HARARE – South African President Jacob Zuma will tomorrow hold talks with leaders of neighbouring Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government to try to break a deadlock threatening the coalition government, his office said Tuesday.
Zuma is chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that alongside the Africa Union is a guarantor of a power-sharing agreement signed by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last September.
The South African leader’s office said in a statement: "In his capacity as chairperson of SADC, President Zuma will be holding meetings with the leaders of ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations to be briefed on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (power-sharing agreement).”
Zuma, who arrives in Harare Thursday, will also open Zimbabwe’s annual agricultural show on Friday before flying back to South Africa later the same day.
Mugabe’s office had last week claimed that the South African leader would limit his visit to the agricultural show and not tackle problems related to the power-sharing agreement.
While some political analysts have said that even if Zuma were to discuss the power-sharing pact with Zimbabwe’s political leaders there was little he could achieve in one day and suggested that the South African President would probably use the trip to see for himself the various problems gripping the fragile Harare coalition.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara are deadlocked over a myriad of outstanding issues, among them Mugabe’s arbitrary appointment of two top allies to head the central bank and attorney general’s department in violation of the power-sharing agreement that says such appointments should be by consensus.
Other issues include delays in swearing in of provincial governors and Roy Bennett – Tsvangirai’s appointee as deputy minister of agriculture – as well as the continued arrest, conviction and sentencing of legislators from the Premier’s MDC party.
While Tsvangirai and Mutambara have written to SADC over problems in the implementation of the GPA, Mugabe’s ZANU PF party about two weeks ago accused its former opposition foes of reneging on a commitment to urge Western countries to lift sanctions on the party’s senior leaders.
Zuma is considered more sympathetic to Tsvangirai but he will next month step down as SADC chairman with Mugabe ally and Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila assuming the rotating regional chair.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara formed an inclusive government last February to try to end Zimbabwe’s multifaceted crisis.
The unity government has done well to stabilise the economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.
But analysts remain doubtful about the administration’s long-term effectiveness, citing unending squabbles between ZANU PF and MDC as well as by the coalition government’s inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations. – ZimOnline
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Zimbabwe to host SADC Climate forum
The Government of Zimbabwe through its Meteorological Services Department will on 26-27 August in collaboration with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Famines Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), and other partners host the Thirteenth Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-13) writes Simba Nembaware
SARCOF-13 will be preceded by a seven-day Climate Experts Meeting of SADC national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) for the purposes of developing inputs for the Forum.
"Applying Climate Prediction Information, for Sustainable Socio-economic Development and Disaster Risk Reduction" will be the theme for the two day event whose participants will include climate prediction experts from the national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the SADC region and climate scientists from universities, research institutions, as well as regional and international organizations engaged in climate modelling, prediction and applications for the region.
Various regional and international governmental and non-governmental organizations and development partners are also expected to attend the forum whose core objective is to "develop to a consensus climate outlook for October 2009 to March 2010 rainfall season within SADC Member States."
It will also discuss the potential impacts of the consensus seasonal climate outlook on other socio-economic sectors including food security, health, disaster risk management, water resources and hydropower management, among others. The forum will also review the October 2008 to March 2009 rainy season over the SADC region.
The SADC Secretariat notes that "proper interpretation of seasonal forecasts and their application across various socio-economic decision-making processes still remain a challenge in the region. It is from this background that stakeholder participation in the SARCOF process with involvement of the climate information and prediction services practitioners and the user-community is always regarded as a priority at these forums.
SARCOF is transforming into an effective and reliable source for climate information and prediction services in order for the multi-sectoral user community to benefit fully from the process.
SARCOF-13 will be preceded by a seven-day Climate Experts Meeting of SADC national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) for the purposes of developing inputs for the Forum.
"Applying Climate Prediction Information, for Sustainable Socio-economic Development and Disaster Risk Reduction" will be the theme for the two day event whose participants will include climate prediction experts from the national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the SADC region and climate scientists from universities, research institutions, as well as regional and international organizations engaged in climate modelling, prediction and applications for the region.
Various regional and international governmental and non-governmental organizations and development partners are also expected to attend the forum whose core objective is to "develop to a consensus climate outlook for October 2009 to March 2010 rainfall season within SADC Member States."
It will also discuss the potential impacts of the consensus seasonal climate outlook on other socio-economic sectors including food security, health, disaster risk management, water resources and hydropower management, among others. The forum will also review the October 2008 to March 2009 rainy season over the SADC region.
The SADC Secretariat notes that "proper interpretation of seasonal forecasts and their application across various socio-economic decision-making processes still remain a challenge in the region. It is from this background that stakeholder participation in the SARCOF process with involvement of the climate information and prediction services practitioners and the user-community is always regarded as a priority at these forums.
SARCOF is transforming into an effective and reliable source for climate information and prediction services in order for the multi-sectoral user community to benefit fully from the process.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
‘Strike threatens health sector's recovery’
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has said a strike by doctors across the country is threatening the recovery of the health delivery system at a time when the sector is struggling to recover from last year's crisis.
Doctors at public hospitals went on strike last week to press for more pay. The industrial action has brought back memories of last year when striking doctors and nurses deserted hospitals as a cholera epidemic ravaged Zimbabwe, killing more than 4 000 people before it was brought under control with help from international relief agencies.
"The health delivery system is still struggling to emerge from a crisis that left the country's major referral hospitals unable to deliver services at the end of 2008," ZADHR said in a statement.
"Health professionals are entitled to adequate remuneration and acceptable working conditions. However, this must be balanced against the well being of patients. Unavailability of health services ultimately results in increased morbidity and preventable deaths."
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association that represents all state doctors is pushing for a salary of US$1 000 per month plus $500 allowance.
The association has promised to extend the job boycott to all state hospitals across the country that are the source of health service for more than 90 percent of Zimbabweans.
The government's Health Services Board (HSB) is negotiating with the doctors but says funds provided by international donors for doctors’ allowances and other perks have run out. More funds can only be available for disbursement to doctors in about two works, according to the board.
Most of Zimbabwe’s public hospitals that had virtually become dysfunctional began operating only six months ago after formation of a coalition government by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
The power-sharing government has promised to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy and top restore basic services such as health and education that had virtually collapsed after years of recession.
But the administration, which says it needs US$10 billion to revive the economy, could fail to deliver on its promise unless it is able to unlock financial support from Western governments that have remained reluctant to provide aid until they see evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with Tsvangirai.
– ZimOnline
Doctors at public hospitals went on strike last week to press for more pay. The industrial action has brought back memories of last year when striking doctors and nurses deserted hospitals as a cholera epidemic ravaged Zimbabwe, killing more than 4 000 people before it was brought under control with help from international relief agencies.
"The health delivery system is still struggling to emerge from a crisis that left the country's major referral hospitals unable to deliver services at the end of 2008," ZADHR said in a statement.
