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Zimbabwe government in turmoil as vote looms
Associated Press
By
ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press – 5 hours ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) —
Legislators have yet to rewrite Zimbabwe's constitution more than two years
after a historic power-sharing agreement between longtime enemies. At least
a quarter of the people on the country's voter lists are in fact
dead.
In recent months, Zimbabwe's government has been paralyzed by fresh
disputes and bickering over power-sharing ahead of proposed elections.
President Robert Mugabe joined forces with the opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in an unlikely coalition government after violence-plagued
elections in 2008.
At present, "nothing is happening. Little work is
being done," said John Makumbe, a political scientist at the main Zimbabwe
university.
Mugabe wants to hold a vote this year to end the tumultuous
power-sharing government with Tsvangirai. But the prime minister's party
says real reform is needed before such an election can be held.
Now
authorities are arresting ministers who don't belong to Mugabe's party. Some
Mugabe hardliners are even calling for the longtime opposition
leader-turned-prime minister to be charged with treason.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights said Tuesday that police are following a "well-laid
plan" to clamp down on Mugabe's opponents, including a slew of recent
arrests of ministers and officials of the former opposition.
Makumbe said
the clampdown against ministers in Tsvangirai's party in recent weeks is
likely meant to provoke Tsvangirai into pulling out of the coalition so that
early elections can be held.
Mugabe has called for elections this year to
bring the coalition to an end once and for all.
But Tsvangirai is
unlikely to pull out. He has repeatedly vowed at recent meetings and rallies
that his party will not withdraw, even if he is arrested, jailed or
killed.
Regional leaders and the chief mediator on Zimbabwe, South
African President Jacob Zuma, also insist free and fair elections cannot be
held this year until electoral and constitutional reforms are
completed.
Tsvangirai's party is demanding a complete overhaul of the
voters' register before any polls.
Earlier this month, coalition
negotiators agreed on what they called a "roadmap" to elections that
included reforms of the media and security laws by the end of this year. But
Mugabe's negotiators ruled out reforms of the security and intelligence
services demanded by Tsvangirai to make them independent and
nonpartisan.
A forensic analysis of existing voters lists by computer
experts has shown wide disparities — up to 25 percent of named voters are
dead and the lists include nonagenarians and centenarians presumed dead as
well as children under the voting age of 18.
Still, negotiators
slated elections before the end of next year, depending on how and when
other conditions are met, leaving the actual date unspecified.
But
Zimbabwe's political future remains unknown as infighting
persists.
Hardliners of Mugabe's party have called for the prime minister
to be tried on treason charges over his party's links with Western nations
that seek Mugabe's ouster after years of violations of human and democratic
rights. Military chiefs and former guerrillas in the bush war that swept
Mugabe to power in 1980, have refused to salute Tsvangirai, calling him a
security threat.
Makumbe said if Mugabe destroyed the coalition,
called elections on his own terms and stayed in control, southern Africa
would "wash its hands of him," and the 87-year-old would risk further
international isolation, along with isolation from key African allies for
the first time.
"He will not get away with it. It wouldn't be recognized.
The biggest problem would then be our neighbors closing their borders,"
Makumbe said.
A security and defence expert has said the main key to security
sector reform is to ensure the armed forces don’t influence the electoral
process in favour of one particular party.
Dr Martin Rupiya told SW
Radio Africa on Wednesday that it is not correct to suggest security sector
reforms (SSR) are part of a regime change agenda by those opposed to ZANU
PF.
He said SSR is the set of policies, plans, programs and activities
that a government undertakes to improve the way it provides safety, security
and justice to its citizens.
But ZANU PF has flatly refused to
countenance security sector reforms, arguing they are designed to oust
Robert Mugabe from power.
The MDC has demanded these reforms saying the
military junta led by Mugabe loyalists has powers that put them above the
law and that blocked the transfer of power when Mugabe lost the Presidential
election to Morgan Tsvangirai three years ago.
Instead of serving the
population the country’s army, police, CIO and airforce are used by ZANU PF
to oppress Mugabe’s opponents. The Junta has been the most important
instrument through which Mugabe and ZANU PF have maintained power since
independence.
‘The reform of this sector is very important in order to
break with the past. Zimbabwe is in this situation of an inclusive
government because of the intervention by the security sector soon after the
overwhelming vote for change by Zimbabweans in 2008,’ Rupiya said.
He
added: ‘The overall objective of SSR is to provide and promote an effective
and legitimate public service by the armed forces that is transparent,
accountable to civilian authority and not what has been peddled by ZANU
PF.’
Having been allowed to operate with impunity for almost 30 years the
MDC-T now wants Parliament to debate how government can control the
operations of the armed forces.
Settlement Chikwinya, the MDC-T MP
for Mbizvo in KweKwe, was due to bring forward a motion in Parliament on
Wednesday to discuss the army chiefs, calling on them to stop interfering in
politics. At the time of our news deadline, discussions in parliament were
ongoing and no information had emerged as to what had happened.
‘The
issue is that we want Parliament to ensure these service chiefs reaffirm
loyalty to the constitution and the laws of Zimbabwe such as the Defence
Forces, the Police Act and Prisons Act,’ Chikwinya said.
Analysts believe
that reforming the security sector in emerging democracies is one of the
most important and difficult activities facing any government.
By Reagan Mashavave, Senior Writer Wednesday, 13 July
2011 12:38
HARARE - The appetite by military generals to influence
political processes is set to come under parliamentary probe, barely three
weeks after Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba described Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai as a national security threat.
A notice has
already been given to the House of Assembly that a motion on the probe will
be moved today.
Mbizo MP, Settlement Chikwinya of MDC is expected to move
the motion, which is most likely to meet fierce opposition from Zanu PF
MPs.
But the superior number of the two MDC formations over Zanu PF in
Parliament will ensure the motion is debated and adopted.
Chikwinya’s
notice to the House of Assembly is meant to push Parliament to make security
chiefs re-affirm their loyalty to the constitution of Zimbabwe following a
disturbing run of statements by securocrats that Tsvangirai has described as
a “silent coup”.
He said the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as contained in
the Defence Act Chapter 11.02, the Police Act Chapter 11.00, Prison Act
Chapter 7.11 and the Public Service Act Chapter 11.04, demands the
“neutrality of the military, police and prison officers and the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) as well as ordinary civil
servants”Parliament probes generals.
debate because it calls for Cabinet
to investigate statements made by security chiefs that are against the
Defence Act and other laws that the military personnel take oath to
obey.
Military generals enjoy close proximity to President Robert Mugabe,
with some of them saying they would “do anything” to ensure the 87-year-old
remains in power.
Speaking to the Daily News after giving the notice
yesterday, Chikwinya said the purpose of the motion was to re-affirm to the
people of Zimbabwe that the military serves allegiance to the Constitution
of Zimbabwe.
Nyikayaramba last month told the media that the military
would remain pro-Mugabe and Zanu PF. In statements that have sent shivers,
Nyikayaramba said Tsvangirai was not a political threat but a “national
security threat”.
The statements by Nyikayaramba are not new. Other
serving service chiefs like general Constantine Chiwenga, Air Marshal
Perence Shiri, prisons chief Paradzai Zimondi and police commissioner
general Augustine Chihuri have openly said they will not salute any
president elected by the people of Zimbabwe who do not have war of
liberation credentials.
