http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
08 September
2010
A second auction of the country's controversial diamonds is set to
be held
in secret, after the Mines Ministry announced it would not make the
details
of the sale public.
The auction is expected to be soon, amid
reports that the international
monitor in charge of certifying the diamonds
for sale is expected in
Zimbabwe this week. Abbey Chikane, the monitor
appointed by the
international trade watchdog the Kimberley Process (KP), is
reportedly set
to arrive in the country on Thursday to approve a second
auction.
Officials in the Mines Ministry have refused to confirm when
Chikane is
arriving, saying future diamond sales would be private. The
Ministry says
this is for security reasons, arguing that diamond buyers
would prefer to
bid on the stones without media attention.
The first
auction was held last month, not long after the KP and the Mines
Ministry
reached an agreement that paved for the way for the resumption of
exports
under monitoring conditions. Sales had been banned last year over
human
rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, which still remain
controlled
by the military. The agreement reached with the KP allows the
Mines Ministry
to sell a stockpile of diamonds mined at Chiadzwa over the
past
year.
KP monitor Chikane last month certified a portion of that stockpile
as
'conflict free', allowing their legal sale. An estimated US$72 million
was
generated from the sale, and it's understood the government claimed
US$30
million of the profits as the 50% shareholder in the firms mining in
Chiadzwa.
The sale went ahead despite the diamonds being at the
centre of a legal
battle over the Chiadzwa site's ownership. The legal title
holders, UK based
African Consolidated Resources (ACR), warned that the
diamonds were
essentially stolen, after the company was forced off the claim
at gunpoint
in 2006. ACR warned that the sale was in contempt of a Supreme
Court ruling,
which ordered the firms mining at Chiadzwa to cease all
operations until the
ownership fight was settled.
The Supreme Court
ruling came a few months after the High Court ruled that
ACR was the legal
title holder, validating the company's rights to mine at
Chiadzwa.
But this week the High Court made a shock u-turn in
revoking that earlier
ruling. Critics have said this was at the behest of
the government to 'clear
the air' over the contested diamonds, in
preparation for the second auction.
http://www.voanews.com
Peta Thornycroft | Southern Africa 08
September 2010
Struggling Air Zimbabwe's pilots went on strike
Wednesday over pay and
conditions of service. Many long serving employees
of Air Zimbabwe say they
can not remember when, if ever, the airline's
pilots have gone on strike.
Air Zimbabwe pilots have been complaining for
several years about their pay.
A member of Air Zimbabwe's technical staff
, speaking on condition he was
not named, said many of the approximately 40
pilots working for the
government's airline, are grossly
underpaid.
The technical staffer said the pilots' salaries are also far
below that of
other regional airlines. He said many pilots are each owed
tens of thousands
of dollars in back pay.
Some of the pilots have
complained to management that they are concerned
about Air Zimbabwe's old
equipment and lack of facilities for proper rest
for pilots between long
haul flights, particularly to and from the Far East.
Air Zimbabwe flies
internally as well as to several regional destinations.
Its most lucrative
route is to the United Kingdom's Gatwick Airport as Air
Zimbabwe's flights
are cheaper than other airlines which all now fly to
London via
Johannesburg.
Air Zimbabwe is the only direct flight from Harare to
London.
Its far East route is not as popular as President Robert Mugabe
would have
liked, according to regular passengers on the route to Shanghai
via
Singapore and Dubai.
Mr. Mugabe announced Zimbabwe's Look East
policy seven years ago because
of European Union and United States
sanctions policy against himself and
about 200 of his top colleagues in the
Zanu PF political party, and about
30 companies associated with the
party.
There is normal trade between the U.S. and EU and Zimbabwe, but
several top
businessmen say the sanctions still hurt some Zimbabwe
companies.
Air Zimbabwe has aging aircraft including two Boeing 767
passenger jets,
three Boeing 737's and one small Chinese plane for the
domestic routes and
to Johannesburg.
Air Zimbabwe has an impeccable
safety record but has, like every other
government company or agency, been
short of money for the last decade.
Travellers flying Air Zimbabwe have
to pay cash for their tickets.
The technical source says that many of the
top pilots and engineering staff
have left Air Zimbabwe in recent years
citing poor pay and working
conditions and lack of opportunity especially
for the handful of remaining
white staff members.
Air Zimbabwe in
London has told passengers due to fly out of Gatwick Tuesday
their flight
has been postponed to Friday.
It is not clear yet whether the strike will
be resolved by Friday.
http://af.reuters.com/
Wed Sep 8, 2010 11:35am
GMT
* Finmin: Want to revive 2.75 bln rand overdraft
facility
* Eyeing 500 million rand credit line - Zimbabwe finmin
*
Zimbabwe agrees $70 mln Botswana credit line
By Nelson
Banya
HARARE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is seeking 3.25 billion rand in
an
overdraft and credit facility from South Africa, Finance Minister Tendai
Biti said on Wednesday, as the country battles to reverse the effects of a
decade-long political and economic crisis.
A power-sharing government
set up last year by bitter rivals President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has stabilised an economy
ravaged by hyperinflation, which
peaked at 500 billion percent in December
2008.
But the government
says it needs at least $10 billion for reconstruction.
Biti told business
executives in Harare that the government was looking to
negotiate with South
Africa's government for financial assistance after
agreeing terms for a $70
million credit line with Botswana.
The government has so far failed to
attract significant funds from Western
donors, who are demanding more
reforms before providing aid to the unity
government.
"In South
Africa ... there are two facilities that we are negotiating; one
is a line
of credit of 500 million rand, one is a revival of an old
overdraft facility
of 2.75 billion rand," Biti said, adding that he would
soon visit the
country for discussions.
"We are also talking to private capital, the
banks, and the general
understanding is that now that the South African and
Zimbabwean BIPPA
(bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement)
has been ratified
by the South African parliament there should be movement
and traction on
that."
The agreement, which was signed last November,
protects investments from
expropriation and provides the opportunity for
aggrieved investors to seek
redress in international courts.
Biti
said the government was still struggling to raise revenues in the
recovering
economy, collecting an average $140 million a month, the bulk of
which went
on wages for public workers.
http://www.sabcnews.com/
September 08 2010
,
6:12:00
Thulasizwe Simelane, Zimbabwe
Economists say the
resurgence of Zimbabwe's currency black market is
symptomatic of weaknesses
in the banking sector and exchange rate
distortions. Black market traders
who were partly responsible for the demise
of the country's currency two
years ago, are now back on the streets dealing
in US dollars and the South
African rand.