"Health professionals are entitled to adequate remuneration and acceptable working conditions. However, this must be balanced against the well being of patients. Unavailability of health services ultimately results in increased morbidity and preventable deaths."
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association that represents all state doctors is pushing for a salary of US$1 000 per month plus $500 allowance.
The association has promised to extend the job boycott to all state hospitals across the country that are the source of health service for more than 90 percent of Zimbabweans.
The government's Health Services Board (HSB) is negotiating with the doctors but says funds provided by international donors for doctors’ allowances and other perks have run out. More funds can only be available for disbursement to doctors in about two works, according to the board.
Most of Zimbabwe’s public hospitals that had virtually become dysfunctional began operating only six months ago after formation of a coalition government by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
The power-sharing government has promised to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy and top restore basic services such as health and education that had virtually collapsed after years of recession.
But the administration, which says it needs US$10 billion to revive the economy, could fail to deliver on its promise unless it is able to unlock financial support from Western governments that have remained reluctant to provide aid until they see evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with Tsvangirai.
– ZimOnline
Monday, August 17, 2009
SA police fury as Zim minister robbed
SOUTH African police have slammed Zimbabwe’s National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Fidelis Mhashu for failing to observe protocol after he was assaulted and robbed at gun-point in Johannesburg on Friday.
Mhashu, the Chitungwiza North MP of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was visiting the home of businessman Mutumwa Mawere in the posh Bryanston quarter, north of Johannesburg, when the gunmen struck.
South African police say Mhashu should have followed protocol and asked for VIP protection from police.
"We need to emphasise that it's protocol to ask for protection from the VIP protection unit," police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said.
"We are concerned that he came into this country without following protocol, if any minister comes into the country he must register with the South African government and we will be tasked into protecting him," Naidoo said.
Mhashu was treated for his injuries overnight Friday and released on Saturday. Mawere is said to have survived the attack by hiding under a table.
"They were having supper when a number of men with guns entered the house, tied them up, assaulted them and demanded money," national police crime intelligence spokesman Tumi Golding said.
The robbers made off with jewellery, money and electronic goods.
Golding said she could not reveal the identity of the minister or why he was in the country as she was waiting for clearance from Zimbabwean authorities.
South Africa has one of the world's highest crime rates and is struggling to clean up its record before hosting the Football World Cup next year.
-New Zimbabwe.com
Mhashu, the Chitungwiza North MP of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was visiting the home of businessman Mutumwa Mawere in the posh Bryanston quarter, north of Johannesburg, when the gunmen struck.
South African police say Mhashu should have followed protocol and asked for VIP protection from police.
"We need to emphasise that it's protocol to ask for protection from the VIP protection unit," police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said.
"We are concerned that he came into this country without following protocol, if any minister comes into the country he must register with the South African government and we will be tasked into protecting him," Naidoo said.
Mhashu was treated for his injuries overnight Friday and released on Saturday. Mawere is said to have survived the attack by hiding under a table.
"They were having supper when a number of men with guns entered the house, tied them up, assaulted them and demanded money," national police crime intelligence spokesman Tumi Golding said.
The robbers made off with jewellery, money and electronic goods.
Golding said she could not reveal the identity of the minister or why he was in the country as she was waiting for clearance from Zimbabwean authorities.
South Africa has one of the world's highest crime rates and is struggling to clean up its record before hosting the Football World Cup next year.
-New Zimbabwe.com
Friday, August 14, 2009
Top diplomat tipped to chair ZANU PF
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo is tipped to become ZANU PF national chairman when the incumbent John Nkomo replaces the late vice president Joseph Msika at the party’s congress in December.
ZANU PF insiders yesterday said it was faiti accompli that Nkomo would become the vice president ahead of Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema, while Moyo would takeover the chairmanship.
The insiders said Nkomo and Moyo belong to a faction in ZANU PF led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and were guaranteed to be elected at the congress.
The Mnangagwa camp is fighting to succeed President Robert Mugabe and take charge of ZANU PF with another faction headed by retired army commander Solomon Mujuru.
Mnangagwa wants to be president, while Mujuru is pushing for his wife Joice – already a Vice President of ZANU PF and Zimbabwe – to takeover from the 85-year-old Mugabe when and if the veteran leader leaves office.
“The Mnangagwa faction has the support of seven provinces, which are more than enough to decide the party’s presidium,” a senior politburo member said. “It is on this strength that Nkomo and Moyo will be elected vice president and chairperson respectively.”
Nkomo was previously associated with the Mujuru camp but appears to have switched sides in the ever-changing ZANU PF succession battle.
In terms of the party constitution, provinces nominate the president, the two vice presidents and national chairman. Candidates with the support of more than six provinces are automatically elected into the presidium.
Mnangagwa does not have the support of the three Mashonaland provinces, a crippling disadvantage given the provinces are the last bastions of ZANU PF support.
The politburo sources said contrary to reports that Mnangagwa was also eyeing the chairmanship, the defence minister was fully backing Moyo and had put an elaborate plan in place to secure his and Nkomo’s resounding victory.
The sources said the Mujuru faction which is backing Mpofu to replace Msika would put up a fight, even though their chances are next to zero.
Msika died last Wednesday after a long illness and was buried at the National Heroes Acre on Monday.
ZANU PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi yesterday said it was too early to speak on the would-be people to succeed Msika.
“We are still mourning our vice president to start discussing his would be successor,” Masawi said. “We will deal with the matter at the appropriate time.”
Moyo at the weekend wrote a newspaper article self-praising himself and chronicling his role in the liberation struggle of the country, while Nkomo had countless interviews narrating his closeness to the late Msika.
– ZimOnline
ZANU PF insiders yesterday said it was faiti accompli that Nkomo would become the vice president ahead of Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema, while Moyo would takeover the chairmanship.
The insiders said Nkomo and Moyo belong to a faction in ZANU PF led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and were guaranteed to be elected at the congress.
The Mnangagwa camp is fighting to succeed President Robert Mugabe and take charge of ZANU PF with another faction headed by retired army commander Solomon Mujuru.
Mnangagwa wants to be president, while Mujuru is pushing for his wife Joice – already a Vice President of ZANU PF and Zimbabwe – to takeover from the 85-year-old Mugabe when and if the veteran leader leaves office.
“The Mnangagwa faction has the support of seven provinces, which are more than enough to decide the party’s presidium,” a senior politburo member said. “It is on this strength that Nkomo and Moyo will be elected vice president and chairperson respectively.”
Nkomo was previously associated with the Mujuru camp but appears to have switched sides in the ever-changing ZANU PF succession battle.
In terms of the party constitution, provinces nominate the president, the two vice presidents and national chairman. Candidates with the support of more than six provinces are automatically elected into the presidium.
