Zim Standard
By CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has vowed
to press ahead
with this week's stayaway in defiance of police
intimidation.
Security forces, including the police, last week
started intimidating
labour leaders and human rights activists ahead of the
stayaway.
The pending job action has unsettled the government
because of the
restive mood among workers in almost all sectors of the
economy, all driven
by extreme poverty.
Their plight was
exacerbated by the recent government freeze on pay
rises.
ZCTU
secretary general Wellington Chibebe yesterday vowed to press
ahead with the
stayaway.
He said workers would not be intimidated any
more.
"The poverty in workers' homes is the force behind all this,"
he said.
"The government should know that we are not going back unless the
workers
are well-fed. Our structures have been mobilized (for strike
action)."
Chibebe said the police had interrogated union leaders in
Bulawayo,
Masvingo, Plumtree and Mutare.
"They were later
released but in all cases the police were demanding
flyers which we are
supposed to distribute to the workers," Chibebe said.
In Masvingo,
the ZCTU regional officer Elliot Muposhi and the union's
legal officer
Tafara Tavengahama were interrogated for several hours before
being
released.
Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary
general
Raymond Majongwe said state security agents had visited teachers,
ordering
them to go to work on the proposed days of the
stayaway.
He said the police had visited PTUZ offices in Harare on
Monday, and
several schools in the country.
"Security agents
are stalking teachers and we are saying that will not
stop us from demanding
our rights," he said. "We will press ahead with our
demands."
Last week, teachers declined a 100% salary increment offered by the
government, effective next month.
"The government offered to
pay teachers salaries below the 18 June PDL
(Poverty Datum Line) figure of
$11m. The lowest paid teacher was going to be
paid $6.9m inclusive of
transport and housing allowances effective on 1
October. This is
unacceptable," said the PTUZ.
Only yesterday police arrested 60
members of the Combined Harare
Residents Association (Chra) in Harare who
had offered to bury a victim of
Operation Murambatsvina, who died in Mbare
suburb.
The deceased, Memory Jenajuru, was now staying at a
squatter
settlement in Mbare and had no relatives to bury her.
The police reportedly deflated tyres of the truck that was carrying
the body
and mourners before locking up the group at Harare Central Police
Station.
Human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama, who is
representing the group,
said the Chra members were being charged for riotous
conduct under section
41 (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
Act.
"It's surprising that they have been arrested because so far I
don't
see a case against them. Most of them are women," Muchadehama
said.
On Friday police in Harare brutally broke up a peaceful march
by
Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHRZim) and arrested 11 members of
the organisation who were demonstrating against a worsening economic
crisis.
They were demonstrating in protest against the
deteriorating economic
conditions, food shortages and state
repression.
ROHRZim is a new human rights organisation formed five
months ago and
it trains and educates people about their socio-political and
economic
rights. ROHRZim vice president Stendrick Zvorwadza yesterday vowed
to press
on with protests spreading them to high density areas.
"The police have become so senselessly ruthless and angry," said
Zvorwadza.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena could not be
reached for comment.
Zim Standard
By Bill
Saidi
THE Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) may not
be the
impotent Big Shot Talkshow that some critics have called it, or the
Southern
Africa Dictators' Club, the sobriquet preferred by
detractors.
But it cannot be faulted for its lofty ambitions. Since
1980, when it
was formed, it has scored notable successes, particularly in
advancing the
prospect of creating a powerful political and economic
alliance in the
region.
Its political agenda is to forge
democracy in all the 14-member
states. Critics say this would be acceptable
only if the meaning of
"democracy" were so liberal as to include countries
which pay only
lip-service to the concept.
In Greek, demos
means "people"; a democracy would be "a government of
the people, by the
people and for the people".
Among some Sadc leaders, that is so
Western a concept, they view it as
part of a plot to recolonise the
region.
There are monarchies, such as Swaziland, where King Mswati
III will
not give his people a meaningful role in government.
Lesotho is a kingdom too. Its description as a "modified
constitutional
monarchy" has not earned it the "democracy" tag so far.
Angola and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have
panel-beaten the concept to
suit their peculiar, blood-spattered
circumstances.
Zimbabwe,
ruled by one party and one man for 27 years of political and
economic
decline, is not the democrat's ideal model of a "people's"
democracy.
South Africa is still struggling to match its vast
material wealth
with its equitable redistribution among the population:
opulence sits cheek
by jowl with abject poverty.
But the heads
of state's next summit in Mauritius next year could be
its most ambitious
yet. It will focus on poverty eradication.
The venue is highly
significant, according to many civil society
leaders.
Mauritius
has few of the glaring signs of a down-at-the-heel African
country. Tourism
tops the list of its major economic performers, followed by
textiles and
food processing. Sugarcane is its chief export crop.
Forty-nine
percent of its 700 square miles is arable. Its Gross
Domestic Product was
once estimated at US$11,7 billion for a population of
less than two
million.
Yes, there is poverty in Mauritius, according to the
Minister of
Foreign Affairs, International Trade amd Regional Cooperation,
Madan
Murlidhar Dullco.
But it is nowhere near the deprivation
you would find in the shanties
of Zambia, the DRC or Angola - certainly not
in present-day Zimbabwe.
The last summit in August in Lusaka
received "mixed reviews" in terms
of its results, but the Sadc Civil Society
Forum, held simultaneously only a
few kilometres away was dubious of the
leaders' commitment to the
eradication of poverty, or to other problems in
the region.
Civil society in general is critical of the heads of
state summit
concept itself. It is known that the leaders themselves are
suspicious of
civil society. Not surprisingly, they are said to feel civil
society is "too
pro-Western" to be taken seriously.
The
secretary-general of the Sadc Civil and Non-Government
Organisations, Abie
Ditlhake, focused on "one important issue" in his
"Reflections" at the third
Civil Society Forums in Lusaka.
"This is the exclusive nature of
the heads of state regional project.
Transformation and restructuring is
urgently needed at the Heads of State
Summit or Government level. We have to
ensure that regional integration is a
people-driven project, that ordinary
citizens of the region are a driving
force behind this project.
"This requires that our Presidents are having clear mandates from
their
countries, and thus are accountable to national institutions such as
parliaments in their declarations at the regional level."
The
final communique of the forum called on the heads of state to:
refrain from putting in place restrictive civil society legislation
that
will constrain the operating environment for civil society;
Put in
place legislation that promotes and enables civil society
participation and
existence rather than restrict and hinder them. We
specifically call upon
the Zambian and Zimbabwean governments to withdraw
NGO Bills currently under
consideration but held in abeyance; and instead
guarantee the involvement of
civil society in any processes that seek to put
in place regulatory and
legislative frameworks;
Guarantee the effective participation of
civil society at the SADC
national and regional committees;
Take immediate measures to institutionalize civil society involvement
in key
decision-making processes.
To prepare for the Mauritius summit,
civil society debated a graphic
display of poverty in the region: poor
people representing themselves at the
summit, speaking of their poverty in
their own languages.
A forum resolution called on the SADC
Secretariat and member states to
ensure effective participation of civil
society in the upcoming SADC Poverty
and Development Conference in
Mauritius, and a review of existing poverty
eradication
initiatives.
This may be tantamount to "whistling in the wind",
some of the more
than 200 delegates at the forum complained. They spoke
vociferously of the
lack of action on previous resolutions on poverty
eradication.
"It's so hopeless," said one delegate. "They (Heads of
state) talk and
talk but do nothing."
Statistics on poverty
caused alarm among delegates. In one instance, a
country independent for 40
years, had 68 percent of its population still
classified as
poor.
This left many delegates wondering if the Mauritius
conference would
be different from other summits which had dealt with
poverty, or other
"bread and butter" issues..
