment.
'It is painful that barely an hour after the carnival
atmosphere in Gokwe,
the party was once again plunged into mourning and deep
sorrow. I was deeply
pained when I saw the lifeless bodies near the Empress
Mine turn-off barely
20 minutes after the tragic accident,' Tsvangira said.
U.S. Embassy
Harare
Public Affairs
Section
UPDATE: Arrest of
four American citizens in Harare on September 9, 2010
September 13,
2010
The four American
citizens arrested on September 9, 2010 appeared before a Zimbabwean magistrate
in Harare on September 13 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. A U.S. Embassy
senior consular officer attended the court proceedings. The group was formally
charged with not being registered to practice as doctors and practicing as
medical professionals without the supervision of a pharmacist. Each member of
the group was charged $200 bail and released. It is anticipated that their case
will be scheduled for later in September.
The group is part of
a Christian volunteer health service of the Allen Temple AIDS Ministry based in
Oakland, CA, and includes one doctor, two nurses and a community volunteer. They
were arrested with two other non-American volunteers. The group operated from
two clinics, one in Mutoko (160 km east of Harare) and one in Harare, where they
worked primarily with AIDS orphans and HIV+ patients for the past
decade.
# #
#
For more information,
please contact Sharon Hudson-Dean, Public Affairs Officer. E-mail: HudsonDeanS@state.gov Tel. +263 4
758800-1, Fax: 758802, cell +263 912 559 784
http://harare.usembassy.gov Become a Fan
on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Irene Madongo
13
September 2010
The lawyer representing four Americans arrested on charges
of distributing
HIV drugs without licenses says a jealous Zimbabwe Aids
charity is to blame
for the saga.
Four American citizens, who are
part of a Christian volunteer health service
of the Allen Temple AIDS
Ministry based in California, were arrested last
Thursday in Harare,
allegedly for disbursing antiretroviral drugs without a
license. On Monday
they were each charged $200 bail and released. It is
anticipated that their
case will be heard later in September.
The group includes one doctor, two
nurses and a community volunteer. Two
Zimbabwean doctors working with them
were also arrested on related charges.
The group operated from two clinics,
one in Mutoko and another in Harare,
where they worked primarily with AIDS
orphans and HIV positive people. But
the sudden arrests aroused suspicion as
the organisation has operated in the
country for the past
decade.
Lawyer Jonathan Samukange said: ‘They were working at a place
called the
Centre for Aids. There was a misunderstanding there so they
moved. We
suspect that the people from the old place they used to operate
from are the
ones who went to the police to make a report to say these
people are
operating without proper documentation. We suspect the whole
thing was not
police intiated, but initiated by a jealous previous
partner.’
The Centre is a Harare-based charity that provides counselling
and
information to people with HIV/AIDS. When asked to comment on the
allegations, the Centre’s Executive Director Freddy Kachote vehemently
denied his organisation had any involvement in the arrests.
When
asked why the workers legal representative would single them out of all
the
organisations, Kachote replied: “Why would we speak to police? We have
had a
long stranding relationship with the Allen Temple Church. We have been
hosting them for a long time.”
However Samkange made it clear that
the relationship had broken down.
He said the Americans plan to go back home
as soon as the case is over. He
added that because the drugs have been taken
by police as exhibits, they
will not be distributed to the patients who
badly need them.
Zimbabwe’s broken health system is failing to contain
the Aids epidemic and
relies heavily on international and non-governmental
organisations for help.
Recently there were reports that HIV positive
children who cannot get
antiretroviral drugs now have to cross the border to
South Africa to get
medication.
If the allegations against the Centre
are true, it will be disappointment
for many who have supported the
organisation which was founded by the late
Lynde Francis, an ardent and
respected Aids activist. She worked hard with
other Aids charities to
organise help for people living with Aids.
13
September 2010
HRD’s
Alert
STATE
FORCED TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST MASEKO BUT CONTEMPLATES BRINGING NEW CHARGES
Lawyers
representing tormented Gukurahundi visual artist Owen Maseko on Monday 13 September 2010
secured victory when the State was forced to drop charges against the artist
when he appeared in court.
Maseko’s
lawyers Lizwe Jamela, Nosimilo Chanaiwa and Jeremiah Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) successfully challenged an attempt by State prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare to introduce a new
charge against the visual artist.
Zvekare,
who travelled all the away from Harare to prosecute in Maseko’s case at Tredgold
Magistrates Court in
Bulawayo sought to put a new charge to Maseko, which is different from the one
in respect of which he was placed on remand.
Maseko
was placed on remand on charges of undermining the authority of or insulting the
President and causing offence to persons of a particular race or
religion.
But
Zvekare sought to bring in new charges of breaching Section 31 of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 by allegedly publishing or
communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State and an alternative charge of
violating Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter
9:23 by undermining the authority of insulting the
President.
Maseko’s
lawyers objected to this, and argued that this was calculated to prejudice and
embarrass their client. The lawyers argued that Maseko is on remand in respect
of a particular charge, which has not been disposed of and hence it is not
legally tenable to have both charges hanging over the artist’s
head.
They
indicated that their client would not know which charge to prepare for under the
circumstances. The lawyers pointed out that there is no procedure which allows
the State to substitute a less serious charge for a more serious
charge.
In
her ruling, which was delivered Monday afternoon Magistrate Ntombizodwa Mazhandu
ruled that the State can only bring new charges against Maseko before plea if
the first charges have been withdrawn before plea.
After
Magistrate Mazhandu’s ruling the State withdrew the earlier charges and sought
to prefer the new charge against Maseko.
Defence
lawyers again objected to this, arguing that the charge on which Maseko had
initially been brought to court is no longer there and added that if the State
is to bring in new charges, it has to do so in the proper
manner.
Subsequently,
the State undertook to facilitate the opening of a new record in respect of the
proposed new charge.
Defence
lawyers have prepared a warned and cautioned statement in respect of this new
charge, which will be officially signed on Tuesday 14 September 2010 at
09:00hrs. Thereafter, lawyers will proceed to view the exhibition and obtain all
exhibits sought to be produced by the State as well as obtain witness
statements.