Mnangagwa does not have the support of the three Mashonaland provinces, a crippling disadvantage given the provinces are the last bastions of ZANU PF support.
The politburo sources said contrary to reports that Mnangagwa was also eyeing the chairmanship, the defence minister was fully backing Moyo and had put an elaborate plan in place to secure his and Nkomo’s resounding victory.
The sources said the Mujuru faction which is backing Mpofu to replace Msika would put up a fight, even though their chances are next to zero.
Msika died last Wednesday after a long illness and was buried at the National Heroes Acre on Monday.
ZANU PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi yesterday said it was too early to speak on the would-be people to succeed Msika.
“We are still mourning our vice president to start discussing his would be successor,” Masawi said. “We will deal with the matter at the appropriate time.”
Moyo at the weekend wrote a newspaper article self-praising himself and chronicling his role in the liberation struggle of the country, while Nkomo had countless interviews narrating his closeness to the late Msika.
– ZimOnline
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Commanders salute Tsvangirai
HARARE – Some of Zimbabwe’s top military commanders on Tuesday saluted Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in what was seen as a sign of easing relations after the security commanders had previously vowed not to salute the Premier.
Airforce of Zimbabwe commander Perence Shiri and Zimbabwe National Army commander Philip Sibanda rose to salute Tsvangirai as he arrived at a ceremony to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day in Harare.
The two commanders were also seen shaking hands with the former trade union leader who last February agreed to bring his MDC party together with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party in a unity government to try to ease political tensions in Zimbabwe after inconclusive elections last year.
The coalition government has done well to stabilize the economy and end inflation that private economists at one time estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.
But analysts have remained doubtful about the administration’s long-term effectiveness, citing unending squabbles between ZANU PF and the MDC, refusal by rich Western countries to financially back the government and open refusal by hardliner security commanders to recognise Tsvangirai’s authority.
However, there were signs that relations between military commanders and Tsvangirai could be thawing after the generals finally agreed late last month to attend the National Security Council meetings that they had boycotted because the MDC leader is a member.
Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi told the media that the meeting had helped break the ice between the two sides and claimed generals now recognised the Prime Minister.
“This is why you saw some of the service chiefs saluting today. I hope this marks the beginning of a good working relationship,” said Maridadi.
Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Tsvangirai to withdraw from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former opposition leader to win.
Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll.
The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity in a decade to end its multi-faceted crisis.
- ZimOnline.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Mugabe dismisses army rights abuses
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defended his security forces against charges of human rights violations and praised an army and police crackdown against illegal diamond miners in eastern Zimbabwe that critics say left a trail of rights abuses and other crimes.
In an address to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day, Mugabe accused Western governments and groups of seeking to blemish Zimbabwe’s name by falsely claiming security forces had committed human rights abuses.
“Allegations of gross abuses of human rights and failure to observe good governance have provided fodder for the West and its media as they repeatedly seek blemishes to stick onto our country,” Mugabe told a gathering comprising mostly members of the uniformed forces.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has an uneasy relationship with the army and police top brass, also attended the ceremony.
“The defence forces were also deployed to various strategic national resource areas such as gold and diamond mineral fields where they have assisted in eradicating the illegal panning and illicit dealings (in the minerals),” said Mugabe referring to the notorious Marange diamond field in the rural east of the country.
Soldiers and police sent out last year to flush out illegal diamond diggers and dealers from the Marange field that is also known as Chiadzwa are accused of assaulting, torturing and in some cases killing scores of innocent villagers.
With illegal miners forced out of Marange, top security commanders and powerful officials of Mugabe’s ZANU PF party are accused of taking over the illegal mining of diamonds from the fields which they allegedly smuggle out of the country to the international black market for gemstones.
A team sent by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) – an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – to probe reports of human rights abuses at Marange confirmed the reports in an interim report released in June and which called for a six-month international ban on trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe.
International rights watchdogs such as Human Rights Watch and Global Witness have called for the KPCS to ban Zimbabwe diamonds.
But Mugabe, who on Monday said Zimbabwe may have to reconsider its relations with the West, dismissed charges of rights violations as lies spread by “our detractors as they have sought desperately and without good reason to find wrong doing on our part".
The veteran leader reiterated charges that the West want to interfere with Zimbabwe’s internal politics and to divide and weaken the unity government in Harare.
Mugabe praised the defence forces for safeguarding Zimbabwe’s “national territorial integrity, national sovereignty and national interest in line with their constitutional obligation".
Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Tsvangirai from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former opposition leader to win.
Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll. The army generals vowed not salute Tsvangirai saying they only salute a liberation war veteran thereby raising suspicions of a coup if the Tsvangirai led opposition party won the plebiscite.
It is alleged that even to this date, the army generals still do not recognise the opposition leader despite his ascession to power as Prime Minister of the compromise unity government, instead opting to salute Minister of Defense, Emmerson Mnangagwa who is tipped to take over the reigns after Mugabe.
The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity to end its multi-faceted crisis.
But the government’s inability to convince Western donor nations to provide direct financial support could hamper the government’s reconstruction programmes, while doubts remain over its long-term effectiveness given the mistrust that persists between ZANU PF and Tsvangirai’s MDC parties – the main pillars of the administration.
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
In an address to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day, Mugabe accused Western governments and groups of seeking to blemish Zimbabwe’s name by falsely claiming security forces had committed human rights abuses.
“Allegations of gross abuses of human rights and failure to observe good governance have provided fodder for the West and its media as they repeatedly seek blemishes to stick onto our country,” Mugabe told a gathering comprising mostly members of the uniformed forces.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has an uneasy relationship with the army and police top brass, also attended the ceremony.
“The defence forces were also deployed to various strategic national resource areas such as gold and diamond mineral fields where they have assisted in eradicating the illegal panning and illicit dealings (in the minerals),” said Mugabe referring to the notorious Marange diamond field in the rural east of the country.
Soldiers and police sent out last year to flush out illegal diamond diggers and dealers from the Marange field that is also known as Chiadzwa are accused of assaulting, torturing and in some cases killing scores of innocent villagers.
With illegal miners forced out of Marange, top security commanders and powerful officials of Mugabe’s ZANU PF party are accused of taking over the illegal mining of diamonds from the fields which they allegedly smuggle out of the country to the international black market for gemstones.
A team sent by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) – an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – to probe reports of human rights abuses at Marange confirmed the reports in an interim report released in June and which called for a six-month international ban on trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe.
International rights watchdogs such as Human Rights Watch and Global Witness have called for the KPCS to ban Zimbabwe diamonds.
But Mugabe, who on Monday said Zimbabwe may have to reconsider its relations with the West, dismissed charges of rights violations as lies spread by “our detractors as they have sought desperately and without good reason to find wrong doing on our part".
The veteran leader reiterated charges that the West want to interfere with Zimbabwe’s internal politics and to divide and weaken the unity government in Harare.
