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Mugabe trashes new AU human rights resolution
Basildon Peta
January 08 2006 at 09:52AM
The African Commission on Human and People's
Rights (ACHPR), which falls under the African Union, has once again excoriated
Zimbabwe over human rights abuses, but Zimbabwean analysts don't foresee the
commission's latest indictment of the regime spurring African leaders to censure
Robert Mugabe.
The Mugabe government has trashed the ACHPR's latest
damning resolution. In typical style, the Zimbabwe government said ACHPR was
criticising Zimbabwe as a convenient excuse to raise money for its operations
from Britain and America.
"What do you expect from them [ACHPR]? They
are looking for money and what better way to make money than to vilify
Zimbabwe," Tichaona Jokonya, the information and publicity minister, told
ZimOnline on Friday.
Earlier John Mayowe, a junior foreign ministry
official, denied knowledge of the report.
"blatantly lying" and
"vilifying" Harare to please potential western funders
Jokonya accused the
ACHPR of "blatantly lying" and "vilifying" Harare to please potential western
funders. He said the ACHPR resolution, which was adopted on December 5 but not
made public, and leaked to the media only this week, was a work of "fiction" put
together at the "whims of donors".
Zimbabwean analysts believe the
resolution, which strongly condemned the Mugabe government for human rights
abuses, was an important statement from Africans.
It effectively robbed
Mugabe of his tendency to resort to the race card whenever rights abuse issues
in Zimbabwe were raised by western countries.
The analysts also
underscored the importance of criticism from Africans who have spoken out
against the Mugabe regime before, including Kofi Annan, the United Nations
secretary-general; Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his fellow Nobel Prize laureate
Wole Soyinka.
But Lovemore Madhuku, the chairperson of the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Zimbabwe's largest civic group, said it would be
futile to expect that the resolution would spur African Union leaders into
changing their docile approach to Mugabe when they met in Sudan later this
month.
"As has happened in the past, the latest ACHPR report might not
even get a mention at the AU summit," said Madhuku. "It is futile to expect
anything serious from these African leaders."
Madhuku said African
leaders eager not to offend Mugabe might seek to play down the report by
portraying it as a result of the work of technical people in the ACHPR, but
which did not reflect the AU's political sentiment.
"How can you expect a
club of leaders, which include the likes of Omar Bongo and Yoweri Museveni, to
censure Mugabe when they are changing their constitutions to do exactly what
Mugabe is doing, if not worse?" asked Madhuku.
His sentiments were shared
by John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political scientist, who recalled the
evasion of African leaders at dealing with the first damning report of the ACHPR
against Zimbabwe in 2003.
Two subsequent AU summits did not table the
report for discussion. At the first, the excuse used was that there were no
French translations of the report.
At the second, the excuse was that
Zimbabwe had not been given an opportunity to respond, an argument later refuted
by Barney Pityana, who was then the ACHPR chairperson as well as chairperson of
Unisa.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the South African foreign minister, later
strongly denied suggestions that South Africa had helped Zimbabwe evade
discussion of the report during the second summit.
Lawyers and other
Zimbabwean analysts interviewed said it would be in the best interests of
democratic development in Africa if AU leaders discussed and adopted the
resolution.
The harshly worded resolution said the ACHPR was "deeply
concerned" about the "continuing human rights violations" in Zimbabwe.
These included the Mugabe government's disrespect for the independence
of the judiciary "through defiance of court orders, harassment and intimidation
of independent judges and the executive ouster of the jurisdiction of the
courts"
This article was originally published on page 3 of Sunday
Independent on January 08, 2006
Zimbabwe approves about 76 million US dollar projects in
2005
The Zimbabwe Investment Center (ZIC) last year approved a total of
74 projects worth about 76 million U. S. dollars in the 12 months to December.
The ZIC was quoted by The Herald newspaper as saying on Monday that the
projects approved cut across all real sectors of the economy such as
agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and mining as well as non-real sectors
comprising services, transport and construction.
Of the total investment proposals approved for the year, tourism weighed in
with the largest figure of about 57 million U.S. dollars, despite having only
two projects approved.
In the second place was agriculture. As was the case with tourism, only two
projects, with a total value of about 7.9 million U.S. dollars, were approved in
the agricultural sector during the review period.
A total of 45 projects valued at about 6 million U.S. dollars were given the
nod in the manufacturing sector, earning it third place in value terms.
Four projects with a price tag of about 2.8 million U.S. dollars were
approved in mining, one of the most popular investment niches in recent years.
Of the seven sectors, services, transport and construction were at the bottom
end of the ladder, both in terms of projects approved and monetary value, at
about 1.8 million, 253,570 and 114, 285 U.S. dollars respectively.