Maseko’s
trial on new charges is expected to commence on Wednesday 15 September 2010
after his lawyers would have prepared a defence outline.
Maseko
was arrested in March for staging an exhibition
in Bulawayo depicting the 1980’s Matabeleland
massacres carried out by troops loyal to
President Robert Mugabe’s
previous government. The exhibition, which
showcased paintings that explored the torture
and massacres that characterized the civil
unrest known as Gukurahundi, was closed when
the artist was
arrested.
Recently,
the government invoked the Censorship and
Entertainment Control Act to ban the
exhibition of Maseko’s paintings at the
Bulawayo National Art Gallery charging that
they portrayed “the Gukurahundi era as a
tribal biased event.”
ENDS
Kumbirai Mafunda
Senior Projects Officer
Communications&Information
6th
100 Nelson Mandela Av
Tel
Email
“We Need
Generational Change”
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Patricia Mpofu Monday 13 September
2010
HARARE -- Air Zimbabwe has suspended all international
flights because of a
strike by pilots that has crippled operations at the
troubled airline.
Also suspended are regional flights to Lusaka, Zambia
and Lubumbashi, in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo until further
notice.
The national carrier's 40 pilots are demanding improved salaries
and
outstanding allowances which date back to about 20 months and totaling
US$3
million.
Despite being given a 24-hour ultimatum last Thursday
to return to work, the
pilots have refused to go back to work, resulting in
the debt-ridden airline
cancelling indefinitely flights to Lusaka,
Lubumbashi and all international
flights, including its cash-cow, the
Harare-London route.
Peter Chikumba, the Air Zimbabwe chief executive
officer, while apologising
to customers over what he described as unforeseen
collective job action by
the pilots, said management was continuing to
negotiate with the striking
workers.
"Flights to Lusaka, Lubumbashi
and all international flights remain
suspended until further notice.
Meanwhile, management is continuing to
negotiate with the pilots in order to
quickly restore normal service.
"We are doing everything possible to
ensure that alternative services are
available to minimise passenger
inconveniences," said Chikumba.
The airline has in the meantime leased
planes from a private South African
carrier, Air Quarius to service the
Harare/Johannesburg/Harare,
Harare/Bulawayo/Harare and the Harare/Victoria
Falls/Harare routes.
Air Zimbabwe's total wage bill is estimated at US$1,
3 million per month,
which analysts say is disproportionate to the volume of
business the firm is
handling.
The national carrier's chairman,
Jonathan Kadzura, said last week the strike
was unprocedural, warning that
the strikers will be fired.
Air Zimbabwe was one of the best airlines in
Africa at independence in 1980.
But years of mismanagement and interference
by the government have nearly
brought the airline to its
knees.
Starved of cash for re-tooling, Air Zimbabwe uses mostly obsolete
technology
and equipment while nearly all its planes are between 18 and 22
years old.
In addition, the airline pilots and other skilled staff have
deserted the
airline to go abroad where salaries are higher and working
conditions
better. - ZimOnline
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By
Tichaona Sibanda
13 September 2010
Air Zimbabwe management is still in
talks with its pilots and cabin crew,
despite a statement Sunday saying they
had been fired after they refused to
return to work.
The pilots
walked out on Wednesday last week over pay and conditions. A
24-hour
deadline was set for them to return to work over the weekend but on
Monday
the pilots were still digging in.
A highly placed source within the
airline told SW Radio Africa on Monday
that negotiations between management
and the pilots were still ongoing,
despite the chairman's
statement.
Jonathan Kadzura, the board chairman, said the pilots should
consider
themselves out of a job, after they failed to take heed of the 24
hour
deadline.
Kadzura said there was no way Air Zimbabwe could bow
to the pilots demands
and added that they had essentially fired themselves
by not agreeing to
return to the posts before the deadline. He has described
the walkout as
illegal. But the board has now scheduled an emergency meeting
for Tuesday to
see if they can find a solution to the
crisis.
Thousands of air travellers are already facing lengthy delays and
cancellations after the national carrier was forced to cancel all its
international flights. The standoff between the pilots and management is
costing the airline about $500 000 a day.
Domestic flights are being
serviced by other new airlines in the country
while passengers flying to
regional routes have been transferred to other
airlines.
The airline
is in the process of trying to lease a much bigger aircraft to
operate its
most lucrative Harare-London route in an effort to minimise
disruptions for
the travellers. But scores of passengers were by last night
still stranded
at Gatwick airport in the UK.
http://news.radiovop.com
13/09/2010 14:59:00
Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), have written to co-home affairs ministers
informing
them of the intention to sue them for the inhumane conditions its
members
went through while in detention at the Harare central police station
prison
cells.
A letter of notice of intention to sue Kembo Mohadi and Theresa
Makone has
already been sent by Woza lawyers.
Jenniffer Williams,
Magodonga Mahlangu, Clara Manjengwa and Sellina Madukani
represented by
Belinda Chinowawa wants to petition the
Supreme Court to declare the
conditions at central police cells a violation
of section 15 of the
Constitution.
The letter, dated 25 August 2010 was sent to Mohadi, Makone
and Police
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri.
The lawyers said
in the letter Woza members held a demonstration in April
this year
protesting against poor service delivery by the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA).
The demonstration was quelled by the police and 71
women activists were
arrested and taken to Harare Central Police
Station.
"On the 15th of April 2010, WOZA conducted a demonstration
against appalling
service provision from the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply
Authority (ZESA), which commenced around noon of that day in Harare,"
the
lawyers said in the letter.
"Approximately, half an hour later, a
vehicle from the Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP) Riot Squad arrived, and when
armed police
alighted, some of the protesters fled, while others remained
resolute, and
did not flee."
"Our clients inform us that they were
then forced to remove their shoes and
all under-garments including
brassieres and under-pants
until they each had a single top and bottom. It
was clear from the
circumstances and demeanour of the police details that
this was a
peremptory order, which all detainees were subjected to, in terms
of the
practice and rules at the Harare Central Holding Cells."