Mugabe praised the defence forces for safeguarding Zimbabwe’s “national territorial integrity, national sovereignty and national interest in line with their constitutional obligation".
Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Tsvangirai from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former opposition leader to win.
Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll. The army generals vowed not salute Tsvangirai saying they only salute a liberation war veteran thereby raising suspicions of a coup if the Tsvangirai led opposition party won the plebiscite.
It is alleged that even to this date, the army generals still do not recognise the opposition leader despite his ascession to power as Prime Minister of the compromise unity government, instead opting to salute Minister of Defense, Emmerson Mnangagwa who is tipped to take over the reigns after Mugabe.
The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity to end its multi-faceted crisis.
But the government’s inability to convince Western donor nations to provide direct financial support could hamper the government’s reconstruction programmes, while doubts remain over its long-term effectiveness given the mistrust that persists between ZANU PF and Tsvangirai’s MDC parties – the main pillars of the administration.
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
Monday, August 10, 2009
Leave Zimbabawe alone - Mugabe
Harare - President Robert Mugabe said on Monday that if the West can't support Zimbabwe's struggling coalition government, it should "leave us alone".
Mugabe spoke at the funeral of 85-year-old vice president Joseph Msika, who served alongside Mugabe for two decades and died last week after suffering from heart disease for many years.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other top officials in the five-month-old coalition government joined Mugabe and some 20 000 other mourners at Harare's Heroes Acre cemetery. Mugabe was the only one to speak.
Mugabe often turns his addresses at state funerals into fiery political speeches through which he undresses and ridicules opposition political leaders and western governments. His speech on Monday came after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited neighbouring South Africa last week and called on Pretoria to help Zimbabwe cope with what she called the "negative effects" of Mugabe's leadership.
Mugabe did not name Clinton on Monday, but said his coalition with former opposition leader Tsvangirai was working and supported by southern Africans. But not, he said, by the US and former colonial ruler Britain.
"Who is the real judge of the political arrangement that we have done here in southern Africa?" Mugabe said.
"Why should America not recognise the work we are doing as an inclusive government? These Anglo-Saxon nations are giving us problems. We tell them today, "Leave us alone, we don't need your interference because we can do it alone."
Mugabe is accused of bringing a once-prosperous nation to ruin during his decades of authoritarian rule.
Former president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe's coalition agreement after Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of presidential polling in 2008, and then pulled out of a run-off against Mugabe because of state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters.
Since joining the coalition, Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe hard-liners of stalling political reforms and continuing to harass Tsvangirai supporters. Mugabe's ZANU PF party has revisited its farm invasion programme with white farmers are being indiscriminately harassed and evicted from farms. Over a hundred farmers have been evicted while the courts that are managed by Mugabe's loyalist, Johannes Tomana, the Attorney General, continue dismiss applications from farmers and human rights organisations challenging the evictions.
- AP and Simba Nembaware
Mugabe spoke at the funeral of 85-year-old vice president Joseph Msika, who served alongside Mugabe for two decades and died last week after suffering from heart disease for many years.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other top officials in the five-month-old coalition government joined Mugabe and some 20 000 other mourners at Harare's Heroes Acre cemetery. Mugabe was the only one to speak.
Mugabe often turns his addresses at state funerals into fiery political speeches through which he undresses and ridicules opposition political leaders and western governments. His speech on Monday came after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited neighbouring South Africa last week and called on Pretoria to help Zimbabwe cope with what she called the "negative effects" of Mugabe's leadership.
Mugabe did not name Clinton on Monday, but said his coalition with former opposition leader Tsvangirai was working and supported by southern Africans. But not, he said, by the US and former colonial ruler Britain.
"Who is the real judge of the political arrangement that we have done here in southern Africa?" Mugabe said.
"Why should America not recognise the work we are doing as an inclusive government? These Anglo-Saxon nations are giving us problems. We tell them today, "Leave us alone, we don't need your interference because we can do it alone."
Mugabe is accused of bringing a once-prosperous nation to ruin during his decades of authoritarian rule.
Former president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe's coalition agreement after Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of presidential polling in 2008, and then pulled out of a run-off against Mugabe because of state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters.
Since joining the coalition, Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe hard-liners of stalling political reforms and continuing to harass Tsvangirai supporters. Mugabe's ZANU PF party has revisited its farm invasion programme with white farmers are being indiscriminately harassed and evicted from farms. Over a hundred farmers have been evicted while the courts that are managed by Mugabe's loyalist, Johannes Tomana, the Attorney General, continue dismiss applications from farmers and human rights organisations challenging the evictions.
- AP and Simba Nembaware
Sunday, August 9, 2009
There's leadership failure in Zim- Clinton
PRETORIA – United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said the huge number of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa was testimony to the failure of leadership in Harare.
“South Africa is very aware of the challenges posed by the crisis in Zimbabwe because South Africa has 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe and everyone of those refugees represents the failure of the Zimbabwe government to take care of its own people and that’s a burden that South Africa has to bear,” said Clinton.
She was addressing journalists at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria after a meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane.
Clinton arrived in South Africa last Thursday night as part of a seven-nation African tour which kicked off in Kenya last Tuesday. High on her agenda was the issue of the fractious unity government in Zimbabwe which she said must move quickly to implement reforms.
She said her government will continue exerting pressure on the country’s leadership through sanctions to try and force a change in attitude.
“We are working with South Africa towards a free democratic Zimbabwe. Obviously South Africa, on the door steps of Zimbabwe, has a lot of contact with all the different players in Zimbabwe. The minister and I talked about the best ways we can try to productively create a better outcome for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Clinton.
“We are attempting to target the leadership of Zimbabwe with sanctions that we think might influence their behaviour without hurting the people of Zimbabwe. We are going to be closely consulting as to how best to deal with what is a difficult situation for South Africa but mostly for the people of Zimbabwe,” she added.
Washington earlier this year extended targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and members of his ZANU PF party’s inner circle and Clinton has in the past said that the only solution for Zimbabwe lies in the removal of Mugabe from power.
But in a move that baffled his supporters within and without the borders of Zimbabwe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)leader and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has said there can be no solution for the the country if Mugabe is left out of the process. Tsvangirai says the 85 year old dictator is "the problem and is also part of the solution."
Tsvangirai's rise to power and indeed of his party hinged on the call of Mugabe stepping down which even saw the opposition leader get arrested and charged with treason for calling for Mugabe "to go peacefully or we will remove him violently." He was to be later acquitted of the charge.
And in his recent tour of the western world he called for the removal of sanctions claiming that the situation in Zimbabwe was under control while racist motivated invasion of white owned farms still rages with the opposition party seemingly turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to these gruesome acts, thereby raising speculations among the masses that the MDC has lost the plot and has been sucked in by Mugabe's ZANU PF party.