While the Government has downplayed the impact on the
financial system,
economists are warning that the informal market could
become a permanent
part of the economy.
Harare's city centre is
suddenly littered with cash-dealers, offering
competitive rates for US
dollars and Rands. The scene is reminiscent of the
hyper-inflation era when
black market traders dictated the value of the Zim
dollar, on an hourly
basis.
The Finance Ministry says it is not perturbed by the practice, as
it is
unlikely to destabilise the market, a view shared by some economists.
"We
have nothing quite as wild as the Zimbabwe dollar was, where you might
get a
thousand times as much for something you buy today and you sell it
tomorrow.
That sort of thing is not going to happen, when you are dealing in
hard
currencies," says economist John Robertson.
But, others believe
the new black market is a tell-tale sign of liquidity
challenges,
uncompetitive exchange rates and inefficiencies in the banking
system.
"People without accounts transact easily at the Roadport without any
papers
and it looks like it is actually better for them to do so, than go
through
the banks where the money first of all is more expensive and
secondly there
is a lot of waiting," says economist Daniel Ndlela.
Ndlela warned that
the result is that significant cash transactions are
by-passing the
financial system and hence, are not captured.
Zimbabwe ditched its
worthless Dollar early last year, in favour of a
cocktail of foreign
currencies.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Guthrie Munyuki
Wednesday, 08
September 2010 09:19
HARARE - Finance minister Tendai Biti says one
of the officials representing
a South African firm offering Zimbabwe a
failed US$50 billion loan was an
arms dealer and could have "Russian Mafia"
links.
Biti said Norange Capital Markets' outlandish offer was very
suspicious and
reeked of a strange 'financial smell'.
"That company,
Norange Capital Markets is dodgy. They are not HongKong
Shanghai Banking
Corporation (HSBC), they are not Stanley Morgan and they
are not Barclays
Bank International. So who are they?
"One of those guys is actually an
arms dealer and might have links with the
Russian Mafia. I only met them
once but I had my suspicions," Biti told
Daily News in an exclusive
interview.
However, ex-service man and businessman Kudzai Mbudzi whose
consultancy firm
Business Support Services brought Norange, said the
Malaysian central
bank-sheltered fund was clean.
He also accused the
treasury boss of "heel dragging" since March and taking
a unilateral
decision in blocking the offer without proper, and exhaustive
Cabinet
deliberation on the matter.
"Norange had told Biti that they would first
communicate with the
International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Interpol
before releasing the
money. How then can you suspect such people of moving
dirty money?
"What Biti did was just to deny Zimbabweans relief. I am not
sure if he is
working with his friends in the MDC or it is just his own work
but whatever
it is, he has denied Zimbabwe an opportunity to receive the
much-need
loan," said Mbudzi, at one time a leading figure in the Simba
Makoni led
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn opposition party.
Biti, on the other
hand, threw cold water on Mbudzi's claims, saying the
Norange offer was
swiftly rejected by the cash-strapped government after a
security check
indicated that the South African company's offer might have
been a ploy to
clean its money.
"Where in the world have you heard such sums of money
being bandied around?
How can someone offer you a free US$100 million, just
like that? Why didn't
they go somewhere, to better economies than ours?
Surely we are poor and
ranked number 2 out of 133 and why would someone want
to sink their money
here?" Biti asked.
He said the Central
Intelligence Organisation had done a thorough check on
Norange's profile and
hence the decision to dismiss the offer was based on
that security brief -
considered by government as sound and unquestionable.
But Mbudzi
maintains and spiritedly accuses Biti, and his Finance ministry
subordinates
of failing Zimbabwe and lying that President Robert Mugabe had
backed the
rejection of the loan.
"Mugabe did not turn down the loan. Biti lied
about the company. My company
was involved in the facilitation of this loan
and Norange are clean," said
Mbudzi.
"He sat on the papers until
round about May when we pressured him. This is
when Mrs Makuvaza who is in
the Domestic and International Banking
department was tasked to deal with
the issue.
"We did not end there. We approached the Attorney General who
phoned the
chief secretary to the President and Cabinet - Dr Misheck Sibanda
- who in
turn approached the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance,
Willard
Manungo, who released a letter purporting that Norange Capital
Markets loan
offer had been rejected on the grounds of suspicious money
laundering,"
Mbudzi told Daily News.
Mbudzi further argued for
Norange, citing the "professional" job done by one
of official of the
Geneva-based United Nations Humanitarian office, whom he
refused to
name.
Zimbabwe needs about US$10 billion to resuscitate its once
vibrant economy
which currently bears scars of mismanagement, corruption
and profligacy, all
blamed on Mugabe and Zanu PF senior
officials.
Western donors who are withholding their money insist there
must been
meaningful reforms before they can commit any financial support to
Zimbabwe.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
08 September, 2010
The Ministry of Home Affairs has
announced that the cost of a standard
passport will be reduced from $140 to
$50, with immediate effect. The
reduction was announced at a joint press
conference in Harare on Wednesday
by the co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo
Mohadi and Theresa Makone.
For a long time there have been serious
complaints from the public about the
fact that Zimbabwean passports cost
much more than the regional average.
Applicants also had to wait for
extended periods of time for their
documents, and the ministry often ran out
of ink and paper. Zimbabweans
found the whole process extremely
frustrating.
The cabinet had ordered the ministry of Home affairs to
review the prices
back in April, a year after the last review, which
resulted in a reduction
then from $170 to the current $140.
The price of
urgent passports, which are processed in only two days, will
also be reduced
and lost passports will cost the same as new ones to
replace.
Commenting on the Daily News website, writer Chenjerai Hove
described the
price reduction as a good move. He said: "Our passports had
become some of
the most hated documents in our possession because of their
price. Now, for
us in the diaspora, the idea of traveling to the embassies
thousands of
kilometers away to obtain a passport form and be photographed
should be
attended to immediately."
He added: "This idea of having to
be photographed and finger-printed makes
us feel like criminals belonging to
a fascist dictatorial state."
Hove suggested that the application forms
be sent in the mail so people can
complete them and send the required money
to embassies, instead of wasting
time and money on travel and
accommodation.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
08
September 2010
An MP behind the invasion of a farm in Somabuhla has
finally been evicted
from the property, but has warned he will return to
take over the land.