The statements are viewed as aimed at Tsvangirai,
who beat Mugabe in the March 2008 elections but failed to take power and was
forced into a coalition.
Security sector reforms are covered under
article XIII of the power sharing Global Political Agreement states that the
institutions should be “impartial in the discharge of their duties” and that
they must perform their duties ethically and professionally in conformity
with the principles and requirements of a multi-party democratic
system.
The three main parties — Zanu PF and the two MDC formations
agreed to improve the curriculum of military training in the country to
include human rights, international law and statute law and for the military
personnel to fully understand their roles and duties in a multi-party
democratic system.
A serving army colonel Bassie Bangidza last month told
a security sector reform debate that parliament was not the best avenue to
tackle the matter.
Bangidza, the director for the Centre for Defence
Studies at the University of Zimbabwe questioned parliament’s effectiveness
in handling such a “sensitive” issue.
“Parliamentarians are
interested in party political interests and party discipline. At individual
level, the parliamentarians are often eager to remain in the good books of
influential officials of the decision making branch both civilian and
security sector,” he said.
“They want more about maintaining good
relations with the President or Prime Minister rather than looking after the
interests of those who elected them including the security sector,” Bangidza
said. “Parliamentary oversight of the security sector often comes across as
being ornamental, rubberstamp or appendages of their respective executives
(political parties).”
Bangidza warned that if the “security sector
reforms” were done in an ill-manner that may worsen civil and military
relations or result in political instability.
Another presenter at
the same debate, Wilfred Mhanda, a former liberation war commander
castigated members of the uniformed forces who made political
statements.
He said the military must be apolitical and that they
must remain loyal to the nation.
He said the nation “commands the gun
and never must the gun be allowed to command the nation”.
“The
military serve us. They are our servants and they are not our masters. We
cannot only discuss their conditions of service and not about their
conduct.“
"Parliament cannot only discuss about giving them uniform
and food and not about their conduct. It does not make sense. They have to
take both into account. They are our servants because they are paid by the
tax-payer, they are accountable to us,” said Mhanda, now a Mugabe critic.
A secret document outlining an alleged
Zanu (PF) strategy to infiltrate the "opposition" by next year's
presidential elections has been obtained by The
Zimbabwean. 13.07.1101:28pm Staff Reporter
The document,
which was circulated last month before the recent smear campaign on MDC
officials, was obtained from a usually reliable source and some of its plans
are already underway.
Already, a sting operation against MDC secretary
general Tendai Biti is underway. CIO has asked Econet to intercept Biti's
cellphone and provide a call log. Already he has been accused of having a
fling with a married woman. He is instituting legal action against one state
newspaper that made the sensational claims.
There is another
elaborate strategy against the Prime Minister, who remains single following
his wife's death two years ago. The document outlines a plan to use women as
bait.
Zanu (PF) spokesman Rugare Gumbo declined to comment on "rubbish".
"I am not interested in talking about something that is not ours. I do not
want counter-intelligence where you produce your own documents and want us
to comment on it," he said.
The document outlines a plan to
thoroughly investigate and systematically harass and mentally torture the
MDC until they are "destabilised, until they give in and give up." It also
says: "The opposition should be systematically infiltrated with highly paid
people to cause infighting."
Strategies outlined in the document include
negative press reporting and the disappearance without trace of "sell-outs"
in rural areas.
The document promises "rewards" if MDC is brought to its
knees and says there will be no prosecution for politically motivated
crimes. It also proposes more funding for the Zanu (PF)-backed Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions to undermine the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, and proposes parallel NGOs to counter Zimbabwe's vocal civil
society.
The High Court on Wednesday reserved
judgment in an application by the Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who is
seeking to block the release of his mobile phone records to the police. The
serious fraud squad at the Criminal Investigation Department claim they are
investigating Biti for “abuse of office,” allegations that the Minister has
dismissed as harassment.
Harare provincial Magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe,
had last week issued the police a warrant ordering Econet Wireless to
release the Minister’s phone history. Biti’s lawyers immediately appealed to
the High Court, saying the records contain “vital information” about the
MDC-T and other organizations he is involved with.
Biti is also
secretary general of the MDC-T, who is supposed to be a partner with ZANU PF
in the coalition government. But he has been the target of attacks by ZANU
PF mobs that twice descended on his Harare office. Unknown assailants also
petrol bombed his home in Harare last month. The MDC-T have said the
continued harassment of officials and supporters is a ZANU PF ploy to
destabilize the coalition government.
As reported this week on SW Radio
Africa the state owned Sunday Mail newspaper published an article some weeks
ago, claiming Biti was having an affair with an economist in his Ministry.
The paper revealed phone numbers which it claimed were used by Biti to
communicate with the alleged mistress.
Five officials from the Finance
Ministry were also arrested last week, one of them being the woman the state
media is alleging had the affair with Biti.
As has recently been
reported, the CIO have come up with yet another plan to discredit the MDC.
This one is to expose real or imagined sexual escapades of the top
leadership.
Banks
in Zimbabwe have urged the public to deposit money in their accounts, so
that soiled, torn and defaced dollar bills can be exchanged for clean, new
notes, a state daily reported.
"Old notes continue to be in circulation
because people are not banking money so that old notes can be repatriated
and new ones are brought into circulation," Bankers Association of Zimbabwe
chairman John Mushayavanhu said, according to The Herald
newspaper.
"The notes can be exchanged free of charge."
The
association's call came following public complaints that some shops, buses
and cell phone airtime vendors were refusing to accept torn or defaced US
bills.
Zimbabwe allowed trade in US dollars in 2009, after abandoning its
own currency which was left worthless after years of
hyperinflation.
Lower value notes are easily torn and defaced because
they pass through many hands, but rarely pass through banks, which can
replace old notes with new ones.
The Reserve Bank estimates that $2.5
billion (1.8 billion euros) is in circulation in Zimbabwe, most of it in the
informal market because the public lost faith in banks during the economic
crisis.
For years banks suffered a chronic liquidity crisis, leaving them
unable to provide cash to people seeking to make
withdrawals.
Hyperinflation also made banking counter-productive, because
the value of money would erode dramatically between the time of deposit and
the withdrawal.
Last week police warned the public about conmen who
were using fake US dollar notes to buy goods in rural areas and along
highways and getting change in genuine notes.
A Bill that will finally bring to life the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) was due to be presented to
parliament by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa this week. But civic groups
have already dismissed the Commission, which was appointed by Robert Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai 15 months ago, because political
parties in the unity government agreed to limit its mandate to abuses that
occurred after February, 2009.
The GPA required the establishment of a
rights commission, to safeguard human rights, investigate past abuses and to
promote national healing. But as it stands the most violent periods in the
country’s history are excluded. It means thugs and militia groups aligned to
ZANU PF will never be brought to justice for the horrendous crimes committed
during the Gukurahundi and the extreme election violence of
2008.
Phillip Pasirayi from the Crisis Coalition told SW Radio Africa
that the idea of a national commission to advance the cause of human rights
is “good in principle”, but the way it was done is “problematic”. “It was
ZANU PF and the MDC formations that agreed to the names to sit on that
commission, which means they are now answerable to those parties,” Pasirayi
explained.