South African Foreign Minister Mashabane said her government, which under the leadership of ex-president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal, will continue working with Zimbabweans to ensure the quick and full implementation of the political agreement signed between ZANU PF and the two MDC parties.
“We promise to continue working with the people of Zimbabwe to implement the agreement that they signed – the made-in-Zimbabwe-for-Zimbabweans agreement. We want them to fast track the actual implementation of the agreement,” said Mashabane.
South African President Jacob Zuma, who was due to meet Clinton in the coastal city of Durban today, has taken a harder line on Zimbabwe than his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, but the US wants more.
The US, troubled by what it sees as an absence of reform in Zimbabwe, has no plans either to offer major aid or to lift sanctions against Mugabe and some of his supporters, accusing them trampling on democracy and ruining a once-vibrant economy.
Before any of that can happen, Washington wants more evidence of political, social and economic reforms by Mugabe and the government he shares uneasily with opposition leader and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
“South Africa is very aware of the challenges posed by the crisis in Zimbabwe because South Africa has 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe and everyone of those refugees represents the failure of the Zimbabwe government to take care of its own people and that’s a burden that South Africa has to bear,” said Clinton.
She was addressing journalists at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria after a meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane.
Clinton arrived in South Africa last Thursday night as part of a seven-nation African tour which kicked off in Kenya last Tuesday. High on her agenda was the issue of the fractious unity government in Zimbabwe which she said must move quickly to implement reforms.
She said her government will continue exerting pressure on the country’s leadership through sanctions to try and force a change in attitude.
“We are working with South Africa towards a free democratic Zimbabwe. Obviously South Africa, on the door steps of Zimbabwe, has a lot of contact with all the different players in Zimbabwe. The minister and I talked about the best ways we can try to productively create a better outcome for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Clinton.
“We are attempting to target the leadership of Zimbabwe with sanctions that we think might influence their behaviour without hurting the people of Zimbabwe. We are going to be closely consulting as to how best to deal with what is a difficult situation for South Africa but mostly for the people of Zimbabwe,” she added.
Washington earlier this year extended targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and members of his ZANU PF party’s inner circle and Clinton has in the past said that the only solution for Zimbabwe lies in the removal of Mugabe from power.
But in a move that baffled his supporters within and without the borders of Zimbabwe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)leader and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has said there can be no solution for the the country if Mugabe is left out of the process. Tsvangirai says the 85 year old dictator is "the problem and is also part of the solution."
Tsvangirai's rise to power and indeed of his party hinged on the call of Mugabe stepping down which even saw the opposition leader get arrested and charged with treason for calling for Mugabe "to go peacefully or we will remove him violently." He was to be later acquitted of the charge.
And in his recent tour of the western world he called for the removal of sanctions claiming that the situation in Zimbabwe was under control while racist motivated invasion of white owned farms still rages with the opposition party seemingly turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to these gruesome acts, thereby raising speculations among the masses that the MDC has lost the plot and has been sucked in by Mugabe's ZANU PF party.
South African Foreign Minister Mashabane said her government, which under the leadership of ex-president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal, will continue working with Zimbabweans to ensure the quick and full implementation of the political agreement signed between ZANU PF and the two MDC parties.
“We promise to continue working with the people of Zimbabwe to implement the agreement that they signed – the made-in-Zimbabwe-for-Zimbabweans agreement. We want them to fast track the actual implementation of the agreement,” said Mashabane.
South African President Jacob Zuma, who was due to meet Clinton in the coastal city of Durban today, has taken a harder line on Zimbabwe than his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, but the US wants more.
The US, troubled by what it sees as an absence of reform in Zimbabwe, has no plans either to offer major aid or to lift sanctions against Mugabe and some of his supporters, accusing them trampling on democracy and ruining a once-vibrant economy.
Before any of that can happen, Washington wants more evidence of political, social and economic reforms by Mugabe and the government he shares uneasily with opposition leader and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
Friday, August 7, 2009
Msika was voice of reason: Tsvangirai
HARARE – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday said Zimbabwe’s late Vice President Joseph Msika, who died in Harare on Wednesday, was a “voice of reason” in the country’s fragile coalition government.
“He has left a legacy. He was one of the senior people in politics who had the voice of reason,” Tsvangirai told mourners at the veteran politician’s home in Harare.
Msika, a nationalist leader and arguably the most senior PF ZAPU party member that merged with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF in 1987, was one of the previous government’s moderate politicians who clashed with his counterparts especially at the height of the land invasions.
Msika was among a few senior ZANU PF officials to speak openly against the often violent seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks which started in 2000 and have reduced Zimbabwe from a breadbasket to a basket case.
He however appeared on numerous times on state television using vernacular vulgar language to undress white commercial farmers and on one occassion he labelled the country's opposition party and its supporters as "imigodoyi" literally explained as skinny smelling dogs that cannot fend for themselves.
Nonetheles, Tsvangirai said he had a cordial relationship with Msika – whom he described as a father because they shared the same totem – since the formation of an inclusive government with Msika’s ZANUPF last February, offering the country its best opportunity in a decade to wriggle out of economic and political crisis.
Tendai Biti the Minister of Finance and the Secretary General for the opposition MDC has said the late vice president was a man of valour whose “untainted by corruption” and “his name stayed away from scandal."
But Tsvangirai’s MDC party accuses Mugabe of flouting last year’s power-sharing agreement that gave birth to the new administration as shown by the veteran leader’s refusal to rescind his unilateral appointment of two of his alleged cronies to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general.
The MDC also accuses hardliner members of Mugabe’s inner circle of ordering the police – who they still control – to arrest the former opposition party’s members of parliament on trumped up charges in a bid to whittle down the party’s slim parliamentary majority.
At least five MDC members either have been convicted in recent weeks or face various charges and risk losing their parliamentary seats if committed to jail for six months or more.
The 86-year-old Msika, who was one of two vice presidents of Zimbabwe and ZANU PF, died at a private clinic in the capital after being in and out of hospital since 2005.
In a statement issued yesterday by its secretary general Tendai Biti, the MDC expressed shock at Msika’s death, saying the country had “lost a true revolutionary and a selfless leader who spent more than half his life fighting for the liberation of our country”.
“He has died in the phase of hope for the country he dearly loved; hope emanating from the formation of an inclusive government which has given Zimbabweans an opportunity for national healing and reconciliation,” the MDC said.
“That he has died a week before Heroes’ Day is enough testimony that he was a true hero unto himself; a man of valour who lost precious decades in foreign lands and in the forests so that justice would visit the land of his birth.
“The only befitting tribute we can pay to Hon Msika is when we create a truly just and free society where Zimbabweans of all political shades live side by side without fear; a Zimbabwe where we all feel we live in one country which gives us pride and which must create hope and a better future for all,” the party said.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai was warmly received at the late Vice President’s Mandara home, where he was welcomed by ZANU PF ministers John Nkomo (National Healing and Reconciliation), Walter Mzembi (Tourism) and Florah Bhuka, Minister of State in the late vice president’s office.