The
lawyers said those arrested and thrown into the cells were chocked by
the
smell of human excreta and flowing urine of varying
colours.
"Even the
beds were covered with human excreta, so they sat and spent the
night
huddled in the corridors of the cells, as they could not sit
inside the cells
due to the faeces. However, even the corridor itself had
flowing urine and
they had to use their own tissues, to clean up
the area where they planned to
sit on."
"When they wanted to use the toilet, they discovered that it was
inside the
cells, and they had to wade through a small pool of urine
to
get there. The toilets had no running water and were already full to
overflowing with human excreta," said the lawyers.
The claim that
police denied them access to the toilets with their own
tissue paper and
categorically stated that they would have to use
their bare
hands.
They said the situation was "extremely humiliating, more so
because
Magodonga Mahlangu, had a running stomach and had to use the
toilet
frequently. There was neither a hand basin nor soap in the cell in
the cell
so they could not wash their hands after using the
toilet."
"During the night they requested some blankets for warmth, and
were given
blankets which had clearly been dipped in and were reeking
of
urine. They gave them 3 blankets, despite the fact we there was now a
total
of 16 detainees, as there were more people that had been
arrested
for varying offences, unrelated to the demonstration."
"Due to the strong
stench, they could not cover themselves with the
blankets, and just put the
blankets on the cement floor so as to make
their situation a little more
comfortable. They spent a total of 4 nights in
this insalubrious
environment, and complaints to the police
fell on deaf ears.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
13/09/2010 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE government has threatened to JAIL college and university
principals who
expel or prevent students from taking exams for failing to
pay fees.
Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge claimed the colleges
and
universities would be "violating the law" if they took the actions to
force
fees payment.
"Principals and Vice Chancellors must realise
that they are violating the
law and they will be thrown into jail or fired,"
the minister told a
graduation ceremony at the Harare Polytechnic last
Friday. "I invite
students or parents of students who claim to have suffered
as a result of
the universities expelling them to come forward with the
evidence.
"It is government policy that no student will be expelled from
college or
prevented from writing exams for non-payment of
fees."
Mudenge says he is yet to come across any university or college
student
expelled over fees, or prevented from writing exams. Media reports
claiming
students were barred from campuses over fees were "based on a
farrago of
confusion which has created a phantasmagoria of conflicting
images of
dreamland on the mind of the public," he said.
"Such a claim is
playing fandango dance with the facts," the minister added
in pointed
comments aimed at the media.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie Munyuki
Monday, 13 September 2010
17:43
HARARE - Nigel Chanakira is far from regaining control of Kingdom
Financial
Holdings Limited (KFHL), as the consortium which purportedly sold
its shares
to the young banker is meeting now to invalidate the deal it
claims was done
"irregularly and illegally".
Sources said the
meeting has been called by Loackape Investments
shareholders who allege they
were not "consulted" by fellow-shareholder
Phillip Chiyangwa, who claimed at
the weekend that they had sold their 10
percent stake in KFHL to
Chanakira.
"Chanakira is now the owner of the bank," Chiyangwa said at
the weekend. "A
fortnight ago we structured a deal and the structure is
self-financing. I
was involved and we gave him our stake. He got 43 percent
from Moxon, 10
percent from Loackape, and added to his existing six percent
stake, this
makes it a 59 percent shareholding.
"It's a humane and
Godly settlement, which all the parties agreed to. I can
confirm that this
is a shareholders' agreement. It's no longer an issue that
will be brought
before the Meikles EGM," he said.
However, it has emerged that Chiyangwa
"did not consult" his colleagues, who
have called an emergency meeting to
review his involvement and the deal to
allow Chanakira to wrest control of
KFHL.
The Daily News can reveal that other Loackape shareholders - Temba
Mliswa,
Langton Nyatsambo, Chipo Mutasa and Rugare Chidembo - are meeting
now
together with Chiyangwa to review the KFHL deal... More to follow
http://news.radiovop.com
13/09/2010 17:46:00
HARARE
- Vice President Joice Mujuru has been sucked into the Temba Mliswa
saga and
was named in court as one of the politicians behind the
controversial
businessman's arrest.
Affidavits produced in a Karoi court last week
where Mliswa is being tried
for assaulting his farm workers and pointing a
gun at the other show that,
one of the accused Roy Mthombeni had been
promised huge sums of money by
former Hurungwe East Member of Parliament
Reuben Marumahoko to implicate
Mliswa.
"The people who had stolen
from Spring Farm (owned by Mliswa) were assaulted
by guards and not Mliswa
but Cde Marumahoko forced me to change the
statement to say it was Mliswa
who assaulted us and pointed a gun at me. It's
all lies.
"Cde
Marumahoko wanted to use me to make sure I helped send Mliswa to
prison. He
came and took me from the farm and poisoned me with information
that Mliswa
was a dangerous guy to Zimbabwe as a whole.
"He took me to Harare to meet
vice-president Mujuru so that she could
emphasise the point that Mliswa was
supposed to be punished. But we could
not find her and we went to look for
the police commissioner general,
Augustine Chihuri but again we failed to
locate him.
"In the end we had to go to Harare Central where I was made
to make a report
against Mliswa. Throughout I thought it was not proper to
pin down someone
for crimes he did not commit and that is why I am telling
the truth to the
court now," said Mthombeni.
Mliswa's family members
said Mujuru could have been involved as Mliswa is
widely believed to belong
to the Emmerson Mnangangwa faction which is
involved in bitter struggle to
take over from President Robert Mugabe.
Marumahoko, who is said to belong
to the Mujuru faction, is battling to fend
off Mliswa's inroads in the
Hurungwe East constituency as the former fitness
trainer has been
campaigning to take over the constituency in the next
elections.