MP Jabulani Mangena has led a campaign of harassment,
vandalism and violence
against Philip and Ellen Hapelt on their Grasslands
farm, claiming he has an
offer letter entitling him to the property. Late
last year, the Hapelts were
brutally beaten in an attack the family believes
was meant to drive them
from their farm. Over the past few months the
situation has continued to
worsen, with Mangena's hired men increasing their
intimidatory tactics
against the elderly couple.
The Hapelts many
years ago voluntarily gave up the majority of their land
for the sake of
'reform', under an agreement that would allow them to remain
on their
homestead with a small portion of farming land. They have two court
orders
that entitle them to live on the farm without fear of invasion or
persecution, but they were forced to seek two successive evictions orders in
an effort to get Mangena's men off their land. But Mangena has openly
disregarded the rulings of the courts and has previously threatened the
Hapelts with violence.
Local police meant to carry out the evictions,
have previously refused to
assist the Hapelts, expressing their own fears of
Mangena. But to the family's
amazement, the police and the Sheriff of the
Court finally started eviction
proceedings last Friday. According to the
Hapelt's daughter Lauren, Manegna's
farm manager was frantically trying to
get the eviction halted the entire
time, and eventually warned that he would
be back.
"We are all a bit dumb struck that the eviction took place. We
have been
fighting so hard for this with so little progress. The fact that
the High
Court order has been enforced is something we hoped for but never
dreamed
would happen," Lauren told SW Radio Africa.
Lauren continued
that they have no doubt that Mangena will be back, but she
said the family
is heartened that the police finally respected the rule of
the law by
upholding the court orders. She added that she hoped that this
would be the
case for other farmers facing a similar situation in Somabuhla.
"There
seems to be another push to completely remove the last vestige of
commercial
farmers. Rumors abound that a land audit is about to take place
so there is
a frantic scrabble for the last few commercial farms, before
this takes
place," She said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Sharon Muguwu
Wednesday, 08
September 2010 18:09
CHINHOYI - Chinhoyi Provincial hospital has been
hit by a serious water
shortage which has forced the authorities to ask
relatives of the admitted
patients to bring water from home for bathing and
drinking.
The hospital has gone for three weeks without water and this
has put
the lives of patients, their relatives and hospital staff at risk
as fears
of a cholera outbreak
are heightening.
The hospital's
chief execurtive officer, Dr Colet Mawire admitted that the
water shortage
is serious.
"Yes, we are having problems with our water supply, but it is
not our fault.
It's the council's. There are many broken water pipes here
and they need to
be repaired. We are not just sitting and saying that it's
their problem as
it affects us mainly. We have boreholes on the premises and
we are using
that water,' said Dr Mawire.
Other hospital staff who
declined to be mentioned said that the city council
had held a meeting with
the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Douglas Mombeshora
and had been promised
that the problem would be addressed soon.
The director of housing for
Chinhoyi Municipality was not available but an
official who identified
himself as Kumbirai Mutambi said normal water supply
is expected to resume
next year.
"Maintenance work is in progress and water supply is
expected to normalise
next year. The water situation at the hospital is
still critical but is
expected to improve," Mutambi said.
Chinhoyi
Hospital is the second largest medical institution in Mashonaland
West
Province where Zanu PF bigwigs, among them President Robert Mugabe come
from.
People who spoke to the Daily News complained that they were
getting tired
of fetching water for the hospital.
"We are getting
tired of this. Every time we come here we have to fetch
water yet we are
paying hospital bills which are supposed to cater for all
our relatives'
needs. The other issue is that the hospital is not saying
anything to
us.They should at least tell us what measures are being taken
to rectify
the problem before it gets out of hand," complained Chipo
Furudzai.
In 2008, Zimbabwe was hit by a deadly cholera outbreak
which claimed the
lives of more than 4000 people.
President Mugabe
declared cholera a national disaster and appealed for
international aid to
deal with the disease which had 98 000 reported cases
countrywide.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/09/2010 17:01:00
Harare,
September 08, 2010 - Members of the public on Wednesday morning
turned
against a group of police officers who tried to arrest a public
transport
crew after it had dropped off passengers at an undesignated point
in the
city centre.
The three police officers stormed into a commuter omnibus
while it was off
loading passengers at the busy and heavily congested Copa
Cabana terminus in
central Harare.
But before they could read out the
charges to the commuter omnibus crew
members of the public had surrounded
the vehicle demanding their freedom.
"We are not going to leave until you
set them free," a woman could be heard
saying with the support of many
others who were shouting all sorts of
insults at the police.
What
made the members of the public even angrier was the ordeal they had
been
enduring over the past two weeks after the police launched an operation
designed to decongest the city centre.
The operation, which targeted
public transporters forced these to drop off
passengers out of town, leaving
them to cover a distance of about 30 minutes
walk to get into
town.
The police officers threatened to arrest some of the members of the
public
accusing them of inciting public violence and hatred against the
police. But
these threats even made it worse as a group of women and men
volunteered to
fill up the 18-seater commuter omnibus and be arrested
together with the
commuter crew.
"Your job is to protect us not to
arrest us for no reason, we are enduring a
lot of suffering because of you,
why can't you do your job properly?" said a
ember of the public.
"Why
should you always seek to harm us? Why are you roughing them like that,
have
they refused to be arrested?"
At that stage the police officers appeared
to be giving up on arresting the
crew and some who were dressed in plain
clothes insisted on giving a public
lecture on how police effect an arrest
and how they should cooperate with
the police.
But before they did
the members of the public immediately told them that
they were the ones who
needed to be educated about the law.
"What does the police charter say?,"
asked one of them.
The drama, which lasted about 20 minutes only, ended
when the police
officers gave up on arresting the crew.
Some members
of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) have often been seen
roughing up
suspected law breakers in public much to the chagrin of the
members of the
public who in most cases can't do anything to stop the
brutality.
The
ZRP has not had a very good human rights record especially over the last
few
years when some officers have been implicated in cases of robbery, human
rights abuses such as
abductions, torture and
kidnappings.
http://news.yahoo.com
AFP
- Wed Sep 8, 12:01 pm
ET
HARARE (AFP) - The UN Children's Fund on Wednesday launched a scheme
to
provide 13 million textbooks to Zimbabwe's students, in a
50-million-dollar
effort to revive the struggling school
system.
Zimbabwe's schools were once among the best in Africa, but a
decade of
economic and political crisis saw teachers fleeing classrooms that
had few
books or other supplies.
"More than 13 million textbooks have
been procured and from today, will be
distributed to the 5,500 primary
schools," Peter Salama, UNICEF country
representative said.