One of Msika’s sons who addressed mourners said: “We are lucky that our father was vice president and now our brother is prime minister.”
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
“He has left a legacy. He was one of the senior people in politics who had the voice of reason,” Tsvangirai told mourners at the veteran politician’s home in Harare.
Msika, a nationalist leader and arguably the most senior PF ZAPU party member that merged with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF in 1987, was one of the previous government’s moderate politicians who clashed with his counterparts especially at the height of the land invasions.
Msika was among a few senior ZANU PF officials to speak openly against the often violent seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks which started in 2000 and have reduced Zimbabwe from a breadbasket to a basket case.
He however appeared on numerous times on state television using vernacular vulgar language to undress white commercial farmers and on one occassion he labelled the country's opposition party and its supporters as "imigodoyi" literally explained as skinny smelling dogs that cannot fend for themselves.
Nonetheles, Tsvangirai said he had a cordial relationship with Msika – whom he described as a father because they shared the same totem – since the formation of an inclusive government with Msika’s ZANUPF last February, offering the country its best opportunity in a decade to wriggle out of economic and political crisis.
Tendai Biti the Minister of Finance and the Secretary General for the opposition MDC has said the late vice president was a man of valour whose “untainted by corruption” and “his name stayed away from scandal."
But Tsvangirai’s MDC party accuses Mugabe of flouting last year’s power-sharing agreement that gave birth to the new administration as shown by the veteran leader’s refusal to rescind his unilateral appointment of two of his alleged cronies to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general.
The MDC also accuses hardliner members of Mugabe’s inner circle of ordering the police – who they still control – to arrest the former opposition party’s members of parliament on trumped up charges in a bid to whittle down the party’s slim parliamentary majority.
At least five MDC members either have been convicted in recent weeks or face various charges and risk losing their parliamentary seats if committed to jail for six months or more.
The 86-year-old Msika, who was one of two vice presidents of Zimbabwe and ZANU PF, died at a private clinic in the capital after being in and out of hospital since 2005.
In a statement issued yesterday by its secretary general Tendai Biti, the MDC expressed shock at Msika’s death, saying the country had “lost a true revolutionary and a selfless leader who spent more than half his life fighting for the liberation of our country”.
“He has died in the phase of hope for the country he dearly loved; hope emanating from the formation of an inclusive government which has given Zimbabweans an opportunity for national healing and reconciliation,” the MDC said.
“That he has died a week before Heroes’ Day is enough testimony that he was a true hero unto himself; a man of valour who lost precious decades in foreign lands and in the forests so that justice would visit the land of his birth.
“The only befitting tribute we can pay to Hon Msika is when we create a truly just and free society where Zimbabweans of all political shades live side by side without fear; a Zimbabwe where we all feel we live in one country which gives us pride and which must create hope and a better future for all,” the party said.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai was warmly received at the late Vice President’s Mandara home, where he was welcomed by ZANU PF ministers John Nkomo (National Healing and Reconciliation), Walter Mzembi (Tourism) and Florah Bhuka, Minister of State in the late vice president’s office.
One of Msika’s sons who addressed mourners said: “We are lucky that our father was vice president and now our brother is prime minister.”
– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware
Thursday, August 6, 2009
ZBH needs millions for transmitter network
ZIMBABWE Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) needs an estimated R72 million to replace obsolete signal transmission equipment to effect countrywide reception of its radio and television signals
The Minister of Media, Information, and Publicity Webster Shamu, told Parliament ZBH planned to overhaul its transmitters for both radio and television by year end.
However, he did not shed light on what had happened to the Iranian R60 million deal which was brokered by ousted Professor Jonathan Moyo during his tenure as Information Minister.
In 2004, the Iranians pledged R60 million for the digitalization of the ZBC but the deal later ran into trouble when Moyo was fired by President Robert Mugabe in 2005 before the Iranians had completed the programme.
But Shamu told Parliament on 29 July 2009 during an oral question and answer session that the equipment in place had outlived its lifespan and needed to be replaced at a cost of R32 million and R 40 million for the radio and television networks, respectively.
"The transmitters have been operating for the past 34 years instead of eight years. Consequently transmission will be affected. Almost all the transmitters in the country have outlived their lifespan and need to be revamped," he said.
As present, Zimbabweans living along the country’s border areas do not receive the ZBC signal and tune into television and radio stations in Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia instead.
Meanwhile, musician Hosiah Chipanga is threatening to sue ZBC for banning his latest album, Hero Shoko (Hear is the Word), from receiving airplay through the state-controlled broadcaster.
Chipangas lawyer, Panganai Hare, has written to the national broadcaster giving it seven days within which to rectify the issue before taking the broadcaster to court.
Hare said the ZBCs move was an infringement on Chipangas freedom of expression as it impedes the albums availability and marketability to fans.
The ZBCs secretary, Norman Mahori, said he would examine the album before responding but would also consider the morals and ethics of a public broadcaster.
-journalism.co.za
The Minister of Media, Information, and Publicity Webster Shamu, told Parliament ZBH planned to overhaul its transmitters for both radio and television by year end.
However, he did not shed light on what had happened to the Iranian R60 million deal which was brokered by ousted Professor Jonathan Moyo during his tenure as Information Minister.
In 2004, the Iranians pledged R60 million for the digitalization of the ZBC but the deal later ran into trouble when Moyo was fired by President Robert Mugabe in 2005 before the Iranians had completed the programme.
But Shamu told Parliament on 29 July 2009 during an oral question and answer session that the equipment in place had outlived its lifespan and needed to be replaced at a cost of R32 million and R 40 million for the radio and television networks, respectively.
"The transmitters have been operating for the past 34 years instead of eight years. Consequently transmission will be affected. Almost all the transmitters in the country have outlived their lifespan and need to be revamped," he said.
As present, Zimbabweans living along the country’s border areas do not receive the ZBC signal and tune into television and radio stations in Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia instead.
Meanwhile, musician Hosiah Chipanga is threatening to sue ZBC for banning his latest album, Hero Shoko (Hear is the Word), from receiving airplay through the state-controlled broadcaster.
Chipangas lawyer, Panganai Hare, has written to the national broadcaster giving it seven days within which to rectify the issue before taking the broadcaster to court.
Hare said the ZBCs move was an infringement on Chipangas freedom of expression as it impedes the albums availability and marketability to fans.
The ZBCs secretary, Norman Mahori, said he would examine the album before responding but would also consider the morals and ethics of a public broadcaster.
-journalism.co.za
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Zim the most aid dependent
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe is the most food aid dependent country in the world, aid agencies said on Tuesday.
Also, nearly 55% of children who died of cholera in the southern African country were malnourished.