Mliswa was arrested several times two months ago after
attacking police
commissioner Augustine Chihuri whom he described as the
most corrupt
individual in the country.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Fortious Nhambura
13 September
2010
Harare - Zimbabweans are feeling in more ways than one the
effects of a heat
wave in Russia that has seen Moscow banning wheat
exports.
The Baker's Association Zimbabwe's decision two weeks ago to
increase the
price of bread to US$1,10 means more than just paying the
stated sum for a
loaf.
It means that they have to spend at least US$2
to get the loaf. With
retailers always saying they do not have coinage to
give change, shoppers
are often forced to buy other items that they usually
do not want or need so
that their bill reaches a round figure.
While
some shops offer credit notes which shoppers can use on their next
visit to
the retailer, others do not have such facilities. When bread cost
between 80
and 90 US cents, this meant spending an extra 20 cents at most.
But for a
person who wants to buy a loaf of bread with US$2 right now, it
means
spending an extra 80 USc.
It is not only bread that causes this problem
as many small consumer goods
often leave shoppers with coined change that
the shops simply do not give
out.
Shoppers, naturally, believe that
this is a ploy to get them to buy more
than they need or, indeed, can
afford.
Even where credit notes and vouchers are available, it means
shoppers are
restricted to doing their next bit of purchasing at that same
retail outlet
because these pieces of paper are not legal tender anywhere
else.
The shops appear to be capitalising on this to move low-priced
non-basic
goods such as sweets, jam sachets and biscuits as alternatives to
change.
The capitalisation has become so brazen that a half-dozen of eggs
is now
conveniently priced at 89 US cents, meaning a loaf and the eggs fit
perfectly inside US$2.
But who wants to buy a half-dozen of eggs for
every loaf of bread purchased?
An average family requiring two loaves of
bread a day is forced to part ways
with an unbudgeted 80 USc daily if they
do not have coins.
"It is not manageable to spend US$3 just to get two
loaves of bread. "These
shops are taking advantage of us and making us buy
things like sweets that
they know we do not have the luxury to buy daily,"
said an irate customer as
she walked out of a supermarket in Harare's CBD
last Wednesday.
Banks have said they have South African coins in stock
that retailers and
service providers can get at the prevailing exchange
rates. However, the
shops have turned down this facility because they say
they cannot cope with
the exchange rates.
After being forced to buy
biscuits to round off her change on Wednesday, Mrs
Prisca Mutembwa of Glen
Lorne fumed: "This cannot be allowed to continue.
"Government should rein in
these profiteers otherwise we will all soon be
bankrupted by sweets and
biscuits."
To deal with the problem, Mr Smart Chirapu of Glen View said
he now buys in
bulk as and when he can or needs to. "I just have to buy five
loaves and put
them in the fridge for the whole week to avoid being ripped
off. "The shops
say the prices are not set to fix customers but are related
to normal
costing structures applying to any business anywhere in the
world.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe executive director Mrs Rosemary
Siyachitema
last Thursday slammed the state of affairs. "The last time we
heard there
was a disagreement over the exchange rate between banks and
supermarkets.
They could not agree on the rand equivalent of the US dollar.
Shops were
demanding a rate of US$1 to R10, but banks spurned the
suggestion.
"Unfortunately there is no referee; a role that used to be
played by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Resultantly, consumers suffer and
are forced to
buy sweets or take credit vouchers. "Some key supermarkets are
now giving
change and those not are being lazy and simply not taking the
initiative,"
she said.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Retailers
Association Mr Denford Mberi said the
acquisition of coins would increase
costs of running business hence the
reluctance to take the banks' offer.
"Free exchange of coins with equivalent
notes will make coins easily
available in retail outlets," he said.
http://www.ipsnews.net
Busani Bafana
GWANDA, Zimbabwe,
Sep 13 (IPS) - More than a million people will need food
aid in Zimbabwe
this year. As the government looks to boost agriculture
production, one
rural community is leading the way by using irrigation
schemes to improve
food security and income.
Tabiso Dube and her neighbours in Patana
village grow food year round thanks
to an irrigation scheme.
Her home
in Matabeleland South's Gwanda district is among the least food and
water
secure areas in the country. Given the arid climate, most people here
rely
primarily on livestock for their livelihoods. The few who dare focus on
growing maize or wheat are extremely vulnerable to erratic
rainfall.
But cattle farming has been hit hard by years of
drought-induced losses;
many have been forced to slaughter animals for lack
of grazing.
"Matabeleland is cattle country and it was a challenge to get
many
communities to buy into irrigation farming as a means of livelihood,"
Velenjani Nkomo told IPS. "We have persisted and after 10 years, villagers
are growing vegetables, wheat and green maize, earning income and having
enough to eat."
Nkomo is director of Pro Africa - a development
organisation working to use
water as a pathway out of poverty. Over the past
10 years the NGO has
invested $1 million in building 48 gravity-fed
irrigation schemes around 52
government-built dams in Matabeleland South,
characterised by low annual
rainfall, droughts and food scarcity.
The
irrigation schemes have been built with funding from international
donors,
while local communities have provided labour and collected stones
and the
sand used in the construction of canals. Communities are responsible
to
maintain the infrastructure once it's constructed, usually with money
they
earn from the increased produce or have collected.
Dube, a smallholder
farmer who still keeps a few goats, relied on food aid
for the last four
years like many others in this water-stressed region of
Zimbabwe. Since Pro
Africa built an irrigation scheme, Dube has not only
been able to feed her
family, she has enough to give to extended family
members and needy
neighbours.
"I do not worry about school fees anymore as our project has
ensured I have
enough food for my children and extra cash for fees and for
developing my
home," said Dube, a mother of four.
The Madema
irrigation scheme covers 8.8 hectares. Its 57 members are those
who
responded when Pro Africa convened community meetings to introduce the
concept of irrigation in the area. The gravity-fed irrigation scheme has
helped Dube and her neighbours add an assortment of vegetables to their main
crops of wheat and maize, ensuring a more diverse diet and extra cash with
the sale of excess produce.