“It does not help to create an institution whose mandate is
limited. They must be able to tackle all past abuses that affected our
people. Before 2009 there were extra-judicial killings, disappearances and
rapes,” he added.
Pasirayi pointed to the Gukurahundi atrocities that
claimed thousands of lives in the mid-eighties and Operation Murambatsvina,
ZANU PF’s so-called “cleanup” exercise that displaced nearly a million
people and destroyed the lives and incomes of so many.
Regarding the
MDC role in drafting the Bill, Pasirayi said he was surprised because the
party was a product of civic groups that stand for protecting human rights.
“The party also suffered tremendously during the 2008 election period, with
hundreds killed and thousands assaulted or tortured” the activist
explained.
Ironically the MDC has objected to the composition of other
commissions, including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Zimbabwe
Media Commission, saying they were unilaterally appointed by ZANU
PF.
After an initial reading in parliament the Human Rights Commission
Bill will be turned over to the Parliamentary Legal Committee, which checks
to ensure that it is consistent with the Constitution. A vote will then be
taken by both houses of parliament before the Bill is handed over to Robert
Mugabe to be signed into law.
Harare, July 13, 2011 - Zimbabwe’s
parliamentarians are demanding brand new cars from its cash strapped
coalition government arguing that the ones that they have suffered
depreciation when they were used during the constitution making process
outreach programme.
The demands are coming from both members of the
lower and the upper houses of all the country’s three political parties
namely Zanu (PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
formations.
In this rare show of unity, the parliamentarians say they
want the government to buy them each a Nissan 4x4 pick-up truck worth a
princely sum of between $US 10 000 and US$ 15000.
The decision was
made at a parliamentary joint caucus meeting on Tuesday.
The demand for
new cars comes despite the fact that the parliamentarians were paid for the
use and maintenance of their vehicles during the constitutional outreach
programme.
Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, Zanu (PF) MP for Mwenezi East
constituency, the Secretary General of the Joint Parliament Welfare
Committee said in a brief to journalists that the demands by the MPs are
reasonable and have already been tabled before Minister of Finance Tendai
Biti who is expected to present the matter before the leaders of the three
political parties for consideration.
“The MPs are asking government
to replace their vehicles and the reason being that MPs were using their
vehicles during constitutional outreach programme and some of them have lost
their cars which are now a completely right off,” said
Bhasikiti.
“Others have their vehicles badly damaged and the cost of the
maintenance is too high and beyond their reach, and it will better to have a
new vehicle. We use these vehicles to do parliamentary and government
business in our various constituencies.”
The car park at parliament
is full of broken down top of the range vehicles, others are accident
damaged. A parliamentary official who mans the main vehicle entrance to
parliament building told Radio VOP that the vehicles belong to
parliamentarians.
Apart from the new cars the parliamentarians have also
been demanding their sitting allowances since they were elected into office
in March 2008.
Bhasikiti said they expected a favourable response from
the executive otherwise anything short of the purchase of new vehicles would
affect their constituency work. He so urgent is the need for new cars
because some parliamentarians are already commuting to do their constituency
work and attend parliament in Harare.
Harare, July 13,
2011 - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s co-governing Movement for
Democratic Change party (MDC-T) has asked parliament to force the country’s
partisan security forces to stop meddling in the country’s political affairs
and to investigate “treasonous” statements uttered by some senior members of
the security sector.
Party legislator for Mbizo constituency Settlement
Chikwinya on Tuesday moved a lower House motion saying the MDC-T was
concerned with apparent threats directed at the party's leader Tsvangirai
made by the security chiefs.
In the motion expected to be debated in
Parliament on Wednesday, Chikwinya called “upon this house to condemn the
unconstitutional and treasonous statements that bring into disrepute the
professional institutions of the army and the police.”
The motion
also “request the relevant institutions to reaffirm their loyalty to the
Constitution and the laws of Zimbabwe,” and to “direct relevant authorities
to carry out investigations into the said utterances and the
unconstitutional statements.”
This follows recent utterances by the
army’s Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba who insisted the army viewed
Tsvangirai as a major security threat.
"Tsvangirai doesn't pose a
political threat in any way in Zimbabwe, but is a major security threat,"
Nyikayaramba told the state-owned Herald newspaper recently. "He takes
instructions from foreigners who seek to effect illegal regime change in
Zimbabwe. This is what has invited the security forces to be involved
because we want to protect our national security interests."
But
Chikwinya, in a motion that was seconded by party chief whip Innocent
Gonese, described the utterances as “unconstitutional”.
Reads part of
the motion,“...that this house takes note of the provisions of the
constitution, the defence act, chapter 11.02, the police act chapter 11.10,
prison act chapter 7.11 and the public service act chapter 11.04 which all
demand neutrality of the military, police and prison officers and the
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) as well as ordinary civil
servants.”
Meanwhile a Member of Parliament from President Robert
Mugabe's party told parliament on Tuesday that unity government must be
ended to allow for a new government to run the economy without disagreements
as is happening in the unity government.
Mwenezi West MP, Munyaradzi
Bhasikiti made the statement in parliament on Tuesday as the House of
Assembly was debating the low civil servants salaries and ways that
government can improve them. Mugabe at one time has called for the end to
the coalition government formed in 2009 saying they were too many
disagreements.
On the debate on civil service salaries several MPs said
revenue from diamonds sales, government departments and other minerals must
be submitted to treasury so that salaries for the public service be
improved.
Other legislators said government must remove 'ghost workers'
who are receiving salaries every month when they are not properly employed.
About 70 000 ghost workers are said to be on the government payroll. Finance
Minister Tendai biti has said that revenue that is being paid to ghost
workers can improve the civil service salaries.
"This creature is
continously driving our nation to the dustbin. You can't have the President
saying on one hand civil servants must be awarded salary increases, the
Prime Minister on the other hand says again that salaries for civil servants
must be improved and a cabinet minister Tendai Biti says he does not have
money. This GNU has failed, let the economy be run by an elected
government," Bhasikiti said.
"Investors will not come to the country when
people are divided that the country must move to the left while the others
are saying we move to the right. Parliamentarians are the worst enemies of
the civil servants. You allowed a budget to be passed without the civil
servants salaries being increased."
In a related debate Willias
Madzimure, Kambuzuma MP said the issue of the civil servants salaries is not
a Ministry of Finance issue but involves the cabinet. He urged MP's to
summon Biti to find out if the government has enough revenue for civil
servants salaries.
HARARE - Incumbent ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo’s fate in
the labour movement hangs in the balance after a general council meeting
held over the weekend deferred deliberations on his quest for
re-election.
Matombo has been at the helm of the union since 2000
after succeeding the late Gibson Sibanda.
He is supposed to
relinquish his post this year as constitutional amendments done in 2006
limit presidential terms to two.
Matombo is refusing to leave, arguing
that the amendments were done after he had already completed his first term
hence the changes cannot be effected in retrospect.
ZCTU acting
secretary-general Japhet Moyo told the Daily News that the general council
shelved deliberations regarding Matombo’s fate.
Sources say another
meeting will be held before the congress to discuss Matombo’s fate although
chances are that he will be allowed to run for another term.
Moyo
said it was premature to talk about contesting candidates because
nominations were yet to be opened.