Of the 74 projects given the green light, 15 were foreign owned while 59 were
joint ventures with locals.
The total foreign investment was about 3.8 million U.S. dollars while total
joint investment topped about 61 million U.S. dollars.
In all the approved projects, foreign partners were expected to contribute
about 14 million U.S. dollars in wholly foreign-owned projects and 47.6 million
U.S. dollars in joint ventures with locals.
The approved projects, said ZIC, had the capacity to create a total of 8,912
jobs, 1,718 by foreign enterprises and 7,194 in joint ventures while generating
about 8 million U.S. dollars in export earnings in the first year.
Despite strained political relations between Washington and Harare, the United States emerged as the biggest potential investor in
Zimbabwe with about 58 million U.S. dollars worth of investment proposals
approved by ZIC between January and December.
China was next in line with investment projects approved estimated at about
13 million U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua
Disease
outbreaks unmask shortcomings of Harare city councils
by
STAFF EDITORS (1/7/2006) |
Inasmuch as the city fathers
and various health institutions made frantic efforts to contain the diseases of
cholera, dysentery and typhoid, the outbreaks laid bare the shortcomings of the
Harare City Council and Chitungwiza municipality. Their preparedness especially
in high-density suburbs such as Mbare, Mufakose Mabvuku among others was a far
cry from being satisfactory.
The sudden bouts of the twin diseases resulted in over a dozen deaths, most
of them children under the age of five.
The outbreaks were not publicized in time leaving the majority of the urban
population in the dark and prone to increased infections.
Last week, a cholera epidemic raged through Harare and Chitungwiza claiming
lives and left dozens of people hospitalized.
Confusion reigned supreme as residents panicked following the outbreak with
many households resorting to boiling tap water for drinking. Others made sure
family food was consumed whilst hot to reduce chances of contamination.
This comes at a time when the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) and the World Health Organization (WHO)
condemned drinking water in Harare, saying it was of a low quality with very low
concentrations of chlorine that was made worse by high levels of sediment
impurities.
The quality of water, it was understood by experts was compromised by worn
out and broken pipes that were exposing water making it prone to contamination
by water borne diseases. As a result of burst pipes, the quality of also ran the
risk of contamination during this rain season when rubbish that is collected
from the city's streets and by-ways can percolate through holes in the pipes.
In Harare last week, the climax of the cholera scourge sent shock waves
amongst the people when it wiped an entire family at the Beatrice Infectious
Diseases Hospital.
So far in less than two weeks since the disease came on the scene, at least
15 people have succumbed due to a combination of lack of medical attention or
ignorance of the disease's symptoms. Amongst the victims were children, mothers,
fathers and grandmothers.
Late last year, the twin cities were again caught unaware by the sudden bouts
of diseases.
They were again rocked by twin infections of dysentery and diarrhea, which
just like cholera claimed more than a dozen lives in a short space of time.
More than 200 people were hospitalized after contracting the deadly
Salmonella poisoning that is most notoriously spread through contaminated
chicken and eggs including a wide range of other modes of transmission.
Adults usually survive diarrhea caused by salmonella but children because of
their weak and vulnerable immune system; the effects are very swift leaving
little time for medical reaction. According to medical experts, most of them die
as a result of severe dehydration.
The diseases together with cholera can spread through infected food and
water. Worse still, cholera can be aggravated by the consumption of fruits such
as mangoes that are in abundance during the rain season.
Over the years, people have always been encouraged to clean fruits before
eating them but despite the warnings cholera outbreaks have been claiming
innumerable victims as a result of negligence.
The dysentery outbreak was attributed to residents fetching water for
domestic use from unprotected wells and rivers, which in some instances have
been polluted by sewage.
Many people found rivers and makeshift wells alternative sources of water in
the wake of erratic and crippling shortages of clean piped water.
Dysentery, which is characterized by blood stained stool, can kill if a
patient does not quickly seek treatment or can cause some perforation in the
intestines, resulting in long term health complications.
Source: People's Daily Online
Escom hires Zim firm to fight corruption
Nation Malawi
by Taonga Sabola,
09 January 2006 - 06:02:55
The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi
(Escom) has hired a Zimbabwe
based firm Tip-offs Anonymous to help it fight
fraud, corruption and theft.
Tip-offs Anonymous has come up with a system
which will allow individuals to
report corrupt Escom officials without their
identity being made public.
The system has put in place a number of channels
like fax, telephone, post
and electronic mail through which members of the
public will be able to
report such cases to Tip-offs Anonymous.
The
reports will then be sent to a special team in Escom which will be able
to
investigate and make recommendations.
Escom Chief Internal Auditor Jeremia
Thauzeni said they opted for a Zimbabwe
firm because there was no local firm
which would provide such a service.