The books
are expected to be distributed by the end of September, Salama
said, in a
programme financed by foreign aid.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said
at the launch of the programme that
his unity government with long-ruling
President Robert Mugabe would restore
schools to their former
glory.
He said the government was committed "to provide social protection
for the
poor and the most vulnerable and the restoration of the education
sector to
its previous glory".
Tsvangirai also called on the
government to ensure the welfare of teachers.
Many of Zimbabwe's teachers
fled to South Africa after contested
presidential elections in 2008, as they
were singled out for political
attacks by pro-Mugabe militants.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
02 September, 2010
At a press conference on Wednesday,
Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi
caused much confusion when he
addressed the issue of South Africa's
cancellation of a moratorium on
Zimbabwean deportations. Press reports
quoted Mohadi as saying that
Zimbabwean officials would soon go to South
Africa to register locals living
there illegally.
The statement has led to queues forming at organizations
that assist
Zimbabweans with immigration issues, and none of them know what
Mohadi
meant.
Mohadi is quoted as saying: "In May, we were granted a
six-month moratorium
to regularize the papers of our citizens down south,
which moratorium has
been extended for the second time, but only up to
December."
The Minister warned that those who fail to regularize their papers
with the
officials before the cut-off December date will be deported "and
will have
no-one to blame."
Eddie Matsangaise, programs officer at
the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, confirmed
that many people were visiting their
offices in Johannesburg for information
as a result of Mohadi's comments. He
explained that South Africa has
immigration policies that it follows, and
there is no way that Zimbabwean
officials can change that. It is the
function of the South African
government to regularize the papers of any
foreign citizens living there.
Matsangaise said: "Our office has been
inundated with people who don't know
what's happening. They want to know
what it means and there is the issue of
fear for their
situation."
The South African government did indeed issue a December
deadline for people
to regularize their papers but Matsangaise said they
don't have the capacity
to process what could be hundreds of thousands of
applications within the
next 4 months. He said the application process is
extremely cumbersome and
police clearance alone, which is mandatory, takes
about 8 weeks.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Mugove
Tafirenyika
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 10:46
CHITUNGWIZA - Forty one
bodies of people suspected to be victims of the
violent June 2008
presidential runoff were buried at Chitungwiza's unit L
cemetery disguised
as paupers last week, according to informed sources.
Municipality sources
told The Zimbabwean that the burial took place at
around 2am on Tuesday last
week. The bodies were brought to the cemetery in
a Zimbabwe Prison Service
vehicle and were buried with the help of suspected
Zimbabwe National army
personnel in a "very suspicious fashion".
"The 41 bodies were brought by
Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) vehicle and
were buried with the help of men
in Zimbabwe National Army uniforms. It was
surprising because we do not
normally bury paupers like that. Usually they
are buried by KC Funerals
because they are the ones contracted by council.
Moreover, it is normally
done at six o'clock in the morning. Normal burials
start at 10am," said the
source, who went on to speculate that the bodies
were of people murdered in
the 2008 political violence.
The "paupers" are alleged to have been kept at
Chitungwiza general hospital
prior to their burial amid allegations that the
authorities were not agreed
on where they would be buried.
Chitungwiza
general hospital chief executive officer, Obediah Moyo,
confirmed that there
were 41 "paupers" at the hospital who were buried but
declined to give
details on their identity.
The MDC claims that about 200 of its supporters
were killed and thousands
displaced by Zanu (PF) supporters in the run up to
the 2008 June
presidential run off from which MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai
pulled out
citing intimidation and violence targeted at his supporters by
the Robert
Mugabe regime.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Wednesday,
08 September 2010 09:56
HARARE - The Commercial Farmers Union plans to
hold a special congress in
November to discuss the proposed restructuring of
the organisation, whose
membership has been hit by President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land
"reform" programme. (Violent evictions of the last
remaining commercial
farmers continue, despite the inclusive government
having called for an end
to farm disturbances.)
The CFU said its top
leadership spent the early part of last week in a
closed brainstorming
session to map out a new strategy and restructuring
arrangements for the
union.
It decided to bring in consultant Rob Ward, who is expected to
tour the
country from 5-13 October to engage farmers and interested parties
"and
collect their opinions and input to map out a way forward as well as
restructuring the union".
Ward specialises in strategic planning,
organisational development and
strategic mentoring and has a wealth of
experience in change management in
large private sector companies,
non-governmental organisations and
government departments.
He is
expected to gather the farmers' views on the restructuring of the
organisation as well as he CFU constitution.
"This would be followed
by the results being presented to council at a
workshop in preparation for
presentation at the proposed special congress
which will be held in November
this year," the union said in a notice to
members.
Zimbabwe's
beleaguered white farmers have shown growing frustration at
failure by the
country's coalition government and their union to end chaos
in the farming
sector.
The unity government of Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has
watched helplessly as members of the security forces and
hardliner activists
of Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party intensified a drive to seize
all land still in
white hands.
The coalition government is yet to act
to fulfil the promise to restore law
and order in the key agricultural
sector, while more farms - including some
owned by foreigners and protected
under bilateral investment protection
agreements between Zimbabwe and other
nations- have been seized over the
past few months.
And to make
matters worse, according to the CFU, police and judicial
officers who are
supposed to enforce the rule of law were also among the
beneficiaries of the
free-for-all land grab.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
09
September 2010
Gilbert Muponda is an exiled Zimbabwean businessman who is
taking on the
might of international money transfer giant MoneyGram, after
he challenged
them to review their relationship with a financial institution
that he says
'stole' his bank.
Muponda was forced to flee the country
at the height of a controversial
crackdown on the financial sector in 2004.
Century Bank, which he owned via
his ENG Capital investment company, was
illegally seized by the government
he says. Six years on the struggling bank
was rebranded to CFX Bank and
later bought by Interfin Bank. Its CEO, Farai
Rwodzi, is reported to be a
proxy for retired army general Solomon
Mujuru.
'Interfin is now liable to my claim due to their attempt to cover
up the
ownership dispute by rebranding and changing CFX Bank operations.
This is
clear money and transaction laundering being executed,' Muponda told
SW
Radio Africa. MoneyGram International has been sucked into the dispute
because they have a business relationship with Interfin.
'I feel
MoneyGram as a leading international brand should not be doing
business with
Interfin because they are holding onto an asset that was
looted from me. So
what we have asked MoneyGram to do is carry out a proper
diligence check and
ensure that they are doing business with reputable
people,' he told
us.