“The nomination for the candidates
contesting for the posts is yet to be opened. The issue of Matombo and Lucia
Matibenga wanting to contest for the presidency will be known when
nominations are made,” said Moyo.
ZCTU will be holding its elective
congress from 19-20 August in Bulawayo under the theme “respect our rights,
save our economy”.
Efforts to get a comment from Matombo were fruitless
as he was not picking up his phone.
According to the amended ZCTU
constitution, an elected president is allowed to hold office for two terms
only. Matombo has previously accused the labour body’s secretariat of
doctoring the constitution to stop him from running for a third
term.
Sources within the labour movement told the Daily News that the
idea to amend the constitution was muted in 1996 when Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai was the secretary-general but the changes were only adopted at a
congress held in Masvingo 10 years later.
“The chairperson of that
2006 meeting was Lucia Matibenga, who is the first vice president of ZCTU.
Matombo was attending a funeral so he was not there but he was aware of the
amendments,” said the source.
If allowed to stand for re-election,
Matombo will square off with MDC national executive committee member and
Kuwadzana West MP Lucia Matibenga and second vice secretary-general George
Nkiwane.
Another influential post up for grabs is the secretary-general’s
job.
Incumbent Wellington Chibebe is leaving Harare for Brussels where he
will take up the deputy secretary-general’s post at the International Trade
Union Confederation.
Acting secretary-general Moyo is likely to
battle it out with militant Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
secretary-general Raymond Majongwe.
Like Moyo, Majongwe has confirmed
interest in the job.
Zimbabwean football has been rocked by what is now known as the
Asiagate scandal, where players, coaches, journalists and football officials
were paid huge bribes to cover up for the fact that the country’s national
team, and at times a bogus one, was deliberately losing matches hosted in
Asia as part of a betting scam.
Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)
Vice President Ndumiso Gumede led a four member committee which started
investigating the matter last year and later produced an explosive 162 page
report. Under investigation were trips by the senior and junior national
teams and Monomotapa between 2007 and 2009.
Gumede, a guest on our
Question Time programme, says he stands firmly behind the findings of his
committee despite some of those implicated denying the allegations. Herald
Sports Editor Robson Sharuko for example denied receiving any money and
called into question the number of trips he is listed as having participated
in and claimed it showed the information could not be relied upon.
A
fired up Gumede said ‘there might be a problem here. Mr Sharuko is saying he
went on 14 or 15 trips. We are not worried about how many trips he went on.
Our brief was to find out how many times he benefited. So he might have gone
on one trip where four games were played. In our report it will show four
benefits accrued to him.”
Gumede conceded they might not have
investigated as well as they wanted but this was because there were no
records at ZIFA or even the sports commission. They had to rely on
information from newspapers and information from the civil aviation
authority, about who had travelled for example.
Former ZIFA Chief
Henrietta Rushwaya has been fingered as the alleged mastermind and is
reported to have pocketed way over US$450 000. Despite her high profile role
she has still not been arrested, despite ZIFA giving the report to the
police, FIFA, the African football body (CAF), the Sports Commission and the
Ministry of Education, Art, Sports and Culture.
“The police have our
report and it’s up to them to follow the people. If there is any criminal
component to my report, it is them who should follow up. I have no arresting
powers,” Gumede told us.
Decorated coaches like Sunday Chidzambwa, Luke
Masomere, Rodwell Dhlakama, Methembe Ndlovu and Norman Mapeza have been
sucked into the scandal, having travelled with the teams on different
occasions during their spells as coaches.
Chidzambwa, now coaching
newly promoted Black Leopards in South Africa, threatened to sue over the
story. Gumede said he was unfazed by this and said: ‘The truth is that there
are people who went with him (Chidzambwa) who have been truthful, whose
conscience worries them, who have told us the truth, including that Mr
Chidzambwa bought a car in Singapore with the proceeds he irregularly
got.”
Gumede meanwhile told us they have recommended that the players be
dealt with leniently because not all of them knew the games were fixed. He
said as a committee they categorized people by how many trips they took part
in. “Those who went on more than two trips knew what was happening and they
were deriving benefit from it,” he said.
President Robert Mugabe has appointed Aaron
Daniel Tonde Nhepera as the Deputy Director General of the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) replacing the late Maynard Muzariri
Announcing the appointment, Minister of State for National Security Sydney
Sekeramayi said Nhepera's elevation was in line with his loyalty and
dedication to duty. 13.07.1110:04am Fungai Kwaramba Harare
"The
elevation of Nhepera to his new position is not only in keeping with the
principle of continuity, but recognition of his commitment and dedication to
duty," said Minister Sekeramayi.
Indeed it has been a long wait for
Nhepera who true to the state security modus operedi has maintained a low
profile.
With liberation war credentials Nhepera has been serving the
detested CIO as director security and was the longest serving director in
the CIO until his latest appointment
A top European Union official said
this week the 27-nation group is fed up with the ruinous policies of
President Robert Mugabe, who they hope will either quit office soon or lose
the next crunch ballot to extricate the country from the
doldrums. 11.07.1104:19pm Chief Reporter
Geoffrey Van Orden
MEP, who spearheads the European Parliament's campaign for freedom and
democratic change in Zimbabwe, told The Zimbabwean that EU member states now
firmly believed that Zimbabwe would be better off without Mugabe.
He
said EU budgetary aid to Zimbabwe, and that from other multilateral
institutions, would remain frozen as long as Mugabe remained in power and
persisted with his violent seizures now targeting Western mines and
banks.
"We are completely fed up with Mugabe. He has stayed long enough
in power and we think Zimbabwe would be better off without him," Van Orden
said from Brussels.
Van Orden is a Conservative member of the
European Parliament and Defence and Security Spokesman. Over many years he
has initiated the European Parliament's tough resolutions on Zimbabwe. He
has been personally banned by Mugabe from entering Zimbabwe. Future
hope
He said the situation in Zimbabwe continued to be “most disturbing”,
but expressed hope about the future. He said he was aware of the recent
upsurge in violence and intimidation against those that Mugabe
fears.
“But at last, Zimbabwe's neighbours have begun to demand action,"
he said.
Van Orden spoke as Mugabe's partisan police force arrested three
ministers from the rival MDC faction in the GNU. It is just the latest
crackdown by Mugabe on his rivals, who are moving to close ranks and mount a
united front against the ageing despot.
He said he was encouraged by
SADC's increasingly tough action on Mugabe and the regional bloc's stance to
draw the line in the sand.
"We know what happened during election time
when opponents were murdered and opposition party supporters harassed.
Mugabe has openly supported lawlessness. That’s very wrong." End to
violence
He said it was heartening that SADC "has called for an end to
all political violence and for free, democratic elections that meet
international standards."
But Presidential spokesman George Charamba
said the government would not lose much sleep over his remarks.
"He
has come under a spell of the British anti-land redistribution element. He
wants to give the British position a veneer of EU endorsement. He has
unsuccessfully tried to have more sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe in the
past," he said in Harare.
"He is part of the conservative side of the
EU that wants to equate land redistribution to the quest for democracy. To
them democracy should exist to the whites only and not to blacks. We won’t
lose sleep over his remarks."
Charamba said the policy of the EU remained
that of constructive engagement with the Zimbabwe government and not
"destructive disengagement as advocated by Van
Orden". Intransigent
Van Orden said it was sad to note that despite
numerous exhortations from key donors for Mugabe to restore the rule of law
in Zimbabwe, he had remained intransigent.