“We did not advertise for people to bid
for the service because we failed to
trace any local firm providing the
service,” said Thauzeni.
Escom Marketing Manager Wiseman Kabwazi said the new
system will help to
seal loopholes that are there in the company which may
pave way for
corruption to take place.
“We realise that through our
interactions with people in various departments
at Escom there are
possibilities that we may find ourselves engaged in
fraudulent activities,
so we want to check that,” said Kabwazi.
Escom is said to have lost millions
of kwachas worth of property through
vandalism by individuals who are most
of the times believed to be aided by
the corporation’s staff.
Escom
Acting Chief Executive Officer Kandi Padambo said on Friday in
Blantyre that
they would like to have a corrupt free organisation.
“We want to complement
government’s efforts of zero tolerance to corruption
so that the country can
develop economically.
“We want to create an atmosphere which will attract
investors as no one can
invest in a country with corrupt institutions,” said
Padambo.
Monetary rewards ranging from K1,000 to K100,000 will be given to
individuals for reports leading to recovery of goods or significant change
in the organisation.
Fiddling while Zimbabwe burns Shenanigans
The Zim Std
Woodpecker
CAN anyone
really make sense out of what is happening in the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)? Woody, who normally is adept at trying to find reason
even when there is a desert of reasonable explanations, has failed to make sense
of the shenanigans going on in the minds of Morgan, Gibson, Welsh, Gift (not so
gifted on looks) and even the incorrigible Wiwa.
What is so wrong in the MDC? Is it Morgan's dictatorship, or is
it the extremely likeable Welsh's unbridled ambitions? Is Gibson - for a long
time the real boss of the trade union movement - tired of playing second fiddle
for too long? (Gibson was the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
when Morgan was the secretary general)
Is it the lack of Morgan's academic achievements as compared to
the learned professor and the MDC's better educated younger executives the issue
at play? If that's so, where does that leave Gibson - who because of his
seniority - should be the most likely shoo-in for the presidency of the
so-called pro-Senate faction, but, like Tsvangirai, can never be accused of
having participated in university politics.
Then there is Wiwa. There are a lot of stories about the
colourful former student union leader during his days at the University of
Zimbabwe. There are also stories that he has always felt that the Tsvangirai
camp championed divisions among the MDC supporters in his restive St. Mary's
constituency.
If Morgan is so undemocratic and unpopular among his own
executives, wasn't there a better way for them to eject him from the top
leadership without threatening the very existence of the MDC as the most
formidable opposition political party in Zimbabwe that it had become?
Leaders of political parties, by their forceful natures, are
normally very undemocratic people. Can anyone in Zanu PF stand up and say Uncle
Bob is a democrat? Especially after Tsholotsho? Can anyone in the ANC in South
Africa say Thabo Mbeki is a democratic intellectual (if ever there was such an
animal) and get the ANC's partners - Cosatu and the South African Communist
Party - to agree? Let me hasten to add that Woody holds no brief for Tsvangirai.
Woody is not a card-carrying member of the MDC and would, under normal
circumstances, not lose sleep if the MDC tore itself to shreds.
But these are not normal circumstances. Zimbabwe is in the
intensive care unit and for many, the MDC at least offered some hope of a
dynamic alternative government because - as we all know - nobody in Zanu PF is
bold enough to say to Uncle Bob that the house is on fire. Remember Margaret
Dongo's statement all those years ago that "mese muri vakadzi va Mugabe" (that
everyone in Zanu was just as pliant as would be expected of Mugabe's wife) in
the President's presence.
So is all this fiddling while Zimbabwe is burning, necessary?
Aw shucks, you might say. Why should we worry too much over
what happens to the MDC, or what remains of the MDC? After all we now know what
they were really after in the first place - power and glory - alone. Thank God
they lost the last elections.
Resolutions
AT this time of the year, it is expected that one makes
resolutions of sort.
Some say they will desist from drinking themselves to an early
grave (like many journos), while others swear that this year they will visit a
nearby church (at least once on a Sunday) to thank the almighty for a possible
new wife (or husband, or boyfriend); the rains (if one is a new farmer), a new
Mercedes ML or baby Benz (if one is a successful new farmer, or a potential CABS
billionaire; or a newly appointed Cabinet Minister; or a newly appointed Zanu PF
Politburo member, or a day-dreaming newly appointed Senator).
Woody's New Year resolutions are: to stop calling the President
"Uncle Bob"; to stop writing so much about "Nutty Nathaniel" Jonathan Moyo
(because he is history, anyway) and to stop calling our
soon-to-appreciate-currency, "Zimkwacha"!