The dam that feeds Madema was built in
response to the devastating drought
in 1992. The government responded by
building 52 small dams in the two
Matabeleland provinces in collaboration
with a consoritum of NGOs. The
earthen dams - many have since been
reinforced with stone - however lacked
any additional infrastructure until
Pro Africa stepped in to fill the gap.
"My wish is that we can double the
size of the project to 16 hectares so
that we have more land to grow fruits
and earn more money."
Members are planning to stock the dam with fish and
expand into cattle
fattening to further widen their income
base.
While members would not give exact earning from produce sales on a
monthly
basis, they are earning enough to be confident they can maintain
their dam
and irrigation canals. The scheme's members will soon spend the
equivalent
of $640 to repair a leak in the dam wall following heavy rains
last season.
While the schemes have enabled individual communities to
become food
sufficient, access to wider markets - which would extend the
benefits more
widely - remains a challenge. Most of the produce from the
current total of
200 hectares under irrigation in Matabeleland South
province is sold in the
immediate area: to neighbours, nearby schools and
government institutions.
Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, is a
beckoning market. But given
poor roads, lack of refrigeration and high fuel
costs, transporting
perishable produce 250 kilometres is a logistical
nightmare. Ironically,
most of Bulawayo's fresh produce travels as much as
700 kilometres over much
better roads from farms in South
Africa.
Zimbabwe is turning to range of measures in search of long-term
solutions to
food security and poverty reduction. Improving farmers' access
to markets,
subsidised seeds and fertiliser and extending irrigation to
reduce
dependence on rainfall each have their part to
play.
(END/2010)
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The
Zimbabwean
Monday, 13 September 2010 18:07
It's been 10 years since
the first Zimfest was held in London an event that
has grown from attracting
the attention of a few hundred Zimbabweans to
literally grabbing the
attention of thousands around the world. On September
3rd 2010 the event was
held for the 10th consecutive year and although it
was not delivered to the
scale that the organisers intended it is record
which few Zimbabwean events
of this nature can boast
Very early in the year it had become clear that
there were problems.
Initially there were delays in announcing the venue,
followed by similar
delays in announcing ticket sales. It eventually
surfaced that the
organisers had been having difficulty securing an open air
venue in London
forcing them to eventually run a limited event including a
Networking event
dubbed Zimfest Connected and a concert Zimbabwe
Rocks.
"The team fought really hard to try to deliver the traditional
outdoor
Saturday event" said Mike Tashaya one of the organisers of Zimfest.
"It was
a tough decision to make Zimfest without braais, or born frees
rambling
around barefoot on a grass field, without the opportunity to bring
the whole
family along is not what we have all come to expect. An avid
supporter and
friend accused us of cancelling Christmas - no one wants to be
accused of
that!"
So what actually happened? According to the
organisers the venue that had
hosted the event for the past few years had
become unsustainable due to
escalating costs and amongst other issues.
Eventually the decision was taken
to move and after a long struggle to find
a suitable venue it became clear
that with the time constraints it would be
impossible to deliver an event up
to the standards people had become used
to. The decision was taken to
deliver a quality event next year rather than
a rushed and inevitably
mediocre one this year.
"That left us with
two events that we had never done before, limited time
and a public that was
not as enthusiastic as they usually are about Zimfest,
where we would have
liked to be!" Said Tashaya said adding "Our supporting
events had become
the main event; the brides-maids had become the bride
As it turned out
the "brides-maids" while not replacing the bride were
decent affairs;
Zimfest Connected a networking event carrying the theme
"Connecting Zimbabwe
to the world" brought together and interesting
collection of people at the
Pacific Oriental restaurant in central London.
The event was opened by
hosts WEZIMBABWE with Trustee Hilton Mendelsohn who
emphasised that this
event was meant to compliment the traditional event and
to provide the
opportunity for the community abroad could and should do more
for Zimbabwe.
Econet UK CEO Marco Signorini who spoke about the expansion of
the
Zimbabwean telecoms giant into the UK and the services they would be
making
available highlighting in the process the company's role in the
community
and with orphans in Zimbabwe. Other speakers included Cricketer
Henry
Olonga, Olympic Athlete Brian Dzingai, Zimbabwe based businessman
Simon Kags
and Dr Knox Chitiyo who covered the work of the Britain Zimbabwe
Society in
keeping Britain and Zimbabwe connected.
Zimfest Connected was later
followed by a well attended Zimfest: Zimbabwe
Rocks! The first ever
dedicated concert showcasing contemporary Zimbabwean
music as part of
Zimfest. Headliner Tinashe who put on an accomplished
display as did Zimfest
stalwarts Mann Friday who had travelled from Cape
Town, Chiwoniso, Jusa
Dementor, Bkay and Kazz, Kamikaze Test Pilots,
newcomers Cassetti and
Mashasha and Sam who delighted with an afrobeat set
that at some points
sounded like a four or five peace band than a duo.
Despite the success of the
2 events those that attended still expressed
disappointment that they could
not have made a weekend of it with the
outdoor Saturday. This was
acknowledged by the organisers who promised pull
out all the stops in
ensuring that the outdoor leg is back on the agenda
next year and that the
event will continue to grow and provide a platform to
showcase the best of
Zimbabwe around the world.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Juma Donke Monday 13
September 2010
CAPE Town -- Since arriving in Cape Town five years
ago, Erina Manyene (not
her real name) has survived by doing laundry and
cleaning other people’s
homes in the leafy Southern Suburbs.
Erina
(28) left her young son, then only seven months old, in the care of
her
common law husband in her native Zimbabwe, forded the crocodile-infested
Limpopo River and crawled under thick layers of barbed wire to enter South
Africa at an authorised crossing point.
“There has been a reversal of
roles since the Zimbabwean crisis started.
Because the type of work
available in foreign countries is more suited to
women, husbands are
remaining behind to take care of the children while we
venture out,” she
said in an interview.
International aid agencies believe that between 1,
2 and three million
Zimbabweans have fled the country in the last decade to
escape political
repression and spreading poverty.