In November 2009 Muponda successfully used an internet campaign to
block a
major financial institution from buying the disputed bank. One of
the world's
biggest banks, Credit Suisse through the Finance Bank of Zambia,
had sought
to buy CFX Bank. Muponda however used an aggressive internet
campaign dubbed
'Return Muponda's Bank' and Credit Suisse eventually pulled
out of the deal.
On the 25th August this year the Newsday newspaper
covered a story that
quoted Interfin chairman Farai Rwodzi claiming they had
paid Muponda US$5,3
million in compensation for his shares in CFX Bank. A
furious Muponda denied
this and said; 'Rwodzi and Interfin Bank Zimbabwe are
trying to mislead
their international business partners such as MoneyGram
International and
DSTV who are obviously concerned by the on-going CFX
Bank/Interfin ownership
dispute.'
On Wednesday SW Radio Africa spoke
to Linda Michielutti, the company
spokesperson for MoneyGram International.
She told us 'MoneyGram
International has an extremely strong commitment to
and investment in anti
money-laundering compliance. We are fully compliant
with all local and
international requirements for Money Services Businesses.
We are currently
investigating Mr. Muponda's claims.'
A determined
Muponda meanwhile has designed more website banners, this time
targeting
MoneyGram and he has sent them to the company head office for them
to see.
'We will look at this and revert to you,' was all MoneyGram lawyer
Bessima
Bahri wrote in response.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
8 September 2010
A leading Zimbabwe democracy activist has
been banned from entering
Swaziland for the next five years, after he was
arrested on Tuesday taking
part in a protest to mark the Global Day of
Action in Manzini.
32 year-old John Vincent Chikwari, acting President of
the Revolutionary
Youth Movement of Zimbabwe, was in Swaziland for meetings
and protests
organized by a broad coalition of groups campaigning for
political change in
that country.
Chikwari was plucked by the police
from among hundreds of marchers and
detained for 24 hours until he appeared
in court on Wednesday, where he
faced charges of inciting violence after he
was accused of illegally
addressing members of the youth movement of
Swaziland on Tuesday. He was
released on R1,500 bail.
A statement
read out in court from the Home Affairs ministry said Chikwari
had also been
banned from entering the country for five years for allegedly
interfering
with Swazi affairs.
'My lawyer was able to challenge this ban, so we will
be back in court to
fight this charge on the 20th September. Swaziland,
under King Mswati III,
has become a despotic and repressive state that is
harassing and jailing
pro-democracy activists,' Chikwari
said.
Chikwari, the architect behind ZIMafia, a cheeky campaign that put
Zimbabwe's
elite military junta under the spotlight during the World Cup in
South
Africa, was warned if he ever defied the five year ban, he would face
more
serious charges of treason.
'In the interim before my court
date, Swazi authorities said they will
charge me with trying to overthrow
the government if I come back to the
country. This is clear evidence there
is decline in democratic space in
Swaziland,' Chikwari said.
He
accused the Swazi authorities of running a police state as they had a
profile of all his activities in South Africa, from being a human rights
defender to the ZIMafia campaign.
'To say I was shocked with the
information they have on me is an
understatement. They literally know what
I've been up to in the last two
years in South Africa. This clearly shows
they are not comfortable with a
person like me talking to pro-democratic
forces in their country,' he said.
Human rights activists this week
raised alarm at the serious deterioration
of the situation in Swaziland
where there have been many arbitrary arrests,
detentions and malicious
prosecutions of rights defenders, the suppression
of democratic activity and
voices; and a stubborn refusal to respect the
fundamental right of citizens
to participate in the governance of their
country.
Police in
Swaziland have since Monday arrested hundreds of people before,
and during,
protests against the continent's last absolute monarchy. Most of
those
detained were later freed, while several others were prevented from
taking
part in the march and deported.
Among those deported was Solomon
Chikohwero, founder member of the MDC
Veterans' Activists Association. The
Johannesburg based Chikohwero told us
he was simply taking pictures of the
protests when he was arrested and taken
into detention.
'I was
interrogated for seven hours but much of what they asked me was
nonsense. At
one time they asked me why I had the audacity to try and
overthrow King
Mswati when it was apparent I had failed to do that to Robert
Mugabe. That
was absolute nonsense; our job is to stand in solidarity with
pro-democracy
activists in the region. Our agenda is to push for reforms but
not regime
change,' Chikohwero said.
The militant Chikohwero was however released
without charge. He was driven
to the Swazi border with South Africa, where
he was dumped.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Corespondent Wednesday 08
September 2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's rural schools face uncertainty as
an estimated 25 000
temporary teachers have not resumed work following a
directive from Treasury
for line ministries to cease all new recruitment
into the civil service.
Contracts for temporary teachers expire at the
end of a term but were
previously renewable at the provincial education
office at the beginning of
each new term.
However, with the directive
from the Ministry of Finance, the teachers could
not resume duties as their
status has to be regularised, a process which
might take
long.
Schools opened for the final term of the year on
Tuesday.
District and provincial education directors have informed
untrained teachers
to wait until the Public Service Commission clarifies
their status with
Treasury.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA)
chief executive Sifiso Ndlovu
confirmed that thousands of temporary
teachers, who form the bulk of staff
in rural areas, had not been re-engaged
for the new term.
"About 25 000 teachers mostly from the rural
communities are affected by the
ruling made by Treasury," he
said.
Ndlovu said if the directive from Treasury was not reversed,
education would
be compromised. "Government should do something because
teachers are the key
to economic recovery," he said.
According to
ZIMTA, the teacher to pupil ratio currently stands at 1 to 40.
"With the
disengagement of temporary teachers, we are moving towards a ratio
of 1 to
70," said Ndlovu.
Both Education Minister David Coltart and his permanent
secretary Stephen
Mahere could not be reached for comment on the
matter.
However, Public Service Deputy Minister Andrew Langa confirmed
that
temporary teachers had not been engaged for this term.
"Treasury
should have at least consulted stakeholders in the education
sector," he
said.
Langa said such a directive would derail the reforms in the
education
sector.
"Obviously this will cripple our education sector,"
he said. "As a Member of
the House of Assembly in a rural constituency I am
really concerned."
About 60 percent of teachers in rural areas are not
qualified.
Education experts say Zimbabwe needs 120 000 trained teachers
for effective
teaching in schools but the country only has about 90,000
teachers available
and a huge chunk of them untrained.