They wondered if
it would not be another SADC damp squib, as its
initiatives on Zimbabwe have
all turned out to be, so far.
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi
Sifile
HUNDREDS of new and returning students at the University
of Zimbabwe
(UZ) could be forced to abort their studies after being denied
residence on
the campus.
Most have failed to secure alternative
accommodation in Harare and may
have to abandon their studies for the
moment, at least.
The UZ recently announced it would not open the
halls of residence for
students in compliance with the City of Harare Health
Department, which
declared the halls unsuitable for habitation.
But the students believe they are being punished for their protests on
3-4
July over deteriorating standards at the UZ. Most affected are
first-year
students, coming to Harare for the first time, and female
students, said to
"have become vulnerable to abuse by financially
capacitated men who are
willing to make available alternative
accommodation - at the right
price".
Females occupied five of the eight halls of residence on
campus. Some
males are said to have resorted to hard drugs "as a coping
strategy".
So serious is the accommodation crisis the UZ Students
Executive
Council last week petitioned the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee
on
Education to have their plight discussed in Parliament. They expected the
committee to take to task the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education,
Stan Mudenge and UZ Vice-Chancellor, Levy Nyagura.
A public
hearing is expected any time this week.
The UZ-SEC and the Women
Students' Network have written to Oppah
Muchinguri, the Minister of Gender,
Women's Affairs and Community
Development, and the Women's Parliamentary
Caucus "to come to the rescue of
the suffering students".
UZ-SEC president, Lovemore Chinoputsa, said on many occasions they
tried in
vain to discuss their issues with Nyagura and ministry officials.
Chinoputsa said: "Nyagura refused to have an audience with us. We then
went
to the ministry to meet the minister or the permanent secretary, but
Mrs
(Martha) Muguti, the Director of University Education, refused to have
us
meet them, saying she was the one to handle our case."
Muguti
allegedly told the students the government had no funds for
"irresponsible
and rowdy students" who were always on the rampage.
Chinoputsa said
quite a number of students had already dropped out and
the few who returned
spend most of their time loitering, looking for
accommodation or queuing for
transport.
On Friday, Muguti refused to comment, referring
inquiries to the
permanent secretary, Washington Mbizvo.
Mbizvo
and the minister, Mudenge were said to be in meetings.
A number of
students have sought refuge at the Harare railway station.
An
undisclosed number of students, said Chinoputsa, were accommodated
at a
church in Mount Pleasant, while many others are squashed in makeshift
cabins
at a house near the campus, popularly known as KwaSekuru.
Others
are reportedly commuting daily from as far as away as Marondera
and Bindura.
Although there were no statistics immediately available, The
Standard
understands more than half of the 5 200 students who were
accommodated --
and hundreds of others who were squatting - on campus are
still to be
housed.
Even students who have managed to find accommodation are
not happy.
Homeowners in suburbs surrounding the UZ have hiked
rentals beyond the
reach of many students.
On Friday, UZ acting
director of information and public relations,
Daniel Chihombori, said there
had not been any drop-outs, and that lectures
were continuing.
"Traditionally, the university has been able to provide accommodation
to
only one third of its student population, that is, with all the halls of
residence available to students. The remaining two thirds have always stayed
outside campus in rented or own accommodation," said Chihombori, adding that
"the closure of halls on campus will affect less than one third of the
student population".
But this was disputed by Chinoputsa and
other students.
"Students are struggling and the situation is
deteriorating every day,
but the university administration does not want to
assist us," he said.
On when the halls were likely to be re-opened,
Chihombori said they
were "still costing the damage to the halls of
residence" and once that was
done, they would approach the government for
assistance to renovate them.
The situation was tense at other state
universities.
According to the Zimbabwe National Students Union
(ZINASU), there were
violent clashes on 10 September at the Great Zimbabwe
University in Masvingo
between students and state security agents during
orientation of new
students.
Student leaders Whitlaw Mugwiji,
Ogylive Makova and Mukudzei Shoko
were arrested and detained at Masvingo
central police station. They were
released on Thursday.
Zim Standard
By Our Staff
THE
leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are
in South
Africa for talks with President Thabo Mbeki on the situation in
Zimbabwe,
The Standard confirmed yesterday.
Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara are understood to be in
Pretoria at Mbeki's invitation and are
expected to discuss the progress in
the talks between the opposition party
and Zanu PF.
The two are said to have flown to South Africa on
Friday for the
meeting, expected to have started yesterday.
While the MDC leaders were expected to meet Mbeki yesterday, The
Standard
understands the SA president's programme did not indicate he would
be
meeting them, although Pretoria has always maintained a blanket silence
on
the talks' progress.
After their meeting Mbeki was likely to meet
President Robert Mugabe,
The Standard heard. This is the first time that
Tsvangirai and Mutambara
will be meeting Mbeki since the Southern Africa
Development Community (Sadc)
assigned him the mediation task at their Dar es
Salaam summit last March.
Last week the Minister of Justice,
Patrick Chinamasa, briefing the
Zanu PF politburo, reported progress in the
talks. Reports last week
suggested the party supported the on-going
talks.
This would explain Mbeki's meeting with the MDC leaders.
Until last
week, the talks had been handled by officials - Professor
Welshman Ncube and
Tendai Biti for the two factions, with Chinamasa and
Nicholas Goche for Zanu
PF.
South Africa's Safety and Security
Minister Sydney Mufamadi chaired
the talks.
Recently, Mbeki was
reported as saying he was positive next year's
elections in Zimbabwe would
be free and fair.
There was no immediate comment from the South
African Ambassador to
Zimbabwe, Professor Mlungisi Makalima, on the talks in
Pretoria.
Zim Standard
By Davison
Maruziva
MEDICAL sources last week said they were concerned
that both the
government and the commission running the affairs of Harare
had ignored the
potential harm the smouldering Pomona dumpsite poses to
residents of the
capital.
There were fears that the lethargic
reaction of the authorities could
trigger a tragedy on the scale of the
Bhopal disaster in India in 1984.
A Union Carbide subsidiary
pesticide plant in the heart of the city of
Bhopal in the Indian state of
Madhya Pradesh released 40 tonnes of methyl
isocyanate (IC) gas, killing 3
000 people.
In Harare, more than three weeks after northern suburbs
residents woke
up to a thick choking grey shroud, many people have sought
medical treatment
with respiratory ailments.
Medical experts
have now raised grave questions about just how safe it
is for residents to
continue to inhale the toxic fumes.
Fire broke out at the Pomona
dumpsite, sending a thick blanket of
suffocating smoke. City authorities in
Harare were unable to contain the
fire.
Last week medical
sources said there had been an increase in cases
linked to the toxic fumes
from the dumpsite.
Residents of Mount Pleasant, Mount Pleasant
Heights, Vainona,
Northwood, Emerald Hill, and Marlborough are the hardest
hit.
"We are slowly being suffocated by the dense smoke from the
smouldering Pomona dumpsite," said a residents' representative in Mount
Pleasant Heights. "The pollution is so bad one can't breathe properly all
night.
"We try to plug areas around doors in order to prevent
the fumes but
it does not help."
Businesses operating in
Arundel Office Park and Emerald Hill complain
of the effects of the toxic
fumes from the dumpsite.
A senior business manager with a Harare
property firm said her
organisation was due to hold a board meeting when the
fire broke out. Her
organisation was concerned about the effect of the thick
smoke on those
attending the meeting. So she called the City's Environmental
Health
Services for an explanation.
"I was told there was an
uncontrollable fire at the dumpsite," she
said. "The fire brigade worked on
it the whole night but failed to contain
it.