"The sad thing is that
Zimbabweans will have to suffer for the actions of a wayward leader," he
said. "Elections cannot be judged free in an atmosphere of intimidation and
where the media does not give expression to all opinions. The people need
education in the electoral process and a proper system of voter registration
needs to begin very soon."
He said Zimbabwe would not get any new
budgetary aid under the Cotonou pact because of the government’s persistent
trashing of human rights.
The EU’s aid to Zimbabwe was halted a decade
ago over the breakdown of the rule of law in the country. The EU joined the
United States and key international donors such as the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank which cut aid over the economy’s
mismanagement.
The EU has nonetheless continued to fund projects aimed at
alleviating poverty, especially in Zimbabwe’s health and education
sectors. Cotonou pact
He said Zimbabwe was missing out big time on
funding under the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and ACP group.
The
Cotonou accord governs trade relations between the EU and the ACP.
It is
the successor to the Lome Convention which previously governed trade ties
between the two regions.
Without Mugabe, Zimbabwe would be eligible to
access the EU's 13,5 billion euro set aside for ACP states under the 9th
European Development Fund, the aid component of the Cotonou trade
pact.
The pact has a specific clause stipulating that individual
countries that are seriously corrupt or disregard human rights will be
excluded from aid programmes. Van Orden said Zimbabwe needed to create
stable democratic conditions to access the funding. But Mugabe remains an
albatross to the country's economic progress, with the economy stagnating as
he pursues his policies of confrontation.
He said until there was
real evidence of change, the EU's restrictive measures - aimed specifically
against Mugabe and his inner circle and not bearing in any way on the wider
Zimbabwean population – “must remain in place and be better explained."
Next Wednesday
Africa Unity Square will see the colourful launch of the Buy Zimbabwe
Campaign. All are encouraged to join in the celebrations, aimed at raising
awareness and generating support for consumers to buy locally-made products
and help revive local industries. 11.07.1104:28pm Novell
Zwange
In order for the campaign to be successful and effective, it
needs to go beyond words by working with business, government and consumers
in practical matters directed at ensuring increased production and
consumption of local goods and services, says the campaign’s spokesperson
Munyaradzi Hwengwere.
"Buy Zimbabwe goes beyond simply assertion of pride
in what one produces but importantly assures the entire family of a
prosperous and sustainable future. It guarantees employment and higher
standards of living,” he said.
Participation of the Standards Association
was particularly important, he added, because the campaign was designed to
celebrate those brands that make Zimbabwe proud, the brands that meet high
quality standards, adhere to the country’s labour laws and are produced in
Zimbabwe - the three key principles which Buy Zimbabwe stands
for.
“The current trend which has seen a lot of industries being closed
and jobs lost is disturbing and cannot be left to go on. We all rely on
these jobs, our children rely on these jobs the entire economy relies on
these jobs," he said.
Scores of Chief Executive Officers and
Zimbabwe’s leading business executives will be there to mingle with their
consumers.
The major concern that local businessmen share is the
sustainability of their businesses, considering the inconsistent policy
environment that they are currently operating under.
Hwengwere said
that although the campaign appreciated the relevance of the duty free regime
on finished basic commodities introduced by the government at a time of
severe shortages, close examination of the current policy on duty reveals
that it is largely skewed towards foreign products and threatens the
survival of local companies.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
(BPRA) held a public meeting that was attended by 150 residents from Nketa 9
at Mgiqika Primary School from 2pm to 5pm. The meeting served to offer
residents from ward 25 an opportunity to discuss service delivery issues
affecting them. 13.07.1111:47am Bulawayo Progressive Residents
Association
Amongst the issues raised at the meeting was the
continued marginalisation of the people of Matabeleland, arguing that people
from the region are not given equal opportunities to people in other regions
in Zimbabwe. They said due to this, people from the region had fewer job
opportunities due to nepotism with mostly people from Mashonaland getting
jobs as most companies are owned by outsiders.
In the same vein, they
cited that children from Matabeleland had difficulty obtaining scholarships,
with mostly children from Harare and other areas of Mashonaland getting
them. They also alleged that even in Zimbabwean universities, including NUST
and Lupane University which are located in Bulawayo, children from Bulawayo
and Matebeland were few with most students coming from
Mashonaland.
Residents of Nketa also accused the city council of
selectively disconnecting water for residents with outstanding bills. They
said there was corruption at the city council with those tasked with
disconnecting supplies for defaulting residents receiving bribes in exchange
for not disconnecting water supplies.
The residents called for the
city council to stop corruption within its ranks and ensure that residents
are treated equally. Residents also complained of poor refuse
collection.
They noted that even when BCC refuse collection trucks come
into the area, the council workers do not collect all refuse, but select
some items and leave others. This leaves residents with no choice but to
create illegal dump sites in the streets, bushes and in trenches.
Government cannot revive industry in
Bulawayo without the help of stakeholders, Finance Minister Tendai Biti
said. 11.07.1104:12pm Paul Ndlovu
He said the task needed a
holistic approach in the problems being faced by the country’s second
largest city.
“The economy went through almost 12 years of devaluation,
industries were deserting the country en-mass and inflation reached its
worst levels,” he said.
“Industries all around the country found it
very hard to operate. However, now that we are slowly reviving our economy
it is now critical for all stakeholders to come together in this revival
scheme.”
A cabinet task force, led by Minister of Industry and Commerce,
Welshman Ncube, had been established to resuscitate industry in
Bulawayo.
“We have in the past given Bulawayo a lot of money, in the 2011
budget we gave local authorities $32 million to be divided among them,’’ he
said.
“I understand that for some reason best known to them some of that
money is still yet to be used but what I should emphasise is that we will
continue funding all projects targeted at the overall development of the
Matabeleland region.’’
Biti said the Finance Ministry was committed
to reviving the region, and would continue to provide funds for essential
projects
in the Matabeleland region as a whole. We know that the major
priority
are the water projects, these being the Mtshabezi – Mzingwane
pipeline
link project and the construction of the Gwayi Shangani Dam,” he
said, adding that his Ministry was also focusing on resuscitating lines
of
credit for businesses in the region.
The minister will tour
major projects in the Matabeleland region this week.
“During the tour I
will visit projects such as Lupane State University
and the Mtshabezi
project the idea is to get a full appreciation of
those projects and to
identify loopholes that need our urgent
attention,” said Biti.
It
was recently reported that the city lost more than 20 000 jobs
after the
closing down of 87 companies last year.
The ministerial task force
includes Minister Biti, Professor Ncube,
Agricultural Mechanisation and
Irrigation Minister Dr Joseph Made,
Labour and Social Welfare Minister
Paurina Mupariwa, Economic Planning
and Investment Promotion Minister
Tapiwa Mashakada and Youth,
Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere.
Residents of
Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb who acquired houses under the Zimbabwe
Government Employees Union (ZIGEU) housing scheme have not have toilets and
running water for the past seven years. 11.07.1103:58pm Zwanai Sithole
Harare
This development has sparked outrage as residents feel they
have been cheated by the housing scheme developers and fear the situation
could lead to an outbreak of water borne diseases such as
cholera.
The houses were built by Hawkflight construction and
ZIGEU.