The bulk of
the country's best trained teachers - just like other
professionals such as
bankers, lawyers, doctors and engineers - fled the
country over the past
decade of economic and political turmoil going abroad
were salaries and
conditions of living are better. - ZimOnline.
http://www.voanews.com/
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti led a government delegation to Gaborone last
Friday
where the deal was reportedly sealed
Ntungamili Nkomo & Gibbs Dube |
Washington 07 September 2010
Botswana has finally approved a
long-promised credit line of 500 million
pula, the equivalent of US$70
million dollars, to boost Zimbabwe's
struggling manufacturing
sector.
Sources said Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti led
industrialists and
government officials to Gaborone on Friday at which time
the agreement was
made final.
They said 70 percent of the funds will
go towards manufacturing while 30
percent will go to other sectors of the
economy. Economic recovery has been
faltering for lack of
investment.
Neither Biti nor Industry Minister Welshman Ncube could
immediately be
reached for comment.
Economic commentator Masimba
Kuchera of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and
Development told VOA Studio 7
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that the credit
line, though relatively small,
will go a long way to jump-start the
long-suffering Zimbabwean manufacturing
sector.
Elsewhere, Zimbabwe Platinum Holdings Private Limited, better
known as
Zimplats, urged Harare to focus on attracting foreign investment
instead of
pursuing indigenization of large firms.
Zimplats said in
its 2010 annual report that it favors expanded
participation by Zimbabweans
in the national economy - but fears
indigenization will mainly serve to
discourage foreign investors.
Zimplats Chairman David Brown was quoted in
the report as saying his company
believes Zimbabwe needs more foreign direct
investment to create employment
for its millions of jobless.
Brown
said he hopes the government will unveil a revised indigenization plan
soon
that will bolster the country's profile as an investment
destination.
Economist John Robertson told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs
Dube that Zimbabwe
needs investors to stoke up the economy - not programs
that propose to
transfer controlling stakes from investors to indigenous
investors critics
say are likely to be cronies of President Robert Mugabe.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
08 September, 2010 06:00:00 Staff Reporter
Harare —
Operations at Chitungwiza Municipality ground to a halt last week
Thursday
as Zanu PF thugs linked to Retired General Mujuru went about
beating council
employees accusing them to be loyalists of Defence Minister
Emmerson
Mnangagwa as rivalry between the two factions escalates.
The violence
which occurred at Chitungwiza Head Offices has left many of the
town
council’s top executives including the town clerk Godfrey Tanyanyiwa
and
departmental heads nursing life threatening injuries.
The incident has
stunned Chitungwiza residents and it has sent shock waves
in the coalition
government.
An eye witness account told The Zimbabwe Mail reporter of an
aggressive
group of gunmen waving AK rifles and pistols arriving at the City
offices at
around ten in the morning and they started beating up the
Municipal guards
manning the gates.
Sensing danger, the guards
immediately called the police for reinforcement.
Truck loads of police
details from Makoni and St Marys Police stations
arrived to stop the mayhem,
but they were overpowered and beaten up and
disarmed of their weapons.
The gunmen appeared to be well trained military personnel.
The
gunmen are believed to be a rebel group in the war veterans association
which was backed by members of the armed forces from the Zimbabwe National
Army’s 2 Brigade barracks in Cranbone.
They fired a number of shots
in the air before rounding off council
employees and asked them to sit on
the floor.
The town clerk and the director of finance were dressed down
in front of
their junior officers and accused of pillaging council assets
for the
benefit of Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and they were
also
accused of using council cash resources to fund political
activities.
When the town clerk tried to deny the accusations, he was
asked to lie down
and he was savagely beaten with sticks, and gun
bats.
The finance director was asked to join him and he received much
more
battering, with kicks and all sorts of beatings. His bleeding eyes
toggled,
and his tong rolled out like a man on fits.
At that time,
the women screamed thinking that the man was dying but that
only made it
worse for them as the men began to beat up everyone randomly
using sticks,
kicking and fists.
It is reported that the men were shouting obscenities
about President Robert
Mugabe’s manhood and his wife the First Lady Grace
Mugabe and they declared
that Mr Mngangagwa would never rule the
country.
Police officers were also forced to sit down with council
employees and some
were not spared the bashing which took more than an hour
without members of
the public noticing what was happening inside the
offices.
Work resumed on Monday amid heavy armed Military police presence
with
reports that the men have vowed to force out council employees loyal to
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
This week, a large number of the
council employees at the Town House
tendered their resignations in fear of
their lives.
The powerless MDC dominated Council has since convened a
meeting to
establish a report of what happened but all the employees,
including the
town clerk are not forthcoming to give an account of what
happened in fear
of their lives.
The state media has conceded that
the attacks were politically motivated but
it did not refer to the
involvement of Zanu PF bitter rivals loyal to
Retired General Solomon Mujuru
and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa in
the race to succeed President
Robert Mugabe.
When our reporter visited the Town Head Office, heavily
armed military
police officers are manning the main entrance to the and they
are ordering
members of the public to disperse as soon as they had concluded
their
business.
On Monday, Mr Tanyanyiwa said he was still nursing
some injuries. He said
members of his management team were also consulting
their doctors to
determine the severity of their injuries.
The state
media spin is saying the town clerk and directors were severely
beaten up by
a mob comprising members of an apostolic sect and suspected
hired hooligans
during a management meeting at their offices, a claim that
has been
dismissed by the victims’ account given to The Zimbabwe Mail.
Before the
men left they warned their victims that they would be back and
members of
the police were warned not to peddle in Zanu PF politics.
Other officials
attacked included the director of health services Dr Mike
Simoyi, chamber
secretary Ms Omega Mugumbate and finance director Mr J.
Manyepa. After the
attack the mob then moved around the council buildings
smashing windows and
shouting out names of other officials targeted for
attack. No arrests had
been made at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, sources have told The
Zimbabwe Mail that the incident has sparked
alarm in the country's security
services and yesterday it was the subject of
intense debate in the weekly
coalition government cabinet meeting on Tuesday
and there are reports of
open clashes between Vice President Joyce Mujuru
and her long time rival
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangwa.
President Mugabe is said to be trying
to take the matter out of the cabinet
discussions claiming "sensitive and
classified nature" of the case and he
has tasked Security Minister Sidney
Sekeramayi and Didymus Mutasa to
investigate and report to him, but the MDC
is adamant that it is a council
matter which they are entitled to have
access.