This is according to a report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, quoting numbers from the World Food Programme.
"Per capita, Zimbabwe is now the most food aid dependent country in the world. The World Food Programme believes that seven million people are in need of food assistance - somewhere between 65 and 80% of the population," the report states.
"The UN believes that 54% of all children who have died from cholera were malnourished, with 47% of the country’s population undernourished."
The food crisis was caused by several factors including hyperinflation which disenfranchised many agriculture farmers, the report states.
Substandard seed
"Zimbabwe's fields are sown with substandard seed, scavenged often from granaries or from the side of the road. It is extraordinarily unlikely that the 2009 harvest will significantly surpass 2008 - the worst in the country's history," says the report.
The country's woes started escalating in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government lost a referendum to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and sanctioned an aggressive land reform programme in which the majority of white farmers lost their land to war veterans.
This resulted in a food crisis, exacerbated by drought and later by hyper-inflation.
The country was plunged into socio-economic turmoil, political violence and eventually a collapse of infrastructure, alongside a deadly cholera epidemic last year that killed more than 4 000 people.
Mugabe late last year finally agreed to form a government of national unity with opposition leaders.
- SAPA
Also, nearly 55% of children who died of cholera in the southern African country were malnourished.
This is according to a report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, quoting numbers from the World Food Programme.
"Per capita, Zimbabwe is now the most food aid dependent country in the world. The World Food Programme believes that seven million people are in need of food assistance - somewhere between 65 and 80% of the population," the report states.
"The UN believes that 54% of all children who have died from cholera were malnourished, with 47% of the country’s population undernourished."
The food crisis was caused by several factors including hyperinflation which disenfranchised many agriculture farmers, the report states.
Substandard seed
"Zimbabwe's fields are sown with substandard seed, scavenged often from granaries or from the side of the road. It is extraordinarily unlikely that the 2009 harvest will significantly surpass 2008 - the worst in the country's history," says the report.
The country's woes started escalating in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government lost a referendum to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and sanctioned an aggressive land reform programme in which the majority of white farmers lost their land to war veterans.
This resulted in a food crisis, exacerbated by drought and later by hyper-inflation.
The country was plunged into socio-economic turmoil, political violence and eventually a collapse of infrastructure, alongside a deadly cholera epidemic last year that killed more than 4 000 people.
Mugabe late last year finally agreed to form a government of national unity with opposition leaders.
- SAPA
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
'Media freedom means upholding the law'
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s former chief media policeman, Tafataona Mahoso, told a parliamentary committee that should he be selected to head a new media commission he would ensure that journalists operated within the confines of the law.
Mahoso – dubbed the “media hangman” by Zimbabwean journalists – oversaw the closure of five privately owned newspapers and instigated the arrest of scores of reporters during his time as chairman of the government’s now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC).
He has applied to join the planned Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) that Zimbabwean journalists, human rights groups and pro-democracy activists hope will work to free the media after years of strict government controls.
“Media freedom means freedom to operate within the confines of the law. Also journalists must respect their audience,” Mahoso told a parliamentary panel conducting public interviews for candidates wishing to be appointed to the ZMC and another body that will oversee the electronic media.
The ZMC and the new Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) are part of new bodies to be set up in terms of Constitutional Amendment Number 19 and meant to help open up the political space and to democratise state institutions that have been under the control of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.
The constitutional amendment was enacted earlier this year to facilitate the unity government between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe following the signing of a power-sharing agreement last September.
Opening the hearings in the Senate Chamber, parliamentary speaker Lovemore Moyo described the setting up of the various commissions that will include the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), Independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (IZEC) and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) as historic.
“We witness this historic process of appointing commissioners,” Moyo said, adding; “The eyes of the public are upon us today, the nation places hope on us.”
ZMC will replace the Mahoso-led MIC, which in addition to shutting down newspapers is also known for issuing stringent conditions for registration of foreign journalists wishing to work in Zimbabwe.
The IZEC is set to replace the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, accused by Tsvangirai’s MDC party of backing and supporting Mugabe and ZANU PF in the last polls.
The ACC is expected to deal with worsening corruption in the country while the ZHRC is expected to start work in reviewing the human rights situation in the country.
First to be interviewed was Millicent Mombeshora – currently employed at the central bank – who said if appointed commissioner she would want to see responsible and ethical journalism, adding that there was need for media that showed depth in the coverage of issues.
Also interviewed was Vambe Jirira, Dr Geoffrey Takawira Chada, former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust and Susan Makore, a Media Studies lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
Former state broadcaster Godfrey Majonga, who said the setting up of the ZMC was meant to “promote freedom of information and promote multiplicity of newspapers that is characterised by ethical reporting”, was also interviewed.
Majonga also said there was a need to promote the establishment community newspapers and radio stations.
Of the 27 listed candidates, 12 will be selected and their names forwarded to Mugabe who will pick the nine commissioners as well as the chairman.
Another six names will also be forwarded to Mugabe who will pick three people to constitute the new BAZ.
The candidates were being interviewed by five lawmakers drawn from members of the three parties in Parliament who will recommend successful candidates to Mugabe for appointment.
The candidates all had to answer six questions within 15 minutes.
Some of the candidates that had been short-listed include Tichaona Zinhumwe, Ropafadzo Mapimhidze, Dr Vimbai Chivaura, Rev Useni Sibanda, Dr Lawton Hikwa, former ZBC head Henry Muradzikwa, former head of Mass Communication at Harare Polytechnic Timothy Nyahunzvi, Wabata K Munodawafa, Mirriam Madziwa, Douglass Dhliwayo, Fidelis Zvomuya, Freddy Samupindi, Elizabeth Karonga, Dr Tafataona Mahoso, former Financial Gazette editor Nqobile Nyathi, Rodger Stringer, Kindness Paradza, Dr Rino Zhuwarara, Chris Mhike, Clemence Mabaso, Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa, Matthew Takaona and Benson Ntini.
– ZimOnline
Mahoso – dubbed the “media hangman” by Zimbabwean journalists – oversaw the closure of five privately owned newspapers and instigated the arrest of scores of reporters during his time as chairman of the government’s now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC).
He has applied to join the planned Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) that Zimbabwean journalists, human rights groups and pro-democracy activists hope will work to free the media after years of strict government controls.
“Media freedom means freedom to operate within the confines of the law. Also journalists must respect their audience,” Mahoso told a parliamentary panel conducting public interviews for candidates wishing to be appointed to the ZMC and another body that will oversee the electronic media.
The ZMC and the new Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) are part of new bodies to be set up in terms of Constitutional Amendment Number 19 and meant to help open up the political space and to democratise state institutions that have been under the control of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.
The constitutional amendment was enacted earlier this year to facilitate the unity government between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe following the signing of a power-sharing agreement last September.