"The environmental
people from the council were interested in where I
was calling from and the
extent of the effects of the burning. So far they
have not phoned
back."
That was about three weeks ago.
Efforts by The
Standard to follow up the Fire Brigade and Town House
met with responses
that were long on promises but short on delivery.
But a medical
doctor warned last week that the short-term effects
would see many people
seeking treatment for respiratory conditions.
"The long-term
effect, however," he said, "is that people have been
inhaling this toxic
matter. It will be far worse than the short-term because
people are
breathing these toxic fumes for days on end and you know what it
does to the
lungs."
On average, roughly one person in Bhopal dies every day
from the
effects. More than 120 000 continue to suffer from the effects of
the
disaster, such as breathing difficulties, cancer, serious birth-defects,
blindness, gynaecological complications and other related
problems.
The majority of deaths and serious injuries were related
to pulmonary
edema but the gas caused a variety of other ailments.
Zim Standard
MASVINGO - As the economic crisis deepens, millions of Zimbabweans
have been
displaced or forced to migrate to neigbouring countries such as
South Africa
and Botswana illegally in search of greener pastures.
But scores of
them end up playing a cat-and-mouse game with the police
and other security
agents in those countries as they are illegal immigrants.
Thousands
are deported every week. Some are detained and subjected to
inhumane
conditions in holding camps before being sent back home.
Touched by
their plight, the Canadian embassy in Zimbabwe donated
CAD$350 000 to help
"mobile and vulnerable populations of Zimbabwe" to be
channelled through the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Unveiling the
donation last week the Canadian ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Roxanne Dubé said
the project would assist vulnerable Zimbabweans who are
victims of the
economic meltdown and help struggling urban families rendered
destitute by
the crisis. Victims of such destructive government actions as
Operation
Murambatsvina would also benefit, she said.
"These funds will help
alleviate some of the stress felt by those most
in need living in urban
communities by providing support to meet basic human
needs, including health
care," Dubé said.
Canada, using the guiding principle that all
internally displaced
persons have the right to food, water, basic shelter
and other essential
needs, would continue to support affected
families.
Dube said the programme would run until the end of the
year. Canada,
through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
has so far
contributed CAD$700 000 for emergency assistance to the mobile
and
vulnerable populations in the country.
On the same day in
Masvingo, the Canadian Embassy also launched a
CAD$172 000 project to assist
women and girls in promoting and preserving
their rights. The programme is
in collaboration with the Girl Child Network
and the Zimbabwe Women's
Coalition.
"The project stems from the recognition that awareness
and knowledge
about these issues is critical to the development of the girl
children and
contribute to the elimination of discriminatory social and
cultural
practices that subordinate and marginilise them," said
Dubé.
The project will benefit over 10 000 under-18 girls through
clubs and
train 3 000 club coordinators, 2 000 religious and traditional
leaders and
100 law enforcement agents and at least 5 000 community
leaders.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
accused the
government of imposing Zanu PF activists to monitor the
operations of the
opposition-dominated Nkayi rural district
council.
The opposition party says the move threatens to throw the
council's
operations into disarray.
Last month, the Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and Urban
Development, Ignatious Chombo,
allegedly wrote to the council ordering them
"to work" with the unelected
Zanu PF activists.
The MP for Nkayi, Abednigo Bhebhe (MDC), claimed
Chombo was
"desperately trying" to unseat the popularly elected
council.
He said the move "undermines" the democratic right of
citizens to
elect their own representatives".
"The unelected
Zanu PF activists were put into council last month. It
is a vote-rigging
strategy," Bhebhe said.
Nkayi has 25 councillors, 15 from the MDC
and 10 from Zanu PF.
Chombo has removed from office popularly
elected MDC-dominated
councils in Harare, Mutare, Chegutu and Chitungwiza,
replacing them with
government-appointed "commissioners".
Bhebhe alleged in Nkayi the move was part of Zanu PF's election
strategy in
what is considered an opposition stronghold.
The hand-picked
commissioners, who attend full council meetings, are
Tshatha Mguni (Zanu PF
district co-ordinating committee chairman), Elias
Nene Mpofu, Stars Ndlovu,
Joane Ncube, Angeline Ndlovu (all Zanu PF ex
councillors) and Chief
Sikhobokhobo.
Efforts to get a comment from Chombo last week were
fruitless as he
did not answer his mobile phone.
Nkayi council
chairman Bongani Mpofu was said to be away in his ward.
Meanwhile,
MDC councillors in Lupane say they have been barred from
buying maize for
their wards from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) by Zanu PF
activists.
They say this has resulted in severe food shortages
in their wards
where most villagers did not harvest any crops.
Ward 10 councillor, Andrew Tshaka claimed he was chased from Lupane
GMB
depot by Zanu PF youths.
The MP for the area, Njabuliso Mguni of
the MDC confirmed receiving a
number of reports from councillors being
denied access to the maize by
ruling party supporters.
But the
GMB manager for Lupane, Knight Chiyongo, insisted the
parastatal sold "maize
to everyone regardless of their political
affiliation".
Zim Standard
By Bertha
Shoko
ZIMBABWEAN child rights activist, Betty Makoni has been
selected as
one of The Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) of the World
Programme, Junior
Chamber International (JCI) which "formally recognizes
young individuals who
excel in their chosen fields and exemplify the best
attributes of the world's
youth".
Founder and director of Girl
Child Network Makoni, together with nine
others, will be honoured at the
2007 TOYP Ceremony on 6 November during the
62nd JCI World Congress in
Antalya, Turkey.
A statement from the JCI said previous honorees of
the TOYP have
"represented the heights of progress in numerous human
endeavours" while
many others have gone on to even "greater achievements"
and have "continued
to serve humanity in a variety of ways".
For this year, the JCI received a total of 157 entries for the TOYP
programme from 42 national organisations and countries and that were,
according to JCI, "carefully" evaluated by the judges. "The international
panel of judges was composed of JCI President Scott Greenlee, Anheuser-Busch
Senior Director of Community Outreach Tony Jones, International Chamber of
Commerce Secretary General Guy Sebban, and Member
of the Turkish
Parliament Murat Mercan," said the JCI statement.
"The role of the
judges was difficult because the nominees were all
extraordinary young
people. Many of them had been selected as outstanding
individuals, first at
the local level and then at the national level.
"The judges had to
choose, however, the ten young people that best
exemplify the optimum
qualities of today's youth."
Others who were chosen for this
prestigious honour include Tarvi
Martens from Estonia, in the field of
Scientific and Technological
development, andMari Johanna Ivaska from
Finland, in medicine.
Lo Chay from France and Sayaka Murata from
Japan are into humanitarian
and voluntary work.
Said JCI: "By
recognizing these young people, JCI will encourage them
and
others
to continue seeking excellence and serving others. Thus, JCI
contributes to prepare better leaders, who will create better
societies.
"The TOYP Ceremony in Antalya will highlight each
winner's career in
narrative form and provide a stage from which the
honorees will inspire
young people from around the world."
Zim Standard
By
Kholwani Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Fed up with government interference
in their works,
artistes in Bulawayo have started a "big protest movement,
which will keep
the police and the Censorship Board on their
toes".
The movement will include Zimbabwean artistes in the
Diaspora.
This year alone police have controversially banned the
staging of two
plays, The Good President, written and directed by veteran
playwright, Cont
Mhlanga, and Everyday Soldiers, by Raisedon
Baya.
The reason for the ban in both cases was that the plays were
"political". Mhlanga took his fight to the courts, but later agreed to an
out-of-court settlement with the police.
But the state security
machinery might soon be having too much on its
hands with the launch of the
protest movement.
Already, a play rather ominously titled
Overthrown is to be staged at
the official launch of the movement on 12
October at Amakhosi Theatre.