Vultures circle overhead for freebies
Zim Std
Comment
THE fund-raising
for the national soccer squad, The Warriors, appears noble but it is driven by
ulterior motives. Those behind the undertaking are doing so because they want a
free ticket to Egypt.
To prove our point, let's wait and see who
will be the first to jump onto the plane taking off for Egypt during the
remaining 10 days.
It is increasingly evident that the vast majority of the
leaders in this country are driven more by a desire to accumulate and do well
for themselves as opposed to working for the good of the people of Zimbabwe.
Banned from travelling abroad as part of international
sanctions, Zimbabwean politicians have found in the African Cup of Nations
(AFCON 2006), an excuse and opportunity for free travel and, of course, access
to scarce foreign currency.
Ordinarily, the fund-raising activities would not raise
suspicions because, on the face of it, they appear noble and a nation's
expression of its desire to be at the continental soccer showpiece, which kicks
off in Egypt in a fortnight.
However, we should not be surprised to learn that members of
the fund-raising committee constitute a significant group of the total
supporters going to Egypt.
The sudden burst of enthusiasm in this endeavour by essentially
ruling party politicians is suspicious. It was common cause last year that
Zimbabwe was going to Egypt and it is at that juncture that the fund-raising
campaign should have started. If the efforts now being paraded before the whole
nation are genuine, the ruling party, its politicians and the government would
have given the matter due attention at their various meetings and conferences.
That they chose not to focus on Zimbabwe's participation at the AFCON 2006
exposes blatant opportunism.
We suspect that the daily blandishments of the fund-raising
committee's "wonderful" efforts, dutifully recorded and offered to Zimbabweans
by the State-run media are mere actions designed to camourflage the real motive
which is to see ruling party politicians forming the bulk of The Warriors'
supporters going to Egypt.
We find the call upon the corporate sector to participate in
this fund-raising charade both cynical and sickening. In October the Minister of
Transport and Communication, Christopher Mushohwe, castigated and threatened the
same sector with chaotic land invasion-style take-overs, yet now they have the
gall to turn round and ask the sector to weigh in with support. Indeed, this is
the same sector that the government has been reluctant to assist by creating an
enabling environment so that the corporate sector operates viably, creates more
revenue, from which the State can benefit, and generates much-needed employment.
How many times has the corporate sector proposed ways of
improving business performance and has the government listened and taken the
desired action? - No!
By asking the corporate sector to support fund-raising efforts,
the government is demonstrating its long-held record of contemptuous disregard
for basic logic such as the proverbial cutting of one's suit according to one's
cloth. It is an astonishing irony that the government pretends to be unaware of
the hardships that have led to poor company performances, closures and job
losses.
At any rate if the government could find scores of billions for
the Zanu PF lavish conference held at Mzingwane High School last month, where
are its priorities if it cannot find resources for a national cause such as the
Warriors' participation at the AFCON 2006. This is an example of the skewed
priorities that are responsible for the tragedy the country finds itself in.
The government is trying to do what it has done to both the
AIDS and Rural Development Electrification levies - get the hard-pressed public
and corporate sector to fund its profligate campaigns. The Warriors' success at
the AFCON 2006 will be a God-sent campaign tool for both the 2008 Presidential
and 2010 Parliamentary elections.
Parastatal organisations have been quick to pour their money on
all sorts of congratulatory messages. It is time they backed a worthier cause.
It is time to stand up and be counted.
Is it not strange that while the government claims a drought of
resources, it can find money for its Senate project, where it is due to splash
out billions in salaries, perks and support structures for the Senators?
Zimbabweans are sick and tired of Zanu PF and the government's
perennial attempts to extort money from them at every conceivable opportunity
while not offering necessary assistance for the corporate sector to register
growth and expansion.
Govt takes over wild life farms
Zim Standard
By our staff
GOVERNMENT says it is going ahead with its
controversial Wildlife Based Land Reform Policy despite pleas of a review from
disgruntled operators. Operators last week said they were negotiating for a
review of the policy, which had not adequately addressed indigenisation of the
sector and ownership rights.
"It's a controversial issue. We are engaging the National Parks (and Wildlife
Authority)," said Clive Stockhill of Save Conservancy without elaborating.
However, Environment and Tourism Minister Francis Nhema said on Friday that
the policy was ready for implementation with the State waiting to identify
"suitable" beneficiaries.
"Animals belong to the State. The policy has been approved and we are now
waiting to identify people with ability to run conservancies," Nhema said.
He however said the policy design was scientific and beneficiaries were
expected to pay white operators for the use of their infrastructure.
"Indigenous people would have to buy into the infrastructure. The design was
scientific and intended to save the ecosystem," he said.