Residents who spoke to The Zimbabwean news crew last week bitterly
complained about lack of proper toilets and running water at the
site.
“Since 2004 when we were allocated these stands we have been using
Blair toilets. To make matters worse we do not have water and we depend on
wells which we have dug. The situation is pathetic,” said Lameck Ncube, a
resident.
Most of the residents have now resorted to use the bush to
relieve themselves as they do not have the Blair toilets.
“As you can
see this area is sandy and it is very difficult to build Blair toilets. Most
of the Blair toilets here have collapsed especially during the rainy season
.Most of us here are using the bush,” said another resident Garikai
Manyara.
The residents also complained about poor accessibility as the
roads are not properly graded.
An official of Hawkflight
Construction, Sikhulumeli Kole, said the problems facing the residents had
nothing to do with his organisation.
“As far as my organisation is
concerned, we have done our best to serve our clients and every piece of
infrastructure is in place,” he said.
The Mayor of Bulawayo, Thaba Moyo,s
could not be reached for comment.
Hundreds of armed “war veterans” and
party militia invaded Tracy Mutinhiri’s Waltendall Farm on Saturday,
allegedly at the behest of Zanu (PF) Minister of State Security and Senator
Marondera-Wedza, Sydney Sekeramayi. 13.07.1112:12pm Jane
Makoni
Once a close family friend, Sekeremayi has also been accused
of engineering Muthinhiri’s divorce from her husband Ambrose.
“It is
an open secret in Zanu (PF) circles that Sekeramayi was instrumental in the
unfortunate split of the Mutinhiri family. We are not surprised to learn
that his hand is behind the attempted invasion of Tracy’s farm. He hates her
personally - this has nothing to do with politics,” said a top Zanu (PF)
insider.
More than 1 000 militia drawn from across the province and led
by a self-styled war veteran who identified himself as Chizema, descended on
the farm armed with an assortment of traditional weapons such as axes,
spears and catapults.
“We have been sent by honourable, Sekeramayi,
to kill the rebellious Mutinhiri and farm workers sympathetic to her. We
would also set on fire harvested farm produce such as tobacco, maize crop
and confiscate beasts at the farm. Mutinhiri is no longer Zanu (PF). If she
wants a farm she would be allocated one by her newlyfound ally, MDC,”
Chizema told The Zimbabwean at the farm, 10 kilometres out of
Marondera.
Mutinhiri’s personal police guards stationed at the farm and
riot police from Marondera drove the thugs away.
The attempted farm
seizure comes barely a week after Mutinhiri unmasked CIO operatives at
Dhirihori School who allegedly wanted to eliminate her. Recently, Mutinhiri
escaped a CIO attempt to spray her eyes with a blinding
substance.
“We will stop at nothing in our bid to destroy Mutinhiri’s
political career. She violated Zanu (PF) code of conduct by her non partisan
politics through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects which
benefited families from across the political divide in Chief Svosve area.
Sekeramayi was not happy to see MDC benefiting from the income generating
projects,” said one of the militia leaders who did not realise was talking
to a reporter.
Zanu (PF) insiders said Sekeramayi was disturbed by the
popularity gained by Mutinhiri.
“She has suddenly become so popular
that she would easily retain the Parliamentary Seat even if she decided to
stand as an independent candidate in the coming elections. Sekeramayi
preferred party provincial security officer, Lawrence Katsiru, for the
constituency legislative candidature”, said a Zanu (PF)
insider.
Ambrose Mutinhiri, a former ZNA brigadier, is Zanu (PF) Member
of Parliament for Marondera West.
Zimbabwe music star becomes UN goodwill
ambassador
Jul 13, 11:29 AM EDT
By GILLIAN GOTORA Associated Press
NORTON,
Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwean music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi's lyrics have
delved into child abuse and homeless youngsters living on the streets. Now
he's been chosen to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. children's
agency.
Mtukudzi says he'll do all he can to protect the vulnerable and
help promote HIV prevention.
"My passion for music comes from
children. I have always dealt with children during my career," said
Mtukudzi, who was chosen last month for the post.
Tuku, as Mtukudzi is
known to fans worldwide, is Zimbabwe's first U.N. ambassador. Other U.N.
children's ambassadors include Susan Sarandon, Mia Farrow, Danny Glover,
Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Chan and David Beckham.
"The
honor is not for me alone but for the country," Mtukudzi, 59, told The
Associated Press at the arts center he built in the town of Norton, 25 miles
(40 kilometers) west of Harare.
Oliver Mtukudzi began performing in
1977 and has released more than 40 albums and compilations of his hits in
local languages and English since then. He has successfully toured Britain,
Germany, other European nations, Canada and the United States as well as
topping the bill at concerts across Africa.
His songs have been
described by critics as a moral voice, tackling everything from
discrimination to alcohol abuse.
The song "Todii?" (What can we do?)
refers in the local Shona language to the problem of HIV-infected adults
raping children in their care, and asks the listener to imagine the pain if
their own child was abused that way.
"Some songs are reminders of where
we are going wrong. The purpose of a song is to give life and hope to
people," he said.
Apart from being a singer and songwriter, Mtukudzi
writes and directs films. One of his musical productions, "Was My Child,"
highlights the lives of Zimbabwe's street children.
Studies show that
Zimbabwe has a growing number of street children, the result of years of
political and economic turmoil, and they are often exposed to sexual
exploitation in exchange for food, money and clothing.
"It is every
parent's responsibility to keep children out of the streets," Mtukudzi
said.
His songs have criticized political violence in his homeland and
one hit, "Wasakara" (You are getting old), was seen as urging longtime
authoritarian ruler President Robert Mugabe, now 87, to retire.
In
2007, he opened an arts center in Norton, to help young people pursue their
dreams of becoming artists. Youngsters come to the center to try their hand
in sculpture, art and music.
The Zimbabwean superstar tragically lost one
of his five children in a car crash last year. Sam Mtukudzi, 21, was also a
musician.
Tuku said parents often need to be encouraged to support the
artistic aspirations of their children.
"Parents have the wrong
attitudes toward their children being artists ... God gave these kids talent
for a reason, to heal and give hope," he said.
Jul 13, 2011—Zimbabwe’s Open University
(ZOU) and Progressive Tobacco Farmers Union have signed an agreement that
will see them co-operate in providing education and training in tobacco
growing for resettled farmers, according to a Tobacco China Online
story.
Speaking at the signing ceremony recently, ZOU vice chancellor,
Dr. Primrose Kurasha, said the land reform program had ushered in a new
breed of tobacco farmers, most of whom had been operating previously as
subsistence farmers.
Kurasha said it was ZOU's belief that education
using indigenous languages would unlock potential for development among new
farmers.
The training they would receive would give them the skills they
needed.
The soil on which Pastor Leephat Chinyange farms is
beautiful soil – red clay, hard – in fact hard enough to smelt iron and to make
the beautiful clay pots one sees for sale along the sides of the
Masvingo-Beitbridge road.
Pastor Chinyanga and those who practise
Foundations for Farming believe the biblical promise: Isaiah 35:6 - For waters
shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
Its beautiful soil indeed, but not for farming – in fact
the area is traditionally considered ranching land, common wisdom holds that
very little will grow there. Being region 5, it is Zimbabwe’s driest area,
receiving very little rainfall annually.