Many of the
reluctant migrants are highly trained professionals – teachers,
lawyers,
journalists, engineers, doctors and nurses – who are forced to
downsize
their trades in their adopted countries to cobble together a frugal
life on
the fringes of the main economy.
For most women, informal trading,
waiting on tables, commercial sex work and
domestic work offer an escape
route out of a life of penury.
The Zimbabwean women beef up an expanding
legion of domestic workers from
the economic backwaters of Lesotho,
Swaziland, Malawi and Mozambique spread
across South Africa, the industrial
leader of the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC).
Desperate people
The country’s sturdy manufacturing base
and relatively high wages act as a
magnet to millions of unemployed people
in the region, those fleeing war,
and the after-effects of ill-conceived
economic austerity measures.
Traditionally, domestic work provides an
entry point into the South African
job market for new arrivals and is a
crucial area of employment for both
in-country and transnational female
migrant workers.
Statistics South Africa indicates that 42 per cent of
black women from the
SADC region who lived in the Johannesburg area in 2001
worked in private
households, although they represented only 4.9 per cent of
women working in
this atypical sector in the precinct.
Findings of an
ongoing study being conducted by the Domestic Workers
Research Project
(DWRP) at the University of the Western Cape confirm that
migrant domestic
workers still suffer arduous working conditions for low
wages and are often
sequestered behind their employers’ high walls, cut off
from family and
friends for inordinately long periods.
While some of their South African
counterparts have made notable headway
towards claiming labour rights such
as minimum conditions of employment,
minimum wages and leave pay, most
migrant domestic workers are denied access
to trade unions and are resigned
to their situation.
“You see here in South Africa, most of the people
they under rate us, mostly
they isolate us; in our workplace most of the
people they want to pay us low
money. Maybe they will say R50 a day, because
they know us Zimbabweans we
are stranded and desperate people, and we do not
have money.
“In our country we are suffering and because I have nowhere
to go in South
Africa, we end up agreeing that money. And that’s the problem
that we are
facing here: we want sometimes to send food back to our children
back home
but we can’t afford to do that because of the money they are
giving us,”
said a migrant domestic worker at a recent DWRP workshop in Cape
Town.
Formidable obstacles
Coupled with isolation, low levels of
education, exploitative wages and a
largely inflexible immigration law
regime limit migrant domestic workers’
access to health services, raising
the spectre of accelerating HIV
infections among “illegal
foreigners”.
“Isolation in our country is still a main problem where we
[domestic
workers] are isolated from families. The regulations that they lay
down for
you is not to bring anyone on the premises. I felt sometimes like I
was in a
prison cell,” said Hester Stephens, president of the South African
Domestic
Workers and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU).
While on the
face of it isolation should help curb HIV infections, trends in
China and
India among the burgeoning in-country migrant population paint a
different
picture. In the Philippines, migrant workers – most of them
domestic workers
- account for 28 per cent of the total number of reported
HIV/AIDS cases
even though they constitute only 10 per cent of the
population.
At
the same time, flows of migrant remittances from developing countries
have
shored up ailing economies in their home countries.
The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) says remittances rose from US$60
billion worldwide
in 1990 to US$328 billion in 2008. In 22 countries
remittances equalled more
than 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP)
in 2006, while in six
countries they amounted to more than 20 per cent.
Still, the regulatory
framework applicable to the migration of workers from
other African
countries to South Africa presents formidable obstacles to the
implementation of policies upholding the fundamental rights and dignity of
those workers.
Post-apartheid policy
Post-apartheid
immigration policy has mostly been exclusionary, based on a
strongly
protectionist and territorial vision. The government’s
determination to keep
out migrant workers and immigrants is reflected in the
Aliens Control Act of
1991, which was conceived and constructed during the
unstable cross-over
period from apartheid to democracy.
Sally Peberdy, a professor of
geography at the University of the Western
Cape argues that “the ways that
the new state used and amended the 1991 Act
and its replacement, the
Immigration Act of 2002 (as amended in 2004),
indicate its commitment to the
exclusionary principles on which South
African immigration legislation has
always rested.
“However, there was a shift in approach in the early 2000s
to make policy
more responsive to ‘South Africa’s skills and investment
needs’ and to
engage with xenophobia. … [But the] thrust of policy remains
largely
exclusionary. African immigrants and migrants, documented and
undocumented,
seem to have been the most affected.”
The preamble to
the Immigration Act confirms that it was framed to ensure
that “the South
African economy may have access to the full measure of
needed contributions
by foreigners”, but immediately adds that “the
contribution of foreigners
[must] not adversely impact on existing labour
standards and the rights and
expectations of South African workers”.
Furthermore, “foreigners” may
only be issued with a quota work permit if
they fall within a specific
professional category, a general work permit and
an exceptional skills
permit if their skills are deemed beneficial to South
African
development.
Anti-migrant tendencies
Evidently, domestic workers
are not eligible for the various categories of
work permits and would
struggle to obtain permanent residence status, which
is earned after more
than five years of continuous legal residency in South
Africa.
In
practice, the only basis on which non-South Africans who do not possess
the
requisite “qualifications or skills and experience” can obtain the right
to
work in this country is if they qualify for refugee status “owing to a
well-founded fear of being persecuted by reason of ... race, tribe,
religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular
social group”.
Crucially, they must also succeed in obtaining asylum
in terms of the
Refugees Act, as any non-South African who is employed
without possessing
these qualifications is an “illegal foreigner”, and faces
deportation.
Acquiring a refugee permit is, however, a daunting task for
most potential
refugees.
“When you go to Home Affairs it is very
difficult to get that paper,” said a
migrant domestic worker.” We just go
there and there’ll be a queue, they
will just be pushing and pushing. I
think the minister was there at one
stage and she saw for herself what is
happening there…if you don’t have that
asylum document, employers manipulate
us because of that, they know we don’t
have any papers here, so they can
give you any amount they want.”
Yet these hurdles have failed to dissuade
migrants from countries which
share traditional and cultural ties; and
borders with South Africa from
streaming into the country to seek
work.