Industry officials however told Standard Business that white operators were
edgy about Government's intentions to indigenise the sector given its track
record of land seizures. Government's land reform programme was characterised by
violent farm invasions and a chaotic distribution exercise, which saw land being
given to a few elite.
"There is a lack of trust between the white farmers and the government. White
farmers feel the policy needs to have clearly defined business principles that
should see indigenous farmers buying equity into their conservancies. They do
not want a repeat of the land reform," said an industry official.
The policy - designed in line with the land reform policy - requires that
owners of "conservancies and game ranches (to) surrender portions of their land
to accommodate indigenous Zimbabweans". It is also based on the premise that all
wildlife belong to the State.
The wildlife policy will be administered by the Ministry of Environment and
Tourism, which would issue out 25-year leases "in accordance with the Land
Reform Policy". Nhema said the leases would be reviewed on expiry but indigenous
farmers would rather they be given full title to land.
Good rains but …
Zim Standard
By Ndamu Sandu
THE rains falling in the past two weeks have given
Zimbabweans a ray of hope on economic revival driven by agriculture but analysts
warned that rains alone were no panacea to revival. In the previous
agricultural season, government blamed the decline in agriculture on drought.
Bulawayo-based economic consultant Eric Bloch said although the rains were
coming, pointers on the ground indicated no growth in agriculture.
"Although there are good rains, there is a reduced crop in tobacco, tea,
coffee, which will offset gains got. Maize and cotton will have small grains due
to a shortage of inputs," Bloch said.
Bloch said at the very best, Zimbabwe will produce 800 000 tonnes of maize
against a consumption of 1.8 million tonnes per annum.
Bloch says the growth in agriculture would be severely hampered by the
shortage of inputs, chief among them ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Seed maize
houses have also failed to meet the country's requirements of 100 000 tonnes
after producing a paltry 30 000 tonnes.
Bloch's forecast disputes Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa's projections in
the 2006 National Budget.
In his forecast Murerwa said that agriculture was expected to register a
growth of 14.8%.
Murerwa said: "This is on the back of a normal rain season, increased
hectarage under irrigation, timely provision of critical inputs and the
introduction of the targeted production programme to promote food security."
"Growth in the agricultural sector will be driven by the increased production
of maize (+33%) and cotton (+26%)." The country requires 100 000 tonnes of seeds
maize annually while seed maize houses are producing a paltry 30 000 tonnes.
Bloch says economic growth in the next two months will be hampered by rising
annual inflation, which will reach the 600% mark in the next two months.
However, Bloch was optimistic that inflation would head southwards from the
half-year to finish the year at around 220%.
"There is no possibility of achieving an 80% target by the end of the year,"
Bloch said. Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa in his 2006 National Budget said
annual inflation would be 80% by December.
On GDP, Bloch said: "There will be no growth in GDP."
Prominent Harare-based economic consultant John Robertson concurred with
Bloch on the decline in agriculture saying few crops was planted in the
2005-2006 season.
Robertson said: "There will be a decrease in food crops meaning that the
country has to import maize and if we don't import, we will go hungry."
Robertson says wage increases in January will push inflation to 1000% by the
middle of the year.
"At the end of the year it will be lower to 600% but not the 80% projected by
Murerwa" he said.
But another consultant, Jonathan Kadzura, believes there are prospects of a
good harvest.
"The rains are available and there are prospects of producing two million
tonnes of maize and 80 000 tonnes of soya beans," Kadzura said.
However, Kadzura says there is need to carry an audit on beneficiaries of
inputs. There have reports that some beneficiaries of inputs were making quick
bucks through exportation of inputs.
"We need to weed out corruption in the agriculture sector. We should ensure
that the Ministry of Anti Corruption does not end up as a name. At least 60% of
our inflation problems are a result of corruption, " Kadzura said.
"Who has gone to prison since that commission was set up. Which public
inquiries were held… nothing."
'High-risk cop killer' in court
Monday January 09, 2006 06:40 -
(SA)
Police have nabbed a criminal believed to have been involved in
the killing
of a traffic officer in Rosebank, Johannesburg, in November last
year, City
Press reports.
Zimbabwean-born Themba Charles Mahlangu,
commonly known as Charlie, was
arrested at the Glen shopping mall, south of
Johannesburg, on Friday.
He escaped from the Johannesburg Central Prison,
where he was held in
connection with his alleged role in an armed robbery at
the Gold Reef
Casino.
Saps spokesperson Director Sally de Beer
confirmed Mahlangu's arrest.
"We have been looking for him for a series
of armed robberies.
He is now in custody and will probably appear in
court today although we
can't say which court because he is regarded as a
high-risk," De Beer said.