The incident has unravelled the intense infighting and rivalry in
Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF and the level of threat to national security.
http://www.apanews.net/
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The press freedom watchdog
Reporters Without Borders
on Wednesday condemned the jamming of frequencies
used by a London-based
radio station run by Zimbabwean exiles and urged the
Harare regime to
urgently open the airwaves to allow more players in the
broadcasting sector.
SW Radio Africa reported last week that its news
broadcasts have been
disrupted by a heavy noise that sounded like a
slow-playing record.
The first 30 minutes of SW Radio Africa's news
programme called Newsreel,
was rendered inaudible on September 1 by
interference which stopped as soon
as the news programme ended.
The
jamming of Newsreel has been repeated several times since then.
Various
sources said they thought Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence
Organization (CIO)
was responsible for the interference which began on
September
1.
"While the licenses granted to several independent publications last
May
improved media diversity after years of a state media monopoly, the
jamming
of this exile radio station is an extremely negative sign," the
Paris-based
Reporters Without Borders said.
It called on the
Zimbabwean government to license private players in the
broadcasting sector
where the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) has a
monopoly.
"The relaxation seen in the print media is clearly not on the
cards for the
broadcast media. We urge the national unity government to
clarify this
situation without delay and to guarantee the right of access to
information," the watchdog said.
Zimbabwe has licensed at least
eight private newspapers since May as part of
media reforms agreed under a
2008 power-sharing pact between President
Robert Mugabe and former
opposition leader - now Prime Minister - Morgan
Tsvangirai.
There has
however been no movement in efforts to license private
broadcasters to rival
the pro-Mugabe ZBC.
JN/daj/APA
2010-09-08
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by John Makumbe
Tuesday, 07 September 2010
17:26
None of the 24 out of the 27 outstanding issues agreed upon by
the three
political parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) has so
far been
implemented in spite of the promise made to the Southern African
Development
Community (SADC) at its Windhoek summit more than two weeks ago.
(Pictured:
Robert Mugabe) The reason for this unhealthy situation is that
soon after
the summit, Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) unilaterally decided that
the
implementation of these agreed issues would only be effected
simultaneously
with the lifting of the so-called sanctions by Western
countries.
Good old Ago Mutambara of the tiny MDC-M twice wrote to the South
African
President, Jacob Zuma, advising him that the three principals in the
GNU had
agreed on this ridiculous approach to the implementation of the 24
issues.
The MDC-T, obviously, denied that it had agreed to this arrangement,
and now
Ago is in all kinds of trouble as a result, including from his own
party
members.
In its limited wisdom, the SADC gave Zimbabwe 30days
within which to fully
implement the 24 agreed issues in accordance with the
matrix that the
protagonists had prepared and submitted to Zuma. It is
obvious that none of
the issues will have been implemented by the time the
30th day arrives a few
weeks from now. There is no indication of what the
SADC will do if that
deadline is not met. There is little that the futile
and weak body can do
except stand by listlessly as Mugabe continues with his
deception.
One of the most urgent issues that were agreed upon is the
appointment of
provincial governors, also called resident ministers. The
terms of office of
the current occupants of these positions expired on July
31, but they are
still illegally in office. Robert Mugabe has never been one
to be concerned
about illegality, and it is unlikely that he would be
anxious to do the
right thing this time, especially since it concerns some
of his close
associates losing their prestigious jobs to individuals from
both formations
of the MDC.
The question is: what can the MDC-T do about
all this foot-dragging by the
Mugabe wing of the GNU? It is obvious that the
Mutambara wing is of the same
mind as that of Zanu (PF) even though both of
these parties are aware that
the MDC-T has no capacity to get the West to
lift sanctions against Mugabe
and his cronies. It is obvious that the issue
of the lifting of sanctions is
clearly being used as a means of stalling the
implementation of the agreed
issues. It is all a question of
power-sharing.
Mugabe has never been happy about sharing power with anyone
and he is not
about to start now. To the geriatric leader, allowing MDC
provincial
governors to get into office is like chopping one of his hands
off.
Provincial governors are quite close to the grassroots and they have
the
potential of significantly influencing the political landscape in the
regions. With the possibility of national elections in 2011, Mugabe feels
that having six provincial governors from the MDC is too risky for his
party.
Perhaps the MDC needs to apply more pressure on Zuma’s mediating
team to
insist that the agreed issues be implemented as soon as possible,
and before
the expiry of the 30 days set by SADC. It is also time for the
MDC-T to
start encouraging its members to take to streets protesting about
the lack
of real change since the formation of the GNU. Holding political
rallies
about this seems to have failed to generate the requisite response
from the
dictator.
In Zimbabwe, it would seem that the definition of heroism is controlled by Zanu PF alone.
Last week Gibson Sibanda was buried at his home town of Filabusi, having succumbed at the age of 66 after a long and painful battle with cancer. Zimbabwe is no doubt poorer for the death of this extraordinary man who was, as Arthur Mutambara stated, "an icon of the trade union movement, a freedom fighter, soldier of soldiers, and a hero of heroes." Gibson Sibanda was a prominent trade union leader before independence, was arrested several times by the Rhodesian government for his liberation activities and was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change. More recently he acted as one of the three ministers responsible for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration. it is little wonder that so many Zimbabweans consider Sibanda to be one of our greatest men.
Nevertheless, when colleagues of Sibanda petitioned the president to accord Gibson Sibanda national hero status, their request was abruptly denied.
The Sibanda snub comes only a few weeks after President Mugabe's sister, Sabina, was unilaterally declared a heroine by the Zanu PF politburo. As well as being involved in politics, Sabina was among a number of senior Zanu-PF politicians who were directly implicated in the violent farm invasions that began in 2000. MDC politicians have expressed outrage that her heroine status was decided without their consultation. Sibanda's snub also comes only a day before Mugabe declared his late brother-in-law, Robert Marufu, a liberation war hero. Marufu is likewise a controversial character. After he retired from the CIO, he spent most of his time at the Bindura farm he grabbed in 2002, having forcibly acquired the farm equipment and chased away the manager. Marufu also controversially claimed huge sums of money from the War Victims Compensation Fund, after claiming 95 percent disability from war injuries. In response to the controversy generated by his state-conferred hero status, Mugabe said it pained him that there were people actively working to erode what the likes of Marufu had sacrificed for. Needless to say, Mugabe has few qualms about actively eroding the extraordinary efforts of Gibson Sibanda.