Despite this cultural nexus, migrants run the risk of encountering
xenophobic resistance both at work and in the community. They suffer
silently for fear of approaching law enforcement agencies because
anti-migrant tendencies run deep within the police force and in government
departments.
Cold comfort
In 2008, South Africa was shocked by
the violence that swept the country
when locals attacked black people from
other African countries. The
“makwerekwere”, the attackers alleged, were
“stealing” locals’ jobs, women,
houses and were a drain on scarce
resources.
Analysts attributed the violence to a number of factors
ranging from a
“third force”, an influx of “illegal immigrants”, poor border
controls,
changes in the national political leadership, rising food and
commodity
prices and poor service delivery.
But the main factor
appeared to be local leadership either encouraging
xenophobia or failing to
prevent it.
Following a fresh episode of xenophobic violence in October
2009 - when an
estimated 2 000 Zimbabwean migrant farm workers were forced
out of their
shacks at De Doorns by bands of locals - an African National
Congress (ANC)
councillor for the area was fingered for fanning the
attacks.
Isolated incidents of violence against black Africans have been
reported
countrywide since the end of the football World Cup in July. The
government
has vehemently refused to acknowledge that the violence was
inspired by
xenophobia, arguing instead that it was the handiwork of common
criminals.
This is cold comfort though for migrants like Grace Matenhese
who was chased
out of her corrugated iron and board shack along with her
infant child in
the dead of night at De Doorns. “Being a single mother in a
foreign country
is not easy at the best of times, but it is even harder now
that we have
been deprived of our livelihood.”
Like the majority of
aspiring African migrants seeking low-skilled work,
Matenhese failed at the
first hurdle in her attempts to acquire a work
permit. Consequently, she
lives under the perpetual threat of deportation,
violence and exploitation
because of her status as an “illegal foreigner”.
The writer is a
researcher in the Social Law Project, Faculty of Law, at the
University of
the Western Cape.
BILL WATCH
36/2010
[12th September 2010]
Update on Legal Issues
In Court
This Week
Monday
13th September: High
Court, Harare, 10 am. Start of the first of the civil trials in which the 2008
abductees claim damages for torture, unlawful arrest, detention etc. [See
further below.]
New Cases of Public Interest
Prosecutions over Gukurahundi Murals at Bulawayo Art
Gallery
Last month’s gazetting of the Board of Censors’ banning of artist
Owen Maseko’s “Gukurahundi murals” at the Bulawayo Art Gallery has coincided
with the revival of prosecutions against Owen Maseko and the acting director of
the gallery. Mr Maseko is now to be charged, not just under the Censorship and
Entertainments Control Act, but with the more serious offence of publishing
false information likely to spark public disorder or public violence contrary to
section 31 of the Criminal Law Code – for which the penalty is an unlimited fine
or up to 20 years’ imprisonment. This prosecution is likely to prompt a
constitutional case challenging official restrictions on freedom of
expression.
WOZA to Sue over Inhuman and Degrading Conditions in Police Cells
70 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise [WOZA] have formally notified
the co-Ministers of Home Affairs [Kembo Mohadi of ZANU-PF and Theresa Makone of MDC-T] that they intend to bring a
constitutional case in the Supreme Court over the conditions under which they
were detained in police cells at Harare Central Police Station for four nights
in April. Their detention followed their arrest for demonstrating against poor
service delivery by national electricity supplier ZESA. The allegation is that
the filthy and unsanitary conditions of the cells, lack of running water, denial
of palatable food, etc., constituted inhuman and degrading treatment in
contravention of section 15 of the Constitution.
High Court Challenge to Legality of “Extra”
Ministers
In an interesting if belated development, concerned citizens have
asked the High Court to annul the appointments of 8 of the Inclusive Government
ministers. They argue that as the GPA Article 20, incorporated into the
Constitution by Constitution Amendment No. 19, limits the number of Ministers to
31 [ZANU-PF 15, MDC-T 13, MDC-M 3], the President acted unlawfully in appointing
41 Ministers. The “unlawful” Ministers are identified as those who signed oaths
of loyalty and office after their party quotas under the Constitution had been
filled by those who signed the oaths prior to them. The Ministers concerned
are: Savior
Kasukuwere, Joseph Made, Walter Mzembi, Flora Bhuka, Sylvester Nguni
[ZANU-PF],
Henry Madzorera, Giles Mutsekwa and Sekai Holland [MDC-T]. [Note: John Nkomo
was also sworn in late but is no longer a Minister.] The implications of
the case are wide-ranging – among other things the applicants claim that all
executive acts by the Ministers concerned are null and void, including the
making of regulations – such as the Indigenisation Regulations, made by Mr
Kasukuwere. The Government has lodged notice of opposition. No date has yet
been fixed for the hearing of the case.
Constitutional Cases in Supreme Court
Judgments Awaited
Jestina Mukoko case: It is now nearly a year since the Supreme Court granted Jestina
Mukoko’s application for a permanent stay of prosecution on the ground that her
constitutional rights had been seriously infringed. The court issued a brief
order to that effect and said that its full judgment would be handed down
later. A delay of this length for an important Supreme Court judgment is
regrettable.
Press Freedom Case: This is the case heard in June, in which Zimbabwe Independent
journalists Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure challenged the
constitutionality of section 31 of the Criminal Law Code under which they were
facing charges for publishing false information.
WOZA Freedom of Assembly Case: In this case heard last year, Women of Zimbabwe Arise [WOZA]
leaders Williams and Mahlangu challenged the constitutionality of section 41 of
the Criminal Law Code under which they were charged following a procession
broken up by police.
Roy Bennett case: The Chief Justice’s decision is still awaited on the State’s
application for leave to appeal against Mr Bennett’s acquittal by the High Court
in May this year; the Chief Justice heard the case on 28th July.