But this past season in this vast and dry land, there
was a beautiful patch of lush green maize, standing defiantly against both
common wisdom and the elements. This was the work of a man who believes in the
God of the impossible.
And what was achieved is hard to comprehend – Pastor
Chimombe has farmed here before, and from this very patch he has failed to get
even one bucket of maize in past seasons. In fact two years ago he even hired a
tractor hoping mechanisation would improve his yield. But he got nothing. This
year he got 300 buckets (about 50 bags) from his tiny piece of
land.
So how did all this happen? In 2009 he heard about
Foundations for Farming through a meeting of Evangelical Fellowship for Zimbabwe
farmers. He is an office bearer for the organisation in his
province.
But it was too late in the season to apply what he
heard. So in 2010 he started early. At the time, the ground was so hard the hoe
was bouncing off as he dug the well-spaced holes where the seed would go in. He
is laughing as he tells me this, as if to say only a mad man would do
this!
But by faith all things are possible, and dig he did,
lining up the holes with precision. High standards matter here. The principles
of Foundations for Farming include:
do things on time, to the highest standard you can,
minimise wastage, and do it all with joy, for the joy of the Lord is our
strength.
Picture of prep to high standards here
Next he put in the mulch – the area being so dry, it
took considerable effort and cost to obtain the mulch, but herein lies the
secret.
The rain was late – rainfall in Zimbabwe should start
around late October/early November, but that year rain fell for the first time
on December 5. He planted on December 7, and the crop that grew was a lush,
beautiful healthy green crop with on average four cobs per stalk. This was
phenomenal – no-one in the neighbourhood had seen anything quite like this in so
dry an area, people were asking him if he watered his maize by
night!
Following the rainfall on December 5, the rains
disappeared for pretty much the rest of that season. Like any farmer who has
scanned the heavens for rains, each week he would calculate that if the rains
came now, I would have maybe three of the four cobs per stalk, then two, then
even the one still standing was starting to look doubtful.
And still there was no rain. What was happening though
was that the dew that comes in the early hours was retained by the mulch, and
this was sufficient to keep the crop growing (remember before the times of Noah
it never used to rain – maybe this is how God watered the
earth?)
The long and the short of it is that from land dry
enough to smelt iron, this man of God obtained yields of two tons per hectare.
The country average in areas with good rain is less than 1t/ha, and in fact his
own neighbours got absolutely nothing, and many will need food aid again this
year. If the rains had come on time, and more than just that one time, he would
probably have got between 6-8t/ha.
He donated part of his bumper crop to the local remand
prison.
This is another principle of the programme – giving.
Give and it will come back to you, a good measure pressed down shaken together
and running over will be poured in your lap. For with the measure you use, it
will be measured to you. - Luke 6:38
Pastor Chimombe explained that mulching is giving food
to the soil so that it gives back – we can’t just take away from the soil year
after year and still expect a good yield. God ordained that the soil will be fed
organic matter, hence the importance of mulch. This is not to say it is not
possible to feed it other things like artificial fertiliser, but while this too
is food, it’s a bit like the difference between eating organic food and living
on McDonalds!
Giving to receive - not as sometimes preached in the
prosperity gospel, but as taught by a God who gave his son is the fundamental
key to reversing the cycle of poverty. This is only possible through a changed
heart following true repentance and an acknowledgement that a true and saving
faith in God shows itself in actions of faithfulness. It is active faith that
makes Chimombe and thousands of others around Zimbabwe apply the principles of
‘farming God’s way’ to a ground dry enough to make clay pots. And it is the
mercy of God that his effort brings forth an oasis of green in a sea of scorched
brown earth.
Foundations for Farming founder, Brian Oldrieve will be
in Leeds on the 27th of August 2011, if you are UK based, you are most welcome
to come and hear him speak about this programme. Please get in touch on
info@theglobalnative.org.uk
Zimbabwe's
state-owned airline used to be efficient and profitable. No
longer. Zimbabwe GlobalPost CorrespondentJuly 13, 2011
06:50
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Passengers wanting to travel by Air Zimbabwe
from the capital Harare to the country’s second city, Bulawayo, have found
themselves transported by bus. The journey that usually takes 45 minutes by
air can take up to five hours by road.
It is testimony to the
perilous condition of Zimbabwe's national flag carrier that passengers are
being bumped off scheduled flights and put aboard a bus for the 275-mile
journey to Bulawayo. Business people are fuming that it is impossible to
arrange meetings when there is no prospect of arriving on time.
”By
the time we get there, it’s time to come back,” one prominent Bulawayo
businessman said. Air Zimbabwe used to run a profitable commuter route so
that business people could fly from one city to the other in the morning and
return in the evening. No longer.
Air Zimbabwe has been on the ropes
for much of this year, hit first by a pilots’ strike and then by fuel
shortages.
But the airline’s problems have a deeper malaise. They are
emblematic of a state-owned company that has, over a 30-year period, been
the plaything of politicians. The first post-independence minister of
transport, Herbert Ushewokunze, personally designed the airline’s livery.
And his successors routinely give instructions to general managers over the
phone.
Most damaging of all, President Robert Mugabe diverts scheduled
flights to use planes for his frequent trips overseas, causing considerable
inconvenience to passengers.
An editor and two journalists were
locked up in 2004 for daring to report that Mugabe had commandeered a plane
to take him on a trip to the Far East. His minister of information objected
to the word “commandeered.” Mugabe has been to Singapore four times this
year, mostly for health reasons, flying Air Zimbabwe.
Bad business
decisions have added to the airline's woes. Routes to China have been
introduced while the busy and lucrative London route has been starved of
flights.
Air Zimbabwe has two Boeing 767-200s used on the China and
London routes and two Boeing 737s used on the Johannesburg route. Three
Chinese planes sit forlornly on the tarmac at Harare airport. Because they
are so often out of service, they are universally known by Zimbabweans as
“Zhing Zhongs,” the derisive term Zimbabweans use for cheap imported Chinese
goods that don’t last very long. A third plane of the same model is
cannibalized for parts. The Chinese planes are the product of a political
deal with Beijing.
The Chinese planes' record of breakdowns have prompted
wags to call the airline "Scare Zimbabwe." So far, however, the airline has
not had any serious crashes.
It was not always like this. At
Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 Air Zimbabwe had more than 15 planes. Its
regional network was unambitious but profitable.
Today the airline
wallows in a debt of $100 million.
Board chair Jonathan Kadzura defended
the decision to bus passengers from Harare to Bulawayo saying each flight
must have enough passengers to make the trip profitable.
“There is no
way I can authorize the 767-200 from Harare to Bulawayo with only 30
passengers,” said Kadzura. “I am not like a stupid bus operator. Who can
authorize a bus to drive from Mutare (Zimbabwe’s eastern city) to Harare
with one passenger?”
But Kadzura did authorize a flight to
Johannesburg with only 13 passengers on board last month. Despite the
decision to only allow the Harare to Bulawayo fight to fly if it has enough
passengers, there are international routes that are flown for political
reasons without adequate traffic. The airline once flew a single passenger
from Dubai to Harare.
When not diverting passengers to bus routes,
Kadzura pens puff pieces in the government media praising Mugabe and the
president's ruling Zanu-PF party.