Sapa
Statement by the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers'
Association
The Zimbabwe crisis
January 8, 2006
ZPCA wish to make the following public statement in response
to that made by Brigadier
Mashingaedze on behalf of the Sport and Recreation Commission at a Press
Conference on 6th instant:
ZPCA thanks the SRC for identifying the pressing issue of
"Player welfare" adverted to by Brigadier Mashingaedze and welcomes his
undertaking that the Interim Committee appointed by the SRC will address the
issues of player contracts and outstanding match fees by 31 January 2006. In
both cases these matters have been outstanding for more than 4 months, thus we
are heartened by the SRC initiative to resolve these matters and we are prepared
to await the developments indicated by the January 31.
ZPCA unequivocally states its commitment to the preservation
of Zimbabwe's Test status at all costs. We will do all in our power as players
to preserve our proud position as a member of the small and select band of Test
cricket countries. We deeply respect the work done by many proud servants of the
game in Zimbabwe to win us Test status 13 years ago. We cherish Zimbabwe's proud
heritage as Test nation. Furthermore, Test cricket represents the pinnacle of a
player's ambitions and it would be meaningless to play cricket without the
chance to play Tests against the other Test playing nations. Test cricket
represents the financial life blood of the game in this country and without Test
cricket, it is not possible to play cricket as a professional career or to
support the necessary structures for cricket nationally.
Playing professional cricket for Zimbabwe remains our
aspiration and desire, we are patriotic Zimbabweans who do not want to leave the
game or leave Zimbabwe to play for or represent other countries, all we ask for
is a cricket dispensation which makes policy and decisions based on what is in
the best interests of the game both nationally and internationally so that we
may do our best to represent our country with pride and distinction.
ZPCA Executive
Harare
7 January 2005
© Cricinfo
'Cricket is in anarchy and I doubt whether it is
recoverable'
The Zimbabwe crisis - Quotes
Cricinfo staff
January 9, 2006
|
Peter Chingoka: his board was replaced ... but he was not
© Getty
Images
| |
"The
Zimbabwe Cricket Union is apolitical, and believes in the inviolable separation
of sport and politics. We are an organization of diverse political, ethnic,
cultural, racial and religious backgrounds."
Peter Chingoka
speaking to Cricinfo in February 2004
"They have gone back on their word that they would not serve
under Chingoka. They have left Taibu in the lurch. It is disturbing that they
are now prepared to play under the same regime supported by new board members
with dubious cricket qualifications and who we can only assume are government
appointees. Cricket is in anarchy and I doubt whether it is recoverable but I
still hope the ICC will take the government's interference seriously and
investigate the make up of this committee."
David Ellman-Brown
Former ZC chairman and life president
"To actively promote, develop and administer the game of
cricket for the benefit of all Zimbabweans without discrimination of any
kind."
Zimbabwe Cricket's mission statement
"They have betrayed what they went on strike for, and Taibu.
He won't change his mind but we know some of them never had any principles and
are only in it for the money. Most of them are not so poor."
Elvis
Sembezeya Elected as chairman of Mashonaland last year but Peter Chingoka
blocked his appointment
"They have abandoned Taibu and that is off sides. They have
nullified the reason for going on strike in the first place. I am surprised they
have not asked to see this committee before they ended their strike to get a
commitment in writing pertaining to their contracts and how the game would be
revived."
Heath Streak Former Zimbabwe captain
"It seems bizarre that although he [Chingoka] was head of an
administration that they see fit to remove, they now make him the head of a new
one. If this is the bunch that's going to help them deliver cricket for the next
six months, I don't know what they are going to be delivering at the end of it.
It won't be cricket, it'll be a corpse."
Clive Field spokesman for
Zimbabwe's players
"No-one should regard the appointment of this committee as a
solution to the issues facing Zimbabwe cricket and there remain a number of
outstanding matters that must be urgently resolved in an open and transparent
manner to support Zimbabwe's participation in international cricket. These
include addressing allegations of financial mismanagement; ensuring disputes
between players and the board are effectively addressed; and providing certainty
for other ICC members that the strongest possible Zimbabwe cricket team will be
able to fulfil future international commitments, especially the forthcoming tour
of the West Indies due to commence in April."
ICC statement
"I suppose this ought not to have been a surprising move as
this was announced at the Zanu PF National People's Conference held recently.
All the same it is still quite shocking. What all cricket loving enthusiasts
feared is now official I suppose, Zimbabwe cricket is now a government agency.
So much for those who have advocated that sport and politics don't mix or that
Zimbabwe cricket is apolitical: I believe that words to that effect came out of
the mouth of Chingoka a while back."
Henry Olonga Former Zimbabwe
international
"There should be no racism in sport. They should not mix
sports and politics."