Former Attorney-General’s Case: On 6th September the Supreme Court heard an appeal by former
Attorney-General Gula-Ndebele [he was removed from office by the President on
the recommendation of a special tribunal headed by Justice Bhunu]. The appeal
was against a January High Court decision that dismissed his application to set
aside the tribunal’s recommendation on the grounds that it was grossly
unreasonable and prompted by bias and improper motives. The Supreme Court’s decision is pending.
New Case on School’s Dreadlocks Ban
Due for hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday 16th September is a
constitutional case a father has brought against a school over its objections to
his children's dreadlocks. The case raises the Declaration of Rights’
protection of freedom of religion and of expression.
High Court
Cases of Interest
Chiadzwa
Diamonds Case: High Court Nullifies Earlier Judgment
Justice
Hungwe has set aside his own September 2009 judgment which declared African
Consolidated Resources [ACR] to be the lawful holders of mining claims in the
Chiadzwa diamond field. On Monday 6th September, ACR’s lawyers and the
government’s lawyers [the government had asked for the reversal of the pro-ACR
judgment] were told Justice Hungwe had his judgment ready and would hand it down
at 10 am. Lawyers and interested members of the public then spent the day
waiting for the judge. It was only after State press representatives arrived at
about 3.30 pm that the judge appeared and read out his
judgment. He rejected an ACR objection that the Government side should be
denied a hearing because it had come to court with “dirty hands”, having
illegally defied the Chief Justice’s January 2010 order for all mining activity
on the disputed claims to cease pending a further Supreme Court ruling. The
judge also ruled that ACR had obtained judgment in its favour by misleading the
court over the legal status of the subsidiary companies at the time the claims
were registered. ACR deny this and have said they will note an appeal to the
Supreme Court. They need Justice Hungwe’s written judgment for their appeal,
but it has not been forthcoming.
Torture
Compensation Claim Trial in High Court on 13th September
On Monday
13th September Judge-President Chiweshe will start hearing the first of many
civil cases against the State and individual security force officers brought by
the abductees of late 2008. The case was meant to start on 30th August but did
not take off then because the defendants’ lawyer was unable to attend. A
stand-in lawyer for the defendants applied for an indefinite postponement so
that all the cases [there are 17 in all, including one brought by Jestina
Mukoko] could be heard together later. Judge-President Chiweshe granted a
two-week postponement and rejected the application for the trials to be joined.
About the
case: Plaintiff Mapfumo Garutsa was abducted at the end of November 2008 and
was among those listed as “disappeared”; he was held secretly for a month by
State agents before being brought to court for the first time on 29th December
as one of the so-called “bomber group”. He claims $190 000 for unlawful arrest
and detention and malicious prosecution and for his treatment at the hands of
State agents during his detention, citing torture, inhuman and degrading
treatment, denial of medical treatment and denial of access to his lawyer.
There are 14 defendants, comprising 7 Ministers and security force commanders,
in their official capacities, and 7 named police, CID and CIO officers, cited in
their personal capacities. Judge-President Chiweshe has been a High Court judge
since 2001 but has only recently returned to the bench after serving for five
years as chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. He was appointed
Judge-President in May.
Acquittal
of Human Rights Lawyer Muchadehama Challenged by State
Nine
months after Alec Muchadehama’s acquittal on a contempt of court charge the
State has applied to the High Court for leave to appeal against the acquittal.
The case has been assigned to Justice Patel but as yet no date has been fixed
for a hearing. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have issued a strong statement
condemning the State’s application as frivolous and unprocedural and pointing to
its potential to inconvenience Mr Muchadehama at a time when he is engaged in
major litigation against government Ministers and State officials [he is
plaintiff Mapfumo Garutsa’s lawyer in the torture claim case and acts for the
plaintiffs in most of the other torture cases].
Legal News from the Recent AU Summit
Decisions taken at the AU Summit in Kampala, Uganda, in July included
the following:
·
criticism of the UN Security Council for not having deferred the
International Criminal Court [ICC] proceedings against Sudanese President el
Bashir as requested by the AU
·
condemnation
of “blatant abuse” of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction by non-African
states [Note: the principle of universal jurisdiction is the principle of
international law under which states claim criminal jurisdiction over persons
whose alleged crimes were committed outside the boundaries of the prosecuting
state, regardless of the accused person’s nationality, country of residence or
other link with the prosecuting country. It is typically applied to serious
crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, etc. on the basis
that they are crimes against all mankind.]
·
the election of five new judges of the African Court for Human and
People’s Rights, from Algeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria and Cote
d’Ivoire
·
the election of six new members of the African
Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, one of
them Zimbabwean High Court Judge Alfas
Chitakunye
·
endorsement
of an initiative to create an African Framework for Constitutional Justice
Comment:
although the AU Protocol on Peace and Security mandates it to
cooperate and work
closely with relevant UN Agencies in the promotion of peace, security and
stability in Africa, the first
two items above show significant African opposition to international judicial
institutions and their effect on “national sovereignty”. This is also reflected
by the current review of the role, functions and mandate of the SADC
Tribunal
SADC Tribunal Under Review
In response to Zimbabwe’s outright rejection of the legality of the
establishment of the SADC Tribunal and of the Tribunal’s decisions in the land
acquisition cases brought by dispossessed commercial farmers, the August SADC
Summit in Windhoek decided that “a
review of the role, functions and terms of reference of the SADC Tribunal should
be undertaken and concluded within 6 months”. The review is being undertaken by
the member States’ Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General. The six months
will be up on 17th February 2011. This means that at least for the time being there will be no action taken
by SADC on the Tribunal’s third contempt ruling against Zimbabwe. This ruling
was handed down on 16th July, when the Tribunal decided that it would
again report to the SADC Summit that Zimbabwe has failed to comply with the
Tribunal's substantive rulings in the land acquisition cases. Factors cited by
the Tribunal included continued harassment and evictions of farmers after its
second contempt ruling; a letter to the Tribunal from Justice Minister Chinamasa
rejecting the Tribunal and its decisions; and the Zimbabwe High Court decision
in the Gramara case. [Electronic version of Tribunal’s ruling of 16th July available on
request.]
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