Aviation observers unfavorably compare
Air Zimbabwe to Kenya Airways. The Kenyan airline is a success story largely
because it works in partnership with KLM. Today Kenya Airways is the busiest
and most profitable African airline with Nairobi as its hub. Its planes fly
to West Africa, Europe, America and the Far East.
“The Air Zimbabwe
story fully explains how this country has been run down by greedy and
selfish individuals,” a local paper, the Daily News, said
recently.
It is a view shared by the nation at large. There is a
growing demand that costly and badly managed state corporations should be
privatized quickly.
But Mugabe’s regime argues that “strategic” companies
like Air Zimbabwe need to be kept out of the hands of Western owners. But it
is the Zimbabwean taxpayer who must pick up the tab if Robert Mugabe decides
to make a fifth journey to the Far East later this year.
Jul 13th 2011, 13:57 by D.G. | BULAWAYO AND HARARE
IT IS a glorious typical
mid-winter's day in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. The sky is a deep blue, the sun
hot, the majestic jacarandas that line the streets preparing to shed their
feathery emerald green leaves before bursting into deep lilac-blue in early
spring. The all-too-obvious Central Office of Intelligence (CIO) man, sitting in
a car outside my guest house for the past two days, pretending to read a
newspaper, has mercifully gone by the time Eddie comes to pick me up. The CIO
spooks, controlled by president Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, are all over the place,
just like the Stasi in the former communist East Germany. Most people have given
up caring.
Eddie is Eddie
Cross, a founding member of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), and one of just three white MPs in Zimbabwe's 210-member parliament. We
are to drive the 366 kms (227 miles) to his constituency in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second-biggest city, once a prosperous industrial hub, now in decline. Bulawayo
is also the capital of Matabeleland, home to the Ndebele people, a branch of the
Zulus. In the 1820s they broke away from their king, Shaka, founder of the Zulu
nation, moving north into what is now the south-west corner of Zimbabwe after
conquering the local Shona people, still the dominant ethnic group in the
country as a whole.
The rivalry
between the two groups remains to this day. Mr Mugabe and most of his Zanu-PF
party are Shona, while the MDC gets much of its support from the Ndebele and
related Kalanga. Mr Tsvangirai and many of his top aides are actually Shona who
provide the majority of his support. But the (minority) Ndebele/Kalaga are even
more solidly behind the MDC. During the war of independence against Ian Smith's
regime in the 1970s, Ndebele and Shona fought on the same side though Zanu and
Zapu were invariably at loggerheads. But any camaraderie that developed at that
time was smashed by Mr Mugabe's Gukurahundi ethnic-cleansing campaign against
the Ndebele in Matabeleland following independence in 1980. Anything between
7,000 and 20,000 Ndebele were slaughtered.
Born and bred in
Bulawayo, Eddie, an agricultural economist by training now well into his 70s,
knows the route to Bulawayo like the back of his hand. In normal times, the
journey might have been expected to take around three hours. But in the present
dilapidated state of what is supposed to be the main artery between Mozambique
in the north and Botswana in the south-west, it can take up to double that,
especially when the police are feeling particularly impecunious. On one trip,
Eddie counted no fewer than 18 road blocks manned by police demanding money on
one pretext or another. Most drivers pay up without a murmur, using the
increasingly filthy American dollar bills that, along with the less-used South
African rand, are now the country's only legal tender following the abandonment
of Zimbabwe's own worthless currency in January 2009.
The road takes us
through what used to be some of the best farming land in the country, now an
endless wasteland of tall dried-blonde grasses, thorn trees, broken fences and
crumbling farm buildings—no animals, no villages, no people—following Mr
Mugabe’s land grabs. "See those tobacco sheds," Eddie says, "that's where one
farmer was bludgeoned to death by Mugabe's thugs." Of around 6,000 mostly
white-owned commercial farms in 2000—three-quarters of them bought on the open
market after independence with a certificate declaring the government had no
interest in them—less than 300 remain. Some of the land was allocated to poor
landless blacks. But the biggest and best farms were handed out to generals,
judges, ministers, senior civil servants and other Zanu-PF bigwigs, along with
Mr Mugabe's own family and friends, most of whom have little interest in
farming. Eddie reckons that at least half the seized farms now lie derelict.
Now and then, a
well-tended dairy farm with neat fencing and fire-breaks comes into view. All
are white-owned. So why have they been spared? Probably because the owners are
in cahoots with Mr Mugabe. One such is Nicholas van Hoogstraten, a British
property tycoon, accused of hiring hitmen to murder a business rival in London
in 1999, but cleared on appeal. Now a member of Zanu-PF, he owns (amongst other
properties in Zimbabwe) a 500,000-hectare game farm, once one of the most famous
cattle ranches in the country. We drive past for mile after mile of it along our
route. He is said to be close to Zimbabwe's president and to contribute
handsomely to party funds.
Just before Mr van
Hoogstraten’s estate, Eddie points to a newly tarred patch on a straight stretch
of road. "That's where Morgan had his accident," he says, referring to the crash
in March 2009, barely a month after Mr Tsvangirai's appointment as prime
minister in the new power-sharing government, when his wife, Susan, was killed
and he was seriously injured after his car was forced off the road by an
oncoming lorry. Like most MDC supporters, Eddie still believes it was an
assassination attempt. Fears for the popular MDC leader's life remain. Just last
month, the security chiefs repeated their refusal ever to serve under him,
saying that they were ready to "do anything" to ensure Mr Mugabe remained in
power.
Zimbabwe is now
the second poorest in the world (after Congo) with a GDP per person last year of
just $365. Yet its potential wealth is vast. We are soon crossing the Great
Dyke, a mineral-rich band running from north to south, 550km long and 11km wide,
that contains some of the world's richest deposits of platinum, gold, silver,
chromium, nickel and asbestos. But much-needed foreign investors are being
scared away by the political instability, violence and new "indigenisation" law.
Under this law foreign companies must "cede" 51% of their equity to "indigenous"
(meaning black) Zimbabweans.
Outside Gweru,
another once-bustling industrial town, the grim watchtowers of Wha Wha prison
come into view. This was where Mr Mugabe languished from 1964 to 1974, having
been convicted by the Smith government for "subversive speech". While there, he
earned three of his seven degrees, with the help of a white Dominican nun. A
lecturer in anthropology, for six years she used to smuggle out messages from
him to Zanu members in Dar es Salaam, then capital of Tanzania. A little further
on is Zimbabwe's main military airbase, where pilots used to train for the
Battle of Britain. "They’ve only got about three planes left," Eddie mutters.
And then, as we reach Bulawayo, Milton High School appears, where Dutch-born
Hendrik Verwoerd, one of apartheid’s chief architects, went to school during the
first world war before returning to South Africa.
So much history,
so much potential, so much waste.
IT IS a glorious typical
mid-winter's day in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. The sky is a deep blue, the sun
hot, the majestic jacarandas that line the streets preparing to shed their
feathery emerald green leaves before bursting into deep lilac-blue in early
spring. The all-too-obvious Central Office of Intelligence (CIO) man, sitting in
a car outside my guest house for the past two days, pretending to read a
newspaper, has mercifully gone by the time Eddie comes to pick me up. The CIO
spooks, controlled by president Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, are all over the place,
just like the Stasi in the former communist East Germany. Most people have given
up caring.