The play is the work of Stanley
Makuwe, a Zimbabwean living in New
Zealand, who is among a number of local
artistes who have signed up to the
movement.
Overthrown is
about cadavers at an overcrowded mortuary who get so
angry for being kept
too long without burial they decide to go to State
House to stage a
coup.
"We want to encourage the police to beef up their ranks
because we are
going to keep them busy with protest posters, theatre and
music," said
Amakhosi founder, Mhlanga, who is part of the
initiative.
"The Censorship Board would be well-advised to recruit
more staff
because they will be flooded with our scripts, some of which
might make The
Good President look like child's play."
Mhlanga
said the official launch would be followed by a run of The
Good President,
which was banned by the police.
Heavily armed riot police prevented
Mhlanga from premiering the play
in Bulawayo after its successful run in
Harare, alleging it was "political".
The Good President asks tough
questions about President Robert Mugabe's
suitability to lead the country,
especially after the "bashing" of opponents
while in police custody and his
role in the massacre of 20 000 civilians in
Matabeleland and the Midlands
during Gukurahundi.
The play features two of Zimbabwe's best
actors, Mandla Moyo and
Thembekile Ngwabi.
Zim Standard
by Rutendo
Mawere
GWERU - The shortage of both clear and opaque beer has
created a
lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs in Gweru to plunge, albeit
temporarily, into the beer-brewing market.
Thousands of
drinkers, their throats parched, can now quaff home-made
beer in the
high-density suburbs. Enterprising residents of Mkoba, Mambo and
Mtapa are
making a killing from selling "Seven Days" and "chiOne day"
(otherwise known
as skokiaan, home-made brews popular in rural areas.
Although the
brewing and sale of home-made beer in urban areas is
illegal, it is rapidly
gaining popularity because of the shortage of opaque
and clear beer in
retail shops.
One brewer, Martha Mnindwa, confirmed her "business"
was thriving.
She said she started brewing beer only to quench her
husband's and his
friends' thirst but other drinkers detected the whiff of
alcohol from afar
and soon descended on her house, when bottle stores ran
out of opaque and
clear beer.
"I decided I would brew beer,
taking advantage of the increased
demand," she said.
A regular
bottle store patron at the Mkoba 1 Shopping Centre, Zibusiso
Sibanda,
confirmed he had turned to the home-made brew.
"It is difficult for
a regular drinker like me to abruptly stop
drinking, for whatever reason,"
he said. "This is why some of us are turning
to the home brew."
While most bottle stores in the city have dried up, the few that have
the
beer are selling it at steep prices.
"Most bottle stores are empty,
but the few that still sell beer are
using the parallel market rate,"
lamented Oscar Ndlovu. "Imagine a quart
going for more than $300 000,
instead of the gazetted $70 000. Most of us
cannot afford
that."
Villagers from as far as Masvingo have taken advantage of a
passenger
train that plies the Gweru-Masvingo route to ferry the home-made
brew to
Gweru for sale.
The beer is sold in containers varying
in size from one to 20 litres
at a vegetable market in the
city.
A visit to Tongogara shopping centre in Shurugwi, a few
kilometres
outside Gweru, revealed that most young people shun the home-made
brews,
preferring the "hard stuff", spirits.
The young drinkers
consume much of the liquor "straight with no
chaser".
Home-made
beer is popular in most of the country's rural areas.
Zim Standard
By Jennifer
Dube
ZIMBABWE needs Jesus," the head of one of the most
influential
business organisations in the country, said last week. "I call
upon all
Zimbabweans to pray that God bails us out of the problems we are
facing.
"Only Godly solutions will heal this economy, otherwise if
man's
solutions were what we needed, we would have recovered by
now."
Callisto Jokonya was not addressing a born-again
congregation, but
speaking to Standardbusiness on what he saw as the next
strategy to economic
recovery after the prices and income turbulence of the
last few weeks.
Jokonya, the president of the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries,
said only "Godly solutions" would be potent enough to
ameliorate the
economic meltdown, triggered by the 2000 land reform
programme and the
economic and political fallout that ensued.
A
staunch supporter of the government's economic policy, Jokonya was
asked for
the CZI's assessment of the impact of the 20% mark-up regime for
prices
imposed by the government in the past two weeks.
Last July, the
government forced business to reduce prices by 50% - to
where they were on
18 June. It publicly accused them of colluding with the
West in plotting a
"regime change", which business rejected out of hand.
This was followed by a
blanket freeze on all price hikes.
At the onset of government's
pricing campaign, CZI hailed the measure,
urging all companies to guard
against offending the government.
Their acquiescence was widely
criticised by economic and political
analysts, who predicted - accurately,
as it turned out - that it would lead
to immense survival problems for the
companies who complained of being
forced to do business at a
loss.
In one of its policy U-turns two weeks ago, the government
allowed
business to increase prices by 20%.
A snap survey by
Standardbusiness showed no significant impact of the
20% mark-up as shop
shelves remained empty while more companies, especially
in the baking
industry, closed shop, citing uneconomic prices.
Last week, Jokonya
refused to answer questions relating to the
economic "fruits" of both the
20% mark-up regime and the recently unveiled
budget.
But he
insisted the country needed to pray. "I have no answers to
that. All I have
to say is that everybody in business, the government
sector, civil society
and labour should ask God for solutions to this
country," he
said.
Even the Tripartite Negotiating Forum was incapable of coming
up with
solutions to the problems, the CZI boss said.
"I
believe God is the only one who can save us from the challenges we
are
facing. Please write that. Also tell (Trevor) Ncube to write that in his
Mail and Guardian newspaper because I have to encourage all Zimbabweans in
this regard," he said.
In a written response to questions from
Standardbusiness, the
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe said they were
"happy" that the
government had finally come to the realisation that the
arbitrary prices
they had set were not helpful in the restoration of
business viability which
should result in a supply side response for goods
and services in the
economy.
"Employers are happy with recent
developments but are sad that in a
lot of cases it is coming a too little,
too late.
"After the losses suffered from the Price Control
Regulations, most
businesses have not yet recovered sufficiently to get back
into full
production," the statement said.
They said although
the price blitz was in contravention of some of the
provisions of the TNF
protocols signed on 1 June 2007, they believed social
dialogue would finally
yield answers for the country's economic woes.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
CHIMANIMANI - The Grain Marketing Board is alleged to
be preventing
poverty-stricken villagers in Chimanimani district from
sourcing enough
maize to feed their families, The Standardbusiness heard
last week.
The GMB allows a person to bring in only a single bag of
maize from
farms in Chipinge or Chimanimani, a distance of
100km.
Among the most affected areas are Hotsprings, Nyanyadzi,
Gudyanga,
Tonhorai in Chimanimani as well as Maunganidze and Birchenough
Bridge in
Chipinge district, where most of the villagers did not harvest any
crops
last season due to drought.
Most villagers buy maize or
exchange old clothes for maize in farms
near Chimanimani and Chipinge towns,
where commercial farmers managed to
harvest surplus maize.
The
restriction of maize movement is now forcing villagers to make
weekly trips
to Chipinge or Chimanimani, draining the little financial
resources the
poverty-stricken villagers have.
One of the villagers from Tonhorai
village, Amon Sithole, said it did
not make sense for the GMB to limit the
amount of maize a person was allowed
to bring home when there was serious
food crisis in the area.
Sithole urged government to lift the
restriction, saying he looks
after about 15 dependants and a single bag of
maize could not last two
weeks.
"I make at least two trips to
Chipinge in a fortnight to buy maize for
my family because the GMB only
allows us to bring in one at a time, which is
not enough," said
Sithole.