Hero designation has always been in the hands of the ZANU-PF Politburo, though non-Zanu PF parties have recently demanded that the designation process be made more inclusive to reflect the multi-party political reality. Mutambara is one of many who have registered extreme indignation at the apparent favouritism over hero designation; 'We do not recognise the ZANU PF politburo as an authority in determining who becomes a national hero, so we reject the decision by the ZANU PF politiburo that Gibson Sibanda is not a national hero,' Mutambara said. There are those of us who might wonder why he petitioned Mugabe in the first place. National Heroes Acre has become a veritable who's who of those who excel in towing the Zanu PF party line. Under Mugabe, "heroism" has become synonymous with demonstrating unswerving acceptance of the Zanu PF status quo. Gibson Sibanda is just one more name on a list of valiant and distinguished Zimbabweans - including Ndabaningi Sithole, James Chikerema, Patrick Kombayi and Henry Hamadziripi - who appear to have been denied hero status primarily because they dared to disagree with Mugabe.
It has been clear for a long time now that Mugabe is disseminating a version of history, patriotism and heroism that simply has no place for those who disagree with him. Owen Maseko is another Zimbabwean who is currently learning what it means to challenge Mugabe's simplistic definitions. The accomplished painter will find himself on trial later this month for exhibiting realistic depictions of the Matabeleland massacres that took place in the 1980s under the regime of Robert Mugabe. Needless to say, his paintings do not maintain the one-sided, singularistic narrative that Mugabe has sought to sustain. Maseko's depiction of the violence exacted against Joshua Nkomo and his supporters hardly accords well with the nationalistic documentaries that play on ZBC, where Joshua Nkomo is referred to as "the father of Zimbabwe" without any mention of the fact that he had to flee for his life in the 1980s.
In a further attempt to consolidate the myth, a statue of Nkomo has recently been erected in Bulawayo, ostensibly to commemorate his role as a liberation hero. But the statue remains mysteriously shrouded. A secon statue in Harare has courted controversy, mainly because it has been erected at the Karigamombe centre, which is a Shona word meaning 'he who fells the bull by its horns'. Since Nkomo's ZAPU political party symbol was a bull, the controversy is unsurprising. Once again Mugabe loudly embraces Nkomo into the fold with one hand whilst covertly stabbing him in the back with the other. Zapu supporters have called the move "a reminder of the Gukurahundi atrocities and. a repetition of the same thing through a new form of ideological attack". But for Zanu PF this ability to propagate myths and control a narrow history has been central to redefining simplistic boundaries of exclusion and inclusion that offer political benefits.
If you can define who's in and who's out, and control their legacy, you can dictate who has the legitimacy to oppress and who has no right to ask questions. Zanu PF operates on the basis of categorising Zimbabweans into traitors versus patriots, enemies of the nation versus authentic national subjects, puppets and sell-outs versus heroes. In short, Zimbabwe's politics is the politics of subtle exclusion. Arguably, Mugabe's whole regime survives because it is predicated on excluding men and women exactly like Gibson Sibanda from the category of "hero".
In anticipation of the suggestion that I may be inferring an exclusionary agenda where there is none, it is probably worth quoting at length from The Herald, Zanu PF's media mouthpiece;
".what MDC leaders have done and willed on Zimbabweans can never be considered heroic; it's treasonous which is why it came as a surprise that Tsvangirai would have the temerity to write to President Mugabe seeking National Hero Status for Gibson Sibanda. MDC leaders have to be told in no uncertain terms that the National Heroes Acre is not for everybody. It is for those who distinguished themselves in liberating this country, and those people can only be found in the ranks of the former liberation movements Zanla and Zipra that came together under Zanu-PF. MDC leaders may be heroes in Whitehall and the White House but they are not heroes here."
In Zimbabwe, we have been unequivocally told that heroism is Zanu PF and Zanu PF is heroism and there is no room for anyone else. So much for this farce of "inclusiveness". Trudy Stevenson, the MDC-M's policy co-ordinator and Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Senegal, has insisted that Sibanda's death was a golden opportunity missed by ZANU PF to do some national healing. 'They should have taken this opportunity and declared him a national hero to move things forward in a polarized nation like ours,' Stevenson said. Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the MDC-T, said Mugabe's ZANU PF party was now showing their 'true colours.'
Perhaps Mugabe did miss a golden opportunity. Or perhaps polarization has become the only way that Zanu PF can maintain it's survival? Perhaps they are like Shakespeare's Macbeth, 'in blood. Steeped in so far that, should [they] wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er.'? Yes, theoretically Mugabe could have confirmed Gibson Sibanda's heroism. But in doing so he would have risked sending the message that difference is healthy, that critique is welcome and that pluralistic narratives will be tolerated. Could Zanu PF survive such openness? If one's rhetoric is only a thin disguise for self-serving motives then embracing difference is hardly a risk worth taking. A content-less populism cannot bear the revealing light of open debate. Its method of operation must remain the very antithesis of democracy if it is to survive politically. So sayeth Machiavelli, the father of Realpolitik. To maintain a dictatorship, the despot must suffocate the possibility of dialogue or transparency, he must slander and silence his opponents and completely erode all chance of healthy discussion. He must extinguish the possibility of choice. In short, he must operate exactly as Zanu PF has been doing. Where opposition parties in healthy democratic polities are viewed as offering valuable intelligent dissent, Zanu PF's model allows for no recognition that the opposition might have a useful role or any views that should be given consideration. Difference in Zimbabwe exists only as an enemy to be initially oppressed and ultimately vanquished. So, under the legitimising guise of an inclusive government, Mugabe works tirelessly to exclude men like Gibson Sibanda from gaining any aura of acceptability.
Mugabe would like to have us believe that men like Sibanda and Maseko are traitors and disloyal Africans, purely by virtue of their persistence in challenging the status quo. But I would counter that those are the only type of heroes worth having. Zimbabwe needs men and women who challenge oppression wherever they see it, regardless of colour, party, or ideological concerns.
Zimbabwe needs men and women who courageously refuse to fit the mould.
Since a burial in Hero's Acre has come to signify blind conformity with the same people who committed the Gukurahundi atrocities in the 1980s, who ruthlessly suppressed food riots in 1998, conducted Operation Murambastvira in 2005 and orchestrated the post-election violence of 2008, there are many Zimbabweans who will consider Sibanda's very exclusion from the National Hero's Acre to be less a denial than a confirmation of his true heroic status.
If you have not participated in Sokwanele's constitution survey (which seeks to explore opinions on some of the issues raised in this blog) please click here.