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe's president speaking
in 2004
© Cricinfo
Zimbabwe players call off strike but chaos still looms
The Telegraph
By
Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 09/01/2006)
Zimbabwe's top
cricketers have called off their strike and agreed to work
under a
government-appointed committee, provoking accusations that they have
"betrayed" their former captain, Tatenda Taibu.
A majority of
leading players decided after a three-hour meeting on Saturday
to return to
work immediately, hoping to be paid outstanding match fees by
the end of the
month.
President Robert Mugabe's government took over Zimbabwe Cricket on
Friday by
appointing an interim committee headed by the deeply unpopular and
mistrusted ZC chairman, Peter Chingoka.
David Ellman-Brown, a ZC life
president who persuaded the Inter-national
Cricket Council to grant Zimbabwe
Test status 13 years ago, said yesterday
he was "disappointed" at the
decision to end the strike. "They've gone back
on their word that they
wouldn't serve under Chingoka. They've left Taibu in
the lurch."
He
added: "Cricket is in anarchy, but I still hope the ICC will take the
government's interference seriously and investigate the make-up of this
committee."
Two months ago Taibu, 22, resigned as captain and the team
resolved not to
turn out for their country again unless Chingoka quit his
post. They also
demanded that managing director Ozias Bvute be suspended
pending an
investigation into ZC's finances.
Warwickshire captain Heath
Streak, who was sacked as the Zimbabwe captain
nearly two years ago for
challenging Chingoka's treatment of players, said
yesterday: "They've
abandoned Taibu. They've nullified the reason for going
on strike in the
first place."
Clive Field, the recently-appointed players' representative,
chaired the
meeting at which more than half the 35 salaried players resolved
to end
their strike. He said they wanted to "show faith in the
process".
Bvute, who led the movement against white players two years ago
that saw
most of the best leaving Zimbabwe, told a local newspaper that the
players'
decision was a "welcome" one. When the players went on strike,
after more
than three years of perpetual crisis, retired Supreme Court judge
Ahmed
Ebrahim, veteran vice-chairman of ZC, appealed to the government's
Sport and
Recreation Commission to allow an interim committee to run and
reform ZC's
administration.
He nominated experienced administrators,
including Ellman-Brown, but was
ignored, not least because he is of Asian
origin.
Zimbabwe National Army Brigadier Gibson Mashingaidze, chairman of the
commission, announced the interim committee on Friday. He accused white and
Asian executives of ZC of "racial connotations and of saving their own
agendas". He described the strike as "indiscipline of the highest magnitude"
and confirmed that Mugabe, patron of ZC, was aware of developments.
Even
Zimbabwe's junior players, many of them teenagers, earn salaries four
times
higher than teachers. More than two-thirds of Zimbabwe's professionals
are
black and most began cricket at expensive private schools.
Tatenda Taibu is
on a contract in Bangladesh but said he would consider
returning to captain
Zimbabwe, though under an administration which did not
include Chingoka or
Bvute. Cricinfo - Zimbabwean
Cricket
© Copyright of Telegraph
Group Limited 2006
Zimbabwe's normality is misery
|
by STAFF EDITORS (1/7/2006)
Source: The
Independent |
The silly season - as it's
widely known - is just about over and things are returning to normality. But for
the unfortunate citizens of Zimbabwe, for normality read misery. Oppressed and
abused, opponents of Robert Mugabe have been systematically starved and beaten
into submission. The brutal Operation Murambatsvina - "Operation Clear Out
Filth" - last year destroyed the homes or jobs of at least 700 000 people and
the lives of 2.4 million others, affecting almost a fifth of the population
estimated at 11 million. The informal economy, which fed 40% of the people, was
wrecked, unemployment tops 70% and inflation has passed the 500% mark. The
International Crisis Group estimates that Zimbabwe's internal refugee problem is
between four and five million and a further 3.5 million people are estimated to
have fled the country, mostly to South Africa. The African Union has been
remarkably quiet on the subject, although its Commission on Human and People's
Rights did recently adopt a resolution "strongly" condemning the human rights
abuses of Mugabe's government. But so "strongly" did it feel about the matter
that it kept it away from the media - essentially the public - and it was only
through a British newspaper that it got out.
Church leaders, including South
Africa's Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane and Roman Catholic Cardinal
Wilfred Napier, have spoken about a humanitarian crisis and said the deliberate
destruction of the informal economy in Zimbabwe was unparalleled in modern-day
Africa. So doubtful was Napier that politicians, especially President Thabo
Mbeki, would do anything to ease the plight of millions of starving Zimbabweans,
that he said the only thing left to do is to "get down on our knees and pray for
them". Let's hope and pray the new year brings some kind of sense to a senseless
situation and hope to our neighbours who are hungry, homeless, helpless and
jobless - and that this country finally adopts a more pro-active policy than the
much maligned "quiet diplomacy".