If a villager is caught with more than one bag, the rest
are
confiscated and sold at the nearest GMB depot, where it fetches very
little
money, he said.
"I had managed to secure five 50kg bags
of maize in Chipinge but four
of them were seized at a roadblock. The
officers gave me receipts and said I
should come and collect my money at
Chipangayi depot," said another
villager, Mrs Detserai Mukono of Tonhorai
village.
The GMB public relations manager, Muriel Zemura, could not
be reached
for comment.
But GMB loss control department
maintained that no maize could be
moved from one area to the other without
their written authorization.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU SANDU
DIVERSIFIED financial services group Zimre Holdings Limited (ZHL) is
on the
verge of taking up a third of CFI Holdings issued shares to become
the
single largest shareholder in conglomerate, Standardbusiness heard last
week.
ZHL had paid $200 billion as part of the payment in its
bid to get
over 170 million shares in CFI held by SMM Holdings and will
settle the
balance by January next year according the agreement, say people
familiar
with the deal.
At the consummation of the deal, ZHL
will have 33% shareholding in
CFI, says people familiar with the
development.
The value of the transaction could not be ascertained
last week but
Standardbusiness was reliably informed that the deal would hit
the $1
trillion mark.
Using Thursday share price of $14 000 for
each CFI share, 170 million
shares cost a staggering $2.3
trillion.
SMM appeared as the largest single shareholder in CFI on
the share
register seen on Thursday.
CFI will become an
associate company of ZHL with the financial
services group entitled to
appoint at least two directors on CFI board, say
people familiar with the
development.
An associate is a company in which a group of
companies has a
substantial stake, but not outright control. This usually
means more than
20% but less than 50%.
CFI is the parent
company for a group involved in manufacture of
animal feed, flour, maize
products and irrigation equipment, retail trade
and property
management.
Arafas Gwaradzimba, SMM administrator confirmed last
week that ZHL had
bought some shares.
"A certain number of
shares were sold and paid for by ZHL,"
Gwaradzimba said.
When
asked whether ZHL would buy more shares Gwaradzimba said: "I will
only know
their intentions when they do it."
Zim Standard
IT'S déjà vu as
another round of
talks have yielded nothing.
The Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the largest labour
grouping last week
called for a two-day stayaway starting next Wednesday.
This time it
will be in protest against the freezing of salary and
wage increments and
the failure of the Supplementary Budget to put in place
a tax-free threshold
linked to the $8.2 million Poverty Datum Line (PDL).
By contrast,
the Fiscal Policy review announced a tax-free threshold
of $4
million.
The ZCTU said they would not attend the Tripartite
Negotiating Forum
(TNF) "until the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures)
Act had been
clarified by the government".
President Robert
Mugabe order-ed the pay freeze under that act.
The ZCTU said the
stayaway "is a warm-up as more forms of protests are
in the
offing".
Statutory Instrument 159A of 2007 [Presidential Powers
(Temporary
Measures) (Amendment of National Incomes and Pricing Commission
Act and
Education Act) Regulations 2007] promulgated by the government
decreed a
salary increment freeze as well as a freeze on service charges for
a period
of six months.
ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo told a
press conference the measures
decreed by the government were "illegal,
unconstitutional and violate
Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and
Collective Bargaining" of the
International Labour Organisation
(ILO).
The face-off between the government and labour is a blow to
the Social
Contract touted as the road map to economic
recovery.
In June the social partners - labour, business and the
government
signed the Incomes and Pricing Stabilisation
Protocol.
Business, the government, the Apex Council and the
Zimbabwe Federation
of Trade Unions (ZFTU) signed two other protocols - on
Restoration of
Production Viability and Mobilisation, Pricing and Management
of Foreign
Currency. The ZCTU said it would inform its
constituency.
The protocols aimed to achieve a 25% inflation rate
by the end of this
year while the government budget deficit would come down
to 10% of the Gross
Domestic Product.
For a social contract to
be effective, there is need for trust,
transparency, open-mindedness and a
shared vision among stakeholders.
The social contract is often
preceded by a Declaration Of Intent,
which suggests that the parties are
serious. The Declaration Of Intent is
meant to diffuse tensions and build
trust among stakeholders.
Zimbabwe's history shows that similar
attempts to foster a common
understanding among all social partners have
been made in the past but all
have failed.
In January 2001, the
social partners signed a "Declaration Of Intent
Towards A Social Contract"
with the sub-theme "Together We Can Make Zimbabwe
Great".
It
was seen that as a basis for concluding specific protocols under a
social
contract there was need to create a conducive and tolerant
environment.
But after the signing of the Declaration, ZCTU
withdrew from the
negotiations citing, lack of government
commitment.
In the wake of the 70% increase in fuel prices of June
2001, the ZCTU
organised a two-day stayaway in July 2001, which resulted in
the reconvening
of the TNF.
Before the parties had inked the
negotiations the government came up
with Statutory Instrument 307A on
Minimum Wages and 307B on Price Controls
undermining the spirit of smart
partnership.
The social partners reconvened, coming up with the
Kadoma Declaration
of November 2001, highlighting the need to restore
relations with the
development partners. The Declaration was not signed
following
misunderstandings between the government and labour over continued
violence,
and especially the facilitation of the formation of ZFTU by
government.
In his 2003 National Budget Statement, the then Finance
Minister,
Herbert Murerwa, observed efforts to protect the consumer from
spiralling
prices were being undermined by price controls that focused
mostly on the
final product, ignoring developments affecting inputs into the
production
process.
In a move that contradicted the budget
statement, the government
published Statutory Instrument (SI) 302 of 2002 on
Control of Goods (Price
Freeze) Order on 15 November 2002. The freeze was
for a period of six
months.
Analysts say Zimbabwe has to take a
leaf out of Ireland's solution to
similar problems. The Irish managed to
pull out of the mess after involving
all stakeholders.
Ireland
developed a National Economic and Social Consensus, involving
the
government, employers, trade unions, farmers and other interested
groups.
The Irish model was premised on a process of social
partnership that
entails consultation, negotiation and bargaining. It paid
off for Ireland:
real Gross Domestic Product growth averaged 9.9% compared
with the EU
average of 2.5%.
Analysts say the Zimbabwe
government's unilateral move had all but
killed the social contract,
bringing economic recovery to a dead end.
"It was abrogated by the
government," said economic analyst Dr. Daniel
Ndlela, "when it took a
unilateral move to freeze prices without consulting
partners."
So is there another way to recovery?
"In the art of recovery, if
you are in a hole the first thing is to
stop digging," said a labour
expert.
Zim Standard
Comment
THE proposal by government to take over companies it
suspects of not
performing is most perplexing because it has its own
companies that are
perennial under-achievers about which it is doing
nothing.
In this category would be the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority, the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, the National Oil
Company, Air
Zimbabwe, and the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority,
to cite only
a few.
The University of Zimbabwe has opened with
several halls of residence
condemned as unfit for occupation by students -
the majority coming out of
Harare and therefore desperate for
accommodation.
The country has made much out of its intention to
benefit from the
Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup due to be hosted by South Africa
but very little
is being done and we are setting ourselves up for another
missed chance.
Other countries in the region are taking the soccer
extravaganza very
seriously. Zambia, for example, has an airport in
Livingstone that can take
very large aircraft. It has new hotel facilities
and is renovating a stadium
in the border town. Anyone can actually see the
progress being made while
Zimbabwe is still busy on rhetoric but short on
implementation.
The latest project is to parcel off private
companies, for whatever
reasons, under the guise of safeguarding the
interests of the people. The
government will vouch commitment to solving the
water crisis in Bulawayo, if
only it can find the money.
However, the same government will encounter practically no problems in
mobilising resources to "buy out" companies it is threatening with
takeovers.