Opening the hearings in the Senate Chamber, parliamentary speaker Lovemore Moyo described the setting up of the various commissions that will include the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), Independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (IZEC) and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) as historic.
“We witness this historic process of appointing commissioners,” Moyo said, adding; “The eyes of the public are upon us today, the nation places hope on us.”
ZMC will replace the Mahoso-led MIC, which in addition to shutting down newspapers is also known for issuing stringent conditions for registration of foreign journalists wishing to work in Zimbabwe.
The IZEC is set to replace the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, accused by Tsvangirai’s MDC party of backing and supporting Mugabe and ZANU PF in the last polls.
The ACC is expected to deal with worsening corruption in the country while the ZHRC is expected to start work in reviewing the human rights situation in the country.
First to be interviewed was Millicent Mombeshora – currently employed at the central bank – who said if appointed commissioner she would want to see responsible and ethical journalism, adding that there was need for media that showed depth in the coverage of issues.
Also interviewed was Vambe Jirira, Dr Geoffrey Takawira Chada, former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust and Susan Makore, a Media Studies lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
Former state broadcaster Godfrey Majonga, who said the setting up of the ZMC was meant to “promote freedom of information and promote multiplicity of newspapers that is characterised by ethical reporting”, was also interviewed.
Majonga also said there was a need to promote the establishment community newspapers and radio stations.
Of the 27 listed candidates, 12 will be selected and their names forwarded to Mugabe who will pick the nine commissioners as well as the chairman.
Another six names will also be forwarded to Mugabe who will pick three people to constitute the new BAZ.
The candidates were being interviewed by five lawmakers drawn from members of the three parties in Parliament who will recommend successful candidates to Mugabe for appointment.
The candidates all had to answer six questions within 15 minutes.
Some of the candidates that had been short-listed include Tichaona Zinhumwe, Ropafadzo Mapimhidze, Dr Vimbai Chivaura, Rev Useni Sibanda, Dr Lawton Hikwa, former ZBC head Henry Muradzikwa, former head of Mass Communication at Harare Polytechnic Timothy Nyahunzvi, Wabata K Munodawafa, Mirriam Madziwa, Douglass Dhliwayo, Fidelis Zvomuya, Freddy Samupindi, Elizabeth Karonga, Dr Tafataona Mahoso, former Financial Gazette editor Nqobile Nyathi, Rodger Stringer, Kindness Paradza, Dr Rino Zhuwarara, Chris Mhike, Clemence Mabaso, Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa, Matthew Takaona and Benson Ntini.
– ZimOnline
Monday, August 3, 2009
Zimbabwe's Daily News to get licence back
IN a dramatic turn of events, the Zimbabwe government has granted the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe’s (ANZ) an operating licence as a mass media service provider – six years after its flagship newspaper, The Daily News, was shut down.
ANZ are the publishers of both The Daily News and Daily News On Sunday, the two titles which were shut down by the government-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC) on September 12, 2003.
A special committee set up in September 2008 to review the decision was “satisfied that the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) have complied with the provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act”.
The ‘Special Board Committee on ANZ’ acting chairman Edward Dube wrote to the ANZ’s lawyers last week advising them it would get the licence. Dube also wrote to Information Minister Webster Shamu advising him of the decision.
ANZ, however, must wait for a few weeks to get a licence following the disbandment of the MIC by a constitutional amendment.
The MIC is to be replaced by the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).
The Parliamentary Standing Rules and Orders Committee has set August 3 as the day for conducting interviews for people who applied to sit on the ZMC board .
It will forward the names of not less than 12 nominees to President Robert Mugabe who will choose nine.
A power sharing government formed in February committed itself to guaranteeing media freedoms and moved to disband the MIC which was described by a judge as “biased”.
The granting of ANZ’ licence comes hard on the heels of a government decision to re-admit the BBC and CNN back into the country, 8 years after they were forced out.
But it is the return of the Daily News that could signal a major policy shift by President Robert Mugabe and his allies in the Zanu-PF party.
The Daily News suffered harassment from the Zimbabwe government over many years, including two bomb attacks. In January 2001, The Daily News printing press was blown up when suspected Mugabe security agents stormed the company's printing factory at James Martin Drive, Lochinvar , in Harare.
The Daily News went for several months without a printing press until the paper was given one by a Swedish firm.
In 2002, Mugabe and his allies in the then Zanu PF government, promulgated the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which required all newspapers and journalists to register with the MIC.
This became the law that would silence The Daily News for six years.
Publishers of The Daily News, ANZ, refused to register with the MIC and argued that it was an infringement on the freedom of expression.
On September 10, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that The Daily News was operating outside the law and had to register with the MIC.
Two days later, September 12, 2003, heavily armed police ordered the paper to close its offices and took all the production equipment including the computers to Chikurubi Maximum Prison where they were locked away.
-journalism.co.za
ANZ are the publishers of both The Daily News and Daily News On Sunday, the two titles which were shut down by the government-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC) on September 12, 2003.
A special committee set up in September 2008 to review the decision was “satisfied that the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) have complied with the provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act”.
The ‘Special Board Committee on ANZ’ acting chairman Edward Dube wrote to the ANZ’s lawyers last week advising them it would get the licence. Dube also wrote to Information Minister Webster Shamu advising him of the decision.
ANZ, however, must wait for a few weeks to get a licence following the disbandment of the MIC by a constitutional amendment.
The MIC is to be replaced by the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).
The Parliamentary Standing Rules and Orders Committee has set August 3 as the day for conducting interviews for people who applied to sit on the ZMC board .
It will forward the names of not less than 12 nominees to President Robert Mugabe who will choose nine.
A power sharing government formed in February committed itself to guaranteeing media freedoms and moved to disband the MIC which was described by a judge as “biased”.
The granting of ANZ’ licence comes hard on the heels of a government decision to re-admit the BBC and CNN back into the country, 8 years after they were forced out.
But it is the return of the Daily News that could signal a major policy shift by President Robert Mugabe and his allies in the Zanu-PF party.
The Daily News suffered harassment from the Zimbabwe government over many years, including two bomb attacks. In January 2001, The Daily News printing press was blown up when suspected Mugabe security agents stormed the company's printing factory at James Martin Drive, Lochinvar , in Harare.
The Daily News went for several months without a printing press until the paper was given one by a Swedish firm.
In 2002, Mugabe and his allies in the then Zanu PF government, promulgated the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which required all newspapers and journalists to register with the MIC.
This became the law that would silence The Daily News for six years.
Publishers of The Daily News, ANZ, refused to register with the MIC and argued that it was an infringement on the freedom of expression.
On September 10, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that The Daily News was operating outside the law and had to register with the MIC.
Two days later, September 12, 2003, heavily armed police ordered the paper to close its offices and took all the production equipment including the computers to Chikurubi Maximum Prison where they were locked away.
-journalism.co.za
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