Zimbabwean/Botswana
trade diminishes amid hardships
Botswana News
09 January, 2006 |
GABORONE - The troubled Zimbabwean economy has affected some
business undertakings in Botswana.
The Managing Director of Builders World, Salim Shaikh, said the business of
building material has been affected by the performance of the Zimbabwean eonomy.
Shaikh said Builders World used to buy timber and steel from Zimbabwe but the
trade has been unreliable for some years.
He said because of inconsistent supply of building material, Builders World
resorted to South African suppliers who charge any amount because there was less
competition.
However, Shaikh said his firm was still buying gunboles, manhole cowers and
cast-iron pots.
Builders world still want to buy from Zimbabwe, said Shaikh. Mothibi Sebego,
a groceries controller, at Shoprite, said among the products that used to be
ordered from Zimbabwe, Quench juice is the only one left on the shelves in the
supermarket.
Sebego said the other exotic Zimbabwe products used to be sold are Mazoe
drink and Super Milk.
He said mazoe can only be found in places closer to Zimbabwe such as
Francistown. He said the last consignment of Super Milk was disaster as many
consumers brought it back because it was not fully processed.
Trade Worlds Business Development Manager Fazul Zahir said the wholesaler has
little trade with Zimbabwe.
Zahir said Trade World sell cast-iron pots and delivery had been fairly
consistent because at times the manufactures delay due to lack of transport.
He said sometime it could take up to two months for the product to reach
Botswana from Zimbabwe.
Attempts to obtain an analysis of the Botswana/Zimbabwe trade from economists
at the University of Botswana failed as they could not respond to questions BOPA
sent to them. BOPA
|
Zimbabwe in labour talks with SA
January 09,
2006, 06:15
Membathisi Mdladlana, the labour minister, and his Zimbabwean counterpart,
Nicholas Goche, will pay a two-day visit to Limpopo farmworkers near the two
countries' border from today.
Mokgadi Pela, labour department
spokesperson, says the visit will focus on cross-border labour migration issues.
Pela says the two ministers will look at working conditions.
He says the
time is past for the exploitation of illegal workers near the border by farmers
taking advantage of their vulnerable status. Pela says those days are
over.
Woman giving birth told to join the queue
The Scotsman
STRUGGLING
Zimbabweans are used to queuing for bread, milk, petrol and
passports, but
now it seems they even have to queue to give birth.
Under Robert Mugabe's
iron rule, the public health service has deteriorated
so much that pregnant
women in labour have to wait for their turn to be seen
at one of the
country's major hospitals, Chitungwiza General, near Harare,
it emerged this
weekend.
One mother gave birth to a baby girl - named Patience - on the
hospital
floor on Monday last week when nurses told her to "follow the
queue", the
state- controlled Herald reported.
"When I felt the pain was
becoming unbearable, I called out for help. My
husband then rushed to call
the nurses and explained the situation but they
refused to come, saying I
should wait like everyone else," said Loveness
Makore, 29.
After
independence in 1980, Zimbabwe's health system was one of the best in
the
region, but now it is in a shambles.
Pregnant Zim women flock to SA
JOHANNESBURG
Mon, 09 Jan 2006
Pregnant Zimbabwean women are entering South Africa illegally to give birth,
so that they can qualify for child support grants, Limpopo police said on
Sunday.
Musina police spokesperson Maggy Mathebula said 2300 Zimbabweans were
arrested during raids on Saturday and Sunday for entering the country illegally.
"The women told us they come here to give birth so that their children can
get South African birth certificates," she said.
"This in turn makes them qualify for child support grants."
The people were arrested during roadblocks and others were spotted crossing
the Limpopo river.
"Others were even caught scaling fences at the border. Strangely, some came
through the border even though they did not have passports," she said.
Currently, one can get R180 a month in child support grants.
Sapa
Zimbabweans abuse SA grants
Monday January 09, 2006 06:47 -
(SA)
Pregnant Zimbabwean women are entering South Africa illegally to
give birth,
so that they can qualify for child support grants,
Limpopo
police said.
Musina police spokeswoman Maggy Mathebula said 2,300
Zimbabweans were
arrested during raids on Saturday and Sunday for entering
the country
illegally.
"The women told us they come here to give
birth so that their children can
get South African birth certificates," she
said.
"This in turn makes them qualify for child support
grants."
The people were arrested during roadblocks and others were
spotted crossing
the Limpopo river.
"Others were even caught scaling
fences at the border. Strangely, some came
through the border even though
they did not
have passports," she said.
Currently, one can get R180 a
month in child support grants.
Sapa