If there are funds to "buy out" companies, they
should be availed to
firms in Bulawayo that have either closed or
drastically scaled down their
operations, so that they can avoid total shut
down and save thousands of
jobs already lost.
The reason why
the government is gazetting a law that will enable the
State to seize
ownership of companies is really the latest scheme by the
country's
political elite to further enrich themselves in a manner
reminiscent of the
way they invaded and then occupied commercial farms in
the name of
correcting historical land injustices. We now know who the
beneficiaries of
the land looting are.
Talk of compensation is a ploy to mask the
naked seizure of other
people's properties and is intended to distract
attention from the violation
of property rights. But anyone who still
believes government's word can be
honoured might themselves been in need of
psychiatric counselling.
Farmers who lost their properties during
the past eight years have not
all been fully compensated, so where will the
new resources be coming from
when outstanding issues continue to remain
unresolved.
The ultimate intention of the political barracudas
leading this
country is to create pyrotechnics, which will enable them to
move in and
eventually become owners. Zanu PF preaches socialism but
practices
capitalism. A look at the beneficiaries of the so-called land
reform
programme will confirm this contradiction.
If funds to
support ailing companies exist, why are distressed
companies unable to
benefit? Why is the government not redirecting resources
to meet industry's
requirements? The Ministry of Health is unable to stock
hospitals with
drugs; is it proposed that this will also be taken over? The
government
should start by clearing up its own mess.
Zim Standard
sundayopinion by Bill
Saidi
IT wasn't until a woman in front of me barked angrily "What
did you
say? Women are responsible for all the hell we are going through? I
am a
woman. How am I to blame for all this male-made nightmare? How many
women
are in the Cabinet? Is the president a woman?"
Until
then, I had not realised I had either been hallucinating or
daydreaming or
speaking in tongues - or something. I had been standing in
the queue - I am
not sure for what - for ages.
Time had lost meaning, like the
country itself.
The sun, unrelenting in its undeclared war on all
who dare queue in
the sweltering heat without a sun hat or an umbrella or
both, was frying my
brains to a stew.
Which must explain why I
responded with: "I meant it's the women's
league." Which women's league? she
barked again, moving menacingly closer to
me, like a nuclear missile. "The
ruling party's women's brigade!" I yelled
in triumph.
"Are you
from the CIO, trying to trap me into condemning the ruling
party? Or from
the CIA or the BBC, with a microphone hidden in your crotch?
Your mustache
is a dead give-away. You look as suspicious as hell."
"Herbert
Chitepo said that to me too, years ago," I said, without
thinking. My brains
had indeed been fried to a cinder. She stared at me as
if I was going
bananas right in front of her eyes.
Herbert Chitepo said that
to you? Do you know who Herbert Chitepo was
. . .?" Her pretty, chubby face
saved her from looking absolutely insane:
eyes slits, voice a deadly hiss,
lips chalk white.
It would take forever to explain. In Lusaka,
Chitepo did say to me he
thought I was from "the security because of your
mustache".
I asked the woman, now looking at me as if I had just
turned blue:
"What do you think Chitepo would have done?" She was not too
fat and carried
what weight she had with wisdom. Her clothes were not loud:
no reds, blacks
or yellows, just neutral, dull blues and grays. She didn't
belong in a
queue.
Neither did I. Nobody is born to join a
queue. A queue is the ultimate
humiliation. It strips you of whatever you
believe you are, into a cipher, a
zero, a number.
That's what
we've been reduced to, as meaningless as the zeros in our
currency.
"If Chitepo had been here, he too would have fled."
Now, her face had
darkened, as if the sun had surrendered to
her.
I shut up. Since then I have sharpened my queue survival
skills. I
invent interviews with important people, to regale my fellow
queuers with
drama.
"Now, there I was interviewing the
president the other day," I said
once to a group of enthralled fellow
queuers, "Do you think Archbishop Pius
Ncube blames you and your people for
his sacking by the Pope? Don't you feel
a little guilty about this whole
mess? Any regrets?"
What did the president say?" asked one man
eagerly. "Did he confess
his guilt?"
"No," I said. "He just
said God works in mysterious ways. He was very
smug, as if he had just
finished a conversation with the Good Lord Himself.
I had this eerie feeling
that he had God on his side. . ."
"You make that sound as if it
would be a terrible thing. . .for the
president to have God on his side?"
asked a very slim, well-dressed girl,
wearing large designer sunglasses, a
kingsize sun hat and one of those
blouses the president, incidentally, spoke
about recently -the navel
exposers, he called them.
"Well, I
would say. . ." Before I could finish, another man spoke up.
"We
should be queuing outside State House itself. We should be
haranguing the
president about everything. . .condoms, sanitary towels,
napkins. .
."
"What about food?" asked a very, very fat man.
"What about beer, whisky, gin. . .my husband is going bananas without
them.
I am having no rest at all. . ."
"Marching to State House . . .
that is a capital idea, isn't it?" I
didn't realise I'd said that. Once I
recognised my own voice, I couldn't
stop myself. "Yes, we could go right up
to the gates and tell the guards we
demand to see the president about these
food shortages. . .I doubt that they
could shoot all of us in cold blood. .
."
"How many of you would there be, do you think. . .?" asked
someone at
the back of the queue. It sickened me to realise he hadn't once
referred to
"us". "One thousand. . .two thousand. . . 20 000? Haven't they
too run out
of foreign currency to buy ammunition? That could level the
playing field. .
."
Everybody laughed. We had survived the
queue. - saidib@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
sundayview by Judith
Todd
THE second letter was dated 8
September 1980 and was signed by Masuku
alone.
We have
again decided to bring to your attention, as Prime Minister
and Minister of
Defence our concern, resulting from a number of events and
pronouncements
that complicate the process of fulfilling our duties. These
developments do
not in any way assist us in our determined effort to mould
ONE
NATION.
1.We have found out that ZANLA, the military wing of
Zanu PF has been
sending people for military training outside the country.
This is contrary
to the previously agreed position ie only those programmes
already in
process prior to the start of the integration exercise should be
left to
continue. ZANLA has been sending people for military training in
Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Yugoslavia, Romania and etc.
2. As
components of the Zimbabwe National Army we have not been
informed of the
total of ZANLA comrades still outside the country undergoing
military
training. On our part, with utmost sincerity, we have submitted
this data in
an effort to alleviate suspicion created by Western news media
on the
numbers of Zipra cadres and "their intentions".
3.We would Comrade
Prime Minister, like to bring to your attention and
consideration the plight
of the demobilised comrades. As a result of absence
of facilities provided
for and means of livelihood for these comrades, many
have resorted to a
number of anti-social activities like armed robbery etc.
We recommend that
these comrades be absorbed into the army, firstly as a
method of bringing
them under control and secondly to give the government
time to analyse the
problem with a view to finding a lasting solution.
4. It is our
observation that there is disparity in the provision of
facilities to the
war-disabled comrades of Zipra and Zanla by the
authorities concerned. We
have, for instance, only heard of Zanla disabled
comrades travelling to
Britain and Tanzania for artificial limbs and none
from Zipra.
5. We would like to bring to your notice that despite constant appeals
there
is no change on official bias against Zipra and its contribution to
the
liberation of our motherland which we pointed out in our first
memorandum
paragraphs three (3) and four (4). The ZBC and ZTV continue
projecting only
Zanla's image vis-à-vis the liberation struggle. Only the
massacres of
Chimoio and Nyadzonia are projected and nothing on the
massacres at Mkushi,
Freedom Camp in Zambia and in Angola. This makes the
Zipra cadres question
their very future existence in the Zimbabwe National
Army. We are aware,
Comrade Prime Minister, that directives have been issued
to the staff of ZBC
and ZTV to project Zanla's image only.
6.We have observed with
great concern the increase in inter-parties
rivalry, resulting in some cases
in destruction of property and loss of
lives. We would like to inform you
that some of the victims regrettably have
been members of Zipra on their way
to or from leave. The following examples
serve to illustrate:
a) A Zipra cadre who was shot dead in Gatooma.
b) The attempted
kidnapping of nine (9) Zipra comrades when trying to
board a bus for
Mushumbi Pools at Harare.
c) The injury of three (3) Patriotic
Front members at Seke.
d) The armed attack on the Administrative
Secretary of the PF Zapu in
a Salisbury suburb.
e) Comrade
Prime Minister, we are on record as having taken measures
against those of
our ranks who have defied orders, by way of molesting
people. We now find it
difficult to continue with the exercise without any
positive reciprocity
from our counterparts of Zanla.
7.We wish to point out that some of
these unhealthy developments are a
direct result of statements in our
various mass media (newspapers, ZBC and
ZTV) or at meetings by members of
the government. These developments violate
the spirit of reconciliation and
the consequences thereof are too ghastly to
contemplate.
8.
Finally, Comrade Prime Minister, we wish to recommend that a
meeting of the
two major parties in the government be convened to discuss
these sad and
serious developments. The objective should be to create peace
and stability
and move forward with one spirit - a spirit to mould a strong
and unbending
nation.
We remain determined to play our part to the
full.
L K V Masuku
Commander (Zipra)
Joint High Command
Cc Minister of Home Affairs
Neither letter was acknowledged, let alone answered.
As Lookout's
condition deteriorated, more and more high-ranking people
came to visit him.
On Saturday 15 March, he dictated an outline of letters
to be properly
rewritten and typed up for him to sign:
1.To Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Thanking him for visiting me in hospital.
Thanking government for sending me
to hospital. Thanking him for
recommending my release.
2.To Dr
Sydney Sekeramayi. Thanking him for visiting me. Thanking him
for expediting
the arrival of the necessary drugs for my treatment.
3.To Enos
Nkala. Thanking him for message of sympathy he sent and for
his wishes for
an early recovery. Thanking him for signing the revocation
order for my
detention to be lifted.
4.To Eddison Zvobgo. Thanking him for the
quick arrangement in sending
me to hospital when my condition was serious.
Thanking him for visiting me
in hospital. Thanking the government for
allowing my wife to go to the GDR
for treatment. Thanking him for looking
into my problems while I was in
prison.
5. Army Commander Lt
Gen Nhongo. Thanking him for visiting me and the
help he sent me after
visiting. Batteries, fruit, toothpaste.
Now Lookout was getting
tired and he dictated for only one more
person:
6. Air Force
Commander Tungamirai. Same letter.
Mary Ndlovu came up from
Bulawayo to see her husband Edward in
Chikurubi Maximum Prison and Bryant
Elliot, whom I myself went to see.
Bryant thought it was unwise for Lookout
to write any thank you letters.
Bryant really had his hands full. As I left
his office, I bumped into
Shamiso Nyashanu. Lookout couldn't understand why
Bryant didn't want him to
send letters. I promised to get Bryant to discuss
the matter with him.
While I was with Lookout that day, the nurse
gave him pills in a cup.
He said he knew two of them, but the other two were
new, and he asked what
they were. "I may not be a doctor, but I can see."
The new needle in his arm
was a long one, and causing more swelling. As I
left, I saw Joshua Nkomo,
Isaac Nyathi and two others who were on their way
in to visit Lookout.
On Thursday 20 March I was surprised to see
that Lookout wasn't on the
drip. I asked about this, and he told me that the
medicine had run out . . .
Both his other visitors and I were concerned. One
of them said: "But doesn't
this disrupt the whole treatment?"
Lookout, full of equanimity as ever, shrugged, smiled and said: "Well
what
can be done." He was making a statement, not asking a question. I had
been
told the medicine was toxic, which was why it had to enter his system
slow
drip by slow drip over many hours. An interruption in treatment would
surely
be devastating.
Excerpt from Judith Todd's latest book, Through
the Darkness; A Life
in Zimbabwe, available from www.zebrapress.co.za.
Zim Standard
sundaytalk by Priscilla Misihairambwi - Mushonga
THERE are two
things that have prompted me to write this article, the
first thing is
Judith Todd's book, Through the Darkness; A Life in Zimbabwe.
The second one
is personal. It is a need to publicly acknowledge to the
colleagues I worked
with during the earlier part of my political career -
Margaret Dongo and
Kempton Makamure - that as a matter of fact, seven years
ago they were right
and I was wrong.
Todd's book for me redefined the tragedy for
Zimbabwe. It is not just
a tragedy limited to the institutions, the
anti-poor and brutal government
that rules over us but rather the biggest
tragedy is that the Zanu PF
government inherited the values, principles and
institutions of the colonial
regime and has continued to perpetuate
them.
The basis of the liberation struggle, contrary to that given
by those
that seek to privatize it was to ensure that a human being
irrespective of
race, gender or tribe was treated equally. The struggle was
not about
majority rule, what inspired and angered those who participated in
the
struggle was that the white regime believed that Africans were lesser
beings
and hence the regime appropriated to itself the right to decide who
would be
treated as first class, second class and third class
citizens.
The reasons therefore for the bombings in Zambia and
Mozambique were
primarily a show of what the master could do to those that
refused to
submit. The same is true of opposition politics
today.
In 2000 I could not understand why Margaret Dongo and
Kempton
Makamure, who incidentally had been part of the behind-the-scenes
discussions before the MDC formation had become so averse to being party to
what I saw as the broader movement.
As a group of members from
the civic movement - politicians then from
the Movement for Independent
Candidates and the leaders from the trade union
had for sometime been
involved in the discussions about the need for a broad
political movement.
During these consultations the Zimbabwe Union of
Democrats was formed and
the argument from my colleagues was that it was
clear that the agenda of our
other partners in this discussion (the labour
movement) was not about
creating a movement in which we all came in as
partners but that already
others were defining themselves as the senior
partners.
I must
admit that at that stage I was too seduced by the principle of
the broader
movement that I failed to appreciate that there were players or
individuals
that could not enter the processes unless they saw themselves as
masters.
At that moment one could not deny that the only
individual, who
post-independence, had scored major political victory
against Robert Mugabe
was Margaret Dongo and to seek to bring her in as a
mere follower
demonstrated a Zanu PF mentality that sought to rewrite
history that would
create a phenomenon that the struggle only started when
Mugabe took over the
leadership.
Unfortunately I too failed to
realise this point. In fact, I blamed
Dongo for failing to submit to the
broader movement. I also failed to
realise that whilst we had 119
constituencies to contest, the MDC had no
shame in colluding with Zanu PF to
destroy the first real opposition in
Harare South constituency. I am
embarrassed that in 2000 I was part of that
movement. I am
sorry.
The greatest revelation I have had through my recent
experience in
politics is that, in born-again language, the demonic spirit
that drives
Zanu PF just does not inhabit your body when you become a member
of that
party. In fact, you can be driven by the same spirit to be a member
or even
a leader of the opposition. That demonic spirit is prevalent in both
the
opposition and civic society today. If they had the same military might
that
Mugabe has, I have no doubt they too would have a Gukurahundi
II.
The concept of parading those that have come back to the fold
as human
trophies is much the same as Smith did with those that claimed
defecting
from the "terrorists". It was embraced by Zanu PF when we saw
people paraded
at rallies handing over T-shirts and party membership cards
of the
opposition. It has been perfected by the opposition today,
shamelessly, and
is abated and supported by a press that claims to be
progressive.
Mugabe and Zanu PF define anyone who disagrees with
him as an enemy
(the pasi naye slogan). The opposition today, has much the
same slogan
(muroverei pasi), if not more violent. Mugabe believes Zanu PF
is the only
party that represents people's interests, likewise other
opposition groups
believe that only they have the legitimate right to
represent the people.
Zanu PF believes in the one party state
mentality, in similar fashion,
the breakdown of coalition talks between the
two MDC formations is driven by
the need to contest all and not share.
Opposition leaders are now talking
about owning the struggle and political
movements taking a leaf from Mugabe
who claims he is Zanu PF and he owns
Zimbabwe.
Again in similar parlance, while Zanu PF believes because
there were
arrested and tortured they have the divine and uncontested right
to lead,
some opposition leaders now define their anointment by having been
beaten,
even at times in dubious circumstances. Zanu PF believes Ndebeles by
the
mere fact of their numbers should have less representation, today in the
opposition, any political party that has Ndebele people in influential
positions is demonised and called an Ndebele outfit.
What is
therefore evident is that, the Smith curse (not in a thousand
years!),
inherited by Mugabe and Zanu PF is being passed on to the
alternative
movement and until we expose and destroy it - No change will be
real change!
What is required in Zimbabwe today is a new value system, a
value system
characterised by inclusiveness and sustainable development that
is based on
substantive participatory democracy. What we aspire for is a
Zimbabwe where
human rights, individual freedoms, property rights, non
racialism, women's
rights, workers' rights are cherished and respected, the
very values that
the liberation struggle was indeed fought for.
The real heroes of
our generation will be those who will restore
Zimbabwe as a nation in which
we can all be proud, a nation in which we do
not seek to gain unfair
advantage over the other on grounds of ethnicity. We
must have a value
system that is grounded in moral courage, a value system
that allows us to
hold our heads high as a people among the community of
nations. We should
not seek to replace what we are removing by something
whose value system is
similar.
It is important that our political parties reflect a value
system that
is rooted in principles of equity for all and has the
aspirations of the
people. As we pursue a new value system we must reject
political pretenders
both in Zanu PF and those newly born in the alternative
movement who have
subverted the aims of the liberation struggle and the
heroes who gave their
lives for the liberation of this country.
*Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga is MDC Deputy Secretary General and
MP for
Glen Norah Constituency
Deportations: pay-back time for Zanu PF chefs
WHAT is all this fuss
about Zanu PF chefs' children being deported
from Australia? Australia is
probably the only country in the world that is
prepared to expose Zanu PF
for what it really is - a bunch of braggadocios
playing a game of
brinkmanship with the rest of the world in the hope that
they can get away
with everything.
You only have to listen to the tone of false
bravado from the George
Charambas, Sikhanyiso Ndlovus and even the President
himself. Recently we
were told that Malaysia had cheaper and better
facilities than Australia; so
why so much fuss?
For more than
seven years Australians have been called all sorts of
names by President
Robert Mugabe and his ministers - typical of the
emotional verbiage that has
ruined this country, no forethought is given to
the consequences intended or
otherwise of such utterances. How do utterances
of this nature sway public
opinion in Australia?
There is a deeply flawed belief within Zanu
PF that they can be as
abusive as they want without getting any reprisals -
as if the world owes us
anything!
Now Morgan Tsvangirai is the
target of their venom. How has he become
as powerful as to sway the
Australian government's opinion when he is
supposed to be such a useless
bankrupt politician?
It has not dawned on the emotionally
unintelligent politicians in Zanu
PF that unlike in Zimbabwe where public
opinion counts for absolutely
nothing to the government, democratically
elected governments such as that
of Prime Minister John Howard listen very
carefully to public opinion and I
can assure you the majority of Australians
today will applaud the actions of
their government in deporting these
children. Their presence there
represented a serious affront to their
sensibilities.
It's the greatest source of irony that one of the
most vindictive and
vexatious regimes in the world is failing to accept a
reaction to its own
malicious and ruinous policies. The isolation of this
country will only get
worse with all the consequences because a certain
group of people has
decided to "die with our President". Talk of
disaster!
Nervous Madekufamba
Avondale
Harare.
------------
No sane investor can
trust this thieving regime
RECENT media reports suggest that President
Robert Mugabe has urged
"true and genuine friends" to invest in Zimbabwe's
natural resources,
promising that their investments will be protected by his
security forces -
not by proper lawful local constitutional rights or any
other international
lawful standards.
He chose not to list his
"extensive" schedule of assumed "genuine
friends! Perhaps only Comrade Thabo
Mbeki remains?
Clearly, China has had enough of being embarrassed
and looted by the
Zanu PF greedy cling-on regime.
What he
apparently overlooked, in his usual waffling delivery of
hallucinatory and
denial content that bear many falsehoods, is the proposed
"Indigestion" Law
(that will strip from external and local investors of
their earlier and
future commitments); how well his regime has "respected"
human and property
rights and international law and how the state is now run
by his empowered
light-fingered self-serving stooges, particularly in his
party, and the
highly politicized Judiciary, and State-sponsored militia
organs.
Also suitably omitted was that his close radical
Comrade Didymus
Mutasa has a racist agenda, and had earlier stated that the
regime has no
intention of respecting government signed International
BIPPA's.
He has been quoted in the past as saying that the
international
agreements were not worth the paper on which they were
signed.
Under Zimbabwe's Hitlerarian self-proclaimed "indigenous"
moral
values, he did not mention how successful he was (not) being in
prosecuting
his corrupt inner circle of wealthy stooges that we all know so
well about.
Recent reports indicate that assets and property
allegedly protected
by international BIPPA's are still being looted,
stripped and acquired by
the regime's fellow criminally enabled and
prosecution immune thieves.
In delusion, and in denial of the
above, Zanu PF still shows signs of
their archaic and insane mental
acumen.
In summary, anyone who believes that Zanu PF's Zimbabwe is
worth
investing in is plain stupid, or has been promised (not guaranteed)
kickbacks by the crooks temporarily in charge of the nation.
The geriatric hero must by now and at last be tossing and turning
about his
expected future demise and legacy. Only he and his
fellow-travellers have
yet to come to terms with his inevitable demise.
That the
head-honcho will be gone soon (one way or another) is no
longer in
dispute.
What is relevant now is whether his dead-beat followers
try to sustain
his enabling grants towards protected criminal conduct and
self-survival and
looted wealth, or whether they will, in trepidation,
capitulate and
surrender in the hope of immunity from future
prosecution.
Brain-Dead Analyst
Bloemfontein
RSA
--------
Will poll be free and
fair? THE question uppermost in people's minds right
now is: Will we have a
real fair and free election or a mockery of democracy
during
2008?
Voter registration, which saw the mobile voter registration
exercise
being given much media publicity may be window- dressing for the
world to
get the impression that nearly everyone, whatever his or her
political
party, is enfranchised.
Only people on the voters'
roll by a given day and date should be
allowed to vote. No voter
registration should be allowed to go on
concurrently with voting on polling
day.
Polling stations must be opened at 7AM and close at 7PM
throughout the
country. During previous elections, some polling stations
opened at 11AM.
All polling stations should be what they were like during
2000.
In 2002 Harare lost eight polling stations and rain was cited
as a
contributing factor. Yet the country was in the grip of a devastating
drought. This was daylight robbery by the Registrar-General. It must never
be repeated.
No one should go into the election knowing in
advance that he or she
has won the election. In other words, every
contestant must go into the
polls ready and willing to accept any
result.
In every election, there are two possible outcomes: One can
win, or
lose.
WSBK
Mabelreign
Harare